2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

Ham likes to run the 4 out/ 1 in offense. I don't think he cares much in having two bigs. He was fortunate to have Lopez, who is an elite stretch 5. Those guys don't grow on trees though. I think he's good with AD in the Giannis role on the inside. Bryant looks like a good stretch 5, but not sure if we could keep him long term. But with Lebron being best utilized at the 4, there is only so much room in there. I honestly feel that we don't need any more bigs.

 

I agree that we don't need other bigs with TB playing at an elite-level offensively. Ham still needs to start him next to AD though.

I think most of us know what needs to be done. The players that should be flipped are Russ, Nunn, Bev (some of them, or all of them)

If I had to choose regardless of salary, I still keep Bev over Russ, as not only Bev is playing decently as of late, Russ's current skillset becomes more redundant the healthier the team gets.

the focus should be on getting a couple of useful long wings back of course.

 

I know some people are pushing to let Russ expire so we can resign TB, Bryant and Dennis.

This is obviously not an easy choice, especially if there are no good deals to ship out Russ until the deadline.

Just consider that if we do that, next year's team is going to look exactly like this year's team, minus Russ and with a few other vet mins.

now is that a championship team?

 

I’ve always thought the way to go was to go after a AD/Lebron lite clone.

 

Russ isn’t redundant because he is a great playmaker and that’s where his value comes off the bench.

If we could get something good for him I’d move him. Otherwise I’m not sending a first out just to take back rubbish contracts.

 

Some rumor stuff from Scotto with HoopsHype

Cam's price is two 2nd rounders

Do that yesterday. Seriously.


Playoff caliber teams interested in Burks

Walking through the Raptors situation. Who's available, why, and what it would cost.

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-knicks-lakers-raptors-mavericks-pistons-kevin-durant/

 

team option on burks contract is nice, allows for pivoting depending on outcomes.

if anunoby is available for two picks, i'd have to think hard on it. his archetype is highly valuable--big enough to play smallball 4, and a big sf in a more traditional lineup--can defend big wings. career 37% shooter from three.

you get him, and we can play big or small, and he's only 26. he's been a bit injury prone, but since the acl, nothing super concerning to me.

i'd like to lotto-protect one of the picks if possible, but i want in on this bidding.

i'd offer 2 2nds for cam, too. if all else fails, simply moving nunn and a couple 2nds for reddish is something that i think needs to happen. we can send our lower one this year and a future. it's a low-risk move.

 

If we're letting Russ expire, I'd sooner spend two picks on Anunoby then 1 pick on some other so-so short term gap.

Anunoby would be a piece to build around for the future.

 

I thought that our band of scrubs and non NBA players, held their own against the top team in the Conference on the road last night. Imagine how we'd look at full strength.

I'm just not seeing this OG kid being worth two FRP. Toronto supposedly has the blueprint everyone likes, with all these tall wings and they still suck. He looks like a pretty good team defender with the steals and all, but whenever I watch them, it's not like he's some kind of elite one on one defender at all to me.

I don't think Cam is any better than the guys we already have. What's the point of giving up anything for him? We could sign that kid to a minimum contract this offseason. With our 3 draft picks in the draft this summer, I trust that we can find something better than him. He's tall though, I give him that. Nunn is more valuable than Reddish at the moment.

 

If AD and Lebron don't miss a half a season.

 

OG isn't an elite defender, but he's a good one. i prefer him to myles turner in terms of overall value, but i get why some might not. aside from my preference to add a large wing over a center, OG's contract is good for next year. he's got a PO after that. turner we'd have to pony up huge cash next year on a guy who's an injury risk and we risk losing him for nothing if things don't go well. this is why i'd consider the picks for anunoby and not for turner.

neither is a star in the making. but both are potentially good enough to be the third-best player on a good team, imo, and that's what i'm looking for.

as for nunn/reddish, it's about size and potential. nunn is what he is, and he's also redundant and the worst of our bunch. i'd rather have reddish's bird rights than hope we can sign him for nothing in the offseason. plus, we'd get a look at him. i don't value 2nds that much considering that we do well buying them and/or playing the UDFA market.

 

I don't think that Myles is going to get this huge contract. Centers are not valued as much as these wings or guards. The reason that he is a better fit than a wing, is that not only can he play with AD... if he's out, he can replace him at 5, and still give us elite AD level interior defense.

If it's not a star, why give up 2 FRP? Does OG put us into title contender status this season? More than Turner, Grant or even Wood? I wouldn't give up 2 FRP for them either.

We found Austin and Max with a 2nd rd pick, now we have a 1st and two 2nds. I think our scouting department can bring in some good talent with that. Now we add 3 more young guys to Reaves, Christie, Bryant, and Walker.

Of course Lebron will want us to trade those picks and the future FRP too. So? He's 39 next season on a 50 million dollar contract. If he doesn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of young guys, let's call his bluff and see what he can bring in a trade.

 

LeBron can bring nothing in a trade. Unless he is traded for guys like Beal which LeBron wouldn't let happen. The salary matching is a buzz kill, we're riding him.

As for OG, in the short term, 2 picks is a good price to get him. But who is he in 5 years? He's a 3rd guy, how much are you paying him in a couple years? Does he deserve it? For me he's in that limbo with Mikal and Cam Johnson. Great role players who fill a modern NBA need to perfection (big wings who defend well and can shoot). Are you paying 30m to keep them? He may even ask for more.
Then, we give the two picks and ride him with LeBron and AD the next couple season. Then what? You re-sign him and AD and you're still a big star away to be in contention. And you only have FA. Since the NBA brought the in-season extensions, the best players don't go to the FA and only guys with question marks are there. I still think we shouldn't lose the chance of getting a Luka or Booker for 2/3 years of an aging LeBron and a street clothes AD.
Nonetheless, it would be a great fit to LeBron/AD and if they were to be healthy we would be in title contention. That hasn't happened for 3 consecutive years

As for Turner, and mainly targeting Slick, I also like the idea for his elite defensive, pairing with AD and covering AD's absences. Although the other day I was thinking if we weren't pulling the trigger because that would make LeBron play mostly at the 3 and he's being more and more playing the big positions. I believe he probably struggles with young fast wings/guards who play the 3 nowadays. It would be a nice problem to have though, I believe

 

IDK...Lebron can't play the 3 but he's " Already envisioned lineups with him AD and Bryant "? I think he would envision them with Turner, Grant or Wood too.

I think James at 4 is more for his offensive matchups than anything. There aren't many scorers at SF in the League TBH. I really can't think of one actually, that I would be afraid of with Lebron on him. You flank him with two shot blockers, he's more than capable of pressing up on a wing and funneling them towards those shot blockers.

 

Latest from Pincus...

Our move(s) will be largely dictated by AD's health

Team tiers -- buyers, sellers, and everything in the middle.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...avis-injury-complicates-lakers-trade-deadline

 

what's "huge"? because he turned down an extension, and has so far not been able to negotiate a larger one using indy's cap space. this points to something north of 25 per, i'd guess. is that huge?

right. because you can find serviceable centers for mle money (bryant's on a vet min), but you can't find big two-way wings for that, as we've learned. if AD's out, turner won't save us from being meh as an AD replacement. just not the same animal, particularly on defense.

because that's the going rate for the tier below allstar level, particularly if they're on a good contract? and i don't think turner or grant are even available. not sure about wood, but i'd take OG over wood all day.

we only have space for so many developing players. i think one second rounder a year is enough. we're owed an extra one both this summer and next.

the picks lebron wants to trade won't even happen until after he's retired, which is why we shouldn't listen to his opinions on it, and i'm glad we aren't.

that doesn't mean i don't think there are ANY deals for which i would give up future picks. there just aren't many.

i disagree. the salary is why he'll bring in something. we're not forced to deal him. if a team offers us something worse than him just walking after his contract's done, we don't have to oblige. he's not going to sit out his final year to make a point, either. when he signed the extension, he lost all power. the media wants you to think he didn't, but he did.

anyway, try to find 50 million dollars to match a trade from a team that would remain a contender after matching the salary. you're basically guaranteed to get at least one good player in there, and if you don't, you're getting a ton of picks.

i think he's a little better than mikal overall, so he'd probably be looking at that salary. we likely couldn't get him in FA, so yeah, i'm fine with it. also, we'd have a year and a half to see how he fits, etc., and during that time, he's actually underpaid relative to production (bridges makes almost 25% more, i think, for example).

if he plays well enough to warrant a 30 million per deal, we'd only be a borderline allstar away from competing at the highest level, and we'd have the space to get there. also, if he plays that well, we'd be able to use him in a trade for said star.

i think one of our sneaky issues is that lebron and AD are both 4/5s. we can work with it, but adding another expensive 4/5 is lower on my list than adding a 3/4. big two-way wing has been the top of everyone's list for 4 years now. the only reason i've pushed back is that they're simply not available. if one is, we need to look hard at it. and again, i think we did look hard at grant and just didn't have the right assets at the time. he was basically the only guy i've seen move recently that fits what i'd want.

 

i've got questions about his central premise (that it depends on AD). it doesn't seem to come from our FO, and he undermines the point in his own piece when he acknowledges that AD can come back, look great, and get hurt again. you can't make decisions based on that, imo. and i don't think we are. we might tell people that (though again, no evidence here that we did), but that could just be a negotiating tactic.

glad pincus (and others) agree with me that a first for a 34 year old is kind of dangerous. maybe detroit gets it, but they'll have to eat bad salary to get it. and someone may do that (e.g., mavs might give them a 1st on top of THJ or bertans). but they can't have our expiring contracts AND a 1st, and we don't have any bad salary to move.

i'll give up expirings and picks for young talent (turner, anunoby, etc.). i'll give up only expirings for older or lesser players (most of the names we've been attached to--trent, rozier, gordon, etc.). if we had bad salary, i might consider giving up bad salary and picks for people in this latter group.

 

bringing same team back sans Brick might sound nice for to continuity but we'll see same result as this season

 

i would do reddish for 2 second rounders in a heartbeat. if that's all it takes, make that deal today