2024-25 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

i think it's coping. it's ok. we got luka. we have options going forward and an expectation to compete.

i said in another thread i wouldn't be shocked if we came back in this series; i just admit it's highly unlikely.

 

The guys you like are the exact ones I think we are going to keep(LeBron, Luka, Austin, DFS, Goodwin),barring a big trade involving Reaves.
A starting, hoppy C is a must. I don’t want Hayes at all on this team, but if Rob uses his resources to bring in another defensive wing who can finish, instead of a real backup big like Adams, I’ll understand if Hayes returns.

 

I think we actually win the next one.

 

Heat lost by 55 points at home to Cavs
In game 3 they lost by 37 it was record too.
I could expect that from Oklahoma but not from "heat culture "
And Memphis at least played at home and lost by respectful margins

 

We don’t have the horses to win 3 in a row due to how physical this series is. (Unless Luka and Lebron go scorched earth)

The problem with Vando is, he has no vertical spacing. I don’t know what it is, but he barely gets above the rim on dunks. So you can’t use him as a lob threat or roll man - if he had Stoudemire’s jumping ability, he’d be our Swiss action army knife. As a result, he gets played off the floor because teams help off him, they know their big can recover and challenge him at the rim enough that it’s a bad play for us.

DFS isn’t a perimeter defender. He is a great help defender, and very solid 3-4. We need someone that can defend 1-3 on quick and athletic guys. Like Slick said, this most likely means Rui is the odd man out. Rui, Gabe and Kleber are all expiring, Shake can be cut instantly and Knecht is our only valuable rookie.

 

I’d like to swap out Rui for Bobby Portis.With Dame’s injury the Bucks are probably going to blow that up

 

The other issue is that the Lakers have 4 players who you wouldn't be surprised got 20 points. Luka, Lebron, AR, Rui

Knecht would be another and DFS and Gabe would have hit 7 3's to make that happen as they only shoot 3s

Anyways this is to make the point in another eay that the lack of quality 2 way roleplayers is a hole.

 

Vegando is weak from all the non meat options he eats

 

True but Luka and Lebron, are capable of dropping 30 plus, coupled with a high clip of assists and rebs, on anybody. That's not a common thing either. You can scheme to cover for guys, that aren't good at creating their own shots. They have to be able to contribute in other ways tho.

 

Funny thing is, Jarred was considered to be a scorer, at PG in HS. He just wasn't gifted with springs. If he had them, he'd be a star caliber player

 

I really like Bobby Portis, he's a good big - can shoot, defends 3-5, is a good rotational help defender and is really good in transition defence. He has some grit about him.

I think if the Bucks blow it up, he may opt out of his final year contract and we could nab him with the full MLE at around 13m per for 4 years. I think he'd go for that.

 

All the better if they can keep both.I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Portis.

 

I always did like Boozer.

 

The Heat culture is overrated. They had some great players during their run, that is more important than " culture ". I do give their scouting department props tho. They have a history of uncovering overlooked gems. We should steal thier top scout.

 

Giannis did say that he wanted to see all the Euro guys in the big TV markets one day.

 

We don’t have the draft capital to land Giannis. We’d need at least 3 firsts and some swaps in my opinion.

But… and this is nuts… we could land Durant. Gabe, Vando, Rui and Kleber could get it done. Not sure if Suns would be interested unless we sent a first, but that’s a lot of roll players to pair with Booker and Beal.

Our roster would be quite bare of role players.

Luka / Backup Vet Min
Reaves / Goodwin
Lebron / Knecht
Durant / DFS
Mini MLE / Backup Vet Min

Playoff 5 (if healthy) Luka, Reaves, DFS, Lebron & Durant. Durant actually provides some solid rim protection. Would Lebron and DFS restructure their deals enough to bring in Capela with the MLE? This is a 1 or 2 year thing before Lebron and Durant sail into the sunset.

I don’t like it… but I don’t hate it either. What move takes us closer to winning the next two rings?

 

i like a swing on claxton for short and long-term purposes. we could retain some of our better role players in such a deal, imo. we'd then have to hit a home run with the tpmle, which is dicey, but we have luka and lebron.

 

Claxton’s a great contract, it gets cheaper year by year. He’s someone I’ve brought up quite a bit here.

I feel like we only have two moves to make - one of the MLE’s (I prefer the full rather than the mini because I feel like we can attract a real contributor with that even if we are hard capped). And a trade with that last first.

However, I wonder if the Nets consider Rui & Knecht and a second for Claxton. Knecht being the valuable piece for them here.

If Knecht had some kind of value, that could open up 3 moves.

- Move 1: Player A & Knecht for 16-25m in returning salary (Player A could be Gabe or Kleber at 11m or Rui at 18m)
- Move 2: Two of Gabe, Kleber and Rui plus a first for 22-30m in returning salary
- Move 3: the TPMLE or full MLE for 7-14m for a free agent

We could effectively plug the holes we have in our roster with this. Backup guard, big and a sometimes3&D wing.

 

I'm into a Claxton and Cam Johnson trade myself. Secure the bigs first, then Rob can do what he does pretty well...find a cheap, usable guard, or wing to add to the mix.