2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

On to Giannis then.

 

We're not getting Giannis either. He already couldn't bring himself to force his way out of Milwaukee this summer, I can't see him going full nuclear and saying not only is he leaving but he only wants to be in LA and will sign into our space. Because that's what it would take to get him, we're not winning a bidding war for him. I don't think he's going to screw Milwaukee like that.

 

I think that's why you and I keep mentioning Keon Ellis. He fits the need. If Adou and Bronny could evolve in 3&D guys over the next 2-3 years, we'd be pretty set moving forward.

 

Ellis is a nice story for an undrafted player, but IDK about him being the next big thing or not. If the Kings let him walk this summer, he should be responsibly cheap though. Mikal Bridges is unrestricted this summer too. I know the Knicks gave up a bunch of picks, but you never know.

 

Yeah, we need someone of that caliber. The player we package the pick for should have the following:

(1) High-volume 3-pt shooting: 2+ threes per 36 minutes would be ideal. Causes defenses to not sag off of them. Crucial for opening up the floor for Luka, Lebron, Reaves, Ayton, etc.

(2) Decent 3-pt shooting accuracy: 33% + from 3-pt range. Closer to 35% would be ideal, but 33% with volume should be bare minimum. The player could shoot all he wants but does need to make it at a respectable clip. Other factors, such as corners, and catch and shoot situations are also important to this equation.

(3) Good perimeter defense: A DBPM of 0.0 or greater is a good indication of a player's defense. This is not too common for perimeter players, so if you could get one of these guys that could shoot, you probably have your self a good 2-way player.

Yeah, Keon Ellis might be a good player to target with that pick.

 

Kawhi spoke. Definitely the statement I wanted to hear. Not evasive. Direct. Said it’s not accurate. Said they’ve been bankrupt for awhile but the media won’t say that or doesn’t know that.

said admitted he got paid took money so there is an endorsement deal. Said he got paid way more than that. Doesn’t think he got all of it but has to check. Welcomes the investigation.

Kawhi doesn’t speak a lot but when he talks he has no filter and will let you know what’s on his mind.

I was surprised no my lawyers will talk about it. My legal team will say all that went or needs to say or speaks for me.

so now his admission is on record.

who knows what the outcome will be but Kawhi said his statement and manned up to taking the money and getting paid.

 

LeBron ain’t tripping that he hasn’t gotten his contract yet. Seems like he’s ready to play.

 

Steve Ballmer gives millions of dollars to charities. Him and his wife have charities that they donate to.

this was associated with one of the charities. So it is possible that the charity fund kept donating to the charity. He might not check that and the checks go out. Now you can say he should’ve stopped it but as slick said he doesn’t want to cut off good people or good causes because the guy is a slimeball. Meaning the fraudster.

possibly why Ballmer put that money in for those people to keep all thier jobs. This is a team sponsor.

The Key to all of this is Kawhi. As slick said. And the biggest thing is Kawhi basically gave his statement today. Got on the witness stand without getting on the witness stand.

Said Aspiration been Bankrupt for a while wayyyyyyy before the Report came out. That’s key. Is that why Ballmer kept putting money in there????

So I’m sure Silver will interview Kawhi and ask what was the agreement and were you and Steve present in terms of setup of the agreement and how it will work????

Kawhi said today yessss he got paid by Aspiration. Way more than what was reported. But might have not gotten all of his money. He has to check all his records.

I’ve been waiting for a statement from Kawhi. The fact that he went on record on media day in front of LA media in front of media. Tells me all I need to know. No guilt no next question no comment. Looks innocent to me.

Kawhi said it’s innacurate. Kawhi said it’s not accurate.

the fact that he admitted he got paid tells you it all says there was an endorsement and that he got paid for his endorsement.


But I didn’t hear or see anything about Circumvention. Kawhi says there was fraud.

 

Which one did he say?

 

this is getting hilarious, tbh. OJ's word is good enough for me!!

anyway...

he will not be cheap. he's 25 and grades out defensively ahead of guys like kcp (in his prime) and derrick white. in fact, among POA defenders, he was in this group last year:



that's dyson daniels, thybulle, cason wallace, and jaden mcdaniels all right around him.

lest you think it's a one-off, this is the year before:



note he's the only "movement shooter" on either list, as well. the combination is rare. this is the guy.

i think his minimum salary will be 25 per, tbh.


good news is he's a UFA and we have a ton of cap space as of now. i'm hoping rob has spoken with his agent behind closed doors to try to explain the situation to the kings (who will probably trade him elsewhere for less than we'd offer to just to kangz).

https://aroyalpain.com/kings-have-created-an-unfixable-keon-ellis-problem-01k4qcyvc5rs

he signed a 4 year 150 million dollar extension just this summer.

 

Yeah I saw Snake make that statement and it “looked” like anything but a performance that came from an irate, innocent person. He, being the worst “spokesperson” imagineable for ANY company to choose to pay 28M to for promoting their product or cause …. which was up to 10x MORE than the real celebrities with actual personalities got ….. was TOLD what to say when the inevitable questions came up and was really BAD and unconvincing doing it.

 

He wouldn't be able to force his way here anyway, with Lebron on the team. How would that work?Giannis has given Milwaukee 12 seasons already, He hasn't made the Jokic statement, about finishing his career in Milwaukee. He did say, that he thinks all the Euro guys, should be playing in the big markets. Milwaukee isn't one of them.I think he's outta there next summer myself.

Hold up. We are talking about a 25 year old, that has only played more than 18min a game, once in his 3 year career. That was last season at 24 min. He's 6'4 avg 8pts 3 rebs and 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals. This guy is supposed to command at least 25M per? Based off of what? Some projections based off a small sample size of actual playing time? That's ridiculous

So perusing these charts you put up here..Dunn 6'4 heads the list, avg similar minutes 24min per game. How much does he make? 5.4M

Thybulle 6'7 two time All Defense at 22 and 23 years old, makes 11.5M

The Thompson twins 6'8, Daniels 6"8, McDaniels 6'9, and Wallace 6'4, all younger and all FRP. The first 3 guys are lotto picks. 4 of the 5 avg more minutes per game. Everyone on the list besides Dunn and Wallace are 6"7 or better. Their size and length, provides more lineup versatility, ie those are already more valuable players. Wallace wasn't considered to be the defensive stopper on OKC. That's more Caruso and Dort.

You post the year before charts and where did he land? Right above Cam Reddish. Where is Cam Reddish now? I think you are reaching, reaching like hell actually. Let's see what he does this season, it's a contract season, however I haven't seen anything here indicating, that this kid should be commanding 25M at all.

 

Dame gets paid big money for the Modelo beer commercials, and doesn't even speak in them. You cats still haven't made a logical connection between 62M invested and the 21m The Hyena was paid. The charity stuff should be easy to check out. They have to account for the money they spend. So if none of that money, found it's way into the CEO or the Hyena's pocket. What are you going to say then? Oh well, it's still suspicious? I don't see where the CEO was charged with running a Charity fraud either.

You guys have simply made up your minds that something happened, and using a bunch of vague stuff as definitive proof of something. The Feds have all the paperwork, they know where every dollar went. I'm pretty sure a lot of people actually got paid by Aspiration, that's how a pyramid scheme fraud works, unfortunately that probably includes the Hyena.

 

You haven't explained why the donation to the charity, is supposed to mean anything. The books should clearly show where the money was spent. So if none of it went to the CEO or the Hyena, what exactly is your point here? I noticed your sidestepping of my example of the Mega pastor example. Stuff like that actually happens a lot in real life. If the charity is legit,why should it be punished because the CEO was a crook?

 

Quack quack …. quack quack quack …. played loudly with headphones on after ingesting common sense schrooms. Yep ya got me …. my mind’s made up.

 

My thing is, accusations aren't always true period. It doesn't matter, if I personally like or loathe an individual. Many people have been convicted of crimes, that they didn't commit. This is a real fact of life, a lot of convictions are later overturned, yet they seemed, to be no brainers at the time.

We have to be wary as a society, of making up our minds on things. when all we have is one side of a story. I just don't see the logic here honestly. The Hyena has a reputation of asking for stuff(allegedly) the league investigated his original signing with the Clippers.

They didn't find anything amiss. So with the scrutiny shown towards this dude. Ballmer supposedly cooked up a scheme, to blow 62M in order to cover up , illegally funneling this clown 28M? Lol..and then to believe that he reported these people to the SEC, in order to cover his tracks?That really doesn't make any sense.

As D Fish said, The Hyena most likely, had a very valid and legal contract, with those people. With enough stipulations to justify whether he made appearances or not.

So we are left with a lot of innuendo, based off the guys(alleged) track record, which again, has already been investigated, and no impropriety was actually ever discovered.

However if you are predisposed, to believe he's guilty, that exactly what you are going to see. A mountain of " overwhelming evidence " that really doesn't exist. I'm just pointing out, that Adam Silver shouldn't be predisposed to believe anything, like me, the investigation will reveal what's what. Then we can all judge based on the findings, AFTER getting the whole story.

These people weren't his friends, they were a potential business partner. They were offering 330M, that's not chump change. So no, I don't think the charity donation is some big deal. Without knowing the facts, about this charity. If it's legit, I don't get this big deal. Nobody has said that guy ran the charity, it just says he founded it.

 

you and your counting stats. how's russ doing, btw?

the reason dunn was available at that price was because he shot like vando for the first several years of his career (and really hasn't improved much).

thybulle's got significant injury issues and also shoots like vando (with the exception of last year on a small sample size).

the going rate for defense-only non-centers is sub-MLE.

no idea what point is attempting to be made here. i'm sorry sacramento has a crowded back court and prefers not to win?

says the guy missing the big, glaring, red reason why cam reddish is out of the league.

probably with westbrook, building houses.

having looked, the floor may be 20 instead of 25. but the difference is that he's a 40% three point shooter on reasonable volume AND is one of the best POA defenders in the league.

i wouldn't expect you to understand it because you swore up and down to all of us that the other guy who fits this description (look at the top of last year's list) was "replaceable" for basically the same exact reasons you're giving now, lol.