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

I see lots of Jerry West in Austin Reaves if it was 1975 we would be saying that.

Austin has a very skilled game. Probably more athleticism than Jerry. Very skilled can shoot.

His court vision is off the charts. He can handle it and make any pass on the court. Crafty with skills. So yes. He has it.

We do this with Jokic I routinely hear Players put him in the ilk of Shaq Wilt Kareem Hakeem.

Why can’t I put Austin With the best? When running his own Team Austin is unstoppable on a basketball court. The whole court is open with spacing cause he can shoot. Crafty to get to the line.

I’ve seen guys work to superstardom. Jalen Brunson lots of guys. We can say this is a top 15 player. I have no problem saying it.

 

I love Thiero. I see what everybody was talking about. This kid is special. Exactly what we need. Athleticism. Can get to the rim. Young wing. Can defend. He’s raw but when he figures it out. Watch out a great find.

I like this team. No trades. Minor ones like Herbert Jones. Keon Lewis Malik Monk.

I think once we get Thiero going we’re gonna have a great squad.

Thiero Laravia and Smart. We should be able to defend it’s the effort.

We just gotta keep developing. OKC is in a class by theirselves. But we’ve seen Luka get hot against them in a playoff series before.

I know this is controversial but after OKC I see us as the clear number 2 and I don’t see anybody getting with us. We’ve got a team that can come in Waves. Just gotta make sure everybody is doing their job.

 

..... and the Ayton Caribbean voodoo JoBu shrine for "good health" instead of hitting a curve ball. Blueprint right there in Major League.

 

Even Lebron not being Lebron that AR Lebron has the be one the most lethal plays in the NBA. Even against Barnes and a tough Raptor D it sliced them up.

Draybron maybe here to stay

 

draybron is the only way forward, imo.

anyway, my favorite stats (LEBRON) are out now for the early part of the season (i guess they wait 20 games). still going to be super noisy, but i'm impatient and wanted to check on things.

first: herb jones--a forum favorite--has indeed been bad. worst numbers of his career by a longshot. is it a small sample/NO dumpsterfire thing? maybe...but he was already trending downward last year. i might put a buyer beware tag on him, considering that his asking price in trade is likely high.

second: keon ellis--my favorite--has also had a down year, but it's mostly on offense. he's shooting 39% from three and takes 3/4 of his shots there, so this might be a sacramento problem. i still think he plugs in here perfectly. that said, sac's tanking his value, and my offer for him would be lower now than it would have been in the summer.

if you're wondering about how these match the eye test, etc., these stats have luka (and jokic, fwiw) and reaves having their best nba seasons to date and rui being basically the same as last year (slight slippage).

has reaves ahead of ant, brunson, booker, etc.

just things to keep an eye on.

i might be back to eyeing thybulle, tbh. he just can't stay healthy.

 

Draybron doesn't seem to work as well with Luka, neither does AR in the Irving/Brunson role. Need more reps for those guys - I think it really makes sense to move rui out of the starters because I think Lebron in Rui corner slot would open the playcalling as Luka seems to prefer just to switch the point of attack at times. Watching Luka is almost liking watching a tru #9 striker in soccer - he's going to go for the kill and if he doesn't have they'll kick it the opposite of the field to get the defense off of them

I've been the conductor of the thybulle train - it's like getting another Smart and you're hoping one will be healthy lol. His defensive metrics are just always bonkers good.

 

18 total for Jake? He’s becoming more and more valuable on D for this team and some nights has it on O too and some nights not as much but does other things as well that help our offense when he’s in.

 

Easy solution - just play Marcus the first 6 minutes and the last 6 minutes of each half. 24 minutes total. If you want to cut it down further, play him the first 6 minutes and the last 4 minutes of each half. 20 minutes total. This idea that you can't start him because we're worried about him getting injured doesn't make any sense. It's not difficult to structure your rotation to start a guy but limit his overall minutes.

 

West averaged 2.6 steals per game in his last season in the league, at 35 years old. That was the first season the NBA tracked steals. Imagune how many steals West actually got? He could be the GOAT in that category with context. I also bet Jerru dunked a lot more than Austin. I did see Jerry dunk in limited footage, and I think Jerry himself said in an interview he had a high vertical. I completely agree with the comparison, but in terms of defense and athleticism, I think Jerry was much better in those areas compared to Austin. I would be tempted to compare the Luka/AR backcourt to the West/Goodrich backcourt. That is a lot of fun to think about. But Jerry's superiority on defense throws teh comparison off. Meaning, West/Goodrich two likely didn't need a 3 and D player with them, but Luka/AR do need that. Nonetheless, it's a good comparison, and something for fans to be excited about.

 

Yeah Austin is not more athletic than Jerry, much as I hate to bring up that he's NOT an uber athlete and uber POA defender that would be this uber better fit with Luka. LMAO. And he HAS even upped his D too this year. Whatever he lacks on the defensive side of the ball is buried in an avalanche of all the good things he does with the ball on offense, his rebounding, his B-ball IQ and being one of those rare players that truly has IT and is clutch as hell .... which is in fact a great comparison to Jerry West.

 

Yeah Jerry was on the all defensive team every year that the all defensive team existed except for his final season. He was 1st team all defense 4 times amd 2nd team one time. 1st team all the way up until his age 34 season. Ironically one of the most under rated players of all time. But Austin has many of these offense qualities, like being a great scorer and passer. If West was on this team he would be our POA defender, end of story. I guess he was AR on offense with Caruso defense if you will. But more like Marcus Smart defense. That guy was a great player.