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

Should Lakers sign Cam Thomas?

 

no

 

yes

 

Why?

 

cause Brooklyn cut him.

 

I’m in the minority on this but I think he’s one of those guys who can just play and if someone can reign him in a bit and coach him they are getting instant offense off their bench.

 

Shocker that that kid who should have been a freshman in high school took a few weeks to get used to the NBA.

Now look. He's playing some of the best ball I've ever seen a rookie play.

 

he's going to be a superstar, and in the not-too-distant future.

 

think i talked a bit about it ahead of the deadline, but i thought they needed to move AD for expirings first and foremost, and they did that. why? mostly because they needed to get out from under the luka trade. people will say the return was too low, but they had an odd-fitting team even if everyone was available, and AD simply cannot play pf anymore. not unless your center is a vuc/lopez (that may be the full list right now?). i also think AD's just not going to be healthy again. i think the move makes sense for washington as a gamble, but the mavs were going to be in the second apron with a team that didn't look like it was contending. next year, they still have lively (if he's not dead) and gafford (and bagley?) at center, flagg/washington/marshall at forwards, and kyrie/christie/tyus jones (their late pickup) at guard. that's really not bad.

as for kyrie, i don't know why he's not playing, as they were expecting him in january. the obvious thought is this is for the tank. they have their pick this year. let irving sit a whole year, then bring him back fully healthy with the above mentioned team and a lotto pick. hell, that lotto pick plus gafford might fetch you something serious on the trade market this summer. now, will they let irving sit the entire year? probably not. but sitting this far already put them out of the playoffs, so if he plays, my guess is it will be sparingly, and just to see how things look.

tl;dr: i thought they did well. you have to just flush the luka trade and move on. they need to be competitive next year bc they don't have their pick in '27, and i think they're set up to do it.

 

Hell yeah...we have the worst scoring bench in the League. That should uptick with Austin back, and Rui coming off the bench. Thomas, Kennard and Rui would be a decent scoring punch

 

thomas is just a really, really bad defender by all metrics i know. actually reminds me a lot of buddy hield's career arc. buddy got a little better on d around this stage (still awful, but not, like, worst in the league awful).

i just don't see how we survive adding even more bad defenders to the mix.

i'd still like to

 

Need buckets more than a marginal defensive upgrade.

 

Bring down all the offense and just lean into it. Let’s win games 140-130

 

I’d rather sign one of Timme, NSJ or Kobe Bufkin when that 900K cap space become available to them

 

So, a detail of the RFA path is that when you do a proposal to a RFA player, that money (say 20 million) is taken of the cap availability so you can't sign other guys with that money. This for...a week! Which is the time the host team have to match that offer.

It's a risk. Not sure we take it. There's Watson, Eason, Ivey...

Also saw Wiggins,Green and KCP have player options. Do you do a backroom deal with any of them and they renounce the option and become FA?
Thing is they all are getting 20M+ and apart from Wiggins, wouldn't want to pay that for them.
On open market, Ayo, Grimes, Thybulle, Huerter, Harris (kinda washed but maybe withva massive pay cut), Agbaji, Williams III, Okogie, Payton, Brown, Melton, Ellis, Landale, Tate, Goodwin, Vince Williams...

There's plenty of opportunities this summer. 3 firsts on draft night (+ a 2nd), 50M in cap space and enticing RFAs and FAs that can round out the roster. Still not sure the main guy (guys like Herb, Dort, etc, a really lockdown defender) is available

Aim is to have the 1st home run with Luka, getting him either 1 elite or 2 very good wings to kickstart the non-Bron Luka era with AR settled as the #2 option

 

Shooting efficiency is one of the most underrated stats in the NBA. This dude is one of the most inefficient players in the League, like worse than Westbrook.

Putting up 25ppg last season in one of the worst teams in the league means nothing. That's why he was cut.

 

We are 3 losses back in the loss column from 2nd place. I find that fascinating given how many games we mailed in.

With Reaves back, OKC is probably trembling a little bit tbh.

 

i think you gauge a) the market and b) denver's interest in a S&T, and then make your choice. everybody knows the FA convos happen way earlier than we hear about them. we have enough money that we could make two (maybe even three) laravia type signings and hold enough to make an RFA offer on watson (feel like that will take 25+ per, right?). but if denver has no interest in working on a s&t AND looks likely to match, we don't bother. i don't know that eason or ivey are worth pursuing (like eason, don't like his health issues, plus houston's currently in MUCH better financial shape than denver).

mentioned this the other day--i can totally see this happening, particularly with wiggins and kcp. wiggins has a year worth 30 and kcp has a year worth 21.

kcp on 3/36 with a partial guarantee on the last year? wiggins 2/50, no options. you still have pretty close to mle money + the room mle to make other additions.

obviously check in on ellis and ayo, even though those teams clearly got them as pre-agency moves. grimes i think is gettable, but we'd have to make a big offer.

if we weren't the lakers, i'd think the space would have a chance to absorb dort or whomever okc has to cut loose to make their finances work.

if you're in the big fish business, we have enough space to just absorb morant or zion. i know, i know...just sayin'.

i'd like at least one guy from this summer that fits with AR and luka and is starting caliber, preferably two. after that, just find creative ways to use whatever flexibility is left.

just don't put everything in the giannis basket. please.

 

Rob already has a deal or two in place with guys who are pushing to get bought out. he's a genius. Watch.

 

That depends on your role..I don't pay attention to that stuff much, when you are talking a 4th-5th option type. He's inefficient in a primary scorers role, we don't need that. Our expectations will be different than Brooklyn..the 25ppg is not some big deal to me in itself

I'm familiar with his game, he can get buckets here.. he can get into the lane and create angles. Guys like him are useful playing off a good facilitator, we have 3,