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

It isn't. First round exit looming.

Again, Eason will likely be available. Houston has extensions coming to some guys, and they will pay them before Eason. Have to see how the season plays out, but I'd probably pursue him. We need players in that mold. You'd have to hope Adou can pop and Eason can give us what he's given Houston for the most part this season, and it would help.

With the recent hiring of Bennett, I think there's a chance we might keep our 26 pick, IMO. If that's the case, I would hope we could find another WING that could help immediately on a rookie contract. That would be huge.

 

Can the Nuggets afford to keep Peyton Watson? A look ahead at the summer : r/denvernuggets

Good read.

 

Yup, thanks for sharing. If the Nuggets did decide to move Gordon given his recent injury issues, I'd want to get in on that.

 

didn't realize spencer jones is an RFA, too. we could double squeeze them. someone will take cam johnson off their hands, and they can cut valanciunas (but they'll need a center anyway).

if they want to move on from him, i'm probably out, tbh. he's the perfect fit for their roster, so if they're moving him, it means they think he's cooked or will be very soon. we can't be doing that. he's 30 and the lower body injuries are mounting. his athleticism is a good chunk of his game.

the author thinks teams will pony up for aaron gordon, but the only way i'd even consider is if a) i'm not giving up much in the way of picks and b) you're taking vando.

in all, i feel like we should be all over denver this offseason. i'm sure they're well aware of this and are planning to freeze us out, but that will ultimately require someone with some space helping them, and those teams are in short supply. plus, any team using space to save denver from us is leaving us as the only place with space for other situations (like fallout from giannis/morant trades, etc.).

btw, just had a funny thought that won't happen but would make my day: if denver offloaded cam to some team that wasn't us (like...back to bkn or something), then we offered that team a 1st for him.

anyway, denver and cleveland have some salary issues to solve and some players i want.

 

We gotta stop making excuses for Luka about he’s needs the Center that can roll pick and roll center athletic like Claxton.

hes gotta start making this work. They need to utilize Ayton. And they need to use him like they were at the beginning of the regular season. You force feed him the ball. And you feed him until he doesn’t want the ball anymore.

and then you take over games with Luka down the stretch. Reddick has to get out of his a** and run the right offense.

I’m getting pissed. So let me get this straight. Ayton wasn’t working at the beginning of the season when Luka was averaging 45 points and 47 points a game?????? What happened to that???????

all the movement. We beat the Twolves. Lebron just needs to play off Luka and play the Draymond green role.

Reddick has to run better offense. You got all those athletes. You have to make them pay.

 

few things happened, but one was teams adjusted how they were playing us, and it appears we ran out of counters.

someone else posted the numbers, but ayton is getting as many FGAs as any non-star center gets. it's up to him to make more of them, either literally or figuratively.

 

I feel you but like I’m looking at these teams. I’m not making excuses. We just gotta figure it out. We can win this. But the guys gotta get it together look within thier selves and figure it out and win.

 

i don't know...i watch other teams stocked with guys who can play on both ends and think we just don't have the horses.

the games today:

knicks: brunson and towns are your offense-only guys who are REALLY GOOD on offense. after that, it's a bunch of two-way players who know their roles and play them.
spurs: literally all two-way players. it's disgusting.

nuggets: jokic and murray as the offense-only (but REALLY GOOD on offense), then two-way guys everywhere.
wolves: edwards as the engine (who's actually...not great on defense despite the athleticism--his rating is well below any of our big 3, fwiw), gobert as the defense-only guy (who's REALLY GOOD at that), and then two-way guys (ok...maybe randle's iffy there).

i just think we're two two-way role players away. now, those aren't cheap. aaron gordon, jaden mcdaniels, bridges, anunoby...these are all 30 million per plus players.

larger point is that we're just not going to get there this year. maybe the summer gets us one of those guys, and the deadline or the following summer gets the other, then you've got a couple-year window where you're among the favorites instead of second-tier where we are now.

 

Well you said the biggest one Jaden Mcdaniels there.

We need to find one. I’m glad Luka signed that extension but we can’t keep waisting his prime years.

I think we swing for the fences for the biggest in the offseason Gianiss.

Question is does he want to embrace an Anthony Davis role here.

Watson but who knows what Denver can do.

if it was me I’d be mixing it up right now. Trying to see what works before the playoffs start.

 

I'll have to agree with @abeer3 here.

No amount of mixing it up will fix the flaw in our roster construction. We have no 2-way players. None.

We'll be lucky to make to the 2nd round and it'll take a miracle (or injury to our opponent) to make to the conference finals.

Despite our lackluster roster, I'm just amazed that we sit at 6th in the west with a puncher's chance to make to the 3rd.

 

I agree with tada and mr beer, with the following caveat: talent wins games. If Luka, Lebron and Reaves are all playing 40 mins a game… anything can happen then. So I can see us out in the first round or making it to the conference finals.

 

Well I’m going to be frank as I can.

Nobody knows anything until the post season starts. Nobody knows how this team will play in the playoffs.

Postseason ball is different. It becomes a half court game. Posession by posession.

We can win and get hot. Luka is a half court player.

we have half court defenders in Vando and Smart. Who knows.

nobody I repeat nobody saw us steamrolling Memphis let’s talk about it. You wanna talk about it.

Jaren Jackson jr. Ja Morant. Desmond Bane Dillion Brooks.

we beat them. Beat they a**. They had size athleticism. 3-D. How did we do it???

it was the playoffs!!!!!! AD was insane.

Reaves became him.

you never know. I will say this. Luka has got to step up. Look at the name I have as my avatar. The dude has to bring it. Facts.

Kobe would go above in the playoffs. He has to step up.

Theres always an unknown who goes ape s***. Will that be LaRavia? Or Kennard? or Hachiumura? Or Vanderbilt? Well we’re gonna have to find out.

 

It’s going to be Maxi.
He will average 32,12, and 3.

 

When we run Houston off the court give Luka his props.

 

The chosen one

 

Best Lakers/Mavs model plan

(1) Trade Knecht + 23rd pick + 31 1st to New Orleans for Missi + 32 2nd

• Lakers dump Knecht's contract, and open up a roster spot.
• Lakers ad a 21-year old, undervalued, under-developed, lob-threat and rim-protecting big on a rookie deal for next two seasons
• The "Luka effect" will help maximize Missi's potential as a lob-threat. Luka has shown this already with players such as Gafford and Hayes.
• Pelicans supposedly wanted two 1sts for Missi. Although, he is worth closer to 1.5 1st's, dumping Knecht and Pelicans balancing out with a 2nd helps get them there. This also helps them, since they don't have a pick this year.

(2) Renounce all free-agents except for Reaves. Lakers start free-agency with about 47 million in cap-room.

(3) Go to Denver and tell them you are going to offer Watson a contract around 35-million. Better for both sides to agree to a sign-and-trade. Lakers don't need cap-room tied up, and Denver get something in return. I'm thinking the 33 1st + the 35-million trade exception generated from the sign-and-trade should get it done. Ideally, the contract would be descending, but we can't be too picky either.

• Lakers get a 24-year old, athletic young wing-defender, who has shown significant improvement as a shooter. Although, he has mostly played the 3, he has the size and athleticism to play up a position. This would be our PJ Washington piece. He also has some star upside in the long-term, which is a nice bonus.

(4) This leaves us with only about 13.5 million left in cap-room. That wont be enough to get an impact-level POA shooter, which is arguably our greatest need. So, in order to get there, we waive-and-stretch Vando.

• The Vando cap number would now be around 5.1 million in dead money, instead of 12.4 million. Although, it stings to eat the dead money, the benefits are about 5.9 million in additional cap-room, and an open roster-spot for a more productive player. Lakers then open up about 19.4 million in cap-room.

(5) Sign Keon Ellis to a 4-year deal starting at 19.4-million per year.

• Lakers get a 26-year old, elite POA defender and three-point shooter, albeit smaller sample size. It's going to scale, but this type of player even at 24 mpg is arguably worth 19.4 million. This would be the Derek Jones Jr. piece. 3 and D. Jones was a bit different. He was barely making it to 35% from three, on lower-volume. Ellis is a much better shooter and defender, but not as athletic as Jones, but still athletic enough, and has great length. Shows me flashes of a poor-man's Michael Cooper, in terms of body-type and 3 and D. Also, Ellis blocks shots just like Jones does.

(6) Sign Hayes with the room-exception.

• A case can be made to use it on someone like Dean Wade, but you have to bring back Hayes. He is Luka's buddy on and off the floor, and has shown tremendous improvement this season. This would be the Lively piece.

(7) Round out the roster with vet-minimums, with players such as Tim Hardaway Jr., Javonte Green, Kobe Bufkin, and Dante Exum.

(8) Sign Reaves to a five year contract starting at 41.5 million.

• This is the Kyrie piece.

Lakers end u with an elite screen navigating, ball hawking, deflection causing, shot-blocking 1-2 in Ellis, and an elite super athletic, wing defending, shot-blocking 3-4 in Watson. Also get a potentially elite lob-catching and shot-blocking 5, in Missi. On the offensive side, Ellis and Missi are super low usage, so you don't have to worry about them trying to do too much, and complaining about touches, like the Rui's and the Aytons of the world. Watson is about right at a third-option scorer. He can be aggressive, but could also stand in the corner and drain threes.