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

The more I watch, it's a shame we didn't get lucky with injuries. I don't think the teams are that good. If the Lakers had healthy luka/lebron/AR and were in the eastern conference, we may have also been in the finals and won this thing lol.

Knicks have had god tier luck. Wemby with the dumb pass in game 2 and now Fox with his turnovers and not running the clock out in game 4. He saved Josh Hart from being the Joker of NYC. Ridiculous.

 

I'm right there with you, I think a healthy team and we beat OKC. Spurs would have struggled against Luka & Lebron - that level of size and playmaking is alot. Just get Ayton to set holding screens on Wemby to get mid range shots.

We outplayed the Knicks all year too. I've been in favour of running it back with some key improvements, but I'm not so certain that happens.

 

Dearen Fox dumb a** play and he’s supposed to be the point guard. Makes you wonder right. Like Camden Boozer Duke who threw the ball away and could’ve just dribbled.

He’s certainly got to get traded in the off season.

 

Fox is an idiot. Even if Foxs logic is to score that makes it a 3 point game which still makes it tied. Why isn’t he slowing down holding the ball and getting contact. Anouby fouls him if he just waits. Fox basketball IQ has been terrible in this series. You can’t come back how San Antonio imploded. Fox has been awful.

 

Fox out JR Smithing Jr Smith taking away from Wemby bricking 2 FT's - what a choke job

 

how are you not able to score every time when the other team has alvarod and brunson in the same lineup? f***ing bizarre

 

you know how Pioneer???? You take 8 threes in a row. And you miss them all.

 

Wemby post game looked like I can’t with these guys.

he had no answer. I think he’ll respond game 5 and put a huge game. But it might get ugly game 6 I could still see this going 7. If Wemby wins this he’s the man. But you can’t do it by yourself. He might need a couple 40 point games.

 

Fox ball watching Brunson. You gotta crash the boards.

 

Slick give your assessment. Make some sense of your boy Fox.

can he show his face in San Antonio?

 

Wemby looked like he wanted to put hands on Fox.

 

Great exercise and content, thanks!

But I think context REALLY matters. NOLA has been an awful team, losing a lot. It has injuries all the time so there's no continuity, no consistency on the role and no chemistry and synergies building. The years they had the pick they were playing to lose, playing g-leaguers. So data is a bit pointless.

Same with KCP, Smart, DJJ, Finney Smith, Monk, etc. So many guys that suck in bad teams and flourish in good teams with a set role.

Health is the same. If you're in a bad team you miss more games, team doesn't want to rush you back, you are also less eager to come back quickly because your team sucks, ending up missing much more games than you would in a different context.

Herb is not a sharpshooter. But he is a solid one. He has good volume, good enough for teams to respect him and will get the best looks of his life here. With his elite defense that's automatically a good fit. It may or may not work out, but he is definitely the prototype of player we need alongside Luka/AR.
He's also young, athletic and I imagine hungry to play in a contender where his defensive abilities can send him to another level.

 

You know I think there is a lot of truth to that and NOLA. For the life of me I can’t figure out why they’ve been such a bad team for so long. Even with AD they struggled to really make much of anything happen - at one point they had Rondo, Jrue, AD and Cousins (pre injuries).

During the recent half decade that had players like Ingram, Zion, Valancunias, CJ McColumn, NAW, Herb, Murphy, Poole. How are they so bad every year?

The only other piece of context we should look at is that Herb starts a new contract at 22m AAV the year after next. If you buy low on him, that contract is a steal at his best, if this is who he is, you’re basically chaining yourself to another Vando.

I think it’s fine to go for Herb, slotting him as a 5th starter who does what Smart does is a no brainer. But maybe I’m being a little greedy when I want to get Thybulle and Spencer Jones too. Really bolstering our perimeter defense with guys who have been hitting the 3 but are dogs who jsut be so helpful.

 

Wemby is why this team is good but also why they lost 2 games they should have won. Live and die by your stars. If anything he should be upset at himself. Missed two big free throws yesterday and also hit a man in the back of the head with the ball in game 2. Fox will get some flap but he did not blow a 30pt lead all by himself.

 

Not to sure about that if all teams are fully healthy. Not sure how the Lakers play when it get physical. The last time the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder was on April 6, 2025, when LA secured a decisive 126-99 victory. This season 0-4.

• Nov 12, 2025: OKC 121, LAL 92

• Feb 9, 2026: OKC 119, LAL 110

• Apr 2, 2026: OKC 139, LAL 96

• Apr 7, 2026: OKC 123, LAL 87

• Lakers Hustle, energy and toughness will be questioned and put to test.

 

yeah, two biggest plays down the stretch were missed boxouts. hart missed castle (how?!) after he blew a wide open layup!

relatedly, so many mental mistakes by both teams that it's hard for me to pick on fox like everyone else is. i mean, he and wemby are the only guys to actually make field goals during the last part of the meltdown (though his jump pass out near half court was freaking shocking...).

it takes a lot of guys working together to screw up like that.

or this.

basically the only guy out there on either team that shouldn't be a bit concerned about their play was anunoby, who was in god-mode. that block followed by that putback, had the huge three before that. 7-9 from three! 30+ points for your 4th option in a crucial finals game.

 

come on, we got swept by an OKC team missing their 2nd best player and it wasn't even close. We could have taken a couple of games with Luka but we're not beating full strength OKC

 

they weren't full strength, though. i think that may be what people mean--the knicks are full strength, some of their opponents haven't been (perhaps most importantly, okc wasn't).

if we were 100% and got to play okc minus williams and then SA with fox at 50% (he looks a little better now, but still not himself, imo), maybe we pull off an unexpected win. health remains underrated as the one of the primary determinants of nba champions.

anyway, i'm actually on your side here in that i'm probably 60/40 "blow the whole thing up save luka/reaves" (as opposed to "bring back the boys").

 

I’m putting it on Fox. Most of it as the point guard. You have to know the game. As the lead guy you know the score. You know secure rebound you don’t attempt it. You hold til foul.

any lead guard would’ve done that

trey young

luka

shai

I get Momentum and it was closer then yall think. I know what’s he thinking. As a guard. He’s thinking oh s*** if I pull up and stop my momentum full speed. It’s a travel or I might have my momentum take me out of bounds. And I ain’t getting that call on the road.

or if I pull up can I keep my dribble slowing down. But you gotta hold that ball. You can’t attempt that.

it’s the equivalent in Football of scoring with 1 minute left and giving Brady the ball back instead of just falling down and letting the game clock run out because they have no timeouts. It was a brain fart but a bad one.

All you can do is hold the ball. And Abeer we just had that conversation about Duke and Camden Boozer. Know the game situation.

Wemby made such a great play.

Now his missed free throws were terrible. I always remember Shaq saying I always made them when they count. And boy did he against Sacramento.

Wembys gotta make those. That’s fatigue.

do yall know they took 8 threes in a row in that 3rd and missed all of them. Champagne was terrible.

I had an NBA guy called me who was in the NBA and said they should have Popovich come down and coach that team. What is Mitch Johnson doing? How do you blow at 29 point lead. How do you not call timeout??? Bad coaching. Now if it was me next game I’d shake it up. Carter Bryant is starting Champagne out to the bench. And Dylan Harper is starting and Fox is going to the bench. Champagne can come off the bench and so can Fox. And I know they been starting getting quick starts. But you gotta get some energy. Carter Bryant has energy. He should’ve been in that last stretch.

also all yall hoop heads in here. Back to the game. As much as it’s the players. It’s the chess. If you see Mike go small with Alvarado and Brunson that’s a desperation move get some beef in there. Punish guys inside. I would’ve liked to see Kornett or Plumlee or Byombo in there to establish some inside presence. Bang around a little bit. Slow the tempo down. Right under his nose the series changer is Kornett. I keep telling yall they gotta slow this game down. Mike Brown wants to make this a perimeter game. If you take the 3’s away and make it inside you can win.

I still believe in this kid. If there’s anyone who can do it. It’s Wemby. He’s locked in and looks pissed. I keep saying it. If you feed the big man inside you’ll win. But they took 3s and let them back in.

Marinate on this. The Spurs have Blown a 29 point lead 16 point lead and 14 point lead in this series. That’s coaching. If they had any kind of game management this game would be 3-1 the other way. The problem is the game the spurs went on there 14-0 run they lost. The game the Knicks went on there 55-25 run they won.


LeBrons done it that’s why he’s goat status with Jordan 3-1 come back against a 73 win team. Wemby can do it against a 3 seed. What the spurs have going for them they’ve gotten up 29 points on this team. They did something right. Keep doing that. And just finish games. In football we finish drives. Basketball. just finish plays. You start strong flying on defense competing and scoring efficient in offense. Going to the basket. Keep going to the basket. Don’t settle for jumpers. That’s the quickest way to get your a** kicked in basketball is settling for jumpers and 3’s go to the basket. If Mitch Johnson wants to keep his job. Just tell your guys go to the basket finish at the rim. Live with the results. Now I’m coaching. That’s Basketball. Just make it simple. You keep shooting threes that’s why Boston is Boston sitting at home.

 

luka and lebron are made to play physical. SGA and chet are not.