2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

I like the framework. Marginal improvements but may set well the team for the future. Really double downs on this group as 9 of the top 12 remain the same.
You trade Ayton, Vando and Knecht for Claxton, Williams and Jones. Basically 2 scrubs for 2 rotation players and a better starter.
We also still have 2 picks in that process for a future deal. It's not all in but a steady growth and assets for a step up later on.
Claxton can be Diabate. If Hornets go for Claxton they won't want to pay Diabate. We might. He's worth a pick + Knecht. We keep Vando for another deal

I'm into spending 1 pick in a center. Be it Claxton, Diabate, Gafford. They are all worth it.
Then I'd see value in sending 2 picks for Herb if we get rid of Vando. Maybe Missi comes too as a sweetener. Herb's contract is really sweet. 14M until June 30. Then jumps to 20 and stays around there for 3 years, it's good value and an immediate fit of a defensive specialist this team needs. Him and Smart at the same time is a nightmare for offenses.

Wiggins is nice too but he's not Herb defensively. If we could add both would be awesome. Not sure Wiggins signs for us to come off the bench until Bron leaves.

Although if we get Herb, Wiggins and Jones (or Ellis, Thybulle, Eason, so on), it might soften losing Bron this offseason.

Luka (32) | Kennard (16) | Bronny
AR (32) | Smart (16) | Smith Jr
Wiggins (28) | Jones (12) | Jake (8)
Herb (26) | Rui (22) | Thiero
Gafford (24) | Williams (16) | Hayes (8)

That's a deep team.
Trade Vando, Ayton, Knecht and all picks for Herb and Gafford.
Use 48M in cap space on Wiggins (4/80 starting at 18), Williams (4/55 starting at 11), Rui (4/60 starting at 13) and Kennard (3/24)
Use room (9) on Jones. Smart PO with wink-wink offer next year.
That makes Hayes, Jake and Thiero 3rd string players. That's IMMENSE value for each of them. We are winning all their minutes.
We lose Bron but we get depth and better fitting pieces and specific skills.
I'm not locked into Kennard and Rui staying, but if Bron goes I see value in keeping them to have some continuity. As we should go hard on defensive guys for additions, they may play a role in keeping the offensive strength of this team that we can struggle a bit with by losing Bron. But they can be turned into any 2 FAs

 

https://x.com/PlayoffDude/status/2067591285620576308?s=20

Here it comes things are starting to stir a bit. Rob is on the clock.

 

Why would Washington want to send us back AD? I thought they were riding that high horse on the idea of AD, Trea, and whoever they choose. AJ would be nice there, but Petersen might be nice there too.

In no way would I be sad to have AD back with Luka, BUT.....I don't think we NEED him back.

Utah REALLY might have the better end of this deal, whether they become a superstar or not. I mean either take Boozer's kid because Boozer was a big deal for the Jazz or end up with AJ and keep him in Utah since they loved him at BYU.

 

Kessler to L.A. confirmed.

 

Kessler would completely change the dynamic of the roster. Our defense becomes different and we start to funnel teams to the paint like we did with AD. It hides weaker perimeter players which helps Luka/AR.

We probably also lean more on the 3 part of the 3&D wings. Which are cheaper too.

Caveat is the postseason where Kessler types have been played off the floor. Duren, Hartenstein, Gobert, Robinson have all struggled in the playoffs.

 

Love is not THE GUY, but you need a Pau kind of PF to play next to Kessler now to protect the paint then.

If LeBron wants to play that spot, that's fine....but he's got to find it in him to do it.....otherwise, we need another pretty big guy to play next to Kessler and then everything is protected enough to be fine. Funnel to the paint all you want at that point.

 

yeah, this is why i was saying earlier that i'm not sure i invest heavily in a center. you can't do the vet min thing we've been doing for years, but near max centers are a luxury that can sometimes bite you.

i actually liked what houston was trying with two mle-ish vets like adams and capela, understanding that when the playoffs came, sengun would get the bulk of the center minutes.

our roster construction isn't quite like that, though, as we don't have a pf that can switch up to center.

but if luka's demanding kessler, then it is what it is.

 

Well and Mark Walter is around to have a voice this off-season, right? So with Luka and Mark running the show, there should be some results that are worthwhile this year.

 

I don't get that logic bro..this team won a playoff series, without it's two main scorers..that would indicate a full rebuild isn't necessary to me. Luka and Austin haven't even won 2 playoff games together...I'm a bit cautious on deciding to tear it all down, to rebuild around an unknown quantity.

Yeah we know who Luka is, but we don't know that Austin; is a legit playoffs 2nd option yet.I really don't care about thier personal achievements, I want to advance in the playoffs. That perspective is still murky with this combination IMO.

Walker Kessler has some injury concerns too..he hasn't played a full season yet in his 4 campaigns , and he's missed more games in each consecutive season, since his 1st. That makes me nervous too.

 

Vanderbilt, Knecht, 25th pick, 2031 1st to Dallas for Gafford and 49th pick.

Why for Lakers?

• Luka wants an A-list / long-term center. Although Gafford isn't quite A-list in the broader scope of the NBA, he is very likley A-list in Luka's mind, due to their previous success together
• Proof-of-Concept: As mentioned, Luka and Gafford have already been highly succesful together
• Gafford provides what Kessler does, but at half the cost, and Gafford is also much more durable
• Gafford alone is worth a late first - so this part is fair
• Dumping Vanderbilt and Knecht likley costs an unprotected futire 1st, so this part is also fair
• Lakers get the 49th pick, which is a nice bonus

Why for Mavs?

• The 25th pick is a nice building block piece that Dallas could select and use immediatly
• The 2031 unprotected 1st is a great asset to use in another trade, or hold on to
• Knecht is a nice flyer to take - he still shot almost 35% from three last season on high volume, even with all of the trade fallout and issues
• They liquididate Gafford's long-therm money, which doesnt seem to be in their plans
• The new Mavs management likely doesn't care about the Luka stuff

 

totally different team, got an opponent that got caught looking ahead and imploded, was summarily smashed in the next round. i put like, zero stock in the houston series being a sensible predictor of anything going forward.

it's really about luka more than austin. reaves is just a player we can't afford to lose for nothing and aren't in a position to replace or make a fair trade involving.

he actually concerns the hell out of me, too. wouldn't be the route i'd go.

 

i'd want the 30th back instead of the 49th.

another possibility would be if ayton opted in, we could move him, knecht, and a lotto-protected future 1st for gafford. mavs get off 5 million in immediate salary, gain a future first, get a playable center to whom you'll have early bird rights, and get a one-year look at knecht as a potential salvage piece.

i think if it weren't for the optics, this would be an easy sell.

 

In terms of the picks, I wouldn't get too greedy with it. Remember, we still have to somewhat re-build that relationship, so throw them a bone. Yeah, I like the Ayton idea too, even if we have to keep Vando.

 

Gafford is probalby the zag move right now. Kessler is the zig right now. Well, we will see what happens, probably not either of them.

 

Isn't Love completely done? Why are we talking about the potential 15th man before the big pieces of the puzzle have happened? Not sure I understand this. But this is the season of lies. Better off to ignore everything for another month.

But the offseason predraft/trade season lead up is kind of like crack for fans

 

I know it's crazy, but if you could do both....get Kessler and Gafford.....maybe that would be the In-the-Paint 1,2 Punch we need? Might be a little ambitious.......but dream big?

 

That's a very poor use of resources, imo.

Braun for Vando straight up interests me. Denver can't send Braun anywhere without a pick. They don't have many and probably want to keep them. Turning Vando into Braun is a clear win for us. I don't mind Braun's long contract. He fits well and is an instant key role player.
Vando makes sense in Denver as an Aaron Gordon-lite that can play in the dunker spot

 

I think this is too simplistic, you have to look at the construction of those teams.

Let's start with Duren. For one, I think he and Kessler are pretty different players. Duren's rim protection and P&R defense were better this year, but prior to this year they were big question marks. He's more of an offensive center and rebounder than a true defensive anchor. Whereas Kessler is a true defensive anchor and also a good rebounder, but a less impressive pick and roll finisher to date. But that aside, I think the biggest reason Duren struggled was the Pistons' collective lack of shooting and playmaking. If you go back and watch that Magic series, the Magic are putting size on Cade (Franz before he got hurt) so they can switch the Cade/Duren P&R, and the guy guarding Ausar (usually Suggs) is playing centerfielder and crashing down on Duren because Ausar is a complete non-shooting threat. That Cade/Duren P&R was the Pistons' bread and butter in the regular season, but the lack of shooting or other release valves in the offense suffocated it. I don't think that's an indictment of Duren; he played poorly but its more about playing him next to another complete non-shooter in Ausar and a streaky shooter in Tobias while also having only one guy that can dribble the ball.

For Hartenstein, it's not really that he individually struggles in the playoffs. It's that OKC low-key doesn't have a ton of collective playmaking either, especially if J-Dub is out/injured like he was pretty much all year. If you're not giving them a bunch of live-ball turnovers, their halfcourt offense starts to look pretty clunky when it's just Shai iso's over and over. Especially if Hartenstein is in, which allows their opponent to park a rim protector near the rim. Playing Chet at the 5 greases the wheels of their offense, which for them is the better net outcome given their strong perimeter defenders.

Gobert is similar - he gets "played off the floor" because he becomes a hindrance offensively. It was less of an issue in Utah and Minnesota when they had an actual PG like Conley that can get him easy looks, its been tougher when its just Mitchell or just Ant dominating the offense because those guys are downhill scorers more so than playmakers.

Robinson's issue is that he's an atrocious free throw shooter. Kessler has been pretty bad most of his career, but in an extremely small 5 game sample size this year he was at 70% on 4 attempts per game. You can't bank on that small a sample size, but with him now shooting some threes I do think his touch is coming around.

Basically, these guys get "played off the floor" mostly because they gum up your offense against playoff caliber opponents, but I'm just not that worried about it because we are differently situated than those teams. We have Luka Doncic, who is the best P&R ballhandler, lob thrower and scorer in the world. You want to park your rim protector under the rim because Kessler is out there? Fine, Luka will just make 15 of those 10 foot push shots, or just call for the screen higher and step into an off-the-dribble three because your guy can't come up to the level of the ball. We have Austin who was one of the very best P&R creators by a points per possession perspective. We need more collective shooting no doubt, but JJ refuses to play a second non-shooter in addition to a center. I just think our offensive ecosystem negates a lot of concerns with this center archetype.

 

It's an interesting rebuttal but I disagree. Hayes was also played off the floor with Luka playing last year. Non-stretching 5s just tend to not work in the playoffs. P&R is the simpler offensive play, which is why it works better in the regular season as it flows off of feel.
Whereas in the playoffs you can scheme defenses to the smallest detail and are able to pack the paint and make it tougher for offenses.

Even when we won in 2020, Markieff played crunch minutes over Howard/McGee. This year conference finalists had Towns, Wemby, Chet and Mobley playing at the 5 in the 4th.

It's just what it is. A 5-out offense opens the paint when defenses shrink. These finalist teams usually have elite POAs and you need all the space you can get. They also get isolated in the perimeter defensively as teams hunt switches.

I don't agree with 1 rule fits all though. There may be teams that are able to play a true big and go far in postseason. And a Luka team may be one of them. It just isn't happening often

 

I wouldn't do that. Even 35 million for Kessler alone would be bad enough. We already have a relaible second or third-unit big in Hayes. We could also draft a developmental rim-running big with the potential 2nd round pick, and also might have Love as another option at center. Maybe one more cheaper reliable rim-running big, if any.