2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

AD is a top 8 player when healthy.

LBJ? Is he top 15?

 

i think the only consensus from the summer reporting is that, at minimum, indy wanted both picks, unprotected. the question is whether they were asking for even more than that, imo.

and i think the FO has to protect the brand and talk a big game, title-wise. you can't pull a popovich if you're working for the lakers. but internally, it's quite clear they don't believe we're anywhere close right now. they've basically leaked as much.

had they said it publicly, fans would be more upset about that than they are about us claiming it's ring or bust. and i mean, on some level, they're not lying about that, either. they're not interested in finishing 8th instead of 11th.

and we can definitely quibble about that in a big picture sense.

here's where i can also split the difference. i think we all agree that the clippers' two stars and a bunch of over mle players is the best way to raise your floor. the clippers' 10th guy is probably better than our 4th guy, etc. but if you're title-or-bust, that matters not.

i'm actually not title-or-bust, but the lakers--and most of their fans--are. so, you don't move for myles turner because it takes you out of any big swing possibilities for years.

 

i think so. the defensive slippage is very real, though. he's still a plus defender due to his size and incredible hoop iq, but it's nowhere near where it was.

bigger issue is that if 2/3 of the cap is used on a top 8 and a top 15 player, you can't have another 45 million wrapped up in a bench player.

i don't know why i always repeat myself. the russ trade killed us. now it's just making the best of a bad situation.

 

the thing is most of those mle type guys they have now came via trades but they used guys they did sign like lou/bev in those trades....we cant be swinging for 3rd star n then sign bunch of 1yr guys every single season n expect good things to happen

 

Myles and Buddy aren't worth two picks. Never have been.

All you have to do is look at history; Rob like swinging for the fences. The one minor move I love he did was signing Markeiff on the buyout market that year we won the title.

Otherwise? He's nailed the Lonnie signing. I like Brown. Reaves was a solid pickup (more so credit goes to scouting but Rob gets credit, too). THT for Nunn was whatever. Thought we'd get more out of Bev. Nunn has been a bad signing.

The most advantageous thing LBJ and AD can do is win games. If they're the supposed "leaders" that think that they they are a couple of players away, then LBJ better be holding up his end of the bargain and play like a top 10 player.

Season will be make or break in December as soon as this road trip, IMO. Let's see what transpires.

 

I think he can be a top 8 players on some nights. Top 15 on some others. Age, durability, etc. The mind might be willing but the body just can't do things it used to.

 

Lakers are 26th.

I wonder what the rights to Louis Labeyrie can get us.

 

totally agree on the bolded. my point is that it's all about the russ trade. we consolidated assets and killed our flexibility. then teams tried to prey on us instead of just doing straight business. is what it is. we'll pound those bastards soon enough, too.

and i will reiterate that if i were jeanie, i'd pull out the claws at the next owners' meeting. it's clear we're being treated differently than other teams in negotiations; maybe they need to be treated differently in revenue sharing. the league can live without the indiana pacers.

not with turner as an impending FA who would be foolish to sign an extension. not to mention his injury history and the fact that he's killing it conveniently in a contract year. huge red flag. where was this the past three years?

especially if--and we don't know this for a fact--it was nunn OR retaining caruso. good lord. my personal opinion is that you just keep both! but if ownership said we can only pay that much for one guard, and you chose nunn over caruso? oohh, you're close to fired. again, though, we don't know what happened there.

that's why i'm so disheartened by last night's loss. that was a must-win for many reasons, and they lost in spectacular fashion. i'm not listening to you when you lose that game.

at this point, they'll have to exceed my expectations on the road trip. but yes, likely to be a turning point in one direction or the other.

this, my friends, is why we can't make the trades everyone thinks should already have been made.

 

I think so but he’s got to realize when he doesn’t have it and work through AD.

 

That Indy trade is dead and has been since talks broke down.


I do feel like that story is being milked.

 

Also, the reason why people keep discussing trades here is because this is literally the trade thread.

 

were people mad about discussing trades? i wasn't. i'm just pushing back on the fury over trades not already happening/imaginary deadlines.

 

top 15 sounds right

he can't drive to the hoop with ease anymore like he used to and instead settles for outside shots which sometimes kills the offense. when his shot isn't falling he needs to just set up AD. he's still got that crazy court vision and elite passing ability, but his ability to score is simply not where it was just a few years ago. it's amazing he was able to do it for so long

 

2 shot attempts for AD in the 4th quarter of a game, where we blew a 17 pt lead is unacceptable. That's on Darvin too.

 

That seemed to be the vibe of a few posts but I could have read the intent wrong.

 

I agree. I gotta hope this was pointed out strongly in film sessions.

 

Top 15 sounds about right, especially if you take into account his lazy-a** defense.

I would trade him....

For sure:

Jokic
Embiid
Giannis
Doncic
Tatum
Morant
Edwards
Steph

Probably:

Butler
Lillard
Young
SGA
Haliburton
Melo Ball

+ players I wouldn't trade for, because of a dubious fit with AD, personal hate or other reasons, but I think are better or may be on par:

AD, of course
Markannen
Booker

You may argue with some, but the sheer fact that I can come up with a somewhat reasonable list is telling. That same list would be 5 players 2 years ago.

 

BREAKING NEWS: Matt Ryan just got waived.

 

Ouch. I mean it was obvious he was the odd man out given his unguaranteed contract situation and being such a one-dimensional player. But that’s gotta hurt, AD was joking around with him after the game, and his game tying 3 against NOP was one of the few bright spots of the season.

My question is, why now? If it’s to open up a spot for trade flexibility, I don’t think there’s any reason you have to do it before a trade is even agreed upon. Maybe some of the other guys we’ve been working out like Harkless are willing to take a flyer on an unguaranteed deal?