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

i'm still convinced that had we offered both picks to indy, they'd have asked for more, too. we played it right and came out better than if we had caved early. way better.

 

LOL you pick and choose which ones to believe? Just as reputable reports and at least 2 maybe more got descriptions of what it was like with Russ in the locker room AT THE END and understandably so as he was not happy with all the trade talk. Hell we saw it on TV with him defying Ham in almost getting us a delay of game deliberately taking 20 seconds or whatever to leave the floor. You don’t even believe your own eyes. Just like claiming you never saw spacing issues and / or photos of them on line and a clogged middle with Russ being left 20 feet open at the 3 point line. Incredible the lengths you have gone to … to tell everyone else they’re wrong with what we also have seen with our own eyes.

But you’re right he’s gone now and time to move on. Thank gawd!

 

Different scenarios dude...That Nets/Lakers thing made sense to me..the Kyrie vs owner thing was personal IMO. The Westbrook stuff about locker room cancer and all that, No..I'm not buying that one at all. Multiple guys on this team have already said that he was a great teammate. Where the hell were these "insiders" then? Especially the same guys from the Athletic, that posted the stuff from the players I mentioned.


FWIW..leaving Westbrook open didn't lose us games. They have been leaving Westbrook open from the perimeter, since High School..he's still heading to the Hall of Fame. We didn't bring him in to be a shooter. That guy has more career playoffs wins than most of the guys in this league, so it's not like that take, is some kind of proven undisputed fact.

But I digress...YES....New players, new possibilities starting tonight. Now we can argue about Darvin being a poor coach, who is stuck in his ways or not. I'm rocking with Hamm at the moment. We can judge the upcoming results..

 

agreed - other teams tried to take advantage. Rob wisely stood pat.

 

NO

 

leaving westbrick did lose gms, he either took the bait n brick or the paint became congested leading to more difficult offense

 

And I guess Ross ended up picking Phoenix over Dallas after all

 

Phoenix. Boy.

That mf team is going to be damn near impossible to beat.

 

Denver with a sneaky good trade deadline. Adding Bryant and Reggie Jackson for basically a bunch of seconds is a steal

 

And I hope that is the case, but Phoenix gives me pause since their core has actually made a title recently. Brooklyn was a core that never did anything together and also barely even played together.

Don’t get me wrong, f*** Phoenix, I’m just saying that’s a squad.

 

they lost hyland for nothing, though. don't think reggie replaces him, even though he was inconsistent.

 

Chris Paul will get hurt between now and whenever they’re eliminated, it happens every single year at the end of the season. I don’t see them winning the title this year, but next year they might be the favorite.

 

He was a locker room malcontent so I think overall it's a plus. Reggie is still a legit NBA rotation players to replace him and it gives them a solid backup guard

 

Seems we're still looking for a wing sized defender and according to Buha it might be Danny Green

 

ooh, not sur about that last part. reggie's been awful the past two years. like "there's a reason they want russ" awful.

but yeah, jokic does wonders for scrubs, so who knows? i just think that was an unquestionable on-court downgrade.

 

Nuggets needed defense , weird additions imo

 

No doubt a big sized wing is what we are missing, but those are almost impossible to come by in the middle of the season. Team's simply dont let those players go without asking for the moon, and they certainly don't buy out really good ones.

No surprise really about Terrence Ross and Reggie Jackson and the teams they chose to head to and I am not sure either of Danny Green or Will Barton would make our rotation, but if I had to choose one I would go with the later. I probably like Green more but at his age and coming off an ACL, I question what he could offer.

The biggest question that remains is what Ham will do with this roster once James and Bamba are back next week (hopefully). He started both point guards yesterday and I can understand that when Dennis was the most seasoned scorer not named AD still on the team last night and we willed ourselves to a huge win against one of the teams we are chasing. Not convinced however it needs to stay that way though. All three of Troy Brown Jr, Wenyen Gabriel and Lonnie Walker were used in a 10-man rotation, but it is clear that is going to have to be withered down when James comes back.

I really like what Vanderbilt adds to the team with Hachimura and we havent had two athletic young bigs like that on the team in a long while. We needed it last night while AD struggled with his shooting.

Beasley didn't shoot well, but it was only one game and I still feel he is the best option at SG along with Reaves who has looked better his last two games. Walker brings athleticism but is really overmatched defensively.

Still need to see more of them out there, but if I were deciding now, this is the 9-man I would run with:

PF Rui Hachimura
SF LeBron James
C Anthony Davis
SG Malik Beasley
PG D'Angelo Russell

I would probably start Beasley although it is already clear I am not likely ending games with him. But the chemistry he has had with Russell probably would serve us well as far as outside shooting is concerned and I still think he is a better defender than Walker. Rui brings a bunch of attributes we simply don't have, especially if he can add that shot more to his offensive game.

PG Dennis Schroder
SG Austin Reaves
F Jarred Vanderbilt
F Troy Brown Jr.

These are the four, right now that I am using most games and the clear one you would like an upgrade on is Brown, who although has played neutral is still undersized defensively. I really like what Vanderbilt brings to the table and his emergence likely ends Gabriel's rotation minutes. Not sure how Bamba fits yet, but I am skeptical they can work him in for meaningful minutes. I understand the attraction to Dennis, he is still probably your best penetrator not named LeBron, but I can't see how it is beneficial because of his size to keep giving him 30 minutes a night, especially when he is just an average to below average shooter. I still think sooner rather than later, Ham is going to have to move away from his love affair with him. I am 100% convinced already that Reaves needs to be with D'Lo and Rui (and AD and LBJ of course) when the game really matters, but depending on matchups I wouldn't be surprised if Vandy earns his way in there over Hachimura.

SG Lonnie Walker
PF Wenyen Gabriel
C Mo Bamba

The three that probably will have to fight for minutes once everyone is back. Maybe, just maybe Ham finds a way to stretch AD more and have Bamba in there as a rim protector and I am sure there will be times when we need Wenyen's spark, but Walker definitely looks like the odd man out when it comes to off-guard minutes; which is unfortunate because he really added that 3rd scoring earlier in the season. Ideally you do find that wing and put Brown among these four; just not sure either of Green/Barton is that and if we will be able to find one...

Should be interesting to see what Ham does...

 

LOL .... Rob pulling off Vandy (AND Hoochie Mama) wasn't enough? And he's not going to end Gabriel's minutes. See the new bench mob last night.

 

Bring Stanley back! With Green probably signing with the Cavs or C Bags, Stanley is probably the next best option.