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

who is gianiss?

is he on the same team as kawaii?

 

I don’t get the infatuation of building around Luka AND Austin. It’s pretty clear to me that it is going to be very tough to win a championship if those are your two highest paid players. Unless you are able to surround them with players like Lu Dort, Mcdaniels, Mobley, Jaren Jackson Jr., etc. Which I just don’t even think is possible bc they don’t have the assets/capital. Dallas was able to do it with Luka/Kyrie but look who they had around them. Are they going to be able to do that? Also at that point Kyrie is obviously the superior player when it comes to production in the playoffs in comparison to current AR. I just think they are in a tough spot.

 

If the Cavs pull that off then that’s a fleece

 

Latest from Stein and Fischer

Ellis

Yeah, you're not getting off Monk AND getting a pick.


Hunter

 

That's a very expensive "mistake"

 

If we have Hunter on the books for $25 million next year, any chance Denver would want to sign and trade Watson for his expiring? It would delay their payroll reduction a year, but would kind of solve their predicament of needing to shed money but not wanting to just trade one of Braun/Watson/Johnson for nothing in the middle of a championship window

 

a bunch of role players, many of whom were not particularly highly thought of prior to that season?

live look at the person who discovered the misuse:



btw, i'm still confused by the cavs' pursuit of ellis. and why would sac take on hunter's deal next year when they're trying to get rid of derozan and monk already? i guess "kangz" but i don't get any of this.

i just hope we've made it clear to ellis's agent that we are prepared to make an offer to him above what he could extend for this year. let someone else trade for him, then we just sign him outright in july.

 

I the Cavs want Ellis to be what they were trying to get out of Lonzo. I don’t think Garland is in their long term plans anymore and they want a 3&D type next to Mitchell. Especially if they plan on adding a wing that can do some playmaking for you in the summer.

 

then they'll have to offload garland, and i don't think anyone is taking that contract given his injury issues.

again, if the second apron doesn't stop the cavs from continuing to just add salary like they're ballmer, it's not working.

 

Meh..I was hyping PJ Washington and Gafford for us, I thought both of those guys would be great fits here next to AD. I remember YOU specifically saying that neither were difference makers, and wouldn't move the needle any. Then Dallas scooped them up and went to the Finals!

Your obsession with Ellis is still puzzling..If Lebron bails, our frontcourt is going to be mediocre as hell, yet you still want to add another smallish guard? For a team that is having problems on the boards as it is, what is your solution for our looming frontcourt issues?

The Jackal is a dope head too! That's Hilarious!! NO..I have no sympathy for his a** either..none whatsoever!

 

The more I think about this trade deadline and mess around with the trade machine, the more I think we need to circle back on Kessler and make him as high an offseason priority as Watson. I think having a true defensive anchor that rebounds extremely well and quarterbacks the defense allows you to plug in the lower profile wings like DJJ or PJ Washington into the 2-way wing slots, rather than trying to trade for the bigger names of that archetype like Herb Jones.

 

says the guy spamming threads with dreams of vucevic.

apparently, half the league's front offices agree with me and almost zero agree with you in terms of which players have value.

ayton/hayes is fine at center. we'll have money for another big forward (cleveland's actively trying to dump one!), and they're not in as great a demand as guards who can defend and hit threes.

 

Vucevic would have more impact here than Ellis. Redick isn't going to play him over Smart anyway IMO. He might get Gabe's 15 min...whoopee damn doo.

And I guess most of the front offices and YOU thought Washington and Gafford, weren't going to make an impact either. You and them were all wrong!!!


Ayton and Hayes are NOT fine at center, they are OK with LeBron, without James, that's mediocre as hell. Most of the chatter around us is saying that we want to replace Ayton! How is that fine?

What forward are you referring to? Hunter? The guy you say sucks? I like sk's idea actually, go and get more size dude!!!

 

Someone will, he’s shown enough for someone to take a flier on him and he’s still just 26. His advanced stats last year were good. I think it’s a lot like MPJ last year.

 

This guy gets it!!!

 

Lying a** DOPEY!!!! Xanax is the strippers preferred drug of choice..He was probably getting it from his wife!!

 

I think Garland will surprise people if he ever gets the keys to the team. There's a completely different level in there somewhere, IMO. A less dramatic leap, or a scaled down version of Harden to HOU kinda thing.

 

I think I have a bit of a read on what is happening here.

As it stands, Lakers are projected to have approximately 55 million in cap room this Summer, assuming the following:

• Lebron, Rui, Vincent, Kleber, and Hayes renounced.
• Smart and Ayton pick up their player options.

Projected payroll once salaries reset for 26-27:
Doncic 49,800,000
Reaves 20,900,000 (Cap Hold)
Vanderbilt 12,428,571
Ayton 8,104,000
LaRavia 6,000,000
Smart 5,390,700
Knecht 4,201,080
Bronny 2,296,271
Thiero 2,150,917
1st Rd. pick 2,500,000
Min. Rstr. Chg. 1,400,156
Total 54,940,305

Current Dilemma in terms of trading for Giannis in the offseason

• Reaves is not going to accept a sign and trade deal to Milwaukee, so you can't use him as a matching salary.
• Rui's cap hold is $27,388,889. Just too massive, and takes away from optionality. So he would likely be renounced.
• Milwaukee is not going to want Vanderbilt's albatross contract as matching salary.
• It is unclear what Ayton and Smart are going to do with their player options, so you can't rely on them as matching salary either.
• Milwaukee is also going to want to salary dump a player or two as part of the deal.
• Milwaukee likely going to want to part with Turner, who will be in his age 31 season, and is owed 83.56 million over the next three seasons, up until the 28-29 season. Turner is owed $26,584,164 for the 26-27 season.
• So between Giannis and Turner, Lakers would be looking at taking in approximately 85 million dollars of salary.
• Lakers would be able to absorb some of this salary with cap room, but they only have 55 million to play with. So, that leaves a 30 million dollar deficit, meaning a minimum of 30 million in matching salaries would be needed from the Lakers side.
• As of right now, we don't have the matching salaries to reach the 30 million without either Ayton or Smart opting in. And even so, it could cause major problems. Let's say only Smart opts in. We could then theoretically combine Vanderbilt + LaRavia + Knecht + Thiero + Smart. That would come out to $30,171,268. But, it would gut our team. It would be hard to fill out the rest of the roster. It would be a 5 for 2 trade, so unbalanced. And again, Milwaukee likely wouldn't want Vanderbilt.

Why the Hunter trade makes sense for the Lakers

Lets say there is this relatively simple three team trade.

Lakers get: Hunter ($24,910,714 expiring contract after 26-27), Ziaire Williams ($6,250,000 team option for 26-27, and expiring after that)

Cavs get: Hachimura and a 2029 Nets 2nd round picks (top-55 protected)

Nets get: Kleber, Knecht, 2027 Cavs 2nd (Nuggets), 2028 Cavs 2nd, and 2032 Cavs 2nd.

• Lakers receive Hunter and Williams (the players), but they also receive Hunter and Williams, (the 31 million in matching salaries).
• Hunter is a 25 million expiring "placeholder" for the Bucks.
• Williams is a 6.25 million expiring young player who the Bucks might feel has some good upside.

So at this point, the Lakers could simply trade Hunter, Williams, Thiero, their 2026 1st-round pick (already drafted, hasn't signed), 2031 1st-round pick, 2033-1st round pick, and the 2032 2nd round pick for Giannis and Turner. Lakers basically use all of their cap room on absorbing Giannis and Turner. Lakers may determine that this is a great use of their cap room, since it is a weak free agent class anyway. Lakers would then have 7-9 players on the roster (depending on if Ayton and Smart opt in), so they would have to fill out the roster with 5-7 more players.

• Sign a CJ McCollum with the room exception.
• Sign Hayes for the vet minimum, and maybe shop Ayton.
• "Buy" at least one 2nd round-pick.
• Sign a Timme to a standard contract.
• Sign a Bufkin to a standard contract.

Lakers would then be good to go, and just under the 2nd apron.