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

haven't the spurs won at exactly the same rate without wemby this year? sort of beside the point, but it just kind of devolves back into "what's an mvp (or other award) anyway?"

i actually think if you drag the argument out long enough, everyone could agree there's some threshold, right? like if you played one game and 100 points, 75 rebounds, and 38 assists, and your team beat the best team in the league by 50, but you missed the other 81 games, you're most certainly the best player, but you're not getting an award based on season-long performance. if you grant this, you're then just quibbling about numbers, and i think the 80% number was just where the people who spent time researching this settled.

they could just soften it and put it into awards voting guidance that cases in which a player participated in fewer than 65 games or played less than xx total minutes should be exceptional (i.e., basically everyone would have had this person on their all nba ballot or first on the mvp ballot).

i don't think finals mvp is dictated by the 65 games rule. that would be crazy.

i think the most interesting thing is that load management has caught on kind of in the face of evidence. like, teams are incredibly risk averse about playing in games, but when the games start, they're totally unconcerned about playing their primary guys 40 minutes. like, we play luka 36+ minutes on heavy load every time he goes out there. the only player in the league whose minutes are clearly capped even when healthy is wemby.

when kobe blew his achilles, it probably wasn't that he didn't rest on b2bs, it was that he was playing 40+ minutes at incredible intensity for a month-long period.

the league supposedly did a study finding that load management was generally not associated with injury risk (and i believe this), and they still tried to adjust the schedule (reducing b2bs) just based on the theory--which is fine, as i also buy that to some degree. i just think it's weird that the teams have sort of collectively decided that missing full games but playing breakneck in the ones you play is the way, whereas playing hard in fewer minutes across more games is silliness. like, we can't keep lebron to 28mpg at age 41?! this is impossible?! the man is playing 34mpg! and i get that lebron (and older guys) are unique cases because of all the ramp-up they need just to be able to get out there, but that's not the way everyone does it.

 

Hmm, been watching videos saying that the Seattle spot may be out of the picture because they are instating a high income tax for everyone in the millions range and thus there may be nobody left. Supposedly, around 10% extra.

 

They've approved a vote to vote for expansion? Haha. What if someone votes against the vote to vote a certain way to win a vote for voting for expansion? I'd like to know this before I vote. Sorry.

 

I think it’s simple if the 65 game rule goes away. Guys need to make an effort to play. Play basketball games. What does that look like. Something some kind of language in the clause where it’s understood that guys will play games. If there’s no legit injury you play. Teams are fined a million dollars for inexplicably not playing a guy. And if a player sits just to sit for no reason. I.e. load management. They get two of those. After the second non excusable sit they aren’t eligible for post season awards. There has to be a compromise. Even a 10 game DL. If you want to sit for an injury for no reason. Like baseball. You’re going on a 10 game DL.

 

It’s not that one guy sits for a game it’s when a team punts the game by sitting 3/4 starters at once.A rule has to stop the wholesale sitting of teams top players

 

given those two new franchises would be in the West, does that mean that teams like Memphis or Pels are moving to the Eastern conference?

 

NBA Teams

Conferences & Divisions


Western Conference

Pacific Division

Golden State Warriors
Sacramento Kings
LA Clippers
LA Lakers


Northwest Division

Minnesota Timberwolves
Portland Trail Blazers
Seattle Super Sonics
Utah Jazz


Midwest Division

Denver Nuggets
Las Vegas Venom
Oklahoma Thunder
Phoenix Suns


Southwest Division

Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs


Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Boston C Bags
Brooklyn Nets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers


Central Division

Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks


Mideast Division

Charlotte Hornets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards


Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic

 

If the league wants to help these pansies a little more and still keep their 82-game season, lose the in-season tournament jerk off. Lose the play-in garbage. Make the 65-game rule tied to Super Max qualifications and guaranteed years on contracts. You'll see how quickly players will be available that way and you can explain to your fan base that the money they overspend to watch their teams with their weak, unavailable stars, at least those players risk losing money too.

Schedule wise to keep wear and tear of travel limited, you play 18 in division (6 times a year), 48 games in conference(4 times a year) and 16 in out of conference games (1 time against the opposite conference)

Unfortunately, Adam Silver, whom I admired for years, has turned into a complete buffoon with horrible control of the leagues image and future.

 

If only contracts had some kind of availability element. Players will never accept it, they fought for guaranteed contracts. But something like:

The cap doesnt grow for the next 5 years, instead that growth goes towards performance payments.

Players have their normal contract - 80% of their current contract

They then get a small percentage of contract per game played, let’s say 0.5% per game that equals 40% of current contracts. So if a player plays 50% of games, they make 100% of their current contract and any games more played means they earn more than what they do now.

Lots of people are money motivated. A 50 million dollar contract breaks down as follows:

Guaranteed: $40m
Performance $20m (250k per game played)

Have the performance part not count against the cap.

 

It's unreal - it's like let make an even more unlikeable version of Harden the face of the league

 

I hate that f***er, i'll be the biggest Spurs (yuck emoji) fan, when they face these douchebags.

 

what a collapse by houston

 

All the owners need to stand up to the league. This s***e is obvious, anybody and everybody can see it. There is no excuse. What do we fans have to do?? Quit watching??? I mean, I have quit a lot of things due to BS over the years. It is getting to the point where the agenda of the league seems more important to them than the facts. It needs to stop.

 

This is good, no? I think we want HOU in that sixth spot going into the playoffs.

 

Peyton Watson is back for the Nuggets and has looked good off the bench:

Game 1: 20 mins - 14/6/3 on 6/13 from the field
Game 2: 23 mins - 21/4/3 on 7/10 from the field

Both games he played good defense. I really think he would be an excellent addition to the team.

Luka / Smart / Bronny
Reaves / Kennard / Bufkin
Watson / LaRavia
Lebron / Adou
Ayton / Hayes / Kleber

We could use another player, preferably a wing, in a trade for Vando & Knecht which is about 17m.

 

the agenda has always been paramount. i mean, we had dwyane wade and harden before SGA. same exact MO: take a good but not historically good player and use the refs to make them historically good.

definitely my #1 target this summer. really hope we've been working behind the scenes with klutch to make it happen.

 

Watson would definitely be a win for us this summer.

 

yes, to expand on this--you just add watson to the starting group, and things just slot into place really nicely all the way down the roster, imo. you're suddenly a big team who's got a large guy to sick on POA, which i think upgrades the defense from a C- to a B+ whilst keeping the offense at an A.

smart and kennard as bench guards and laravai/thiero/vando/knecht as bench forwards has folks slotted properly as well. and the center rotation has been fine to me, even when ayton was worse.

we should still have at least two of our three draft picks should we be able to acquire watson, too (i think denver should consider a 1st and the big trade exception instead of being forced to dump gordon or johnson, but that's just me).