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

rooting for a giant meteor in game 7

 

Why is the lottery fix bad?

 

That sucks for Memphis. Do they even do that trade now knowing the new rule???? Probably not. Possible franchise Player for what a top 7 10 pick. Just a f***ed up trade. Make Utah have to give them another 1st round pick.

 

Yeah, you would think they would have grandfathered in existing trades. That would have been the right thing to do.

 

I do fear that Ellis could have the same trouble here that he has had at other places. Namely, if the opponent’s primary ball handler is a large 2 or a 3, he has to be put on someone else and then you have Luka or Reaves trying to check the main guy again. But if you can get him for TPMLE money it’s a no brainer.

Herb would be a good fit if he was cheaper, New Orleans want 2 firsts for him though, don’t they?

Cap space is definitely a good weapon, but it’s mitigated by the fact that we’re the lakers. I feel that those kind of plays will be there for Brooklyn and Chicago, but maybe not for us. For example, I can’t see Denver dumping Cam Johnson to us or OKC sending Dort and/or Isaiah Joe our way.

As for using our cap space in a trade, I think there are less of those kind of situations than we would like as well. We’d have to evaluate each one in a vacuum. But any suggestions on who could be available and that we would want as a cap space dump?

Yeah you probably could get him for 25, but I do wonder whether Minnesota would just be forced to match all the way to 25. They can’t afford to lose him after losing NAW. But do we want to pay 25 for Ayo? If he is an elite role player, then you do that. I always thought he was good but not elite - he is a Rui level player to me and I know you'll balk for me saying that

I’d argue our junk this year is a lot better than year's past.

- Jake is an expiring, young role player on a cheap deal, I actually want to keep him and think he could develop into a good 7th/8th man or maybe even a 5th starter
- Knecht is an expiring shooter, at 4m. If he finds his shot with a Jokic for example, you get a steal
- Ayton is an expiring, on 8m and is one of the better backup centers, on his day he is a top 15 center, great injury insurance too
- Vando is the only really bad contract

Our draft picks just became worth more, so I think there’s a really high chance we could pull off a trade with these guys and the 3 draft picks. I would be shocked if we don’t truthfully.

I really like the Jones pickup. Everyone is zigging and we could zag - let Denver keep Watson at 30m for his 1-2 months of elite play, and we can get Spencer Jones who could be a long term 3&D player for us.

I think Jones brings a lot of what we’ve been missing since Caruso left defensively. He is comfortable defending 1-4, you can put him on Randle to bang or on SGA/Antman. I recommend googling some defensive highlights. If his shot is legit (40% this year), he is a diamond in the rough as a role player. And I think he is available for 7-8m.

If we get him and Thybulle/Ellis for the MLE, I think we’ve gone a long way towards getting two way players on the wings. Like we won’t be the most athletic team, but we’re gonna be really good defensively with Smart, Spencer and Thybulle.

Denver just don’t have the space for all these people - they're at 213 without signing Watson, Jones, Bruce Brown Jr & THJ. If you make them pay 30m for Watson and they bring back Bruce Brown and THJ on vet minimums - they're at 248. They need to shed 30m to get below the 2nd apron and they're not signing Spencer Jones above the 2nd Apron, he would cost them 40m in taxes for a TPMLE contract.

I didn't actually plan out the Ware move wage wise, but if Miami trades Ware for Giannis. We could send Knecht, Vando and multiple firsts for him and Portis. I tend to agree with showtime though, Ware is probably not gettable, maybe with 3 picks but its a stretch.

I think Claxton is more likely, Ayton, Vando & Knecht plus a first for Claxton. Leaves you with 2 firsts and a team of:

Luka (49.5) / Kennard (10) / Bronny (2.3)
Reaves (38) / Smart (6.5) / Jake (6)
Spencer (8) / Thybulle (7.1) / Adou (2.1)
Lebron (30) / Rui (17)
Claxton (23.3) / Hayes (6.5) / Kleber (2.5)

I can see a lot of switching from the centers and a lot of small ball lineups:

- Luka, Smart, Spencer, Rui, Claxton
- Reaves, Kennard, Jake, Thybulle, Lebron
- Luka, Reaves, Thybulle, Spencer, Hayes
- Lebron, Smart, Spencer, Thybulle, Rui

 

You never know. Our picks are worth more now and 2-3 firsts is a big haul for Ware.

 

Tybullie, Keon ellis, Andrew Wiggins

 

Aytons actually better than a lot of Centers out there. You need centers to score. He was great in the Houston series. He just has an effort problem.

Mitchell Robinson Robert Williams even Claxton are not scoring like him.

We’re going to have to have that scoring center coming back.

so I like having Robert Williams or Mitch Robinson but they aren’t legitimate starters.

so I’m not breaking the bank. And if Ayton opts in I can work with that and just draft a roll Center and bring back Hayes.

see what’s up with Watson focus on bringing back Rui Reaves and Lebron if Lebron says peace all good. We got Rui and some money to play with and just keep the flexibility.

I’m not gonna trade 2 firsts for Herbert Jones. Is he the difference beating San Antonio or OKC no!!!! I’d do it for Trey Murphy though. I’d do it for Kelel Ware. I’d trade 2 firsts for Kelel Ware.

as for the other stuff I am intrigued with Kelricick Williams Kendrick Williams on OKC. I love his game. With 35 minutes a night or even 25 minutes a night he’s a different player. He’s got intriguing height and length.

scoring and defense. That’s a nice bench player to add or possible starter next to Luka.

I have some concerns with Dort away from Shai.

we’ll get creative. I like bringing in Ellis on a cheap contract. No over pays for guys who can’t play here.

I’m looking for bang for my buck.

I don’t have Ayo in the Nickel Alexander box.

 

Agree with a lot of what you say.

If we can get Ware, we should do that. He could be a legitimate game changer for the next decade if he gets his head straight. And he is big enough to bang with Wemby.

Trade could look like this:

Bucks get:
Herro
Vando
Knecht
Heat ‘26
Heat ‘29
Heat ‘31
Lakers ‘26
Lakers ‘29
Lakers ‘31

Heat get:
Giannis
Ayton
NSJ

Lakers get:
Ware
Wiggins

Luka (49.5) / Kennard (10) / Bronny (2.3)
Reaves (35) / Smart (8)
Wiggins (30.2) / Spencer (7.1) / Jake (6)
Lebron (30) / Rui (15.1) Adou (2.1)
Ware (4.6) / Hayes (6.5) / Kleber (2.5)

 

I'd love Ware and warmed up to the possibility a couple weeks ago when we started discussing him here but coming to think now why would Bucks do it

He's a young piece who actually has a lot of untapped potential and an ideal guy to have around post-Giannis. Him and Rollins can lead the young group while they collect FRPs in the next few years. They aren't good enough (at least yet) to win too much games that it hinders their rebuild so he's pretty much the ideal fit there.

Plus, what are we sending that is better than Ware? Our mid to late FRPs are more likely to get you a worse player so I really don't see any motivation for the Bucks to do that.
And with the new lottery rules, there's not an incentive to be really bad so trading Ware for worse players when they are already not very good doesn't help them.

Now, Turner and Portis might be available because they are vets and the organization probably does them a solid to send them to a more competitive setting if they ask for it.

 

Who can we get that can chase around the speedy point guards, while being big enough to not have issues with the larger ball handlers? Sort of a rare skill set to do both.

 

Yeah it's really tough to get those guys, the archetype is basically prime Smart. Suggs comes to mind, I've always thought he's the closest thing in the league to a younger Smart from a skillset perspective. KCP used to be able to do it pretty well IMO, but not sure that is the case anymore. There are the unicorns like the Thompson brothers and McDaniels who aren't available (although are we sure Ausar isn't available...?)

 

Yeah, exactly. We are talking about a unicorn here. An Ellis could absolutely chase around the speedy point guards. OP stated he has trouble with larger ball handlers. We have the luxury of having Smart on our team for that, and we could explore some trades. But I wouldn't shut down Ellis because of that and dismiss him as a TP MLE guy, he will get more than that. A rim-protecting center could help mitigate a lot of the perimeter defense issues.

 

@svtzr
Did I just read this

He's 24 years old in his 5th year in the league - the chance for this sort of jump from unplayable, literal dead weight to 5th starter is extremely implausible. The level of slack people for Laravia is really driving me bonkers. A perception of what people want players to be (i.e. hustlers, try on defense) is really clouding how bad Laravia was.

Advanced metrics back my eye test which made me want to puke watching this guy s*** in his pants for the second half of the season and then pee on himself in the playoffs - he was that awful. He had the worst espn net points on the Lakers and his Lebron was even worse then Vando.

Advanded metrics absolute hate Rui and Jake but at least Rui has one elite NBA level skill and showed up in the playoffs.

 

the advanced stats love Suggs but the reason he maybe available is that can you pay a guy that much money whose had Vando like impacts on offense in the playoffs?

I could understand taking the risk (in the regular season Orl does look like a completely different team with him then without him very similar to Smart on the Lakers last year) but I'm not giving up a ton of assets for him either. It's a real risk putting that much of your cap into a guy JJ may sub in freakin Kennard for

 

I agree. Pretty weird how people got attached to this guy. I guess the hustle- as you mentioned. He' just a rough, rough fit. Even the numbers, as bad as they are don't tell the full story. The way he plays is kind of disrpuptive- i mean in terms of mucking up the offense with missed corner threes, turnovers, falling, etc. Theres a flow to the game that sometimes players just interfere with.

 

Suggs is not Vando. Vando is a pretty uniquely terrible offensive player because there is literally nothing he can do on offense at an average level. Can't shoot, finish, pass, set screens, anything. He just gets completely ignored. Suggs shooting can be pretty bad, but he can at least dribble the ball or make a driving layup. In three and a half seasons I have never once seen Vando take two dribbles and make a shot from any distance. Suggs had a brutal playoffs shooting the ball, but there are levels to this. There are levels between guard who can't shoot and guy who can't do anything.

 

Suggs shooting is good enough, because he is high volume and makes about 1/3 of them. Similar to Smart. 33% is still below league average, but combine that with no hesitation to shoot, and defenses wont sag off as much. I believe league average is like 36%. We just need players not shy about shooting it, and good enough accuracy, to have the spacing effect.

 

Well there you go. Reaves/Vando and two future FRP for AD. Rob playing 8 D chess!