2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

It is a problem… but similar to the second round pick usage, I think it’s overstated. Most of the player options individually in a vacuum were justified

Smart and Ayton, for example, likely passed on more lucrative offers to sign with us. We likely needed to offer the PO to give us the edge and entice them to sign in the first place.

Obviously if you went back in time and turned all our last several PO’s into team options instead we would have had so much more flexibility, but why would the players take that?

 

Most of the free agents that can be meaningful rotation players are off the board now and have made commitments to other times, while the Lakers basically have not made a move yet.

This signals it's because the Lakers are preserving the cap space to sign either Duren or Kessler to an offer sheet. If they went after anyone, they wouldn't be able to do so and that's the risk of restricted free agents. You will miss out on other players while waiting to see if Utah/Detroit matches....

 

yeah, that's fair. perhaps in this case getting grimes and mamu to sign earlier at fairly low amounts warranted the PO. but keon ellis did the same money with a team option, right? i'd have taken that over grimes, tbh. grimes has a higher ceiling, but he's been really uneven. ellis has been the pretty steadily a very good defender at least.

 

I can’t believe Vucevic only got 3.9 million dollars.

 

magic must be willing to move goga? if we weren't in the RFA chase, i'd have interest. then again, i think he tried to fight luka or something, lol.

 

He's really in a tough spot, not that he didn't put himself into it

Curious to see what he has up his sleeve

Hopefully surprise us all

 

Smart would’ve definitely taken a team option because he was coming off such a s***ty season in Memphis.

 

It seems we have locked our rotation players in Grimes and Mamu. Details probably come after the RFA situation is decided.
Then maybe something is left for something else + we trigger a trade for someone. Rest would be vet mins

I'm sensing we won't sign anyone until the center situation is resolved, while having our guys locked in already.

Hoping some guys don't sign with anyone until we get the center. Especially buy low guys with upside or great fit like Kuminga, Thybulle, Bagley.

I'm sensing we aren't getting a wing via FA on top of Mamu/Grimes.
I think it will be Trent Jr and then a trade

 

Nope no option. We aren’t trading for the guy who told Luka he would f*** his Momma or f*** his whole family.

 

Give me Kaminga and Bagley at Bargain rates. That’s smart Gming. At least talk to them and tell them the situation. It’s not like we don’t have a Center. We have Ayton at 8 million so everybody should chill.

if you can add Kaminga Zaire Williams Grimes and Manu and Bagley that’s a pretty young explosive affordable addition of depth. I can get with that. I like that squad cause you’re adding to Ayton. This is before we know about the Center and matching.

but you’re set.

Luka/James

Reaves/Grimes /laravia

Kaminga/Knect/Williams/Carr

Bagley/Manu/Vanderbilt

Ayton/Hayes.

in my opinion that’s a 50 win team. Not factoring the match guys. Sign Shroeder as your playmaker backup point guard. or Bruce Brown. or Brandon Williams.

 

It's a huge problem. Rob doesn't know how to negotiate so he gave everyone a player option when he didn't have to.

Then every year, they come begging back or threatening to leave and you end up losing them when they outplay their contract.

Rob has honestly been below average. He got a gift sent from heaven with Luka and that probably bought him two years before ultimately getting sacked.

 

I can’t blame Rob for trying to swing for the big that Luka specifically requested. It’s a huge gamble, but running it back with guys who are one year older wasn’t going to get us anywhere.
We had to part with LeBron and get younger. This is what it looks like.
I wanted to bring back Smart and Luke, but maybe they both didn’t want to be back.
I’m not freaking out and will remain patient.

 

Crazy overpay. Glad Nets are eating their cap space like this.


A bit tiring reading "Rob's an a******" every 2 posts

 

Why does it feel like the theme this year is that some moves are like "Remember when I played for Team X? That was nice. I need to go back."

 

Can you honestly say Mo Wagner is better then Deandre Ayton???

 

Hayes and Reddish are examples of the player option strategy being a problem

Smart and Ayton are examples of the player option strategy being reasonable

I’ll have to think back on it, maybe most of his player options have been in the unwise Hayes/Reddish bucket than the sensible Smart/Ayton bucket

 

Yeah the numbers some of these guys are going for is pretty wild.