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

as i joked the other day, i'm on year three or four of dieng/dedmon interest. and i like jones and cousins, too.

i like dieng and dedmon (and cousins, actually) because they're poor man's marc gasols: they can get out of the paint on offense and hold their own physically against bigger guys. i like jones because he's more mobile.

i agree that jones is unlikely, so i'd like the lakers to look super young for a project springy big for the end of the bench. any of dieng/dedmon/cousins as a placeholder starter at the vet min is ok with me, and i'd be ok retaining dwight as an enforcer who plays 8 minutes every 4th game or something.

 

With the Rambis power couple running things... i want Luka and Joker. Im being serious too

 

Love the idea. I think this should get a proper topic. Or slide it to the Depth Chart thread. Here it may get lost and is a very interesting exercise. You could do the FAs and then a trade or two (Russ and THT) scenarios before assembling a prototype-team. Just a thought

I'm all Whiteside. I think he's what we need for 20-25min. Our Howard/McGee combo gave us a chip, I don't think the league is that different now. It's still not all shooting. We need 2 shot blockers coupled with AD so that teams are afraid to attack the basket. AD could still play 10-15min at C depending on the game, if it's winnable without I would even save him, it's better for his health. In the playoffs we could use it more.
The thing about 3s is that the best ones come of penetrations. If you have 2 towers, you can have 3 guys not bothering with penetrations and just cutting the lines to open 3s.

Another thing about defense is that you not only get a stop, but you also get an offensive play in open court and without the defense setting, that's huge to get mismatches. I get the rush to have shooters, but I still believe you can win it better with a defense-first team. Then you have 2 superstars to carry the rest of the offense. I would love to have Thybulle. That's why I loved Caruso too. Those are key players in my type of championship team.

So back to the Centers. Whiteside is my guy. Then McGee would be great. If not, RoLo. Biyombo would be nice, he's balling in Phoenix when gets a chance. For 2nd C and 15min would be perfect. Between him and RoLo it's tight. RoLo creates better locker room spirit though, so might get the edge. I would like Damian too. Dedmon should stay in Miami, so I don't count him. Dieng would be a good bet as a 2nd C. I think Howard is cooked. Reid may be available. Cousins can't guard, but if no one else is possible z is worth a gamble.
So 2 of: Whiteside - McGee - Jones - RoLo - Biyombo - Reid - Dieng - Cousins

I would like for the 2nd C to have some shooting, but there's no good option available. Maybe in the PF region, we could target that. Like an Olynyk-type of guy

 

Yup. I’m done with signing the has been’s just because they were something at one point, many days gone. Youngins please!

 

That’s a shame because I think Turner would be a great pairing next to AD. When healthy and on the court together, they’d automatically give us top tier rim protection. It would be really hard to score against them.

But in all honesty, the chances of them being healthy for 65+ games together in a season is low.

I’d love to try and trade THT for Brook Lopez. In my opinion I’d rather have a Center that can space the floor alongside AD. It just improves our spacing and gives AD some room to operate.

 

Brook has a huge impact on the Bucks defense. Numbers prove it this year when he was out. Don't think they are trading him and they don't need THT. They already have Jrue and Middleton to handle it when not Giannis

 

Damn them. One less wing on the market. Hopefully this doesn't set the price tag for wings this summer.

Has to mean they let Batum walk, who I wouldn't mind signing.

 

If healthy they’ve got a pretty great team. So many wings to play a switching kind of defence:

Reggie Jackson, Norm Powell, Covington, PG, Kawhi, Marcus Morris and Batum if he opts in.

We can attack them with size if we can get a decent 3&D Center.

 

Yes Brook has been a valuable part of their defence and offence for a little while now. I think If they get bounced out in the second round they’ll be open to changing things. All it takes is an injury to Middleton or Jrue and they’re out of contention because they don’t have enough shot creators.

I think THT could help out a lot there and maybe we could entice them to part with Brook. I mean they’re playing Jevon Carter 20 mins a game in the playoffs - not sure why you think they couldn’t use THT. I actually think he could be brilliant in their system.

 

their bevy of wings gives them a very high floor, but i'm not sure it affects their ceiling, which is still basically: is kawhi healthy?

but yeah, they'd have to be the betting favorite to open next year assuming everyone is available.

 

He doesn't shoot. Pretty much all Bucks team can shoot because of Giannis. JC is playing because Hill is down and his role is more to facilitate.
THT would need the ball in his hands, which would be weird when he shares the floor with Jrue, Middleton or Giannis, or all of them together. If they lose, it's against a great Boston team and because they were hurt. It's basketball and you can plan for that, no team is as strong without their big players, that's why they are big players. Of course they should continue to get their squad better but it's just minor tweaks and adds, not touching the core (of players but also of style).
THT has a big ceiling but there are questions if he will fulfill them or even get close to them. The context of our franchise doesn't help him though. I wouldn't do it if I were the Bucks because he doesn't fill a need and actually creates one because they would need to get a new center. Why would they disrupt something that's working for a gamble on THT?
They are the champions and possibly the best team of the league

 

I feel like we are in the same situation with our ceiling, are Lebron and AD healthy? But our floor isn't as great. This is where your 2 vs 3 star approach is much more helpful.

 

yeah, we lost ground on them when he traded out depth for a third star that wasn't really a star. i get that the idea is about the highest ceiling, but i wonder if management saw this season and thought a bit more about how bad things can get and whether you want to be in that spot very often.

 

I think it goes further than just that abeer. The clippers also show us the difference in spending appetite by ownership. In another thread I put together a payroll of about 170m which would have quite serious luxury tax ramifications for us. I HIGHLY doubt we even consider that, but the clippers will go over that level next season.

Even though we have a salary cap, there are creative ways to go above it and the teams that can will have an unfair advantages.

 

Sell the team.

 

oh, i've said repeatedly that i wish we had almost any other owner (maybe not phx, nyk, sac, char). the caruso decision was purely financial and absolutely ridiculous for a supposed contender in a glamour market. like: wtf is this?

when everyone was talking about ty lue's brilliance, i was like: he's still fielding a 8-man rotation of above MLE players!

too bad ballmer didn't buy us.

 

Amped up pouring sweat all over clown man …. yeah thanks but no thanks. Think of the hideous mascot he’d come up with. Not like Microsoft didn’t do world’s better with the next CEO once his a** was gone.

 

he provides money and gets out of the way. the clippers are run by their FO guys, not ballmer. if he wants to sweat and be stupid on the sidelines, ok.