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

Indiana would want unprotected 2027 and 2029 with that haul.

 

really annoyed the trade hasn't gone through yet.

I just wish the FO looked at it from this perspective: incredibly, no matter how much you f***ed up last year making one of the worst trades ever in american professional sports history, you now have this chance to correct it and get us back to being contenders and you're haggling over 1 pick.

almost all the rest of the league is extra salty just because this chance fell on our lap.

the more time passes, the more likely it is for the situation to change and this window to close.

so just drop the BS and do it.

 

Probably.

Shrugs.

Have to start somewhere.

 

truth serum

 

I think the Charlotte deal is dead, they had to clear cap for Bridges. Bridges probably won't ever get a big contract now after the domestic violence.

 

I think almost any other franchise would jump at the chance of having the core (AD-Bron-Kyrie), if focused on basketball of course, for a few years even if that meant possibly going through basketball hell until the end of the decade.

plus we can always trade AD for other picks while he's worth something, and if we win a title that means Kyrie's value will probably go up as well.

plus if we don't do the trade, we might just well blow it up, because this team as currently constructed is going nowhere, and no other deal that is even remotely possible is going to change that.

 

This is exactly what Brooklyn wants us to think.

 

I want Kyrie, Curry and Harris. With how the FA market has dried up, that BKN package is our best shot at a complete roster. (with elite shooting as a bonus) There's no point in trading for Kyrie if we still have holes at every other position.

We need to go all in. Flush THT/Nunn and give them the 2 FRPs. If all fails we could always trade AD and recoup at least 4-5 FRPs.

 

Hold up...if we add Kyrie and Seth that doesn't make us a Championship caliber team? I understand that everything revolves around being healthy, but seriously, Lebron and AD are still two of the very best players in the West, NBA period. Which teams would be favored in a 7 game series against the Lakers and why? I don't see this juggernaut in the Western Conference, I know it isn't Golden State.

 

i find discussing the inclusion of the picks useless without knowing the protections on them. if they're like the picks the knicks got last week (lotto protected for one year, then turn into 2 2nds), i'd trade them yesterday. if mildly protected or not at all, i may not be inclined to move either for irving.

the financial stuff (inclusion of other players) is purely about the buss family coffers, and that has no importance for me, but a lot for them (which is infuriating when you look at the two major in-conference competitors).

anyway, if i'm rob, i offer heavily protected picks and take whatever salary jeanie allows. i offer it tomorrow and say i'm going to move forward as if things aren't happening if it's not accepted.

bkn's season is already dead, so they can drag this out as long as they want. ours isn't yet. the new coach needs to have an expectation of what he's working with, imo. if bkn wants to play hardball, i'd walk away, tbh. if they want to call me in december with a dramatically reduced asking price and our season is going poorly we talk.

if lebron wants to demand out because of all this, let him. i'll pack his and rich paul's bags.

 

Why doesn't Kyrie make us a bonafide contender? This kid is 29 years old, shoots 40 pct from 3, 90 pct from the FT line, and is one of the most deadly midrange scorers in the NBA. He's already proven that he can deliver the goods in the Finals. On the court, if he, Lebron and AD aren't a bonafide contender, then Lebron and AD are just average.

 

With Kyrie and a shooter, we would have improved, if we can trade for a wing, the improvement would be significant. I don't know if there is a clear cut better team than us in that scenario, but there are real competitors.

GSW, Phoenix with Durant, healthy Nuggets, healthy Clippers. The young teams of Minnesota, Dallas, Memphis and New Orleans would of all improved this offseason via FA or just internal player development and there is also Portland who will try and make the playoffs. It seems only the Spurs and Utah are blowing things up.

The West is an absolute blood bath this upcoming season. We're still going to be an injury prone team and I'd put our chances coming out of the West at 20%. Three tough rounds like Memphis or Minnesota then Nuggets or GSW, followed by Phoenix or Clippers is a lot. And you're prize is to go up against the best of the East in the finals.

 

Posturing going on on both sides, Brooklyn doesn't have any real leverage. Rob just needs to to avoid giving up more than necessary. I think this deal is pretty much done, it's just a matter of time.

 

eh, never plays out this way, though. at least three (if not more) teams will be missing a star come playoffs. so everyone's gambling, really. having irving means we can dream that if we're one of the healthy teams, we have a shot. we've just been one of the teams missing key players the last two years.

none of this changes my price for irving, though. as a fan, i'm not interested in a full decade of futility for the 20% chance you reference here. teams that haven't mortgaged their future have a 20% chance.

 

that's been my thought, but i honestly figured it would get done this week, and it doesn't sound close right now. and it's certainly possible that some of what they want to do with durant depends on what gets moved in the irving deal, which is really complicated.

i will say that after we gave up a 1st for russ (when we should have gotten one--i said so prior, this isn't hindsight), i'm not optimistic that we won't just bend over and hand them unprotected picks, which would be really bad.

 

For sure that’s why we have a 20% chance rather than much lower than that. If we’re healthy we are as good as anyone. But I imagine this year will be particularly tough out west.

 

Kawhi is coming off an ACL, he was already gimpy before that injury. George has shoulder problems. I don't automatically assume that the Clippers are somehow better than us.
Denver isn't a strong squad at all, based on what? Murray is coming off an ACL too. Porter Jr had back surgery.

Phoenix would have to give up their frontcourt in order to land KD. Paul is slowing down, and they would have an even bigger AD problem, than they already had.

Golden State has an aging big 3 and lucky for them they caught Dallas and Boston, two young teams with no experience playing at that point in the playoffs when they faced them.

I'm calling " Prove it" on the rest of the Conference. Everyone is going to be facing the exact same bloodbath. I don't think any of the other teams in the West would be better suited to face it than the Lakers. It goes without saying that we need to be healthy, that applies to everybody else too.