2024-25 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

They've completely gave up on the Bubble formula; we're going to be bigger, jump higher and be tougher then everybody else. Just bizarre

Brick trade blew but I don't know man.
Let Caruso go for a tiny Nunn
Drafted JHS instead of bigger more athletic dudes
Used the MLE for another shrimp in Gabe
No hint of a move for a guy like Gafford

The one guy who fits the formula is Rui but he's like the opposite of Morris. More of a cowardly lion type.

No enforcer, no size, and it shows despite some really talented core pieces

 

Dennis won the Lakers a ton of game. I don't think it's a coincidence that once that team got healthy it beat two good teams before hitting the kryptonite in Denver

You want Dennis just for GS as he has no fear against Curry and plays him tough since Curry doesn't have a big size advanced against him

The dude is tough too and this team needs it. Remember that game where he sprained his ankle and they needed the win so he got his a** back on the court and did an Isiah Thomas finals impression? My point is Dennis isn't going to put up the Nets numbers but he was a very good piece for the Lakers: he's a guy who can be a winner on a good team

 

Yup, he’s a good role player who plays above average point of attack D and fights through screens pretty well.
We have gotten destroyed by other PGs since we’ve only had Austin, DLO and a very small sample size of Gabe to defend.

 

I’m back to “prove to me you’re worth watching and moving my schedule around”

honeymoon is already over

back to feeling rather complacent- just meh

 

That stance seems totally warranted after the BTB 3rdQ atrocities, I think. I hear ya, man.

 

Stop the cap. You got nothing on your schedule, just shenanigans.

 

i imagine this thread will busy later after okc predictably beats us and re-sets the alarm bells, so here's the latest stuff i've seen:

DFS has an unearned rep as a defender, and he hasn't been great there since he left dallas. you can have a second rounder or two and a player or players not in my rotation.

i figured this. guessing they'll move him for a dead weight contract, a prospect (recent draftee with upside), and a lotto-protected first. or they just won't move him.

portland still not serious.

if we wanted to go all in on offense, maybe. but i'm not sure we gain much here if dlo's outgoing. and i'm not sure i'd want to move rui for an old center.

lavine and ball are supposedly easily obtainable. i'm actually still interested in rui/dlo/gabe or vando for lavine, but the same problems from the summer persist. we'd have to dump enough salary to open up space to sign a pg and then hope like dennis smith can play. it's a huge swing, but imo, if it doesn't cost a first or a prospect, i'm probably ok with it.

gabe and vando is probably as high as i go on lonzo. he just can't stay on the floor ever. doubt chicago wants to take on a bunch of long-term salary for lonzo, and he's already an expiring, so i'm not even sure what the point of moving him is. maybe they're hoping to upgrade using his expiring contract. we can't help them there.

 

I'd do the Nets deal and either TOR deal. I'd actually have interest in expanding the two TOR deals into one larger one, assuming the medicals come back clean on Brown.

 

Oklahoma will lose in blowout
But Nets are having fire sale so bring back Dennis and get some body who can rebound and get Davis more rest

Brooklyn is ready for trades, but will not accept long-term contracts
Nets evaluate market interest in their assets.

Almost every player in their roster is available for trade if they do not include long-term incoming contracts.

 

Shenanigan's: that Irish pub two blocks off of Wilshire near Ocean? The Guinness taps are always flowin' but stay away from the fish 'n chips and you'll be fine.

 

Atlanta twice beat Cavs,but they are only team who lost twice to Washington, and that were only Washington's wins this season.

 

Yea, man: just saw that. Nothing makes sense. Dogs are sleepin' with cats, avocado chocolate mousse is a thing, the universe is expanding, and ATL just beat the Cavs on Wed and today. Reminds of standup George Wallace's bit: "Hello? 911? Yea, I just saw a commercial without Shaq in it."

 

Great article. Give me some hope, lol. I like how Irwin is aggressive about shopping Rui, instead of the same trade Dlo/Gabe/JHS stuff that we hear from others. Irwin gives and example here in Toronto. Rui is the archetype player that Ujiri likes. I feel some teams value Rui, and maybe we should trade him before his value drops any further.

 

I don't think Cam is all that. I'm not sure he moves the needle to any contender. He is possibly even worse than Grant in terms of impact in a contender. He's a good player but that's it. He's not a multi-pick type of guy, imo. He benefitted of playing in a team with CP3 organizing, Booker scoring, Mikael defending and Ayton rebounding. He didn't had to do much and just picked up the pieces. Which shows he's a good player, but as we can see in Brooklyn he's just regular who can go on a heater here and there.

I hear you regarding Lavine. I hate it in principle but if it's without picks, it's the type of swing we can probably afford without mortgaging our future. And could be the expiring we use to get our next superstar in a trade. Not sure why the Bulls do it though.
Vuc is kind of the same. Without sending picks, he could be worthy (Slick going crazy right now). If we could get him for DLo and then Bruce Brown for Rui, it could be interesting. I don't love it but agree we gotta do something.

We are in this weird limbo and any deal we can do that upgrades us in the short term without mortgaging our future is our sweet spot. Because this team isn't making it and I need a very strong deal to be worth losing our picks (again, for the public... if we trade both our picks, next time we return to this position of having 2 picks is in 5 years - 2029)

 

yeah, i really like him but don't love him. he's a fifth starter/6th-7th man type, imo. not worth two firsts.

karnisovas is fully inscrutable to me. my reason for them doing a rui/dlo/gabe or vando trade is that they get off 20 million of lavine's deal next year, and they get a legit rotation player in rui (who turns into an expiring next year if you don't like him). who's offering better?

furthermore, lavine might help you win just enough games to convey your top-10 protected pick (at like, #11). why? why do this? again, karnisovas, but still...

also, the word is that gs and sac were asking chicago to sweeten the package with lavine (dalen terry, etc.). so i think just taking him should be enough. i'm comfortable in a staring contest here, too, as i'm not sure about the move for us, either.

don't like making moves that require a second move...unless they're made simultaneously, of course.

i'm also VERY wary of bruce brown at this point. he had a down year last year and hasn't played this year.

also don't know why toronto moves brown for an expiring unless there's sweetener, and i'm already losing dlo/brown from a talent standpoint...think i'm out, tbh.

we decided not to mess with the second apron a couple years ago, and then we gave lebron 50 million again. we are what we are at this point. i get the long-term strategy, but the short term is going to be a bit uncomfortable.

i feel like i'm still at the point where i'm not sure we're just "one move away" from a ring. we're two or three moves away, and i don't think both or all three are out there.

 

I like the Lavine move (i've supported the salary dump option) but it only works if you can still get someone like Schroeder and Vando can get healthy from a Lakers perspective.

Offensive firepower on the Lakers would be ridiculous, but they need to have some player who can get stops. Then again, right now, they're all in Cam, so it looks like nothing different from what they are doing anyway, lol, and Jeannie can still keep her post AD/Lebron powder keg dry.

 

nobody wants to hear it, but it matters. jeanie lived through the post-kobe years and doesn't want a repeat.

the two-way third star we need simply isn't on the market. so what do you do? i think you either take a big swing that doesn't deplete future assets (but could blow up in your face right now) or you kinda do nothing (shuffle deck chairs, get mild upgrades on gabe, etc.).

even a quasi-fix like dejounte had too big an asking price, imo. just the way the market is. i do think that circumstances will maybe force a couple more teams into "sell" mode. just a matter of whether we're still close enough to contention to enter that market when those choices start being made.

anyway, dumping two unprotected firsts for jerami grant right now simply isn't it.

 

Interesting read. No interest in Lonzo or Brown. We’ve got enough injured guys.

I’d be interested in Vuc and Lavine though depending on the price for the Bulls.

Sounds like the Nets are coming down to earth at least partially on their demands.

it’s tough for me to gauge prospects though because we also need guys who can take a punch and won’t wilt under the bright lights here.

 

I feel like we shouldn't get Lavine when we should probably be building around Knecht and Austin for the foreseeable future. Terrible contract and we would have to sacrifice depth to match salaries.

Vuc I could probably get on board with if it's true they'll take 2x 2nd round picks for him, he is having a great year so far, and that would not fix our defensive issues, but at least make us less reliable on AD for inside scoring.