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

.... and they liked it!!

 

Great analysis.

I really believe the FO is weighting what's the best thing to do. They seem to be clearly aiming to have the full MLE next summer. And we'll have another swap and 2nd (2034) to trade in the summer.

Plus, we will only have the MLE and BAE and we may want to re-sign Jake and/or Ziaire. We can lose Sexton for nothing too. So it's important to have some options available. We won't have Ziaire bird rights, so if we like him he will eat one of the exceptions. Not sure about Jake but he may eat an exception too.

That's why I think they want to get Kuminga with a contract it makes sense to 1) keep the MLE available AND 2) make sure we're able to control his contract for multiple years.
It's stupid to lose assets for him to have a good season here and then go away in the summer because we are unable to re-sign him.

I like seeing the FO looking at all aspects and understand the ramifications of today's decisions in tomorrow's flexibility.

Agree too. I think we'll pretty much need to make a decision next year between Jake or Ziaire. Maybe we do it already.

I do agree that Vando can become a better trade asset. But also agree with sk's next comment, where Jake will have some importance in this year's team.

I'm pretty confident Grimes and Kessler will be locks on the starting 5 of an LA championship team. Maybe Grimes becomes a 6th man at some point but I see a world where we can win with him as the starting 3. Then we also added Mamu as a solid bench player and have Carr and Thiero developing behind.

With that in mind, we need a starting 4 and a couple more good bench players in the next couple years to have a championship team. If we can't get one this summer that we can be sure he'll be here for the long-term, I rather wait.

Doesn't mean we're punting the year, it just means we're pragmatic and start developing chemistry with the players we have and maximize our chances to contend in the near future.

 

Does ANYONE know what LeBron is thinking? "He is down to two teams, Cleveland and Golden State" and now it's "He's been talking to Cleveland, Minnesota, and Philadelphia..." Like, the news MUST be trying to keep the NBA relevant right now amidst everything else or something, because that is a WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING in a box.