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

I like your posts man. But I can’t get with you trading Thiero for Washington.

 

Yeah I'd do that too. I think it's more likely than not that Thiero is never as good as PJ is right now.

 

thiero for washington is a no brainer

they really can't afford to be wasting time waiting for guys to develop given luka's injury history

 

is Thiero going to maximize the chances of us contending in the next 2 years, or getting Luka to sign an extension? We are not talking about a top 10 pick, the dude has some great raw potential, but he's going to be a high-end role player at best.

You don't make your team weaker, or punt a season of your superstar just because you're hoping a guy like Thiero develops. That's what we did with THT vs Caruso.

believe me when I say, this is not on the radar right now, but if this team doesn't pan out quickly, the next 18 months of anything Laker-related in the news is going to be dominated by the Luka extension question, and this can quickly turn into a Bucks/Giannis situation where they make panic move after panic move and end up without the player and without assets.

my view is that if blowing up the entire roster is the way we went (I don't agree with it, but it is what it is), then Rob needs to finish a job and get a solid 4 that can at least allow us to be in the mix come postseason, not roll with a vet min player there.

 

We have what we need to compete with anyone right now, just a matter of health as with every other team. Always glad to improve but I don't want to do something foolish and take a step backward. We are on the verge of something really good.

 

I don't think a payout was out of the question with us either. Maybe not to the minimum but I think MLE could have been possible. It's more so that we were ready to move on from him being our franchise player and he responded in kind by just leaving totally. It is what it is.

I think you're really underselling Philly by a lot - that team is for real.

Maxey / Anfernee /Philon Jr
VJ / KCP
Brown / Wade
Lebron / Barlow or Walker
Embiid / Adem Bona / Hukporti

Even if Embiid goes down, they've got two mobile high motor centers that are grading out pretty good defensively to cover. On the perimeter, you've got VJ, Brown & Wade that can handle any 1-2-3-4 in the league. Barlow off the bench is another handy defender. Maxey, VJ & Anfernee provide alot of guard scoring and Philon Jr looks like an interesting playmaker as a rookie too. Looks like KCP is going to go there too and add another 1-2 defender.

Lebron is going to be defending the weakest guy every night and using his intelligence to jump passing lanes or block shots from the weak side. They're going to be really good.

EDIT:

People forget that when healthy, Embiid was putting up 27/8/4 with 2 stocks and Maxey was 28/4/7 with 3 stocks. Two legitimate all stars were on that team. They also retain, VJ that's a heck of a role player.

This offseason, they added Brown that was top 6 in MVP voting and just averaged 29/7/5, Dean Wade that is a very good defender 1-4, Simons that is a good scorer and shooter off the bench.

That was already a top 3 team in the East with the Knicks and Boston (who I think they were already better than) - with a chance to come out if Embiid was healthy.

Then you add Lebron on top of that. So even if Embiid is injured, you've got an overwhelming amount of talent.

1. Brown
2. Maxey
3. Lebron
4. Embiid
5. VJ
6. Wade
7. Simons
8. KCP
9. Barlow
10. Bona

 

it was just untenable here. i don't know if it will be easier in philly, but his mindset will be better there than it was here. i know he's got supporters claiming he did all the right things, but we had to pry the keys out of his hands, and that sucked. showing up somewhere without the keys will be easier for all.

 

I don't hate Lebron, any more than he hates Pelinka or the Lakers. He is gone, I am already over it.

 

I agree with you, he'd have to do much more defensively in Cleveland than in Philly. Plus, Cleveland has two ball-dominant guards who don't defend much either. He'll probably play point a lot in Philly as well and be the main facilitator, which he prefers to playing off the ball.

I think he chose the best fit available for chasing a ring, apart from going to SA.

 

VJ Edgecombe recreating that famous Lebron meme pic

 

He'll play the PG offensively and the helper defensively - kind of perfect for him. I'm expecting an 18/10/8 season with 2 stocks.

Lebron (facilitator / help defender) / Simons (bench scorer)
Maxey (secondary creator) / VJ (6th man)
Brown (finisher) / KCP (3&D)
Wade (3&D) / Barlow (Cutter & D)
Embiid (3&D / drop big) / Bona (switch big/PNR partner)

For this team to work, lots of people are going to have to sacrifice:

- Maxey has to work off ball much more
- Embiid has to be a 3&D guy
- Lebron has to facilitate mainly and not score much
- Brown has to take the hardest defensive assignment every night and score less
- VJ has to go to the bench

I think they should trade Embiid for AD personally.