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

Nesmith for Reaves?

 

the better question is: who's the next nesmith/NAW? these were guys drafted in the first round whose teams (boston, NO) didn't think they were worth much and cut them loose after a couple years.

are there any first round flameout/discards from the past three to four years that might be ripe for a glow up? you need your scouts to hit here, too--not just in the draft.

and honestly, it's possible jordan goodwin is something like that. but the reason i like looking for former first rounders is that a lot of them had the physical tools and failed to thrive early for whatever reason.

like, is blake wesley in SA someone who just needs a fresh start somewhere else? ousmane dieng? ochai agbaji? dalen terry? james bouknight? jordan walsh? andre jackson? jabari walker? there's lots of guys who struggle early and find their way later--because they're drafted so young and often end up either on win-now teams (okc, boston, mil) or on teams with overcrowded developmental rosters (SA, utah, tor, okc again, etc.).

there's another nesmith out there right now, somewhere.

 

Yup, this is the way. I have my eye on Ivey and Mathurin, but they were drafted too high too recently to be available for anything that doesn't include Reaves yet probably. I do think we need a downhill driving element that Ivey in particular provides. Speaking of Detroit, how about Sasser? He's smaller but has shown flashes of being a good shooter and defender at the POA. With Cade being their franchise cornerstone, Beasley having that unreal year and Ivey coming back next year, maybe he becomes available to take over the Gabe role if Gabe goes out in a trade. Maybe Bassey on the Spurs? He's an athletic traditional center. Jordan Hawkins hasn't looked great so far with the Pels, but they're a mess so it's too early to write him off. One of the Reaves trades I've thought about is Reaves for Herb/Hawkins. Hawkins basically becomes the new developmental shooter if Dalton goes out in another deal.

 

Kind of hope Indiana wins it all - NBA will hate the ratings but I support the Anti-Process team winning it all.
Never tanked, always tried to be a good team, developed their own talent or talent acquired from smart trades. No Top 5 picks

I think @abeer3 and me were clamoring for years to try buy low on Siakam for example. Basically Pacers got them for two bad first round picks and salary filler. compare that to the OG trade

 

We have two guys like that now. Rui and Jaxson. They are going in different directions. So Rob has a plethora of options this summer then, I hope he choses wisely.

 

yeah, i'd like indy to prove you can win without tanking and without having an mvp candidate. i think it would be good for the league and for fans. technically, the knicks also never really tanked--at least not recently (maybe the zion year, but it didn't work, so similar effect).

yeah, he maybe wasn't the right fit for us with lebron and AD, but that's the kind of player to be on the lookout for. overpaid but productive--not useful to a tanking team and not worth enough to demand a zillion picks and prospects. if memphis falls off next year, i wonder if desmond bane would be an example of a guy like this. i think markkanen is heading that way, too (though i think there are still believers out there).

 

imo, hayes has been worth more than his vet min. our problem is had to rely on him as a playoff starter.

rui's a good example of a success here (ariza was an old one). i'd prefer the next one be a wing player who can defend both 1 and 2 spots. that was part of why i put wesley first--i think he's got the frame for it, and he just isn't going to get a chance in SA unless they do some serious maneuvering.

 

Haliburton really is Reggie Miller 2.0. He's really not a superstar, or one of the defining players of the era, but he may be remembered as a better player than he actually is because of these iconic postseason moments. The Ringer's player rankings has him at 19, which seems about right to me.

 

LoL

And speaking of ratings
Finals flopped in the ratings.

Tuesday’s Timberwolves-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals Game 1 averaged 5.36 million viewers across ESPN and an ESPN2 “InsightCast” (366K), marking the least-watched conference final opener since Clippers-Suns on ABC in 2021, which aired a month out of schedule on Father’s Day (4.72M).

It was also the least-watched conference final game of any kind since Hawks-Bucks Game 5 in that same 2021 postseason, which aired in July (4.92M).

Excluding the COVID-delayed playoffs of 2020 and 2021, it was the least-watched conference final opener since Grizzlies-Spurs on ABC in 2013 (4.85M) and the least-watched conference final game since Bucks-Raptors Game 4 on TNT in 2019 (5.3M).