2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

Players have a huge incentive to improve, the better their skills the more they get paid to the tune of hundreds of millions.

Herb with a 37% shot is worth high end role player money 25-30m per year. The fact he hasn’t been able to develop it wouldn’t be from a lack of trying.

 

You can forget about trading with OKC and sending them any salary. They are so cooked with the tax that they will most likely have to let Dort walk for nothing or just send him into someone’s cap space for a low pick.

They can’t take anyone back. This year or next or the one after. They’re cooked cap wise. I did a whole bunch of posts about it.

 

Thunder or Spurs, which team are they better than?

 

Totally agree. The 2024 team did good, but ultimately the Boston series showed they weren’t an elite team and that the lob threat could be taken away.

 

They were a 50 win 5 seed that actually outperformed their +2.2 net rating. Idk why we’re supposed to pretend they were some awesome team we need to emulate.

If you want to follow the general structure of Luka + scoring guard + 3&D wings + rim-running center, you frankly need a better scoring guard than Austin or 2024 Kyrie. As those Finals showed. You need like, current Brunson. Short of that, you have to do something a little different.

 

Posted in Jake's thread but makes more sense here. I think this team can be awesome

Stars: Luka, AR, Bron
Key rotation: Watson/Ayo, Turner, Smart
Rotation players: Ellis, Jake, Thiero, Hayes
End of bench: Trent Jr, Nance Jr, Kyle Anderson
Development: Bronny, undrafted C project

This is pretty doable and we probably still have a pick left to use after Bron leaves.

We will be the favorite vet min destination. Great location, great club, new loaded ownership, playing for a title with Luka. You can be the next Rui that breaks at the right time and gets a payday off of that. Those 3 end of bench can be whoever, there's a bunch of options, including a rookie

I think the best way forward is going top 6 heavy and betting on the development of 3/4 guys with a couple vets that can still play picking up the scraps.
With how our roster is setup and the assets we have available, it might be the best option

 

I don't know why Luka exactly needs a small scoring guard? I get the secondary creator and scorer but why does it have to be a small guy? I guess because creators from the wings or bigs are more rare... Also why does he have to have a lob threat at the C? DJJ showed that as long as Luka could draw two in the PNR, he just needed a lob threat from anywhere on the court.

Secondary Creators/Scorers: Lebron, AR
3&D: Smart, SF
Lob Threats: Adou, Lebron, SF, Hayes
3PT Threats: Rui, Kennard, Reaves, Lebron

 

I am ok with that too. I don't even mind rookies but it time to start building towards something and not just keep spinning wheels going no where.

 

A complete idiot. She doesn’t know s*** about basketball. Why the f*** would you let that leave your team??? And he did that for us. And you keep THT.

 

2024 Mavs were one of the worst teams to reach the finals in the last decade. Luka did a miracle to drag them to the finals.

I don't think trying to emulate that miracle is the way to go.

 

Would like to pick up Deandre Hunter. How is that possible?

 

Tony Bennett has an official role as draft advisor to Rob Pelinka.

 

Like in my opinion Hunter is a player we need. Baby Kawhi. Defensive height. Toughness. Grit. Can shoot doesn’t need the ball. That’s what you need next to Luka. I think having him here he would be different.

what yall think. We trade Knect attach a pick to it to sweeten it. What second rounder late first rounder and then we can attach Vando??? It’s a thought. That’s who you need behind Lebron. Key rotational player.

 

Why does the league insist on Conference Finals games being every other day, when it does not, for the Finals? The rationale I have read is that they want a game on every day (as much as possible), so each Conference Finals series must be every other day. But then they schedule the Finals with 2/3 of the games being 3 days apart, not 2. I'm not hugely bothered by this, except that I think it should be consistent.

 

still hard disagree on 2024 mavs were fake. luka was hobbled with the injury that ended up plaguing him for a full year in that series.

i'm sure the folks saying this would also have guaranteed the the pacers last year and knicks this year wouldn't have been in the finals.

so easy to say stuff after things shook out. tatum gets a calf strain instead of luka, and dallas is a champion with a bona fide blueprint. haliburton doesn't tear an achilles and okc is a flawed blueprint.

sorry, this is silly to me.

luka and a no-defense top-notch scorer plus defenders made a lot of noise TWICE in separate playoffs, beating teams EVERYONE said would beat them.

 

It doesn't have to be a small guy. As long as there is a secondary create on the floor on offense (this could be somebody like Lebron, Reaves, Randle, Zion, etc.) and a POA defender on defense (this could be somebody like Smart, Grimes, Jones, Ellis, etc.). I had a hard time finding examples for the former, because large playmakers are indeed rare.

Similar situation to the previous question, since big-man lob-threats are more common. The lob threat could just as easily be someone like Zion or Thiero. But the more the better. Also, since were 29th in opponents FG% in the paint, it would be a good idea to improve our rim protection. This is a category where it's more impactful from a big man than from a weak side shot blocker like Watson.

 

In 2025, were you one of the folks who wanted to get a center so AD could return to power forward?

 

Better get creative Rob. you now have a rocket scientist to work with...

 

No that was always stupid, how is this relevant?

 

Then they could absolutely send Dort or Joe, into our capspace, and considering their cap situation, they might be looking to trade the 17th pick for a future FRP.