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

Not at all. Adding Capela means we lose absolutely nothing. We still have all of our trade assets to use now or wait until the season. I'd rather add Capela than use multiple assets on a marginally better center. With the punitive measures for sign-and-trades in the new CBA, I think we'll see even more RFAs re-sign and then quickly hit the trade market once they're eligible in January. Teams don't want to be hardcapped by completing a S&T for a player, and the teams with the rights to those players don't want to lose them for nothing.

Patience has paid off big time in the past. Now is not the time to panic.

 

Are we about to trade LeBron and get the #1 Pick in 2026!?

 

No. Even if an over 40 Bron had #1 pick value, he doesn't, there's zero percent chance he'd waive his no trade clause to go to a bottom feeding tanking team.

 

No, no, no. Are we going to Trade LeBron, like Dallas traded Luka, and be gifted the #1 Pick overall via the Lottery because we traded LeBron!?

(It’s called a Joke)

 

Also no. Basketball reasons.

 

no I agree with you on the amount of assets but I’m talking about winning games. We aren’t a contender with Capela starting for 65-70 games and the postseason just not happening.

 

Lebron is not getting traded considering he’s making 52 million

 

THE PTSD

 

Yeah this is the part we need to acknowledge. Is signing Capela to the TPMLE cost effective and maybe preferable to overpaying for a mediocre center? Yes. But Capela isn’t that good. If he’s our best center, we’re not winning a ring in 2026. Maybe that’s fine, but that’s the reality of the situation.

 

If you have to explain a joke…

 

Literally spot on analysis!

 

If we're letting DFS walk and plan to use the NTPMLE, then here's my targets:

- Bruce Brown: you HAVE to have a defender or at least a defensive rep coming in if Dorian is out.

- Precious Achiuwa: he's been on my list for awhile but wasn't an option for the TPMLE.

Should be able to split the $14m between the two. There's a universe where you just go above the min to get Brown.

If you go $9m for Precious. $4m for Brown, you still have $1m to keep for the buyout market (something Rob loves to do).

*I'd still want an additional center coming in for the minimum.

 

losing DFS would be a major blow

not many guys in the league who can play the 3-5 like he can

 

If Thiero was the fully realized version of himself, sure. But he's not.

ESPECIALLY in this summer's market. It's rough out there.

even if you want to use the NTPMLE as a trade asset. At $14.105m we're just shy a few of the interesting possibilities.

 

With Naz Reid agreeing to $25 mil/season, Randle for $33 mil/season, Gafford extending at $18 mil/season, I wouldn’t be too upset if we do indeed trade for Ayton provided he also does an extension for $20 mil/season for the next 3 years. It’s about fair market value and he’s around the same tier of Center as Reid and Gafford.

I have to emphasize you only do this if you extend Ayton on a reasonable contract, and that $20 - 25 million range can be just that. It’ll make building a squad around Luka post LeBron much easier because we would have cap flexibility to try to hit home runs moving forward

 

It’s due to the desperation, not by choice.
I would much rather wait until we have something that a team really desires to make a profitable deal. It would basically end Rob’s tenure here if he overpaid dramatically for a very mid Center like Claxton, or whomever.

 

Latest on CP3 from Fischer

Basically Suns and Clipps right now. Our priorities are C and the DFS situation. If he wants to wait around for us... maybe?