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

ok, i want an investigation this time. i don't know how riley circumvents the rules in ways that don't trip alarm bells in the league office, but nobody is paying duncan robinson 20 million dollars, even over 3 or 4 years, imo. insane to opt out unless you've been guaranteed something...

wonder if there's some s&t f***ery about to go down.

 

I thought my sarcasm was thick enough the first time but alas…….

 

i'd almost sign him just to keep him from the clips and suns, who desperately need pgs. it's what they'd do!

 

Hypothetically, trading Lebron to retool around Luka would be an exciting concept. But realistically, I don't see how it would work out. Not many contending teams out there that could afford to send out $50 million in salary in the trade, while still being enough of a contender to get Lebron to agree to the trade.

I think it's just fluff from Klutch to continue putting pressure on the FO. Which is annoying, and yeah I wish he would have taken a paycut. But I don't really blame him for not doing so. He'd have to take such a large paycut just to open up the MLE for which there aren't really many difference makers available.

On that note, I think we have to keep DFS. Getting NAW at MLE to replace him would be great, but not realistic at all IMO. So aside from that, sure maybe we'd have more options available at certain positions with the MLE, but we'd be taking a bigger step back with losing DFS's defense at wing.

I know it would be frustrating and underwhelming, but aside from a big trade using Knecht and the FRP (which I'd be hesitant to pull the trigger on unless we were confident in the return), at this point the best I'm hoping for is using the TPMLE and veteran's minimums for Lopez AND Capela, and then maybe CP3 (I know, hard to stomach, but could fit the Rondo role especially if we want to eventually send out Gabe in a trade).

Then be patient with your tradable assets and hope you can pull off another great mid-season trade or see how situations change later in the off-season.

 

Utah acquiring a center to fill the gap after they trade us Kessler? A man can dream

 

Hornets are really small. He'll just to chuck a lot.

What's the plan with Nurk? Flip his expiring for a team needing size or like the line of wishful thinking, we can all get behind that @Helljumper floated. He's a stop gap after Ainge and son gives us Kessler.

 

you don't think anunoby and robinson for lebron makes the knicks a contender? i do. i could see cleveland deals if they could get under the second apron, but that seems unlikely.

it is! but tbh, they've pretty much lost all power now. like yeah, he can demand a trade, but we don't have to oblige (we would, but we don't have to, and the distinction matters). he's been hanging that player option over our heads for years, and he gave it up. would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

i think maybe aroun 8 million-ish would do it, assuming we re-upped DFS starting at MLE money. but tbh, if NAW is going for more than the mle, i'm not sure it buys us much at all. so whatever on that front.

agree, but from a long-term perspective, you can't let DFS's agent hold you over a barrel using his bird rights and your lack of flexibility. and to be fair, we've successfully negotiated several deals like this in the rob era, so this tells me DFS's side is probably the one being less reasonable (though this won't stop the immediate "fire rob" chants when DFS signs elsewhere tomorrow).

agree, except my sights are actually even lower. i don't think you can get both lopez and capela for tpmle. i'm not even positive you get one. i think the only way would be by promising the starting role.

so, i'd be happy to just keep our powder dry and sign one of those guys as the starting center for this year.

and yes, i know this would piss off 95% of this forum. but i'm not that interested in all available picks and knecht for kessler. i'm not saying there's no way i do it, but it's just...extremely risky.

yeah, and i know the counter here is that it's better to have the right squad in october. i just don't think that's as easy as people think. getting the right squad over the course of the next year could happen, though.

 

Agreed with pretty much everything! To be honest, I hadn't really surveyed the rosters of opposing teams to see what they could/would potentially put together for a Lebron package, but Anunoby and Robinson DOES seem like a very interesting idea.

The other similar idea I had would be Lebron back home to Cleveland for Jarret Allen and De'andre Hunter. In both packages, you get your 3&D Wing and Center to hopefully build around Luka. Not sure how realistic either of them are though. For the NY one, aren't the Knicks kind of in bed with CAA? Not sure how a partnership with Klutch would look there.

 

i think cleveland's salary commitments complicate things here (they'd have to get under the second apron to make it possible), though yes, in theory that makes sense.

orlando for suggs/isaac also makes sense if he wants to try the easy east path to the finals, too.

 

I agree. I'd be happy with Ayton in the 20-25M range, but not over that. I think he can be a 20/10 guy for the Lakers.

 

what does everyone think about charlotte fully emptying its roster of centers over the past few months?

they must be up to something...

 

Alex Len is ripe for the plucking

 

Pounce, Rob. He's leaving them next summer anyway. Convince them. Sell them on getting an asset out of it.



Our center just hit the open market:

 

Pounce on Sharpe Rob

 

Make it happen Rob.

 

I think we will definitely pursue Sharpe.


Everything else just feels like normal posturing between the front office and player agents. I expect LeBron and DFS to be back honestly.

 

this is completely wild. i thought for sure they'd decline and work a deal to keep him there.

this is also funny, because what they're saying--i think--is that they value him less than his QO, right? hoping to use cap space to sign him? i mean, i guess they're hoping to negotiate their own terms rather than deal with RFA, but you run the risk of just losing him without a chance to counter in this case.

best i can figure is that they may be planning a big RFA offer to kuminga and don't want the sharpe thing complicating that?

 

I really didn’t like that statement from Rich Paul. A lot of past tense. Lakers trying to build for the future. Lebron still wants to compete for championships. Well don’t the Lakers want to compete for championships this season?????

 

Interesting about Beasley. As I’m going to look at the point spread the game against the Knicks when he had the last possession. Wide open three. Had a great look. And just clearly dropped the ball and fumbled it outa bounce. Did he drop that ball on purpose???