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

I actually want Luka to play against the Wizards cause I genuinely feel he has a legit shot to get 96 points.

appeal it play against the Wizards sit against the Cavs I don’t care.

 

And see I was right Bronny can play meaningful minutes. What’s right is right. The kid has been working his a** off. We’re gonna need young legs during the stretch. He can play good defense. And he’s arguably one of our best defenders. He’s going to work hard.

He’s a really good effecint 3 point shooter. Over 42%. And he has good instincts. So stop. Give the kid his props.

and I will argue he’s had a bigger impact on this team this season then Dalton Knect. He’s a worker and doesn’t pout.

 

Was Harell on performance enhancers? Just so weird how some of these guys from dominating to just after thoughts.

I get it that lou williams one kind of got the most out of him but I remember where he killed legit NBA players like Jeff Green.

 

the 20-21 team? not me. they might have been even better than the title team with schroder and harrell on board as legit bench options. harrell/AD/gasol was a hell of a defensive frontcourt. unfortunately, AD missed most of the season and gasol wasn't the same after he got covid

that team was 21-6 at one point before cooling down in late february and then really cooling down after solomon hill's dumb a** happened. if the injuries hadn't happened, they beat phoenix in round 1 and probably make it back to the finals. but even with the injuries, i remember no one really stepping up in that series. KCP and kuzma were awful, and schroder even put up a couple duds

 

And Caruso shot 30% from the field and 20% from deep in the Phoenix series too. That team was pretty MEH..Pelinka got rid of everyone that underperformed in that series in the offseason.

 

I love what Dirk says about us. I agree. Is that the team you really want to see in the playoffs???? That big 3?????

 

Why did Caden Boozer pass that ball? If he holds it and doesn’t do anything if they don’t foul it’s not enough time for 10 second violation half court. They have to foul. He made 6-6 free throws. Go shoot two free throws and ice the game. The worst thing you could do is give it up. Cause there’s that chance of a deflection or bad pass not getting enough air on it. Even if he throws it up that’s not enough time.

They say his coach was yelling advance it. Bad coaching at that point let him hold it. He’s your best free throw shooter. The guy who should’ve passed it was his brother Cam that’s smart not a great free throw shooter so he got it out of his hands.

see when he dribbles he allows the defenders to get there and get in his face. As a point guard you gotta know ball touches my hands it’s out quick so I can make sure I get the ball down there. You got two guys down there they are charging you it’s a clear throw. I just don’t get it.

If your dribbling hold. He tried to fake them like as if he was going to hold it to give the allure that he was taking the foul and then just flick it over. It’s risky he gambled and came up short. You can’t do that. Hot potato means ball hits your hands it’s out quick no dribble hold then throw. You ever see Austin Reaves. He always gets it quick out end of games. Or if he gets it he’s holding daring them to foul so he could shoot his free throws. Luka same thing. Only guys I see play the hot potato are guys who can’t make the free throws. That’s my 50 cents.

 

i definitely understand wanting to get the ball up in the air and heading away from your hoop with time running down, but you have to be able to gauge whether you can get it out cleanly. i'm not a duke fan, but that was a gutwrenching finish. their loss to houston last year was also basically inexplicable. i think the coach needs to think pretty hard about his teams losing leads in the fashion they have in big moments. different players, different opponents, same results.

 

Yeah. I just smh every time I think about it. This should have been an easy no from the front office but instead we even threw in a first rounder.

Oh well. It's over now.

 

The current team is definitely fun to watch and have a lot of chemistry. They are playing really well right now and I think they've got a real chance to surprise all of us during the playoffs.

 

On the draft discussion, flattening the odds is the way.
Wizards are a good example. If they weren't tanking so hard, they'd have Trae, Coulibaly, George, AD, Sarr playing to get reps, develop the kids in more meaningful games and fast-tracking next year's new look.
Rather, we have Trae and AD never playing together with more than 20 games to play and George/Sarr sitting plenty and Carrington, Johnson and Coulibaly playing in meaningless games.

End of season for bad teams were about developing the young core while trying to be competitive, as it not only makes the players better for future seasons but also improves current output.
Now is play with g-leaguers who will never make the team to lose as much as possible.

Downside is only that bad teams may not get a top pick. So be it. They shouldn't be expecting to luck out on a top pick to turn the franchise around. You should continue developing your team, develop your young guys so you can start slowly building a competitive team.

Look at Atlanta. Their star is a mid-round 1st pick. They've put good players around him and they're competitive. Hell, their #1 pick is a bench player that probably gets traded soon. There's ways. They're a big name away of being a loud team. Imagine Ant or Booker going there and it's a top3 East team

Another benefit is that more teams will be aggressive in the trade market. Get disgruntled stars to improve the team instead of keep getting as worse as possible until you strike a star.
Probably guys like Zion or Morant would be in new teams and maybe killing it

 

lol, i misread your earlier comment. we're of the same mind on this one.

yeah, and maybe lebron and AD's injuries were going to doom us anyway, but it sure made it even more painful!

 

i'm good with flattening odds, though i also think there should be some room for imposed equity. like, these franchises that have histories of bad lotto luck...is there a way adjust weighting based on prior bad luck, lol?

but yeah, of the clear-cut best players in the nba right now, the draft positions were 3rd (luka, traded up from 5th), 11th (SGA), 41st (jokic), and 15th (giannis), with wemby being the glaring/generational exception. and yes, to get a lebron, wemby type, you need that #1 overall pick in the one in 10 years that this player exists. but otherwise, top talent comes from all over the draft board (including our own undrafted second/third star).

so yeah, even more flattening and an even greater chance to drop further would be better for the game (and for team development, as suggested above). i do think being able to protect traded picks should remain, though. with fewer certainties about placement, the protections make more sense, and you don't have teams tanking for the VERY WORST record so as to ensure a floor on their pick, etc.

 

OKC's whistle is what the rest of the league thinks the laker's whistle is

 

whiner. get back on defense and quit b****ing at the refs!

 

You talking to me Luka???

 

Dude is a f***ing disgrace to the game. He is good but the antics, puts him on a Harden level for me. f***ing chump.

 

Smart's play has really highlighted the importance of the defensive stopper (with shooting) role with this team.

Smart is averaging 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 2.0/6.0 three-pointers per 36 minutes.

Ellis is averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.5 blocks, and 1.9/5.3 three-pointers per 36 minutes.

Very comparable stats. I want to keep Smart, but we also need someone else besides Smart to fill that role. Especially, in the event of an injury. They both play about 24-30 minutes per game. Ellis is a lot more off the ball, so he could play along side Smart as well. Dort is nice too, he has that Smart body type, but he is not nearly the offensive disruptor that Ellis is. I mean, Ellis gets a ton of steals, blocks, and deflections.

Ellis and Smart should be the two priorities for this off-season, imo.

 

ellis has been a top target for me since last year. ellis and smart gives you a kind of change of pace. dort and smart give you a lot of the same stuff (and dort is likely more expensive overall, as he'll require draft picks in addition to the salary slot).

 

Ellis and Watson would be a great summer. Doesn't leave you cap space for another forward, so we may keep either Bron or Rui.

Keeping most of our roster and adding Ellis and Watson is a hell of a summer