(07-21-2025, 09:47 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Goodness, what would that trade look like? LeBron has a no-trade clause, so...

(07-22-2025, 11:37 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: @TheDunkCentral
Dalton Knecht’s trade value took a massive hit after the Summer League, and teams around the league no longer view him as a first-round pick, per @jovanbuha


“Summer League has not helped Knecht’s stock, and I don’t think at this point he is valued as a first-round pick, in terms of an asset valuation. That was what I heard in Vegas from talking to multiple people, non-Lakers people, just gauging what would you give for Dalton Knecht? Or if the Lakers are putting Dalton Knecht in a trade, what is he worth? And the feedback I got was, no longer worth a first-round valuation.”

(07-22-2025, 12:08 PM)F Gump Wrote: It will be informative to see if his stock with LA is really THAT low or not.  Is he truly useless and without trade value (rather than just a case where he thinks he's too good to bother with SL effort)? LA has an option decision looming for 2026-27 on him at 4.2M, and it's rare (but not completely unheard of) for those to be declined.

(07-22-2025, 12:13 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Yeah, I don't know how LA feels about him, or whether there's any validity to this "report," but he was certainly less effective on the court than I expected, having heard the name a lot for the past year and not being overly familiar with his game.

(07-22-2025, 11:59 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: I imagine the Lakers are desperately trying to find a way to give his job to that Swindon or Swindell guy, whatever his name is.

(07-22-2025, 01:10 PM)omahen Wrote: I think Lakers will give him plenty of opportunities in the season. But, he will have to deliver. If he doesn't, I don't think it will be anything as extreme as it was suggested here. The upside of having patience is much higher than the downside of having a player a bit over vet min that is not delivering (yet?).

(07-22-2025, 01:10 PM)omahen Wrote: All reports from Lakers are that he is trying very hard, training a lot (3 a day), in constant contact with JJ on how to improve. However, as he is one of the few assets, he is also constantly in trade rumors and was actually already traded once in the rescinded Williams trade. That must not be easy and he never looked quite same after that, imho. He had terrible SL, shooting extremely poorly. Shooting is his biggest asset and he was below 30 %. He can't really create for himself on this level, it seems. He is very athletic with good physical measurements, but it somehow doesn't translate on court much (yet?).

I think Lakers will give him plenty of opportunities in the season. But, he will have to deliver. If he doesn't, I don't think it will be anything as extreme as it was suggested here. The upside of having patience is much higher than the downside of having a player a bit over vet min that is not delivering (yet?).

(07-22-2025, 01:31 PM)F Gump Wrote: That sounds likely, assuming they don't yet consider him a lost cause. 

How long of a leash do you think he has? And what do you think the Lakers would do, if he doesn't improve?

They do have to make a decision before this season (and getting to see how he playable he is) for next season money, so they are on the hook already for a year and it can become 2 years, before anything else is really known. Money can get tight with hard caps, where even these little deals only a couple mill above minimum cause problems if the team isn't getting any useful play out of it. LA already has essentially 2 dead roster spots and if he's not usable, they're down to only 12 players to navigate the season with.

(07-21-2025, 09:09 AM)omahen Wrote: Since there is still not much going on, let me have a shout-out to our friends in the Eastern conference. Do they know, they are allowed to improve their teams? The only one that actually got seriously better is Orlando (at the cost of 4 FRP going West). Atlanta to an extent, although I am not sure if anyone can count on KP being healthy. Indy and Boston gor worse with injuries and Boston sold "half" their team. Milwaukee got worse with Lillard injury and moves they made are not making them better as they would be with Lillard.

Cleveland and NY are same, Philly is probably a lost cause due to injuries. Detroit is the same. All the rest are meh or will be openly tanking (BKN, Was). None of these meh teams made any kind of serious move to give them hope to be better than last season.
...

Quote:Knicks signed Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele while hiring Mike Brown to replace Tom Thibodeau as their head coach.

(07-23-2025, 02:44 PM)Dahlsim Wrote: A few key updates in NY around the margins ... 

(07-23-2025, 04:44 PM)omahen Wrote: FA is happening!!!

Phoenix signed Goodwin who was just waived by Lakers.

(07-24-2025, 08:51 AM)omahen Wrote: Some surprising early news that Luka will sign a 3+1 deal with Lakers. Perhaps this Slovenian media has some inputs from Luka or his camp, otherwise I doubt they know the details of possible deals and future salary consequences available to Luka.

https://sportklub.n1info.si/kosarka/preoblikovani-luka-doncic-se-vraca-v-zda/

(07-24-2025, 10:10 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: My mind has always gone to the 2+1 that gets him to the 35% max sooner.  Sam Quinn lines out three 'viable' options:

Sam Quinn
@SamQuinnCBS
As far as Luka's extension goes, there are three viable options:

- 1+1. This aligns him with Jokic and Giannis, if that matters to him.
- 2+1. This gets him to 10 years of service and the 35% max as early as possible.
- 3+1. Just the most money possible right now.
 
For now, Giannis and Jokic are eligible for 2027 free agency. Recent history has taught us to expect extensions and/or trade requests before that.

Look out for Luka's extension structure too. If he signs a 1+1 to align with them, maybe free agency makes a big comeback in 2027. x.com/APH00PS/status…


Not that anyone cares, but I will be in Ljubljana on 8/25.  It is a day trip excursion on a cruise I'm taking.  I don't know how much free time I'll have, but if anyone from the area has a recommendation for a must see (other than standard cruise excursion stuff), I'd love to know.