2026 NBA draft thread

[mvossman]

"I'm not against trying to be competitive next season" --- Me either. 

At THIS point, all the decisions made for the 2025-26 season were the product of inferior GM's, and irrelevant to the question of how to best build the future. Right? All that matters is where do we go from here.

As for what to do with players like Middleton and Klay for NEXT SEASON, I wouldn't expect them to ADD older guys on their last legs. But imo with players WHO ARE ALREADY HERE (or easily retained), they might add value where there are holes in the roster, and they can provide needed skills no one else has. Last season, that would have been PG/creation/shooting 3s. If you move them, does that help you be more talented*, or less so? 

I also think CF needs talent around him, to make him better. Not a stripped down roster. That's the goal for next season from about every angle, imo.


* "More talented" can be getting picks that are good enough to solve problems, or freeing cap room to sign players good enough to solve problems, or trading one player for another. But unless the player is just awful or too expensive, getting rid of a player without talent/assets coming back is usually NOT helpful to building a better team.

If nothing else it is an argument for not sticking with what they currently have and a reason to be concerned if they end up punting to Riccardi (which I think has a real chance of happening). I agree the stripped down roster ship has sailed.