Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Chicagojk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHW7TX7xpzk&t=75s

Bobby Marks appearing again on DLLS.....


Moving on from Kidd wasn't a surprise to him.

Teams will be hesitant to trade future firsts between 27 and 29 under the new lottery regime.  Might be difficult to send out Vets for picks.  Do you prioritize youth?  Do you hold onto vets and try for the 6th seed?  Might see Masai moving redundancy (like too many wings) and then try to thread the needle between adding to the young core and being competitive.

He identified two FA Dallas might be interested in:

Rui @ 4/$64mm (similar to NTMLE start amount)
Ayo @ 3/$51mm

Rui is the more realistic one as Minnesota won't let Ayo go.

He thinks Masai is pumping up Kyrie's value.  He won't hate keeping him til the TDL, but the Kyrie talk is gamesmanship to drive up the value.  Kyrie is perfect for these teams that lost in the playoffs...Detroit and Houston are mentioned.  

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I actually don't hate the idea of Rui off the bench.  I see him as the Klay replacement if Klay is moved.  But, others would need to go before that would make sense to me.  

Obviously, there is no harm in pumping up Kyrie's value.  But, it is hard to envision deals with Detroit or Houston that don't add to the redundancy at forward rather than help to solve it.  One thing about dealing with Detroit is 21 and Holland plus 9 is a pretty good step toward adding youth.  I don't really see adding three rookies to the active roster and could seen using #30 to move some redundant salary or to move up further into the late teens.  In order to create space for Holland (or someone like him), we need to creat some opportunity for that guy to have a role.

In that podcast where Lowe talked about Masai at the end, he said Masai is patient.   Although he is patient, don't assume that shows fear.  He said he is a shark, and will move when he thinks it is the right move.   It was really a fun listen.  

Lowe also said that Masai would not give him anything on the type of player he likes and said he likes to keep things close to the vest.  We have seen this in his press conference answers.  The teams he had in Denver were different than the teams in Toronto.

I am not sure if Rui or Ayo are the right fits to this team (with the current roster).   I think both will likely stay with their current teams.    Maybe Rui moves on if the Lakers are hesitant, but I think he probably returns.