Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Smitty]

No doubt Flagg improving his 3 point shooting would be a big win.  When I read "play Flagg at the 4" more than anything that means to me surround him with shooting.  The season Giannis won the chip the guys on the court with him were Middleton, Donte and Jrue who all shot in the neighborhood of 40% from 3 on roughly 5 attempts.  Even his center could shoot some (34% on 4 attempts per game).  That is the ideal environment for Flagg.  I think its very possible Morez gets to Lopez level shooting, and you want the other guys to be close to 40%.  And as great a creator Giannis is, he had a lot of help in Jure and Middleton.  Flagg is going to need that as well.  There is a world where Sergio can be one of those guys.

That’s the thing. They added shooting, which is a great sign... But they added it with the 10-15 type players on the roster. We wanted them to get younger. They did. We wanted them to add shooting. They did. We wanted them to acquire future draft assets for some of their top Vet rotation players. They didn’t do that part (yet).

This transaction cycle hasn’t checked every box. I don’t think any reasonable person expected it to. It will be interesting to see just how different it all looks by just adding a Kyrie level guard. Then, how great an offensive mind/basketball junkie Dusty May actually is.

Also, don’t underestimate Flagg. We talk a lot about what he can’t do, or shouldn’t be asked to do, and not nearly as much as what he can do, or what his hard work and development can lead to.