Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Winter]

I think a lot of the Naji hate comes down to two factors:  his three point shooting as you mentioned and the analytics of him and Flagg sharing the court being a net negative.  I'm not a big analytics guy and I'd throw out a lot of last season because it was a lost season when they were trying to lose and ideally the biggest chunk of Naji's playing time will come with Cooper getting rest.  And because I watched so many of our dreadful games, Cooper and Naji have good chemistry.  Naji knows how to defer and when to assert himself.  Cooper aside, Naji is a big reason why we hung around in so many games last year.  Dude can get quality shots for himself.  

And I'm going to beat this drum until everyone is deaf.  He wants to be here.  Don't undervalue that.

I do think Naji with this current roster makes some sense. Last year's roster needed something else, but I could imagine Naji coming in the game when Flagg goes out. Both Flagg and Naji are a threat in the same way around the basket. I think there's even more space for Naji to work his game when it's not as crowded in the lane.