09-24-2026, 09:38 AM
I'm sneakily optimistic about the guard situation, but we'll know more in a few weeks. FWIW, I liked what Ryan did last season, was disappointed he didn't show out in summer league, but think his size is always going to be a huge barrier to playing time on a competitive team and it was time for DAL to move on.
Speaking of LAC's...
They have really taken a hit with the sanctions the league just handed down. Not expected to be competitive for a while now, but they can lean in to that and come out strong in the long term.
They are committed to ~$193M in salaries this upcoming season. But that falls to $142M next season and ~$20M of that is TOs they can waive and another $7.5M in non-guaranteed contracts. So they could potentially only have ~$115 committed going in to the offseason. FWIW, if you take out TOs and non-guaranteed money, they currently have ZERO salary commitments for the 28-29 season.
With that flexibility, they could be a dumping ground for every unwanted contract in the league, with appropriate draft compensation (of course) for the use of that space. So during the time they aren't expected to be competitive anyway, they can bank draft capital such that they end up in an OKC situation where they could use the draft to replenish rather than rebuild. Maybe a silver lining if they play their cards right?
Speaking of LAC's...
They have really taken a hit with the sanctions the league just handed down. Not expected to be competitive for a while now, but they can lean in to that and come out strong in the long term.
They are committed to ~$193M in salaries this upcoming season. But that falls to $142M next season and ~$20M of that is TOs they can waive and another $7.5M in non-guaranteed contracts. So they could potentially only have ~$115 committed going in to the offseason. FWIW, if you take out TOs and non-guaranteed money, they currently have ZERO salary commitments for the 28-29 season.
With that flexibility, they could be a dumping ground for every unwanted contract in the league, with appropriate draft compensation (of course) for the use of that space. So during the time they aren't expected to be competitive anyway, they can bank draft capital such that they end up in an OKC situation where they could use the draft to replenish rather than rebuild. Maybe a silver lining if they play their cards right?