AROUND the NBA:

[khaled1987]

I don't think that they are accepting that they can't go better, but i think that is result what happened when you give all the power of decisions to 1 player.

I wouldn't be surprised even if i see Bronny in the starting 5 next season, because this will be a story they can sell to the media. 

Will Lebron be focused on winning or how much time will he spend on the court together with Bronny?

Do you think Lebron would accept that Bronny would mostly getting DNP? Or be in the G-league even?

I mean, it can still happen that Bronny is actually a solid player, but i think they will have a lot of family drama's there, without much of thinking of winning anything.

I'm glad that Dallas avoided such an issues.

JJ won't sacrifice his coaching career for Lebron, he won't make Bronny a starter. It is different from sacrificing a late 2nd to avoid fighting with  your best player and the agent of your 2nd best player, to actually letting none factor player starts over valid options. 

Lebron only has power because Lakers management were clueless after dr. Buss passed away, he brought the kids legitimacy with a title and them recruiting 2 superstars. Before 2018 Lakers were losing race to freakin Greg Monroe. Right now he still holds the power of being the best player Lakers can have.
But atm, Pelinka and Jeanie Buss has some fab packing, and they have avoided needlessly trading their picks. And chased coaches for long term projects (Hurley as a college coach, and JJ as a young coaching prodigy. 

I think they are doing what many teams does, and enjoying being in playoffs for now. Until the NBA gifts them the next big thing.

[SleepingHero]

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
ESPN Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as top assistant coaches on JJ Redick’s new staff. Redick gets two longtime head coaches with a combined 1,189 victories to surround him.

[SleepingHero]

@ShamsCharania
After retiring from a 12-year NBA career, four-time All-Star Kemba Walker is rejoining the Charlotte Hornets on new coach Charles Lee's coaching staff as a player enhancement coach.

[KillerLeft]

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
ESPN Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as top assistant coaches on JJ Redick’s new staff. Redick gets two longtime head coaches with a combined 1,189 victories to surround him.

And Gentry too, correct?

[dirkfansince1998]

Most likely paying three head coaching salaries on top of whatever Redick makes. On top of the luxury tax. But I guess it is all worth it as long as they reach the play-in.

[Winter]

I dunno. Redick is a novice here. I could see him getting swamped by other coaches with head coach pedigree and head coach designs.

[RGP1981]

Looking around the West... the Pelicans really shot themselves in the foot by hanging on to Zion for so long and paying CJ McGollum for so long. Their roster looks so meh. They've even drafted a guy whose name when pronounced sounds like "he misses", aka Yves Missi, lol.

Trying to fix the Pels... while giving the Jazz a better shot at Cooper Flagg (the Jazz are the best franchise for him)... at the expense of the Nets (I see no good reason for the Nets to have a chance at Cooper Flagg).

Pels get: Markkanen, Kessler
Nets get: Zion
Jazz get: The corpse of Ben Simmons and a haul of Nets picks, maybe some Pels picks too.

Who says no?

Follow-up trade... Pels send a 1st round pick to the Orlando Magic for Tristan da Silva.

Fixed Pels: Dejounte/Alvarez, Herbert/Hawkins, Brandon/Murphy, Lauri/DaSilva, Walker/Missi

[Winter]

Sixers have waived Paul Reed

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Sixers have waived Paul Reed

He won't be for long. He can play, good backup

[Mavs2021]

He won't be for long. He can play, good backup

Joe and Goga made it past the waiver wire on minimum/rookie deals. Don´t underestimate how stupid the worst teams are.Mavs under Cuban were one of them teams. They should have gotten both.

[Jason Terry]

Lauri to the Warriors would be a nice move to compliment the good offseason for the mavs

Tier 1 - Favorite
OKC - minus weak link Giddy. Added Caruso and Hartenstein. They will be the main problem for years to come. If we were going to build a team to beat someone else, it should be OKC

Tier 2 - Real Contenders
Mavs
Nuggets - lose Brown, J Green, KCP for nothing
Wolves - all in with their draft moves. Only real option with the 2nd apron penalties looming

Tier 3 - Competitive teams

Suns - screwed long term and short term
Pelicans - interesting if they can get a legit big
Kings - Derozan would help but they’re going nowhere
Grizzlies - who knows what to expect
Spurs - they will be a problem soon
Warriors - they are done even with Lauri
Clippers - lose PG but i like their moves
Lakers - one 20 game injury away from Hawks having their high lotto pick
Rockets - no top end talent

Tier 4 - Tank Teams

Blazers
Jazz

—————————————————————-

The tier 3 teams with the most hope going forward are the ones with their own picks. Pelicans, Grizzlies, Spurs and Kings

The interesting teams in the west are the tier 3 teams who don’t have their picks. Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Rockets. The Suns and Lakers are really in a bad spot

The Warriors are at a crossroads. It looks like the pressure to compete now is too great and they will do something big. It’s a great thing for us long term that these top west organizations are in such a bad way. I take it as warning too that we shouldn’t be too aggressive on single player transactions. That’s what did these teams in

[SleepingHero]

Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania)
Sacramento Kings No. 13 pick Devin Carter is expected to undergo left shoulder surgery next week, sources tell @​TheAthletic @​Stadium. Carter’s status at the start of next season is in question, but he is fully expected to make a full recovery with no long-term issues.

[LukaMVP]

have to keep finding young and talented guys to fill our roster instead of giving role players big deals they don't really deserve, after we win a championship. guys like Bruce brown and Caldwell-Pope are good players and they played significant roles on their championship run, but it doesn't mean they aren't replaceable. the presence of hard cap makes it almost impossible to keep everyone on board so the team needs to be aware who're the cornerstones and who else are just decorations imho.

[KillerLeft]

I'm a little less bullish on the Hartenstein fit with OKC than most.

On one hand, they need a real big off of the bench in order to shore up some rebounding issues and to provide more opportunity to rest Chet Holmgren during the regular season. And, it would be good if that guy could play some with Holmgren, too. Hartenstein checks those boxes.

On the other hand, Hartenstein might be a little overqualified for that role, which, along with what they paid to get him, makes me nervous they're thinking about playing a two-big lineup quite a bit. This would be a mistake, imo, as the only team currently doing that to any level of success is Minnesota, and it's exactly what's holding that team back. I will never be scared of Minnesota in a 7-game series, no matter how good Edwards gets, as long as they are playing that way. OKC, meanwhile, was the team closest to being about to play the way Boston plays.

There are ways Hartenstein can help them, for sure, but I don't think he's going to be as much of a standout there as he was in NY last season.

[audiosway]

I'm a little less bullish on the Hartenstein fit with OKC than most.

On one hand, they need a real big off of the bench in order to shore up some rebounding issues and to provide more opportunity to rest Chet Holmgren during the regular season. And, it would be good if that guy could play some with Holmgren, too. Hartenstein checks those boxes.

On the other hand, Hartenstein might be a little overqualified for that role, which, along with what they paid to get him, makes me nervous they're thinking about playing a two-big lineup quite a bit. This would be a mistake, imo, as the only team currently doing that to any level of success is Minnesota, and it's exactly what's holding that team back. I will never be scared of Minnesota in a 7-game series, no matter how good Edwards gets, as long as they are playing that way. OKC, meanwhile, was the team closest to being about to play the way Boston plays.

There are ways Hartenstein can help them, for sure, but I don't think he's going to be as much of a standout there as he was in NY last season.

I was literally just thinking this today. I think that he isn't going to be all that with OKC. I just don't see the fit like there was with NY.

[Knutsen]

Sixers have waived Paul Reed

I have no idea why they‘ve done that. I really like him, he even started to hit some threes last year. He‘ll probably look for a much bigger role, but Reed instead of Powell and Morris would be a huge upgrade on the floor.

[mvossman]

I have no idea why they‘ve done that. I really like him, he even started to hit some threes last year. He‘ll probably look for a much bigger role, but Reed instead of Powell and Morris would be a huge upgrade on the floor.

He would, but then again those guys are almost pure garbage time minutes.  How important is it to upgrade garbage minutes?

[Knutsen]

He would, but then again those guys are almost pure garbage time minutes.  How important is it to upgrade garbage minutes?

For me it is important when there‘s a chance to grow into a much bigger role. For example DJJ was signed as a garbage time player - but there was always the potential for him to earn a much bigger role. Same with Reed - isn’t there a good chance he could grow into one of our 4 core big men ahead of Kleber that are manning the 4 and 5 positions, especially if he can stabilize his three point percentage?

[The Jom]

Lauri to the Warriors would be a nice move to compliment the good offseason for the mavs

Tier 1 - Favorite
OKC - minus weak link Giddy. Added Caruso and Hartenstein. They will be the main problem for years to come. If we were going to build a team to beat someone else, it should be OKC

Tier 2 - Real Contenders
Mavs
Nuggets - lose Brown, J Green, KCP for nothing
Wolves - all in with their draft moves. Only real option with the 2nd apron penalties looming

Tier 3 - Competitive teams

Suns - screwed long term and short term
Pelicans - interesting if they can get a legit big
Kings - Derozan would help but they’re going nowhere
Grizzlies - who knows what to expect
Spurs - they will be a problem soon
Warriors - they are done even with Lauri
Clippers - lose PG but i like their moves
Lakers - one 20 game injury away from Hawks having their high lotto pick
Rockets - no top end talent

Tier 4 - Tank Teams

Blazers
Jazz

—————————————————————-

The tier 3 teams with the most hope going forward are the ones with their own picks. Pelicans, Grizzlies, Spurs and Kings

The interesting teams in the west are the tier 3 teams who don’t have their picks. Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Rockets. The Suns and Lakers are really in a bad spot

The Warriors are at a crossroads. It looks like the pressure to compete now is too great and they will do something big. It’s a great thing for us long term that these top west organizations are in such a bad way. I take it as warning too that we shouldn’t be too aggressive on single player transactions. That’s what did these teams in

Love this exercise! You make good points. But I would nit-pick the top. Denver took big steps backwards after finishing 4th in the west. (Ok, tied with OK for 3rd.) Minny basically stood pat after a near sweep in the conf finals. Thunder improved at the edges but remain soft in the middle. (Call them Al.)

Your Western Conference Champs, meanwhile, added a star! My rankings:

Mavs
Thunder
Wolves
Nuggets
Warriors
Clippers
Suns
Rockets
Griz
Pelicans
Kings
Spurs
Lakers

[mvossman]

For me it is important when there‘s a chance to grow into a much bigger role. For example DJJ was signed as a garbage time player - but there was always the potential for him to earn a much bigger role. Same with Reed - isn’t there a good chance he could grow into one of our 4 core big men ahead of Kleber that are manning the 4 and 5 positions, especially if he can stabilize his three point percentage?

I don't see him as a 4 on this team.  The 4 needs to stretch the floor, and a guy that shoots less than one 3 a game does not stretch the floor.  We have one of the best backup centers in the league and a useful 5 out center (when he is healthy).  There is very little avenue to center minutes on this team without significant long term injuries.