What is Krack Whack and fellow thermonuclear a efforts. I am Dampa Valley coming
at you with a solo podcast how We're gonna tackle the Paul Georgia injury report
fall out, followed by a free agency target for every NBA team, just
to give us a change of pace, and also because I feel like we
haven't done something where you know, we haven't talked about the Wizards a bunch
lately when we talked a little bit about the Bowls, just to get into
quick discussions about other team. Just want to throw you the quick reminder though,
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Hardwood Knox on Twitter and TikTok at Hardwood Underscore Knox on the IG. With
that out of the way, let's get to some I guess we should say
just unfortunate Paul George news at this point, he suffered a sprained right knee
during LA's loss to the thunder on Tuesday night. He's expected to be reevaluated
in two to three weeks, and so if you look at you know,
the key word here is reevaluated, and that does not mean that he's just
going to be back by So this happens, we get the news on March
twenty second. If it's two weeks that he gets reevaluated, you're looking at
about April sixth. That would be with two games left in the regular season
that's reevaluated, and if it's closer to three weeks, we're talking past the
plan, which is I think ends on the fourteenth or the fifteenth off I'm
not mistaken. So there's a very real chance that, well, I wouldn't
Paul George has done for the regular season. I think we would put it
that way if he's because there's going to be a ramp up once he's reevaluated.
So if he's back before the end of the regular season, I'd be
fairly shocked. You get into the question of what was he going to be
back for the play in tournament that the Clippers might be a part of.
Will he even be back for the first round of the playoffs? That gets
into a lot of sobering realities, And there are long term implications here which
I'll touch upon, But I want to start I think in the immediate aftermath
of Okay, well, what are the Clippers going to do to navigate the
rest of this schedule? It'll begin with you know, they're facing the thunder
again on Thursday night, and they have some really big matchups coming up.
Just I mean by virtue of the fact that, hey, yeah they're fifth
in the West, but only by two losses at this moment, And so
teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, we just got karl anthy Town's back, you
know, the Dallas Mavericks could come for them if they have Luca back.
Is how long is Kyrie going to be out? The Lakers are looking pretty
frisky at the moment, and of course the team they're facing in the Thunder,
like there's a huge gap that could be bridged. Right now, there's
a game and a half total. If the Thunder went on Thursday night,
poof the Clippers are only a half game up on them. And so I
mean, all of these matchups are huge just by virtue of how tightly contested
the West is. But the Clippers are going to play, like I said,
the Thunder on Thursday. Then they have the Pelicans, the Bulls,
they have the Grizzlies twice in Memphis, then they have the Pelicans again,
all three of those games taking place on the road. Their home for two
games against the Lakers and the Blazers. Lakers game could be especially huge.
And then they close the season on April ninth in Phoenix, against the Suns,
that's not if we're talking gimme games. They don't have a single They
probably have too maybe three left on the schedule. You have the Pelicans twice,
just because we don't know what. They played a little bit better,
But like, oh, what is you know, beating the Spurs and they'll
probably beat up on the Hornets. What is that really telling you? And
Zion's gonna be on another two or three weeks. We've already just kind of
discussed that about him. There's no reason to go more into that. But
I mean the rest of their games, like, none of them are getting
these, not against the Thunder. The Bulls have been playing a lot better
lately. The Grizzlies, of course, they've John ramp back. They are
missing some guys than the Lakers. They've just been a lot better post trade
line. They might have Lebron James Bath by the April fifth matchups for all,
you know, you don't have to worry about the Blazers. And of
course the Sun's Katie might be back by that finale on April ninth. So
this is tough sledding. And I don't know how many games the Clippers need
to win from here to protect the fifth seed, but they certainly need to
go over five hundred, I would think, just given how again tightly contested
everything is in the Western Conference, and so over these nine games, I
think ideally you probably need to go if you want to protect where you are
five and four at the very least, and like a four and five stretch
just feels like it opens the door for everyone. I'm curious to see what
happens with the Clippers starting lineup. As I'm recording this, I've not heard
anything or read anything about it. They have, of course been starting Russell
Westbrook, Kauhai, Paul George of Vizza Za Vizza Zubach, and Marcus Morris
Senior. I would immediately put Terrence Man into the starting lineup, knowing Tyloo
it might be, and Eric Gordon. I would also just kind of pull
Marcus Morris at this point, and I would go with put Toombs right there,
maybe even Roco. I wouldn't even hesitate to go small and just like
fine, if you want to play Eric Gordon the starting five, put Terrence
Man in there. Anyway, they will have some other options when, if,
and when Norman Powell comes back from his shoulder injury. I worry as
a result of this Paul George injury that they're going to rely too much on
Marcus Morris Senior and even Russell Westbrook to extent, who's been the rim pressure
has been good for LA, like they've really settled in. You you talk
about, look, this team has been up and down all season, and
likes, it's so weird just because you have this instance where it looks like
they're crescendoing leading into the trade deadline and they still kind of just like really
futs and fiddle with stuff there. But then they're going to go on another
stretch where they're winning four in five games or whatever it's been. At this
point, it looks like things are really starting to come together. They've won,
yeah, five of their last seven games, so it looks like things
are starting to come together. The Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook, excuse me,
rim pressure has been a legily big deal for them. Turnovers are still maddening.
You don't want to rely on him more than you already do. As
a score he's been I would say under control in the sense like not really
looking to elevate his own scoring. With Paul George out does that mindset change.
Does the Clippers thought process behind using him change? I think Russell Westbrook
Again, the Clippers have all of a sudden shot up to I think about
league average and rim frequency since the since the trade deadline, and he's a
big He's a big part of that. Just he is still able to put
defenses in rotation and all the space that they've given him. But you're missing
Paul George. You're set just ty far and away your second best player.
Been averaging since his over his twenty five games, basically twenty five points and
over five assists, but hitting almost thirty six percent of his three summer which
are pretty tough looks, and he takes he takes a lot of them now.
And you know the Clippers have been there are three point volume has dropped
in the aftermath of the trade deadline. I think a few things there,
a function of what the roster looks like without Luke Kenard, a function of
Norman Powell being injured, but then like sort of a function of their lineups.
And so now you take away Paul George, and if we're excluding Bones
Higland, who hasn't even played in seventy five minutes for the Clippers LA is
currently without it's three top or highest volume three point shooters per thirty six minutes.
Paul George seven point nine attempts per thirty six leads the team among rotation
players. Norman Powell is second at six point nine, and then Kennard who
was gone, was third at six point six, and after that it's Nick
patum Roco Eric and there's they're all still over six attempts for thirty six minutes.
So there is that, But that is something that you're going to need
to consider. Is even as Paul George he's at over thirty seven percent for
the season, as his volume sometimes goes up, you're going to see that
Wax and Wayne. You lose the shot creation, you lose the secondary pass
and you lose the secondary or you lose the shopman, like just the overall
shop making whether he's gonna be on or off the ball, and what he
does to defense is there. You're also going to lose his defense. And
I think when you look at the makeup of this roster, that might actually
be the bigger problem. And we don't have you know, the CHOI without
Paul George sample size, we don't entire games Worth. We don't have a
ton of them. There's been six this season, and the Clippers are foign
two during those stretches, which is, you know, it's promising, But
when you look at the Paul George the acquire minutes without Paul George since the
trade deadline, specifically, so no Wall, Jackson or Canard in those lineups,
the Clippers are minus two point five points per one hundred possessions and the
defense is ranked in the seventh percent file. A lot of those minutes have
come with zoobo and Morris. That puts a lot on Leonard's shoulders. And
we've seen a ton of Eric Gordon in those minutes. He doesn't looked great
defensively this season. We've seen a ton of We've seen some of them are
in Palell in those minutes. We're not talking about any huge sample sizes.
It's only a five hundred and six possessions in total since the trade deadline,
and the most JUS lineup is logged one hundred and six possessions. It's basically
Terrence Man. It's not basically it's Terrence Mann and Nick Patoum with Leonard Morris
and Zoobots and that that nups actually been good defensively, is struggled to generate
offense, which kind of makes sense because yes, Terrence Man is gonna give
you rim pressure and just secondary ball handling. Nick Patoum is super crafty.
Marcus Morris thinks he's a shot creator, but like Kawhi Leonard's the only tried
and true from scratch, like go get a bucket type of player in that
lineup, and he's also just the one that you're going to trust the most
from three point range and someone who really can get him up in involved or
from the perimeter when you're just looking at jump shooting, and someone who's gonna
get jump shots up in volume. So this is it's a mild concern for
the offense, but you do have Eric Gordon. He's just gonna camp on
those wing threes from above the break and that'll help continue to maximize your spacing,
and that will open crevices for Kawhi Leonard, for Norman Powell's or in
pressure when he comes back healthy for Terrence Mann, if you're gonna play more
and yes, four Russell Westbrook and I guess in the eyes of Marcus Morris,
Marcus Moore, Senior I'm immediately just more concerned about the defense, and
I guess that's sort of a weird place to be. But because the Clippers
have been the Clippers have been like they've shown that they have this this level
of like like really when it matters, they've shown that they have been able
to lock down. And but I just look at some of the lineups that
they've needed to run without Paul George, and it, you know it,
it becomes an issue when you're looking at Okay, yes we have Kawhi Leonard
still, but the trickle down effective who has to defend who in those situations.
And as it stands, the Clippers are hovering around the bottom seven point
it's allowed per possession since the trade deadline, which is again, you brought
in Eric Gordon, you brought in Mason Plumley. Bones Thailand hasn't played enough
for it to matter, but you brought in Bones Thailand. Then you brought
in Russell Westbrook, who's been probably I said, as in the Lakers sometimes
this season, better defensively than you would expect, but far from just sort
of this world beater there. And you have like the reliability that you get
from Paul George Quailin was a big part of helping you survive on defense,
you're not you're probably going to give up. They were already giving up a
ton of threes during the stretch. You might be giving up more with Paul
George sort of out of the equation. They have struggled at times with their
rim protection. Paul George's absence isn't going to impact that, although in theory,
if you put their defense in rotation more often, you're going to make
it harder for them to protect the rim. And I don't read too much
into their three point shooting defense since the trade deadline. It's it's seventeenth the
best way, closer to league average, But it just inherently your life is
going to get rougher on the perimeter. And I think that without question.
To me, looking at both sides of the ball, turns Man is the
most important player in the absence of Paul George. But my question is will
he be viewed as the most important player. My guess my hunches that he
will be even if he's not, and this might be dated information now he's
not starting, I think he ends up being that player. So do I
think the Clippers are going to go five and four here, I honestly don't
know. I just let's just say they're gonna beat the Pelicans twice. It's
spread out enough, and those games from Pelicans really aren't gonna matter since they
won't have Zion. They'll beat the Pelicans twice, and they'll beat the Blazers.
Let's just assume that's three wins there. Can they get two wins against
the Thunder on Thursday or the Bulls on the twenty seventh, two sets against
the Grizzlies, then the Lakers, and then the Suns. Yeah, like
I'll I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'm Parby wants to say
yes, But this roster has just been a complete failure. From not a
complete failure, but the season's been a failure, and it's been so up
and down you have to just like and just even the post All Star Drake
up, post All Star Drake well, post All Star break has been maddening
for them. They lost five straight, a lot of them. I think
all of them might have been close games followed by a four game winning streak.
Then they lose two of three and now you have this huge Paul George
injury, and two of those three losses, by the way, especially the
Oklahoma City one, came down to the absolute wire, and I inherently don't
know what to make of this team as a result. Still, I think
that they are in a better position to navigate Paul George's absence than they were
at the start of the post All Star break, but it also feels like
they might be in a worse position than before the All Star break, just
because I think you needed to get rid of John Wall and Reggie Jackson,
but you also kind of already knew what you had of them, and there
was a lot of Okay, well, this just isn't working, and it
really hasn't been. I guess enough of that for the Clippers to read too
much into certain things where it's okay, well, should Westbrook be closing these
games without Paul George on the floor. You could counter that by saying Tyler
was never going to quit Marcus Morris anyway, So that's not something that he
would He's had a sample size of, that's not something he was going to
get right away from to begin with. So at best, though, I
would say that the Clippers are they didn't help themselves I don't think post All
Star, post trade deadline like to navigate this absence, I don't think they're
significantly better off. And if Paul George isn't going to come back by the
end of the play in and which the Clippers could theoretically be in, I
mean maybe they won't. There's like they're in fifth, like they should be
able to or they could be able to hold on to that spot. But
if they're in the play in and he's just not ready by them, I
don't like. I don't know how good you feel looking at the teams that
should be in the plan. I think the top ten we see in the
West right now is how it's going to settle. So you have the Lakers,
the Mavericks, the thunder, the Timberwolves, the Warriors, and the
Clippers. They've those ten through five spots. I think that's I don't know
if that's the order, but those are the teams and I don't think anyone's
gonna catch. I mean, the Clippers on the half game behind Phoenix technically,
so that game is is really big. But you just look at that
five team pack and whoever the Clippers need to face, whether they need to
win twice or just win one once. I don't know if you can feel
confident in saying, without Paul George that they would make it out of there,
not even gonna hazard to predict it, because this Western Conference is just
pure utter anarchy mixed with a ton of mediocrity, mixed with a ton of
questions, cut with a ton of super high ceilings that are also blended in
with a bunch of potential rock bottoms. When you look at how much some
of the could be powerhouses or should be really good teams have struggled, I
don't know. I honestly don't know what this Clippers record is Gonna've been so
unpredictable that without Paul George, I think that you almost need to say,
well, they'll probably be five and four might be their peak, and so
they go better than five and fourth, they go six and three. I
would be pleasantly surprised. Not shocked just because you still have Kawhi, but
I would be pleasantly surprised. The long term implications here are could be wild
because you have to look at it a few ways. Does this give the
Clippers cover if things invariably go wrong in the playoffs, because it's you know,
Paul George wasn't playing or he wasn't playing up to snuff. You're just
saying, you know, it's just another season that we've kind of lost or
been derailed by injuries. They don't have the leeway to offer that excuse.
In my opinion, maybe they won't like if you whatever Paul George looks like,
if you flame out of the playoffs before, if you flame if you
don't win a playoff series, or if you don't put forth a competitive effort
in the semifinals, that shows that you're necessarily on the cusp. And I
would argue that even if you lose in the semifinals with Paul George back healthy,
playing super well, all those different scenarios have to beget major changes.
To me with this roster. It's I'm not saying you trade Kauai and PG
if if they're happy, you keep them, just because you have the baseline
of an excellent team, but you've got to start looking in everything else.
You can trade a twenty twenty eight first round pick, a twenty twenty thirty
first round pick, and then a swap in twenty twenty nine, so you
have some equity to attached to what are digestible contracts. When you look at
the expiring deal of Marcus Moore, senior teams would actually probably view a Visa
Zoo box as an asset. You Robert Covington, So you have contracts that
can be moved to bring back sizeable salaries, and you even you know,
let's throw Terrence Man in here. I'm not saying they should trade all of
these in one deal. I want to make that clear. But with the
assets they have, they should be able to get into sweepstakes for that.
I don't know that they're going to outbid many people, but they should be
able to make semi significant changes. And it's not going to be okay if
Brandon Ingram comes on the market, just as an example, I don't know
that they would actually want him. All that would be talk about stockpiling all
the wings Ingram Kawaim pg. Thirteen. If he comes on the market.
They're not going to outbid anyone for brandon Ingram. But a player of like
and I'm not saying they have to throw all their chips in here, but
a player of a different caliber. Just I don't even know what names springs
to mind, because I haven't thought enough of the offseason landscape. I think
so much of it is going to be shaped by how the playoffs end to
begin with. So but like you can go in and get a I just
I don't even know, is it? Like I don't can't. I can't
even come up with a name right now. The landscape just hasn't settled yet.
But you have the assets necessary to just go out and let me seek
the major changes or semi major changes or significant changes. Or maybe it's just
a matter of hey, we're not consolidating. We're trying to get off some
of these older players, some of these pricier deals, even if they're headed
into their their final years of the non Kauai non PG territory, just to
give ourselves some more flexibility. We're looking even just get off Norman Powell's deal
because it runs so long. Again, I don't think that you're gonna be
able to get into like a McHale Bridges discussion if he becomes available, though
maybe you are. You talk about there are four first round picks on the
table for him if you come over the top with Terrence Mann and two firsts
that are off into the future that might actually beat that offered, So maybe
that level of player in OG and an Obi level of player. I don't
even think that you necessarily need OG because you have Kawai MPG but or and
ditto for McHale Bridges, but I think he gives you just a lot more
ball handling than if you were just to get another were of complimentary wing.
Could you get in this assign in trade sweep stakes for Fred van Fleet that
hard capture? So probably not. But if Fred van Fleet caliber of player,
if he's going to become available, and there will always be players that
just suddenly become available that we can't necessarily spot at this moment, like it,
could it be they could definitely get into a Demard Rosen sweep stakes.
I don't know if they would actually want to. Could they get into his
zacch Lavine sweepstakes? If they decide like they want to skew that way towards
the offensive end? Do the Pacers all of a sudden up and decide that,
hey, Miles Turner's back on the market, they could get into the
bidding for a player like that rather be a would be interesting here, don't
he has no trade claw So that would theoretically give them enough. Is that
someone who's a great fit. Again, I haven't given this a ton of
thought, but I have thought about, well, if this Clipper season,
everyone's thought about it, if it ends prematurely or known flattering fashion, what
are like, what are they supposed to do? And now, yes,
you could in theory have this built and excuse of look another injury, it
kind of derailed us. It's just not gonna fly anymore because now injuries are
just ingrained into your DNA, even if they're not chronic, and you've been
so all over the place, even at full strength slash close to full strength,
you just you can't really buy your time anymore and bank on this court
to get you over the top. And anything short of just I'm gonna and
I might even be sending the bar too low, but anything short of a
riveting as hell semifinals trip, like you really need to be looking at some
seismic changes and look, I would I think there are people that probably sa
if you don't make the conference finals and there's not you're not like putting up
a huge fight there, that you should just go and look at making major
alterations to the roster. So we'll have to wait and see what happens there
immediately, though, I don't have a ton of faith and what's going to
happen without Paul George and whether he comes back or not, how much of
a ramp up period does he need? What does he look like? The
injury looked really bad. So it's it's a relief that it's not worse.
Just when you see which like the angle at which is leg bent. Uh,
these you know, these sprain needs that could be tricky to come back
from though, And so this is even if you expect him to be back
in time for the playoffs playing like, let's just say that that's the most
ideal scenario. You're not really assured of much thereafter. And that puts you
in just a really awkward, difficult position. And I think it's going to
impact It's got like their title ups were impacted already, but I think that
this injury makes it far more likely we see an ending to the Clippers season
that compels them, that forces them, that coaxes them to consider serious material
changes to the entire roster outside of the Kauai and Paul PG thirteen division.
All right, let's get into a free agency target. I think every NBA
team should already be thinking about this is way too early. Things can change
based on how the playoffs go, about what happens in the draft, other
transactions and trades that are going to change the spending power that teams have to
operate with. But I went about this as I'm not picking incumbent free agents.
You have to be targeting another team's free agent, and I tried to
keep it some of them are more ambitious, but I also try to keep
it realistic. And certainly what I came up with the suggestions was working within
the confines of every team's projected spending band. So do they have the non
taxpayer mL E the mini mL, are they working with actual cap space?
And what's the range of cap space they're actually working with? And then I
considered just roster fit and how to maximize it and the team's direction of course,
but that's the toughest one. I mean, cap space can be tough
to project now too, but the toughest one to project is is that needs
still going to be there depending on what happens in the draft or if they
seek out other trades. And so let's kickstart this with the Atlanta Hawks,
who already locked down Podan Bogdanovich, and they project as a mini MLI team
this year, and I have them as going after they should be looking at
Jil McDaniel's banged up right now, but they just need kind of another wing
and four spots just to deepen that rotation. Maybe you really do trust Joy
and Jonathan excuse me, in that role. It does seem like they're not
going to be long for john but somebody who could taggle between the three and
the four, and Johnson's not really going to toggle between the three. And
so with that seven million dollars the taxpayer middle exception seven million dollars about I
like Jill McDaniel slim. I don't think it costs the entire thing, which
would be important because I don't think Atlanta wants that they project to me in
the tax right now. I think they'll probably look to duck that by trading
John Collins, and so if they don't, I would be shocked if they
spend the full mid level exception if it puts them in the tax. But
that's a player given their spending limitations, that I think would be an excellent
fit the Boston Celtics. They are just taxed out the hell I have Utah
wants an Abby. It just feels like they could use some additional wing depth
behind the Jason Tatum Jalen Brown brigade. They do have Malcolm Brogden and Derek
White and Marcus mart but those guys are all just sort of on the smaller
end, and you could get wants an Abby to play a little bit a
four and that's also good insurance in the event that Grant Williams winds up leaving
in restricted free agency. The Brooklyn Nets I have Naz Reid following their trades
of Kevin Durant and Kyrie I Ring. I think they'll have They should fall
on the non taxpayer MLI range, which is going to be about eleven million
bucks a year. That's probably where reads eleven point four million dollars as a
starting salary. That's probably where reads market lands. He has like an actual
floor game, which is incredible to really see. Not gonna give you too
much in the way of defense, but you could probably get away with he
takes enough threes and he's not necessarily hitting them at the highest clip, but
you could play him next to Nick Claxton. You could play him next to
Ben Simmons if he's still on the roster, and NAT could just use some
extra center depth. Now Minnesota has the ability to match this, but they've
already invested so much in Conty Town's Rudy Gobert. Are they going to give
what's the equivalent of full non taxpayer mL E money to another big and also
reads an unrestricted free agent. And if you're gonna have both Cat and Golbert
there, his role is going to be forever capped, And so why would
you want to stay there? The Charlotte Hornets, I have Dylan Brooks,
they have the ability to get to fifteen plus million dollars in cap space.
I'm very interested to see how Michael Jordan potentially selling the team impacts their direction.
I kind of just operate under the assumption that they would be more in
the not have to win now MoBIB but would trying to accelerate their position while
having LaMelo Ball, who's extension knowledgeable this summer, who knows what happens with
Miles Bridges, which is also why I didn't include that kind of another four
you're about to pay PJ. Washington. It just feels like they're going to
be looking for not huge splashes, but unless they completely upend their direction,
they're going to look for guys that fil holes and can really help them re
enter the playoff discussion. They need players who give a damn about primeter defending
on the perimeter and can really actually defend well on the perimeter. I think
Brooks would be a good fit under head coach Steve Clifford, and I would
pay him fifteen million dollars if that's what it costs again him the Bulls.
I have them as a non taxpayer mle spender, and I have Josh Richardson
there. I think that he's had, especially with who's in San Antonio and
underrated season. They just need another wing to sort of move about. Richardson's
going to give you like it's not perfect point of attack defense or perfect defending
bigger wings and forwards defense, but he can range through the one four there
good enough away from the ball to hit some threes. Doesn't seem Mike the
Bulls gonna blow it up. They've been on a tear since the All Star
break. The wing markets also incredibly light, and so he's probably the best
player, best wing you could get with the non tax payer mid level exception.
I guess, depending on how you feel about Austin Reeves. I have
Josh Hurtinson also listed as the Cavaliers, which it's kind of incredible that they
have the non tax player Emlie at their disposal. They could actually get some
cap space, but it would take too many logistical hurdles for them to actually
have more than what the non tax payer Emilie is worth eleven plus million dollars.
And also I think that Carris LeVert has been fairly valuable to them,
and so they still need to plug that three spot long term or in the
line. That's where they're going with one big maybe someone who can help you
downsized to the four allout. You'll play with isaacal Coro and then the two
small guards in one big. Josh Richardson absolutely does that. The Dallas Mavericks,
they're gonna be working with a minimd level exception. They have the offense
to skew all defense. And I would go with Matisse Table Now i'd listed
him before he kind of went kaboom in Portland. He's been shooting like thirty
nine percent from three, moving off the ball way better. That makes it
more intriguing too the Mavericks. But I've started to wonder does the mini mL
again seven million dollars per year or as a starting salary, does that get
you into maatist stipel territory. I honestly don't know. And then after that,
like maybe you look at Hamadudiallo, then he's smaller, so that could
impact you. But what he gives you at least his defensive range, like
that's just something they need at this point. The Denver Nuggets I have,
so they are gonna be mini mid level players as well. And I don't
know that they're going to spend it just because yes, they're in the tax,
but I don't trust ownership in the cronkeys to keep spending and spending.
I think the way their season ends is going to determine a lot about how
much they spend and what they're doing. We could see them shake things up
in the trade market. I really like Javon day Green when he's healthy.
He is for his size, which is like six five, he's a pretty
good rim protector and he can play and cover. Basically he could defend one
through four and he can log time at the two, three or four spots.
And so to sort of pick him up. I don't know that he
would command the full minimli, but to pick him up for a fraction of
or most of it fits in really well with a team like Denver if they
ever wanted to decide, Hey, especially look, Bruce Brown might leave the
Denver doesn't have his bird rights. Even if you keep him, just have
the option of rolling out Green Brown, KC. P. Gordon and Yokich
for day. We're gonna contend Yokich with all the defenders that could be interesting.
The Detroit Pistons, they are going to have cap space probably in the
twenty five million plus rains. That's even after James Wiseman James Wiseman trade.
I've Gary Trent Jr. He's a player option, and I think they need.
They do have Boiam mcdonovitch. Still, they have Alec Burks as well.
I think you just see someone else in there who would go out and
chuck a bunch of threes and maybe party crashed them some passion lanes. And
he's Look, he's just young enough. He's still only twenty three, I
believe, and so he fits whatever timeline they're at, and it just opens
up more room for Ivy and a healthy Kake cutting him to operate. I
don't know who to pick for the Warriors, especially Draymond Green's entering free agency.
I don't think they're gonna be able to keep Dante Divincenzones, so maybe
you should look at a replacement for him. Are they a team that tries
to give some run to Hamadu Yallo? I think his shooting limitations, even
though he's shot better from the mid range lately, well before his injury,
anyway like that could be prohibitive. But he does a lot of the same
things defensively as a GP two, at least positionally or what dontadven Chenel has
given them. I settled on Dario Sartz just with the mini Emily, they
could stand a beef up the backup big situation if you trust Jonathan Cominga.
You also don't really know. This is a good hedge if Draymond Green does
leave in any event, otherwise, yeah, you could go. They definitely
need a bigger wing and so like, do they get it? Josh person
is a bigger wing. But did they get in on the Josh Richardson sweepstakes?
They just don't have a lot to work with. We don't even know
if they want to spend the full Mini Emily at this point Houston, so
I should change. I have Fred van Fleet listed just because he's a little
bit younger than James Harden and they just need someone to kind of organize their
offense. They've been playing better of late. I like what Fred van Fleet
would do for them defensively, but I guess you should just put James Harden
here. You have so much cap space that if he promises to bring another
start with you, like, why why the fuck not? But in theory,
if I were a GM and I wanted to bring in a veteran floor
general, I'll be looking at Fred van Fleet first, just because I don't
think he's someone who's going to augment the development of the youngsters more than Hardenwood.
And he gives you a more flexible timeline, not just because he's a
little bit younger, but also because he plays away from the ball so often
that you don't necessarily need to rush into another trade, a consolidation trade.
So I like Fred van Fleet in Houston, and I don't think having Kevin
Porter Junior or Jelly Green should really impact you're thinking there. Maybe if you
get Scoot Henderson, that's when you have to start to recalibrate Indiana. I
of PJ. Washington, they are still going to have like twenty five plus
million in cap space after extending Turner. He's a perfecit alongside Turner. Washington
has a little bit of a floor game. Can operate from the elbows or
the nail if you need him too, but he's probably better off just dotting
another big man. But I also think you want to have the ability to
toggle between him and Turner, where yes, Turner's not better as a screener
making decisions with the ball and roller and making decision with the ball in his
hands, but he's also still a good outside threat, which is gonna give
p to Washington plenty of room to operate an offense headlined by math in Washington,
Turner, and Haliburton. And then if he'll Distiller that that'd be scary
as fuck. By the way, too, there are a lot of other
Like I thought about Cam Johnson here, I don't know if he gives you
enough versatility because PJ. Washington he can slide up to the five he really
want to, and he's also like that's the guy that just defends Jeannie for
the Hornet's like, that's just another body to throw at him. You're not
going to do that with Cam Johnson. Grant Williams would be an option as
well, but I like PJ. Washington feels like he has the higher ceiling
of all the names I mentioned, even if he might have the lower floor.
There's like higher floors for Cam Johnson and Grant Williams. The Clippers,
they're gonna have the mini mL E and I went with Bismac BEYONMBO. I'm
not a fan of the Mason Plumley backup center situation. I don't know why
you would perpetuate that. I thought it was like it wasn't it didn't cost
them too much. Maybe it was a puzzling move to some people. It's
just whatever to me. Byambo has statistically been the best rim protector in the
league when you look at opponent field goal percentage allowed, and just to get
him in there, you have enough spacing around him to where you just have
him set screens, roll with the basket. Someone who's cheap and you might
be able to pick him up, maybe on a little bit more than a
league minimum contract. So that'd be good value there. The Lakers, they're
gonna be mini MLI players. They're going to operate over the cap. If
they don't, this will change. But you would have to get rid of
Dlow, Jared Vanderbilt, Ruey Hatchamura, and Molik Beasley. I don't think
they're going to do that, And a Kyrie Irving sign and trades there is
just too hard because it's hard caps you for them to explore that route,
or too even if he you know, he could take a pay cut let's
say for twenty eight nine million and just sign with them, that's a pretty
big pay cut when he's eligible for forty plus million dollar salary. If you
wanted to go to the Kyrie route, it actually probably makes more sense to
resign Dlow, keep Vanderbilt's deal, it's non guarantee, keep pick up Mollie
Beasley's team option, maybe resign Ruey Hatchamore to a minor deal, and then
you can use their salaries as filler in the trade. Like Dallas might have
interested Delo in a mid season Kyrie Irving trade. Who knows, they'd certainly
probably have interested in Beasley and Jared Vanderbilt. So I have Tory Craig,
they just continue to get some bigger wings in there. His three point shooting
can be all over the place, but he will help you on the offensive
glass. I don't know that I would play him with Van Built and ad
at the same time, but I might try it. That looks like defensively,
especially, you could be enormous if Lebron's in that equation, and generally
like Tory Craig and Phoenix has hit enough threes to be serviceable. So I
like him in LA and I think he's going to fall on the mini emil
E range Memphis so they can have cap space. They won't because I think
they carry Dylan Brooks' hold, and I think that would bring them to mini
mL E territory if we're assuming that he stays. Harrison Barnes is who I've
listed. He's not signing for the MINIMLI, He's not signing for the non
tax payers Emily. This is just more of a sign and trade scenario.
The Grizzlies have plenty of flexibility under the hard cap. They can make something
happen. It would take cooperation from the Kings and Barnes himself. He would
have to want to leave Sacramento. Maybe the Kings are open to it just
because they have in theory his replacement in Keegan Murray waiting in the Waynes and
Keegan Murray's ready to do more on offense, is he ready to do more
on defense? Barnes doesn't carry this huge load on defense either, and Murray
we've seen him match up statistically with a lot of third options. And if
you were the Kings, and maybe you're going to make a bigger trade if
you can get like a smaller asset in a deal for Barnes while taking back
salary that you don't mind having on the books. Of course, could you
then turn around and make another deal for just like a higher end or can
you enter the Mkal Bridges Rogiana Noby sweepstakes two players who are perfect fits there.
You might be wanting, why would Memphis just enter those sweepstakes? They
are inherently risk averse right now. Maybe the playoff changes that. This feels
like the in between move, which is sort of just like what they made
at the trade deadline instead of going all in on something. They acquired Lucanard.
Kyle kuz would be interesting there too, I believe, But I think
Barnes is a little bit more plug and play the heat. I just have
Joe Angles. They're gonna have the minimli Any major move they make will come
on the trade deadline. They still need to. I know Kevin Love is
there and starting, and there's been some interesting moments with him and Bam on
the court, but you could put Joe Angles in that spot. I'll still
bring Kayla Martin off the bench. Give you another offensive organizer in the half
court if you like, and should you decide to move Kyle Lowry, it's
not just sort of this like huge swing, but you need some more half
court functional diversity, and I think Joe Ingles gives you that, as as
old as he is right now, and I don't even think he would cost
the full minim alita to bring in at this point the Milwaukee Bucks, who
are Joe ingles Is current team. I have Jaylen Noel in part because I
wonder Javon Carter's player option. Is he gonna get paid more than the Bucks
necessarily want to give him. Jelenoell Is younger might actually be cheaper because he's
been so up and down in Minnesota, been banged up at points as well,
and he gives you some just spark in the half court. You would
like to see his three point shooting clip be higher, but he's done some
nice creation on drives for Minnesota this year. And even if you have Javon
Carter, to bring in another ball handler type who will put pressure on defenses,
put them in rotation in the half court, I think you need it.
You have Chris Middleton, Jue Holiday, Janas Still you've been top five
and half court efficiency since Middleton came back, but the core is getting older
due Holiday is gonna miss games, Chris Middleton's gonna miss games, and like
your bench is going to inherently thin out, you have some older guys on
there too. I don't know how much jell and Nol costs, but he's
I think Sharani reported he wanted out of Minnesota at some point and wasn't going
to sign an extension. It does he fall him in the Emili range.
I think he comes close. I don't see anyone giving him the full Emily,
which is a round eleven, but could they give him more than seven?
Maybe Minnesota Josh Richardson coming up again. They could just use another wing
type player. I think maybe their needs change or their preferences changed based on
the clothes to this season, when you have Conley, Kyle Anderson, Jane
McDaniels, Conathy Town's Rudy Gobert getting a real feel for that rotation, Joshers
can just slide in, plug and play. You don't need to start.
Him can come off the bench. We'll give you some really tough defensive minutes.
And Minnesota should be working with a nontext player Emily. That might change
depending on if they pay both Noel and naz Reid, but operating with their
holds. If they don't have a problem hardcapping themselves, I think Josh Retchinson
ends up would end up being a really good bet for them. The Pelicans,
I have Danny Green just because like, let's just get someone in here
who can shoot, and he's like, he's gonna give you better defensemans at
this point than a CJ. McCollum wood. I just I don't even want
to get into there by the way I have them in the mini Emili territory
because if they keep their roster the same with McCollum, salary Ingram Salary Valentunis
to salary Zion's extension kicking in, they're going to be up against the tax.
They could, in theory, carver out some space to use the bigger
MLLE, in which case then they could look at it like setting their slights
a little bit higher, Like did they become a jail and Noel team?
Perhaps I wouldn't trust it like they've done, like kind of the high variants
experience with I want to compare him with Javonte Graham, different types of player.
He's gonna put more pressure inside the ARK, but they could aim higher
if they go that route. I just don't know that I trust them too
or I ultimately think not that this is pointless, but like let's get the
vet. You already have high quality VT and CJ in the locker room.
Danny Green will certainly help that. You could also keep Josh Richardson still too
while affording Danny Green. I would think they just need more functional shooting in
there, and that's if they don't make any other changes. I fully expect
that they're probably gonna make a trade this summer though, and I would bet
against both CJ. McCollum and Brandon Ingram being back in New Orleans next season.
The new York Nicks. This is tough. I have them as a
non taxplayer mid level spenders, so that at eleven plus million dollar range,
Dad could change too, depending on how much it costs to keep Josh Hart,
who has a player option, but I think they should still have access
to it based off my own projections, and so I have not even Chenso
listed because I want to just bring all of Illanova players under one roof apparently,
but also because like they need a wing, like they need another just
like a big like a wing that's RJ Barrett size, who's like, who's
is an actual wing and more maybe plug and play RJ sometimes looks like that,
So you're getting in Dante de Vincenzo kind of falls into like the Quentin
Grimes Josh Hart sized territory where it's like they're not big but you can still
move them around and it's just really fundamentally sound. So my logic here,
I don't want to spend too much time on this because I'm trying to blow
through it. My logic here is just that get someone who's a ball mover,
who can hit outside shots, and he's been like semi comfortable up in
his three point volume that's just a great fit who allows you to, Yeah,
if you want to, if you're comfortable downsizing, and we've seen it
with Brunson Quickly in heart, this can be an extension of that. But
also if you have to move I'm not saying they should, but if you
have to move a Grimes or a Barrett or a Quickly as part of a
star trade, like you still have this other guy here who can pick up
some of those responsibilities, like can you can even put the ball in his
hands and you can run a little bit of your offense and if it's costing
you, Again, you don't want to get too small on the wings.
But who else do you really want them to spend this eleven plus million dollars
on. It's not going to be upfront where you have Randall, Hartenstein and
Mitchell Robinson. It's not gonna be you don't need it to be at point
guard with Emmanuel Quickly and John Brunson, and then you have these secondary playmakers
in you know, Julius Randall, and of course if you want to put
the ball in RJ. Barrett's hands, so why not take a shot,
Like the wing market is so thin and you're not going to be and yeah,
Josh for it will be a fine fit. But I kind of wanted
to deviate here, and I like sort of having these you know, Josh
Hart really high IQ player. I think Emanuel quickly shown that he's a really
high IQ player, Jalen Brunson as well, And so I kind of like
just stacking your perimeter rotation with a lot of those higher IQ players. Does
it bury Deuce McBride on the bench a little bit? What does it dude
to Quentin Grimes his minutes? It does increase the accountability for R. J.
Barret, who's already seen some of his minutes dissipate following the addition of
Josh Hart. So I stand by this even though I've had more time to
munch on it, and it's like guessing myself. The Thunder, I Grant
Williams. I want the Thunder so badly to spend what could be thirty plus
million in cap space. I really wanted them to go after Myles Turner when
he was available. I don't think they're going to make this huge offer.
But Grant Williams is young, he's restricted, probably won't cost as much as
a PJ. Washington because of PJ. Washington's on ball skills and just plays
more. Probably won't cost as much as Cam Johnson either, and he's had
some rough stretches with Boston going through one now, but like he fits alongside
Chet Holmgren or you can try playing him at the five. I don't know
how well it works. He's not like a traditional room protector, but he's
super switchable. And so if you trust like some of your other guys and
a jail and Williams to just be the backline protector or a poku if he's
still going to be there and healthy next year, just a fantastic fit with
and not to mention, Kendrick Williams just fits, and he's young enough to
wear. He's young enough, low usage enough that he'sn't infringe upon development.
I would argue that someone like Cam Johnson wouldn't either. I would even say
PJ. Washington would. Yeah, you need more on ball reps for him,
but you could fit him into the larger dynamic, and he's also just
young enough. I would if I was this team and Brook Lopez was available,
and you can give him like a one year or two year windfall to
just pair him with Chet home grin, stagger them and play them together.
They are good enough to do that, and I'm not a Some people look
at the ages of free agents and automatically assume that they would infringe upon the
development of the kiddos or your overall direction. That's not the case. If
it's someone who's just so ultra ball dominant, like a Russell Westbrook, yes
that could be the case. But if he's just an older guy who could
fit within a larger ecosystem both on offensive defense, why not set along Grant
Williams, though trying to keep some variants that I do like him. I
think more for OKC than a PJ. Washington than a Cam Johnson. He
gives you more positional flexibility on defense than Cam Johnson. And then he's just
he's more plug and play on offense than a than a PJ. Washington.
And when you have Josh Giddy, when you have Jon Williams, when you
have Shay Gilgess Alexander, of course I appreciate that more. And then also
you just want someone who is so used to spacing the floor, even if
it's not under a ton of volume, because you also have lou Dort and
so like you want him to be able to venture inside the arc because while
on addition to Giddy SGA Jim Williams putting pressure on defenses, I like Grant
Williams for them, but I wouldn't be opposed to p J. Washington or
them, just like you know, entering the Brandon Ingram trade sweep stakes,
I have Fred van Fleet for the Orlando Magic because I'm not original. The
Magic have twenty plus million in cap space with the potential for more because they
have the Gary Harris Junior non guaranteed salary on their books so they don't need
to go to sign in trade routh. They also have the non guaranteed salary
for Jonathan I partially guaranteed for Jonathan Isaac, very partially guaranteed for Mark el
Folts as well. They can they can get too close. They can get
to thirty plus million dollars in cap space with with relative ease. I think
the goals should be to keep Mark el Folds and Gary Harris because they're good
and so. Do you just wave Jonathan Isaac at this point, eat the
seven or eight million dollars wherever he's guaranteed, stretch it go from there,
or do you just try and broke her as sign and trade. I don't
know what that looks like with Toronto Palo this year's pick Franz Wagner clearly off
off limits. Would Toronto want Mark el Folts in that situation. He's been
good for the Magic, but Fred van fleet is he can't really guard up
as much as Mark up folds Ken, but he's really sturdy defender, and
he's just a better off ball player offensively, someone who's especially if you're gonna
give him some bigs like a Wendell Carter Junior or Pelman Karo who who are
going to be better screen setters than everyone on the Raptors not named Jaco Peartle
at this point. So you should be able to give enough space to operate
on the ball. But he's very good at working away from it, inject
some spacing into your offense without compromising what's been at times just a really feisty
defense this year. It costs a lot. He's not super young, he's
almost twenty nine years old. I don't care because the Magic might be ready
to win immediately next season, and so as long as they don't end up
with Scoot Henderson by virtue of winning the lottery or something. I really still
like this is a fit in Orlando. It's again it's it's like accelerating your
timeline without over committing to that acceleration. The Philadelphia seventy six Ers, I
have Tory Craig listed for them. They're gonna be working with the miniml Lee.
This is just like the Jail and McDaniels situation. Maybe that works out
well to see who looks like when he's healthy. Daniel House has not been
great for them. Another wing who can actually log like higher stakes minutes for
them if they need him to, if they want an alternative to Tobias Harris
or downsizing having Dante Melton Tyrese Maxley on the court at the same time.
I think Tory Craig does that for them. Also would help them with what
is just mind bogglingly weirdly awful rebounding. That said, I don't really know
which direction to go with the Sixers until we figure out what they're doing with
James Harden. My assumption is he will be back unless unless there's just you
know, a cataclysmic collapse in the playoffs, or Joel Andbi decides to request
a trade. But I'm just assuming the Sixers are still contenders and they're working
with many MLI give me Tory Craig for them. The Suns, this is
ambitious. I have Bruce Brown just a perfect player for them. Anyone who
listens to pocast knows how much I like Bruce Brown. He's not this lockdown
one on one defender, as the Denver Nuggets have discovered, but he exists
so well within a team a concept and the fact that he can guard point
of attack but also go up for stretches at a time that really matters,
and they don't need him to be just because you still have Josh well you
could still well, maybe he can't keep Josha Koge, by the way,
that's really something to consider. He's really come on for Phoenix. They don't
have his bird rights, but he can fill that role of a player who's
more diverse on offense than a Josh Akogi because you look at what Brown can
do as a passer, even just on the ball, putting pressure on the
basket. His three point shooting has come down, and that's sort of a
big ee. You trust Josh and Koki to take threes more than him.
You certainly trust Tory Craig at this point. Can you get him for the
Mini Emily it's seven million dollars? My guess is no. I think he
might get a little bit more than that. But if you tell him,
hey, you're starting and it's for the Suns with Kevin Duran again, whom
he played with in Brooklyn, does that say you know, if it's a
difference between eight nine million dollars and seven or you willing to give him a
four year deal where he's gonna sign for two or three somewhere else, that
could wind up helping your case. I love his fit there, like insofar
as you believe that he's not going to shoot, he's going through a stretch
rehooing sub thirty percent from three. They go a number of different directions that
they just want shooting. But for the Mini Emlly, I think Bruce Brown
will be a terrific get. For the Blazers, I have naz Reid.
I don't know which direction to go with them. They're gonna have another lottery
pick. Damian Lillard's already, you know, calling for surrender on this season,
which was kind of sad to see. They should have the non tax
payer Emily. Though, unless they go a nuclear route, you'll get rid
of let Jeremy Grant walk. I have his cap hold baked in here.
May they find a taker for use of Nurkich, But are you going to
be able to just offload his money just to get the cap space would take
too much collateral damage. They need just a better big man rotation, but
they need a better wing rotation as well, and even a better bigger card
rotation. They could use a little bit of everything here. But if you're
looking at them being interested in keeping one of, if not both of Matisse
Thyble and cam Reddish plus keeping Jeremy Grant, I like nos Red as a
fit. Alongside Jeremy Grant in the front court. You can play lineups then
I think that gives you enough spacing still to play table there with Simons and
Lillard, and I think that gives you enough defense and size to not be
a complete disaster on the glass and defensively overall. You could go a different
like big Man rab Byambo might be cheaper and he would still be a really
good fit. I would love Brook Lopez for this team. Actually, I
just don't think the non paxt non tax player, Emily gets him out of
Portland, and I look the direction Portland's gonna take. They're gonna have another
high lottery pick. They have Shaden Sharp. I don't decisit me suggesting they're
gonna trade game. But are they gonna play it safe like they always have,
or maybe they aim for doubles, or if they're gonna look to make
more of a blockbuster move using that pick, maybe Shade and Sharp, maybe
Amformy Simons, some combination of those three, or that Knicks pick and trading
their own future first as complicated because they owe that lottery protected through twenty twenty
eight pick to Chicago. But if they go that route, it changes their
needs. I mean, if they move use of Nerkich, is it for
a different big how much did they sweeten it. I feel like nas Read
works, whether if you need him to step in and start or just as
someone who can back up use of nerk Kitchen. Maybe you almost have a
co opt there where they're splitting forty eight minutes down the stretch. And I
do think nas Read needs a lot to be desires or rim protector. It's
the same for nerk Kitch, and I think Reid's gonna I don't think we
know Reid's gonna hold up a lot better on the perimeter right now. The
Sacramento Kings, they could have cap space if they start fucking around with Harrison
Barnes's cap hold. I'm assuming that they'll keep his cap hold and look to
keep him. I would love Josh Hart here, even though I want to
leave the Knicks. He has a player option. The Kings only have the
nontax Playermid level. Is he going to decline a thirteen million dollars player option
to sign for starting salary of eleven My guess would be no. I think
he stays with the Knicks. However, you could investigate sign and trade scenarios,
or if you're offering him the full boat over five years, that might
be different than if he's getting a two or three year deal from someone else.
Or maybe he wants to reach free agency sooner because of that that TV
money. But if someone who has not made a terrible, terribly large amount
of money in his career, just something to keep in mind. And if
if it's not going to be him, I think you aim, you know
you have to aim, then a little bit smaller I'm not using a whole
nontax Paramilly and a guy like batist tible how Dudaiallo would be an excellent fit
here. So that is, those are all other options that you consider,
But I think Josh Hard would just be like quintessential perfect fit here. Yeah,
a little small, but like you've played Kevin Hurder at the three for
a bunch this season, it could work out and you have you know,
Josh Hart probably becomes six man in your favorite if he's coming off the bench,
or maybe you just like Kevin Hurder comes off the bench and you're starting
Fox with Josh Hart and Harrison Barnes and Kecky Marion's a bonus. That's you
know, that's a hell of a five, but it becomes a hell of
a six seven man rotation. Throw a monk in there if you pick up
a Josh Hart. Ambitious for them, but if they have mechanisms to do
it, the spurs are interesting. I went with Io Tsunmo, like,
let's just get another type of guard who can defend almost every position. Can't
really run those deliberate pick and rolls as efficiently as you want, but he
could still do it, and he could put pressure on the basket. Young
fits your timeline. The issue with him, and we'll get into this with
someone else that I picked to the Utah Jazz is he's an early bird restricted.
So the best way to get him would be to offer him this huge
deal. But you can't start him at more than the you know, basically
the tax payramid level exception non tax paymid level exception, so eleven plus million
in those first two years. But you have the ability, if you have
cap space, to have that tillary spike in year three, otherwise known as
that poison pill. If out of the spurs, I'm just consider it,
like, see what is it going to take to get him out of Chicago.
They're definitely matching non tax payramid level money, would be my guests.
If they don't, then yeah, try it and just you know, just
see if it's a three year deal and you have to eat one just astronomically
large season, you have thirty five plus million hours in cap space and you're
on this really gradual timeline. I would love to see what Tosume who can
do around a team that is still built to kind of play fast. I
don't know if I trust him. The space, the floor and he's not
that from scratch creator that you necessarily appreciate, but because you're going to test
out so much of the secondary creation with excuse me, with Kelton Johnson,
with Devin Vassell, with Jeremy Sowen, and then also you don't know what's
going to happen with Trey Jones and free agency. He also falls under like
he's also going to be a free agent this summer, so to assume I
think would have a higher ceiling than him, even if Jones is the steadier
hand. Just thought that'd be a fun fit for San Antonio. We don't
know who they're gonna wind up with the draft if they get scooped again subject
to change. Toronto. I have him as buyers now and they will have
the Mini m e after they acquired Jaco Peurdle. I'm just gonna assume that
they keep or try and keep Fred van Fleet. They resigned Gary Trent Junior
he does feel the most likely to leave, then resigned Yaco Purdle. I
have Jevon Carter player option. You should be able to get him for less
than the Mini Emile, and he just fits their ethos, not in terms
of size, but like he can play hounding defense like they want to play
ultra aggressively, and when he's hitting his threes, he just become an even
like he can give you some downhill stuff with the ball on his hands.
Not necessarily necessarily someone's going to run the more methodical offense. But that's why
you have Pascos Yakam presuming Fred van Fleet. You want a groom Scottie Barnes
in that role too. I think Javon Carter is just a cheap option for
a team that's about to get very expensive. Utah, So I initially had
Grant Williams. I'm going to pivot from here, and I've decided that they
should poison pill Austin Reeves. They just need like some sort of truer wings
on this roster. They have O'chaya Baji, who's been like showing flashes on
flashes on flashes of late and then after that, you know, I don't
consider he's played some three, but you're not going to consider Lowry marking in
a wing and even telling Horton Tucker, he's shown like flashes himself in spurts,
but like more of a point guard who needs a ball in his hands.
Austin Reeves is not is not going to need that, and so just
to bring in any sort of wing here, because who's the other, like
you have a Baji and that's if you consider him a wing. It's either
Fontechio is like the closest they come to a wing after that, like a
true wing. Not even wants a Conno Anderson, He's like more of a
combo forward to me. And so you go to the poison poo route.
You have more cops based than anyone in the league, probably depending on how
much you need to pay Jordan Clarkson, I would just look and whether you
keep Kelly Olynik. I would probably keep Kelly olynk By the way, I
just guarantee he's like twelve million dollars dollar or whatever it is, becomes an
interesting trade ship at worst. I would go after Austin Reeves just really a
player who does a lot of different things. Can hold up on defense.
When he's willing to take outside shots, he becomes super dangerous. But he's
great at moving off and on the ball towards the basket, and given how
much space Utah's offense typically operates with, that would just be it would be
an incredible fit do the Lakers. They probably match non tax player mL LEAD
money they have the ability to, which would be eleven million dollars on a
guess, But like the Jazz can go, they can go higher on an
annual basis by making it the poison Pill provision, even though they're limited in
what he can be paid the first two years. I don't even want to
talk about the Wizards. I have Trey Jones, he's a restricted free agent,
but it's like one and I have the Clippers of the Mini eml E
team. So first of all, what are the Wizards are going to be
done? Like they're always sort of on the CUSPO offer rebuild without ever entering
it because they don't want to. And so my assumptions that they're going to
look to elevate this team, I think they need just a different look at
point guard and offensive playmaking from Delon Wright and Monte Morris. I think Trey
Jones would give them that. His in between game is nice. Those really
good pocket passes can be somewhat pesky on the defensive end, not going to
be a game changer. But again, you're working with the Mini m E.
You're not going to get a wing or a combo forward of super high
caliber. For that, you're looking at okay, like do you really want
a Josh a mini Emily, So you're not even in Josh Richardson territory might
even be Matist Bibol territory at this point. You're looking at you if you
want to go to jail McDaniel's route. I wouldn't even go a big man
route just because you have Daniel Gafford and Christops Porzingis. You could go more
of like the floor spacing, just pure shooter route. But Trey Jones I've
listed because will Spurs want to pay him just when they're moving forward? We
depends on who they're drafting. So if you just offered him the full starting
seven million dollars salaries, that's something that Spurs want to pay for someone who
I don't think that they would want to like have is their starting point card
next season. At least that's maybe they would. But also when you have
Maliki brandam Sel, DeVante Graham, now Keldon Johnson this year's draft pick sewing
like you might you might decide like, hey, yeah, we could let
him walk. I don't think they would. But if I'm the Wizards.
That's just who I'm looking at. This feels like the best player that you
could realistically get and who fits to me with your MINIMLI. Hope you enjoyed
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