Offseason Thread

[Who]

LA Clippers

G: Kris Dunn, Cameron Christie
G: J Harden, Bogdanovic
F: Kawhi, Derrick Jones Jr
F: John Collins, Nic Batum
C: Zubac, B Lopez

Others: Kobe Brown, YK Niederhauser

That PG spot with Kris Dunn could become a problem. Downgrading the spacing from Norm Powell to John Collins will put more pressure on the PG to make outside jump-shots. Not something K Dunn is good at. No real backup for Dunn either. The backup SG spot is a slow footed defender as is James Harden. Derrick Jones Jr looks the next best bet for the backcourt. A mediocre shooter himself. So balance issues there in the backcourt.

They will probably play better when John Collins goes to the bench and one of the backup forwards comes in for him. Derrick Jones Jr or Nic Batum.

I am less confident in the Clippers post-season chances after the trade than I was before. It just ... looks clunky. Like the offense won't flow well and will be victim to high level defensive teams in the postseason.

A lot of pressure on James Harden to bring everyone together and make all the pieces work. With tougher to fit pieces than he had last year with smaller more skillful offensive lineups enabling him to play at a higher level.

[Celtics2021]

Tony East: It sure sounds like the Pacers found out Myles Turner was signing with the Bucks when Shams tweeted it. Caught them off guard. ? via Bluesky

I don't understand this from an agent perspective, unless Indy had said they'd given their highest and best offer.  That's definitely a possibility, since Indiana ownership is notoriously cheap.

PR spin from Indy?

Is there a way spin that so that Indy doesn?t look bad at negotiating?

Option 1:  We low-balled Turner enough such that he didn?t even come back to talk after he got a better offer.

Option 2:  We were trying to make a competitive offer, but we had such a bad relationship with him he didn?t give us the chance to kee him.

[Goldstar88]

Speaking of Indy.

Yahoo Sports

@YahooSports
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard has confirmed that Tyrese Haliburton will not play during the 2025-26 season as he recovers from his Achilles tear.

"I have no doubt that he will be back better than ever," Pritchard said. "He will not play next year though. We would not jeopardize that now."

I wonder why the Celtics haven?t sent one of these out for Tatum. Hmmm.. 🤔

[Roy H.]

LA Clippers

G: Kris Dunn, Cameron Christie
G: J Harden, Bogdanovic
F: Kawhi, Derrick Jones Jr
F: John Collins, Nic Batum
C: Zubac, B Lopez

Others: Kobe Brown, YK Niederhauser

That PG spot with Kris Dunn could become a problem. Downgrading the spacing from Norm Powell to John Collins will put more pressure on the PG to make outside jump-shots. Not something K Dunn is good at. No real backup for Dunn either. The backup SG spot is a slow footed defender as is James Harden. Derrick Jones Jr looks the next best bet for the backcourt. A mediocre shooter himself. So balance issues there in the backcourt.

They will probably play better when John Collins goes to the bench and one of the backup forwards comes in for him. Derrick Jones Jr or Nic Batum.

I am less confident in the Clippers post-season chances after the trade than I was before. It just ... looks clunky. Like the offense won't flow well and will be victim to high level defensive teams in the postseason.

A lot of pressure on James Harden to bring everyone together and make all the pieces work. With tougher to fit pieces than he had last year with smaller more skillful offensive lineups enabling him to play at a higher level.

Chris Paul is still a free agent.  The Clippers tend to like big names.

[Roy H.]

Speaking of Indy.

Yahoo Sports

@YahooSports
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard has confirmed that Tyrese Haliburton will not play during the 2025-26 season as he recovers from his Achilles tear.

"I have no doubt that he will be back better than ever," Pritchard said. "He will not play next year though. We would not jeopardize that now."

I wonder why the Celtics haven?t sent one of these out for Tatum. Hmmm 🤔

It's interesting.  Haliburton is out, and Kyrie has declared himself out.  The presumption is that Lillard is.  Tatum seems to want to get back ASAP.

I sort of want the Celts to just shut him down.  Embrace the bridge year.  And sign Lillard as a workout buddy.

[Donoghus]

Tony East: It sure sounds like the Pacers found out Myles Turner was signing with the Bucks when Shams tweeted it. Caught them off guard. ? via Bluesky

I don't understand this from an agent perspective, unless Indy had said they'd given their highest and best offer.  That's definitely a possibility, since Indiana ownership is notoriously cheap.

PR spin from Indy?

Is there a way spin that so that Indy doesn?t look bad at negotiating?

Option 1:  We low-balled Turner enough such that he didn?t even come back to talk after he got a better offer.

Option 2:  We were trying to make a competitive offer, but we had such a bad relationship with him he didn?t give us the chance to kee him.

Only thing I can really think of us is something along the lines of "They just took the money and ran and wouldn't even give us the courtesy to talk to us" spin.

(Of course, that's BS and just the line to sell to fans)

[Roy H.]

Tony East: It sure sounds like the Pacers found out Myles Turner was signing with the Bucks when Shams tweeted it. Caught them off guard. ? via Bluesky

I don't understand this from an agent perspective, unless Indy had said they'd given their highest and best offer.  That's definitely a possibility, since Indiana ownership is notoriously cheap.

PR spin from Indy?

Is there a way spin that so that Indy doesn?t look bad at negotiating?

Option 1:  We low-balled Turner enough such that he didn?t even come back to talk after he got a better offer.

Option 2:  We were trying to make a competitive offer, but we had such a bad relationship with him he didn?t give us the chance to kee him.

Only thing I can really think of us is something along the lines of "They just took the money and ran and wouldn't even give us the courtesy to talk to us" spin.

(Of course, that's BS and just the line to sell to fans)

I just saw the Athletic reporting that 'highest and best" was $23 million per year.  So, I see why he left without reengaging with Indy.  They weren't close.

[Donoghus]

Speaking of Indy.

Yahoo Sports

@YahooSports
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard has confirmed that Tyrese Haliburton will not play during the 2025-26 season as he recovers from his Achilles tear.

"I have no doubt that he will be back better than ever," Pritchard said. "He will not play next year though. We would not jeopardize that now."

I wonder why the Celtics haven?t sent one of these out for Tatum. Hmmm 🤔

It's interesting.  Haliburton is out, and Kyrie has declared himself out.  The presumption is that Lillard is.  Tatum seems to want to get back ASAP.

I sort of want the Celts to just shut him down.  Embrace the bridge year.  And sign Lillard as a workout buddy.

They probably will but no need to rush the news, I guess.  It'd be interesting, though if come early/mid April, the team is fighting for a 6 seed or something and he's medically cleared. 

At least the team already got the STM money for the upcoming season so don't need to sell the prospect of a gap season there.

[Who]

Miami Heat

G: T Herro, Davion Mitchell, T Rozier
G: Norm Powell, Kasparas Jakucionis
F: Andrew Wiggins, Highsmith, P Larsson
F: Bam Adebayo, N Jovic, J Jaquez
C: K Ware, (Bam)

Other: S Fontecchio

Interesting group. Closer to a play-in team now than prior to the trade.

Two scorers in the backcourt. Both 20ppg threats. Wiggins a 16-18ppg threat. Same for Bam. So 70-80ppg from their starters 1 through 4. Ware a double double threat. A more competitive offensive group with the addition of Norm Powell.

The bench is so-so. They got guys who can play. A bunch of them. 6 to 7 guys (rookie?) who are rotation caliber players ... but none of them are above average bench players. They are all middle of the pack or below average bench players.

The big forward position continues to be a problem for Miami when Bam slides over to play center. They are left with N Jovic or small ball with Jaquez or one of the other SFs on their roster.

Interesting to note the lack of ball-handling and passing at the 2/3 positions. Very little help for T Herro. Teams will be able to hone in on him. Bam is probably the next best ball-handler and passer on the roster outside of the PG position.

It would be great for Miami if they could trade Rozier somewhere and get something useful for him. A backup big. A ball-handling wing. A PF. Something. It would be nice to see Rozier play again somewhere as well. Hurts to see him waste away there.

[Goldstar88]

Shams Trade -

Clipper get John Collins
Heat get Powell
Jazz get Anderson, Love, and Clippers 27 2nd

Interesting that Powell's value was a backend rotation player and a 2nd round pick.

Jazz did good to pump Collins value some.

Clippers may need some guard scoring help now.

Norm Powell another comp for A Simons in terms of trade value. Not exactly the same player. Powell more of an undersized SG but a legitimate SG. A Simons more of a tweener guard / combo guard who is not a legitimate SG. Both guys scorers who do little else. Norm an adequate defender. Close to average. A Simons is not. Near the bottom of SGs defensively. So not exactly the same but similar-ish.

I suspect that BOS could have gotten Collins for Simons in a similar deal, if they wanted.  Or that BOS could get a Collins-like player.  Powell is a veteran and may be of more interest to a team like MIA than Simons who is only 26.

Simons is still young, but he?s definitely a veteran player at this point. He is going into year 8.

[Sketch5]

Seeing rumors of Smart may be getting bought out.......

[Vermont Green]

LA Clippers

G: Kris Dunn, Cameron Christie
G: J Harden, Bogdanovic
F: Kawhi, Derrick Jones Jr
F: John Collins, Nic Batum
C: Zubac, B Lopez

Others: Kobe Brown, YK Niederhauser

That PG spot with Kris Dunn could become a problem. Downgrading the spacing from Norm Powell to John Collins will put more pressure on the PG to make outside jump-shots. Not something K Dunn is good at. No real backup for Dunn either. The backup SG spot is a slow footed defender as is James Harden. Derrick Jones Jr looks the next best bet for the backcourt. A mediocre shooter himself. So balance issues there in the backcourt.

They will probably play better when John Collins goes to the bench and one of the backup forwards comes in for him. Derrick Jones Jr or Nic Batum.

I am less confident in the Clippers post-season chances after the trade than I was before. It just ... looks clunky. Like the offense won't flow well and will be victim to high level defensive teams in the postseason.

A lot of pressure on James Harden to bring everyone together and make all the pieces work. With tougher to fit pieces than he had last year with smaller more skillful offensive lineups enabling him to play at a higher level.

Chris Paul is still a free agent.  The Clippers tend to like big names.

With the amount that Harden handles the ball, Chris Paul does not seem like a smart pairing.  That probably won't stop LAC from signing him though.

[Who]

Ryan Rollins and the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a three-year, $12 million contract.

Rollins signed with the Bucks on a Two-Way deal in February 2024 and continued on that contract for most of the 2024-25 season before being converted to a standard deal in March. Rollins signed a contract for the remainder of the seaoson in order to test free agency.

In his final 10 games of the regular season, with Damian Lillard sidelined, Rollins averaged 12.3 points and four assists on 58% from 3-point range.

Rollins was originally a second round pick in 2022 to the Golden State Warriors.

R Rollins did well for himself. Media reports said there was a lot of interest in him in FA.

[Roy H.]

Seeing rumors of Smart may be getting bought out.......

I'd take him back here in a second on a vet minimum.  Cut Davison, dump Walsh.

[ChillyWilly]

Seeing rumors of Smart may be getting bought out.......

I'd take him back here in a second on a vet minimum.  Cut Davison, dump Walsh.

dems is fighting words! I'd rather watch my kids throw a handful of quarters into the wishing well at the Mall. At least they'll get some of them in.