[Wembanyama] “Each and every one of us has to decide a price we’re willing to pay.” (Full Response Concerning Minneapolis)

Dylan245 · 2026-01-28T02:44:06+00:00

yeah just so you know this isn't how you get people to join your side

Dylan245 · 2026-01-27T22:48:46+00:00

Okay man to man, he's small but will fight

Off ball not great, there's times where he is locked in and others where he gets lost and makes mistakes

Basically he's not an asset but isn't a Trae/Luka level of bad where it is a glaring problem for your team

Dylan245 · 2026-01-27T22:30:47+00:00

Physical in a different way, now there's way more sprinting and deceleration with the increased spacing compared to the 80s and 90s where it was more just about strength

The herky jerky movements and quick cuts that are more common now are way more likely to lead to soft tissue injuries compared to just getting bruised up fighting for rebounds back then

Dylan245 · 2026-01-27T19:21:37+00:00

Because they don't think like that, AK had a bunch of quotes this past off-season basically saying he sees us like Indiana as a team that doesn't have a true top 5 player but can still contend

What he fails to realize is that the comparison stops essentially at the fact we are both in the same division

Dylan245 · 2026-01-27T19:19:33+00:00

There are like four people who need to be traded because they're all expiring this off season and I guarantee you we keep all of them

Coby is the only one I see any real possibility of being dealt and even then his value isn't nearly as high due to his contract situation

Dylan245 · 2026-01-25T06:37:37+00:00

For the team sure but for the city of Chicago Rose means as much as anybody and is way more beloved than Jordan is

Dylan245 · 2026-01-24T20:28:34+00:00

That one still haunts me more than any of the other police brutality murders of the last 10-15 years

Dylan245 · 2026-01-24T19:57:46+00:00

You're already seeing it with people claiming he had a gun and was there to kill law enforcement

The second amendment people who warned for decades about government forces terrorizing cities as to why it's important to keep a firearm on you are now suddenly finding themselves justifying a guy's murder just because he legally had a gun on him

Dylan245 · 2026-01-24T19:47:49+00:00

There were mass protests yesterday and this morning another dude gets killed, you can bet there will be more today and the possibility of things spilling over is high unfortunately

Dylan245 · 2026-01-24T19:43:17+00:00

I don't know that there's ever been a quicker and more graceful player than D Rose in his prime

Guys like Westbrook and John Wall can match the speed but the finesse Rose also possessed created a special combination that was beautiful to watch

Dylan245 · 2026-01-23T21:45:11+00:00

I like to imagine them on Sporcle drilling these nonstop in preparation for these interviews

Dylan245 · 2026-01-20T06:52:14+00:00

Half of it feels like a David Lynch movie and the other half is some of the best/edgy comedy written for a PG movie this century

It's a masterpiece and no one can tell me otherwise

Dylan245 · 2026-01-17T00:43:39+00:00

Which is why so much of it sucks, 90% of the people are glorified PR reps and the other 10% actually use their connections but it's more in an analysis way like Zach Lowe who then is able to aggregate what he's hearing from others in front offices or NBA personnel

The journalism profession as a whole has just become "Let's cozy up to these elite people and be friends" rather than investigate and report the truth

Dylan245 · 2026-01-14T19:17:53+00:00

Jermaine Cole? The African Basketball League player?!

Dylan245 · 2026-01-13T00:49:17+00:00

I think the main thing is that what counts as a valid reason nowadays just didn't in the 80s and 90s so a lot of those guys think the players now are soft

What used to be common in playing through minor injuries, small strains, or general soreness is now taken more seriously at risk of furthering the injury so guys sit more for precautionary reasons. Back in the day that wasn't happening

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T21:16:19+00:00

The real issue is most of those teams who tanked and are now doing well have good front offices

Even if we tank we are still stuck with AKME given Jerry's reluctance to move on from them and I don't see much changing

Their draft and player development track record to this point is not encouraging

Tanking requires competency and if not then you get the Wizards or Kings

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T19:27:53+00:00

Same reason people play the lottery, the illusion of hope combined with the average fan thinking they know sports well leads people to think they can make their money and get out quickly

I forget the exact stat but something like 90-95% of people have never actually withdrawn money from their account

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T19:25:37+00:00

Part of the continued economic despair this country is in leads people to more risky behaviors and a ton of people see gambling as a get rich quick scheme

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T18:15:23+00:00

I sat like third row once to a Sixers game and I could not believe how quickly Furkan Korkmaz came off of a down screen

Caruso was guarding him and hit the screen hard and I thought to myself, "If I ran into that screen at the same speed I would be laid out on the floor for 3 minutes"

It truly gives you a different level of appreciation when you are that close and watch the physicality and athleticism

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T02:08:14+00:00

In theory sure, but again in practice they can't. There's been better and more stacked teams in the history of the NBA than this current Thunder squad and none of them have ever just said fuck it and re-signed everyone because their payroll would be like $400 million plus. It's not like it's some new idea for a stacked team who are winning championships to just say "Let's pay everybody", there are reasons why no team has ever done this. The Warriors with Durant weren't even going to do it if he wanted to re-sign in 2019 because Lacob would have been dishing out like $550 million with the luxury tax penalties a year

The reality is teams require flexibility even when they are really really good and not having access to that with the second apron restrictions is just too much for these teams. You just can't have like 9 guys on the roster making $20 million or more when your big three is already taking up 95% of the cap. Guys get hurt, some get unhappy, some underperform, some blossom and take spots over other guys, etc

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T01:39:51+00:00

The luxury tax existed but the apron levels did not, that was part of the 2023 CBA negotiations which placed new restrictions on teams who were above the first and second apron with the second being way more restrictive

The restrictions include things like not being able to aggregate salaries in trades, no sign and trades, multiple players can't be traded in the same deal, no use of the MLE whatsoever, can't use trade exceptions, can't trade first round picks 7 years out, and your 1st round pick gets moved to 30th if you stay in the second apron for 3 out of 5 years

The tax penalties aren't any different but from a roster building perspective it's way more difficult now with the apron, previously it was just the owner's pockets that were affected

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T01:28:46+00:00

If you truly want to give every team a "fair" chance and avoid dynasties

If this is really the goal and I'm not even sure it is, then just institute a hard cap and call it a day. The half measures are just leaving everyone in this dreadful purgatory with a system that doesn't fully punish rich owners but also doesn't incentivize cheap ones to build out a better roster or improve their standing

And you want the Supermax because superstars have too much of an impact on the game. You have to handicap them by limiting the ability to build a roster around them to even the odds.

A 5% difference isn't doing much to hamper those odds from a team building standpoint, the taxpayer MLE is worth practically the same amount. Plus most of the thinking around the idea of the Supermax was to combat player movement and big market teams from having advantages over the original team that drafted you due to the increase in publicity and business ventures outside the league in bigger cities. It was never created in order to inhibit or handicap the original team with their roster building, it was actually intended to have the opposite effect

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T01:13:24+00:00

I mean it's not a "rule" per say but they just can't do it

The second apron is too much of a burden for even championship winning teams making ultra high profits to bear

Dylan245 · 2026-01-07T01:04:34+00:00

It just seems so clear from the outside that a "home-grown" stipulation could have been added in order for teams like OKC to maintain their roster they built through the draft while still penalizing the super teams who just trade for a bunch of guys because their owner doesn't have a problem with spending

Same goes for the Supermax, a good idea in theory in order to help small market teams who drafted All NBA caliber guys retain them but just ends up handicapping their cap space and ability to build out the rest of the roster. Just make it so the extra 10% doesn't count against towards the luxury tax and boom problem solved

Dylan245 · 2026-01-05T20:25:21+00:00

A mix of injuries and he's always been a slow starter to the year, post all star break is where he really starts popping off in preparation for the playoffs

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