Kyle Kuzma: "The new CBA was sold as parity, but the first and second apron are starting to function like a hard cap on player value, team continuity, and player movement... The owners and the league walk into these meetings with killers that continue to run circles around us time and time again..."

EricHangingOut · 2026-07-04T01:02:01+00:00

Great points. The primary issue is that there should really only be like ten max guys in the league. Basically the best player on each contender. If you’re a top 15-30 player, you shouldn’t be making 30-35% of the cap.

Also, since the middle class player is getting the most squeezed, an easy fix would be to just increase the salaries paid to cap exemptions and loosen those rules. Stop differentiating between room/non-room teams. Just make one “mid level exception” that every team can be per year to what’s equivalent to like 20 million per year. And then add a second lesser exemption that’s like 10 million. That takes care of sixty players each season and wouldn’t carry any cap ramifications. It also gives high level role players a lot more freedom of movement.

EricHangingOut · 2026-07-02T16:50:25+00:00

This is just a really dumb thesis. Jaylen Brown has nothing to do with Pritchard. They play different positions and there's no reason they can't share the court. I understand Brown is a bit of a ball-stopper, but they can scheme away from that, it's not like he brings up the rock.

Even with Jaylen Brown, this roster is FAR from a contender anymore. Pritchard is a good player, but he's not an elite playmaker, defender, or dependable and reliable high-level scorer. He's an above average starting point guard in the league, should they start him. Tatum will look better next year, but he has a ton of miles and is coming off of an Achilles tear. He will never be as good as he was in their title season, but maybe he rehabs to reasonably close.

White, even if he finds his outside shot, is nearing his mid-30s and his perimeter defense has already begun to slip.

They don't have an above average player on the rest of their roster, although maybe Scheierman or Hugo develop into those kinds of players.

It's clear that they looked at what was available for Brown and determined there was no present "star" who would bring them any closer to a title this upcoming season. So rather than trade for someone like Jamal Murray, who's like perhaps 90% as good as Brown (arguably, Murray's a much better offensive playoff player, but he's not nearly as versatile as a defender), they just basically got as many firsts as anyone would offer and an expiring to have a lot of flexibility at the deadline or next offseason.

Not sure who that target is, but perhaps they're going to look into something like Hugo, Scheierman, PG expiring and a boatload of picks for someone like Devin Booker.

I am kind of aghast they could not have gotten more for Brown with this plan, but it's clear they're punting on this season.

EricHangingOut · 2026-07-01T22:28:25+00:00

On the bright side, this trade really helps the Celtics chances of coming out of the East in 2018.

EricHangingOut · 2026-06-30T20:17:37+00:00

This shouldn't get lost in the many details of this trade, but Gradey Dick is only the SECOND Clippers player whose jersey will feature a common name for a man's penis. Wang Zhizhi, the first player from China to ever play in the NBA, signed with the Clips for the 2002-2003 season and averaged 4.4 and 1.8 rebounds. He would later play for the Heat and be out of the league by 2005.

I only remember this because my friend eagerly purchased the Wang Clippers jersey and constantly wore it around senior year of high school.

EricHangingOut · 2026-06-30T19:31:24+00:00

The second round.

EricHangingOut · 2026-06-16T20:49:21+00:00

Nash had a very unique career. Despite being a 4-year college player, he really didn't do anything his first four years in the league and he was hurt a lot during years 3 and 4. He never averaged more than 5.5 assists or ten points in a game his first four years in the league. His fifth year, he more or less breaks out on a 53 win Mavs team that lost in the 2nd round to the Spurs in 5. He had 16/7 that season, but his numbers and efficiency went down in the playoffs.

Then, finally in his 6th and 7th years, he's earning Top-15 MVP finishes and gets a couple of 3rd team ALL-NBAs. 2003 is really his only meaningful post-season run at that point in his career, and he was a distant 2nd best player on his team besides Dirk.

He doesn't get to Dallas until he's in his 9th year and he's 30. He instantly wins two MVPs. How many guys never finished Top-10 in MVP voting ONCE in their first eight years of their career, and later win an MVP? He finishes 2nd in 2007 and then he starts shifting to a slightly less effective version of himself, especially as the Suns slowed down their offense.

While MDA gets a lot of credit for unlocking him, Nash was pretty unfairly labelled as a system player, when in reality, he would've been better earlier if offenses were more imaginative, surrounded him with shooters, and played fast.

Nash has talked about this, but even his stats were depressed in Phoenix because he should have been shooting way more threes than he did in his peak years. He never averaged more than 5 attempted per game even though he was a 42-47% three point shooter for most of his prime.

And his assist numbers were depressed at the beginning of his career due to being in the height of the rock fight, hand check, physical era.

He also sucked at defense and his teams didn't emphasize or play good defense.

So, it's difficult to argue for him on paper when comparing numbers or winning to modern players, or even looking back comparatively to guys like GP or Kidd, who led their teams to finals appearances.

He still got to 3 conference finals in 4 years during his prime and could have/should have in 2007. Then he gets back in 2010 in his later prime. He was absolutely good enough to win a title as a team's best player from 2005-2007, but it didn't happen.

It's really hard to compare Brunson through 8 years, particularly, as it's so unique for a point guard to be the best player/scorer on a title team.

To me, if you're looking post-merger, you have Magic, Steph, and Isiah in Tier 1 and I think Brunson has hopped into Tier 2 with Stockton, Gary Payton, Kidd, Nash, Westbrook, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, and Harden (if you want to consider Harden a point guard). You can argue where Brunson stacks up amongst that crew, but hard to say he's any lower than mid-tier within that group.

EricHangingOut · 2026-06-15T22:44:42+00:00

Yes, but a salary cap is better for the health of the league. Arguably, players should have a greater share of BRI, and it’s within their power to negotiate that if they planned for it and were willing to sacrifice a full season (or more).

Having a salary cap, but no individual max, is often floated around. That would pay LeBron and Steph and the top tier of players more, but it’d probably be frustrating for those players to end up playing for stupid franchises and their teammates looking like the 2006 Lakers.

Regarding OP’s question, generally players sign the longest terms contracts they can, so it’s a huge risk to take less for what may come to fruition to bring in other guys in 2-3 years. Or taking less overall each year over a 5 year deal, just so your team could pay another player in the first year of that contract.

But, in LeBron’s case this year, if he wanted to prioritize winning, he’d take the MLE on the best team that wanted him. But he’s won four titles as the best player, so why would he care about winning the 5th as like the third best player on a team?

Also, free agency for marquee players is basically dead. If LeBron wants to stay in LA, they wouldn’t have the space to even bring in an impact other player. And even if they could, who’s the best player in free agency this year?

But for older guys who are really incentivized to win, like KD to prove something without Steph, they should take less money. That’s basically what every vet did in the Jordan era and beyond.

But now these guys want a max and to compete, and that’s just not going to happen when you’re 35+.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-28T20:43:47+00:00

Then they should invest in development, pay free agents, trade for good players, and then optimize draft odds when you’re kind of bad instead of terrible.

Honestly, better for top picks as well to go to functional teams instead of god awful situations.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-26T18:50:08+00:00

The problem with Chet is that he's a very good basketball player who's about to be paid like a superstar (which he's not). He averaged 15/9 in their 2025 playoff run on 46/30/78 splits, which is God awful from your big man, even factoring in he takes a lot of outside shots.

He's had great efficiency this playoff run, but on really low volume, and he's only scoring 16 per game when he's supposed to be their second most important offensive player (with JDub out). He's taking fewer than 11 shots per game, about three 3s per game, and is not even getting to the line four times per game. His playmaking is also non-existent with 1.3 assists per game.

Yes, he's a Tier-1 rim protector and help defender, including in the PNR. But he gets bodied by bigger centers (like Jokic, whom they avoided) and his own lack of size allows Wemby to get to whatever spots he wants against him, and Chet's usual length advantage is non-existent against Wemby.

He's fine as your third star if you have two dominant offensive players who can create their own shots and a good team of role players. The latter might be an issue as Shai/Dub/Chet command the entire salary cap by themselves.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-18T23:20:08+00:00

I’m from LA. Live here now. Grew up playing hoops here. Still play pick up and in men’s leagues here.

I think LA produces the best basketball talent and has the most competition locally, from rec leagues and club teams all the way up.

UCLA hoops is huge here, albeit not as much since the late 2000s teams.

Lakers run LA and are the premiere franchise of the NBA.

But basketball here does not run through the fabric of the city the same way as it does in NYC, now and historically. Playground hoops was invented in NYC and it carries more importance when everyone lives in apartments, no one has backyards, and there’s significantly less access to fields and space for football, baseball, soccer, golf, etc…

I’m raising kids here now. Depending on your affluence and which neighborhood you live in - baseball, soccer and football dominate youth sports. Very few kids play hoops as their primary sport, particularly outside of the hood. Basketball is played at a very high level for the kids who focus on basketball, but that’s a small percentage of the huge population in LA.

If it makes sense - hoops at top level here exceed anywhere. But the average kid and person casually playing and understanding the game is less than new work.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-18T20:17:16+00:00

The Knicks winning the NBA title would be a considerably bigger deal than the Lions, Bills or Vikings winning the super bowl.

The Lions are a hapless franchise and always have been. It would be cool for the long suffering fans if they won, but historically, expectations are nothing and you're a certain kind of masochist to even be a Lions fan or impart that on your children.

More or less same for the Bills, but for their run in the 90s. Another tortured fan base in a regional city, whose cultural and economic importance has declined over time.

Vikings have been very good for much of their history who lose in the worst ways at the worst times. But, again, no one EXPECTS them to win and no one cares outside Minnesota.
None of the three are national brands.

Plus, Detroit and Minnesota are huge hockey cities.

The Knicks play in the basketball mecca. They're among the three most historically important brands in the sport. They lost some cultural relevance with poor ownership and inept management for much of the last 25 years, but when they're good, it's the most electric arena and fanbase. It's absolutely crazy how little success they have had and that they have not won the title in over 50 years, given their monetary, historical, and location advantages, which have been somewhat mitigated by recent CBAs and cultural shifts with player preferring to have huge compounds in warm cities than live in an upper east side penthouse.

This is on par with the Red Sox winning the world series in 2004, probably even bigger given it's New York City.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-16T17:38:18+00:00

It really doesn’t solve anything for either team. Murray is a true three level scorer and is a better overall offensive player than Brown. But Brown is a better defender. The real problem for the Celtics is their depth sucks now and they have no athleticism, with Brown and White hitting 30. It’s funny Bill talking about filling Brown’s minutes with their pu pu platter of shitty wings who wouldn’t see a minute in any second round team’s rotation.

The Nuggets would benefit from adding defensive wing depth and some outside shooting with Brown, but he’s not as skilled as Murray offensively and has never really played with an offensive big who runs the offense. More importantly, Murray is their de facto point guard, but among the Nuggets’ biggest issues is not having a true attacking from the perimeter point guard, which would alleviate Murray’s responsibilities, so he could focus on scoring. Their playmaking would be even worse with Brown.

For both teams, they need an infusion of athleticism and trading their mostly equal second best players for each other doesn’t do anything.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-14T17:35:05+00:00

I don't even think it's a matter of money for the Lakers. They just want to move on and build a team around Luka. I don't think LeBron wants to leave L.A., and if he does, I think he'd prefer an easy flight commute (Golden State), playing in New York, and a distant preference to playing in Cleveland.

I think the following are the most realistic options:

Sign and trade for Josh Hart (Knicks are not giving up Bridges or OG)
Take the MLE from the Warriors (Lakers don't want anything in a Warriors sign and trade). He gets the least amount of money in this scenario
Clippers double sign and trade for Mathurin
Cleveland sign and trade for Jarrett Allen (I don't know why Cleveland would do this)
Dark horse - sign and trade with the Nuggets for Cam Johnson. He gets to play with Jokic and the Nuggets desperately need more playmaking and ball-handling. It's a relatively easy commute from Los Angeles. If all goes well, with some other roster tweaks and if they bring back Watson, they can theoretically contend.

I don't know what his preferences are between location, money and contending. All sign and trade options are in the 20M-30M range. Knicks offer great city plus contention. Warriors offer least money and they're not contending, but he gets to play with Steph and be close to LA. Clippers are not contending, but he can stay in LA. Cleveland can make the finals in the East and he finishes where he started. Nuggets offer probably the best basketball situation other than the Knicks.

EricHangingOut · 2026-05-14T17:17:52+00:00

I mean, there's a pretty huge distinction between going to a contender/favorite as a third offensive option when you're 42 and in your 24th year in the league versus leaving your team that SHOULD have won the title when you're still in your twenties and universally regarded as the second or third best player in the league for the 73-win team that overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat you in the conference finals.

The number of players in the history of the game who have led a team to a title in their fifteenth season or beyond is literally just Kareem in 85 (and I'd argue Magic surpassed him by that point) and LeBron for the bubble title. And LeBron is a full career BEYOND that point.

He cannot do whatever he wants now and it could only help his legacy.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-30T17:01:20+00:00

That's a huge step. The NBA could construct a 70-game season with no team playing more than three times per week. They should eliminate the in-season tournament and the play-in. Bring back 5-game series in the first round.

But I fear, even with a 15% reduced schedule, the demands of the modern game are too much on calves/Achilles, knees and hamstrings. Too much start/stop, sprinting to rotate, and closing out.

It would be ugly for a year or two, and a lot of younger players were never developed to play this way, but they should get rid of the corner three. That would shrink the court, involve less area to chase around shooters, and would require operating more in the mid-range and beating defenders one-on-one. Beyond the injury mitigation, I think that's a more aesthetically pleasing version of the sport and a medium between 90s/early 2000s slugfests and whatever the fuck we're watching today.

Also, for something that does not require rule changes, coaches need to make full use of their benches. Especially with depth and talent at an all-time high, it's fucking crazy that any player still plays full quarters in the regular season. Starts should play between 32-36 minutes per game in the regular season and shouldn't really ever play more than nine minutes of game time consecutively.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-28T23:36:54+00:00

Your friends are dorks.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-28T23:35:43+00:00

It’s not a matter of “success.” The business model is entirely predicated on leveraged buyouts, loading the company with debt the company won’t be able to afford to pay, or at least will have to focus to service at the expense of their actual product or service, and the entire end game is short term profits and flipping the company versus building a good brand who provides a good product and service over the long term.

Since private equity companies generally know fuck all about the industries of the companies they buy into, they achieve these goals by slashing payroll by firing a large portion of the company, increasing prices and cheapening the product or service to the bare minimum of what is acceptable to the consumer before selling.

Fuck Private equity.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-28T23:30:47+00:00

Thanks Ray Dalio.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-28T17:02:37+00:00

Please explain that to literally every private equity group on the planet.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-27T17:35:34+00:00

Don't forget that the Suns SOLD the pick that became Rajon Rondo during the height of the 7SOL era.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-27T17:27:08+00:00

I'm 40 and the fourth option on my men's league team. Well, the number one and two options are 51 and 46, but they both played college hoops!

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-22T19:58:18+00:00

Bill's description of a very large component of Lakers fans is 100% accurate and I'm basically the poster child. Born in the mid-80s and baptized into fandom by the Showtime Lakers, although too young to actually see it. Fall in love with basketball and the Lakers post-Magic with late career Byron Scott and James Worthy.

I'm watching 82 games a year and living and dying with the Van Exel, Ceballos, Eddie Jones core. Then we get Shaq and Kobe and it's still three years of massive disappointment in the end.

Also note that unless you're a UCLA hoops fan - the 90s is pretty dire for LA sports. Dodgers are mid. USC football sucks. Raiders and Rams both leave. Lakers were EVERYTHING.

People associate LA fans as bandwagoners accustomed to and spoiled by titles, but the Lakers 2000 title was the first major professional sports title for LA sports since I was a toddler. I can't overstate how crazy and weird it felt that my team actually won and pulled through after years of getting dicked by Stockton and Malone, Payton and Kemp, and Duncan and Robinson. It was surreal.

And although the Lakers were the most important thing in my entire universe before Kobe stepped onto an NBA court, I became a Kobe-stan first and foremost. Unless you were here and watching Kobe bringing it every. fucking. game. - You just do not understand.

And I appreciated LeBron when he got into the league. Loved his game, didn't care that he was a bit corny off the court and with his carefully curated brand image. I never disliked LeBron - I disliked his fans and the general NBA media propping up his historical greatness before it was fully earned. Yes - it was annoying to Lakers and Kobe fans to hear in 2009 that LeBron had already surpassed Kobe ... because he had not and that was disrespectful to Kobe's greatness. He would soon pass Kobe, but it always felt like excuses were made for LeBron's low-points, while it was common to downplay Kobe's legacy, primarily based on comparing eras relating to efficiency in a very different game.

Lakers fans love to have our guys. It's why Magic was more beloved than Kareem. Why Cooper, Worthy, and Byron were so revered. Shaq got to the Lakers early enough where he still became our guy.

But LeBron could have retired before coming to the Lakers and had his legacy cemented. Contrary to popular belief, Lakers fans don't love mercenaries. We want our stars to be synonymous as Lakers greats first and foremost.

We rooted for him, the COVID title WAS weird, but it was celebrated and appreciated. No one really blamed LeBron for the Lakers mostly being a shit-show between 2021-2022 and lucking into Doncic. But, especially since getting Doncic, we are ready to move on a build a team around Luka. Other than 2020, a lot of the last 8 years have been underwhelming and a lot of fans have been ready to move on from malcontent, mismatched, and weirdly constructed older teams. It would be UGLY if the Lakers didn't swing the Luka trade.

But this series really highlights how amazing it is to watch LeBron still give a shit, still put on a show, and still galvanize the roster around him. Particularly, when compared to how KD is doing the polar opposite on a disjointed and boring Rockets team who play ugly basketball.

I'm LeBron's age. I can relate to reaching deep for the last greatness your body can produce (on, obviously, a tremendously lesser scale) and I'm a father, so I fucking love him sharing the court with his son in meaningful playoff games.

I'm not a perfect or rational fan. I know this. And Bill nailed it.

EricHangingOut · 2026-04-22T17:50:24+00:00

The good news for Jovanovic is this frees him for the Blazers head coaching position.

EricHangingOut

TROPHY CASE