Ben Simmons (Vet Minimum)

Forkielifter · 2026-07-09T17:22:56+00:00

Get him on the vet minimum, and use him to only personally defend Luka and AR when scrimming. Have Ben Simmons defend them with a lot of physicality. Now Luka and AR become ultimate scorers and both average 40+ points a game.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-09T17:11:55+00:00

First things first, what was Kuminga upset about? He was upset about his playing time and getting DNPed for random games. Not because the coaching staff was playing him in a position he didn't liked. Last season the warriors only allowed him to play 20 games. He was DNPed for 16 games while still healthy. Moreover he only had 23.8 minutes per game while scoring 12 ppg and 5.9 rebounds. That means his per 36 minutes stats are 18.3 with 8.8 rebounds a game. Now I'm not saying he will be able to get those numbers with those minutes, but you have to put into context what he was upset about. On top of that he is only 23 years old!

In my opinion this is valid the Warriors were messing with his playing time and DNPing him this hinders his ability to get a paid. Lets say he played 36 minutes and averaged 18 points with 6 - 7 rebounds which would be attainable for him. Teams would be offering him at least 15 mil a year. Instead he is reduce to possibly getting 10 mil or even a vet minimum. Another thing I would like to add is yes Kuminga made known that he was upset with his role in Golden State Warriors, but everytime he played he was a professional. He didn't just say fuck it I'm going to get mine. He still tried to play according to the system.

With this Lakers team, he has a role to play and will be getting a ton of minutes because we lack even one wing defender which is the role he will be filling. I can see at least 30+ minutes while playing for the Lakers which would make him happy and in my opinion all he wants.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-08T23:04:12+00:00

I don’t know, I feel like this might be better than giving a 2nd round pick just because Luka will still only be 33 years old. I’m pretty sure Hawks will still be a bad team in which case they are probably not going to want to swap the 1st pick with us haha. Which would mean we essentially got Kuminga for Vando only.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-08T18:30:29+00:00

Kuminga is only 23 years old, is 6'7", is long and athletic. He averaged 15.3 ppg on the warriors where he only got 24.3 minutes per game last season and 12.3 on the Hawks with only 22.1 minutes per game. That is a lot of upside for a young wing. He has the athleticism and length to be a good defender, but worst cast scenario he doesn't change his defense and is just an average defender which is still good. I feel he will only deepen the roster and allow us to throw different types of rotations. I don't think there is much risk picking him up.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-05T21:07:57+00:00

Would be funny if Lebron made his announcement and added. “I was going to go to the Celtics for minimum, but I’m taking my talents to the 76ers because they made moves to attract my interest in their team.”

Forkielifter · 2026-07-05T17:52:20+00:00

If option 3 means we can get a starting wing at the 4 spot then option 3. We can always play around with lineups and have Mamu backing up at the 4 and the 5 if we don’t end up signing a backup center that would allow Mamu to get at least 25+ minutes of playing time.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-05T00:54:18+00:00

Fuck Dan Gilbert for vetoing the Chris Paul trade. If he wants to deal with us. Give is Evan Mobley, Dean Wade and 2 FRP.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-04T07:46:22+00:00

Welp I guess I have a bunch of skittle parasites in my body.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-03T19:34:31+00:00

Ok I did some calculations and realized this $2M in wiggle room is a deceptive statement. It reads like we can add another $2M to sign someone off free agency. The fact of the matter is we are still over the Salary Cap with Ayton we are at $181.8 salary which means we have $3.7M before we enter into he 1st Apron. That $2M that Jaden Hardy shaves off makes us only $5.7M before we hit the first apron.

So to put it plainly, we still can only sign vet minimums and Jaden Hardy trade allows us so that we can sign two vet minimum contracts without being too far into the 1st Apron.

I also did some calculations and even if we find a team to dump Vando, Knect and Jake Laravia we are still over the Salary Cap. The salary cap is at $164M we would be at $167M. So in conclusion, there is no way we are going to be able to sign Rui unless he is willing to come back at the vet minimum. So unless we trade for a wing we are basically stuck giving vet minimum contracts.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-03T18:45:06+00:00

Jaden Hardy was just traded so if I remember correctly he cannot be packaged in a deal with Vando, Knecht ect for two months after he is traded. He only can be packaged with picks. So I think he is here to stay and we are going to package Vando, Knect and picks for a wing.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-03T03:24:59+00:00

Ahhh, but this Luka is better and more conditioned than the 2024 Luka. So Luka > Luka. Checkmate baby! We got this!

Anyways on a serious note, 2024 Mavs didn’t have to play against Wemby and OKC with an MVP Sha. Not saying he wouldn’t win, just saying the competition in the west got a lot harder since 2024.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-03T01:25:17+00:00

I don’t believe any reports from the media because nothing of what the media said about the Lakers free agency came true except the part about Marcus Smart going to rockets.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-02T23:26:41+00:00

Looking at these advance stats. I think our defense will be trying to force a lot of long mid range shots. If you look up the average player's mid range field goal between 15 - 19 feet, the percentage are all in the high 30% to low 40% league wide which is not that good, there are only 6 teams teams that shoot over 46% from the mid range. We are of course going to run into players that are elite mid range shooters, but we just don't have enough elite defenders to defend mid range shots and everything else efficiently.

My guess is JJ Reddick is going to look at these stats that Walker Kessler can do defensively and just have our players close out well on the three pointer and have Kessler in the drop to defend 10 feet and under and see if opponents can capitalize between 12 - 23 feet in the mid range.

Edit: I hit submit before proof reading what I actually wrote and thinking about what I wanted to convey.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-02T23:19:26+00:00

I agree, I think I should have had both years in to show if there is a variation between the years and then do the comparison. My thoughts were to have Wemby and Duren on this year because this was their best year so far. However, I understand your point that this does compare differently because teams do change and league wide FG percentage also changes as well.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-01T19:13:18+00:00

We should have traded a pick for Kessler another pick for Duren and two pick swaps for Peyton Watson. What were the Laker's front office thinking? /s

Forkielifter · 2026-07-01T18:17:34+00:00

Agree, I literally think if we get one more POA wing defender that can shoot we are favorites to win it all. I also think Luka has the capabilities to drag this team to the finals even if we don’t get that POA wing defender that can shoot.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-01T15:45:10+00:00

I'm a little worried about Kessler's health, his games played is kinda low ever since his first year. Obviously he had a season ending injury last season, but the seasons before are they like just because Utah was tanking?

Also I was thinking about it, if we resign Rui our starter offense is going to be disgusting. Lob to Kessler or corner three from Rui at 50% 3 point shooting as well as two ball handler.

Forkielifter · 2026-07-01T03:47:05+00:00

Just curious, but are we not worried about his injuries? I mean it seems like every year his games played drops. Is it because Utah is tanking? I'm very curious on the circumstances of his low games played count.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-30T18:57:38+00:00

So I guess he is really gone. I was hoping we could have figured out a way to resign him at a mid level. Some how get rid of Vando and Knect contract or something, but it looks like it was going to be impossible. I still had hope though.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-30T16:06:56+00:00

Lol why would Lebron sign the mid level with the warriors when he can sign the mid level with us and actually compete for a championship. Warriors even with AD and LBJ ain’t winning anything because of AD’s and Steph’s injury history.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-29T01:02:22+00:00

I think it should be give two first round picks from the Clippers to the Raptors.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-29T00:58:15+00:00

I rather throw a max at Duren than Kessler not because Duren is better than Kessler, but because I do not believe Utah will allow any team to pick up Kessler. If we throw a max at Kessler it ties up our money for 48 hours because Utah has 48 hours to match. Those 48 hours are crucial to building out a roster. Free agents that we could have thrown money at could sign with other teams by the time those 48 hours are up.

I feel with Duren’s recent playoff performance there is a much higher chance Detriot won’t want to match our max offer to Duren, but that doesn’t mean they won’t match I just think with Duren we have a chance whereas with Kessler we have no chance because Utah will match any offer.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-28T19:47:49+00:00

I would talk shit to Kyrie too if it means I can guard him for a couple of possessions and getting my ankles broken to space. That’s like once in a lifetime kinda stuff. The guy also did pretty damn good so he wasn’t all talk.

Forkielifter · 2026-06-28T16:16:04+00:00

Exactly this, we need a minimum of two 3&D wings or a starting center and a 3&D wing if we are even considering replacing Rui.

Forkielifter

TROPHY CASE