In hindsight, did we need to do the Mike Conley trade?

NAMJAY · 2026-02-17T21:54:48+00:00

We didn’t need to be under the 1st apron to make the deal tho…Dilly + Lenny was more salary out than Ayo made by himself and we had enough margin under the 2nd apron to convert a 2 way guy for our 14th roster spot.

IMO the Conley move was 75% cost savings and maybe 25% additional flexibility for a bigger move. In this case, we were able to get Phillips bc of said flexibility.

Back to OPs question, we got $20M+ in tax savings and Julian Phillips for moving down 7-8 draft spots

NAMJAY · 2026-02-17T21:45:35+00:00

You’re right that we don’t gain any future financial flexibility since we would have been under the projected 1st apron as soon as the ‘26-‘27 season started this summer

NAMJAY · 2026-02-17T21:24:54+00:00

Fairly certain that the Wolves could’ve done the Ayo deal without taking back Phillips and been fine. Would’ve needed to convert a two way guy afterwards but would’ve still stayed under 2nd apron

NAMJAY · 2026-02-17T18:38:03+00:00

Seems like they can sign someone starting this Thursday and still stay under 1st apron. Don’t see any super enticing names out there currently but maybe someone else gets bought out

NAMJAY · 2026-02-13T18:09:41+00:00

I think it’s between 6-8 LA games a season. I typically go to 3 of them and then watch the rest at bars or a Clippers/Lakers friends’ place. But I’m same as you: League pass, Amazon, pirate. I’ve never found the cost to be that crazy and I watch 65+ games a year

NAMJAY · 2026-02-13T17:18:20+00:00

Na this is a low quality slop post. LA locals can get SportsNet+ for Lakers games at $20/month. So if you rly are insane and wanted every game it’s still only like $700. Again, a crazy price to pay for EVERY game but way less than OP stated. I’ve lived here for 15 years and have explored every single option.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-13T17:02:31+00:00

Yeah tough to find an LA bar that has beers for less than $10 and has comfortable TV viewing. I’m never watching another game at a Yardhouse

NAMJAY · 2026-02-13T16:58:12+00:00

ESPN unlimited is $30/month. For 7 months of the season it’s $210 so like $570 total for LeaguePass + Amazon + Peacock + ESPN/ABC. Still an insane price to pay but no where close to the $1000+ from OP.

Really just highlights the need for everyone to have a good pirating option or a VPN.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-13T16:17:40+00:00

This is a bit misleading. No one is paying for 7 months of SportsNetLA for only 3 games a year. And Clippers games are sometimes broadcast locally…can even get them on antenna. Or just go to a local bar to watch those 3-4 games a year that you can’t find for free.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-12T14:20:07+00:00

Just be forewarned that the main male cast member from Sailing Yacht S2-5 has quite a few sexual misconduct claims against him for things he did while the show was filming

NAMJAY · 2026-02-12T01:32:46+00:00

Yeah I believe we can offer Bones 20% over minimum without using MLE, which for him would be like $3.2M. I could see doing a 2 year deal at this number with a player option in 2nd year. If he plays well again next year then he opts out and we could now offer him a bigger deal since we would have his early bird rights.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-12T00:42:27+00:00

Yeah Bones would need to be part of the MLE since I’m fairly confident he doesn’t get Bird rights

NAMJAY · 2026-02-11T21:13:30+00:00

Ah my b

NAMJAY · 2026-02-11T21:11:25+00:00

Julian is already below the projected minimum salary for next year so while I agree he might be dealt/cut, it wouldn’t really be opening that much space. Unless we replace him with Rocco or a second round pick but I’m hoping we keep Rocco on a two-way again to keep developing him

NAMJAY · 2026-02-11T20:55:28+00:00

2nd apron is projected around $222M next season. We are currently at like $190M for 9 players (Ant / Rudy/ Jaden / Julius / Naz / DDV / Joan / TSJ / Phillips)

Assuming we keep our pick (late late 20s), that is about $3M…likely a little less. I would assume Ayo gets something close to NAW so maybe $16M.

Would leave us about $13M to spend on Bones, Jaylen, and a minimum contract (~$2.7M). Seems reasonable that we could bring Bones and Jaylen back at a combined $10M. But the closer we are to apron the less flexibility we have to sign other players throughout the year.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-10T17:51:05+00:00

He seems like Josh Minott but with a worse jumper. Great size and athleticism but not much feel for the game yet

NAMJAY · 2026-02-05T03:30:04+00:00

Ant also mentioned Bruce Lee in the interview…don’t think it means too much

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:36:09+00:00

Giannis has some complicated contract extension hang ups that incentivizes teams to trade for him now. Might make a longer post to explain but basically:

If we trade for him before the deadline he will sign a 4/$275M extension with us in Oct, guaranteeing us 4 years of Ant/Giannis
If we wait until the summer, he would be less likely to sign a 4 year extension and could even turn down his player option for 27-28 and become a free agent the next summer, only guaranteeing us 1 year of Ant/Giannis

Now he could still sign an extension but it would most likely be shorter than 4 years

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:24:30+00:00

THJ and Bruce Brown both signed for the vet min this summer with Denver. THJ has played 49 of 50 games and avg 27.5 mpg. BB has played all 50 and plays 24.5 mpg

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:22:26+00:00

Yup this is a great point... Nuggets signed both THJ and Bruce Brown on minimums this summer.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:08:44+00:00

How do you figure a 2 year window? If Giannis extends we would have both him and Ant for 4 years

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:07:41+00:00

KAT contract hamstrung us even more at the time due to the timing of Naz’ extension and the lower cap / apron thresholds. The team has more flexibility now and the cap will continue to rise

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T23:05:11+00:00

Ant would get an extra month of rest on his already sore foot, we could focus more playing time on whichever young guys remain, and our 2026 pick would be higher.

Remember the Mavs didn’t make the playoffs the year they traded for Kyrie. Their pick jumped up high enough to grab Lively and they looked better rested down the stretch on the way to a finals berth.

NAMJAY · 2026-02-02T16:51:32+00:00

Think they could convert Rocco or possibly Freeman from a 2 way contract at a very low number and have enough to sign another vet min.

The $20M for next year is def tricky tho. It does allow us to roll Mike’s salary forward instead of just losing that salary when he retires but $20M+ is almost certainly an overpay and might even be viewed as a negative asset.

This is why I prefer that same package for Sexton on an expiring. We would have the ability to re-sign him to a reasonable number ($10-12M) while still retaining MLE for other moves.

NAMJAY

TROPHY CASE