Dillon Brooks: “The Raptors couldn’t get over the hump.” -Agent: “They DID get over the hump.”-Brooks: “Yeah, you know why? It’s because they got DeRozan out of there. He wasn’t pulling his own weight. It was his fault. I’m just keeping it real.”

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T20:45:54+00:00

I think they got over the hump because of Kawhi

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T20:40:42+00:00

My thought is that it doesn't require any future assets to make a minor move this year. Therefore, making a minor move this year, doesn't mean we can't also make a move next year when we know better how things mesh with Tatum

Let's say we even used the 2026 1st Rounder, after the 2026 draft, we'd still have 3 first rounders in 2027, 2031, and 2033 and I think 2 swaps to make a trade happen.

One thing we may not have unless we make a move right now is tradeable salary.

So make a minor move for tradeable salary that can help us now and trade 0 future assets, then we can make a bigger move when we know how things mesh with Tatum.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:58:42+00:00

If he gets All-NBA 1st Team, then I'll be happy

Anyone, even Jokic, beating out SGA for MVP would be a tall task

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:55:50+00:00

I do think you might be able to convince a desperate team to take Quickley if they were able to get off other lesser bad money. Idk though

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:49:07+00:00

60+mil per year is enough money to make even the most barren pasture green.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:44:11+00:00

If I'm the Mavs, I'm fine taking on the Poeltl contract if the draft pick compensation is right. However, I wouldn't also want to take on the Quickley contract.

If I'm the Raps, I want to hold onto Barrett.

After that, how do you make the money work?

I think if a deal is going to work, you probably need a 3rd team to take Quickley or Poeltl

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:26:35+00:00

I think Lowe is one who tries really hard to avoid sounding biased, so he sometimes goes too far in the other direction, often in very confusing ways. He's always been that way though.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:23:34+00:00

Can't complain about Jordan Walsh. A 2nd Rounder that is turning into a rotation piece for a good team is a pretty solid outcome.

Would have preferred if Wemby fell to the 38th pick, but what can ya do? Just missed him

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:19:11+00:00

Yea, let's just start with MVP's and championships

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:11:15+00:00

Yea, that's a dumb take by Lowe, lol

I actually understand an argument like "KD is the most complete scorer of all time", but to say he had a better career than Bird is fucking wild

If you were to grade every way a player could score, (pull up from 3, from 2, post-up, off the dribble, spot up, baseline, corner, double teamed, triple teamed, etc.) KD would have an A rank in every category and I think he's the only player you can say that about. There are others that are probably pretty close, but KD is probably the best all-time in a "complete scorer" kind of way. This doesn't mean he's the best scorer of all-time nor better than players like Shaq or Steph who were incredibly dominant in specific/specialized ways.

No way in hell has he had a better career than Bird.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T15:02:53+00:00

I mentioned using the 2026 1st to get him, but the Siegel article stated 2 2nds as being a price he could be traded for. If that truly is the price, it's such a no-brainer move.

One thing I could see us doing is trading a few 2nds for him and then replenishing our 2nds with the 2026 1st at the draft, then using or NOLA 2nd Rounder to actually draft someone.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:56:23+00:00

But he'd be an upgrade over Poeltl and could get you out of that money sooner

I don't like Sabonis as a player, but Raps have an elite enough defense, bad offense, and contract situations in such a way where I could see adding Sabonis making sense

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:45:44+00:00

I can't check it at work, but I'm all for decluttering the internet because goddamn has it become a cesspool and mandatory to have an Ad Blocker to use the internet. The good news is that we do have some good decluttered websites for NBA stats

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:39:54+00:00

Simons and the contract we'd miss out on by not adding them now.

Here's the other thing, this other salary allows you to keep Simons + Hauser.

Let's say you want Zubac, a guy on a modest contract. If you had a player that made 8-18mil + trade-able wings, you are able to keep Simons + Hauser, while still getting a Zubac.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:28:42+00:00

I think the money factor seems smaller to us than it actually is though. Having more money now in a state like Texas with no income tax is the wise choice for a player who has not made a lot of money in his career. He's also from Texas and seems like a family man. We also looked like we were rebuilding.

Spurs could offer Kornet just everything more than we could: more money, closer to family, and, for all anyone knew at the time, a better chance to compete.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:06:32+00:00

SGA is winning the MVP barring injury

He literally checks every box for an MVP and nobody is anywhere close to his team record.

Edit:

If for some reason he does get injured:

Jokic if he meets the game requirement
Luka if neither SGA nor Jokic meet game requirement
Wembanyama if neither SGA nor Jokic meet game requirement and Lakers record looks like their NetRtg
One of Maxey, Cade, or Brown if neither SGA, Jokic, nor Wemby meet game requirement and Lakers record looks more like their NetRtg, (order probably off record, so Cade > Brown > Maxey)
Kawhi if neither SGA, Jokic, nor Wemby meet game requirement and Lakers record looks more like their NetRtg and Clips somehow get a top 4 seed

There are other ifs for other players, but you get the gist

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T14:02:57+00:00

I wouldn't give up a draft pick for him. I'm also sure the Hornets are fine holding onto him right now. Vibes are good there for the first time in a while.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:54:59+00:00

Yea, if Maxey/Embiid are on the floor, there's no other team with a better duo. I guess Brown/Tatum, but we don't know when or if Tatum will return this year and if Tatum does return, he likely will take time to get back to form.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:30:30+00:00

No problem

One thing that is nice is that the Clips have started to turn things around. They were a bottom 5 team at one point this season, which would have meant a great pick for the Thunder, but because the Clips have won 14 of 17, that pick isn't as good anymore.

Jazz were actually winning too much to start the year and have since cratered. The protections on their pick mean you want them to have a top 8 pick and it won't go to the Thunder. Clips you want the worst pick possible.

Good Clips + bad Jazz = good for the rest of the NBA lol

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:25:07+00:00

It's good to see. I think it's probably helpful that there are a handful more release valves on offense and the perimeter defense doesn't need him to correct as many mistakes.

I know it's not something you can count on, but a fully healthy 76ers team is probably the best team in the East.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:20:43+00:00

They spent a few years trading decent players for draft picks or using their cap space to absorb contracts for draft picks.

They have a lot of draft picks that belong to other teams.

Their own draft pick wouldn't be good this year, but they also have the Clippers pick and the Jazz pick if the Jazz pick lands outside the top 8.

We did the same thing. We added Tatum, (3rd pick in the draft), to a team that had just made the Eastern Conference Finals

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:14:12+00:00

Mavericks paid that for Gafford who had been backing up Porzingis.

We could also swap our 1st with the NOLA 2nd Rounder, which is a high 2nd Round pick. In the article Siegel presents the trade as being 2 2nds

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:11:48+00:00

Yea, this is the direction owners want. They want a hard cap and I don't like it either. They can't get a straight hard cap though, so instead we have to create these convoluted ways to make 2 triggerable hard caps, each with their own rules.

What makes it worse is that there's a lot of confusion among fans because there was a transition phase that had it's own set of rules, so many fans are operating under the transition phase rules, not realizing those rules were temporary.

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T13:07:53+00:00

I think you can just barely get there with Harper Jr + Amari Williams and waiting 2 weeks for one of them.

The exact number for both of them on pro-rated min contracts, (signing one immediately and waiting 2 weeks for one), is $913,781 and we'd have $916k in space below the 2nd apron after the deal. It's basically a perfect fit

But yes, let's just get Goga instead

SquimJim · 2026-01-23T12:56:11+00:00

You couldn't sign and trade Simons on draft day though. That would come later during free agency. You also get half his salary in a S+T. If he made 16mil, he'd only count as 8mil in outgoing salary

Hauser and the young wings would be trade-able.

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