NBA Free Agency — 2025 Edition

[dobrojim]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

[Rafael122]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

[nate33]

Kind of a random thought:

It would be hilarious if the Wizards signed Luka Doncic in free agency next summer. Imagine landing, say, AJ Dybantsa in the draft, signing Luka in free agency, and then rolling with:

Guard: Tre/Bub
Guard: Bilal/AJ Johnson
Forward: Dybantsa/Champagnie
Forward: Doncic/Kyshawn
Center: Sarr/free agent big

Now THAT'S a contender!

[prime1time]

Kind of a random thought:

It would be hilarious if the Wizards signed Luka Doncic in free agency next summer. Imagine landing, say, AJ Dybantsa in the draft, signing Luka in free agency, and then rolling with:

Guard: Tre/Bub
Guard: Bilal/AJ Johnson
Forward: Dybantsa/Champagnie
Forward: Doncic/Kyshawn
Center: Sarr/free agent big

Now THAT'S a contender!

Lol, the time line is completely off. I'd settle for getting a top 3 pick.

Bub
Tre
Bilal
Dybantsa
Sarr

Or

Peterson
Tre
Bilal
George
Sarr
6th Man Bub, Tbh, you could put Tre at the 3, Bub at the guard and Peterson at guard but Idk. I think you take Peterson and figure it out after. He's special. Maybe trade Bub.

Or

Bub
Tre
Bilal
Boozer
Sarr

A top 3 pick next year would put us in a great place.

[prime1time]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Kuminga's not worth risking losing the pick especially given how strong the next years draft class is.

[AFM]

League sources tell The Athletic that the Rockets and Suns are working on expanding the Kevin Durant trade into a deal that would involve a league-record seven teams. Other teams involved in negotiations at the moment include the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, league sources say.

No trade is imminent, and details are being ironed out as of Wednesday night.

In a would-be seven-team trade, there is an unprecedented amount of detail. Unfortunately, while a seven-team trade would make for a thrilling topic at a cocktail party, there haven’t been many unexpected developments in these negotiations. At least in the iterations of the deal discussed so far, most of the recognizable names are from trades that have already been agreed to and reported but not yet finalized.

The Hawks would be sending Clint Capela to the Rockets in what would become a sign-and-trade, league sources say. Durant would go to Houston. The previously reported return for him, including Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green, would go to Phoenix. Only five players who were in the NBA last season are being discussed in the current iteration of the trade, as of now: Durant, Brooks, Green, Clint Capela and Daeqwon Plowden, league sources say. The rest of the players being discussed are all from already-agreed-upon draft-night trades that are yet to be finalized and can't be until July 6.

[DCZards]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Kuminga's not worth risking losing the pick especially given how strong the next years draft class is.

Kuminga would mean maybe 4-5 more wins…if that.

[DCZards]

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

I too believe Kuminga was mishandled. He’d play very well one game and then not see the court the next couple of games. Strange.

Don’t know if there was something going on behind the scenes. But from all accounts Kuminga was a good soldier through it all.

[bsilver]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

He would like it here. Another French speaker.
As long as we field our twig like front court with no one over 220 lbs we don' have to worry about winning too many games. But have to keep Holmes on the bench or let him go.

[DCZards]

Kuminga would be a great get. Not because we need him to change the perception of the franchise—those who are laughing aren’t paying attention—but because he’s a talented kid who I think hasn’t gotten a real opportunity to shine.

OTOH, we already have an abundance of wings and I’m not so sure adding another one would be a wise use of resources.

I'm mostly just thinking of it from an investment standpoint. We have assets like Kispert, McCollum, Middleton, and Olynyk who have plateaued developmentally and won't be getting any more valuable going forward. If we could exchange some combination of them for a guy like Kuminga who is still on the upswing, it would increase the total asset valuation of the team over time.

Right now, our money is in a savings account earning hardly any interest. I want it invested in the stock market.

I don’t disagree with that approach. But I’m certain Kuminga will have a lot of suitors in a sign-and-trade and the Warriors will be able to come away with more than what the Zards are likely to offer.

[nate33]

Kind of a random thought:

It would be hilarious if the Wizards signed Luka Doncic in free agency next summer. Imagine landing, say, AJ Dybantsa in the draft, signing Luka in free agency, and then rolling with:

Guard: Tre/Bub
Guard: Bilal/AJ Johnson
Forward: Dybantsa/Champagnie
Forward: Doncic/Kyshawn
Center: Sarr/free agent big

Now THAT'S a contender!

Lol, the time line is completely off. I'd settle for getting a top 3 pick.

Is it though?

If you are Luka, would you rather try and win a championship alongside 42-year-old Lebron, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton in a brutal Western conference, or do you come the cakewalk East and surround yourself with a team 10-deep in athletic defenders. Bilal will be a vet by then, entering his 4th season. And Bub, Sarr and Kyshawn should be pretty seasoned as well. Luka will only be 27 years old next summer.

If we did acquire Luka, I'd probably try and trade Sarr for a more pure rim protector/rim runner prototype like Derrick Lively, but the rest of that lineup would look great with Luka. They would probably fall short in Luka's first year here, but after that, we would be OKC East.

[nate33]

Kuminga would be a great get. Not because we need him to change the perception of the franchise—those who are laughing aren’t paying attention—but because he’s a talented kid who I think hasn’t gotten a real opportunity to shine.

OTOH, we already have an abundance of wings and I’m not so sure adding another one would be a wise use of resources.

I'm mostly just thinking of it from an investment standpoint. We have assets like Kispert, McCollum, Middleton, and Olynyk who have plateaued developmentally and won't be getting any more valuable going forward. If we could exchange some combination of them for a guy like Kuminga who is still on the upswing, it would increase the total asset valuation of the team over time.

Right now, our money is in a savings account earning hardly any interest. I want it invested in the stock market.

I don’t disagree with that approach. But I’m certain Kuminga will have a lot of suitors in a sign-and-trade and the Warriors will be able to come away with more than what the Zards are likely to offer.

The market for Kuminga seems pretty luke warm at the moment. I don't think many teams are all that interested in paying him what he thinks he is worth. The only team with cap room to sign him outright for more than the MLE is Brooklyn. So Golden State may be faced with a choice of simply letting him walk, or sign-and-trading him for rather lackluster assets. At least we can give them some pretty good expiring contract vets like Smart, Olynyk or even Middleton - guys that can help them now while Curry and Butler are still around.

It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[dobrojim]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

I'd already predict a win total of 20-25 next season as
it already stands. I think we need to be careful in order
to go from ethical tanking to flagrant tanking in order
to avoid finishing above 4th worst.

I know this is controversial but I do think there is more
value than some have suggested in keeping Smart,
Middleton and Olynk around at least to the trade
deadline playing them 15-20 mpg.

[nate33]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

I'd already predict a win total of 20-25 next season as
it already stands. I think we need to be careful in order
to go from ethical tanking to flagrant tanking in order
to avoid finishing above 4th worst.

Yeah, with ethical tanking, we could win 25-29 games. But I expect a little flagrant tanking down the stretch to keep us below 25 wins.

[dobrojim]

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

I'd already predict a win total of 20-25 next season as
it already stands. I think we need to be careful in order
to go from ethical tanking to flagrant tanking in order
to avoid finishing above 4th worst.

Yeah, with ethical tanking, we could win 25-29 games. But I expect a little flagrant tanking down the stretch to keep us below 25 wins.

How immediate will Tre's impact be and can we avoid
key injuries?

[Frichuela]

Maybe I don't have a very good grasp of Kuminga's value
but my concern would be that he could be useful
enough to put our pick at risk. Am I overestimating
his utility?

Yes. He might add a win or 2, but we're talking going from 20 wins to like 22 lol. He's not a terrible player, I personally think he's been mishandled in Golden State and they screwed up the two timelines thing.

I'd already predict a win total of 20-25 next season as
it already stands. I think we need to be careful in order
to go from ethical tanking to flagrant tanking in order
to avoid finishing above 4th worst.

Yep. This is a MUST and number 1 objective for the franchise. If we make sure we are bottom-4 record we are a Devin Booker injury away of having very high odds of a top 3 pick!

[nate33]

My sense is that management is not going to flagrantly tank for a top 2 position. They do want to develop the youngsters and don't want to teach them to accept losing. But at the same time, they're not stupid. They're not going to win enough to relinquish the protected pick they owe to NY. If the team starts inching up to 6th-worst or 7th-worst record in the league, they will shift from ethical tanking to flagrant tanking. Anybody who has been playing well will get "hurt".

[The Consiglieri]

Kind of a random thought:

It would be hilarious if the Wizards signed Luka Doncic in free agency next summer. Imagine landing, say, AJ Dybantsa in the draft, signing Luka in free agency, and then rolling with:

Guard: Tre/Bub
Guard: Bilal/AJ Johnson
Forward: Dybantsa/Champagnie
Forward: Doncic/Kyshawn
Center: Sarr/free agent big

Now THAT'S a contender!

I'm sure you've heard the rumors that the Lakers have basically made it clear to LeBron that everything with the Lakers is focused on building out Luca's timeline there and not his, I see zero chance he leaves, but yeah, if we got Peterson and Luca, holy ----, or Boozer and him, I think Dybantsa would be the worst of the grand slam picks because supposedly he's the least inclined to play defense (and we already would have that problem with Doncic), but yeah, it would be amazing.

Not happening though, the Lakers stole yet another extension of their reign because of the stupidity of the league around them, Shaq and then Kobe saved them from a nineties and aughts of misery, LeBron and Anthony Davis saved them from another era of misery, way back in the day, I forget who, but someone made an incomprehensibly stupid trade of the Magic Johnson draft pick, for an aged, broken down pile of ---- former star too. They are perpetually saved from mismanagement by the allure of LA, and the beach, along with the incomprehensible stupidity of other franchises. One of the strangest things ever is to consider that we actually took LA to the cleaners in each of our most recent trades with them. Nobody else ever seems to.

[dobrojim]

IIRC, it was CLE who traded the pick that became
James Worthy following just after Magic arrived.

[dckingsfan]

Kind of a random thought:

It would be hilarious if the Wizards signed Luka Doncic in free agency next summer. Imagine landing, say, AJ Dybantsa in the draft, signing Luka in free agency, and then rolling with:

Guard: Tre/Bub
Guard: Bilal/AJ Johnson
Forward: Dybantsa/Champagnie
Forward: Doncic/Kyshawn
Center: Sarr/free agent big

Now THAT'S a contender!

Lol, the time line is completely off. I'd settle for getting a top 3 pick.

Is it though?

If you are Luka, would you rather try and win a championship alongside 42-year-old Lebron, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton in a brutal Western conference, or do you come the cakewalk East and surround yourself with a team 10-deep in athletic defenders. Bilal will be a vet by then, entering his 4th season. And Bub, Sarr and Kyshawn should be pretty seasoned as well. Luka will only be 27 years old next summer.

If we did acquire Luka, I'd probably try and trade Sarr for a more pure rim protector/rim runner prototype like Derrick Lively, but the rest of that lineup would look great with Luka. They would probably fall short in Luka's first year here, but after that, we would be OKC East.

Add - the travel from DC is SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.