Marcus Smart buyout

Benjammin · Post #1 » by **Benjammin** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:11 pm

Merge as needed. To the Lakers for the same kind of deal as Beal to the Clippers I guess.

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Frichuela · Post #2 » by **Frichuela** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:16 pm

Good Lord…after this who plays PG? Bub, McCollum and ?

payitforward · Post #3 » by **payitforward** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:21 pm

Wow!
Very nice for Marcus -- good!

Benjammin · Post #4 » by **Benjammin** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:24 pm

Frichuela wrote:Good Lord…after this who plays PG? Bub, McCollum and ?

And AJ, our high flying dunking tank private.

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Frichuela · Post #5 » by **Frichuela** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:25 pm

Benjammin wrote:
Frichuela wrote:Good Lord…after this who plays PG? Bub, McCollum and ?
And AJ, our high flying dunking tank private.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I guess this also means (at least) one of the Spurs kids may stick around? Both are combo guards…

Frichuela · Post #6 » by **Frichuela** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:28 pm

Ooops…so it seems Malaki Branham is the one sticking around. Better shooter than Wesley but lackluster defender so far…

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Benjammin · Post #7 » by **Benjammin** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:33 pm

Frichuela wrote:
Benjammin wrote:
Frichuela wrote:Good Lord…after this who plays PG? Bub, McCollum and ?
And AJ, our high flying dunking tank private.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I guess this also means (at least) one of the Spurs kids may stick around? Both are combo guards…

I would agree with that.

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Benjammin · Post #8 » by **Benjammin** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:37 pm

Already covered above.

WallToWall · Post #9 » by **WallToWall** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:40 pm

I hope Dawkins is amassing a bunch of atta-boy points that he can use at some later time.

payitforward · Post #10 » by **payitforward** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 10:49 pm

Frichuela wrote:Ooops…so it seems Malaki Branham is the one sticking around. Better shooter than Wesley but lackluster defender so far…

Read on Twitter
?s=46

Branham's minutes were cut in half his 2d year, then they were cut in half again last year. What does tht tell you?

He was on the floor 427 minutes last season. Overall, in those minutes, he was awful. Terrible.

But, he did shoot the 3 well, so I'm expecting a few expressions of high hope all the same.

Post #11 » by **penbeast0** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 11:07 pm

Wesley never showed anything on offense as a pro; Branham has a single NBA skill but one coaches want. May still be cut though. Does this get us to 17 or 18?

Kanyewest · Post #12 » by **Kanyewest** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 11:21 pm

payitforward wrote:
Frichuela wrote:Ooops…so it seems Malaki Branham is the one sticking around. Better shooter than Wesley but lackluster defender so far…

Read on Twitter
?s=46

Branham's minutes were cut in half his 2d year, then they were cut in half again last year. What does tht tell you?

He was on the floor 427 minutes last season. Overall, in those minutes, he was awful. Terrible.

But, he did shoot the 3 well, so I'm expecting a few expressions of high hope all the same.

Spurs did acquire CP3 and later Fox so perhaps that played a role in the reduction of his minutes. He was one of the many Spurs who were unwilling to pass to Wemby in his rookie season. Granted Branham was young but looks like he needs to learn from his mistakes. Maybe the trade can serve as a motivation for him to become a better defender and fill out the rest of his game.

Post #13 » by **nate33** » Sat Jul 19, 2025 11:26 pm

Of our veterans, I felt that Smart was the most redundant. Bilal fills the same role. So it made sense that he was the one to be bought out.

long suffrin' boulez fan · Post #14 » by **long suffrin' boulez fan** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 12:33 am

nate33 wrote:Of our veterans, I felt that Smart was the most redundant. Bilal fills the same role. So it made sense that he was the one to be bought out.

I don’t like the move. I really wanted him around a little longer to teach the young’uns about toughness, focus and competitiveness.

Northwest Roddy · Post #15 » by **Northwest Roddy** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:33 am

Agree with LSBF. The Celtics got rid of him and won the chip. Memphis paid us a first round pick to get tid of him. His personality must grate, and he clearly overestimates his abilities. But that attitude also works great in mentoring. He would have no problem calling people out. He’s not shy with his opinion. And he was one of the best perimeter defenders in a long time. He was an adult in the room. I’m sad to see him go. But Happy for him until he realises he’s not winning the square root of diddlysquat with the Lake show.

DCZards · Post #16 » by **DCZards** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 2:45 am

I also liked the idea of Smart being a mentor for our young players. Sorry it’s not happening but it’s easy to understand why.

I’m sure Marcus would prefer to be on a team that was competing for something rather than one that’s tanking. So why keep someone on the roster primarily as a mentor for young players when he likely didn’t want to be here.

Tyrone Messby · Post #17 » by **Tyrone Messby** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 10:00 pm

wow I was dead wrong in Wesley, thought he could challenge for back up PG here. Always liked his game in college. Just another Johnny Davis I guess.

payitforward · Post #18 » by **payitforward** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 10:08 pm

Kanyewest wrote:
payitforward wrote:
Frichuela wrote:Ooops…so it seems Malaki Branham is the one sticking around. Better shooter than Wesley but lackluster defender so far…

Read on Twitter
?s=46

Branham's minutes were cut in half his 2d year, then they were cut in half again last year. What does tht tell you?

He was on the floor 427 minutes last season. Overall, in those minutes, he was awful. Terrible.

But, he did shoot the 3 well, so I'm expecting a few expressions of high hope all the same.

Spurs did acquire CP3 and later Fox so perhaps that played a role in the reduction of his minutes. He was one of the many Spurs who were unwilling to pass to Wemby in his rookie season. Granted Branham was young but looks like he needs to learn from his mistakes. Maybe the trade can serve as a motivation for him to become a better defender and fill out the rest of his game.

Anything's possible, but so far so bad. I wouldn't waste a lot of cycles on Branham.
That said, I hope he turns it around -- not wishing failure on some kid I don't know!

Post #19 » by **nate33** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 10:20 pm

payitforward wrote:Anything's possible, but so far so bad. I wouldn't waste a lot of cycles on Branham.
That said, I hope he turns it around -- not wishing failure on some kid I don't know!

Yeah, I don't think there's much optimism around Branham. But if they cut him now and sign somebody else, they're out the cost of that other player. And if they just cut Branham but go with a 14-man roster, it means they can't use Branham's salary in a trade.

So even if they really don't like Branham at all, it makes some sense to keep him for now. We may need to move him at some future point as trade ballast or to generate a roster spot, but there's no urgency to do it right away.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #20 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sun Jul 20, 2025 10:27 pm

Tyrone Messby wrote: wow I was dead wrong in Wesley, thought he could challenge for back up PG here. Always liked his game in college. Just another Johnny Davis I guess.

I liked Branham in college.