Masai Presser Live @ 11am

[MEDIC]

:crazy:

The problem is Queen isnt a 2 way guy. I like Queen, and would take him with his faults, but im not sure if Masai would.

And Maluach isnt a rotation player in the NBA. The guy is raw and will be a foul machine who cant rebound or really play against the physicality (like Houston was physical with him). Unless we get Queen or someone like Broome in the 2nd round, we're not adding a rotation big in this draft next year.

Malachi is the backup center on day 0.

If you think Malauch can play in the NBA tomorrow and not absolutely get destroyed, I have a bridge to sell you. He's a g-leaguer. If people believe in his potential (i dont), I can understand the pick long term. But he's absolutely a project

I could see Malauch having a development curve similar to Hassan Whiteside.

[WuTang_CMB]

Read on Twitter

Wonder who he's talking about

All or some of KD, Giannis, Trae, Zion, Ball, Sabonis, Ja could be available this summer who he could be talking about multiple people.

most likely referring to the past. Lillard nixed going to Toronto so thats why POR took the other deal

[junot111]

Read on Twitter

Wonder who he's talking about

All or some of KD, Giannis, Trae, Zion, Ball, Sabonis, Ja could be available this summer who he could be talking about multiple people.

most likely referring to the past. Lillard nixed going to Toronto so thats why POR took the other deal

Source?
They got a strong package from Milwaukee. Unless we were offering scottie I don't see how we would have beat it

[ishoy123]

Read on Twitter

Wonder who he's talking about

All or some of KD, Giannis, Trae, Zion, Ball, Sabonis, Ja could be available this summer who he could be talking about multiple people.

most likely referring to the past. Lillard nixed going to Toronto so thats why POR took the other deal

From what I remember, he didn't want to go anywhere except Miami until he was traded to Milwaukee.

[Indeed]

It's unlikely but I hope there's a way to get out of IQ's contract this summer. Some rumors floating around moving RJ with Ingram's arrival, but I think moving IQ should be a priority. He's overpaid and quite frankly, not very good. His fit with Barnes is overrated, and he's much better suited for a 6th man role.

You want to get rid of him because you think he's overpaid but who do you replace him with? Who's on a bargain deal that would be on par with IQ and available?

I think that are two separate questions.
With our payroll, all of Barrett, Quickley or Barnes may not sustain, at least one of them would be traded, which I wouldn't be surprised. You are either to take a lesser talent with better fit, or a rookie to replace them.

It is too early to determine who will be traded, for example, if we draft Queen, it might be Barrett who cannot fit on the defensive end (unless Barrett improves his defense).

For now, Quickley is not a good fit on offense with Barnes (even many claim we need shooting, yet the PnR was not really working).

[YogurtProducer]

wasting your lottery pick on a big man when you already have your front court solved with Barnes and Poeltl is peak idiocy

By that definition what position dont we have solved?

pro tip: you don't need to waste your lottery pick on a bench player

Prop tip: you don't mass over a player because of Jakob Poeltl

[WuTang_CMB]

All or some of KD, Giannis, Trae, Zion, Ball, Sabonis, Ja could be available this summer who he could be talking about multiple people.

most likely referring to the past. Lillard nixed going to Toronto so thats why POR took the other deal

From what I remember, he didn't want to go anywhere except Miami until he was traded to Milwaukee.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Sam Amick put out a piece talking about how the unexpected blockbuster trade came together.

Lillard’s disinterest in playing in Toronto ended up being an obstacle for the Raptors:

“Throughout this Lillard saga, there was the looming question of whether a team would take on his massive contract if he didn’t want to be there. Lillard has three years remaining on his deal plus a player option for 2026-27 for a projected $63.2 million. For example, the Raptors’ interest was serious, but Lillard’s disinterest in playing in Toronto remained an obstacle until the end.

[MEDIC]

It's unlikely but I hope there's a way to get out of IQ's contract this summer. Some rumors floating around moving RJ with Ingram's arrival, but I think moving IQ should be a priority. He's overpaid and quite frankly, not very good. His fit with Barnes is overrated, and he's much better suited for a 6th man role.

Yeah. I have been feeling this way for most of the season. Barrett is Barrett. He's just an extra scorer.

IQ seems like a bench scorer that we are trying to utilize as a starting PG (Lou Will type.......but I am not sure he is even as good as Lou Will). I think we will need a better starting PG to become a true contender in the east. PG is such an important role.

[mtcan]

:crazy:
Malachi is the backup center on day 0.

If you think Malauch can play in the NBA tomorrow and not absolutely get destroyed, I have a bridge to sell you. He's a g-leaguer. If people believe in his potential (i dont), I can understand the pick long term. But he's absolutely a project

I could see Malauch having a development curve similar to Hassan Whiteside.

I think there is a difference in personality and mentality.

Hasan's always been known as a bit of a headcase and I think that turned off a lot of teams early in his career. He hit in Miami because of Heat Culture but even then he wore out his welcome eventually.

Khaman comes off as a very humble kid. I think he has the right mindset.

[TorontoBarneys]

Who is the backup PF and backup C? There are no credible players at either spot and no money to fill either hole with a veteran.

pro tip: you don't need to waste your lottery pick on a bench player

Pro tip. Unless you get Flagg or Harper, the player you draft is almost certainly coming off the bench next year.

You really missed my point here. It's not about drafting a player who has to start because he's a lottery talent, but if you're drafting a big just because you need to shore up back-up minutes for Poeltl, you're doing it wrong by wasting our best pick on that.

[Tripod]

i can see a gradey to brooklyn trade for late 1st(s) to grab some big man depth if they go that route

That's basically never been how Masai operates. He doesn't trade his younger players for more immediate help with lower upside.

Ya we aren't trading a recent former lottery pick for a player at a lesser draft position.

Derek Lively for Gradey Dick is kinda perfect for both teams involved.

Great post!

[Raps in 4]

wasting your lottery pick on a big man when you already have your front court solved with Barnes and Poeltl is peak idiocy

Always take the BPA, regardless of position.

[Raps in 4]

1 Khaman Maluach - Duke
2 Derik Queen - Maryland
3 Joan Beringer - KK Cedevita Junior (Croatia)
4 Danny Wolf - Michigan
5 Ryan Kalkbrenner - Creighton


He said we need a big man.

Flagg is big.

[Raps in 4]

It's unlikely but I hope there's a way to get out of IQ's contract this summer. Some rumors floating around moving RJ with Ingram's arrival, but I think moving IQ should be a priority. He's overpaid and quite frankly, not very good. His fit with Barnes is overrated, and he's much better suited for a 6th man role.

Yeah. I have been feeling this way for most of the season. Barrett is Barrett. He's just an extra scorer.

IQ seems like a bench scorer that we are trying to utilize as a starting PG (Lou Will type.......but I am not sure he is even as good as Lou Will). I think we will need a better starting PG to become a true contender in the east. PG is such an important role.

We haven't seen IQ play on a team that's trying to win yet. I think he's a serviceable starter (certainly more valuable than RJ).

[ciueli]

pro tip: you don't need to waste your lottery pick on a bench player

Pro tip. Unless you get Flagg or Harper, the player you draft is almost certainly coming off the bench next year.

You really missed my point here. It's not about drafting a player who has to start because he's a lottery talent, but if you're drafting a big just because you need to shore up back-up minutes for Poeltl, you're doing it wrong by wasting our best pick on that.

It's not a waste if the player is in the mix for BPA at that pick anyway, that's what you're missing. BPA is always a bit of a misleading term anyway as it implies there's a way to say play A is strictly better than player B, the truth is no one knows how players will translate to the NBA and when you're talking about players a young as 18 it's all about how they develop over the span of years.

In this case either Maluach or Queen could wind up being BPA at 7-9 where we are most likely to draft. It's not like we would be taking a player projected to go 5 picks later or something just to fill a hole.

[PushDaRock]

It's unlikely but I hope there's a way to get out of IQ's contract this summer. Some rumors floating around moving RJ with Ingram's arrival, but I think moving IQ should be a priority. He's overpaid and quite frankly, not very good. His fit with Barnes is overrated, and he's much better suited for a 6th man role.

You want to get rid of him because you think he's overpaid but who do you replace him with? Who's on a bargain deal that would be on par with IQ and available?

I think that are two separate questions.
With our payroll, all of Barrett, Quickley or Barnes may not sustain, at least one of them would be traded, which I wouldn't be surprised. You are either to take a lesser talent with better fit, or a rookie to replace them.

It is too early to determine who will be traded, for example, if we draft Queen, it might be Barrett who cannot fit on the defensive end (unless Barrett improves his defense).

For now, Quickley is not a good fit on offense with Barnes (even many claim we need shooting, yet the PnR was not really working).

We aren't just going to downgrade in talent without seeing how the fit looks on court first.

[TorontoBarneys]

Pro tip. Unless you get Flagg or Harper, the player you draft is almost certainly coming off the bench next year.

You really missed my point here. It's not about drafting a player who has to start because he's a lottery talent, but if you're drafting a big just because you need to shore up back-up minutes for Poeltl, you're doing it wrong by wasting our best pick on that.

It's not a waste if the player is in the mix for BPA at that pick anyway, that's what you're missing. BPA is always a bit of a misleading term anyway as it implies there's a way to say play A is strictly better than player B, the truth is no one knows how players will translate to the NBA and when you're talking about players a young as 18 it's all about how they develop over the span of years.

In this case either Maluach or Queen could wind up being BPA at 7-9 where we are most likely to draft. It's not like we would be taking a player projected to go 5 picks later or something just to fill a hole.

I'm not missing anything. I agree with Masai that we need another big man and Masai has also not insinuated that he's going to use the lottery pick expressly to fill this hole. I obviously do not disagree with drafting BPA either, even if that is a big man (goes without saying but apparently not so).

It's just the usual suspects with distended anuses because they perceived that I criticized Ujiri in some way when it was simply a commentary on the situation.

Warned. Baiting.

[PhilBlackson]

He all but said their names lol it’s clearly gonna be one of Maluach or Queen.

[TorontoBarneys]

He all but said their names lol it’s clearly gonna be one of Maluach or Queen.

If he's drafting BPA then nothing is clear at all because we don't even know where our final pick spot will even land.

People are also just pretending they understand the draft order for this class. Queen could go 5 or 10 or somewhere in-between. There's a lot of talent parity after the top 2.

[mtcan]

Even if we land Cooper Flagg...there is zero chance we see massive roster changes going into next season.

At earliest we see trades to address roster issues at the trade deadline or summer of 2026.

This front office will take their time to evaluate.