Free Agency & Trades Thread 2 **NOW OPEN**

[Pointgod]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Source?

[TimeForChange]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Source?

Anthony Irwin

[Zeno]

Maybe Klieber and Knect for Pat Connaughton. Saves the Lakers 5.6 million . Hornets wanted Knecht last year before trade was rescinded.

[causal_fan]

Read on Twitter

He's so done

On the morning of March 23, 2023, a bettor at a sportsbook in Biloxi, Mississippi, placed $13,759 in bets on the unders on Rozier's statistics in a game that night between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, according to the documents, which ESPN acquired through an open records request. All 30 bets won, after Rozier, an eight-year veteran with the Hornets at the time, exited 10 minutes into the game, citing a foot issue.

He didn’t Play again that season. Could have been anyone with knowledge of a pre-existing foot issue that spread the info. I don’t think this is an open and shut as Porter or how Beasley looks to be.

I agree, especially if it's a one off, the foot info might have just leaked out (trainer?) - if there are other incidents then all bets are off.

[ArthurVandelay]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Lakers just waived Shake Milton to free up $3m.

Pretty sure if they waive Jordan Goodwin, $25k guaranteed, they can sign Smart.

[TimeForChange]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Lakers just waived Shake Milton to free up $3m.

Pretty sure if they waive Jordan Goodwin, $25k guaranteed, they can sign Smart.

They want to keep Goodwin

[ForeverTFC]

We should have let go of Boucher years ago. He still can't find a home.

What tf kind of drunk ass logic is this?

Trying to understand… you’re implying that because no GM has yet realized that Boucher is their best bet left on the market that somehow that means that (despite the eye test and mounds of evidence to the contrary) he should have been out of the league years ago and were the idiots/losers for having employed him as an NBA player post ‘ship?

Did you bang your head? How many fingers am I holding up? ☝️

He's been a waste of a roster spot for years now. But yes, it seems no team is interested in Boucher.

If I had to bet, he’s going to GSW. They’ve had interest in him in the past. They need to figure out Kuminga first before making other moves.

[TimeForChange]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Lakers just waived Shake Milton to free up $3m.

Pretty sure if they waive Jordan Goodwin, $25k guaranteed, they can sign Smart.

They want to keep Goodwin

Lakers ended up waiving Goodwin

[CazOnReal]

At this stage, there isn't much in the way of cap space/teams with money to spare unless I'm misremembering someone and their cap hold ie Kum Bucket and Kiddey's respective teams.

Wonder if Boucher might go overseas for a season and see how things pan out in 2026 because if the alternative is a veteran minimum when he's still worth closer to the BAE...

Like I could see a Raptors reunion but we all know the current scheme/trajectory of the team is such that Boucher isn't going to get played as much as he should.

[ArthurVandelay]

Lakers just waived Shake Milton to free up $3m.

Pretty sure if they waive Jordan Goodwin, $25k guaranteed, they can sign Smart.

They want to keep Goodwin

Lakers ended up waiving Goodwin

It was the easiest path

[Jerry Lucas]

At this stage, there isn't much in the way of cap space/teams with money to spare unless I'm misremembering someone and their cap hold ie Kum Bucket and Kiddey's respective teams.

Wonder if Boucher might go overseas for a season and see how things pan out in 2026 because if the alternative is a veteran minimum when he's still worth closer to the BAE...

Like I could see a Raptors reunion but we all know the current scheme/trajectory of the team is such that Boucher isn't going to get played as much as he should.

I would actually guess a Raptors reunion is completely out of the question at this point. Never made sense to me and I still can't see it happening at all.

I think if they were to give anyone the 15th roster spot with a fully guaranteed 2025-26 salary at this time, it would be Alijah Martin, with someone new taking the third 2-way spot.

[WuTang_OG]

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[OakleyDokely]

Simmons has 200M+ in career earnings. Surprised he's sticking around for league min salaries and hasn't just retired since he doesn't seem to enjoy basketball much.

[WuTang_OG]

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The Toronto Raptors Could Be … Pretty Good?
In the aftermath of Masai Ujiri’s unceremonious exit, it’s hard to separate Toronto’s exorbitant payroll from the talent on its roster. This is a wildly expensive basketball team that’s inexplicably over the tax. At the same time, the Raptors can—and maybe even should?—be a competitive playoff team this season, which is meaningful considering it’s been three years since they last competed in the postseason.

So much of their collective growth depends on the strides Scottie Barnes is able to make in what’s somehow already his fifth season, a marginal concern considering his development plateaued a bit last year. Barnes’s 3-point shooting fell down to a concerning 27.1 percent—the largest drop by any player who logged at least 2,000 minutes—and, on a team that couldn’t space the floor, he found himself settling for too many long 2-pointers.

It’s not super encouraging when your 23-year-old franchise player has the least efficient season of his career after three promising campaigns that included an All-Star appearance and a Rookie of the Year trophy. Barnes’s outside shot will absolutely need to perk up if the Raptors are going to even be average on offense.

But there’s still so much to be excited about, including an on-court persona that’s impolite in all the best ways. He has the all-around pedigree of an All-NBA candidate: size, feel, competitiveness, and two-way positional versatility that’s enhanced by a willingness to pass the ball. He can see the entire floor running a high pick-and-roll and has enough craft, speed, and upper body strength to find an advantage when defenses switch the initial action. There are tight pocket passes, corner skips, and lightning quick decisions to beat rotating opponents. His teammates cut hard knowing they will get the ball when their own man is too concerned with slowing Barnes down. That’s very good.

From there, his supporting cast, when healthy, is simultaneously overpaid and underrated. Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl are all very good NBA players who, around Barnes, have enough playmaking, outside shooting, and defensive tenacity to form one of the more competent and imposing starting fives in the Eastern Conference. Off the bench, Ochai Agbaji and Gradey Dick can space the floor as spot-up threats who don’t panic when they have to put the ball on the floor. Ja’Kobe Walter and incoming rookie Collin Murray-Boyles are unproven with upside.

The most intriguing subplot is the on-court relationship Barnes develops with Ingram, who was acquired before the trade deadline and then spent the rest of the season sidelined with a badly sprained ankle. A 27-year-old pseudo-star whose thin postseason resume deserves less criticism when you consider several factors outside his control (questionable health and unreliable teammates), Ingram could be an ideal second option who can make just about any play when tasked with the responsibilities normally held by a primary ball handler.

He’s a few years removed from his days as an accurate high-volume 3-point shooter, but in an environment that doesn’t overextend his talent there’s a practical path for that version of Ingram to reappear.

How much all this costs isn’t entirely negligible, of course. Reckless spending in this financially stringent era can directly lead to depth-related constraints. Hence, Toronto is not a deep team. It needs production from rookie-scale contracts and veterans who couldn’t earn more than a minimum deal. If ownership wants to duck the tax, a thin bench goes hollow.

How the Raptors got here is a frustrating sore spot for those who remember and appreciate the winning pieces from which they pivoted away. Two years ago, this club employed Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet, three excellent players who, on their current contracts, make less sense beside each other than they do supporting Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson, and Kevin Durant, respectively.

It’s more than fair to criticize Toronto’s reactive approach with each one, though. VanVleet left for nothing as a free agent, while Siakam and Anunoby were both traded in the final year of their contracts, which inhibited Toronto from maximizing its return (three first-round picks and the right to pay Quickley and Barrett more than they’re probably worth).

And so here we are, trying to parse a team that’s somehow over budget and overlooked. I can’t say where the long-term outlook of this franchise stands, but for the 2025-26 season I’m probably a bit more hopeful than most about Toronto’s ability to finish with one of the six best records in its conference.

[Kingsway_fan]

Simmons has 200M+ in career earnings. Surprised he's sticking around for league min salaries and hasn't just retired since he doesn't seem to enjoy basketball much.

Some of these players don't know what to do with themselves after basketball... others have too high an opinion of their present value.... he should go to Europe, but there is always at least one owner who will massively overpay [ie Morley with Paul George]...

[JB7]

Simmons has 200M+ in career earnings. Surprised he's sticking around for league min salaries and hasn't just retired since he doesn't seem to enjoy basketball much.

Some of these players don't know what to do with themselves after basketball... others have too high an opinion of their present value.... he should go to Europe, but there is always at least one owner who will massively overpay [ie Morley with Paul George]...

His best option is probably the Suns, on a minimum deal. He would have a clear starting role, the teams needs align with his strengths and he would have a chance to rebuild his value, going into offseason's, where teams might have more space to sign players.

Next would be the Celtics.

[OAKLEY_2]

Lakers working on a deal sending out Knecht and Klieber to get enough room to sign Smart.

Lakers just waived Shake Milton to free up $3m.

Pretty sure if they waive Jordan Goodwin, $25k guaranteed, they can sign Smart.

They want to keep Goodwin

WAIVED.

[WuTang_OG]

Read on Twitter

[WuTang_OG]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=0YpMScWXY2zRUqR8fH-usg

[right between the eyes]

It's crazy that someone like Boucher has yet to be signed. The guy can still put up solid numbers off of the bench. 5yrs ago he would already have a contract. Bench guys getting screwed right now. All the money going to the top dogs.