Around The NBA : 2025-26

[jnrjr79]

FWIW, the rate of criminality in the NBA is lower than that of males of the same age cohort in the general population. Always bugs me when people portray the NBA as full of lowlifes.

People making millions of dollars a year are probably not going to rob people or sell drugs, good point. Having public relations employees and a team of agents working for you might reduce some of the faux pas. That isn't the point. I'm not making NBA players out to be "lowlifes". I'm questioning why LeBron is a "terrible, terrible person" when he's done nothing wrong, illegal or even immoral like cheating on his spouse or being an uninvolved father or coercing women into getting abortions (send da video) or saying that the Jews control the world etc. I think signing a deal with a shoe company known for its sweatshops is kind of immoral but nobody actually cares about that.
I mean we have a 30 page thread discussing a guy who got "tricked" into statutory rape. Kobe Bryant actually admitted to raping a woman and he's a hero. A guy who beat the everliving **** out of his girlfriend is being paid 75 million dollars to dribble a ball. Karl Malone is honored by the NBA every other week. John Stockton is spreading lies about vaccines.

What did LeBron ever do? He has an ego, so does every professional athlete; he's also the best player of all time, it seems warranted. Otherwise he seems like a genuinely nice guy who's managed to stay clean in 22 years in front of the limelight in the social media era. I find the "outrage" regarding this totally innocuous marketing video to be....well weird, frankly. Old man yells at cloud kinda thing.

\\

Ok, this isn’t really responsive to what I posted, but in any event, I agree LeBron doesn’t seem to be a particularly bad guy. I think he’s cringe, but that’s not the same thing as being a bad person.

Kobe did not admit to rape, FYI. The police interview transcript is publicly available. But he did admit to bad behavior.

Agreed Stockton and Malone, for their own separate reasons, are bad people.

And you are probably right that the reason there is less criminality among NBA players than the gen pop is they are all loaded and have resources. C’est la vie.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

FWIW, the rate of criminality in the NBA is lower than that of males of the same age cohort in the general population. Always bugs me when people portray the NBA as full of lowlifes.

People making millions of dollars a year are probably not going to rob people or sell drugs, good point. Having public relations employees and a team of agents working for you might reduce some of the faux pas. That isn't the point. I'm not making NBA players out to be "lowlifes". I'm questioning why LeBron is a "terrible, terrible person" when he's done nothing wrong, illegal or even immoral like cheating on his spouse or being an uninvolved father or coercing women into getting abortions (send da video) or saying that the Jews control the world etc. I think signing a deal with a shoe company known for its sweatshops is kind of immoral but nobody actually cares about that.
I mean we have a 30 page thread discussing a guy who got "tricked" into statutory rape. Kobe Bryant actually admitted to raping a woman and he's a hero. A guy who beat the everliving **** out of his girlfriend is being paid 75 million dollars to dribble a ball. Karl Malone is honored by the NBA every other week. John Stockton is spreading lies about vaccines.

What did LeBron ever do? He has an ego, so does every professional athlete; he's also the best player of all time, it seems warranted. Otherwise he seems like a genuinely nice guy who's managed to stay clean in 22 years in front of the limelight in the social media era. I find the "outrage" regarding this totally innocuous marketing video to be....well weird, frankly. Old man yells at cloud kinda thing.

\\

Ok, this isn’t really responsive to what I posted, but in any event, I agree LeBron doesn’t seem to be a particularly bad guy. I think he’s cringe, but that’s not the same thing as being a bad person.

Kobe did not admit to rape, FYI. The police interview transcript is publicly available. But he did admit to bad behavior.

Agreed Stockton and Malone, for their own separate reasons, are bad people.

And you are probably right that the reason there is less criminality among NBA players than the gen pop is they are all loaded and have resources. C’est la vie.

Cringe for sure. I just think it's impressive that he's been deemed "the king" since he was a freshman in high school, has been heavily scrutinized for nearly 30 years and the worst thing we can say about him is that he's cringy and has an ego. And pretty much everyone is egotistical whether or not they have accomplishments...just go look at tiktok. MJ has an ego too and seems like kind of a slimy dude, slapping his teammates, multiple affairs, rude to fans. He didn't have to contend with social media either. I don't think MJ is a bad dude for what it's worth, just making the comparison.

My point about Kobe is that innocent people don't just settle. The criminal case didn't move forward because the victim did not want to testify. The terms of the settlement weren't released, so we'll never actually know what happened; but frankly, if I were her, I'd rather have millions of dollars than criminal "justice" done to Kobe. Even D Rose didn't settle and he won his case although came out of it looking like a gross dude. It's pretty easy to win these "he said, she said" things. It's good that it takes a lot of evidence to convict people but there are some weaknesses to the system too.

I digress. I don't think NBA players are criminals lol but I'd rather bring out the pitchfork for people who demonstrably do immoral things. Or just not at all. I only fixated on the "terrible, terrible person" part because that's an easy thing to say behind the computer screen. Can't really judge the character of the person who said it. Weird judgement to make based off a short Nike ad where he just sits there. Are we thinking he wrote and directed the ad?

[sco]

Bummer for Sorber...I wanted to draft him

https://www.nba.com/thunder/news/medical-update-250905

[Taikuri]

Read on Twitter

[sco]

Read on Twitter

Good for Lauri and the Fin's

[jnrjr79]

People making millions of dollars a year are probably not going to rob people or sell drugs, good point. Having public relations employees and a team of agents working for you might reduce some of the faux pas. That isn't the point. I'm not making NBA players out to be "lowlifes". I'm questioning why LeBron is a "terrible, terrible person" when he's done nothing wrong, illegal or even immoral like cheating on his spouse or being an uninvolved father or coercing women into getting abortions (send da video) or saying that the Jews control the world etc. I think signing a deal with a shoe company known for its sweatshops is kind of immoral but nobody actually cares about that.
I mean we have a 30 page thread discussing a guy who got "tricked" into statutory rape. Kobe Bryant actually admitted to raping a woman and he's a hero. A guy who beat the everliving **** out of his girlfriend is being paid 75 million dollars to dribble a ball. Karl Malone is honored by the NBA every other week. John Stockton is spreading lies about vaccines.

What did LeBron ever do? He has an ego, so does every professional athlete; he's also the best player of all time, it seems warranted. Otherwise he seems like a genuinely nice guy who's managed to stay clean in 22 years in front of the limelight in the social media era. I find the "outrage" regarding this totally innocuous marketing video to be....well weird, frankly. Old man yells at cloud kinda thing.

\\

Ok, this isn’t really responsive to what I posted, but in any event, I agree LeBron doesn’t seem to be a particularly bad guy. I think he’s cringe, but that’s not the same thing as being a bad person.

Kobe did not admit to rape, FYI. The police interview transcript is publicly available. But he did admit to bad behavior.

Agreed Stockton and Malone, for their own separate reasons, are bad people.

And you are probably right that the reason there is less criminality among NBA players than the gen pop is they are all loaded and have resources. C’est la vie.

Cringe for sure. I just think it's impressive that he's been deemed "the king" since he was a freshman in high school, has been heavily scrutinized for nearly 30 years and the worst thing we can say about him is that he's cringy and has an ego. And pretty much everyone is egotistical whether or not they have accomplishments...just go look at tiktok. MJ has an ego too and seems like kind of a slimy dude, slapping his teammates, multiple affairs, rude to fans. He didn't have to contend with social media either. I don't think MJ is a bad dude for what it's worth, just making the comparison.

My point about Kobe is that innocent people don't just settle. The criminal case didn't move forward because the victim did not want to testify. The terms of the settlement weren't released, so we'll never actually know what happened; but frankly, if I were her, I'd rather have millions of dollars than criminal "justice" done to Kobe. Even D Rose didn't settle and he won his case although came out of it looking like a gross dude. It's pretty easy to win these "he said, she said" things. It's good that it takes a lot of evidence to convict people but there are some weaknesses to the system too.

I digress. I don't think NBA players are criminals lol but I'd rather bring out the pitchfork for people who demonstrably do immoral things. Or just not at all. I only fixated on the "terrible, terrible person" part because that's an easy thing to say behind the computer screen. Can't really judge the character of the person who said it. Weird judgement to make based off a short Nike ad where he just sits there. Are we thinking he wrote and directed the ad?

I don’t have an opinion, really, about whether Kobe actually did it, but “innocent people don’t settle” is one of the most wrong opinions in the universe that some people seem to hold. Innocent people settle civil cases all the time. Innocent people plead guilty to crimes all the time.

[rosenthall]

Could not agree more. Every word.

Lavine has quietly become an underrated player. Sort of like what happened to Drummond by the time we signed him. He's empty calories as a lead guy, but he does things with the ball that only a few players in the league can do. And last year he played at a decent usage. A savvy GM could make a great move by acquiring him for probably cap filler and a little bit of draft capital, for a guy who's frankly probably as effective as someone like Mikal Bridges right now.

I dunno. I think he's fairly rated. If he was on a $25M salary, that trade return could've been better. Even then, 3 solid bench players (and near/expiring salaries) and the lotto pick seems like a great return (even though the hypothetical 2021-2023 return could've been better, and disregarding that it was our own pick). I'd make that trade 7x a week. Lavine is a great scorer, but he's a big problem at $47M (esp. on a team with shaky defense, leadership and playmaking). His defense and intangibles aren't adequate enough (and his offensive IQ/playmaking isn't good enough to compensate, be a #1 option). His BPM with the Kings was negative! His on/off was also negative.

He's definitely a top-10 SG though (Reaves, Powell, Herro, Bane), and if you were a contender willing to pay 2nd apron, I'd gladly add him to the mix.

How traditional bigs and PGs died though... it's been overlooked how the traditional SGs have also died. There's still a job for a prime Ray Allen or Klay Thompson, but their value would be in how low their usage is (with high efficiency). If you're not a successful NBA triple-threat/creator, you're just better off shooting open 3Ps at a 35% clip than being a sieve and shooting 39% on more defended shots. "Role-player diversity" has died. Height/physique/position don't matter; are you able to defend 2+ spots and shoot 3Ps? Even the elite specialists like Gobert and Duncan Robinson can't hang in post-season anymore; quite radically compared to just 4Y ago. Herro made a jump maybe cause he successfully added PG responsibilities (dunno the ceiling there).

I agree that the Bulls made the right move in getting rid of Lavine, and the return was decent all things considered.

I also think for most teams Zach is not a good fit due to role and contract,

But when I look at the league, I see at least 5 teams that Lavine is a good fit for. This trade deadline Lavine will give you 2 playoff rounds for 1.5 years of salary, and I can see how for the right teams that's a tantalizing offer if his asking price isn't that high (and I don't think it would be).

Specifically:

- Nuggets (I think the Nuggets could win a championship with Zach next to Joker)
- Warriors (Maybe less of a need now that they have Jimmy, but Zach >> Buddy Hield & Podz)
- Bucks (probably a good buy low candidate for Giannis' last stand)
- Spurs (Fox + Wemby fit nicely around Zach, could be a. good punctuation point for 1st round of the Wemby era)
- Detroit (desperately need shooting, and are a pretty good defensive team)

I'm not saying there's a trade out there that makes sense for all of these teams, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lavine is the best available "all in" trade acquisition target for playoff teams this trade deadline.

[WesPeace]

Yeah, Zach needs to gtfo Kings if possible, sooner the better.. I wish he gets traded to competitor, who has smart managament and leadership aka GSW or Denver or Boston etc..

[coldfish]

Zach's issue is his contract and the second apron. He is simply way overpaid for his contribution. No one is going to pay 10's of millions in lux tax for Zach Lavine.

Fun question: What do people think Zach's next deal will be? IMO, he is going to opt into his player option. After that he will be unrestricted at age 31. I'm thinking MLE.

[League Circles]

Man, Thomas Sorber will miss his rookie year with a torn ACL. He was relatively high on my draft board. We dodged a bullet. Hope he recovers well for his sake.

[MrSparkle]

Zach's issue is his contract and the second apron. He is simply way overpaid for his contribution. No one is going to pay 10's of millions in lux tax for Zach Lavine.

Fun question: What do people think Zach's next deal will be? IMO, he is going to opt into his player option. After that he will be unrestricted at age 31. I'm thinking MLE.

If he every wants to play an NBA game in May, he might want to consider the MLE!

[rosenthall]

Zach's issue is his contract and the second apron. He is simply way overpaid for his contribution. No one is going to pay 10's of millions in lux tax for Zach Lavine.

Fun question: What do people think Zach's next deal will be? IMO, he is going to opt into his player option. After that he will be unrestricted at age 31. I'm thinking MLE.

Every year there are 4-6 teams that pay 50+ million in luxury tax payments, with the intention of spending what it takes to become or stay a contender. Keeping championship windows alive usually means being willing to absorb unnecessary costs to keep a team's core parts together.

So I agree that Zach is overpaid and everyone knows it, but being willing to selectively overpay for parts of your team are table stakes for being able to consistently get past the second round of the playoffs. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Zach has a hot trade market this upcoming trade deadline, but given his current level of play and length of contract it seems plausible to me that a team that wants to get over the hump would "swallow it" and put together a deal for him.

[kodo]

Jalen Green produces 21 ppg on 54% TS, one of the worst in the league. Got $36M and was considered a great signing and was the main component of a trade for Kevin Durant. How is Lavine who produces 23 ppg on 64% TS, one of the best in the league, only worth $14M?

I guess if there's a pretty big drop off due to age at 30 & 31.

Brandon Ingram produces 22 ppg on 56% TS, had no problem getting a $40M contract for 3 years after playing only 18 games proving he's a massive injury risk. Lavine just played 74.

[Rose2Boozer]

Man, Thomas Sorber will miss his rookie year with a torn ACL. He was relatively high on my draft board. We dodged a bullet. Hope he recovers well for his sake.

Last year it was Nikola Topic, and now Thomas Sorber. Tough luck for those guys.

[kulaz3000]

Jalen Green produces 21 ppg on 54% TS, one of the worst in the league. Got $36M and was considered a great signing and was the main component of a trade for Kevin Durant. How is Lavine who produces 23 ppg on 64% TS, one of the best in the league, only worth $14M?

I guess if there's a pretty big drop off due to age at 30 & 31.

Brandon Ingram produces 22 ppg on 56% TS, had no problem getting a $40M contract for 3 years after playing only 18 games proving he's a massive injury risk. Lavine just played 74.

Yeah, Zach gets way too much flack. He is one of the better shooters in the league currently, but he has this massive stench of being a 'loser' that he just can't shake.

He just needs one 'prove it on a winning team' type of season, and he will get himself one last really big contract, because any team would love to have his shooting threat on the team.

[Chi town]

KC with his update today…
- he think Okoro or Oat will be the starter. Think Huerter will be the shooter off the bench
- says Pat is healthy for the first time in a long time and is very confident

Dalen on CHGO today said he’s out on 12pbs of muscle. First summer he’s take the weight room seriously… these guys are so dumb. Have all the help needed and just don’t get it. DT did say Buz looks good and Noa flashed in MIA for week fo scrimmages. Says he has no fear.

[kulaz3000]

Sucks for Vanvleet and his ACL injury.

At least he recently got his contract extension.

[sco]

KC with his update today…
- he think Okoro or Oat will be the starter. Think Huerter will be the shooter off the bench
- says Pat is healthy for the first time in a long time and is very confident

Dalen on CHGO today said he’s out on 12pbs of muscle. First summer he’s take the weight room seriously… these guys are so dumb. Have all the help needed and just don’t get it. DT did say Buz looks good and Noa flashed in MIA for week fo scrimmages. Says he has no fear.

Oat? you mean Pat?

I like Okoro more because IMO he's a better POA defender, but I'd be thrilled if Pat finds his mojo and legitimately beats him out. I'd be even happier if somehow Noa surprises to the upside and beats them both out by the end of the season.

[drosestruts]

Sucks for Vanvleet and his ACL injury.

At least he recently got his contract extension.

Rockets are hard-capped at the 1st Apron too (with very little room before the apron) so they don't have a lot of options.

Right now they'd be relying on Reed Sheppard and Aaron Holiday to run the point for them.

I almost feel like they have to trade Sheppard for help now. If they keep Sheppard he either fills in adequatley which would be nice for them, or his value continues to drop as his play doesn't meet his draft position.

Tough spot.

[jnrjr79]

Sucks for Vanvleet and his ACL injury.

At least he recently got his contract extension.

Rockets are hard-capped at the 1st Apron too (with very little room before the apron) so they don't have a lot of options.

Right now they'd be relying on Reed Sheppard and Aaron Holiday to run the point for them.

I almost feel like they have to trade Sheppard for help now. If they keep Sheppard he either fills in adequatley which would be nice for them, or his value continues to drop as his play doesn't meet his draft position.

Tough spot.

I agree that you simply can't take a year off when you just traded for Durant.

It looks like you can throw Tari Eason into the deal to make a Sheppard trade work for Houston with them being hard capped at the apron.

The Bulls would either need to waive someone or throw in someone like Julian Phillips to make roster spots work.