2025-26 Off-Season

[JujitsuFlip]

Starters looked good. The bench group we played does not have enough shot-making. Mobley had some that-dude isos that looked good. Lonzo and Nance looked a little slow. Proctor came out on fire. CPJ has had good passes and good off-the-dribble shooting.

I wonder why Kenny went with Tomlin over Bryant. Or was it Nance over Bryant and Tomlin would've been out there either way?

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

[jbk1234]

I wonder why Kenny went with Tomlin over Bryant. Or was it Nance over Bryant and Tomlin would've been out there either way?

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

[JonFromVA]

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

[jbk1234]

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

I thought Hunter's defense underwhelmed inasmuch as whoever plays the 3 for us is going to have to be the POA defender for the team (in specific matchups, you can get creative and switch Mobley out while playing Hunter at the 4). It's why I think Tyson could be the eventual starter. It's preseason, and Balll has an injury history so maybe he wasn't playing in top gear, but I thought his defense was awfully uninspired.

Basically, I felt like we struggled to keep the Bulls out of the paint and it was really pronounced when both Allen and Mobley were off the floor as only Wade provided any type of rim protection.

I'm not drawing any hard conclusions after a single preseason game, but Strus is the only plus defender who's missing. Garland and Merrill aren't fixing what I saw yesterday, and they're more likely to have a positive net impact based on their offensive ability.

[toooskies]

Well I did say we shouldn't get our hopes too high on Bryant until we actually get to see him, although it could be as simple as Tomlin just has more experience with these guys and/or is trying harder in practice.

Bryant had two chances to win the game for us ... botched them both getting stuffed on both attempts.

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought similarly about Nance in his first shift but I thought he looked better as time went along. Looks like he's still getting conditioned as his threes were missing short. I'll still take 11 points, 5 attempted threes, 4/4 on twos, 4 assists, 2 steals in 18 minutes any given night.

I agree on Bryant, he looked very slow. He shot well, including a pull-up that he should only take in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. He probably shows up to camp out of shape, which is why Miami sent him to Indiana last year, and that's probably why he was the third-string C rather than pushing Nance to PF on the second team. Either that or Kenny wanted to see Nance at C and give the third team a true big too.

I liked the length we had on defense in the first unit, even though we'll rarely play that big. Hunter with Allen/Mobley isn't Markkanen but it's reminiscent enough with the length to cause trouble. Missing Garland/Strus/Merrill means we're going to play smaller more typically.

CPJ was fine but I worry that he's mostly an on-ball player and unless Mitchell/Garland are injured he won't get much on-ball time. Pretty sure all his threes were pull-ups.

I thought Proctor played well. He looked comfortable being a movement shooter and he also got some good shots off the dribble. But he was playing against 2nd/3rd units. Might be a mirage but he's earned more chances.

We might go into the year with Ball and Wade but they could both be expendable by the end of the season for tax bill savings. And then we're one move away (think something like Strus for Jalen Smith) from ducking the tax.

[JujitsuFlip]

How did Hayes look my friends? Destined for the Charge or making Koby rethink his stance on spot 15?

[jbk1234]

Looked like he had two 3 pointers though hahahah.

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought similarly about Nance in his first shift but I thought he looked better as time went along. Looks like he's still getting conditioned as his threes were missing short. I'll still take 11 points, 5 attempted threes, 4/4 on twos, 4 assists, 2 steals in 18 minutes any given night.

I agree on Bryant, he looked very slow. He shot well, including a pull-up that he should only take in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. He probably shows up to camp out of shape, which is why Miami sent him to Indiana last year, and that's probably why he was the third-string C rather than pushing Nance to PF on the second team. Either that or Kenny wanted to see Nance at C and give the third team a true big too.

I liked the length we had on defense in the first unit, even though we'll rarely play that big. Hunter with Allen/Mobley isn't Markkanen but it's reminiscent enough with the length to cause trouble. Missing Garland/Strus/Merrill means we're going to play smaller more typically.

CPJ was fine but I worry that he's mostly an on-ball player and unless Mitchell/Garland are injured he won't get much on-ball time. Pretty sure all his threes were pull-ups.

I thought Proctor played well. He looked comfortable being a movement shooter and he also got some good shots off the dribble. But he was playing against 2nd/3rd units. Might be a mirage but he's earned more chances.

We might go into the year with Ball and Wade but they could both be expendable by the end of the season for tax bill savings. And then we're one move away (think something like Strus for Jalen Smith) from ducking the tax.

I would hope we don't make moves based on tax bill savings this season. If they want to do so next summer, fine. It's only a single preseason game, but nothing I saw yesterday leads me to believe that Wade and Strus wouldn't be missed defensively.

[toooskies]

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought similarly about Nance in his first shift but I thought he looked better as time went along. Looks like he's still getting conditioned as his threes were missing short. I'll still take 11 points, 5 attempted threes, 4/4 on twos, 4 assists, 2 steals in 18 minutes any given night.

I agree on Bryant, he looked very slow. He shot well, including a pull-up that he should only take in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. He probably shows up to camp out of shape, which is why Miami sent him to Indiana last year, and that's probably why he was the third-string C rather than pushing Nance to PF on the second team. Either that or Kenny wanted to see Nance at C and give the third team a true big too.

I liked the length we had on defense in the first unit, even though we'll rarely play that big. Hunter with Allen/Mobley isn't Markkanen but it's reminiscent enough with the length to cause trouble. Missing Garland/Strus/Merrill means we're going to play smaller more typically.

CPJ was fine but I worry that he's mostly an on-ball player and unless Mitchell/Garland are injured he won't get much on-ball time. Pretty sure all his threes were pull-ups.

I thought Proctor played well. He looked comfortable being a movement shooter and he also got some good shots off the dribble. But he was playing against 2nd/3rd units. Might be a mirage but he's earned more chances.

We might go into the year with Ball and Wade but they could both be expendable by the end of the season for tax bill savings. And then we're one move away (think something like Strus for Jalen Smith) from ducking the tax.

I would hope we don't make moves based on tax bill savings this season. If they want to do so next summer, fine. It's only a single preseason game, but nothing I saw yesterday leads me to believe that Wade and Strus wouldn't be missed defensively.

I’m not saying we should, I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised. Kenny isn’t JBB and if Ball and Wade end up being defensive specialists, they might not keep their playing time. And if they don’t, it’s hard to justify the $50m+ that keeping them adds to the tax. (I have no idea what the actual tax savings would be.)

[JonFromVA]

It's a single preseason game, but none of the backup bigs impressed. I think Nance might be cooked. Tomlin wasn't a capable defender. Bryant was borderline unplayable. Wade was Wade and the best of the bunch. I really hope the Pacers cut Bradley loose.

Tyson looked better than last year especially on the defensive end. Proctor's a rookie, but he may not be an NBA player. Travers (who still struggles to get his shot up around the rim) and CPJ played with type of energy they're going to need to stay in the NBA.

Hunter did not look all that impressive as a starter and I thought Ball was underwhelming. I suspect Tyson may end up as the starting 3 by the end of the season.

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

I thought Hunter's defense underwhelmed inasmuch as whoever plays the 3 for us is going to have to be the POA defender for the team (in specific matchups, you can get creative and switch Mobley out while playing Hunter at the 4). It's why I think Tyson could be the eventual starter. It's preseason, and Balll has an injury history so maybe he wasn't playing in top gear, but I thought his defense was awfully uninspired.

Basically, I felt like we struggled to keep the Bulls out of the paint and it was really pronounced when both Allen and Mobley were off the floor as only Wade provided any type of rim protection.

I'm not drawing any hard conclusions after a single preseason game, but Strus is the only plus defender who's missing. Garland and Merrill aren't fixing what I saw yesterday, and they're more likely to have a positive net impact based on their offensive ability.

You watched the game, right? You saw we were doing hockey shifts? and presumably Tyson is just a placeholder since Sam wasn't available for whatever reason.

A game this early in the pre-season would typically have been the W&G scrimmage. Did they even do that this year?

One of Mobley or Allen will be on the floor most of the time when the regular season rolls around.

[jbk1234]

I thought similarly about Nance in his first shift but I thought he looked better as time went along. Looks like he's still getting conditioned as his threes were missing short. I'll still take 11 points, 5 attempted threes, 4/4 on twos, 4 assists, 2 steals in 18 minutes any given night.

I agree on Bryant, he looked very slow. He shot well, including a pull-up that he should only take in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. He probably shows up to camp out of shape, which is why Miami sent him to Indiana last year, and that's probably why he was the third-string C rather than pushing Nance to PF on the second team. Either that or Kenny wanted to see Nance at C and give the third team a true big too.

I liked the length we had on defense in the first unit, even though we'll rarely play that big. Hunter with Allen/Mobley isn't Markkanen but it's reminiscent enough with the length to cause trouble. Missing Garland/Strus/Merrill means we're going to play smaller more typically.

CPJ was fine but I worry that he's mostly an on-ball player and unless Mitchell/Garland are injured he won't get much on-ball time. Pretty sure all his threes were pull-ups.

I thought Proctor played well. He looked comfortable being a movement shooter and he also got some good shots off the dribble. But he was playing against 2nd/3rd units. Might be a mirage but he's earned more chances.

We might go into the year with Ball and Wade but they could both be expendable by the end of the season for tax bill savings. And then we're one move away (think something like Strus for Jalen Smith) from ducking the tax.

I would hope we don't make moves based on tax bill savings this season. If they want to do so next summer, fine. It's only a single preseason game, but nothing I saw yesterday leads me to believe that Wade and Strus wouldn't be missed defensively.

I’m not saying we should, I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised. Kenny isn’t JBB and if Ball and Wade end up being defensive specialists, they might not keep their playing time. And if they don’t, it’s hard to justify the $50m+ that keeping them adds to the tax. (I have no idea what the actual tax savings would be.)

If Kenny doesn't plan on shoring up the defensive side of the ball in his rotations, he should re-watch the Pacers series. For that matter, if we're not trying to get longer and more athletic off the bench, we should've just cut Ball (who wasn't fully guaranteed) immediately after the trade and re-signed Jerome. I'd like to believe there's some shared vision between Altman and Atkinson here.

[JujitsuFlip]

I thought Hunter looked great. His handles looked good, shot good, played under control, made shots, etc. Did you mix him up with someone else or were you hoping for more than 1 assist from him? *shrugs*

And Proctor looked fantastic, not just his shooting, but his ball handling and finishing. CPJ is making his claim for minutes with Garland out. I think Tomlin still looks very intriguing but needs to play every day and continue to develop.

I thought Nance looked fine, but Lonzo definitely accepted a back seat and let CPJ run things and didn't do much other than keeping the ball moving. Tyson is going to have to do something productive on offense. The idea of him fitting in with the starters is that he needs to do more than just hustle and defense, he needs to knock down shots and figure out how to contribute without being the primary ball handler.

And sure would be nice if Wade could take a step and become a more consistent knock down shooter, but still no signs of that.

I happen to have Peacock on a free trial this week, but the NBA having games on paid steaming services and not on LP is going to be problematic. Amazon Prime is one thing, me and half the country have that, but Peacock? Really?

I thought Hunter's defense underwhelmed inasmuch as whoever plays the 3 for us is going to have to be the POA defender for the team (in specific matchups, you can get creative and switch Mobley out while playing Hunter at the 4). It's why I think Tyson could be the eventual starter. It's preseason, and Balll has an injury history so maybe he wasn't playing in top gear, but I thought his defense was awfully uninspired.

Basically, I felt like we struggled to keep the Bulls out of the paint and it was really pronounced when both Allen and Mobley were off the floor as only Wade provided any type of rim protection.

I'm not drawing any hard conclusions after a single preseason game, but Strus is the only plus defender who's missing. Garland and Merrill aren't fixing what I saw yesterday, and they're more likely to have a positive net impact based on their offensive ability.

You watched the game, right? You saw we were doing hockey shifts? and presumably Tyson is just a placeholder since Sam wasn't available for whatever reason.

A game this early in the pre-season would typically have been the W&G scrimmage. Did they even do that this year?

One of Mobley or Allen will be on the floor most of the time when the regular season rolls around.

Turns out it's an abductor injury for Sammy.