Official NBA General Discussion 2025-26 V2.0

[TheAlchemist23]

There's still a chance we play Cleveland again if they're the Wild card and we're the Cup 1 seed?

[ItsDanger]

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[Syd-TK3]

There's still a chance we play Cleveland again if they're the Wild card and we're the Cup 1 seed?

Yup

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[mdenny]

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I love when ppl make common sense comments that undercut rhetorical cliches.

[mdenny]

AD is a weird thing where i think he is being severely underated as a trade piece right now. Weird because i used to think he was overated.

With trade returns now shrinking for top 20 players and Dallas FO wanting to manage PR with their fanbase. The other factor is that Nico couldn't trade him for a bad package because it would've exacerbated the damage to his reputation. Now you might say the Mavs are incentivized to just get rid of Davis to move on from the scandal part of it.

All to say....things are lining up for Davis to be traded for a HUGE discount.


If the knicks somehow turn KAT via a three team deal (the mavs have no need for KAT) into AD....i think they go to the finals. I don't think it would make a huge impact on the regular season. But in the playoffs? Man.....AD is a HUGE upgrade over KAT in playoff basketball. Suddenly....the knicks actually become the defensive juggernaut that ppl envisioned.

Or how about the magic? He could immediately put them up levels too.

Alot of ppl are too quick to dismiss players based on recent/current performance levels. The fantasy leagues are the main reason so many fans write guys off. If he sucks in your fantasy league, he sucks. But that's not the real world. There's a reason he is AD and all that can be unlocked again given the right conditions.

I'm a little worried that Raptors will get burnt by that.

[PushDaRock]

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Queen got man handled out there

[TheAlchemist23]

OKC might look like a juggernaut now but their linchpin to their D, in Chet, is injury prone, just a thing to keep in mind

[bballsparkin]

Jase and the better of NOPs and the Bucks 2026 pick sounds awfully tempting. Keep in my mind there's a lot of bad teams looking to get a high pick in this draft. NOP will have no reason to lose purposefully and can stat pad W's down the stretch. You know Dumar's will want to save face. I could see them finishing around 7th when all is said and down.

That would have been the ultimte trade if we made it which if it was offered to us was such a blunder on our front office.....CMB is not good enough to pass up an offer like that in any circumstance.....The Hawks made out like bandits because they will get one of the top prospects in this class and will be a playoff team.....Pelicans will not magically turn into a good team....They struggle even against the bad teams in the league....3-15 Means you are just a badly constructed team....More likely they move Zion for picks at the trade deadline than anything...

Jase Richardson is also going to have the same impact on a team that CMB will have because when you look at them as players one is not way better than the other....They are in the same area in terms of talent overall....Jase natural scoring ability for me might even put him over the top considering he can score in a virety of different ways....If CMB was like 6'10" it would be a differnt convo but hes undersized as a big man.

It's a something for us to follow that's for sure. The team must really believe in CMB to not take the offer. . I can understand not wanting to trade down from #9 to #23. Jase might not have even been available depending on selections. The Nets selected drake powell and Traore before him. That might come back to bite them in the butt. I wonder if teams think Jase's size sets a ceiling on him. And for a team like the Nets maybe they think he would disrupt the tank this season.

The Hawks definitely did well on this trade. Phoenix should have made the trade. Imagine adding a top 5 pick with Booker. They have no patience lol.

[bballsparkin]

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Norm playing out of his mind while their ship is sinking is very satisfying to watch

Their pick is owed unprotected to OKC so I think we want them to win a little more. For the sake of the league.

[TheAlchemist23]

Mr. 18 & 8, Bill Simmons' next KG

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[AkelaLoneWolf]

AD is a weird thing where i think he is being severely underated as a trade piece right now. Weird because i used to think he was overated.

With trade returns now shrinking for top 20 players and Dallas FO wanting to manage PR with their fanbase. The other factor is that Nico couldn't trade him for a bad package because it would've exacerbated the damage to his reputation. Now you might say the Mavs are incentivized to just get rid of Davis to move on from the scandal part of it.

All to say....things are lining up for Davis to be traded for a HUGE discount.


If the knicks somehow turn KAT via a three team deal (the mavs have no need for KAT) into AD....i think they go to the finals. I don't think it would make a huge impact on the regular season. But in the playoffs? Man.....AD is a HUGE upgrade over KAT in playoff basketball. Suddenly....the knicks actually become the defensive juggernaut that ppl envisioned.

Or how about the magic? He could immediately put them up levels too.

Alot of ppl are too quick to dismiss players based on recent/current performance levels. The fantasy leagues are the main reason so many fans write guys off. If he sucks in your fantasy league, he sucks. But that's not the real world. There's a reason he is AD and all that can be unlocked again given the right conditions.

I'm a little worried that Raptors will get burnt by that.

with all the new cap limitations its gotta be the right fit for a team to move to the next level in terms of playoff competitiveness or going to the finals. AD has major injury issues. Look at Embiid and Kawhi. Talent means nothing if you cant be on the court.
I agree that AD has become somewhat underrated since his trade to Dallas but the significant downside risk is there. If AD gets injured, how do the Knicks do anything in the playoffs.

[Clutch0z24]

OKC might look like a juggernaut now but their linchpin to their D, in Chet, is injury prone, just a thing to keep in mind

They are the best team in the NBA , Just won a title, 18-1 record without their 2nd best player in Williams not touching the court yet, And have potential lotto picks and more picks incoming next year, Their 2025 1st rounder and Topic yet to play a game....Looks like they got a steal in Mitchell...

They are not only going to win the title again this year to 2 peat they will keep building on that team for years with draft picks which they have been a good drafting team so it will be hard to see them being beat anytime soon.

This era will be known as the OKC Thunder/Shai era.

[Zeno]

OKC might look like a juggernaut now but their linchpin to their D, in Chet, is injury prone, just a thing to keep in mind

They are the best team in the NBA , Just won a title, 18-1 record without their 2nd best player in Williams not touching the court yet, And have potential lotto picks and more picks incoming next year, Their 2025 1st rounder and Topic yet to play a game....Looks like they got a steal in Mitchell...

They are not only going to win the title again this year to 2 peat they will keep building on that team for years with draft picks which they have been a good drafting team so it will be hard to see them being beat anytime soon.

This era will be known as the OKC Thunder/Shai era.

They are set up great, that is undeniable but every championship has a degree of luck to it. Some more than others for sure but they still will likely need key players to stay healthy at the right time to win it all regardless of how many picks they have stockpiled.

[mdenny]

OKC might look like a juggernaut now but their linchpin to their D, in Chet, is injury prone, just a thing to keep in mind

They are the best team in the NBA , Just won a title, 18-1 record without their 2nd best player in Williams not touching the court yet, And have potential lotto picks and more picks incoming next year, Their 2025 1st rounder and Topic yet to play a game....Looks like they got a steal in Mitchell...

They are not only going to win the title again this year to 2 peat they will keep building on that team for years with draft picks which they have been a good drafting team so it will be hard to see them being beat anytime soon.

This era will be known as the OKC Thunder/Shai era.

They are set up great, that is undeniable but every championship has a degree of luck to it. Some more than others for sure but they still will likely need key players to stay healthy at the right time to win it all regardless of how many picks they have stockpiled.

I'm not sure they are going to be able to overcome the cap rules to become a dynasty. There's a strong possibility that they lose Dort, Hartenstein and Caruso after this season.

Ppl are saying they can simply supplement their big 3 with rookie contracts. But there's no history to prove that approach works. I'm skeptical beyond this season of their dynasty ambitions. Their payroll for next season exceeds 250 million after you include incoming picks. The season after that....their big 3 is gonna cost 150 million exclusively. It just doesnt seem feasible. The math just doesnt work. They are gonna have to give assets away for free.

One thing is for sure....if they don't become a dynasty....then it will prove that a dynasty is essentially impossible with this cap structure. It's looking like contending windows in a franchise run will generally be cut cut down to 2 seasons rather than the 4 or 5 seasons it used to be.

I loathe the new cap rules. Teams that have extremely positive outlooks will get dismantled as soon as they are successful. Look what happened to Boston. In the old world....they wouldnt have been forced to dismantle their team this past summer. OKC will have to do that too.

[Zeno]

They are the best team in the NBA , Just won a title, 18-1 record without their 2nd best player in Williams not touching the court yet, And have potential lotto picks and more picks incoming next year, Their 2025 1st rounder and Topic yet to play a game....Looks like they got a steal in Mitchell...

They are not only going to win the title again this year to 2 peat they will keep building on that team for years with draft picks which they have been a good drafting team so it will be hard to see them being beat anytime soon.

This era will be known as the OKC Thunder/Shai era.

They are set up great, that is undeniable but every championship has a degree of luck to it. Some more than others for sure but they still will likely need key players to stay healthy at the right time to win it all regardless of how many picks they have stockpiled.

I'm not sure they are going to be able to overcome the cap rules to become a dynasty. There's a strong possibility that they lose Dort, Hartenstein and Caruso after this season.

Ppl are saying they can simply supplement their big 3 with rookie contracts. But there's no history to prove that approach works. I'm skeptical beyond this season of their dynasty ambitions. Their payroll for next season exceeds 250 million after you include incoming picks. The season after that....their big 3 is gonna cost 150 million exclusively. It just doesnt seem feasible. The math just doesnt work. They are gonna have to give assets away for free.

One thing is for sure....if they don't become a dynasty....then it will prove that a dynasty is essentially impossible with this cap structure. It's looking like contending windows in a franchise run will generally be cut cut down to 2 seasons rather than the 4 or 5 seasons it used to be.

I loathe the new cap rules. Teams that have extremely positive outlooks will get dismantled as soon as they are successful. Look what happened to Boston. In the old world....they wouldnt have been forced to dismantle their team this past summer. OKC will have to do that too.

I agree that there is no guarantee with picks and they will have to eventually shed salary but they could also use some draft capital to actually shed mistakes and make things more financially viable too. They also got ‘lucky’ with Williams being injured and not qualifying for awards this year. Likely the can pay for the next two years after this with little to no sacrifice on the floor beyond cost because the repeater will not be triggered. Then they’ll need to sell some guys off. But the real window is Shai at an MVP level as long as the continue to show the ability to discover playoff quality rotation players in the draft. They will likely be able to cycle some of next year’s picks for future ones again maintaining their draft asset base. I think the have maybe 5 years of contention ahead of them likely but I was just saying there are no guarantees in that. They might not win another because winning needs good fortune beyond strictly talent and culture.