Official Spec Thread: I guess now's the time to blow this dumpster fire up and bask in the glow!

[Bakomagic]

No way in hell the Pels do that deal.

Really, that far off huh ?

what would be a more fair offer ?

ask yourself. New Orleans has to keep Zion happy. you would trade their 2nd best player away for a gamble on the draft? wont happen

I feel like Zion would be better off surrounded with shooters, defenders and another high level playmaker Moreso than an additional high level/ high usage scorer in Brandon Ingram.

Humor me for a minute. If the Pels drafted Suggs at 5 and Moody at 8 to go along with Bamba and Gary Harris doesn’t that sound like a better supporting cast to Zion than Ingram and #10 ?

A lineup of:

Suggs/Naw
Harris/Moody
Lonzo/Hart
Zion
Bamba/Jax Hayes

Provides Zion with two 3 and D
Guys in Moody and Harris, a floor spacing rim protecting Center in Bamba and a scoring, playmaking and defending point guard in Suggs.

Whereas we have a team full of support players and need to find a star scorer.

[RookieStar]

Really, that far off huh ?

what would be a more fair offer ?

ask yourself. New Orleans has to keep Zion happy. you would trade their 2nd best player away for a gamble on the draft? wont happen

I feel like Zion would be better off surrounded with shooters, defenders and another high level playmaker Moreso than an additional high level/ high usage scorer in Brandon Ingram.

Humor me for a minute. If the Pels drafted Suggs at 5 and Moody at 8 to go along with Bamba and Gary Harris doesn’t that sound like a better supporting cast to Zion than Ingram and #10 ?

A lineup of:

Suggs/Naw
Harris/Moody
Lonzo/Hart
Zion
Bamba/Jax Hayes

Provides Zion with two 3 and D
Guys in Moody and Harris, a floor spacing rim protecting Center in Bamba and a scoring, playmaking and defending point guard in Suggs.

Whereas we have a team full of support players and need to find a star scorer.

On paper thats a very small lineup. you got 3 6'5 ish players and Zions 6'7 to play PF? Plus their backups are even smaller.

But even so... you forgot if you put 2 rookies there that they wont be ready or fullfill their potential for at least 2-3 seasons in right? Can NOP take the chane Zion will be patient with all the losing till then?

[Bensational]

I think New Orleans already look good with a lot of the pieces they have. Zion + Ingram aren’t bad fits for each other. Lonzo is good for fast break opportunities and solid defense. I think NAW could emerge as their starting SG and third scorer next season.

They’re a young team, but those young guys all have a fair bit of experience now. I think they put it together next season and make the playoffs.

They could really use a different C to Adam’s though. Someone with 3pt range for pick and pops and general spacing. But they also need a reliable defensive anchor in the middle, too. Pretty rare breed and most are locked up with other teams.

They could also use a guy like Ross as a microwave scorer off the bench.

[BadMofoPimp]

Wow. Tampa Bay Lightning are amazing. 4 series shutouts by Vasilevskiy. Back to back Stanley Cups amongst all their achievements since 2015 makes this one of the legendary hockey teams of this generation. Congrats!

[Nyce_1]

Wow. Tampa Bay Lightning are amazing. 4 series shutouts by Vasilevskiy. Back to back Stanley Cups amongst all their achievements since 2015 makes this one of the legendary hockey teams of this generation. Congrats!

Vasy is the goat. I remember when Bishop was the wall, while Vasy was his backup, learning. Now, he's an absolute BEAST.

Very happy for the Bolts and the city of Tampa.

[jezzerinho]

No way in hell the Pels do that deal.

Really, that far off huh ?

what would be a more fair offer ?

ask yourself. New Orleans has to keep Zion happy. you would trade their 2nd best player away for a gamble on the draft? wont happen

This is the nub of it. Pels need to start winning to hope to keep Zion on a second contract. Whatever about on-court play, Zion is the golden goose for a small market team.

JI is the perfect frontcourt partner to clean up the mess Zion leaves behind. Ross fits the identity and gives them bench buckets. 2 18-year-old draftees are not going to seem like much of a help by contrast.

I don't know if the Pels would ever entertain losing Ingram, but if they did it would have to be in order to make a step forward to keeping Zion.

[drsd]

Weltman drafted JI and Bamba. Drafting Barnes would shock no one.

Why are you trying to depress us with this truth ???


..

[Nyce_1]

Pelicans said to be using #10 to get a vet. Can we make a play there? Does Ross have that much value? Take on some salary?

If we get #10, that's another arrow in the quiver to help our attempt to move up.

[cedric76]

Pelicans said to be using #10 to get a vet. Can we make a play there? Does Ross have that much value? Take on some salary?

If we get #10, that's another arrow in the quiver to help our attempt to move up.

I ll send them Ross +33 for 10 in heartbeat

Then using 5+10 to move up

[pepe1991]

Pelicans said to be using #10 to get a vet. Can we make a play there? Does Ross have that much value? Take on some salary?

If we get #10, that's another arrow in the quiver to help our attempt to move up.

Does quantity ever worked over quality of top picks to move up?

Last few years only way how teams were moving in top 3 picks was attaching unprotected or almost unprotected picks to their offer.
Look what it took for 76ers to climb to 1# pick from 3# spot in swap with Celtics. Basically 2018 pick ( i think from Lakres who was 1-6 protected) and unprotected Sacramento Kings 2019 pick.

Doncic- Young swap also had 1-5 protected 2019 pick from Dallas going to Atlanta .

Most of trade-downs are between 6-14 picks because their base value is much lower.

Also drafting 3 rookies to rookie coach and implementing them to no leadership team sounds like disaster, probably because it would be one.

Pick whoever for 5#,8# and 10# and try to make depth chart without roster being college level basketball and not leaving out at least 2 young men into DNP-CD therithory. It's impossible.

[PrimeThyme]

It's low on my priority list for the next coach of this roster to be able to maximize Bamba's ability. I just don't envision a world where he is going to consistently be able to play 20 plus minutes a night. Never mind those actually being impactful minutes.

This next coach needs to be able to maximize Isaac (if healthy), these two top 10 draft picks, RJ Hampton, Okeke, && WCJ to a lesser extent.

Those are the swing players on this roster imo and will be this team's path towards fielding a potential contender in the future. Bamba, whether you want to blame it on Clifford, Log-jams, health, effort, or lack of motivation, is an afterthought at this stage for me. It would be great if he developed into a legit rotation player for us, but it just seems so unlikely.

[ogmagicfan]

Victor Wembanyama is absolutely generational. I think he would go #1 in 2022, let alone 2021 if he could declare right now.

We should still be a bottom dwelling team in 2023, unless we jump the gun on development and sign a bunch of vets and handicap our timeline for a rushed playoff berth.

22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks on Team USA today. Incredible.

[basketballRob]

Victor Wembanyama is absolutely generational. I think he would go #1 in 2022, let alone 2021 if he could declare right now.

We should still be a bottom dwelling team in 2023, unless we jump the gun on development and sign a bunch of vets and handicap our timeline for a rushed playoff berth.

22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks on Team USA today. Incredible.

Almost like when Biyombo got 12 pts 11 rebs 10 blks at the Nike Hoop Summit.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[cedric76]

Victor Wembanyama is absolutely generational. I think he would go #1 in 2022, let alone 2021 if he could declare right now.

We should still be a bottom dwelling team in 2023, unless we jump the gun on development and sign a bunch of vets and handicap our timeline for a rushed playoff berth.

22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks on Team USA today. Incredible.

Almost like when Biyombo got 12 pts 11 rebs 10 blks at the Nike Hoop Summit.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

lol

[PrimeThyme]

Victor Wembanyama is absolutely generational. I think he would go #1 in 2022, let alone 2021 if he could declare right now.

We should still be a bottom dwelling team in 2023, unless we jump the gun on development and sign a bunch of vets and handicap our timeline for a rushed playoff berth.

22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 blocks on Team USA today. Incredible.

He's one of the most impressive 17-year-olds I've ever seen. If you could create in a lab the perfect modern 5 it would be Wembanyama. I can't even imagine the tank race that is going to go on for this kid. I'd love to be a part of it.

[rcklsscognition]

Bamba needs to get that guy in the gym next to him on his instagram day.

[pepe1991]

Will Victor Wembanyama go to draft in 2022? He is 17 and right now is super skinny, he could stay in and wait for 2023.

I saw play of him dunking allyoop than catching ball right after it went through hoop while hanging in air
Kind a unreal skillset, 7'3 super mobile player with amazing defensive insticts and who isn't clueless as pick&roll defender and pick&roll big.

[yoyojw17]

So... Was listening to the "sixth man" YouTube discussion on Mosley .. and mention was made about RJ Hampton IG post about his height. Apparently he said that he's 6'-7"

If this is true... And even if it was only 6'-6"... Does this change people's gameplay a bit... Or not?

I would be widening the net on the 8th pick... Players like Sengun and giddy would be on my list for sure now.

[basketballRob]

So... Was listening to the "sixth man" YouTube discussion on Mosley .. and mention was made about RJ Hampton IG post about his height. Apparently he said that he's 6'-7"

If this is true... And even if it was only 6'-6"... Does this change people's gameplay a bit... Or not?

I would be widening the net on the 8th pick... Players like Sengun and giddy would be on my list for sure now.

Pretty sure he was just joking. The photo looked like an optical illusion that made him appear very tall. It looks like it was taken in a mirror, and like we've always heard, objects may appear larger when using a mirror.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[tiderulz]

So... Was listening to the "sixth man" YouTube discussion on Mosley .. and mention was made about RJ Hampton IG post about his height. Apparently he said that he's 6'-7"

If this is true... And even if it was only 6'-6"... Does this change people's gameplay a bit... Or not?

I would be widening the net on the 8th pick... Players like Sengun and giddy would be on my list for sure now.

there is a chance he has grown, he's only 20. If he has the length and could play some SF, and if the top-4 go top 4, i would look harder at Bouknight, as they wouldnt have to be fighting for the same minutes.

still not a believer in Sengun or Giddey in the lottery.