Around the NBA, 2022-23 season

[red4hf]

So will the Hornets draft Scoot even though they have Ball, or will they go with Miller and Scoot faĺls to 3rd?

Draft Scoot, trade Rozier and play Melo and Scoot together.......

[zero24gravity]

So will the Hornets draft Scoot even though they have Ball, or will they go with Miller and Scoot faĺls to 3rd?

Draft Scoot, trade Rozier and play Melo and Scoot together.......

Regarding Scoot ... With the #2 picking team having Ball, and the #3 team having Lillard, I would think one of them may be willing to at least listen to trade offers. There's also the possibility that if Charlotte leans toward Miller (which makes sense to me), then the Blazers and Lillard will have serious talks about if he wants a trade. Scoot could end up his replacement if they end the Lillard era. Despite all the hype of these top picks, I don't think it's set in stone that they are untradeable. There are already reports surfacing that the Blazers are still in "win-now" mode, and will look to capitalize on their pick in whatever way seems best for immediate success. Who knows, maybe there's still hope the Jazz can land one of those spots.

[Inigo Montoya]

So will the Hornets draft Scoot even though they have Ball, or will they go with Miller and Scoot faĺls to 3rd?

Draft Scoot, trade Rozier and play Melo and Scoot together.......

Regarding Scoot ... With the #2 picking team having Ball, and the #3 team having Lillard, I would think one of them may be willing to at least listen to trade offers. There's also the possibility that if Charlotte leans toward Miller (which makes sense to me), then the Blazers and Lillard will have serious talks about if he wants a trade. Scoot could end up his replacement if they end the Lillard era. Despite all the hype of these top picks, I don't think it's set in stone that they are untradeable. There are already reports surfacing that the Blazers are still in "win-now" mode, and will look to capitalize on their pick in whatever way seems best for immediate success. Who knows, maybe there's still hope the Jazz can land one of those spots.

I agree, and here is a small article that reinforces what you wrote:

Trail Blazers Could Hold Bidding War For Third Pick
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/271595/Trail-Blazers-Could-Hold-Bidding-War-For-Third-Pick

The Charlotte Hornets, who got the second pick in the lottery, aren't considered a great fit for Scoot Henderson, who most consider to be the second-best player in the draft behind Victor Wembanyama. ESPN has Charlotte selecting Alabama forward Brandon Miller with the #2 pick. If that happens, Portland could see trade offers pour in from teams looking to move up to pick Henderson.

[zero24gravity]

Draft Scoot, trade Rozier and play Melo and Scoot together.......

Regarding Scoot ... With the #2 picking team having Ball, and the #3 team having Lillard, I would think one of them may be willing to at least listen to trade offers. There's also the possibility that if Charlotte leans toward Miller (which makes sense to me), then the Blazers and Lillard will have serious talks about if he wants a trade. Scoot could end up his replacement if they end the Lillard era. Despite all the hype of these top picks, I don't think it's set in stone that they are untradeable. There are already reports surfacing that the Blazers are still in "win-now" mode, and will look to capitalize on their pick in whatever way seems best for immediate success. Who knows, maybe there's still hope the Jazz can land one of those spots.

I agree, and here is a small article that reinforces what you wrote:

Trail Blazers Could Hold Bidding War For Third Pick
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/271595/Trail-Blazers-Could-Hold-Bidding-War-For-Third-Pick

The Charlotte Hornets, who got the second pick in the lottery, aren't considered a great fit for Scoot Henderson, who most consider to be the second-best player in the draft behind Victor Wembanyama. ESPN has Charlotte selecting Alabama forward Brandon Miller with the #2 pick. If that happens, Portland could see trade offers pour in from teams looking to move up to pick Henderson.

The tricky part about a win-now trade for the Blazers is that the Jazz don't have a lot of win-now assets. I would think it would need to be Jazz picks going to a third team that covets multiple picks more than the Blazers #3 pick, #3 to the Jazz, and the third team's players to the Blazers.

A team like Brooklyn comes to mind. They are in rebuild mode, have Bridges and Claxton to build around, but they need a lot of help and have very few 1st round picks over the next few years. They would likely appreciate getting picks from the Jazz over the next few years. O'Neale, Finney-Smith, Dinwiddie, Harris are all vets who could help Portland. Utah may be willing to use Sexton &/or Olynyk as win-now options for the Blazers. The Nets also have the wreck of a contract that Simmons has become, although I don't see how he'd fit in this type of deal. (Wish he had only 1 more year left, so he could be a buy-out option in a Jazz trade.)

Ironically, the Timberwolves may be another team that would be willing to move players to the Blazers in order to recoupe some picks from the Jazz. They clearly need to shake up the roster. The Clippers only have 2 first round picks in the next 4 years, and might be ready to reset a bit. The Bucks may also be open to a shake-up, but they aren't as draft pick poor as the above mentioned teams.

I guess it's officially "what if" season, now that the lottery has been set. lol

[SoCalJazzFan]

So will the Hornets draft Scoot even though they have Ball, or will they go with Miller and Scoot faĺls to 3rd?

If I were them, I would draft Miller. Scoot has some shooting and defense concerns and Miller is widely considered to be on the same tier as Scoot and they already have their PG. Miller looks like he could be PG13-like.

Question becomes whether the Jazz are interested in trading up for the 3rd pick, and how that might occur.

Since the Blazers want players and not picks and the Jazz don't have players that would make sense for the Blazers or Jazz, the question becomes can the Jazz be the facilitator for a trade of one or more vet players to the Blazers with a 3rd team by eating a contract or two?

The secondary question is whether the 3rd pick would be worth eating up cap space that could potentially be used to trade for a star prior to the trade deadline.

It sounds like the Mavs and Pacers are also looking to trade their picks for vet players, which would present a similar scenario for the Jazz, with the additional wrinkle of not wanting to bolster the Mavs and make Luka happy there.

[SoCalJazzFan]

I think that one of the potentially more interesting scenarios are Ayton and the Suns and Kyrie and the Mavs.

Will the Mavs extend Kyrie and force the issue and hope for the best given their investment into trading for him even though half the season with him was a disaster and Luka seemed unhappy?

Would KD welcome Kyrie to the Suns and would the Suns want to trade for him in a S&T scenario? The Mavs could get back Ayton as part of such a deal, and they need a center, but the Suns would also look to dump CP3 to take on Kyrie and his nearly $50M/yr contract. The Jazz have the cap space to absorb his $31M expiring contract.

[Inigo Montoya]

So will the Hornets draft Scoot even though they have Ball, or will they go with Miller and Scoot faĺls to 3rd?

The secondary question is whether the 3rd pick would be worth eating up cap space that could potentially be used to trade for a star prior to the trade deadline.

If we can get Scoot, I'd say yes, it is worth it. I'd much rather have him under team control for the next seven seasons than having a star who can leave very soon if he doesn't like it.

[AingesBurner]

Just imagine how much better the Lakers would have been with Bogey, Conley, and Clarkson…

[Inigo Montoya]

Just imagine how much better the Lakers would have been with Bogey, Conley, and Clarkson…

And they could have had them from the beginning of the season, which would have helped them to avoid the play-in all together and probably give them home court advantage in some series.

Since it's unlikely they'll come back from being down 0-3, assuming they're going to be eliminated, it does make the deadline trade feel a bit less annoying because they hardly played the players we gave them. Beasley has been completely out of the rotation and Vanderbilt only played 16.5 minutes in the playoffs for them. Russell hasn't been good also in this series. We did give them good pieces, they just chose not to use them. Either way, we'll take that top-4 pick when it's due, hopefully. Or maybe we'll trade it to get better.

[Inigo Montoya]

I see the rumors about Ayton and Dallas and I don't know if the Mavs can create a good enough team considering the salary they'll be committing to only three players.

2023-24
Doncic: $37M
Ayton: $30.9M
Irving: ? (he made $38.9M this season).

Even if Irving takes a pay cut and signs for "only" $30M per season, we're still talking about $100M for 3 players, and the team already lacks depth. The addition of Ayton will not propel them to title contention, it looks like no matter what the Mavs are not in a position to construct a contender around Doncic.

[AingesBurner]

I see the rumors about Ayton and Dallas and I don't know if the Mavs can create a good enough team considering the salary they'll be committing to only three players.

2023-24
Doncic: $37M
Ayton: $30.9M
Irving: ? (he made $38.9M this season).

Even if Irving takes a pay cut and signs for "only" $30M per season, we're still talking about $100M for 3 players, and the team already lacks depth. The addition of Ayton will not propel them to title contention, it looks like no matter what the Mavs are not in a position to construct a contender around Doncic.

First question, do they even have assets for Ayton?

[Inigo Montoya]

First question, do they even have assets for Ayton?

I'm not sure that they do, but here is what is floating out there:

"The Suns need depth. I can see them getting Tim Hardaway Jr., JaVale [McGee] back, Josh Green and No. 10," added another source.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/271650/Mavs-Expected-To-Be-Likely-Destination-For-Deandre-Ayton

[AingesBurner]

First question, do they even have assets for Ayton?

I'm not sure that they do, but here is what is floating out there:

"The Suns need depth. I can see them getting Tim Hardaway Jr., JaVale [McGee] back, Josh Green and No. 10," added another source.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/271650/Mavs-Expected-To-Be-Likely-Destination-For-Deandre-Ayton

Two asset deprived teams and they are going to make their unique situations worse!!! Luka Doncic, come on down!!

[zero24gravity]

My opinion:

I can't recall a playoffs where I lost interest quicker than this year. The field is laced with teams that I simply can't root for.

Going into the playoffs, my rooting order (not the order I would bet on winning), split up by tiers:

The tops, mostly due to recent Jazz ties:
1. Minnesota (Rudy, Conley, NAW. I would have loved to cheer for them deep into the playoffs, even if that means a lesser draft pick for the Jazz) -- ELIMINATED
2. Cleveland (I'll cheer for Donovan, no problem. I also liked their team last year, and think they have a solid roster.) -- ELIMINATED

Tier 2: Teams I kinda like, or at least have no reason to not like.
3. Milwaukee (Giannis is my favorite top-tier superstar. Milwaukee is a team I enjoy watching, and appreciate they aren't "big market") -- ELIMINATED
4. Sacramento (Long time California bottom-feeders. Great turnaround story. Sabonis is sneaky good. I can appreciate Fox's rise to All Star status.) -- ELIMINATED

Tier 3: Don't care one way or the other. Meh.
5. Denver (Jokic is pretty remarkable. I don't understand how he's so good. lol. Nobody I have any issue with. Good to see Murray make a strong comeback from his injury.)
6. Miami (Meh, whatever)

Tier 4: Don't hate them, but don't want to cheer for them, either.
8. Atlanta (Not a fan of watching Trey Young at all, but they get a little bump to the top of this tier due to Quinn.) -- ELIMINATED
9. Memphis (Last year they would have been in tier 2, but after all the crazy antics this season, I've lost a lot of enjoyment in watching/cheering for them.) -- ELIMINATED
7. Brooklyn (Royce O'Neale gives me a small reason to cheer for them, now that they got rid of their unlikeable stars. However, if Simmons was playing, they would have been bumped way down the list.) -- ELIMINATED
10. Boston (Crazy to think they were my fav Eastern team when I was a young kid. I can't even put my finger on why I dislike them now. I can't get behind Tatum as a superstar. I really don't like Smart. But overall, they shouldn't be this low on my list, yet here they are.)

Tier 5: Can't cheer for them. Just can't.
11. LA Clippers (No love for PG after his battles with the Jazz & Ingles. Really have issues with Load Management .. er, I mean Kawai Leonard.) -- ELIMINATED
12. New York (Honestly, it's just because they are the "Mecca of basketball", which I find insane and laughable. They have basically sucked for 22 years, being in the playoffs only 6 times in that span, with 1 division title. Yet they are talked about constantly, as if they actually matter. Every Free Agent and every trade is linked to them in the media. I also find Brunson a bit annoying & overrated.)
13. Phoenix (Chris Paul, ugh. Annoying. Booker ... can anyone whine more than this stat-chaser? Durant = Mr. Take the Easiest Path. Yuck to this teams Stars.)
14. LA Lakers (I am one who thinks LeBron is the GOAT. I actually don't hate him, contrary to popular opinions... but it's the %&cking Lakers! Western Conference version of the Knicks, but they actually have won, which makes them even harder to like. Plus, going to a Jazz game vs the Lakers is flat out annoying. Even when the Jazz are kicking their butts, their fans still act like they are winning. It's weird.)
15. Philadelphia: (The Suns, but even worse. Embiid is really hard to like. Probably will get the MVP strictly based on his whining to the media campaign. I still have a lot of residual distain for Simmons, and since The Sophmore of the Year pretty much hasn't played since Philly, my brain still places him there. Bobble-head Harden. Yuck. No, just no.)

Last, and definitely least:
16. Golden State (Draymond alone is enough to always root against the team; overrated, big-mouthed, idiot. Then add in Curry, who I find to be absolutely unlikeable, and comes across as so arrogant that his head may detach and float away. Their history of winning puts a target on them to be unliked, but it's so much more for me. The blatant tank that cost the Jazz their first round pick (H. Barnes), the bandwagon hopping locals over the past 5ish years - you never saw GS gear in SLC before that. The league's clear favorite-child. <puke>)

So there were 6 teams I could have theoretically cheered for when the playoffs started. The only 2 remaining are the "meh", tier 3 teams. Rooting to see Denver, a division rival, vs Miami, who are my most "meh" team in the playoffs, doesn't exactly lead to an exciting playoff experience for me. My least favorite 5 teams are still playing, 6 of my least favorite 7. Even simply rooting against teams, like the Warriors, is hard to do when they are playing another team I can't root for.

I really thought one of CLE, SAC or MIL would have at least stuck around long enough to hold my interest. This. Is. Lame.

Keep in mind, I prefaced with this is my opinion. It's ok to not agree, but I'm not looking to debate the merits of my reasons to dislike players/teams.

Just reminding myself that my best case scenario (after I made this post) is close to coming to fruition. Yay for a possible "Meh" Denver vs Miami!

[zero24gravity]

Wow. This is a big move, especially for a team that is in Title-Now mode. Gotta save those buck$, I suppose.

Jazz need a PG, right? (Kidding)

https://www.si.com/nba/suns/news/report-phoenix-suns-waive-chris-paul

[SoCalJazzFan]

Wow. This is a big move, especially for a team that is in Title-Now mode. Gotta save those buck$, I suppose.

Jazz need a PG, right? (Kidding)

https://www.si.com/nba/suns/news/report-phoenix-suns-waive-chris-paul

Very surprising move. Who is the Suns starting and backup pg? The FA market for pgs is pretty dry.

[vryadli]

So... As nobody did that yet, let me state the Obvious:

In last NBA final were competing in basketball 2 absolute losers (of exhilarating draft games). One was led but #30 draft pick, but at least it was fast athletic player. But he was surrounded by 5-or 6 undrafted fellas, or so I heard. But other was build around big, slow, soft quiet (even more than Dunkan) Euro, drafted #41 .

Anyone proficient in splash lore of modern NBA can find other multiple faults on both those team - to many to discuss all, I just name one, may be biggest: both their leaders caring more about involving teammates in offense, than about just being aggressive and creating own shots. Of course that is what one may expect from so low draft numbers, but still..

OK, and after that all, the team with lower drafted and less athletic leader won the Ring. Looks like basketball gods felt that it be cruel to deny them that consolation prize.

[Inigo Montoya]

Taurean Prince was waved by the Wolves. Could he be a short-term solution at SF for a reasonable price? He was slotted to make $7.4M this season.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/272184/Wolves-Decline-$74M-Option-On-Taurean-Prince

[Inigo Montoya]

It's about Damn (Dame?) time.

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[Inigo Montoya]

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