(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Harden - Phily
Irving - Dallas
Middleton - Bucks
Draymond - GSW
FVV - Houston
Grant - (Depends on Dame)
Lopez - (Houston or Bucks)
Cam Johnson - Brooklyn matches
Reeves - Lakers Match
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Poeltl - Toronto
Kuzma - Kings
Barnes - Indy
Brooks - Houston
G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
Brown - (Loyalty to Denver or take the $50mm and run?)
I've marked in RED those who seem to be most up in the air. Grant would require a trade with Portland (which doesn't happen unless Dame leaves). I don't think Dallas is a leading candidate for Lopez. That leaves Vuc, G. Williams and Brown. All control their destiny. G-Will and Brown probably can't get top dollar from their own teams. Does anyone have any idea what Chicago is doing. They could run it back or could do a full-on Wiz v2.0 with LaVine being the Beal in this version.
I know others have posted this, but Vuc is an interesting option. He's a vastly different center from Lively or Holmes. You could start him for now and count on Maxi and Green to be the primary defenders in the first five. But, eventually, he could be a bench big who carries some scoring load as he finishes this contract and Lively moves to the starting five.
Just my read of the tea leaves as of now.
I don't think we could afford Vuc.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Harden - Phily
Irving - Dallas
Middleton - Bucks
Draymond - GSW
FVV - Houston
Grant - (Depends on Dame)
Lopez - (Houston or Bucks)
Cam Johnson - Brooklyn matches
Reeves - Lakers Match
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Poeltl - Toronto
Kuzma - Kings
Barnes - Indy
Brooks - Houston
G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
Brown - (Loyalty to Denver or take the $50mm and run?)
I've marked in RED those who seem to be most up in the air. Grant would require a trade with Portland (which doesn't happen unless Dame leaves). I don't think Dallas is a leading candidate for Lopez. That leaves Vuc, G. Williams and Brown. All control their destiny. G-Will and Brown probably can't get top dollar from their own teams. Does anyone have any idea what Chicago is doing. They could run it back or could do a full-on Wiz v2.0 with LaVine being the Beal in this version.
I know others have posted this, but Vuc is an interesting option. He's a vastly different center from Lively or Holmes. You could start him for now and count on Maxi and Green to be the primary defenders in the first five. But, eventually, he could be a bench big who carries some scoring load as he finishes this contract and Lively moves to the starting five.
Just my read of the tea leaves as of now.
Vuc was reported to be willing to extend with Chicago for a deal around 13-15 a year annually. The MLE isn't that far off of that, but the role here is ideally less than the role he'd be getting in Chicago.
I would mind Vuc at all, but I think his addition squeezes out McGee and/or Holmes. As free agency draws near, it seems to me it's almost mandatory to move off of Bullock+McGee for something.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Harden - Phily
Irving - Dallas
Middleton - Bucks
Draymond - GSW
FVV - Houston
Grant - (Depends on Dame)
Lopez - (Houston or Bucks)
Cam Johnson - Brooklyn matches
Reeves - Lakers Match
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Poeltl - Toronto
Kuzma - Kings
Barnes - Indy
Brooks - Houston
G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
Brown - (Loyalty to Denver or take the $50mm and run?)
I've marked in RED those who seem to be most up in the air. Grant would require a trade with Portland (which doesn't happen unless Dame leaves). I don't think Dallas is a leading candidate for Lopez. That leaves Vuc, G. Williams and Brown. All control their destiny. G-Will and Brown probably can't get top dollar from their own teams. Does anyone have any idea what Chicago is doing. They could run it back or could do a full-on Wiz v2.0 with LaVine being the Beal in this version.
I know others have posted this, but Vuc is an interesting option. He's a vastly different center from Lively or Holmes. You could start him for now and count on Maxi and Green to be the primary defenders in the first five. But, eventually, he could be a bench big who carries some scoring load as he finishes this contract and Lively moves to the starting five.
Just my read of the tea leaves as of now.
No interest in Vuc, even if we didn't have Lively. The last thing this team needs is another defensively challenged center.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Harden - Phily
Irving - Dallas
Middleton - Bucks
Draymond - GSW
FVV - Houston
Grant - (Depends on Dame)
Lopez - (Houston or Bucks)
Cam Johnson - Brooklyn matches
Reeves - Lakers Match
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Poeltl - Toronto
Kuzma - Kings
Barnes - Indy
Brooks - Houston
G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
Brown - (Loyalty to Denver or take the $50mm and run?)
I've marked in RED those who seem to be most up in the air. Grant would require a trade with Portland (which doesn't happen unless Dame leaves). I don't think Dallas is a leading candidate for Lopez. That leaves Vuc, G. Williams and Brown. All control their destiny. G-Will and Brown probably can't get top dollar from their own teams. Does anyone have any idea what Chicago is doing. They could run it back or could do a full-on Wiz v2.0 with LaVine being the Beal in this version.
I know others have posted this, but Vuc is an interesting option. He's a vastly different center from Lively or Holmes. You could start him for now and count on Maxi and Green to be the primary defenders in the first five. But, eventually, he could be a bench big who carries some scoring load as he finishes this contract and Lively moves to the starting five.
Just my read of the tea leaves as of now.
Grant would be perfect but it’s unlikely
Vuc is friends with Luka. He would be a steal for the MLE. I think he’s right behind Brown and Williams on the priority list. Maybe slightly ahead of Barnes
I just don't see Ayton happening to Dallas.
Vucevic would not be my first choice or second, but if the Mavs struck out on their targets getting Vucevic at MLE would be excellent value. It appears Chicago wants to keep him and will probably offer over the MLE for him. So he would need to sacrifice some $ and also knowing Dallas hopefully has their long term center already on the roster. PF would still be an issue. They need to find a way to address it this offseason somehow.
(06-27-2023, 07:21 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: [ -> ]I just don't see Ayton happening to Dallas.
I didn’t either until I saw this most recent rumor. If McGee is the hangup on a trade, I think it’s closer to happening than not.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Harden - Phily
Irving - Dallas
Middleton - Bucks
Draymond - GSW
FVV - Houston
Grant - (Depends on Dame)
Lopez - (Houston or Bucks)
Cam Johnson - Brooklyn matches
Reeves - Lakers Match
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Poeltl - Toronto
Kuzma - Kings
Barnes - Indy
Brooks - Houston
G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
Brown - (Loyalty to Denver or take the $50mm and run?)
I've marked in RED those who seem to be most up in the air. Grant would require a trade with Portland (which doesn't happen unless Dame leaves). I don't think Dallas is a leading candidate for Lopez. That leaves Vuc, G. Williams and Brown. All control their destiny. G-Will and Brown probably can't get top dollar from their own teams. Does anyone have any idea what Chicago is doing. They could run it back or could do a full-on Wiz v2.0 with LaVine being the Beal in this version.
I know others have posted this, but Vuc is an interesting option. He's a vastly different center from Lively or Holmes. You could start him for now and count on Maxi and Green to be the primary defenders in the first five. But, eventually, he could be a bench big who carries some scoring load as he finishes this contract and Lively moves to the starting five.
Just my read of the tea leaves as of now.
I have changed my mind about Vucevic. He was part of the Balkan Boys group and apparently he got along with Luka really well. With Luka admitting that last season wasn't fun for him, that's a major key in my mind to go after Vuc.
And the timeline works well with Lively. A 2 or 3 year deal would tie in nicely to Lively's development
(06-27-2023, 08:19 AM)MFFL Wrote: [ -> ]I have changed my mind about Vucevic. He was part of the Balkan Boys group and apparently he got along with Luka really well. With Luka admitting that last season wasn't fun for him, that's a major key in my mind to go after Vuc.
And the timeline works well with Lively. A 2 or 3 year deal would tie in nicely to Lively's development
It is an interesting conversation. He wouldn't provide the upside, youth or potential defense Ayton would but if you could get him for the MLE that would be a real nice value contract.
I am not sure how I would view that now, but there are some positives and typically you are not finding good starters for the MLE.
Chicago can and probably will throw $ over MLE, but Chicago appears to be in a rough spot moving forward. Lonzo is out all of next year probably, DeRozen is really good but older and there has been talk that Lavine may get traded. Not a lot besides playing time and probably a little more $ to get excited about. For a guy who I don't think has had hardly any playoff experience, he may value going to a team he thinks could compete.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]If you follow the rumors, the top of Free Agency is probably:
Vuc - (Hard to call. What is Chicago's plan here)
Regarding Vucevic I have only seen he will extend in Chicago. From several sources.
(06-26-2023, 10:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]G. Williams - (Boston can't afford)
He is a very interesting piece, imho. If a cap space offers an over the MLE salary, Boston likely lets him walk. However, things get trickier if we are speaking about a non cap space team, for example Mavs.
All Mavs can offer is a full MLE. But since Boston would have three days to match, Mavs would basically miss the chance on all other targets in this time frame. No one good (Brown, for example) would appreciate being the second option. And if his contract is MLE only, can we be really sure, Boston wouldn't match that? So I think, Boston would have to be involved, which means at least a minor asset needs to go to them. Mavs problem is, they don't have a minor asset. Would 5 mil cash be enough to convince Boston to let G.Williams go?
The problems are even bigger, if Grant would want more than MLE. Than you can't do it without Boston and they don't really want any salary back. So you need other small assets for a third team to eat some salary (Bullock, for example), to make the trade work. Small assets, which again, Mavs don't have.
Unless Mavs are trading 2027 pick for a bunch of smaller stuff, I find it difficult for Mavs to pull off the Williams thing.
(06-27-2023, 09:03 AM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]He is a very interesting piece, imho. If a cap space offers an over the MLE salary, Boston likely lets him walk. However, things get trickier if we are speaking about a non cap space team, for example Mavs.
All Mavs can offer is a full MLE. But since Boston would have three days to match, Mavs would basically miss the chance on all other targets in this time frame. No one good (Brown, for example) would appreciate being the second option. And if his contract is MLE only, can we be really sure, Boston wouldn't match that? So I think, Boston would have to be involved, which means at least a minor asset needs to go to them. Mavs problem is, they don't have a minor asset. Would 5 mil cash be enough to convince Boston to let G.Williams go?
The problems are even bigger, if Grant would want more than MLE. Than you can't do it without Boston and they don't really want any salary back. So you need other small assets for a third team to eat some salary (Bullock, for example), to make the trade work. Small assets, which again, Mavs don't have.
Unless Mavs are trading 2027 pick for a bunch of smaller stuff, I find it difficult for Mavs to pull off the Williams thing.
Not much of an asset, but we will have the 30 SRP.
(06-26-2023, 11:02 PM)cow Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think we could afford Vuc.
Not only that, he's been a starter his whole career. I don't think he would be privy to coming off the bench.
Jake Fischer
And unless they can find a trade here in the final hours, Los Angeles is expected to decline Malik Beasley's $16.5 million team option for the 2023-24 season.
Jake Fischer
·The Lakers are waiving Mo Bamba, according to a league source.
(06-29-2023, 03:17 PM)MFFL Wrote: [ -> ]Jake Fischer
·The Lakers are waiving Mo Bamba, according to a league source.
That´s a bigmen gamble I would make if it only costs the BAE.
(06-29-2023, 03:21 PM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]That´s a bigmen gamble I would make if it only costs the BAE.
The problem I see here is, Mavs can't really offer him minutes. I mean, I would never enter the season with Bamba as a starting center. Than you have Lively as a back-up, that will take most of available minutes. So Bamba would basically get the third string center role, and I think he would not be interested at all. Guys like Drummond, as much as I hate him, are the third center types. Or some really unknown youngsters looking at last straws to come/stay in the league.
Beasley also out. Lakers politely said, they would consider them for vet min.
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1674513038265966593
(06-29-2023, 03:21 PM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: [ -> ]That´s a bigmen gamble I would make if it only costs the BAE.
Not a fan of Bamba, but greatly prefer him on BAE to Drummond.
(06-27-2023, 09:03 AM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]He is a very interesting piece, imho. If a cap space offers an over the MLE salary, Boston likely lets him walk. However, things get trickier if we are speaking about a non cap space team, for example Mavs.
All Mavs can offer is a full MLE. But since Boston would have three days to match, Mavs would basically miss the chance on all other targets in this time frame. No one good (Brown, for example) would appreciate being the second option. And if his contract is MLE only, can we be really sure, Boston wouldn't match that? So I think, Boston would have to be involved, which means at least a minor asset needs to go to them. Mavs problem is, they don't have a minor asset. Would 5 mil cash be enough to convince Boston to let G.Williams go?
The problems are even bigger, if Grant would want more than MLE. Than you can't do it without Boston and they don't really want any salary back. So you need other small assets for a third team to eat some salary (Bullock, for example), to make the trade work. Small assets, which again, Mavs don't have.
Unless Mavs are trading 2027 pick for a bunch of smaller stuff, I find it difficult for Mavs to pull off the Williams thing.
1 In new CBA there is only one day wait between an offer to a RFA and the deadline to match.
2 Mavs are apparently talking to Brown 1st to get an answer.
3 Mavs don't have 2 MLEs but could perhaps do MLE (Brown) and SNT (GW)
4 SNT with BOS is possible but biggest issue would be sending BOS smallest salary possible. The math to stay under the apron while salary matching while sending BOS least salary possible (next to nothing) would be tricky -- and all the other details would come into play (Kyrie's salary, Holmes TK or not, etc) -- but it is not impossible I suspect if it gets rolled into SAC/OKC deal.
5 If there's no salary, could Mavs offer BOS a 2nd (better than letting him walk for nothing)?
(06-29-2023, 03:40 PM)mvossman Wrote: [ -> ]Not a fan of Bamba, but greatly prefer him on BAE to Drummond.
Not my first choice but the combination of catch and shoot ability (38% from 3 over the last two seasons) and rim protection should be a good fit next to ball dominant guys like Luka or Kyrie.
Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
·
4m
BREAKING: 76ers G James Harden is picking up his $35.6 million option and sides are beginning to work together in exploring trade scenarios, sources tell ESPN. It’s expected that Harden has played his last game for Philadelphia.