Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[michaeltex]

The report came out the other day a lot of teams in the East believe they are an AD away from the finals. 

This is a key factor in any AD transaction. If the other teams owner/GM/HC feels that AD will put them over the hump and into contention, they'll be willing to grit their teeth and make the deal.

We should be aware of how fleeting success is in the NBA. Getting deep in the playoffs is hard and there are no guarantees (injury, salary cap, age) you'll make it back the next year (for most teams), so you have to give it your best shot when you can. Most pundits think the East is gettable for several teams this year, mostly due to lingering issues from LAST season. So if you can add a talent like AD to a team already showing signs of success you have to go for it or answer "why not" when your offseason starts in May.

DAL was trying to do that with Luka, then Nico traded away the whole reason behind multiple years of team building. Any talk of contention after that was just gas lighting. As much as I like seeing the guys win, I'll be more excited if we could go into next season with a couple of top 10 picks to play with Coop. (Not Chuck, the younger one)