2023 NBA Free Agency Thread - June 30 @ 5 pm CDT

[Dejounte]

What future? they lost in the The WC conference finals semi after trading Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder + four first-round picks, a 2028 pick swap for a 34 old durant with CP0 gone now... that's too evanescent of a reasoning, you can't trade for Lillard for the hypothetical attraction he would generate around the spurs...There's Wemby for that... And again, spurs are not making the finales in the next 2 years adding Lillard, so I don't know what hype he would generate in SA.

Lol you are the only one who wouldn’t consider the PHX as having a great outcome after trading for Paul. Even in the present, they’re perceived as title contenders. That’s three years after Paul. And pretty sure they’re going to be a top team for the next two years at least.

[Extra Stout]

The Spurs are not going to trade for Damian Lillard. They’re going to trot through a season-long training camp, play a whole bunch of different lineups to see who meshes with Victor, go 29-53, and get the 5th pick in the draft along with the 8th pick from Toronto. Everyone will bitch and moan about it until the output from the 2024 draft is a second star to go next to Victor, and then everybody will be happy when they make the playoffs in 2024-25 and start contending for championships in 2025-26. At that point Victor will be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with handles and three-point range, and the supporting cast will be the 2020’s equivalent of the Showtime Lakers. The rafters atop the Dell Center at San Pedro Creek will start to look like those of TD Garden in Boston.

[Dverde]

I could see the Blazers cutting us a solid deal as Miami has been tampering like a MFer. We can offer plenty of picks.

[BatManu20]

The Spurs are not going to trade for Damian Lillard. They’re going to trot through a season-long training camp, play a whole bunch of different lineups to see who meshes with Victor, go 29-53, and get the 5th pick in the draft along with the 8th pick from Toronto. Everyone will bitch and moan about it until the output from the 2024 draft is a second star to go next to Victor, and then everybody will be happy when they make the playoffs in 2024-25 and start contending for championships in 2025-26. At that point Victor will be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with handles and three-point range, and the supporting cast will be the 2020’s equivalent of the Showtime Lakers. The rafters atop the Dell Center at San Pedro Creek will start to look like those of TD Garden in Boston.

I like where your head’s at, Stout.

[Mr. Body]

Remember: they ALWAYS mention the Spurs because it makes them look like they care about the team.

It's like the guy on The Bachelor adding the classy chick to his last group even though he wants the sluts.

[Atl Spur]

We have another move or two to make:)

[NASpurs]

Blazers are probably asking for Wemby and all of the Spurs first round picks for the next ten years and B Wrong is thinking it over. :lol

[Dverde]

Miami has to be desperate losing Vincent while still holding Lowry’s bag. Miami getting so annoying lately.

[RC_Drunkford]

Bobby Marks proposing Vassell, McD, and 2024 Charlotte pick. That’s a straight up steal. Spurs are giving up practically nothing, unless you’re a homer and think Vassell turning into a star is 100% certainty.

if that's all they want you pull the trigger, no question

[BatManu20]

Dame for Tyler Herro + Duncan Robinson + 3 FRP’s + a couple swaps. That should put this thing to bed.

[R. DeMurre]

Lillard sure picked a weird time to ask to be traded to a team with almost no assets.

[LeBowen]

if that's all they want you pull the trigger, no question

Yeah, that can't be right. I don't think Blazers want any guards after the season Sharpe just had and obviously Scoot being their next franchise player.

As for the picks, regardless of if we're talking about Dame or some other trade, I'd rather trade Spurs own picks than those Hawks picks which should be way better considering they're about to implode.

[Teamduncan21]

Is this the surprise that everyone is talking about? Haha

[Mr. Body]

James Harden over here waving his arms.

"HEY I SAID IT FIRST, ME, I'M STILL AVAILABLE."

[Dverde]

Miami might be desperate enough to throw in Bam with Herro. Portland could also trade them Nurkic with Dame.

[poopbox]

All depends on the proposed return of course but in a vacuum of course Lillard would be a very fun aging star to pair with young Wemby.

The last two years of Dame contract are around 60 million dollars each.

HARD PASS.

[JPB]

Lol you are the only one who wouldn’t consider the PHX as having a great outcome after trading for Paul. Even in the present, they’re perceived as title contenders. That’s three years after Paul. And pretty sure they’re going to be a top team for the next two years at least.

And what did they win?

They basically had a one year run without ringing (which is the goal) after losing in last year WC semi finals AFTER going all in and trading for 34 yo Durant, losing a couple of young valuable players and a bunch of picks in the process. they're not ringing with that team... And I can see Booker asking for a trade in a couple year when Durant is done.

[BatManu20]

Free agent G D’Angelo Russell has agreed on a two-year, $37 million contract to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, co-heads of @CAA_Basketball Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz along with Antonio Russell tell ESPN. Deal has player option. Lakers secure their starting point guard.

[RC_Drunkford]

I mean Miami really doesn't have much to offer. We can easily offer 3 first round draft picks, even 4 or 3 and a ton of seconds while sending them expirings and a young guy on a rookie deal instead of them getting picks from Miami who convert in 2028 and 2029 while also taking on Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. Spurs could get in here without giving up too much. One of Keldon or Vassell plus McBuckets or Graham, CHA, CHI and TOR pick would already beat anything Miami can offer.

[Vic Petro]

1675176002207510528

[Dejounte]

And what did they win?

They basically had a one year run without ringing (which is the goal) after losing in last year WC semi finals AFTER going all in and trading for 34 yo Durant, losing a couple of young valuable players and a bunch of picks in the process. they're not ringing with that team... And I can see Booker asking for a trade in a couple year when Durant is done.

Winning it all without an all time great is a crapshoot so it’s stupid to measure a team that way. The alternative is Devin Booker and to a much lesser extent, Ayton, never becoming who they become and that team would have been an 8th seed all these years with a possibility of their young star asking out this year. You say you wouldn’t take their current situation but you don’t know how much worse they would be if they didn’t take this route because you refuse to see it.

[Dverde]

I mean Miami really doesn't have much to offer. We can easily offer 3 first round draft picks, even 4 or 3 and a ton of seconds while sending them expirings and a young guy on a rookie deal instead of them getting picks from Miami who convert in 2028 and 2029 while also taking on Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. Spurs could get in here without giving up too much. One of Keldon or Vassell plus McBuckets or Graham, CHA, CHI and TOR pick would already beat anything Miami can offer.

Herro and Robinson’s contracts are also not good value moving forward.

[SpursFan86]

Free agent G D’Angelo Russell has agreed on a two-year, $37 million contract to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, co-heads of @CAA_Basketball Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz along with Antonio Russell tell ESPN. Deal has player option. Lakers secure their starting point guard.

Does this impact their ability to match Reaves?

[JPB]

Winning it all without an all time great is a crapshoot so it’s stupid to measure a team that way. The alternative is Devin Booker and to a much lesser extent, Ayton, never becoming who they become and that team would have been an 8th seed all these years with a possibility of their young star asking out this year. You say you wouldn’t take their current situation but you don’t know how much worse they would be if they didn’t take this route because you refuse to see it.

Nobody will remember CP3's Suns.

[baseline bum]

If I were a Blazers fan I’d be livid. Just watched the team throw $160MM at Jerami Grant only to have Lillard request a trade not even 24 hours later :lol

ROFL tlongII

[Dejounte]

Nobody will remember CP3's Suns.

Nobody will remember Devin Booker’s Suns, even moreso.

[JPB]

1675176002207510528

Because there are really people who believed he wanted to come in SA?

[Extra Stout]

PROPOSED TRADE:

Miami gets: Dame Lillard
Portland gets: However many FRP’s from Miami from whenever, Cedi Osman and whoever the hell else we just got from Cleveland
San Antonio gets: SECOND ROUND DRAFT PICKS

[Mugen]

Does this impact their ability to match Reaves?

Nah, they can still match Reaves.

[DPG21920]

Khem + Doug + Graham + CHA pick + TOR Pick + CHI Pick or nothing

[Mr. Body]

Miami might be desperate enough to throw in Bam with Herro. Portland could also trade them Nurkic with Dame.

Lillard is tight with Bam. He wants him to stay.

[Splits]

ROFL tlongII (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=158)

:lol where is det boy

[Kurik]

Khem + Doug + Graham + CHA pick + TOR Pick + CHI Pick or nothing

Throw in a handful of second round picks and I think it’s good.

[Degoat]

Thomas Bryant signed with the heat, thought he was gonna be the spurs big after Brook gets signed

[LeBowen]

Winning it all without an all time great is a crapshoot so it’s stupid to measure a team that way. The alternative is Devin Booker and to a much lesser extent, Ayton, never becoming who they become and that team would have been an 8th seed all these years with a possibility of their young star asking out this year. You say you wouldn’t take their current situation but you don’t know how much worse they would be if they didn’t take this route because you refuse to see it.

The issue is that Suns knew what they had before they got CP3, Spurs don't.

Keldon is the only valuable player we have with an established ceiling.
Vassell isn't a mystery, but we still have to see if he's actually going to take the next step and become a consistent ~22ppg scorer.
Sochan is a wildcard. He could become Draymond 2.0 while actually being a capable scorer or he can become the next Stanley Johnson.
Wemby? Anywhere from Greg Oden to Kareem.

Trade for Lillard, Wemby gets injured and then we're fucked because we can't tank again and we won't get to the playoffs, either.
If only Lillard was a couple of years younger or if our youngsters had at least one season together.

[JPB]

1675176002207510528

Coïtus Interruptus :lol

Onto the next FA ST fantasizes about.

[kxs783kms]

I can see Wemby pulling a Kawhi and leaving after his contract is up. Some of you guys are just as cheap as the front office. Why are y'all concerned about the money the Spurs will be spending? It's not your money. Make a splash and go after a big name for once, even if you're overpaying. It happens. But this "let's wait and see if we can grab cheap talent who will be an All-NBA player one day" has to stop. This is a two star a team league and we're going to need another one at some point. Free agents aren't knocking down doors to play here and they don't come cheap. The era of the way Duncan did things is over. Pay up or forever be looking for the next best cheap thing smh.

[poopbox]

Portland using the Spurs’ good name to create leverage. Same as usual. Nothing to see here boys.

Spurs the only team with everything Portland wants.

Young players on cheap deals? That's a great way to offset all the money you just gave Grant to be on a rebuilding team.

Picks? Got all our own. Got other teams. That Raptors pick is looking top 10 right now. Hawks are focusing on saving money so those unrestricted picks could really be something in the future.

Young player coming into the league saying he don't want to play on a tanking team. Number one way to keep him happy is to go get an establishes supestar in this league to play with him.

Would be dumb of the spurs to do this deal but Portland should absolutely have called us first to try and see if they can get us to bite and jumpstart their rebuild.

[RC_Drunkford]

also if the Blazers want to offload Nurkic the Spurs could actually add Osman, Birch and Stevens to take on Nurkic's money as well. Not that I want it, but if they want Dame they can certainly get him without giving up much

[Degoat]

The one thing I’ll say I’m not sure Lillard is the guy or not for us to go for but whenever the Celtics had all the draft capital from the Pierce/KG trade, they never consolidated those picks for a Star player

[NASpurs]

PROPOSED TRADE:

Miami gets: Dame Lillard
Portland gets: However many FRP’s from Miami from whenever, Cedi Osman and whoever the hell else we just got from Cleveland
San Antonio gets: SECOND ROUND DRAFT PICKS

:lol

If there was a third round, we would probably have like 40.

[RC_Drunkford]

I don't think people understand that we actually wouldn't be spending a lot of money. Sending out McDermott and Vassell for example would have us basically just use up the cap space that we weren't using anyway. The year after no Vassell extension and another 18 million coming off the books while the cap rises, so we'd actually have cap space. 25/26 no Primo, so no rookie extension either, all while Keldon gets cheaper and cheaper cause of his declining contract. 26/27 Wesley, Sochan and Branham are up for extensions, but Wemby will still be on a rookie deal. 27/28 is where things could get tight, Dame has a player option for that year. Cap space wise we'd be fine with him on the books tbh

[Obstructed_View]

I can see Wemby pulling a Kawhi and leaving after his contract is up. Some of you guys are just as cheap as the front office. Why are y'all concerned about the money the Spurs will be spending? It's not your money. Make a splash and go after a big name for once, even if you're overpaying. It happens. But this "let's wait and see if we can grab cheap talent who will be an All-NBA player one day" has to stop. This is a two star a team league and we're going to need another one at some point. Free agents aren't knocking down doors to play here and they don't come cheap. The era of the way Duncan did things is over. Pay up or forever be looking for the next best cheap thing smh.
So for a team whose stated goal is to avoid big expensive mistakes, you think 120 million dollars for a 37 year old guard right as your superstar is ending his rookie contract is a reasonable risk?

[offset formation]

The last two years of Dame contract are around 60 million dollars each.

HARD PASS.

Thibk about it beyond your initial reaction. I agree it sounds crazy in theory but It will expire just in time for other contracts to kick in. Also remember the cap will be over $180M at that point. Or roughly 1/3rd the cap. That's not a big deal for a run at a sneaky chip before our core is fully developed.

[kobyz]

In potential Lillard trade Spurs could be involved as taking on Nurkic contract attached to couple of firsts...

[Dejounte]

I don't think people understand that we actually wouldn't be spending a lot of money. Sending out McDermott and Vassell for example would have us basically just use up the cap space that we weren't using anyway. The year after no Vassell extension and another 18 million coming off the books while the cap rises, so we'd actually have cap space. 25/26 no Primo, so no rookie extension either, all while Keldon gets cheaper and cheaper cause of his declining contract. 26/27 Wesley, Sochan and Branham are up for extensions, but Wemby will still be on a rookie deal. 27/28 is where things could get tight, Dame has a player option for that year. Cap space wise we'd be fine with him on the books tbh

Windhorst calling it way before everybody. Again. Tbh

[offset formation]

So for a team whose stated goal is to avoid big expensive mistakes, you think 120 million dollars for a 37 year old guard right as your superstar is ending his rookie contract is a reasonable risk?

See my reply to poopbox

[BatManu20]

At the end of the day, the Blazers are going to give Dame what he wants. And what he wants seems to be Miami. Yea, the Spurs can offer a better package of course, but that’s irrelevant if Dame isn’t interested.

Does he really want to be traded to a team that finished bottom-3 in the league last season? The whole point of this is that he wants to play for a contender. Otherwise he’d just stay in POR. I know we got Wemby, but he’s an unproven 19 year-old kid. And the rest of our roster is young, inexperienced, and unproven as well.

He can respect Pop all he wants, but I don’t see Dame actually wanting to come here. He wants to play with his boys Bam and Jimmy on a contender. And the difference between living in Miami and having to live in San Antonio is astronomical lol. No way dude chooses The Riverwalk over South Beach.

[JPB]

I can see Wemby pulling a Kawhi and leaving after his contract is up. Some of you guys are just as cheap as the front office. Why are y'all concerned about the money the Spurs will be spending? It's not your money. Make a splash and go after a big name for once, even if you're overpaying. It happens. But this "let's wait and see if we can grab cheap talent who will be an All-NBA player one day" has to stop. This is a two star a team league and we're going to need another one at some point. Free agents aren't knocking down doors to play here and they don't come cheap. The era of the way Duncan did things is over. Pay up or forever be looking for the next best cheap thing smh.

that's not your money either, precisely. And that's why you're not a GM.

[poopbox]

Thibk about it beyond your initial reaction. I agree it sounds crazy in theory but It will expire just in time for other contracts to kick in. Also remember the cap will be over $180M at that point. Or roughly 1/3rd the cap. That's not a big deal for a run at a sneaky chip before our core is fully developed.

The difference between us and an nba title is not Lillard.

[Extra Stout]

I can see Wemby pulling a Kawhi and leaving after his contract is up. Some of you guys are just as cheap as the front office. Why are y'all concerned about the money the Spurs will be spending? It's not your money. Make a splash and go after a big name for once, even if you're overpaying. It happens. But this "let's wait and see if we can grab cheap talent who will be an All-NBA player one day" has to stop. This is a two star a team league and we're going to need another one at some point. Free agents aren't knocking down doors to play here and they don't come cheap. The era of the way Duncan did things is over. Pay up or forever be looking for the next best cheap thing smh.
Bulls: drafted Jordan 3rd in 1984. Traded 8th pick and Olden Polynice to draft Scottie Pippen 5th in 1987. Drafted Horace Grant 10th in 1987.

Lakers: traded basically entire team for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Drafted Magic Johnson 1st in 1979. Drafted James Worthy 1st in 1982.

Warriors: Drafted Steph Curry 7th in 2009. Drafted Klay Thompson 11th in 2011. Drafted Draymond Green 35th in 2012.

Spurs: Drafted Duncan 1st in 1997. Drafted Ginobili 57th in 1999. Drafted Parker 29th in 2001.

It seems as though maybe there’s a blueprint for building dynasties largely through the draft once you have your franchise player, and so it’s not necessary to blow one’s wad in the near term.

[Mr. Body]

After all the discussion of keeping cap free to facilitate any big deals, I don't see how the Spurs get involved with Blazers and Heat here. Seems like Portland just has to suck up whatever Miami cobbles together. Nothing will appeal to the Spurs and there are no assets to be accrued.

[JPB]

Thibk about it beyond your initial reaction. I agree it sounds crazy in theory but It will expire just in time for other contracts to kick in. Also remember the cap will be over $180M at that point. Or roughly 1/3rd the cap. That's not a big deal for a run at a sneaky chip before our core is fully developed.

That's the whole point, this team + Dame isn't even sniffing WCF with Denver (and others in). That's 32 old Lillard who never really did anything in the NBA we're talking about, not prime MJ...

You guys gets excited way too easily, it's not 2K. This trade doesn't make sense. You're losing a haul for no chance of really achieving anything. Victor has zero games in the NBA and the rest of the roster is a bunch of youngsters + fringe NBA players. I mean, why Lillard would even want to come here and lose his last 2-3 years of relevance...?

the best trades are the ones you don't make

[RC_Drunkford]

Spurs could literally get Dame for less than they got for Dejounte :lol no brainer

[DPG21920]

That Bobby Marks proposal of Vassell + Doug + CHA pick for Dame….man, if you are only giving up one pick, a lottery protected one at that and Doug? I think Vassell is worth giving up in that type of deal tbh…

Spurs still have tons of picks including all their own and all their other young talent and swap Vassell upcoming 20-25M + Dougs money for paying Dame an extra 25M?

I still dont want it but if that’s all it takes? I would understand it.

[Dejounte]

Bulls: drafted Jordan 3rd in 1984. Traded 8th pick and Olden Polynice to draft Scottie Pippen 5th in 1987. Drafted Horace Grant 10th in 1987.

Lakers: traded basically entire team for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Drafted Magic Johnson 1st in 1979. Drafted James Worthy 1st in 1982.

Warriors: Drafted Steph Curry 7th in 2009. Drafted Klay Thompson 11th in 2011. Drafted Draymond Green 35th in 2012.

Spurs: Drafted Duncan 1st in 1997. Drafted Ginobili 57th in 1999. Drafted Parker 29th in 2001.

It seems as though maybe there’s a blueprint for building dynasties largely through the draft once you have your franchise player, and so it’s not necessary to blow one’s wad in the near term.

Jordan didn’t win his first ring until the age of 28. The Bulls should/could have been more aggressive so as to not waste his earlier years.

Draymond was drafted with the 35th pick. A low pick like that is what the Spurs will continue to have if they trade for Lillard.

Same with the Spurs big 3. The Spurs don’t lose their ability to build a dynasty if they get Lillard. Period.

[Ariel]

F'ing Twitter pulling the plug on free agency... I can't see a damn thing :lol

[Mr. Body]

That Bobby Marks proposal of Vassell + Doug + CHA pick for Dame….man, if you are only giving up one pick, a lottery protected one at that and Doug? I think Vassell is worth giving up in that type of deal tbh…

Spurs still have tons of picks including all their own and all their other young talent and swap Vassell upcoming 20-25M + Dougs money for paying Dame an extra 25M?

I still dont want it but if that’s all it takes? I would understand it.

Theoretically...

You don't need to give Vassell. You just have to beat Miami's package, which is ass.

[Degoat]

Been watching the ESPN free agency special last two days and I swear one of these days Richard Jefferson and perk are gonna throw hands lol

[Extra Stout]

Lillard is just the latest shiny object for Spurstalk posters to obsess over because the offseason is boring. It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s interesting.

The Spurs obviously have no interest in paying him $60 million when he’s 36 years old and in steep decline at a time when Victor is entering his prime and they really need to put capable pieces around him.

We’re just raging against the inevitability of another losing season with no playoffs in 2023-24.

[JPB]

People totally ignoring Shams litterally saying Lillard only wants to go to Miami :lol

We got our 2023 Corey Magette :lol

[CorrectCrusader]

A guy on YouTube did a simulation. Wemby played 26 years, was all-time in scoring, rebounds and blocks, won 7 rings, 4 MVP, and 8 dpoy.

Can't argue with that

[offset formation]

Theoretically...

You don't need to give Vassell. You just have to beat Miami's package, which is ass.

We don't have the cap space to do it without taking McBuckets and Vassell off the payroll

[DPG21920]

People totally ignoring Shams litterally saying Lillard only wants to go to Miami :lol

We got our 2023 Corey Magette :lol

True. But unlike Beal Dame has no no trade clause. So POR can ultimately decide best offer. But agree if Dame wants MIA that’s likely what happens.

[Bruno]

The third team in a potential Portland/Miami trade would be a team willing to take Tyler Herro and/or Duncan Robinson.

If I were Spurs GM, there is now way I would want these players given their contracts.

[RC_Drunkford]

even McDermott, Graham, Birch, Osman, Stevens, CHA, CHI and TOR pick plus 3 second rounders would beat Miami's package :lol

[LeBowen]

Brook just got paid, leaving us with McDaniels and Reaves as potential FA targets.

[Dejounte]

Back to Milwaukee for Lopez

[r0drig0lac]

Brolo in the bucks

[BatManu20]

Free agent center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year, $48 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

[ace3g]

Shams Charania
ShamsCharania
Free agent center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year, $48 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

[DPG21920]

Would be sick if Dame wanted PHI and SA could snag Maxey

Something like:

PHI Gets: Dame Lillard

POR Gets: picks and expiring deals

Clippers Get: Harden

Spurs Get: Maxey + salaries

[SpursFan86]

Nice, fuck Houston :lol Hope they drop $20MM a year on Dillon Brooks.

[RD2191]

r/ripcity reddit in shambles. Shades of the Kawhi fiasco. You love to see it. :lol

[DPG21920]

The third team in a potential Portland/Miami trade would be a team willing to take Tyler Herro and/or Duncan Robinson.

If I were Spurs GM, there is now way I would want these players given their contracts.

Exactly…there’s not enough compensation there to take that on unless POR would give up Sharpe or something like that which they wouldn’t in a rebuild

[RD2191]

I swear any ST poster could run the Spurs better than that retard brian wrong.

[Seventyniner]

I don't see how the Spurs could participate in a three-way POR/MIA/SA trade that sends Dame to Miami. Portland will want major assets for Dame, and the Spurs will want assets to be enticed to participate (most likely as a dumping ground for contracts). That means Miami has to give up assets, and they only have two firsts they can trade: 2028 and 2030. They can include pick swaps in 2024/2027/2029 too.

[Splits]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fz95fh4XoAI4cOB?format=jpg&name=900x900

welp, was fun while it lasted

[mo7888]

The third team in a potential Portland/Miami trade would be a team willing to take Tyler Herro and/or Duncan Robinson.

If I were Spurs GM, there is now way I would want these players given their contracts.

I like Herro... I'm just not overjoyed with his contract...or his D...

[lefty20]

With Lopez off the board, it's time for the Spurs to fuck with Lakers.

[DPG21920]

The third team in a potential Portland/Miami trade would be a team willing to take Tyler Herro and/or Duncan Robinson.

If I were Spurs GM, there is now way I would want these players given their contracts.

Exactly…there’s not enough compensation there to take that on unless POR would give up Sharpe or something like that which they wouldn’t in a rebuild

[Mr. Body]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fz95fh4XoAI4cOB?format=jpg&name=900x900

welp, was fun while it lasted

Elon Musk: "I'm a certified genius, everybody, I swear."

[kobyz]

Bulls: drafted Jordan 3rd in 1984. Traded 8th pick and Olden Polynice to draft Scottie Pippen 5th in 1987. Drafted Horace Grant 10th in 1987.

Lakers: traded basically entire team for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Drafted Magic Johnson 1st in 1979. Drafted James Worthy 1st in 1982.

Warriors: Drafted Steph Curry 7th in 2009. Drafted Klay Thompson 11th in 2011. Drafted Draymond Green 35th in 2012.

Spurs: Drafted Duncan 1st in 1997. Drafted Ginobili 57th in 1999. Drafted Parker 29th in 2001.

It seems as though maybe there’s a blueprint for building dynasties largely through the draft once you have your franchise player, and so it’s not necessary to blow one’s wad in the near term.

That has nothing to do with no using your cap space on players you like

[scott]

F'ing Twitter pulling the plug on free agency... I can't see a damn thing :lol

For big brain master mind business reasons that no one will ever be smart enough to understand, Elmo decided to limit the number of tweets you can see a day. Unverified accounts will now only be able to see 600 posts/day.

LOL, paying 50 billion to ruin twitter. What’s the alternative? Even timvp’s Slovenian servers are working better than twitter now.

[kobyz]

The third team in a potential Portland/Miami trade would be a team willing to take Tyler Herro and/or Duncan Robinson.

If I were Spurs GM, there is now way I would want these players given their contracts.

Maybe to take Nurkic contract

[kobyz]

It's Grant Williams or bust for us by now, no?

[kxs783kms]

All of those you just named are big markets that players would want to stay in. I'm saying that if Wemby seems that you're not trying to bring in big name talents to play along aside him, I can easily see a team like LA throwing the big lights and stage pitch to him when it's time. He doesn't have the Duncan personality to me. Even though he's very mature for his age, I can see SA not being a big enough stage for him.

[DPG21920]

Maybe to take Nurkic contract

That deal is worse than Duncan Robinson deal….Spurs would need serious compensation

[td4mvp2k]

I don't see how the Spurs could participate in a three-way POR/MIA/SA trade that sends Dame to Miami. Portland will want major assets for Dame, and the Spurs will want assets to be enticed to participate (most likely as a dumping ground for contracts). That means Miami has to give up assets, and they only have two firsts they can trade: 2028 and 2030. They can include pick swaps in 2024/2027/2029 too.
portland fans are thrilled spurs were rumored in this circus

[Mr. Body]

It's Grant Williams or bust for us by now, no?

God I hope not.

[ChumpDumper]

All of those you just named are big markets that players would want to stay in. I'm saying that if Wemby seems that you're not trying to bring in big name talents to play along aside him, I can easily see a team like LA throwing the big lights and stage pitch to him when it's time. He doesn't have the Duncan personality to me. Even though he's very mature for his age, I can see SA not being a big enough stage for him.

Then he'll just leave no matter what.

[kobyz]

Would be sick if Dame wanted PHI and SA could snag Maxey

Something like:

PHI Gets: Dame Lillard

POR Gets: picks and expiring deals

Clippers Get: Harden

Spurs Get: Maxey + salaries

Why for PHI to give young Lillard for Lillard and also to throw in Harden? Are you drunk?

[timvp]

Put me in the thanks but no thanks camp regarding Lillard. Great player, it's cool the Spurs are mentioned but the timeline doesn't work. It's tempting but you can't trade for a guy who will be in steep decline when Wemby is entering the years he'll be ready to compete. Sorry.

[offset formation]

For big brain master mind business reasons that no one will ever be smart enough to understand, Elmo decided to limit the number of tweets you can see a day. Unverified accounts will now only be able to see 600 posts/day.

LOL, paying 50 billion to ruin twitter. What’s the alternative? Even timvp’s Slovenian servers are working better than twitter now.

:lmao

[Dejounte]

https://twitter.com/clutchpointsapp/status/1675207364708892679?s=46

[kobyz]

That deal is worse than Duncan Robinson deal….Spurs would need serious compensation

A first + the ucla guy just drafted?

[lefty20]

Put me in the thanks but no thanks camp regarding Lillard. Great player, it's cool the Spurs are mentioned but the timeline doesn't work. It's tempting but you can't trade for a guy who will be in steep decline when Wemby is entering the years he'll be ready to compete. Sorry.

But you don't understand bro... Wemby is already in talks with the Lakers about leaving.

Didn't we have a cliffjumpers thread back in the days? Gonna need to necro that shit.

[Trueblood]

Jordan didn’t win his first ring until the age of 28. The Bulls should/could have been more aggressive so as to not waste his earlier years.

Draymond was drafted with the 35th pick. A low pick like that is what the Spurs will continue to have if they trade for Lillard.

Same with the Spurs big 3. The Spurs don’t lose their ability to build a dynasty if they get Lillard. Period.

If the Bulls had done what you're suggesting they never would have been able to get Pippen. If the Lakes had done that they would have missed out on Magic. If GS had done that they would have missed out on Thompson. I'm not disagreeing with your initial principle. We're not a huge FA draw and we're going to have to give up something at some point and go all in, but it's premature to do that right now. Wemby's own comments to the media recently show that he has patience and is willing to wait. Maybe you should consider following his lead.

The answer to our problem is not to blow our metaphorical load to get Dame right now. If we do that we don't touch the finals, he is diminishing returns, in 4 years he's 36 and we're locked into $60 million his final year crippling our cap space, and just as Wemby is in full stride we'll be wheeling out the corpse of Dame time with no money to sign anyone else because of his money and the rookie max extension we give Wemby. That's not a position you want to be in.

The answer is to wait 2-3 years, get some quality lottery picks, use your draft capital to go after whatever disgruntled star wants out then, max out Wemby, get some quality rotation players, and run it with your dynamic duo, quality veterans, and solid lottery picks on rookie scale contracts.

[JPB]

All of those you just named are big markets that players would want to stay in. I'm saying that if Wemby seems that you're not trying to bring in big name talents to play along aside him, I can easily see a team like LA throwing the big lights and stage pitch to him when it's time. He doesn't have the Duncan personality to me. Even though he's very mature for his age, I can see SA not being a big enough stage for him.

Nevermind if he said he likes loyalty and hopes to stay very long in SA... but you guys certainly know better about him.

[Utopia]

With Lopez off the board, it's time for the Spurs to fuck with Lakers.

why not just go after players we can actually get? Like Donte, Kelly Oubre, Christian Wood, Grant Williams, etc?

[Dejounte]

If the Bulls had done what you're suggesting they never would have been able to get Pippen. If the Lakes had done that they would have missed out on Magic. If GS had done that they would have missed out on Thompson. I'm not disagreeing with your initial principle. We're not a huge FA draw and we're going to have to give up something at some point and go all in, but it's premature to do that right now. Wemby's own comments to the media recently show that he has patience and is willing to wait. Maybe you should consider following his lead.

The answer to our problem is not to blow our metaphorical load to get Dame right now. If we do that we don't touch the finals, he is diminishing returns, in 4 years he's 36 and we're locked into $60 million his final year crippling our cap space, and just as Wemby is in full stride we'll be wheeling out the corpse of Dame time with no money to sign anyone else because of his money and the rookie max extension we give Wemby. That's not a position you want to be in.

The answer is to wait 2-3 years, get some quality lottery picks, use your draft capital to go after whatever disgruntled star wants out then, max out Wemby, get some quality rotation players, and run it with your dynamic duo, quality veterans, and solid lottery picks on rookie scale contracts.

The Lakers did do that. They traded the farm for Jabbar.

the hypothetical is that Jordan finds his Pippen earlier than the age of 28.

I didn’t say anything about changing what GS did. I’m saying the Spurs can still follow that model because they would have their first and second star, while trying to get their third like the GS did with Draymond.

Wemby’s comments have more been aligned with winning now. I find it ridiculous that people think we’re still going to get a top 5ish picks for a year or two more. Those days are over.

also, folks have said that Dame’s contract ends at the right time to where it does not hamper any of our future plans.

[scott]

More excited about the possibility of participating in the Lillard deal than actually getting Lillard.

With that said, I think Dame is the type of guy (like Bron) who will still be playing at a high level at 36 years old. The price tag is just steeeeeeep. I wouldn’t be mad if we ended up with Dame (especially if we only lose Devin, CHA, and CHI picks) - but it’s not my preferred outcome.

[scott]

And thank you NBA Free Agency for resulting in more airtime for Mikala Andrews. Smoke show.

[Seventyniner]

It would be pretty funny if Dame ends up on the Spurs after Aldridge made that move in free agency in 2015. The Spurs would get booed every game in Portland for the rest of time.

As for my personal feelings on a potential Spurs trade for Dame, I'm torn. Wemby wants to win now and Dame was fantastic last year. Dame's contract isn't nearly as onerous as some think: Dame's 4 years remaining coincide with Wemby's rookie contract, and we have seen that having lots of cap space is somewhat overrated. It's easy to say "omg 60 million in 2026-2027!" but that will only be 1/3 of the cap by then.

The real tipping point for me is Dame's age. If he was 30 this would be a slam dunk. With him at 32 it's more iffy, even though his primary skill is something that tends to age well.

Overall I'm actually in favor of trading for Dame. He's a fantastic player at the position of greatest need and makes the Spurs instant playoff contenders. But I don't think it's a 100% no-brainer.

[BatManu20]

Knicks are finalizing trade to send F Obi Toppin to the Pacers for two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. Deal gives Toppin an opportunity to play a more significant role in Indiana and stacks up more draft assets for New York. Deal can’t be completed until Thursday.

[BatManu20]

There goes Reaves.


RFA Austin Reaves has agreed to return to the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year, $56 million Early Bird maximum contract, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Agents Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency negotiated the new deal to keep Reaves in L.A. long term.

[Dejounte]

It would be pretty funny if Dame ends up on the Spurs after Aldridge made that move in free agency in 2015. The Spurs would get booed every game in Portland for the rest of time.

As for my personal feelings on a potential Spurs trade for Dame, I'm torn. Wemby wants to win now and Dame was fantastic last year. Dame's contract isn't nearly as onerous as some think: Dame's 4 years remaining coincide with Wemby's rookie contract, and we have seen that having lots of cap space is somewhat overrated. It's easy to say "omg 60 million in 2026-2027!" but that will only be 1/3 of the cap by then.

The real tipping point for me is Dame's age. If he was 30 this would be a slam dunk. With him at 32 it's more iffy, even though his primary skill is something that tends to age well.

Overall I'm actually in favor of trading for Dame. He's a fantastic player at the position of greatest need and makes the Spurs instant playoff contenders. But I don't think it's a 100% no-brainer.

Exactly this. I’m not exactly 100% on board but it is appalling that there are folks who aren’t at least open to the idea, while providing concerns that aren’t even valid.

[offset formation]

But you don't understand bro... Wemby is already in talks with the Lakers about leaving.

Didn't we have a cliffjumpers thread back in the days? Gonna need to necro that shit.

Sigh. Weak shit that completely misses the context of my post. I merely stated he has a fascination with them as evidenced by volunteering that he wanted to play against their FURKING SUMMER LEAGUE TEAM.

The Spurs can either help nurture that fascination by idiotic decisions such that when he has the ability to leave, in his prime at age 26, he will. Or....and hear me out here...we can show him we ain't fucking around and are all about doing and spending what we need to win. He's made that very clear.

[r0drig0lac]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675218487982145536

[Mr. Body]

I would actually be interested in Lillard if he didn't have those last two absurd years of his contract (and they didn't have to give up much). But he's clearly going to Miami anyway.

[scott]

Reaves has resigned with LA for 4/56.

Regardless of what you think of Reaves… he should fire his agent.

[ace3g]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1344706975981047812/ncCvgyTX_normal.jpg
Michael Scotto MikeAScotto
(https://twitter.com/MikeAScotto)5m (https://twitter.com/MikeAScotto/status/1675218374828212224)
The Hornets are strongly considering an offer sheet to Celtics restricted free agent Grant Williams, sources told @hoopshype (https://twitter.com/hoopshype/). Williams has also received interest from the Mavericks. Charlotte is also in discussions with its restricted free agent PJ Washington on a possible deal.

[Splits]

Knicks are finalizing trade to send F Obi Toppin to the Pacers for two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. Deal gives Toppin an opportunity to play a more significant role in Indiana and stacks up more draft assets for New York. Deal can’t be completed until Thursday.

dammit, we needed those 2nds

[LeBowen]

Well, with Reaves being gone it's either an offer for McDaniels or Spurs are going to be in a trade.

[Extra Stout]

Wemby said he wants to win soon, not win now. And he will win soon.

It’s Spurstalk posters that want to win now, because many of us have the attention spans of gnats.

[MannyIsGod]

Fucking steal for the Lakers

[Mr. Body]

Reaves has resigned with LA for 4/56.

Regardless of what you think of Reaves… he should fire his agent.

What was his agent supposed to do? Suck off Brian Wright to try to get a contract?

[timvp]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675218487982145536

Welp, there goes that pipe dream. At least it won't drag on until the 6th.

I'm surprised his agents wanted their names in that tweet. Embarrassing job on their part.

[BatManu20]

Reaves at $52M/4 is a steal of a deal. Spurs should’ve offered him $80M+ just to fuck with the lakers, knowing they’d match regardless. Lame.

[SpursFan86]

Yeah Reaves for $14MM a year is a great deal.

[Mr. Body]

A year from now we're going to be like, "Austin Reaves who? Oh, that guy."

Just a part-time one-week obsession.

Gonna say it: I'd rather take Cedi Osman for one year at $7 million than have to pay Austin Reaves $25 million for four years.

[offset formation]

Reaves has resigned with LA for 4/56.

Regardless of what you think of Reaves… he should fire his agent.

I'm ashamed of the front office that they didn't make the Lakers bleed their own blood. Should have sent him an offer sheet at 4/100. Shame.

[Kurik]

A year from now we're going to be like, "Austin Reaves who? Oh, that guy."

Just a part-time one-week obsession.

Gonna say it: I'd rather take Cedi Osman for one year at $7 million than have to pay Austin Reaves $25 million for four years.

I’d rather take Cedi for one year and the Lakers paying Reaves $25 million.

[JPB]

Reaves has resigned with LA for 4/56.

Regardless of what you think of Reaves… he should fire his agent.

Expect Reaves to suddenly have new lucrative endorsements contracts...

[Utopia]

I told you guys Reaves was a waste of time and Spurs FO knew that.

you guys trying to make points about “screwing the Lakers” wanted to play like middle school children. Spurs don’t operate that way. Sorry not sorry.

[ace3g]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1648391157045673984/PeoZeyFY_normal.jpg
Shams Charania ShamsCharania
(https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania)38s (https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675220871462506497)
Just In: Charlotte Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball is finalizing a five-year designated maximum contract extension that is worth up to $260 million, league sources tell @TheAthletic (https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/) @Stadium (https://twitter.com/Stadium/).

[offset formation]

What was his agent supposed to do? Suck off Brian Wright to try to get a contract?

Remind him that his client works for the hated Lakers that clearly colluded illegally with a player that was still under contract with his team.

[lefty20]

Sigh. Weak shit that completely misses the context of my post. I merely stated he has a fascination with them as evidenced by volunteering that he wanted to play against their FURKING SUMMER LEAGUE TEAM.

The Spurs can either help nurture that fascination by idiotic decisions such that when he has the ability to leave, in his prime at age 26, he will. Or....and hear me out here...we can show him we ain't fucking around and are all about doing and spending what we need to win. He's made that very clear.

My apologies, my post wasn't necessarily directed towards you and any particular poster. I threw out the Lakers because they're the biggest name.

Just the group that has taken his "win asap" quote and run away with it. Because they also ignoring the following quotes about him understanding what it takes to build a consistent winning team and needing patience to achieve that.

[Crazymaddopeyo]

So no Lopez, No Reaves. Now what?

[td4mvp2k]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675218487982145536
sickening

[Extra Stout]

The Lakers did do that. They traded the farm for Jabbar.
Maybe the Spurs can copy that template. Perhaps Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic will tell their existing teams they want to live a lifestyle based upon breakfast tacos, and can they please trade them to a city that better fits that lifestyle.

Actually with Luka that’s not out of the question.

[DPG21920]

Why for PHI to give young Lillard for Lillard and also to throw in Harden? Are you drunk?

Theres more to it - Harden wants out anyways so they do deal with LAC. They get Dame as replacement/upgrade. It’s just a light framework not exact - something general to illustrate a 4 team deal

[scott]

What was his agent supposed to do? Suck off Brian Wright to try to get a contract?

An agent’s job is to help his client get as much money as possible. To not be able to generate an offer sheet from anyone to get more for Reaves than his Bird Max is poor. Maybe Reaves doesn’t care. Maybe the other 29 GMs in the league share your opinion of Reaves. We’ll never know - but from the cheap seats it appears that money was left on the table. Maybe not though. But now in addition to having a good player locked up for cheap, the Lakers also now have a very valuable trade chip if they need it down the line.

[BatManu20]

Lakers having a hell of an off-season tbh.

[Extra Stout]

So no Lopez, No Reaves. Now what?
Summer league

[offset formation]

I told you guys Reaves was a waste of time and Spurs FO knew that.

you guys trying to make points about “screwing the Lakers” wanted to play like middle school children. Spurs don’t operate that way. Sorry not sorry.

Nonsense. It's not middle school. It's making the Lakers PAY for their obvious advantages and level the playing field. They are almost without fail the #1 free agent destination. They have the deepest pockets and a geographic advantage 95% league will never have. And they fucked the Spurs over previously. Make. Them. Pay.

[Mr. Body]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1648391157045673984/PeoZeyFY_normal.jpg
Shams Charania ShamsCharania
(https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania)38s (https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675220871462506497)
Just In: Charlotte Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball is finalizing a five-year designated maximum contract extension that is worth up to $260 million, league sources tell @TheAthletic (https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/) @Stadium (https://twitter.com/Stadium/).

That'll be a nasty contract by year three. At least we'll get our pick(s).

[timvp]

So Lopez and Reaves off the table. Salary floor not reached yet. Are the Spurs looking for more trades where they can continue to stockpile second round picks? Will they look to sign a player to a one-year contract? If the Spurs still want a center, Plumlee on a one-year deal would be good. If they want a player with upside, Jalen McDaniels would be interesting.

Maybe a Mamu contract soon to inch closer to the floor?

[BatManu20]

Now that we’ve whiffed on everyone else, I definitely want Mamu back tbh. Plumlee isn’t ideal, but wouldn’t be terrible I guess. Kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel here now.

[DPG21920]

Put me in the thanks but no thanks camp regarding Lillard. Great player, it's cool the Spurs are mentioned but the timeline doesn't work. It's tempting but you can't trade for a guy who will be in steep decline when Wemby is entering the years he'll be ready to compete. Sorry.

The only devils advocate I can think of is if you are worried about Vassell knee at all and you know you have to pay him 100M+, is paying Vassell+another vet combined 45/50M any worse than just paying Dame in that context?

If you are doing the Bobby Marks deal where it’s Doug/Vassell/ChA pick only, the above question comes into play and makes it seem not as bad. I just doubt SA could get it done with just 1 pick

[Mr. Body]

So Lopez and Reaves off the table. Salary floor not reached yet. Are the Spurs looking for more trades where they can continue to stockpile second round picks? Will they look to sign a player to a one-year contract? If the Spurs still want a center, Plumlee on a one-year deal would be good. If they want a player with upside, Jalen McDaniels would be interesting.

Maybe a Mamu contract soon to inch closer to the floor?

Lopez and Reaves were never going anywhere. Milwaukee is literally the perfect spot for Lopez and they want to make another run.

I've been on Team One-Year since the start. Unless some unimaginable possibility popped up in terms of a player or somehow they could take on a Duncan Robinson for FRPs. But that last possibility increasingly seemed unlikely and the value of short term contracts became clear.

I still kind of like Plumlee, hesitant only because he would want more than a year.

[Obstructed_View]

See my reply to poopbox
I was playing devil's advocate. I rationalized it the same way you did.

Here is my thing: Does Dame win you a ring I'm the next two years? I say no.

[Obstructed_View]

Been watching the ESPN free agency special last two days and I swear one of these days Richard Jefferson and perk are gonna throw hands lol
Jefferson is a pussy, and Perk is too stupid to know when he's being insulted.

[MannyIsGod]

So Lopez and Reaves off the table. Salary floor not reached yet. Are the Spurs looking for more trades where they can continue to stockpile second round picks? Will they look to sign a player to a one-year contract? If the Spurs still want a center, Plumlee on a one-year deal would be good. If they want a player with upside, Jalen McDaniels would be interesting.

Maybe a Mamu contract soon to inch closer to the floor?

Are they not at the floor with the Cedi acquisition?

[spurraider21]

After plumlee there’s nobody out there anymore that i care for. Fingers crossed to get in as the third team in the Lillard trade and otherwise enjoy a second offseason of the team being unable to do anything with cap space

[Mr. Body]

An agent’s job is to help his client get as much money as possible. To not be able to generate an offer sheet from anyone to get more for Reaves than his Bird Max is poor. Maybe Reaves doesn’t care. Maybe the other 29 GMs in the league share your opinion of Reaves. We’ll never know - but from the cheap seats it appears that money was left on the table. Maybe not though. But now in addition to having a good player locked up for cheap, the Lakers also now have a very valuable trade chip if they need it down the line.

How was his agent gonna force other GMs to offer his client a contract? Jesus Christ.

Reaves got absolutely everything out of the Lakers he could, including a trade kicker.

[offset formation]

Now that we’ve whiffed on everyone else, I definitely want Mamu back tbh. Plumlee isn’t ideal, but wouldn’t be terrible I guess. Kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel here now.

Big assumption we whiffed. More probably we never swung.

[Mr. Body]

After plumlee there’s nobody out there anymore that i care for. Fingers crossed to get in as the third team in the Lillard trade and otherwise enjoy a second offseason of the team being unable to do anything with cap space

Do you realize how much the Spurs have acquired using their cap in the last few years?

[spurraider21]

Are they not at the floor with the Cedi acquisition?
Nope

[offset formation]

Are they not at the floor with the Cedi acquisition?

Still about 6M or so south as it looks.

[spurraider21]

How was his agent gonna force other GMs to offer his client a contract? Jesus Christ.

Reaves got absolutely everything out of the Lakers he could, including a trade kicker.
He should have just played on a 1 year tender and cashed in next year. He’s worth way more than the MLE

at this point he’s legitimately one of the best bargain contracts in the nba

[R. DeMurre]

Wow, Bruce Brown got a 2 year/$45mil deal that pays him $8+mil more a year than Reaves, with the added flexibility of likely signing an even better contract in two years. In the last year or two of Reaves' contract, he'll basically be making the MLE.

[scott]

How was his agent gonna force other GMs to offer his client a contract? Jesus Christ.

Reaves got absolutely everything out of the Lakers he could, including a trade kicker.

There is no “forcing” but what do you think agents do, man? Sit around by their phone and hope a team calls? For someone who usually has pretty good basketball takes, you sure are dense at times about the business side of things.

[mo7888]

Lakers having a hell of an off-season tbh.

As much as I hate to admit it....you're right..

[spurraider21]

Do you realize how much the Spurs have acquired using their cap in the last few years?
Yeah a handful of SRPs that will either be sold for future SRPs or outright cash

meanwhile next year we will have a very similar roster to the tank team but a much more expensive version of it after Vassell and Collins deals

[MannyIsGod]

How was his agent gonna force other GMs to offer his client a contract? Jesus Christ.

Reaves got absolutely everything out of the Lakers he could, including a trade kicker.

Ok, adding "Agents" to the list of thigns Mr. Body doesn't understand.

[Davidicus]

Count me in for wanting Lillard.

Yes our current strategy with Wemby is a very good one, but it's not the only good one.

Dame is CP3-like from a mentoring standpoint, but can actually play at an extremely high level for the next 3-6 years. I understand the "timeline" argument, but just because they won't align in a perfect storm does not mean that's the only route for a positive outcome, that is worth investing in:

Say we establish a smart, disciplined, and high-chemistry team over the next 2-4 years that other FA's want to come play for? What if Dame on the court gives Wemby space to breathe & grow, with opponent defenses not 100% laser focused on shutting him down? Wouldn't Dame surely mentor Sochan, Vassell, Keldon, etc. (whoever's left lol) into the best versions of themselves? Not to mention he plugs a major hole at PG. There are major positives to this 4-year timeline.

As for the money, yes he's got a huge contract but what are we spending that money on over 4 years that's better, in terms of getting Wemby to superstar status (the absolutely primary goal)? When Dame's contract is up, we max Vic's extension and re-sign Dame to a more appropriate contract as a veteran PG who can space the floor (and maybe he can still ball out after 4 years of Spurs load management + our new training facility).

So the goal would be around year 3-5 we've got some more rookies + 1-2 big FA's ready to ball for a championship.

This is all with a big asterisk that we can get Dame without selling the farm. Would take some poker-face negotiations since we aren't knocking on their door.

Second asterisk is I don't know who Dame is as a person, and I don't know Dame + Pop's relationship. I assume healthy on both counts.

[kxs783kms]

I was playing devil's advocate. I rationalized it the same way you did.

Here is my thing: Does Dame win you a ring I'm the next two years? I say no.

You never know what players may want to join the Spurs if they see a Wemby/Dame team. Sometimes it's about big names drawing in other great talent. Then that's when you get into the championship conversation. Ok, you don't want Dame, fine. Who else do you see coming here anytime soon on their own will that's going to put us in championship contention? If you get a chance to get a player like Dame now, you take it and let the chips fall where they may.

[Mr. Body]

There is no “forcing” but what do you think agents do, man? Sit around by their phone and hope a team calls? For someone who usually has pretty good basketball takes, you sure are dense at times about the business side of things.

"Hey, I'll take you and your family out to see Indiana Jones at Alamo and I'll buy the food if you offer a contract to Austin."

"No."

"Oh, okay."

You're just being silly, man. Move on.

[Trueblood]

The Lakers did do that. They traded the farm for Jabbar.

the hypothetical is that Jordan finds his Pippen earlier than the age of 28.

I didn’t say anything about changing what GS did. I’m saying the Spurs can still follow that model because they would have their first and second star, while trying to get their third like the GS did with Draymond.

Wemby’s comments have more been aligned with winning now. I find it ridiculous that people think we’re still going to get a top 5ish picks for a year or two more. Those days are over.

also, folks have said that Dame’s contract ends at the right time to where it does not hamper any of our future plans.

"Some players have tried to win the championship, win a ring for years, and haven't made it. I don't want to be one of those," Wembanyama said. "My goal is going to be to get closer and closer every time to the ring and to learn how to make it."

You're not wrong for wanting to get him help, but if we're going to mortgage anything it should be for a young player who can grow with him. Imagine two years from now Wemby has his NBA legs under him but Dame is starting to fall apart. It's not an unrealistic scenario since he's missed 77 games in the last two seasons. Another all star is tired of their team. They want to come here to play with Wemby but we've still got Dame under contract for two more years on what would be considered one of the worst contracts in the league. How do we get out from that and move on someone who could actually push us towards a championship? It would take all our draft capital just to get someone to take him off our hands. You're willing to risk that in order to go 41-41 for the next couple years and fight for a play in spot to get bounced in the first round AND get a crappy draft pick? Doesn't make sense. If we're going to go all in go after someone 5-7 years younger who will still be in their prime when Wemby is starting his.

[DPG21920]

Lakers have crushed this FA and last trade deadline. They have gone from chasing names to actual team building and it sucks.

Pacers have done a great job and taking calculated gambles while securing their best player long term and having a young exciting roster

Spurs have done a great job but hard not to feel they took foot off gas a bit much…again, I like overall where we are at, but man, this was a disappointing FA so far overall opportunity wise and this is from someone who has been very vocal about SA needing to be patient too. They have been a little TOO patient in some regards unfortunately

[offset formation]

I was playing devil's advocate. I rationalized it the same way you did.

Here is my thing: Does Dame win you a ring I'm the next two years? I say no.

I say it gives us a brief (maybe 24-25 & 25-26) ahead of the young core's schedule, chance to ring if we caught some breaks.

[mo7888]

Lakers have crushed this FA and last trade deadline. They have gone from chasing names to actual team building and it sucks.

Pacers have done a great job and taking calculated gambles while securing their best player long term and having a young exciting roster

Spurs have done a great job but hard not to feel they took foot off gas a bit much…again, I like overall where we are at, but man, this was a disappointing FA so far overall opportunity wise and this is from someone who has been very vocal about SA needing to be patient too. They have been a little TOO patient in some regards unfortunately

Agreed

[timvp]

Are they not at the floor with the Cedi acquisition?

Floor update:

Keldon Johnson – $20,000,000
Doug McDermott – $13,750,000
Devonte’ Graham – $12,100,000
Zach Collins – $7,700,000
Khem Birch – $6,985,000
Devin Vassell – $5,887,899
Jeremy Sochan – $5,316,960
Malaki Branham – $3,071,880
Blake Wesley – $2,504,640
Charles Bassey – $2,500,000
J:(shua Primo – $4,341,600
Victor Wembanyama – $12,158,760
Tre Jones – ~$10,000,000
Julian Champagnie – ~$3,000,000
Cedi Osman – $6,718,842
Lamar Stevens – ~$500,000

Current Total: $116,535,581
Salary Floor: $122,400,000

So it looks like the Spurs are below the floor by about $6 million.

[MannyIsGod]

Still about 6M or so south as it looks.

Yeah but assuming Sid gets a deal and they fill out the roster I think they are actually pretty close.

[Mr. Body]

Are we really impressed the Lakers picked up Gabe Vincent, a player no one heard of a six months ago, and Taurean Prince? Oh yeah, they 'upgraded' from Mo Bamba to the other massively disappointing UT big man, Jaxson Hayes.

Rui and Austin Reaves were already on their team, so they kept them. Big deal. They made the WTC in the same way Dallas made the WTC the year before -- because somebody had to -- and both teams got slaughtered.

The Lakers are doing alright, finally not making splashy moves, but their fortunes still depend on Anthony Davis deciding he wants to play basketball.

[LeBowen]

Lakers have crushed this FA and last trade deadline. They have gone from chasing names to actual team building and it sucks.

Father time finally caught up with Lebron and he's done.
Their franchise player is 30 years old AD who simply can't stay healthy and he'll be up for an extension next summer.
They're not going to win shit.


Spurs have done a great job but hard not to feel they took foot off gas a bit much…again, I like overall where we are at, but man, this was a disappointing FA so far overall opportunity wise and this is from someone who has been very vocal about SA needing to be patient too. They have been a little TOO patient in some regards unfortunately

Which players should've Spurs chased?
Reaves was obviously the player everyone wanted, but giving him the max would be a huge overpay and the Lakers would've probably matched it. The only thing Spurs missed was messing with the Lakers.

Who else? No FA does much for this team. Brook would've been nice, but he's 35 and got paid by the Bucks.
I'd like Spurs to get McDaniels, but it's not like there were any must have targets in this FA class.

And there will be many trade opportunities with half the league being close to blowing it up and most stars not being happy with their situation.

[Extra Stout]

who else do you see coming here anytime soon on their own will that's going to put us in championship contention?
The players they draft in 2024 and 2025

[Mr. Body]

Floor update:

Keldon Johnson – $20,000,000
Doug McDermott – $13,750,000
Devonte’ Graham – $12,100,000
Zach Collins – $7,700,000
Khem Birch – $6,985,000
Devin Vassell – $5,887,899
Jeremy Sochan – $5,316,960
Malaki Branham – $3,071,880
Blake Wesley – $2,504,640
Charles Bassey – $2,500,000
J:(shua Primo – $4,341,600
Victor Wembanyama – $12,158,760
Tre Jones – ~$10,000,000
Julian Champagnie – ~$3,000,000
Cedi Osman – $6,718,842
Lamar Stevens – ~$500,000

Current Total: $116,535,581
Salary Floor: $122,400,000

So it looks like the Spurs are below the floor by about $6 million.

Still need a big.

[MannyIsGod]

Lakers have crushed this FA and last trade deadline. They have gone from chasing names to actual team building and it sucks.

Pacers have done a great job and taking calculated gambles while securing their best player long term and having a young exciting roster

Spurs have done a great job but hard not to feel they took foot off gas a bit much…again, I like overall where we are at, but man, this was a disappointing FA so far overall opportunity wise and this is from someone who has been very vocal about SA needing to be patient too. They have been a little TOO patient in some regards unfortunately

They obviously favor playing it ultra safe which means nothing atrocious is probably going to happen but that also really limits the upside. Honestly they're probably right to do things this way. I remember 2-3 years ago when everyone was all over Toronto's FO and look how bad they've fucked up in that time span.

[timvp]

The only devils advocate I can think of is if you are worried about Vassell knee at all and you know you have to pay him 100M+, is paying Vassell+another vet combined 45/50M any worse than just paying Dame in that context?

If you are doing the Bobby Marks deal where it’s Doug/Vassell/ChA pick only, the above question comes into play and makes it seem not as bad. I just doubt SA could get it done with just 1 pick

Yeah, I mean, I'm not a super hard no against Lillard .... but it'd take something like Wemby requesting it and the Spurs not having to give up more than one first rounder.

Last year Lillard was great. The previous year though he was terrible for a lot of the season. He was dealing with an injury that season but if that's a preview of an old Lillard, that was not a pretty sight.

[BatManu20]

Big assumption we whiffed. More probably we never swung.

True. After BW’s “we really like the off-season our guys have had” comment he made this week, it’s very possible Spurs were content and not interested in anything to begin with. Cedi sorta fell in their laps but he doesn’t move the needle at all. Spurs likely just want to see what they have this year with Wemby and co. and respond accordingly next Summer. The “slow and steady” approach that’s been rumored seems to be the case.

[scott]

"Hey, I'll take you and your family out to see Indiana Jones at Alamo and I'll buy the food if you offer a contract to Austin."

"No."

"Oh, okay."

You're just being silly, man. Move on.

This may be your stupidest, fantasyland view of how things work yet.

Austin Reaves just got paid less than Max Strus and Bruce Brown. The agent’s ONLY job is to get him paid. Agents do this by getting on to phones with GM’s and talk to them about why they should be offering his guy a deal. It is obvious the RFA tag was a major hurdle in teams extending Reaves an offer - the agent’s job was to help those teams get over those reservations and secure the bag for his client. As it’s been reported, Reaves is represented by some clowns who only rep afterthought players. That’s also on him for hiring from the Bargain Bin.

I hope you’re never put in a position of negotiating anything of significance beyond buying a car, because you are obviously clueless about even the most basic of principles.

[Mr. Body]

Father time finally caught up with Lebron and he's done.
Their franchise player is 30 years old AD who simply can't stay healthy and he'll be up for an extension next summer.
They're not going to win shit.



Which players should've Spurs chased?
Reaves was obviously the player everyone wanted, but giving him the max would be a huge overpay and the Lakers would've probably matched it. The only thing Spurs missed was messing with the Lakers.

Who else? No FA does much for this team. Brook would've been nice, but he's 35 and got paid by the Bucks.
I'd like Spurs to get McDaniels, but it's not like there were any must have targets in this FA class.

And there will be many trade opportunities with half the league being close to blowing it up and most stars not being happy with their situation.

Yup.

There was almost literally no viable players available. Meanwhile other teams assassinated themselves with massive overpays for FVV, Bane, and others. Some teams made tinkering changes, like Indiana and Cleveland. They did alright.

Meanwhile the Spurs keep their powder dry, pick up a couple possible rotation guys for nothing.

[MannyIsGod]

Floor update:

Keldon Johnson – $20,000,000
Doug McDermott – $13,750,000
Devonte’ Graham – $12,100,000
Zach Collins – $7,700,000
Khem Birch – $6,985,000
Devin Vassell – $5,887,899
Jeremy Sochan – $5,316,960
Malaki Branham – $3,071,880
Blake Wesley – $2,504,640
Charles Bassey – $2,500,000
J:(shua Primo – $4,341,600
Victor Wembanyama – $12,158,760
Tre Jones – ~$10,000,000
Julian Champagnie – ~$3,000,000
Cedi Osman – $6,718,842
Lamar Stevens – ~$500,000

Current Total: $116,535,581
Salary Floor: $122,400,000

So it looks like the Spurs are below the floor by about $6 million.

Probably won't even have to give out any special deals to get there after they sign Sidy and whomever else to fill out the roster.

[spurraider21]

Lakers have crushed this FA and last trade deadline. They have gone from chasing names to actual team building and it sucks.

Pacers have done a great job and taking calculated gambles while securing their best player long term and having a young exciting roster

Spurs have done a great job but hard not to feel they took foot off gas a bit much…again, I like overall where we are at, but man, this was a disappointing FA so far overall opportunity wise and this is from someone who has been very vocal about SA needing to be patient too. They have been a little TOO patient in some regards unfortunately
You’re not allowed to be mad about our FA because we got a single SRP out of it !

[Mr. Body]

This may be your stupidest, fantasyland view of how things work yet.

Austin Reaves just got paid less than Max Strus and Bruce Brown. The agent’s ONLY job is to get him paid. Agents do this by getting on to phones with GM’s and talk to them about why they should be offering his guy a deal. It is obvious the RFA tag was a major hurdle in teams extending Reaves an offer - the agent’s job was to help those teams get over those reservations and secure the bag for his client. As it’s been reported, Reaves is represented by some clowns who only rep afterthought players. That’s also on him for hiring from the Bargain Bin.

I hope you’re never put in a position of negotiating anything of significance beyond buying a car, because you are obviously clueless about even the most basic of principles.

Bruh, if no team wanted to give Reaves an offer, he wasn't getting an offer. Dunno what to tell you. But I guess you're still in a grieving period?

[exstatic]

F'ing Twitter pulling the plug on free agency... I can't see a damn thing :lol

Poverty social media platform.

[EricB]

An abject failure not offering Reeves a contract.

right up there with the Scola trade.

just fucking pathetic

[exstatic]

Can't argue with that

I’d argue with the ability to play until he’s 45.

[Mr. Body]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not a super hard no against Lillard .... but it'd take something like Wemby requesting it and the Spurs not having to give up more than one first rounder.

Last year Lillard was great. The previous year though he was terrible for a lot of the season. He was dealing with an injury that season but if that's a preview of an old Lillard, that was not a pretty sight.

Ultimately, "big, costly mistake" quotient is too high to consider for Lillard. You take on him, you can't make the moves that might pop up later. Opportunity cost.

Doesn't matter -- Lopez was always going to Milwaukee, Reaves was always staying with Lakers (with or without SAS offer), and Lillard is now only going to Miami.

[MannyIsGod]

I'm on the fence on Dame but lean towards no. If I thought the Spurs were going to be contenders with him this year, then yeah I'd be all in for it. But I just don't think thats the case, and I would prefer not to give up Devin in the meantime since he's got a lot of upside. That contract is just murder for a few years down the line, and those will be the years that Wemby is likely to be really taking off.

[rascal]

As much as I hate to admit it....you're right..

Lakers also did well at the trade deadline. They turned that team around fast.

[BatManu20]

Yeah I fucking hate the Lakers and watching them easily have the best off-season sucks. All we can hope for is that Denver is healthy and their role players show up in their inevitable playoff matchup. Because the Lakers are clearly the 2nd best team in the West imo.

[mo7888]

Lakers also did well at the trade deadline. They turned that team around fast.

Yep... they're much better when bron isn't playing gm

[spurraider21]

Dame would obviously be exciting (i don’t hate him like Chinook) but i also realize it’s not really a sensible move unless we get out of it only giving up a protected pick or maybe 2 (bulls+hornets)

[BacktoBasics]

Fucking steal for the Lakers

It’s an appropriate contract. Thank god we didn’t get stupid. Now are you down for a wager since we know where he’s at?

[spurraider21]

Yeah I fucking hate the Lakers and watching them easily have the best off-season sucks. All we can hope for is that Denver is healthy and their role players show up in their inevitable playoff matchup. Because the Lakers are clearly the 2nd best team in the West imo.
I think they’re the best in the west tbh. Last years team was put together at the deadline with no chemistry. Denver has only gotten worse and they already had no depth

[exstatic]

Exactly…there’s not enough compensation there to take that on unless POR would give up Sharpe or something like that which they wouldn’t in a rebuild

Having experienced the Lonnie Walker high flying, sweet shooting, yet completely clueless player show, doubt the Spurs are up for a rerun.

[Ariel]

This may be your stupidest, fantasyland view of how things work yet.

Austin Reaves just got paid less than Max Strus and Bruce Brown. The agent’s ONLY job is to get him paid. Agents do this by getting on to phones with GM’s and talk to them about why they should be offering his guy a deal. It is obvious the RFA tag was a major hurdle in teams extending Reaves an offer - the agent’s job was to help those teams get over those reservations and secure the bag for his client. As it’s been reported, Reaves is represented by some clowns who only rep afterthought players. That’s also on him for hiring from the Bargain Bin.

I hope you’re never put in a position of negotiating anything of significance beyond buying a car, because you are obviously clueless about even the most basic of principles.
Say he couldn't have gotten any team to bypass those reservations. Couldn't Reaves have looked for a DIFFERENT kind of deal that provided SOME financial security in the short term while allowing him a larger pay day in the future? I'm thinking the largest allowable (help here?) 2 year contract he could get, with the 2nd year being a player option. He gets paid enough to not play in panic of getting injured, while at the same time he's a FA next year and with the cap spiking he can negotiate a large deal as an unrestricted FA.

[Mr. Body]

Yeah I fucking hate the Lakers and watching them easily have the best off-season sucks. All we can hope for is that Denver is healthy and their role players show up in their inevitable playoff matchup. Because the Lakers are clearly the 2nd best team in the West imo.

Again -- how is adding Prince and Gabe Vincent the best off-season?

[spurraider21]

No costly mistakes meme means we just roll out more and more expensive versions of the tank roster

[Mr. Body]

Say he couldn't have gotten any team to bypass those reservations. Couldn't Reaves have looked for a DIFFERENT kind of deal that provided SOME financial security in the short term while allowing him a larger pay day in the future? I'm thinking the largest allowable (help here?) 2 year contract he could get, with the 2nd year being a player option. He gets paid enough to not play in panic of getting injured, while at the same time he's a FA next year and with the cap spiking he can negotiate a large deal as an unrestricted FA.

He got the very best contract he could get from the only team that was going to offer him.

[Mr. Body]

No costly mistakes meme means we just roll out more and more expensive versions of the tank roster

When you have young players on small contracts, they're going to go up. Every contract generally goes up.

Making costly mistakes means it's harder to get out of the mistake and fix things. We have 0% of those.

This board needs to sit in a quiet, dark room and inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, hold the breath for thirty seconds, and think of a pretty mountian meadow.

[baseline bum]

Fuck, was hoping to get Lopez on a 2 year deal.

[spurraider21]

Again -- how is adding Prince and Gabe Vincent the best off-season?
Prince sucks and doesn’t help much. Their worst move.

Vincent is an upgrade to Shroeder and they need a guard who can score if russell is having his struggles

they kept Reaves cheap. Re-signed russell to an actually reasonable deal (and drafted hood-schifino to develop behind him)

re-signed hachimura. Got jaxon Hayes basically for free. He’s not great but good for that price.

they kept everybody they wanted to from a WCF team and all on reasonable deals. While upgrading the PG position that’s been a weakness for them and keeping them in good cap shape. They don’t have a single bad contract right now

[scott]

Say he couldn't have gotten any team to bypass those reservations. Couldn't Reaves have looked for a DIFFERENT kind of deal that provided SOME financial security in the short term while allowing him a larger pay day in the future? I'm thinking the largest allowable (help here?) 2 year contract he could get, with the 2nd year being a player option. He gets paid enough to not play in panic of getting injured, while at the same time he's a FA next year and with the cap spiking he can negotiate a large deal as an unrestricted FA.

Exactly. There were a ton of ways to skin this cat, but Reaves ended up with one of the worst case scenarios. Hence the comment that he needs to fire his agent.

Or, maybe Reaves is just a country bumpkin who doesn’t really care because $50M is still a shit ton of money. Who knows, but Reaves and his team definitely did not maximize their earning potential with this deal.

[exstatic]

All of those you just named are big markets that players would want to stay in. I'm saying that if Wemby seems that you're not trying to bring in big name talents to play along aside him, I can easily see a team like LA throwing the big lights and stage pitch to him when it's time. He doesn't have the Duncan personality to me. Even though he's very mature for his age, I can see SA not being a big enough stage for him.

He’s not American. He wasn’t raised in a hedonistic culture, or trained in the spoiled rotten prospect AAU shit system. Once you realize he doesn’t care about that shit, you also have to realize that he doesn’t have to go anywhere to pair with stars. He will be MJ or LeBron in the sense that they will come to him.

[jesterbobman]

I don't think there's a realistic chance that Lilliard comes here, it's seemed likely to be Miami for months. But...

If you can get him for a really low asset price I think it's worth it. Realistically, he's an elite offensive player, who'd be devastating in a pick and roll with Wemby.

I think the more realistic trade is realising that Herro is the main trade value piece (Ugh...Not a big fan, think he's overrated as hell), though Portland has no use in Herro alongside Simons, Scoot and Sharpe other than an asset - So they'd probably try and flip him immediately for a big / wing / draft picks.

Possible to see three team trade with:
Dame to Heat,
Herro to Spurs (or some other team looking for a guard upgrade, please not us)
Rest of Miami assets to Portland, Assets from third team to Portland.

[spurraider21]

When you have young players on small contracts, they're going to go up. Every contract generally goes up.

Making costly mistakes means it's harder to get out of the mistake and fix things. We have 0% of those.

This board needs to sit in a quiet, dark room and inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, hold the breath for thirty seconds, and think of a pretty mountian meadow.
We endured a year of tanking and laughed along the ride only to get that top pick and add him to the tank roster

[Extra Stout]

When you have young players on small contracts, they're going to go up. Every contract generally goes up.

Making costly mistakes means it's harder to get out of the mistake and fix things. We have 0% of those.

This board needs to sit in a quiet, dark room and inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, hold the breath for thirty seconds, and think of a pretty mountian meadow.
Americans don’t believe in delayed gratification.

[lefty20]

Again -- how is adding Prince and Gabe Vincent the best off-season?

Because they also retained the players they got at the trade deadline, along with Reaves. Did they not have the best, or 2nd best, record after making those trades?

I hate the the fuckers. But Pelinka did well, tbh.

[Ariel]

He got the very best contract he could get from the only team that was going to offer him.
Again, I'm speaking here without the whole information, I'd like to know what's the highest possible 2 year contract he could get elsewhere. I mean, couldn't he get something like Bruce Brown got from Indiana? Just yesterday half this board was trying to convince me that he was better than Vassell or anyone on our roster. Now he couldn't at least get a 2 year, MLE deal from some team? If he could do that an negotiate freely next season, I can't wrap my head around why he didn't do that.

[timvp]

Floor update:

Keldon Johnson – $20,000,000
Doug McDermott – $13,750,000
Devonte’ Graham – $12,100,000
Zach Collins – $7,700,000
Khem Birch – $6,985,000
Devin Vassell – $5,887,899
Jeremy Sochan – $5,316,960
Malaki Branham – $3,071,880
Blake Wesley – $2,504,640
Charles Bassey – $2,500,000
J:(shua Primo – $4,341,600
Victor Wembanyama – $12,158,760
Tre Jones – ~$10,000,000
Julian Champagnie – ~$3,000,000
Cedi Osman – $6,718,842
Lamar Stevens – ~$500,000

Current Total: $116,535,581
Salary Floor: $122,400,000

So it looks like the Spurs are below the floor by about $6 million.

To be more specific, it looks like the Spurs could decline Jones' contract by paying him $10,416,667 the first year and $9,583,333 the second year. That'd be $400,000 closer to the floor.

[BatManu20]

I think they’re the best in the west tbh. Last years team was put together at the deadline with no chemistry. Denver has only gotten worse and they already had no depth

You might be right. They’re certainly deeper than Denver. HCA will play a huge role in that series if/when they matchup in the playoffs next season. I’m hoping Jamal Murray continues to improve, as well as MPJ’s dumbass, though I’m not holding my breath on him due to his low bball IQ. Hopefully Christian Braun takes another step too. Maybe one of their Rookies steps up. Either way, those 2 will be heavy favorites to come out of the West.

[DPG21920]

They obviously favor playing it ultra safe which means nothing atrocious is probably going to happen but that also really limits the upside. Honestly they're probably right to do things this way. I remember 2-3 years ago when everyone was all over Toronto's FO and look how bad they've fucked up in that time span.

Maybe. But I see teams like OKC, DET and others in similar spots taking smarter deals for their cap space or swings via trade on young high upside players and think: SA could have been more creative and bold while still keeping the plan/ethos in tact.

Is it a HUGE gripe? Nope. Again, I love where SA is at. But Spurs are an in the weeds team still and a small market and need to be absolute hunters and hawks and turn over every single stone.

They dont do that - IM not bitching too much, but it’s the middle of FA so feels valid to discuss.

[spurraider21]

Because they also retained the players they got at the trade deadline, along with Reaves. Did they not have the best, or 2nd best, record after making those trades?

I hate the the fuckers. But Pelinka did well, tbh.
They didn’t overpay any of them either. I don’t like russell but 2/37 is an extremely fair deal for him. All of those are wins

[Mr. Body]

Because they also retained the players they got at the trade deadline, along with Reaves. Did they not have the best, or 2nd best, record after making those trades?

I hate the the fuckers. But Pelinka did well, tbh.

They're doing fine, and I did like the moves, but they got roked in the playoffs. They only get as far as Day to Davis takes them. And he ain't taking them far.

[Mr. Body]

Usman Garuba and Tyty Washington going from Houston to Atlanta. Not said who for.

[DPG21920]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not a super hard no against Lillard .... but it'd take something like Wemby requesting it and the Spurs not having to give up more than one first rounder.

Last year Lillard was great. The previous year though he was terrible for a lot of the season. He was dealing with an injury that season but if that's a preview of an old Lillard, that was not a pretty sight.

Agree. My preference is stay patient in moves like that. Be opportunistic for younger stars that may shake loose or being a third team facilitator. Just pointing out that IF there was a path to doing it or it was going to happen, there’s really only 1 or 2 ways Im even remotely ok with it even if I prefer they dont.

The Vassell + 1 pick route or the just expiring aging vet + a couple picks route.

[Mr. Body]

And I'd actually say the LAL picking up Jackson Hayes and Cam Reddish are awful pickups.

[mo7888]

Exactly. There were a ton of ways to skin this cat, but Reaves ended up with one of the worst case scenarios. Hence the comment that he needs to fire his agent.

Or, maybe Reaves is just a country bumpkin who doesn’t really care because $50M is still a shit ton of money. Who knows, but Reaves and his team definitely did not maximize their earning potential with this deal.

You dont have to keep arguing your point. It's obvious to anyone who isn't trying to defend a defenseless position . The Laker win huge with that signing. Its was a bargain basement contract. They have an asset that improves them on the court now and if Lebron and AD bolt next year they can easily get 2 1st's for him and start a rebuild. The Spurs and Houston should both be embarrassed for letting that happen.

[spurraider21]

You might be right. They’re certainly deeper than Denver. HCA will play a huge role in that series if/when they matchup in the playoffs next season. I’m hoping Jamal Murray continues to improve, as well as MPJ’s dumbass, though I’m not holding my breath on him due to his low bball IQ. Hopefully Christian Brain takes another step too. Either way, those 2 will be perennial favorites to come out of the West.
All the WCF games were pretty close and Murray was playing out of his mind by his own standards. Nugs hit a lot of circus shots that series

[kobyz]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1675218487982145536

To get a bigger, longer Jeff Hornesek at that price... Fuck the Lakers!

[Mr. Body]

You dont have to keep arguing your point. It's obvious to anyone who isn't trying to defend a defenseless position . The Laker win huge with that signing. Its was a bargain basement contract. They have an asset that impeoves them on the court now and if Lebron and AD bolt next year they can easily get 2 1st's for him and start a rebuild. The Spurs and Houston should both be embarrassed for letting that happen.

You guys obsess over this stuff way too much. Lmao over how frantic you are about this crap with Austin freaking Reaves. Signing him to a contract would have been absurdly stupid, since you run the risk of actually getting him.

[DPG21920]

To be more specific, it looks like the Spurs could decline Jones' contract by paying him $10,416,667 the first year and $9,583,333 the second year. That'd be $400,000 closer to the floor.

Any shot Cham contract is front loaded? Would also help and make tons of sense for Spurs risk wise moving forward.

[CorrectCrusader]

Reaves dream is dead :(

[Robz4000]

:lol people forgetting the Lakers are heavily dependent on Street Clothes and 39 year old Lebron. They have as much of a chance of missing the playoffs as making them.

[mo7888]

You guys obsess over this stuff way too much. Lmao over how frantic you are about this crap with Austin freaking Reaves. Signing him to a contract would have been absurdly stupid, since you run the risk of actually getting him.

Scott has stomped a mud hole in you on this topic and now you're letting him walk it dry... You're position isn't logical at the moment based on the facts we have. If we make a move that uses our cap space you might have a point, but right now you just look like you're being petulant because it amuses you.

[kxs783kms]

Americans don’t believe in delayed gratification.

If watching a team play horrible for 4-5 years is not delayed enough, I don't know what is. Should we wait another 4 or 5 years for gratification?

[kobyz]

It's official, Rob Pelinka surpassed Jerry West, best GM all-time!

[RC_Drunkford]

Usman Garuba and Tyty Washington going from Houston to Atlanta. Not said who for.

Clint Capela. Even your dumbass should be able to figure that out

[mo7888]

Atlanta is another team loading up in PG's...almost okc-lite

[Extra Stout]

If watching a team play horrible for 4-5 years is not delayed enough, I don't know what is. Should we wait another 4 or 5 years for gratification?
4 whole years out of the playoffs before landing another franchise player! Yeah, Spurs fans are spoiled.

[exstatic]

And I'd actually say the LAL picking up Jackson Hayes and Cam Reddish are awful pickups.

Going through other teams lottery garbage. I wouldn’t pay Reddish minimum.

[MannyIsGod]

It’s an appropriate contract. Thank god we didn’t get stupid. Now are you down for a wager since we know where he’s at?

yes but if we're doing that top 10 shit then that means its a push if the Lakers end up with a top 10 pick (or worst 10 record rather).

[Dejounte]

Clint Capela. Even your dumbass should be able to figure that out

Wrong. It was a salary dump lol

[Seventyniner]

:lol people forgetting the Lakers are heavily dependent on Street Clothes and 39 year old Lebron. They have as much of a chance of missing the playoffs as making them.

There's quite a history of teams making an unexpected run to the conference finals and then falling off immediately after. 2019 Blazers, 2021 Hawks, 2022 Mavs to name a few recent ones. It's very easy to fall into the trap of assuming that the WCF is now the median outcome for the Lakers since they made it there this past season. imo they are far more likely to miss the playoffs or lose in the first round than make the Finals or even the WCF again.

[kobyz]

Any shot Cham contract is front loaded? Would also help and make tons of sense for Spurs risk wise moving forward.

He would be great to have at 80mil/4 years, you think next summer you would find something better at free agency?

[ace3g]

Any Euroleague FA that would fit need for Spurs?


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1648391157045673984/PeoZeyFY_normal.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/849124105429319680/d4cumWmi_normal.jpg
Donatas Urbonas @Urbodo
(https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania)6m (https://twitter.com/Urbodo/status/1675235470555459585)EuroLeague Final Four MVP Edy Tavares has received a multi-year contract offer from the Portland Trail Blazers, per sources.

[timvp]

Any shot Cham contract is front loaded? Would also help and make tons of sense for Spurs risk wise moving forward.

I'm trying to figure out what the max Champagnie's contract could be next season. IIRC, there's a stipulation that an option year at the end of a contract can't be for less money than the previous year. But I think the Spurs may be able to get around that by making the last season unguaranteed rather than an option. I believe it also depends how exactly the Spurs sign him that determines whether the Spurs can decline his contract by 8% or 5%.

Assuming 8% declines and no rule against the last year of the contract being the lowest, it looks like Champagnie's contract could start at $3,410,000. Does that look right Chinook, Bruno, etc?

[DPG21920]

Look, again, there’s a difference in throwing baby out with bath water (saying SA sucks or is in an awful spot) and discussing some very real missed opportunities and nuance. Spurs have not had a good free agency period. Now, does that mean they were awful? No. They did fine with Tre and Cham but that was literally the bare minimum lol.

There was so much more opportunity to get creative and maybe they still do. But I dont like the Cedi trade as it represents just money and no basketball help at all and that’s not what I want to see with a team that has SO MUCH cap space and picks etc….there’s more that could have and should have (and maybe will) been done here.

Nuance. Context.

[DPG21920]

:lol people forgetting the Lakers are heavily dependent on Street Clothes and 39 year old Lebron. They have as much of a chance of missing the playoffs as making them.

Sure - but even given that they have done a phenomenal job. Can’t help if AD or Lebron miss time or can’t hack it. But they are giving them a legit chance

[spurraider21]

I just don’t want to be in a spot where we don’t take the opportunity to add players when we have the means to do so. Once we have to start handing our guys big extensions (Vassell looming), that flexibility fades

who knows what Zollins would cost next year as a UFA?

[Extra Stout]

In two years when the Lakers hypothetically would have been screwed over by the balloon in Reaves’s contract, LeBron will be 40 and the Lakers will be irrelevant. Why risk messing with the Spurs’ plans for the mid-2020’s just to screw with a team that doesn’t matter anyway by then? Because of things that happened 15-20 years ago? Because Laker fans are annoying?

Or what? Are we worried that Giannis is going to stop being the Greek Orthodox version of David Robinson as a goody two-shoes and decide he wants the glitz and glamour of L.A., and Reaves’ contract would have been the only thing to stop him?

[offset formation]

Going through other teams lottery garbage. I wouldn’t pay Reddish minimum.

Lakerfans were praising Pelinka for it on Twitter before it went down for the first time today. The Jackson Hayes deal made them goo their pants though and that's when I knew they were even dumber than I thought.

[MannyIsGod]

I mean from my POV I idn't want the Spurs to sign Reaves to an offer sheet to fuck with the Lakers - that was merely a benefit. I wanted them to sign him.

[ace3g]

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1616325551593078784/7CY5LJK6_normal.jpg
Chris Haynes ChrisBHaynes
(https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes)2m (https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1675238022953172993)
A potential Portland-Miami deal for Damian Lillard would almost certainly include the involvement of a third team, league sources tell @NBAonTNT (https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/), @BleacherReport (https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/).

[r0drig0lac]

https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1675238022953172993

[Robz4000]

Sure - but even given that they have done a phenomenal job. Can’t help if AD or Lebron miss time or can’t hack it. But they are giving them a legit chance

Not denying they did a good job putting some pieces around them. Just saying let's pump the brakes on anointing them best in the West; they're still likely to be a play-in team.

Denver

Phoenix

Dubs
Kings
Clippers (could be higher)
Lakers
Grizz

Pels
T'Pups
Mavs
The rest

[ace3g]

Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
(https://twitter.com/wojespn)1m (https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1675238674697711616)
Magic keep Mo Wagner on 2-year, $16M contract - via @espn (https://twitter.com/espn/) App

[offset formation]

Look, again, there’s a difference in throwing baby out with bath water (saying SA sucks or is in an awful spot) and discussing some very real missed opportunities and nuance. Spurs have not had a good free agency period. Now, does that mean they were awful? No. They did fine with Tre and Cham but that was literally the bare minimum lol.

There was so much more opportunity to get creative and maybe they still do. But I dont like the Cedi trade as it represents just money and no basketball help at all and that’s not what I want to see with a team that has SO MUCH cap space and picks etc….there’s more that could have and should have (and maybe will) been done here.

Nuance. Context.

The ability to take context into account is increasingly difficult for people. They see the blaring headline or main point but completely fail to take into account the author's caveats that often completely hedge against that main point.

[R. DeMurre]

Lakers are having a good off season, but I think some of it is being overstated. If you take away the "undrafted guy who became a starter" narrative, Gabe Vincent is really just a very average player. If no one is saying "Oh no, the Lakers lost Dennis Schroder!" then it should be equally as quiet on the "Lakers landed Gabe Vincent" front.

[Mr. Body]

Lakers badly overrated. Guess people really fall for the Klutch nonsense.

Houston meanwhile traded two second round picks and can just to get off the salary of two recent first round draft picks.

[SpursFan86]

All signs pointed to Houston wanting to make moves to be more competitive this year. Hard to imagine the currently reported deal is the end of this - I’m guessing they’re about to do something with the increased cap space they just created.

[Dejounte]

All signs pointed to Houston wanting to make moves to be more competitive this year. Hard to imagine the currently reported deal is the end of this - I’m guessing they’re about to do something with the increased cap space they just created.

I think it’s very likely an overpay for Dillon Brooks

[DPG21920]

I'm trying to figure out what the max Champagnie's contract could be next season. IIRC, there's a stipulation that an option year at the end of a contract can't be for less money than the previous year. But I think the Spurs may be able to get around that by making the last season unguaranteed rather than an option. I believe it also depends how exactly the Spurs sign him that determines whether the Spurs can decline his contract by 8% or 5%.

Assuming 8% declines and no rule against the last year of the contract being the lowest, it looks like Champagnie's contract could start at $3,410,000. Does that look right Chinook, Bruno, etc?

Gotcha - I was hoping it could start at like 4/5M in year one…

[Mr. Body]

Lakers are having a good off season, but I think some of it is being overstated. If you take away the "undrafted guy who became a starter" narrative, Gabe Vincent is really just a very average player. If no one is saying "Oh no, the Lakers lost Dennis Schroder!" then it should be equally as quiet on the "Lakers landed Gabe Vincent" front.

Oh totally forgot they lost Schroeder, who was a good fit for them. Losing him and gaining Vincent is a loss to me.

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1675238022953172993

Spurs licking their chops at the possibility of adding more SRP’s.

[BacktoBasics]

yes but if we're doing that top 10 shit then that means its a push if the Lakers end up with a top 10 pick (or worst 10 record rather).

200 dollar wager.

Reaves has to average 30mpg for the regular season for you to win.

If Lakers end up as a bottom 10 team or tied for bottom 10 record then it’s a push.

I’d like a minimum games played stipulation as well. He needs to play at least 62 games.

Sound good?