I think you're right....at least I fear you are... that would be a waste of 4 years of Wembys talent and probably result in a trade request. If you're correct in how you think the FO sees it then our only hope is that Wemby pressures them this summer to give him talent now.
Short window to ring. He has always controlled his own destiny. His list will be VERY short with win now teams.
Interesting. He does kind of jump off the screen when you watch Kings games.
He prob wouldn’t cost a ton, either. I think moves like this would be better than dropping a wad on some aging has been former Star. He’s 25, and shoots 42% from 3, high level on both 3 and D.
I don't know what he'd cost being on such a cheap contract, but he'd be a perfect complimentary player.
They’re probably going to lose him in the summer of 26, regardless. Their payroll is pretty fat already, and Fox is looking for a second big payday.
Keon Ellis is the kind of player who, by nature of his bargain contract and his role, will cost you a lot more than his value on the court, kind of like Julian Champagnie for us, to the point where they are practically untouchable.
He's in the 2nd year of a 3-year $5MM contract. That is not a typo. Only $5MM over 3 years. He makes Champ's contract look expensiveSince Doug Christie took over, he's also a pretty core part of their rotation, averaging 31.2 MPG in January.
The Kings are a team that's fairly close to the tax line ($3.2MM under right now), and place an extraordinary value on guys like Ellis because there is close to a zero percent chance to get that kind of impact and production from a similar salary. This is the same kind of situation we have with Champ (though his involvement has been, probably mistakenly, reduced of late).
The Kings aren't going to let him go for cheap, because he's extremely valuable to them so long as they are chasing a Playoff Spot. If it came to the trade deadline of 2026 and they were completely out of the playoff picture... maybe they'd look to trade him (and he'd be a lot cheaper to obtain then, because the unique value that his contract provides would be almost fully extinguished, but he'd still be extremely valuable as a rental for teams in 2nd Apron scenarios), but even if they expected to lose him in the summer of 2026 he'd still have value to keep on the team because he contributes to what they are doing on the court at only slightly above a min contract (his 2025-26 salary will be $200k more than 4rd year vet deal).
I have no clue what SAC would ask for Ellis... but he's a 90th percentile player in Overall CraftedPlusMinus, 97th percentile in CDPM, who's a 42% career 3P shooter on maybe the biggest bargain contract in the entire NBA... wouldn't shock me if SAC wanted two FRPs to even have a conversation.
The usual suspects are targeting excellent role players on team friendly contracts who are playing on win now teams. They did this last year with Naz Reid and Herb Jones. Those guy aren't really available and they cost way more than you think because they're flawless assets relative to their salary.
Spurs ask about Keon Ellis and I ask for one of the ATL picks. If the Spurs hang up I could care less because I still have Ellis and my team is looking to win.
I'm beginning to wonder if Pop's stroke and his position as Head of Basketball Operations will preclude us from making ANY moves.
Seems like it might take a corporate restructure to be able to do anything. Knowing Pop, he'll never choose to let go of the reins.
I guess, I'm just wondering IF the Spurs can actually do something without Pop's approval?
Pop's the President of Basketball Operations, but not the king. From a traditional Corporate Governance perspective, there are many safeguards against an organization being put into limbo by an executive being incapacitated. For one, RC Buford is the CEO of Spurs Sports and Entertainment and ostensibly Pop's boss. RC can just reassign Pop's duties to whomever he chooses.
If, by some cir stance, the Spurs have some sort of other arrangement where Pop does not report to RC and they are peers, then it would be up to the Board to simply reassign Pop's responsibilities either on a temporary or permanent basis.
Long story short... if the Spurs are "stuck" because Pop is out sick, they are even bigger idiots than some people seem to think.
Thanks! Of course, all that makes sense.
I'm self-employed and have never had any interface with corporate practices. It makes me all the more curious as to what is going on behind the curtain at Spurs, inc.
great...I said we should get this guy, but of course Brian Wrong couldn't get it done
Can't sell our SRPs for Cash Considerations if we trade them all away for useful role players, tbh
I read today they increased ticket prices for 25-26 season by 15% to 25% depending on the seat, corporate greed knows no limits.
Before people start talking about Wemby, don't forget that the ownership hasn't paid any luxury tax in many years and just benefitted from the solidarity fund (50% of luxury tax generated in a season is split between teams under the luxury tax line).
Selling SRPs for cash should be banned.
Have patience. There is a plan. You just don't understand it.
I have season seats and haven’t seen that increase fyi….not saying it may not be happening, but haven’t seen anything yet personally.
Playing around on the ESPN NBA Trade Machine and discovered the Bulls have a 16M trade exception. They can include that exception as outgoing salary in order to make salaries match. So I thought of this deal.
Spurs get:
LaVine
Vuch
16M trade exception so salaries match
Bulls get:
Barnes
Zollins
They get their own pick back
25 ATL Pick which is out of the lottery as of today. Hawks remaining strength of schedule is 14th.
Spurs get LaVine a player who many dream Dev could turn into. A much needed backup center who is making reasonable money through next season. Dev goes to bench with LaVine in the starting lineup.
Starting Lineup:
1.CP3
2.LaVine
3. Champ
4. Sochan
5. Wemby
Bench:
Tre
Dev
Castle
Keldon
Vuch
Lot of scoring punch coming off the bench now.
Bulls dump a lot of salary, regain control of their own pick while picking up the a mid first from this years draft.
For a not very serious thought experiment... let's talk about Zion some more.
On the most recent episode of Vecine's podcast, they make a good case why from a basketball POV, Zion makes a lot of sense for the Spurs.
So just for fun, let's say you are Brian Wright. You've been in Eastern Europe with RC for the last 3 months scouting 7th graders and eating hash brownies. The Pelicans call you up and ask what deal you'd be willing to do for Zion. What do you say? (It's fine to say "I want to avoid this er so much that they need to throw in Trey III and 5 FRPs" - I just want to get a sense of what everyone's best offer would be)
For me, I'd say the best I can do is Keldon + Collins for Zion and Daniel Theis.
Why is Theis included? He at least gives us another body at C that we are losing with Collins, he's on a vet minimum expiring deal, and this helps NOP get under the tax.
Why am I doing this deal? I get a look at Zion, and if nothing else I just waive his non-GTD deal in the offseason and I've shed Keldon and Collins' deals without having to give up any draft capital.
You gotta give up one first rounder for a natural talent like Zion plus Zollins is a turd.
I'd offer Zollins plus their choice of KJ/Barnes plus the 27ATL pick.
Zion is a great fit on the Spurs. Amazing natural talent, only 25 next season, PF with a respectable three ball who collapse's defense's with drives to the hoop. His contract isn't bad when you factor in matching salaries for the first year.
75% max potential Zion is still a top 30 player.
If you really wanna get crazy you could offer Dev plus filler for Zion and hold on to the picks and while maintaining future cap flexibility since Dev and Zions contracts are pretty close long term.
Nope, I'm not giving up any FRPs for Zion. That might be what NOP requires, but I'm not going to be the one to do it. The guy has worked himself into a non-guaranteed deal, can't make practice or flights on time, and is always hurt.
75% max potential Zion needs to factor in him only playing 30 games. It's like trading for Nephew at this point.
If you trade for Zion you're making a long shot gamble that this is the wake up call he needs. If you assume he'll more or less stay on the same track then don't bother trading for him. He's a spin on the roulette wheel and its a matter of how much one is willing to bet.
I'd offer what you put forth. If I offered any picks it'd be the Charlotte 1st. If they don't consider that I'd be surprised because I'd imagine they've already made the decision to waive him in the offseason.
I believe it was you who made the roulette wheel analogy before. When you're playing roulette, with 35:1 payouts on 1:37 odds, you don't need to bet big on each number. Thus why I'm not putting down a draft pick. It's a bet I'm willing to make, but I'm only putting $10 of chips on that number, not a $100 chip.
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