Okay, so people are out on $50 million a year for the frequently injured Lavine
But come another year ...
Trade Target
Only Begotten Nephew
Spurs will have the picks to ease the Clippers rebuild as the Prodigal Nephew returns now that his special friend Paul George abandoned him like a sad sack full of puppies
2025 Operation Nephew
Who's in? (not me)
I'm a lot less against it than the average STer. Leonard's cachet is completely gone now. Anyone who's looked into it knows the Spurs were right and actually dodged a bullet by not giving Kawhi that DPE. I basically don't bare him any ill will.Okay, so people are out on $50 million a year for the frequently injured Lavine
But come another year ...
Trade Target
Only Begotten Nephew
Spurs will have the picks to ease the Clippers rebuild as the Prodigal Nephew returns now that his special friend Paul George abandoned him like a sad sack full of puppies
2025 Operation Nephew
Who's in? (not me
The Spurs' ceiling would shoot through the roof if he were brought on, and the floor wouldn't be too much lower -- and given that the team might be tanking anyway, a low floor might be a good thing. I just don't know if there's any way to get his body stablized. Not right -- he'll never play more than 55 games again in a season. But if they could somehow get one healthy playoff run out of him, with Wemby, Paul, Vassell and others? Maybe.
The issues, though. First is compensation. How cheaply can the Clippers let Kawhi go for given how leveraged they are? I'm not okay with giving up a bunch of picks for him -- no one's making LAC's mistake again. You can't give up Vassell for him, but matching without him is not easy. Collins, Keldon and Jones might do it. But you can't piss away your depth with Leonard and Paul on the roster. There are packages that work if LAC is reasonable, but I don't think they're interested in selling until after this upcoming season at least. Harden's deal allows them to potentially blow things up next summer, and they might be more willing to do that with them almost out of the OKC trade. But they seem far too into the sauce right now.
The bigger issue is Kawhi's at ude. He's only seemed to get more weird and awkward as he's aged, especially since he's seemed to realize he's never going to get it done again. The Clippers giving him so much la ude doesn't help matters. Leonard who comes in having made the pivot to wanting to do what it takes to win -- the way PG says he has -- would be a very interesting gamble for the Spurs or any other team with an "early window" toward being a darkhorse (think Orlando mostly but also Indy, Sacramento, maybe Memphis). But if he comes in the way he has been with LAC, I don't think he's going to help anyone.
Think we'd have to waive Graham for this to potentially work by using capspace (?) but something like:
Collins/Branham/Sac Picks to Pelicans
Ingram to Kings
Barnes/Huerter to Spurs
?
So if the spurs are trying to keep there books clean for next year I imagine they’ll over pay for a mediocre Wing for a year.
The Pelicans want Barnes, though. The need an SF to replace Ingram. You're correct, though that this would work with space.
It did occur to me that part of Pop doing his "This is not who we are" nonsense could have been as an olive branch for the unlikely scenario that a return could happen
After a year of missing Paul George and being a play-in or worse team, Kawhi miiiight decide to get out, and when it comes to suitors, only SA will have the kind of decent picks that LAC could use. Not the full boat, but enough to be respectable, like if the Bulls finish 11 or something, could be that and 2 other picks.
A far fetched delusion if mine but mildly entertaining
Not sure who would do that.
Probably something like either:
1. Guarantee Graham and waive him. That's the off-season.
2. Make a trade for a one-year-contract veteran like Brook Lopez.
The wing will be staffed by Champ and Branham. They can run three-guard sets with Castle.
True, but they also need to cut payroll somehow. They have Murphy and Herb at SF which ain't bad at all.
Don't they have plenty of SFs with Murph and Herb? Canvassing NOPe boards they really don't want Barnes at all. They badly need a C.
spurtacularOh god I remember that one Jimmer fan that would post on here and post all his China highlights after the spurs cut him
got banned for nazi antics in the political forum. Total meltdown after 2020 election. Biden derangement syndrome
tho he was never mentally well to begin with. after getting banned he created his own spurstalk forum where he just talks to himself
Wonder if NOP traded out Nance and lost Val without any real plan.
They did draft Yves Missi but can't depend on a rookie.
Well my initial thought process was maybe Caleb Martin, Highsmith, Derrick Jones, Beasley, or maybe Hayward would settle for a similar deal that CP3 got like a 1 year 12-14 mill range. I’d prefer a trade because I’m not really into any of the guys too much tho.
NVM on DDJ just signed with the clippers
after getting banned he created his own spurstalk forum where he just talks to himself
What the ?
I had no idea. Sometimes I want to talk about some of weird-ass posters we've had here over the years. But I'm always afraid of invoking their return if I say their name too much.
Bruh, that was some legit creepy stuff tbh.spurtacular
got banned for nazi antics in the political forum. Total meltdown after 2020 election. Biden derangement syndrome
tho he was never mentally well to begin with. after getting banned he created his own spurstalk forum where he just talks to himself
DJJ to Clips 3yr/30M
Who are you getting to come be the backup C though? We’re awfully thin on bigs in our right. I get all the warts with Zach (though I still like him), but who’s the backup C for the Spurs? Bassey ain’t it.
I've actually thought that too. Like unless Pop's aware of some recent stuff with Leonard that I'm not that caused him to feel the need to defend him. It would be nice if Pop had some ulterior motive for his outburst, because otherwise, that will remain one of the weirdest things he's ever done.
I don't think Kawhi would ask out. I think he's won his les and is okay with retiring after this contract is up. But LAC may feel differently if they have the opportunity to start over with cap space and a new arena. Just as Brooklyn seems constantly able to attract stars so long as they have flexibility, the Clippers should have that option as well. But Leonard on a maxish contract actually hurts their ability to recruit. Kawhi's not really a draw at this point, and he's too injured to even be counted on to carry a support role. LAC might be better just washing their hands of him. Unfortunately for them, I think Harden opts in the likely event that they crater without George. So they probably have to wait until the summer of 2026 to really start over. But by that point, the Spurs can likely provide some decent picks to make up for the ones they would still have outstanding, and Kawhi on a rental for a year or year-and-a-half likely wouldn't break the bank.After a year of missing Paul George and being a play-in or worse team, Kawhi miiiight decide to get out, and when it comes to suitors, only SA will have the kind of decent picks that LAC could use. Not the full boat, but enough to be respectable, like if the Bulls finish 11 or something, could be that and 2 other picks.
A far fetched delusion if mine but mildly entertaining
So if a reunion were to happen, I'm thinking deadline 2026 or that following summer might make the most sense for all sides. Clippers get to rebuild; Spurs don't have to worry about spending a lot or tying up too many years of cap; Kawhi can define his legacy or go for another payday if some team is dumb enough to take it.
I could see a Lopez/Collins swap. I believe they need to get under salary a bit and he doesn't quite fit what Doc wants to do. A younger guy like Collins might appeal even not on the same level.
Otherwise Collins fills a vital role. Help try to get him back to where he was at the end of the 2022-2023 season when he was pretty great.
So strange how Mavs let DJJ go for 1M a year difference
Yes, it would've been nice for the Spurs to have made a move like this before the draft so they could've picked a guy up to at least be real depth.
It looks like Mo Wagner is still around, and he'd be a solid option. Tillman seems to have priced himself out of Boston. There are options, but those options are thinning as we speak.
https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news...-24-nba-season
so maybe no Batum
Any Batum gos?
Take this with a ship load of salt, but according to the Mavs sub-reddit this is a case of Klutch Sports wanting him to be in LA.
I, otoh, think Mavs simply opted to for a better shooting touch and the slightly younger player.
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