Brown Detroit Piston

In the event endorsements aren't enough to make up the difference, owners with deep pockets will find a way to funnel money to the players, because the penalties for doing so will be less than the benefits of having Lebron/Wemby as part of their franchise.

Let's say in the free agent pool calculation the Pels have $11M to spend and the Lakers have $2M to spend. The #1 pick is signing with the Lakers, they are easily making up the difference in $ with endorsements, and the quality of the organization never has to cross the prospect's mind.

Setting up an FA-like system instead of a draft is a great idea in a vacuum without endorsement money. In reality, very soon after it is implemented there will be an Aspiration level scandal and the scandals would only get bigger for Wemby/Lebron level prospects.

Cameron Carr is going to be the guy who goes 14th-23rd and becomes a plus starter

It doesn't even matter that the goals are always $ oriented. They can't even get the $ right in a league w/ revenue sharing AND they can't get the basketball right. They can't do either bc they suck at the biz of bball. The sooner that they admit that to themselves the better off everyone will be.

how would the W-L results or financial results be any different if we were "rebuilding"? We're 27th in wins since 2019.

The amount of tickets/sponsorships/merch sold over the next 3 years would very likely have been MUCH higher had they focused on losing this year and not gotten hasty with Queen.

remember how this is about whether or not he deserves a mid-season honor and not an end of season honor?

he played 68 games two years ago and he still has an opportunity to do so this year. That is as "on track" as anyone else

All Star selections are for the best players. Kawhi has been one of the best players this season and Lebron has not. Just admit you were wrong and move on.

probably shouldn't get grandfathered in over someone on track for 2nd team all-nba

Every smart team should be trying to make a trade with Chicago

yup

Spurs cut it to 3 going on a 26-10 run since Castle was benched at the 7:23 mark in the 3rd quarter

Derik Queen is shooting 37% this season on non-rim 2s, and he's not much better on non-RA paint shots than he is on non-paint 2s

As the Pelicans leave Castle guarded by Derik Queen who doesn't even step towards Castle to conetest and allows him to brick a 3

Spurs offense is doodoo with Castle

He has hurt their offense all season, but it's been especially bad of late. 109 on-court ORTG over his last 15.

It's always possible he learns to shoot, but Spurs should consider the distinct possibility his trade value will never be higher than it is right now

We all want to see Herb do well, but the temptation to attribute team success to him playing has to acknowledge one of the very worst players in the NBA hasn't played at all in those same games, and has been a big part of the rotation in the others.

In games Herb has played in Dec/Jan, Pels are 6-2 and +10.5 per 36 in his minutes.

In games Herb has played in Dec/Jan Hawkins has played a total of only 8 minutes across 3 games.

In games Herb hasn't played in Dec/Jan Hawkins has played 15 mpg, with 2 Ws and 13 Ls, and -7.9 per 36 in his minutes

I'd want at least a protected 1st if I was Milwaukee and they would ask for us to relinquish the '27 swap. They're already paying 22 million per year for a point guard recovering from an achilles tear, and they haven't yet seen DJM play.

you are also probably hemorrhaging points with Fears and Ja on the court together, and you're going to struggle offensively against good defenses playing Fears, Ja, and Zion together or Fears, Ja, and Queen together until/unless somebody learns to shoot

interesting discussion...

if you go down the path of trading for Ja, it means you're also trading Fears, though not necessarily in the Ja trade.

Lots of reasons for this, but if you've kept Zion, Trey, Ja, and herb, you need a stater caliber big on a cheap contract way more than a 19-yo PG

bc he didn't have major injuries at Duke or in his first 2 years in the NBA, is on pace to play 62 this year, has been in the playoffs twice, played for a national team, is in shape, hasn't had a porn star scandal--only a few differences. Getting drafted to the East has done some work for him too

The all-star game also plays a big role in this, giving the illusion that there are 12 similarly excellent players in each conference, and in this year's case the illusion that there are 12 similarly excellent players in the United States vs the World

For the NBA, the most important part of the Cup is a heavy concentration of in-conference games early in the yr, which serves to mask how bad the East is.

West win % is already back up around 56, and inter-conference games have still been under-sampled to this point relative to the total season.

Median league FTA/100 possessions is <22 in January compared to >24 through December.

The decrease in whistles should make Zion more efficient relative to the league. 100% of the franchise focus should be on maximizing his usage, trying to produce 30-40 pt games, and then moving him pre-deadline.

It would be one thing if they didn't allow that very screen to go uncalled in every single game of the season, multiple times in each game. You basically have to expect that the offense is going to be able to set illegal screens and defend against that.

that's what i was getting at

That's the first game for Queen with more turnovers than rebounds, and let's hope it's the last

true, it would at least prevent them from extending his contract. They've already made that mistake once.

Zion+Bey or Zion+Hawkins gets you there in the summer, but I guess with Dumars/Weaver mindset that the team can/will make the playoffs next yr there's value in seeing JJJ+DQ on the court down the stretch this yr

I don't hate it & you avoid downside risk of more teams getting into a JJJ sweepstakes

maybe now is the optimal time to trade for JJJ though 🤷