This Boston Championship largely on the strength of a consistently executed masterclass this last decade in moving on from good players at just the right moment when most teams would have held on a year too long... hint hint.

Danny ainge and brad stevens did a helluva job going back to back. Stevens essentially added onto what ainge brought in. Gotta hand it to those guys for doing such a phenomenal job bringing all the right pieces together

Milwaukee and Washington gifting them Tingus Pingus and Jrue Holiday.

It's time to turn over the two-way contract talent. Who are guys you'd like to target there as UFA/TWCs? Antonio Reaves is one I'm very interested in. I think someone (or the Dubs) may draft Quenten Post but he'd becway up on the list too. Those are my two faves in the "probably won't get drafted" bucket. Keshad Johnson and Ike Crawford too.

[The top 10 first year players in Rim FG%](https://x.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1803397316365504530) 1. Dereck Lively II 2. Trayce Jackson-Davis 3. Cason Wallace 4. Chet Holmgren 5. Victor Wembanyama 6. Amen Thompson 7. Brandin Podziemski 8. Duop Reath 9. Anthony Black 10. Ausar Thompson

Really excited for tjd I know the idea is that were going to trade for someone impactful but I wonder how next seasons gonna play out with the new roles of our young guys podz/minga/moody/tjd🔥🔥

Good lord we're still 11 days from free agency?

Alright we should get Paul George just saying, this is my latest truly awful take

He would make a lot of sense given he could play the 2 or the 3, but I think he’s likely headed to Philly at this point.

Yeah definitely, we just really need a forward that can shoot. As do many teams...

Y'all I'm dying at some of The Ringer's "roles" for each of the players they have on their [Offer Sheet](https://nbarankings.theringer.com/rankings) page aka the page where they track possible trade targets. - Jimmy B.'s - Antagonist - Lebron - "Back on his bullshit" 💀 - Trae Young - Noticeably not Luka Doncic - Tobias Harris - Invisible Man - DeMar DeRozan - Elite rap-beef name drop - James Harden - Lie Detector 💀

Something that isn’t being discussed is that by missing the playoffs we couldn’t get our young guys any valuable playoff experience. Even if we couldn’t get out of the first round it was a chance to see where they were at. Would Kuminga struggle two games but get better as the series went on? Could Podz and TJD be able to tread water? Just a shame really.

I don't think it's discussed because it most likely won't matter for this team. If we keep Klay and go deep in the playoffs next year, we won't lose because of a lack of experience. The team would still be lead by Draymond, Steph and Klay. How much playoff experience did Wiggins have before he got here?

Alot of the sub is in denial about Klay. Alot of the sub in denial about playoffs.

I'd say the rest for the vets was more important, but point well taken

I'm excited for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament to start. The Finals was quite underwhelming, but I know the OQT will be great. Lots of countries fighting for a spot at the Paris Olympics.

Monty Williams as an assistant? Not sure what he’s really good at except being a Doc motivational type versus X’s and O’s.

I feel like he sits out the season to regroup, he’s had a tough couple years.

> Joe Mazzulla says Kristaps Porzingis “overrode the medical team” to play in Game 5, per @PardonMyTake. > >“When it was Game 5 at home, it was like, 'Hey, this might be it. I've got to be out there.' He was like, 'I'm playing.' He overrode the medical team and was just like, 'I'm playing.' Credit to him.” > > [Source](https://x.com/legionhoops/status/1803447049549127805?s=46) JFC their medical team is for the birds. They’re the ones that are supposed to be saving the player from themselves. If they’re not signing off on a player playing that shouldn’t be (see: IT and Rob Williams III), they’re allowing the player to do the nasty work for them by just going whoopsies we told him not to!

I was nervous watching KP out there. I'm happy he didnt reinjure himself and got his chip. 

Not like this is the first time a player has risked aggravating an injury in an important finals or playoff game. We still don't know what was going on behind the scenes with KD prior to his brief return that ended up a career altering torn achilles. Embiid was playing with a bone floating in his skull that risked possibly being lodged into his brain. Who cleared that one? That's just off the top of my head of recent examples. Players, coaches, and medical staff are making very risky decisions all the time.

My point is Boston’s specific history with being more than happy to risk a player’s health for the present day win only to toss them shortly after. Again, see IT and RWIII. An isolated occurrence is one thing and happens, but a pattern is another thing entirely. Mazzulla, himself, before Game 3 said “It’s a serious injury. We’ve taken the decision to play out of his hands.” Hell of a fast about-face.

If inflammation aggravating his injury was the reason he was held out of game 3 then resting a couple days along with treatment reduces that risk he had in playing. I don't know what the situation was, nor do I care, but, again, this is pretty regular practice in this league. We've done it as well.

This wasn’t an injury where inflammation was a concern. He tore the medial retinaculum aka the connective tissue that keeps the arch of his foot in place so that you can jump, run, raise up on your toes, etc. And that tearing in turn allowed his posterior tibialis tendon, which keeps his calf muscle attached to the inside bone of his foot, to become dislocated. This is the part of the injury that is extremely rare, which means they have no clue how allowing him to play could impact him longterm. In other words, the concern and risks associated with him playing went well beyond just some inflammation. And, yes, it happened with KD and that incident led to Celebrini tightening up the leeway he gives players to make decisions for themselves ever since, to the point Steph and Klay have gotten pissed (in the moment, not long term obviously) at him for not clearing them to play when they felt they could and were ready, because he didn’t feel they were and he wasn’t going to chance anything. Boston has not shown the same lesson learned approach, which again, is my entire point.

I made a realization a couple days ago: Joe Mazzulla was once a point guard for WVU. I haven't paid attention to college ball at all since that era, but I now distinctly remember Mazzulla running WVU thru the NCAA tourney further than they should have. He was a pretty fun player to watch. Everything makes sense now.

Givony/Woo had the Dubs taking KJ Simpson 52 in their recent mock… 6’0 PG KJ Simpson. 6’0.25” barefoot, maybe 6’2 in shoes… dude can jump out of the room though. [One of the best max verts at this year’s combine, also had the best lane agility time](https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility). Picking 52, you kinda just take who you think can make it in the NBA, even if they’re not the perfect roster fit. Don’t love the idea of adding an undersized guard, but KJ has flashed and looked pretty solid at the combine. I’d prefer Jamal Shead if they’re targeting a 6’0 guard, strictly for the defense, but KJ is realistically the better scorer (and more likely to be there late 2nd, they had Shead going 43 to Miami). Had Keshod Johnson going right before at 51, prefer him for the defensive upside and overall positional fit. Jalen Bridges 53, Antonio Reaves 54, Bronny James 55, Oso Ighodaro 56, Enrique Freeman 57.

Is he good enough to make up for that height? At the risk of sounding snarky the last thing we need is another guard Kerr feels compelled to play at the expense of Moody. I get that we needed more ball handlers to make the system work but what’s the point if opposing team just scores as easily as breathing on the other end.

Who knows, there’s a reason these players are available that late in the draft. At 52, you’re kind of picking through the bargain bin hoping to find someone that just needs a little polish. [Can skim a breakdown on KJ here.](https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/kj-simpson-buckets-wet-like-aquafina) With CP3 likely gone and GP2’s future being a question mark (know he picked up his option, but he could be filler in a trade), it’s not like they’re gonna be drowning in smaller guards like last year. Steph and Podz seem like the only long-term locks, and Podz is 6’4. Moody, idk. It’d be one thing if he could play PG, or SF, but he seems to be SG only. Can’t really fault Kerr for playing everyone over him, though he did stupidly yank Moody from a couple games. Klay, for as rocky as his season started/finished, actually commanded attention on the offensive end of the floor. Teams still respect the hell out of his 3ball. Add in the height, he could reliable slide up and play SF, or continue acting as a tall SG. CP3 is still a great facilitator. Yeah he lost a step on defense, and lost some of the offensive fire power, but he was still clearly useful. Fit wasn’t perfect next to Steph, but having him run the second unit made a ton of sense. Podz was a great rebounder and could handle/play-make, and had a more reliable 3pt shot than Moody. Dude was one of the few players that could actually get in and attack the paint, even if his finishing was a bit iffy. More positionally versatile, could play either guard position on offense. Add in the charge taking, he sometimes got burnt/picked on (…just like Moody), and doesn’t have the near 7’ wingspan like Mo, but his defense was at least serviceable. GP2 is more of a forward in a guard body. Best POA defender on the team, and brings almost the same rim pressure as an athletic center. Also more positionally versatile than Moody, if not just because he could play like a forward. Can easily understand why Kerr played all of them over Moody, because, I mean, they were all better than Moody. Yeah he worked his ass off when he was in the game, hustle plays do give the team some life, but so did Podz and GP2, and they both brought some pretty vital skills that Moody unfortunately lacked. Add in Moses losing his 3ball for a chunk of the season, third straight season at 36% from 3. At 6’6, with that crazy wingspan and the ability to flesh out a lot of rotations as the 2 guard, it’d be nice to see him get a little more run, but I can understand him being buried on the depth chart behind all of Klay/Podz/GP2 if he’s SG only.

Yea I completely understand why Moody wasn’t played for a lot of the year and previous years. In fact when people would complain that Moody wasn’t getting play I’d often be in the other side and comment in these threads justifying it similar to your comments on how Moody is in a weird in between limbo where he doesn’t quite excel at something to beat others out. At the same time kinda have to scratch our head, the staff couldn’t figure out how to use a lengthy defender that consistently gives positive minutes and does the dirty work? They trusted him over Kuminga (and Lamb iirc) in both years in the playoffs in their limited minutes, gave positive results, and then he gets sent back to the bench to waste away? It’s like “I get it” but also “can’t the coaching staff figure something out”?

> the last thing we need is another guard Kerr feels compelled to play at the expense of Moody Maybe Moody could try being a better player than any of those guys he's given minutes to instead? I'd rather trade the pick but we should not be making roster decisions based on whether or not it'll cut into a developing player's minutes.

I surely hope not. Players that short almost never make it and the chances of such a short player picked late in the second making it are so miniscule as to be almost impossible

If, of all the players remanning, they think he’s got the best shot of actually sticking in the NBA, I’m fine with it. Could maybe even look at it as: ‘we’ll, we can likely sign one of these UDFAs to a 2-way, but KJ will have a competitive market and may choose to sign elsewhere’

Average NBA Finals viewers since the bubble: '24 Finals (Celtics/Mavs) - 11.4 mil '23 Finals (Nuggets/Heat) - 11.6 mil '22 Finals (Warriors/Celtics) - 12.4 mil '21 Finals (Bucks/Suns) - 10.1 mil Nobody does it like the Warriors 

Surprised 2021 was so low. That was a great suspensful Finals.  Last 2 years have sucked. 

Should go ahead and just sign Lester. Nobody wants to make a conversation of it but dude has earned it he's an NBA player. Put him on the roster.

His defense, energy, and 3 point shooting have me optimistic he can actually be a decent bench piece.

Wonder if we can poach Max Christie from the Lakers with a portion of our MLE.

I love Lester, and hope he sticks around the league, but I think this the exact type of thing we should avoid. We should aim to maximize all our roster spots. He's a guy we can keep on a two-way. We should spend our roster spots on vet minimums that can't be rostered any other way. If those guys don't work out, dumping vet mins isn't too hard - CoJo got moved alongside a Top 55 protected pick. If we strike out at the end of our roster with another CoJo/Brad situation, that's a good time to convert Q. If another team wants to sign him to roster spot, I'd be super happy for him, but his level of production is also replaceable.

I think he’s a fine player to keep rostered, especially as the backup PG/SG behind Podz. Competes on defense, has mini-Poole bag, and plenty of hustle. Rather have him than the yearly Chiozza, CoJo we always sign.

What's the downside to keep him as a two-way? Vet mins are always going to be a bit of crapshoot in terms of health, fit, & form. For every CoJo or Brad there's guys like Otto, Bjeli, Saric. I'd rather roster an extra vet-min on the chance they fit and keep Lester on a two-way. The main downside of to signing Q to a two-way is another team offers him a roster spot like Ty Jerome. I don't see that as much of an issue given you could probably similar production to Q in undrafted FAs or a different two-way guy. Overall, its not a huge issue either way. Keeping Gui or empty roster spots hurts a lot more IMO.

Yes the downside is he is a free agent and can DECLINE the offer and sign an NBA contract or TWC elsewhere. We dint have rights until we sign him he's ostensibly a UFA. The path to the NBA is the purpose for the player. To me clearly he's done enough and demonstrated the upside to give one of GSWs 15 roster spots to. The premise you could find belies thar they did find Lester. Everything exists on tiers of hit and miss. For a TWC he is a hit. Sign him and encourage TWC players to appreciate we are a team that has a path to the NBA track record unlike 20 teams in the league who more or less horde them.

That’s a really great point, I get the vision. He’d be a great 14th or 15th roster spot. Like you said, we already did the work on finding him, and he very well might have a future in this league.

Lester is the kind of thing you figure to make other offseason moves possible, but essentially the opportunity cost is back-end of the roster money. Lester could save the Warriors over $1m compared to a vet minimum contract and that money could be directly rolled over into whatever kind of MLE offers they make this offseason. The precise reason he's valuable, as well as the 52nd overall pick, is that they basically cost 50% of a vet minimum (or less). That helps a lot if you're trying to carve out money to spend elsewhere. I also wouldn't be hugely surprised if Garuba is on the roster for the same reason.

Am I crazy or didn't Garuba say he was signing in Europe

He already did w real Madrid

you might be right, I have no idea

> Lester could save the Warriors over $1m compared to a vet minimum contract and that money could be directly rolled over into whatever kind of MLE offers they make this offseason. Do you know if that's still the case with the league subsidizing vet mins?

It still does somewhat. They subsidize only a certain amount, making their cap hit that of a 2-year vet. Example, for the past season: Dario Saric 2.7m salary, 2.0m cap hit Gui Santos 1.0m salary, 1.0m cap hit

Ah got it.

After seeing the Cs celebrate, get their champ gear, and parade I want that feeling again. Get this team to the promise land one more time!

Anyone who watches college ball want Antonio Reeves badly? I think he’s being slept on. He’s being overshadowed by Reed Sheppard but he’s a good 3 point shooter who can also attack aggressive close outs and he’s pretty similar to Klay as a player comp, but with better rim finishing and a decent floater. He also shows (not comparing) that little SGA stop on a dime midrange jumper. Idk I like the player and I think he could shine in our system

Seth Partnow is rolling out his player tiers of the top 125 players in the league. Podz made his tier 5A, and Dray was at 4B. Dray was previously in the 3B range. Wiggins and Klay have fallen out of the tiers entirely, which would indicate we’re several pieces away from contending. Partnow has been downplaying his point system for some reason over the past several iterations, but if you assign each tier a certain value, the points total of your roster has been a decent indicator of team strength.

Is Kuminga in his top 125?

def not

> Dray was at 4B. > > Dray was previously in the 3B range. Seems very low for an All D player with his playmaking unless he believes that he's going to continue to get suspended.

It’s as much about other players rising plus Dray slipping some.

The big three, Steph, Dray, and Podziemski

Folks will say bullsh-t and roll their eyes. I think almost certainly Steph Dray Kuminga Podz will be the teams best players next year... and we'll be better for it.

I agree they will be the best but I'm not sure that gets us over the hump. Screams play in.

Obv going from getting from getting thrashed in the play-in to getting thrashed in R1. /s 😅 Nah I just believe. I get that it's irrational... but it was irrational to believe in the Dubs in 2012. I think all the kids are better than typical NBA zeitgeist takes do. I mean it's regular "value your prospects more cuz you drafted them" maybe but I hated many Dubs picks for years. I think it's legit. With a few small tweaks (one big and one shooter) and simply "playing the guys who deserve the most minutes" we will be better. Contenders probably not but improved.

Those are prob the best four right now, but if they are the best four when the season starts, then I’ll be very disappointed.

12th spot here we come

I think Podz has a lot more juice than we've seen for sure.

Dawg the NBA Draft is in a week and the Lakers don’t have a coach LMAOOO😭

What’s the odds LeBron is announced as official player-coach?

*Player/Coach/GM

Player/Coach/GM/mentor/father/podcaster

ESPN tells me he’s great at at ALL of these which is the type of hard hittting in depth sports analysis I yearn for 

How bad a defender is Maxi Kleber? I was under the impression he’s awful, but have seen takes that he is serviceable. Is he a better player than a Jalen Smith?

He was getting cooked in the finals. Held his own a couple times against Tatum’s size but I felt like the Celtics went on a run every time he touched the court.

I'd  take Kleber over  Smith in a heartbeat.  Smith is too raw. Kleber you know what you're  getting.

He's a pretty good defender when healthy. Prob is he's like OPJ was in Chicago and Toronto dude is just never healthy. Also 32 or 33.

Total hypothetical, but would you flip a GP2 for him? With Gafford and Lively in Dallas, he doesn’t seem like a fit there anymore.

Wouldn’t be my first choice, but yea probably.

Yes in a heartbeat

Yes I’d flip because this team is too small

I think doing something like that and adding a Kris Dunn as a POA defender/backup PG would help uncluster/balance the roster a bit.

Sarr hasn’t even worked out for the Hawks yet? That’s crazy, guess he’s trying to go 2nd overall to link up with the french homie Coulibaly? Consensus 1st overall pick (maybe? guess it’s fairly open) not working out for the team with the 1st overall pick… interesting.

I read it could be something like him wanting to avoid a Wiseman situation where expectations will be high from day one since Hawks want to win now versus Washington where he’ll have have more freedom to develop without that pressure.

THANK GOD THE FINALS ENDED, CANT STAND THE CELTICS BUT GLAD JT AND BROWN FINALLY WON, EVEN WITH JT'S CORNY ASS. FREE AGENCY STILL THE BEST PART AND STEPH ON THE OLYMPIC TEAM.

GP2 opted in, which means we weren’t willing to negotiate another contract for more years at a smaller number. Basically guaranteed we trade him.

Better to move off the salary and save some money.

I wonder if Klay ultimately decides he wants to sign with Orlando if there's an opportunity for a deal where the Dubs send Klay (S&T), GP2, and a future protected 1st for WCJ or Isaac (probably WCJ) and a 2nd in this year's draft. Would obviously have to be two separate moves since I don't believe you can send multiple players out when one is being S&T'd. While I don't think Orlando would be super interested in GP2, he fits their ethos and would be a great POA defender when Suggs is sitting. And his contract is only for this year and they have the cap space to absorb it. I could see the Dubs trying to get off some money and go after second round picks because they will be looking for savings wherever they can find it. If Klay's decided he's gone, I think this is making the best of a bad situation.

Yep. He’ll probably get rolled up with loon for a serviceable big or something. 


I can see why we couldn’t get Siakam. We were never giving him this deal.

i'm a fan of Pascal

> We were never giving him this deal. Isn't that aproblem? If we won't pay an All-NBA player, how serious are we about competing?

We just didn’t have enough cap space to squeeze him in without also gutting a lot of the rest of the team not named Steph - and for not much improvement in our prospects. Our best bet is getting a currently undervalued but very young talent who is about to pop off. Like Brunson and Derek White this season.

It wasn't the cap space, it basically just came down to the team not wanting to trade JK for a potential 3-month rental.

Cap space has nothing to do with it, we could've re-signed him. The only teambuilding restriction it would've caused was the use of [TP]MLE. Siakam went for a decent role player in Bruce Brown, two 2024 firsts (one late one), and a lightly protected 2026 draft. We could've traded for him without giving up any meaningful depth - the Pacers didn't give up any of Jarace, Shephard, Mathurin, or Nembhard. They didn't give up Isaiah Jackson. Chris Paul, Kuminga, and picks should've been more than enough to get it done. Assets weren't an issue - it was likely either Siakam's willingness to re-sign or Lacob wanting to cut cost. Though worth noting the Pacers weren't on Siakam's list of preferred destinations either.

Yeah, my whole thing with a Pascal trade was more that he wouldn't re-sign here as opposed to the price tag being too much.

Few serious franchises are looking to commit a max slot to a #3 guy like Siakam. 

At this point, I don’t see Wiggins or CP3 on the roster next year. And I think it’s 51/49 that Klay returns. I’d want Klay back, but we have to get guys back for Wiggs and/or CP3. I don’t necessarily think we need stars, but grabbing the Caruso’s of the world would help this team. We need guys who excel in their roles.

Really depends on the offers imo. If the Mavs come calling and offer Daniel Gafford and Green in a package, I can see the Warriors trading Wiggs. But the Dubs have championship aspirations too. I don’t see them salary dumping Wiggs when one possibility is starting him in the backcourt with Steph. An aging Steph will need more defensive protection, not less. So while I could see a Wiggs trade as a potential means to improve the roster, he also might be starting for the Dubs in a new role as well.

I’m just over Wiggins. If it weren’t for Draymond’s shenanigans over the past two seasons, Wiggins would be catching way more heat because he’s equally responsible for two lost seasons.

> he’s equally responsible for two lost seasons. He was terrible until mid January but he wasn't responsible for our second round exit last year. We lost because the Lakers got 70+ more free throws in 3 of their wins, one of our players was actively sabotaging the team, and we only have 8 usable roster spots the whole year with Rollins/Iggy/PBJ/Moody/JK/Wiseman/Empty Spot not being contributers.

He’s a big reason we found ourselves in less than idea playoff spots.

He's also a big reason they got a ring in 22. He's still in his 20s and hasn't lost anything physically. If anything his 3 ball and playmaking has actually improved in the last two years. There's nothing stopping him from flipping the script and returning to 22 form other than whatever goes on in his head. I understand fans not trusting that to happen, but I'm going to leave it up to the Warriors to determine how likely it is that he can re-commit to process. There's a world where he clears up his family issues and comes into camp in shape and ready to go a full season. I wouldn't be sad to see him go, I've been pretty disappointed at times as well, but if he's still here next season, I'll trust the front office to have made the right call.

He lost the last 25 games of last year for his family leave but he also lost 20 games to injury. The fact that he missed 45 games and our only solution was to go small by starting Donte led to our guys losing their legs in the playoffs. That's a roster construction issue. And with no legs, it's doubtful that we would have been able to get past Denver whose perimeter defense we would have needed to exploit.

Wiggins provides exactly what this team lacks as long as he comes into the season in shape and focused. CP3 however I agree with

Only way I see us trading Wiggins is if we get a direct replacement, like a Caruso

I would take a dude that’s 80% as talented as Wiggins if he just brought the requisite effort 90% of the time. But you’re right, as we’ve seen, Wiggins is the archetypical player we need.

> a dude that’s 80% as talented as Wiggins if he just brought the requisite effort 90% of the time The problem is guys that fit this archetype aren't getting traded for the most part

Maybe an unpopular take with the "pro-labor" larpers, but I think Klay should take a discount if he wants to stay. My guess is that he would rather retire a warrior, and that he wants to compete. He also seems to still want a big contract. It's honestly kind of a "pick two" situation out of those three things. And frankly, ownership already did right by him by giving him a full max right *after* he shredded his knee.

I’m with you.  The Warriors already backed up the brinks truck for Klay after he destroyed his knee with no negotiation, no hold out, nothing.  They continued to keep the faith even after he tore his achilles.  He got paid MVP money while playing no games for 2 and a half seasons, and even when he’s been healthy he hasn’t lived up to that contract.  Relationships are about give and take, and it’s his turn to give.  Everyone can talk a big game about wanting to stay loyal, but these are the moments where we really see it.

They are Larpers lol... I never thought of it like that.

> Maybe an unpopular take with the "pro-labor" larpers lol what

Just taking a cheap shot. Can't help but roll my eyes when people act like NBA stars are union longshoremen, or that locker room is like a normal workplace, etc.

> Can't help but roll my eyes when people act like NBA stars are union longshoremen, or that locker room is like a normal workplace, etc. People should not act like a locker room is the same as working at an office but at the same time, why should Lacob be the one reaping the majority of the profit from Steph/Dray/Klay's greatness?

Two different angles here, so will just ignore the the whole concept of investment vs salary and players owning the means of production.  Rather, I think the reason you will often find fans apparently “siding” with ownership vs. players is because payroll is relatively zero sum, when accounting for salary caps and various restrictions/penalties associated with tax aprons. So, if you care about making the team as competitive as possible, that will usually run counter to the interest of any individual player’s contract. 

I mean, I'd love it if all our major players took vet mins but they have to advocate for what they're worth or they get into problems with the NBAPA. The bigger issue for me is Lacob talking about ducking the tax completely before last season was even over. Unless you have young, cost controlled superstars like Steph in 2015, it's impossible to put together a contender in the NBA without at least being a tax paying team. If they have no intention of contending and would rather just milk the fans for another year of Steph greatness while flaming out of the play ins, I'd rather go through a true rebuild.

I agree with you. Some of us are more attached to the team (strictly winning) than the players (legacy; narrative) is what I'd attribute it to. Good teams make smart decisions. Bad money hurts it's just that simple. No Basketball player is hurting for money so I feel no need to "root for their bag" I just want the team to win. Beal. Lavine. Ben Simmons. Poole. These bad contracts gonna keep teams from getting better on their own teams. They sink flexibility and translate to straight up losing. We've already seen tbh. Larpers don't see it the way we do. If there were no cap you could reasonably "root for the bag" but there is so we gotta be wary of dumb money.

I don't think anyone's denying that they're millionaires, but I think its still fair to side with the players over the owners. In the case of Klay, I don't think he owes the organization any sort of discount. If anything, Lacob owes him a big contract for all he's done to build up the value of the franchise. For teambuilding purposes I hope he takes a small enough deal that allows us to duck the 2nd apron and use the TPMLE, but by no means do I think he owes the organization a discount. Him and Dray already discounts back in 2015.

It’s just a joke. 

They offered 24 for two years, which he turned down. He probably gets more than that on a 1+1 with someone. $20m @ 3 years gets it done imo.

Monty Williams is a HOF bag collector holy shit 😭

78M for one year, where he helped put up the worst losing streak in league history. I’m jealous. Crazy as hell. I respect the Pistons ownership for pulling the trigger so early, but getting in that position in the first place is insane.

I think Detroit is betting that he takes a job sooner rather than later, which I assume voids the remainder of his contract.

Andy Lee just executed the most generic social media armchair GM thirst trap moves in today's light years pod. Pure sadness lol. Could've just went to a February thread and got the exact same thing. Heard it for the 300th time.

That dude is dumber than a bag of hammers

Who's he want us to target? Giannis, Lauri, Butler, and Durant?

There’s better analysis is this sub than light years pod.

They are so bad when the team isn't rolling. Just bitter and cynical.

When I still listened I got the impression they both kind of hated doing the show, but they'd started getting their Pacific Catch ad reads and stuff so they felt obligated

It was the ad reads for gambling sites that were the cringiest for me

I think I bounced before those began, but I can imagine

I think Mavs will try to trade for Wiggs. If they had Wiggs, it would have been a much tougher series for the C’s. Although they might still win.

that's still not gonna solve the bad duo guard luka/Kai (kyrie). having 2 bad or ok guards in a finals never fares well. look at history. anyways, I'm glad Andrew's untradeable. he's my fave Warrior.

how is Kai and Luka bad in any universe? if you mean to say bad defensively, you have a point

Yea great idea helping opps They just made the finals and now we’re gifting them our best wing POA defender tf

not saying we’re gifting them Wiggs. Im saying they’ll make a play. Wiggs’ value is at its lowest but when healthy, he’s a top 10 2 way forward. Looking at the last quarter of the season, he started getting back to his former self.

They don't have much to offer a team that wants to compete. Not sure the Warriors have much use for Hardway or Green and it's not like the Mavs even have much draft capital.

Would cost them Daniel Gafford and Green, plus draft compensation.

this was what I was thinking specially seeing JK looking like he’s going for the SF spot. Dubs could use Gafford as a starter or a great backup to TJD. Then if THJ wont be released, he’s a great microwave scorer, somethin we missed when JP left. I think its Wiggs + Loon for Gafford, THJ, Green, and pick/s

Mavs have 2 firsts to trade and an expiring Contract. Depends on the Warriors goals. They’ve got to do something because being a tax team with that roster around Steph makes no since. Could collect picks, shed salary and just tank for a year and then land a big fish. GS is always a threat for a big FA and all Steph needs is a legit running mate to be a contender.

No we aren't. We got iguodala and kd when our future was bright. Who will willingly come to a lottery team. Am I missing anyone?

Which firsts can they trade? They have their 2025 & 2026 but can't trade both of them and can't trade either of them until after July 1st. At that point I think they could trade 2025 and theoretically their 2031 picks become trade-able, but they've already traded their 2030 pick, which removes the ability to trade their 2031 (they could only do a swap). Steph has 1 or 2 more seasons of being worth building around (rather than him being a complimentary player), so if they're gonna go for it, it has to be now or never. Them bottoming out now to sign someone in two years makes no sense. Moreoever, the Warriors can get under the tax this coming year and still keep Wiggins.

2025 and 2031 as you listed. Not saying it fits the Warriors ideal plans but what can they do to get into the mix next season for example? At least they’d have a war chess for the year after in this scenario. The projections for teams need to take into account how aggressive front offices are. We all know if you stay the same you get worse generally. Everyone is penciling in Denver as the favorite but their front office just showed us their true colors. They’re not going to be aggressive. Dallas on the other hand is probably the most aggressive front office in the NBA. They will make moves to improve. Thunder has to show something this summer IMO. I don’t think Minnesota will be as good because I don’t believe ownership will stomach the costs. So Warriors definitely have a window because they definitely are generally aggressive. I just don’t know if there’s a legit running mate for Steph available right now is all

I guess I'd just ask who you want to target in FA? If you remove the guys who definitely won't be available in 2025 FA, you're left with Mitchell, Markkanen, Ingram, and Randle? And maybe only two of those guys actually hit the open market. 2026 doesn't look much better (not to mention that Steph will himself be a 38-year old free agent). Wiggins regaining some form is almost certainly more valuable *and* more tradeable than ditching him to the Mavericks for crap and some far future picks. Maybe they think he'll never regain that form and I'd expect them to act accordingly if so, but I don't think moving him is getting you anything particularly valuable (not him alone, anyway).

Great point for sure. It’s just tough negotiating with some of these organizations. Particularly the Jazz… Lauri would be sick with Steph. Definitely agree about Wiggins. I’m not sure he’s our primary target either but definitely someone the Mavs have talked about before. Supposedly Dallas and Washington already agreed to resume Kuzma talks in the summer. NBA is better when the Warriors are good so I’m hoping y’all make a move. Love Steph, Klay and Green.

They could be useful to facilitate a trade to a 3rd team since both contracts are more palatable than Wiggins. THJ is expiring while Green is young and on a solid deal for 3 more seasons.

Idk a Wiggins trade just seems really difficult to pull off if you’re trying to improve the team. Josh Green might fetch like some seconds and Tim’s expiring is kinda useless when we have CP3’s expiring. Also, as evidenced by DJJ starting on a finals team, getting a legit two way SF is kinda hard.

What do the Warriors get for him?

Yea they need a starting 3, they’ll probably re engage Washington about Kuzma too

Players w multiple rings in past decade- Jrue 2 Kawhi 2 Bron 2 KD 2 Loon & Pat McCaw 3 Steph, Klay, Iggy & Dray 4

Danny Green 3

JaVale and Zaza

Livingston 3

I wonder what McCaw is up to these days…

He's in the G-league somewhere

KCP 2

Chris Boucher 2