2024-25 NBA Thread: Nico Harrison trying to figure out way to trade Paige Bueckers (13 Viewers)

[Instinctive]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Really makes you think.

Really makes you stop watching a team is what it does.

 

[Jayrod]

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.

What a maroon. Outscoring the other team wins championships, numbnutz. And the only way to do that in the history of ever is to play both offense and defense.

 

[Major]

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.

What a maroon. Outscoring the other team wins championships, numbnutz. And the only way to do that in the history of ever is to play both offense and defense.

You know what also wins championships? Having a generational talent like Lebron, Curry, Jokic, Giannis, Luka, etc.

 

[Mister CIA]

Fun graphic.

https://x.com/automaticnba/status/1912587947871785036

 

[Yo Mama]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Really makes you think.

Really makes you stop watching a team is what it does.

His comments on the Caleb Martin / Quentin Grimes trade were almost as bad. When asked why he included a 2nd round pick with Grimes, who many see as the younger and better player, for Martin:

Nico Harrison: “Well, it was really about getting Caleb Martin. It was less about Grimes. We, obviously, we traded for Grimes, and we got a good look at Grimes. Great player. I think it worked out for both teams. It worked out for him. He’s a free agent situation, so we got to go to a team where he could shoot all the balls and really display his offense. And for us, we weren’t interested in that. We were interested in how he could help us win games. And we had the opportunity to get Caleb”


That Grimes was sure good because he could shoot all the balls.

 

[General Malaise]

Teams with losing records shouldn't make the playoffs. In any professional sport. What an embarrassment. Why play a regular season at all.

Tampa had an 8-9 record a few years back and made the playoffs

Read what I wrote again very slowly.....

Just an observation buddy. Was curious how often it happened and that was the most recent example I could find in a different sport

Oh, it's happened a few times in the NFL and it stinks. I would have gotten rid of divisions years ago and just have two conferences. Asinine that a team with a sub .500 record gets in over teams with above .500.

But in the NBA, every team makes the playoffs so whatever. Give everybody a ribbon.

I like how the NFL does it, although I'm still unsure about the 7 team playoff. In the NFL you have 12 out of 17 (used to be 16) games against the same opponents as your division. These division winners have usually been solid teams IMO.

No, absolutely not! Hard disagree. There have been multiple incidents of sub .500 teams in the NFL making the playoffs because they won their crappy division at a cost to teams with winning records in strong divisions missing out. This is the worst take I've ever seen on any message board anywhere in the history of ever.

 

[General Malaise]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Nike stock is down over $100 a share the last 2 years.

He is a product of Nike culture. FAILED Nike culture.

This guy will go down in history as one of the worst general managers of any sport in any era. Hubris and an inability to admit a mistake will be on his tombstone.

David Khan is laughing at him.

 

[Juxtatarot]

I don’t get ESPN sometimes. They have a pregame show called Countdown but hardly mention the game coming up. Instead they have segments on Steph Curry, the Luka trade and the best “Robins” in the playoffs.

 

[msudaisy26]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Nike stock is down over $100 a share the last 2 years.

He is a product of Nike culture. FAILED Nike culture.

This guy will go down in history as one of the worst general managers of any sport in any era. Hubris and an inability to admit a mistake will be on his tombstone.

David Khan is laughing at him.

Wasn't he the point guy or in charge od the campaign to get Steph and they botched it really bad?

 

[msudaisy26]

I don’t get ESPN sometimes. They have a pregame show called Countdown but hardly mention the game coming up. Instead they have segments on Steph Curry, the Luka trade and the best “Robins” in the playoffs.

Because no one cares about the Bulls and Heat today.

 

[Capella]

What is even the point of this Bulls team.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

What is even the point of this Bulls team.

Chicago has a basketball stadium.

 

[Yo Mama]

What is even the point of this Bulls team.

That sweet home Play-In game revenue.

 

[Capella]

What is even the point of this Bulls team.

That sweet home Play-In game revenue.

Feels like they are in this game every year.

 

[msudaisy26]

What is even the point of this Bulls team.

That sweet home Play-In game revenue.

Feels like they are in this game every year.

It honestly feels like Sacramento, Atlanta, Chicago and Memphis should just host the play in games every year. Even if they aren't in it.

 

[irish eyes]

I've seen it all now, Herro gets called for a foul while making a 3 pointer. So so bad.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Can you repeat that?

 

[the moops]

I haven't watched Dallas with AD and without Luka and Kyrie. They lack a PG for sure, but they are long and tall and kinda fun t watch. PJ, AD, Lively is a beastly front line. I think their length wins them this game tonight

 

[the moops]

Also - I am a Dante Exum fan. Like watching him play

 

[thecatch]

If the Mavericks make the playoffs the Kings have a shot at keeping their pick. Go Mavs!

 

[the moops]

If the Mavericks make the playoffs the Kings have a shot at keeping their pick. Go Mavs!

2.4% chance!!!

 

[thecatch]

If the Mavericks make the playoffs the Kings have a shot at keeping their pick. Go Mavs!

2.4% chance!!!

If the Heat and Mavs make it, they will have a 50% chance (coin flip). If not, the Kings have a ~6% of getting into the top 4 and keeping their pick.

 

[Harry Frogfish]

OMG the Nico interview thing.

So you built a window of the next 3-4 years for championship contention, right?

Yes.

How does the logic fit that to do so, you used all your picks from the next four years?

I don't understand the question.

You built a team to compete in 25, 26, and 27, right?

Yes

You traded all your picks for 27-30. So your window will end, the team won't be as good, and you'll have no picks to get better. What's the logic behind that, versus keeping the 25 year old generational superstar that kind of guaranteed you would be good for the next 10-12 years? Why did you use the picks after the window closes to build a short window now?

We believe that defense wins championships. History will prove me right.

But you won't have any picks when the window closes and AD and Kyrie are winding down approaching 40, right?

Defense wins championships. Mark that down.






OMG.

Nike stock is down over $100 a share the last 2 years.

He is a product of Nike culture. FAILED Nike culture.

This guy will go down in history as one of the worst general managers of any sport in any era. Hubris and an inability to admit a mistake will be on his tombstone.

David Khan is laughing at him.

I was just reminded of the power duo in Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor. If Baylor was just a puppet, I'd put Sterling up there.

 

[Yo Mama]

Maybe Nico was right

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

 

[identikit]

I don’t get ESPN sometimes. They have a pregame show called Countdown but hardly mention the game coming up. Instead they have segments on Steph Curry, the Luka trade and the best “Robins” in the playoffs.

I don't get ESPN ever, really

 

[Major]

I don’t get ESPN sometimes. They have a pregame show called Countdown but hardly mention the game coming up. Instead they have segments on Steph Curry, the Luka trade and the best “Robins” in the playoffs.

Clicks and views

 

[msudaisy26]

Cavs vs whoever. Cavs in 5. Trae Young should steal a game, he might even be able to get two, but the Cavs are too strong.

Pacers vs Bucks. Pacers in 6. Pacers have been playing well for a while, they seem to have the Bucks number, and even if Dame comes back he won't be himself for a couple of weeks. Giannis will make this series competitive.

Knicks vs Pistons. Knicks in 6. I could see this going seven and wouldn't be shocked if the Pistons win, but they just don't have the experience to handle the Knicks.

Celtics vs Magic. Celtics in 6. The Celtics have been bored for a lot of the season and I think it carries over into the first round. I think this series is tied at 2 before the Celtics wake up and put them away.

Cavs vs Pacers. Cavs in 7. The first round in the West looks fun and if the favorites all win in the East in round one, then round two should be great.

Celtics vs Knicks. Celtics in 7. This series gives me vibes of the Nuggets/Twolves series from last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Knicks win, but this us the time of year where Thibs team's tend to run out of gas.

Cavs vs Celtics. Cavs in 7. Experience is key in the NBA playoffs, but after the first few years of the playoffs it doesn't mean quite as much. I think the four game losing streak towards the end of the season for the Cavs wasn't them struggling, but more of them being bored and ready for the playoffs to start.

Thunder vs Cavs. Thunder in 6. Two teams that are built very similar, I think the Thunder win because they have the beat player, and a slightly better defense.

If you want to win all the money fade me, then profit.

 

[Capella]

It’s so funny that Demar and Levine just went to Sacramento to lose a play-in game in a different time zone.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Anther banger of a thread title Cappy.

FFS the kid old man is good.

 

[SayWhat?]

I don’t get ESPN sometimes.

I don't get ESPN ever, really

Is this where I can complain about why Stephen A. Smith is still relevant? Does anyone actually watch anything he’s on, or click on the three clips of him they try to jam down your throat on the front page of ESPN.com every day?

 

[Juxtatarot]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

 

[the moops]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

They should put Sabonis on the market as well as Derozan

 

[Kev4029]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

Sacramento should burn it to the ground. The problem is their players kind of suck as assets relative to how Vivek probably sees them. Maybe they could get some ******** late first rounder for DeRozan. If they turned LaVine into a dumping ground for salary, they could maybe make that an asset, but he's neutral value at best on his own. Sabonis has WAY more value in the minds of Kings' fans than IRL. Keegan Murray isn't quite in second draft territory, but his value is certainly at a nadir. Malik Monk proved to be a better 6th man than starter this year.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Kings should have blown it up the 2nd they moved Fox. That they didn't get Castle in that deal is awful. Got Lavine's terrible contract the Bulls were finally able to offload and a 1st 95 years from now.

They've got nothing of real value. I think Murray or Monk gets best return and still won't be great. It's already been established there's minimal interest in the league with Derozan as a starter. Lavine and Sabonis with blah deals. Just a terrible constructed team.

 

[Capella]

Kings should have blown it up the 2nd they moved Fox. That they didn't get Castle in that deal is awful. Got Lavine's terrible contract the Bulls were finally able to offload and a 1st 95 years from now.

They've got nothing of real value. I think Murray or Monk gets best return and still won't be great. It's already been established there's minimal interest in the league with Derozan as a starter. Lavine and Sabonis with blah deals. Just a terrible constructed team.

Everybody mid and like 32 years old for some reason. Hopeless future.

 

[Kev4029]

Kings should have blown it up the 2nd they moved Fox. That they didn't get Castle in that deal is awful. Got Lavine's terrible contract the Bulls were finally able to offload and a 1st 95 years from now.

They've got nothing of real value. I think Murray or Monk gets best return and still won't be great. It's already been established there's minimal interest in the league with Derozan as a starter. Lavine and Sabonis with blah deals. Just a terrible constructed team.

The perfect Sabonis trade partner is Chicago. Sabonis is an especially good floor raiser who is an easy sell to a dumb organization.

I'm curious as to what Murray's value would be. He's a plus defender, but not hugely so, and billed as a top flight shooter but doesn't shoot it especially well. He's also older than people realize - he turns 25 in August.

 

[Anarchy99]

Maybe I am having homer syndrome, but I still think BOS beats anyone in 6 games or fewer if they are at full strength. They've been terrific on the road, and they have a level to go to that they really haven't tried hard to get to in the regular season. I forget the exact numbers, but in a stretch over the final month of the season until they started playing the bench a ton, they led the league in that stretch in scoring while ranking last in pace of play. They also had some crazy net rating differential in half court possessions as well. Sure, they take a lot of threes, but they have the ability to take over a 5-minute stretch of a game and swing the score by 15-20 points when they ratchet up the defense and those threes fall. They will surgically hunt the weakest defender on the court at all times and can switch just about every matchup defensively.

While a lot of teams sit players for load management against weaker teams, Crazy Joe did that against good teams. Not sure if he wanted to push his guys, if they didn't want to show too much, or if some guys were truly unable to go. They went 13-8 against teams with 50+ wins. However, they only were at full strength in 4 of those games. They were down 2 guys in 8 games and down at least one starter in 15 of them. Even though they won fewer games, I think they got deeper with Pritchard evolving and getting a lot of quality minutes from Kornet. They shot 2% worse as a team from 3 this year, but they made an additional 1.3 of them per game. They also allowed 2 fewer ppg compared to last year. Bottom line, a case could be made that the team overall is better than last year. (Admittedly, there are several other teams that improved by leaps and bounds (and are healthy) since last year, so their playoff path should be a lot harder this time around.)

 

[identikit]

Maybe I am having homer syndrome, but I still think BOS beats anyone in 6 games or fewer if they are at full strength. They've been terrific on the road, and they have a level to go to that they really haven't tried hard to get to in the regular season. I forget the exact numbers, but in a stretch over the final month of the season until they started playing the bench a ton, they led the league in that stretch in scoring while ranking last in pace of play. They also had some crazy net rating differential in half court possessions as well. Sure, they take a lot of threes, but they have the ability to take over a 5-minute stretch of a game and swing the score by 15-20 points when they ratchet up the defense and those threes fall. They will surgically hunt the weakest defender on the court at all times and can switch just about every matchup defensively.

While a lot of teams sit players for load management against weaker teams, Crazy Joe did that against good teams. Not sure if he wanted to push his guys, if they didn't want to show too much, or if some guys were truly unable to go. They went 13-8 against teams with 50+ wins. However, they only were at full strength in 4 of those games. They were down 2 guys in 8 games and down at least one starter in 15 of them. Even though they won fewer games, I think they got deeper with Pritchard evolving and getting a lot of quality minutes from Kornet. They shot 2% worse as a team from 3 this year, but they made an additional 1.3 of them per game. They also allowed 2 fewer ppg compared to last year. Bottom line, a case could be made that the team overall is better than last year. (Admittedly, there are several other teams that improved by leaps and bounds (and are healthy) since last year, so their playoff path should be a lot harder this time around.)

Likely is homer syndrome

Could also play out just as described

 

[Juxtatarot]

Kings should have blown it up the 2nd they moved Fox. That they didn't get Castle in that deal is awful. Got Lavine's terrible contract the Bulls were finally able to offload and a 1st 95 years from now.

They've got nothing of real value. I think Murray or Monk gets best return and still won't be great. It's already been established there's minimal interest in the league with Derozan as a starter. Lavine and Sabonis with blah deals. Just a terrible constructed team.

The perfect Sabonis trade partner is Chicago. Sabonis is an especially good floor raiser who is an easy sell to a dumb organization.

I'm curious as to what Murray's value would be. He's a plus defender, but not hugely so, and billed as a top flight shooter but doesn't shoot it especially well. He's also older than people realize - he turns 25 in August.

It would be hysterical if Karnišovas traded for Sabonis and then found a way to draft Jakucionis this year after drafting Buzelis last year. Kings would have to throw in Valančiūnas.

​

 

[thecatch]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

They should put Sabonis on the market as well as Derozan

Sabonis is going to make the team put him on the market. He was the centerpiece of a pretty good and entertaining offense with Fox and to a lesser extent Monk running point and a legit all-nba third team guy. With Derozan and Lavine running around unchecked he's just watching them iso. Sabonis's skillset is such that he's an overall liability as an off-ball center. It has to be infuriating for him.

Derozan was nice as a 3rd/4th option for a good chunk of the year, but down the stretch and last night it was just gross. He has no business being the primary option on an NBA offense. I hate watching the team they put on the floor last night. He's like a 36 year old NBA player and he insists on doing a jump pass every time he gets rid of the ball - that's a habit we beat out of 4th graders. I don't get it.

I've admired Lavine from afar for most of his career, but watching him more closely the last few weeks it's becoming clearer to me why he's not a winning player. He doesn't facilitate offense and he's generally bad on defense despite all of his offensive shot making skills.

Unfortunately Vivek is still running things, and to form it looks like his GM targets are two veteran, incompetent retreads in Scott Perry and Calvin Booth, and he wants to keep Christie as the HC. Christie did a fine job as the interim but has no business being the long-term hire. This team will always suck as long as Vivek is running it. At least the Mavericks will fire Nico at some point and their fans can hope their owners will decide to fully delegate to a more competent basketball executive. There's no such hope for Kings fans.

 

[thecatch]

I'm curious as to what Murray's value would be. He's a plus defender, but not hugely so, and billed as a top flight shooter but doesn't shoot it especially well. He's also older than people realize - he turns 25 in August.

He's extension eligible this summer and I'm also curious about what they'll do with him. He's a very good defender and if he could get back to shooting the 3 like he did his rookie year, he'd be worth a OG Anunoby type contract. Unfortunately his rookie year shooting was either a fluke or he traded whatever made him a good shooter to enhance his defense.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

They should put Sabonis on the market as well as Derozan

Sabonis is going to make the team put him on the market. He was the centerpiece of a pretty good and entertaining offense with Fox and to a lesser extent Monk running point and a legit all-nba third team guy. With Derozan and Lavine running around unchecked he's just watching them iso. Sabonis's skillset is such that he's an overall liability as an off-ball center. It has to be infuriating for him.

Derozan was nice as a 3rd/4th option for a good chunk of the year, but down the stretch and last night it was just gross. He has no business being the primary option on an NBA offense. I hate watching the team they put on the floor last night. He's like a 36 year old NBA player and he insists on doing a jump pass every time he gets rid of the ball - that's a habit we beat out of 4th graders. I don't get it.

I've admired Lavine from afar for most of his career, but watching him more closely the last few weeks it's becoming clearer to me why he's not a winning player. He doesn't facilitate offense and he's generally bad on defense despite all of his offensive shot making skills.

Unfortunately Vivek is still running things, and to form it looks like his GM targets are two veteran, incompetent retreads in Scott Perry and Calvin Booth, and he wants to keep Christie as the HC. Christie did a fine job as the interim but has no business being the long-term hire. This team will always suck as long as Vivek is running it. At least the Mavericks will fire Nico at some point and their fans can hope their owners will decide to fully delegate to a more competent basketball executive. There's no such hope for Kings fans.

It’s Perry!

 

[Jayrod]

Maybe I am having homer syndrome, but I still think BOS beats anyone in 6 games or fewer if they are at full strength. They've been terrific on the road, and they have a level to go to that they really haven't tried hard to get to in the regular season. I forget the exact numbers, but in a stretch over the final month of the season until they started playing the bench a ton, they led the league in that stretch in scoring while ranking last in pace of play. They also had some crazy net rating differential in half court possessions as well. Sure, they take a lot of threes, but they have the ability to take over a 5-minute stretch of a game and swing the score by 15-20 points when they ratchet up the defense and those threes fall. They will surgically hunt the weakest defender on the court at all times and can switch just about every matchup defensively.

While a lot of teams sit players for load management against weaker teams, Crazy Joe did that against good teams. Not sure if he wanted to push his guys, if they didn't want to show too much, or if some guys were truly unable to go. They went 13-8 against teams with 50+ wins. However, they only were at full strength in 4 of those games. They were down 2 guys in 8 games and down at least one starter in 15 of them. Even though they won fewer games, I think they got deeper with Pritchard evolving and getting a lot of quality minutes from Kornet. They shot 2% worse as a team from 3 this year, but they made an additional 1.3 of them per game. They also allowed 2 fewer ppg compared to last year. Bottom line, a case could be made that the team overall is better than last year. (Admittedly, there are several other teams that improved by leaps and bounds (and are healthy) since last year, so their playoff path should be a lot harder this time around.)

Boston is better than their record indicated because they were experimenting and prepping for the playoffs the entire year.

They can play well enough to win it all without any single guy but Tatum and could even lose 2 guys (one starter, one bench guy) and still have enough to win it all.

At full strength and with a tighyer playoff rotation, they are a juggernaut on both ends.

 

[Jayrod]

Saturday looks fun with all of the 4/5 and 3/6 games.

 

[General Malaise]

For my GB @SWC

[Shams] Amazing: Milwaukee's Damian Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer on blood-thinning medication, sources tell ESPN. Lillard is out for Game 1 Saturday against Indiana and will have a period of time to resume contact workouts and ramp up for return.​

 

[General Malaise]

Let's go, Dame. Toughest dude in the NBA, imo.

 

[Mister CIA]

For my GB @SWC

[Shams] Amazing: Milwaukee's Damian Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer on blood-thinning medication, sources tell ESPN. Lillard is out for Game 1 Saturday against Indiana and will have a period of time to resume contact workouts and ramp up for return.​

Good news!

 

[Kev4029]

Bulls lose at home to Heat to miss playoffs
Bulls West lose at home to Mavs to miss playoffs

Bulls West part ways with their GM after the game.

New GMs usually look to turn over the roster. Probably move DeMar? I’m not sure what they can do. Like Bulls East, they are stuck in the middle. At least Chicago has a younger core.

They should put Sabonis on the market as well as Derozan

Sabonis is going to make the team put him on the market. He was the centerpiece of a pretty good and entertaining offense with Fox and to a lesser extent Monk running point and a legit all-nba third team guy. With Derozan and Lavine running around unchecked he's just watching them iso. Sabonis's skillset is such that he's an overall liability as an off-ball center. It has to be infuriating for him.

Derozan was nice as a 3rd/4th option for a good chunk of the year, but down the stretch and last night it was just gross. He has no business being the primary option on an NBA offense. I hate watching the team they put on the floor last night. He's like a 36 year old NBA player and he insists on doing a jump pass every time he gets rid of the ball - that's a habit we beat out of 4th graders. I don't get it.

I've admired Lavine from afar for most of his career, but watching him more closely the last few weeks it's becoming clearer to me why he's not a winning player. He doesn't facilitate offense and he's generally bad on defense despite all of his offensive shot making skills.

Unfortunately Vivek is still running things, and to form it looks like his GM targets are two veteran, incompetent retreads in Scott Perry and Calvin Booth, and he wants to keep Christie as the HC. Christie did a fine job as the interim but has no business being the long-term hire. This team will always suck as long as Vivek is running it. At least the Mavericks will fire Nico at some point and their fans can hope their owners will decide to fully delegate to a more competent basketball executive. There's no such hope for Kings fans.

Scott Perry is trash but I think Booth might still have a good career as a GM. I'm not saying I think he is or will be a good GM, but I do think he is a smart guy with some good ideas, he was just too stubborn both in philosophy with his relationships to succeed in Denver. He might end up being a guy that is a great #2 and a bad #1 due to his personality though. He would also be a terrible fit with Vivek as I don't think he could play nice with an over-involved idiot owner.

Alas, Scott Perry was hired so it's a moot point in Sacramento.

 

[Kev4029]

I'm curious as to what Murray's value would be. He's a plus defender, but not hugely so, and billed as a top flight shooter but doesn't shoot it especially well. He's also older than people realize - he turns 25 in August.

He's extension eligible this summer and I'm also curious about what they'll do with him. He's a very good defender and if he could get back to shooting the 3 like he did his rookie year, he'd be worth a OG Anunoby type contract. Unfortunately his rookie year shooting was either a fluke or he traded whatever made him a good shooter to enhance his defense.

I think he's probably more of the shooter that he was in 2023-24 than either of the two seasons bracketing it. A good shooter with versatility in his shot but not a great shooter.

I think the best comp may be GSW Andrew Wiggins - similar shooters who are overmatched as #1 stoppers but can kind of step into that role but better as 2nd best perimeter defenders. The rest of Wiggins game is probably a bit stronger but Murray is a bit bigger/stronger and rebounds at a high level so he can legitimately play the 3 or 4, as opposed to Wiggins who is more of a straight 3.

ETA: Wiggins makes $28m next year. I feel like that is pretty close to what Murray will get. Something like 4/$110-120m.