NoAgenda

@SleeperNuggets Going to be a great big off the bench over the next few years on his rookie contract.

6’10 F Trevon Brazile is SELECTED by the Denver Nuggets at 35 overall! He can shoot, catch lobs and block shots! He’s gonna eat with Nikola Jokic!

@DeadlineDreamer Golden State can’t tell Steph “we’re rebuilding.” So instead they keep making moves that protect the post-Steph books while still giving him just enough veteran names to sell the idea of one more run. That’s not really contending. That’s avoiding the hard conversation....

@FoundaWayy I do think that the owner wants to rebuild but how are you going to say that to Steph. So they seems to make trades that won't cost them big once Steph retires and at the same time give couple names to chase the title. Do they believe they can repeat 2022 with older guys?

I respect Steve Kerr and what the Warriors built. But Golden State feels stuck in the most dangerous place an old dynasty can be: too proud to rebuild, not good enough to contend, and too attached to its culture to admit the roster no longer matches the standard.

The Hornets are building a war chest of draft assets to utilize down the line: 2027 1st 2027 lottery-protected 1st (via Heat) 2027 top-2 protected 1st (via Mavericks) 2028 1st (Timberwolves swap rights) 2029 1st 2029 1st (via Mark Williams trade) 2030 1st (Minnesota swap rights) 2031 1st 2032 1st (Minnesota swap rights) 2033 1st 2033 1st (via Minnesota) Charlotte GM Jeff Peterson has completely rebuilt an empty asset cupboard in Charlotte since taking over.

Charlotte is finally headed in the right direction as an organization.

That is where old dynasties get weird. They stop making moves to win the next title and start making moves to preserve the brand. Culture is real, but once culture becomes the plan instead of the advantage, you are not building a contender anymore. You are maintaining a museum

Golden State keeps choosing players who make sense if the goal is stability. Horford makes sense. Porziņģis makes sense. Lendeborg makes sense. But none of it screams “we are chasing the league again.” It screams “we still want to look like the Warriors.”

That’s why I’m lower on the Lakers than most. Not because Luka is not great. Because when your entire build depends on one player being healthy, controlling tempo, creating every advantage and covering up every awkward fit, you are not a contender yet. You are a Luka bet.

Luka raises your floor. He does not automatically fix your roster. The Lakers still have to answer the same questions Dallas had around him: Who defends? Who runs when he slows the game down? Who survives when he sits? Who creates if he misses time?

The Lakers are one of the weirdest teams in the league right now. They won 53 games, have Luka, paid Austin Reaves, and still feel like a roster that could fall apart fast if one thing goes wrong. That’s not hate. That’s how thin the identity is.

Analytics doesn’t always tell you a player is bad. Sometimes it tells you the player is finally valuable enough to move.

The uncomfortable part is LaMelo’s value may be highest right when Charlotte no longer has to make every decision around him. That is what good front offices are supposed to ask. Not “is he talented?” The question is whether his timeline is still the team’s timeline.

I don’t think the LaMelo situation is as simple as “Charlotte knows something.” The real point is this front office did not draft LaMelo, did not build the old Hornets mess, and is now looking at a completely different timeline than the one Charlotte sold fans in 2020.

LaMelo has unfollowed the Charlotte Hornets on IG 😬

Couple of possible framework's for a trade: Sacramento framework: Keegan Murray + salary + Devin Carter + protected picks. New Orleans framework: Dejounte Murray + Jordan Hawkins + one of Herb/Trey if Memphis is serious + picks.

Ja's probably not going to a contender. Those teams do not have the assets or the appetite for the risk. This feels more like Sacramento or New Orleans territory. A team stuck in the middle, desperate enough to gamble, and willing to convince itself it can buy low on a star.

Memphis should have moved Ja before the league forced them to. That was not hate. That was asset timing. The Grizzlies had their window, then spent the next few years watching the whole thing get more expensive, more complicated and less valuable.