Jordan Pushed Off

@MrBillups22 @khrisody @FivelDaAmerican Which teams have cap space?

@khrisody @FivelDaAmerican He averaged 18/5. Averages 16/5 for his career. And he’s only 23.. so he’s proven AND he has potential.. and he’s restricted so any team can offer him a contract, not just the clippers. They just can match so THEY have to agree with the number.

The Clippers came into this era looking old, capped out, and with the perception they had no real future. They walked out of it with 25-year-old All-Star Darius Garland, 23-year-old Bennedict Mathurin, two intriguing prospects in Yanic and Kobe Sanders, the No. 5 pick, the No. 36 pick in the 2026 Draft, and a 2029 first-round pick. That’s an insane pivot for a team people thought was headed for a hard reset.

@KickAsh13 @gordonho560402 @BrianJNBA Right, the Knicks were basically healthy all season... and finished 3rd.

@gordonho560402 @BrianJNBA They were literally the 1 seed for the whole season. Never fell to 2. How is that a fluke? Genuinely don’t get the logic.

Pistons were obviously way ahead of schedule this year, but it's hard to see this impending result as anything less than a disappointment

@garretstarr @TheNBABase What about Riley and Wade or Phil and the late great Kobe? Or Pop and Tony or Pop & Manu.

@TheNBABase The only thing close to a coach and player relationship like this is Rick and Jalen Brunson

Tim Duncan has reportedly been in the gym with Gregg Popovich every single day as he rehabs from his stroke. Spurs CEO RC Buford says Duncan isn't there because he has to be, but because of the deep "emotional connection" and everything Pop did for him during his career. 🥹 (Via @JaredWeissNBA )

@andyblarsen Michigan men’s hoops subbing in Steve Fisher for Bill Frieder just before the 1989 NCAAs was seen as not a winning move.

Trying to think of some nearly-universally-panned (let's say, IDK, >75% disapproval rating) head coach or GM hirings, in any sport, that ended up working out for the team that hired them. Any help?

@LakerCentral365 How many pro scouts do most NBA teams employ? How many college scouts and international scouts?

The Lakers haven’t had a pro scouting department since 2019. While I’ve been critical of Rob how can you accurately judge his job performances if: 1. Ownership was cheap 2. The FO consisted of the Rambii 3. No pro scouting department

@Sebasti22267262 @SamQuinnCBS Would've helped if Cavs ownership didn't let Boozer get away for nothing in '04.

@SamQuinnCBS LeBron being an atg ceiling raiser as a rookie ruined it for him. Like it’s crazy if he just was injured as fuck year 1/2 he probably wins like 2-3 titles his first stint

I think the best way to contextual San Antonio’s luck is this. When the Cavs drafted LeBron, they had one more lotto pick. They got Luke Jackson because Andre Iguodala went one slot ahead. Imagine if they got Iguodala, then LeBron got hurt in 2005 and they jumped for Chris Paul. The Cavs got lucky getting LeBron. Everyone gets lucky when they win a lottery. But that’s standard luck. What happened for the Spurs was something more substantial than that. That doesn’t mean they weren’t smart. They’re one of the smartest organizations in the NBA. But it’s just ridiculous to pretend they aren’t among the biggest beneficiaries of lottery luck in NBA history.

@theAlexLevin @SamQuinnCBS You mean they broke up the 2017-18 Sixers lineup when they traded Covington & Saric for Jimmy? Philly lost 4-1 in the 2nd round in 2018 to a Boston team featuring Horford and a bunch of young guys. (Kyrie and Hayward were injured)

@SamQuinnCBS He broke up the best starting lineup in the league for 2 years running to get Butler

Some of these decision-makers were better on balance than others. Brand got Jimmy for nothing. Morey got Maxey and VJ. But it took so many wrong turns by some many different people to squander the foundation Hinkie built. The Process was failed by its successors.

@Jonas_Coiso @cfuerte13 @JonesOnTheNBA I think you're thinking of the other Jordan, Jordan Clarkson.

@cfuerte13 @JonesOnTheNBA Is Poole half pinoy too? People were saying Harper is a black+pinoy fam that is super expressive because of his mom (i believe it's the Philipino side on him) and their relationship

Harper may have taken the reaction crown away from Josh Hart. Dude is hilarious

@chaitanyarshah @KevinOConnor @EzraOnTheLow Sitting out? Like refuse to suit up and play?

@KevinOConnor @EzraOnTheLow Do you think guys like Ajay, Wiggins start sitting out to get better contracts or get traded?

How high up could OKC get trading up in the draft if the package is 12th pick 17th pick and Aaron Wiggins @KevinOConnor ? (In your opinion of course)

@bomberjacket5 @JuliusVElite0 @terance_mann "The goal is to be a better player"-- do you mean, like, for decades post-college of playing YMCA pickup on weekends? (Not trying to be snarky) I get that every HS/college team can't field only 3&D players, but if you're not good enough to play a lead role, why not specialize?

@JordanPushedOff @JuliusVElite0 @terance_mann I get your point but focusing too much on a role in high school or even college is limiting. The goal is to be a better player. Skill development has so much value. How fast will most players burn out shooting 100 corner 3s a day as their year round training?

In Year 8 of Terance Mann NBA career & we are doing the same drills since rookie year. Corner 3 gets you PAID. While most delusional parents & players hate the corners there are guys playing at the highest level on TV everyday that are obsessed with the corners. #JuVSandbox 🤞🏽

@bomberjacket5 @JuliusVElite0 @terance_mann Depends. What are you developing for? For many kids, getting to be a starter on their high school hoops team would be an incredible lifetime memory and identity. College team, even better.

@JuliusVElite0 @terance_mann Specializing in corner 3 as a high school or even college player is horrible development. Parents and players are right to hate it.

@B_I_L_L_I_E__ @JonKrawczynski Game 6 vs. Denver in 2024 is the franchise peak. Beating a Steph-less Warriors in team in 2025 was much less impressive.

@JonKrawczynski At this point those two wins are the franchise’s greatest hits album. Everything else is filler leading to the same ending.

Wolves can cling to the fact that they were beaten badly in Game 5 in Denver two years ago, and came back to win the series. But that's about all they have going for them.

@javale_mcmeme @SamQuinnCBS Agree, they should've kept Jimmy.

@JordanPushedOff @SamQuinnCBS Basically the counter factual of “what if Philly didn’t trade up” isn’t super different from where we ended up whereas the world where they resign Jimmy probably results in multiple rings

It’s interesting how many generations of bad decisions contributed to Philly’s predicament. Hinkie gave them an almost foolproof asset surplus. But Colangelo traded for Fultz. And Brand chose Tobias/Simmons over Jimmy. And Brown traded Bridges. And Morey signed those contracts.

@javale_mcmeme @SamQuinnCBS Philly was worried that Boston (which wanted Tatum) or the Lakers (who wanted Lonzo) would take Fultz? Celtics already had Isaiah (who finished 5th in MVP voting a couple months earlier). The extent of his hip injury wasn't clear to the world.

@SamQuinnCBS The Fultz thing is unfairly maligned as poor asset management. Boston was taking Tatum #1 anyway and the extra pick they gave up turned into Romeo Langford. The other stuff is egregious but that was fine.

@royceyoung Heat have been a team for 38 seasons and made the ECF 10 times (1997, ‘05, ‘06, 2011 thru 2014, 2020, 2022, 2023), almost as good.

This is the Thunder’s sixth appearance in the Western Conference finals in just 18 seasons, meaning OKC has been in the conference finals a third of their seasons. Remarkable.

@RodWalkerNola Boston played most of the season without their best player and had the #2 seed (I think) when he returned in March.

If every NBA team had to play this entire season without its best player, who would you say would win the NBA title? Would #Pelicans (without their best player) be a playoff team in that scenario?

@Mattyd_23 @Tjonesonthenba Tony is saying he doesn’t know which way the Wiz will go (AJ or DP), but whatever they decide, it will be wrong 😅

@Tjonesonthenba Aren’t they wizards getting the best player in the draft ?

No the Jazz do, because they are getting the best player in the draft. The bulls are not

@JonesOnTheNBA There's no more Pacific (or Mountain) time zone teams left, so it shouldn't be too bad going forward.

Being on the east coast watching these games stinks. It’s 12:45 with another quarter to go 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

@ApeRockRadio @TripleHHHPaulL Dan Spivey did the same in WWF in '95. Glacier ripped off Subzero from Mortal Kombat.

@TripleHHHPaulL I mean, Scott basically did the same in WWF but with Scarface lol

It’s wild that Sting, at the suggestion of Scott Hall, lifted this entire gimmick from a mainstream movie 2 years after it came out and nobody said a negative word about it for the next 30 years.

@THEmuffetmcgr4w @SamQuinnCBS I'm confused by your point: he signed Paul George prior to 2024-25. He was hoping to have a winner. But Embiid only played 19 games in 2024-25. But I'll grant you, they should've re-signed Buddy Hield in summer '24.

@SamQuinnCBS Nonsense. He willingly punted a year of his MVPs prime to build a team so bad that they had to tank in order to salvage that season, then the “vision” of that team got stomped by a true contender this season, and hes punted 4 trade deadlines as GM overseeing an MVP players tenure

If you’re saying “the Sixers should fire Daryl Morey,” you’re probably saying one of three things, and the degree to which I agree with those things varies wildly. 1. “Winning in the 2026 NBA relies on winning the margins and Daryl Morey makes too many mistakes on the margins.” Ok, I think this is a very reasonable critique with letting guys like Isaiah Joe and Julian Champagnie go. This is one of his most persistent flaws as a GM, and given how much more important depth and development have become in the apron eras, it’s a credible criticism. I wouldn’t fire him over it, but I’d certainly acknowledge it as a fair frustration. 2. “I think Philly should have given up on the Joel Embiid era in 2024, one year after he won MVP.” I just think this is hindsight GMing. While the risks of his extension were evident in the moment, if you don’t give it to him, you probably have to trade him, and while having the foresight to do so would have been impressive, I don’t think there are many GMs who would have had the stones to do so. Look at how Mavs fans reacted to the Luka trade. That’s how Philly felt about Embiid. It wasn’t happening. If you’re building around that guy, you’re trying to build a champion. Hence, Paul George. They were decisions that didn’t work out, but they were made through a coherent vision that most teams probably would have replicated. Props to the Clippers for seeing the apron issues ahead of most of us and letting PG go. 3. “I don’t want a GM who makes viral, embarrassing quotes after trades.” Fair criticism. Not a good reason to fire someone. Adopt a new organizational media policy, but the bad quote is not a reflection of the quality of the trade itself. The McCain trade looks bad, but he was the fourth guard in Philly’s long-term pecking order. I don’t think getting a first and several seconds for someone who was never gonna have a huge role and was struggling this season was crazy. They happened to send him to the single place best equipped to embarrass them, but getting embarrassed doesn’t change what they got. It just didn’t seem like it was gonna work out for him in Philly (and I think more than anything that’s on Nick Nurse), so I think the “sell high” comment was more about the notion that if they’d kept him, and he’d continued to struggle, his value was only going to drop. A lower-stakes version of what happened with Kuminga, essentially.