General Offseason News

[Pelicanidae]

Rockets are "going to be a real threat" to sign Brook Lopez in free agency, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/1CZ36VQyxs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2023

I know he's probably going to re-sign, just on a new deal, but Khris Middleton entering Free Agency and Lopez potentially going elsewhere has to be scaring Milwaukee.

If Khris leaves and Brook leaves in the same off-season, they're screwed. On the plus side, it means the value of their picks (that we own) will sky-rocket. So, fingers crossed for Khris and Brook to ifnd pastures new.

[luckyman]

Trey Murphy right before the draft

https://www.si.com/nba/pelicans/bask...n-the-teammate

"I was in New Orleans for the past two days. Two days ago, Zion was in the building with us." Murphy replied. "And, every time I'm talking with him, it's always jokes. Always a lot of love. He's watching me during my workout. He's doing his own thing. Like whenever, whenever we're around each other is always a good time."

[ragincaucasian]

So Jaxson Hayes, Kira Lewis, Garrett Temple, Josh Richardson, Willy H., Seabron

I would dump Temple asap for EJ to come get some minutes.
Bring in Karlo M. And see what he's got. Definitely take a look at him in Summer League.

What about the others?

[fullcourtpress]

I freaggin hate Memphis: but I think bringing in Marcus Smart was a great move by them. Gives them two DPOY's, a leader, and a PG when Morant is suspended

[luckyman]

I freaggin hate Memphis: but I think bringing in Marcus Smart was a great move by them. Gives them two DPOY's, a leader, and a PG when Morant is suspended

He's an upgrade over Dillon Books. But at the expense of Tyus Jones and draft capital for a small market franchise, that's a negative trade to me.

[Pelicanidae]

In a vacuum Smart might be better than Jones, but he's a very different type of PG. He's not a ''give this man the ball, he will reliably run your offense and distribute, leading PnR offense and breaking down defenses'' type. Which Jones is. Losing that and not replacing it in a season where they know for a fact Ja will miss at least 25 games is a bit weird.

[Pelicanidae]

Hart could opt-in and extend off that $12.9M — or decline the option and become an unrestricted free agent eligible to sign a new deal with the Knicks or another team. https://t.co/VYSROv6FgY

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2023

[markid]

Suns looking for a third team to take Ayton between them and the 76'ers

[tdcreator]

Suns looking for a third team to take Ayton between them and the 76'ers

I’d only do it to ship him off for someone else. Willy needs a different kind of big for his system. A lot of players are starting to come available.

[Pelicanidae]

Timberwolves center Naz Reid has agreed on a new three-year, $42 million deal with a player option, his agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz of @excelbasketball tell ESPN. Undrafted out of LSU, Reid had his best season with 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. pic.twitter.com/YtBjdggxMa

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2023

[RobertM320]

Bulls are preparing for Lonzo Ball to miss the entire 2023-24 season https://t.co/pdyTmefoPN

— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) June 23, 2023

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ee-play-season




I guess this is the final proof that we made the right decision moving on from Lonzo.

[msusousaphone]

Bulls are preparing for Lonzo Ball to miss the entire 2023-24 season https://t.co/pdyTmefoPN

— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) June 23, 2023

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ee-play-season




I guess this is the final proof that we made the right decision moving on from Lonzo.

That's like having an ex die in a car accident years after you break up and saying "dodged that bullet". But ok.

[msusousaphone]

Oh man. Revisiting history. The biggest whiff is getting Temple and Sato when we could have had Markkanen. What a different route this team would be on had we gone there. I'm not sure it's a better route....just different. The Lowry times. I believe it was our 8th consecutive season hoping we would land Lillard or Beal (sarcasm). Somewhere in the 50s people argue that Sato was on par with Hart as a player. Y'all got burnt on that one. Wild times.

https://www.pelicansreport.com/showt...-thread/page63

[Pelicanidae]

That's like having an ex die in a car accident years after you break up and saying "dodged that bullet". But ok.

Not really, he's missing all this time because his leg is wrecked and he was missing time with us because his leg was constantly wrecked. It's more like seeing an ex driving off a cliff and bailing through the door, then thanking Christ you didn't stick around to see the wreckage at the bottom.

[Pelicanidae]

ESPN Sources: The Hawks are finalizing a trade to send F/C John Collins to the Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick. Atlanta’s largely unloading Collins’ three years, $78M for some roster building flexibility and alignment with looming changes to salary cap. pic.twitter.com/CpAfTNXKMq

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2023

Surprised Collins went for so cheap. He's far from perfect, but he's good!

Jazz are doing a great turnaround on this rebuild. Great drafting, good trades for young talent, it's working well for them.

[Pelicanidae]

I strongly believe that smart teams will head into the 2025-26 season both asset rich and cap flexible.

It's a great time to be a cap space team the next 2 years https://t.co/2QxY54oA3R

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) June 26, 2023

[Pelicanidae]

Hear me out pic.twitter.com/nUmzb4dwLv

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) June 26, 2023

I'd do this, probably. I like JV but Green hates using him anyway. Might as well diversify, especially because then you can just let Jax go.

[NMThreeMVP]

Hear me out pic.twitter.com/nUmzb4dwLv

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) June 26, 2023

I'd do this, probably. I like JV but Green hates using him anyway. Might as well diversify, especially because then you can just let Jax go.

I think JV is perfectly fine at his salary. If we can upgrade, great, but I don't see why we're essentially trading him for Zach Collins. Like, you could keep JV, and just send Kira and GT to the Jazz for Olynyk. JV and Olynyk is better than Collins and Olynyk in my opinion.

JV started 79 games and played 25 mpg. The idea that Willie hates using him is a bit overblown. At his age/size, 25mpg is probably what is necessary if he wants to extend his career and in most cases I think we want the Pels to finish with Larry - or ideally Zion - a the 5.

[Pelicanidae]

Portland Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin issues statement on meeting with Damian Lillard: “I met with Dame and Aaron Goodwin this afternoon. We had a great dialogue. We remain committed to building a winner around Dame.”

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2023

We're now at a point where nobody should ever care about Lillard again.

He's not serious about winning - that much is clear because, after 11 seasons of losing, he is apparently still content to just stick around and hope they change.

Every summer we go through the charade of him meeting with the front office, having conversations, Haynes does his job as a mouthpiece and leaks it all, the Blazers do absolutely nothing of note and Lillard goes along with it.

If he's not going to request the trade at this point, he should stop leaking stuff. No one cares anymore.

[Pelicanidae]

I think JV is perfectly fine at his salary. If we can upgrade, great, but I don't see why we're essentially trading him for Zach Collins. Like, you could keep JV, and just send Kira and GT to the Jazz for Olynyk. JV and Olynyk is better than Collins and Olynyk in my opinion.

JV started 79 games and played 25 mpg. The idea that Willie hates using him is a bit overblown. At his age/size, 25mpg is probably what is necessary if he wants to extend his career and in most cases I think we want the Pels to finish with Larry - or ideally Zion - a the 5.

Why would the Jazz do that on it's own? They might take Kira because they can incorporate him into the rebuild or just let him expire (which is what Olynyk is) while gaining a few extra mil during the season, but adding GT in it just adds salary for them this year and they're only $7m under the tax going into the season I think, so they won't want to take back salary.

I said in the post you're responding to that I like JV - I do. But it's clear that Willie isn't interested in him as a centrepiece of the team. You quote minutes, but it's not about minutes in the abstract, it's about opportunities, attitudes, and timing. JV got 25mpg but he was almost never on the floor to close games. He was the only player of the team to get chewed out publicly and on court last season. The team had a vets-only meeting with CJ, Nance, and Temple, and JV was excluded. He's not part of the core vet unit. His 25mpg was a dramatic drop from the prior season despite us not adding significant size elsewhere, in a season we were actively losing games due to rebounding - if he can't get on the court more for that, that's a choice you're making as a coach.

And if you don't want him to finish anyway, why not trade him for someone that also adds an element of rim protection and shooting but is younger, cheaper, and versatile enough defensively that Willie might actually consider using him more in future, not less?

Both Olynyk and Collins can shoot, so you'd be getting 2 shooting bigs for the price of one, meaning you could basically always have one on court - especially if you consider Nance one. Both Collins and Olynyk are good passers for big men. Collins' rebounding rate was fairly similar to other popular Pels-replacement bigs like Gafford last year, and he registered out as a better rim protector than JV too.

Pels need shooting and rim protection. He's a trade that would make us younger, probably cheaper long term, gives potential youth upside at a position of need, and adds both shooting and rim protection and all you give up is a player that your coach doesn't really seem to like that much or use very well anyway. Why not make it, is the question. At least in my opinion.

[bradael]

Hear me out pic.twitter.com/nUmzb4dwLv

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) June 26, 2023

I'd do this, probably. I like JV but Green hates using him anyway. Might as well diversify, especially because then you can just let Jax go.

What draft compensation would the Pels have to give to also make this happen. Because I don't see Utah flipping Olynyk for Kira just to save $6m. They're not in the luxury tax and Olynyk's contract expires after 23/24 anyway.

Same thing with the Spurs. They don't need JV, and it certainly wouldn't be for cap relief. They'd probably need draft compensation to want to do this as well.

[Pelicanidae]

Hello Pelicans �� https://t.co/QSeRGUe2mB pic.twitter.com/XfFSwcq9gP

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) June 27, 2023

Jarrett Allen would be a huge get. I don't dare dream.

[Pelicanidae]

What draft compensation would the Pels have to give to also make this happen. Because I don't see Utah flipping Olynyk for Kira just to save $6m. They're not in the luxury tax and Olynyk's contract expires after 23/24 anyway.

Same thing with the Spurs. They don't need JV, and it certainly wouldn't be for cap relief. They'd probably need draft compensation to want to do this as well.

Stein has reported that the Spurs are on the hunt for a veteran big man to take pressure off Wemby as a rookie, and they won't want to take on long term salary in a situation like that. JV fits the bill.

[As I See It]

Stein has reported that the Spurs are on the hunt for a veteran big man to take pressure off Wemby as a rookie, and they won't want to take on long term salary in a situation like that. JV fits the bill.

What's the return?

Collins and a couple of the twos we sent them to take Graham?

[Pelicanidae]

What's the return?

Collins and a couple of the twos we sent them to take Graham?

Pretty much