NBA

[DrKlahn]

If I'm Bagley, I think I just show up in Indiana, Costanza-style

 

[DurhamSon]

Could Boston really not get in on any of this? What are they waiting for? Sabonis even fits their fanbase’s, um, style

 

[childress22]

I really thought the Kings would keep Halliburton and shop Fox. Guess not.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

What Portland is doing is the worst thing they can do, IMO. Keeping their only asset good enough to return a legitimate rebuilding haul. Trading the others. They have to trade Lillard. This whole rebuild will have to be a re-rebuild in a few years otherwise. NBA players don’t want to go to Portland.

 

[Grit]

I don't imagine the Pelicans will do much past the play-in games this season. Will CJ really be worth $70mm for his age 31 and 32 seasons?

 

[rome8180]

I really thought the Kings would keep Halliburton and shop Fox. Guess not.

You gave them too much credit. If they could correctly identify their best players, that would be a major step toward being a competent franchise.

 

[rome8180]

I don't imagine the Pelicans will do much past the play-in games this season. Will CJ really be worth $70mm for his age 31 and 32 seasons?

Probably not. Griffin is just fumbling for his job.

That said, the actual trade is great value in a vacuum.

 

[childress22]

You gave them too much credit. If they could correctly identify their best players, that would be a major step toward being a competent franchise.

Even if they can't understand that Haliburton has a higher PER, or literally triple the win shares, or that he shoots 41% from outside while Fox shoots under 25%....

one dude is making $18 million over the next 3 years, and the other one is making NINETY-SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS over that span. I'd imagine some front office guy must have brought that up.

 

[childress22]

I guess it's possible the Kings really tried to get them to take Fox and the Pacers said no. And I'd say Sabonis's contract is also one of the best value contracts in the league. Still, though.

 

[rhfarmer]

I don't imagine the Pelicans will do much past the play-in games this season. Will CJ really be worth $70mm for his age 31 and 32 seasons?

Probably not. Griffin is just fumbling for his job.

That said, the actual trade is great value in a vacuum.

I'd be curious to see the trade history that got them here, ancestry dot com style. Like, they are basically still trading stuff that they got from trading AD, right?

 

[childress22]

Basically.

• Hart came over in the AD trade,
• NAW and Louzada were both part of what the Pelicans got for trading the #4 pick they got in the AD trade to Atlanta (Jaxson Hayes, also acquired, stays int the picture)
• Satoransky was a FA signee in 2021

You could say they basically traded AD for Ingram, C.J. McCollum, Jaxson Hayes, and a couple of years of Lonzo along the way.

 

[rome8180]

And not resigning Lonzo was all their decision. It could easily have been AD for Ingram, CJ, and Lonzo, full stop.

Plus, I'm pretty sure the picks and swaps aren't fully exhausted.

 

[rhfarmer]

Did they acquire Bledsoe and Adams with some of those assets as well?

 

[rhfarmer]

Nevermind, Bledsoe was Jrue Holiday, another terrible move.

 

[rome8180]

I actually stand by statement about Griffin. He almost always wins a trade.

Unfortunately, he sucks at everything else relevant to his job.

 

[rome8180]

Woj says otherwise? If this is right, I assume it'll be GM Dame from here on out.

Portland may think this is what they're doing. Whether Dame is excited for the possibility is a different story.

 

[rome8180]

Marcus Morris literally clotheslined Ja Morant in midair. To Twitter's credit, there are a lot of people asking why there's no outrage like there was for Grayson's far less flagrant play.

 

[rome8180]

Speaking of Grayson, he was cooking the Lakers earlier. Bucks running a bunch of stuff through him.

 

[childress22]

I know it's dumb to over-interpret the meaning of other people's actions, but NAW and Hart watching the game and cheering the team on did seem emblematic of the fact that somehow the Pelicans have managed to seem relatively oddly functional and good-vibes in a season with all the Zion injury/conditioning stuff, a rookie head coach, and coming off the Jaxson Hayes charges.

I don't know how much of it is Willie Green, how much is the right mix of guys, but this actually seems like more of a team than the previous years where the pieces didn't seem to fit (Melli/Favors etc). McCollum has a pretty strong reputation as good teammate, too, so maybe they can keep that rolling, although Josh Hart is a loss for them on that front, too.

 

[rome8180]

I think you're right about all that. This team has manage to never seem dispirited, even when they were struggling.

That, as much as their record after their rough start, has made me optimistic about them going forward. I know Green had a reputation for being loved by players before he took the job, so maybe it is partially his doing. He does seem like an optimistic and encouraging guy, based on his pressers. Not that that always is enough to overcome the bad vibes of losing.