Minn seems to be in love with ball, I doubt they risk trading down cause it wouldn’t surprise me if the warriors were interested in him as well
A Wiseman Told Me Never Argue With Fools: Official 2021 Warriors Season Thread
- Thread starter G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
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Minn seems to be in love with ball, I doubt they risk trading down cause it wouldn’t surprise me if the warriors were interested in him as well
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Which is why I like the way Myers is playing this. Teams don't know what we really wanna do or who we really want to take so they can't play us.
36 yo Klay & Steph def giving you dell curry numbers off the benchEven when Steph and Klay are past their primes they will be in the league for a long time... You gotta be worried about these mofos when they coming off the bench
Meyers out here wit the mean pump fake.. We all know he taking Weisman
But I also know he smart enough to have a backup plan if Minnesota be on some fukk shyt and take Weisman at #1
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Great breakdown...ESPN has been dropping good draft content
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
The most ambitious and reasonable free-agent targets for the Warriors and Lakers
Draft night and the opening bell of NBA free agency will happen within 48 hours of each other. For some franchises, next Wednesday’s draft is more crucial. Whomever the Cavaliers or Bulls select high in the lottery matters more than what players they sign in free agency the following week. It’s the opposite for organizations like the Lakers and Raptors. Friday’s free-agent shuffling holds more significance than Wednesday’s 28th and 29th overall picks.
The Warriors are somewhere in the doubly important middle. Wednesday night’s No. 2 selection is seismic for the Warriors. How they utilize this rare top pick — their highest since 1995 — will have greater impact on the next decade than whomever they convince to take the taxpayer mid-level exception. But you could make an easy argument that whichever veterans they sign to fill out their roster have a better chance than any rookie to tilt next season’s title race.
So let’s explore some potential targets for the Lakers and Warriors — the defending champs and returning champs who are likely to clash on Christmas, will be tied at the hip much of the season and could be competing for the same free agents a week from now. Here’s an ambitious, realistic and under-the-radar name for each, plus some honorable mentions.
Ambitious
Lakers: Danilo Gallinari
Avery Bradley’s situation is relevant to monitor. He floated out the possibility this week of declining his $5 million player option with the Lakers and testing free agency. If he does, that could free up the Lakers to use their full mid-level, priced at $9.3 million, instead of the taxpayer mid-level, priced at $5.7 million.
That’s where a name like Gallinari could come into play. He’s a top-10 free agent, but there’s so little cap space available this offseason that the full mid-level should get teams in the ballpark range of almost every available name out there.
Serge Ibaka might appeal more. He’s the rare rim protecting modern center who can hit the 3, block shots and also shuffle his feet well enough defensively to survive on the perimeter in the playoff gauntlet. He’s not what he once was as a leaper. Ibaka only blocked 46 total shots all last season. In his prime, Ibaka wiped away 100 or more seven straight seasons. But he’s perfect for the Lakers or Warriors if he puts his name in the bargain bin.
The problem: Ibaka still makes sense for his current team. The Raptors have his Bird rights, allowing them to offer a balloon one-year payment (maybe near $20 million, similar to what he made a season ago) and still wipe him from the books before they go big-fish hunting next offseason. That’s what could make him less obtainable than Gallinari, who doesn’t have his current team (the rebuilding Thunder) in the mix, unless it’s via a more complicated sign-and-trade.
Let’s go back to the playoffs briefly. Anthony Davis played 189 total minutes next to Markieff Morris. In them, the Lakers outscored opponents by 66 points — or, from an efficiency standpoint, 16.5 points per 100 possessions, compared to only 9.6 per 100 when Davis was paired with a traditional center. Which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Lakers’ two-center strategy had its place, but lineups with Davis at the five, better spreading the floor around him (and now LeBron James) have always proved more potent throughout Davis’ career.
Morris isn’t even that dangerous of a stretch big, either. He’s just below 35 percent from 3 in his career and has never made more than 76 in a season. Gallinari is a next-level sniper. He made 178 last season at 40.5 percent accuracy and 161 the season before on 43.3 percent accuracy. He’d do for Davis and the Lakers what Nikola Mirotić did for Davis and the Pelicans in 2018, unlocking New Orleans’ best playoff run in the Davis era.
The playoff challenge projects to be different for the Lakers this upcoming season. The path probably won’t be as simple as Trail Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets. They’ve got to expect either the Clippers, Warriors or both to be in the way. Against either, significantly more Davis at the five could be necessary. Gallinari would supercharge those units, if the Lakers and Gallinari can find a way to meet on a number or perhaps a sign-and-trade path.
Warriors: Marc Gasol
There may not be a big ever created more fit to play in Steve Kerr’s system than prime Marc Gasol, the 2013 version, who won Defensive Player of the Year dominating within Memphis’ team concept and averaged four assists pinpoint pinging it around to cutters from the high post.
That Gasol no longer exists. Age and injuries have sapped him of some juice. At this point, as a winning component, he’s probably only a two- or three-stint, 22-minute-per-night player. But that fits into the Warriors’ current rotation needs like a missing puzzle piece. Remember how useful David West became in his two final seasons for the Warriors? Gasol could be a more effective version of that.
He’d make sense irrespective of draft night, too. Signing Gasol and selecting Anthony Edwards would balance out the Warriors’ roster needs at center and wing, but using Gasol as a tag-team partner and mentor to James Wiseman sounds like the best on-the-fly tutelage a teenage center could ask for in his first professional season. Think Wiseman might benefit from daily conversations and lessons from Gasol and Draymond Green, two of this past decade’s best defensive minds?
Now, is Gasol obtainable? That’s more complicated. If Toronto were to retain only one of Ibaka and Gasol, the younger, sprier Ibaka makes more sense. But there have already been rumors floated that Gasol could return to Spain to play professionally. Those aren’t confirmed. Perhaps Gasol’s waiting to get a greater sense of the season’s structure, the health state of each country and the opportunities available. But if he’s willing to take the taxpayer mid-level from the Warriors, he should probably be their first and only call.
Honorable mention: Jae Crowder, who may have played himself out of the Warriors and Lakers’ price range with a terrific bubble performance for the Heat but would be a tough, proven rotation 3-and-D wing for either.
Realistic
Lakers: Goran Dragić
The Lakers don’t have many trade assets. That’s why you’ve seen Danny Green’s contract attached to Kyle Kuzma’s upside as the two-for-one package being floated for either DeMar DeRozan or Victor Oladipo, two former All-Stars whose stock has dipped and contracts are expiring in July 2021.
I don’t think the DeRozan fit makes sense and I don’t think Green and Kuzma get it done for Oladipo, who actually pledged his commitment to the Pacers in The Athletic on Friday after a turbulent week. But it’s clear the Lakers are sniffing around for a stronger third scoring option than Kuzma or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whom they’d still like to retain while bumping him down the offensive totem pole.
Assuming a bigger name isn’t acquired via trade, how about Goran Dragić? He led the Heat in points in their run up to the Finals before his Game 1 injury. Rumblings are Miami wants to retain him, but the Heat have been very protective of their 2021 cap space, likely targeting Giannis Antetokounmpo. What if the Lakers offered the mid-level over multiple seasons? Could that entice Dragić, who’d immediately become the Lakers’ third-most accomplished scorer?
Rajon Rondo’s situation should be factored in here, as well. If he leaves for a bigger deal, the Lakers will be in need of a secondary ballhandler behind LeBron James. Adding Dragić checks that box and could give the Lakers a more comfortable walk-away number on Rondo.
Warriors: Austin Rivers
The situation in Houston appears at a boiling point and the Warriors are monitoring it closely. They wouldn’t even pick up the phone for a Russell Westbrook offer, but Robert Covington or P.J. Tucker fit tidily into their trade exception, if Houston really does end up detonating its roster and searching for salary relief.
But the collateral damage of the Rockets’ playoff flameout extends down their rotation. Austin Rivers has already said he will decline his player option and explore the market. He’s already become comfortable as a bench guard behind bigger, higher-usage names. He’s developed a friendly and now familial relationship with Steph Curry, who could use a reliable backup.
Is it splashy? No. But we’re in the realistic category and third guard is the underrated area of need on this Warriors roster. Jordan Poole has impressed the Warriors with his work this summer, but it seems risky to bet big on Poole’s second-year leap without an insurance policy. Rivers has been a rotation player deep in the playoffs. Poole hasn’t.
I’ve floated Michael Carter-Williams as a backup guard target on the minimum. He’d slide into the Shaun Livingston role and provide the Warriors with more defensive versatility than a Rivers. But the second unit behind Curry needs offensive punch and Rivers provides that more than MCW.
Honorable mention: Mo Harkless, Glenn Robinson, Alec Burks, Harry Giles, Paul Millsap.
Under-the-radar
Lakers: Marcus Morris
The Morris twins once took below market value to stay together in Phoenix. It didn’t work out — both of their appealing deals were traded separately — but it does underscore their desire to stick around each other despite the nature of their nomadic industry.
Expectations entering free agency have Markieff, who was great in his minor playoff role, sticking with the Lakers, while Marcus, a better player at this stage of their careers, cashes out with the Clippers, who traded a first-round pick for him at the deadline and have his rights. It’s a unique set-up. They aren’t on the same team but reside in the same city.
What if they do want to be in the same locker room, though? Marcus, last season, was basically a Gallinari-level shooter: 116 made 3s on 43.9 percent accuracy, while providing a bit more thump on the defensive end. He’d be better with the Lakers than his brother, who could still back him up, as a stretch big next to Davis, plus the Lakers would be delivering a huge blow to the Clippers, a prime rival.
That’s a two-for-one bonus that’s probably worth offering the full mid-level and whatever amount of seasons to get it done. Just get Markieff on the recruiting trail.
Warriors: Dwight Howard
The Lakers could benefit by stealing from the Clippers. The Warriors could benefit by stealing from the Lakers. They’re in desperate need of a legit 7-foot thumper to go up against Nikola Jokić and Anthony Davis and — if Wiseman isn’t the draft-night answer and Gasol or Ibaka won’t take the taxpayer mid-level — why not Howard?
We already know he can irritate Jokić in the playoffs and he’d make for a nice change-of-pace defensive option from Green against Davis, a growing goliath they’ll need to topple to regain their conference throne.
Another potential Lakers free agent, if he declines his player option, I could see making sense for the Warriors: Bradley. They need an extra guard and they need to rebuild a perimeter defense that’s lost so much length and talent in the last 17 months.
Honorable mention: Derrick Jones Jr., Aron Baynes, DeMarcus Cousins, Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson, Meyers Leonard, D.J. Augustin.
BlaqkSpliffin
Ni**as Still Weird - Me
Bob got options this year
The most ambitious and reasonable free-agent targets for the Warriors and Lakers
Draft night and the opening bell of NBA free agency will happen within 48 hours of each other. For some franchises, next Wednesday’s draft is more crucial. Whomever the Cavaliers or Bulls select high in the lottery matters more than what players they sign in free agency the following week. It’s the opposite for organizations like the Lakers and Raptors. Friday’s free-agent shuffling holds more significance than Wednesday’s 28th and 29th overall picks.
The Warriors are somewhere in the doubly important middle. Wednesday night’s No. 2 selection is seismic for the Warriors. How they utilize this rare top pick — their highest since 1995 — will have greater impact on the next decade than whomever they convince to take the taxpayer mid-level exception. But you could make an easy argument that whichever veterans they sign to fill out their roster have a better chance than any rookie to tilt next season’s title race.
So let’s explore some potential targets for the Lakers and Warriors — the defending champs and returning champs who are likely to clash on Christmas, will be tied at the hip much of the season and could be competing for the same free agents a week from now. Here’s an ambitious, realistic and under-the-radar name for each, plus some honorable mentions.
Ambitious
Lakers: Danilo Gallinari
Avery Bradley’s situation is relevant to monitor. He floated out the possibility this week of declining his $5 million player option with the Lakers and testing free agency. If he does, that could free up the Lakers to use their full mid-level, priced at $9.3 million, instead of the taxpayer mid-level, priced at $5.7 million.
That’s where a name like Gallinari could come into play. He’s a top-10 free agent, but there’s so little cap space available this offseason that the full mid-level should get teams in the ballpark range of almost every available name out there.
Serge Ibaka might appeal more. He’s the rare rim protecting modern center who can hit the 3, block shots and also shuffle his feet well enough defensively to survive on the perimeter in the playoff gauntlet. He’s not what he once was as a leaper. Ibaka only blocked 46 total shots all last season. In his prime, Ibaka wiped away 100 or more seven straight seasons. But he’s perfect for the Lakers or Warriors if he puts his name in the bargain bin.
The problem: Ibaka still makes sense for his current team. The Raptors have his Bird rights, allowing them to offer a balloon one-year payment (maybe near $20 million, similar to what he made a season ago) and still wipe him from the books before they go big-fish hunting next offseason. That’s what could make him less obtainable than Gallinari, who doesn’t have his current team (the rebuilding Thunder) in the mix, unless it’s via a more complicated sign-and-trade.
Let’s go back to the playoffs briefly. Anthony Davis played 189 total minutes next to Markieff Morris. In them, the Lakers outscored opponents by 66 points — or, from an efficiency standpoint, 16.5 points per 100 possessions, compared to only 9.6 per 100 when Davis was paired with a traditional center. Which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Lakers’ two-center strategy had its place, but lineups with Davis at the five, better spreading the floor around him (and now LeBron James) have always proved more potent throughout Davis’ career.
Morris isn’t even that dangerous of a stretch big, either. He’s just below 35 percent from 3 in his career and has never made more than 76 in a season. Gallinari is a next-level sniper. He made 178 last season at 40.5 percent accuracy and 161 the season before on 43.3 percent accuracy. He’d do for Davis and the Lakers what Nikola Mirotić did for Davis and the Pelicans in 2018, unlocking New Orleans’ best playoff run in the Davis era.
The playoff challenge projects to be different for the Lakers this upcoming season. The path probably won’t be as simple as Trail Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets. They’ve got to expect either the Clippers, Warriors or both to be in the way. Against either, significantly more Davis at the five could be necessary. Gallinari would supercharge those units, if the Lakers and Gallinari can find a way to meet on a number or perhaps a sign-and-trade path.
Warriors: Marc Gasol
There may not be a big ever created more fit to play in Steve Kerr’s system than prime Marc Gasol, the 2013 version, who won Defensive Player of the Year dominating within Memphis’ team concept and averaged four assists pinpoint pinging it around to cutters from the high post.
That Gasol no longer exists. Age and injuries have sapped him of some juice. At this point, as a winning component, he’s probably only a two- or three-stint, 22-minute-per-night player. But that fits into the Warriors’ current rotation needs like a missing puzzle piece. Remember how useful David West became in his two final seasons for the Warriors? Gasol could be a more effective version of that.
He’d make sense irrespective of draft night, too. Signing Gasol and selecting Anthony Edwards would balance out the Warriors’ roster needs at center and wing, but using Gasol as a tag-team partner and mentor to James Wiseman sounds like the best on-the-fly tutelage a teenage center could ask for in his first professional season. Think Wiseman might benefit from daily conversations and lessons from Gasol and Draymond Green, two of this past decade’s best defensive minds?
Now, is Gasol obtainable? That’s more complicated. If Toronto were to retain only one of Ibaka and Gasol, the younger, sprier Ibaka makes more sense. But there have already been rumors floated that Gasol could return to Spain to play professionally. Those aren’t confirmed. Perhaps Gasol’s waiting to get a greater sense of the season’s structure, the health state of each country and the opportunities available. But if he’s willing to take the taxpayer mid-level from the Warriors, he should probably be their first and only call.
Honorable mention: Jae Crowder, who may have played himself out of the Warriors and Lakers’ price range with a terrific bubble performance for the Heat but would be a tough, proven rotation 3-and-D wing for either.
Realistic
Lakers: Goran Dragić
The Lakers don’t have many trade assets. That’s why you’ve seen Danny Green’s contract attached to Kyle Kuzma’s upside as the two-for-one package being floated for either DeMar DeRozan or Victor Oladipo, two former All-Stars whose stock has dipped and contracts are expiring in July 2021.
I don’t think the DeRozan fit makes sense and I don’t think Green and Kuzma get it done for Oladipo, who actually pledged his commitment to the Pacers in The Athletic on Friday after a turbulent week. But it’s clear the Lakers are sniffing around for a stronger third scoring option than Kuzma or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whom they’d still like to retain while bumping him down the offensive totem pole.
Assuming a bigger name isn’t acquired via trade, how about Goran Dragić? He led the Heat in points in their run up to the Finals before his Game 1 injury. Rumblings are Miami wants to retain him, but the Heat have been very protective of their 2021 cap space, likely targeting Giannis Antetokounmpo. What if the Lakers offered the mid-level over multiple seasons? Could that entice Dragić, who’d immediately become the Lakers’ third-most accomplished scorer?
Rajon Rondo’s situation should be factored in here, as well. If he leaves for a bigger deal, the Lakers will be in need of a secondary ballhandler behind LeBron James. Adding Dragić checks that box and could give the Lakers a more comfortable walk-away number on Rondo.
Warriors: Austin Rivers
The situation in Houston appears at a boiling point and the Warriors are monitoring it closely. They wouldn’t even pick up the phone for a Russell Westbrook offer, but Robert Covington or P.J. Tucker fit tidily into their trade exception, if Houston really does end up detonating its roster and searching for salary relief.
But the collateral damage of the Rockets’ playoff flameout extends down their rotation. Austin Rivers has already said he will decline his player option and explore the market. He’s already become comfortable as a bench guard behind bigger, higher-usage names. He’s developed a friendly and now familial relationship with Steph Curry, who could use a reliable backup.
Is it splashy? No. But we’re in the realistic category and third guard is the underrated area of need on this Warriors roster. Jordan Poole has impressed the Warriors with his work this summer, but it seems risky to bet big on Poole’s second-year leap without an insurance policy. Rivers has been a rotation player deep in the playoffs. Poole hasn’t.
I’ve floated Michael Carter-Williams as a backup guard target on the minimum. He’d slide into the Shaun Livingston role and provide the Warriors with more defensive versatility than a Rivers. But the second unit behind Curry needs offensive punch and Rivers provides that more than MCW.
Honorable mention: Mo Harkless, Glenn Robinson, Alec Burks, Harry Giles, Paul Millsap.
Under-the-radar
Lakers: Marcus Morris
The Morris twins once took below market value to stay together in Phoenix. It didn’t work out — both of their appealing deals were traded separately — but it does underscore their desire to stick around each other despite the nature of their nomadic industry.
Expectations entering free agency have Markieff, who was great in his minor playoff role, sticking with the Lakers, while Marcus, a better player at this stage of their careers, cashes out with the Clippers, who traded a first-round pick for him at the deadline and have his rights. It’s a unique set-up. They aren’t on the same team but reside in the same city.
What if they do want to be in the same locker room, though? Marcus, last season, was basically a Gallinari-level shooter: 116 made 3s on 43.9 percent accuracy, while providing a bit more thump on the defensive end. He’d be better with the Lakers than his brother, who could still back him up, as a stretch big next to Davis, plus the Lakers would be delivering a huge blow to the Clippers, a prime rival.
That’s a two-for-one bonus that’s probably worth offering the full mid-level and whatever amount of seasons to get it done. Just get Markieff on the recruiting trail.
Warriors: Dwight Howard
The Lakers could benefit by stealing from the Clippers. The Warriors could benefit by stealing from the Lakers. They’re in desperate need of a legit 7-foot thumper to go up against Nikola Jokić and Anthony Davis and — if Wiseman isn’t the draft-night answer and Gasol or Ibaka won’t take the taxpayer mid-level — why not Howard?
We already know he can irritate Jokić in the playoffs and he’d make for a nice change-of-pace defensive option from Green against Davis, a growing goliath they’ll need to topple to regain their conference throne.
Another potential Lakers free agent, if he declines his player option, I could see making sense for the Warriors: Bradley. They need an extra guard and they need to rebuild a perimeter defense that’s lost so much length and talent in the last 17 months.
Honorable mention: Derrick Jones Jr., Aron Baynes, DeMarcus Cousins, Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson, Meyers Leonard, D.J. Augustin.
We really gonna be back!
We get Robert Covington then just hand us the trophy
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