They obviously couldn't get anyone who is better than SGA, which was not the point I was making at all. And Jalen Williams would obviously still be in the closing lineup--but they need another, more proven scorer that is better than what Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, etc. showed during the playoffs last year. George would have been a great fit, but even someone like DeRozan would I think be a big upgrade.
I agree with this. Also, Chet played the 5 almost the entire season, and got abused by Gafford in that series. Switching him to an oversized 4 where his perimeter game and shooting can be at a premium, and anchoring the middle with a beef big who is also agile with a good motor, is a massive upgrade with percolations down their entire lineup. Hartenstein is the perfect signing for them if they want to be more built to beat Dallas. Probably helps with Denver and Minnesota too, albeit less so. Denver still matches up with them well, it took a lot to dethrone them, but they have a lot more roster questions than OKC does at this point.
Agree with you. FWIW, I can't believe how often I'm pumping Hartenstein's tires here, but the guy is an impact player. I think that it's more likely that his deal looks really good at the end of that contract than really bad, nevermind that OKC needs a couple of guys who are old enough to rent cars. No-brainer signing.
My understanding is that Garland's team (Klutch, FWIW) wanted Garland out of Cleveland if Mitchell re-signed. Klutch's view is that Mitchell's presence will devalue Garland by taking away touches and playmaking. Which is a sad way to view things, but as everyone says, "this is a business". I initially got the sense that there might be some personality clashes, but I think it's not really that. Really just Garland would rather run a team than be a perpetual second fiddle to Mitchell.
Teams like Denver, without willing owners, are not able to keep their supporting talent either.
There's no reason they can't still get Markkanen, unless the plan was to use only cap space and picks to get him. Presumably Utah wants some of the young talent that would comprise a salary match. Eyeballing that roster, OKC still has plenty of depth to make a consolidating trade.
I presume that the salary is right given the GM so I think that IND getting Wiseman is a really good move. If they can get Wiseman to function in their offensive system, his defense will be really helpful.
Is Mitchell losing a body part in this scenario? The Heat are an apron team so it would have to Herro/Rozier or Butler if he opts in to his player option. Mitchell under contract will get you more than the Heat will be able to offer. I was talking about this with Heat fan at the gym and the Heat are pretty much in NBA purgatory. Too good to rebuild, too bad to really compete. Probably in line with the Lakers at this point.
The Lakers will eventually get a superstar to join in free agency, that's how it's gone for them forever. They'll be in purgatory until they very suddenly, aren't.
They can, but now it's duplicative with Holmgren and Hartenstein on the roster. Resources would now be better spent elsewhere.
Utah would have wanted salary matching as well simply because they are so far away from the salary floor and I don't think Ainge wants to just give a veteran cash because you have to or the "Tobias Harris"
It is a business but it would take more than Mitchell’s touches to prevent Garland from being a max guy so not even sure how much that factors in.
Fair point; sloppy wording on my part. I was thinking more of JT and JB in their mid 20s. And then LAC last year, where they fell apart. Just seems like these teams that build with superstars-from-a-few-years-ago dont go as planned for more than 6-week mid-season run. "If they can play like that in the playoffs, they'll be tough to beat." But they rarely seem to "play like that." Sixers are counting on George to be more than I think he can be over a full season *and* two months of playoffs.
Would it be though? That is one heckuva 3-headed monster at the 4/5 and it would eliminate all of the Jaylin and Kenrich minutes which is a big upgrade. This is also the advantage of it being Hartenstein as he could easily get his 25mpg off the bench.
That's where my head is at. I'll also note that Markkanen started at the 3 alongside Allen and Mobley, so you could even mess around with all three on the court at once. Regarding @Euclis20's point, that would be a lot of draft, outgoing players, and salary resources committed to the frontcourt, after he presumably signs an extension, so I get where he's coming from.
Who's the highest salaried bench player in the league? Westbrook? Would be funny if it were a member of OKC who ends up with that title.
Westbrook made just $4M this year. I believe the player with the highest 2024 salary that played the majority of their games off the bench was Bruce Brown, who made $22M and started just 11 times in 34 games with Toronto. He still started the majority of the year (he started all 33 games with Indy before being traded), so if we're stipulating full year, it's Bojan Bogdanovic, who started just 27 of 57 games and made about $19.5M.
They are giving off late Pats dynasty vibes. Remove Curry and it's basically a bottom 5 team. If they can somehow bag Markenen, then maybe there's something but I just don't see it in the loaded WC. The Wiseman pick really sapped them. The cutthroat move now that Klay is gone is to trade Curry to Charlotte for a truckload.
You really expect this to happen? I would love to see Dunleavy try to get a trade off like this without being told to do it by Curry and the Warriors ownership.
Thank you! So Hartenstein would likely set a record nobody would want him setting.
I don't think it would be Charlotte, but I could see somebody giving up a king's ransom thinking they can get a contention window together with the last embers of Curry's time as an all-NBA player plus whatever stars they have on hand. And Curry is only signed for 2 more years, so if GSW knows right now they're not going to ink him again to what he wants, next year is the expected time to trade him, but this year wouldn't be a shock imo.
No I don't expect it, but it would be fun, and would actually set GS up for a future after Curry. I'm sure Curry will get whatever he wants out of the twilight of his career.
Eh, I don't think Shams is really reaching with that description. He's been in the 3 point contest 3 times (and he won it in 2020), and he was top 3 in 3PM for 4 of the last 5 years. He's 10th among active players in 3PM, and everyone in front of him was drafted at least 12 years ago (He was drafted in 2016).
Thanks for the correction. Basketball Ref did me dirty by not including the draft picks on their roster for next year (which is fair since they're not signed yet).
I understand where you are coming from. Paul George and Jimmy Butler are somewhat alike from that perspective. Neither should be counted on for more than about 55 games in the regular season and it’s a coin flip as to whether they will be available for the playoffs.
Slo-Mo $27m, Big-Mo stays with his brother in Orlando for $22m.
I don't know how the 76ers would be able to do this. There is a very small window they could pull this off (Hield would be capped below the NTPE) it would completely cap the 76ers with no chance to improve the roster during the season outside a buy out.
There isn't a ton of open cap space left so maybe Hield doesn't much of a choice than taking less 10 million ... he really needs to fire his agent
Facts. DeJesus notes accurately that Hield is nothing special, but he's in the ballpark of Klay now (maybe better) and is likely getting a fraction of his deal.
