NBA 2024-2025 ; Lakers Land Luka

Desert Eagle

Punjabi Dude
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
18,675
Draft starts in less than a week. June 26th to be exact. I'm sure everyone has forgotten last season already. On to better things.

Championship odds for this season:

Celtics 3/1
Nuggets 7.5/1
Timberwolves 8.5/1
Mavericks 9/1
Bucks 10/1
Thunder 10/1
 
So that Bridges trade is a heavy overpay. But the core of the Knicks roster looks really good now. Should be competing again next year.
 
The Villanova boys are all back together now. Can't start all four of them though. I guess you'd go Hart, Brunson, Bridges, Randle, Hartenstein with OG and Donte off the bench. If they can get another decent big that's a very deep team.
 
I like Giddey for Caruso trade for OKC, it had become clear Giddey was not going to work out there as a starter as he can't play with SGA. Caruso will add even more defensive tenacity to an already great defensive lineup.

Bridges to Knicks, definitely improves the team even if the price is quite heavy for a player that is not quite elite. Their entire core is 26-27, their eventual goal might be to acquire a top level superstar - like Embiid - in free agency / via trade 1-2 years down the line. Even without that their lineup is going to look proper solid.
 
HTG said:
So that Bridges trade is a heavy overpay. But the core of the Knicks roster looks really good now. Should be competing again next year.
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Brooklyn played it brilliantly to be honest. They got their picks back from the Rockets for the suns picks, and they got a huge haul for Bridges from the Knicks. They can finally go into rebuild instead of being stuck in the mediocrity treadmill because another team controls their future. They fecked up on the Harden trade but hit a home run on the KD trade.
 
Trading away all those picks kind of scares me, 2031 first rounder.. Who knows if by that time we suck again? They had success drafting and developing (Robinson, Quickley, McBride). Turning those late picks into valuable bench depth is how you win, but the fact they didn't lose a single starter is also huge. If healthy, surely the Knicks are favorites with Boston now? Good thing Mikal is Mr. Reliable too when it comes to injuries.
 
DutchSerb said:
Trading away all those picks kind of scares me, 2031 first rounder.. Who knows if by that time we suck again? They had success drafting and developing (Robinson, Quickley, McBride). Turning those late picks into valuable bench depth is how you win, but the fact they didn't lose a single starter is also huge. If healthy, surely the Knicks are favorites with Boston now? Good thing Mikal is Mr. Reliable too when it comes to injuries.
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He has never missed a game, either in professional sports or college, which is beyond remarkable.
 
Desert Eagle said:
Draft starts in less than a week. June 26th to be exact. I'm sure everyone has forgotten last season already. On to better things.
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:cool: Good luck with JJ, 40yo Bron & Bronny-the-pet!
 
Sarni said:
He has never missed a game, either in professional sports or college, which is beyond remarkable.
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Thibs dream come true. Just wait for Bridges to average 40 minutes and play all 82 games. :lol:
 
If no one between Lakers 1st pick to their 2nd picks Bronny... then this league is rigged.

LeGM would trade for him in no time.
 
I guess not many of us are watching the draft.

So far

1. Risacher
2. Sarr
3. Sheppard
 
Blazers get Clingan without having to move up for him. Good night for them.
 
Dalton Knecht goes to the Lakers at 17. Decent size and athleticism and a good three ball. Get ready for a lot of puns from the commentators if he becomes good.
 
Desert Eagle said:
Dalton Knecht goes to the Lakers at 17. Decent size and athleticism and a good three ball. Get ready for a lot of puns from the commentators if he becomes good.
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After Reed Sheppard, Knecht was pretty much my second favourite pick for the Rockets. JJ Reddick will love a shooter like this.
 
WeePat said:
After Reed Sheppard, Knecht was pretty much my second favourite pick for the Rockets. JJ Reddick will love a shooter like this.
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I've only checked out his highlights just now so won't pretend to know much about the guy but he does play with a nice competitive edge. Projected to go top ten so decent value for the Lakers.
 
WeePat said:
Blazers get Clingan without having to move up for him. Good night for them.
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What are his prospects? Must say I didn’t watch much college basketball last season but there had been quite a bit of hype around him prior to the draft with even top spot to Atlanta being a genuine consideration.

I also kind of like Avdija trade for the price. Seems like we might be building a decent team, though next year or two are going to still be terrible.
 
Wolves picking in the top 10 out of nowhere. :lol:
 
Spurs with an absolute wild trade giving up their 8th pick (Rob Dillingham) to the Timberwolves for an unprotected first in 2031(!!!). How the hell can you asess what value a first round pick in 7 years will be and they're just shipping out a top 10 pick for that?
 
Kasper said:
Spurs with an absolute wild trade giving up their 8th pick (Rob Dillingham) to the Timberwolves for an unprotected first in 2031(!!!). How the hell can you asess what value a first round pick in 7 years will be and they're just shipping out a top 10 pick for that?
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I actually like it, it gives San Antonio extra draft capital to make trades with later on down the line when Wemby is in his prime. If you value that more than anything you are seeing at 8 then there is no reason to not pull the trigger imo.
 
Desert Eagle said:
Dalton Knecht goes to the Lakers at 17. Decent size and athleticism and a good three ball. Get ready for a lot of puns from the commentators if he becomes good.
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Great pick for us, arguably the most NBA ready scorer in the draft and was projected top 10.
 
Sarni said:
What are his prospects? Must say I didn’t watch much college basketball last season but there had been quite a bit of hype around him prior to the draft with even top spot to Atlanta being a genuine consideration.

I also kind of like Avdija trade for the price. Seems like we might be building a decent team, though next year or two are going to still be terrible.
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He's one of those bigs with elite PnR ability, and he's has a bit of Sabonis about him in that he can stand at the top of the key and find the correct pass and then he does all the usual big man in the paint stuff really well. If we didn't already have Sengun, he would have been top of my wishlist for Houston.
 
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Baneofthegame said:
Great pick for us, arguably the most NBA ready scorer in the draft and was projected top 10.
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Yeah getting high grades from the draft analysts. Still gotta see how he does in the league but much better than last year with JHS when we could have got Jaime Jasquez.
 
WeePat said:
He's one of those bigs with elite PnR ability, and he's has a bit of Sabonis about him in that he can stand at the top of the key and find the correct pass and then he does all the usual big man in the paint stuff really well. If we didn't already have Sengun, he would have been top of my wishlist for Houston.
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I love hearing this. Obviously anxious about drafting a white center given our history with them but maybe he's here to break the trend.

Between him, Scoot, Avdija and Sharpe we do have some promising players. We will likely still be a sub-30 win team this year so should also have a great pick next year, I'm hoping the team can start taking some shape in 25-26 and be relatively good in 26-27. It probably will be more like the Rockets rebuild which is taking some time rather than OKC which was so swift and resulted in them being competitive in a relatively short timespan.
 
Kasper said:
Spurs with an absolute wild trade giving up their 8th pick (Rob Dillingham) to the Timberwolves for an unprotected first in 2031(!!!). How the hell can you asess what value a first round pick in 7 years will be and they're just shipping out a top 10 pick for that?
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I guess they were happy with Castle and did not really want to take another punt they weren't really sold on.
 
Sarni said:
I love hearing this. Obviously anxious about drafting a white center given our history with them but maybe he's here to break the trend.

Between him, Scoot, Avdija and Sharpe we do have some promising players. We will likely still be a sub-30 win team this year so should also have a great pick next year, I'm hoping the team can start taking some shape in 25-26 and be relatively good in 26-27. It probably will be more like the Rockets rebuild which is taking some time rather than OKC which was so swift and resulted in them being competitive in a relatively short timespan.
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Yeah, OKC had the benefit of getting a 21 year old Shai back in the PG trade. Neither of us have that luxury, so we have to develop the kids we draft ourselves. They did a great job at developing him to be fair, but it's an advantage we didn't have. Their rebuild starting point was further ahead than Rockets and Blazers.

I enjoyed the rebuild process anyway, it was nice to just watch basketball, young players developing in real time, without having to stress about the win/loss column :smirk:
 
Kasper said:
Spurs with an absolute wild trade giving up their 8th pick (Rob Dillingham) to the Timberwolves for an unprotected first in 2031(!!!). How the hell can you asess what value a first round pick in 7 years will be and they're just shipping out a top 10 pick for that?
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Spurs have 4 first rounders in 2025 (two of them are protected though, but still) and that draft class is expected to be really strong. They also have far too many young players as it is, so it’s not that wild if you think about it.

I think the only player they really liked in that range was Saloun, but Hornets took him earlier. Maybe they would have kept the pick if Clingan was still available, but not sure about that
 
WeePat said:
Yeah, OKC had the benefit of getting a 21 year old Shai back in the PG trade. Neither of us have that luxury, so we have to develop the kids we draft ourselves. They did a great job at developing him to be fair, but it's an advantage we didn't have. Their rebuild starting point was further ahead than Rockets and Blazers.

I enjoyed the rebuild process anyway, it was nice to just watch basketball, young players developing in real time, without having to stress about the win/loss column :smirk:
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I was hoping to see some development from Sharpe last season but his season was cut short unfortunately, hoping this can be the season where he shows a little more. Scoot was going to be rough but ended up being probably more inconsistent and worse than I expected him to be even in my cautious approach, hoping second season can be better. We still don't have nearly enough talent so it's probably another 2 drafts before things start taking proper shape. I do prefer this to 45-win seasons followed by early play-off exits.
 
JPRouve said:
Wolves picking in the top 10 out of nowhere. :lol:
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Tim loves hoopers, if it was up to him, he would ban all basketball players only hoopers allowed :lol:. Still remember how happy he was when he drafted Bones Hyland lul
 
stepic said:
OG got paid, $212m :eek:
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NBA players are the most fortunate of the pro sports teams/leagues. All that money to be divided amongst 15 players per team whereas NFL it's across 55+, MLB at 25+, NHL at 23+, and MLS at 20+ (and MLS is nowhere near the huge revenues of the big four). It's no wonder starters are getting 30m+ and dudes with an AS or all-league selection getting 50m+. So fecking lucky to be born with this athletic ability and harness that talent into something special.
 
Sarni said:
I was hoping to see some development from Sharpe last season but his season was cut short unfortunately, hoping this can be the season where he shows a little more. Scoot was going to be rough but ended up being probably more inconsistent and worse than I expected him to be even in my cautious approach, hoping second season can be better. We still don't have nearly enough talent so it's probably another 2 drafts before things start taking proper shape. I do prefer this to 45-win seasons followed by early play-off exits.
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Yeah you have the same concerns about developments we had. What you're saying Sharpe is basically word for word what we have been saying about Jalen Green. I think a core of Sharpe, Scoot, Clingan after year 1 of the rebuild is pretty good. Next year is meant to be a fantastic draft, if you get lucky, you could land yourself your franchise guy then. I'm not sure what you're planning to do with Simons. Is he part of the rebuild?
 
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