CTMagicUK

That's true but also Fultz does some sloppy things with the ball. He picked it up and brought it real low in the lane at the start of this game which lead to a turnover. Hes had a bunch of ball handling turnovers in the bubble where he's had the ball poked away from behind or just flat out lost the handle. If we're being honest he handles like a guy who just blew by guys at every level (which he did until now) and so didn't have to worry about handling in tight spaces or intricate dribble moves to get out of congestion. He could learn a lot from DJ Augustin to be honest.

Wes shooting himself into a new deal at this rate. If he can be an actual 3 and D guy he's got a place on this roster.

Its going to be a short contest if we can't make any open 3s and they make every 3 they take.

Someone tell James Ennis he can't dribble.

The refs could have called defensive 3 seconds about 10 times a game all series on the Bucks but that was the first one all series.

We're a year away but I wouldn't be surprised if WeltHam are looking at Jonathan Kuminga and his 6'8 with a 7'2 wingspan (to go with his immense talents) and thinking "how can we be bad enough to get this guy".

I know it's a tiny sample size but Vuc in these playoffs is averaging 30/10/4 on 55/44/100 shooting. That's ludicrous.

I don't understand why anybody thinks AGs value is lower just because he has a hamstring strain? Nobody who was interested in him in February will now not be because he got shoved over by Kyle Lowry in mid air.

We will know whether Evan opts in or out in plenty of time to trade him though (if he opts in). His decision date is before the NBA draft and I imagine it'll stay that way even after everything gets pushed back. Its hard to know what Vuc's value is around the league right now. He's proven a lot in this series but I still don't know how many teams would look at him and think "this guy is our missing piece". That's why I think he won't get traded because he's much more valuable to us than he is to the rest of the league (or at least it certainly seems that way). The only way I can see a Vuc trade is if we decide to tank a year. Trading Vuc would certainly be the easiest way to lose a bunch more games. I wouldn't worry about AG, there's nothing to indicate he won't be healthy for the start of next season. He'll probably be healthy a month from now, long before next season starts. Unfortunately it still seems like we'll trade him if we find an offer we really like.

Updated this.

Who knows honestly but they have produced a lot of great players in that region lately. Amazing when you consider it's a total area less than half the size of Texas.

There's a pic going round of all the Balkans guys having dinner together and it's so heartwarming to me for some reason. Vuc, Dragic, Jokic, Doncic, Boban are all there with beers haha.

The health care system didn't make the decision. And deaths per million is exactly the way to compare.

Lol Sweden have one of the best health care systems in the world. The United States do not. And Sweden have still had more deaths per million people than the US.

To be fair to Vuc he is the starting center on a top 10 defense. But sure I guess "anchor" implies like great player. The Clippers would never do that but interestingly I wouldnt do it either. Here's why: the Clippers just gave up Galo, SGA and 5 1st round picks for PG. If you're telling me Vuc's value is so high that you can trade him straight up for a guy who cost that much a year ago then I'd rather have all those type of assets than 1 year of Paul George before he opts out and signs somewhere else. (Admittedly the Clips gave up so much because it guaranteed them Kawhi and PG but take 3 or 4 first round picks off of that deal and it'd still be a great deal in a trade for Vuc)

No, I'm not sure if that's going to happen any time soon. I remember there was a lot of buzz about it a couple years back but as of yet there's no suggestion high school guys will be coming straight to the NBA as far as I'm aware.

I am definitely intrigued by like a "mini tank" just be bad this year, hopefully get a top pick (Cunningham, Boston or Kuminga) and the year after we've got Isaac back, everyone more developed and a potential future star. It's definitely not the only way to go and I wouldn't be disappointed if we don't go that route but it seems like the Isaac injury provides us that opportunity. Isaac was the real ceiling raiser for this team and with him out the season we're looking like battling for the 8th seed again. Honestly we might make it into the lottery anyway without any moves since Washington will get Wall back, the Nets will get Kyrie and KD healthy, Chicago are under some pressure to win some games to keep Zach Lavine happy, the Cavs GM I think might be under some pressure to show positive momentum, Atlanta might start pushing towards building a playoff team around Trae. The only other playoff team looking like they could drop out is Indiana if Oladipo is either not healthy or traded but they'd probably have to have a fire sale on guys like Sabonis, Brogdon and Warren for that to happen.

I love the idea that Pat Riley is the only executive with a plan.

I don't think his shot is a big issue. His %s are low because he takes crazy tough shots (if I had to speculate as to why he does I'd suggest it's a combination of supreme confidence, boredom and a desire to prove his talent to get out of his terrible development situation). I actually think he could be a limited minutes rotation player right now because of his feel for the game and potential as a movement shooter. Just like a couple of mad 5 mins a game where you run a 7 footer off screens or swing the ball to him in motion for him to run a pick and roll. It's not like you actually have to play him at the 4 or 5 because he offers enough mobility and floor spacing to matchup with smaller players in limited minutes. Saying that though I do complete understand not wanting to wait on development and I don't blame anyone for wanting a more immediate contributor.

Funnily I actually have a different view on Gary Harris. I think his value is pretty low because of his poor numbers stemming from his injuries and a reduction in role. I actually think he's a decent buy low candidate. I'd do Fournier for him and 22 for example. It actually wasn't me who said we should be targeting players about to be stars I was more thinking about finding bargain guys who could be high end roleplayers but if we end up trading AG or Vuc i would expect a promising young player in the package (or draft picks to draft our own promising young player). I also think you might be overvaluing some of the names on your list. Like sure I wouldn't expect any team to give up on any of the guys that were high lottery picks but guys like Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons haven't even really proved they'll stick in the league after their rookie deals so it's reasonable to presume we'd be able to acquire them if we wanted and had something their teams wanted to trade for. Teams give up on young players all the time. The Fultz trade was an exemption in that you can almost never get a former number 1 overall pick who's barely played an NBA game for very little, but every season teams make trades where they throw in a young guy who they've given up on. The Indiana Pacers got TJ Warren and 3 second round picks for some cash. Weltman has himself made a couple of trades to give us a free hit on a young talent the other team has given up on, they just didn't work out so we've already forgotten them (Jerian Grant and Jarell Martin). I'd say 50-50 is more than optimistic about the chances young guys develop. But that's ok. If they don't prove they're a contributor, you waive them, if theyre a contributor but not a star you play them and then maybe trade them when the time is right if you can, and if they are a star then you count your lucky stars. That's rebuilding. You just keep taking chances on guys until you hit. And to be clear I'm not suggesting we do this as the only and exclusive way to finding a star. We should also be trying to draft one, gathering assets to trade for one and maintaining some sort of flexibility to sign one if we get the (rather unlikely) impression that's a possibility. The problem with your "selling the bridge" is we just don't have the assets to do that right now. No team with a legitimate young star (Ingram, Brown, Ben Simmons etc) is going to trade someone in their early twenties for a 30 year old center, some draft picks and a DPOY candidate in a wheelchair. Hoping they will seems futile to me. Don't get me wrong if we somehow swung a trade for someone like that I'd be here eating crow but I prefer to be surprised rather than disappointed.

I'm working on the premise we'd only draft him if he's unquestionably BPA when we get on the board and that we wouldn't be targeting another forward.

...what?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/role-sector-b-40854771 Here's the best write up on Poku I've seen. I totally understand why anybody would read that and think "no way do I want that guy" so I'm not going to argue. But the pitch is essentially a 7'0 guard with a totally unique basketball brain who's going to need a strong development plan, a lot of patience and probably some time in the G league but who has an incredibly high ceiling considering he can do some downright insane things (things most guys never even attempt) on a basketball court.

If you think New Orleans are trading Brandon Ingram for Vuc I've got a bridge to sell you. I also doubt Golden State would value Vuc over Wiggins since they have zero wings and seem to prefer rim running, rim protector bigs, but in a world where they do and they do want to trade for him and we have to take on Wiggins' dreadful contract I'd want: Eric Paschall, #2, 2021 MIN pick, their own unprotected 2022 pick and a couple of second rounders. Because honestly if we trade Vuc we're probably a bottom 5 team. Might as well lean into it with a bunch of assets. Also Fred VanVleet is about to get dramatically over paid and I want no part of it. His value as a starting PG when he won't be playing next to another elite full time PG in Kyle Lowry is virtually none to me. He's not a good pick and roll player at 0.84 PPP that's in the 50th percentile among all players (of eligible Magic players only MCW and AG are worse pick and roll ball handlers, DJ Augustin, Terrence Ross, Wes Iwundu and Evan Fournier all have better PPP as a pick and roll ball handler and Fultz is comparable at 0.85). Of his almost 7 3PA a game 6 of them are classified as Open or Wide Open, the benefits of playing with another all star guard, an all star forward and one of the best passing big men in the game in Gasol. He also only shoots 31% on pull-ups. DJ Augustin is hitting 38% on pull-ups this season. And he shoots 55% at the rim, DJ Augustin shoots 57% at the rim. Someone is going to pay Fred VanVleet 20 million a season. I suspect that is going to be a mistake. Apart from being an obvious defensive upgrade his numbers are comparable to DJ Augustin who'll probably make a quarter of what VanVleet makes next season. Caris Levert, I can see the appeal because of his self creation but he's older and less experienced than AG (who we'd probably have to give up to get him) and averages 50 games a season. He also needs the ball in his hands to be effective which could be a problem depending on if you believe in Fultz or not. Obviously if we could somehow get him with Fournier I'd do it but otherwise I think I pass. Hield is overrated. There's a reason he got benched in Sacramento. He's also really old for his experience level. He'll be 28 years old in the first year of his 4 year $94 million contract next season. I wouldn't like to give up a lot of assets for him. Trading Vuc for him almost certainly means we're losing a lot of games next season. Which if you want to do, that's fine, but if we're tanking I'd rather have picks and young players. CJ McCollum I can't see getting traded. People float his name every off-season and nothing ever happens. If they did trade him I'd imagine they'd want another real star back. Can't imagine Brooklyn entertaining a sign and trade for Joe Harris since he's exactly the type of player they'll need next season to play with Kyrie and KD. And how much would you be willing to pay and give up for just a pure shooter who's value is limited basically everywhere else? Fournier I guess? Would Brooklyn do that considering Fournier is an expiring? I did not intend for this post to be as overwhelming negative as what it's come out as but I think we need to be realistic about our options here. It's alright wanting a big shake up, but a shake up for the sake of a shake up isn't a smart or sound decision. Also I'm just not a huge fan of discussing guys like Ingram and Jaylen Brown who we've got probably zero chance of acquiring since discussing it perpetuates the idea it's possible which leads to some fans taking exhausting stances like "not trading for Ingram when we had the chance was unforgivable".

Malik Beasley sign and trade maybe? Although that might cost us some serious salary and assets. Maybe try and buy low on a guy who's underwhelmed on his rookie deal so far or will struggle to get minutes on the team he's on like Justin Jackson, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Georges Niang. Or try and see if any guy coming off his rookie deal who underwhelmed could be had on the cheap: Denzel Valentine or Timothe Luwawau-Cabarrot come to mind. Just small moves that cost very little and might pay off by getting us a real quality roleplayer.