Mike1989

Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis I’m not really sure what to think of the King’s starting five. They don’t look like a contender. If anything look like a team heading towards yet another rebuild, unless this lineup does something unexpected.

I never said it was fair value. I mean, Kevin Durant cost 4 first round picks and a pick swap. Damian Lillard cost 1 first round picks and two pick swaps. So what would AD’s and Doncic’s current trade value be? AD would probably cost at least what the Bucks paid for Damian Lillard, while Doncic should cost at least what the Clippers paid for Paul George. Could the Mavs have got more? Sure they could, but they either didn’t ask or didn’t push it because they wanted AD. Again, never said it was fair value. Also, nowhere near Pelicans AD is simply not true. He’s currently 2 points per game short of his best years in New Orleans and he was the second option in LA compared to the first option in New Orleans. His other stats are fairly similar. He’s been a very good player for the Lakers, and although he had a three season stretch after their championship when he missed a fair amount of games, he’s been fairly durable for the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons. That said, the Lakers have got a gift because five years from now Doncic will still be in his prime years while AD will be nearing the end of his career. So there’s no doubt that the Lakers got a steal and I would be an annoyed Mavs fan to see Doncic go.

There’s always an argument that can be made towards a league having preferred teams. For example, they are more likely to get a 50-50 call than another team. Look at the recent Bills-Chiefs game and the so-called catch in the first half by the Chiefs player. I suspect that wouldn’t have been ruled a catch if it was a Buffalo player. So yes, some teams get preferential treatment. However, my point purely was if the league was openly biased towards them, then they wouldn’t have vetoed the CP3 trade.

CP3 was going to the Lakers in that trade. So if the league was biased towards them they would have let it go through…

In theory you get “better” offers, but what would they be? Doncic has a player option in 2026 and will want to go to a contender. So, that limits the field a little bit. There’s teams who would want him, but they need to be able to put together a package that appeals to a team wanting to “win now”. Who could offer them a player like AD? The closest would be Jimmy Butler from Miami, or perhaps Paul George from the 76ers, but he’s injured at the minute. That said, as soon as the news leaks they would have to deal with distractions like the Heat are currently experiencing with Jimmy Butler. However, the Mavs would arguably be ten times worse because we’re talking about a 25-year old MVP candidate in his prime years being traded away, rather than a player in his mid-30s who has left teams in the past due to issues. So Dallas would be hit by media scrutiny, their fans would be in uproar, and their players would be questioning the team’s direction. At least this way the deal is done and they can start to fight the fires. They can try to sell their fan base on AD being a better fit in their team, but it’s a real hard sell and I’d be furious if I was a Mavs fan.

The only defence I can come up with is that their GM (and/or ownership) wanted to get this deal done before the media caught wind of it, or another organisation leaked the information that the Mavs are wanting to trade Doncic. If that news got out, then there would be a lot of negative press heading their way and they’d be fighting battles on multiple fronts. That said, I question how this trade gets passed when other trades have included significantly more. I mean, sure, Davis is a hell of a player and the Mavericks should get better defensively, but the Lakers got prime Doncic for Davis and a first round pick. The Mavericks got fleeced, unless of course they win championships with this lineup and the Lakers win nothing.

Knicks taking heat for not doing a deal, but it might actually benefit them. I don’t see the line up - Brunson, Mitchell, Barrett (if he wasn’t traded), Randle and Robinson - competing for and wining a championship. In a sense it would be similar to us having done a deal for Mitchell. He’d be a hell of an addition, but we aren’t competing for a championship yet. At least in Cleveland he’s got a young all star backcourt partner and two young all star quality front court players. Only position missing an all star caliber talent is small forward. Worth the risk for Cleveland if it works out because they’ve got the talent to compete for the east with his addition.

The pairing should work. Towns can score heavily and has an accurate 3pt shot, while Gobert does his thing. Be interesting to see how it turns out for the Wolves having paid a heavy price for Gobert. If we got Mitchell for that deal I’d be a happy Magic fan, but in all honesty I don’t see him wanting to come here and play ball. I suspect he’ll want to go to a big market team if he leaves the small market in Utah.

Their comparison to other skinny players is somewhat flawed. Yes, players like Anthony Davis, Giannis, and Durant came into the league skinny and managed to add weight. But what do they have in common? Broad shoulders, especially Davis and Giannis. They have very broad shoulders and have the frame to add the bulk. Chet is not only skinny but has a narrow frame. He currently weighs the same as some guards. The problem he will have in adding extra weight is how much can his frame legitimately add before it has a negative effect on his body? I suspect he’ll struggle to add sufficient weight.

That’s one extreme to another comparison Zion and Chet! What you need to consider here is does Chet’s frame allow him to put on extra weight and size or is he a naturally skinny guy? Chet doesn’t have broad shoulders like Dwight Howard. His shoulders seem quite narrow and that doesn’t really allow for a great deal of weight and size to be added. Durability is a legitimate concern for someone as skinny as Chet. Plus, how is he going to handle bigger and stronger players when attacking and defending? He’s not an ideal prospect. Too risky.

Let’s hope the first pick delivers another franchise changing player! The question I have is does this year’s draft class have a franchise changing talent? Or is this another draft class with some useful players but not needle moving players? I’m happy that we got the first pick, but I am not convinced we have a superstar waiting to be picked. I think it’s more likely we’ll get a good player than a great player. For example, I’ve seen Banchero compared to Julius Randle, which is not exactly the caliber of player a title contender builds around. Fingers crossed we land another superstar with the first pick, but I think a player in the next tier or two down is more likely.

I can see why we might be interested in drafting Barnes because he’s got a bit of Draymond Green about him. He’s a point forward that plays hard at both ends of the court and can defend 1-5. He’s got good athleticism and size. The downside is his shooting and scoring, but if he can develop that side of his game he’s got a lot of upside, and if he can’t he’s got the skills to be a good starting player. I’m not a supporter of the second pick. Keon has a ton of athleticism and plays hard defensively, and while he has intriguing upside, I don’t feel it is wise to be doubling down on players that can’t shoot and score. Ok our defense can be scarily good with the athleticism and defensive buy-in, but we will certainly struggle to shoot and score! For me, I’d rather take a gamble on Moses Moody developing into a plus player. His floor should be solid with his shooting, scoring and defensive ability. Ok his ceiling is more 3-and-D than all star, but who knows he could surprise people?! Or considering Jalen Johnson from Duke and betting on his upside, or bet on Josh Giddey’s intriguing upside.

Expand please. What makes him an excellent hire? I’ll be honest I’m not well up on NBA assistants compared to NFL assistants when it comes to what they can bring to the table as a head coach.

PG shot the ball better coming out of college. He shot 44% from outside as a freshman and 35% from outside in his second year. He made a huge jump from the free throw line going from 69% to 90%. But I will agree that as a prospect coming out of college he had elements of his game that he needed to fine tune to become a really good player. However, do keep in mind that he was discussed as a later lottery selection and not the fifth overall pick in the draft. Also, there was no need to put too much pressure on George because they had a prime Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert with solid starters built around them where they could slowly ease him into life in the NBA. The problem we have is we don't have the same kind of team environment to bring him into. We would need to sign a veteran to start at small forward to allow us to bring Kuminga off the bench and ease him into life in the NBA. Maybe we can bring back Otto Porter at a reasonable rate? I guess we could throw the kid in straight away like the Knicks did with RJ Barrett and just ride the ups and downs, but realistically we would need to be patient with Kuminga while he tries to improve his shooting percentages, iron out his shot selection and play high effort defense consistently. Is there anyone else we could take at 5? Not really and that's why I think a lot of Magic fans do feel a bit disgruntled at the minute. Once again we have probably missed out on selecting a franchise changing player and will have to bet on a player reaching their hypothetical upside, which to date hasn't really worked for us in recent years. Personally I am leaning towards trying to trade up or trade out to see if we can pick up a prospect we like in the league that we can bet on, but if we select Kuminga, then I will back him like I would any player on this team. The alternative selection would be Scottie Barnes. Now offensively he doesn't offer prolific scoring or high percentage shooting, but he has shown that he can play the point forward role and initiate offense. Defensively he plays hard, can defend the paint and guard pretty much each position. He's got the size and build to be a really good NBA player and could project to be a similar player to Draymond Green. If Barnes ever develops the shooting and scoring side, then that increases his ceiling, but even without that he can be a very good NBA player. Problem for us is that it doesn't fill our need of scoring and shooting, and potentially creates a logjam at PF meaning we might need to look at the future of Isaac and/or Okeke, but that could be the alternative selection for us at 5.

I’ve seen sufficient scouting videos and reports. Like I clearly said, he’s got to work on his effort at the defensive end because at times he coasts and there’s ample evidence in his time in the G-League. If he can continue developing his defensive array of skills AND put in consistent effort, he can be very good, but to date he’s shown inconsistent effort defensively. The key question here is does he view defense like Jabari Parker (ie “I’m paid to score, they don’t pay players to play defense”), or is he someone that needs the kick up the backside and the right coaching to turn it on? Also, shooting has never been a particular strength of Kuminga’s even going back to high school. Now there is a belief that he can develop a consistent shot, but at the same time there is a risk because not every player does. Factor in his poor shot selection, which also goes back to high school, and that’s something that needs to improve. End of the day you can be a special athlete and still put up 20 points or more in high school or college because you’re the best athlete on the court. In the NBA, that won’t always be the case, and that’s why he needs to develop on both ends and become more consistent with his defensive effort, improve shot selection and develop his shooting. If he can do that, he can be a special talent, but there’s a pretty big drop off if he doesn’t.