Bauncey Chillups

I would take a chance on Wall if we gave up literally zero assets and just sent Mozgov to the Wizards. I think an old circa 2008 salary dump trade is the only way they're gonna be able to move him.

Fournier, Simmons, our 1st this year (Top 8 protected) and the OKC 1st.

The Vucevic situation is tough because he is legitimately incredible right now. Maybe it took a decent coach to unlock him since he's never looked this good but it does smell of contract year play. If he balls out and makes the all-star team and we're in the playoffs--I'd see if we could give him a 3 year deal so that he expires when Bamba's extension is on the table. As for Kemba, he's getting the full max and will be courted hard. I know he likes Clifford but I don't see a shot at us getting him even if we're in the playoffs and there's a very good chance he just stays in Charlotte. Dinwiddie strikes me as the cheaper and more realistic goal. I would also be looking at trading Fournier, this year's 1st (if we're not picking in the Top 10) and the OKC 1st for someone like Beal if the Wizards continue to suck.

Contract year Vucevic is really good.

Pretty upset Bamba didn't get even 25 mpg against the least talented team in the league.

Fultz has zero self-esteem and likely has some serious mental health issues. He may do better here where there's basically no expectations beyond player development but man, I'd hate to lose Ross who's plays hard and is an amazing teammate for a guy who might not stick in the league past his rookie deal.

Okay, I like these potential Top 5 picks. Keep losing bois. Also new lottery odds means team doesn't have to be at the bottom of the league--5th worst team still has a 10% chance of the 1st pick.

Lakers are maybe the only team that would actually want Vucevic and Fournier to be major contributors. Josh Hart is probably an easier target than Lonzo.

My logic here is that we're probably getting nothing good back for Vuc and Fournier. An unprotected 1st would be amazing, hell if we got a similar package we received for Ibaka I'd be ecstatic. Gordon is still young enough that we could get an actual piece in return. Beal isn't really an upgrade to Gordon but his game addresses a major need (volume shooting) and he's a better complement to Isaac and Bamba + we can still tank for the draft. Also looking deeper, he's the only Washington piece I'd want anyway.

Trying to convince myself that Washington would take Gordon for Beal.

Don't see a point in trying to hope these guys turn it around. Jettison Vucevic and Evan for hopefully a late 1st and a young PG like Tyus Jones and just go for Top 5 pick.

Who's ready for the impending John Wall/Evan Fournier trade.

You can't really move Vucevic now unless you're getting close to parity of production with whoever's coming back--he's too valuable to this team right now. I'd look again at the deadline where Bamba has (hopefully) shown that he can play big minutes and is a double double threat every night. Better to look at Tyus Jones or maybe Cory Joseph than someone like Lonzo or Rubio. Spencer Dinwiddie is also a great FA target in the summer.

Benching Oladipo and Skiles hating Payton is what killed us in 15-16.

Vucevic basically has to be point center with how trash the PGs are.

No Payton plus not having every major player on the team miss 15-20 games at different points of the season should get at least 5 more wins.

So far I think Bamba's offense is actually ahead of his defense. His stamina isn't great and he tends to reach when he's tired but I've also noticed he doesn't have the natural defensive instincts of Isaac. He tends to jog back on defense but his lateral movement is quite good, he can definitely check 4s. Overall his insane physical tools give him a huge margin for error but he has quite a ways to go on that end of the floor.

Mario's still exactly the same.

Only one pre-season game and I'm already tired of Vucevic's antics.

The only way it's bad for Toronto is that DeRozen loved the Raptors and is a great human being. Kawhi is an amazing player but seems like a total ******* otherwise.

Demar was not their best player given his defense. Raptors won this trade even if Kawhi leaves as they're off the hook for the 27 million owed to DeRozan for 3 years.

I like Bamba but Wendell is making buyer's remorse a thing now

Watching last night's game you can see that Bamba doesn't quite have the natural defensive instincts that Isaac has. His otherworldly length combined with good mobility gives him an insane margin for error but he has some work to do in learning how to defend PNR. He was surprisingly a step slow on checking some of the Nets drives last night. His offense is a further along than I and probably most thought however, seems to already make good reads and is not the classic raw big. Bagely looked much worse on offense.

Would've preferred Carter given he fits a lot better with Issac and Gordon. But Bamba's huge, agile and is the one of the smartest players in the league so he should figure things out eventually. However, I'm somewhat nervous that this upcoming year will be a repeat of the dire 16-17 season where AG pretended he's Paul George. Dunno if we have the assets to get a solid starting PG.