FW_Hoosier

Meh. I bet the Kings and the Mavs are both sitting at home come playoff time.

Always thought Yogi made the right move going to the Kings. He had to maximize his earnings on this second contract, and he’s going to get way more of an opportunity to play there than he was going to in Dallas.

Agreed. I think a slight regression from last season is much more likely than another huge jump.

At this point, I would for sure take Vic over Draymond if I was building a team. And would potentially take him over Klay... Klay is obviously a much better shooter, but Vic is a more dynamic ballhandler.

If I had to choose one of them to build a team around, I’d take Drummond. If I was picking a center to complement other established players, I’d take Adams.

I really don’t understand why the Lakers let him go. They invested a second round pick on him, he made the G League first team as a rookie, and he just turned 21 with a pretty high ceiling... Guess they liked Ivica Zubac better?

Good for Yogi. No reason to take less money from a team that loaded up with other players at his position. And honestly, the Mavs aren’t much closer to contending in the West than the Kings.

I’m kinda glad he’s leaving. Dallas gave him a good offer, but that backcourt is just too crowded right now. Hopefully he can catch on somewhere else that will offer him a bigger role. Definitely a risk to pass that contract up though.

I’ve said it before, but literally the only thing he did in their offense last season was run down the floor and stand in the corner for the entire possession. I guess he may not have been ready for much more at that point, but I gotta think he’s able to do more now.

Good to see him getting more of a green light, although those aren’t great shooting percentages. Hopefully the new coaching staff in Toronto finds ways to get him more involved in the offense than he was last year.

Looking like the NBA is going to need to institute some type of minimum salary to prevent these types of moves from happening.

He’s probably a top 20 player when healthy. They won’t even need him during the regular season, but by the time the playoffs roll around, he’ll be at least close to full health. Warriors won’t be challenged.

Warriors have totally ruined the NBA.

Bryant to the Wizards.

I was really only talking about Bryant staying as it would have related to his personal prospects for success in the NBA. As it would have related to IU as a team last season, I actually think Bryant staying would have been good for the team overall, including Juwan. Bryant really would have been the perfect frontcourt pairing with Juwan. Having Bryant at the 5 would have allowed Juwan to slide back to his more natural position at the 4. And at the same time, with Bryant’s ability to get up and down the court and play on the perimeter, Juwan would still have had plenty of room to operate in the paint. I guess in that scenario, Juwan might not have developed quite as much because he wouldn’t have been counted on to basically carry the entire team, but he still would have been a key player for us. And the team likely would have been a lot better, and probably makes the tournament. Now Davis would have been the odd man out in that scenario, but like you said, he might have also avoided injury. Smith would also have played a lot fewer minutes, but I don’t think bringing him along more slowly would have been a bad thing necessarily. Overall, Bryant staying would have been a good thing for all involved IMO.

Agree, definitely unusual for a team to cut a guy coming off a rookie season in which he made the G League first team. I’m sure it does have to do with the Lakers clearing cap for Lebron/PG/Kawhi. But at the same time, whatever the reasoning behind it, this was why I thought Bryant would have been well served to come back. First round picks are much less likely to be cut (not to mention they make much more money). Out of all the players that left early under Crean, Bryant is really the only one that I think made a mistake. He could’ve played his way into the first round last season and been set up much better.

Welp... This was the problem with Bryant leaving before he could play his way into the first round. Lakers didn’t have much invested in him, and now they’ve cut him loose.

Wonder what they’ll do with Seth Curry. That backcourt is awfully crowded right now.

Good call by whoever said the Pacers should go after Gordon.

Speaking of the Celtics... Scary Terry would be a great fit for the Pacers.

Yeah, it’s an interesting issue, as Vic admittedly isn’t a PG in the traditional sense. You don’t really want a traditional 2 guard playing alongside him, and at the same time, you also don’t want a traditional PG that needs the ball to be effective. But you’re definitely right that the Pacers aren’t likely to make the Finals with Collison as the other starting guard. Ideally, they find a PG that can play off the ball some, play defense, and hit the open three. Hypothetically, who do you think would be the perfect fit alongside Oladipo? Doesn’t have to be someone who’s available.

Most definitely. I was just anticipating push-back based on the difference in assist numbers between Harden and Vic, as the focus on “true point guards” tends to emphasize distributing the ball. Regardless of the fact that Vic is more of a score-first than pass-first guard, I think he still qualifies as the Pacers point guard considering how much he has the ball in his hands.

But really, isn’t Vic the point guard? I know he’s nominally a “shooting guard,” but he had the ball in his hands a lot (30.0 usage %, just behind Kyrie and ahead of Steph), and averaged more than 4 assists per game. Kind of similar to how Harden is nominally a “shooting guard,” but always has the ball in his hands and is the primary initiator of the offense (I realize Vic has a ways to go to match Harden as a distributor). I don’t think the Pacers have a big need for a top flight PG, as they already basically have one in Vic. Collison, Joseph, and Holiday are decent options alongside him.

Yeah, I’m not too high on him. I get that it’s impressive what he did in the Euroleague at 19, and he probably has a pretty high floor, but he has bottom tier athleticism for the NBA. All the footage I’ve watched of him looks like it’s in slow motion.

Luka Doncic... bust or the best Euro prospect of all time?