I'd rather have a bigger, stronger french project than a possible headcase American project.

AggieEP said:

---

Overall, hard to say it wasn't a great draft because the Spurs get Wemby, but I spent so long hoping for some bold moves, that draft night ended up feeling flat because the Spurs traded away 33 for basically nothing.

I get the whole roster spots issue, but that also makes the argument that packaging 44 and 33 plus something else to move up to the 20s would have been smart. I think Nick Smith Jr is going to be a star although his character is questionable, but once he was available I was really hoping the Spurs would grab him.

---

The Spurs track record for finding starting caliber in the late 20s is pretty impressive. I have to believe they had a list of guys they were looking to move up for and they either came off the board or they just couldn't find a viable trade partner.

Ag Natural said:

---

AggieEP said:

---

Overall, hard to say it wasn't a great draft because the Spurs get Wemby, but I spent so long hoping for some bold moves, that draft night ended up feeling flat because the Spurs traded away 33 for basically nothing.

I get the whole roster spots issue, but that also makes the argument that packaging 44 and 33 plus something else to move up to the 20s would have been smart. I think Nick Smith Jr is going to be a star although his character is questionable, but once he was available I was really hoping the Spurs would grab him.

---

The Spurs track record for finding starting caliber in the late 20s is pretty impressive. I have to believe they had a list of guys they were looking to move up for and they either came off the board or they just couldn't find a viable trade partner.

---

I think that is exactly right. They probably had a list of a few guys.

My best guess is maybe hoping that Whitehead, Sasser, or Murray fell and when they were gone, we moved on to our guys slotted in Mid-2nd.

The talent level in the draft really dropped off after pick 17 IMO. You don't just trade up to trade up. I really don't think anyone was worth trading up for. They weren't going to touch Whitmore after all his red flags and after Wallace, Dick, Bufkin, George, and JHS were off the board I didn't really see anyone worth going for. I'll be a critic of the front office at times but I don't really see the complaint here.

Speculation on Reddit is that we wanted Wallace and OKC got wind of us and other suitors wanting him so moved up to 10. Not necessarily true but plausible as we interviewed him.

Yeah I really liked Wallace. I think he could be the steal of the draft. I liked Bufkin and Hood-Schifino as well.

Same. Would have been through the moon if we got Bufkin or Wallace. Oh well.

Simmons' podcast today is talking about the various fits. He said that the Amen/Ausar thing seems like a mad scientist in the 30s-50s that would take one twin and put them in a awful situation and one twin an put them in a great situation.

Ausar gets to play with Duren, Cade, Ivey, Bogdan and he can come in, be a glue guy and work on his shot.

Simmons: Amen has to go to the toxic Rockets where the player that brings the ball over the halfcourt line gets to run an iso play for themselves and then shoot a low-percentage shot.

KOC: Amen has to come in and work on changing the culture.

Simmons: He's 19 and Green thinks that he's the superstar the team is building around. And no one on the team can shoot.

Simmons: If Harden signs with this team of 19yos that won't be ready to win for at least 4 years, Harden should be barred from the HOF.

Looking at players with 1y deals under $25mm that we could feasibly absorb without taking on money for the 24-25 season, assuming all Brian Wright wants to do is sign Tre and run it back.

Atlanta: DeJounte Murray, 18mm, 1y
Boston: Brogdon (actually 2y44, but would be movable)
Also, Robert Williams is at 3y37mm left. Boston just traded for Kristaps. Do they need/want Rob?
Brooklyn: Dinwiddie, 1y20.3. Joe Harris, 1y19.9
Charlotte: Gordon Hayward 1y31.5mm. More than the amount needed, but maybe we get protections removed on the 24 pick.
Chicago: DeMar 1y28.6mm. Just blow it up and give us back our guy.
Cleveland: Okoro 1y9mm
Dallas: No one really now, Bertans was the guy.
Denver; No one
Detroit: Wiseman would be the closest, but he played decently for them. Bagley has 2y24mm left.
GSW: I still think Klay's 1y43mm is a ton of deadweight, but he isn't being moved.
Houston: KPJ has 4 years left at 15.8 per year, but only 24 is guaranteed. They aren't in need of dumping, but probably attach him to every possible trade proposal.
Indiana: They have cap space, but Buddy Hield is 1y19.3mm
LAC: Lots of deadweight here: Marucs Morris 1y17mm, Nic Batum 1y11.7mm, RoCo 1y11.7mm, Kawhi, 2y93mm
LAL: Vanderbilt is the only guaranteed contract outside LeBron/Davis.
Memphis: Adams has 2y and 12.6mm per year. Kennard has 1y14.7 with a TO for a second year
Miami: Lowry 1y29.6mm, Dipo 9.5mm
Milwaukee: Ted Cruz' son 1y9mm
Minnesota: Mike Conley 1y24.5mm (14mm guaranteed), SloMo 1y9mm
NOLA: Zion is a ****ton of deadweight, but his contract isnt' all guaranteed. Jonas 1y15mm
NYK: Fournier 1y18.9mm, 2nd year option. Also Mitchell Robinson has 3y left at 15.7, 14.3, 12.9
OKC: under cap, but have Bertans
Orlando: Jonathan Issac 2y, but first year is 17.4mm with 7.4 guaranteed and 2nd year unguaranteed. Fultz 1y17mm, 2mm guaranteed,
Philly: Tobias 1y39.3mm
Phoenix: Lots of deadweight with Durant, Ayton, and Beal.
Portland: They are desperate to dump Nurkic, but 3y left.
Sacramento: Already dumped Holmes on Dallas.
Toronto: Gary Trent is dead weight. 1y18.6mm. Boucher has 2y
Utah: Under the cap
Washington: Tyus Jones 1y14mm, Schamet 1y10.3, Wright 1y8.3mm, Galli 1y6.8mm

Sher Thing said:

---

The talent level in the draft really dropped off after pick 17 IMO. You don't just trade up to trade up. I really don't think anyone was worth trading up for. They weren't going to touch Whitmore after all his red flags and after Wallace, Dick, Bufkin, George, and JHS were off the board I didn't really see anyone worth going for. I'll be a critic of the front office at times but I don't really see the complaint here.

---

The complaint here isn't so much about the move per se, but rather that I was expecting/hoping for some more bold moves and when they didn't happen it made it feel like kind of a let down. Basically, the moves look logical, and I accept that you don't just trade up to trade up... but it just seemed like we have the ammunition in assets right now to get almost anyone we wanted, and instead we give up 33 for two second round picks which will both likely be lower than 33 when they convey.

AggieEP said:

---

Sher Thing said:

---

The talent level in the draft really dropped off after pick 17 IMO. You don't just trade up to trade up. I really don't think anyone was worth trading up for. They weren't going to touch Whitmore after all his red flags and after Wallace, Dick, Bufkin, George, and JHS were off the board I didn't really see anyone worth going for. I'll be a critic of the front office at times but I don't really see the complaint here.

---

The complaint here isn't so much about the move per se, but rather that I was expecting/hoping for some more bold moves and when they didn't happen it made it feel like kind of a let down. Basically, the moves look logical, and I accept that you don't just trade up to trade up... but it just seemed like we have the ammunition in assets right now to get almost anyone we wanted, and instead we give up 33 for two second round picks which will both likely be lower than 33 when they convey.

---

They very well might be lower than 33, but probably not by much because Minnesota is a ****ing dumpster fire.


Brian Wright was interviewed and he basically said that the team wants to see how Wemby adjusts and how the team plays together and then make acquisitions based on needs once they see guys play together.

I think the Spurs will be looking to use assets in February and June, but we may be making some moves prior to the season, since we have to hit the salary floor before Nov 1.

Undrafted center Charles Bediako out of Alabama agrees to a one-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, his agent Daniel Green of @greensportsmgmt tells @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 23, 2023

Just to stick it to the Mavs, we got a 7' guy that put up 6/6/2 in 20 minutes a game. Way better than their 12th pick that only put up 5/5/2 in 20mpg.

Guitarsoup said:

---

AggieEP said:

---

Sher Thing said:

---

The talent level in the draft really dropped off after pick 17 IMO. You don't just trade up to trade up. I really don't think anyone was worth trading up for. They weren't going to touch Whitmore after all his red flags and after Wallace, Dick, Bufkin, George, and JHS were off the board I didn't really see anyone worth going for. I'll be a critic of the front office at times but I don't really see the complaint here.

---

The complaint here isn't so much about the move per se, but rather that I was expecting/hoping for some more bold moves and when they didn't happen it made it feel like kind of a let down. Basically, the moves look logical, and I accept that you don't just trade up to trade up... but it just seemed like we have the ammunition in assets right now to get almost anyone we wanted, and instead we give up 33 for two second round picks which will both likely be lower than 33 when they convey.

---

They very well might be lower than 33, but probably not by much because Minnesota is a ****ing dumpster fire.


Brian Wright was interviewed and he basically said that the team wants to see how Wemby adjusts and how the team plays together and then make acquisitions based on needs once they see guys play together.

I think the Spurs will be looking to use assets in February and June, but we may be making some moves prior to the season, since we have to hit the salary floor before Nov 1.

---

It seems unlikely that Minnesota will be bottom 3 in the next couple of years, they are frustrating to watch because they squander talent, but the likely scenario is they stay in the middle of the pack unless they decide to blow the team up. Pick 33 ideally nets you a borderline 1st round talent, that's why it stinks to give it up and almost assuredly get lower picks in the future.

I thought the right complementary pieces existed this draft to aggressively target. Black or Wallace both fit great in my opinion. The Spurs will not be able to make all of the future 1st rd picks they have just because they won't have the roster spot, so packaging them together to move up has to happen at some point. My big point is, why not be bold now when the franchise is feeling the momentum to grab another guy and send the message that the Spurs are back.

This draft and the statements from the team make it sound like this year is going to be another tank fest as they evaluate guys.

I assure you it's not going to be a tank fest. If it is, Victor might not stay beyond his rookie contract.

We aren't tanking at all, but I think we treat all least the first half like gleague to figure out how players work together and what pieces we need to add.

To me, that's tanking by another name. We know how the pieces we have fit, they are a bottom 3 team that is horrendous on defense.

The front office can say things like "finding fit" all they want, but we all know the team is short wing defenders that can shoot and a lead guard. I won't need to watch 40 games to know that.

Now if they sign Josh Hart and Cam Johnson or someone similar, I'll gladly eat crow, but this doesn't seem like it'll be the case.

AggieEP said:

---

To me, that's tanking by another name. We know how the pieces we have fit, they are a bottom 3 team that is horrendous on defense.

The front office can say things like "finding fit" all they want, but we all know the team is short wing defenders that can shoot and a lead guard. I won't need to watch 40 games to know that.

Now if they sign Josh Hart and Cam Johnson or someone similar, I'll gladly eat crow, but this doesn't seem like it'll be the case.

---

Cam Johnson is a stretch 4. Josh Hart plays the same position as Devin Vassell. I'll bet you we do not make an offer to either.

Last year Sochan played about 55 games and Vassell played about 35. Collins really didn't get many minutes until after Christmas. So there is still a lot of working out to figure out what we have and how they play together.

There is also the interest in seeing if Wemby or Sochan can play a point-forward/point-post type position like Joker.

Our three best players: Vassell, Keldon, Sochan, played fewer than 300 minutes together all season.

They have to spend money to reach the floor, so they will sign or trade for someone before the season starts.

I think the Spurs will be much improved overall, and probably be around .500 or just below. Gain ~20 wins. We won't be a bottom team barring catastrophic injury.

It isn't tanking, it is not rushing a team where your 4 best players are 19-23.

First one that’s not photoshopped 😏 pic.twitter.com/AjnMi3y1YK

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) June 24, 2023

Back like we never left @MalakiBranham pic.twitter.com/ZUut8mgqIp

— Jake Spegal (@JakeSpegal270) June 24, 2023

Back like we never left @MalakiBranham pic.twitter.com/ZUut8mgqIp

— Jake Spegal (@JakeSpegal270) June 24, 2023

Cissoko is answering questions in English, French and Spanish.

The Spurs have done well with tri-lingual second-round picks in the past.

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) June 24, 2023

Victor Wembanyama announces he wants to retire before he turns 40.

So did a lot of us, kid.

— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) June 24, 2023

Current cap situation.

Can have up to 15 players plus 3 two-way players.

Salary Cap: $136mm
Salary Floor: $122.4mm

Dead:
Primo: 4.3mm

Roster:
Keldon 20mm
Doug: 13.75mm
Wemby: 12.2mm
Graham: 12.1mm
Collins: 7.7mm
Birch: 6.95mm
Vassell: 5.89mm
Sochan: 5.3mm
Branham: 3.1mm
Wesley: 2.5mm
Bassey: 2.5mm

11 Roster Spots for 96.3mm.

With Sidy Cissoko being so raw, I expect us to put him on a two-way and he will spend the max time in Austin.
We picked up dirty sip Sir'Jabari Rice for a two-way.

Spurs signed Charles Bediako as a training camp invite. So he has an unguaranteed contract, and I am not counting him.

So we can spend 39.7mm and have to spend 26.1. We can sign up to 4 more players, and up to one more two-ways.

Our free agents are:

Romeo Langford (Good luck at your next stop, Romeo!)
Tre Jones (I expect us to resign him)
Sandro Mamu (meh)
KBD (Sure, for a couple million to fill a roster)
Gorgui Dieng (Vet min good locker room guy)
Dominick Barlow (two-way last year)
Julian Champagnie (two-way last year)

I think Tre is probably worth in the 8-12mm range. He's a solid backup PG, and not much else.

So if he gets 10mm to be our 12th guy, we can still spend 12mm, but have to spend at least 26mm.

We can also trade out a combination of Birch, Graham, Dougie.

Some 1y contracts that teams might be trying to dump and might give us draft picks for taking or 1y guys that we might like:

Atlanta: DeJounte Murray, 18mm, 1y
Boston: Brogdon (actually 2y44, but would be movable, depending on health concerns)
Also, Robert Williams is at 3y37mm left. Boston just traded for Kristaps. Do they need/want Rob?
Brooklyn: Dinwiddie, 1y20.3. Joe Harris, 1y19.9
Charlotte: Gordon Hayward 1y31.5mm. More than the amount needed, but maybe we get protections removed on the 24 pick.
Chicago: DeMar 1y28.6mm. Just blow it up and give us back our guy.
Cleveland: Okoro 1y9mm
Dallas: No one really now, Bertans was the guy.
Denver; No one
Detroit: Wiseman would be the closest, but he played decently for them. Bagley has 2y24mm left.
GSW: I still think Klay's 1y43mm is a ton of deadweight, but he isn't being moved.
Houston: KPJ has 4 years left at 15.8 per year, but only 24 is guaranteed. They aren't in need of dumping, but probably attach him to every possible trade proposal.
Indiana: They have cap space, but Buddy Hield is 1y19.3mm
LAC: Lots of deadweight here: Marucs Morris 1y17mm, Nic Batum 1y11.7mm, RoCo 1y11.7mm, Kawhi, 2y93mm
LAL: Vanderbilt is the only guaranteed contract outside LeBron/Davis.
Memphis: Adams has 2y and 12.6mm per year. Kennard has 1y14.7 with a TO for a second year
Miami: Lowry 1y29.6mm, Dipo 9.5mm
Milwaukee: Ted Cruz' son 1y9mm
Minnesota: Mike Conley 1y24.5mm (14mm guaranteed), SloMo 1y9mm
NOLA: Zion is a ****ton of deadweight, but his contract isnt' all guaranteed. Jonas 1y15mm
NYK: Fournier 1y18.9mm, 2nd year option. Also Mitchell Robinson has 3y left at 15.7, 14.3, 12.9
OKC: under cap, but have Bertans
Orlando: Jonathan Issac 2y, but first year is 17.4mm with 7.4 guaranteed and 2nd year unguaranteed. Fultz 1y17mm, 2mm guaranteed,
Philly: Tobias 1y39.3mm
Phoenix: Lots of deadweight with Durant, Ayton, and Beal.
Portland: They are desperate to dump Nurkic, but 3y left.
Sacramento: Already dumped Holmes on Dallas.
Toronto: Gary Trent is dead weight. 1y18.6mm. Boucher has 2y
Utah: Under the cap
Washington: Tyus Jones 1y14mm, Schamet 1y10.3, Wright 1y8.3mm, Galli 1y6.8mm

Free agents we might be interested in:

Post:
Poeltl. Fit is obvious. Plus would love to screw Toronto with rights to their pick.
Brook Lopez. At 35, just too old. But would be an elite fit.
Mo Bamba. Just 25, and probably only worth a 2-4mm contract. Hit 39% of his threes and blocked 1.0 shots per game in just 15mpg. Per-36 numbers are 14/17/2 with 49/39 shooting. Nice to have a guy that can rim protect on defense and get out of the way on offense. And cheap, so who cares if he doesn't work out.
Naz Reid. Like Zach, is a foul machine, but can hit some threes and does good on rim defense. Just a bit shorter than ideal.
Jock Landale. Should be cheap, nice passer and plays hard, but overwhelmed on defense.
DeAndre Jordan. Wouldn't mind him on a vet min playing 5-10mpg.
Kevin Love. I don't know why he would come to us, but I would love his leadership and experience.

Just not a lot to choose from.

Stretch/PF: We don't really need this with Doug/Wemby/Sochan.
Harrison Barnes. Solid veteran, but I don't see his path to minutes.
Grant Williams. Play him more at SF, but I think he wants more than he would be worth to us.

Wing:
Austin Reaves. If we want to screw the Lakers, overpay and make them match. You could offer him a 4y deal that is 12mm the first two years and 38mm the last two. Really wouldn't want to be stuck on that salary for him.
Middleton. I think he's washed and not interested in paying what Milwaukee would pay. Donte DiVincenzo. 26yo D&3 guy. I like his fit, but wish he was bigger. Would totally start him over Keldon and make Keldon the 6th man.
Thybulle: D and nothing. I don't think he has much value and we have the money to get a guy that isn't a black hole on offense, too.
Troy Brown: D&3, but only made 38%, which was a career high. 23yo, 6'6 215
Yuta Wantabe. D&3 guy. Would likely be fairly cheap. 28yo. Defense is above average, but he ain't the nephew.
Torrey Craig. Another D&3 SF. But turns 33 at Christmas.
Josh Okogie. Like Thybulle, D&3 without the 3.

Point/Combo:
Bruce Brown. One of my top choices and I wouldn't hesitate to give him the 4yMLE. He's a dog on the court, plays solid D on 3 (sometimes 4 ) positions, can run the point for stretches and makes 3s. Everything I want in a backup wing/point.
Jevon Carter. Is a point, but basically is a D&3 guy like PatBev without the assholishness. He isn't running your point, so you play him when you have Wemby/Sochan/Vassell running the point.
CoJo. Bring him back at age 31 as a backup to our starting PG that should also be a backup.
George Hill. Like CoJo, but older and Pop loves him more.


If we bring back Tre, bring in Bruce Brown for ~12mm to be a combo, then you add depth to post with a Bamba or Jock Landale, unless you really want to pay to bring back Jakob. I don't see the Spurs going after Naz Reid and I think the Wolves likely trade KAT and bring Reid back to play with Gobert. Then a Troy Brown, Craig, or Yuta for wing defense that would be cheap and not a lot of years.

Players we could theoretically trade for that would fit well.

Atlanta: DeJounte Murray. Atl is on a major cap crunch and just picked up a combo guard that would theoretically replace Murray. I don't know if Atl would trade him back or if he burned the bridge with his immature comments this year. But a defensive minded combo guard that can guard 1-3 would be a great fit for us.
Atl is also trying to move a bunch of other players, but only Clint Capela interests me in the least.

Boston: They have some cap issues, Grant Williams is a FA and they just traded to get Kristaps. Robert Williams is injured a lot, makes 11.5 (3y37mm left) and would be a solid rim protector for us. Derrick White is the guy I want, but with Smart gone, they can't trade White.

Brooklyn: Also cap issues. Dinwiddie is in the last year of his contract and have a home in SA, but they don't have another PG. Well, another they could count on. They have Ben Simmons. 2020 Ben Simmons would be crazy on this team. Too bad Brooklyn has 2024 Ben Simmons. DFS or Royce ONeale could be solid role players, but not at the cost they want.

Charlotte: If they wanted to remove all 2024 1st round pick restrictions to take Gordon Haywood, I would do it. Nothing else they have interests me.

Chicago: It seems like they aren't blowing it up, but they should. I would take back DeMar for free and would like to have Caruso. I would give up the Charlotte pick and some seconds for Caruso. I like the all-defense 1st team PG that does the little things and makes a few 3s for this team. Same idea as White, only this would be Whiter. I like Lonzo, but he may never play again and won't play next year.

Cleveland: We could trade for Okoro if we wanted another 6'5 SF with a meh 3pt shot. Rubio is washed, but him like 6 years ago would be great.

Dallas. Nothing there that they would want to trade that I want.

Denver: Wanna save some money? Trade you Keldon for MPJ.

Detroit: If they just wanted to dump Killian Hayes, I would give him a shot for free, but wouldn't pay anything. I would take Bagley, Wiseman, or Stewart as a rotational center if they wanted to open up time for Duren.

Golden State: I do like Kuminga and could see him grow into a Shawn Marion-type. They were trying to move him to Indy for the 7th pick, though. Way too expensive.

Houston: Amen and Tari Eason are the only players that interest me.

Indiana. No real bad contracts. If they wanted to dump Buddy Hield, I would take him. I like Myles Turner for our team, but they pretty clearly want to build with him. I'd give up two of our first for Myles, though.

LAC: I'd take Batum or RoCo for nothing. Ivica Zubac is the only player they have that would interest me that much.

LAL: They only really have LBJ and Unibrow under contract. I'll pass.

Memphis. They aren't ready to trade Smart yet? Adams is hurt a lot, but he would be a great interior presence. I like JJJ and Bane a lot, too. But none of those guys are for sale.

Miami: If they wanted to dump Lowry, I'd take him for a year.

Milwaukee: Grayson Allen would be a solid D&3 guy, but I would really prefer us going after a taller D&3 guy since we have Vassell already.

Minnesota. Even though we could use a rim protector, I wouldn't take Gobert for free. Still has 131mm left over the next 3y. Conley would be great if they want to shed salary, but they don't have a PG.

NOLA: I am to the "Zion may be a cancer" stage. I love the potential of Dyson Daniels, love Herbert Jones, and love Trey Murphy. Don't think any of them are for sale.

NY Knicks: If they start making trades, I wouldn't mind Mitchell Robinson, despite his multi-year contract. Fournier for a salary dump only.

OKC: They are buyers like us. Would love to get a guy like Giddey, though.

Orlando: If they were ready to move on from Fultz since they got Black, I would take him over Graham, but wouldn't pay anything for him.

Philly: Nothing that fat **** Morey has interests me.

Phoenix: Not interested in getting stuck with Ayton. Thanks.

Portland: I like Simons, but not 77mm over 3y like. Nurkic is 54mm over 3 years. Pass. Sharpe is their only player I want.

Sacramento: They don't really have any bad contracts to dump. I like Huerter and Murray, but both are part of their core.

Toronto: I would love OG Anunoby, but Toronto seems to think he is worth 3 firsts. I'd give them two firsts including their own.

Utah: No one they have really interests me except Taylor Hendricks.

Washington: Only player they have I would want is Corey Kispert. Well, and Bilal Coulibaly.

Great write up Soup. Would love to get Bruce Brown. Reaves would be my first choice but not realistic. If we can get Conley for a couple seconds that would be great too.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Great write up Soup. Would love to get Bruce Brown. Reaves would be my first choice but not realistic. If we can get Conley for a couple seconds that would be great too.

---

I like Reaves, but I just can't see committing 100mm to a guy with such a tiny sample size. Also, his defense is below average and we need perimeter defense in the worst way.

I think Bruce Brown is my #1 FA target and I think he can be had for the MLE or thereabouts. Say starting at 13mm (just over MLE)

If we don't offer Jakob, I would be totally happy just giving a few bucks to Mo Bamba and Jock Landale on a 1y deal with TO or unguaranteed 2nd year. Jock was a 6.6/4.1 guy in 14mpg for Phoenix.

I think you could probably get Jock for a Bassey-like contract. Bassey got 4y10mm, with two years unguaranteed. I think Mo Bamba could get slightly more, possibly. Maybe offer him 1y5mm. If you can get him for less, great. He didn't impress this year, much.

I do like Naz Reid, but I think someone will overpay and not really interested in a long-term overpay. I think we will be able to find center role players like we did before with Oberto, Nazr, Splitter, etc.

I would like a 4y40mm for Tre. His cap hold is just 5mm, so we can leave it there and go over the cap to sign him later.

I like Donte DiVicenzo a lot and would give him an MLE deal. I would love to start him over Keldon and move Keldon to 2nd team/6th man.


We can only bring in 3 guys if we resign Tre and put Sidy on Two-Way, but we can cut Birch or put him on long-term medical to get an extra spot, I think. That gives us 4 spots. We can also cut or trade Graham and/or Doug.


The other thing to think about here is we have 3 firsts and 2 second next year and 3 firsts and 3 seconds in 2025.

Gotta move some of those.


-----------------

Sidenote: The Clippers are in a weird place, because as it sits, they are paying about 155mm in luxury tax and have Plumlee and Westbrook as FAs. They also have Batum and RoCo as 1y/11.7mm guys. They could trade both those guys into our cap space and it saves them 158mm in luxury tax/salary and it gets them just below the Super Apron. They don't have firsts available until 2027, but I'll take what I can get. Just a thought. Even though both guys are old ass shells of their former selves, they could play 10mpg for 50 games if we get future Clippers picks. Or maybe Balmer would rather spend $158mm than lose a couple firsts.

-------------------


TL;DR:

* Cut, trade, or medically retire Birch
* Two-Way contract for Sidy
* Resign Tre for 3y30mm
* Sign Bruce Brown for 4y60mm contract
* Sign Donte DiVicenzo for 4y60mm contract
* Give Jock Landale 4y10mm contract, with last two years unguaranteed.
* Give Mo Bamba 1y5mm deal with team option for 2nd year.
* We would be at the salary cap with Tre's hold, and go over the cap about $5mm.

Post:
Collins, La Bamba, Bassey, Landale

PF/Stretch:
Wemby, Sochan, Dougie

Wing:
Vassell, DonteD, Keldon, Branham, Wesley

Point:
Brown, Tre Jones, Graham

Free agents in 2024:
Zach Collins: UFA
Devin Vassell: RFA
Doug McDermott
DeVonte Graham (only 2m guaranteed)
Bassey (under contract, but $0 guaranteed)
LaBamba.

That's a pic that will bring a tear to your eye.

He makes the rest of them look normal size, shoot, Manu looks short there. Haha…

Am I the only one that would like to bring Mamu back? I love me some bigs with good court vision.

West Texan said:

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Am I the only one that would like to bring Mamu back? I love me some bigs with good court vision.

---

He definitely has good vision and passing, but his defense is not so great. We just need to upgrade defense so bad. Wemby helps, but we need to get better all over.

I like Mo Bamba (at least theoretically) because he can hit 3s, so you can get him out of the way, and hopefully drag his man away, too but he is a pretty solid rim defender and shot blocker.

He's not going to keep the ball moving like Mamu, but he can get out of the way for Wemby, Keldon, Branham, Vassell but make the other team pay if they leave him open.

Bamba hit 41% of his catch and shoot threes last year and 42% when wide open. The year before he was 39% on catch and shoot and 42% on wide open. He's basically a poor man's shot blocking version of Bruce Bowen.

oh dang, Kevin Hart and Muggsy Bogues too. All great role models! pic.twitter.com/KHLy4UHUHl

— Mitchell Cohen (@MitchellLandon) June 25, 2023

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Am I the only one that would like to bring Mamu back? I love me some bigs with good court vision.

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He definitely has good vision and passing, but his defense is not so great. We just need to upgrade defense so bad. Wemby helps, but we need to get better all over.

I like Mo Bamba (at least theoretically) because he can hit 3s, so you can get him out of the way, and hopefully drag his man away, too but he is a pretty solid rim defender and shot blocker.

He's not going to keep the ball moving like Mamu, but he can get out of the way for Wemby, Keldon, Branham, Vassell but make the other team pay if they leave him open.

Bamba hit 41% of his catch and shoot threes last year and 42% when wide open. The year before he was 39% on catch and shoot and 42% on wide open. He's basically a poor man's shot blocking version of Bruce Bowen.

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I just don't think there's a need to bring in two new bigs when one of them is at best going to be the 4th center. Collins, free agent, Mamu, Bassey is solid, plus you'll still have time where Wemby plays the 5. Mamu and Bassey I think fill those roles just fine, and like mentioned, I love Mamu's offensive upside with his vision and spacing.

As far as Bamba, I think he's a really good buy low candidate. I wish he was a little more physical on the boards, but he has solid rim protection and can shoot.

There's 15 roster spots plus 3 two-ways and Collins is foul prone and injury prone and Bassey is unproven.