Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Stein said Spurs are a potential landing spot for CP3. I would not mind it, especially if we draft Castle so he can learn from him.

I bet the Lakers are front runners though due to his relationship with James and home in LA.

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Everyone just links us to everything. Spurs aren't gonna give any real assets for Paul at 39yo and no way does he want to babysit at this point in his career when he is a ring chaser.

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TBH Chris Paul doesn't really strike me as a ring chaser. Also, a contender is likely not going to be able to have the assets to trade for him salary wise. I wouldn't mind giving up a couple protected seconds for him. I think his value to our young team would be huge.

Edit: He also has a good relationship with Pop and respects him. From a culture standpoint it's not like it would be amateur hour for him. And playing with Wemby would not be a bad way to close out his career.

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If Paul wanted to come here to mentor Castle, I am all for it. By all accounts, he did incredible stuff for SGA.

But I don't know why you would think he is not going to try to ring chase. Felt like that is why he went to Houston then resigned with Phoenix.

But in any event, if we brought him in, we can't do it until after the new season starts, and it would have to be something like Keldon for Paul or Zach for Paul. This would also completely kill any salary cap space, since we would absorb him into space. We can't trade for him until after July 1 because of tax rules since GSW is a 2nd apron team.

His contract is a team option, so if GSW picks it up and trades him for Collins, then Paul doesn't really have a lot of say, other than being a whiney ***** like always.

If we draft Castle then Clingan, trading Collins for Paul makes a lot of sense. Then we could still bring in a FA with the Room Exception, such as Kyle Anderson. Room is a 2y deal starting at about 8M.

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Yea. I'm wanting him with the thought of us taking a PG in the draft, which is very likely if we keep both our picks and don't make a trade for Young/DJ/Garland.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Stein said Spurs are a potential landing spot for CP3. I would not mind it, especially if we draft Castle so he can learn from him.

I bet the Lakers are front runners though due to his relationship with James and home in LA.

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Everyone just links us to everything. Spurs aren't gonna give any real assets for Paul at 39yo and no way does he want to babysit at this point in his career when he is a ring chaser.

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TBH Chris Paul doesn't really strike me as a ring chaser. Also, a contender is likely not going to be able to have the assets to trade for him salary wise. I wouldn't mind giving up a couple protected seconds for him. I think his value to our young team would be huge.

Edit: He also has a good relationship with Pop and respects him. From a culture standpoint it's not like it would be amateur hour for him. And playing with Wemby would not be a bad way to close out his career.

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If Paul wanted to come here to mentor Castle, I am all for it. By all accounts, he did incredible stuff for SGA.

But I don't know why you would think he is not going to try to ring chase. Felt like that is why he went to Houston then resigned with Phoenix.

But in any event, if we brought him in, we can't do it until after the new season starts, and it would have to be something like Keldon for Paul or Zach for Paul. This would also completely kill any salary cap space, since we would absorb him into space. We can't trade for him until after July 1 because of tax rules since GSW is a 2nd apron team.

His contract is a team option, so if GSW picks it up and trades him for Collins, then Paul doesn't really have a lot of say, other than being a whiney ***** like always.

If we draft Castle then Clingan, trading Collins for Paul makes a lot of sense. Then we could still bring in a FA with the Room Exception, such as Kyle Anderson. Room is a 2y deal starting at about 8M.

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Yea. I'm wanting him with the thought of us taking a PG in the draft, which is very likely if we keep both our picks and don't make a trade for Young/DJ/Garland.

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I don't think a big trade is coming until Feb 2025 deadline or 2025 draft. I do think we see something small this year.

If GSW is going to blow it up, I can see the Spurs stepping in to get Paul, assuming Paul wants that elder statesman role. I do still think he wants a ring.

#4 Castle
#8 Clingan
#35 Jalen Bridges
#48 Cam Spencer

Trade Zach, Branham, for Chris Paul
Cut DeVonte Graham
Room exception on Kyle Anderson

Wemby / Clingan / Bassey
SloMo / Sochan
Champagnie / Bridges / Cissoko
Vassell / Castle / Spencer
Paul / Tre / Wesley

That's good for 25, maybe 28 wins.

I wouldn't mind Chris Paul except that...
he's still Chris Paul.

Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Stein said Spurs are a potential landing spot for CP3. I would not mind it, especially if we draft Castle so he can learn from him.

I bet the Lakers are front runners though due to his relationship with James and home in LA.

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Everyone just links us to everything. Spurs aren't gonna give any real assets for Paul at 39yo and no way does he want to babysit at this point in his career when he is a ring chaser.

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TBH Chris Paul doesn't really strike me as a ring chaser. Also, a contender is likely not going to be able to have the assets to trade for him salary wise. I wouldn't mind giving up a couple protected seconds for him. I think his value to our young team would be huge.

Edit: He also has a good relationship with Pop and respects him. From a culture standpoint it's not like it would be amateur hour for him. And playing with Wemby would not be a bad way to close out his career.

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If Paul wanted to come here to mentor Castle, I am all for it. By all accounts, he did incredible stuff for SGA.

But I don't know why you would think he is not going to try to ring chase. Felt like that is why he went to Houston then resigned with Phoenix.

But in any event, if we brought him in, we can't do it until after the new season starts, and it would have to be something like Keldon for Paul or Zach for Paul. This would also completely kill any salary cap space, since we would absorb him into space. We can't trade for him until after July 1 because of tax rules since GSW is a 2nd apron team.

His contract is a team option, so if GSW picks it up and trades him for Collins, then Paul doesn't really have a lot of say, other than being a whiney ***** like always.

If we draft Castle then Clingan, trading Collins for Paul makes a lot of sense. Then we could still bring in a FA with the Room Exception, such as Kyle Anderson. Room is a 2y deal starting at about 8M.

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Yea. I'm wanting him with the thought of us taking a PG in the draft, which is very likely if we keep both our picks and don't make a trade for Young/DJ/Garland.

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I don't think a big trade is coming until Feb 2025 deadline or 2025 draft. I do think we see something small this year.

If GSW is going to blow it up, I can see the Spurs stepping in to get Paul, assuming Paul wants that elder statesman role. I do still think he wants a ring.

#4 Castle
#8 Clingan
#35 Jalen Bridges
#48 Cam Spencer

Trade Zach, Branham, for Chris Paul
Cut DeVonte Graham
Room exception on Kyle Anderson

Wemby / Clingan / Bassey
SloMo / Sochan
Champagnie / Bridges / Cissoko
Vassell / Castle / Spencer
Paul / Tre / Wesley

That's good for 25, maybe 28 wins.

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I think this lineup with Victor's improvement is good for 30-35 wins.

I like the Bridges pick but I'm not sure Clingan will be there at 8.

He may or may not be. I also forgot to include Keldon because I didn't trade him out

If we can get out from under Zach Collins in a CP3 deal then I think this is exactly the kind of move we should be looking at. GSW kind of needs a big too since Saric is a FA. GSW also has no draft picks this year so I'd think they would be interested in our SRPs, and I think we can absorb the salary difference into our space to give them another angle for incentive. I'm all for it as long as it isn't going to cost us anything important which it probably won't given his age/contract/production.

TheNotoriousP.I.P. said:

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If we can get out from under Zach Collins in a CP3 deal then I think this is exactly the kind of move we should be looking at. GSW kind of needs a big too since Saric is a FA. GSW also has no draft picks this year so I'd think they would be interested in our SRPs, and I think we can absorb the salary difference into our space to give them another angle for incentive. I'm all for it as long as it isn't going to cost us anything important which it probably won't given his age/contract/production.

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We can do Collins straight up for chris paul after july 1.

I don't think that Collins is the negative asset that many people think he is based on his early season performance. He closed out by shooting 50/48 after the all star break and his defense was much improved. While his extension is a big raise, it is only 8-9% of the cap, so it isn't a crippling thing by any means.

If we moved Collins like this, let Branham, Wesley, Champagnie, and Bassey walk, we'd have ridiculous cap space. Cap is projected to be like 156M that season and with Wemby, Sochan, Devin, Keldon, #4, #8, and resign Tre Jones at $12M we would have something like 60M in cap space, plus lottery picks from Spurs, Hawks, and Bulls.

Guitarsoup said:

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TheNotoriousP.I.P. said:

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If we can get out from under Zach Collins in a CP3 deal then I think this is exactly the kind of move we should be looking at. GSW kind of needs a big too since Saric is a FA. GSW also has no draft picks this year so I'd think they would be interested in our SRPs, and I think we can absorb the salary difference into our space to give them another angle for incentive. I'm all for it as long as it isn't going to cost us anything important which it probably won't given his age/contract/production.

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We can do Collins straight up for chris paul after july 1.

I don't think that Collins is the negative asset that many people think he is based on his early season performance. He closed out by shooting 50/48 after the all star break and his defense was much improved. While his extension is a big raise, it is only 8-9% of the cap, so it isn't a crippling thing by any means.

If we moved Collins like this, let Branham, Wesley, Champagnie, and Bassey walk, we'd have ridiculous cap space. Cap is projected to be like 156M that season and with Wemby, Sochan, Devin, Keldon, #4, #8, and resign Tre Jones at $12M we would have something like 60M in cap space, plus lottery picks from Spurs, Hawks, and Bulls.

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Seeing all this play out and the seemingly infinite flexibility, I gotta laugh at all the bRiAn WrIgHt SuX comments over the last few years.

I still feel even if you run this group back and if there's typical progression on the young guys and not much regression, it's a 25-30 win team. With some modest talent upgrades in the last couple of starters/first off the bench guys or a veteran presence than can settle the team down and maintain while Wemby sits (tbh Keldon should be this guy imo but he's still a little too out of control and trying to go ham when that's not really what he should be doing) it could be a 30+ win team. Adding both (deeper talent and a vet) could be a 40 win team but thats just me and maybe I'm being too kind to our current roster. I think Zach is just fine around 15 mpg but his limitations get exposed at 22+ mpg. Champagnie is best at 10-15 mpg instead of 20+, etc.

Upgrades to roster slots 4-8 whether they come through growth or acquisition is what I want for long term success and I honestly like the idea of CP3 as a temporary fix to Jumpstart things even if he is a lil *****.

FO Charlotte, we're taking Risacher and Castle.

.@DraftExpress confirms that Stephon Castle will not conduct workouts for teams with starting point guards already in place.

This indicates Castle could refuse to workout for all the following teams in the top-10: Hawks, Rockets, Pistons, Hornets, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies. https://t.co/TUNjcIVWwW

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) May 24, 2024

HummingbirdSaltalamacchia said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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FO Charlotte, we're taking Risacher and Castle.

.@DraftExpress confirms that Stephon Castle will not conduct workouts for teams with starting point guards already in place.

This indicates Castle could refuse to workout for all the following teams in the top-10: Hawks, Rockets, Pistons, Hornets, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies. https://t.co/TUNjcIVWwW

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) May 24, 2024

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Dude if Castle fell to 8 like that, and we got Risacher at 4. That's a home run draft IMO

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I also think we could offer Charlotte their protected pick back to move from 8 to 6. That's essentially what Washington gave Indiana to move up one spot to get Bilal. They wont' make the playoffs and we have a ****ton of 2nds anyway.

I need that praying dog pic bc dang as much as I've tried not to get too convinced about anyone in this draft, Castle just seems like a great fit in so many ways

100% my preferred draft as well

If it works out in the Spurs' favor, I'm all for it. But it just seems like that would really hurt his draft stock, unless Castle's camp are confident they can get a promise from SA (I mean who else in the top 10 would they want to draft him, surely not Washington?). In which case, I'm sure Castle's group would even gladly take a 4 position drop at 8th if it means he can be a starting PG with the future of the league.

In any event, it may not mean a lot because this will likely be one of the easiest drafts to move up in recent memory, so if a team who needs a PG wants to trade for a 5-7 pick, eying Castle as their guy, they'll do it.

I think at this point, it's likely Risacher gets drafted in the top 2 with reports of Atlanta considering both him and Sarr at #1, although that could also be BS to try to get teams (like the Spurs) to move up. Also reports of Kuzma being on the block, so Washington pairing Ridacher with Bilal is not about of the realm of possibility.

If we can move up to get Atlanta's pick to snag Risacher for our 4th and returning their pick swap in '26, assuming we can get Castle at 8, I think id consider it.

I think we are pretty much guaranteed one of Castle/Risacher at 4.

If Risacher falls to four, I think there is a good chance that either the 5-7 teams pass on Castle or we use that Charlotte pick to move up to 6.

If we take Castle at 4, I am cool with Clingan, Knecht or a project like Salaun, and I think one of those three is there.

Atl: Sarr or Risacher
Was: Sarr, Topic, Risacher, Clingan
Hou: Risacher, Reed
SA: Sarr, Risacher, Castle, Reed
Det: Risacher, Reed, Knecht, Matas
Cha: Castle, Holland, Clingan
Por: Matas, Salaun, Holland, Knecht, Wiliams
SA: Castle, Clingan, Knecht, Salaun

I think no matter how it falls, we get someone we can be happy with.

With #4 we get one of Sarr, Risacher, Reed, or Castle.
With #8 we get one of Castle, Clingan, Knecht, Salaun

My dream scenario is:
1. Sarr
2. Topic
3. Reed
4. Risacher
5. Knecht or Matas
6. Clingan or Holland
7. Matas or Knecht
8. Castle

But if Washington goes Risacher:

1. Sarr
2. Risacher
3. Reed
4. Castle
5. Knecht or Matas
6. Holland or Clingan
7. Knecht or Matas
8. Clingan or Salaun

Salaun is a project, but has a high upside and with two picks, we can take the gamble. I think Clingan will be a rich man's Poeltl, so even if we can't play him next to Wemby more than 5-10 minutes a game, it is a good pick and we still need to go up against bigs like Embiid and Jokic.

Historic performance from French guard Nolan Traore at ANGT, dropping a record 45 points on 22 shots with 9 assists and 6 rebounds in a win over Barcelona. Traore is making a case as a top-5 pick in the loaded 2025 NBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/e72diN8aWF

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 25, 2024

French PG in the 2025 draft.

This is what happened when Luka tried to do a stepback on Wemby btwpic.twitter.com/gd1Nx6yd6e

— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) May 25, 2024

Can't believe he is going to waste his career in Washington.

Another big French playoff outing for Zaccharie Risacher, this time vs top Euroleague squad Monaco. 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and the important road win in game 2 of the semis for the 19-year old, No. 1 ranked prospect in ESPN's Top-100. pic.twitter.com/f39BejHDyY

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 25, 2024

Guitarsoup said:

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Can't believe he is going to waste his career in Washington.

Another big French playoff outing for Zaccharie Risacher, this time vs top Euroleague squad Monaco. 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and the important road win in game 2 of the semis for the 19-year old, No. 1 ranked prospect in ESPN's Top-100. pic.twitter.com/f39BejHDyY

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 25, 2024

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JL Bourg forward Zaccharie Risacher today #NBADraft

— 21 PTS
— 8 REB
— 1 AST
— 2 STL
— 8/12 FG
— 2/4 3P
— 3/5 FT
— 30 MIN pic.twitter.com/sPwFhlReaK

— No Ceilings (@NoCeilingsNBA) May 25, 2024

Guitarsoup said:

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Can't believe he is going to waste his career in Washington.

Another big French playoff outing for Zaccharie Risacher, this time vs top Euroleague squad Monaco. 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and the important road win in game 2 of the semis for the 19-year old, No. 1 ranked prospect in ESPN's Top-100. pic.twitter.com/f39BejHDyY

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 25, 2024

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Spurs can move up for him if they want him badly enough. They have the Atlanta picks to do it. I don't think they should, but they can.

I agree. I don't think it's worth giving assets from the next 3 years' drafts. But we will see if the Spurs feel the same way.

Maxey sounds to me he could be a fit, but he's a restricted free agent. Any of the free agents look like future Spurs?

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40223930/nba-free-agency-2024-ranking-top-20-players-available

Earth Rider said:

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Maxey sounds to me he could be a fit, but he's a restricted free agent. Any of the free agents look like future Spurs?

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40223930/nba-free-agency-2024-ranking-top-20-players-available

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Maxey is getting a max deal from Philly.

Spurs only have about 16M in cap space.

Free agents I am interested in:


Bigs:
Goga
Hartenstein (will be too expensive)
Jalen Smith
Xavier Tillman
Bol Bol for all the memes


Wings:
Issac Okoro
Naji Marshall
Kyle Anderson
KCP
Caleb Martin
Luke Kennard

Guards:
Tyus Jones

Spurs also don't have many roster spots open. We have 4 draft picks, and three free agents, plus Graham who will be cut or traded. I could see us trading Graham before July 1 to take on a 1y deal to save another team $9.8M. I could also see us making a trade after July first if something we like shows up.

The top 10 second year players in Matchup Difficulty

1. Jeremy Sochan
2. Vince Williams Jr.
3. Andrew Nembhard
4. Dyson Daniels
5. Keegan Murray
6. Jalen Williams
7. Ochai Agbaji
8. David Roddy
9. Peyton Watson
10. Jaden Ivey

Matchup Difficulty explainer⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8Ddi3C8Rgp

— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) May 27, 2024

Here's my dumb Spurs question of the day. Would you prefer:

1. All UCONN Draft

#4: Castle
#8 Clingan
#35: Karaban
#48: Cam Spencer or Tristen Newton

2. All France Draft:

#4: Risacher
#8: Salaun
#35: Dadiet
#48: Ajinca

Guitarsoup said:

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Here's my dumb Spurs question of the day. Would you prefer:

1. All UCONN Draft

#4: Castle
#8 Clingan
#35: Karaban
#48: Cam Spencer or Tristen Newton

2. All France Draft:

#4: Risacher
#8: Salaun
#35: Dadiet
#48: Ajinca

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Neither, but if forced to choose I'd probably go all France. I really hate the idea of drafting Clingan (fit next to Wemby is awful) and I'm not sure that Karaban or Spencer are athletic enough to guard anyone. There's a lot of overlap in the 4 French wings, but surely a couple them turn into solid contributors.

Another strong outing for Zaccharie Risacher in the French playoffs versus Euroleague team Monaco. Team-high 17 points, 6 rebounds for the potential No. 1 pick, who is playing the best basketball of his career at the best time possible. pic.twitter.com/m8WnTbcu6i

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 28, 2024

My personal draft board is Risacher then Castle.

All French. But dont think we need four rookies. I would play the percentages in this draft.

For instance, let's say we trade alll four picks to move up to two

What is the probability the second pick ever making an all star team?

Versus

What are the accumulated percentages that one or more of the 4th, 8th, and the two second round picks ever make an all star team?

I'd have to see the data over the years, but I'd suspect that the second pick would have a higher chance of producing an all star than the combined percentages of the four other picks,

Guitarsoup said:

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Here's my dumb Spurs question of the day. Would you prefer:

1. All UCONN Draft

#4: Castle
#8 Clingan
#35: Karaban
#48: Cam Spencer or Tristen Newton

2. All France Draft:

#4: Risacher
#8: Salaun
#35: Dadiet
#48: Ajinca

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These can be tough to come by, especially for international players, but here are the shot charts for the four major French wings in the 2024 class.

In order: Tidjane Salaun, Zaccharie Risacher, Pacome Dadiet, Melvin Ajinca pic.twitter.com/hH5LTmCeHi

— Nick Kalinowski (@kalidrafts) May 27, 2024

Quote:

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I really hate the idea of drafting Clingan (fit next to Wemby is awful)

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I think there is a good chance that Clingan is the best player available at 8, and our defense falls off so much we need a backup that can be a defensive anchor. We also probably need a big guy that can go up against guys like Jokic and maybe Embiid. If we get him, I think Collins gets traded pretty quickly.

Earth Rider said:

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All French. But dont think we need four rookies. I would play the percentages in this draft.

For instance, let's say we trade alll four picks to move up to two

What is the probability the second pick ever making an all star team?

Versus

What are the accumulated percentages that one or more of the 4th, 8th, and the two second round picks ever make an all star team?

I'd have to see the data over the years, but I'd suspect that the second pick would have a higher chance of producing an all star than the combined percentages of the four other picks,

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I think we will do some consolidating with the 2nd rounders. Lots of teams want to get out of guaranteed salary so they could trade their late first for two seconds and the seconds could be two-ways.

So like 35+48 to Minnesota for #27 where we take Ryan Dunn or KyShawn George or Dadiet or something.

I do not think we trade the picks to move up to 2 or 3 or anything.

Guitarsoup said:

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Quote:

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I really hate the idea of drafting Clingan (fit next to Wemby is awful)

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I think there is a good chance that Clingan is the best player available at 8, and our defense falls off so much we need a backup that can be a defensive anchor. We also probably need a big guy that can go up against guys like Jokic and maybe Embiid. If we get him, I think Collins gets traded pretty quickly.

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I'd be fine trading Collins regardless of who we draft.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Quote:

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I really hate the idea of drafting Clingan (fit next to Wemby is awful)

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I think there is a good chance that Clingan is the best player available at 8, and our defense falls off so much we need a backup that can be a defensive anchor. We also probably need a big guy that can go up against guys like Jokic and maybe Embiid. If we get him, I think Collins gets traded pretty quickly.

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I'd be fine trading Collins regardless of who we draft.

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Need to have a backup center i we move him.

The thing I spitballed the other day was draft Clingan at 8, trade Zach for Chris Paul's 1y deal and have 60M in cap space plus Spurs, Hawks, Bulls, and (probably not) Hornets picks next summer.

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Quote:

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I really hate the idea of drafting Clingan (fit next to Wemby is awful)

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I think there is a good chance that Clingan is the best player available at 8, and our defense falls off so much we need a backup that can be a defensive anchor. We also probably need a big guy that can go up against guys like Jokic and maybe Embiid. If we get him, I think Collins gets traded pretty quickly.

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I'd be fine trading Collins regardless of who we draft.

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Need to have a backup center i we move him.

The thing I spitballed the other day was draft Clingan at 8, trade Zach for Chris Paul's 1y deal and have 60M in cap space plus Spurs, Hawks, Bulls, and (probably not) Hornets picks next summer.

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Let Mamu take those backup center minutes.