July 20: Smart has officially reached a buyout agreement with the Wizards and been placed on waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).
July 19: Marcus Smart has reached an agreement on a buyout with the Wizards and plans to join the Lakers once he clears waivers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. Smart’s new contract will be worth $11MM over two years and will contain a player option for the second season.
Sources tell Charania that Luka Doncic played a large role in recruiting Smart to L.A. He adds that the Lakers, Suns and Bucks all received permission from Washington to contact Smart, and he had “positive conversations” with all three teams.
The Lakers can use their full bi-annual exception to add Smart, according to cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). They’ll have to clear about $4.2MM in salary to have access to the full amount, which may mean parting with Shake Milton, who has a $3MM non-guaranteed salary, and Jordan Goodwin, who only has a $25K guarantee on his $2.35MM salary.
If that happens, L.A. wouldn’t have enough available apron space to sign a 15th man before the start of the season, as Gozlan notes (Twitter link).
Milton’s salary for 2025/26 will become fully guaranteed after Sunday, so the Lakers will have to act fast if they plan to waive him.
If Smart gives back the equivalent of the bi-annual exception in his buyout, the Wizards will be more than $30MM below the luxury tax, Gozlan adds. Washington has its full $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception remaining, along with $13.4MM and $9.9MM trade exceptions.
Smart, 31, was named Defensive Player of the Year with Boston in 2022, but his career took a downturn after a trade to Memphis in the summer of 2023. Injuries limited him to 39 total games in a year and a half with the Grizzlies before he was sent to Washington in a three-team deal at this year’s trade deadline.
If Smart can stay healthy, he’ll bring much-needed defensive help to the Lakers’ backcourt. He appeared in 19 games with Memphis and 15 games with the Wizards last season, averaging 9.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 20 minutes per night with .393/.348/.761 shooting numbers.
The Wizards have added numerous young players to their roster this summer, so there likely wouldn’t have been regular playing time for Smart, who had a $21.6MM expiring contract. There were rumors last month that Smart was on the trade market, but the Wizards evidently couldn’t find a team willing to take on his salary.
Solid depth move ! Good D
He brings toughness, play with grit, has an edge to himself, got that dog in him, would take charges and lay his body out on the line, and the type of guy that would and will stick his nose in any situation and come up with the 50/50 balls.
All that is true. On the negative side, he likes the ball in his hands and he takes a lot of bad shots. Like A LOT of bad shots.
If he plays at all. His game has plummeted after the C’s finals loss to Golden State. Wizards don’t want him.
No one is delusional enough to think he should have the ball in their hand when they are in the lineup with Luka.
LeBron will jet him handle the ball, but if Austin is on the court with him, they will share.
If Smart thinks he should be the primary ball handler when he is sharing the ball with Luka, they need to send him to the psych ward. Smart would definitely need a psychiatric evaluation.
He was delusional enough to think he should have the ball in his hands with Tatum and Brown in the lineup with him, and took so many head scratching shots.
Luka is better than either. Plus, those two were not as highly touted as when they won the championship, specially Brown’s offense, and Smart was healthier and better back then.
Don’t get me wrong, Tatum was considered top 15, maybe even top ten in 2022, but Brown’s offense was a bit shaky and inconsistent gave then and he also took a lot of head shaking shots too back then.
What I said was “he likes the ball in his hands” You’ll see.
If he does that by game 5 of the season he will realize that there is a direct correlation between the times he does that and his a$$ is on the bench.
He isn’t flashy, but he does have some history of being effective at organizing things on offense.
He is a good connector passer, and with doncic, Bron and Reaves that’s all you need. His true shooting is typically above 53%, which isn’t elite, but it’s good for a primarily defensive guy.
For what he brings on defense m, he is plenty good enough on offense. Obviously, would have been great if he was a little better 3 point shooter, but he isn’t a nightmare on offense like Vando is.
The league average TS% is 58%, so 53% is NOT good.
Average True shooting for point guards is 55.8%. The Lakers are obviously bringing Smart in for his defense. He is right in the true shooting average range for point guards. He is a good connecter passer, plus, he will get lots of open shots now next to Luka, Bron and Reaves. He never had that at Boston.
I sure wish he had come back to Boston like Dame did, but I’m glad he’s still in the league.
Yeah, if Aytom and Smart are “decent”, not great but good, then the Lakers are real contenders.
1. Luka playing full season with Lakers and meshing with the team.
2. Ayton bring the real center the Lakers need.
3. Smart great point of attack defender and provides toughness, and not to mention a good bench the Lakers sorely need.
4. People are going to be surprised by Maxi. In 2023-24 season when the Mavs went to the finals, they were closing the games with Maxi, even with Lively and Gafford healthy. The Mavs plus/minus with Maxi in the lineup were the highest. He is a great defender.
5. Hopefully LaRavia, Knecht, Vince can be better than what the bench provided last year. Vando I have written off.
How did they get to 11 M (over 2 yrs) with only 3.9 in the tank currently this year?
Tax payer MLE? Bi-annual exception?
They have 3.9 of the BAE left only to thier apron (1)
Just doesn’t add up to 11 over 2 not even 10 and change as sometimes they round up
Interested to How this happened- The full BAE over 2 years makes sense but they dont have that currently
I think a trade is imminent for this to actually transpire, even if the lakers wave Milton and Goodwin, the numbers just doesn’t add up and it only make sense number wise if trade is happening like real soon.
Can guard four different positions and he’s exactly the type of player that the Los Angeles Lakers need.
Two*
I don’t think you’ve seen him play for a cuppa years.
He’s a good pick up, sure, but he’s not guarding many quick PGs or athletic PFs anymore.
They have the full biannual of $5.134M available. LaRavia and Auton shared the non tax MLE.
They need to get rid of Milton and Goodwin to stay under the first apron. Wouldn’t he surprised if they trade Vincent to Wizards. Then they can keep Goodwin or bring in another player too on a trade.
Who’s the odd man out Bronny? Even more reason for LeBron to pout and want to be traded to Dallas.
Shake Milton but the math aint mathin currently
Milton and Goodwin is getting waived. i have a feeling Wizrds are making an offer for Kuminga.
I would be surprised if the Wizards went after Kuminga. They really want to keep their pick, which is top-8 protected. They just acquired Whitmore. And ultimately, why acquire someone who is young and expensive when they have so many young guys who aren’t expensive who should get minutes this year and who might need to be extended at some poking in the next couple of seasons? It just wouldn’t make sense to me (as a Wizards fan).
So why are they creating so much cap space? There must be somebody they are intending to go after or use the cap space in trade to get more draft picks.
Tanking
tanking is the jazz
Mate, don’t worry about the Wiz losing that pick. :) Have you been watching the SL?
The first game featured Sarr, Bub, Tre and Kyshawn, and they lost by 20 to Phoenix. Those are starters next season.
Until Sarr plays the way he plays (no rebounding, no finishing moves at the rim, disinterested in the paint) this team can’t win games.
Zubac played 80 games last season for LAC, averaged 32 mpg. They won 50 games with him on the court. You put Sarr in that same team playing those minutes, and they win 25 games, tops.
I’ll be in Katowice next month watching EuroBasket. I’ll attend a couple of France games to watch Bilal and Sarr in a different, competitive environment.
Kuminga to Wiz would make a lot of sense, had they not traded for Whitmore.
Both are score-first, drive-and-dunk athletic guys in SF bodies.
I wanted Kuminga more because he’s even more athletic, a little bigger (Whitmore is about 6’4.5-6.5, Kuminga is 6’6), more inside-focused, which is what the team needs, a better finisher at the rim, a bit better at link-up play, he’s shown signs that make you believe he’ll be a positive defender when used correctly. And I think he has a higher ceiling. But I’ll be very happy if I’m wrong on that last statement.
Anyway, the players are of a very similar type, so it’s hard to see Wash going for Kuminga after Cam. Having said that, it’s not like the team has an established shape with defined roles. Last season, they played with many experimental lineups. So it’s not impossible to imagine both Kuminga and Cam finding minutes. But I doubt it.
What I don’t doubt is that they want to trade Kispert. And Kispert could make a lot of sense for GS. The guy shoots well, moves very well (which Wash were not able to use effectively, but GS can), is very coachable, is always available, and has a good size. He’s a hair taller than Draymond, I think. Wash own GS’s 2030 first. And they have a lot of 2nds, which GS need. They currently don’t have a single tradeable 2-nd rp, I think. And those 2nds allow to make smart business. Many good players moved last season and this summer for just one or a couple of 2nd-round picks.
So there’s a deal that can be made there. But I don’t see it after Whitmore acquisition.
No way Washington is attaching money to any salary, including Kispert, given how they will be so far below the salary floor next year.
@Wannes what do you mean by “attaching money to any salary”? Could you explain?
Meant adding draft picks, sorry.
They are looking only for trades where they either get draft picks from another team or where they get a player for their future, or at least a player with more value on the trade market.
Any win-now pieces or non-expiring contracts without a return does not interest them…
Don’t you think Kuminga can be a player for the future or a player whose value can increase with regular minutes in Washington?
He’s not a win-now player.
GS top-20 protected pick or some 2nds + Kispert is not the highest price to pay for that kind of player.
And Washington will need to fill up the salary sheet. Kispert makes 13m next season, if they do sign&trade with Kuminga and he gets 25-30, they will be closer to that salary floor.
Having 100m+ in cap space can be cool, but who are they going to sign with that money? LeBron or Doncic? :)
Might as well have Kuminga making 25 and see if he realizes his potential.
My problem with Kuminga is that he isn’t a win now player, but he is playing on a win now contract. If I were in the Wizards FO, I would be hesitant to take on that kind of salary for an opportunity to see if we could unlock more from him.
Washington will need to reach the cap floor next season. They will likely draft 3 rookies – with their own pick; the frp they got in a trade, which will be the worst between OKC and Houston and LAC – basically, pick 30; and also their own second, which will be 31-33 or smth. They have other seconds, but they might want to trade those to move up.
That’s 3 rookies under standard contracts. Then they have Bilal, Whitmore, Vukcevic will be converted, Bub, Sarr, Kyshawn, AJ Johnson, Dillon Jones, Riley and Tre.
That’s 13 players making rookie money. They will make about 70-75mil, depending on the lottery luck and whether the teams gets No.1-2, or gets screwed over again and gets No.5-7.
The other 2 players under contracts are Champagnie and Kispert, and they will make 16.5 together. So that’s ~90 million going into 25-26 with 15 players.
And the salary floor will be around 150 million, which has to be exceeded.
They will need to have players making more to get there. Maybe they will cut somebody like Dillon Jones and AJ Johnson, and take on a huge salary like PG’s for draft capital. That could be the plan. Or take on several smaller bad contracts.
Luxury tax is 200 million.
If they trade Kispert for Kuminga and Jonathan will be on 25 AAV, the total team payroll will be around 100 million, still well below the salary floor and way below the tax line.
25 for Kuminga is not going to hamstring the team in any way. And with the cap going up, 25mil in 4 years is what not even good, but average role players will be making. So if Kuminga balls out, it will be a great deal as max guys will be making 50, supermax closer to 70. And if he doesn’t and he’s just a good player, it will be a very palatable contract, and movable, if needed.
Maybe for Kuminga they might pay some 2nds, but not sure about a FRP. And they should only take him if he is willing to come for a good value. His contract would need to be degressive: start high and go down every year and a team option on the last season.
They dont have cap space anymore this season, so not easy to sign him for 25 million now that Smart is gone.
They probably dont want to add some of their prospects to Kispert?
They cant do it via taking on some extra salary (they have 9,9 and 13,4 million trade exceptions), as they could only aggregate those salaries in a few months.
Sending out Middleton or McCollum is a more likely option (with the degressive salary).
In case of a bilateral trade, Kumingas starting salary would be too high for me. And does Golden State want those expensive contracts with their high repeater taxes?And both of them will probably come on the market on the buy-out market so that probably also plays a role.
Maybe if McCollum or Middleton go to a third team and GSW get the return they want, but that will require extra draft capital…
And if you are thinking about using Middleton’s expiring contract for salary-matching in a trade for Lebron or Giannis later in the season, combined with Moody, Podziemski and draft capital: that could work for Lebron if he tells he wants to leave, but for Giannis the offers will be much better…
So it is certainly a possibily.
As for your other remark: They wont attract Lebron or Doncic obviously. So it’s all about taking on one big unwanted salary (with Paul George a big candidate indeed) or multiple smallers.
Their contracts of McCollum and Middleton are perfect… If they can play a bit to improve their value, they could be used towards the trade deadline to take on an injured player or even take Paul George already this year.
George + Oubre Jr. for McCollum and Middleton would work at the trade deadline, with Oubre Jr. going into a traded player exception. So in any Kuminga scenario, you would have to count on Paul George being on the Wizards roster…
Not saying no to Kuminga, could actually be a good thing and his age fits, but only under the good circumstances. It could also limit the Paul George trade scenarios (although they always could send Kuminga to Philadelphia).
Wash own GS 2030, it’s top-20 protected. If it doesn’t convey, it becomes a 2nd rounder. Not the most valuable for Wash; for GS getting it back would allow them to trade picks around it, and use that 2nd rounder. So it’s more valuable to GS than to Wash.
They are not going to include young players drafted by this FO in the last couple of years. Bilal, Carrington, Sarr, Kyshawn are not getting traded. They could include AJ Johnson or Dillon Jones, though.
Anyway, this whole sign&trade is difficult, and probably not going to happen. Kuminga will sign with GS and will leave in winter, or smth like that.
Just checked that 2030 first round pick from the Warriors.
I bet Golden State really would want it back for trade flexibility indeed.
For Wizards, the leverage over GSW rather adds more value to that pick than just the player. Also for another team that wants to take over the Washington pick for a trade with the Warriors.
Wonder what the other offers are. Probably better?
The 2030 2nd rounder that would go to Washington if the pick is 1-20 would then go to Washington I guess.
If Washington wants a bit more to close the gap, GSW doesn’t have much besides FRP and FRP Swaps.
They can still send out cash and the draft rights to 3 old unsigned players without player value.
Those draft picks are mainly useful in those cases where GSW doesn’t take back a player or in those multi-team trades so GSW might want to keep it.
Their value would be less with Washington, whose 2 unsigned draft picks have value though:
– On the one hand French star Mattias Lesort, two time All-EuroLeague First Team center who plays for Panathinaikos and got often chosen over Gobert in the French national team.
– But also 21-year old Congolese center Nzosa, who should soon become eligible for the Spanish national team. He has a 1 million dollar NBA buy-out clause.
If Golden State wants to be ready for a trade for Lebron or Giannis, they would better keep Kuminga for the season. Or for another trade deadline trade. But for those trades, that 2030 FRP Washington would allow them to offer 2027, 2029 and 2031 FRP, next to 2026, 2028 and 2030 FRP Swap for Giannis. At that point, GSW would probably offer a lot to Washington :)
GSW ideally offers Kuminga a degressive multi-year contract with non guarantees money, which could be very useful in trades… But Kuminga probably thinks he has more value end of next season than what GSW would want to offer.
If they consider the chances of a succesful Giannis bid high enough, they could make sure Kuminga+(Moody,Hield and/or Podziemski)and alternatives with Green match Giannis his salary? If they work with non-guaranteed money, they would even have more salary-matching flexibility…
Milton and Goodwin will clear up the money.
The lakers have the full biannual, $5.134M, available.
Shams reported on Milton, not on Goodwin.
An alternative is a trade. Possibilities I see to make this work are two out of three (Kleber, Vincent or Vanderbilt) for Sexton, Monk, Huerter, Collins or Mann.
Waiving Goodwin seems more likely though…
I didn’t not think they will trade Maxi unless they trade him for a really good back up center. Maxi is going to be an important part of the rotation if he is healthy.
The year Luka took the Mavs to the finals Maci was actually art of the closing lineup. The Mavs had the best plus/minuses when Maxi on the floor. It wasn’t a fluke that Redick put Maxi on the floor against the Wolves instead of any of the Laker bench.
Using the BAE hard caps them.
Really hope they didn’t stretch Kleber or Vincent to make this happen
I guess they could waive Goodwin and have full BAE and roll with 14 players only but damn really liked Goodwin on the min and having 15 players over the alternative
Rather waive Goodwin than stretch anyone tho
Goodwin is better than Smart. These retread veterans who get contracts based on what they did 5 years ago is really getting old throughout the entire league.
Goodwin really came up clutch in the 2nd half last year. He’ll get a shot somewhere.
As I mentioned:Shams reported on Milton, not on Goodwin.
So an outright waive (+stretch?) could be possible indeed.
An alternative is a trade. Possibilities I see to make this work are two out of three (Kleber, Vincent or Vanderbilt) for Sexton, Monk, Huerter, Collins or Mann.
Waiving Goodwin seems more likely though…
But a trade not impossible. Which one is most likely?
Well certainly none of those guys you are suggesting they trade for is gonna happen. Those are good players.
I am just checking from a salary point of view.
Also dont think those trades would happen.
They would love to move Vincent. Now he’s really buried. He’ll have some value as an expiring deal. The Vanderbilt deal will be harder to move.
Celtics royalty going to the other side a la Rondo.
Yeah, it’s now Marcus who, lols. Paying for a steak in Boston from here on out.
Celtics let him go, I feel like the only side to blame here for this is Boston
Yes, Boston is to blame for trading Smart and winning a championship.
I’m still torn. The banner was worth it, but I’m a Smart fan and wish he got the ring too. But guess that is sports. Sometimes you got to be cold blooded to put the championship team together.
Never said that, but you cant let someone go and then demand he doesnt sign with certain teams.
The only way you can do that is by keeping the player on your team.
Lols, poor move. Chip in hand and Smart not even playing. like I said, paying for dinner from here on in Boston. Any other team other than the Lakers, Marcus would still be eating for free. That’s how big the hatred and animosity is.
Again, if you didnt want him to go to the Lakers the ONLY way of doing that is by keeping him on your team. The moment you let him go you allowed him to join any team, including the Lakers.
And again…I’m allowed to stop following any player I want. As are the Boston natives. Comes with the territory when you join the lakers. I don’t have to like them or anybody who plays for them. Trust me, those free meals are over. Of course he can join any team. Marcus who? See already forgotten about him. That’ll be $500 thanks sir. ‘What’ you heard me, pay your fair, lols.
You should have forgotten about him the day he was traded
Yup. It was super weird seeing Shaq in a Celtics jersey too
Rick Fox
With the numbers not adding up…possibly some trade in the works shipping out Vincent ot Dalton?
Very possible indeed
Or a stretch…Yuck
Or most likely just waiving Goodwin as well and rolling with 14 till the trade deadline …. really liked Jordan, thought he was a layup to make the team. He provided a lot of what we need at a very small cost
It seems like it is Goodwin will be cut along with Shake, based on what is being reported. I also prefer that to stretching a salary. I also agree with you on what he brings to the team. I’m not sure who is on Two-Way contracts, but maybe they can find someone who has a similar skill set
Other possibilities I see to make a trade work are two out of three (Kleber, Vincent or Vanderbilt) for Sexton, Monk, Huerter, Collins or Mann.
But probably it is just Goodwin getting waived based on the buzz. Shams didnt mention Goodwin yet though…
With the hard cap at the first apron they’d be stuck with 14 (a lot of whom have long injury histories) all season.
They could always get somebody on the buy-out market to fill up that 15th spot.
Hopefully this indicates it’s a knecht trade happeninG. I just don’t like him as a player.
1 sided Game(shootinG) and it’s inconsistent as a mf.
If his jumper ain’t fallinG he a major liability.
Also never deserved DPOY, led the league in nothing, was a literal PG, how much D can a PG even provide? Rudy, Dray, Robert Williams all cleared him mightily that year. Boston players should only be able to get half votes, as the voters/players/writers are all in the tank for them.
Draymond literally led the league in DBPM that year and no one cared. Cool. Real “knowing ball” hours. Smh.
Not necessarily a trade with Knecht. Waive of Goodwin most likely.
Other possibilities I see to make a trade work are two out of three (Kleber, Vincent or Vanderbilt) for Sexton, Monk, Huerter, Collins or Mann.
First they replace Bronny.
Now Bron has no reason to stay there.
Lebron trade on the way, likely for Kuminga.
Who’s giving advice to these guys?? Smart needs to do whatever it take to get on the good side with Stevens, Tatum and get back on the Celtics roster. Then he needs to suck it up, accept min salary, let go of his pride, and retire as a Celtics legend in few yrs. Now, he’s just another journeyman with no permanent home.
Another journeyman making significantly more than the minimum WTF is this advice
He doesn’t need to suck up to anybody, Stevens, the locker room, and Boston loved him. They had a lopsided trade they couldn’t refuse.
Lol. He’s doing fine.
If he had gone to Celtics, it could have been in a trade for Anfernee Simmons, reducing their payroll by 6 million?
Guess it depended also on how they value Simmons or what trades they still expect to do later.
After this move, Washington have 4 guys older than 24 – CJ McCollum, Middleton, Kispert and Bagley. The first 3 can still leave.
Jamir Watkins, a 24 y.o. rookie taken in the 2nd round, is the next oldest on the roster.
If they are smart they would keep CJ and Khris around, at least for a while
Yes. If those guys don’t push for a move/buyout, it would make sense to keep them.
I can’t see any universe where Smart is better than Goodwin at this stage of each of their careers. Lakers make moves typically based on name recognition and it’s very typical Pelinka/Jeannie.
He’s a decent pickup. But they need help at the 4.
The Bucks would be a better for him IMO he would be the clear cut starter but I guess he had some other reason to go to the Lakers other than playing time/role
New York Knicks still can’t get anyone to come on a buyout. Unfortunately, nothing has improved with them
They wouldn’t have been interested in Smart.
Lakers would have won the offseason – and created genuine fear among other contenders – if the Ayton/Smart transactions took place 3 or 4 years ago.
Quite the hypothetical! Might as well say the Sixers would have won the offseason if they signed Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon at the minimum in their primes.
Nice try, Real 2K Insider. I’d still give that honor to the Knicks – even WITH a prime Lowry and prime Gordon simultaneously joining PHI.
SMART MOVE.
About time the Lakers GET SMART !!
This is a good pick-up but doesn’t move the needle. Marcus smart is not the same player who was in 2022. I think a lot of people on here don’t really understand how fast you get old in basketball. At 32/33 It’s still your basketball Prime and by 34/35 you can be completely cooked as an NBA player. It happens fast. Most of the older players do not impact winning. Now Marcus smart will help guarding 4/3. But he will need to shoot well to be effective. He will not have the ball in his hands that much because the number one option is definitely Luca. Then bron and 3rd is Austin Reeves. If they’re going to have any chance at winning a championship, their fourth option has to be eaten and I would argue that he probably needs to be their third option with LeBron being the 4th to have a chance to win. So Marcus smart can’t be expected to play with the ball in his hands. And if you’ve watched basketball the last couple years, that’s exactly what he’s been doing. It adds depth depth but in order for Los Angeles to win, it all depends on DeAndre Ayton And LeBron being able to pace himself by not trying to be the man.
“ I think a lot of people on here don’t really understand how fast you get old in basketball. At 32/33 It’s still your basketball Prime and by 34/35 you can be completely cooked as an NBA player.”
Steph and LeBron both say, hold my beer.
Bron and Steph are top 10 NBA players off all time. The gap for a top 10 NBA player and let’s say and NBA starter is the same gap as a middle schooler and college player. So yes they can play later in their prime. Bron is not winning anything as the man of his team being old. That’s facts. Curry probably won’t win another chip past 35 as the man either. Father time wins and it’s a young man’s spot. Not say Curry won’t be good. But the warriors as constructed right now or out in the first round. The Lakers number one option is Luka If LeBron is the number one option they will be exiting out of the playoffs early like they have the last 3 or 4 years.
The Warriors are basically identical to last year and they made the 2nd round before losing Curry to his hamstring tear. They absolutely are a factor and he could easily lead them to the gold, he almost did it last playoffs before getting hurt.
Steph Jimmy Dray are still a top 5 “big 3” no mattter what anyone says.
Gs was not beating OKC. And they are not better than Huston, OKC. Those teams got better. Some injuries are bad luck some injuries happen because of age a wear and tear. Steph is top 10 all time so he has the ability to win. However the grid of the season, how much they rely on him to win it was not a fluke injury. He is 36 and will be 37. Older players can not play that much and be effective. You you think GS is a contender you must be smoking something really good. They are a 2nd round out. And if they pull the clippers or Denver in the first round it’s over.
OKC
Rockets
Denver
Clippers
Everyone else those are the top 4
Entirely coping and just plain wrong on every single point. Kudos. Steph Jimmy Dray, even at their age is a much better top 3 than just about any other team. Also, plenty of guys play til 40. Steph is a different breed of human. All his injuries were game injuries and freak ones. Sure they add up, but putting a healthy Steph, Jimmy and Dray in the playoffs are beating a whole bunch of teams, especially Houston.
OKC and Den are great teams, I agree. So are GSW. Those are the big 3 in the West.
Okay man I see you are a super fan and not really respected on this form for your wild takes. If you think 38 and 40 are all players are top players and the reason why none of them have won any championships but I won’t respond to you because it doesn’t seem like you have any sense in your response
My takes are correct and there’s a bunch of crybabies on here who hate seeing facts that make their fave team look bad. I don’t care about trolls being trolls. Weird you bring that up when you cannot come up with a reply. That’s called “losing the argument” amongst regular people.
“If you think 38 and 40 are all players are top players and the reason why none of them have won any championships but I won’t respond to you because it doesn’t seem like you have any sense in your response” – what Ai-speak is this? You dont know anything about ball. Get lost, Ai-bot.
I was talk texting and secure and who I am, so I don’t need to fix grammatical errors.
Please name a 36 year old in NBA history that has been the man. Finals MVP and won a championship? Don’t worry I’ll wait if you can’t answer that then no you have no argument and I won’t reply to any post you make because it sounds like you’re trolling.
You are the one who’s trolling. Keep moving the goalposts though champ, you will eventually come up with the dumbest possible conclusion! Keep acting like Steph Curry is a regular, normal, player…you sure will be proven right over time! LOL
Curry has always been durable. Barely missed a playoff game until this year. Has a style of play that doesn’t make him an injury risk. And we can see in the NBA, in other basketball leagues and in other sports that players often perform even into their 40s. And retire because their ability declines, not because their bodies fall apart.
If I’m GS, I’m rather optimistic about his availability.
If anything, I’d probably be more more optimistic about Curry than about Doncic. Doncic hobbled weirdly in that Minnesota series. Does he have bad lower back or smth? Also, I’d be more optimistic about Curry’s availability than about Butler. He’s more of a risk, I’d say.
Please read my comments and take Your personal feelings about the warriors out of this I never said that Curry isn’t a great player. I literally said he’s a top 10 player of all the time and can still score. What I said any player past the age of 36 37 years old is not winning a championship as the man. It’s never heaven and it never will. And there’s a reason why they need to move into the second or third star onto the team at that age. The problem with the warriors is relying on Curry. I didn’t say anything about the postseason. If they can get to the postseason and Curry’s only playing 32 minutes a game and they’re not relying on him to carry the team then they have a shot at wanting a championship. I don’t see that happening with his team with Butler having his own injuries and the rest of the team not being able to hold it down.
Also I said impact winning basketball as in NBA championship. I never said you can’t score or play a role at 35-40.
In that case, most of the league might as well just pack the bags and retire. Would Jordan Poole be able to impact winning against OKC? Probably not. Would Desmond Bane? We saw him have a horrible series against OKC. Should he just call it quits?
Just because OKC are so good, it doesn’t mean other teams should raise their legs up like little puppies and say ‘we give up’.
Again you’re reading comprehension is crazy. I never said anything about packing it up. I said player at 36/37 years old and older, cannot be the man on their team, which means they are the number one focal point for a championship team to win a championship. At that age you are not capable of carrying a team. No player has ever done it in the history of the NBA. There’s a reason because father time always wins. You not as fast or athletic. You’re deflecting. Desmond bane and anybody else you mention are in their twenties and not even even in their Prime of their career. So even trying to compare players that are not even 28-32 that’s your basketball Prime is ridiculous and counterintuitive to the argument.
Metta World Peace 2.0, I like the move.
Most likely is they accomodate a big salary dump or multiple smallers.
Because which big name will want to go to the Wizards in free agency?
And they also need to reach the salary floor next season and only have 67,5 million on the books if they pick up all team options.
And the salary floor is projected to be 149,9 million, so they would need to add 82,4 a massive million if nothing changes…
They would have a massive 98 million euros in cap space…
Lebron, Durant, Young, Doncic, LaVine, Harden, Fox, Porzingis, Wiggins, Harris, Collins, Anfernee Simmons, Green, VanVleet, Rozier, Bridges, KCP and Vucecic are the free agents earning 20 million on their previous contract.
But neither of them are a free agent they should invest in or that would want to join them. Some of these players have player options also so might stay or they might extend.
Maybe they help with a Paul George salary dump (54 million)? Or what if Kawhi Leonard (50,3 million) get injured?
Zach LaVine, Trae Young, James Harden, Michael Porter Jr, Zion Williamson are other potential salary dumps I can see.
But I guess they will end up taking on many smaller unwanted contracts to reach that salary floor…
Shake is better than Smart at this stage of their careers (Shake’s only 28). If this is a straight up swap (and it pretty much has to be) they haven’t gotten any better.
Shake Milton isn’t better than anyone in the NBA at this stage of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if the season started without him on a roster
I believe the expression is “Cap”.
Milton was only in the NBA this year because the Knicks needed to sign and trade him and other roster flotsam to make the Bridges deal work.
He does exactly what Smart does at this stage of Smart’s career: Play some physical defense and hide on offense. Draw some fouls, get under peoples’ skins.
Tell me you’ve never watched Shake Milton without telling me you’ve never watched Shake Milton.
While I really like this move for the lakers, I really hope they can do a trade to clear up salary (like trade Gabe or Vando).
Goodwin is a very good on ball defender, great rebounder, especially offensive for his size and position, and a great disrupter on defense. Plus, he shot 39% from the 3 last year and was very effective with his 2 pointers too. He can be a very good on call defender off the bench. Prefer him over Gabe.
Gabe is a much better defender
I thought Smart would end up on the wolves. All in all not a bad move by the lakers.
He should’ve went to the bucks if he wants another payday in the future. Good signing for LA and he gets to play in the spotlight
lol why did the Suns contact him? Are they trying to outdo Kerr and play 5 guards at once?
I thought he was injured and still on Memphis. I was shocked there was an actual picture of him in Wiz uni.