Chris Paul - who made less $ than Harden - is being waived or stretched for cap reasons. There's simply no way Harden to PHX happens unless they move one of Durant - Ayton - Booker - or Harden decides to turn down his 35m PO in Philly this year to take the 12m exception in PHX .
Stotts knows Dame better than anyone on Griffin's staff. If the Bucks don't come out well, it's going to reflect poorly on rookie head coach Adrian Griffin. Even though Giannis wanted Griffin, if results don't translate, Griffin could be on thin ice. Other thing to watch for was, when Bud was there, Bud was strict on Giannis minute restriction during the regular season. Curious if Griffin stay with that or deviates.
Minor news: Was doing some scouting of the Magic before Rocket's season opener. Nate Tibbetts (assistant coach of the Magic) left for WNBA head coach job for the Mercury (espn). Headline is Tibbetts will be the highest paid WNBA head coach. Mat Ishbia (owner) of the Suns also has Mercury and use using money to turn around his investments. Mercury last year had the worst WNBA record, so he's there to help them rebuild. Slight brain drain on the Magic; Mosley would likely try to get another to fill that spot.
There’s currently a deepening disconnect between Darvin Ham and the Lakers locker room, six sources with direct knowledge of the situation say, raising questions about the head coach’s standing. The people spoke with The Athletic on condition of anonymity so that they could speak freely on the matter. Source: Jovan Buha, Shams Charania, Shams Charania and Jovan Buha @ The Athletic
Not sure what Ham is supposed to do with this team. I don't know if they had a chance to keep Shroeder, but losing him and replacing him with Vincent is hurting. They could have kept last year's starting lineup with Shroeder off the bench. Vincent was supposed to come off the bench, but with him injured and/or disgruntled, Ham had to make changes and send Reeves to the bench, then both Reeves and Russell for some reason. Vanderbilt and Hachimura have not been the players they were last season because of poor form and injuries, so Prince and Reddish have been forced into spots they're not good enough for. Since the IST, LeBron has been a mess, too. As always, he has good counting stats, but his nerd numbers must be way down. Additionally, most of the team is worried about getting traded and scapegoated. What a mess.
Unseld Jr. came over from DEN under Malone with a defensive reputation, but even during the Beal era, their DEF never really improved in D.C.. His dad Unseld Sr., a legend Bullets player, helped getting him to the door, but not enough to keep him around. Unseld Jr. had an extension not long ago, but he was the previous GM's hire not this new GM's. Moving him to another position, since the Org still likely had to pay him. Other recent, similar NBA case was Dwayne Casey. Pistons org fired him, moved him to front office, then Monty came in. The new Wizards GM likely has a vision of the team and the type of players they want. They also probably want a coaching staff skilled in young players development.
Former DC resident here (Wizards were once a client of my old firm): Wizards, owned by Monumental Sports, is in a shambles. It is poorly managed and not getting better. It cannot get free agents, has made one poor draft pick after another, and even when it does make a good pick (like Wall and Beal) they either get hurt or get traded. This is why players don't want to go there; seems like no one is in charge. The Wizards ownership also own the NHL Team, the Capitals. Seems as if the Capitals get more attention, money and time from ownership than the Wizards, which I am sure agents also know. I mean, the Wizards have not won 50 games in a season since the 1970's. That is insane. Now, the team is picking up and moving to Arlington, VA. Who would want to go and play there? It is unfortunate because the DC Metro area is actually a nice place to live, especially if you have money.
