Eh - the salary cap is 25% higher than it was when Lebron last was in Cleveland and Lebron wasn't interested in a 5 year deal anyway. All the new max deals every year are going to be "the biggest in franchise history" for just about every franchise.
I imagine the Nets are trying to secure some unprotected draft picks. You can probably assume the Lakers have 1-2 more years before Lebron retires/leaves and the whole thing implodes, so if you can get some draft picks a few years out, they might have some real value.
Brooklyn is going to do what we did. Just try to replace the picks they will lose. However Brooklyn may not be able to be decent in time to negate massive losses. I think the 2024 and 2026 picks will be lotto and the 2025 and 2027 swaps will both be used. I really see us being much better by 2023-2024.
Call me crazy, but i might like getting Ben Simmons for the right price... Let's say we send Gordon, Nwaba, and expirings to Philly. They send us a first and ship some of their role player like Korkmaz, Milton, Thybulle, etc. to Nets. We then add Simmons and the 1st from Philly. 1) Nets save some cash 2) Sixers get their guy 3) Rockets maintain max cap space in a year Here's my thinking... We could use a point guard who can play defense and distribute. We have Green, Porter, and Smith around him to shoot and space the floor. Sengun even has some developing range. He would give us another switching defender with Jabari. We project 2 slots of max cap space in a year where the best free agent might be Andrew Wiggins. We would use one slot on Simmons knowing it's unlikely we're getting 2 guys worth max. There's also the added benefit that Simmons would hit free agency prior to Green's extension keeping some flexibility... Not in love with the idea but for the right price it could be worth the gamble. Leaning no because he's a head case but would think about it after seeing what analytic nerds think...
It could work out and I agree the 2023 FA is looking thin now that Jokic resigned. If you added Wiggins you’d have long switching defense around Green and Sengun. So much depends on Green. If he becomes a top 5 player then surrounding him with shooters and defenders makes sense. If he doesn’t then you’re spinning your wheels until you find that guy.
I agree. I think he is underrated at this point. Its just fun to joke about him Simmons is still young enough to eventually be an impactful 3rd or 4th option with those guys if they develop