2023/24 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD "THANKING FOR WEMBANYAMA"

i mean they had to give up something, the players they sent over are cooked so its gotta be picks but yeah this is too much

- 2026 LAC first-round pick via OKC
- 2028 LAC first-round pick
- Two second round picks
- One pick swap

- 2026 LAC first-round pick via OKC

btw does this mean la somehow got one of the picks they traded to okc for pg back

I didn't know that the Sixers owner was a Harris and thought that Tobias was really throwing his weight around.

Not sure if this is true, but:

This 2026 pick that the Thunder are sending the Sixers will be the least favorable pick out of a few of the picks that the Thunder possess that year, I'm told. https://t.co/pzZvSQeERB

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 31, 2023

Because they are seemingly always involved in a trade that features draft picks, the Oklahoma City Thunder will help clear the path for the Clippers to trade an additional pick to the 76ers. The Thunder will pick up 2027 first-round pick swap rights, in exchange for sending a protected version of the 2026 Clippers first-round pick they own to the Sixers. (This is likely to end up in a “last favorable” situation of the 2026 picks Oklahoma City owns.)

LA Clippers acquire
James Harden, P.J. Tucker, Filip Petrusev

Oklahoma City Thunder acquire
2027 first-round pick swap rights with the LA Clippers

Philadelphia 76ers acquire
Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Kenyon Martin Jr., Marcus Morris Sr., two first-round picks (protected 2026 Clippers (via Thunder), 2028 Clippers), two second-round picks (2024 Pacers, Jazz or Cavs (TBD), 2029 Clippers) and a 2029 first-round pick swap

https://www.spotrac.com/news/clippers-finally-acquire-james-harden-2057/

thunder dumping their worst pick for a swap that could maybe pay off, which i guess is something you do when you have a million picks

just posting this for the future pick info (assuming it's correct)

The Clippers are a truly hilarious franchise.

Kawhi, PG, Harden & Russ are all FAs after this season.

Here’s what their future 1st round picks look like:

‘24 to OKC
‘25 swap w/ OKC
‘26 to OKC
‘27 swap with OKC
‘28 to PHI
‘29 swap with PHI

They’ve also traded 6 2nds away.

— nick wright (@getnickwright) October 31, 2023

Harden was legitimately pretty good last year: his shooting percentages were right in line with his better years, and his defense was nearly as good as it was in Houston. obviously there's still a ton of risk there - he gets hurt a lot and he might singlehandedly kill you in the playoffs and then demand a trade, but idk I think there's some upside as a 3rd option there

he had a great regular season def and even was pretty cooperative as far as trying to be more of a facilitator and less of a scorer

its pretty funny how second round picks have value in pushing trades over the line but not much value as actual picks, teams want to feel like theyre getting an extra treat

if you evaluate james harden on paper he has very few flaws

there was a funny discussion between bomani & nick wright last week about how in 30-40 years there will be ppl arguing about basketball who never watched james harden or jimmy butler play who will be unable to believe us when we say that actually if you watched them play there's no question as to who you'd rather have if you needed to win an important basketball game

and hopefully these discussions will be taking place on ILH

if you evaluate james harden on paper he has very few flaws

sorta depends on whether that paper describes his habit of trade demands and team sabotage

i'll still be here, unless i die

Super pumped to not have to hear about this Harden trade business anymore. Praise to Ballmer for making it happen.

ya was pretty tedious

glad to have it and the dame one over.

idk personally i think someone else on the sixers needs to demand a trade now

it's coming

maxey shd demand a trade to the spurs

Korkmaz is still waiting.

sixers could have another trade coming if they dont think theyre going to be able to get anyone in free agency

so the sixers get a bad first from okc so they can do a face-saving “see? they DID get two firsts for harden!!” lol

https://i.imgur.com/nd8ZHuZ.png

Would be interesting to see Lavine on a good team

lavine/maxey is a no go backcourt for me

yeah not a great match for sure

seems like something morey would do tho

loving your slow 24 min revelation on this topic

lol did actually think about both of those things before posting the screenshot

the heat and sixers feel like they're in the same place right now w/ the caveat that the heat can at least justify a level of stasis based on recent history. but continuing to reduce the talent around embiid while expecting him to push you further ... not sure the math is justified on that one

best case scenario maxey goes nuts they fill out the roster and start rolling, then lose in the second round again, wait damn

embiid just needs to wait for horf to retire

maxey is one of those catch 22 players where he's objectively great but also you can only have 1 guy like him on the roster if you're really trying to win. basically any guard or wing who can't play defense (lavine) is prob not playable next to him if you're really trying to win a title. you also prob can't put another guy under 6' 5" on the floor w/ him. the options start to get kinda limited

well not on the roster, but in the rotation

maybe he can learn to play defense

whenever i think a small guard is just forever bad at defense i think back to the way steph looked on defense in the finals vs boston and think that no hope can be totally lost. but maybe it takes 10+ years, a total body reformation & being one of the savviest players in the league...

i don't know if the sixers were ever involved in the beal discussions, and that contract blows chunks, and he might not even be that reliable to begin with. but he was basically acquired for free. i think dame is one you just charge to the game but i wonder if we're sitting here in june talking about how miami & philly should've been a lot more aggressive trying to go after him

him being beal obv

how about Marcus Morris and change to Portland for Malcolm Brogdon

i don't know if the sixers were ever involved in the beal discussions, and that contract blows chunks, and he might not even be that reliable to begin with. but he was basically acquired for free. i think dame is one you just charge to the game but i wonder if we're sitting here in june talking about how miami & philly should've been a lot more aggressive trying to go after him

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, October 31, 2023 5:15 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah dicey sitch but maybe

i think some contender will inevitably add brogdon but the recent history w/ is pretty bad, will prob be an underwhelming acquisition

Maybe but he's healthy and playing well.

theres footage of beal shooting from this morning and he looks extremely stiff, not good

entirely possible that beal is just a grenade. but if he proves a capable third option, and the heat and sixers passed on him for very little, and they aren’t able to make a comparable move, i think there will be regret. but i’m also shorting the suns all season so

looks like brogdon will be traded for d-lo soon
https://twiiter.com/highkin/status/1719465393050485072?s=20

Malcolm Brogdon has signed with Klutch, according to Instagram pic.twitter.com/jDOyXzONlJ

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) October 31, 2023

76ers star Joel Embiid has been fined $35,000 for his D-Generation X/Triple H celebration vs. Blazers on Sunday.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 31, 2023

I'm not a wrestling guy. Is that the thrusting crotch celebration?