stashing assets for the 2023 nba offseason

btw here’s sam vecenie who is the athletic’s draft guy on the no 2 pick

I don’t think it’s a done deal that Charlotte picks Brandon Miller over Henderson. It has been presented as a specific lean toward Miller for a while, but I am not there yet, much in the same way I wasn’t there last year with calling Jabari Smith Jr.-to-Orlando-at-No. 1 a lock. General manager Mitch Kupchak is known to value the individual workout part of the pre-draft process, so I’ve never believed this would be done until well after they had everyone in, synthesized all of the information and came to a conclusion.

Last year at this time, other teams were working under the impression that Smith was going No. 1 to Orlando. Smoke screens exist. They’re not quite as prevalent as they are in the NFL Draft, but they certainly happen — especially with teams that tend to be quite buttoned up with information. Charlotte has been very quiet and is conducting a professional, well-organized process. It’s been tough to gather anything resembling a well-informed take on the Hornets’ current lean.

This is still entirely up in the air, but I’m going Henderson over Miller in part because I don’t buy the argument that Miller is unequivocally a better fit than Henderson. Henderson and LaMelo Ball play complementary games, with Henderson being more of a power scorer who can kill in the midrange and at the rim and Ball being more of a finesse distributor who can get buckets at the rim and from 3. These two work together. Miller would also work, but I wonder if people around the league are over-indexing on the idea that there is overlap between Henderson and Ball.

caleb martin getting the mega-bag next offseason…

J. Cole will also be part of the new Hornets ownership group, the team announces.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 16, 2023

he's gonna make the gm sign him to the roster

25 games for ja

conveniently more than he is able to miss to qualify for awards

I’m sure the union will fight it, but as far as I understand it silver has pretty wide latitude

looking forward to the discourse regardless

not the deal i was expecting but it does make sense to hold on to herro and maybe the wiz just dont care that much about him

Source: The Miami Heat are aggressively pursuing a Bradley Beal trade with the Wizards and are looking to get a deal done before the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday.

A deal surrounding Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo’s salary and multiple draft picks is being discussed.

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 17, 2023

who knows if BrettSiegelNBA clutch point app reporter is reliable tho

Developing: Washington is in serious talks with two finalists – Miami and Phoenix – on a Bradley Beal trade, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Suns have emerged as a serious threat for Beal, who holds a no-trade clause.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 17, 2023

suns are out of their minds lol

phoenix suns, the team that famously is in need of a scoring guard

what does that trade even look like...cp3+shamet+filler+picks? what picks do they have left after going all-in for durant?

i am kind of loving how the new cba will reveal which front offices are true dummies

Maybe add ayton and bring back more salary dumpage from tue wiz?

beal's got the no-trade clause so he'll have a major say in what the wiz can get back. im glad the wiz are facing the music, but my god theyve got some shit to figure out.

mostly it’s just gonna come down to what the wizards want — do they want a player like ayton or herro or do they want to just take shorter term cap filler & clear out as much money as they can? in the latter scenario they can prob get a pick out of it. all the buzz from the miami media right now seems to indicate herro wouldn’t be in the deal and robinson might not be either so if that’s true the wiz are just looking to clean their books up

at the end of the day there’s no possible way for the suns to make a better offer than the heat, unless the wiz just covet ayton, but that seems highly unlikely. beal would have to say i refuse to go to miami & will only go to phoenix, which also seems highly unlikely

one other thing to keep in mind that is that beal’s agent is mark bartelstein whose son josh just got hired by ishbia to be the suns CEO

bcuz it’s still the old CBA until july 1 the heat can get the deal done, financially speaking, with just lowry and oladipo, from what i’ve read. so in that case it comes down again to what each side is prioritizing financially — i.e. would the heat add extra picks to get robinson’s contract in there instead

david aldridge is saying it would be lowry robinson & two firsts from miami but that is coming from washington’s side of course

that seems about right

yup agreed

i have a hard time believing the heat would pull the trigger on beal before being dead certain they don't have first crack at dame

they dont have the assets for dame

it seems like a bird in the hand situation & the heat are gonna take the bird. i think if dame was actually pushing his way out of portland the heat would go after him instead but it seems like all the reporting is saying he’s not doing that and isn’t going to do it anytime soon. there’s also the motivation on both side of the wizards deal to get it done before the CBA changes

dame to brooklyn for a massive pick haul just makes too much sense to me. there’s a ready made roster there that needs a leading scorer, face of the franchise type. dame can go there & still be the center of the organization which isn’t gonna happen in miami. the basketball fit is cleaner also

yeah nets is the obvious one but i'm pretty sure the blazers are gonna move the number 3 and simons for KAT or whatever other numbskull thing they cook up

a funny wrinkle is that in a scenario where dame does get traded to brooklyn the blazers would be getting the suns draft picks. i’m not sure if this provides more or less incentive for portland to drag this out and see if beal ends up on phoenix

After a 17-year NBA career, Lou Williams announces he has retired from basketball. Williams is a three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner and the NBA’s all-time leading bench scorer.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2023

Goat

salute to the ultimate wing man a truly magic career in the city of atlanta

I don’t have a terribly high opinion of beal so I’d love for him to go to the suns if he got moved

It’s true the suns need more midrange shooting

and less defense

ok!

BREAKING: The Washington Wizards are trading three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a handful of second-round picks, and multiple pick swaps, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2023

lmao all right

beal not want to go to heat?

lol what a team

now this is going to be sun(s)

dont forget: "Beal's agent, Mark Bartelstein, is the father of Suns' CEO Josh Bartelstein."

from: https://theathletic.com/4619015/2023/06/17/bradley-beal-trade-wizards-suns-heat/

lol this is so stupid

so the suns have three really good players, one rotation guy, and...cam payne under contract

can’t wait for durant and beal to be limping through the second round while the media talks about how the suns could really use some depth

Miami’s focus is Portland superstar Damian Lillard with the genuine belief this could be the offseason the veteran guard seeks a change of scenery, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 18, 2023

fun

what does miami have that portland would want

best they can do is herro and three first gotta think theres a better deal out there

so the reporting from dame’s personal spokesperson as well as miami people is basically “the heat passed on beal for dame”

Spoke to sources close to Suns, Wizards, Beal... Beal would have been happy going to Heat too... Heat made offer... But Phoenix was more aggressive in pursuing. This was personally very important for new Suns owner Matt Ishbia... Heat hopes Lillard will decide to ask for trade.

— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) June 18, 2023

Suns lmao

sound and fury

The Washington Wizards are likely to reroute Chris Paul in a trade and the Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pursue a reunion with the future Hall of Famer, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 18, 2023

love how dumb this all is

cp3 vet minimum signing with nuggets come on