re: NBA Offseason officially kicks off, Ingram’s days in NOLA coming to an end per Stein

MEM does not need to make many moves. They were already a solid team but they got hit with the injury bug last year.

Several recent rumors/ articles this morning saying that Markaanen will be on the move....

They drafted Fillipowski, have Kessler, and just signed Eubanks today.

The issue is that the #1 rumored team is apparently the Spurs.

It is safe to say (1) of Lauri/ Kessler will be gone.

Thought Jalen could be a target.

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Eh I disagree. I think Siakam and Lauri are in the same tier.

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If you believe that, why are you willing to give up so much more for Lauri than what Siakam was worth in a trade?

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You must not have ever seen an Ainge negotiation. He won’t settle for less than another team got, you have to overpay him

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ok. Can you give me this clear example of him only accepting offers well above what was expected?

Lauri is a really good player, but like BI, like Siakam, he's got 1 year left on his contract, which limits his worth a bit. He's not fetching 5 first round picks like Bridges just got, b/c Bridges is on a great contract and he's got 2 full years left on his.

Donovan Mitchell had 2 full years left, and a player option, and he's a much better player than Lauri, Bridges, Siakam, and BI. They got 3 firsts, the 14th pick in Ochai, and two players at the time no one wanted in Sexton and Lauri who turned their careers around in Utah. I don't care about pick swaps when you know the opposing team is going to be good, like in this case. They have '26 and '28 pick swaps, which there is a less than 1% chance happen. Still a nice haul, but it isn't some wildly unexpected deal. It only appears that way b/c of who Lauri ended up turning into.


But to expect Lauri to fetch more than all of that is just ridiculous, and you guys are builiding Ainge out to be some super villain. There is a reasonable value Lauri has. If Ainge doesn't like what it is, then they simply won't trade him b/c they never really wanted to in the first place and are just seeing if they can get a ridiculous offer.

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Think it’s pretty clear that Lauri is a much better fit than Siakam for the Pels

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I can make an easy argument that Siakam at the small ball 5 for us could be better than Lauri. Siakam can get his own shot off when he wants, and he's a much better defender. Lauri isn't much of a shot creator. He can, but he's not great at it.
and Siakam shot 38% on C&S 3's in Indy for half the year.
and he's been decent in the past at it. 34% last year, 36% the year before.

Murray/Herb/Trey/Siakam/Zion is a really good lineup where everyone can defend and has long arse arms, and you've got 3 guys who can get their own shot on offense. Siakam is 230lbs with a 7'3" wingspan. He can defend the 5 against most guys.


I really want to see us find that small ball 5 like that. To me, that's our path to a Zion led championship.

Perfect spot for Klay.

3 option with two creators where he can just catch and shoot.

Klay is so washed

Lit $50mil on fire.