re: Pels openly discussing trading Jrue

We still need a fricking dog on this team, a guy that is going to talk constantly and get on his teammates, and get on the other team.

I don't think Horford is that either, and his contract is such trash. They can get us enough picks to take it on, but I'd prefer to pursue other deals.

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I'm not sure Al Horford is the vocal leader we need. Why do you want to trade for a vocal leader that won't be in our team long term or is not a facilitator? We would trade Jrue/ Lonzo and lose 10+ mil in cap. We are also stuck with those older players and can probably get similar picks and a young player while saving on cap space.

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First off, quit worrying about the cap. We aren't going to have cap space to do anything this year regardless. We are never going to attract big name FA's, so stop worrying about having cap space.

Secondly, Al Horford can still give us good minutes, and he's someone that can help spread the floor with Zion. More importantly, he helps Hayes become a better player.
Phoenix did a similar thing with Tyson Chandler, except they signed him to a 4/$50 contract when he was 33. The main reason Phoenix wanted him was to be a mentor for their young team. Expensive mentor i know. Did it work?
Horford is still a positive on both ends of the floor when he's playing, and i'd bet he'll still be that way for at least another year and a half, which is more than enough time for Hayes to develop into our guy at the 5. I expect Hayes to develop a jump shot at a minimum, as well as become a smarter defender at the rim. Horford allows him to keep developing, while giving us quality minutes.
Horfords final year is only guaranteed at $14M. You could always cut him if you needed to in order to make room for rookies since we have so many draft picks. Phoenix cut Tyson in his last year, $12M.

If Hayes pans out, which I think he can, then he gets his new contract during Horfords last year, and i'm sure you can move his $14M expiring deal in the offseason.

I think some of you think Horford is Asik out there right now, and he's not. He's never relied on athleticism to be a good player, on both ends of the floor. He posted his highest BPM of his career in 2019 in Boston. His second highest was in 2018. He was not a good fit in Philly, and his stats reflect that. I don't think he had a drop off in his quality of play, he just didn't fit with Embiid. Embiid is a 5, and so is Horford. Horford was basically Nico Melli when he was playing with Embiid, and didn't know what to do with himself b/c that's not who he is.

From Philly's Al Horford Problem

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the offense runs much more smoothly when one of Horford or Embiid is off the floor. When both big men are on the floor together, the 76ers have a Net Rating of -1.3 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA Stats. With Horford on and Embiid off, the Sixers outscore their opponents by 5.2 points per 100 possessions.

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Horford would love to set picks and stay around the elbow while Zion stays down low. That sounds ideal to me for our offense.

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While the offense scores at a higher pace with one of the big men off the floor, the 76ers defense also improves with Joel on the court and Horford off. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said when Horford is on the floor without Embiid. Philadelphia allows opponents to score 106.7 points per 100 possessions with Horford in and Embiid out. While that is not a terrible defensive rating, much more was expected from a player who was one of the league’s best defensive big men as recently as last season.

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while that sounds bad (which it isn't b/c that rating would be good for 3rd best in the NBA this year), the Pelicans haven't had a defensive rating under 106.7 since 2012. We were around 112 the last 2 years.

This is why I don’t understand targeting high pick this year in the draft. Just not worth it

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This is why I don’t understand targeting high pick this year in the draft. Just not worth it

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If the teams at the top are sellers, wouldn't it make more sense to attempt to be a buyer? Maybe the perceived loss of value of high picks allows the Pels to get other future assets as well as a top pick this year

The draft is always a crapshoot, but there will be good players to come out of this draft.

Hesitated to post it, but I found this on a Hawks message board from supposed insider who has a pretty good track record on there.

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NEW: This is probably the biggest deal on this list. This is hot off the presser. Jrue Holiday has become the target and there is a lot of interest from New Orleans and MIN. The only thing is Jrue must be willing to sign an extension as soon as he’s eligible which they (the NBA) are working on the date atm. His extension could be nearing max range which will mean MIN has three max players under contract.

The question is, does it make sense for MIN to have three max guys and still you have questions if this is a playoff team. There is a lot more to this potential deal than what I currently have so keep a look out for this deal. This also highlights what I been hearing from NO of them looking for PG’s and seeing Lonzo Ball as a quick passing guard like Haliburton is getting seen as. Lonzo is Melo ying to Melo’s yang. This is big news.

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Link for anyone that wanted to check the thread out.
LINK

That is interesting to say the least.
near max for Jrue is ridiculous. He'd be crazy to not want to accept that, especially in these uncertain times.
If i were him i'd pick ATL in a heartbeat over Minny, for both the team and the area of the country to live in.

I think both of those teams are super desperate to add talent right now and be a playoff team this year. I think they both are very nervous about KAT or Trae wanting out if they suck again.

That dude says pelicans are targeting lemelo..

Crewz:

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My current betting odds on where Jrue plays on opening night

Nets +180
Hawks +200
Pels +240
Warriors +250
Heat +350
Nuggets +375
Field +450

Who ya got?

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The only thing is Jrue must be willing to sign an extension as soon as he’s eligible which they (the NBA) are working on the date atm. His extension could be nearing max range which will mean MIN has three max players under contract.

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also to note, this little nugget right here, this is big news.
This means we aren't trading away a one year rental of Jrue. It means an ATL deal or Minny deal isn't some risk. they are going to have to pony up some assets to make this happen if he's signing an extension.

ATL needs to be #6 and Reddish at a minimum, and i'm not giving them #13.
Minny needs to be #1 and Culver. If they want #13, then i want back #17, and they can have 2 2nds from whatever year they want.