greewe

I give Griffin a little bit of a pass on this one. Under the last CBA, with no second apron, I think BI would have a nice market right now. I don't really understand why the players accepted the specifics of this CBA. The second apron is so prohibitive that it nearly creates a hard cap. Literally zero teams want to pay BI big money, Brunson took tens of millions less, reports say that Bridges will also take a discount, LeBron allegedly would have taken a (small) discount if the Lakers could get a difference maker with the MLE. All to duck the second apron. I know the players will still get their 50% of BRI and the money won't change at the end of the day, but player valuations seem weirdly nonlinear and a little random right now, and I wonder if the union regrets agreeing to this.

BI for Murray+Okongwu works salary wise. Could make some sense for both teams.

Murray/Trey/Herb/Zion/Okongwu with CJ/Jose/Naji/Larry off the bench, with Dyson/Hawkins trying to earn more minutes. I kind of like that roster.

Z and Jonas will be well rested in the 4th. Embiid has played the whole 3rd. If we survive these Billy vs Embiid minutes hopefully the 4th goes well.

I know it’s just preseason but that was legit embarrassing for the Pistons

Dyson looks great on defense and solid at the end of both games

I’ve watched probably 75% of Ochai’s games over his college career. I don’t see him having a Jordan Poole kind of career. I just don’t see him having that kind of offensive upside. He should be a better defender, though. I don’t know if Poole is really a great comparison for him honestly.

I think Ochai will have a long NBA career as a 3 and D guard. I think you can expect him to be a low-end starter or high-end bench guy who you can finish games with if you need his shooting and defense. With his age and shooting, he should work his way into an NBA rotation quicker than younger guys with shakier shots. I think he will work best as an off-ball, lower-usage guy alongside more potent on-ball teammates. However, if Ochai has the ball at the end of the shot clock, he can put in on the floor and make something happen if need be. But if he is your primary creator, you probably have some issues.

He will be a solid, valuable player in my opinion. I would feel disappointed if we took him at 8 because I think you need to aim higher at that draft position. However, if we moved down to the middle of the first round, I think he would be a value pick in that range.

Another thing I will add is that his play dipped a little toward the end of the year after he got COVID in February. If you only watched him at the end of the year, you probably didn’t see him at his best. He played phenomenal prior to that and looked like a legit POY candidate.

Also, he seems like a high-character kid. He is a competitor who won a title. I think he would fit like a glove in our locker room.

quote:

---

Dare i say, even though i've said many many times it's dumb to trade down in the nba draft, that we move to #13 and #15 from Charlotte for #8 if we can get Branham and Williams there?

---

Another good example of a trade back if it’s available. Dieng and Agbaji would be a great draft in my opinion. One high floor/low ceiling solid 3 and D guy, and a low floor/high ceiling home run swing.

It’s crazy that he played so well with Adams and Bledsoe, with Stan as the coach.

Imagine next year with CJ, BI who has improved as a facilitator, Jonas who the opposing defense actually has to guard, and Willie who has some real creativity. If we stay healthy we will have one of the best offenses in the league.

I don’t know why he pulled him 5 minutes in. They have out scored us by 12 since Willy came in.

I don’t think the Kings are trying to tank. They just traded for Sabonis. They are trying to win games.

Great read. CJ seems like a good dude. I’m excited to have him on our team.

After seeing all the James Harden/Ben Simmons drama before/during/after that trade, it’s just so refreshing to not have to deal with any of that. Sometimes you get tired of all the soap opera stuff that can come with the league. Josh and Nickeil coming to the game was awesome. CJ being involved in this trade, wanting to be here, and leaving Portland on good terms is awesome. It was great that this deal just got done, without all the leaking to Woj and Chams. It’s just cool that everyone involved in this trade seems like they handled it maturely.