Again, I remember Jowles predicting 38 wins in 13/14 only to see it happen when Tyson Chandler broke his leg. Yeah, Bargnani was bad, but shit happens for many reasons.

Even the much maligned Melo works out if Stat has any lateral movement left. People forget to mention the max we gave him for a half season of all star play.

This team has it all but it’s a chaotic sport. More dangerous than skateboarding. It’s pretty much why I stopped watching football. Talent just gets wrecked.

So, maybe we get great Kemba. Or maybe there’s too many miles on the treads. That’s the gamble. I think, if that turns to shit, we are insulated with depth that other contenders with “Big Threes” can only dream of. Plus they have to stay healthy too. Which pretty much none of them did last year….

Hubert: Kevin Durant was the last of the mohicans

Are you talking about the summer that also saw Kyrie, Kawhi, Kemba and Jimmy go to a new team in free agency?

Again, the odds on superstars becoming free agents again anytime soon seem very low.

yeah, this is another thing I predicted a while back. Kevin Durant was the last of the mohicans. with rare exceptions, teams are either going to get the extension or trade the player. The only time you can expect an exception is if the team has a strong chance at a title in the players final year.

shifting the focus to us, I fail to see how we have enough ammunition to acquire a superstar and field a title worthy team with what’s leftover. We don’t have any high end talent that is expendable.

There’s really only one solution to the puzzle: Zion. You can trade everything you have for him and still have enough time to build a contender in his prime. But as bad as the Pelicans are, it’s really hard to force your way out on a rookie contract. The qualifying offer bluff doesn’t work.

@wojespn
The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Patrick Beverley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez, sources tell ESPN.

I don’t know if there’s an all-star in there, but I do think there’s a hard-working plug-and-play who does things the right way and who we’re all going to be really happy is on our team.

iserp:
It seems one of the 2nd rounders is top-55 protected and unlikely to convey. But well, it is nice to get a 2nd rounder.

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/1427641773392859148

I’d say those picks are basically worthless because they’re so low and/or protected but we actually got Sims with the 58th pick and he didn’t look awful, so I can’t totally discount them. Still, mostly it sounds like us being good citizens to make it eaSier to do deals in the future.