Official 2025-26 NBA Offseason Thread

[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by ninjacookies

Norwooding Mamba was the reason why they hung in every single series. I think that goes without saying. What exactly are you implying here? That they offload ET and Chetneck because they were lackluster against a title-tested roster?

I never said Chet was a driving force in that Denver series. But it's not like he didn't contribute anything. I think his biggest obvious contribution was on the boards. He really showed up in that respect...best he did all year.

For as amazeballs as those 2 wings are in their specialized roles...they're exactly that. Highly specialized defensive stoppers that cannot be relied upon to carry any kind of offensive load. If they do, it's simply a bonus. Now we get to see exactly how much these guys are worth on the secondary market. It's not like OKC doesn't have prior familiarity with dudes like this.



If you know; you knew.

I think they should have waited one more year. I think the chances of Chet having a stellar season, making an All-NBA team and demanding the max were really low, like in the single digits. J-Dub gives me Jaylen Brown vibes so they can max him since there will always be a few teams (and media) that rate him high no matter what.

People keep saying that Chet could have been gotten the max by another team next year. Which team? Any team that could potentially do that is a worse situation for him. Also, Brooklyn is rebuilding and clearing cap space so they can max Chet, who's never made an All-Star game and it's 24?

Also, I don't think you remember Robertson. Dude made Ben Simmons look like JJ Redick. Nothing at all like the Bald Mamba.

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

I think they should have waited one more year. I think the chances of Chet having a stellar season, making an All-NBA team and demanding the max were really low, like in the single digits. J-Dub gives me Jaylen Brown vibes so they can max him since there will always be a few teams (and media) that rate him high no matter what.

People keep saying that Chet could have been gotten the max by another team next year. Which team? Any team that could potentially do that is a worse situation for him. Also, Brooklyn is rebuilding and clearing cap space so they can max Chet, who's never made an All-Star game and it's 24?

Also, I don't think you remember Robertson. Dude made Ben Simmons look like JJ Redick. Nothing at all like the Bald Mamba.

JDub is an MVP caliber player just needs to go somewhere else to show it.

[kipgen]

Originally Posted by jcardstore

JDub is an MVP caliber player just needs to go somewhere else to show it.

Disagree, I see JDub as maybe the best #2 option but never a #1

I doubt he reaches Tatum heights, if that

[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by kipgen

Disagree, I see JDub as maybe the best #2 option but never a #1

I doubt he reaches Tatum heights, if that

I'm with you, I think he plateaus as a top 10-15 player in the league. Nothing wrong with that but I don't see him as a potential MVP.

[rhigh2390]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

I'm with you, I think he plateaus as a top 10-15 player in the league. Nothing wrong with that but I don't see him as a potential MVP.

Agree with you on JDub and Chet. I just don't see Chet as a max player, as of yet. JDub at least is a good #2 so I see it for him. I thought the Finals showed that OKC is not as deep as people think they are. Hope the Chet signing doesn't come back to bite them.

[msink28]

Jalen Williams gets the max with the Designated Rookie Extension. Thunder locked in.

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

I'm with you, I think he plateaus as a top 10-15 player in the league. Nothing wrong with that but I don't see him as a potential MVP.

You’re predicting yesterday’s lottery numbers bruv. Jdub is a top 15 player today. Any player who is all-nba (top 15) and all-defense (top 10) is a top 15 player, even in the 65-game-rule era.

We need to learn from Presti. Most GMs view players as line-graphs. They look for spikes and things the player is best at. He’s an elite scorer, or an elite rim protector. Presti calculates the total volume below the line. A better conceptual tool is a radar chart—Presi measures the total volume of a player. Instead of only looking at his best qualities, he asks how good is he at his worst thing?

Jaylen Brown has flaws: ball-handling, passing, controlling pace, offensive body control, free throw shooting. Jdub doesn’t have flaws. The comp for Jdub isn’t Jaylen Brown; it’s Kawhi, who similarly doesn’t have flaws besides durability. Jdub is perhaps the only player in the league who can defend the opposing team’s point guard or its center and also score an efficient 25 points. He was OKC’s starting center for the first two months of the season!

Dag said it best. Teams rarely hit their ceiling in playoff atmospheres. High floors win playoff games, not high ceilings. And that’s what Presti pursues: versatility, flexibility, high floors because players don’t have glaring weaknesses. Jdub has improved every year for the past 6 seasons—I don’t think he’s finished getting better. I don’t know if he’ll win MVP, but he’ll be a top 10 player very very soon.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

You’re predicting yesterday’s lottery numbers bruv. Jdub is a top 15 player today. Any player who is all-nba (top 15) and all-defense (top 10) is a top 15 player, even in the 65-game-rule era.

We need to learn from Presti. Most GMs view players as line-graphs. They look for spikes and things the player is best at. He’s an elite scorer, or an elite rim protector. Presti calculates the total volume below the line. A better conceptual tool is a radar chart—Presi measures the total volume of a player. Instead of only looking at his best qualities, he asks how good is he at his worst thing?

Jaylen Brown has flaws: ball-handling, passing, controlling pace, offensive body control, free throw shooting. Jdub doesn’t have flaws. The comp for Jdub isn’t Jaylen Brown; it’s Kawhi, who similarly doesn’t have flaws besides durability. Jdub is perhaps the only player in the league who can defend the opposing team’s point guard or its center and also score an efficient 25 points. He was OKC’s starting center for the first two months of the season!

Dag said it best. Teams rarely hit their ceiling in playoff atmospheres. High floors win playoff games, not high ceilings. And that’s what Presti pursues: versatility, flexibility, high floors because players don’t have glaring weaknesses. Jdub has improved every year for the past 6 seasons—I don’t think he’s finished getting better. I don’t know if he’ll win MVP, but he’ll be a top 10 player very very soon.

He’s not Top 15. Top 25 I’ll give you

I didn’t read anything after that

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by asujbl

He’s not Top 15. Top 25 I’ll give you

I didn’t read anything after that

Ah you missed the part where I explained why he’s top 15. Maybe we can start a pictures-only thread for you my friend .

His peaks may not be top 15. But if you average everyone’s best and worst qualities, he is. Booker is a better scorer, but Jdub is significantly better at his worst things than Booker’s worst things. Therefore Jdub is better than Booker.

[Chryghst]

Will try again but shorter.

What if we rated players not by their best qualities but by their worst? So Trae is rated not for his passing but his defense. Gobert not by his rim protection but his 3-point shooting.

How many players in the league are better at their worst thing than Jdub? Not 15.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

Will try again but shorter.

What if we rated players not by their best qualities but by their worst? So Trae is rated not for his passing but his defense. Gobert not by his rim protection but his 3-point shooting.

How many players in the league are better at their worst thing than Jdub? Not 15.

How many players would I rather have? More than 15 but less than 25

You don’t need to write so much

[asujbl]

Tyrese Proctor is going to be a freaking steal

I’m not saying a star. Relax

He’s going to be a rotation player on a good team. He shouldn’t have dropped as far as he did

[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

You’re predicting yesterday’s lottery numbers bruv. Jdub is a top 15 player today. Any player who is all-nba (top 15) and all-defense (top 10) is a top 15 player, even in the 65-game-rule era.

We need to learn from Presti. Most GMs view players as line-graphs. They look for spikes and things the player is best at. He’s an elite scorer, or an elite rim protector. Presti calculates the total volume below the line. A better conceptual tool is a radar chart—Presi measures the total volume of a player. Instead of only looking at his best qualities, he asks how good is he at his worst thing?

Jaylen Brown has flaws: ball-handling, passing, controlling pace, offensive body control, free throw shooting. Jdub doesn’t have flaws. The comp for Jdub isn’t Jaylen Brown; it’s Kawhi, who similarly doesn’t have flaws besides durability. Jdub is perhaps the only player in the league who can defend the opposing team’s point guard or its center and also score an efficient 25 points. He was OKC’s starting center for the first two months of the season!

Dag said it best. Teams rarely hit their ceiling in playoff atmospheres. High floors win playoff games, not high ceilings. And that’s what Presti pursues: versatility, flexibility, high floors because players don’t have glaring weaknesses. Jdub has improved every year for the past 6 seasons—I don’t think he’s finished getting better. I don’t know if he’ll win MVP, but he’ll be a top 10 player very very soon.

The first part doesn't make sense. Him being good enough defensively to be All-NBA defense was one of their biggest reasons he ended up being All-NBA. It's like double counting defense to determine who's better. If anyone says that Rudy Gobert was a top 10 player or Joakim Noah was a top 5 based on that, they'll sound crazy.

The Jaylen Brown was comment was about how his standing won't decrease regardless of progress. I've been hearing how Jaylen was a potential franchise player for years. He peaked as a All-NBA Second team guy and makes the All-Star game in the East by default because of Boston's place in the standings. I think if Jalen somehow stalls, there will be plenty of people in love with this game to try to trade for him on a max (not that I expect it to happen but it's good insurance).

FWIW I don't think there is much difference between Top 10, Top 15 and Top 20 in the league right now. Someone as polarizing as LeBron can be considered 7th or 12th and I don't think either is wrong. J-Dub can crack the bottom part of the Top 10, I just don't think he's going to contend for MVP.

[kipgen]

The problem with using All-NBA selections as your barometer for if a player is in the top 15 or not is you ignore all the guys that didn't make it there because they didn't play 65 games

Paolo Banchero, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard

That's five I would still have ahead of Jdub

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

The first part doesn't make sense. Him being good enough defensively to be All-NBA defense was one of their biggest reasons he ended up being All-NBA. It's like double counting defense to determine who's better. If anyone says that Rudy Gobert was a top 10 player or Joakim Noah was a top 5 based on that, they'll sound crazy.

The Jaylen Brown was comment was about how his standing won't decrease regardless of progress. I've been hearing how Jaylen was a potential franchise player for years. He peaked as a All-NBA Second team guy and makes the All-Star game in the East by default because of Boston's place in the standings. I think if Jalen somehow stalls, there will be plenty of people in love with this game to try to trade for him on a max (not that I expect it to happen but it's good insurance).

FWIW I don't think there is much difference between Top 10, Top 15 and Top 20 in the league right now. Someone as polarizing as LeBron can be considered 7th or 12th and I don't think either is wrong. J-Dub can crack the bottom part of the Top 10, I just don't think he's going to contend for MVP.

Rudy Gobert is a very good counter, and I see your point about counting defense twice. There are flaws in the comparison—3 center requirement before all-NBA became position-less; Jdub does significantly more than Gobert in other (offensive) areas of the game…but your double jeopardy point still holds. I still think a 3rd team all-nba all-defense guy should be valued ahead of a 3rd team all-nba bad defense guy.

We’ll see how Jaylen Brown does this year. I have always been one of the believers you describe. It isn’t apples to apples to Tatum’s seasons because Celtics lost 4 key rotation pieces (Tatum, KP, Jrue, Horford) and replaced them with clear tank assets, but I still hope we see something more from JB than we have.

I don’t consider Lebron close to that high. He’s a traffic cone on defense now, both on-ball and off-ball, but he screams at teammates for not covering his rotations so we let him off for some reason. Get your point about the flattening around that area of players. I honestly don’t know if Jdub can be MVP—he’s ahead of where Shai was on year 3, but obviously has the benefit of playing with Shai and spent a couple more years in college. He might not win it on Shai’s team and I hope they stay together. I definitely think he’ll be top 10 though.

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by kipgen

The problem with using All-NBA selections as your barometer for if a player is in the top 15 or not is you ignore all the guys that didn't make it there because they didn't play 65 games

Paolo Banchero, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard

That's five I would still have ahead of Jdub

VW—all-nba + all-defense, yes
KL—all-nba + all defense, yes
LD—sure, I guess, but does have serious flaws
PB—I think this will age pretty badly. His TS% is 55.1%, TOV% is 11.2%, AST/TO is 1.61. All his impact and advanced metrics just aren’t good.
KD—not anymore. Prime KD of course, but he’s very clearly in decline. Impact metrics are very poor and his trade return shows that.

I’d have Jdub above Cade (TOs/inefficiency), above Harden (defense/efficiency), above KAT(defense)—who all made all-nba 3rd team. Probably have AD above Jdub—who missed bc 65 games. I’d put him around Mobley area, who made all-nba 2nd and all-defense. Hali is difficult to rank because of his playing style and uniqueness.

So yes hear your point about guys missing due to games, but I’d also put him above a few of the guys who made it.

I also acknowledge I’m biased. My fantasy team was literally Shai/Jdub/Jalen Johnson/Amen Thompson/Jimmy Butler/Jrue Holiday/Hartenstein. I like watching those guys and I think efficient two-way players are the most valuable players in the sport. It’s no surprise the teams that win always have those guys, or go get them.

[Chryghst]

Herb 68/3 extension so 97/5 left on his deal. 19.4million AAV not terrible for one of the best 3+D guys in the league. Please free Herb, Ninja.

[yiguiri2002]

Sounds like a solid deal but it makes me wonder how much he could have gotten without the injury. At least 3/80?

Also, what does this mean for Giddey? He's been looking for 30+, I always thought no more than 25 was fair. But I can't see him accepting it after Herb's deal.

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

Sounds like a solid deal but it makes me wonder how much he could have gotten without the injury. At least 3/80?

Also, what does this mean for Giddey? He's been looking for 30+, I always thought no more than 25 was fair. But I can't see him accepting it after Herb's deal.

Yeah especially if the cap does end up increasing 10% per year, 23 million in year 5 will be an attractive deal. You could have Herb and Jdub for the price of Booker.

Good question on Giddey. You lot are going to roast me, but I’d rather have Herb. Everything I’ve heard is Giddey/Bulls aren’t close.

[ninjacookies]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

Also, I don't think you remember Robertson. Dude made Ben Simmons look like JJ Redick. Nothing at all like the Bald Mamba.

Well played, James Lipton.



The main issue here is the disconnect between actual accomplishments/skillset vs. contract numbers....and that discrepancy continues to grow. We have a situation where 1b- level players now command 1a level salaries league wide.

And don't ever doubt the power of the Rose Rule and incentivized motivations. Despite the fact it's probably a long shot, Cleveland found out the hard way with Mobley. And it cost them the equivalent of a 1b FA acquisition.

The reality of it, is that OKC still has a 2-3 year window before the brunt of these big contracts' effects start taking hold. And that's generally the same window most dynasties have of capitalizing off star core retianment.

I think the biggest potential downfall of this contract is the very real possibility that he'll get hurt again. But those are the tough decisions you have to make. He's such a unique and dynamic player that the alternatives are sparse and still carry their share their weighted risk and almost guaranteed hit to your defensive upside.

I don't love it, but I also don't hate it. They're paying off their young guys handsomely in return for bringing the franchise their first title.

Turner, on the other hand....yikes. Bruh was so bad he basically got shelved majority of the closeout game.

[Nomad]

Myles Turner I would always hold my breath when he was on the floor and then he would come up with some mad string of 3s or stuffed chickens. He was actually a key part of the Pacers success. What he will change in Milwaukee will be the attitude. I think he wants that challenge. If Siakam listens to him with respect, Giannis will as well and become a more pass-first player. Once they have that template and start attracting young talent, could be something.

[ninjacookies]

I mean it is pretty concerning when your 10th year vet can't even finish out the second half of the biggest game in your franchise's history.

Even though it was a disgusting overpay, I understand why the Bucks focused on him. He's essentially just a younger version of Brolo.

Underwhelming rebounder slash 3&D big that won't challenge Yannis' touches. This is a plug n' play move for the organization.

[Nomad]

Yeah, but remember, he is an advanced lego builder. Like I said, Milwaukee overpaid him because of his work in building a viable contender in 3 years. I know that won't move hobby needles.

He did suck in a few Finals games. At least Nesmith had the excuse in G7 that he was efficiently running the defense. Can't do it all.

[ninjacookies]

It's hard to be an advanced lego builder when your efficacy on the floor is so hyper tied to your knocking down 3's.

I'd say he's more along the lines of a Porzingis. A potential final piece of the puzzle if you already have the proper core in tact. Bucks are not anywhere close, but at ~$25m/per I guess it's a fair step towards something.

[Nomad]

I kind of agree with you there. But I do think he changes the vibe. Might help Bobby Portis find the ethical hero within.