You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 2/13/2025
powered byJotCast
Luke Adams
2:00
Thanks for the early questions, guys. Let's dive in!
Jorge
2:00
Hoops Rumors write up of Hunter/Lavert-Niang trade focused on Hawks roster past 2025, but what are your thoughts on how this improves the Hawks in the short term (including Mann).  They look deeper and like they have more shooters.  Could they get out of play-in spot?
Luke Adams
2:03
It's interesting, in the immediate wake of the trade deadline there was a little chatter about how the Hawks had made themselves worse in the short term and speculation about whether Trae Young might seek a change of scenery this offseason. But they've looked pretty good in the last week.

I still don't really love this roster though. LeVert and Niang have been good so far for Atlanta, but neither is the two-way player Hunter is. And as underwhelming a season as Bogdanovic was having, Mann hasn't been any better. Claiming the 7th or 8th spot in the play-in still looks to me like a best-case scenario for Atlanta.
GN
2:04
With so few teams having cap room this July do you expect that more guys will sign for less (as in mid-level or lower) than their previous contract?
Luke Adams
2:06
Some will, certainly, but there also won't be a ton of quality free agents on the market. The 2025 class has really been picked clean, given all the extensions that have been signed. For the most part, the ones that have to take pay cuts will do based on the fact that they no longer warrant the kind of contracts they're currently on (thinking of guys like Clint Capela, Bojan Bogdanovic, Bruce Brown, etc.)
Mike Penberthy
2:07
For the Williams/Knecht trade are there only two options now....trade or not.  Or is there another option?
Luke Adams
2:07
There's only really one option now -- no trade. I know the Hornets are petitioning the league to do something about it, but based on the existing rules they don't have any recourse to amend the deal at this point or force the Lakers to un-rescind it.
Craig
2:08
With the Hornets disputing the Lakers failed physical, what do you realistically think the league office can do about it since the trade window has closed?
Luke Adams
2:09
Similar question here. I'll just add that I do think it's possible this is an issue the NBA and NBPA revisit, and maybe they agree to tweak the rules somehow for future cases like this. But if there are rule changes, I wouldn't expect them to affect the Hornets' situation.
Alan
2:09
Is Alex Len the best C the Lakers going to get? If another higher caliber C comes available, do you see them waiving another player to make room a C upgrade?
Luke Adams
2:11
I don't think they'd hesitate to waive Cam Reddish, considering he has no guaranteed money beyond this season, has been out of the rotation for a while, and they already tried to trade him. The question is where that more appealing center is coming from. The current free agent market is pretty barren and I don't think anyone on the international market would help them much. Maybe Bismack Biyombo once his 10-day with the Spurs expires?
Daniel
2:11
The Mavericks are 29-26 after coming off of a big win last night against the Warriors.  Should they look into the buyout market for any additions or will the 1st apron be a problem for them since they only have $171k of money to spend with?
Luke Adams
2:14
The hard cap is a problem. Unless they can get one of their current players to agree to give up money in a buyout (unlikely), they can only afford 14 days of a veteran free agent for the rest of this season. That means either waiting until March 31 to sign someone or signing a 10-day now and then signing either the same player or someone new with four days left in the season.

As a result, they're probably not a player for any of the best options on the buyout market, since a player in that situation can get a rest-of-season contract from another team instead of having to wait a month-and-a-half to sign with Dallas.
Cowbell Kingdom
2:15
Do you see the Kings adding another free agent with one open roster spot available? If so, who comes to mind?
Luke Adams
2:16
They really have two roster openings, since Nix is only a 10-day. Safe to assume they'll fill both spots before the end of the season.

Even after signing Fultz, they could use more point guard depth. Reggie Jackson is one name that makes sense to me -- I know he's not the player he was in his prime, but he has a ton of experience, including in the playoffs, and would at least make for a good insurance policy.
heat hypothesis
2:16
who is so good and available in the summer of 26' that MIA would pass up on KD?
Luke Adams
2:18
Don't think it's fair to say the Heat "passed" on KD. It wasn't like the Suns would have done Butler straight up for Durant. They would have wanted a bunch of the Heat's best young players and all their future draft assets of value -- they probably would've wanted them to take on Nurkic too.

It makes sense to me that the Heat would prefer to take their chances with the Warriors package for Butler and 2026 free agency rather than making that deal for a player who will turn 37 this year.
Joel Embiid
2:18
Are the 76'ers actually keeping me around long term? I'd try to trade me and build around Maxey if I were running the show
Luke Adams
2:20
A trade makes no sense at this point. You'd have to sell an MVP-caliber talent for pennies on the dollar. It's not a great situation in Philadelphia, but their best hope of salvaging it is doing whatever they can to get Embiid back to full health. No one's going to give you a haul for him right now.
Guest
2:20
Although I'm glad the Bulls ridiculous FO didn't take back a ridiculous salary for a late 1st round pick for Lonzo, Leave it to them to not take whatever they could get back for an expiring salary, And then re sign a guy with one knee for 2 more years, Is there any reports on all the offers they got? You gotta think they had at least one better offer than extending him right? Thanks
Luke Adams
2:25
I haven't seen any reports specifically outlining what they were offered for Ball beyond what I wrote in this story this morning. One of our readers speculated in the comments that the Grizzlies offered Marcus Smart and their 2025 first-round pick for Ball and a second-rounder. I don't know if that's exactly right, but it would make sense to me, since the Grizzlies ended up trading that package - plus LaRavia - for a lesser return (Bagley, Davis, two second-rounders).

The Bulls don't have their own 2025 second-rounder, but they do have the Kings pick. If we figure that was the one in this hypothetical Grizzlies offer, it would've meant moving up about 15-20 spots in this year's draft and taking on Smart's $21.6MM for next season.
2:26
I can see the arguments both far and against that (and again, I have to stress that we don't know this was the offer -- it certainly could've been worse for the Bulls). I do think Smart's value could rebound if he could just stay healthy, so I probably would've been interested in that deal if I were the Bulls, though I do still like Ball and think he's a winning player. The extension they agreed to with him will be great value if he stays healthy.
Guest
2:26
Who has more trade value when healthy?  Herbert Jones or Stephon Castle?
Luke Adams
2:28
I'd lean toward Castle, since his contract situation is more favorable (three more years on his rookie deal, then RFA) than Jones' (two more years on a team-friendly deal, then UFA). Jones is also closer to being fully formed, whereas with Castle you can still project a higher ceiling.
Velociraptor
2:28
Thoughts on the Raptors' addition of Brandon Ingram and the subsequent extension? How good do you think the Raptors will be next season with a fully healthy roster?
Luke Adams
2:30
I don't mind the Ingram deals (trade and extension) in a vacuum. Not sure I love them for this team specifically. The Ingram/Barrett overlap, both in terms of on-court fit and what you're paying them, is a potential issue. I'll be curious to see what it looks like when everyone's available, but it feels to me like more roster tinkering is necessary to balance that team out.
Krudla
2:30
Biggest surprise in the NBA for you this year... For me its the Pistons... Already doubled their win total from last year, currently the 6th seed in the east
Luke Adams
2:32
Yeah I absolutely did not expect the Pistons to be anywhere near this good. They'd be my choice too.

If they're number one, the Rockets might be number two -- I figured after going .500 last year, winning 45 games this year in a competitive Western Conference would be a huge step forward. They're on pace for 51 or 52.

The Grizzlies are up there too. I figured they'd bounce back after a nightmare 2023/24 season, but wasn't really counting on them to go right back to being a 50+ win team.
Mark
2:33
I am curious as to the bucks trade deadline moves. They traded away khris which was needed IMO but they couldn’t move Bobby or Pat? Something is up.
Luke Adams
2:34
It seems like getting below the second apron was a goal, which makes sense -- having their 2032 first-round pick frozen for the next few years would've been bad. They were able to do that without moving Portis or Connaughton.

It sounds like both players were in trade talks leading up to the deadline, but Connaughton would've been a pure salary dump, and Portis is a pretty important depth piece. With Middleton off the books for next season, they may also be in a better position to re-sign Portis or at least get something back for him this summer.
David
2:35
Why is it that every time the Lakers win the media deems them title contenders and every time they lose the media says they stink? Which is closer to reality?
Luke Adams
2:36
Well, those takes are spicier than "They're a solid team with some flaws that probably won't get past the second round of the playoffs," which is what I believe is closest to the truth.
Davey
2:36
Give me the bad news Luke: just how hard are the Warriors capped? Your description about the Mavs is how many Warriors fans feel like we are capped like, but it's not as bleak, right??
Luke Adams
2:39
The Warriors' situation is similar, in that once they get to 14 players, they won't be able to add a 15th man until late in the season. But they're only carrying 12 right now, so unlike the Mavs, they do have a couple roster additions coming sooner rather than later.

Right now the Warriors are something like $1.37MM below the hard cap. They have until next Thurs to get back to 14 players and will definitely wait until then to do it. The question is whether they'll do two 10-day signings, two rest-of-season signings (they could squeeze them under the hard cap), or one of each. Whichever route they take will affect when they'll be able to add a 15th man.
Desmond
2:40
nothingb is Impossible but teams like clippers and heat with free agent designs of singing luka donic in 2026 are very likely to be disappointed rigjht ?
Luke Adams
2:40
I'd be pretty surprised if Luka doesn't sign an extension with the Lakers this summer. But, I mean, it wouldn't be as surprising as the Mavs trading him in the first place, so who knows!
Lonzo
2:41
If I play 55-60 games next year (on track for around 50 games this year), don't you think teams will offer more than moving up 20 spots and taking on a large salary for next year?
Luke Adams
2:42
I think that's a reasonable assumption. I do think the Bulls just really like Lonzo both as a player and person and didn't want to move him for a marginal draft-pick upgrade if they could sign him to what could be a team-friendly deal instead. It'll look bad if he gets hurt again, but I don't hate it.
Justin
2:43
I know the hornets won't win the appeal but seems like the general consensus is they tried to pull a fast one on the Lakers.  Why aren't more people talking about the fact that he has an injury history(they knew that), he was healthy and playing, and the failed physical was not even about any current injury?  Also this move by Lakers has probably coat mark williams a bunch of money in free agency and made the hornets front office look shady when in fact they most likely werent.
HornetsFaninVA
2:43
Do you believe the Lakers really found something wrong in Mark Williams physical or was this a way for them to get out of a trade that they had second thoughts on?
Load More Messages
Connecting…