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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 3/15/2022
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Luke Adams
12:00
Thanks for all your early questions, guys. Keep 'em coming! I'll have to finish up about 10 minutes early today, but that still gives us a solid 50 minutes.
al gore
12:01
Is there a viable role for when Wiseman comes back?
Luke Adams
12:01
I think they'll work him in here and there, especially during the regular season and especially in favorable matchups. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets some DNP-CDs in the playoffs though.
Kristen Bell
12:02
Coming off two missed seasons, is Johnathan Isaac’s potential still enough for the magic to hold onto him?
Luke Adams
12:03
Yes. He looked like a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year contender before he got hurt. As long as he doesn't have any further setbacks, you've got to see what he can do when he returns -- he's the sort of high-upside player the team needs to roll the dice on during its rebuild.
Elliot White
12:04
After the blazers and suns eventually get gleague teams, could you see the nba adapting a model similar to Major League Baseball with multiple minor leagues and teams?
Luke Adams
12:06
That feels a ways off to me. I do think there's some merit to making the relationship between the NBA and G League teams a little more organic than it is now (with more G League players under control of an NBA team, earning slightly higher salaries), and maybe down the road it would make sense to split it regionally into multiple leagues rather than having 32+ teams in the G League. But let's get everyone an affiliate first before we start going down that path.
peterfamilias
12:06
Because the Suns declined his rookie contract option, the Pacers are limited to a 1-yr, $4.7 million contract next year.  Are there any other options for the Pacers to keep Smith long-term?  Would waving him at the end of the year give the Pacers the option to sign him for more years, more money?
Luke Adams
12:09
They'd have to waive him before the end of the regular season. In that scenario, if another team claimed him off waivers or signed him as a free agent, the Pacers could definitely offer him more than $4.7MM in 2022 free agency. If a new team didn't pick him up before the end of the season, I'm actually not 100% sure of the rule -- I can't recall of a time that's happened before.
Either way, I don't see the Pacers going that route. If they really want him, they'll take their chances that a $4.7MM offer will be enough. But I don't get the sense he's viewed as a major part of their future or anything.
Georgia Brace
12:10
If Memphis decides Williams and bane are enough, who would make sense as a Dillon Brooks trade partner?
Luke Adams
12:11
Almost any team, really. Brooks' declining three-point percentage (it's down for a third straight year) is a bit concerning, but he still hits enough threes and plays enough defense to make him a fit for virtually any team. Finding a trade partner would mostly be a matter of what the Grizzlies are looking for in return.
George Harris
12:11
Are any of the young guys in Portland keepers besides Simons? Is it enough to hope for improvement to run back along Lillard?
Luke Adams
12:13
I think they plan on keeping Little long-term. Hart looks like a nice piece, if you still consider him "young." I still think they'll need more than just good health to make any real noise next season though. They're a couple pieces short.
LENNYP
12:13
is stretching Russ the Lakers' best option?
Luke Adams
12:15
I think the ideal scenario for the Lakers would be to try to find a deal that's sort of the inverse of the one they made to acquire Westbrook -- maybe there's a team willing to send out three or four mid-sized salaries to roll the dice on Westbrook's expiring deal. My first call would be to the Knicks to see if they'd have any interest in something centered around Fournier, Kemba, Noel, and one more piece.
12:16
Stretching Westbrook's salary would result in cap hits of nearly $16MM for three straight years. That's a lot of dead money to take on and would really hamstring their flexibility.
Alejandro
12:16
Do the cavs try to flip love in the off-season coming off a strong season and one less year on his contract? Doesn’t really fit the timeline
Luke Adams
12:18
If they could get positive value for him, sure, they'd consider it. Even when his contract is expiring though, Love won't have a ton of appeal due to that $29MM salary. It probably makes more sense to just hang onto him for one more year and let that deal expire -- especially if he keeps playing as well as he has this season.
Rich Paul
12:18
Over the last 28 games, Cory Joseph is 2nd on the Pistons team in total minutes played. If you were Cory Joseph, would you pick up your player option for next season for $5,155,000 or test free agency?
Luke Adams
12:19
He'll probably have a sense of what sort of offers will be out there for him before he makes that option decision. So if he opts in, we'll know he probably couldn't have done better on the open market.
Based on how well he's played this year though, I think testing the market makes sense.
12:20
Worst-case scenario, his minimum salary projects to be over $2.8MM, and there'd be a ton of teams interested in him at that price -- he could basically have his pick of contenders.
Roster expansion?
12:20
Why doesn't the NBA allow teams to Expand their Roster on April 1st?  Say like from 15 players to 20 players?  This would Allow the non-Playoff teams to get a look at some of their GLeague and 2-Way Contract players at the NBA level, akin to how Major League Baseball allows Rosters to expand on September 1st from 25 players to up to 40 Players.
Luke Adams
12:21
I don't hate the idea. But I imagine the league doesn't want to make any changes that would encourage teams to play their stars/starters less during what is supposed to be one of the most important stretches of the season.
HandsomeStan
12:22
Dallas beats the ascending Celtics in a close but pretty decisive victory. Same with Nuggets over Sixers. Do we still feel like the East is really the stronger conference? And what does this mean for the playoffs?
Luke Adams
12:23
Put it this way: I like the top 12 in the East more than the top 12 in the West. But I think I prefer the top 6 in the West.
12:24
It's too bad that a bunch of the teams in the West play-in probably won't be fully healthy this spring. With Kawhi, Zion, and AD all at full strength, the Western Conference's play-in and first round would be incredible.
Savannah Gaines
12:24
Wouldn’t looking into trading vanvleet be something the raptors consider seeing as he’s a smaller guard which archetype hasn’t rlly aged well in the past
Luke Adams
12:26
I don't expect the Raptors to be too concerned about VanVleet's production falling off anytime soon. He's similar in a lot of ways to Kyle Lowry, who is seven years older and was still playing extremely well for the Raptors up until last season.
M.J.
12:26
To prevent tanking, do you think the NBA should have a playoff or tournament style for teams who miss the playoffs. For example, the winner picks first, runner up picks second, the third and fourth picks go to the losers in the semifinals (who will play each other for the third pick). This will add more viewership and increase revenue for the league. Your thoughts?
Luke Adams
12:27
Fans would love it, but it's hard to see why players would be motivated -- some of them could be at risk of losing minutes or even jobs if their team gets a better draft pick.
Kyle Pines
12:28
How is Rob Williams not DPOY? The numbers don’t lie
Luke Adams
12:30
I haven't looked at a ton of defensive advanced stats yet, but I know Rudy Gobert still has a sizeable lead in DRAPTOR and he'll likely get extra credit for being one of Utah's few above-average defenders -- Williams has plenty of help in Boston. I do think Williams is a compelling All-Defensive candidate though, and the Celtics' league-leading defensive rating will help his case.
Johnny Appleseed
12:30
When a player gets an opportunity, how does that process work ? Does the player get email or phone call and the team pays for the players flight to sign the contract ? Do 10 day contracts get taxed too ?
Luke Adams
12:32
HoopsHype has published some good stories about this sort of stuff over the years. Here's one about what it's like to get signed to a 10-day contract, including details on the logistics: https://hoopshype.com/2017/04/01/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-life-on-1...
12:33
10-day contracts do get taxed, if they're standard deals. The hardship 10-days this year didn't count toward teams' tax bills.
GM
12:33
What team would you rather be the GM for if you were hired today? Blazers, Pacrer
Luke Adams
12:34
I'll take the Pacers. I'd be more comfortable about signing Tyrese Haliburton to his next contract than signing Damian Lillard to his.
Kylie Hampton
12:35
Next set of assistant coaches to merit head coaching jobs?
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