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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 4/19/2022
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Luke Adams
12:00
Thanks for all the early questions, guys! Keep 'em coming and we'll get underway in just a minute or two...
Cavs
12:01
Collin Sexton made $6.35 million this season. Why is his cap hold for next year $19 million? How is that calculated?
Luke Adams
12:03
The cap hold for a restricted free agent is 300% of his previous salary if he's making less than the league's average salary (which is about $10MM). We have more info in our glossary entry on cap holds: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2021/06/hoops-rumors-glossary-cap-holds-5....
Number man
12:03
Watching the GSW?Den series a big hole in Nuggets is they have no elite defender. Other playoff teams have elite defenders. That being said will they go after GP2 in the off season?
Luke Adams
12:05
I'd argue that Aaron Gordon is, if not elite, then something very close to it. But he's better equipped to handle stars like Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Paul George rather than chasing around guards like Stephen Curry, Jordan Poole, and even Klay Thompson. So yeah, the Nuggets could use a backcourt player capable of better handling those defensive assignments. Having Jamal Murray and MPJ back would make Denver more competitive with their scoring, but those guys probably aren't helping much on defense.
Guest
12:06
after seeing Smart scoop the DPOY award. do you think Jaren Jackson Jr deserved a little more credit in his DPOTY push. He was outstanding, and I believe was deserving of at least getting into the final 3.
Luke Adams
12:08
DPOY was one of two awards (Most Improved was the other) where it felt like there could have been three different finalists from the ones who ultimately made the cut. Like, if you'd told me the three finalists were Jaren Jackson, Bam Adebayo, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, I would've a little surprised, but not shocked. There were just a lot of good candidates for a bunch of this year's awards.
(Which I think is great for the league! It's more fun to debate the merits of 5-6 different players for an award than to have one guy sew it up in February.)
Rocket's 2022 1st Round Pick
12:08
Which player and/or players (or none) do you believe will appear in games for the Houston Rockets next season: John Wall, Eric Gordon, Christian Wood?
Luke Adams
12:10
There's maybe a 1% chance we see Wall play a game for the Rockets next season. I'd put the odds at something like 50/50 for Eric Gordon, and 70/30 for Wood.
12:11
Wouldn't surprise me if both Gordon and Wood are traded this offseason, but my gut says the Rockets are more likely to have their asking price met for Gordon.
Guest
12:11
If you were Houston & Detroit going back to the 22 draft, knowing what we know now. Would you still chose Cade & Jalen Green over Mobley & Barnes?
Luke Adams
12:13
I always liked Mobley more than Green, so he'd probably be my No. 1 or 2 pick (though I get why the Rockets didn't take him, especially when they got Sengun later in the night). Besides that though, I think everyone's probably pretty happy with the player they got. Mobley and Barnes had better overall rookie years, but the second half performances from Cade and Green reminded me of the leap Anthony Edwards took in the second half of his rookie year. Both of those guys are going to be very good very soon.
Drew Eubanks
12:13
Portland’s record was 25-31 when Jusuf Nurkic played this season, but for the 3rd straight season, he missed over 25 games due to injury. What type of offer do you believe Portland should offer him or do you believe they should look in another direction?
Luke Adams
12:15
Nurkic made $12MM this year -- I'd definitely be comfortable going up to $15MM per year for him. Beyond that, I'd start to get a little nervous. It might be tricky for the Blazers to find a good replacement if they let Nurkic walk, but I'd have a bad feeling about, say, a four-year, $80MM deal. It might not age well.
Guest
12:15
Why no love for Maxey for MIP? I'm shocked he didn't have more buzz.
Luke Adams
12:16
I'm with you. He was my MIP pick when the Hoops Rumors writers shared our selections last week: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2022/04/hoops-rumors-2021-22-nba-award-pic...
12:18
As was the case with DPOY though, I think this was just one of those years where there were a lot of good candidates and it came down to picking your favorite three. Many of the media voters shy away from second-year players and prefer to pick guys who made the leap from "very good" to "All-Star," which is why the finalists are Morant, Garland, and D. Murray. But I wouldn't have batted an eye if the finalists were Maxey, Poole, and Bane instead.
Blank name
12:18
The NBA has to add more qualifications to the play-in than just finishing top 10 in the conference. Do they really think it's better to have a Pelicans team 10 games under .500 in the playoffs instead of a Clippers team that battled major injuries all season and still came out with a winning record? The Play-in made sense in the East this year with so many teams bunched together, but it shouldn't have been played in the West.
Luke Adams
12:20
I understand this argument, but I'm not sure I'm entirely on board with it. I just don't think a team that finished 8th in a 15-team conference needs to be handed a playoff spot. In my opinion, it's not too much to ask that they win one play-in game in two tries. Yeah, it sucks for the Clippers that Paul George tested positive for COVID-19 at exactly the wrong time, but that could just has easily have happened before Game 1 of a playoff series.
12:21
(For what it's worth, the 7th and 8th seeds hardly ever win playoff series anyway. If the play-in tournament results in a hotter team making the cut at the expense of a team that finished a few games ahead of them in the regular season, maybe the odds of an upset increase slightly.)
Trog
12:21
Can the Warriors death lineup (Curry, Poole, Klay, Wiggins, Draymond) be exposed by Denver or anybody else in this year's playoffs?
Luke Adams
12:23
The Suns come to mind immediately -- with Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, and Jae Crowder, they're far better equipped to match up with the Warriors' scorers than the Nuggets are.
Black Ace57
12:23
Do you think that the MVP debate will have people reconsider some of the defensive metrics used? It seems like players who break the mold skew the numbers in unintended ways (ie overvaluing Jokic’s steals vs blocks)
Luke Adams
12:25
I get the sense that most people who use advanced defensive metrics recognize that there are limitations to how much stock we can put in them. I saw several writers who explained their MVP votes this season say something to the effect of "the advanced metrics saw Jokic was a better defender than Embiid this year, but we know that's not true."
Trey Burke
12:25
With the acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie, the return of Tim Hardaway Jr., and re-signing Jalen Brunson as their top priority, is it safe to assume that the Dallas Mavericks will include Josh Green in a trade this offseason?
Luke Adams
12:27
It doesn't hurt to have some depth, so I wouldn't say he's a lock to be dealt. But he might've built up his value a little last season after a bad rookie year -- if there's a team willing to give up an asset for him, sure, the Mavs will be happy to listen.
Future
12:27
Which of the bottom 5 teams (Hou, Orl, Det, OKC, Ind) is best positioned to become a good team again within the next 2-3 years? Whose core do you like most right now?
Luke Adams
12:30
This is the sort of question I'd rather answer after the lottery so I don't end up taking the team that ends up picking at No. 5! For now though... I'll take OKC. Their current roster isn't my favorite of the five, but SGA + Giddey + two 2022 lottery picks + all their extra future picks is a really nice starting point.
Common Anomaly
12:30
In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets had the 11th pick and acquired the 19th pick. In the 2022 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Hornets will most likely have the 13th pick and the 15th pick. Since the players drafted in 2021 barely played, is it a foregone conclusion that Charlotte will at least trade one pick? And if it is a foregone conclusion, will Charlotte be at a disadvantage and possibly only acquire 1 future conditional 1st round pick (like the Knicks did with the 19th pick in the 2021 Draft) or do you believe Charlotte would be able to obtain 2 future conditional 1st round picks (like OKC did with the 16th pick)?
Luke Adams
12:33
I doubt the Hornets will want to bring aboard two more rookies, so yeah, a trade seems likely. As for the return, it generally comes down to whether there's a specific player being targeted by a team trying to trade up -- and how badly the team wants that player. Sengun fell a bit further than expected last year and the Rockets really wanted him, so they gave up two future picks. If the Hornets are the ones instigating trade talks, it'll be hard to get more than one.
Walleye Wade
12:33
Can the Wolves take Memphis ?    And if so , can they go deeper in the playoffs ?
Luke Adams
12:34
I'm starting to become a Wolves believer.... but I'm still leaning toward Memphis in this series. If the Wolves do pull off the upset, I'd expect them to go down to the Warriors in round two.
Lloyd E
12:34
Do you think that the Jazz should resign Whiteside? I think that he has been the best backup for Gobert in years. Will there be any major competition for him?
Luke Adams
12:36
It feels like once a veteran player starts accepting minimum-salary contracts, it's hard for him to break that pattern -- especially as a center. I expect if the Jazz want to bring back Whiteside next year, they'll be able to do so, either at the minimum or maybe with a small (Non-Bird) raise.
Joel John
12:37
Any potential target for the kings this offseason, if they decide to trade away their draft picks?
Luke Adams
12:37
I expect they'll be targeting defensive-minded wings. Jerami Grant would make some sense.
Entertainment
12:38
Which individual player do you enjoy watching the most from an entertainment standpoint? Why?
Luke Adams
12:40
I love watching the Steph Currys, Dame Lillards, and Trae Youngs of the world -- guys who can hit shots from anywhere. Also, while it's not nearly as exciting from a stylistic perspective, I really appreciate watching a player like Kyle Lowry, who understands the game at such a high level and always seems to be making clever plays that wouldn't necessarily show up in the box score.
Jared
12:40
What are the chances of the Warriors making a big trade involving Wiggins, Wiseman, etc for a star on the market if the bounce in the first two rounds?
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