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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 2/23/2026
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Luke Adams
3:00
Thanks for the early questions, guys! I'll be chatting for the next hour or so, so keep 'em coming.
Kings coach?
3:00
Amidst all the injuries and front office changes does Doug Christie get another opportunity to put together a team in his own mold and style?
Luke Adams
3:03
If I had to make a prediction, I'd say he's more likely than not to be fired this spring. He'll essentially have gotten a year and a half at that point, and while I was never a fan of the Kings' roster, they probably shouldn't have been THIS bad when they were ostensibly trying to win.

One other factor to consider there is that Christie has a VERY team-friendly contract, which I believe is only guaranteed for one more season beyond this one. So if the Kings want to make a change, it won't cost them much to do so.
Trog
3:03
Do you have a tracker for two way players' remaining eligibility?
Luke Adams
3:05
We don't. I'd recommend Spotrac's: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/contracts/two-way

It's not perfect (I've noticed a few cases where it's off by a couple games), but it's pretty close, and it can at least give you a good idea of which players are getting close to their limits.

If you want to double-check any specific player's count, the easiest way to do it in through Basketball-Reference, using the player's game log. If B-R lists a player as "Did Not Play" instead of "Inactive," it means he was active but was a DNP-CD, which would count toward his limit.
Tony Wroten
3:06
Aside from the Mavs having a GM opening, what other teams do you see having potential for some front office leadership changes at the end of the year?
Luke Adams
3:09
Playoff results could be a factor there. If a team expected to make a deep playoff run gets knocked out of the first round, it could result in a major organizational overhaul.

Generally speaking (and off the top of my head), I'd view the Cavs, Magic, Bucks, and Bulls as some situations to watch. Some of those ownership groups seem very attached to their current guys, but those are a few of the teams who have either fallen short of expectations or made some questionable roster decisions (or both).
Edwill
3:09
Pistons spurs meet tonight in a possible finals preview. I would love for that to happen. I think both teams match up well with each other plus I think it's alot of unpredictability in that match up. If that match up does happen I believe that series can go either way.
Luke Adams
3:11
A 2005 matchup would be a lot of fun and probably would result in a more aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball than we got in that '05 series. Looking forward to tonight's game, for sure.
Stormy
3:11
Why didn’t hear Heat trade Wiggins? Powell or Herro?
Luke Adams
3:13
They're more valuable to the Heat than they would've been on the trade market. Miami reportedly didn't get offered a first-round pick for any of them.

You could argue that they should've still been willing to take the best offer on the table for someone like Powell, who could leave this summer as a free agent. But I think the ability to potentially re-sign him to a favorable deal or to extract some value in a sign-and-trade probably outweighed the limited value the Heat would've gotten in a deadline trade.
Adam S
3:14
So what would be your recommendation to stop tanking?  It can be as crazy or complex as you would like?
Luke Adams
3:17
I think the issue has been overblown to some extent.

It reminds me a little of when everyone was freaking out about the buyout market a few years ago due to a perception that good players were working their way onto the best rosters after the trade deadline. As it turns out, those players weren't difference-makers, and it wasn't an issue that resurfaced every year, but the NBA still did institute some minor rule changes that made it even less of a problem (including the one that prohibits tax-apron teams from signing buyout players who had been earning more than the mid-level).
3:19
I think similar minor tweaks are probably the best way to go for tanking.

Restricting pick protections between top-four and top-14 makes sense to me, even though I think protections like the one on this year's Pacers/Clippers pick can be pretty fun.

I also didn't dislike the idea about prohibiting top-four picks for teams a year removed from being in the conference finals as much as some fans seemed to.
3:21
If I were to propose a more complicated system, it might be similar to one that ESPN's Tim Bontemps has advocated for, where a team's losses start to count as wins (and vice versa) for lottery purposes at a certain point in the season -- maybe at the trade deadline. That would significantly reduce late-season tanking, and while it might make early-season tanking worse, fewer eyes are on the NBA during football season.
Guest
3:21
Can the Lakers offer Walker Kessler a contract at $30,000,000 the first year and a no trade clause and an opt out after one year to prevent the Jazz from matching the offer?
Luke Adams
3:23
I need to brush up on offer sheet rules, since we haven't really had any for the past few years, but based on what I can recall:

  1. Yes, they could offer $30MM in the first year, if they have the cap room to do so.
  2. No, they couldn't give him a no-trade clause (that's only available in certain scenarios, and Kessler wouldn't be eligible for one with the Lakers, the Jazz, or any other team at this point).
  3. No, they couldn't offer a second-year opt out (if I remember correctly, offer sheets have to cover at least two seasons, not counting option years).
KJ
3:23
As far as the current standings are concerned,  quietly who do you think the league is hoping wins the lottery this year?
Luke Adams
3:27
Hmm, maybe Dallas? (Kidding, kidding).

If we're assuming that the NBA likes the idea of parity, every team having hope, and no fan base suffering for too long, Sacramento seems like it would be the right spot for Darryn Peterson. I feel like, at least up until the recent burst of season-ending surgeries, the Kings have also been one of this season's more ethical tankers -- they weren't intentionally trying to be bad, they were just bad.
Lebron
3:28
Gut reaction.  2026 2027. I will be a) Lakers b)Cavs c)retired
Luke Adams
3:32
It feels like the possibility of a Lakers return is being ruled out by a lot of people, and I'm not really sure why. LeBron likes living in L.A.! It was a big reason why he joined the Lakers in the first place and has stayed there during some tough years. And the Lakers are in position to make him a much better offer than the Cavs can, even if he takes a big pay cut.

So, of those three options, I'll take Lakers. But I think that the idea of him going to a non-Cavs and non-Lakers team is realistic too.
BALLISFOREVER
3:32
Who do you think wins Sixth Man of the Year? Should be a close race.
Luke Adams
3:34
Great question. I haven't done a deep dive into the contenders there yet, but Keldon Johnson and Naz Reid both look like pretty solid candidates to me. Also curious to see how heavily voters would weigh Isaiah Stewart's defensive impact, especially if the Pistons end up with 60+ wins.
Philly Phanatic
3:34
If the 76ers commit to a team headed by Maxey and Edgecombe, could Embiid and George be traded and Lowery retire? Does Embiid have value as a trade piece or is his contract underwater?
Luke Adams
3:35
Lowry retiring definitely seems likely. In fact...
CP3
3:35
Now that I'm officially retired, who do think will be the next star to join me
Luke Adams
3:36
... Lowry would be my answer to this question.

Circling back to the Sixers question...
3:40
It might be slightly easier to trade Embiid and/or George this summer than it would have been last year, but both contracts will still have negative value unless something surprising happens in the next couple months.

Those cap hits are just so big and neither player can be relied upon to stay on the court for 60+ games. I think both contracts will be tough to move until they're expiring (and even then, it won't necessarily be easy).

Maybe Morey gets impatient and moves one or both at a loss, but he's not really a sell-low kind of GM. I can't see him attaching draft assets to move a player he knows will still be a well-above-average contributor if they can luck into a healthy season.
Sam Presti
3:40
I have probably three draft picks by the early second round this year. Plus a couple of 2-way players who are likely good enough for standard contracts. My returning roster is entirely under team control, with three players with club options. What am I going to do with all these great players and draft picks?
Luke Adams
3:45
A year or two ago, it seemed like the Thunder's plan was to eventually start replacing role players who were getting more expensive (guys like Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and/or Alex Caruso) with younger, cheaper players who they could draft with all their extra picks. But the fact that Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber have basically barely played since being drafted has sort of thrown a wrench into that plan, at least in the short term.

I think OKC might be forced to make decisions on guys like Topic and Sorber earlier than they'd like -- betting that they'll become reliable contributors within the next couple years will probably mean moving on from veteran role players who have been pretty effective.

The Thunder are still in a great position though. None of their players have negative trade value, so if they need to, they can try to trade some combinations of picks or players for even more cost-effective options, like they did at the deadline with McCain.
nba expansion teams
3:45
What 2 places you think will get an expansion team?  I see Seattle, Las Vegas and Tennessee being 3 good places.
Luke Adams
3:45
I'd be stunned if it's anywhere but Seattle and Vegas in the next round of expansion.
Free agents
3:45
What does this free agent class look like?
Luke Adams
3:46
You can find our list of 2026 FAs by position/type here, or by team here.
Sacramento fan
3:46
Will the Kings be rewarded this year for being one of the few bad teams that actually tried to win? Or will the league reward the pacers, nets, Washington, etc who are purposely tanking and all year tried to be bad?
Luke Adams
3:47
To be clear, despite my answer above about the NBA maybe liking the idea of the Kings winning the lottery, I don't actually believe the league is sitting there debating this decision and then making it happen. The draft lottery is legitimate!
Nuggets injury report
3:48
At some point, the amount of stars injured has gotten to a point where something needs to get done. I understand the purpose of the 65 game requirement, but then why did they schedule so many B2Bs and especially how many nationally televised games are on the 2nd half of those B2Bs. They'll never shorten the season. What if they shortened training camp or just started everything a week earlier to eliminate 3-6 B2Bs a season? Something has to change
Luke Adams
3:50
I think shortening training camp might actually exacerbate the issue, since it would mean throwing players into full-speed action even earlier, maybe before their bodies are back into game shape.

Agreed in general though that something probably has to give. It's too bad slightly shortening the schedule would likely be a non-starter due to the lost revenue. The schedule would be much easier to manage with even just 5-7 fewer games per team.
GrizzMan
3:50
Will Ja play over/under 5 games the rest of the way?
Luke Adams
3:53
Wouldn't shock me if word breaks at any point that he's undergoing surgery on his elbow or some other nagging injury and is done for the season.

But if he's healthy in March, I think they should play him. It's not like they were much better with him on the court earlier in the year, and even if he does look like a star and gets them a few extra wins, the positives would probably outweigh the negatives -- yeah, maybe they drop a spot or two in the lottery, but his trade value would be much stronger heading into the summer.
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