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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 3/6/2025
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Luke Adams
2:00
Thanks for all the early questions, guys. Let's dive right in!
GrizzMan
2:00
What are the chances someone poaches Santi Aldama this offseason?
Luke Adams
2:02
Not all that high. The Grizzlies dumped Marcus Smart's contract at the deadline in part because it'll put them in a better position to re-sign Aldama, and there aren't many teams in position to have cap room. The only scenario of potential concern for Memphis would be if the Nets decide they love Aldama -- Sean Marks completed a handful of big offer sheets to RFA during Brooklyn's initial rebuild.
Parts
2:02
Will Flagg declare for the draft?  Do you think it will depend on who has the first pick if he decides to enter?
Luke Adams
2:04
I'm not gonna pretend I know what Flagg is thinking but I'd be pretty shocked if anyone projected to be drafted first overall decided they wanted to stay at college for another year. Odds are he'd go to a bad team next year too!
David
2:04
Which Western Conference team can least afford to lose a star to injury for the playoffs? Lakers (Luka, LeBron)? Thunder (SGA)? Another team?
Luke Adams
2:06
I'd probably pick the Nuggets and Jokic, but realistically, any Western team that loses its best player probably isn't making a deep playoff run -- there's too many other good teams in the mix to overcome that. Hopefully teams can stay relatively healthy this spring, since I hate to see matchups decided by who has the better injury luck.
Jamoche1
2:07
You always hear that coaches shorten their bench to eight players in the playoffs. However, the Cavs have such incredible depth and Kenny Atkinson has been rotating ten to twelve players into the regular season games. Do you see him continuing this in the playoffs?
Luke Adams
2:09
He could probably get away with keeping that up in the first round, but I expect we'll see the rotation tighten by round two or three. I assume part of the appeal of maintaining that deep rotation during the season is that it allows your best players to be fresher and more prepared to play heavier minutes in the playoffs.
Wannes
2:10
Who do you think will be defensive player of the year? What do you think the chances of Toumani Camara are?
Luke Adams
2:13
Based on Jaren Jackson Jr.'s recent injury, I'd consider Evan Mobley the frontrunner. Voters generally favor rim protectors from top teams.

I also think in recent years, with super-max contracts hinging on All-NBA/DPOY honors, writers are more inclined to vote for players who have money at stake so as not to be responsible for denying them tens of millions of dollars. Mobley fits that bill, since his max contract would start at 30% of next season's cap instead of 25% if he wins.
2:14
I will say I think Dyson Daniels has some narrative momentum and will end up on a lot of ballots, but it's hard for me to picture a majority of voters picking a guard on a sub-.500 team. I think he'll finish top-three though.
Guest
2:14
Do you see Quentin Grimes getting a better deal than Aaron Wiggins?  I assume Wiggins took less to stay with a familiar situation.
Luke Adams
2:17
I'd have to go back and double-check, but I believe the reporting last fall was that the Mavs offered Grimes an extension in the same range of what they gave Naji Marshall, which would've been about $27MM over three years.

He turned that down coming off a subpar season and has been a lot better this year (especially in the past month), so it's safe to assume his actual number will be comfortably higher than that. I'm not sure he'll get five years like Wiggins did, but Wiggins only got about $37MM in guaranteed money over the first four seasons -- I expect Grimes will do better than that.
Fernando
2:17
With Kyrie Irving's ACL injury expected to keep him out for most (if not all) of next season, would it be extreme to suggest that the Mavs just tank the next season? Just trade AD and Klay for expiring contracts and picks, and hope to get a top 4 pick in the 2026 draft (I think they still have their own pick), then rebuild the roster around Kyrie and the pick.
Luke Adams
2:20
Talking about the Mavs' future depresses me. I can't imagine how much worse it must be to be a fan with a rooting interest in the team. I feel awful for fans in Dallas.

I can see the argument for trading Davis this summer and doing a soft reset -- it even makes some sense to me in a vacuum. But it's basically impossible to picture the team actually going that route as long as Nico Harrison is still in charge. It's more likely that the Mavs try to find a way to acquire another ball-handler/play-maker who can bridge the gap until Kyrie returns.
Keith
2:20
Do you think the Mavericks are trying to screw up, so they can move to Vegas?
Luke Adams
2:22
Love a good NBA conspiracy theory, but I can't get behind this one. I think Occam's razor here is that Harrison legitimately thought it was a good idea to trade Luka and the new owners, who don't have much basketball expertise, went along with it.

The NBA will probably introduce an expansion team in Vegas sooner rather than later -- they won't want to move a team out of one of the country's largest markets to make it happen.
Chicago Bulls fan
2:23
Will Chicago be aggressive this upcoming off-season? What room do you see them having as for cap space?
Luke Adams
2:25
The Bulls have about $128MM in guaranteed money on the cap for next season. A lottery pick will probably add a few million more to that total. The cap is projected to be about $154.6MM, so they could have about $20MM in space, or more than that if they can dump some salary.

But often when teams are around that range, they keep operating over the cap, which allows them to keep any trade exceptions, the mid-level exception (which will be around $14MM), the bi-annual exception, and so on.

I think they're more likely to target 2026 for cap room, but they do have a lot of contracts that will be expiring in 2025/26, so they're well positioned to be aggressive on the trade market if they want to.
Dyson Daniels
2:26
How is Dyson Daniels not the runaway leader for DPOY? Think the Hawks will look to extend him?
Luke Adams
2:29
The case against Daniels is essentially:
  1. Rim protectors who defend the paint inherently have more impact than a perimeter defender.
  2. The Hawks are below .500 and have a middle-of-the-pack defense.
  3. The Hawks' defense has been worse statistically when Daniels is on the court.

Obviously, you can tell by the eye test that Daniels is a great defender, and the steals/deflections numbers are awesome, which is why I expect him to get plenty of votes and finish second or third.

Who knows, maybe if he keeps putting up these six- or seven-steal games, the narrative swings in his favor (no award is more narrative-based than DPOY), but him winning would be sort of unprecedented based on how voting has gone over the past 35ish years.
2:30
But yeah, safe to assume the Hawks will be looking to extend Daniels this offseason. I'll be very curious to see what his next deal looks like. McDaniels (five years, $131MM) and Suggs (five years, $150MM) are a couple defensive-minded points of comparison from the last couple years.
Michael
2:30
Who do you think the Knicks add as the 15th man
Luke Adams
2:32
T.J. Warren still seems most likely to me. I think it's smart for them to hold off for now in case injuries at a certain position change their needs.

Also worth noting that they could end up signing more than one player before the end of the season if they don't feel the need to have Delon Wright on their roster (which, based on his usage so far, seems to be the case).
Edwill
2:32
How surprise are you that the pistons are now winning. Just a year ago they had the worst record. Also do you think Cade can make a all nba team this year
Luke Adams
2:33
Yeah, there are a few overachievers I've been impressed by, but none have been more surprising than the Pistons. I thought a solid, realistic season for them might be doubling last year's 14 wins.

Given how many stars will fall short of the 65-game minimum, I'd be pretty shocked if Cade doesn't make an All-NBA team.
Redraft
2:34
Seeing what we have so far, how different do you think the top 10 picks would be in last year's draft? Would Risacher still go #1?
Luke Adams
2:36
It's a great question. Guys like Risacher, Sarr, Castle, etc. haven't been amazing, but they've probably showed enough to still warrant their high draft positions in a pretty overwhelming class. Especially since most of them were considered longer-term projects who wouldn't necessarily pop right away.

Seems like some guys that went in the middle of the round - Kel'el Ware, Jared McCain, Yves Missi, etc. - would probably be in the lottery in a re-draft. Jaylen Wells would move up quite a bit too.
GN
2:37
I think this is the year Denver gets knocked out early.  Weaker bench, starters playing a lot of minute, too much reliance on Russ.  I see big changes this offseason
Luke Adams
2:38
There are quite a few teams in the West that I think have a realistic chance to win multiple playoff series. Denver is one of them, but it will come down in part to matchups.

There aren't many teams below the Nuggets in the standings that I'd feel confident in picking over Denver. Golden State. Maybe Minnesota. But I like Denver over Memphis, Houston, the Clippers, and the Kings.
Lebron
2:40
We always see people say that Lebron would have been a star NFL tight end. What player in the NFL do you think could have been a star in the NBA?
Luke Adams
2:41
I haven't followed the NFL closely for the last several years, so I can't give you good names based on current rosters. But, in the same way that LeBron's body type would've made sense for a tight end, I feel like I immediately picture various NFL tight ends as having the sort of bodies that would make them good NBA forwards -- Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, archetypes like that.
grizz
2:42
are we regretting not making a bigger move at the deadline now that we have lost 4 straight and have fallen to 4th in the west?
Luke Adams
2:45
I'm on the record as having said in January when Jimmy Butler hit the trade block that I thought the Grizzlies were the best fit for him. Hard for me not to think "what if?" when I see the impact Butler has had on the Warriors. Still, I understand why the Grizzlies would've been reluctant to make that move for a player who apparently didn't want to be there.

It does feel a bit like the Grizzlies missed an opportunity to use Smart's contract in a deal for an impact wing. Like, they probably could've beaten out Cleveland's offer for De'Andre Hunter. But if Morant isn't fully healthy, going all-in on this year's roster wouldn't have made sense anyway.
Hornets
2:45
When will the hornets be good again 😂
Luke Adams
2:46
Have to admit I didn't think they'd be this bad again this season, but injuries certainly haven't helped. Hopefully they can take at least a modest step forward next season, but a Pistons-like resurgence probably isn't in the cards for a couple years.
D'Andre
2:46
Think I would fit with the Lakers? Maybe a trade for Vandy and expiring contracts? The Blazers might just be glad to open up playing time for Clingan and maybe Williams.
Luke Adams
2:48
Assume we're talking Deandre Ayton here? I guess he's worth kicking the tires on, but he wouldn't be my top choice for the Lakers. I don't think they need to devote that much salary-cap space to a center, given the role they'd expect him to play.
Knicks fan
2:48
Once Mitchell Robinson gets acclimated to the team, do you think he is enough of a rim protector to make the Knicks a top defensive team
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