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Hoops Rumors Live Chat: 4/22/25
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ARTHUR HILL
11:01
Welcome to this week's chat. We'll start with a question on the Lakers.
Mark Williams
11:01
Minnesota's size looks like it's going to be an issue for the Lakers. Should they have just gone through with their trade for me instead of vetoing it?
ARTHUR HILL
11:11
The lack of a reliable big man was going to be a problem for the Lakers in the playoffs no matter who they faced, but the Wolves seem especially built to exploit it. Jaxson Hayes only played eight minutes in Game 1, and it doesn't look like J.J. Redick is going to trust him in big games. Mark Williams seemed like an ideal rim protector and lob partner for Luka Doncic when the trade was announced, and it's easy to picture him playing a big role in this series. The Lakers never revealed what they saw in his physical that made them rescind the trade, but he played a relatively normal schedule once he returned to Charlotte. L.A. will try again to fill that role this summer, and the price will likely be similar -- a future first-round pick and a young player. They probably should have kept Williams when they had him.
Guest
11:11
Did the Hawks make the right decision firing Landry Fields? They exceeded preseason projections even though Jalen Johnson missed most of the year, and the Daniels/Murray trade looks great.
ARTHUR HILL
11:20
It seems like Fields should have kept his job as a reward for landing Daniels, who turned into one of the league's best defenders in his first season in Atlanta. Fields also hit on the No. 1 draft pick as Zaccharie Risacher looks like a foundation piece, and he did a nice job of unloading salary at the trade deadline. Even though Fields is gone, he has left the Hawks with a good collection of young talent and financial flexibility. As we've seen in Dallas, there can be a lot going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. Maybe there was a disagreement between Fields and ownership over keeping coach Quin Snyder or what to do with Trae Young this summer. No matter what caused the firing, it shouldn't be long until Fields gets his next opportunity.
Guest
11:20
I know Mat Ishbia was talking about wanting to hire a defense minded coach to make the Suns a tougher team, but do they really have the personnel for that? Will a roster overhaul be needed this summer?
ARTHUR HILL
11:30
Speaking to reporters last week, Ishbia talked about the need for a coach who's "a little bit grimy, a little bit grinder, a little bit tough." There's certainly a need to raise the competitiveness level in Phoenix, but it's going to take more than a coaching change to make that happen. Take the Rockets, for example. For the first three years of their rebuild, they were a soft team that was consistently near the bottom of the league in all the defensive metrics. That changed when they hired Ime Udoka, but they also signed Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet and later added Amen Thompson to a roster that already had Tari Eason. The Suns will have to go through a similar transformation if that's the kind of team Ishbia wants. Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro might fit that profile, but not many of his other current players do. It's going to take a complete roster overhaul, starting with whatever they get in the Kevin Durant trade.
Celtics
11:30
What's going to a bigger issue stopping the Celtics from winning more titles in the next few years - cap/tax issues or teams surpassing them in talent?
ARTHUR HILL
11:43
New owner William Chisholm will inherit the best roster in the league, but he can't continue spending indefinitely to keep it together. The Celtics are already headed for a record payroll next season, and the price will only go up from there. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have a lot of good years left, and there's no reason to think they'll be broken up. Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White are valuable complementary players who will likely stay in Boston as long as the team remains a title contender. The key will be finding other usable talent at a cheap price, and the Celtics have a mixed record so far. Torrey Craig, for example, hasn't contributed much as a mid-season free agent addition, and those are the type of moves Boston will have to consistently get right to fill out its roster. Younger teams like the Thunder and Cavaliers have already emerged as title contenders, but the Celtics' biggest threats for the rest of the decade are probably more internal than external.
JD
11:43
Should Morey have just given Harden the contract he wanted? It would probably look a lot better than the Paul George deal does...
ARTHUR HILL
11:52
Harden played the 2022/23 season at a discount in the belief that Daryl Morey had promised him a long-term contract to stay in Philadelphia. Morey could have saved himself some headaches -- and a summer of verbal abuse from Harden -- by just giving him the deal he wanted. The Sixers might have thought Harden was washed up, but he's still playing at an All-NBA level with the Clippers at age 35. Morey ultimately replaced him with Paul George, who only played 41 games in his first season with Philly and still has three years left on his $211.6MM contract. Reneging on a promise to Harden was totally out of character for Morey, who typically catered to his star's wishes going back to their days together in Houston, so you have to wonder if it was an ownership decision not to pay Harden.
DPOY
11:52
Do you expect Mobley, Draymond, or Daniels to win Defensive player of the year? It feels like it could be a pretty balanced vote between those 3 and others
ARTHUR HILL
11:57
Daniels led the league in steals by a wide margin, and he completely changed the Hawks' defense with his disruptive presence. He's my DPOY choice, but he's admitted it tends to be a "big man's award," so I don't think he'll get it. Green has been campaigning hard, but I think it will most likely go to Mobley as a reward for the Cavaliers' great season.
DJ
11:58
Did the Rockets seem over-matched, under experienced and/or overwhelmed in game 1 to you?  I feel like you could make a case that what we saw implies the Warriors are too much to overcome but also that the Rockets showed they have the chops to win if they can play more cohesively.  What did you see?
ARTHUR HILL
12:04
Sunday was the first playoff experience for a lot of the young Rockets, so they may be more relaxed for the rest of the series. They fell behind big, but they used their aggressive defense and rebounding advantage to make a late run. They'll have to do a better job shutting down Curry and Butler, but they key will be making their open shots. Outside of Alperen Sengun, no one had a good shooting night, and the starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet were particularly bad. I don't know if they're ready to win a series against an experienced team like the Warriors, but I don't think they'll be overmatched the rest of the way.
Thanks for the great questions this week. We'll talk again next Tuesday.
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