I was reading an article about the Big 10 and Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day stating that the Big 10 should have 4 automatic berths in the college football playoffs. And as egregious as that sounds it actually makes sense from a competitive/NIL perspective. I obviously used to love the idea of college athletes getting paid for their services. Honestly though when a program can afford to pay each of their players a hefty sum of money like the Big 10 and SEC programs then it feels like im watching European Club soccer and it has completely wiped away any love ive had for college athletics.
Individual players like that young lady softball pitcher from Texas Tech still pique my interest but I can no longer follow the likes of Arkansas or Arizona looking for an Isaiah Joe over a nico Mannion in the draft 😠 because the shifted balance of power has made college athletics uninteresting as a whole
Thanks for this info. I was not sure even that there were two Congos.
I still remember when there was a Belgian Congo.
Hope that the situation in both, or any/all are good enough for the people there, and that our USA government will rethink travel bans that hurt entire populations. It is an easy thing to announce and try to implement, but I'd rather see more attempts at intelligence in the countries to determine which individuals actually pose a real threat and should be barred from entry.
The Belgian Congo was a colony that became the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Republic of the Congo and is a much smaller nation to the northwest of the DRC.
Wonderful interview -thanks so much! The approach and insights remind me of Doc Scheppler who is locally famous as Pinewood HS girls coach where he has had (mainly very short) girls over-performing for decades, much of the time in State Championship games, while making the game simple and fun! He also worked with my daughter in high school who had great "linkage" and 3 pt shot; Doc is a wonderfully supportive person and coach. He and Marc are valuable reminders of how much great coaches, teachers and mentors matter.
- Booker had input on coach decision; Ott was his #1 choice
-" The Suns will work with All-Star forward Kevin Durant and his business partner, Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, on his next landing spot . . . approximately four to six seriously interested teams"
-"Ott was a video coordinator with Michigan State men's basketball program under Tom Izzo from 2008 to 2013."
>> Ott was a video coordinator with Michigan State men's basketball program under Tom Izzo from 2008 to 2013
Draymond was drafted as a Senior in 2012, so they likely know each other well. The Sun's new owner is also a former Spartan, and Dray is fond of Booker, IIRC.
While I don't think Steph will let him go, this slightly increases the chances that Dray ends in PHX as part of a trade.
If the finals are a sweep, the off-season could start in less than 10 days. At the absolute max, 18 days.
The draft is in exactly 3 weeks. There are a few rumors of fireworks (a KD trade, for example) before that, though, because teams (like the Suns, I assume) want some clarity on their roster before then.
Occasionally Bill Simmons is way out of left field on his trade ideas, but he said one the other day that piqued my interest. KAT for KD. KD goes back to NY and KAT/Booker reunite. DLo could sign as a FA and that trio would finally happen. Might make the Thibs firing make more sense. So that would be my prediction for first major firework.
KAT, Booker, DLo, and Beal? DLo made $18.7M this past season but I have no clue how much he can get in his next deal. Presumably he'd come off the bench with the Suns, so it only makes sense for the Suns if they can get him cheap. They're already spending a fortune for Booker, Beal, and KAT (with that trade), and with DLo added, that's not exactly a defense to fear. Since I have no use for the Suns, sure, let it roll.
Ha, was going to note the same. My first instinct with his fake trades is to roll my eyes, but that was one where I was like, "oh wait, that actually makes sense for both teams and both players."
My favorite part of Perks' off-season guides are who he thinks are available at each price range. Who is a pipe dream, who is vaguely possible, and who is actually possible.
It might make some degree of sense showing the maximum dollar options available based on what the Dubs do with JK: signing him to a big deal that takes them past the second apron. Do we still have a BAE or MLE or the TPE? What if we trade him for smaller contracts? What if we renounce him or trade him into an exception?
I would be grateful for a rundown of which actions trigger hard caps for the team, and at which levels (tax, first apron, second apron).
A specific example: Someone (belilaugh?) floated a trade for Goga Bitadze, using the $8.8M Kyle Anderson TPE. But I heard subsequently, and elsewhere, that using an “old” trade exception (ie. one generated in the previous season) would trigger a first-apron hard cap. Is that true?
It would also be great to get Perks’s take on just how limiting such a cap would be for this team. Maybe some examples of maneuvers that would depend on our being between the first and second aprons?
This was fantastic! Reassuring to hear that Podz has such solid fundamentals, and that ankle injuries affect shooting so much (kind of tells me A LOT about JK's problems this past season, following his injury). I know some of you knew this all already, but when it comes to inside basketball, I need a Marc Campbell sometimes.
I don't like the placement of the city name, starting with the "O" at the top like that. It looks drunk. Or maybe you have to be drunk for it to look right.
Curious what Marc thinks about the Markelle Fultz situation. Is there some apprehension to working on a shot only to see it completely fall apart? Does he see differences mechanically between his college form, early NBA and his current shot? I tend to think the mental aspect is critical, whether it's thinking more or thinking less, I'm not so sure...
Thank you Marc and EA, this is top quality content.
I would LOVE to pop the hood and see what’s going on with Flutz, dream client.
His kinetic linking is bad when it comes to shooting, but it's very good when it comes to almost everything else on the court. He's always been fascinating to me.
As long as his ankles, hips, and shoulders are functional… there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to shoot.
I'd be annoyed tbh. If this is the best offer and the Ws pull on it, that means JK hasn't developed enough to be worth that contract. I personally think there's a good chance something crazy happens btwn now and December, and just hope it's JJJ or Desmond to the Warriors because they're sick of being yelled at in Finish
Could you explain why you’d prefer Post straight up?
Vucevic scored 11 more points per game, 3 more point per 36, roughly 2% more TS efficient, 5% superior rebounding %, 5% superior assist %, 4 percentile superior crafted DPM, 26 percentile superior crafted OPM. And Vucevic is able to do all that while being the focus of the opposing defenses attention/gameplan.
As for why I’d like Vucevic, I think his combination of shooting (spacing for Draymond), ability to score/pass out of the post would fit perfectly in our offense. His poor defense is a problem, but our defense is otherwise great so I think we’d be able to minimize that negative impact.
Whether I’d personally like this trade is dependent on how much Lonzo returns to his previous form.
I wouldn't like it because, even if Vooch is the superior player at the moment, I think Post can be better, and given his late entry age into the draft, he needs every minute on the floor he can get. Vooch would block his development.
And, I'm not sure Post isn't a better defender right now.
Plus, on the other end of it, I still think JK can be a good player.
At 35 years old, you kinda know what you're gonna get with Vuc... and that's a guy with serious playoff deficiencies. At least with Post, you can convince yourself that maybe he'll become better in his 2nd year in the pros...
That's the optimistic view of Vuc. Another view is that at 35, he's on the downhill slope, and next season he might not give you as much as when he was 34.
I didn't think my view was optimistic, haha... and I, personally, think you're definitely gonna get some decline from a 35 year old (Steph & LeBron notwithstanding).
JK will assuredly be a Base Year Contract guy, with the Warriors only able to count that $30M outgoing contract as $15M for salary matching. So you've got to do a bunch more work to get to Vucevic/Ball coming to the Warriors... something like two trades:
Question for the cap wizards: does JK’s trade exception count for his total salary or BYC if traded into cap space e.g. we S&T him to Brooklyn for 2 picks
I was under the impression that this rule of counting only half of the outgoing salary only applies to sign and trades.
However, if we sign Kuminga and wait till I believe the Dec. 15 deadline, then we’d be able to trade him at his full salaries worth (hence the Kuminga for Vucevic/Ball trade)
Oh, sure, if we wait till 12/15, then it's an option. But... are we really going to sign JK to $30M for this purpose? I doubt that will make sense... better to sign JK to a more market rate deal and see what happens.
Two deals neither of which I'd do. I like Ball but that injury history is scary. And I'm not convinced Vuc at almost 35 years old is that much of an upgrade nowadays, plus we need more shooting, not less.
Sure but would u do the Kuminga for Vucevic/Ball trade. Keep in mind that Vuc has shot 36% from three on roughly 3.5 attempts per game (and shot 40% from deep last year).
My understanding is that this rule of counting only half of the outgoing salary only applies to sign and trades.
However, if we sign Kuminga and wait till I believe the Dec. 15 deadline, then we’d be able to trade him at his full salaries worth
No. I don't want Vuc at all for the reasons already discussed. I think Post will be as good on offense very soon and is already better defensively, while Vuc will be fading. As for Ball, if Dr Celebrini were convinced that Ball is fully healthy, I'd be interested. Otherwise not.
Damn, what a cold cold (maybe dumb) league. Mike Brown and Thibs get two crummy franchises to their highest heights and get canned when expectations outgrow reality.
True. On the other hand, Thibs tends to wear out his starters and his welcome. That said, in this playoffs there were times when he did use his bench. That was out of character.
I did not expect Thibs to get fired, and I agree that was an odd thing to do when he took them all the way to a 3 seed and the ECF, plus 4 playoff appearances in 5 years, after years of scuffling. He still has a couple of seasons left on his contract, too, so the Knicks will pay for the privilege of dumping him.
However, I don't much care for the Knicks, and I'm not a Thibs fan. I was happy to see Indy advance. If the Knicks sink into the depths, it's fine with me.
Mike Malone would be a good option. Obviously KAT isn't anywhere near Jokic's level but I feel like the Knicks have a roster that can replicate the success of the Nuggets especially if they can be less Brunson dependent
Yeah, this might be a Jackson/Kerr moment for them. Although they basically have super versions of both David Lee and Monta, and they can't really trade them. The KAT trade with Thibs as coach was kind of weird.
I was reading an article about the Big 10 and Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day stating that the Big 10 should have 4 automatic berths in the college football playoffs. And as egregious as that sounds it actually makes sense from a competitive/NIL perspective. I obviously used to love the idea of college athletes getting paid for their services. Honestly though when a program can afford to pay each of their players a hefty sum of money like the Big 10 and SEC programs then it feels like im watching European Club soccer and it has completely wiped away any love ive had for college athletics.
Individual players like that young lady softball pitcher from Texas Tech still pique my interest but I can no longer follow the likes of Arkansas or Arizona looking for an Isaiah Joe over a nico Mannion in the draft 😠 because the shifted balance of power has made college athletics uninteresting as a whole
It's laid bare what has always been the case - it's just a minor league with an inferior product.
New Trump travel ban from several countries… including Republic of the Congo.
Would/could this affect Jonathan Kuminga, and therefore GSW ?
He's from DRC, not Republic of Congo.
Thanks for this info. I was not sure even that there were two Congos.
I still remember when there was a Belgian Congo.
Hope that the situation in both, or any/all are good enough for the people there, and that our USA government will rethink travel bans that hurt entire populations. It is an easy thing to announce and try to implement, but I'd rather see more attempts at intelligence in the countries to determine which individuals actually pose a real threat and should be barred from entry.
The Belgian Congo was a colony that became the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Republic of the Congo and is a much smaller nation to the northwest of the DRC.
I don’t believe it would retroactively revoke a work visa, but it’s a good question.
I saw an unofficial report that there would be exemptions for athletes.
These days it is hard to know what may or may not be actually enforced today, tomorrow, next week, month, year...
I would be a total inconvenience for Jonathan (or anyone) and his family. Travel to and from probably through a 3rd country even if allowed, etc.
Wonderful interview -thanks so much! The approach and insights remind me of Doc Scheppler who is locally famous as Pinewood HS girls coach where he has had (mainly very short) girls over-performing for decades, much of the time in State Championship games, while making the game simple and fun! He also worked with my daughter in high school who had great "linkage" and 3 pt shot; Doc is a wonderfully supportive person and coach. He and Marc are valuable reminders of how much great coaches, teachers and mentors matter.
From earlier today:
- Booker had input on coach decision; Ott was his #1 choice
-" The Suns will work with All-Star forward Kevin Durant and his business partner, Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, on his next landing spot . . . approximately four to six seriously interested teams"
-"Ott was a video coordinator with Michigan State men's basketball program under Tom Izzo from 2008 to 2013."
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45450487/sources-suns-hiring-cavs-assistant-jordan-ott-head-coach
>> Ott was a video coordinator with Michigan State men's basketball program under Tom Izzo from 2008 to 2013
Draymond was drafted as a Senior in 2012, so they likely know each other well. The Sun's new owner is also a former Spartan, and Dray is fond of Booker, IIRC.
While I don't think Steph will let him go, this slightly increases the chances that Dray ends in PHX as part of a trade.
Adam Silver wants USA vs World ASG for 2026.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1l397ns/adam_silver_says_next_years_allstar_game_will/
Jokic lobs to wemby coming off of a Giannis screen!
What will USA do? I have no idea.
Don't forget SGA, Luka....
But don't worry Flagg and Steph will save us.
This play requires height! Post will be chilling in the corner for a wide open kick out 3 🏀
I think the USA can do better than that. We get all of Team USA.
What if the Luka?
If the finals are a sweep, the off-season could start in less than 10 days. At the absolute max, 18 days.
The draft is in exactly 3 weeks. There are a few rumors of fireworks (a KD trade, for example) before that, though, because teams (like the Suns, I assume) want some clarity on their roster before then.
Occasionally Bill Simmons is way out of left field on his trade ideas, but he said one the other day that piqued my interest. KAT for KD. KD goes back to NY and KAT/Booker reunite. DLo could sign as a FA and that trio would finally happen. Might make the Thibs firing make more sense. So that would be my prediction for first major firework.
KAT, Booker, DLo, and Beal? DLo made $18.7M this past season but I have no clue how much he can get in his next deal. Presumably he'd come off the bench with the Suns, so it only makes sense for the Suns if they can get him cheap. They're already spending a fortune for Booker, Beal, and KAT (with that trade), and with DLo added, that's not exactly a defense to fear. Since I have no use for the Suns, sure, let it roll.
Ha, was going to note the same. My first instinct with his fake trades is to roll my eyes, but that was one where I was like, "oh wait, that actually makes sense for both teams and both players."
Yeah, if the Suns don't blow up the roster they've been looking for a star big man since they drafted DOMINAYTON(TM).
If Booker is gone, too, maybe the Suns do the trade anyway, but KAT goes somewhere else.
Suns have hired Jordan Ott as their next HC.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Ott
Then it’s going to be Johnnie Bryant to the Knicks. This league is one big goop of backroom wheeling and dealing.
By the way, I plan to interview Perks on Thursday, so if you have cap / trade / free agency Qs, reply to this comment.
My favorite part of Perks' off-season guides are who he thinks are available at each price range. Who is a pipe dream, who is vaguely possible, and who is actually possible.
It might make some degree of sense showing the maximum dollar options available based on what the Dubs do with JK: signing him to a big deal that takes them past the second apron. Do we still have a BAE or MLE or the TPE? What if we trade him for smaller contracts? What if we renounce him or trade him into an exception?
I’d appreciate an explanation of how we could use the trade exceptions. That stuff always confuses me.
If we trade two Guifii, we get one Chris Chiozza.
I would be grateful for a rundown of which actions trigger hard caps for the team, and at which levels (tax, first apron, second apron).
A specific example: Someone (belilaugh?) floated a trade for Goga Bitadze, using the $8.8M Kyle Anderson TPE. But I heard subsequently, and elsewhere, that using an “old” trade exception (ie. one generated in the previous season) would trigger a first-apron hard cap. Is that true?
It would also be great to get Perks’s take on just how limiting such a cap would be for this team. Maybe some examples of maneuvers that would depend on our being between the first and second aprons?
If we S&T Kuminga to a team with cap space to gain a trade exception, is it based on his actual salary or the BYC salary?
My biggest question is whether the Warriors have reset the repeater tax or not.
This was fantastic! Reassuring to hear that Podz has such solid fundamentals, and that ankle injuries affect shooting so much (kind of tells me A LOT about JK's problems this past season, following his injury). I know some of you knew this all already, but when it comes to inside basketball, I need a Marc Campbell sometimes.
Does the NBA have a mandate that every team have a round logo?
https://www.nba.com/magic/news/orlando-magic-unveil-new-logo-an-iconic-franchise-symbol-is-the-star-once-again-20250603
I like it actually
Surprise- many aren't!
https://boundtoball.com/2021/07/17/all-30-nba-team-logos/
I read that the goal is for every NBA team to eventually have a round logo.
D-
Yeah that is basic as hell
I don't like the placement of the city name, starting with the "O" at the top like that. It looks drunk. Or maybe you have to be drunk for it to look right.
Thank you to Marc Campbell for taking the time to not only do in-depth analysis on the video, but also to answer questions in the comments!
(and of course to EA also)
Insert “Distracted Boyfriend” meme, with DNHQ as the dude, Eric as the jealous girlfriend, and Marc as the new hot girl in red…
Well... except Eric seems kinda interested in collaborations with Marc... so it's not really so much jealousy...
Threesome?
that escalated quickly
Curious what Marc thinks about the Markelle Fultz situation. Is there some apprehension to working on a shot only to see it completely fall apart? Does he see differences mechanically between his college form, early NBA and his current shot? I tend to think the mental aspect is critical, whether it's thinking more or thinking less, I'm not so sure...
Thank you Marc and EA, this is top quality content.
I would LOVE to pop the hood and see what’s going on with Flutz, dream client.
His kinetic linking is bad when it comes to shooting, but it's very good when it comes to almost everything else on the court. He's always been fascinating to me.
As long as his ankles, hips, and shoulders are functional… there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to shoot.
Great question
Listening to this fantastic interview made me think of a question I wish had been asked.
How much of shooting improvement can derived not from shooting mechanics but from the transition process from footwork to shooting motion to release?
Question, how would yall react to a Kuminga (30 milli contract) trade for Vucevic/Lonzo?
I'd be annoyed tbh. If this is the best offer and the Ws pull on it, that means JK hasn't developed enough to be worth that contract. I personally think there's a good chance something crazy happens btwn now and December, and just hope it's JJJ or Desmond to the Warriors because they're sick of being yelled at in Finish
I want no part of 35 y.o. Vooch (would rather have Post straight up) so I would react angrily.
Could you explain why you’d prefer Post straight up?
Vucevic scored 11 more points per game, 3 more point per 36, roughly 2% more TS efficient, 5% superior rebounding %, 5% superior assist %, 4 percentile superior crafted DPM, 26 percentile superior crafted OPM. And Vucevic is able to do all that while being the focus of the opposing defenses attention/gameplan.
As for why I’d like Vucevic, I think his combination of shooting (spacing for Draymond), ability to score/pass out of the post would fit perfectly in our offense. His poor defense is a problem, but our defense is otherwise great so I think we’d be able to minimize that negative impact.
Whether I’d personally like this trade is dependent on how much Lonzo returns to his previous form.
I wouldn't like it because, even if Vooch is the superior player at the moment, I think Post can be better, and given his late entry age into the draft, he needs every minute on the floor he can get. Vooch would block his development.
And, I'm not sure Post isn't a better defender right now.
Plus, on the other end of it, I still think JK can be a good player.
Doubt Post has that much development in his future, he’s pretty old for a prospect.
Also don’t understand the idea that Post/Vucevic is an either/or, neither guy is playing enough to block the other.
> neither guy is playing enough to block the other.
I think this may end up not being true, sooner, rather than later.
Post brings both size and shooting. I've read multiple things online that suggest the Dubs want to play bigger.
Post looked like the better player when we played them.
At 35 years old, you kinda know what you're gonna get with Vuc... and that's a guy with serious playoff deficiencies. At least with Post, you can convince yourself that maybe he'll become better in his 2nd year in the pros...
That's the optimistic view of Vuc. Another view is that at 35, he's on the downhill slope, and next season he might not give you as much as when he was 34.
I didn't think my view was optimistic, haha... and I, personally, think you're definitely gonna get some decline from a 35 year old (Steph & LeBron notwithstanding).
The optimistic part is thinking you know what you're gonna get.
JK will assuredly be a Base Year Contract guy, with the Warriors only able to count that $30M outgoing contract as $15M for salary matching. So you've got to do a bunch more work to get to Vucevic/Ball coming to the Warriors... something like two trades:
1. JK (S&T) for Ball
2. Moody + Hield for Vucevic
Question for the cap wizards: does JK’s trade exception count for his total salary or BYC if traded into cap space e.g. we S&T him to Brooklyn for 2 picks
I was under the impression that this rule of counting only half of the outgoing salary only applies to sign and trades.
However, if we sign Kuminga and wait till I believe the Dec. 15 deadline, then we’d be able to trade him at his full salaries worth (hence the Kuminga for Vucevic/Ball trade)
Oh, sure, if we wait till 12/15, then it's an option. But... are we really going to sign JK to $30M for this purpose? I doubt that will make sense... better to sign JK to a more market rate deal and see what happens.
Trade 1 I think could make sense as a Celebrini special
Lonzo would bring them a lot: connective playmaking, solid shooting, defense, size to play with Steph but also can run some point without him
don't think I'd go for Trade 2
Two deals neither of which I'd do. I like Ball but that injury history is scary. And I'm not convinced Vuc at almost 35 years old is that much of an upgrade nowadays, plus we need more shooting, not less.
I don't like either... I thought that would be obvious, but maybe not to some?
I took it as neutral: "If you want to go after Ball and Vuc, here's what it could look like." At any rate, we agree.
Sure but would u do the Kuminga for Vucevic/Ball trade. Keep in mind that Vuc has shot 36% from three on roughly 3.5 attempts per game (and shot 40% from deep last year).
My understanding is that this rule of counting only half of the outgoing salary only applies to sign and trades.
However, if we sign Kuminga and wait till I believe the Dec. 15 deadline, then we’d be able to trade him at his full salaries worth
No. I don't want Vuc at all for the reasons already discussed. I think Post will be as good on offense very soon and is already better defensively, while Vuc will be fading. As for Ball, if Dr Celebrini were convinced that Ball is fully healthy, I'd be interested. Otherwise not.
Could do it as a december trade tbf
Yep that’s what I was thinking.
Thibs is gone. Not sure if they have someone lined up already.
Damn, what a cold cold (maybe dumb) league. Mike Brown and Thibs get two crummy franchises to their highest heights and get canned when expectations outgrow reality.
It's the Warriors' fault in some way - everyone looking for the next Jackson to Kerr upgrade.
True. On the other hand, Thibs tends to wear out his starters and his welcome. That said, in this playoffs there were times when he did use his bench. That was out of character.
Oh yeah, no question that is Thibs’s main weakness. But the odds are low (not zero but low) that the next coach is an improvement.
Relevant:
Steph Noh @stephnoh.bsky.social:
[[
Here's how Thibs' teams did the year after firing him.
-Bulls: Went from 50-32 under Thibs to 42-40 with mostly the same roster
-Wolves: Fired Thibs after a 19-21 start, went 17-25 the rest of the year and 19-45 the following year (after trading Jimmy Butler)
]]
I did not expect Thibs to get fired, and I agree that was an odd thing to do when he took them all the way to a 3 seed and the ECF, plus 4 playoff appearances in 5 years, after years of scuffling. He still has a couple of seasons left on his contract, too, so the Knicks will pay for the privilege of dumping him.
However, I don't much care for the Knicks, and I'm not a Thibs fan. I was happy to see Indy advance. If the Knicks sink into the depths, it's fine with me.
Mike Malone would be a good option. Obviously KAT isn't anywhere near Jokic's level but I feel like the Knicks have a roster that can replicate the success of the Nuggets especially if they can be less Brunson dependent
Yeah, this might be a Jackson/Kerr moment for them. Although they basically have super versions of both David Lee and Monta, and they can't really trade them. The KAT trade with Thibs as coach was kind of weird.
I had the same thought.
If I hire Marc, I could play in the NBA and make 6% of my 3-point attempts!
I think I could make 11%, but that's probably wishful thinking.