2026 NBA Season

[LogitechMouse]

The trade I'm surprised of the most now is LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves and Naz Reid to Hornets... The reason is that Hornets has given up on their star player really easily.

They had a great rise in a part of the season the last time. Why would they want to make such change all of a sudden? This is a big risk to take for them if they want to play bigger in the future. 

The team hasn't been in the playoffs ever since he became their main guy, and another one is that Ball don't take playing ball that seriously just like other players out there. I think these are just 2 reasons as to why they traded him.

Maybe for the Hornets management, they see their future to be better with Miller and Knueppel being their main guy instead of Ball hence, the trade happened. I don't know who won on this trade TBH because we don't know if the chemistry between Edwards and Ball will be that good that they can compete with the likes of OKC and SAS already. I think one reason as to why the Hornets traded him is his current contract because he's being paid more than $40M in the next 3 years which for the Hornets would not be worth it especially if they didn't even clinch the playoffs in his 6-year stint with Charlotte.

The fans are disappointed with it but for me, I think this is a great move by the Hornets. If they want to be a better team, they need to make changes... and I mean big changes and this is one of them. They just need to make the team better now.

[livingfree]

This is a bad trade for them.

Stop taking him anymore because they can rebuild the team without having to max contracts on these stars that might be injured later.

Get some better guards out there that has the potential and at least been into the playoffs and finals. Spurs wanting to spend so much money on a problem.

Kawhi per se is a good player especially his defensive capabilities. Assuming he will play most games without injury then I guess he can bring Spurs another chip.

But the main question is how they can acquire him without dismantling their core players.

I will be happy to see Kawhi play back again on Spurs since I love him playing before during Duncan era on Spurs. He and Wemby will be solid defensively.

He's a good one but we've seen how many of them have been injured when they're needed the most.

No doubt that Kawhi is a good one and will definitely contribute a lot to the team alongside with Wemby.

But that's the issue there, it's hard to know if he won't be injured or not during the important games.

[Natalim]

He's a good one but we've seen how many of them have been injured when they're needed the most.

No doubt that Kawhi is a good one and will definitely contribute a lot to the team alongside with Wemby.
But that's the issue there, it's hard to know if he won't be injured or not during the important games.

Even before Kawhi won a championship in Toronto, he was already injury prone, but they were able to manage his minutes and he avoided major injury. So maybe the Spurs could do the same and manage his playing time. Even without him, I think the Spurs can still be one of the top teams in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, that is when Kawhi can be used more effectively, because he is really good in that stage.

So I think it can work, as long as what I mentioned will be considered.

[passwordnow]

The trade I'm surprised of the most now is LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves and Naz Reid to Hornets... The reason is that Hornets has given up on their star player really easily.

They had a great rise in a part of the season the last time. Why would they want to make such change all of a sudden? This is a big risk to take for them if they want to play bigger in the future. 

I guess that the management will build upon Kon and that's why they have to trade and let go of LaMelo from their roster. He's also going to take that much from their contract so, it's a saving for them AFAIK. Naz Reid is a good one and probably thought he'd become a starting 5 for the Wolves but no. I think both teams got what they want and Wolves is a good team to watch but I don't think that they're going to be one of those teams we'd see in the playoffs. Or maybe they'll try to prove me I'm wrong.

[livingfree]

He's a good one but we've seen how many of them have been injured when they're needed the most.

No doubt that Kawhi is a good one and will definitely contribute a lot to the team alongside with Wemby.
But that's the issue there, it's hard to know if he won't be injured or not during the important games.

Even before Kawhi won a championship in Toronto, he was already injury prone, but they were able to manage his minutes and he avoided major injury. So maybe the Spurs could do the same and manage his playing time. Even without him, I think the Spurs can still be one of the top teams in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, that is when Kawhi can be used more effectively, because he is really good in that stage.

So I think it can work, as long as what I mentioned will be considered.

If they can do the same to him and that's what they're planning to do. That's good if they have ways of preserving Kawhi to serious injuries.

But that's sure going to cost them a lot from their young roster. They already have a good one and that might be a reason why they have to onboard an experienced one.

[fullfitlarry]

The team hasn't been in the playoffs ever since he became their main guy, and another one is that Ball don't take playing ball that seriously just like other players out there. I think these are just 2 reasons as to why they traded him.

Maybe for the Hornets management, they see their future to be better with Miller and Knueppel being their main guy instead of Ball hence, the trade happened. I don't know who won on this trade TBH because we don't know if the chemistry between Edwards and Ball will be that good that they can compete with the likes of OKC and SAS already. I think one reason as to why the Hornets traded him is his current contract because he's being paid more than $40M in the next 3 years which for the Hornets would not be worth it especially if they didn't even clinch the playoffs in his 6-year stint with Charlotte.

The fans are disappointed with it but for me, I think this is a great move by the Hornets. If they want to be a better team, they need to make changes... and I mean big changes and this is one of them. They just need to make the team better now.

That could be just a few factors that the Hornets might consider to let go of Ball. Of course it's going to sting, specially for their fans who are very happy that finally, they made the playoff with Ball as their franchise player.

But perhaps the management knows better, maybe they are also seeing longer specially that Ball is prone to injuries. But I'm not sure if Miller can be that man or even Knueppel. They still need more time to developed. But they could be banking on that specially next season with a face, White just resigns with them so obviously they have plans already for him to became their point guard. But there's no one that can replace LaMelo's presence in the court and that's the one the the Wolves have been looking for. They lack a better point guard during their run. Even if they got back Mike Conley which they love, it's not enough for Mike to become the scoring that they want in that position.

[coinrifft]

He's a good one but we've seen how many of them have been injured when they're needed the most.

No doubt that Kawhi is a good one and will definitely contribute a lot to the team alongside with Wemby.
But that's the issue there, it's hard to know if he won't be injured or not during the important games.

Even before Kawhi won a championship in Toronto, he was already injury prone, but they were able to manage his minutes and he avoided major injury. So maybe the Spurs could do the same and manage his playing time. Even without him, I think the Spurs can still be one of the top teams in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, that is when Kawhi can be used more effectively, because he is really good in that stage.

So I think it can work, as long as what I mentioned will be considered.

But you have to consider the age as well, maybe when he go to the Raptors he was still at the peak of his career. At his prime. However, when he moved out and play with the Clippers, that's where all the problem started.

He hadn't had a season where you completed most games as a Clipper. So San Antonio should take that into consideration or even the Raptors themselves as it might not be worth to get Kahwi as this point of his career.

[tech30338]

Leonard do manage his body, he do load management thst is why he always play in playoffs they are sometimes declare he is injured to preserve his body, spurs csn still get something on him, as an experience and a champion player,  the spurs can play without him in regular season.

[Dave1]

Leonard do manage his body, he do load management thst is why he always play in playoffs they are sometimes declare he is injured to preserve his body, spurs csn still get something on him, as an experience and a champion player,  the spurs can play without him in regular season.

It's not the question of load management, it's the question on who is the player that they Spurs are willing to give up just to give Leonard again? For sure the Clippers wants more out of Kahwi so it might include the young core of the Spurs.

So that is a big risk for them, as they have seen they these bunch of young players can give the them a run to the finals. So it that breaks up just to get Kahwi then it will be another reset for them. Plus, if they do load management on him, then they might not get into a better position in the regular season.

[emrecemsan]

The team hasn't been in the playoffs ever since he became their main guy, and another one is that Ball don't take playing ball that seriously just like other players out there. I think these are just 2 reasons as to why they traded him.

Maybe for the Hornets management, they see their future to be better with Miller and Knueppel being their main guy instead of Ball hence, the trade happened. I don't know who won on this trade TBH because we don't know if the chemistry between Edwards and Ball will be that good that they can compete with the likes of OKC and SAS already. I think one reason as to why the Hornets traded him is his current contract because he's being paid more than $40M in the next 3 years which for the Hornets would not be worth it especially if they didn't even clinch the playoffs in his 6-year stint with Charlotte.

The fans are disappointed with it but for me, I think this is a great move by the Hornets. If they want to be a better team, they need to make changes... and I mean big changes and this is one of them. They just need to make the team better now.

That's also a good point of view of course. I didn't remember at first that Hornets really couldn't make it to playoffs in his presence. In terms of that maybe I'll be in the wrong after next season starts.

Knueppel is a very talented shooter. I'd love to see Hornets building a roster around him. He is their future in the end. I just hope to see them doing nice things in playoffs next time. I got really excited when they were on the rise in the final part of regular season. 

[avp2306]

Leonard do manage his body, he do load management thst is why he always play in playoffs they are sometimes declare he is injured to preserve his body, spurs csn still get something on him, as an experience and a champion player,  the spurs can play without him in regular season.

It's not the question of load management, it's the question on who is the player that they Spurs are willing to give up just to give Leonard again? For sure the Clippers wants more out of Kahwi so it might include the young core of the Spurs.

So that is a big risk for them, as they have seen they these bunch of young players can give the them a run to the finals. So it that breaks up just to get Kahwi then it will be another reset for them. Plus, if they do load management on him, then they might not get into a better position in the regular season.

This is the main issue here, because we have seen their young players working good together.

To bad for Spurs if they decide the trade them as early as this since they are risking their future on this possible Kawhi's addition.

I think they are more better now. What they just need is to focus on their team development, we have seen them doing great and what they need is just maturity and experience. If they just follow what Warriors and OKC did which is they retain their young players in next few years Spurs will became more dangerous team.

[tech30338]

Leonard do manage his body, he do load management thst is why he always play in playoffs they are sometimes declare he is injured to preserve his body, spurs csn still get something on him, as an experience and a champion player,  the spurs can play without him in regular season.

It's not the question of load management, it's the question on who is the player that they Spurs are willing to give up just to give Leonard again? For sure the Clippers wants more out of Kahwi so it might include the young core of the Spurs.

So that is a big risk for them, as they have seen they these bunch of young players can give the them a run to the finals. So it that breaks up just to get Kahwi then it will be another reset for them. Plus, if they do load management on him, then they might not get into a better position in the regular season.

This is the main issue here, because we have seen their young players working good together.

To bad for Spurs if they decide the trade them as early as this since they are risking their future on this possible Kawhi's addition.

I think they are more better now. What they just need is to focus on their team development, we have seen them doing great and what they need is just maturity and experience. If they just follow what Warriors and OKC did which is they retain their young players in next few years Spurs will became more dangerous team.

At the end of the day its all come down to business and they have to decide adding leonard will boost their run for the ring, leonard experience and ring protection defense will make the league worry about the spurs more than the knicks, the rotation that the knicks should change also the strategy it will not work next aeason for aure

[stadus]

At the end of the day its all come down to business and they have to decide adding leonard will boost their run for the ring, leonard experience and ring protection defense will make the league worry about the spurs more than the knicks, the rotation that the knicks should change also the strategy it will not work next aeason for aure

That experience was really the thing missing during the Finals. Most of the games the Spurs lost, they lost in the 4th quarter. What does that mean? Simple, they did not have someone they could trust to carry the load because most of them were nervous.

If Leonard was there, there would be someone who could take over in those moments, especially when the game is tight and the pressure is already high.

[Shinpako09]

At the end of the day its all come down to business and they have to decide adding leonard will boost their run for the ring, leonard experience and ring protection defense will make the league worry about the spurs more than the knicks, the rotation that the knicks should change also the strategy it will not work next aeason for aure

That experience was really the thing missing during the Finals. Most of the games the Spurs lost, they lost in the 4th quarter. What does that mean? Simple, they did not have someone they could trust to carry the load because most of them were nervous.

If Leonard was there, there would be someone who could take over in those moments, especially when the game is tight and the pressure is already high.

Agreed. They don't have a veteran who can step up as a leader. Leonard could fill that missing piece with his experience. He's the kind of veteran who can keep the young guys composed and maintain their momentum during crucial moments.

Although he's kind of injury prone, whenever he's on the floor, he will surely contribute on both offense and defense. I'd say he's still worth it. He averaged 27.9 points last season.

But it's still kind of awkward for me. He has been getting booed ever since his controversial departure, but given Kawhi's personality, I don't think he would mind it. I'd take Kawhi over Fox any day.

[tech30338]

At the end of the day its all come down to business and they have to decide adding leonard will boost their run for the ring, leonard experience and ring protection defense will make the league worry about the spurs more than the knicks, the rotation that the knicks should change also the strategy it will not work next aeason for aure

That experience was really the thing missing during the Finals. Most of the games the Spurs lost, they lost in the 4th quarter. What does that mean? Simple, they did not have someone they could trust to carry the load because most of them were nervous.

If Leonard was there, there would be someone who could take over in those moments, especially when the game is tight and the pressure is already high.

Agreed. They don't have a veteran who can step up as a leader. Leonard could fill that missing piece with his experience. He's the kind of veteran who can keep the young guys composed and maintain their momentum during crucial moments.

Although he's kind of injury prone, whenever he's on the floor, he will surely contribute on both offense and defense. I'd say he's still worth it. He averaged 27.9 points last season.

But it's still kind of awkward for me. He has been getting booed ever since his controversial departure, but given Kawhi's personality, I don't think he would mind it. I'd take Kawhi over Fox any day.

Pop depended him and called out the crowd not to boed him, agree with he is the missing link of the spurs run, if they can lure him back and dont play him much in in regular season, they can use him in the playoffs he can defend the best player , he is one of the best and elite defender of the league.

[Sanitough]

Pop depended him and called out the crowd not to boed him, agree with he is the missing link of the spurs run, if they can lure him back and dont play him much in in regular season, they can use him in the playoffs he can defend the best player , he is one of the best and elite defender of the league.

It would be nice to see him retire with the Spurs since he won his first championship with the team.

And I don’t think he will retire without trying to win another championship. He can still play and he is still dangerous on the court, so maybe 2 more rings for him. It is just a pity that the Spurs did not have that veteran presence during their championship run. If CP3 did not retire, he might have been able to help the team, I believe.

Now they should really get a veteran.

[chinhar]

Yeah right, it seems Kawhi is almost out of the picture for Spurs however i don?t see any urgency on rebuilding for Spurs line-up just to acquire one solid piece player like Kawhi.

What they only need is to trade Fox on same value without damaging their original roster so that they can have back up PG if they will promote Harper on starter position.

Spurs acquiring an injury prone player no matter how good he is is not worthy considering how young and versatile all their corr players right now.

Even according to Me, it doesn't make much sense to overhaul their current roster. As for Kawhi, i don't think they'll give in to bringing him back, given his known physical fragility and also because he's approaching 35 and they want to keep a young roster for now. Plus, Fox's new four-year contract extension is about to kick in, and keeping him on the bench wouldn't be ideal because it would lower his value. Their best strategy right now would be to promote Harper along with Castle and bring in a 3-point shooter like Wembanyama.

[Fredomago]

Pop depended him and called out the crowd not to boed him, agree with he is the missing link of the spurs run, if they can lure him back and dont play him much in in regular season, they can use him in the playoffs he can defend the best player , he is one of the best and elite defender of the league.

It would be nice to see him retire with the Spurs since he won his first championship with the team.

And I don’t think he will retire without trying to win another championship. He can still play and he is still dangerous on the court, so maybe 2 more rings for him. It is just a pity that the Spurs did not have that veteran presence during their championship run. If CP3 did not retire, he might have been able to help the team, I believe.

Now they should really get a veteran.

I was in the impression that after CP3 retire and they've got Fox that's a good replacement in terms of maturity but even Fox manage to help reaching the finals but in the crucial moments that maturity that the team needs was unable to provide, and moving back to Kawhi if ever Spurs managed to bring him back since they've got a lots of young stars and the Cap still possible to give him decent offer, he may bring that leasdership if Spurs will manage to give him more minutes of rest in regular season so he can be healthier during playoffs period.

[jaberwock]

The team hasn't been in the playoffs ever since he became their main guy, and another one is that Ball don't take playing ball that seriously just like other players out there. I think these are just 2 reasons as to why they traded him.

Maybe for the Hornets management, they see their future to be better with Miller and Knueppel being their main guy instead of Ball hence, the trade happened. I don't know who won on this trade TBH because we don't know if the chemistry between Edwards and Ball will be that good that they can compete with the likes of OKC and SAS already. I think one reason as to why the Hornets traded him is his current contract because he's being paid more than $40M in the next 3 years which for the Hornets would not be worth it especially if they didn't even clinch the playoffs in his 6-year stint with Charlotte.

The fans are disappointed with it but for me, I think this is a great move by the Hornets. If they want to be a better team, they need to make changes... and I mean big changes and this is one of them. They just need to make the team better now.

That's also a good point of view of course. I didn't remember at first that Hornets really couldn't make it to playoffs in his presence. In terms of that maybe I'll be in the wrong after next season starts.

Knueppel is a very talented shooter. I'd love to see Hornets building a roster around him. He is their future in the end. I just hope to see them doing nice things in playoffs next time. I got really excited when they were on the rise in the final part of regular season. 

I would agree that they can build a team around Knueppel but not as a star, you have to realize that he is a good role player, and you could win a title with him on the roster, like put him on Spurs and they could win the title, Wemby being inside means he can dish out to Knueppel and they could score, so it would work. But that works because spurs have wemby, or put him on OKC and he could still do great because while others are battling to get fouls, he could shoot, but that works because they have SGA.

It does not work for Hornets because they have no stars, that kid is a shooter and he is not even that much of a great defender neither, they need to get someone who would be a star and Hornets doesn't have a star.

[ILuckyGuyI]

There are some fresh speculations like Rockets are likely to make a move for Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Smart soon.

You might have heard of Rockets' intention to make big changes in their roster. They are even prepared to sacrifice important names like KD and Sengun also.

While rebuilding I think especially Kawhi would be a great option.    He is still playing amazingly when he is healthy...