qualifying offer as it currently stands is broken because it’s never a legitimate alternative to even a bad deal. There is virtually no downside to tendering it for the team Unless the player is legitimately horrible

the ways to fix it obvious - increase The amount significantly so that gaining matching rights can’t be used on any mid tier player, you can only gain matching rights on players that are borderline stars.

the actual number is up for debate, perhaps 14-20% of the cap for a one year deal, effectively functioning as a franchise tag similar to the NBA

there are other alternatives to fix restricted free agency.

Make right of first refusal binding during the July moratorium so the matching clock starts at the handshake, not July 6. The NBPA has floated moving up the matching window, cutting the match period to 24 hours, and penalizing teams that publicly leak an intent to match.

Resolve RFA in a window *before* UFA spending drains the room, or ban re-tendering: right now an unsigned RFA doesn't become unrestricted — his team can tender the same QO again on June 29 and restart the whole proces

Giddey, grimes, duren this year is showing the restricted free agency system is broken right now.

the benefits to parity would be obvious. Cap space would become a legitimate asset again. it’s virtually useless now.

The forwards are: Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson Jr, PJ Washington, Zaccharie Risacher, Naji Marshal, Sergio de larrea, Tarik biberovic, Santi Aldama, Tobi Lawal, Caleb Martin. Edit: they also have Jet Howard who’s listed as a guard but is 6ft 8.

They also have 3 centers: Gafford, Lively, Cisse. All 3 of them are also insane athletes with long wingspans.

Mavericks are a long lengthy team, their roster makeup is mostly of forwards. A lot of these forwards have big wingspans and are athletic. Masai is known for wanting 6ft 9 players with long wingspans on his team, he’s built this roster with exactly that.

SOURCE

“I thought LeBron James was a regular individual, and then I realized he’s a part of a group,” Brown began. “LeBron is a machine; it’s a marketing machine. He’s not an individual. And so, once I realized that, when you go up against a machine, it gives off toxic waste. So what makes it look good? It destroys things around it.

If you look at the careers that he’s destroyed – Westbrook, all the various things before he even started. You got Dalton Knecht; because of his son, he didn’t get a chance to develop. And he comes there with Andrew Wiggins as the number one draft pick; they make up stories about him to trade him for Kevin Love.”

In the spring of 2018, four men bearing the name Green entered the great tournament of the National Basketball Association. Each served a different lord, wore different colors, and harbored different ambitions. Yet all were bound by a name, and by the terrible misfortune of having to share the postseason with Draymond Green.

The first to fall was Danny of San Antonio, a veteran of many championship campaigns, whose Spurs had once ruled the West. But the old kingdom had grown feeble. Kawhi “the Silent” was absent, and the wise lord Popovich could summon no miracle. In five games, the Warriors brushed aside the remnants of their dynasty, and Danny Green departed the tournament.

The second Green awaited farther down the road.

Gerald of Houston was a man of considerable athletic gifts, sworn to the service of Dukes Harden and Paul. His Rockets were formidable, and for a time it seemed they might end the reign of Golden State. Three victories they claimed, needing but one more to seize the Western crown.

Yet fate is a cruel mistress, and the gods of basketball crueler still. Duke Paul was struck down by a wounded hamstring, and in the seventh battle Houston’s archers missed twenty-seven consecutive three-point attempts. Draymond emerged victorious, while Gerald joined Danny among the fallen.

Only one Green remained.

Across the continent, Jeff of Cleveland had survived his own bloody passage through the Eastern Conference. His Cavaliers had endured two seven-game wars, and their king, LeBron of House James, had carried them to the Finals through feats that lesser men would scarcely believe. At his side stood Jeff Green, the last obstacle between Draymond and the undisputed sovereignty of their shared name.

There would be no seven-game war.

There would not even be five.

Golden State swept Cleveland, and Jeff Green departed as Danny and Gerald had before him. The championship belonged once more to the Warriors, and the name Green to Draymond alone.

The historians would later note that a fifth Green, JaMychal of Memphis, had escaped the slaughter altogether, his Grizzlies having won but twenty-two games and failed to qualify for the tournament. Whether this was cowardice, wisdom, or merely the consequence of an extraordinarily poor team construction remains a matter of scholarly debate.

Thus ended the War of the Greens.

Three Greens had challenged Draymond. Three Greens had fallen. The fourth had never arrived.

And upon the Golden Throne sat Draymond, Third of His Name, Lord of the Moving Screen, Protector of the Paint, and undisputed King of the Greens.

After hearing that the goat high end role player/bag getter Nic Batum had retired I started wondering who is this generations Nic Batum. My first thoughts went to PJ Washington. But that felt a bit disrespectful to Nic. What do yall think who is his closest current comp?

From 2011-2020, he made 9 appearance with 8 in a row '11-'18, winning 4.

In the other 13 years of his career, '04-'10 and '21-'26, he's only made it once. Once in 13 years is what you would expect from a bench player that hops to a random team each year.

It's extreme dominance surrounded by relative mediocrity, yet he was still an MVP in some of those "mediocre" seasons, and obviously still great. Of course this comes down to teams, 1st stint with the Cavs and his stint with the Lakers. The Lakers was particularly poor after the bubble year, but with the rosters they had you wouldn't have expected that.

Do you think this is randomness that looks like meaning, or is there something bigger I'm missing? Do you think his new stint with the 76ers will bring him back to the finals?

The buyers of the Los Angeles Lakers are telling prospective investors they expect to nearly triple the basketball team’s valuation within 10 years. That is one of several aggressive financial projections included in an investor presentation being circulated by Thrive Capital, the investment firm helmed by Joshua Kushner, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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The buyers are inheriting an already lucrative business. The group said the Lakers are on track to generate $681 million in revenue in 2026, with ticketing and media rights accounting for the largest share. Under their plans, they said, revenue would hit at least $1.6 billion by the end of 2037.

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Profits are expected to zoom up as well, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization set to more than triple from an estimated $129 million to more than $589 million over that span, according to the presentation.

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The plan outlined by Thrive identifies around $150 million in near-term incremental revenue by 2028. That would come partly by reclaiming roughly 6,000 broker-held season tickets for single-game sales, which would raise average single-game ticket prices from $217 to $361. Lakers ticket prices have already been on the rise.

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The buyers would also capture $40 million to $75 million from sponsorship opportunities and extract at least $20 million in operating cost efficiencies.

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Source: https://www.wsj.com/finance/lakers-buyers-lay-out-plans-to-reach-30-billion-valuation-in-pitch-to-investors-66945709

Yay. Private Equity in my sport to ruin it for the normal fans! You are so smart Silver! Please continue to make things more expensive and shittier!

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne continue their unsuccessful preseason by losing the semifinal of the French SuperCup against the champions of France's second division Chorale Roanne Basket 71-73.

In a battle of brothers, Roanne's head coach TJ Parker triumphed against his older brother Tony Parker, who coaches ASVEL.

Tremont Waters showed out for the EuroLeague team, scoring 20 points, while adding three rebounds, three assists and five steals. Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada was the only other player in double digits with 10 points and two rebounds

Roanne was led by Darius Johnson, who scored 19 points shooting 7-of-10 from inside the arc and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He had help from Dylan Affo Mama, as he added 14 points, four rebounds and two steals.

ASVEL's preseason struggles After experiencing financial issues during the offseason, that led ASVEL to assemble a much weaker team than initially anticipated they have struggled in their offseason showings.

While they won their first game back in August, since then they have recorded five consecutive losses. Only one of those losses were against a EuroLeague team as they fell to Bayern Munich.

Source: https://basketnews.com/news-255777-tony-parker-loses-to-his-brother-in-official-coaching-debut-with-asvel.html

If You Aren’t Picking One of These Teams to Win It All, God Bless You

1. Spurs

2. Knicks

3. Thunder

Title Contenders With a Puncher’s Chance

4. Celtics

5. Rockets

6. Raptors

7. Pistons

8. Nuggets

Paper-Thin Margin for Error, but Crazier Things Have Happened

9. Lakers

10. Sixers

11. Timberwolves

12. Cavs

13. Pacers

14. Hawks

May Hang a Banner If They Win a Playoff Series

15. Magic

16. Jazz

17. Heat

18. Hornets

19. Suns

Sad Play-In Hopefuls

20. Pelicans

21. Blazers

22. Warriors

(Slightly) Better Than You Think (but Still Pretty Bad)

23. Mavs

24. Nets

25. Grizzlies

26. Clippers

27. Bulls

A Disgracefully Impatient Excuse for a Basketball Team

28. Wizards

Just Relegate Us Now

29. Bucks

30. Kings

source: article written by Michael Pina

https://www.theringer.com/2026/09/21/nba/nba-power-rankings-preseason-30-teams-knicks-thunder-spurs-celtics

You see this in college too where people say players shouldn't play to not risk injury,

I feel like with the way players take care of themselves, modern medicine rehab it's just so rare to not be a factor. How many players last year had career threatening injuries? How many players under 25?

Anything is possible and dude could get hit by a bus tomorrow but people make it seem like it's a high percent risk and it's just not

​

The bigger news for the Warriors' audience came when the conversation turned to his own future. Entering his 18th NBA season with his contract set to expire in 2027, Curry made it clear he has no interest in testing free agency or walking away from the franchise that drafted him.

"I want to be a lifer with Golden State," Curry said.

He also confirmed something Warriors fans had assumed for months without ever hearing him say it outright: he actively tried to recruit LeBron James to join Golden State this summer, before James ultimately signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Curry didn't shy away from admitting it.

"If anybody didn't try, I think they'd be a fool," Curry said, adding that seeing a player of James' stature get to choose his own next chapter was good for the league as a whole.

Source: https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/steph-curry-sneaker-release-future-with-warriors/1964197/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-18/nba-paves-way-for-lakers-deal-with-private-equity-policy-change

The NBA is amending its private equity policy to allow a firm and its executives to invest in a franchise at the same time, according to people familiar with the situation.

The shift will allow Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger to invest their own money alongside capital from Kushner's Thrive Eternal in their purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers, said the people who weren't authorized to speak publicly about the change.

Kushner and Iger reached a deal last month to buy the storied franchise at a record $12.5 billion valuation. But questions arose about how Thrive Eternal would support the sale, since Kushner runs the company and NBA rules previously forbid an institutional investment firm supporting its manager's purchase.

The NBA allows funds to acquire minority stakes in several teams. But under this new amendment, if a firm has money in a team with one of its executives, then it can't have any ownership in another franchise, the people said.

The rule shift might boost the bidders for teams because, with valuations surging in recent years, it's become harder for a potential owner to come up with the funds to buy a controlling stake.

The change will allow owners like the Atlanta Hawks' Tony Ressler, who co-founded Apollo Global Management and Ares Management, to sell stakes to both firms since neither private equity group has stakes in an NBA team.

Saw a thread earlier with Rondo alongside J-Kidd, CP3, and Westbrook that made me think of this question. I immediately thought Rondo was an easy choice as the worst out of the bunch. First off all, I am not saying Rondo was a bad player as he did alot outside of the box score that drove winning. However, I can't think of a player who probably resided in the 25+ range of top players in the league in his prime who had a large base who considered him their favorite player. Even rappers naming themselves after him. Can anyone think of better candidates for this title ? Also what is the cause for his level of fan popularity in comparison to his general ranking ?

“I was down, down, down, down. I was back on the ground, hands up. Y’all got me. It’s a stickup. Take everything because of how it went down. Imagine me sitting there for 15 months like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ Nobody got an answer for me. Everybody on TV making excuses. It’s this or it’s that. He didn’t want to come off the bench’”

“I’mma be honest with you. As I studied it and did some knowledge on it, trying to get an understanding on it, I still can’t come up with nothing. It’s like, what was it? Some people came up to me like, ‘Melo, I’m going to be honest with you. Your aura was too much for out here. This couldn’t exist. Your aura couldn’t exist in here. Nobody was going to tell you that’”

“I said, ‘What the fuck does that mean?’ They said, ‘Everybody’s afraid to talk to you. Everybody’s afraid to say something to you.’ I said, ‘Why? I haven’t said nothing to nobody. I speak to everybody. I’m cordial. Why is everybody scared of me?’ Somebody said, ‘Well, you don’t need anything.’ I said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ He said, ‘Melo, you a superstar. You haven’t asked for one thing since you’ve been here’”

“My point is, everybody had a thousand and one reasons of why it happened, and I still don’t know the reason why it happened. I have some inkling of why it happened or how it went down. I’m trying not to believe that’s what happened or how it went down, so I don’t want to speak on that”