Mitch Cumsteen

First off, fuck you for making me defend Chris Paul. Second off, here's what the records were of every team Chris Paul joined the year before and after he got there. 2011 Clippers: 32-50 2012 Clippers: 40-26 2017 Rockets: 55-27 2018 Rockets: 65-17 2019 Thunder: 49-33 (They traded PG13 during this offseason) 2020 Thunder: 44-28 2020 Suns: 37-36 2021 Suns: 51-21 2023 Warriors: 44-38 2024 Warriors: 46-36 I think the Warriors stat is useless given context to everything else going on there, but the only time he didn't improve the team was when the Thunder decided to gut their entire roster, and they still were only 4 games worse. People were expecting them to completely bottom out, and they made the playoffs. I hate that sumbitch, but he plays winning basketball. And third off, well, duh. You already know this, but signing Chris Paul to a one year deal isn't about this team making a run this year. It's about instilling a winning culture and mentoring young players. His being healthy for a playoff run isn't going to be the difference in playing for a championship. Even if he plays 82 games and never gets hurt, this team's ceiling is probably the play-in. The west is still brutally deep. The only outright tanker is going to be Portland, potentially Utah, and maybe any other team that still owns its own FRP and gets its star injured and decides to throw in the towel on the season.

It's a slight overpay by OKC, but who the fuck cares when you have that many guys on rookie deals and the 27th lowest payroll in the league. Great signing. That's a filthy team when you add Caruso and Hartenstein to the team with the best record in the west and only lose Giddey who got played off the floor in the playoffs. And I think other than Caruso who is only 30, they are all like 26 and under. And they have the most future draft capital in the league as well. Fuck those guys.

Fucking OKC, man. I don’t know where those next two Clippers picks are going to end up but got dam. That trade would have been a fleecing if it had just been SGA for PG3. I continue to be impressed with Dallas front office moves. Marshall isn’t quite the athletic defender Jones Jr is, but he’s a very solid two way guy who could really blossom with more minutes. The other thing about DJJ is that he’s had health problems that have stunted his career. Those type of guys always seem to work out well when they sign with the Clippers. Fucking OKC, man. The one signing I’m really scratching my head about is Washington with Valencunious. What the fuck? They could accidentally end up winning some games with him and Kuzma. I guess Jordan Poole will put a quick end to that, but it still makes no sense to me.

Look I hate that little fucker. I was reminded by my son last night that the two house rules I gave him a few years back were that he wasn’t allowed to root for Chris Paul or do heroin. But he was a great mentor for SGA when he was at OKC. He was great for Booker and even that bum Ayton at Phoenix. Both those teams started their upward trajectories when he was there. The Spurs have literally no vets on this team to show these guys what it’s like to be a pro and how to win. None. There’s only so much the coaches can do. The learning curve is too great for them to figure it out on their own. You gotta have veteran leadership. You just do. I think this will be fantastic for Castle’s development. This is a big year for Wesley. Even Jones isn’t a finished product. Chris Paul is an annoying, flopping, nut punching, whiny cunt but that State Farm whore has a PhD in point guard. This team was rudderless in crunch time. They lost so many close games that they couldn’t finish because they just didn’t know how. CP may be washed, but he’s going to get them into the right sets. He’s not going to panic. He’s going to get them good possessions at the end of games. It’s going to translate to wins. Don’t get me wrong. I will almost assuredly throw up in my mouth when I see that dickhead in black and silver but I think I’ll get over it the first time he hits Vic for a lob that none of his other teammates could even contemplate.

No that’s the best part. We still get to keep Chris Paul from getting a ring.

Nose officially held. For $11 million and only one year, this is a no brainier. Hoping for Batum next and another shooter.

Failure? Not for the Spurs it wasn’t. There’s still a decent chance that the rest of the east out tanks them but that’s a play in team ceiling if everything breaks right for them. Jesus what a terrible franchise.

Fantastic move by Dallas to get off that money and now being able to sign Derrick Jones Junior while staying under the cap. Grimes can eat up some minutes too. Mavs front office has been killing it over the past year. Grant Williams was a mis-step but they rectified that one.

Is this news to anybody that agents are directing players to teams in the second round? This is how the second round has worked for the past several years. They do it in the first round, too, but the contracts don't leave room for negotiation so it works a little differently with teams making promises in return for players shutting down workouts. In round 2, agents actively work with teams to get their clients into the best possible situations, and teams have different needs vis a vis the salary cap and roster spots, so they negotiate for appropriate terms - two-way deal, guaranteed deal, number of years, etc. It's not talked about how much power agents wield in the NBA. You think it's an accident that all these agents are moving into front office positions around the league? The only reason this is even a story is because of Lebron. And let's face it, if Bronny didn't have a famous father, nobody would know his name and he wouldn't have been drafted. The only reason I can think that the Lakers drafted him is for an ego trip. They could have just as easily signed him as an undrafted free agent after scaring every other team off with that Australia threat. Why burn the pick at all? This whole thing is weird ego-driven publicity stunt.

Nunez is fun but this front office is addicted to guys who can’t shoot.

I think they got the best player in this cruddy draft in Castle. I actually like the Dillingham trade. He’s an exciting player but he’s going to get targeted endlessly in a playoff series. There will be moments of buyer’s remorse watching him but if you look at the Sochan experiment and now Castle, you can see where this roster building is going - they want to put long switchable wings on the perimeter and let Wemby clean everything else up. Dillingham does not fit with that vision at all. And the other options at 8 really didn’t move the needle either. I know it’s not sexy for now, but they are going to choke people out, as long as they don’t choke themselves out from three first. As far as the picks go, that’s an absolute haul for the 8th pick in this mediocre draft. Ant will probably be playing for the lakers by then. Look at it like this - they turned a stiff in Poeltl into an unprotected first and a swap that’s only first pick protected. It’s insane value. They can either repackage it in the near future or they will have killer draft capital when they are carrying a huge cap number down the road. This team isn’t owned by Steve Ballmer or the vc bros in San Francisco. This is a small market franchise. They are going to have to work the cba rules like a mother to remain competitive when Wemby is the highest paid player in the league. For the win now crowd, it also opens up more cap space and a roster spot for vets this year. This was good business all the way around. That was a great night for the Spurs.

I think his deal becomes guaranteed if they trade him. I’m not sure where I heard that but I reasonably believe that is accurate.

They really threw the nets a life buoy. I really don’t think they had any avenue to make the playoffs this year and 2025 draft should be loaded. It does make sense that they push the timeline back a few years but you just never know what those Phoenix picks are going to look like. Don’t me wrong, betting on the suns to suck with Isiah pulling the strings being the scenes is a fantastic play, but that’s a big give.

Yeah, his shooting is terrifying especially with how horrible the rest of the team shoots. But his stroke doesn’t look fundamentally broken to me and he does everything else at an elite level. He’s got a lot more in his bag offensively than he showed at UConn. I watched his high school tape and I think he’s going to be really good in the midrange, creating his own shot. I do believe the three point shot will come for him. His shooting got better as the season went on. Carter at 4 seems like a reach but who isn’t a reach in this draft? Odds are he’s still there at 8 but who knows how this thing shuffles out. He’s also got some questions about his shooting but I love the tenacity that he plays with. I do like Knecht too but drafting two of the oldest dudes in this draft doesn’t seem like the spurs mo. They have to take at least one upside swing with those two picks.

Draft day. I’m hoping for Castle at 4 and either Carter, Knecht or Williams at 8. Preparing myself to be pissed if they end up with Salaun. I think we’re going to see some wacky shit tonight regardless. Not necessary with the Spurs but this draft board is so loose that there should be a ton of movement. Should be fun. GSG

Gotta hand it to the nets. They looked dead in the water as a franchise and now they have a real path forward for the rebuild. Unbelievable reclamation project. Did they not get either of the Knicks frp this year? I’m a little surprised Houston agreed to give up the nets 2025 pick. That one was for sure going to be in the lottery and the 2025 draft is tasty.

Jordan was a great defensive player. But he was never even the best defensive player on his own team much less in the entire league. Pippen was better and always guarded the other teams best player.

Going to have to break out the narcan tonight boys.

It just means more.

If that motherfucker recruited better at dline, he'd still have job.

I caught it yesterday afternoon at the Alamo. It was fine but I think it left a lot of meat on the bone. One thing that threw me off was that they had a brief interview with Jeff Nichols before the movie where he talks about his influences and specifically Goodfellas. And that he was essentially trying to make Goodfellas for bikers, where he focuses on world building and less on plot, and then watches it fall apart. Knowing that kinda screwed with me, so it felt contrived and derivative. I may have thought that way regardless. I also think he tried to stay true to the source material, and maybe he shouldn't have. There was probably a better story in there than got told and there was probably a better way to tell it.

I don't know that Toronto had much of a choice. They just hit the reset button on their roster and he's the only real asset they have left. Depending on what they do with Quickley, they should have a good amount of cap space moving forward.

I don’t believe those spurs rumors for one hot second. First off they don’t telegraph shit over there. But if they want to move some future seconds to move around then fine. They aren’t giving up 8 to move up a couple of spots in this flat, bad draft. It would be malpractice.