Top NBA GMs in 2023

Euclis20 · Nov 15, 2023

I have a hard time judging the Heat and their front office. On the one hand, 3 ECF in 4 years (and 2 finals appearances) is great. On the other hand, you're a top FA destination that routinely seems to suffer from talent deficits and has to rely on undrafted or scrap heap guys to make major contributions. I'm comfortable calling Spoelstra one of the top 3-4 coaches in the league because of what he does with an undersized and under-pedigreed roster, but I don't see why Reilly and the like get credit for their inability to get better players considering their location and recent success. It's been a decade since Lebron left and the only major free agent they've gotten was a borderline top 10 Jimmy Butler, right? And it seems like they really fumbled things this offseason with Lillard (by not putting their best offer up in time and holding off on other moves because it seemed like Lillard was a foregone conclusion).

I don't know, I go back and forth.

luckiestman · Nov 15, 2023

Euclis20 said:
I have a hard time judging the Heat and their front office. On the one hand, 3 ECF in 4 years (and 2 finals appearances) is great.

There is no other hand.

luckiestman · Nov 15, 2023

Is stone an autocorrect for Presti?

Euclis20 · Nov 15, 2023

luckiestman said:
There is no other hand.

That's a very fair position to have, though it's the same logic that had a lot of people thinking that Belichick was both a HOF level GM and coach, when (especially after this year) it looks like it's more the latter only. I'll just reiterate two points:

-The Heat absolutely bungled the Lillard trade talks. They held off on other moves because they thought they were getting him, and they missed in part because they thought they were just negotiating against themselves. As a result, a title or bust team (whose best player is 34) let two starters walk and replaced them with a 30 year old that spent the last couple years coming off the bench for bad teams. This was a disaster of an offseason for them, to the point where they're hoping it can be salvaged with a low ceiling rookie who turns 23 in February.
-They should be a top 3 FA destination, but every spring we hear about how great they are at getting scrap heap players to contribute. They are great at identifying these diamonds in the rough, but this isn't Indy or Portland or OKC. Their reliance on guys like this is as much a compliment to Spoelstra and the coaching staff as it is an indictment on Riley and the front office and their ability to bring in front line talent. Scrappy can get you far, but championships are won with stars (we're pretty far removed from the title days in Miami when they had Wade, Shaq and Lebron), and Miami just hasn't gotten those guys.

HomeRunBaker · Nov 15, 2023

Rafael Stone has done a fantastic job in Houston. Espeically over the last 12-24 months.

nattysez · Nov 15, 2023

I don't know about Rose. They didn't sell high on Randle and he is shooting 33% from the field thus far. That Fournier deal was an all-time terrible signing and he's still rotting at the end of their bench. The Donte D contract was a little on the rich side as well. NY should be an attractive place to play and they really seem to struggle bringing in top-level guys. I don't think it can just be because of taxes.

jon abbey · Nov 15, 2023

nattysez said:
I don't know about Rose. They didn't sell high on Randle and he is shooting 33% from the field thus far.

How were they supposed to 'sell high' on Randle? His numbers so far this year look a bit worse than they should because 1) Barrett has missed 3 of 10 games and NY doesn't have nearly enough scoring without him, especially in the starting lineup and 2) Thibs refuses to ever give him a game off even though he has said he is still not fully back from his offseason ankle surgery, and he never asks out.

NY should be an attractive place to play and they really seem to struggle bringing in top-level guys. I don't think it can just be because of taxes.

No it's in large part because their owner is one of the biggest douchebags even among the billionaire class, and that is saying something.

Euclis20 · Nov 15, 2023

jon abbey said:
How were they supposed to 'sell high' on Randle? His numbers so far this year look a bit worse than they should because 1) Barrett has missed 3 of 10 games and NY doesn't have nearly enough scoring without him, especially in the starting lineup and 2) Thibs refuses to ever give him a game off even though he has said he is still not fully back from his offseason ankle surgery, and he never asks out.

No it's in large part because their owner is one of the biggest douchebags even among the billionaire class, and that is saying something.

Ownership is a problem, but it's simpler than that, I think - they aren't good enough. They need either some run of success (more than making the playoffs twice in three years) or someone guys want to play with (a player with a chance of being a top 10 guy). Obviously ownership directly or indirectly makes those two things more difficult, but if one of those two things comes to fruition, I think it will be a lot easier.

If you want to place the blame on one person, the best candidate is Thibodeau. He was the runaway winner in the Athletic's anonymous NBA survey for the question "Which coach would you least like to play for?" He got 43% of the vote, Silas was 2nd with 15%. I think that probably matters more than ownership (it was a real great moment this summer when Tracy McGrady, in an interview with Ryen Russillo, flat out said that he tanked his pre-draft interview with the Celtics because he didn't want to play for Rick Pitino).

jon abbey · Nov 15, 2023

Yeah, I'm not a big Thibs fan. He is OK if your team is a borderline playoff team but he still somehow has no concept of how to pace his team over a long season and have them be at their best in the playoffs. Randle played literally every game last year until Adebayo stepped on his ankle late in the season, I just don't think that's prudent.

nattysez · Nov 15, 2023

jon abbey said:
How were they supposed to 'sell high' on Randle? His numbers so far this year look a bit worse than they should because 1) Barrett has missed 3 of 10 games and NY doesn't have nearly enough scoring without him, especially in the starting lineup and 2) Thibs refuses to ever give him a game off even though he has said he is still not fully back from his offseason ankle surgery, and he never asks out.

Trade him this off-season when plenty of teams were looking for bigs or just move him to a team willing to eat his salary? Leon Rose is supposedly a top 10 GM in the NBA and can't figure out how to trade an All-Star power forward in his 20s?

jon abbey · Nov 15, 2023

nattysez said:
Trade him this off-season when plenty of teams were looking for bigs or just move him to a team willing to eat his salary? Leon Rose is supposedly a top 10 GM in the NBA and can't figure out how to trade an All-Star power forward in his 20s?

He's not a guy you just give away though, obviously they could have done that. If your argument is that they'd be better without him, that's just not correct and that certainly isn't 'selling high' (maybe selling while high, heh).

So much of the NBA just boils down to 'do you have a top 5 player or not?'. If you do, everything else is much easier. If you don't, it's close to impossible.

Pablo's TB Lover · Nov 15, 2023

Euclis20 said:
That's a very fair position to have, though it's the same logic that had a lot of people thinking that Belichick was both a HOF level GM and coach, when (especially after this year) it looks like it's more the latter only. I'll just reiterate two points:

-The Heat absolutely bungled the Lillard trade talks. They held off on other moves because they thought they were getting him, and they missed in part because they thought they were just negotiating against themselves. As a result, a title or bust team (whose best player is 34) let two starters walk and replaced them with a 30 year old that spent the last couple years coming off the bench for bad teams. This was a disaster of an offseason for them, to the point where they're hoping it can be salvaged with a low ceiling rookie who turns 23 in February.
-They should be a top 3 FA destination, but every spring we hear about how great they are at getting scrap heap players to contribute. They are great at identifying these diamonds in the rough, but this isn't Indy or Portland or OKC. Their reliance on guys like this is as much a compliment to Spoelstra and the coaching staff as it is an indictment on Riley and the front office and their ability to bring in front line talent. Scrappy can get you far, but championships are won with stars (we're pretty far removed from the title days in Miami when they had Wade, Shaq and Lebron), and Miami just hasn't gotten those guys.

Yes I definitely can cosign this take. After the Shaq then Big 3 eras, there was a whole lot of pearl clutching about how in the world can cold-weather cities like Boston and mid-market teams elsewhere compete with Miami for free agents going forward. That said, I wonder how much of the strategy is driven deliberately by what Spo wants in his players...Dame seems a very "un-Spoelstra" player.

Was (Not Wasdin) · Nov 16, 2023

HomeRunBaker said:
Rafael Stone has done a fantastic job in Houston. Espeically over the last 12-24 months.

Agreed, and his best move might be hiring Ime. Houston was one of the worst teams in the league defensively last year, this year they are fourth.

HomeRunBaker · Nov 16, 2023

Was (Not Wasdin) said:
Agreed, and his best move might be hiring Ime. Houston was one of the worst teams in the league defensively last year, this year they are fourth.

Ime's a factor in the defense for sure as of course was Stone's hire but the personnel upgrade on that side of the ball was enormous this summer too. Dillon Brooks literally replaced the clueless Kevin Porter which alone changes the defensive culture and FVV is a great stabilizer.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

jon abbey said:
He's not a guy you just give away though, obviously they could have done that. If your argument is that they'd be better without him, that's just not correct and that certainly isn't 'selling high' (maybe selling while high, heh).

So much of the NBA just boils down to 'do you have a top 5 player or not?'. If you do, everything else is much easier. If you don't, it's close to impossible.

I like the NY Knicks as a top 4 EC team this year (3rd best Net diff). They have unfortunately played the best team in the NBA twice already

.

1. They have drafted well (Quickly/Quentin/Sims/McBride)
2. Very good value signings with Hartenstein & DiVincenzo
3. Nice trade/extending Josh Hart
4. Cut bait on Cam Reddish
5. Have added/retained Draft assets

Their two biggest recent GM whiffs have been over-drafting Obi (instead of Haliburton) and signing Fournier (last gtd year). Maybe they use Fournier as filler in a bigger move?

They should be circling the Bulls' carcass and make a move for Caruso since he fits in with their defense-first culture.

Leon Rose & Co are definitely TOP10 with what they inherited and subsequently done.

cheech13 · Nov 16, 2023

A top 10 list that doesn’t include Morey, Connelly or Ainge doesn’t seem right. To me that’s overrating the impact of their less favorably reviewed deals and not properly appreciating the things they consistently do well.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

cheech13 said:
A top 10 list that doesn’t include Morey, Connelly or Ainge doesn’t seem right. To me that’s overrating the impact of their less favorably reviewed deals and not properly appreciating the things they consistently do well.

Thats fair. I still have a tough time swallowing Connelly's Gobert overpay, but re-signing McDaniels/Naz, adding Conley + Slow-Mo have been nice moves.

Hate to admit it but Morey has done an excellent job extracting himself from Simmons/Harden while adding Maxey & Melton. They are set up to add a MAX player (while unloading Harris) and a big 3 of Embiid, Maxey, Alpha WING will be interesting

Utah's slow start this year shouldn't overshadow the work Danny has done. Both Gobert & Mitchell deals were home runs.

Cronin should get some Honorable mention votes, navigating the Dame situation. Hope they can add some assets by moving Malcolm before he breaks down (ala TimeLord)

lovegtm · Nov 16, 2023

Morey definitely looks a lot better due to
- Ben Simmons falling apart physically and mentally
- Maxey breaking out

The end of his Houston tenure was rough: the Westbrook deal, in particular, was one of the worst principal-agent conflicts I can remember for a GM vs his franchise.

But be that as it may, he has Philly set up decently now, particularly if LAC ages out poorly, as seems very possible by 2028. (it would get priced in earlier, giving those draft asseta value in advance)

wade boggs chicken dinner · Nov 16, 2023

benhogan said:
Thats fair. I still have a tough time swallowing Connelly's Gobert overpay, but re-signing McDaniels/Naz, adding Conley + Slow-Mo have been nice moves.

Maybe I listen to too much LowePost but Lowe pointed out (correctly I think) that the Gorbert trade is as much a bet on Gorbert as a bet on AntE. Which it looks like Connelly would win.

Also, didn't Connelly basically build the DEN championship team? Unless I have that wrong, he should get at least consideration.

If I had a sportsbook account, I'd lay $100 on MIN winning conference finals (looks like +1400 odds).

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

wade boggs chicken dinner said:
Maybe I listen to too much LowePost but Lowe pointed out (correctly I think) that the Gorbert trade is as much a bet on Gorbert as a bet on AntE. Which it looks like Connelly would win.

Also, didn't Connelly basically build the DEN championship team? Unless I have that wrong, he should get at least consideration.

If I had a sportsbook account, I'd lay $100 on MIN winning conference finals (looks like +1400 odds).

That's cool I like Lowe & those odds are great. BUT Ant would have developed with or without the hideous Gobert overpay.

It's not like Gobert had a massive impact on his 2000+ minutes last season (if you believe On-Off & +/-)

I can't help but look at the cost of acquisition for Gobert (another BIG) when you have KAT, Slo-Mo, and Naz Reid.

If we are comparing GM's deal-making skills, shouldn't we examine the KP vs Gobert deals? Brad crushes Connelly there

lovegtm · Nov 16, 2023

benhogan said:
That's cool I like Lowe & those odds are great. BUT Ant would have developed with or without the hideous Gobert overpay.

It's not like Gobert had a massive impact on his 2000+ minutes last season (if you believe On-Off & +/-)

I can't help but look at the cost of acquisition for Gobert (another BIG) when you have KAT, Slo-Mo, and Naz Reid.

If we are comparing GM's deal-making skills, shouldn't we look at comparing the KP vs Gobert deals?

For the last time, KP WAS BASICALLY A SIGN AND TRADE. It does not make sense to compare his return to trades for guys with years on their deal.

That said, Gobert is the type of guy Brad gets for two late 1sts.

Devizier · Nov 16, 2023

benhogan said:
That's cool I like Lowe & those odds are great. BUT Ant would have developed with or without the hideous Gobert overpay.

It's not like Gobert had a massive impact on his 2000+ minutes last season (if you believe On-Off & +/-)

Its a tough call for me, because Gobert is kind of critical for the Wolves’ current identity as a team of defensive stoppers. If you asked me a month ago, I’d be one hundred percent in agreement though.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

lovegtm said:
For the last time, KP WAS BASICALLY A SIGN AND TRADE. It does not make sense to compare his return to trades for guys with years on their deal.

That said, Gobert is the type of guy Brad gets for two late 1sts.

The Wizards were going into full rebuild with the firing of Tommy Sheppard in April'23.

KP's contract was expiring and the entire NBA knew he didn't want to re-sign with the Wizards.

Unless KP said "Boston is the only city I'm playing for" (which I doubt) why on earth would Brad not get huge CREDIT for that deal?

lovegtm · Nov 16, 2023

benhogan said:
The Wizards were going into full rebuild with the firing of Tommy Sheppard in April'23.

KP's contract was expiring and the entire NBA knew he didn't want to re-sign with the Wizards.

Unless KP said "Boston is the only city I'm playing for" (which I doubt) why on earth would Brad not get huge CREDIT for that deal?

Because KP didn't have to pick up his 2023-24 option. He picked it up specifically because he would be going to Boston.

He had other places lined up to give him more money if Boston didn't work out, but there wasn't another S&T he wanted.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

lovegtm said:
Because KP didn't have to pick up his 2023-24 option. He picked it up specifically because he would be going to Boston.

and if Miami, GS, Lakers, Clippers, etc had shown interest I'm sure he would have picked up his option to go to those cities.

cheech13 · Nov 16, 2023

Nothing against KP but he’s never been considered to be on Gobert’s level and so while I understand that the relative cost was far, far less, it’s a big difference between taking a flyer on a potential stud who will be your fifth best player versus a guy who is supposed to transform your entire defensive identity.

Minnesota vastly overpaid for Gobert but I’m also not sure they’d be a potential top five team in the NBA without him. That matters when you are trying to take a historically terrible franchise and transform them into something different.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

cheech13 said:
taking a flyer on a potential stud who will be your fifth best player .

Thank you. That was exactly the NBAs perception of KP before coming to Boston.

wade boggs chicken dinner · Nov 16, 2023

benhogan said:
That's cool I like Lowe & those odds are great. BUT Ant would have developed with or without the hideous Gobert overpay.

It's not like Gobert had a massive impact on his 2000+ minutes last season (if you believe On-Off & +/-)

I can't help but look at the cost of acquisition for Gobert (another BIG) when you have KAT, Slo-Mo, and Naz Reid.

If we are comparing GM's deal-making skills, shouldn't we examine the KP vs Gobert deals? Brad crushes Connelly there

I believe Gorbert was hurt last year. He's a pretty big impact thus far this year.

I think Connelly recognized that he had a stud wing and had a big man who didn't want to play center. He also had McDaniels, who was a perimeter stopper. Given that, he went all-in on the one available guy who could move KAT to center and didn't need to have the ball in his hands to be impactful.

The real issue for MIN is what are they going to do when McDaniel's extension kicks in as this team will be super expensive. If Connelly ends up trading KAT for assets, he'll recoup what he sent out and then some I would guess and maybe people won't be screaming at the Gorbert trade.

Eddie Jurak · Nov 16, 2023

Is "Gorbert" a nickname or just a misspelling?

Auger34 · Nov 16, 2023

wade boggs chicken dinner said:
Maybe I listen to too much LowePost but Lowe pointed out (correctly I think) that the Gorbert trade is as much a bet on Gorbert as a bet on AntE. Which it looks like Connelly would win.

Also, didn't Connelly basically build the DEN championship team? Unless I have that wrong, he should get at least consideration.

If I had a sportsbook account, I'd lay $100 on MIN winning conference finals (looks like +1400 odds).

Connelly did build the Nuggets. He acquired the mainstays of the team (Jokic, Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon and Murray)...and his drafting of Monte Morris allowed Booth to trade for KCP.

I think Calvin Booth is a good GM and he gets credit for the Bruce Brown move and drafting Christian Braun/Jalen Pickett/Strawther but I think it's pretty premature to have him as the best GM in the NBA.

IMO, the two clear best GMs are Stevens and Presti. Stevens inherited a great situation but I'd argue he's done more to build that situation up than Booth has.

Auger34 · Nov 16, 2023

Eddie Jurak said:
Is "Gorbert" a nickname or just a misspelling?

Isn't Gorbert a TJ Miller character where he dresses up as an alien and interviews people?

wade boggs chicken dinner · Nov 16, 2023

Eddie Jurak said:
Is "Gorbert" a nickname or just a misspelling?

A nervous tic.

cheech13 · Nov 16, 2023

I just don’t get the Presti love. I fully admit that he “wins” the vast majority of his trades in terms of perceived value, and he has drafted very well, but outside of the one Finals appearance with three generational talents, his actual teams haven’t really been that great. In 17 years as an Exec his teams have a 54% winning percentage. In the same number of season Morey has been at 62%. To me Presti gets a lot of credit for what his teams could theoretically be if he cashed in his assets, but not enough criticism for how subpar a lot of his actual roster construction has been.

Auger34 · Nov 16, 2023

cheech13 said:
I just don’t get the Presti love. I fully admit that he “wins” the vast majority of his trades in terms of perceived value, and he has drafted very well, but outside of the one Finals appearance with three generational talents, his actual teams haven’t really been that great. In 17 years as an Exec his teams have a 54% winning percentage. In the same number of season Morey has been at 62%. To me Presti gets a lot of credit for what his teams could theoretically be if he cashed in his assets, but not enough criticism for how subpar a lot of his actual roster construction has been.

That ignores some of the (very real) limitations that he has.

Players don't want to play in OKC. It's basically the opposite of a destination. Their owner is cheap and doesn't want to pay the luxury tax.

I think he botched the Harden trade. I thought that at the time and it's been proven right. However, how he's built the team back up after KD left has been masterful. He was able to turn a declining Westbrook and Paul George into SGA and every pick imaginable.

Getting picks to take on large contracts that no one wants then rehabilitating their value so it's positive again and getting even more assets out of it is pretty brilliant too (CP3 and Horford).

I get that he hasn't won but I think he deserves a ton of credit for building up a culture where they bottomed out but also remained competitive every night and still taught players the right way to play. (I think there's a very valid counter argument that this culture was allowed to be built and thrive because they are in a small market that people don't really care about but still)

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

wade boggs chicken dinner said:
I believe Gorbert was hurt last year. He's a pretty big impact thus far this year.

I think Connelly recognized that he had a stud wing and had a big man who didn't want to play center. He also had McDaniels, who was a perimeter stopper. Given that, he went all-in on the one available guy who could move KAT to center and didn't need to have the ball in his hands to be impactful.

The real issue for MIN is what are they going to do when McDaniel's extension kicks in as this team will be super expensive. If Connelly ends up trading KAT for assets, he'll recoup what he sent out and then some I would guess and maybe people won't be screaming at the Gorbert trade.

They were 8-4 when he didn't play last season and I don't want to read too much into 1 season of +/- or On-Off but his tiff with Slo Mo during the play-in game was sublime.

This is a TOP GMs thread and I was comparing the work Connolly did vs the work Brad/Zarren did in acquiring KP (which meant trading the heart & soul of the C's after the Brogdon deal got DKd & negotiating with several teams at once).

I don't buy that Gobert has any effect on Ant, & believe he's universally disliked in the NBA. It's a really bad deal in my book, regardless of his big impact over 11-games this season of #1 defense (just joking

).

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Nov 16, 2023

tbb345 said:
That ignores some of the (very real) limitations that he has.

Players don't want to play in OKC. It's basically the opposite of a destination. Their owner is cheap and doesn't want to pay the luxury tax.

I think he botched the Harden trade. I thought that at the time and it's been proven right. However, how he's built the team back up after KD left has been masterful. He was able to turn a declining Westbrook and Paul George into SGA and every pick imaginable.

Getting picks to take on large contracts that no one wants then rehabilitating their value so it's positive again and getting even more assets out of it is pretty brilliant too (CP3 and Horford).

I get that he hasn't won but I think he deserves a ton of credit for building up a culture where they bottomed out but also remained competitive every night and still taught players the right way to play. (I think there's a very valid counter argument that this culture was allowed to be built and thrive because they are in a small market that people don't really care about but still)

This tracks for me though the owner being cheap is the biggest driver for me.

They now have a really competitive core and they should be in the market for a superstar given all of their assets. It will be telling in terms of whether they do that or simply try to compete with what they already have. The latter approach won't necessarily validate Presti but it will certainly raise questions about the franchise's desire to compete.

HomeRunBaker · Nov 16, 2023

cheech13 said:
A top 10 list that doesn’t include Morey, Connelly or Ainge doesn’t seem right. To me that’s overrating the impact of their less favorably reviewed deals and not properly appreciating the things they consistently do well.

Ainge isn't a GM and I'd argue was outside of the Top-10 his final two years in Boston prior to "retiring" when he couldn't get deals done.

cheech13 said:
I just don’t get the Presti love. I fully admit that he “wins” the vast majority of his trades in terms of perceived value, and he has drafted very well, but outside of the one Finals appearance with three generational talents, his actual teams haven’t really been that great. In 17 years as an Exec his teams have a 54% winning percentage. In the same number of season Morey has been at 62%. To me Presti gets a lot of credit for what his teams could theoretically be if he cashed in his assets, but not enough criticism for how subpar a lot of his actual roster construction has been.

I dunno man. That was not a quick rebuild situation without a franchise #1 pick or a FA destination. He took that organization from nothing to being on the cusp of contending with then taking a potential leap into that group beneath Denver this year in the West.

benhogan · Nov 16, 2023

HomeRunBaker said:
Ainge isn't a GM and I'd argue was outside of the Top-10 his final two years in Boston prior to "retiring" when he couldn't get deals done.

Agreed. Ainge had a terrible run over his last few seasons in Boston, and I bet Danny would be the first to admit that.

His bad decision-making ERA ran from Feb 2019 (trade deadline) to June 2021 (retirement).
Before that he was easily a TOP10 NBA Executive

lovegtm · Nov 17, 2023

HomeRunBaker said:
I dunno man. That was not a quick rebuild situation without a franchise #1 pick or a FA destination. He took that organization from nothing to being on the cusp of contending with then taking a potential leap into that group beneath Denver this year in the West.

Also, Presti should get credit for even having Paul George to trade to LAC in the first place. It was a creative rebuild where they first kept Westbrook's value high enough that PG wanted to re-sign (in OKC!!), then got massive value for both Westbrook and PG in trades.

Justthetippett · Nov 17, 2023

Presti is excellent at his job but he gets graded on a curve because he's in a small, non-destination market. He also benefits from fans' fascination with assets and value. In order to win in OKC, he's probably going to have to "lose" a few trades given how many assets he has and the numbers crunch of actually putting together a contending playoff rotation. His ability to navigate that will really tell us a lot about his skillset as a GM.

lovegtm · Nov 17, 2023

Justthetippett said:
Presti is excellent at his job but he gets graded on a curve because he's in a small, non-destination market. He also benefits from fans' fascination with assets and value. In order to win in OKC, he's probably going to have to "lose" a few trades given how many assets he has and the numbers crunch of actually putting together a contending playoff rotation. His ability to navigate that will really tell us a lot about his skillset as a GM.

Yes, I will start to worry about them if this team looks real and he doesn't start cashing in for high-quality vets on OK contracts, Brad-style.

He has a window before Chet and Giddey start to make real money, and he needs to fill that window with Derrick Whites and Al Horfords.

He also has SGA locked up for 4 (!) more years at < 25% of the cap, with no player option. It's time to cash in picks imo.

benhogan · Nov 17, 2023

Presti is probably lurking around Chicago.

Multiple picks for Zach LaVine will be the headline move BUT I'll be more impressed with the GM that pries Caruso from that tire fire.

Wonder if Brad would consider using a 2nd for Drummond ($3.36MM)?

HomeRunBaker · Nov 17, 2023

benhogan said:
Presti is probably lurking around Chicago.

Multiple picks for Zach LaVine will be the headline move BUT I'll be more impressed with the GM that pries Caruso from that tire fire.

PedroKsBambino · Nov 17, 2023

HomeRunBaker said:
View attachment 73949

Would be great, but hard to see a way there cap-wise...unless Bulls really like Pritchard, perhaps.

benhogan · Nov 17, 2023

HomeRunBaker said:
View attachment 73949

Jrue, White & Caruso would muck up a lot of backcourts while ripping the ball out of the hands of BIGz in the paint.

Can Brad even stitch the $$$ together? Guess we shouldn't be shocked if Brad Houdini's The Bald Mamba

Chicago extending White and signing J.Carter in order to play less Caruso was one of the odder roster moves this past summer. If there was a "Botton NBA GMs" thread I'd guess Arturas would appear even though he's made some good moves over the years, they just can't seem to overcome the Lonzo injury. Again credit to Brad for immediately pivoting away from Kemba/TL when they appeared unhealable.

Top NBA GMs in 2023

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