Around the NBA: Week 22 (3/16 - 3/22)

[ShelC]

Nationally televised games this week
Monday, March 16th
Magic @ Hawks at 7:00PM EST on Peacock
Lakers @ Rockets at 9:30 PM EST on Peacock
Spurs @ Clippers 10:00 PM EST on Peacock

Tuesday, March 17th
Cavs @ Bucks at 8:00PM EST on NBC/Peacock
Sixers @ Nuggets at 10:00PM EST on NBC/Peacock

Wednesday, March 18th
Warriors @ Celtics at 7:00PM EST on ABC/ESPN Unlimited
Lakers @ Rockets at 9:30PM EST on ABC/ESPN Unlimited

Sunday March 22nd
Wolves @ Celtics at 8:00PM EST on NBC

NBA News
Starting 5: Thunder keep rolling, big win for Raptors & look ahead to Week 22
https://www.nba.com/news/starting-5-march-16-2026

Sources: NBA set for 1st vote in Las Vegas-Seattle expansion
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/482 ... -expansion

2026 NBA mock draft: Who's rising and falling ahead of March Madness?
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/481 ... ch-madness

[Mori Chu]

Thank you so much for making the threads, Shel.

Sources: NBA set for 1st vote in Las Vegas-Seattle expansion
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/482 ... -expansion

^ This is the story I'm most excited about. It sounds like they need 23 / 30 of the current owners to vote Yes in order to get the approval for the Sonics to return. I really hope they do the right thing and vote for it. Seattle is a huge city with lots of $$$ to spend on the NBA, and we lost our team unfairly due to bullshit shenanigans stealing them away to OKC. It is time for the Sonics to come back. I will be pretty pissed off if they vote No on this. Vegas, I don't have as strong a feeling there, but it's fine to me to keep the league at an even number of teams. And I don't think the gambling association will really hurt anything because gambling has become so ubiquitous that it won't really matter either way.

[Superbone]

I'm happy for Seattle. I lived in the area for 4 years just before 2000. I went to a playoff game at Key Arena in the Payton/Kemp days. Their fans deserve their team back. I'm just not sure where the Suns will fall on Mori's pecking order? Will they be second or third behind The Warriors and Sonics?

[Superbone]

[Split T]

I think the Sonics should be back…but I don’t really think we should be expanding. I wish we could just move the Pelicans or something to Seattle.

[TOO]

I think the Sonics should be back…but I don’t really think we should be expanding. I wish we could just move the Pelicans or something to Seattle.

Put OKC back but leave SGA behind, nobody should have to watch that twink flop around for 82 games.

[MightyMoog]

I'm happy for Seattle. I lived in the area for 4 years just before 2000. I went to a playoff game at Key Arena in the Payton/Kemp days. Their fans deserve their team back. I'm just not sure where the Suns will fall on Mori's pecking order? Will they be second or third behind The Warriors and Sonics?

I also think guys like Payton, Kemp, McMillan and Schrempf deserved to have their jerseys retired. And that’s really where they belong.

[bajanguy008]

[pickle]

This kid has some fun nicknames.

[Mori Chu]

I'm happy for Seattle. I lived in the area for 4 years just before 2000. I went to a playoff game at Key Arena in the Payton/Kemp days. Their fans deserve their team back. I'm just not sure where the Suns will fall on Mori's pecking order? Will they be second or third behind The Warriors and Sonics?

You shut your whore mouth!

[The Bobster]

If the expansion draft were today.....

Protect - Booker, Green, Brooks, Williams [RFA], Fleming, Mulach, Ighodaro
UFA - Gillespie, Goodwin, Highsmith, Coffey
2-Way - Livers, Huntley, Brea
Unprotected - Allen, O'Neal, Dunn, Bouyea

Draft rules -
- Teams can protect 8 players
- Teams do not need to protect unrestricted free agents
- Restricted free agents selected in the draft become unrestricted free agents and are unable to re-sign with the team that exposed them to the draft
- Each team can lose only one player

I think the Suns would be more inclined to protect cheaper youngers players like Fleming, Mulach and Ighodaro than older, more expensive tole players like Allen and O'Neale.

If I'm an expansion team, I'm picking Allen. The Suns probably don't have the assets where they can afford to give up a #1 in order to convince a team to protect a particular player in order to protect someone like Allen or O'Neal. I'm not sure either would be worth giving up a #1 to keep anyway.

[O_Gardino]

I think the Sonics should be back…but I don’t really think we should be expanding. I wish we could just move the Pelicans or something to Seattle.

I've lived in Louisiana for 9 years now, and only twice has someone talked Pels with me. The locals don't care. They know ownership sucks and even those who do root for the Pels don't want to talk about it. The franchise would not be missed.

[The Bobster]

I think the Sonics should be back…but I don’t really think we should be expanding. I wish we could just move the Pelicans or something to Seattle.

I've lived in Louisiana for 9 years now, and only twice has someone talked Pels with me. The locals don't care. They know ownership sucks and even those who do root for the Pels don't want to talk about it. The franchise would not be missed.

Louisville would be a great home for the Pelicans - they should have gotten a team in the NBA/ABA merger but got screwed by John Y. Brown. Kentucky is basketball crazy and the Colonels drew as well as any other team in the ABA.

[O_Gardino]

I think the Sonics should be back…but I don’t really think we should be expanding. I wish we could just move the Pelicans or something to Seattle.

I've lived in Louisiana for 9 years now, and only twice has someone talked Pels with me. The locals don't care. They know ownership sucks and even those who do root for the Pels don't want to talk about it. The franchise would not be missed.

Louisville would be a great home for the Pelicans - they should have gotten a team in the NBA/ABA merger but got screwed by John Y. Brown. Kentucky is basketball crazy and the Colonels drew as well as any other team in the ABA.

Agree about Kentucky. There are probably 5-10 cities I'd put an NBA team in before NO. Of course, you have to have good ownership no matter where you end up.

[Mori Chu]

If the expansion draft were today.....

Protect - Booker, Green, Brooks, Williams [RFA], Fleming, Mulach, Ighodaro
UFA - Gillespie, Goodwin, Highsmith, Coffey
2-Way - Livers, Huntley, Brea
Unprotected - Allen, O'Neal, Dunn, Bouyea

Draft rules -
- Teams can protect 8 players
- Teams do not need to protect unrestricted free agents
- Restricted free agents selected in the draft become unrestricted free agents and are unable to re-sign with the team that exposed them to the draft
- Each team can lose only one player

I think the Suns would be more inclined to protect cheaper youngers players like Fleming, Mulach and Ighodaro than older, more expensive tole players like Allen and O'Neale.

If I'm an expansion team, I'm picking Allen. The Suns probably don't have the assets where they can afford to give up a #1 in order to convince a team to protect a particular player in order to protect someone like Allen or O'Neal. I'm not sure either would be worth giving up a #1 to keep anyway.

I think your list is mostly right, but I do think we would protect Grayson Allen. I think Royce O'Neale would maybe be the odd man out. Do you think the FO gets how good Fleming is and would protect him? I hope so. I honestly wouldn't mind if they chose not to protect Maluach. He has shown a little bit of promise, but he isn't really very good, and I don't even know that an expansion team would steal him. So imo it'd be a reasonable risk to dangle him out there by not protecting him.

[Superbone]

If the expansion draft were today.....

Protect - Booker, Green, Brooks, Williams [RFA], Fleming, Mulach, Ighodaro
UFA - Gillespie, Goodwin, Highsmith, Coffey
2-Way - Livers, Huntley, Brea
Unprotected - Allen, O'Neal, Dunn, Bouyea

Draft rules -
- Teams can protect 8 players
- Teams do not need to protect unrestricted free agents
- Restricted free agents selected in the draft become unrestricted free agents and are unable to re-sign with the team that exposed them to the draft
- Each team can lose only one player

I think the Suns would be more inclined to protect cheaper youngers players like Fleming, Mulach and Ighodaro than older, more expensive tole players like Allen and O'Neale.

If I'm an expansion team, I'm picking Allen. The Suns probably don't have the assets where they can afford to give up a #1 in order to convince a team to protect a particular player in order to protect someone like Allen or O'Neal. I'm not sure either would be worth giving up a #1 to keep anyway.

I think your list is mostly right, but I do think we would protect Grayson Allen. I think Royce O'Neale would maybe be the odd man out. Do you think the FO gets how good Fleming is and would protect him? I hope so. I honestly wouldn't mind if they chose not to protect Maluach. He has shown a little bit of promise, but he isn't really very good, and I don't even know that an expansion team would steal him. So imo it'd be a reasonable risk to dangle him out there by not protecting him.

Isn't that just 7 protected in your list, Bobster? I'd add Allen to make 8. And all of this makes me think of Dick Van Arsdale who was so great for our fledgling franchise.

[The Bobster]

I think the front office knows these players better than we do. They see them in practice every day.

Personally, I'd rather give up a 30+ year old veteran and improve our cap situation rather than lose a young player with some potential. Of course that was also the thinking that had them keep Tim Perry and lose Tyrone Corbin.

[Split T]

Maluach would absolutely get picked if you left him unprotected. This will be 2 years from now though, so hard to say what things look like then.

[Mori Chu]

Yikes. OKC up 60-24 at the half over Brooklyn.

[The Bobster]

If the expansion draft were today.....

Protect - Booker, Green, Brooks, Williams [RFA], Fleming, Mulach, Ighodaro
UFA - Gillespie, Goodwin, Highsmith, Coffey
2-Way - Livers, Huntley, Brea
Unprotected - Allen, O'Neal, Dunn, Bouyea

Draft rules -
- Teams can protect 8 players
- Teams do not need to protect unrestricted free agents
- Restricted free agents selected in the draft become unrestricted free agents and are unable to re-sign with the team that exposed them to the draft
- Each team can lose only one player

I think the Suns would be more inclined to protect cheaper youngers players like Fleming, Mulach and Ighodaro than older, more expensive tole players like Allen and O'Neale.

If I'm an expansion team, I'm picking Allen. The Suns probably don't have the assets where they can afford to give up a #1 in order to convince a team to protect a particular player in order to protect someone like Allen or O'Neal. I'm not sure either would be worth giving up a #1 to keep anyway.

I think your list is mostly right, but I do think we would protect Grayson Allen. I think Royce O'Neale would maybe be the odd man out. Do you think the FO gets how good Fleming is and would protect him? I hope so. I honestly wouldn't mind if they chose not to protect Maluach. He has shown a little bit of promise, but he isn't really very good, and I don't even know that an expansion team would steal him. So imo it'd be a reasonable risk to dangle him out there by not protecting him.

Isn't that just 7 protected in your list, Bobster? I'd add Allen to make 8. And all of this makes me think of Dick Van Arsdale who was so great for our fledgling franchise.

Yeah, I guess it is. Allen would be my 8th choice too.