2025 NBA Free Agency

[Wally_West]

Exactly when Beal’s contract expires- LeBron for Beal and Oso. Who says no?

Doncic and Beal would be an elite backcourt and Lakers get a starting C in Oso.

[Shabazz]

I can’t resist

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/646392 ... ee-agency/

See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him. They could even live with him being limited by injuries to 55 and 40 games in his two seasons in Portland.

But in the end, they couldn’t live with his bad ways. The tardiness to team flights and practices, according to a team source. The skipping of rehabilitation appointments. Fans saw him slam chairs when he was taken out of games. And a team source said there were tantrums in the locker room when he was sidelined for poor effort.

And for as much as the Blazers tried to compliment Ayton for being supportive of 2024 lottery pick Donovan Clingan, doesn’t it speak volumes that they are paying him millions to stay away from their young centers — Clingan and 2025 first-round pick Yang Hansen? It’s not like Portland is averse to paying someone $35 million to mentor; they just traded for veteran Jrue Holiday, who has even more remaining money remaining on his contract, for what is presumably a mentorship-type role with point guard Scoot Henderson.
…

But the former No. 1 overall pick suffers from a critical flaw: He has little self-awareness.

In his first news conference in Portland, he referred to himself as “Domin-Ayton.” During the 95 times he played in Portland, he was maybe dominant in a handful of games. He once said he has nothing to prove because “I’m a max (contract) player and I’ll continue to be a max player.” But in both Phoenix and Portland, he chaffed his coaches with inconsistent effort. In Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals, Suns coach Monty Williams benched him in the second half, prompting a heated argument. In a December game against Utah in Portland, Billups called a timeout two minutes into the second half and benched Ayton for the rest of the game.

After the 141-99 loss to the Jazz, in which Ayton was minus-29 in his 17 minutes, Billups said, “I didn’t like his spirit in the game.”

When the Blazers traded for Ayton, not everyone in the organization was on board. Some questioned his maturity. When Ayton arrived, he envisioned himself as the cornerstone, the big fish, and he acted like it. He was carefree and loud, often blurting out songs or offhand comments in the locker room. While some reporters laughed, there were times when veterans at their lockers rolled their eyes.
…

Billups never worried about Ayton, because he felt he could coach him up and instill some work ethic, humility and professionalism into Ayton. Throughout Billups’ Hall of Fame playing career, he had tamed other colorful and/or loose cannons. Chris Anderson and JR Smith in Denver. Rasheed Wallace in Detroit.

But now, as the Blazers’ rebuild is starting to show signs of promise, it is clear the organization believed Billups couldn’t change Ayton. So Portland did what so many teams are reluctant to do: They admitted a mistake and cut ties.

Habits in the NBA are formed when players are young, and with the Blazers’ impressionable core of Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, along with the young centers Clingan and Yang, a standard needs to be set. A good starting point is an understanding that they can have bad plays, but not bad ways.

[Mori Chu]

Exactly when Beal’s contract expires- LeBron for Beal and Oso. Who says no?

Doncic and Beal would be an elite backcourt and Lakers get a starting C in Oso.

#BACKCOURT2026

[Split T]

Scathing article

[Flagrant Fowl]

Sounds like the type of behind the scenes behavior I'd expect from him based on how he presented himself in public and on the court.

[JeremyG]

Lol, of course it’s Jason Quick. He’s hated him since he got there.

I don’t even need to read past the first sentence to know he’s not serious: “See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him.”

He scored 14.4 ppg on 56.6FG% last season. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant scored 14.4 ppg on 37.3FG%. I know who I would rather pay.

[Split T]

Lol, of course it’s Jason Quick. He’s hated him since he got there.

I don’t even need to read past the first sentence to know he’s not serious: “See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him.”

He scored 14.4 ppg on 56.6FG% last season. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant scored 14.4 ppg on 37.3FG%. I know who I would rather pay.

Please keep reading and respond to him showing up late, skipping rehab, and throwing tantrums. Portland would rather pay the guy that doesn’t do that crap. He’s never changed, same guy who failed a drug test and missed the start of an nba game because he forgot to take his Covid test…just an unserious basketball player. Mind boggling how you can’t see that…but I guess it’s because you stop reading at the first sentence.

[TOO]

I can’t resist

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/646392 ... ee-agency/

See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him. They could even live with him being limited by injuries to 55 and 40 games in his two seasons in Portland.

But in the end, they couldn’t live with his bad ways. The tardiness to team flights and practices, according to a team source. The skipping of rehabilitation appointments. Fans saw him slam chairs when he was taken out of games. And a team source said there were tantrums in the locker room when he was sidelined for poor effort.

And for as much as the Blazers tried to compliment Ayton for being supportive of 2024 lottery pick Donovan Clingan, doesn’t it speak volumes that they are paying him millions to stay away from their young centers — Clingan and 2025 first-round pick Yang Hansen? It’s not like Portland is averse to paying someone $35 million to mentor; they just traded for veteran Jrue Holiday, who has even more remaining money remaining on his contract, for what is presumably a mentorship-type role with point guard Scoot Henderson.
…

But the former No. 1 overall pick suffers from a critical flaw: He has little self-awareness.

In his first news conference in Portland, he referred to himself as “Domin-Ayton.” During the 95 times he played in Portland, he was maybe dominant in a handful of games. He once said he has nothing to prove because “I’m a max (contract) player and I’ll continue to be a max player.” But in both Phoenix and Portland, he chaffed his coaches with inconsistent effort. In Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals, Suns coach Monty Williams benched him in the second half, prompting a heated argument. In a December game against Utah in Portland, Billups called a timeout two minutes into the second half and benched Ayton for the rest of the game.

After the 141-99 loss to the Jazz, in which Ayton was minus-29 in his 17 minutes, Billups said, “I didn’t like his spirit in the game.”

When the Blazers traded for Ayton, not everyone in the organization was on board. Some questioned his maturity. When Ayton arrived, he envisioned himself as the cornerstone, the big fish, and he acted like it. He was carefree and loud, often blurting out songs or offhand comments in the locker room. While some reporters laughed, there were times when veterans at their lockers rolled their eyes.
…

Billups never worried about Ayton, because he felt he could coach him up and instill some work ethic, humility and professionalism into Ayton. Throughout Billups’ Hall of Fame playing career, he had tamed other colorful and/or loose cannons. Chris Anderson and JR Smith in Denver. Rasheed Wallace in Detroit.

But now, as the Blazers’ rebuild is starting to show signs of promise, it is clear the organization believed Billups couldn’t change Ayton. So Portland did what so many teams are reluctant to do: They admitted a mistake and cut ties.

Habits in the NBA are formed when players are young, and with the Blazers’ impressionable core of Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, along with the young centers Clingan and Yang, a standard needs to be set. A good starting point is an understanding that they can have bad plays, but not bad ways.

Cooked that mother fucker.

It's the same shit again, he's a lazy child who thinks he's better than he is. We've seen it twice now, now he'll sign with a team on a one year deal to get try to get another big deal, I feel bad if he fools another team.

[JeremyG]

Lol, of course it’s Jason Quick. He’s hated him since he got there.

I don’t even need to read past the first sentence to know he’s not serious: “See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him.”

He scored 14.4 ppg on 56.6FG% last season. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant scored 14.4 ppg on 37.3FG%. I know who I would rather pay.

Please keep reading and respond to him showing up late, skipping rehab, and throwing tantrums. Portland would rather pay the guy that doesn’t do that crap. He’s never changed, same guy who failed a drug test and missed the start of an nba game because he forgot to take his Covid test…just an unserious basketball player. Mind boggling how you can’t see that…but I guess it’s because you stop reading at the first sentence.

Like I said, Quick has always been biased against him. Who knows how much of that is exaggerated. In the old days of real journalism, “a team source” was not enough to report something, unless a second source could confirm it.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Well we know he'll be more motivated than ever before if he's playing on a "prove it" contract. I find it hard to believe any team is going to give him both years and even two-thirds of his previous salary. Maybe there's a 3year/$50-60M deal out there?

[carey]

Lol, of course it’s Jason Quick. He’s hated him since he got there.

Does it matter who wrote it if all those things are true? It vibes with what we know about his time in Phoenix so if I were to play spot the lie I don't think I'd find anything in that article.

[JeremyG]

Lol, of course it’s Jason Quick. He’s hated him since he got there.

Does it matter who wrote it if all those things are true? It vibes with what we know about his time in Phoenix so if I were to play spot the lie I don't think I'd find anything in that article.

He’s been known to write hit pieces on players for over 20 years, and has always hated Ayton. Not a trustworthy “journalist.”

Blazers fans know this. Here’s the top post on the Blazers subreddit right now lol:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ripcity/s/GmdVUg5REg

And some more facts on the situation from HoopsHype:

Before agreeing to a buyout with center Deandre Ayton, Portland had trade discussions with several teams interested in the 7-footer, league sources told HoopsHype.

However, the Trail Blazers made it clear they didn’t want to take on any multi-year contracts in return, which made it challenging to find contracts and players to match Ayton’s $35.55 million salary in a trade, HoopsHype has learned.

With Portland drafting Hansen Yang, No. 16 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, and having five total centers on the roster, including Ayton, both sides understood it wasn’t an ideal situation for Ayton.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old center wanted to play in a winning situation.

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-intel-f ... er-trades/