2026 NBA Playoffs - Second round series

[Shabazz]

I’d love to poach Branden Carlson and, to a lesser extent, Jaylin Williams from them.

[Charlie Smithy!]

It pains me so much! Aww, these poor saps!

I know you knew that this question was coming, but...

..... how does this make you feel?

Also, I'll have an impending text message coming your way, on this here mother's day, but it's about my father and well...

[Kryptonic]

It pains me so much! Aww, these poor saps!

I know you knew that this question was coming, but...

..... how does this make you feel?

Also, I'll have an impending text message coming your way, on this here mother's day, but it's about my father and well...

Now what did you're jackass father do? Ugh... sorry Charlie he's such a douche to you.

[Charlie Smithy!]

It pains me so much! Aww, these poor saps!

I know you knew that this question was coming, but...

..... how does this make you feel?

Also, I'll have an impending text message coming your way, on this here mother's day, but it's about my father and well...

Now what did you're jackass father do? Ugh... sorry Charlie he's such a douche to you.

Text message coming your way as well, lol.

And to the rest of y'all on the .net, thank you so much for still being the huge part of my found family

... even if @INFORMER does occasionally leave to go out for cigarettes sometimes

[Mori Chu]

We love ya, Smithy. Sorry for the drama on the home front. We're always here for you.

[Split T]

It would be a very bulls thing to do to trade a 1st just to help OKC out

[Shabazz]

Wolves currently rolling out Ant, McDaniels, Randle, Reid, Gobert. I wonder how Ott would have countered this lineup.

[Split T]

Gillespie/Green/Grayson/Booker/Goodwin

[Shabazz]

Grayson over Bouyea???

[Split T]

I typed Bouyea and thought twice about it haha

[Ring_Wanted]

Looking at payrolls, I think it’s fun to see what OKC is gonna do…they are way over the 2nd apron next year. They do have team options on Hartenstein(28 mil) and Dort(18 mil), that they can decline and get under, but we’ve reached the point where they will need to start making tough decisions. Isaiah Joe(11 million) and Aaron Wiggins(9 million) seem like easy guys to just move elsewhere for no salary. Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace, and Jared McCain are cheap now, but won’t be soon. They can’t keep everyone.

IMO this OKC team and its future will be the ultimate indictment of the current salary cap and CBA structure. Like them or not, OKC have built their team almost entirely from home-grown talent. They traded for SGA, but that was very early on before he truly broke out. Then they have drafted Williams, Holmgren, and most of their other core players and grown them together into a superteam. I don't love the idea of OKC dominating the NBA for the next decade, but, why should a team that has the savvy and skill to build such a great roster be punished by being forced to trade them away or let them walk as they become eligible for their next contracts? Why shouldn't they be able to keep their own guys around without facing mountainous penalties? It's BS. I think the league should not punish these teams that are skillful enough to build a great roster organically.

I'm not saying that there should be no salary cap or no luxury tax or whatever. I don't know what a good/fair solution is. And I realize that many ways one might "fix" the problem I'm describing would also leave loopholes that would inevitably help the Lakers of the world hoard all the league's talent. So I'm not sure what would be the best way to address this. But I think it's a huge bummer that so many teams (even our own) have to face this difficult tax/apron crap just to keep their own team together, much less improve it. I want to see more roster continuity in the league, more teams able to keep their cores together and not dump players merely to avoid tax/apron penalties.

Been saying for years, the tax system does the opposite of what it intends. You know that saying "if the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the poor"? This is what happens here. Imagine NYK, LAL or other wealthier franchises/owners having all this talent OKC has via actual smarts (as in great trades, hitting picks and timely FA additions based on sensible salary cap management). They'd have no problem keeping most of it. So in reality, the tax is a perverse way of achieving parity because it artificially nerfes down the smarter FOs.

The salary cap does it job, tho, as it limits these richer teams from just buying all the talent in the open, like it happens in soccer.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Grayson over Bouyea???

Of course, you have to respect seniority!

[Superbone]

Better keep them out for the Lakers:

[Superbone]

What the heck?! Dude should be suspended for another game for this blatant elbow to the head.

[Mori Chu]

Can't believe Wemby didn't get a game suspension for that elbow. He could have brutally injuried Naz Reid.

[Mori Chu]

Right now the Cavs are laying the smack down on the Pistons and seem to be putting their series even at 2-2. That's interesting. Playing at home has been a real cure for what ailed them. Donovan Mitchell has looked great tonight; he has 41.

[Superbone]

Can't believe Wemby didn't get a game suspension for that elbow. He could have brutally injuried Naz Reid.

Definitely some superstar treatment there. Ridiculous.

[Superbone]

Man, Brooks never stops. Still trolling LeBron!

[Mori Chu]

Lakers swept, lmfao! Gtfo. I am not rooting for OKC but I love seeing the Lakers get swept. Enjoy Cancun, bitches.

[Superbone]

Lakers swept, lmfao! Gtfo. I am not rooting for OKC but I love seeing the Lakers get swept. Enjoy Cancun, bitches.

Ya really hate to see it.