Name

Back from my sabbatical.

[Name @Jarrett3000]

@AyMrCarter

[Name @Jarrett3000]

Saw this coming when they opted him in and not extend him. Wish Lu the best, Cason time to shine now.

[BronMuse @BronMuse]

Rob Pelinka finally got AD a center 😭😭😭

[bigcory00 @bigcory00]

“Who’s stopping them”

Not the police. I know that much. 😂

[Bill Simmons @BillSimmons]

The 2027 Lakers are gonna be fascinating

[Dane Moore @DaneMooreNBA]

If the Wolves were able to have a cap space team (maybe Brooklyn or Chicago) absorb Julius Randle's contract next season ($33M), that would open up three interesting roster building tools I want to highlight.

I think this is relevant because the Wolves front office has a history of kind of stringing together transactions -- even over the course of multiple transaction windows (offseason and trade deadline).

The Randle trade would be Randle + draft compensation for say Brooklyn to absorb the contract
- maybe: Randle + No. 28 for a future 2nd
(Adjust compensation as you see fit. Not the point of this exercise. Obviously if this would cost a bunch, they wouldn't do it. Or maybe they'd have to move to using Gobert's salary as the salary moved into another team's cap space.)

Shedding Randle's salary would drop the Wolves well below the *1st* apron (about $52M). And while beneath the 1st apron, the Wolves would open up the ability to three additional roster building tools for spending that $52M... (If Ayo Dosunmu were to sign for $17M, that would be $35M in room below the 1st apron. And need to make sure to get the roster to 14 players.)

1. The non-taxpayer midlevel exception ($15M)
- The "big MLE" is a $15M gift card for teams to spend above the salary cap but below the 1st apron. So if the Wolves were to use this, they would be hard-capped at the 1st apron ($13M below 2nd apron). If a team is over the 1st apron, they only have access to the taxpayer or "mini MLE", which is $6M next season
- Could go out and sign a free agent for up to $15M in starting salary
- Could also use this $15M as a trade exception and trade for a player who makes up to $15M

2. The trade exception generated in the Mike Conley salary dump trade to Chicago ($10.77M)
- A trade exception allows a team to trade for a player without sending back matching salary for up to the amount of the trade exception
- So with access to this trade exception, the Wolves could trade for a player making up to $10.77M
- Using a trade exception also hard caps a team at the 1st apron ($13M below 2nd apron)

3. Making a Randle trade to a team who absorbs his contract into cap space would also create another trade exception (up to $33M)
- The size of that trade exception would be Randle's $33M, minus whatever the Wolves took back in the trade
- Might not need that for spending this summer. But doesn't expire for 365 days.

The downside of working below the 1st apron as opposed to the 2nd apron is it restricts overall spending power by $13M -- because that's the gap between the two aprons.

[Dane Moore @DaneMooreNBA]

So I actually mapped out this Julius Randle trade earlier this month.

[Name @Jarrett3000]

@Munch0_0 congrats brother

[Name @Jarrett3000]

So much for Victor being in Mitchell Robinsons head

[Kevin Chouinard @KLChouinard]

A player who is about to begin a $221,760,000 contract extension in three weeks had a layup blocked with a 1-point lead and the shot clock off.

[Law Murray 🧑🏾‍🍳 @LawMurrayTheNU]

The San Antonio Spurs had an 81-52 lead with 9:40 left in the third quarter

From that point on!

Knicks outscored Spurs 55-25
Spurs missed 29 of last 35 shots (17.1% FGs)
Spurs missed 13 of last 15 3s (13.3% 3s)
Spurs scored only 4 paint points
Spurs had 4:9 AST-TO ratio

[Name @Jarrett3000]

SPEECHLESS

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

DONALD TRUMP HAS FALLEN ASLEEP AT THE NBA FINALS IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.

[Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar]

The national discourse seems to be changing on the Spurs whistle and physicality now that they‘re not playing OKC.

[Rodger Sherman @rodger]

When somebody who has committed especially heinous crimes is in the building

[Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar]

Spurs with a +14 free throw advantage in Game 4: crickets.

OKC with a +1 free throw advantage at halftime of Game 5: timeline is all refs talk.

[Name @Jarrett3000]

people will tell you OKC is unwatchable… while watching OKC

[Legion Hoops @LegionHoops]

JUST IN: NBC just announced that Spurs-Thunder Game 2 was the most-watched Conference Finals Game 2 of ALL-TIME.

Peaking at 12.2 MILLION viewers. 🤯

[Clemente Almanza @CAlmanza1007]

Has anybody tallied up SGA's fall percentage tonight yet?

[Nekias (Nuh-KAI-us) Duncan @NekiasNBA]

Isaiah Hartenstein has one very important job on offense tonight, and he's doing it

[Kevin O'Connor @KevinOConnor]

The Thunder are winners tonight.

Spurs-Wolves is going at least six. The soonest it can end is Friday the 15th. Game 7 would be Sunday. WCF begins the 18th or 20th.

If OKC sweeps Monday, they'll have one full week of rest and Jalen Williams will have had one month to recover.