With Bridges still unsigned and because Charlotte pulled their qualifying offer, Miles is already an unrestricted free agent. Silver might have an unspoken year long suspension tagged to him since he pleaded no contest and got probation. The Hornets might look to shed long term salary and potentially buy out Westbrook after all is said and done, just to further solidify their slide in the standings. Anyone with '23 first round picks isn't likely to trade them during the season because of the potential of Wemby/Scoot... Trading for unprotected futures seems to be the growing trend. Maybe they're looking to reload during the offseason with a top 4 pick, and a free agent or 2 (Kuzma? Trent Jr?) - possibly bringing Miles back. There's no way they can offload Hayward with a broken shoulder... but maybe they could make a free agent slight overpay in back to back years and claw their way into the playoffs in '24-25.

So the Laker's goal might be to receive a few expiring contracts while at the same time adding quality rotational players (shooting) to the club and not waste another aging LeBron year especially since they don't own their '23 pick. Bullock only has a $5.4M guaranteed for next year, so if his option is declined in '24 - between him, Wood, Oubre, Pat Bev, LW4, and Nunn you've got 56.5 million coming off the cap (not including all the veteran minimums). This is more than enough to sign Kyrie, resign Wood and flesh out the roster with minimums and a midlevel exception or whatever. The front office saves face by not dealing both of the '27 & '29 draft picks. Before LeBron just decided he wanted to be in LA, the Lakers had the #7 pick (Randle), #2 (D'Lo), #2 (Ingram), #2 Ball, they lost their '18 pick in the Nash trade, and then they traded 2019's pick as part of the Davis package. trading both the '27 & '29 is too reckless.

The Mavs replace a sorely missed Brunson with the slightly older Rozier. Not as good a passer, better defensively. Capable of getting 30 any night, typically shoots between 35-40% from 3.. can get his own shot. Ensures that Ntilikina stays on the bench... PJ Washington would soak up the Wood minutes and probably crack the starting 5. He's not much of a drop off in the catch and shoot and is a plus defender (especially compared to Christian).

whaddyathink? C+? D+? B-? Cheers.