Well here’s the thing. Of course Chicago will ask for 2 first rounders. It’s their job to ask for a high offer. Doesn’t mean they’ll get it. Their line of thinking probably coincides with what the Celtics got for Marcus Smart (which was 2 firsts). If you analyze it closely, 1 of those picks was Memphis 2023 pick which was the 25th pick and 2024 Warriors pick top 4 protected.

Now if you ask me, Caruso is a more impactful player. Idc that Smart won DPOY. When you watch these 2 players, Caruso is significantly better defensively. He’s more consistent. Smart has good moments but also inconsistent moments where he doesn’t look like a good defender. Caruso always does. And Caruso doesn’t hurt you on offense like Smart does. With that being said, I would assume their value is very similar. If Caruso does get dealt for 2 picks, I would assume 1 of those picks will be a crappy late 1st.

It’s just hard to see a team give up 2 amazing future 1sts for Caruso when guys like OG Anunoby and Jrue Holiday are worth roughly about 3 picks. I feel like most teams would pony up an extra pick to get these guys instead of a Caruso/Smart. An OG Anunoby can completely transform a defense overnight and have a huge impact. Caruso does have similar impact but not as impactful. He also doesn’t spread the floor like an OG even tho he’s off to a hot start this year.

Conclusion- I wouldn’t chase Caruso unless were only giving up Davion & 1 first. I wouldn’t toss 2 picks at him since I’d rather save it for a bigger package on a more impact player like OG/Markennen etc. Caruso will improve our team tremendously but doesn’t move the needle into contender status. He’s more like a final piece to a contender that needs him similar to Aaron Gordon in Denver. If we’d trade for him, our assets would be tied up on literally 2 players; Huerter & Caruso. Although those guys are solid, we should only handicap our future for near Star players. Similar to the Clippers with PG. Lakers with AD. Suns with KD & Beal. Those are the type of guys u mortgage your future for.

And with Monte being this patient for 4 plus years, he’s not going to get impatient for a Alex Caruso. He’s going to do it for a star impact player. Man OG would be fkn perfect for this team. We’d have the near perfect starting lineup. Swapping HB for OG would make our starting lineup have shooting, elite defense, elite ISOs, the best closer in the game, rebounding, playmaking, ball movement, and more importantly unselfishness. We’d have an inside and outside game. We’d have mid range shooters. U name it. And in a playoff series, it’s extremely important to be versatile and diverse whenever teams are trying to take things away from you. IN MONTE WE TRUST

Maybe. But they are 2 assassins on the court. Especially our star guard

Recap. Wow.

We gotta start with Fox again. This team is night and day with Fox on the floor. For a 2nd straight game, he started the game attacking the basket and scoring the first bucket. It’s almost like he’s sending a message right from the tip. Our MVP finished with 28 points on 10-22 shooting. He literally got any shot he wanted all game long. Lakers have always struggled containing Fox. Reddish was on him most of the night and it really didn’t matter. I had to stop at halftime and really think to myself…I can’t believe we have this kid on our team. Fox is on another level this season. I think he could absolutely be an MVP candidate as soon as this season. He came in averaging 28&7 and got another 28&5 tonight. Also chipped in 5 rebounds and 5 steals. It seems like we’re going to have another successful regular season assuming we’re healthy again. How many wins will determine how high Fox is on that MVP race.

Sanonis was just as amazing tonight. Just at halftime he had 19-12-4 😂😂. He finished with 29-16-7 on 13-19 shooting. Almost all of it was on Anthony Davis. He was going straight at him the entire game. I mean that literally. He cooked AD tonight. It was beautiful to watch. We need this version of Domas in a playoff series. U can tell he clearly missed Fox; these past 2 games have been his best 2 of the season. His defense has been much improved this year. He also had 3 steals tonight and looked active defensively.

Keegan Murray. I love this kid. On paper he didn’t have the best night with 9 points on 3-9 shooting and 2-7 from 3. But his impact defensively is becoming a normal thing now. Keegan has been elite on that end. So many plays of him suffocating defenders for an entire possession. He rotates well. He’s keeping up with guards. It’s his length that makes him such a lethal defender this year. It helps him tremendously every time he gets beat by his man. He’s learned to use his upper body to take hits and comfortably switch on screens. Keegan left the game in the 3rd quarter temporarily after getting hit in the groin by Jaxson Hayes. My heart dropped. Then he came back in the 4th quarter when the Lakers were coming back on us. We were up by as much as 24 and lakers cut the lead to 8 in the 4th quarter.

Kevin frikkin Huerter. Man oh man. This guy is on fire. Kvon had 28 points on 10-16 shooting and an impressive 6-11 from 3. When Kvon is shooting the ball well, this is when we’re the most dangerous. He’s our 4th option on offense and it’s his 3rd straight 20 point game. That’s 4 games in a row where he’s hit at least 4 threes. Thank you Mike Brown for not benching him when he was struggling. This is exactly why u stick with your guys. Kvon has turned a corner and it’s beautiful to watch. U can tell he’s having a ton of fun out there. He also had 4 rebounds and an impressive 7 assists. Kvon is on one right now.

Harrison Barnes. I’m sorry, I don’t wanna be harsh. He played alright tonight. I love his leadership. Love what he’s done for us. But for us to head into contender status, HBs position has to be upgraded. He had 14 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-6 from 3. Which is not bad. Had 4 steals too. But the eye test doesn’t look too good for his future here. I wonder how we would look with Barnes coming off the bench with Malik. Maybe Sasha can be his replacement? Idk. My dream is having OG Anunoby next to Keegan. I would guarentee a few championships with that starting 5.

Sasha had 4 points tonight in 12 minutes. Only shot 1-4 and missed all his threes. Thank his we didn’t need the best shooter on the team tonight. He will bounce back.

I love Malik man. He only shot 1-8 tonight with 3 points. But he had 5 great reboukds and 5 assist. Malik is definitely a better player this season. His playmaking is something u can rely on even when his shot isn’t falling. Also his pace is needed for this team. So it isn’t just Fox being the only guard playing fast and pushing the tempo. Malik does the same exact thing and has been a perfect addition for this team. I don’t mind his bad shooting night.

Keon Ellis played 8 minutes and all the backup PG minutes. He was scoreless shooting 0-3 but he played solid defense in his limited role tonight. And that’s why he keeps playing over Davion.

McGee also played 8 minutes but had 8 points in 3-3 shooting and also had 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. All this talk about our backup center role this summer and Monte quietly figure it out. The Javale McGee/Alex Len expiriment is working beautifully thus far. The days of Chimeze Metu are over. Thank you god 🙏🙏🙏

Summary- we absolutely destroyed LA tonight. We were in cruise control from the 1st quarter to the 4th. We murdered them. We led the entire game and Lakers never really got close. We look so much better than them. I don’t want to overreact but our team looks elite. In my opinion, We look better than last season. We had 20 steals tonight. 31 assist as a team! That is insane. We won 125-110 and that’s back to back games where we beat elite teams pretty comfortably. I love a win. But I love it so much more when it’s against the Lakers. LIGHT THE FKN BEAM BABY !!🦊🔦🟣

PS- I believe I seen on Twitter that today was the 1 year anniversary to that lethal beatdown we gave Brooklyn on national television last season. Maybe someone here can confirm it.

That’s a fair assessment and should tell you that I factor the eye test a lot more than numbers. Obviously I take numbers into consideration, but 4-5-3 as a starter just doesn’t move me especially when you looked invisible out there (Barnes). I’m actually one of the few that is kind of low on Keon. But his presence defensively has been badly needed for this team especially with our early shooting struggles.

That mixed with Davion playing like ass. He’s just too undersized. So many plays I’ve seen him play elite defense for 22 seconds and then just watch a guy shoot right over him as the clock expires.

I love the McGee signing. But I’m more glad it didn’t stop us from resigning Len. They are very similar guys. Super long guys who can rebound well, set screens, and play in the dunker spot. McGee is better shot blocking but they both play their roles perfectly. It does feel like a slight upgrade at the very least when comparing them to Chemize Metu. I used to have anxiety watching a Metu chuck threes like a dumass with 19 left on the shot clock.

Love this. Thanks for the update!

Recap. Wow. Fox is really our savior.

This was by far my favorite game of the season thus far. Fox returned tonight and was absolutely fantastic. He finished with 28&6 on 11-21 shooting. He attacked the rim all night. He was making life a living hell for them bigs. He looked as athletic and springy as ever. From the 1st to 4th quarter, he was electric. His defense was super solid tonight especially on the point of attack. He was all up on Garland. Having Fox return allows everyone to go back to their role.

Kevin Huerter finished with 22 points. He was 7-11 from the field and a whopping 6-9 from 3! He’s officially back baby. He looks like he’s having fun again. He’s shooting with so much confidence. Even his defense has looked a lot better as of late. This is the Kvon we need. He didn’t take his foot off the gas just because Fox returned. Let’s remember he’s coming off a 28 point outing last game. I love u Kvon.

Keegan Murray. All this talk this year about Keegan’s improvement with his self creation/handles. Which btw looks so much better than last season. But it’s his defense that I’m blown away with. The amount of possessions that resulted in players blowing right by Keegan last year was so frequent that I thought he would be a an average defender at best. Boy thank god I was wrong. Keegan’s defense is legit. I don’t want to go as far as call it lockdown but he is currently the best defender on the team. Keegan is a fantastic defender. Since game 2 when he guarded Curry, he has guarded the best player on the opposing team every single game. Tonight He guarded Donavan the entire game. Did a solid job holding him to 7-21 shooting! That’s 33% shooting folks. That was mostly Keegan guarding him. Funny because I seen Dmitch score twice once Keegan hit the bench. He Played elite defense and chipped in 25 points on 9-13 shooting with 5-8 from 3. That’s 69% shooting and 62% from 3. This is the Keegan I envisioned in year 6 lmao but not 9 games into year 2. Keegan is way ahead of schedule. Which is crazy because I feel like our expectations for him are already extremely high. His efficiency this season obviously has to improve just like it did tonight. And when it does, we’re going to be extremely scary. This is our path to win a championship. It’s Keegan being top 2 player on this team. It’s him being an efficient 20PPG scorer while playing elite defense. Let’s hope he continues this great play. We have ourselves a 2 way player and it’s very exciting. Let’s not forget his 8 rebounds tonight. That should bring him to 7 reboukds per game for the season. That is amazing not only for Keegan but for this team. For perspective, he averaged 4.6 rebounds last year. This is huge.

Barnes i’m going to let you off the hook tonight because we won the game. But you have been pure ass all season. Barnes had 4 points on 2-4 shooting. 5 boards and 3 assist in 21 minutes. I’m glad his minutes decreased tonight. I think it’s time we start decreasing his minutes and spreading that out to Sasha and whoever else steps up. He’s just not consistent enough. Crazy because when he’s aggressive, he looks like the perfect complementary player.

Can’t underestimate what Sabonis did tonight. Domas was a fuckin MONSTER. Almost another triple double. 23-9-10 on 8-10 shooting. That’s 80% shooting folks. His defense was superb. I need someone to pull up his defensive numbers this year. He’s been solid all season in that end. He obviously doesn’t block shots but has been going up vertically so often without fouling. I’m very impressed with Domas and his improved defense. Now he needs to work on his free throws. He missed 4 in a row and finished 6-11 from the line overall. Would’ve had 29 points instead of 23 if he hit them all. Gotta hit your freebies.

Wow. First time I’ve seen Davion stay on the bench all game in a longggggg time (if ever). Keon Ellis took all the backup PG minutes and he was solid. His numbers don’t jump out at you with just 2 points. But his defense was solid. He even made some great passes including 1 pass to an pen corner 3 for Keegan. Had a ton of deflections and u know this coaching staff loves

Malik Monk was solid as well tonight. 13 points on 3-5 from deep. Had 5 boards and 4 assist. Malik was Malik tonight. Shot the ball well. Played solid pick and roll with Javale a bit. But more importantly played a ton of pick and pop with Sasha.

Sasha played 17 minutes and was super impactful tonight. 11 points on 4-6 shooting. Was 3-5 from 3 tonight. Hit some threes during a pretty close game too. The game wasn’t completely wide open. Now I see why everyone calls him the best shooter on the team. He definitely is. He absolutely has the best range out of anyone on this team. This guy can stroke it. His shot is beautiful and always looks like it’s going in. Another solid pickup by Monte.

Duarte was pure ass tonight. Had 4 fouls in 9 minutes. Missed both his threes. He’s been ass for most of the season. Hopefully he figured it out.

I’ve never seen Mike Brown so damn happy. He was smiling all night. And understandably. We were physical all game long against an extremely long team…pause. We defended like some delinquents. The entire starting 5 defended extremely well including most of the bench. It seems like Mike Browns defensive philosophy is kicking in at the right time for this team. Offensively we’re going to be top 3 again assuming we’re healthy. I have zero doubt. We have a better offensive team than last year. And now with this slightly improved defense, I’m interested to see how this looks. We’re 5-4 for the season. We’re 2-0 in the season tournament. We gon win this tourny I guarantee you! LIGHT THE FKN BEAM BABBBYY 🔦🟣🦊