2023-24 NBA Bric-a-Brac (Weeks 19-20)

Signed (extension)

Kelly Olynyk (2yr/$26.2m) 

I wondered what Toronto's plan was in getting Olynyk but giving him the 2-year extension makes more sense--at least now he's tradeable. I always liked Olynyk and I kinda like the moves the Raptors have made in the last few months but....they're still barely a play-in team in the East. So I expect them to be wheeling and dealing next year, too, and this deal is a good commodity for this squad (probably better than what Olynyk will bring them on the court). 

Signed (rest of season)

Aleksej Pokusevski (Hornets), Trent Forrest (Hawks), Jalen Wilson (Nets), Javon Freeman-Liberty (Raptors), Eugene Omoruyi (Wizards), Mike Muscala (Thunder), Dominick Barlow (Spurs), DJ Carton (Raptors), AJ Lawson (Mavs), Kendall Brown (Pacers), Justin Champagnie (Wizards), Shake Milton (Knicks), Patty Mills (Heat), Darius Bazeley (Jazz), Kenny Lofton Jr (Jazz)

Sneaky move by the Hornets: stole Tre Mann from the Thunder in the swap for Gordon Hayward instead of Poku--who got cut anyway by the Thunder to free up summer money on the roster. FWIW, I still think if Poku could knock on a 20-footer, he could still be pretty good. 

Meanwhile, the Thunder basically replaced Poku with Mike Muscala and well neither of them were going to play anyway, so not sure it really makes any kind of difference on the floor. 

Patty Mills is still a nice player off the bench. Won't give the Heat more than 8-10 minutes per night, but if he has one nice game off the bench in the playoffs, then he will have been more than worth it. 

10-Day Contracts

Izaiah Brockington (Pelicans), RJ Hampton (Wizards), Jahmius Ramsey (Raptors), Taj Gibson (Pistons), TJ Warren (Wolves), Wenyen Gabriel (Wolves), Dejon Jarreu (Grizzlies), Taevion Kinsey (Jazz)

Can Warren be a nice scorer off the bench for the Wolves (now that Towns is out indefinitely)? Can he be Alec Burks? 

Gabriel has freakishly long arms and makes the defensive half (along with Warren) of the Towns-replacement platoon off the bench. Decent rebounder, he'll get some steals, maybe a few assists. Might be handy for eating innings to finish out the regular season. 

Taj Gibson....keep getting dem checks. 

Always like RJ Hampton, Wizards might be the last best shot for him.  

2-Way Contracts

Jeff Dowtin (Sixers), Jaylin Galloway (Bucks), Marques Bolden (Hornets), Jacob Gilyard (Nets), Harry Giles (Lakers), Jamaree Bouyea (Spurs), RaiQuan Gray (Spurs), Dylan Windler (Hawks), Jacob Toppin (Knicks), Alex Fudge (Mavs), Quenton Jackson (Pacers), Mouhamadou Gueye (Raptors), Ish Wainwright (Suns) 

Any chance any of these dudes really catch on or are all these guys staying in shape for Summer League?

Retired

Otto Porter Jr (Jazz)

Hmmm....well, he hasn't played hardly at all in the last 2 seasons, so is his body totally done or is this a paperwork plot to get him back to a real team next season? Hey, man, he was pretty good for the Warriors in their championship run just 2 years ago, I'm not completely out on him unless he feels like his body just can't do it any more.  Porter has a weird career: never as good as he should've been (#3 pick in the draft back in the day) but he also never really played any good teams, except for his one deep run with the Warriors. He was treated like a star when really he was a complementary player, if he had properly found his spot, he might've been a Scottie Pippen (or at least a Tayshaun Prince). He got a ring, he made a ton of money, so can't cry for the guy but he never had the career he should've had. (Possible he shows up in Denver or Boston next season? Wouldn't be shocked.....)

Waived/Released

Mike Muscala (Pistons), Patty Mills (Hawks), Darius Bazeley (Sixers), Kenneth Lofton Jr (Sixers), Nathan Mensah (Hornets), Dylan Windler (Lakers), Shake Milton (Pistons), Mamadi Diakite (Spurs), DJ Carton (Raptors), Jacob Toppin (Knicks), Dominick Barlow (Spurs), Justin Jackson (Wolves), DaQuen Jaffries (Knicks), Jalen Crutcher (Pelicans), Markquis Nowell (Raptors), Theo Maledon (Suns), Dru Smith (Heat), Sharife Cooper (Cavs), Matthew Hurt (Grizzlies)

Lot of a around-the-edges talent in this bunch. A fair amount have already been re-signed, a fair amount will be by the end of the month.  

2024 Champions League Round of 16 (2nd Leg)

Bayern Munich 3-0 (agg 3-1) Lazio

Not saying Bayern has completely righted the ship (although dropping 7 goals back in the Bundesliga in their very next match might be a better indicator), but they were clearly in control of this match throughout. Bayern attacked at will, Lazio just never could get the ball forward and never seemed dangerous at all. Is Bayern ready to go on a run? Well, this is the best they've looked all season so....maybe. 

Real Sociedad 1-2 (agg 1-4) Paris St. Germaine

(Didn't watch it; accidentally caught the score at a bar, wasn't shocked) PSG controlled both games, scored a ton, and while Sociedad didn't challenge them much on the defensive end, the offense still showed up and balled out, feels like the star power at PSG is ready to get it done. 

Real Madrid 1-1 (agg 2-1) Leipzig

Good form for Real. Not exactly a dominating victory but they were the better team pretty much the whole time. Leipzig was able to quickly counter Real's goal early in the 2nd half but couldn't muster much else after that. Real handled a lesser opponent but they kinda got lucky (phantom off-side that wiped away a Leipzig opening goal in Game One) and never really shined out (though they never really had to). Hard to tell how good Real actually is. 

Manchester City 3-1 (agg 6-2) Copenhagen

Copenhagen's two goals were both sweet, they are definitely the funnest so-so team I've seen in a long time. But they couldn't come close to Man City's firepower. Man City is looking pretty good, but let's be honest: they had pretty soft competition in this round. They scored, they moved the ball and they even overcame the weird offensive onslaught of Copenhagen, I'm not sure I think Man City is the best team so far, but they're up there.

Barcelona 3-1 (agg 4-2) Napoli

This felt like the breakout of Lamine Yamal, real control of the right wing in a way I'd never noticed him exert before. The back and forth was okay but a serious defensive breakdown of the Napoli back line gifted Barca the opening goal--which was almost immediately followed by another defensive lapse that led to the next goal! Man, what's going on in the Napoli backfield? Napoli was able to get on the board before halftime, salvaging the chance to still take this game. Lewandowski hasn't even done anything yet, gotta feel like he's still got a coupla big plays in him in the second half.  Oh, by the way, Osimhen is still nothing but off-side. In the 2nd half, Napoli's attack was much stronger but they never could crack the backline. Meanwhile, Barcelona finished it off with a beautiful tic-tac run though the Napoli backline. Good W for Barcelona, stating to look for-real dangerous going forward.

Arsenal 1-0 (agg 2-1 (PKs)) Porto

Kind of a boring match, really, neither team established much offense and yet somehow the defense wasn't inspiring either. Arsenal got it done in penalty kicks and they're moving on but they strike me as probably the most offensively challenged of the quarterfinalists.

Dortmund 2-0 (agg 3-1) PSV Eindhoven

Dortmund struck early (er, well, Eindhoven's defense started slow) on a sweet lo strike by Malen and that pretty much finished the game. Dortmund's attack was pretty great for the rest of the 1st half and though PSV picked up its attack in the 2nd half, they couldn't get a really good look at the goal. Reus was able to finish it in extra time with a fluky goal (last defender just lost his footing leaving the goalie 1-on-1 with the greatest goal scorer in Dortmund's history) and Dortmund is moving on. I thought they were the better team in both games but they didn't exactly blow me away. We'll see about them in the quarterfinals. 

Atletico Madrid 2-1 (agg 3-2 (PKs)) Inter Milan

As opposed to Porto-Arsenal, which felt like two evenly matched mediocre squads, these two felt evenly matched superior teams dueling each other to a thrilling standstill. This was a fun match, felt like throughout Atletico was the better side but Inter had stretches of controlling the attack and looking kinda dangerous. Atletico worked long balls into the box early on but in the 2nd half settled into more orderly possession-heavy incursions that found a lot more good lucks than Inter had. The extra time was fun, the shootout was fun (largely because the home crowd got satisfaction), fun match all the way though. Hate to lose Inter, though they were pretty good.

I'd rank #1-8:

Manchester City, Paris-St.Germaine, Real Madrid, Bayern Munchen (the wild card), Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Dortmund, Arsenal

#9-16:

Inter Milan, Lazio, Leipzig, Napoli, PSV Eindhoven, Real Sociedad, Porto, Copenhagen