Free agency mega thread 2025 edition!

coolhandluke said:
I feel for the Pacers fans. What if Tyrese didn't get injured? What if they closed out Game 4 better? A lot of things have to go well for a championship run.
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Yep, magical runs can be so very fleeting for small market franchises in the NBA. Kings fans always imagined that "the Greatest Show on Court" would return to the mountaintop after the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Heartbroken though we were, "We'll get 'em next year", we said. Then Chris Webber gets injured in the 2003 playoffs, they trade him to Philly in 2005, they have a bit of fun with Ron Artest and Bonzi Wells in a first-round exit against the Spurs in 2006, and then they stumble through 16 years of playoff futility before an exciting first-round exit against the Warriors in 2023. Now the "Beam Team" is no more and questions abound regarding the direction of the franchise under new GM Scott Perry.

There are no guarantees in the NBA. Success is hard-won if you're a small market franchise, and sustainability is even tougher to come by. I'm not ready to count the Pacers out entirely. Once Haliburton returns from injury, there's certainly a chance for them to pick up where they left off, especially since the Eastern Conference isn't likely to evolve into a bloodbath in a year's time. They'll miss Turner, but he's not irreplaceable. However, I don't consider it likely that they'll get back to the mountaintop. As you say, a lot of things have to go well for a championship run.
 
Padrino said:
Yep, magical runs can be so very fleeting for small market franchises in the NBA. Kings fans always imagined that "the Greatest Show on Court" would return to the mountaintop after the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Heartbroken though we were, "We'll get 'em next year", we said. Then Chris Webber gets injured in the 2003 playoffs, they trade him to Philly in 2005, they have a bit of fun with Ron Artest and Bonzi Wells in a first-round exit against the Spurs in 2006, and then they stumble through 16 years of playoff futility before an exciting first-round exit against the Warriors in 2023. Now the "Beam Team" is no more and questions abound regarding the direction of the franchise under new GM Scott Perry.

There are no guarantees in the NBA. Success is hard-won if you're a small market franchise, and sustainability is even tougher to come by. I'm not ready to count the Pacers out entirely. Once Haliburton returns from injury, there's certainly a chance for them to pick up where they left off, especially since the Eastern Conference isn't likely to evolve into a bloodbath in a year's time. They'll miss Turner, but he's not irreplaceable. However, I don't consider it likely that they'll get back to the mountaintop. As you say, a lot of things have to go well for a championship run.
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"The Greatest Show on Court" Kings window closed when Webber went out.
"The Beam Team" Kings windows closed when Fox went out.
Pacers still have Tyrese and they would always be in the mix.
 
coolhandluke said:
"The Greatest Show on Court" Kings window closed when Webber went out.
"The Beam Team" Kings windows closed when Fox went out.
Pacers still have Tyrese and they would always be in the mix.
Click to expand...

Eh. The reason Webber went out was because he shredded his knee, and major injuries have a way of closing windows faster than anything else in the NBA. Tyrese is still quite young, of course, but a shredded Achilles at any age does not portend the likelihood of returning to form. Maybe Hali can beat the odds, but with those stick legs of his? I'm not confident that he's going to move or play like an All-NBA talent again. Durant is the only outlier I can think of off the top of my head, but he has never carried the kind of playmaking burden that Haliburton carries. Will Tyrese be the same dynamic playmaker and efficient scorer he was before his injury? We'll see, but I'm not confident.
 
coolhandluke said:
"The Greatest Show on Court" Kings window closed when Webber went out.
"The Beam Team" Kings windows closed when Fox went out.
Pacers still have Tyrese and they would always be in the mix.
Click to expand...
I think this assessment needs to be put on hold until after we are able to see how Tyrese looks on the court in 2026.
 
Padrino said:
Eh. The reason Webber went out was because he shredded his knee, and major injuries have a way of closing windows faster than anything else in the NBA. Tyrese is still quite young, of course, but a shredded Achilles at any age does not portend the likelihood of returning to form. Maybe Hali can beat the odds, but with those stick legs of his? I'm not confident that he's going to move or play like an All-NBA talent again. Durant is the only outlier I can think of off the top of my head, but he has never carried the kind of playmaking burden that Haliburton carries. Will Tyrese be the same dynamic playmaker and efficient scorer he was before his injury? We'll see, but I'm not confident.
Click to expand...
Tyrese has a "sticky figure" like Durant with a lighter upper body and that should help. As his game relies less on athleticism and more on positioning, he can still be effective. His drives may suffer but his floater and step backs should still hold up. He is smart enough to work around his shortcomings. An Achilles injury is not a career ender like the olden days.
 
coolhandluke said:
Tyrese has a "sticky figure" like Durant with a lighter upper body and that should help. As his game relies less on athleticism and more on positioning, he can still be effective. His drives may suffer but his floater and step backs should still hold up. He is smart enough to work around his shortcomings. An Achilles injury is not a career ender like the olden days.
Click to expand...

Nope, not a career-ender at all. But again, context matters. Durant and the Suns were in the bottom-third of the league in pace last year. Durant is a high-usage player, but he moves slowly and deliberately, and he doesn't have to carry much playmaking responsibility. Haliburton and the Pacers are a different story. Indiana's success was due partly to the fact that they were in the upper-third of the league in pace last year. They play very fast, and Haliburton is an excellent decision-maker at speed. He's certainly smart enough to work around his shortcomings, but is he the same All-NBA-level talent after a devastating Achilles tear? Can he play effectively at the Pacers' lightning-fast pace once he recovers? Even in the lesser conference, can Indiana still thrive and maintain Finals aspirations? I'm not so sure.
 
coolhandluke said:
Tyrese has a "sticky figure" like Durant with a lighter upper body and that should help. As his game relies less on athleticism and more on positioning, he can still be effective. His drives may suffer but his floater and step backs should still hold up. He is smart enough to work around his shortcomings. An Achilles injury is not a career ender like the olden days.
Click to expand...
Durant is also 7’ with a 7’4+ wingspan and started out as one of the top twenty or so players of all time.

Aside from him, the only other successful Achilles returns in modern times have been role player who came back okay but less than they were before (Gay/Matthews).

There was also Nique Wilkins but that was 40 years ago and I’m not sure if that was a full on tear. Also he was the most explosive athlete in history of the league to that point and came back okay.
 
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