buddha

yes, its almost as if you need to prudently manage your books! like a real business! (as an aside, when i sit through a financial aid talk at michigan and hear its $85k all in for out of state despite their billions in endowment and non-profit tax status, i have very little sympathy for their football budget concerns) they need to finally face the fact that theyre a minor professional league. unionize, get some rules, and then guarantee a set return. the other sports other than men's bball can and should remain amateur.

we all want these guys in the nhl and when they get here we are reminded that they are rookies. and rookies usually suck.

i understand your argument, but i think youre trying too hard to make the point so you can say detroit doesnt have any assets. or enough assets. people may see detroit's players differently than you do. you see detroit players every day and see all their warts. those other guys you mentioned - rollins, mccain - likely have warts too. utah may see ivey from his purdue days as a better play, or duren's potential. the pistons are not without assets and utah may value 5 first rounders plus ivey and holland more than one first rounder in the top 10ish. yes, i know ivey is an unknown and about to likely get expensive. they may value duncan robinson's $25 million off the books next year (unlikely, but still potentially depending on what else they think they can do). we dont know what others are willing to give up for markannen considering his very spotty health history and impending very large extension. thus, a team like detroit may be willing to take on that risk for all of its future top picks that other clubs may not be willing to do.

the only one of those teams who can offer the assets the pistons can offer are chicago and toronto and sacramento (i think). the only one close enough to make an all in move is detroit.

ok, half the league. who would that be? what team desperate enough for that type of shooting would do that? atlanta? houston?

gary harris?

who can/would offer more?

which is why they need lauri markkanen.

wait, so you DONT want michigan to fire jim harbaugh and hire luke fickell? lol.

i think michigan will be a top 10 team as early as next season. you always assume the worst for michigan. they have more resources than most places and have now opened up their wallets while still (roughly) balancing a budget. unlike their peers. i also think they will eventually cave on their sudden principled stance against private equity. michigan is not leaving the big ten, they will eventually go along with everyone else. which will mean more money in the immediacy.

one of lebron's buddies is the focus of the investigation. only makes sense they'd be looking at the lakers' documents.

as long as one of them is semaj morgan.

how bad was bryce underwood? he's just not seeing the field. there are guys wide open and he's throwing into coverage. he's missing guys deep. he's got a gun for an arm but it doesnt matter if you dont see the field. and he's not getting a ton of pressure either. he's messing up the run reads too. and it was his terrible hand off attempt to kuzdal that caused that fumble late. he just killed them in the second half. give andrew marsh the #1 jersey now. hopefully marshall isnt hurt long term. the oline has been really strong. good news for michigan and moore considering that's his position.

michigan is not going to the playoffs this year.

franklin at a place like va tech would be interesting considering how he complained that penn state wouldnt pony up the nil money he needed to compete. will va tech match his ambitions or would he be better off at a place like florida state? on the one hand, fsu will have many more resources. on the other, 9-3 every year at va tech gets you a statue. 9-3 at florida state gets you fired in 4 years.

Theyre one of the youngest teams in college football and they play like it. this is a rebuilding year. get rid of wink, build on that very young oline and next year get a top receiver. you have the #1 rb recruit to go with the #1 qb recruit to go with an improving, young oline. the offense should be fine long term. the defense? lets see. they had an incredible run of coaching up talent under harbaugh. a collection of 3 and 4 stars who played their way into being nfl draft picks. now that he's gone, we'll see if that continues. but you have to get rid of wink, the dude is just not a college dc. go get your retirement package being a consultant for one of your nfl buddies. we'll see about sherrone. harbaugh wasnt the master of late game time management either.

Thibs!

New Orleans fired its head coach. Because that was definitely the problem. Assemble a bad team, give away assets like candy in order to do so. cripple the team's future. Fire the coach. Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver strike again.

This michigan team has a long way to go to be good. they look bad right now. except for mara. he looks like a future first round nba draft pick.

this team...

then why do they do it in the nba and nhl?

Patrick beverly should already be in prison for all the assaults on backboards he committed throughout his career.

which it does. all the time. people who dont think this is happening are really naive. it happens in other sports all the time. heck, you see it happening in COLLEGE sports now with portal deals announced the day the portal opens. and teams do sometimes get "busted." guess what? they keep doing it because this is millions and billions of dollars were talking about and lots of planning that goes into making these budgets. it aint pennies and chump change anymore. and they do it in baseball too.

but look at what they did LAST year in almost winning 70 games. and this year they could be just as good or better considering how young their roster is. amd as betrayer pointed out, they are flush with lottery picks too. we may be looking at a massive dynasty unless they **** up the picks like golden state did with weisman.

ok. its why you see free agents sign immediately the day free agency "opens". those deals have been discussed through back channels long before then.