Ben DuBose

They pretty much knew by that point that this was a team that, while not impossible, would need a lot of luck to win a championship this year.

And one of those paths was to trade Steven Adams.

There were teams like the Pacers who are in a gap year with no Halliburton that ultimately they traded for Evika Zubac.

They could have made a move for Steven Adams.

And I'm told that there was interest for Steven around the league.

And the Rockets chose to keep him for future years.

They could have looked to move Dorian Finney-Smith, but they kept him.

You know, there's still some hope that he'll, you know, bounce back.

But if not, he's useful matching salaries and expiring this offseason.

And so Tillman is...

He's paying the tax this year for future assets, for guys like... Ideally, DFS balances back, but worst case, he's a trade asset.

For Steven Adams, because they think that when he's right, he's one of the best value contracts in the game.

So if part of the plan is dialing up the usage of those guys, which...

as Tillman sees it, are clear wins, very important that he's already sort of backed, then I don't think it's a huge ask for him to sort of double down.

The last point I'll make before we transition to the final segment, you know, some of the discussions, and that's why I don't want to get too far in the weeds about these hypothetical scenarios, are going to depend on whatever new rules the NBA decides on to combat the so-called tanking crisis.

In other words, how, if any, do the lottery odds change?

Because, you know, you could certainly argue, like, these teams we're jealous of.

The Spurs got Wimby in the lottery.

The Pistons got Cade Cunningham.

The Mavs got Cooper Flagg.