The main thing you are missing is that the Ravens had access to his medicals prior to agreeing to the deal. Unless there was something really surprising in the physical, it feels like the kind of risk that should have been baked into agreeing to the deal in the first place

That makes sense. But so then would we assume that something was different in the physical than why they’d seen on previous medicals? Just seems weird to be so all in and then back out entirely, but I guess maybe if you balk on the price and then can’t agree to a new one you get here

I do feel like there’s a sad lost world where the big 3 stayed together and he grew into an absolute monster lob threat with Harden, and got to flash his secondary skills a bit more. But…alas

I think that’s a fair read for sure. His strengths have always been his ability to excel outside his primary role. He’s also an example of what I was talking about because I would just love for him to be paired with a top rebounder (like an Aaron Gordon type)

I also know with NBA trades typically a failed physical means the draft pick compensation is adjusted slightly, it doesn’t typically blow the deal up. But maybe the raiders refused lesser comp?

I don’t follow NFL FA super closely so apologies if this is a dumb question, but what do/don’t the ravens have access to prior to agreeing to a deal like this? Would they typically have looked at his latest medicals prior to the physical so the physical is the only new info?

When the Nets ran out lineups with KD and “SF” and Joe Harris at “PF” I feel like that kind of tells you enough about positions lol. It felt kind of revolutionary circa the early 2010s but it’s kinda everywhere now

Acknowledging I’m the one who brought it into the convo, I feel like “positionless” is pretty meaningless at this point. My main thing is the positions don’t define the same things. Point Guard (and to a lesser extent Center) describe jobs being done, everything else is just height order

Screenshot of Tweet from Jason La Canfora: Just got off the phone with two GMs. neither one buying the Ravens failed physical narrative—not by a long shot. Good luck finding agents and teams to trust you in negotiations now. It’s not sitting well with the Raiders either. coulda got further medicals on Crosby way sooner

Screenshot of Tweet from Tom Pelissero: One GM summarized feelings around the league: “This is very much bullshit on Baltimore’s part”

Folks around the league disagree with you.

I tend to find myself wanting guys simply because they cut against marks’ biases (kuminga, ron holland)

All 3 strike me as an example of culture lifting the overall concept. The only superstars those 3 have drafted themselves are Bam, Chet & J-Dub, and the best player notably not the best player on the best iteration of any of them.

I would argue that the 3 teams you list are actually similar to what Marks is going for in terms of talent acquisition. Filling out the balance of the roster through the draft, with the ability to add a superstar acquired via other means on top (Hali, Shai, Butler)

I’ve never felt like the nets were overly physical (like, say OKC or Detroit) during Marks tenure, nor has the offense excelled at getting downhill. Defense tends to be switchy, and based on defections rather than stopping the POA, emphasizing gang rebounding to cover for a lack of good rebounders

I feel like the Nets general cultural principles are closer to Indy than the other teams mentioned. His teams have tended to favor deeper, positionless rotations, with an offense that’s more egalitarian (though that could be based on personnel).

Interesting! I would frame my concern slightly differently. Idk that we have seen him pick high enough to have a reasonable shot at a superstar, but I do think he has pretty clear biases. He tends to bet on his player dev, favor length and agility, and seems lower than market on strength & force

Same thing with most of the FA acquisitions. And maybe it was because he legitimately felt ownership would pick KD/Kleinman over him. I always thought the summer that ownership rebuffed KD’s demands to fire him were marks getting his groove back. Yuta, Royce, TJW were Marks back in his bag

Like I don’t know if KD demanded Nash (I almost don’t think he did). But I do think Marks felt like KD’s approval of the hire was of equal importance to, like, finding a coach who would win and that was the fatal flaw.

Idk if this is “cope”, but I always attributed marks’ actions in the big 3 era to him just being unable to handle bridging between his vision of the team and catering to the stars. It was truly like a dog catching the car in so many ways.

I know I’m phrasing that like an argument for some reason, but I agree! Just a wild sequence of events for him

Better than demoting him for someone with less experience, then promoting him after that person got fired while they openly made an overture to another coach that was serving a suspension until the league (presumably) said “no”, and then hiring him as a 2nd-choice coach of a lame duck roster?

Another fun one was the comeback against Phoenix shortly after the Harden trade. KD and Kyrie both out with an injury, they let Harden start the third rather than folding and they came back from 24 down. Huge games from Joe Harris, Tyler Johnson and Uncle Jeff

I went to sleep at halftime, but couldn’t sleep because I’d had a coffee at like 2 pm (dumb!) and woke up to catch the last half of the fourth quarter. Kept being like “let me keep watching until the Kings score”. Just one of the wildest most fun games

It’s a nagging one too. I think Joe Johnson had plantar fasciitis for like all 4 of his BK seasons

It’s funnier if you know it’s a Russian tank

And with that, she got to work on the last piece of music she would ever write. By the time she was conceiving the sound world and structure of the piece, she was in the middle of her pregnancy. A significant portion of the work, though, came after our son was born and after her diagnosis. As the chemo cycles began, a friend and mentor sent her a supportive email, and in it was a line musing that the dual challenges of cancer treatment and newborn care must be "beyond the beyond." "That's my title," Sarah said to me. "Don't you think?"

My friend wrote a piece for Esquire about the passing of his wife (an extremely talented composer) and the music she left behind. It’s a beautiful meditation on grief and art and the way the two things inform each other; please read if you’re so inclined.

mcusercontent.com/b2fc960a6273...

Cam Thomas is Tim Tebow for “real hoopers”

It’s just one of those moments where you kind of transfer from celebrating turning a dime into 15 cents, to recognizing how many more times you need to do that to get to the $20 you need.

Yea I feel like it’s one of the things that comes with the territory a bit, and you have to constantly reconcile where you’re actually at v the level of praise or scorn in assessments. I do think this is a pretty positive outcome. 2-3 rotation guys & a MPJ value reclamation project ain’t bad.

Is the re a “sim to the end” button?