Haha, thanks.
In fairness, I made up for it by discussing Steph Curry's golf swing in V&N. ;-)
2017 NBA offseason thread
- Thread starter soxhop411
- Start date
In fairness, I made up for it by discussing Steph Curry's golf swing in V&N. ;-)
This won't work.
Golden States' big 4 are on the books for a combined 100M for next season, and that number will go up assuming KD opts out and re-signs. They won't be signing anyone for anything over the midlevel for the rest of their run.
Yeah, I thought about it some more and you're right. I hadn't factored in the Durant cap hold. It would take George or Durant taking the MLE, which obviously ain't happening.
(Edit: or a sign-and-trade, which OKC obviously isn't agreeing to, either).
What is apparently a fact is that the Pacers offered the Ws George for Klay straight up and the Ws turned it down. I support that decision as I think Klay's a better fit (and don't fix what ain't broke) but 3-4 years ago the Pacers even making that offer would have seemed unfathomable to me.
(Edit: or a sign-and-trade, which OKC obviously isn't agreeing to, either).
What is apparently a fact is that the Pacers offered the Ws George for Klay straight up and the Ws turned it down. I support that decision as I think Klay's a better fit (and don't fix what ain't broke) but 3-4 years ago the Pacers even making that offer would have seemed unfathomable to me.
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Going to be such a gloriously-awkward season for Cleveland this year. Makes you wonder if LA has any other competition for LeBron. Things always work out for those bastards.
In a normal situation I'd say he stays in Cleveland. The biggest contract he can get is if he stays, right? I'm not sure it's worth it to play for Dan Gilbert.
Trade him today to LAL for Randle, Clarkson and Lopez. Make them take back Frye to make the money work. Those three are gone next year when they have to clear cap room for Lebron and another max guy anyways. This just saves them the extra steps and awkwardness next summer. I know Lebron has a no-trade clause, but he's going to leave so might as well preserve Bird rights. Everyone needs to come to their senses here and get something done.
I'd prefer they self immolate, allow the Cs to make the finals and keep the LAL pick in the 2-5 range where we get it, but heh, each their own.
LeBron will be 34 next season; and is an awkward fit in terms of game with Lonzo Ball, and an awkward fit in terms of age with all their young'uns. I'd assume if he were to don the purple and gold, it'd need to be alongside a couple of other established stars, with most of the rest of the roster being gutted. My first thought is Angelinos Paul George and Russell Westbrook, which makes for a cool Big 3 that could potentially bother the Warriors, but obviously Westbrook is an awful fit with Ball. Should be an extremely interesting offseason for them, in any case...
The pieces are there for the next superteam. They'll be able to sign 2 max guys without giving anyone up, likely LeBron/George. Then, they can use some combination of Randle/Ingram/Ball/picks to land the 3rd star.
LeBron is starting to get up there in age but a switch to PF would probably preserve him now that the lateral quickness is starting to go.
That's close but not quite right. They have $55 million on the books for 2018-19 already, which leaves just $47M in space assuming a cap around $102 million. They'll need $35.7M for Lebron and $30.6M for George or $66.3 million total in space. They'll have to stretch Deng and trade Clarkson, plus renounce Randle and Lopez.
All of that is easy to accomplish and none of those moves would be painful on the court. Assuming Bron/George come, they'd have to figure out the final piece but they'll have the assets to get it done. And once LeBron goes to LA, they'll take over the top FA destination position from GS so they'll get some cheap ring chasers as well. I don't see them surpassing GS but they'll be pretty close as long as LeBron doesn't decline significantly.
If Lebron keeps doing the short term deals he's been doing the last few years, he'll make the same amount of money anywhere.
If he were looking to lock in a max deal for max years, Cleveland could pay him considerably more. I don't think Lebron is looking for that though. I'd expect him to sign a 1+1 deal next summer no matter where he signs, that way he can keep maximum pressure on the front office to build him the team he wants.
They almost definitely won't have the assets to add a third star to a Lebron/George tandem. Assuming they stretch Deng, and get someone to take on Clarkson and send back zero salary, they'll have to renounce everybody not on cheap deals to fit Lebron/George. Randle/KCP/Lopez would be gone. They don't have any extra 1st rounders, and can't trade their own until 2020 and those will be devalued with an expected much better team. I don't think the Kuzmas and Harts help you grab a third star. They'd be left with only Ball and Ingram as real assets. And even if they were willing to part with either or both of them, that third star would have to be on a real cheap contract, otherwise it would be really tough to match salary on a trade.
The ring chasers, they'll definitely get though.
Funny you should say that. I heard some NBA radio guys a few weeks ago say that Lebron wants to be a billionaire and that Cleveland can offer him a 5 year, 250 mil contract. That's a quarter bil right there.
Looking at it again, you're right. Basically, they'd have:
Zubac
Bron
George
Ingram
Ball
Not sure Ingram would be a good fit in that lineup and LeBron/Ball would have to figure things out since both are most effective with the ball in their hands. From a pure talent standpoint, that's a very solid lineup.
The real question to me is if George/Westbrook commit to OKC longterm. Then, who is LeBron's running mate?
I don't think Westbrook is turning down his DVPE supermax deal, and as such I'm not sure that George leaves OKC either. I have a sneaking suspicion that the move they end up trying to make is moving Adams for a third guy to run with their big two and live with the weakness at the C spot.
I don't think Adams is their type of player, but if Presti could pry Middleton and take the contract of Celtic Killer Greg Monroe for Adams it would be a very nice compliment to PG and Russ.
Or Avery Bradley or KCP after this season would be great running mates. I still can't believe Presti pulled off getting George for Oladipo and Sabonis.
Nerlens Noel signs his qualifying offer with the Mavs- one year at 4.1 million. This, after he allegedly turned down 4/70 on July 1st and more recently fired his agent and was rumored to have turned down a one year/17.5 offer.
He's making a big bet on himself, but I'm still a Noel truther. He has DPOY talent if he's healthy and able contribute enough on offense to stay on the court.
He's making a big bet on himself, but I'm still a Noel truther. He has DPOY talent if he's healthy and able contribute enough on offense to stay on the court.
Other sources say that the July 1 offer was pulled quickly when his agent countered, and that the 17.5M offer was never made. Which makes sense, the 1 year deal doesn't do anything for DAL, they knew he had to sign a 1 year 4.1 if there wasn't a long term deal. why would they give him an extra 13M with no benefit to them?
Yeah, that 1/17.5 rumor didn't make any sense to me. I wonder where the hell that came from.
I'm curious about which teams made him offers and what they looked like. At first glance, it looks like there's a decent class of bigs hitting the market next year.
Sounds like they made an offer in that region and pulled it fast when the agent asked for a max as they realized he was on crack.
I mean this is why you don't trade him for nothing the RFA rights have value.
Not sure what he's thinking, getting some bad advice. Mavs is a great fit, there's small cap space around as everyone went mental last year and didn't expect the cap to fall. There is a raft of bigs coming in the draft and he's had injuries.
Whoever told him he would get the max is dumb, that was when the cap was expected to rise this off-season. Feel like the nets should be all over him next year now
I mean this is why you don't trade him for nothing the RFA rights have value.
Not sure what he's thinking, getting some bad advice. Mavs is a great fit, there's small cap space around as everyone went mental last year and didn't expect the cap to fall. There is a raft of bigs coming in the draft and he's had injuries.
Whoever told him he would get the max is dumb, that was when the cap was expected to rise this off-season. Feel like the nets should be all over him next year now
Not quite a binkie, and Ainge has seemingly taken a pass on acquiring him more than once, but I still would really enjoy seeing him flying up and down the court in a Celtics uniform someday.
If anyone is interested, I went to my son's basketball camp and during one session one of the assistant GMs for the Trail Blazers gave a talk. The first 30 minutes was all salary cap and personnel stuff - which I'm sure the kids had to be wondering what any of it meant and was moderately interesting to the adults. He did have some interesting things to say. From memory:
DLil is one of the best people in the NBA hands down and not many people know about all of the things he does.
CJ McCollum is unguardable - literally no one can stop him. He might make or miss but he's unguardable. Also, the TBs knew this for two years before CJ really got his chance (injuries).
Nurkic is just like CJ. No one knows how good he is going to be but he's a top 5 center in the NBA.
The reason the TBs matched on Allan Crabbe is because Paul Allen refuses to be outbid by anyone. He wants to show that he's not going to make decisions based on money. He also confirmed that Crabbe can't do anything except shoot.
They signed Evan Turner to "be their Andre Iguadola". He really said that. A few of us were really amused by his characterization of ET.
Lillard is recruiting Carmelo and "if Carmelo wants to come to Portland, he'll be in Portland."
He thought all of the top draft picks would be very good NBA players but none would be the best player on a championship team.
He also had an interesting story about Chandler Parsons and that the TBs and Parsons were literally in the room about to sign the free agent offer but their doctor called and wouldn't clear his physical. That's how Parsons ended up in Memphis. I did a quick google search and didn't see this reported anywhere.
Finally, although he admitted that none of DLill, CJ, or Nurkic really play defense, he kept saying that people would be surprised how good the TBs were going to be and he intimated that they would win 50 games.
Just throwing this out there in case anyone is interested.
DLil is one of the best people in the NBA hands down and not many people know about all of the things he does.
CJ McCollum is unguardable - literally no one can stop him. He might make or miss but he's unguardable. Also, the TBs knew this for two years before CJ really got his chance (injuries).
Nurkic is just like CJ. No one knows how good he is going to be but he's a top 5 center in the NBA.
The reason the TBs matched on Allan Crabbe is because Paul Allen refuses to be outbid by anyone. He wants to show that he's not going to make decisions based on money. He also confirmed that Crabbe can't do anything except shoot.
They signed Evan Turner to "be their Andre Iguadola". He really said that. A few of us were really amused by his characterization of ET.
Lillard is recruiting Carmelo and "if Carmelo wants to come to Portland, he'll be in Portland."
He thought all of the top draft picks would be very good NBA players but none would be the best player on a championship team.
He also had an interesting story about Chandler Parsons and that the TBs and Parsons were literally in the room about to sign the free agent offer but their doctor called and wouldn't clear his physical. That's how Parsons ended up in Memphis. I did a quick google search and didn't see this reported anywhere.
Finally, although he admitted that none of DLill, CJ, or Nurkic really play defense, he kept saying that people would be surprised how good the TBs were going to be and he intimated that they would win 50 games.
Just throwing this out there in case anyone is interested.
Great info, thanks, WBCD.
If the Blazers were in the East, I'd totally pencil them in for 50+. In the buzzsaw that is the West, I think you have to correct that to more like 45. Generally, I think I'd put them on the WC "fourth tier" with Denver. Something like...
Tier 1: GS
Tier 2: SAS, HOU
Tier 3: OKC, MIN
Tier 4: POR, DEN
Tier 5: LAC, MEM, UTA, NOP
Tier 6: DAL, LAL
Tier 7: SAC, PHO
Re Evan and Andre: what's funny about that is that they're apparently BFFs, so when Evan called Andre and told him about Portland's huge contract offer, Andre told him to sign it immediately. Which from Andre's POV (I imagine) had the twin benefits of getting his buddy paid and hamstringing one of the Warriors' nominal competitors.
If the Blazers were in the East, I'd totally pencil them in for 50+. In the buzzsaw that is the West, I think you have to correct that to more like 45. Generally, I think I'd put them on the WC "fourth tier" with Denver. Something like...
Tier 1: GS
Tier 2: SAS, HOU
Tier 3: OKC, MIN
Tier 4: POR, DEN
Tier 5: LAC, MEM, UTA, NOP
Tier 6: DAL, LAL
Tier 7: SAC, PHO
Re Evan and Andre: what's funny about that is that they're apparently BFFs, so when Evan called Andre and told him about Portland's huge contract offer, Andre told him to sign it immediately. Which from Andre's POV (I imagine) had the twin benefits of getting his buddy paid and hamstringing one of the Warriors' nominal competitors.
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And yet, matching simply because of the money offered shows that not to be the case.
That said, good stuff.
I might be overly optimistic on DEN, but I have them a notch above the Blazers. Jokic is really freaking good, and Millsap is a perfect fit into what they have, in addition to also being really freaking good.
Maybe I am putting too much stock in the veterans they signed and the "culture change" but I really think SAC should be switched with LAL. And I actually think there is a decent gap between Tier 6 and 7
In Pop we trust and all, but I'm not buying the Spurs as a serious contender. They swapped Simmons for Rudy Gay, Parker is hurt, and Gasol and Aldridge are at the point where rapid age-related decline is possible. I think they slip back to the middle of the pack this year.
I'm also a mild believer in the Clippers. Losing Paul was a big blow, but I liked how they rebuilt on the fly with Beverly, Williams, Teodosic, Dekker, Harrell and Gallinari. They are deeper and more versatile than they have been recently and I think Griffin will be motivated as their main playmaker. I could see them finishing in the top four or five in the West.
I'm also a mild believer in the Clippers. Losing Paul was a big blow, but I liked how they rebuilt on the fly with Beverly, Williams, Teodosic, Dekker, Harrell and Gallinari. They are deeper and more versatile than they have been recently and I think Griffin will be motivated as their main playmaker. I could see them finishing in the top four or five in the West.
Aldridge is only 32, and his game should age decently. Gasol is ancient though, and his age related decline has already happened
Good stuff, but almost shockingly candid, especially from a middle management guy. Can you imagine if some Patriots scout did this at a football camp?
That's a push at worst, even with Gay coming off an Achilles. Simmons was bad last season (.504 true shooting) and is not at an age (28) where you necessarily expect improvement. Gay's also significantly bigger and longer than Simmons, and a much better rebounder, which should allow them to run more smallball looks with Leonard-LMA as the de facto 4-5.
When Pop/Buford cut someone loose, you can be pretty sure it's not without reason.
True, but if you believe Danny Green, his rehab is going great and he's a couple months ahead of schedule. Also, as crafty as is, he's no longer an absolutely indispensable part of the team. Patty Mills has rated better by most metrics for a few seasons now.
Both had already significantly declined from their peaks last season, and yet the team was still much better than any non-GSW team in the NBA (+7.13 SRS; #3 was Houston at +5.84, #4 Clippers at +4.42). In the playoffs, they destroyed the Rockets with Kawhi and Parker hurt; then put the fear of God into the mighty Warriors in Oakland before Kawhi — their one truly indispensable player — got Zaza'd.
Crazy talk. What's your over/under in wins for them?
To paraphrase Michael Corleone: the Spurs have been dying of the same age-related decline for the last 20 years.
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The guy sounded as if he was writing his own puff piece about himself - he wanted to tell everyone how successful he was.
The part I now find the weirdest is the part about Parsons, which apparently wasn't reported anywhere.
Sources: Cleveland, San Antonio and Miami are leaders for Dwyane Wade post-Bulls buyout. OKC could become factor too.
Looks like the Cavs are the frontrunners to land him. How many primary ballhandlers do they need?
IT
Rose
Calderon
Felder
Wade
LeBron
That's a lot of players who like or need to play on-ball. Only real shooters in the bunch are Calderon and IT, and they're old and banged up respectively, and can't defend anyone on a good day. If the deal goes through, I'd assume either Calderon or Felder (or Shumpert?) moves on.
Weird roster makeup right now. I'm not sure I'd rank them ahead of SA, OKC or HOU.
IT
Rose
Calderon
Felder
Wade
LeBron
That's a lot of players who like or need to play on-ball. Only real shooters in the bunch are Calderon and IT, and they're old and banged up respectively, and can't defend anyone on a good day. If the deal goes through, I'd assume either Calderon or Felder (or Shumpert?) moves on.
Weird roster makeup right now. I'm not sure I'd rank them ahead of SA, OKC or HOU.
And the non-existent defense. Can you imagine the playoffs when IT is also back? That's going to be ugly.