2018 NBA offseason

[DJ Fieri]

Not sure where in California that would be. Death Valley maybe?

YEAH....THAT'S DEF NOT MOST OF CALI.

 

[CitySushi]

i think people will look at Fultz and Ball going over Tatum for a long long long long long time and remember how dumb the Sixers and Lakers were.

Not as bad as Darko but close.

No, this won't be nearly as bad as a ton of others out there, imo. I think at worst Fultz still can carve out a starter role type player. He may not be worthy of a #1 pick, but there's been much larger discrepancies out there.

 

[LAD]

PG was supposed to be FREE this year. Granted, Kawhi seems to be more adamant about going to the Lakers than PG ever was...but it's not like there aren't rumors that he wouldn't play for the Clippers.

If just being in LA si more important to him than playing for the Lakers, the Lakers lose some of their "wait until next season" leverage.

As we saw with PG, things can change. What if Philly says "Fuck it, we'll take a shot" and includes Fultz in the trade like the Spurs reportedly want, they win a title or close to it and Kawhi decides LA isn't the be all end all?



I'm not too worried about the injury. I'm sure the Lakers would have their doctors thoroughly check him out.



And the Spurs are the one organization that people thought would never have 2 of their stars and their legendary coach speak out publicly against him...yet, that happened too.



I don't know that the rumors are true. There are also those who think that the Sixers and Celtics rumors are being fed by San Antonio and played up as greater than it is to try to get the Lakers to panic and agree to what the Spurs are asking for.

Yea I get the PG situation - but IMO now that the Lakers have LBJ you can't give up all the young talent around him until they've had a chance to play & you can see which pieces work. IMO doing that now for Kawhi is too much too early.

I think the Lakers have lost some leverage since it's been said Kawhi isn't interested in forming a super team. If that's true & had they traded for him & given up all those assets they might be looking at losing him anyway giving them zero on the trade-in since we know they weren't winning this year anyway.

The idea that his injury isn't as bad as we might think - and he didn't play for an entire season is kind of a head scratcher. So if he wasn't really injured that bad, what kept him out? How do other teams know what might trigger him to do something similar once on their team?

My point is you wait for SA's fire sale to acquire him so you have to give up less & still reap the full reward of getting Kawhi (if you can get him to extend).

 

[LAD]

I think a lot of his not returning was the uncle that is apparently acting as his agent.

The Spurs handled the injury very poorly in a few ways and they lost his trust. Because of that, I think his uncle convinced him to just sit out the year.

Which is kind of crazy because it could potentially hurt his brand & some teams might find that unprofessional in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Gman]

... & some teams might find that unprofessional in the grand scheme of things.

If true... it's wildly, wildly unprofessional... to say the least.

 

[knowyourenemy]

Grading the Big Men Rotations in the West out of Likely Playoff Teams:

THUNDER: "B": Steve Adams, Nerleans Noel, Patrick Patterson, Carmelo Anthony: Steven Adams is one of the best big men defenders in the NBA and scored 14 points a game on 63% shooting. Carmelo is pretty much cooked. Noel is a great athlete with some gifts but has underachieved and sucked at times.

BLAZERS: "C" Nurkic, Al-Farouq Aminu, Zach Collins, Meyers Leonard- Aminu is a nice stretch 4 type guy that plays some solid D. Nurkic is a decent center. Colllins has not developed yet and Leonard is an expensive disaster.

JAZZ: "A-" :Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Jerebko, Crowder (who plays a lot of PF for them)- perennial DPOY candidate Gobert is a monster. Favors is a very good PF. Crowder is a solid player that can play the 4 in small lineups. Pretty damn good front court.

WARRIORS: "A+" :Cousins (when healthy), Durant, Draymond , Looney, Bell ---- self explanatory

TWOLVES: "A-" : KAT, Taj Gibson, Gorgui Dieng: A star big man and 2 very solid all around big men. Gibson and Dieng are very solid defenders. Gibson is a great team guy and Dieng is a solid rim protector. KAT is a star but he does not sound like he is very happy

PELICANS: "A" : Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic, Julius Randle: Davis is obviously one of the best players in basketball. Mirotic and Randle- neither are all stars but both are very solid players that compliment eachother well. One is a good shooter, one is a good inside player and rebounder.

ROCKETS: "B": this assumes they resign Clint Capela, PJ Tucker (who guards centers, let alone PF's), Ryan Anderson, Nene Hilariou,- Capela is a perfect big man in todays league. PJ Tucker is an awesome "small" big that can guard just about any PF and quite a few centers. Anderson is waaaay overpaid but can at least stretch the floor when called upon.

LAKERS: "C-": JaVale Mcgee, Klye Kuzma, Ivaca Zubac and Mo Wagner. McGee is a head case that is best served playing 20 minutes a game. Wagner is 20 years old and overdrafted (most all the mocks i saw had him as a 2nd rounder), Zubac is 21 years old and averaged 9.5 minutes in 43 games last year. 3 young guys and JaVale Mcgee- gross. 23 year old Kyle Kuzma is easily their best big man and could be a nice stretch option. WHY WHY WHY let Randle go for 9 million a year?

NUGGETS: "B+": Nikola Jokic, Paul Milsap, Mason Plumlee, Kenneth Faried: Obviously they want to get rid of Faried. Jokic is a star. Milsap is still a very good player. Plumlee is a solid player that can shoot. The Nuggets might be a pretty solid team this year.

compare that to many of the other teams "bigs" in the West.

Why is Durant a “big” but Lebron isn’t?

 

[flyerhawk]

Of course that's how expiring contracts are useful. They would be useful for any opportunities for trades that arise during the year starting in December. Lakers don't have to focus solely on Kawhi; there will be other options.

Holmes had his option picked up and McConnell's contract certainly looks guaranteed to me.

Richaun Holmes
T.J. McConnell

 

[msgkings322]

absolutely.

I am glad that LeBron, in his age 34 season, will not win dick.

sue me.

Dang talk about rooting for laundry. This is the same person you were madly in love with. Same guy.

 

[msgkings322]

Yeah, I actually did.....loved Shaq.

Exactly, Klay Thompson is my favorite current player. If he leaves I will still root for him and wish him well.

 

[msgkings322]

I hope somewhere down the road the Cavs do the right thing & retire JR's #. He deserves it.

I suspect the Warriors will retire his # first

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

absolutely.

I am glad that LeBron, in his age 34 season, will not win dick.

sue me.

Less than a month ago he was THE KING! The GOAT who can do no wrong.

Now he moves to a team that is better than Cleveland, younger and with significant cap space for years to come and now he "won't win dick".

You're pathetic. Glad we won't have to see your sad, hypocritical ass any more next season when the Cavs struggle to win 25 games.

 

[Gman]

Why is Durant a “big” but Lebron isn’t?

Because shut up, that's why.

 

[trojanfan12]

Sitting out the better part of a year is pretty calculated and cold blooded... takes a lot of (ill) will...

... not saying San Antonio handled his situation well...

... but I am saying that I don't want my team to give up the goods for a guy like that... God forbid he feels 'disrespected'...

There's a big difference, imo, between feeling disrespected and having 2 star teammates and your head coach call you out publicly and question your desire.

Especially from an organization that has never done anything like that before.

I'm not saying I like how Kawhi handles it. But what the Spurs did is pretty bad.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

 

[Gman]

There's a big difference, imo, between feeling disrespected and having 2 star teammates and your head coach call you out publicly and question your desire.

Especially from an organization that has never done anything like that before.

I'm not saying I like how Kawhi handles it. But what the Spurs did is pretty bad.

Being healthy enough to play and sitting out a long, long time though... stealing money, basically... that's much worse.

It all comes down to whether it was true or not that Kawhi was healthy enough to play and contribute. If he wasn't... then yeah: his teammates and coach threw him under the bus and he has a right to be offended.

But if he could have gone and instead sat in a cesspool of resentment... then his teammates and coach were arguably justified in calling him out. Arguably not, but they are cast in a much better light IMO. And Kawhi looks 100% horrible if that is true...

 

[trojanfan12]

Yea I get the PG situation - but IMO now that the Lakers have LBJ you can't give up all the young talent around him until they've had a chance to play & you can see which pieces work. IMO doing that now for Kawhi is too much too early.

For me, it depends. From what I've heard, the Spurs want Ingram, Kuzma, Hart, 2 picks and 2 "swaps." The Lakers counter is apparently, Inram or Kuzma, Ball and a couple of picks.

If the Spurs don't want to back off from their demands, then I agree that the Lakers should wait. Kawhi isn't the only max level FA they can go after next season.

But, if the Spurs end up agreeing to the Lakers offer, then I think they need to do it.

I think the Lakers have lost some leverage since it's been said Kawhi isn't interested in forming a super team. If that's true & had they traded for him & given up all those assets they might be looking at losing him anyway giving them zero on the trade-in since we know they weren't winning this year anyway.

I have serious doubt that this is a true rumor.

The idea that his injury isn't as bad as we might think - and he didn't play for an entire season is kind of a head scratcher. So if he wasn't really injured that bad, what kept him out? How do other teams know what might trigger him to do something similar once on their team?

I seriously doubt the injury was bad enough to have kept him out for as long as it did. However, I also think that it was serious enough to keep him out longer than the Spurs and their doctors thought it should.

I think that when the Spurs and their doctors had him return and it still wasn't right, they thought he should "play through it" and he wasn't comfortable with that. He got a 2nd opinion that contradicted what the Spurs doctors said.

That likely already had him wondering if the Spurs and their doctors had his best interest in mind. Then, when he was publicly criticized by Parker, Manu and Pop...the relationship went from "strained" to "broken" and he and his reps decided "fuck it, he's done here".

 

[trojanfan12]

Being healthy enough to play and sitting out a long, long time though... stealing money, basically... that's much worse.

Not when you don't trust the team you play for and the relationship is irreparably broken it isn't.

The Spurs have done this to themselves.

It all comes down to whether it was true or not that Kawhi was healthy enough to play and contribute. If he wasn't... then yeah: his teammates and coach threw him under the bus and he has a right to be offended.

I believe that there was a point where he was healthy enough and under normal circumstances, he would have returned. However, the Spurs had already thrown him under the bus and he was already done with them by the time he reached that point.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Got my 2nd camshaft sensor replaced on my Merc in the last 3 weeks. Let''s hope that fixes it.

 

[trojanfan12]

Interesting...

Smith: Lillard Is "Open to Leaving"; Lakers, Knicks Rumored

It's Stephen A. soooo...

 

[DJ Fieri]

Interesting...

Smith: Lillard Is "Open to Leaving"; Lakers, Knicks Rumored

It's Stephen A. soooo...

Ball, Kuzma, Deng's corpse so salaries match, and a future 1st rounder