Everyone assumes the Celtics are the leader because of Stevens, but Riley's ability to sell his vision to people is uncanny, and this city and organization is a huge draw. Miami could be the heavy favorite here behind the scenes, although I'm not going to get my hopes up.
Weird. It came up -Traded scraps for Alonzo Mourning -Traded scraps for Tim Hardaway -Traded scraps for Goran Dragic and convinced him to take a discount -Convinced Juwan Howard to sign in his prime before the league negated it -Nearly convinced LaMarcus Aldridge to take the MLE -Signed Chris Bosh before LeBron committed -Signed Lamar Odom in his prime Also, getting Shaq and LeBron to come to Miami in the first place were incredibly impressive. How many GMs in history have convinced two players of that caliber, in their primes, to buy into his vision?
I think he meant more about what I said about Riley getting players to buy into his vision. But yeah, if we start getting into some of his drafting, rehabilitation projects, and undrafted projects, it would be all the more impressive.
Sure I'll play devils advocate. Alonso and Hardaway didn't win anything. With Dragic they were a 1st round exit and a non playoff team. You brought up guys never even played for the team. Everyone knows Bosh/Wade/Lebron had a plan to Play together. If Wade wasn't in Miami? LeBron would not have been either. Again this is playing devils advocate, I just don't think he is nearly the god some of you do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You forgot probably his most genius move ever... Quit the knicks via fax to take his talents to south beach.
Well, now we're moving the goal posts. You responded to my comment about Riley's ability to sell his vision. Those were all examples of that. If we're talking about Riley's success, the man has built 3 separate contenders in Miami. The Mourning/Hardaway teams never got there, but they were absolutely one of the best teams in the NBA for a stretch. And why should we take LeBron and Shaq out of the equation? He brought both players to Miami. You could argue that Wade was a big part of it, but Riley was the one who drafted Wade and refused to move him in the Shaq deal. People don't say to take Kobe and MJ off of Phil Jackson's resume.
God didnt bless him with a brain thats for sure. Thank goodness isiah just tweeted he didnt want the job. Knicks now looking at Sam Presti but Ujiri still apparently the leading candidate.
Per Stein, Hayward has officially opted out and it's Heat-Boston-Utah through Monday. Utah still considers Heat biggest threat but Boston has "ramped it up", whatever that means Also, Blake Griffin is meeting first on Saturday with the Phoenix Suns. That is out of the blue but their medical staff is among the best in the biz
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba...llionaire-tax-in-boston/ar-BBDsVq8?li=BBnbfcL "Tanner Ainge, who is currently running for a third district seat in Congress out in Utah, wanted to make sure that Gordon Hayward -- who is an unrestricted free agent and is widely linked to the Boston Celtics -- knew about a 'millionaire tax' that was passed by the Massachusetts legislature."
Awk-ward... LOL. I love it. He's not even explicitly enticing him to stay in Utah with that tweet. He's just basically telling Hayward, don't sign with my dad in Boston.
His twitter says they consider Miami "as much" a threat as Boston. Did he say he considers Miami a bigger threat somewhere else?
I may have just misinterpreted. He had a prior tweet a few weeks ago where he said biggest or as big. Who knows?
Apropos of nothing, one of the guys Miami are coaching for Summer League is Eric Mika of BYU. I like him a lot. But every time I watch some of him, I keep seeing the creepiest looking ball player since Sam Cassell. Except powder white. It's like if Jason Voorhies played point guard.
If this is true, the Knicks probably should listen. He can't be any worse than what they've had, and could be a big time coup. But Dolan apparently doesn't have interest.
Theory on Calipari... He knows one and done is coming to an end, high school players will be able to get in the draft... He probably wants a contract similar to Phil Jackson and he knows Dolan is the type of sucker to give him that money. Dolan is notorious for giving away dead money that produces nothing.
I agree. And with a lot of ex players in the league, there's an obvious benefit. If anything the end of one and dones benefits the big time coaches/programs because they'll get these guys for 2 years. I don't think they go backwards on it where they let high school grads in the league again. Owners already feel a lot of picks take too long to adjust to the league after the one and done.
I'm pretty sure that's the dude I'm talking about. Looks like Jason Voorhies. Eric Mika himself is a dreamboat. He's also about as white as white can be, though. He looks like someone that saves children from an evil witch in the candy cane forest of a Hans Christian Andersen tale.
I'm surprised nobody has posted this yet. http://bleacherfan.com/a-bleacher-f...s-to-sign-somewhere-but-not-where-you-expect/ It would certainly make sense then why Gordon Hayward's wife was posting on Instagram about how much the kids LOVE the beach...
Who cares? Its fun speculation. Maybe Calipari is lying. Its not like we're discussing cuts to Medicaid.
Per Barry Jackson, sources close to Hayward tell him he has an open mind and no favorite of the 3 teams. Also states that Hayward is Heat's top priority Additionally, in Zachary Lowe's big FA column he had an interesting Heat note that I hadn't considered. TJ is prohibited from being traded to Nets until the 1 year anniversary of the match and that he wouldn't be surprised if we move him at that time
I didn't like matching TJ at the time. I thought it was kind of a desperate move to not let the Nets one up us. As often is the case, Riley seems to be right again. He already looks like he's worth the contract, although $20M will be a big number in the coming two years. If he can go out and trade him to get real value back, it would have been a fantastic move. I'll also say, if Hayward truly is entering FA with no favorite, that could be good for the Heat. We know Riley's power of persuasion. The Celtics do seem to have a better shot to contend on paper, but Riley might be able to convince him otherwise. What we don't want, obviously, is for him to enter FA excited to reunite with Stevens.
I had forgotten this. Pat Riley and Danny Ainge do not like each other at all. That makes the Hayward thing all the more fun. Remember this?
Jazz beat writer Jody Genessy says that signing George Hill could be the decisive factor for Hayward (really Gordon?) BUT that Utah's problem is that they really want a cheaper PG option to pay Hayward and Ingles They're a lot more luxury tax conscious than Heat or Celtics
Eric Goodman of Mile High Sports Radio in Denver (don't know his credibility) reporting that Nuggets are engaged with Cavs in Kevin Love for Gary Harris and 2 1st rounders. Not clear if this is part of larger Paul George move but makes no sense for Cavs otherwise
Yeah, if that's true it has to be assets for them to use to get another player, probably PG. It seems like the Pacers don't have much interest in Love (the previously rumored trade was a 3 team deal with Love going elsewhere). You would think Indy would have better options, though.
Melo, trying to join his boy's.. Will only accept trade to Rockets or buyout to Cavs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
