That would be crazy. I would keep Gordon and the two firsts instead of Jimmy Butler. If the Rockets had half a brain they would just trot out the same team. They had the thing almost won.
Give me Butler over Gordon. We don't care about picks. Come home, Jimmy... And Tyreke Evans is a true combo guard that we need.
Well, if he doesn't opt-in in a couple of weeks, you can definitely mark Houston off. He'd have to opt-in to come here on a trade. If it isn't Houston, it is 99.9% going to be L.A.
It could very well be LA, but if he doesn't go to Houston, Philly might be the clubhouse leaders, and Miami is also in play. I don't think he's 99.9% going anywhere at this point.
Heard he may let the Cavs know his intentions very soon. If that's the case, I'd say he's 110% a goner. If he were really considering staying he would leverage that into the draft. Good for him. I know MANY Cav's fans and every single one of them understands if he leaves this time.
Kyrie to Ny was strongly rumored back a few years ago. In fact I’d say it was likely until Lebron signed there. That said, I hope the Knicks wait it out. I am happy the Knicks worked out Porter Jr. He would be a good stretch 4 next to KP.
For me, there are only two viable options if he wants to beat the Warriors - assuming they stay together. Rockets or Spurs (with Kawhi). Talk about the Lakers or Philly, Paul George etc. etc. would not enable him to win. You can't just cut and paste a few all-stars together and beat this Warriors team. That much should be obvious by now. You need an actual team, with a good coach and a structure. The only two legit teams who can beat the Warriors at this point are those two. You could theoretically add the Celtics, but obviously that's not going to happen. If he makes any other move for any other reason that's his business. But if he wants to beat these all time Warriors, he needs a real team, not 5 players hot-glued together.
I don't like the fit for the rockets with LeBron. harden is way too ball dominant. jimmy butler makes more sense to me
Harden and Paul are both pretty ball-dominant, but both play much better off the ball than Ben Simmons or Lonzo Ball would.
I hate to say it but Boston makes more sense then either. He stays in the eastern conference which is still awful. He gets a great young coach. He gets a strong supporting cast with well rounded and defensive minded players. Kyries presence is the only obstacle and that could be resolved. Id rather see him in san antonio since i cant stand boston but it just makes a ton of sense imo.
Boston can only happen if you get rid of some of that supporting cast, though. He'd also have to get past how awful those fans have been to him. I also don't agree with the East being awful. After the Warriors and the Rockets, the west isn't anything special. In the East, you have a lot of young, talented teams that could get better this offseason, and some teams in the west that could get worse.
Reports surface today that Pop won't coach past 2020.... That can't help their chances if they had any before. Agree with Boston being the best fit. They can off Kyrie as a rental sign LBJ and off to the finals that team would go for the unforeseeable future.
If Lebron leaves Cleveland the east is Boston and Philly for at least a year barring another team making drastic moves. Toronto will be a good regular season team and crap the bed in the playoffs. Washington needs another major piece before they’re a real threat. Same with Indiana. Detroit and Milwaukee have pieces but are capped out and have some really terrible contracts limiting them imo. The bottom of the playoff teams in the east is very weak. In the West Minnesota is ascending, New Orleans is ascending, Utah is ascending, The Spurs will have a healthy Kawhi making them a real threat...and that’s before you get to teams lie Portland, Denver, OKC. Then you have the bottom teams out West like LAL who has cap space and could improve.
Yeah, I heard LeBron is going to let the Cavs know his intentions this week. This is the same week Chris Paul let the Clippers know he wanted a trade to Houston. 1 week later, the trade happened on June 28th (2 days before the start of free agency). Like I said, we will find out soon if Houston is marked off the list.
I hope you're right. That is literally the last team I would like to see him join. Well, maybe the Warriors, just because it would effectively kill the NBA, but he's not doing that. My preferences in order would be: Miami, LA, then Houston. But LA and Houston would be close for me.
To be fair, Harden and Paul have to be ball dominant because no one else on the team can dribble the ball more than 4 times without turning the ball over. Watching Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza try to initiate the offense when Paul was hurt made me want to vomit. They have no handles.
Boston and Philly are legitimately good. Milwaukee will only get better even if they're capped out. Indiana is ascending, and should have room to add another good player. We'll see if Riley can make any moves to land his "whale". Out West you have the two top dogs. Minnesota should be ascending, but apparently there are some serious locker room issues there, which could break that team apart. Will the Spurs have Kawhi? Even if they do, is there enough left there to fear them with the old guard fading away? In Portland they are talking about breaking that team up. New Orleans is good, but what happens with Boogie? is Davis there long term? Even if he is, are they really any kind of threat? They play the Warriors well, but is that just a case of being a good matchup? I think we'll have to wait and see how the offseason plays out, but I don't really think the East is awful in comparison to the West anymore. Both conferences are incredibly top heavy.
If the NBA were to drop down to 24-26 teams and expand the G-League as a true alternative to the NCAA, the game could be more fun again. Maybe a relegation system similar to Euro football. The league is stretched too thin talent-wise right now and teams like Toronto are hogging some good assets. It's nigh-impossible that they'll ever get billionaires to give up their teams, but it should be done for the good of the league. Very rarely do teams without superstars make any noise. I'll say it again, but the Pistons were a confluence of factors, including a bunch of really good players who were considered just good. I'm tired of the top-heavy conferences.
As crazy as it sounds, a relegation system might actually be an amazing fit with the NBA. It'll never happen, but in an era when the league is so top-heavy, it would make the game so much more interesting, and would get rid of tanking.
Milwaukee’s roster aside from Middleton and Antekoupoumpo is a hot mess. I don’t see where you see them getting better. Bledsoe is injury prone, the two I mentioned are basically in their early prime. And everyone else sucks or is at a silly cap number. Minnesota may have locker room issues but they have talent too. In the East they’d be a 3/4seed and they haven’t peeked yet with Towns and Wiggins still improving. The spurs are still the spurs and as long as Pop, Kawhi and Aldridge are there they will win 50+. Portland may need to break up the team to improve in terms of their standings and chance of contending but in the East they’d be a 4/5 seed. They’re as good as the Wizards at least. New Orleans is interesting with a 2 PG backcourt being their most effective, it really depends on what happens with Boogie that will determine how god they become. If they resign him they have to hope he heals and is the same player, something I’ve never seen from an Achilles injury to an NBA player. Not to say it can’t happen, but it really hasn’t yet. I’d probably them rather go out and use the money on a different payer, preferably a wing. Remember Mirotic was a late season addition but he seemed to fit and compliment AD. The only part of that I can agree on is the top of each conference being top heavy. But half of the East, literally, is still rebuilding in NY (both teams), ATL, Orlando, Chicago...heck I can make the argument Philly and Indy are still building and Miami, Milwaukee, and Detroit should be.
IMO, the argument you're making for the T'Wolves, you could say the same about the Bucks. That's what I meant about them getting better. Giannis is still only 23 and just scratching the surface of his potential. Middleton is a good player, Parker is a good player (even if he's overpaid), and Brogdon is a pretty decent player entering his 3rd year. If Bledsoe can stay healthy, that's a pretty good team. I'm just not as high on the Spurs as you are even with Pop and Kawhi (the latter still being a question mark). Aldridge has an injury history, and will be 33 when the season starts. After that, there isn't a ton to get excited about. Murray has some upside, but can't shoot. Again, we have to see how the offseason plays out. But I think the 3-8 in both conferences are closer than many people think.
Butler, Teague and Wiggins is a much better group imo then Middleton Bledsoe and Brogdon. Parker is a RFA and Parker wants out. What you’re saying about Murray, people said about Parker 15 years ago. Fact is they’re so well run and coached it won’t matter.
Ehh I guess the east can be a punching bag when the finals get swept 4-0. But I get the feeling there’s some underselling of the Celtics at play here.
Kyrie suddenly saying he doesnt want a contract extension from boston is all you need to know how he feels about lebron joining him again.. he is gonna make sure he isnt forced to play with him again
Well, he's saying it doesn't make sense to sign an extension now, and it doesn't. He'd be leaving about $80M on the table if he did that instead of waiting until next year.
Wiggins is on a monster deal, and could be traded (I'm hoping to Miami for Whiteside, which is one rumor out there). Butler is the best player of those six, but Giannis is the best player on either team, so I think it balances out. Plus, if Parker leaves, I doubt it will be a straight up FA signing. If anything, it will probably be a sign and trade, which would net the Bucks another good player. Let's table this discussion until we see how FA goes. That could go a long way to determine which is right, here.
PG -Playoff Rondo SG - Jrue Holiday-first team all nba defense. Averaged 19 ppg. F - LeBron F - AD - all defense- top 3 finalist in both MVP and DPOY C - Boogie Thats a killer starting lineup.
Theyll trade Butler before they trade Wiggins which isnt a bad idea if he wont buy in or sign long term. And youre not getting Wiggins for Whitside. You might get Parker for him.
Still hearing that LeBron and Paul George to the Lakers is likely going to happen. Also, hearing that if the meeting between Pop and Kawhi goes bad, the Lakers would be willing to offer Kuzma, Ingram, filler, and picks for Kawhi. I gotta give Magic credit if he pulls off any of this. As for the Rockets... Plan A - CP3 Harden Jimmy Butler (Gordon + picks) Ariza Capela or Deandre Jordan Bench: Tyreke Evans, Tucker, Green, Moute, Nene. *If no trade for Ryan Anderson, he will be waived and stretched at $8 mil/yr. Plan B - CP3 Harden Tyreke Evans Ariza Capela or Deandre Jordan Bench: Gordon, Tucker, Green, Moute, Nene. *Same scenario for Ryan Anderson. Again, all of this is just what I'm hearing from a decent source on the Rockets. The guy that takes the lowest amount of money between Capela and Jordan will be a Rocket. Sounds like Rockets may throw $10-13 mil at Tyreke Evans (savings from possibly waiving Anderson). That is triple his salary from last year. They really want him. Morey tried to trade for Evans in January, but we had no 1st round pick to trade. He averaged 19 pts, 5 rebs, and 5 assists while shooting 40% from three last year. Harden finished 1st in iso scoring, CP3 finished 3rd, Evans finished 16th. That would give us 3 elite iso players for pick and roll. That's a huge improvement.
Andrew Wiggins stinks. He's inefficient on offense, 207th in PER, 125th in true shooting, and 177th in net rating. Mathematically for all of those except TS%, he rates as being worse than the 5th best player on every team in the NBA (150th best player in the league). I'd rather keep Whiteside. Whiteside can occasionally dominate games and has elite talent in certain areas (shot-blocking, rebounding). On defense, his individual game is fine, but the T-Wolves give up more points with him on the floor than off it (a very Whiteside problem to have). Right now, his ceiling to me is Richard Jefferson. His stature surpasses his talent and he's just a bad value proposition, especially if you're the team who has to give him his next deal.
Its funny you say hes RJ, because thats exactly what i think he becomes. Thats a pretty damn good player. His efficiency stinks because hes still young and needs to refine some things. Hes also already signed as he signed a 5 year extension last year.
When you say "buy low" what do you consider a buy low? Reason i asked is because he declined a 3 year/54m extension in Feb and hes going to want at least that. I know the Knicks like him but i want no part of that for a guy coming off 2 serious ACL injuries and hasnt looked explosive at all
FYI, I've heard from a few places Lebron hates the city of Houston and he wont go there. This is just 1... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...likes-houston-and-more-nba-rumor-updates/amp/
Right. Whoever gets him may not have to trade much as far as talent, but wherever he ends up, he'll probably be making the max, or close to it.
I dont think he gets close to the max after his benching late in the year and postseason. He was bad.
I had no idea he turned that down. Hell no I wouldn’t do that. His body looks a lot like his duke body to me which was talent over work ethic it would appear.
I see what happened. I completely forgot about the extension and Sportrac doesn't have the extension's terms immediately under the current deal that ends this off-season. So you don't even get him on a cheap one year rental before you have to make a decision. He's immediately a cap albatross. If we're trying to lure a big name FA, I don't think Wiggins at an average annual salary of $29,290,000 is the best place to start. If we strike out on anyone better than Wiggins, even if he reaches his potential, do you really want your franchise player to be $30 million Richard Jefferson.
