I don't want to talk offseason already but I guess after Game 1, Stephen A Smith has already declared it's time to talk about offseason for OKC. We don't have enough minutes nor a ball for him unless he's ready to be a fulltime power forward and we trade Bosh away. Winslow is not a guy you are going to give less usage next year, you give him more. And I don't see what more you want at the 3 position than what Deng and Winslow gives you. Theyre both individually superior over Durant at defense, and our offense isn't going to get that much better by adding another ball dominant player. Might actually take a hit from what we operate. I rather address other areas to make us deeper. We need to address backup center, combo guard, and PF. Which means we need to replace McRoberts, Green, and find a reliable back up center for Whiteside. By the way, Durant's new contract will average somewhere around 30-35 million per year. We aren't going to be the ones to hand him that contract. Either OKC gives him that contract, or a team that has a lot of capspace, like the Lakers, will hand him that contract. Durant has his share of injuries, and has signed a super max once. He will do it again. Once you re-sign Whiteside, we're done with free agency. You're looking at pieces to make us deeper by adding Courtney Lee or Batum to your roster. Maybe you forget those two guards and add Mahinmi, or convince Al Jefferson to be a sixth man off the bench and play behind Bosh/Whiteside. Wade is looking for another max, he played on a "prove it" deal and he played like a Top 10 player, so he will ask for max again. You don't let Whiteside talk to Charlotte where they will offer him max, Jordan's #1 target this free agency is Whiteside.
I agree with Stephen, which is rare lol. But i find it hard to believe hes gonna leave Westbrook behind. I find it much more likely that he signs a 1 yr deal in order to hit FA along with Russ so they can both head to LA. I put nothing past Pat, if we can get by Toronto and push Cleveland to the brink, put him in a room with KD this offseason and he can pull off some wizardry with the sales pitch. Personally i think KD needs to leave the West so he can avoid the Spurs and the Warriors for the forseeable future. Miami is as good a place as any, even though i seem to remember him having a beef with Wade.
Im sorry but im picking Durant over Whiteside everyday of the week and twice on Sundays. You have that choice and you give Durant the max. Pair him with Wade, hopefully Bosh can come back healthy. Play a frontcourt with Winslow/Durant/Bosh and we can dominate the East.
Cool, we can court Durant, he can ride us like Lebron did while every free agent picks their teams, Whiteside will come to terms with Charlotte right off the bat, the guy is hungry and has played for 900k the past two seasons, and then after a week waiting for Durant, he chooses to sign a one year deal with OKC and we're left with a worse roster. No, you take care of the players you developed first, and then everything else is second. This isn't 2010, and Whiteside is not David Lee. He's a superstar Center. I'll be damned if in the end we end up with Dwight Howard after swinging and missing on Durant and letting Whiteside walk to Charlotte.
Purple Shirt Guy was on LeBatard this morning. Apparently the Charlotte fanbase has turned on him for making Wade angry. He also received a talking to from the Hornets after Game 3. Apparently the Heat complained to the league and the league spoke to the Hornets. PSG says he's had seats for 7 years and has never been able to fluster Wade. After Wade hit that final shot, he was hanging his head and knew Wade was gonna look for him. lol This was also his last game. Claims he'd previously decided to give up his tix, due to expense and the 3-hr round trip. Either way, Wade retired him. He claims he never uses profanity or vulgarity. Seemed like a cool guy. Gave credit to the Heat. Though obviously there's an annoying heckler lying within. lol
Dwyane Wade was Prince's favorite basketball player. Just saw on twitter a link to an interview he did where he said Wade is his favorite player but the Thunder his favorite team.
Chris Bosh and his agent are in contact with the NBA Players Association to see if they can force Miami to let him play............. Miami is still at a firm no even though his doctors has cleared him.
Watched the replays of the end of that OKC game....man the NBA refs are unbelievable. This is how series get extended.....I mean you are standing right there a guy pushes a player from out of bounds but you didn't see it or call it? Nuts.
The big difference i guess would have been spurs ball and a timeout To draw a play. They still endedbup with the steal though and took a terrible shot attempt
Dragic is pretty damn good at defending guys like Lowry. It's the Kemba/Isaiah types that give him issues. I'm not too worried there; both Goran and JRich are solid options, imo. I am wondering which starter will guard DeRozan. I could see Wade handling it (not ideal, but he certainly can, at least for stretches). I could also see us throwing Deng at him too, with TOR playing Patterson at the 4, who Joe could probably deal with. The matchup problem for us is Biyombo. We've got to keep him off the glass, but we don't have a great option at backup 5 to do that. He's been playing extremely well. Could Hassan play more minutes?? I wouldn't be surprised to see TJ get back in the action as well, whose spacing and defense (vs Joseph, Powell, Lowry, DeRozan) could be a plus in certain lineups.
C'mon Bosh. They're paying you to not play. For your own good (and also the consequences of you dying on the court).
I just found out yesterday Spo was playing against Gathers went he collapsed and died on the court. Spo was literally on the court. Bosh aint coming back anytime soon.
Manu had both his hands over the line, and a toe on the line. He was committing a foul by interfering with the inbounds. In other words, both of them committed a foul.
This whole Bosh situation is weird. I can't remember another time when a team held out its max contract player/star for health concerns, despite having something to play for, while the player is considering using the union to play again despite having no financial incentive to do so. Love his competitiveness, but I think I side with the Heat here. You have to imagine that if he could play he would 100% be out there.
NBPA just put out a statement on Bosh saying his health is their top priority and that they have met with him and his agent and they hope the Heat and Bosh can meet and "resolve" the situation soon They are pretty clearly not getting involved. If he is still taking a blood thinner there is no team that would clear him. That's pretty much the end of the story
That pretty much wraps it up^, he is done for season. Heat arent going to receive any pressure from anyone.
Nice, you mean the game where Zeller and Lee gang raped Wade under the rim on the game tying shot and all the refs were busy tying their shoelaces?
I can't blame the Heat for not letting him play. Imagine the negative backlash if something were to happen. Not to mention his family suing the team and then NBA would be a major headache. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Whiteside hurt his knee. Even if it's not serious, I have him out for the rest of the postseason. That dude wouldn't risk his payday for a hangnail. At best I have him at 50% effort.
Whiteside is going to get paid regardless of any injury so long as he doesnt break his leg like Livingston. And hes fine, back in the game, just a minor knee sprain. Hes got to keep the leg warm on the stationary bike at halftime, keep it warm. Cause once it cools his knee may lock up. Probably wont feel good tomorrow morning,, but with the right treatment he will be ready for game 2.
Doing pretty well for a feel-out game. Not expecting a win on the road on short rest in the playoffs.