****The Official 2015-16 NBA Thread****

"Vertical Limit wrote:

no one except lebron wants to actually move to Cleveland. Everyone Lebron has on his team was forced there by trade and stayed cause of bird rights giving them an extra year. Name me a player on Lebrons team that isnt a scrub that signed as a FA to play in Cleveland.

Cleveland sucks

That was part of my argument why Lebron going back to Cleveland was a poor basketball decision in terms of ever being the GOAT. Attracting FAs was always going to be a challenge. I stated before the move that they could be the best in the East while Lebron was the best player in the game for the next couple of years. We all knew he had a ton of miles on him for his age so he was inevitably going to start that decline in the next few years (from when he left) so attracting talent around him was going to be increasingly important. It may have been the right decision for him b/c he just loves Cleveland ???? Or b/c he wants to be in charge and have his posse (IMO the most likely reason he left). But as a pure basketball legacy, maximize his odds of winning the most rings, it was a poor decision.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Your point is still valid, but essentially Kevin Love did. He was traded there, but he wanted to be there and then re-signed.

Well they had his bird rights, if the money was the same he would have just got up and left.

Im good with Green gone.. I thought he would be a good free agent, the guy is boneheaded..

Houston waving Marcus Thornton too. Pat, do your thing.

"Vertical Limit wrote:

no one except lebron wants to actually move to Cleveland. Everyone Lebron has on his team was forced there by trade and stayed cause of bird rights giving them an extra year. Name me a player on Lebrons team that isnt a scrub that signed as a FA to play in Cleveland.

Cleveland sucks

Oh man I'm working to put your hate in an aerosol can so I can spray myself with it and just bask in it all day. This is wonderful.

Philly would take Udrih simply to get over the floor

They'd cut him as soon as the accounting is baked in.

No intention of ever playing him

To me, no need for Marcus Thornton now that we have Joe Johnson and Gerald Green.

But if we're letting Beno Udrih go then I could definitely get with Ty Lawson. Hassan Whiteside would appreciate him, I'm pretty sure.

"ckparrothead wrote:

To me, no need for Marcus Thornton now that we have Joe Johnson and Gerald Green.

But if we're letting Beno Udrih go then I could definitely get with Ty Lawson. Hassan Whiteside would appreciate him, I'm pretty sure.

Id be ok with either. You can never have too many shooters.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Is this right, the "Big 3 Plan B" from 2010 involved Wade, Amar'e Stoudamire and Joe Johnson?

That's kind of funny.

"PhiNomina wrote:

Oh man I'm working to put your hate in an aerosol can so I can spray myself with it and just bask in it all day. This is wonderful.

Just stating facts.

"ckparrothead wrote:

To me, no need for Marcus Thornton now that we have Joe Johnson and Gerald Green.

But if we're letting Beno Udrih go then I could definitely get with Ty Lawson. Hassan Whiteside would appreciate him, I'm pretty sure.

Lawson's game fits, but I'm not sure his personality does. The guys seems like a cancer.

Ty Lawson and South Beach does not mix.

Ira saying a player will be waived "imminently" and that we will be getting more than JJ

My guess is Green.

"schmolioot wrote:

Ira saying a player will be waived "imminently" and that we will be getting more than JJ

Huh? That's kind of strange, but I guess Pat and Andy probably know exactly what they're doing. Albert Random wrote another great piece explaining exactly how the Heat could stay under the threshold, but he also said it probably isn't that big of a deal for them to do so because they'll be under it next year. The "adding more than JJ" leads me to believe they may have just said screw it on the tax, but they don't have to waive anybody else to sign another player seeing as they still would have another open spot. But in adding another player, they'd have to bank on another team signing not 1, but 2 players. The 76ers probably wouldn't be motivated to do that because Udrih would be plenty. Maybe they know someone would claim Green considering he's on a minimum deal anyway.

Or maybe they ARE going to say screw the tax and sign 3 players they think can help.

Well Ira said Riley's relationships will pay off so they must know someone will take Beno or Green

Here are some excerpts from the article:

If the Heat is able to avoid the tax this season (and assuming it will avoid the tax next season as well, which is all but certain), the repeater tax – which triggers if a team pays the tax for a fourth time in five years – will not be an issue in Miami until at least the 2020-21 season.

But even if it does pay the tax this season, the repeater tax still won’t be an issue for the Heat until at least the 2019-20 season. So, avoiding the repeater tax this season really only has an impact on one future season (2019-20). And if the Heat doesn’t pay the tax in any one season beyond 2016-17, then paying the repeater tax this year will have no bearing on the future at all!

The Sixers currently have a team salary below the league-mandated $63.0 million salary floor.

Teams which finish the season with a team salary below the salary floor are surcharged for their shortfall, with the money distributed among the players on that team. “Team salary” for the purposes of the floor is calculated based upon the sum of all salaries that underlie each team’s current and previously terminated contracts as of the last day of the regular season, independent of how much the team may have actually paid out on those contracts.

Teams below the floor can therefore save a great deal of money by claiming players off waivers who have been released by their teams late in the regular season. By doing so, the full value of the contract they will have claimed would count toward the minimum team salary calculation, thus reducing the shortfall, even though the vast majority of it will have been paid by the team which released the player.

The Sixers are currently $2.85 million below the salary floor.

The Heat, by waiving a player, could make a similarly enticing proposition for the Sixers to consider.

The most obvious candidate for such treatment would be Beno Udrih, who is out three months after undergoing surgery earlier today to repair a torn plantar plate in his right foot.

Udrih has a $2.2 million salary on his expiring contract. The vast majority of that amount has already been paid out by the Heat and Memphis Grizzlies.

If the Heat were to waive Udrih, the Sixers might be enticed to claim him.

Claiming Udrih would save the Sixers $2.2 million in shortfall payments, at a cost of just the prorated salary remaining on his contract. If he were waived today, that would be just $562K.

The net savings for Philadelphia by claiming Udrih if he were waived by the Heat today: $2.2 million (shortfall payments) – $562K (salary payouts) = $1.6 million!

And the Heat wouldn’t necessarily need to waive Udrih today. In fact, the longer it waits to do so, the more attractive Udrih’s contract would become to the Sixers. That’s because Udrih’s remaining salary obligations decline by the day.

If the Heat were to theoretically waive Udrih just before the end of the regular season, the Heat would have effectively already paid his entire salary, leaving the Sixers with virtually the entire $2.2 million in savings!

That's just a little bit of it. The whole thing is here: http://heathoops.com/2016/02/miami-heat-on-the-verge-of-signing-joe-johnson/#more-27535

Based off that. You would think if Miami and Philly had already agreed to this, then the Heat would wait to cut Udrih because it won't hurt the Heat and would save the Sixers the most money possible.

Barry Jackson also saying they'll continue to look. Says there's interest in Marcus Thornton. That would make sense, especially if Green is cut. He's actually a better spot up shooter than Johnson at this point.

Releasing Green never crossed my mind. I like the guy - he's slumping now but I hope we can keep him.

This could work really well. Joe can shoot! The model for this situation would be Vince Carter in Dallas, imo. One of the League's best 1-on-1 players past his prime taking a complementary role on a new team with established studs. Vince was very efficient, shot in the upper range of career avg from 3, contributed 10-13ppg in 25mins. He had a really big impact on those Mavs teams...let's hope Joe can do something similar.

Pat Riley is good at his job.

Btw phinO, Joe would have seen the same playing time he is gonna get now in Cleveland. Cavs are short a wing player.

Very nice work on defense by J-Rich in that first half. Isaiah's off, but Josh is definitely making him uncomfortable, using his size really well. This is the kind of matchup where we should see his value. Another plus defender for us into the future. I'd be fine with Green moving all the way down the bench at this point, with Joe Johnson coming in and especially when/if TJ comes back.

Gotta say I'm pretty impressed with what Boston does despite not having any really *great* players. Nice defensive team. This would be a big road win if we can finish strong. You know Boston's going to shoot better this half.

Gonna welcome Joe Johnson with open arms after the offense we just played in that 2nd half. Good grief. Cs are legit though.

"Section126 wrote:

Pat Riley is good at his job.

Btw phinO, Joe would have seen the same playing time he is gonna get now in Cleveland. Cavs are short a wing player.

Such a fundamental display of the difference in venue, Joe Johnson had the choice of going to a team that you can almost pencil in for a finals appearance in Cleveland....for a team that certainly will not be a pushover but realistically is likely at best making the ECF in Miami.

This Ohio weather does suck though.

Gerald green is a giant heaping dumpster fire right now. Johnson can't get here soon enough. This team needs shooters. 7.7 freaking percent from 3 in this game.