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

Wow! What is arguably one of if not the best starting 5 in the league with McRoberts, Winslow, Green and maybe Amare and/or Thornton coming off the bench. That's a strong 9 or 10 man rotation during a playoff run. Health would be my only concern. Don't know what will happen with Rio and Bird, but even if they're given away for basically nothing that roster is solid. I'm assuming that we'll also have Richardson and UD and either Shabazz or another reserve PG getting regular season minutes.

wow Mavericks had to give Wesley a max deal instead of the original 4 year 57 million to get him to commit because DeAndre left...

TWITTER DETECTIVE TIME!

Marcus Thornton just tweeted:

The cryptic nature of this emoji trend is priceless.

Is Larry Sanders available? Any plans to come out of retirement? I would want to check that situation out if im Riley..

"Vertical Limit wrote:

Is Larry Sanders available? Any plans to come out of retirement? I would want to check that situation out if im Riley..

He is a younger more athletic Birdman when his head is on straight. Oh well, probably staying retired and the Bucks probably still own his rights. Pipedream but if he decides to make a comeback i hope we give him a call.

From Barry Jackson:

Amar'e Stoudemire will meet with Pat Riley on Friday morning and the idea of playing for the Heat and living in South Florida (where he has a home) appeals to him, an associate said.

"He wants to be with the Heat," the associate said. "We'll see how the meeting goes. It's not a money decision."

The associate said a deal is close but stopped short of calling it definite because (as DeAndre Jordan proved) anything can happen in free agency.

That's a good thing, because the Heat has been offering only minimum contracts; $1.5 million would be a minimum contract for a player with Stoudemire's experience.

"Section126 wrote:

The Nets just poached Willie Reed from us on a 1 year guaranteed deal.

That's disappointing. But you can only find Whiteside so many times.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Welcome to Miami Gerald:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQ6iCgaoH8

One of my all-time favorite dunk competition dunks.

LMAO!! That's awesome!

There's no way the Heat can pull Thornton AND Stoudemire, is there?

"ckparrothead wrote:

There's no way the Heat can pull Thornton AND Stoudemire, is there?

I'd imagine it would require moving 2 of Rio bird and mcbob

Absolutely love the Gerald Green signing. Don't know how that happened. It definitely puts James Ennis on notice though. Essentially the Heat were hoping Ennis would develop into Gerald Green, and now they're just saying **** it let's get Gerald Green.

"ckparrothead wrote:

There's no way the Heat can pull Thornton AND Stoudemire, is there?

Sure. They could each take the minimum or split the MMLE.

We'd definitely need to pare down the roster and dumps of Rio/Bird and maybe even Napier would need to occur, but we'd get better for less money.

Heat Summer League is currently destroying the Pistons SL team, they will go 5-0, but finish third in the SL standings due to quarters won.

Josh Richardson with 18 through 3 at the Summer League finale.

How does this work if we don't have space for him on the final roster but want to keep his rights?

Can we give him a guarantee and send him to Sioux Falls? If he goes overseas do we lose his rights? I know Ennis came back, but could somebody else have signed him out of Australia if they wanted to?

"schmolioot wrote:

Josh Richardson with 18 through 3 at the Summer League finale.

How does this work if we don't have space for him on the final roster but want to keep his rights?

Can we give him a guarantee and send him to Sioux Falls? If he goes overseas do we lose his rights? I know Ennis came back, but could somebody else have signed him out of Australia if they wanted to?

It's complicated.

Here you go:

A) You draft a player. You give him a NBA contract, he is now a NBA player in the rookie salary slot system. He is yours. You cut him..he's gone, you lose his rights, just like any other player.

B) You draft a player. You don;t think he is ready for the NBA, but you want to protect him. You sign him to a D-League rights contract, and you retain his rights for 2 years.

C) You draft a player. You think he needs seasoning and the D-League is not what is right for him. You do not offer a contract and you allow him to seek a contract overseas. You retain his rights for 2 years. You can bring him back at any time under a guaranteed/non-guaranteed deal. You can lock up a developing player this way for 4 years. (Heat did this with Ennis)

My educated guess is that Josh Richardson will get an NBA contract if he continues to play like this. Deadline is right up until training camp.

"Section126 wrote:

My educated guess is that Josh Richardson will get an NBA contract if he continues to play like this. Deadline is right up until training camp.

So, we give him an NBA contract and he goes to Sioux Falls (like Zoran did last year) but he takes up a roster spot, correct?

So if he's man 15, we only have 14 guys on the bench?

Putting him in the d league takes up a roster spot doesnt it?

"schmolioot wrote:

So, we give him an NBA contract and he goes to Sioux Falls (like Zoran did last year) but he takes up a roster spot, correct?

So if he's man 15, we only have 14 guys on the bench?

Correct.

You give him an NBA contract, he is a rostered player.

Flip-side.

You give him a D-League contract...and then you want to bring him to the main roster?...you have to tear up the D-League contract and give him an NBA contract.

I agree that he'll probably get n NBA contract and shuffle back and forth between Miami and Sioux Falls.

They would probably want him playing in the D-League rather than riding pine here, but he has certainly shown NBA skills.

Great 2nd round pick.

When you look at the fact that the vast majority of 2nd rounders don't make it in the NBA, the Heat actually have a pretty good track record in that round.

And I agree, I think Richardson makes the NBA team this year and most likely gets time in the D League.

Whatever you do, I don't think you can let Richardson go.

He finished 5 of 10 on three point attempts and his history of success on three pointers (and as a free throw shooter) suggests he's a naturally accurate shooter. He needs to work on his shot a little bit and has said that his three point shot wasn't something he worked on at Tennessee much but has been working on it more since going through the draft process. There's potential here for him to get better. He was already a 36% three point shooter and an 80% free throw shooter. If he works on his shot and perhaps irons out the hitch in his shot, who knows?

As for the free throw shooting, it's relevant because of his length, speed, elevation and ball handling skills. The man can attack the paint, and I think he can press defenders into fouling him. Admittedly, his college data doesn't necessarily support this strongly...but it could be something that changes. In summer league he took a free throw shot for every 1.5 two-pointer he attempted. When he gets to the line, he's a good free throw shooter. He was 18 of 21 in summer league at the line. So when he does draw fouls that's a positive.

Add his defense to the mix...I don't see any fatal flaws here. I think he's a guy you keep.