*NBA THREAD* Abe will be missed (2 Viewers)

[Good Posting Judge]

Stephenson said he would've taken the minimum to play with Kemba Walker.

 

[got_nugs]

Stephenson said he would've taken the minimum to play with Kemba Walker.

Too late to send Shabazzzzz to pair with Kemba, too?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Stephenson said he would've taken the minimum to play with Kemba Walker.

Too late to send Shabazzzzz to pair with Kemba, too?

We'll always have 2011.

 

[got_nugs]

Stephenson said he would've taken the minimum to play with Kemba Walker.

Too late to send Shabazzzzz to pair with Kemba, too?

We'll always have 2011.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

 

[Gadzooks]

The wolves fans in here and their Love trade proposals are some of the most delusional posts I've seen yet in this thread.

Did Datonn give all of you guys some of the crack he's using?

It's what Saunders is asking for. It's what we're hoping they'll get. How is that so delusional?

So there is a feeling by some in Boston that Minnesota will refuse to deal with Boston because the KG deal ended up being so one-sided they don't want to send another all-star to Boston. I can't believe that would actually be true, any Minnesota-ians feel that way?

Celts don't have a young stud to give up but I'm willing to put a gun to Ainge's head and make him offer you all of our number 1 picks for the next 50 years and take back all your bad contracts for Love. If it helps you can have David Ortiz back too. What do you say? Do we have a deal?

I don't think that's at all possible, would be insanely stupid and no matter what you think of Saunders I don't think he hits "insanely stupid."

Boston could end up with Love for a bunch of picks, but it won't happen until the trade deadline if that looks like the best deal and either Love says he'll sign in Boston or the Celtics are willing to gamble on him deciding to stick there without a guarantee.

Fine, I'll throw in a Larry Bird rookie card, shirtless pictures of Matt Damon AND Ben Affleck and I'll have Thorn give you and TRE all the lap dances you want. Sign the papers and lets make this deal official.

 

[Gatorman]

I keep hearing in NY about the Knicks 2015 cap room and all that. Who is even available next year as a FA?

Klove, Dragic, Rondo. anyone else worthy of salivating over?

Lebron opts out, 37.4% chance.

I already lost 100 on betting on Melo's future. But I would wager even more that Lebron aint leaving cleveland unless they secede from the States.

I was kidding... I think he is in Cleveland for the rest of his career.

i'd take action on this. Lebron to LAC in 2016 Bank it.

 

[No. 16]

"Born Ready" for 9 million a year?! Steal of the off-season. I think Lance will keep his head on straight.

(1) He wanted a shorter deal. Gets another go at FA in his prime and when the new TV deal kicks in.

(2) MJ could fill the Larry Legend role.

(3) Big AL is solid veteran al la David West to keep him in check.

It's crazy to think that Hayward, Parsons, and Klay are/will be getting 15 million. Lance has to see how much money his antics have cost him because I wouldn't be mad if the Dubs traded Klay for Born Ready.

Can't wait to see Lance and MKG creating havoc on the wings. Paul George is a better defender than MKG right now, but just the intensity/intimidation of Lance/MKG is getting me excited to watch as a basketball fan. Happy for CHA.

 

[Gadzooks]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

So Jordan Hill is making as much per year as Stephenson. And more than Gasol.

Ok.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

 

[Frostillicus]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Maybe add Wiggins?

 

[biggamer3]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

wow such a great system change. Way better than draconian nonsensical measures like that stupid Draft Wheel. I would even make them draw for to 8 so as to totally disincentive tanking and allowing teams near the playoff bubble to get number 7 or 8 picks instead of 14

 

[Frostillicus]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

I could roll with this.

 

[biggamer3]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Maybe add Wiggins?

My favorite thing to see is Wolves fan say Wiggins PLUS others for Love. As if the #1 pick in the most hyped draft ever is not enough to get an expiring Love, they need more assets as well.

 

[pollardsvision]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

I really don't see the point in trying to "fix" the lottery. The lottery itself was meant to fix tanking. Not sure how much of an effect that's really had, but either way, I don't see tanking as a huge problem.

The few teams that blatantly do it have some of the most hopeful fans in the league. I don't think Philly fans would be any more hard right now if you found 25 year old clones of Dr. J and Moses Malone and put them on the roster.

Bad teams get the best picks. It ain't perfect, but it works fine.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

IIRC there was a hypothetical NHL draft proposal floating around where draft order was set by number of standings points accrued after getting eliminated from playoff contention. So once a team was out of the playoffs, it had no longer had incentive to keep losing.

Not sure if that idea doesn't create more problems than it solves, but you wouldn't have the late-season debacle games where one team is trying to rest starters for the playoffs and the opponent is not playing their starters because they want to move down in the standings.

 

[biggamer3]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

I could roll with this.

lol you laughed at Waiter, Bennett, Thompson and multiple firsts for Love, but Olynik, James Young and a bunch of low first round picks is the deal that does it for you?

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Maybe add Wiggins?

My favorite thing to see is Wolves fan say Wiggins PLUS others for Love. As if the #1 pick in the most hyped draft ever is not enough to get an expiring Love, they need more assets as well.

lol

 

[Frostillicus]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Maybe add Wiggins?

My favorite thing to see is Wolves fan say Wiggins PLUS others for Love. As if the #1 pick in the most hyped draft ever is not enough to get an expiring Love, they need more assets as well.

I'm just trying to get the salaries to match here.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

MOST. HYPED. EVER.

 

[Frostillicus]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

I could roll with this.

lol you laughed at Waiter, Bennett, Thompson and multiple firsts for Love, but Olynik, James Young and a bunch of low first round picks is the deal that does it for you?

Yes. I would love to see that deal made immediately. Or maybe you put it on the list and keep waiting and see what else happens, which is what I've been saying this entire time.

You really have a bug up your ### about this.

 

[Spartans Rule]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

That would do little if anything to reduce tanking. It's still better to have a slightly higher chance at the 1st pick and a guarantee of the 7th pick than it is to drift around in mediocrity.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Riley's moves for the Heat make no sense , they are basically going to be in the NBA dead zone for the next couple of seasons. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to land a high lottery pick.

 

[Spartans Rule]

IIRC there was a hypothetical NHL draft proposal floating around where draft order was set by number of standings points accrued after getting eliminated from playoff contention. So once a team was out of the playoffs, it had no longer had incentive to keep losing.

Not sure if that idea doesn't create more problems than it solves, but you wouldn't have the late-season debacle games where one team is trying to rest starters for the playoffs and the opponent is not playing their starters because they want to move down in the standings.

In theory I like that one, although I haven't really thought about it enough to see the potential problems.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

IIRC there was a hypothetical NHL draft proposal floating around where draft order was set by number of standings points accrued after getting eliminated from playoff contention. So once a team was out of the playoffs, it had no longer had incentive to keep losing.

Not sure if that idea doesn't create more problems than it solves, but you wouldn't have the late-season debacle games where one team is trying to rest starters for the playoffs and the opponent is not playing their starters because they want to move down in the standings.

In theory I like that one, although I haven't really thought about it enough to see the potential problems.

If I'm understanding the system correctly, instead of tanking down the stretch, you'd have tanking 15-20 games earlier. It just shifts the problem to mid-season.

 

[pollardsvision]

Riley's moves for the Heat make no sense , they are basically going to be in the NBA dead zone for the next couple of seasons. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to land a high lottery pick.

They were locked into that plan anyway. Wade did them a solid (on top of a whole career of "solids"), and he was getting paid.

In spite of popular opinion, some people see the point in trying to field a basketball team even if you probably can't win a title.

We've also yet to see the "be horrible every year" strategy fully work.

Worked for the Spurs, but they only did it once. Might never work for the Thunder, and they hit every pick out of the park for 4 straight years. Not many teams will ever have a hit rate like that again..

 

[Spartans Rule]

IIRC there was a hypothetical NHL draft proposal floating around where draft order was set by number of standings points accrued after getting eliminated from playoff contention. So once a team was out of the playoffs, it had no longer had incentive to keep losing.

Not sure if that idea doesn't create more problems than it solves, but you wouldn't have the late-season debacle games where one team is trying to rest starters for the playoffs and the opponent is not playing their starters because they want to move down in the standings.

In theory I like that one, although I haven't really thought about it enough to see the potential problems.

Instead of tanking down the stretch, you'd have tanking 15-20 games earlier. It just shifts the problem to mid-season.

I don't really think tanking is a problem in the sense of teams not trying to win individual games. Starting on an awful team is a great opportunity for a player who wouldn't otherwise get that chance and could maybe turn it into a contract somewhere (Jodie Meeks is a great current example).

It's more of a problem in the sense of a team dumping assets and not fielding a competitive roster, like the 76ers are currently doing.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Blah, I figured out the problem with that idea. East-West disparity. The worst team in the West gets knocked out faster than the worst team in the East and can start accumulating wins quicker. Then the East stays weak because its teams aren't getting the best picks like they currently would.

 

[GOB]

You Wolves fans seem like a lively bunch.

Can I join your bandwagon until they trade Love? I just want to be part of something.

DELUSIONAL!

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

You Wolves fans seem like a lively bunch.

Can I join your bandwagon until they trade Love? I just want to be part of something.

DELUSIONAL!

YEAH, GET IN HERE!

 

[Joe Summer]

Riley's moves for the Heat make no sense , they are basically going to be in the NBA dead zone for the next couple of seasons. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to land a high lottery pick.

Bosh + Wade at 75% can contend for a year or two in the East.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Riley's moves for the Heat make no sense , they are basically going to be in the NBA dead zone

for the next couple of seasons. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to land a high lottery pick.

Bosh + Wade at 75% can contend for a year or two in the East.

I don't see it, at best they are a 6th seed

 

[sporthenry]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

One problem raised is that players would set themselves up to go where they want. So if Minnesota (sorry, too easy) had the #1 pick this year and the Lakers had the #1 pick next year, then guys like Wiggins would stay an extra year to get into that better situation. Leaving some money on the table in your career but a real concern.

Love to see a relegation style system but know that will never happen.

 

[Gatorman]

Riley's moves for the Heat make no sense , they are basically going to be in the NBA dead zone

for the next couple of seasons. Not good enough to contend but not bad enough to land a high lottery pick.

Bosh + Wade at 75% can contend for a year or two in the East.

I don't see it, at best they are a 6th seed

It is a fair point. Up to know the Heat (with Lebron) had only 2 ifs to contend with: If wade stays healthy and if they play good D they would make the championship. Now (sans Lebron) they have many more ifs. If wade stays healthy, if they play good D, if the guys they picked up pan out and arent on the injury bandwagon with wade, and if Bosh can be the "centerpiece".

However, in adding Deng and McRoberts they have added a better passing big and a solid defender (likely more solid than Lebron was last year as he seemed to be coasting on D). Also, there will be a sense of urgency bc of lebron leaving (as opposed to the lethargy of last years' team who figured they would just "turn it on" for the playoffs). Remember, before you had Thibs' Bulls that played every game like it was game 7, you had riley's heat teams that would play hard and run out of Gas in the playoffs.

This team cannot have a "coast" button.

 

[sporthenry]

One of the criticism's I always heard about the Cavs during LeBron's first stint was that they never had anyone who could handle the ball and create his own shot. Irving satisfies both of those criteria very well. With LeBron, he and the others only get better.

And just b/c LeBron never had a great PG before doesn't mean it can't work now and going forward. No way I trade Kyrie.

For sure. The PGs during LeBron's first tenure with the Cavs were horrific. If you tried, I don't think you could get a worse collection of scrubs. Switching Irving for someone like Dragic still gives them an excellent ball handler who can create his own shot. It also gives them a better outside shooter and would let them add additional players.

Better shooter? The career 36.5% 3 point shooter or the career 37.8% 3 point shooter? Dragic had a career year. He is a buy high candidate. Irving might also be near the peak of his value as well but I don't expect a regression the same way I do for Dragic. Dragic has two things going for him, more manageable contract for next year and durability. But Dragic becomes a FA after next year (probably won't get as much as Kyrie but could increase). Kyrie's benefit is that he is under control for much longer time. He does have the Rose provision so he could cost more than expected. Beyond that, he is young and can still get better as most 22 year olds have more potential than 28 year olds.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

One problem raised is that players would set themselves up to go where they want. So if Minnesota (sorry, too easy) had the #1 pick this year and the Lakers had the #1 pick next year, then guys like Wiggins would stay an extra year to get into that better situation. Leaving some money on the table in your career but a real concern. Love to see a relegation style system but know that will never happen.

I think that would be few and far between and have little impact on the game compared to the tanking problem right now.

 

[sporthenry]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

One problem raised is that players would set themselves up to go where they want. So if Minnesota (sorry, too easy) had the #1 pick this year and the Lakers had the #1 pick next year, then guys like Wiggins would stay an extra year to get into that better situation. Leaving some money on the table in your career but a real concern. Love to see a relegation style system but know that will never happen.

I think that would be few and far between and have little impact on the game compared to the tanking problem right now.

I'm not really sure that there is that much of a tanking problem. Sixers are probably the only team who has purposely tanked and nobody else seems like they are actively trying as much. And heck, the Sixers still didn't have the worst record in the league. Picture that, a team with playoff aspirations actually finished worse than a tanker.

I'm not the biggest fan of rewarding the worst teams with the best draft picks. I'd rather something like an open market but US sports doesn't operate that way. The wheel of death would most likely result in some teams being beyond terrible for extended amounts of time without any hope. At least with this, Sixers fans can dream of Embiid, Okafor, and Noel playing together. And you'll still see tanking to a degree in terms of cap flexibility/gaining other assets.

 

[Frostillicus]

You Wolves fans seem like a lively bunch.

Can I join your bandwagon until they trade Love? I just want to be part of something.

DELUSIONAL!

YEAH, GET IN HERE!

SECONDED

 

[Instinctive]

I'm not sure I buy the mediocrity treadmill.

Dallas spent over a decade on the bandwagon of "no matter what we want to win the most games we can always," and even fell down to those 4-8 seeds where they weren't really title threats some years. Then, lo and behold, keeping together veteran players, finding the correct outstanding coach, and creating a culture of winning led to a dominant playoffs as the 4 seed with a title. Sure, the Mavs have had years of being the #1 and favorite, like with Howard teamed next to Dirk before he lost his mind, but overall...lots of time as one of those teams people didn't really think had a shot. 2 Finals trips, a decade straight of the playoffs and 50+ wins...

I think the value of simply creating a culture of winning is underrated.

 

[Frostillicus]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

One problem raised is that players would set themselves up to go where they want. So if Minnesota (sorry, too easy) had the #1 pick this year and the Lakers had the #1 pick next year, then guys like Wiggins would stay an extra year to get into that better situation. Leaving some money on the table in your career but a real concern.

Love to see a relegation style system but know that will never happen.

GOB, your first mission is to injure sporthenry.

 

[No. 16]

I honestly don't see the big deal about "tanking".

It's a franchise building strategy. Do you think Philly cares at all if having the worst record gets you Top 4 or Top 8? They just want to bottom out and have as many stabs at high draft picks as possible. Changing the odds does nothing in the grand scheme of things.

I like the idea of a modified wheel:

- Draft split into 6 pick brackets (1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc...) that teams rotate in every year.

- Draft slots in each bracket are based on a lottery weighted based on league record.

Worst team: 30%, 4th worst: 25%, 3rd 18% 2nd 15% BEST record: 12%

This allows teams to "cycle" through every 5 years vs 30. Still gives the crappier teams a slightly better chance to improve.

All in all. I think it doesn't really matter much. You can't really fix the tanking just through the lottery because like I mentioned earlier it's more of a franchise building strategy.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

NBA Competition Committee will be evaluating proposals to make changes to the draft lottery in an effort to reduce tanking.

One proposal flattens the odds a bit. Instead of worst team having 25% shot at the first pick and second worst at 19%, the worst team would have just a 14% shot at the top pick, with a one-point drop for each slot behind them, and flattening out a 1% for the last few teams out of the playoffs.

Also looking at drawing for the top six picks instead of just the top three.

So, instead of the worst team having a 1-in-4 shot at the top pick and guaranteed to pick no worse than fourth, it would have just a about a 1-in-7 shot at the top pick and could drop all the way down to 1.07 in the draft.

Wheel of Death or Entertaining as hell tournament.

The Wheel of Death thing is where every team gets one #1 pick every 30 years? That might be the worst idea for anything I've ever heard.

Yep. No special treatment for being a terribly run franchise. What's wrong with it?

You're committing to something for at least 30 years. 1984 was 30 years ago.

The Sixers mailed it in on an organizational level, but I think it's pretty rare that any player is trying to lose. They're fighting for jobs, or their next contract, there's always plenty to play for.

Clear-cut instances of tanking should be punished by the league. Fines, loss of lottery balls, whatever. But scrapping the whole system is Nick Young for Four Years dumb. Teams that are legitimately bad and doing the right things to try and get better shouldn't lose out.

 

[popeye]

It's hard to predict what Pacers team we'll see this year. Will their chemistry improve without Lance or is their window of opportunity closing?

I don't think it would be that surprising to see them miss the playoffs. Ceiling is a 5 seed, floor is 9/10 IMO. If George goes down for any amount of time, they're screwed.

The Pacers need is to improve at the point. George Hill struggled breaking down defenses and is much better suited as SG or 2nd string point. Like Hibbert, Hill benefitted from a timely contract. I'd place the ceiling at 3 and floor 7 or 8. The East is still the East.

Lance will be missed, but unsure to what degree. When things went well, Lance dribbling the ball into the floor for 15 seconds each position was okay. After the play headed south during the second half of the season, anything Lance did was met with 'WTF'?

I hope Lance does well - he's young and now playing for the next contract. At his age and with his talent, this could be a steal.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Honestly we can cross the Waiters/Bennett bridge when the trade deadline approaches and see where the Wolves stand and if anybody is making a monster offer. All I know is that isn't getting it done now, and it shouldn't.

Yeah I kind of agree, but I have no idea how the money will work if its just youngsters for K Love. Don't the salaries have to match?

It's close, would have to add a bit on Cleveland's end: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pt3x43a

Love and Martin (total $22.5 mill) for Olynek, Bass, Anthony, James Young and Bogans (total $19.6 mill) and 2015 Celts #1, 2015 Clippers #1, 2016 Nets #1 and 2018 Celts #1.

Works in the trade-checker. Bass and Anthony are expiring contracts and Bogans is non-guaranteed so his $5.2 mill can be cut immediately. Olynek's still on rookie deal for $2 mill for 3 years and Young is on rookie deal for $1.6 mill for 4 years. Cap space, a couple nice young cheap players (Olynek and Young) and 4 #1s. And Bass and Anthony's expiring contracts could be used to get more assets.

Does that work? You can mix in anyone else on the roster (except Rondo) but honestly, I don't think you'd want to take on more "bodies" with contracts that won't make you that much better. Now lets get this done before training camp.

Has Love indicated that he'd re-sign with Boston? This seems like a worse team than what he has now.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Brandon Rush back to GS for two years, 2nd one is a player option.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Suns signed Anthony Tolliver for 2 years, $6 mil. Channing Frye "replacement".