NBA Chatter Thread

[1bigfan13]

Why would either want to go there? It makes zero sense to even try. Love was focused on going back to Clev and Aldridge has never been linked to them.

The Boston rumors never made sense to me but some well known talking heads were basically saying that it was a foregone conclusion that Love was headed to either LA or to Boston.

But here's the thing that they never seemed to understand. Love wants to compete for championships. Going to Boston or LA is akin to going back to the T-Wolves. It didn't make sense to link him to those two teams.

 

[Jiggyfly]

What other FAs were linked to them? As a Rocket fan you should understand that Ainge is accumulating assets with bigger fish in mind via trade.

I understand what he is doing but Houston was chasing everybody since Lebron's 1st free agency and like Boston we were not a attractive FA destination.

What they are trying to do has nothing to do with FA's actually wanting to play there.

If not for the Harden trade and him making the leap we would still be spinning our wheels, we were very lucky.

And with the cap going up so high teams will not be in such a rush to unload those type players anymore.

 

[1bigfan13]

They planned to make a play at Love, but he made the smart move sticking with Lebron. They were interest in Demare Carroll but not as a max player. So now they have a ton of space and 6 1st round picks in the next 3 years to work with. Not a horrible situation as Durant may will be willing to move out of OKC next offseason and return to the Northeast.

Possibly. But I think it's largely a pipe dream by hopeful fans of the Wizards/Knicks/Celtics.

Think about it. Durant wants to win badly and playing in OKC gives him a VERY good chance to win. The OKC roster is stacked for the next few years.

He'd be taking a major step back if he went to one of those teams. Unless of course another player decided to team up with him at the new location.

But another thing that's in OKC's favor is that they can pay him more than anyone else. He's probably going to get one of those $30-$40 million per year deals from OKC.

 

[1bigfan13]

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔@WojYahooNBA
As @Mike_Bresnahan says, Aldridge felt too much of Lakers presentation focused on outside opportunities; wanted clearer, better b-ball focus

This touches on a point that I just made. People assume these players are only interested in playing in the largest markets, and that might be true for some, but for the most part winning and basketball operations matter. Especially when you're trying to sign big name players who are true difference makers.

It's why I'm not too worried about KD's looming free agency. I don't think he's going to run off to the Knicks or Wizards just because. OKC is the better organization top to bottom. Sure the Knicks are the bigger brand/name but they've largely been a mess for the last decade and a half. Why would you throw away your career there like Melo has?

As an aside, the Lakers need to seriously consider restructuring their front office. Every since Jerry West left they've struggled to bring in impact free agents. They traded for Howard with the assumption that he'd be their next great big man but he stiff armed them. They whiffed last year in FA. Now you have this report on Aldridge passing on them.

The front office needs a shake up.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Mike Bresnahan ✔@Mike_Bresnahan
How the Lakers lost LaMarcus Aldridge: http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-lamarcus-aldridge-lakers-20150701-story.html …

Aldridge considered the Lakers to be part of a "two-horse race" with the San Antonio Spurs and "wanted to be wowed" but was actually turned off by the lack of analytics on the basketball side of their presentation, according to the person.

Aldridge engaged with the Lakers' pitch team, asking numerous questions throughout the two-hour meeting, but was noncommittal about a future with the Lakers when it ended. They would have given him a maximum four-year, $80-million contract.

San Antonio is seen as the front-runner to land Aldridge, but the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers are still in the mix.

Aldridge, who turns 30 in two weeks, also failed to connect with Kobe Bryant, who spoke for about three minutes at the presentation. Bryant said he envisioned Aldridge working with him the same way Pau Gasol did, a message that apparently fell flat, though Lakers officials were quick to defend Bryant.

"It wasn't his fault at all," said a team official who requested anonymity.

The Lakers also contended that their analytics outline would have been stronger if they had a better roster last season. The team privately expressed envy that Houston's presentation could be boasted by stats and on-court analysis of a team with James Harden and, indeed, Dwight Howard.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔@WojYahooNBA
Sources: Cavaliers restricted free agent Iman Shumpert will start taking meetings with teams. So far, unable to reach deal with Cleveland.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Amin Elhassan ✔@AminESPN
At some point, somebody gotta just keep Kobe locked up in a basement with duct tape on his mouth until they're done with free agency

 

[Jiggyfly]

Sam Amick ✔@sam_amick
LaMarcus Aldridge is unlikely to make a decision by tonight, I'm told, as he wants to hear what the Knicks have to say in meeting tomorrow.

Sam Amick ✔@sam_amick
But Suns have pushed their way into this race: right there with the Spurs atop the LaMarcus Aldridge leaderboard. Didn't see that coming.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Marc J. Spears ✔@SpearsNBAYahoo
The Warriors have agreed to terms on a five-year, $85 million deal with their free agent forward Draymond Green, a source told Yahoo.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔@WojYahooNBA
Sacramento is trading Jason Thompson and Carl Landry as part of a salary dump to the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔@WojYahooNBA
The Kings are sending Nik Stauskus to the 76ers as part of the deal too, league sources tell Yahoo Sports

Adrian Wojnarowski ✔@WojYahooNBA
The Kings clearing the salary cap space to pursue free agents Rajon Rondo and Wes Matthews, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

 

[Jiggyfly]

Sources: Kings trade Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry and Jason Thompson to 76ers in salary dump
Adrian Wojnarowski By Adrian Wojnarowski
10 minutes ago
Yahoo Sports

The Sacramento Kings cleared about $16 million in salary-cap space on Wednesday night, unloading two significant contracts onto the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.


The Kings traded forwards Carl Landry and Jason Thompson and 2014 No. 8 overall draft pick Nik Stauskas to the 76ers for the rights to overseas players and a future second-round draft pick, sources said.
The Kings will send the Sixers a protected future first-round draft pick as part of the deal, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Landry and Thompson each have two years and $13 million-plus left on their contracts.

The Kings had about $9 million of cap space before the trade, now giving them a total of about $25 million.

Sacramento wants to pursue several free agents with the space, including point guards Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis and shooting guard Wesley Matthews, sources said. The Indiana Pacers were meeting with Ellis on Wednesday in Indiana and working to reach a deal with him, league sources told Yahoo.

Stauskas, 21, is a young shooting guard who the 76ers targeted in the deal as the incentive to take on the Landry and Thompson contracts. Multiple teams had inquired about Stauskas, who had been the draft choice of the regime of deposed general manager Pete D'Alessandro and coach Michael Malone. Stauskas is still considered a good, young NBA prospect, and he'll get a broader opportunity to play with the Sixers.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Holy Shit that's grand theft. What is Sacramento thinking?

Apparently the Sixers get the right to swap 1sts with them twice also.

 

[Smitty]

Holy Shit that's grand theft. What is Sacramento thinking?

Apparently the Sixers get the right to swap 1sts with them twice also.

Well the Bulls have the next 1st round pick from the Kings that is outside the 10th pick, at least for the next 2-3 years. So get in line.

 

[Carp]

I understand what he is doing but Houston was chasing everybody since Lebron's 1st free agency and like Boston we were not a attractive FA destination.

What they are trying to do has nothing to do with FA's actually wanting to play there.

If not for the Harden trade and him making the leap we would still be spinning our wheels, we were very lucky.

And with the cap going up so high teams will not be in such a rush to unload those type players anymore.

All Boston has to do is get one guy in a deal to become attractive. The Celtics will always be held in high regard by players...just like the Knicks and Lakers are...even when they are down players are drawn to them.

 

[Carp]

I absolutely love the Kings deal for Philly...Stauskas is a guy I had hoped would get to our spot last year when we took Saric. Not sure why it did not work in Sacto, but it was odd for them to take Stauskas after taking McLemore the year before.

 

[Carp]

Knicks To Sign Arron Afflalo
July 2nd at 8:01am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks will sign Arron Afflalo to a two-year deal worth $16MM with a player option on the final season, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The agreement gives the Sam Goldfeder client slightly more in average annual value than he would have made had he picked up his $7.75MM player option with the Blazers.

The deal comes as no surprise, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports on Monday identified the Knicks as the front-runners for the shooting guard who turns 30 in October, and Chris Mannix of SI.com reported Tuesday that Afflalo was open to a deal that allowed him to hit free agency again in a year or two. The Knicks were to meet with Afflalo today, and it sounds like they either met early this morning or reached agreement before having a sitdown.

New York will use part of its nearly $30MM in cap flexibility on the eight-year veteran, but plenty of room

 

[Genghis Khan]

Well the Bulls have the next 1st round pick from the Kings that is outside the 10th pick, at least for the next 2-3 years. So get in line.

Right the deal is I think 2 years after their obligation to the bulls vests we get their top 10 protected first. But we have plenty of assets, we can be patient with it.

But on top of that, supposedly we get the right to swap firsts in two future years. Not sure what kind of protections are on that but it's pretty good regardless.

 

[Genghis Khan]

I absolutely love the Kings deal for Philly...Stauskas is a guy I had hoped would get to our spot last year when we took Saric. Not sure why it did not work in Sacto, but it was odd for them to take Stauskas after taking McLemore the year before.

It's fantastic. I've heard Stauskas hit something like 50 of his last 110 3s.

I can't understand why the kings would want someone like Rondo bad enough to do this kind of deal.

 

[Carp]

It's fantastic. I've heard Stauskas hit something like 50 of his last 110 3s.

I can't understand why the kings would want someone like Rondo bad enough to do this kind of deal.

Supposedly they are trying to get Matthews as well.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Not to belabor the point, but the Sixers can switch picks in 2016 and 2017 as long as Sacramento's pick doesn't vest to Chicago. And they can decide this after the lottery .

In other words, if Sacramento gets the top pick (for instance ) next year or 2017, the Sixers get it.

Obviously Sacramento doesn't plan on that happening, but that's a big gamble for a team that was in the lottery a month ago.