2016 NBA Offseason!

[Bangy 19]

 

 

I don't know where to even begin...watching this team throw everything away starting with Thibs since is pretty defeating. The talent was there, the coaching was there...it just is all being blown the fuck up by a front office that has no idea what they are doing. Senility at it's highest form.

 

Here is the salt I was awaiting. Honestly Lopez will be a good fit in Chicago.

 

I love the Ibaka trade on both sides. Oladipo will fit nicely alongside Westbrook.

[JetsFan4Life 542]

I think Oladipo is hella overrated by people. Orlando wins this trade IMO.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

I don't think either team is waking away with particularly that much better... Ibaka is a great fit next to Vucevic and Peyton, and his decent spot up game is a plus for spacing... But he's already looking like he's on a bit of a decline, although you could ague that was due to a varius number of reasons.

 

And Dipo in OKC gives them a very good defender at the wing, but he doesn't add anything to the offense that they don't already have. They needed a 3 and D guy, not another player who's offensively limited without the ball in his hands, which further helps feed on the iso ball/slasher problem. Coming off the bench as a 6th man would be ideal for Dipo but it seems like he'll be seeing a lot of court time with Westbrook.

 

As for the trade with the Bulls and Knicks, I really don't think it matters much for the Bulls. Rose is trash right now, and can't stay healthy, he's really of no value to the Bulls, outside of an expiring contract. Things may be different in New York if he can get healthy, but, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Edited June 24, 2016 by DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F

[OSUViking 505]

 

 

I don't know where to even begin...watching this team throw everything away starting with Thibs since is pretty defeating. The talent was there, the coaching was there...it just is all being blown the fuck up by a front office that has no idea what they are doing. Senility at it's highest form.

 

I'm not familiar with Thib. You think he'll do well with the Twolves?

[Milla4Prez63 678]

The one thing the Magic needed to come away with this offseason was some rim protection and interior defense, so Ibaka for sure helps us. It will be interesting to see what else we're planning.

[Bucman 891]

Ibaka is gonna bail on Orlando next year. Bad trade that stalls a rebuilding team.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Really like what the Suns did in the draft, too. Shitty thing is that was hearing rumors that they want to ship one of Bledsoe / Knight / Warren / Chandler... I wasn't a huge fan of the Bledsoe signing anyway, but the front office is always so eager to tear down. You sign and draft a bunch of young guys ( I know Chandler is older ), give them like a year together, then break everyone apart and start over.

There is never any chance to build chemistry with one another.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

The Magic clearly love Evan Fournier (who was better last year) and Hezonja more then they do Dipo. Realistically with Peyton also thrown into the mix, Dipo was going to be the odd man out anyway.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

And Dipo in OKC gives them a very good defender at the wing, but he doesn't add anything to the offense that they don't already have. They needed a 3 and D guy, not another player who's offensively limited without the ball in his hands, which further helps feed on the iso ball/slasher problem. Coming off the bench as a 6th man would be ideal for Dipo but it seems like he'll be seeing a lot of court time with Westbrook.

Ibaka was my favorite player and the only jersey I own. My heart hurts to see him leave, but this trade is great for the Thunder.

 

On the court:

-Ibaka had been declining and his offensive game wasn't maximized with the new system. We had him constantly waiting to hit threes instead of utilizing his previously league-best mid-range J. On defense we lose athleticism and rim protection, but this just opens up more minutes for Adams, who has been steadily improving on both ends.

 

-Oladipo is a better Waiters with more potential, making him expendable. He shot 40% from the corner this year and is a great defender, exactly what they've been looking for in a 2 for years. His usage was nearly identical to Waiters's time in Cleveland, so I expect them to handle him the same way they did with Waiters. Waiters had his shot and decision-making completely corralled by Donovan. The Thunder got a LOT out of Waiters and he was big in the playoffs this season, so replacing that with Oladipo just makes them better.

 

-Ersan is a guy I've been a fan of for a while. He's got the stretch 4 thing going on and he's a better 3pt shooter than Ibaka, but I'm pretty positive he'll be waived. He'll cost about $8m to keep and only $400k to waive.

-Sabonis likely won't see a ton of time if Mitch McGary returns to the team, but from what I've read/seen he has a ton of upside and could definitely be a piece for the future.

 

-Rotation-wise, I think it's too early to predict what'll happen, outside of knowing that he'll have Waiters's role. Billy moved pieces around all season and Waiters actually spent a lot of time on the floor with KD with Westbrook on the bench.

 

Off the court:

-KD and Oladipo are apparently friends as they're both from the DC area.

"Durant is one of Oladipo's biggest supporters, and Durant has served as a mentor of sorts to Oladipo ever since they first met during the summer of 2013. "I know this may sound maybe a little too early," Durant said, "but he reminds me a lot of Dwyane Wade in his body, his athleticism and how he gets to the basket. I'm not saying he's Dwyane Wade, but he reminds me a lot of him. He's definitely looking forward to taking on that role." Story

 

-Ibaka was going to need paid next year and likely wouldn't have been retained. Also, there were reports that Ibaka was less than happy with his new role and may have even been heading toward requesting a trade before his FA. This is a sell-high move that also clears cap--$5.7m once they cut Ersan.

 

-Speaking of cap, Waiters is expendable now and would clear the $6.8mil cap hold from the qualifying offer. If they did end up signing him it would cost a lot more than that with the league cap hike.

 

-Having this room will give them further options to improve the team heading forward. Right now they can drop Waiters and Ersan and sign Durant with about $2.4m to spare. They've got Morrow with a $3.5m team option for more space.

 

Example: Al Horford was with Billy for back-to-back championships. They could trade Kanter's $17.1m and have enough to sign Horford. Bam. Get fucked, everyone.

[blotsfan 2,112]

I don't think anyone would take Kanter's contract though.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

I don't think anyone would take Kanter's contract though.

Why not? It's not going to be close to max with the cap shooting up over $30m and plenty of teams would love to have him down low.

 

Take Ryan Anderson, for example. According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, teams believe the New Orleans Pelicans forward will “command a starting salary of $16 million-$18 million a season in free agency.” Lowe corroborated those eye-popping figures, suggesting Anderson could earn upwards of $20 million annually on his next deal.

 

http://bballbreakdown.com/2016/02/23/contextualizing-nba-contracts-90-plus-million-salary-cap/

If Ryan Anderson is going to be making about as much/more than Kanter, Kanter can easily be moved.

 

Edit:

Also, this made me laugh.

In the last 4 months, ORL has essentially traded Tobias Harris + Oladipo + 11th pick for a 2-month rental of Jennings and a 1-year rental of Serge Ibaka

 

Like Bucman said, if they don't get him signed long-term this is retarded.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Zack_of_Steel

[NaTaS+ 958]

Durant on the Warriors is scary proposition - considering how tough they are already. Consistent scorer that doesn't need to rely on 3pt shots to affect the game.

 

Serge Ibaka to the Warriors makes a lot of sense if they're keeping KD. I don't know why, I just think he fits in that puzzle neatly.

 

I hate to see Rose leave the Bulls, but it was bound to happen. He's not durable and is getting old.

 

The Cavs pick up a great prospect in Kahlil "Kay" Felder. He's being compared to Isaiah Thomas in terms of size, burst and athleticism, but is known as a distributer of the ball which the Cavs certainly need. We have enough shooters.

 

I hope Noah does go to the Knicks or Wizards where he can flounder in bad coaching and bad basketball. I hate that fucker.

Edited June 25, 2016 by NaTaS

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

I think there's pretty much none percent chance that KD goes anywhere to play second fiddle, even in the media's eyes.

 

Also, I saw this, which I hadn't thought about:

 

 

 

The Olympics start on August 5th. Free Agency starts on July 1st, but players cannot sign an official contract until July 7th. Assuming he signs a deal on the 7th, Durant would only have ten days until he’s set to leave for training camp on the 18th. If Durant had any inclination of leaving Oklahoma City, wouldn’t it make sense for him to stay in the States so that he could get accustomed to his new team, coaching staff, city, etc?

Edited June 25, 2016 by Zack_of_Steel

[NaTaS+ 958]

I think there's pretty much 0 chance that KD goes anywhere to play second fiddle, even in the media's eyes.

 

He wouldn't be second on the Wizards and I wouldn't think the Knicks either. Carmelo has some talent, but KD is a superstar.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

 

He wouldn't be second on the Wizards and I wouldn't think the Knicks either. Carmelo has some talent, but KD is a superstar.

 

You were talking about the Warriors?

[NaTaS+ 958]

 

You were talking about the Warriors?

 

 

Hahaha, Indeed I was. Yes, I can see that being an issue.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Ibaka was my favorite player and the only jersey I own. My heart hurts to see him leave, but this trade is great for the Thunder.

 

On the court:

-Ibaka had been declining and his offensive game wasn't maximized with the new system. We had him constantly waiting to hit threes instead of utilizing his previously league-best mid-range J. On defense we lose athleticism and rim protection, but this just opens up more minutes for Adams, who has been steadily improving on both ends.

 

-Oladipo is a better Waiters with more potential, making him expendable. He shot 40% from the corner this year and is a great defender, exactly what they've been looking for in a 2 for years. His usage was nearly identical to Waiters's time in Cleveland, so I expect them to handle him the same way they did with Waiters. Waiters had his shot and decision-making completely corralled by Donovan. The Thunder got a LOT out of Waiters and he was big in the playoffs this season, so replacing that with Oladipo just makes them better.

 

-Ersan is a guy I've been a fan of for a while. He's got the stretch 4 thing going on and he's a better 3pt shooter than Ibaka, but I'm pretty positive he'll be waived. He'll cost about $8m to keep and only $400k to waive.

-Sabonis likely won't see a ton of time if Mitch McGary returns to the team, but from what I've read/seen he has a ton of upside and could definitely be a piece for the future.

 

-Rotation-wise, I think it's too early to predict what'll happen, outside of knowing that he'll have Waiters's role. Billy moved pieces around all season and Waiters actually spent a lot of time on the floor with KD with Westbrook on the bench.

 

I'm not arguing that they aren't better, Dipo is a better offensive player then Waiters by almost all accounts, I'm just arguing that it's not all that big. Despite having a worst game, Waiters was still a better fit with Westbrook then Dipo would be in half court sets and any offensive possessions that don't involve fast break opportunities.

 

They get most of their points the same way, which is the reason from the start that Peyton and Dipo couldn't co-exist. Dipo's percentages from everywhere but the 3 point line were worse across the board on catch and shoot opportunities as apposed to pull up shots and shots off the dribble, and his percentage from the 3 on catch and shoot was also worse then Waiters'. Assuming he spends time on the court while either KD or Westbrook is out, or where he's the primary ball handler will be great for him, but it needs to actually happen. And he's just going into his 4th year so its not that I don't think he'll get better, I just don't see him immediately being that big of a difference maker.

 

And while I even admitted that Serge was worse this year then years priors and has been on a constant decline, it doesn't change the fact that he created space that was badly needed. He still finished out the playoffs ranking among the top 3 in OKC in offensive and defensive ratings, and came up huge against Golden State on both sides of the ball.

[BJORN 679]

Bulls with the best pick in the draft?

Other good picks:

PHX - Tyler Ulis - very smart PG

LAC - Bryce Johnson - killer offensive PF

 

 

Also, Diamond Stone falls to the second round? Crazy for him. Left college hoping to be top 20. We could really use for the draft eligibility to be pushed back.

Edited June 25, 2016 by BJABY

[Milla4Prez63 678]

Saying Ibaka is on the decline is honestly laughable and not looking at the big picture. It's too easy to look at basic stats and say his PPG and RPG have dropped about 2 marks each the past two years, but what people don't take enough time to consider is that the emergence of Adams and Kanter have taken away rebounding opportunities from Ibaka and the Thunder have had to play him on the perimeter defending stretch fours more than before since they have more quality bigs than before. Not to mention a new coaching staff that changed things up. His basic stats will without a doubt go up in Orlando, but that doesn't interest me as much as how he can help us on the defensive end. We need some physcality in the post, some shot blocking, better help defense, etc. and Ibaka certainly makes us better in those regards. The Magic had a logjam on the perimeter with Oladipo, Fournier and Hezonja so this deal gives us a piece that was desperately needed while clearing things up a bit. Fournier is definately a better shooter and scorer, so the floor spacing will be appreciated. He also doesn't need the ball in his hands as much as Oladipo to be efficient. We downgraded on the perimeter defensively, but sometimes you gotta take a step back to take two steps forward. Saying that we are ruining are rebuild by trading Oladipo is also laughable, as if this rebuild was on track to championship contention or anything rofl. It's been four years since the Dwight trade and this rebuild has turned out to be a disappointment. Oladipo is just as much a part of that as anyone, he's without a doubt a good player but he was the highest drafted player in the post Dwight era and has shown he is not a player you can build around. He is at best the 3rd best player on a contending team, which is what he is now so honestly it works better for both sides there.

​I'm not jumping for joy over the deal, but I'm satisfied with improving the front court. We needed to do that badly and getting a big FA to fill that void was a long shot.

[blotsfan 2,112]

Something else to think about, Sam Presti might be the best drafting GM in the league. If he really likes Sabonis, that speaks well to him as a prospect IMO.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

 

I'm not arguing that they aren't better, Dipo is a better offensive player then Waiters by almost all accounts, I'm just arguing that it's not all that big. Despite having a worst game, Waiters was still a better fit with Westbrook then Dipo would be in half court sets and any offensive possessions that don't involve fast break opportunities.

 

They get most of their points the same way, which is the reason from the start that Peyton and Dipo couldn't co-exist. Dipo's percentages from everywhere but the 3 point line were worse across the board on catch and shoot opportunities as apposed to pull up shots and shots off the dribble, and his percentage from the 3 on catch and shoot was also worse then Waiters'. Assuming he spends time on the court while either KD or Westbrook is out, or where he's the primary ball handler will be great for him, but it needs to actually happen. And he's just going into his 4th year so its not that I don't think he'll get better, I just don't see him immediately being that big of a difference maker.

 

And while I even admitted that Serge was worse this year then years priors and has been on a constant decline, it doesn't change the fact that he created space that was badly needed. He still finished out the playoffs ranking among the top 3 in OKC in offensive and defensive ratings, and came up huge against Golden State on both sides of the ball.

 

Like I said, I believe he's going to take the bench role that Waiters had and excel in it. Waiters performed marginally better than Oladipo in certain areas this year, but that can be completely attributed to the coaching staff reeling him in here and getting the most out of him. Oladipo should take a step forward here also.

 

Billy rarely had Dion on the floor with WB unless they were down the stretch in a game and they needed more offense. Donovan found the optimal rotations this year, so I trust him to do the same next year and keep him staggered with Russ when possible.

 

Serge basically won us the Spurs series, imo. He is a decent loss, but one that was coming either way. If they can make some noise with the room they have and get Horford or find a trade, they'll have come out well ahead in this trade. If not, I still see it as a win.

 

 

Edit:

Milla, I didn't miss your post, I'm just at a bar out of town and I'll respond when I get home.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Zack_of_Steel

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Bulls with the best pick in the draft?

Other good picks:

PHX - Tyler Ulis - very smart PG

LAC - Bryce Johnson - killer offensive PF

 

 

Also, Diamond Stone falls to the second round? Crazy for him. Left college hoping to be top 20. We could really use for the draft eligibility to be pushed back.

 

Fun fact. Tyler Ulis becomes the FIFTH Kentucky guard on the Suns roster.

[Bucman 891]

I love the Cavs pick of Felder. We really needed a back up PG now that Delly is gonna get a crazy contract. He is a midget and thats the only reason he fell so far.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

...Is it July yet?...

[oochymp 2,393]

John Wall speculates why Kevin Durant is unlikely to join the Wizards

When Kevin Durant's free agency commences on July 1, several teams, including the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, will try to sway the 2014 MVP to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for greener pastures. But according to ESPN's Britt McHenry, Durant's hometown team, the Washington Wizards, believes it's unlikely that the seven-time All-Star will choose to sign with them in free agency.

Speaking during his basketball camp at Fairfax High School on Sunday, Wizards all-star point guard John Wall told CSN Mid-Atlantic he thinks he knows why Durant isn't interested in playing for his hometown team.

"A lot of people will be devastated. But at the end of the day, he never promised us anything," Wall said. "Every day, everybody said KD-to-DC, coming to our games wearing all the Kevin Durant stuff, he didn’t like it at that time because you should cheer for the team that you got. That might sway him."

 

I actually did find the whole KD2DC thing annoying if only for the length of time it lasted, it's interesting to see that the 'movement' itself may have had something to do with its own undoing