Everything 2018 Off Season

[magoon]

do you think maybe ben simmons and joel embiid will get a little better next year, or they're done growing?

or rather, since i could guess how you'll respond to that, do you expect our two best and most important players to improve as much as philly's two best and most important players?

if the answer's no then i'd say philly has either gained a lot of ground on us or pulled quite a bit further ahead, depending on one's perspective.

I think Philly's gained ground but, as constituted, we're still better than they are. Embiid still hasn't shown he can consistently stay on the floor and the team simply doesn't have the shooting to compete until Simmons becomes at least half-competent from more than three feet away from the net. I also think Siakam and OG (and to a lesser extent Poeltl) will be much better this season than last; their growth won't be as important as Embiid and Simmons' will, but it'll still matter a lot.

[chris]

I think Philly's gained ground but, as constituted, we're still better than they are. Embiid still hasn't shown he can consistently stay on the floor and the team simply doesn't have the shooting to compete until Simmons becomes at least half-competent from more than three feet away from the net. I also think Siakam and OG (and to a lesser extent Poeltl) will be much better this season than last; their growth won't be as important as Embiid and Simmons' will, but it'll still matter a lot.

yeah of course OG and siakam will be better, as will jak/wright/freddy (maybe even norm under a new voice). but their young ancillary players will be better too (saric, covington, and fultz especially being a massive x factor). that's why i asked about the top two's.

i disagree and think we're a pretty clear and distant third in the conference next year, without much hope to climb up. unless nurse is a stevens-esque coaching savant. and i loved the hire, he was my top choice, but i'm not sure he can coach us ahead of boston or philly

[inthepaint]

LeBron is 33, and everybody acts like he's immortal because he's the greatest basketball player of all time and he's learned to tailor his game to his age. Kobe Bryant did exactly the same thing, right up until he started getting serious injuries when he was 34, and then he was never the same again.

Sometimes basketball players age like Tim Duncan. Sometimes it's a sharp shock and you're Kobe. The Lakers are not spending $154 million on LeBron James to waste even a single year.

mmm.. maybe, but that is one year that will be smothered by the peaking Warriors at the end of the day anyway, and you're giving up your best prospects in Kuzma + Ingram as well as Hart and two 1st round picks. If they beleive LBJ will declione soon, you can look at it as that being all the more reason for them to not give up their best future prospects like that for just that "extra" year. If I'm the lakers I wait to get Kawhi in FA, and keep this cache of assets to put around LBJ + Kawhi + whichever players they choose to keep from these short term deals they just signed.

However, If they think it's a risk Kawhi will change his mind and stick around wherever he signs next, than maybe, but that seems unlikely.

[inthepaint]

yeah of course OG and siakam will be better, as will jak/wright/freddy (maybe even norm under a new voice). but their young ancillary players will be better too (saric, covington, and fultz especially being a massive x factor). that's why i asked about the top two's.

i disagree and think we're a pretty clear and distant third in the conference next year, without much hope to climb up. unless nurse is a stevens-esque coaching savant. and i loved the hire, he was my top choice, but i'm not sure he can coach us ahead of boston or philly

Philly has more growth potential, but the Raptors are a deeper, better and more mature/experienced team. . Embiid has durabilty problems, Simmons and Fultz can't shoot, as a team they still turn the ball over a lot , and they just lost the two vets that gave them a nice boost last year (Ilyasova and Belinelli). All that can change of course, but until then it's just a theoretical potential.

[Demographic Shift]

Irving is indeed back...on his opt out contract year and fresh off his third knee operation. No questions about those things so far as the NBA MSM lemmings focus on Kawhi watch but but you can reasonably expect a TMZ like high road approach to both from the media once the season starts. No distractions there.

Haywatch is over. Gord ...who is a good but not a great player ...also comes back from an even more pronounced gruesome leg and ankle injury than Kyrie. Everyone is different and heals differently. Is Gordo more like Paul George or will he be more like Jorge Garbajosa ? One came back..the other was never the same. We shall see in a few months.

If Kawhi watch continues on for the lack of an actual trade ...will the incessant harping on which one or both of the rookies Tatum and Brown will go to the Spurs for Leonard take those kids mind off the game? Danny did trade Thomas after he gave them his soul for a chance to win. Those guys saw that. Maybe they do wonder a bit at the expense of their games.

Boston still..always and forever ...sucks..

and so it begins....

35 mins ago – via ESPN
Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson and Kemba Walker are among those expected to be free agents that summer. According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, the Knicks were among the teams Irving wanted to be traded to last summer. Several executives expect Irving to give the Knicks consideration next summer if he tests free agency, per ESPN’s Ian Begley.
Free Agency, Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks

[planetmars]

So the Thunder bring back Felton for another year at about $2M. They are now projected to have a tax bill of $150M. That's just the tax bill!

If they stretch/waive Carmelo they can save around $95M in tax payments and $114M overall.

Nuts.

[DanH]

So the Thunder bring back Felton for another year at about $2M. They are now projected to have a tax bill of $150M. That's just the tax bill!

If they stretch/waive Carmelo they can save around $95M in tax payments and $114M overall.

Nuts.

The problem for OKC is this: if they stretch Melo, they sign themselves up to a tax bill (probably a massive one again, though not 150M) for the next two seasons after this one. If they bite the bullet and let him expire, they gain a lot of flexibility in those next couple seasons.

[planetmars]

Anyone see this the other day:

Kung-Fu Maker!


The crazy thing is that they let them keep playing.. and it was 5 on 3 for the rest of the game.

[planetmars]

The problem for OKC is this: if they stretch Melo, they sign themselves up to a tax bill (probably a massive one again, though not 150M) for the next two seasons after this one. If they bite the bullet and let him expire, they gain a lot of flexibility in those next couple seasons.

Anthony still has his no trade clause.. so it will be tough for them to find a trade partner for him. Will be interesting to see what they do.

[golden]

It's time to stop settling for moral victories and to chart an actual path to contention rather than flying by the seat of our pants. Any objective observer would say we have no shot at a title for the next few years; why not prepare for 3-5 years from now? If we put off what's necessary now, we'll get surpassed by the next wave of up-and-comers, and will be looking at true contention 5-7 years from now.

Not picking on you specifically, Scrap, but do let us know when you find that magical "path to contention". Teams have been searching for it since the beginning of professional sports.

[SkywalkerAC]

This just in - players really don't like Dwight Howard.

[saints91]

Wayne Ellington is the guy I want us to pick up at this point. I don’t know if our exception gets it done but it satifies our need for more shooting and he plays decent D. Any thoughts?

[DanH]

Wayne Ellington is the guy I want us to pick up at this point. I don’t know if our exception gets it done but it satifies our need for more shooting and he plays decent D. Any thoughts?

Possible. Doubt they spend any more money at all unless they shed some salary first though.

[Barolt]

I think the Raptors are really trying to hold onto the MLE until they can see if a bigger move can be made, because they might need to shore up a different aspect of their roster afterwords.

[S.R.]

Re: top 3 in the East, Raptors and Celtics have proven to have ECF capable cores. Raps have proven they can win 59 games and the 1st seed. Philly hasn't shown that yet, at this point they still have to "catch" the Raptors, not vice versa.

Raps' core wins year after year in the East. Philly has potential and half a good season on the books. They just lost a couple of key rotation guys (Philly's strong finish was tied directly to acquiring those guys last year) and have yet to prove that roster can be healthy year after year.

Boston has something to prove re: year after year health, too. Kyrie has not been the most reliable.

I expect the top 3 will be more fun this year than last, but let's keep it straight re: who's trying to catch who.

Raps also got written off last summer in favour of all the teams with youth and potential and big signings. Toronto was supposed to be a 3-6 seed in the "new" East.