Everything 2018 Off Season

[KeonClark]

LeBron James spent four games up close and personal with OG Anunoby and came away impressed with the Raptors rookie.

“I think he has a bright future. His future is now, actually,” the Cavaliers star said after dispatching Toronto in a 128-93 blowout to cap a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference semifinal.

“You look at the rookie class from this year, it’s probably the best since 2003,” he added, breaking himself and the assembled reporters up.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...on-lebron.html

[tDotted]

No Casey and Masai exit interviews

Good sign.. right?

[KeonClark]

Good sign.. right?

He gone

[Mitch P]

All Siakam needs to be a reasonable offensive talent is a reliable jumper. He's got good court vision and knows how to pass, he's one of the fastest players in the league, and his handles aren't top-level but they're good enough to get by given his other talents (and it's something he can work on). He still needs to put on some more muscle but that's a long-term project and it's clear he's not slacking in that regard.

Whether Siakam CAN develop a reliable jump shot is an open question, but if he can, there's a good argument for him becoming a star player.

We need to remember that Siakam was a soccer player till he was 17 while most of his peers were playing high level AAU competition since they were 12 and hundreds of hours in the gym or playground before that. His three point shot was much better in the last quarter of the season as were his foul shots. I'll bet his mid range is much improved by next season. He and OG will become stars. I think JV (who is still young) already would be a star with a different coach and FVV and Delon will be reliable journeymen at least.

[The Great One]

Firing the coach is a no brainer. But they need to make MAJOR changes on the roster too.

This team QUIT after Game 1. I know what i saw. They QUIT. They just bowed down to King after Game 1. It was pathetic to watch.

There's a reason why this team ALWAYS gets blown out in the playoffs. When the going gets tough, they quit. Zero heart. Zero leadership. Changes need to be made. Firing the coach is not good enough.

[magoon]

Right, just like the Bucks knew about Giannis. Just like the Pacers knew about George. Just like everyone knew about Oladipo. Just like the Spurs knew about Kawhi. Just like the Warriors knew about Curry, Thompson, and Green.

The Spurs DID know about Kawhi. They traded away George Hill, who was at the time the very good backup point guard who was clearly going to be a rock-solid starter, slotted to take over from Tony Parker, to get Kawhi Leonard. That's a hefty price for a 15th overall pick. Oladipo was drafted second overall and was widely expected to become the player he is now; the surprise this year was because a lot of people had given up on him.

Masai was trying to trade into the 2013 draft specifically to draft Giannis, who went sixteenth overall not because anybody had any doubts about his athletic potential but because people weren't sure if he could, essentially, be taught to play basketball at the pro level to make it work with his unique physique. Rudy Gobert is another excellent example of the same phenomenon. Bruno Caboclo is an example of that dice roll going the other way.

Similarly, nobody had any doubts about Steph Curry's ability to shoot the lights out. He went sixth not because of a perceived lack of talent but because ankle injuries threatened to kill his potential before he ever achieved it, and early in his career it looked like that was exactly what was going to happen.

Sometimes everybody sleeps on a player. Draymond Green is an excellent example of that (although he went low mostly because he preceded the idea of positionless basketball); Jimmy Butler is too. But, most really great players tend to be obvious.

[Mitch P]

I'm hopeful that our young guys will have another productive summer and take another step forward. Obviously Poeltl needs some muscle, post moves and at least some sort of midrange shot. The very few he took didn't look horrible but he clearly needs to develop some confidence in it. OG really needs to work on his handle which is non-existent at this point. It surprises me that he could get this far as a player and dribble the ball that badly. Pascal obviously needs muscle like his BFF and also some kind of midrange shot to at least keep the defence honest. Delon seems to have a better shot than he thinks he has. His games are so wildly inconsistent....a lot seems psychological. FVV might not be able to get a whole lot better; though perhaps that's just a misconception because he's already a multi skilled guy. They do some weird leg lengthening surgery in Russia. Wouldn't advise it for Fred though. I know a guy who had it and ended up semi crippled.

[Scraptor]

Hard to overstate how big a body blow this was for our reputation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiigLv4guVv/?hl=en

[rocwell]

“Google me, Chuck!”

Shaq and Chuck got heated ��

(Via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/UaPL1jWPBU

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2018

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Shaq is such an arrogant asshole. He constantly holds not winning a title over Chuck's head, that's such a dick thing to do to a colleague.

[Nilanka]

Firing the coach is a no brainer. But they need to make MAJOR changes on the roster too.

This team QUIT after Game 1. I know what i saw. They QUIT. They just bowed down to King after Game 1. It was pathetic to watch.

There's a reason why this team ALWAYS gets blown out in the playoffs. When the going gets tough, they quit. Zero heart. Zero leadership. Changes need to be made. Firing the coach is not good enough.

As much as I want the bold to be true. The chances of it actually happening feels like 50/50 at best.

[Nilanka]

Shaq is such an arrogant asshole. He constantly holds not winning a title over Chuck's head, that's such a dick thing to do to a colleague.

I consider it friendly trash talk among friends, like any one of us do with our buddies.

There just happens to be cameras rolling, in this case.

[G__Deane]

Shaq is such an arrogant asshole. He constantly holds not winning a title over Chuck's head, that's such a dick thing to do to a colleague.

Shaq is a tool but not becuase of this ....

[DanH]

No Casey and Masai exit interviews

They are scheduled for today, I believe.

[DanH]

They are scheduled for today, I believe.

Double checking, this may be the case, but the official word yesterday was actually that they are scheduled for "TBD," so it could be today (like it was last year) or it might be later.