Ok, I think we need to split the Warriors into two teams :)

My favorite tweet so far goes along the lines of: "When we speculate about how far LeBron could take Crappy Team X, it didn't mean we wanted the Lakers to try and out-do it in real life."

I don't really think the decal stuff would have attributed to much, but interested to know if there's any truth to what the Philippines coach was saying about Kickert bumping players in the warmups.

Kickert is about the least physically imposing big guy to play the game - basically an old school finesse big who doesn't rebound or play defense. Seems out of character for him but might partially explain the reaction. Hell, even his dumb retaliation foul that started it to me looked like he aimed 6 inches higher than he planned.

It may not be a big thing from an outsider's perspective. There was very big local media and social media talk over here about the disrespect that the Australian team gave when they stated ripping apart the decals.

The refs also didn't do a good job of managing the game, too many cheapshots from both teams that were let go. The Kickert elbow was just the fuse that lit the powderkeg.

The entire arena was egging the fight on, they even did a wave after the fight. Our players even took selfies on the court, considering the fight as a badge of honor rather than shame.

That being said, what happened was a complete disgrace. There are guys that should have been charged with assault on our side.

Looks like this is where it started: Australia vs Philippines basketball brawl new video: Newly reviewed vision shows altercation in warmups | FOX SPORTS

Agree re: the refs too. Did a real poor job managing the game.

Also, kudos to Thon Maker for attempting a solid flying kick, barely missing. :D

Oh man, I knew that was coming. :D

Still waiting for the Thon Maker/Sagat from Street Fighter mashup gif.

As a casual NBA guy... what do you do right now if you're the Rockets?

...other than search for some sort of emergency clause to relocate to the Eastern Conference?

Someone suggested that it would now only require 1 plan crash to restore parity to the NBA. :(

You try and get cheap 3&D wings to replace Ariza, and hope your two shot creating stars stay healthy while one of Golden State's get hurt. Ferttita being unwilling to pay the tax $$$ to retain Ariza hurts, but I don't think Boogie changes the calculus between those two teams much - if Boogie is on the floor vs the Rockets, Warriors can't switch everything & Harden/Paul can attack him every possession with standard pick & rolls instead of the iso ball they had to go to.

You could also try to renew interest in re-seeding the playoffs, or at least the last 4 teams, instead of going strictly by conference affiliation. Though it is a little amusing now that LeBron opposing the idea publically was what really torpedoed it.
The Rockets were +155 going in to that series, and had a 3-2 lead. I just don't get the need for hyperbole.

Yeah there's probably 25 teams in the NBA that have zero chance, and that's a problem, but I can say that while admitting the Warriors were legitimately challenged & had to step up (albeit only in 1/4 series, though hopefully this year a healthy Celtics team that's matched up really well vs them is the Finals opponent.)

NBA needs a designated player rule or simply a hard cap to fix this problem. DP rule would make guys less inclined to sit on a team making way less when they could make a lot more if a team was willing to throw it at them if they were a DP. Hard cap would be more draconian.

Of course, going the baseball route would be even better but there are always too many guys making way more than they need to be making because the cash is available, though I wonder if an uncapped league would bring more European players and dudes who play in China over here because teams could pay them more to be here.

I think I like Arles' idea.

(1) Get rid of max salaries.

(2) Have a hard cap that's some amount over the soft cap. (And I know that there's some tension between guaranteed contracts and a hard cap, but it isn't like the NBA does not have a pretty good idea of where the cap is going, so I think that you could make that system work).

That would help reduce the outsized influence of stars because if you are paying actual market value for a Durant/LeBron/Davis, then you have less to pay your role players.

As for guys taking under market contracts to play where they want? That's not a problem. It's the free market. And, in the end, most guys take the most money. For every Boogie, there's ten guys who tell their agent "Just get me the most money." I don't see an epidemic of market-distorting contracts around the bend.

I think allowing a much higher year to year increase, and going back to 5/6 year contracts could help. Forget the Boogie deal because there's some weird extenuating circumstances there, but having true superstars like LeBron & KD able to go for these 1 year + player option contracts and then just pick the best situation without sacrificing much money is a problem.

Plus this Golden State superteam was largely possible due to fortuitous timing around that huge cap spike. With Klay entering UFA this offseason, Draymond the next, KD on a 1+1 & Steph Curry owed $43 million/year for his age 32-34 seasons the actual Warriors juggernaut will likely be coming back to the pack soon.

Designating salaries at a % of the cap instead of dollar amounts would help. Just simply say 30% or something, and then only allow teams to exceed the cap by 20 percent or so. If the cap spikes existing players get more money and there's less to lavish on scrubs. And abolish the maximum salary. Skip all the dumb bird rights, etc. The Cavs had a season 4 years ago where they started under the cap and paid the luxury tax(or nearly did) by the end...I mean how does that even make sense.

{scratches head} Honestly, I still don't get the level of angst about a dominant GS or anybody else. The Bulls won 6 of 8 titles in their run. Go back nearly 40 years, the NBA has been a league of extended finals runs. Over & over & over.

This isn't something new by any means but I don't recall the hooha over, say, the Lakers being a "superteam". It's what the NBA has been through the most successful years its had, so why so much uproar this time?

It's mostly because of how they are being formed. In the past, you didn't have top players leaving their team to form superteams. I.e, Dominique Wilkins staying in Atlanta as one example. The Bulls drafted Grant and Jordan, and traded for Pippen. I think that's legitimately different then a case where players are trying to join up with whatever the superteams(s) of the moment are and changing where they play a lot more. It's seen(and I think rightfully so) as being more unfair to the rest of the league as opposed to just getting beaten in the trading/drafting game.

The journey may be different ... but the destination seems roughly the same.

Don't we questioned Dominique's status as a top player BECAUSE he spent so much of his career in Atlanta and was unable to lead them to any sort of playoff success?

I don't. Just like I don't think Garnett became magically better just because he went to Boston.

The answer is yes. Like it or not, rings raise your historic value.

I'm going to have to fire up Fast Break Pro Basketball and see if I can replicate some semblance of super team era free agent basketball.

Can it replicate a player entering free agency on a brutal injury where you don't know if he'll ever approach 100% of his previous production?

I hope DeMarcus comes back 100%, he's fun to watch & at least half of the problems in Sacramento were due to the Kings organization, but people are freaking out about superteams when he signed in GS, Paul George re-signed with OKC & LeBron just signed for a 35 win team? Seems a bit misguided. KD signing in GS last year was an unbelievable new precedent, but DMC to GS for 2018-19 is closer to Malone/Barkley signing with the Lakers than a real impact player changing the balance of power.

What Boogie seems to mean is that people now have to hope that GS has two to three injuries to the starting lineup instead of one to two.

I wish we can spend less time trying to break apart the Warriors and more time trying to figure out how to get more out of an organization like the Magic.

I think a regional draft would be cool.

Might change the college game though.

Trae Young having his 3rd horrendous shooting performance in a row for the Hawks summer league team. 1/12 tonight, and 10/48 through nearly 3 games.

Meanwhile, shock/horror/etc. Grayson Allen wrestles with Trae. Chrome won't let me post the direct link: Trae Young & Grayson Allen Skirmish / 2018 NBA Summer League - YouTube

I was kinda hoping GA would just chokeslam him & end the horror. No such luck.

Blame the Warriors.

Heh. I can see that becoming the new "thanks Obama" phrase, now that you mention it.

Assuming the Melo to LA rumor will be true now?

This. If DMC is healthy he's signing for huge dollars with the Lakers and everyone's pumped for GSW for LAL. While the rest of the league doesn't have the luxury of taking a total flier on Cousins the Warriors do - he can be a total zero and it makes no difference to them whereas anyone else it would be a waste of a much needed production spot.

For Cousins its the best possible thing - excellent chance to win a ring (and definitely to experience the playoffs at least once) and he's getting paid a few million to rehab and certainly not be rushed into playing. He's not going to have to prove himself as "the man" for an entire 82 game season to get one more massive payday - all he has to do is be able to play and have a few nice playoff moments where he looks like he did pre-injury and some team next year will throw a huge contract his way.

I don't see any healthy superstars in their prime being willing to take the MLE anytime soon - we might see more of what Malone and Payton did or what Dirk has been doing taking less money at the end but nobody is giving up hundreds of millions in guaranteed money to try and chase a ring on a superteam in their prime. This is a one off situation that happened because a team drafted amazingly well, a massive salary cap spike let them add the 2nd best player in the league to that core and a devastating injury left 29 other teams too scared and unable to take a flier rehabbing another all-star.

Gonna be weird seeing Tony Parker in an NBA uniform that isn't the Spurs.

Props to SloMo, who is going to be making almost $10M a year somewhere next season(4-year, $37M offer sheet signed with Memphis). That definitely wasn't in his projection when he came out of college. I'm also going to laugh if Melo joins Golden State just to troll the league.

Based on rising salaries, I'm surprised it's that low. But getting drafted by SA probably was the best thing that could happen to him.

I have no idea why I find myself watching so many Summer League games, year after year.

Not that I have a plethora of fond Tyler Honeycutt memories from when he was in Westwood, but it is always so tragic when someone this young and talented ends up going out this way.

RIP

That's a pretty relevant and legitimate comment. It makes me want to trust you. Certainly, you have established yourself as a human with similar interests to those of us on this message board.

I just wish ben had given us something to click on, because I feel like I'm really clicking with him.

Yeah, that's great.

Don't agree with the previous comments.

:D

His candle blew out long before...
...his legend ever diiiiiiiiiid.

It makes more sense for the Bulls to match it then the Kings to have offered it with all their guards, but that's a lot of money for Zach LaVine. I really hope the Kings go for Jabari Parker next & stay away from Marcus Smart.

Most surprising UFA left out there is Wayne Ellington. I'm sure at 31 he wants a multiyear deal, but he'd be a great fit for the Lakers, 76ers, Rockets, or really any team who needs shooting.

It's a lot of money to pay for the memory of pre-injury LaVine.

Shouldn't the Kings throw a big offer at capella? Even if it's just a 2 + 1, you basically gotta force the rockets to pay the tax.

Quietly optimistic about Sexton.

I've been enjoying the young Suns team - esp Ayton. In just 25 minutes or so in the last two games, he's been putting up 17-20 points and 10+ boards. He's also been fairly active on defense in terms of switching and guarding perimeter guys. This with the abysmal post passes by guards/wings in the Summer League and most teams still double teaming him.