2015 NBA Offseason Thread

[whomario]

Originally Posted by stevew

Other move would be for the Mavs to find some Millsap sort of guy and give him a short deal, knowing once they suck they can flip him for expirings and a first or two at the deadline.

If the Mavs decide to make a move, it pretty much has to be via trade as there really isnt anybody left out there to sign. There ought to be a couple guys with 2 or 3 years left that some team would give up. Although with the Cap (and the Tax line) going up, even that is less likely as teams are much less desperate to get rid of "bad" contracts.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I love watching our team of gutsy, grit & grind underdogs but I would trade it all in a heartbeat for Saric, Noel, Okafor, Embiid and a top-5 pick next spring. It's embarrassing for the league and why the incentive structure needs to be changed, but the team that punted multiple seasons is in a better position going forward than the one trying.

I concur. I'm not sure what is being argued. The Sixers should try to be competitive and their max ceiling would be what, eighth seed? Ef that.

Another thing, they aren't trading any of their PF/C, none, repeat none unless they get a big haul back (not Smart, not mid 1st rounders). They'll happily develop them since they are young.

Saric may come over next year, he's been adamant about it. Embiid may be Greg Oden, he may not, but with Noel at PF and Okafor at C, the Sixers have a promising set. Whether they gel or not right away doesn't matter, this is a team that is going to develop its players.

Hinkie won't sign a player for the sake of signing a player (he said as much). He won't make a trade for the sake of making a trade (he said as much). This is a guy with a long view and he has the support of his owners and the majority of fans who delight in at least a vision.

Next season they could have some very delicious draft positions. They'll also have a ton of cap space. And while Philly may never oust desirable destinations they will have funds to throw around and be players and they'll still have a core that can be intriguing.

I love what the Sixers are doing.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

I concur. I'm not sure what is being argued. The Sixers should try to be competitive and their max ceiling would be what, eighth seed? Ef that.

Another thing, they aren't trading any of their PF/C, none, repeat none unless they get a big haul back (not Smart, not mid 1st rounders). They'll happily develop them since they are young.

Saric may come over next year, he's been adamant about it. Embiid may be Greg Oden, he may not, but with Noel at PF and Okafor at C, the Sixers have a promising set. Whether they gel or not right away doesn't matter, this is a team that is going to develop its players.

Hinkie won't sign a player for the sake of signing a player (he said as much). He won't make a trade for the sake of making a trade (he said as much). This is a guy with a long view and he has the support of his owners and the majority of fans who delight in at least a vision.

Next season they could have some very delicious draft positions. They'll also have a ton of cap space. And while Philly may never oust desirable destinations they will have funds to throw around and be players and they'll still have a core that can be intriguing.

I love what the Sixers are doing.

Noel, Embiid, and Okafor are Centers. You can't play them together.

I'm fine with getting the best available player but one or two of them is going to have to be moved at some point if they all start playing well.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

I concur. I'm not sure what is being argued. The Sixers should try to be competitive and their max ceiling would be what, eighth seed? Ef that.

Another thing, they aren't trading any of their PF/C, none, repeat none unless they get a big haul back (not Smart, not mid 1st rounders). They'll happily develop them since they are young.

Saric may come over next year, he's been adamant about it. Embiid may be Greg Oden, he may not, but with Noel at PF and Okafor at C, the Sixers have a promising set. Whether they gel or not right away doesn't matter, this is a team that is going to develop its players.

Hinkie won't sign a player for the sake of signing a player (he said as much). He won't make a trade for the sake of making a trade (he said as much). This is a guy with a long view and he has the support of his owners and the majority of fans who delight in at least a vision.

Next season they could have some very delicious draft positions. They'll also have a ton of cap space. And while Philly may never oust desirable destinations they will have funds to throw around and be players and they'll still have a core that can be intriguing.

I love what the Sixers are doing.

So why should or would other teams play their stars in Philly? Because worst case scenario is their stars get hurt. There goes the value of a season ticket package.

[Groundhog]

The Sixers spent a lot of time with Noel the last 2 years trying to get him to develop a midrange shot, with some success. If he can consistently knock down the jumper and bulk up a bit more, I don't see why he can't develop into an Ibaka-like 4 man next to Okafor in the low post. Embiid (when/if healthy) and Okafor is probably not going to work though.

[Young Drachma]

The best part of this story is how much people are ragging on Jordan and empathizing with the billionaire in all of this. It's telling.

That said, he's a jerk..but one thing I read on Twitter that I did agree with is "until you've been in this kind of situation, you can't really understand what it's like or make judgments."

I think people can judge all they want, but I think he did what he had to do and it was a smart move, at the end of the day for him. Even if he'd handled it better...it is what it is.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

The Sixers spent a lot of time with Noel the last 2 years trying to get him to develop a midrange shot, with some success. If he can consistently knock down the jumper and bulk up a bit more, I don't see why he can't develop into an Ibaka-like 4 man next to Okafor in the low post. Embiid (when/if healthy) and Okafor is probably not going to work though.

He shot 29% outside of 3 feet last season.

[nol]

There are 96 minutes per game at PF and C. If you divvy those up somewhat equally, that's 32 minutes per game, a number that would rank each player somewhere around the top 50 in MPG this past season. Obviously there's foul trouble, matchup issues against smaller teams, players not liking the status of being a non-starter even if they play just as much, etc., to contend with, but Noel played 30.8 MPG last year and I really doubt Embiid and Okafor would even be able to play that many minutes off the bat. Regardless of how the pieces fit together, those are minutes that are no longer going to someone like Henry Sims and Brandon Davies.

It's similar to how Phoenix had all those PGs this year that couldn't play together. There's obviously an issue in these situations with the whole being less than the sum of its parts, but at the same time that's the kind of problem only a competitive team can have: 20-win teams don't have multiple good players in general, let alone ones that play the same position.

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

That said, he's a jerk..but one thing I read on Twitter that I did agree with is "until you've been in this kind of situation, you can't really understand what it's like or make judgments."

You'd think that a country with a 50% divorce rate would be a little more understanding about having second thoughts when making a pretty important life decision.

[Groundhog]

Returning to LA was a smart move for him, but his image has taken a big hit, and he's basically assassinated another team's season - one of, if not the last we'll see from Dirk - without being man enough to tell the Mavs himself.

Now he just looks clueless - takes no real part in the negotiations of his contract and does whatever his agent tells him to do, and then backs out of that deal because the Clippers players come over and tell him to.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

He shot 29% outside of 3 feet last season.

Yeah, obviously it's a WIP. Like I said, it's something they've been working on continuously with him for the past 2 years, and he's not there yet. He might never be, but who knows... He's 21 years old and his intangibles on defense are already pretty solid, so he's one skill away from being a pretty valuable player.

[Groundhog]

Other thing worth mentioning is that Noel's ability to block shots and disrupt passing lanes make a good counter to Okafor's expected troubles on the defensive end. Obviously spacing is going to be a real issue on offense though if Noel doesn't develop a jumper and the Sixers don't have NBA-caliber backcourt players.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

He shot 29% outside of 3 feet last season.

Nerlens Noel 2014-15 Shooting | Basketball-Reference.com

Well 24.6% if you just count all his jumpshots.

How the hell is someone only 44% in layups? Does that just seem crazy low to anyone else? I thought the average for bigs was around 60-70%. I've been randomly typing in names trying to find someone that low and the closest I can think of is Hibbert.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Yeah, obviously it's a WIP. Like I said, it's something they've been working on continuously with him for the past 2 years, and he's not there yet. He might never be, but who knows... He's 21 years old and his intangibles on defense are already pretty solid, so he's one skill away from being a pretty valuable player.

Or 0 if you don't consider Ben Wallace to be ancient history

[Groundhog]

Ben Wallace had a real high motor and was a strong team defense guy too. Haven't seen that yet from Noel, but it's hard to really know until he plays with a "proper" NBA roster.

[murrayyyyy]

It's all good everyone, Dallas just traded for Zaza from the Bucks. Who needs DJ...

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Well 24.6% if you just count all his jumpshots.

How the hell is someone only 44% in layups? Does that just seem crazy low to anyone else? I thought the average for bigs was around 60-70%. I've been randomly typing in names trying to find someone that low and the closest I can think of is Hibbert.

I can't confess to having watched a lot of Sixers games last season, but I would imagine a large part of it is both how lousy the Sixers offense was - ie. a lot of contested/end of shot clock shots from inside - and his lack of bulk inside. It wouldn't take much contact to alter his shot.

[RainMaker]

I think Noel can be a good player, I just think it's going to be as a defender playing the 5. Someone who pairs perfectly with a stretch-4.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Ben Wallace had a real high motor and was a strong team defense guy too. Haven't seen that yet from Noel, but it's hard to really know until he plays with a "proper" NBA roster.

76ers defensive rating when Noel was on the court was 99, Golden State's was best in the league at 101. Regardless of whether he's motoring around to do it, that's pretty damn good defense for a 20 year old and at least indicates he's not jumping around to up his blocks and steals.

Anthony Davis was just 2nd team all defense at age 22 and Noel was considered an even better defensive prospect while at Kentucky.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by nol

76ers defensive rating when Noel was on the court was 99, Golden State's was best in the league at 101. Regardless of whether he's motoring around to do it, that's pretty damn good defense for a 20 year old and at least indicates he's not jumping around to up his blocks and steals.

Anthony Davis was just 2nd team all defense at age 22 and Noel was considered an even better defensive prospect while at Kentucky.

Noel's defensive Real Plus Minus was 8th among centers. I don't think that's too bad for a 20 year old rookie.

[RainMaker]

For as good as he was defensively, he was equally as bad offensively.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

Re: Emojigate: I think it´s been pretty established that i care very little about NBA teams in a "long time fan" sort of way, thus have not all that much attachement even to the Mavs other than that i loved to watch the play in the Carlisle/Nowitzki Era. So i am pretty sure i am not writing the following due to being "butt hurt"

The Clippers are making a stellar case for how not to act in the age of social media. What Rivers is spouting today, with no excuse of being "caught up in the moment", is pretty disgusting no matter how you slice it.
What really irks me is that he (like the players involved) apparently has no idea about the ramifications of all this and genuinely seems to find this to be a fun, little annecdote. Like that time Uncle Mikey put that ball of Snow under his nephews pillow or whatever. This is not just a game, it is a business with jobs on the line. And i´m not speaking about Carlisle or Dirk or the like...









Also: Broussard is such a clown, wow. "Multiple Sauces", indeed. I personally am sad that the line between "journalist" and "random guy spouting stuff" has forever been crossed in our time

I think the Clippers know all about the ramifications and they just don't care. As far as we know, they followed the rules to the letter. I am not sure why they should have to try and explain DJ's actions as a free agent.

Note to the Players Assn.: I am sure there are a few laughs going on in the offices of the NBAPA about this situation. I also don't think this has future ramifications for the Durants of the world moving forward. Just don't expect too much sympathy when it comes back around for the second and third tier free agents

[nol]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

For as good as he was defensively, he was equally as bad offensively.

Yep, and as a rookie that's pretty good because they all tend to be pretty bad efficiency-wise. Better than saying "For as average as Jabari Parker or Jordan Clarkson were offensively, they were much, much worse defensively" or "as average-to-below-average Andrew Wiggins was offensively, he was equally as average-to-below-average defensively."

[stevew]

Mavs looking to add the corpse of Deron Williams if he can get a buyout from Brooklyn.

Brooklyn really doesn't seem like they know what they're doing, as I bet they could have probably bought out Joe Johnson with some sort of an offset if they did it while FA money was out there.

[stevew]

Liked Wes Matthews at 4/57. Not so sure about 4/70 though.

[Arles]

Update on the Embiid health situation in Philly:
No decision yet on Embiid

The 76ers have yet to decide on Joel Embiid's playing status and are still acquiring information regarding the healing of his right foot. 'No change as of yet,' Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie said Thursday. 'A number of meetings are happening about that, even one today. But we have meetings almost every day about that. We don't have anything ready to announce.' The team announced last month that Embiid had a setback in his recuperation. The 2014 first-round draft pick from Kansas missed what would have been his rookie season after undergoing surgery last June to repair a stress fracture in the navicular bone of his right foot. It is unknown if Embiid, 21, will have to undergo another surgery, which could sideline him for part of next season. Nothing has been ruled out. A source said he doesn't believe Embiid will be available to play at the start of the NBA season. There's also a legitimate chance that the 7-foot center could miss the entire season.

I'm pretty sure no one wants to touch him with a 10-foot pole right now. We will have to see how the offseason plays out, but if he has another surgery - we are getting close to "Oden territory".

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

What are you talking about? Adding a Ty Lawson and Amir Johnson would have easily bumped them up near 30 wins.

They wouldn't have been able to add Johnson until this offseason, and adding Lawson would have had to be either at the deadline or this offseason as well. My point was just starting to collect assets that can play - instead of the salary corpses like McGee and Landry - gives Hinkie more options at making a deal down the road (and finding another starting piece). It seems like he tried to do that with the Sac move (Thompson and Stauskus), but he's left many similar trades on the board the past 3 seasons that could have accelerated this process.

Look at the Celtics roster from the spring - a rotation of Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Brandon Bass, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller and Jonas Jerebko finished the season on a 24-12 run and made the playoffs.

I like what Boston has done. They've taken chances on cheap, low risk FA guys with potential like Turner and Amir Johnson. That's the right way to do this. You then add similar upside guys via trade like Thomas, Zeller, Crowder and Jerebko. Now, you've taken a lot of pressure off your draft picks and you can miss on a few and still be on track to contending. They still have a ton of assets, but they've been a very watchable team with a future people can see.

(Meanwhile Phoenix was going 11-23 after trading a sweet pick for a RFA they could've just S&T'd this summer

Phoenix shut everyone down after the Dragic trade and few guys were hurt. Len played half of those 34 games, Knight played one of their last 17 and Green was iced out for the young guys. In the last 20 games, 1st rounders like Archie Goodwin (22 MPG after averaging 6 earlier) and TJ Warren (20 MPG after ave 9 earlier) got a lot of run and showed promise. It was a smart move as the team wasn't catching New Orleans or OKC without Knight and Len. Plus, their "mini-tank" got them the exact player they needed in this draft - Devin Booker.

They did give up the Lakers pick for Knight, but I don't have an issue with that. The team still have 5 firsts over the next 3 (and an unprotected Miami one after that). Knight is a great compliment to Bledsoe and it's hard to get guys like that (23 years old, can play both guard spots and had an all-star season). Chances are the Bucks would have moved Knight to a place other than Phoenix (Sac?, Tor?, Den?...) had the Suns not traded for him. So, it's doubtful they would have been able to sign him in RFA had they not gotten his rights and worked on the team's vision with him over the past 4-5 months (esp with Bledsoe already here).

but keep telling yourself LMA took that meeting with Phoenix because it's a better FA destination for "basketball" reasons.)

I'm not sure what you are getting at here, but according to multiple sources like Woj, Windhorst, Shelburne and others, LMA was all ready to commit to SA before the Suns came in. Then, he took a step back and seriously considered the Suns (more than LA, Houston, Dallas, Miami, NY ...). In the end, SA was the best possible spot for him but I think the Suns being a more attractive option to him than the Lakers, Heat and others is a positive for Phoenix. Plus, there was always the chance that the Bucks kept Knight, had a nice postseason run and didn't want to lose him in RFA (and matched).

I love watching our team of gutsy, grit & grind underdogs but I would trade it all in a heartbeat for Saric, Noel, Okafor, Embiid and a top-5 pick next spring. It's embarrassing for the league and why the incentive structure needs to be changed, but the team that punted multiple seasons is in a better position going forward than the one trying.

Just trade off Smart, Crowder, Thomas, Bradley and Olynyk for picks, stink the next 3 seasons and you can be Philly. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

The Celtics have been "bad" for one season (and then made the playoffs). In order to be Philly, you need to stink for 3 straight. Plus, I'm not so sure that, in two years, Philly is going to be in a more enviable position. Boston just started their rebuild and already have positioned themselves nicely. There's a chance they can convince a bigtime FA to go there and maybe trade for a Lillard/Cousins. Philly's only shot at being relevant is hitting big on about 75% of their 1st round picks. The odds are with Boston's plan...

[cartman]

[whomario]

Lots of interesting international players coming over this year. Tavares and Bjelica i already mentioned. Now German NT Center Tibor Pleiß signing with the Jazz and also Boban Marjanovic with the Spurs in a very Spurs move.

Pleiß is tough to judge. Always a bit soft with the NT and has some glaring weaknesses (foot work, reaching on defense, too timid on offense) but is also going to really benefit from the different spacing in the NBA on offense.

Marjanovic is even harder to project. He is a literal giant (Stands a solid 7´4 and near 300 pounds) who is not graceful or all that mobile (but heck, who is at that size). You are going to be creative to find a role. Then again, its the Spurs. They know a thing or two about that sort of thing And he has arguably been the most impressive true Center in Europe recently and has real Basketball Smarts on both ends, very alert player who sets good screens.
Has been on the radar forever, i remember following his progress at the youth level next to Milan Mavcan, and has developed very well the last 2 seasons. Has not had much injury concerns despite his massive proportions and has really embraced his physical traits the last few seasons. Averaged 17/11 in the Euroleague in 27 MPG, which are massive numbers for Europe. Shot 62% from the field and near 80% from the FT line on a healthy number of attempts.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by cartman

Nice!

[molson]

Originally Posted by Arles

The Celtics have been "bad" for one season (and then made the playoffs). In order to be Philly, you need to stink for 3 straight. Plus, I'm not so sure that, in two years, Philly is going to be in a more enviable position. Boston just started their rebuild and already have positioned themselves nicely. There's a chance they can convince a bigtime FA to go there and maybe trade for a Lillard/Cousins. Philly's only shot at being relevant is hitting big on about 75% of their 1st round picks. The odds are with Boston's plan...

I really hope you're right. It's no fun to follow a league or root for a team when its better to be the worst team than it is to make it to the playoffs. Where some of the fanbase wants the team to win and some of them want the team to lose, and you're not sure if you're supposed to feel good or bad after a win or a loss.

[heybrad]

I'm watching the Lakers-TWolves summer league game. It's only one quarter but Karl Anthony Towns looks like the real deal. D'Angelo Russell looks good. Julius Randle looks quick coming off the broken leg but can't yet finish.

[nol]

Some of those passes Towns made are going to be even more amazing when it's Andrew Wiggins cutting through the lane.

[Groundhog]

Yeah, the passes were impressive, and his one handed hook looks unorthodox but seems to drop for him.

Russell looked OK for the Lakers - did a little bit of everything.

[RainMaker]

So Boston owns the Nets 1st round pick next year unprotected? That could be really good.

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So Boston owns the Nets 1st round pick next year unprotected? That could be really good.

And Dallas' top 7 protected first, which could certainly be late lottery now.

[JPhillips]

According to the Philly Inquirer, Embiid is likely out for the season.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

According to the Philly Inquirer, Embiid is likely out for the season.

He's probably never going to play. This injury sucks for someone that big.

[nol]

Originally Posted by stevew

He's probably never going to play. This injury sucks for someone that big.

Didn't Zydrunas Illgauskas have the same injury? Even from the worst scenarios, it seems like an injury that doesn't hurt at this particular point in time but after a couple seasons of playing on it without it fully healing reaches "you can't walk" status.

Either way, not as dumb for the Sixers to draft Okafor.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by stevew

He's probably never going to play. This injury sucks for someone that big.

Sounds like chances are getting slimmer and slimmer. Heard one orthopedic doc on the radio that says sometimes this bone just never heals. Has poor blood supply and it just stops healing on its own.

Even if he comes back from it, that's 2 years without playing. And we're talking about a guy who's last real basketball was 28 games of college.

Really sucks for him, he seemed like he could be special.

[stevew]

Best case scenario is obviously Z. But he also missed nearly 3 full seasons and was pretty much on his last chance. If he didn't recover from the injury I'm nearly certain he would have hung it up, or at least remember reading something to that effect.

Also are we 100% sure that Basketball is a priority for Embiid? Given that he's probably going to earn 20million or so from the Sixers for his first 3 years, I'm just wondering if he's going to be super motivated to fight thru all of this.

[RainMaker]

Word is he has a poor work ethic so who knows how it will pan out.

[whomario]

Yao also had essentially the same injury

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Word is he has a poor work ethic so who knows how it will pan out.

There have been just as many reports praising his work ethic and most stuff about that supposed bad work ethic sounded like small fries considering the dudes situation and the fact that he seems naturally light-hearted/positive about stuff (which has a history of leading people to assmume its "bad work ethic" in a "oh noes, why is he doing different stuff and joking around instead of slaving in the gym for 14 hours instead of 10 ???).

Plus, whenever there is video of him in workouts on the court or pictures, he looks like he is in absolutely tremendous shape.

Not that i would blame him to give it up, mind you. Been there, albeit without the monetary incentive either way of course

[nol]

Originally Posted by whomario

Yao also had essentially the same injury



There have been just as many reports praising his work ethic and most stuff about that supposed bad work ethic sounded like small fries considering the dudes situation and the fact that he seems naturally light-hearted/positive about stuff (which has a history of leading people to assmume its "bad work ethic" in a "oh noes, why is he doing different stuff and joking around instead of slaving in the gym for 14 hours instead of 10 ???).

Plus, whenever there is video of him in workouts on the court or pictures, he looks like he is in absolutely tremendous shape.

Not that i would blame him to give it up, mind you. Been there, albeit without the monetary incentive either way of course

I was at the summer league game yesterday and he was definitely not moping around or anything on the bench. I would say the biggest complicating factor in the recovery is that he's gotten taller by an inch or so since he was drafted. Also this is the exact type of injury where spending extra time in the gym is not going to help with recovery.

My mini-reports on the top picks I got to see:

Towns is probably already one of the 5-10 best passing big guys in the league. He would have had about 8 assists in the first game vs. the Lakers if his targets hadn't missed some easy looks. Other than that it was kind of a weird environment for him offensively. He's going to be more of a pick-and-pop threat (one underrated thing I saw was that he makes solid contact on a screen a pretty good percentage of the time) than a post-up player off the bat, but the Wolves went to straight post-ups much more frequently than they looked to involve him in PnR. To compound that, the Lakers and Bulls both sent hard double or triple teams at him right when he caught the ball (bizarrely the Lakers didn't do this for Okafor the following day) so he had some easier passing lanes while teams probably should have waited to see whether he could consistently beat them by posting up. He, as well as Okafor, fall victim to the classic rookie big man adjustment of not really working that hard to get post position because they feel like they can back their guy down from wherever they catch it; Okafor is stronger so he actually can back someone down from 18 feet out in the summer league.

Russell did not look that great at penetrating and seemed to be deferring to Clarkson in that regard. He is definitely in that class of passers who see the game differently, which made for some great moments but also hurt him at times because he's playing with people who don't necessarily have the awareness to know they're open. He will need to work on making some decisive first-step moves to get by people immediately because he can handle the ball as well as anyone but just didn't choose to go anywhere with it very often. Didn't look too great at finishing but I can see him being in the Rookie of the Year conversation because he'll put up some nice points and assists averages.

Okafor had probably the best defensive game I've seen from him in terms of moving out onto guards and staying with them; he won't be a stopper from day 1 but he did not look to be someone who would always be a weak link defensively as some of his more negative projections indicated. The Sixers lost to the Lakers in the game I saw but I'd bet Okafor's plus-minus was around +10 or so. The post moves looked good as usual and he was doing them against Robert Upshaw, who should theoretically have been pretty good competition at the summer league level.

Porzingis had a very solid defensive game. On offense I think he made two field goals and got the rest of his points off of free throws. He didn't really do too much to change what I thought one way or another; he will definitely need a period of acclimating to actual NBA competition (would not count on him being an effective three-point shooter this season) and even in his prime I don't think he'll be creating shots for himself as much as he'll be capable of making a passable amount of contested shots.

[stevew]

Thunder match max offer for Kanter. I guess they can always move him if they don't want to hit repeater tax. He's a solid guy though, they really got him for not much via trade. He might have gone #1 in his draft if he was able to play college basketball.

[RainMaker]

I'm really not a fan of Kanter at all. Has to be one of the worst defensive players in the league.

I'm starting to think Doug McDermott might suck.

[Groundhog]

I'm happy to see Scotty Wilbekin do well for the Sixers. I watched him play in the Australian NBL last season for the runner's up - real crafty floor general who plays older than his years, and has three point range. He re-signed down here for next season with an NBA-out clause, and it looks possible that he'll take advantage of that clause.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm really not a fan of Kanter at all. Has to be one of the worst defensive players in the league.

As I said in the regular season thread, I can't remember the last time a traded player's ex-teammates were so vocally critical of that player. Combined with the poor/non-existent defense, I really feel like Portland just laid down the offer sheet to screw Oklahoma City, and it worked.

[RainMaker]

Bledsoe blow-by of Kanter - YouTube

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by nol

Towns is probably already one of the 5-10 best passing big guys in the league. He would have had about 8 assists in the first game vs. the Lakers if his targets hadn't missed some easy looks. Other than that it was kind of a weird environment for him offensively. He's going to be more of a pick-and-pop threat (one underrated thing I saw was that he makes solid contact on a screen a pretty good percentage of the time) than a post-up player off the bat, but the Wolves went to straight post-ups much more frequently than they looked to involve him in PnR. To compound that, the Lakers and Bulls both sent hard double or triple teams at him right when he caught the ball (bizarrely the Lakers didn't do this for Okafor the following day) so he had some easier passing lanes while teams probably should have waited to see whether he could consistently beat them by posting up. He, as well as Okafor, fall victim to the classic rookie big man adjustment of not really working that hard to get post position because they feel like they can back their guy down from wherever they catch it;

From the Bulls game, putting Portis on Towns was the difference in that game. The big for the Wolves couldn't keep up with him in transition and then pulled them out hitting 3-4 from three. Plus it had to help that they've played each other a few times in college.

Summer League highlights for Portis from the game


Bobby Portis Full SL Highlights 2015.07.11 vs Timberwolves - 23 Pts in His NBA Debut! - YouTube

[BishopMVP]

Completely premature projections based off summer league - Rozier, Hunter, and Mickey all look like they'll get some minutes in Boston this year, mixed in with a D-league stint or two. Marcus Smart does look more explosive with healthy ankles. Still not sure if he can develop into a top-2 player, but more faith now than I had later last season. Shot's still a work in progress, but at least he's attacking the rim a lot more. James Young is trash, and even though he's young that just means if be does eventually develop it'll be after his rookie contract is up. Jonathan Holmes and maybe CJ Fair look like fringe NBA players, although they don't fit on our roster.

[murrayyyyy]

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