2015 NBA Offseason Thread

[nol]

Originally Posted by nol

I think if Mario Hezonja was available to have a 1-on-0 workout (instead he's playing in the Spanish league finals, where he had 18 off the bench in game 1) that focused on threes and dunks, he'd look even more impressive than Porzingis did.

Haha, and to speak of the devil, the latest DraftExpress mock draft has the Knicks taking Hezonja at 4. I don't usually watch the draft because people like Woj pretty much tweet it all in advance, but the crowd reaction and Hezonja's subsequent interview would make for must see TV.

[RainMaker]

I'm really hoping the Knicks do something crazy like draft Kaminsky at 4 because Phil thinks he's a better fit for the triangle.

Tomorrow night should be fun!

[Groundhog]

I'm a bit surprised at all the mock drafts that have Willie Cauley-Stein outside the top 10. Given his athleticism and defensive ability, all he is going to need to do on offense is finish at the basket off pick and rolls or lobs.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I'm a bit surprised at all the mock drafts that have Willie Cauley-Stein outside the top 10. Given his athleticism and defensive ability, all he is going to need to do on offense is finish at the basket off pick and rolls or lobs.

Me too. I figured at the 7-9 spots he's a solid pick. Won't be an All-Star but potential to be an All-NBA caliber player. I think he's perfect for today's NBA. Kind of a Tyson Chandler type player.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

I would suspect this mean Charlotte goes with Lyles @ 9.

I'm shocked as Rashad Vaughn is shooting up draft boards but heard lots of people say he was the best shooter at workouts.

I'm not shocked at all TBH. It's not a great draft class IMO (probably why Vaughn and Wood declared), and injury aside, he's got a varied skillset. Obviously he needs to develop more, as is typical with Rice's UNLV players (I'm more and more convinced he's a great recruiter who can't do shit outside of that).

I was hoping he'd last to 27 for the Lakers to take him, but that probably doesn't happen now.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I'm a bit surprised at all the mock drafts that have Willie Cauley-Stein outside the top 10. Given his athleticism and defensive ability, all he is going to need to do on offense is finish at the basket off pick and rolls or lobs.

Did a little more research and apparently he has some injury concerns.

Report: Willie Cauley-Stein's injury history 'giving teams pause' - CBSSports.com

[nol]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I'm not shocked at all TBH. It's not a great draft class IMO (probably why Vaughn and Wood declared), and injury aside, he's got a varied skillset. Obviously he needs to develop more, as is typical with Rice's UNLV players (I'm more and more convinced he's a great recruiter who can't do shit outside of that).

I was hoping he'd last to 27 for the Lakers to take him, but that probably doesn't happen now.

Yeah, without the whole sketchy "guardian/mentor gets a high-paying position at Findlay Prep and then player goes to UNLV" thing he probably would have gone to Iowa State, and who knows what he could have done under Fred Hoiberg?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Me too. I figured at the 7-9 spots he's a solid pick. Won't be an All-Star but potential to be an All-NBA caliber player. I think he's perfect for today's NBA. Kind of a Tyson Chandler type player.

I think he's probably one of the safest picks in the whole draft, because the things he does best are the type of things that translate to the pro game, and his ability to run the floor in transition and finish at the basket are more important than a back-to-the-basket game. You can easily get away with him as your starting C without affecting spacing as long as you have a PF that can shoot.

I'm lot less confident that Kaminsky's offensive game or that Turner or Lyles will be able to do any one thing as well as WCS does currently.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Did a little more research and apparently he has some injury concerns.

Report: Willie Cauley-Stein's injury history 'giving teams pause' - CBSSports.com

Ahhh.... that makes some sense.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Ahhh.... that makes some sense.

Also he's not a beast on the defensive boards. The appeal of players like Tyson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan is that their ability to be a target for lobs on the pick-and-roll gives them enough offensive game to not be a liability on that end, which allows them to stay in to take care of the boards and anchor the defense. As far as league-wide trends, I think this playoffs was less about small ball than it was about showing how defensive players who can't play offense can be exposed in the postseason just as easily as their defensively-challenged analogs traditionally have been. He seems to be a wild card mentally as well, but I think a lot of what's being said about him is an effort to get him to fall to the Pacers.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I'm not shocked at all TBH. It's not a great draft class IMO (probably why Vaughn and Wood declared), and injury aside, he's got a varied skillset. Obviously he needs to develop more, as is typical with Rice's UNLV players (I'm more and more convinced he's a great recruiter who can't do shit outside of that).

I was hoping he'd last to 27 for the Lakers to take him, but that probably doesn't happen now.

Wood won't go in the top 45 tonight. This kid doesn't even have a 2 cent brain. He trolls every interview during the season, trolled UNLV thinking he was coming back and supposedly has blown every NBA interview. He reminds me of Josh Smith in every aspect of his game but unfortunately he reminds me of Josh Smith when it comes to using his brain also.

As for Vaughn/Rice. It's become clear that Rice just can't coach. If he would just keep recruiting and bring in a asst. coach to run anything that resembled an offense, defense or a player rotation they could be good but Vaughn went down the same path as Bennett IMO. Tried hard for a while and figured out Rice is a joke. Unfortunately he had the knee tear so we didn't get to see that much of him here.

[whomario]

I was initially really excited that Batum was going to play with Anthony Davis, then i remembered the name switch of the two teams

Makes sense for Charlotte though. If they are committed to Kemba Walker, then getting a great passer like Batum is a good move. They also traded for Jeremy Lamb (for Luke Ridnour, see below)

David West opts out of his contract with the Pacers, thats a little more surprising than Love.


Also, Luke Ridnour (and his unguaranteed contract) has been traded 3 times in the last 24 hours.

[Izulde]

Yeah, Wood's stunt of saying he was staying, then declaring, really irritated me. I think Vaughn was also stuck in a situation where he was our only true primary scorer. Hopefully Rice is gone after this next season. Been damned frustrating having all that talent and him not able to do anything with it.

[nol]

Originally Posted by nol

To me, the Embiid news seems like a calculated move by the 76ers to give some credence to the idea they would draft someone like Okafor if he's there at 3, which would possibly make some teams contact them with a stronger trade offer.

Report: If Lakers take Russell at no. 2, Celtics prepared to make "Godfather offer" to Sixers for Okafor

Whether or not he's actually hurt, there are sure to be some offers out there. I'd trade no. 3 (assuming no Russell) for Smart and enough of the Nets' future first-rounders.

Aldridge is almost assuredly gone from Portland. San Antonio would have to cut some payroll to land him, and if Danny Green goes teams should definitely be prepared to offer him a good-sized contract.

[Brian Swartz]

And we're off! Minny takes Towns first, to the surprise of virtually nobody. I'm wondering what the next step is in Van Gundy's master plan to reshape the Pistons will be.

[murrayyyyy]

shits about to get interesting. I like the Lakers pick but the phones are going nuts in Philly.

[bulletsponge]

finaly something interesting happening in an NBA draft!

[heybrad]

Love the Lakers pick!

[Groundhog]

I really didn't think the Lakers would pass on Okafor. Wow, this is really interesting.

[murrayyyyy]

So he was 4 months old when Kobe was drafted?

[Groundhog]

Noel-Embiid-Okafor. Sixers stockpiling bigs in contrast to every other team in the league...........

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Noel-Embiid-Okafor. Sixers stockpiling bigs in contrast to every other team in the league...........

Okafor isnt injured, they will trade him

[EagleFan]

Trade looming large.

[murrayyyyy]

I can't imagine him staying...

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Noel-Embiid-Okafor. Sixers stockpiling bigs in contrast to every other team in the league...........

So the stretch 4 is...?

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Trade looming large.

Problem is what do they want? Better yet, who would want to go there?

[mckerney]

@WojYahooNBA
The Sixers plan to keep Okafor --- for good, sources tell Yahoo. He won't be auctioned in a trade.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by mckerney

@WojYahooNBA
The Sixers plan to keep Okafor --- for good, sources tell Yahoo. He won't be auctioned in a trade.

Maybe Noel is out. Send him to New Orleans... (one could hope couldn't he)

[Brian Swartz]

Maybe they don't have confidence Embiid ever does much.

[Eaglesfan27]

Wow. I really thought we were going to get Russell.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Problem is what do they want? Better yet, who would want to go there?

More picks... I think Hinkie's plan is to have a draft where every pick is his.

[Groundhog]

And thus seals Porzingis' fate as a draft bust.

[miami_fan]

Hoo boy

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

And thus seals Porzingis' fate as a draft bust.

Hello Darko my old freind....

[murrayyyyy]

I should turn Wojbomb off.

Cause the next 2 picks have me wondering if this is a nightmare tonight.

[Groundhog]

The Kings strategy of doing everything possible to piss Cousins off seems to be going remarkably well.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

The Kings strategy of doing everything possible to piss Cousins off seems to be going remarkably well.

Pick hasn't been announced yet but it has me wondering wtf the Kings are doing.

[murrayyyyy]

At this pace does Jordan cave in and take Winslow?

You would have to think the Nuggets and Pistons are trading down these picks if they can find a buyer.

[Groundhog]

Surely they are either picking WCS for someone else, have a trade worked out for Cousins, or are hoping that this is the final straw that leads to Cousins beating George Karl to death.

[miami_fan]

Whatever the next 4 teams can do to get Justice Winslow on the Heat, they have my approval.

[Groundhog]

From Twitter:

"Teams drafting franchise players &the Knicks are ordering appetizers at an Italian restaurant. "Yes we'll start with the Kristaps Porzingis"

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Whatever the next 4 teams can do to get Justice Winslow on the Heat, they have my approval.

Only team you have to worry about is Charlotte.

And supposedly they flipped to Frank the tank today.

[Groundhog]

I like Stanley Johnson, but surprised he went ahead of Winslow.

[Groundhog]

Now comes Charlotte's Kaminsky pick..................

[bhlloy]

The Kings are a train wreck. Who knows what they are really up to but there's no way that pick makes sense

[bhlloy]

DOLA - what is the point of watching this on TV when they are two picks behind?

[nol]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

DOLA - what is the point of watching this on TV when they are two picks behind?

As always, zero.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I like Stanley Johnson, but surprised he went ahead of Winslow.

Don't they owe a shit load to B-Jenn and R-Jackson now?

[mckerney]

Silver needs to give Goodell some pointers on pronounciating player names.

[Brian Swartz]

I would have much rather had Winslow. I continue to be unimpressed with the Van Gundy regime overall.