The 2011 NBA Offseason---Stern says no

[RainMaker]

Yahoo's reporters have been owning ESPN all night. They've been way ahead of the game and following them on Twitter is better than watching the draft on TV. ESPN is so behind that they are talking about needs for teams that traded a particular pick 20+ minutes ago.

[JPhillips]

D'Antoni needs to coach the Wizards. They're building the Loyola of the NBA.

[sovereignstar v2]

Wolves pick Parsons and trade him for more cash. Woohoo!

[Atocep]

I thought Honeycut would be a 1st rounder. I like the Leuer, Tyler, and Morris picks as well.

The draft lacks top end talent, but there seems to be a lot of potential value picks in the 2nd round.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Wolves pick Parsons and trade him for more cash. Woohoo!

Cash will be starting at center for the Wolves this year.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Wolves pick Parsons and trade him for more cash. Woohoo!

What a pathetic fucking franchise. Not that its as big of a deal anymore but do you remember when 4-5 years ago they needed some extra cash so they gave up Roy in a cash incentive deal?

Atleast we have been waiting 2 years for this Rubio guy that averages 5 points a game and shoots under 30 percent in Europe.

[mckerney]

I have purchased the draft rights from Malcolm Lee from the Wolves by agreeing to buy 2 lower level tickets to 4 home games next year. My pickup basketball team is going to be awesome this year.

[mckerney]

Thankfully terms of the agreement do not require me to attend the games, only buy the tickets.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I have purchased the draft rights from Malcolm Lee from the Wolves by agreeing to buy 2 lower level tickets to 4 home games next year. My pickup basketball team is going to be awesome this year.

Meh, you still need another 3-4 point guards.

[mckerney]

I attempted to buy the pick for 2 upper level tickets to 6 games. Needless to say, David Kahn is quite a shrewd negotiator.

[Groundhog]

Lakers manage to pick up two pretty good PG prospects in the 2nd round.

[bhlloy]

Although I knew it was going to be good, I don't think in my wildest dreams I could have predicted the hilarity that is the Timberwolves draft tonight. Kahn truly is a comic genius. Need players at every position except PG and PF? Draft a PF and then sell all your first round picks. Of course.

I think Jonny Flynn could be decent on Houston, that's a great pickup for them IMO. Their system seems to suit small, quick guards and to move up this year and get a guy who had lottery potential (and they will be patient enough to wait for), and only give up Brad Miller and a future first that is probably going to be trash... great result. Of course it helps when you are dealing with a fourth grader.

Keith Benson at 18 in the second round is a great pick for the Hawks. He's a guy who could be really valuable providing secondary scoring off the bench.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

LMAO - wait a second - did I just read that on the ticker?

Ron Artest applied to legally change his name to "Metta World Peace?"

HAHAHAHAAHAH - that's awesome

yes, yes you did read that right. This seems to have gone unnoticed and I find it to be more entertaining than anything about this draft

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Radii

yes, yes you did read that right. This seems to have gone unnoticed and I find it to be more entertaining than anything about this draft

Originally Posted by espn.com

The Lakers confirmed Artest's proposed name change. They have not yet determined whether the back of his jersey will say "Peace" or "World Peace" next season.

lol

[Groundhog]

Uh, the Lakers drafted Ater Majok? He's been playing in our pro league down here this past season since leaving UCONN. Lots of red flags re: his character (wore out his welcome at one of the better teams in the competition, despite them being desperate for a big), and let's just say he didn't look exactly NBA quality on the court either. I guess on the plus side, he isn't from Qatar.

[RainMaker]

David Kahn's first trade wasn't bad. He unloaded Flynn and got a future first rounder back just to move down 3 spots. But then he proceeded to move down and acquire enough cash to buyout Rambis. They should have taken Brooks or Hamilton at 23 and called it a night.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Lakers manage to pick up two pretty good PG prospects in the 2nd round.

plus the 2 dudes with coolest names (maybe 3, Goudelock has to be up there) in the draft. Chukwudiebere "Chu Chu" Maduabum has to be up there with Ruben Boumtje Boumtje

I couldn´t watch the draft afterall so i might be missing a few trades (reading up on the draft the next morning is a clusterfuck), but here are my thought :

- Screw you Minnesota. I thought all the initial picks were good actually, then they kept trading them away ... Did they keep Parsons btw ?

- Darryl Morey did the same thing Kahn did btw, no ? How many PFs do they have now, 12 ? I hate the Morris pick especially, nothing better than Hill or Patterson. Montiejunas at least is a different type of player.
Is Parsons now a Rockets pick or Wolves ?

- I love Andre Miller on the Nuggets, that just sounds like a splendid idea if he buys into it.
Also taking Faried as sort of a successor to K-Mart, nice. Could fit very well. Hamilton seems sort of redundant though.
EDIT : Hmm, considering Smith and Chandler are Free Agents he seems much less redundant, good pick up.

- Evans/Fredette might actually work. But when you add Cousins to the mix, uh oh ...

- Why in the world do the Heat take a ball-dominant PG who isn´t a good shooter ?

- Rudy on the Mavs ? I think that´s a good idea actually. If he works out anywhere than in the Mavs system and all they gave up is the 26th pick they would have used on a project to leave in Europe. Bye bye Butler ?

-Vesely to the Wizards as expected, very talented and fills a need if he can indeed play the 3. The Wizards need to run at every oportunity and should be fun to watch.
Great draft overall with Singleton and Mack, imo.
And aparently bonus points for Vesely producing the biggest signature moment from the draft kissing his GF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08rir...layer_embedded

- Biyombo might actually get plenty of PT early with the lack of big men on the roster (Przybilla and Diop ? Both also coming off major injuries)

- Kanter and Knight would have been better than Irvin/Thompson IMO

- I love the Pistons draft picks

- like that the Warriors picked a true 2 guard. Now just have to find a taker for Ellis.


Overall i think this was a draft that made a lot of sense for a lot of teams.

[Fidatelo]

I'm no Kahn apologist, but is it fair to put all the selling of picks on him? That feels like a directive from ownership to me. Even the dumbest GM doesn't trade bodies for cash unless they are being told they need to acquire cash.

[bronconick]

So, the Pistons drafted another combo guard and a small forward.

Tell me that means some combination of Stuckey/Rip/Prince are leaving?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

David Kahn's first trade wasn't bad. He unloaded Flynn and got a future first rounder back just to move down 3 spots. But then he proceeded to move down and acquire enough cash to buyout Rambis. They should have taken Brooks or Hamilton at 23 and called it a night.

You know you're talking about David Kahn when a good move is being able to get rid of the player he used the #6 pick on two years ago.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I'm no Kahn apologist, but is it fair to put all the selling of picks on him? That feels like a directive from ownership to me. Even the dumbest GM doesn't trade bodies for cash unless they are being told they need to acquire cash.

When the cash is being used to buyout Rambis you can put it on Kahn.

[MrBug708]

I think Lee will good for the Wolves

[Arles]

Originally Posted by korme

johnhollinger John Hollinger



Math test: What's better, converting 7th pick into John Salmons, or 15th pick into George Hill?

That's about as close to pure quackery on analysis as you can get by Hollinger. Actually, Sacramento converted Beno Udrih and #7 into John Salmons and #10. The money in salaries is about equal (salmons is signed for 1 more season) and they dropped 3 spots. Hardly trading #7 for Salmons.

[Swaggs]

I kind of wish the Jazz, if they were going for a wing player at #12, would have grabbed Singleton. The guy they got sounds like a shooting guard that is largely a slasher with an unreliable outside shot. I think Singleton, although not a scorer, could have largely filled the hole that losing Kirilenko is going to make. He seems like the type of guy that you can stick on the other team's best offensive 2-3-4 and feel good.

[MrBug708]

Not sure what to make of Donatas: he's 7 feet tall and just 222 pounds; he has a rep for not playing hard all the time; and he once explained the tattoo on his chest of an eagle clutching a basketball by saying, "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go."

Nice

[Gary Gorski]

Well as a Pistons fan I both love and hate last nights draft. I love the fact that Joe couldn't possibly blow the pick since the Cavs did it for him. I hate that fact that now he's going to get credit for drafting Knight and get a pass on the next 10 horrible moves he makes which include drafting Singler at 33. I mean really? Another SF? I don't see where he's going to play - he's too small to play 4 and too slow to guard most 3s and we've already got Jerebko who hustles his ass off and needs as many minutes as possible.

We came into the draft needing front court help in the worst way. I can't fault him for Knight because he was a) the best player available and b) we need a PG but Singler is a terrible pick IMO. Why not take Benson there? He is from here, developed very nicely at Oakland and just needs to acquire some strength to be a decent NBA center.

I don't understand how Joe keeps his job other than that the new owner seems like he is more of a fan of watching basketball as opposed to someone who actually understands it. I hope I'm wrong on Singler and yeah its only a waste of a 2nd round pick but why not at least try and get somebody at a position of need if you're not either taking a flier on someone with mega talent who was injured or stashing a really good Euro guy with that early 2nd rounder.

At least I can have the hope that they'll buy out Rip and let Prince walk. I'd let Stuckey walk too if he gets too big an offer sheet. I'm fine with a Knight/Gordon backcourt and Daye/Jerebko/Monroe to go with them. It's not a good team but at least with Knight, Jerebko and Monroe we've got something to start rebuilding with.

[whomario]

kahn apeared on simmons podcast today : http://c.espnradio.com/audio/649337/...-24-163637.mp3

kind of impressive, agree or disagree on his points, that he does that and explains his thinking process and the circumstances.

part 2 with the rest of the draft : http://c.espnradio.com/audio/649361/...-24-164701.mp3

[sovereignstar v2]

Word is that the 2nd round pick the T-wolves actually kept is 26 years old.

Wolves’ second-round pick lied about age, should have been ineligible - Ball Don't Lie - NBA*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

They have a great international scouting network though haha.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Word is that the 2nd round pick the T-wolves actually kept is 26 years old.

Wolves’ second-round pick lied about age, should have been ineligible - Ball Don't Lie - NBA*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

They have a great international scouting network though haha.

So they're at 1 player drafted whose age they didn't even bother to check, and 0 international prospects who actually done anything for them. Though they did find a top ten talent in Pekovic.

[stevew]

Howard for Bynum/Odom/1st round picks is supposedly close to being done according to random twitter sources.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by stevew

Howard for Bynum/Odom/1st round picks is supposedly close to being done according to random twitter sources.

No way - I'll believe it when I see it.

Crazy trade for the Magic to make - Bynum's got those balky knees, Odom is old...so you're giving up Howard for a couple first round picks??

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by mckerney

So they're at 1 player drafted whose age they didn't even bother to check, and 0 international prospects who actually done anything for them. Though they did find a top ten talent in Pekovic.

I just saw this. Kahn has to be trolling the NBA and the sportswriters of America right? Nobody can actually be that incompetent?

[stevew]

Kind of strange that David West turned down a 7.5M guarantee for next year, especially coming off of an ACL injury.

I wonder who will overpay for his age 31 and over seasons.....seriously can't see him getting much more than an average of 7.5m/season in his current state as a free agent.

Probably just will end up with the Hornets keeping him for 3/30 or so. But if not this is a strange decision.

[stevew]

The Ryan Russillo NBA Today podcast today is awesome if you are unsure about certain NBA CBA rules. Should be available in the ESPN podcenter or iTunes. Glad to see Larry Coon is getting some work.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by stevew

Kind of strange that David West turned down a 7.5M guarantee for next year, especially coming off of an ACL injury.

I wonder who will overpay for his age 31 and over seasons.....seriously can't see him getting much more than an average of 7.5m/season in his current state as a free agent.

Probably just will end up with the Hornets keeping him for 3/30 or so. But if not this is a strange decision.

Nah, I think he'll get big money. It's going to be a pretty depressed free agent market, especially with the new rules.

[mckerney]

I think Kahn has finally realized that he's not going to be able to land any established coach after the way he's been treating Kahn, the latest candidate to interview for the Timberwolves head coaching job is Quin Snyder.

[Noop]

So could we be seeing European games being broadcasted in America next season? If the owners are hell bent on a hard cap and a 33% cut in player salary next season will be gone.

[Logan]

Exclusive: How (And Why) An NBA Team Makes A $7 Million Profit Look Like A $28 Million Loss

[stevew]

Thank god.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded power forward J.J. Hickson to the Sacramento Kings for swingman Omri Casspi and Sacramento's protected first-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Word is that the 2nd round pick the T-wolves actually kept is 26 years old.

Wolves’ second-round pick lied about age, should have been ineligible - Ball Don't Lie - NBA*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

They have a great international scouting network though haha.

Why on NBA.com does it say the Mavs drafted this guy and then traded him to the Blazers? Who is wrong?

[SirFozzie]

This one is going to last a while. Just heard a bit on ESPN radio that the players get 57% of revenues, while the owners demand that for the entirety of a 10 year CBA, the players get 38%.

THat's a 33% paycut right there, for a decade.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by stevew

Thank god.

Yah. I fear - well, used to, not anymore - that Hickson is another Drew Gooden. I.e. a guy who, when you check the boxscores, looks like a solid PF capable of putting up a double-double night-in, night-out. Then you actually watch them play, and realise that they'll nearly give up a double-double each night too on bonehead plays alone.

I fully expect him to put up great numbers in Sacramento while the Kings take a season or two to realise they need to replace him if they want to win some ballgames.

As for Casspi, well, he took a big step backwards last season, but hopefully he can turn it around. I honestly have no strong feelings about him one way or the other, but he at the very least gives us a shooter on the wing.

[RainMaker]

I like the deal for Sacramento depending on the protection. Hickson isn't great, but I think he's a guy who can be a solid rebounder that can get you some easy buckets. Not a star or anything, but a solid rotation guy.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I like the deal for Sacramento depending on the protection. Hickson isn't great, but I think he's a guy who can be a solid rebounder that can get you some easy buckets. Not a star or anything, but a solid rotation guy.

The protection is pretty insane:

"The Cavaliers said the first-round pick they obtained is lottery protected in 2012 (Nos. 1-14). The pick is then protected in 2013 (1-13), 2014 (1-12) and 2015-2017 (1-10). If the pick is not conveyed by 2017, then Sacramento will convey its own 2017 second-round pick to the Cavaliers."

But again, the fact that talent-starved Cleveland wants to get rid of this guy tells you something. He's athletic, yes, and he rebounds (sometimes), but again, he more than makes up for these talents with his lack of fundamentals and overall effort.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

Thank god.

FWIW, that pick has huge protections on it. (i.e. it is basically not part of the trade).

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Why on NBA.com does it say the Mavs drafted this guy and then traded him to the Blazers? Who is wrong?

The pick was traded twice on draft night.

[stevew]

Protections are insane. Which is a hilarious hedge against JJ Hickson helping to get them in the playoffs. I can't wait to see him and Jimmer guard a pick and roll. Will be a lot of PG/PF hitting the 30 point mark vs. them this year.

[DaddyTorgo]

The whole idea of "protecting" draft picks seems stupid to me. I wish they'd just get rid of that whole thing.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

The whole idea of "protecting" draft picks seems stupid to me. I wish they'd just get rid of that whole thing.

What is stupid about it? It facilitates a freer market, with players going to the teams that value them most highly.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

The whole idea of "protecting" draft picks seems stupid to me. I wish they'd just get rid of that whole thing.

Same here, then the Timberwolves would have given the pick they used to get Randy Foye for Marko Jaric rather than a high lottery pick next year.