(Champion) 'Shipping Up To Boston'

[jeremym480]

Five Things to Watch For - January Edition

Happy New Year. Here's five this to watch for as we head into 2017.

1) League Parity
In the December version of "Five Things to Watch For" (Post #56) I wrote about how there were so many teams around .500. Well, a month later teams are starting to separate themselves a little better (some for the better, some for the worst).

Last month there were thirteen teams within two games of .500. Now there's only 10. Some of the top teams in each conference are really starting to separate themselves from the pack, while the bottom teams are really starting to fall behind. When there's so many teams so close together, then every game counts and a good/bad couple of weeks can really make you or break you. These mid-level teams really have to stay focused as we get closer to the half way point of the season.

2) Disappointing Eastern Conference Teams
Last year four teams battled for the 3rd playoff spot and ended up in a four way tie. Each of those teams struggled out of the gate and that trend continued in December.

The Heat, Hornets and Hawks were tied for the 8th playoff spot heading into December and they all had terrible months and now they're in 12th, 13th and 14th places and 4.5-5 games out of the 8th spot. The Hornets fired their coach at the end of the month. Expect more staff and player changes if these teams don't turn it around fast.

Boston started November one game under .500 and ended right at .500, so they're still a very average team. They did move up one spot in the East, but need to be more consistent if they want to be a factor in the East.

3) Surprising Teams
Detroit and Orlando were in 1st and 3rd place at the beginning of December. Detroit had another big month, going 10-4, and are still leading Cleveland by a game. Orlando was not so lucky. They went 4-10, losing 7 in a row in mid-December. They're losing streak coincided with the loss of both of their centers. Vucevic is out 2-4 months with a torn meniscus and Biyombo is out 6-8 weeks with a torn right bicep. They've moved Ibaka to center and Gordon back to PF for now, but they look for them to be players in the trade market if their skid continues.

4) The Big Three
Cleveland, San Antonio and Golden State are all still trucking along at 1st, 2nd and 2nd in the respective conferences. As I talked about in Part 2 Detroit is currently leading the East. Them and the Big Three have all surpassed 20 wins along with Portland (21), Houston (20) and Indiana (20).

5) Buyers/Sellers
As of now there hasn't been a single trade this NBA Season, however as we near the midway point of the season expect that to change. Bad teams will soon start jockeying for draft lottery position while good teams will look to add pieces to improve. Last month I said to keep an eye on the Kings and I'll say to continue to keep an eye on them. They say that they have no plans to move Boogie, but they're tied for last in the West and a trade wouldn't surprise anyone at this point. Rudy game is out for the next 4-6 weeks, but expect him to be dealt by the deadline, as well.

Here's other names rumored to be on the trade block:

76ers - Nerlens Noel
Bucks - Greg Monroe
Hawks - Paul Millsap & Kyle Korver
Heat - Chris Bosh & Goran Dragic
Hornets - Cody Zeller
Knicks - Brandon Jennings
Nets - Brook Lopez
Nuggets - Kenneth Faried
T'Wolves - Ricky Rubio

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

*headdesk* Hornets. Jordan gonna Jordan ... Clifford is a damned good coach IRL, I hope he lands on his feet with a good team somewhere. Surprised the Pelicans re-signed both Holiday and Evans, I was sure one (if not both) would be gone at the end of the season; gonna be tough advancing in the West with those guys around the Brow.

I let the CPU handle in-season free agents. I like a little bit of randomness, you know? I wouldn't have signed Tyreke if I were them, especially for that contract. I can understand Jrue's signing because I don't think they can find a PG as good as a healthy Jrue... although, a healthy Jrue isn't something that they can expect all of the time, but at 2 yr/26.29M Deal, he's worth the risk, in my opinion.

I want the Pel's to compete and I feel like they need to bring in another big. A Noel or Lopez would be nice beside AD. However, with all of the big contracts on their roster I'm hesitant to package one of them with their 1st Rounder. Especially since the two guys I mentioned could be gone either next off-season (Noel) or in two years (Brook).

I do have one question... I know the NBA has a lot of sign and trades, but can you think of an example of a player (or players) who were extended, then traded in the same season? or is that an uncommon practice?

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremym480

I let the CPU handle in-season free agents. I like a little bit of randomness, you know? I wouldn't have signed Tyreke if I were them, especially for that contract. I can understand Jrue's signing because I don't think they can find a PG as good as a healthy Jrue... although, a healthy Jrue isn't something that they can expect all of the time, but at 2 yr/26.29M Deal, he's worth the risk, in my opinion. I want the Pel's to compete and I feel like they need to bring in another big. A Noel or Lopez would be nice beside AD. However, with all of the big contracts on their roster I'm hesitant to package one of them with their 1st Rounder. Especially since the two guys I mentioned could be gone either next off-season (Noel) or in two years (Brook). I do have one question... I know the NBA has a lot of sign and trades, but can you think of an example of a player (or players) who were extended, then traded in the same season? or is that an uncommon practice?

It used to be much more common. The current CBA makes sign and trades like that a bit more difficult than it used to be; basically with an extended contract the player in question is getting a longer, better contract from his current team and then being traded to a new one. A semi-relevant example of this was what happened with Delly and the Cavs this offseason.

Quote:

The Milwaukee Bucks have officially acquired guard Matthew Dellavedova in a sign-and-trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bucks and Cavaliers both issued press releases confirming the deal on Thursday. Originally, Dellavedova agreed to a four-year, $38.5 million deal with Milwaukee. Rather than him signing an offer sheet, though, the two teams agreed to a sign-and-trade that will give Cleveland a $4.8 million trade exception. The Cavs also acquired the rights to forward Albert Miralles, who will all but certainly never play in the NBA.

Delly wasn't exactly extended, but he was signed to a new deal by the Cavs then traded; essentially, that's what an extension+ a trade would amount to. During the old CBA, the one in effect between 1998-2011, the sign and trade rules were a bit more relaxed. This led contending squads (like the 2000s Lakers, the 2005-08 Heat, etc) to trading players rather easily for either cap space/a better player/ or some combination thereof.

The only instances of this happening recently in the extend and trade scenario was under the old CBA and early in the new one. I use this site to refresh my memory on all the NBA salary cap stuff:

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q94

The relevant answer here:

Quote:

Extend-and-trade transactions are rare. To date they have only been used for Kevin Garnett (traded from Minnesota to Boston in 2007) and Carmelo Anthony (traded from Denver to New York in 2011). A rookie scale contract (see question number 49) can be extended and traded in an extend-and-trade transaction, although there is no benefit to doing so. A rookie scale extension can be signed immediately after the player is traded (such as with James Harden's trade to the Rockets in 2012), and a rookie scale extension (see question number 60) can be much larger than the extension allowed through an extend-and-trade.

So, basically, that's it. All that said ... we're due for a new CBA soon and in my imaginary world, the new CBA makes sign and trades easy again, which makes them more common.

I tend to do only 1 a year, max (I did it this year for DeMarcus Cousins to LA in my dynasty), but I feel that's about as much as it should be done, even under the "new" rules I'm employing. In the end, it comes down to how you want to do it -- it's not like the financial rules in the game are completely correct anyway.

[jeremym480]

Hood Missed Game Winner Giving Boston Narrow Victory






Boston Blows Out Philly As Top Rookies Faceoff






IT4, Crowder Lead Boston to Their Fourth Straight Win

Boston is now 20-17, 5th in the East.

[jeremym480]

Breaking News

We have our first trade of the season:




Noel - 23 MPG l 8.0 PPG l 7.0 RPG l .9 BPG l .399 FG%

The New Orleans Pelicans drafted Nerlens on draft night in the 2013 Draft, but immediately traded him for Jrue Holiday and a protected 2014 1st. It was a move that drew a lot of criticism from the New Orleans faithful over the years, and their ownership is now looking to correct that mistake. It comes at a gamble though since Noel is in the final year of his rookie deal and has stated the he wants to test the free market in the offseason.

NOLA is hoping that a few months in the Big Easy as well as playing for a winning team (currently 22-17 and 5th in the West) will sell Nerlens on staying. Giving up a first for a potential rental was not an easy choice, but to have their own version of the twin towers (Kentucky Edition) was just too much for the Pel's to pass up. Hopefully, it doesn't come back to bite them in the rear.



McConnell - 21.8 MPG l 8.1 PPG l 3.0 RPG l 4.1 APG l 1.3 SPG l .443 FG% l .402 3P%

At 16-22 and 11th out West Phoenix has decided to throw in the towel this season. Their first course of action was dumping Knight because he was the odd man out between Bledsoe and Booker. The key get for them is the first rounder, however T.J. McConnell could be an interesting pickup for them as he's been playing pretty well in Philly and the former Arizona Wildcat will look to continue that success in Phoenix.


Knight - 28.6 MPG l 18.8 PPG l 2.8 RPG l 6.5 APG l 1.6 SPG l .419 FG% .339 3P%
Ajinca - 16.1 MPG l 3.4 ppg l 4.9 RPG l .6 BPG l .476 FG%

Philly may not have gotten equal value for Noel. However, Noel wasn't happy there and had plans to enter free agency next summer. The league knew that, so they had no leverage. With that being the case getting a solid scoring guard who is young and on a team friendly contract along a capable backup center as an insurance policy is a good get for them. They are currently 17-19 and in 8th place in the East, so it will be interesting to see if this move pays off and gets them into the playoffs for the first time since the 11-12 season.

Other News Around the League

Portland's Damian Lillard broke his left leg in mid-December and is out until at least March. In the meantime, they have decided to bring back 40 year old Andre Miller (1 yr, 980k) who played for Portland in the 09-10 and 10-11 seasons. In order to sign Miller Portland waived SF Luis Montero who had appeared in twelve games averaging 3.5 MPG, 1.2 PPG on 263 FG% and .111 3P%.

The Toronto Raptors have re-signed Patrick Patterson to a 2yr/12.10M deal.

[jeremym480]

Celtics Outlast the Raptors Thanks to Bradley's 23 Point, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assist and 3 Steals





Boston's Big's Dominate The Wizards, Winning Streak Extended to Six Games

[jeremym480]

Breaking News

Hornacek Fired Admist Ten Game Losing Streak



New York had high expectation heading into the season. Their Superstar, Carmelo Anthony, was healthy, their rookie from a season ago, Porzingis, was primed for his Sophomore campaign and they surrounded those two with a plethora of vets to suite their skills. Unfortunately, the team never came together and at 11-29 and with the worst record in the league Phil Jackson was forced to make a change... and Jeff was the sacrificial lamb.

David Blatt Hired To Turn Things Around


David Blatt was famously fired while his teams was the top seed last season and he's now going for first to worst. He's looking to bring a team together that hasn't jelled all season. And to make matters worse it's a team who's superstar is now out 4-6 weeks with a broken right ankle. A team who should probably blow it up, but if they do how will said superstar react. Luckily Blatt has experience working with Prima Donna superstars, so at least he knows what he's getting into this time.


Other News



Chris Paul tore his left achilles and is done for the year. In his twelfth year in the league Paul was averaging 33.2 MPG, 16.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 9.1 APG and 3 SPG. His team had a record of 21-19 and are battling for a playoff spot. Without Paul Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton will take over PG duties. Although, a trade could be a possibility. With both Chris and Blake Griffin with player options management will want to show that they're willing to do whatever it takes to win. Stay tuned.

[jeremym480]

Breaking News


The Following Players have extended their contracts

Lebron James - 2 YR/68.75M (Player Option)
Russell Westbrook - 2 YR 59.25 (Player Option)
Giannis Antetokounmpo - 4 YR/100M
C.J. McCollum - 4 YR/106.75M

*these were manual extensions based on real life contracts