2014 Off-Season Thread

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Wade though.. dude is deteriorating quick.. he was solid last year but going forward.. They do need to upgrade even for the east or else LeBron gonna wear down by All Star break.. they depended on him too much and still do

Oh I agree with you 100%, I just don't think it has to be a home run with one of these borderline All-Stars.


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[iLLosophy]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

So who's gonna be OKC's defensive stopper now with Thabo gone? Are they going to roll with a Westbrook/Jackson starting lineup?

[cabra1]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

So who's gonna be OKC's defensive stopper now with Thabo gone? Are they going to roll with a Westbrook/Jackson starting lineup?

Time for Lamb to do something maybe? I haven't seen him play too much, but I hear he's a good defender.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Sorry the Heat do need to do something. Lets not forget that 2013 Finals Danny Green makes 1 FT and you wouldn't be this confident. I don't think something drastic like Gasol but re-signing the same guys after they got blown out in every lost would be insane.

Even then though they made the finals. That's all you can ask for, make it out of your conference with a chance to win. San Antonio, in my opinion, is just the perfectly built team with the right coach to beat them. But I don't think you can look at your team as "what can we do to beat the Spurs" because it's not a guarantee they will meet them in every finals.

They need guys who fit their system, not who can fit an anti-Spurs system. And I think they have that.

Obviously they can get better and retool, but it doesn't have to be Lowry, Gortat, Deng. It would be nice, but they aren't hurting so bad that they need someone of that caliber to get back where they have been the past 4 years.


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[MattUM]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Perry Jones really impressed me as a defender.

He can guard the opposition's best wing while Westbrook guards their best guard.

[Rawdeal28]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Even then though they made the finals. That's all you can ask for, make it out of your conference with a chance to win. San Antonio, in my opinion, is just the perfectly built team with the right coach to beat them. But I don't think you can look at your team as "what can we do to beat the Spurs" because it's not a guarantee they will meet them in every finals.

They need guys who fit their system, not who can fit an anti-Spurs system. And I think they have that.

Obviously they can get better and retool, but it doesn't have to be Lowry, Gortat, Deng. It would be nice, but they aren't hurting so bad that they need someone of that caliber to get back where they have been the past 4 years.


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i agree with you. especially since the Spurs have never won back to back Championships with the core they have.

[Rawdeal28]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lakers have moved into serious contention on Carmelo Anthony, multiple sources tell Yahoo. &quot;In the game now,&quot; one source close to Melo says.</p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/485566305228308480">July 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>As one source in process says of Lakers bid, &quot;They can promise max money without any (roster) moves needing to be made.&quot; 4 years, $97M.</p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/485566863326593025">July 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
******** async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

lol trying to get our hopes up. shame on them

[King_B_Mack]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Don't be an idiot Carmelo.

You think Deng might've overplayed his card a little bit in regards to FA this offseason?

I understand why he's trying to get as much as he can with his recent injury history over the last few years but if all he's going to get/want is $2 Mil more than what Chicago offered him, then he would've been better off taking what ya'll offered him.

Yeah he definitely overplayed his hand as far as that goes. I get why he wants the money he does and I'm glad he did what he did since it put us in the position to realistically go after Carmelo. However if he get's stuck having to take less than what we offered or the same amount, he's going to kick himself for basically running himself off a team and out of a city that he wanted to be in.

EDIT: No worries Laker fans. You can keep your hopes down.

Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA 19m
Bill Simmons first reported Lakers made a strong move into Anthony race.

[StankonYa]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Lakers have moved into serious contention on Carmelo Anthony, multiple sources tell Yahoo. "In the game now," one source close to Melo says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 5, 2014

******** async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">

As one source in process says of Lakers bid, "They can promise max money without any (roster) moves needing to be made." 4 years, $97M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 5, 2014

******** async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">

lol trying to get our hopes up. shame on them

I don't think Melo is the answer, nor should he play for L.A.. A year from now yes...but what do I know....

We do need someone to take over the team when Kobe leaves...and that's one of two things I know to be true, the other being ..there are players out there willing to be that man. I just wish I knew who that man is.

[Rawdeal28]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

i have already assumed he is not coming so if by some miracle he does choose us then hey ill take it lol.

its clear as day that Chicago is the perfect fit for him outside of staying with the Knicks. i would rather get Love instead though.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

I guess if there's any truth to the reports this makes sense. -shrugs-

K.C. Johnson @KCJHoop · 9m
Ways to read Lakers' contention for Melo from Bulls' view: Bad there's more competition. Good he's still mulling. Best if leverage for S&T.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Eh, the Bulls know that Dallas and Houston would also give him huge money. I don't think the Lakers being involved adds much more drama... I mean look at that roster

[23]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Is wojo back or is Broussard trolling Woj this weekend?

Or is Woj trolling while drinking on the holiday weekend

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Even then though they made the finals. That's all you can ask for, make it out of your conference with a chance to win. San Antonio, in my opinion, is just the perfectly built team with the right coach to beat them. But I don't think you can look at your team as "what can we do to beat the Spurs" because it's not a guarantee they will meet them in every finals.

They need guys who fit their system, not who can fit an anti-Spurs system. And I think they have that.

Obviously they can get better and retool, but it doesn't have to be Lowry, Gortat, Deng. It would be nice, but they aren't hurting so bad that they need someone of that caliber to get back where they have been the past 4 years.


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Agreed with your first point. I just wonder then who else there is outside of Lowry, Gortat or Deng. Who else is there exactly, outside of the big names that probably won't sign with Miami.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 2014 Off-Season Thread

Interesting take on FA this year from ProBasketballTalk

Just how badly did the owners smack down the players in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)? Take these now regular comments as examples:

“If Carmelo Anthony really cares about winning he will take less money.”

“LeBron James demanding the max shows he only cares about himself, not the Heat.”

“Dirk Nowitzki showed he cares more about winning by taking that Tim Duncan-sized contract.”

In the last CBA negotiations the players went from receiving 57 percent of the league’s income down to 50 percent — that’s an estimated $350 million a year going from the players straight to the owners’ pockets. At the same time NBA owners are seeing the value of their franchises skyrocket ($2 billion for the Clippers from Steve Ballmer) and there is a new television deal coming in two years that is going to flood the owners with more cash.

Yet it is the players that are asked to sacrifice “if they care about winning.”

It was a complete and total rout by the owners two years ago at the negotiating table. The Christians had more success against the lions in the Colosseum.

As you can imagine, agents and representatives of the players’ union do not like this “take less” trend. A couple spoke to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News about it.

“Why is it that our best players should be getting less than they’re worth?” one union official told Sporting News. “We have a collective-bargaining agreement that already limits what star players can make, and limits the total amount teams can pay. We have a very tough luxury tax. And now you have teams publicly shaming their best players into a bigger cut?”

“It’s just ridiculous,” one agent told SN. “There is this whole brainwashing thing going on and teams are selling it to their fans that this player or that player should take less, that they would not take their money if they truly cared about winning. That’s BS. If you want to win, you’re the owner, go over the tax line.

“This is the CBA you wanted, this is what the owners wanted. Why does the money come out of the players’ pockets? The players just gave back a huge amount in the CBA. But, no, that’s the brainwashing — that the players are the bad guys if they try to get what the CBA says they should get.”

LeBron is getting criticism for exactly that stance — the Heat amnestied Mike Miller simply to save money last season (don’t let Pat Riley spin it another way, they could have done it this summer) and LeBron wants Micky Arison to spend. Part of what LeBron is doing now is making his point to Heat management. He wants to win and as his new contract, even at the max, is half (at most) of what he’d make on a true open market so he wants the owner to show he is committed to spending to win too. (And you think LeBron is going to get Robert Sarver to do that in Phoenix?)

The problem comes back to just how much the owners dominated the last CBA. As Mark Cuban has ranted more than once, being into the tax is more than just a money issue, the new CBA limits teams flexibility to make moves once their salary is up in the tax range — smaller mid-level exception, no sign-and-trades, and more. You can’t build a team the same way and GMs want that flexibility.

It’s not fair to the top players, but you had to know that many fans would side with management, because they pretty much always do. We don’t relate to what even an average NBA player makes, but we know we want our team to win. So the star player gets the pressure and too often to make that happen while the owner gets to skate.

Agents and union members may not like it, they can fight to change it, but it’s not going to change. They can tune it out as LeBron is doing, but the calls for players to take the hit aren’t going away.