Around The League News And Rumors (Non-Hawks)

[theatlfan]

I think he is on the verge of a career resurrection in BOS and, I have he and Omer Asik as my two favorites for the Comeback Player of the Year Award. (That's still a thing, right?)

Funny that when I think on the biggest overpays of the off-season, these 2 players jump to the top of the list. The NOP GM is seemingly making a run @ B King of BRK for the GM with the biggest scorched Earth policy for giving up a(nother) lotto pick for a good not great player in a quest to top out as an 8 seed in the West. Asik isn't young (I think he's 29) and now he'll go into next off-season knowing NOP gave a 1st for the right to give him max $$ for a year. For a guy whose value was generally considered ~$10M per year on the T&T board, he's now going to open the bidding at $15M and if NOP doesn't resign him, then they would have lost a likely lotto pick for nothing. Not saying Asik isn't good and I very well could see him take home the Comeback PotY due to his last season but would you have given up the BRK pick swap with minimal protections for 1 year of him? That's basically what NOP gave...

In a different vein, I was absolutely shocked by the contract Turner got. I mean he was basically salary filler for IND to dump Granger and he didn't even fit that role well by getting into a fight with one of the stars before a playoff game... smdh. I was expecting the mini with a BAE sized deal (what Bazemore got) if he was lucky enough to get a couple of team bidding on him (there weren't). Now, we've been in on him in the past and BOS is another stat dominant FO who overpaid him up front in FA, so maybe others are seeing something I'm flat not. I just see an inefficient player who likes to dribble around a lot and miss long 2's. If Stephens can spin Jordan Crawford into a 1st then I don't see the harm in giving him Evan Turner, but I can't fault anyone for deciding not to get into a bidding war with someone who was already willing to overpay from the get.

Anyone think he might be worth a look as a long term project? Could a change of scenery, veteran teammates and an efficient offensive system be enough to turn around his career?

Shrug. To me, he's a 'tweener without the overall athleticism or game to be much more than a Microwave type off the bench scorer as an ultimate upside. In a "normal" year, I wouldn't mind burning a roster spot on that - especially considering we could probably pick him up in a salary dump. The problem is that this year, we have all our roster slots spoken for. So what would be the corollary move to land him? Cut Jenkins or Muscala? Forget about a vet since Rivers couldn't fill the role off the court. If we made another move and consolidated some of our parts then sure, but I can't see us taking him over anyone we currently have on the roster.

[Jamaaliver]

Kawhi Leonard is holding firm on his desire for a maximum contract, and extension talks with the San Antonio Spurs have failed to gather traction despite a looming Friday deadline, according to sources.

No progress has been made despite discussions for weeks.

Multiple league executives believe he'll command a max offer sheet on the market next summer.

Question:

Do we believe Kawhi Leonard could (should?) be a max-level player on our team going forward?

Would we be willing to move any major assets in a sign and trade for him?

It's clearly a pipe dream, but if we could somehow come out of next off-season with Kawhi and Marc Gasol in our front court...I the believe we'd be one of the top 3 teams in the league.

If the Spurs never signed Manu or Tony Parker to a max-deal in their primes, no way Kawhi gets one, right?

Would we be willing to trade Horford in his prime mid-season for the chance to bring in Kawhi?
Next year bring back Millsap and add a defensive Center for an exact duplicate of the Spurs championship team?

http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6516928

[Hawk Eye]

Kawhi Leonard is holding firm on his desire for a maximum contract, and extension talks with the San Antonio Spurs have failed to gather traction despite a looming Friday deadline, according to sources.

No progress has been made despite discussions for weeks.

Multiple league executives believe he'll command a max offer sheet on the market next summer.

Question:

Do we believe Kawhi Leonard could (should?) be a max-level player on our team going forward?

Would we be willing to move any major assets in a sign and trade for him?

It's clearly a pipe dream, but if we could somehow come out of next off-season with Kawhi and Marc Gasol in our front court...I the believe we'd be one of the top 3 teams in the league.

If the Spurs never signed Manu or Tony Parker to a max-deal in their primes, no way Kawhi gets one, right?

Would we be willing to trade Horford in his prime mid-season for the chance to bring in Kawhi?
Next year bring back Millsap and add a defensive Center for an exact duplicate of the Spurs championship team?

http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6516928

1st, I don't see any scenario where we convince a top name free agent to sign with us (ex. Marc Gasol). In order to even get Marc's attention I think we would have to make a trip to the NBA finals MAYBE the ECF. As far as Kawhi goes...maybe there is a possibility we would be in his consideration of teams if he doesn't sign an extension. Maybe he will appreciate the fact that coach Bud practically forced Pop to take him over George Hill and took a chance on him?

Based on the current market, I do believe Kawhi (and Klay for that matter) are worth the max. Because Kawhi is definitely better than Parsons and Hayward.

Kawhi would fit like a glove on our roster because we run a very similar system to what the Spurs run. I'd love to have the finals MVP on our roster and I don't know any other GM that wouldn't as well.

If a Horford for Kawhi trade were actually a possibility I'm not sure what I'd do because it's a big gamble that your going to get a center replacement for Horford. Right now I'm only drawing to mind Gasol, Asik, and DJ.

[theatlfan]

It's clearly a pipe dream, but if we could somehow come out of next off-season with Kawhi and Marc Gasol in our front court...I the believe we'd be one of the top 3 teams in the league.

If the Spurs never signed Manu or Tony Parker to a max-deal in their primes, no way Kawhi gets one, right?

Would we be willing to trade Horford in his prime mid-season for the chance to bring in Kawhi?
Next year bring back Millsap and add a defensive Center for an exact duplicate of the Spurs championship team.

Yeah, you can pass that pipe to me too - I'll share that dream. Don't think we can realistically hold onto Millsap if we go Horford for Kawhi followed by signing a C. If the C is a lesser paid C than Gasol then maybe we could bring back Trillsap.

1st, I don't see any scenario where we convince a top name free agent to sign with us (ex. Marc Gasol). In order to even get Marc's attention I think we would have to make a trip to the NBA finals MAYBE the ECF. As far as Kawhi goes...maybe there is a possibility we would be in his consideration of teams if he doesn't sign an extension. Maybe he will appreciate the fact that coach Bud practically forced Pop to take him over George Hill and took a chance on him?

Based on the current market, I do believe Kawhi (and Klay for that matter) are worth the max. Because Kawhi is definitely better than Parsons and Hayward.

Kawhi would fit like a glove on our roster because we run a very similar system to what the Spurs run. I'd love to have the finals MVP on our roster and I don't know any other GM that wouldn't as well.

If a Horford for Kawhi trade were actually a possibility I'm not sure what I'd do because it's a big gamble that your going to get a center replacement for Horford. Right now I'm only drawing to mind Gasol, Asik, and DJ.

IIRC, HOU hadn't made the playoffs for their GMs entire tenure then dropped behind LAL on the last day of the season but still pulled Howard from LAL. CLE has been a laughingstock for years, but after signing Lebron, Love made assurances that he'd resign in CLE if they traded for him. The ability to attract FAs has little to do with W/L records but with buzz. The easiest way to create buzz is through player acquisition. Once the 1st domino falls, the process begins to feed itself. As Jamaal notes, we have an in with Kawhi and as a Finals MVP, he will carry a buzz that will the heads of any FA reasonably thinking about switching teams. No idea if Gasol fits that description or not but if he does...

[Jamaaliver]

It's clearly a pipe dream, but if we could somehow come out of next off-season with Kawhi and Marc Gasol in our front court...I the believe we'd be one of the top 3 teams in the league.

If the Spurs never signed Manu or Tony Parker to a max-deal in their primes, no way Kawhi gets one, right?

Would we be willing to trade Horford in his prime mid-season for the chance to bring in Kawhi?
Next year bring back Millsap and add a defensive Center for an exact duplicate of the Spurs championship team.

Yeah, you can pass that pipe to me too - I'll share that dream. Don't think we can realistically hold onto Millsap if we go Horford for Kawhi followed by signing a C. If the C is a lesser paid C than Gasol then maybe we could bring back Trillsap.

I was thinking two separate thoughts there.

1. We trade Horford for Kawhi. Use Kawhi, Teague and Bud to lure in Marc Gasol and simply fill in the blank with a suitable 6'8" Power Forward.

or

2. We trade Horford for Kawhi. Re-sign Millsap at PF. And sign a defensive Center like Robin Lopez or Asik to a reasonable deal.

1st, I don't see any scenario where we convince a top name free agent to sign with us (ex. Marc Gasol). In order to even get Marc's attention I think we would have to make a trip to the NBA finals MAYBE the ECF.

I agree it would be a tough sell and be highly unlikely. One of the reasons I pulled so hard for us to sign Pau Gasol this off-season (even before it was publicized) was because I thought he could help us recruit Marc next summer.

[atlantabbq99]

Months ago i posted 3 or 4 post on the general board that Lebron, Irving, and Love are going to be worst than Kobe, Nash, and Howard, because they will have one of the worst defenses in the league.

the Knicks with a very depleted and limited roster took it to the paint when ever they wanted.

At this moment, i'm trying to find those 3 or 4 old post i made and bump them

[atlantabbq99]

In one of the post, i even said Miami could finish #1 or ahead of Cleveland at the end of the year.

[Jamaaliver]

Just looking through some stats from around the league.

1. Who the heck is Tony Wroten? Did we really pass on him in the draft. I really like J Jenkins (and wish he as getting more burn), but Wroten looks like he has star potential. Did we really pass him up for a different SG just because he isn't a 3-pt shooter?

2. The more I think of Ferry's disappointing drafting, the more frustrated I get. We drafted a project at Center last summer, gave up on him without ever seeing him in a Hawks uniform. But the three Centers we passed on in that draft have looked very capable. Dieng, when given PT, is a beast. Plumlee has been surprisingly effective, and now we see Rudy Gobert, another foreign project, being developed up in Utah under Coach Snyder and contributing nicely.

Tim Hardaway Jr is also a promising young player NY has refused to deal in trade talks.

3. Brooklyn, when their Big 3 is healthy, is a pretty good team. They made it to the 2nd round last season with no Brook Lopez, a gimpy Deron and an inexperienced coach. They won't win the title, but they could be hell in the playoffs if healthy. And Lionel Hollins is a very capable coach. Had we missed out on Budenholzer, Hollins and Karl would have been my top choices for our HC position.

[Hero Antic]

Just looking through some stats from around the league.

1. Who the heck is Tony Wroten? Did we really pass on him in the draft. I really like J Jenkins (and wish he as getting more burn), but Wroten looks like he has star potential. Did we really pass him up for a different SG just because he isn't a 3-pt shooter?

2. The more I think of Ferry's disappointing drafting, the more frustrated I get. We drafted a project at Center last summer, gave up on him without ever seeing him in a Hawks uniform. But the three Centers we passed on in that draft have looked very capable. Dieng, when given PT, is a beast. Plumlee has been surprisingly effective, and now we see Rudy Gobert, another foreign project, being developed up in Utah under Coach Snyder and contributing nicely.

Tim Hardaway Jr is also a promising young player NY has refused to deal in trade talks.

3. Brooklyn, when their Big 3 is healthy, is a pretty good team. They made it to the 2nd round last season with no Brook Lopez, a gimpy Deron and an inexperienced coach. They won't win the title, but they could be hell in the playoffs if healthy. And Lionel Hollins is a very capable coach. Had we missed out on Budenholzer, Hollins and Karl would have been my top choices for our HC position.

Tony Wroten has potential to be a really good player, I remember seeing him get a triple double last yr against the Rockets or somebody. He's kind of like the left-handed MCW with an inconsistent 3-point shot.

I think Kent Bazemore could develop into that if given the chance..

[MaceCase]

The knock on Wroten coming out the draft was that he was the worst kind of combo-guard there is, one with great size and athleticism but no real court vision to be a point guard and zero ability to shoot to be a shooting guard. It's not that he couldn't hit 3s, he couldn't hit from anywhere outside of the paint and he wasn't prodigious in the paint either because he had zero right hand to boot. He's looking good now playing the exact position and role that MCW played last season in the most overinflated offensive system in the league and all that led to was the Sixers desperately trying to get other GMs to bite on the hype and trade something valuable for him but to no avail. Give it time, see how he does when MCW comes back and he's no longer allowed to be the primary ball handler or take 17 shots a game in under 35 minutes.

[Jamaaliver]

The Houston Rockets are actively seeking to deal the $8.34 million trade exception that they acquired in the Jeremy Lin trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Rockets have talked to teams about 10 to 12 players.

The Rockets had been expected to wait until more players were eligible to be traded, either after Dec. 15 when players signed in the off-season can be dealt or more likely at the February trade deadline.Via Jonathan Feigen/Houston Chronicle

It'll be interesting to see if the Hawks bite on this and pursue additional cap space for the future.

Millsap or Horford would each be ideal fits next to Howard. If Ferry was still involved, I fear greatly we'd be ready to gut the team for nothgin

[Hawk Eye]

The Houston Rockets are actively seeking to deal the $8.34 million trade exception that they acquired in the Jeremy Lin trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Rockets have talked to teams about 10 to 12 players.

The Rockets had been expected to wait until more players were eligible to be traded, either after Dec. 15 when players signed in the off-season can be dealt or more likely at the February trade deadline.Via Jonathan Feigen/Houston Chronicle

It'll be interesting to see if the Hawks bite on this and pursue additional cap space for the future.

Millsap or Horford would each be ideal fits next to Howard. If Ferry was still involved, I fear greatly we'd be ready to gut the team for nothgin

I would be disappointed if we traded Milsap or Horford to Houston. I don't like any of their pieces except for that NOP 2015 1st round pick. Maybe a three way where they get Milsap, they send all their pieces to X team, and X team sends us...?

[MaceCase]

Neither Horford (12 million) nor Millsap (9.5 million) would fit into that 8.3 million TPE so this is a bit of a useless endeavor. The TPE is for that maximum amount and cannot be combined with any other players/salary/TPEs to increase the amount that the Rockets could receive. A multiple team trade would have to be worked out where the Hawks send Horf/Sap there and they send whatever into that TPE in Houston but if you're working under the false premise that the Hawks would be interested in doing this solely to save cap space.....well there are less convoluted solutions in that Millsap is already an expiring deal and Horford can be amnestied.

The New Orleans pick is practically useless too or I should say that it doesn't carry much value as a perceived "lottery" pick. The pick is protected through picks 1-3 through forever and the Pelicans have assembled a team that will be perennial contenders for the 8th seed in the West making it essentially the ~14 pick if conveyed.

[Jamaaliver]

Andrei Kirilenko has left the Brooklyn Nets for their roadtrip as he has received several healthy scratches in recent games.

"Source says situation between Kirilenko and Nets probably won't be resolved until he's on another team," writes Stefan Bondy.

Lionel Hollins told the media on Friday that he's unsure if or when Kirilenko will rejoin the club on their road trip.Via Stefan Bondy/New York Daily News

HERE

I have an appreciation for what AK47 can do on a BBall court and have been intrigued by Sergey Karasev for quite a while now. Any interest amongst the Hawks fandom?

Maybe something like J Jenkins and Bazemore for Kirilenko and Karasev...

[theatlfan]

Andrei Kirilenko has left the Brooklyn Nets for their roadtrip as he has received several healthy scratches in recent games.

"Source says situation between Kirilenko and Nets probably won't be resolved until he's on another team," writes Stefan Bondy.

Lionel Hollins told the media on Friday that he's unsure if or when Kirilenko will rejoin the club on their road trip.Via Stefan Bondy/New York Daily News

HERE

I have an appreciation for what AK47 can do on a BBall court and have been intrigued by Sergey Karasev for quite a while now. Any interest amongst the Hawks fandom?

Maybe something like J Jenkins and Bazemore for Kirilenko and Karasev...

Catch-22 for me here. Have a huge man crush on AK and really think he was one of the keys to their revival at mid-season last year. Karasev has generally been terrible since being drafted though and has probably proved himself to be not an NBA player at this point but he's cheap and maybe he'll be more of a fit here.

The problem with the deal is that in no way do I wish to help BRK. Just think that team is so Helter Skelter that they could implode (or explode) at any moment. Don't want to be the team who made the deal that turned their team around...

[Detective]

Guys, I just wanted to say thank you for going ahead with that Lou(and Bebe) trade. He wasn't a good fit with ATL for whatever reason, but is so filthy for us. Our already outstanding team chemistry has somehow, magically, found another gear with Lou.

[theatlfan]

Guys, I just wanted to say thank you for going ahead with that Lou(and Bebe) trade. He wasn't a good fit with ATL for whatever reason, but is so filthy for us. Our already outstanding team chemistry has somehow, magically, found another gear with Lou.

Lou is really a great guy. There's a story about him during his time in PHI where a guy tried to mug him, then upon realizing that he was Lou Williams stopped and gave Lou back everything... So Lou brought him to McDonald's, bought him a meal, ate with him, and learned his story. Even when we benched him about 3/4 of the way through the season, Lou didn't really make waves. Considering we were in the middle of a huge nosedive, he could have really taken the team out with a bad attitude - instead, he found a way to state his displeasure but not pout and was a contributor again before the season was over. Lou Williams will never be a problem with Chemistry...

[Yungsta404]

He didnt fit cause we had about 5 guards 6,3 and under (teague,mack, dennis, jenkins, lou) with no back up SF.

When DMC or Korver were hurt we had to resort to playing 3 PG line ups with mack at SF.

[Jamaaliver]

So as of today, the over-achieving MIL Bucks have managed to claim a top 4 seed in the EC playoffs. We'd matchup against them in the 4-5 matchup of the first round (if playoff seeding was today.)

1. Hiow are they doing it with a roster composed of horse manure?

2. How do we matchup against them?

3. Could we, the veteran team with fundamentals beat the young upstarts with size, athleticism and defenisve grit?

I see MIL is top ten in Rebounds, Assists and defensive Points Allowed. All hallmarks of a well coached team. (Ironically enough) But I think everyone would agree they are very much a surprise team considering they have largely the same caST as last year plus one highly rated rookie.

Kidd has to be the early leader for Coach of the Year, right?

[Hawk Eye]

So as of today, the over-achieving MIL Bucks have managed to claim a top 4 seed in the EC playoffs. We'd matchup against them in the 4-5 matchup of the first round (if playoff seeding was today.)

1. Hiow are they doing it with a roster composed of horse manure?

2. How do we matchup against them?

3. Could we, the veteran team with fundamentals beat the young upstarts with size, athleticism and defenisve grit?

I see MIL is top ten in Rebounds, Assists and defensive Points Allowed. All hallmarks of a well coached team. (Ironically enough) But I think everyone would agree they are very much a surprise team considering they have largely the same caST as last year plus one highly rated rookie.

Kidd has to be the early leader for Coach of the Year, right?

Talent. Simple as that. Parker, Giannis, Sanders none of those guys are even close to scratcing the surface of what they can become capable of. They all have length, talent, and age on their side. That tro is only going to get better every year too. Just imagine if they had Teague right now when they offered him that 4 year/32 million contract and we matched it.