Around The NBA : 2024-25 Season

[jnrjr79]

"Jazz Fined $100,000 For Violating NBA's Player Participation Policy With Lauri Markkanen":

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/279623/Jazz-Fined-$100000-For-Violating-NBAs-Player-Participation-Policy-With-Lauri-Markkanen

The NBA has announced that the Utah Jazz organization has been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy. The violation occurred when the Jazz failed to make Lauri Markkanen, a star player under the Policy, available for the team’s game against the Washington Wizards on March 5 at Capital One Arena, as well as other recent games.

Fine isn't big enough, IMO.

I think it’s set by some kind of rule. I saw a tweet indicating a 2nd violation goes up to $250K.

[Muzbar]

"Jazz Fined $100,000 For Violating NBA's Player Participation Policy With Lauri Markkanen":

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/279623/Jazz-Fined-$100000-For-Violating-NBAs-Player-Participation-Policy-With-Lauri-Markkanen

Fine isn't big enough, IMO.

I think it’s set by some kind of rule. I saw a tweet indicating a 2nd violation goes up to $250K.

I still think it should be higher initially. 100k is nothing to these frachises.

[FriedRise]

"Jazz Fined $100,000 For Violating NBA's Player Participation Policy With Lauri Markkanen":

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/279623/Jazz-Fined-$100000-For-Violating-NBAs-Player-Participation-Policy-With-Lauri-Markkanen

The NBA has announced that the Utah Jazz organization has been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s Player Participation Policy. The violation occurred when the Jazz failed to make Lauri Markkanen, a star player under the Policy, available for the team’s game against the Washington Wizards on March 5 at Capital One Arena, as well as other recent games.

Fine isn't big enough, IMO.

Probably significant enough for the Reinsdorfs. They got a slap on the wrist once for sitting Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday (lol) and never do it again.

[Chi town]

Crazy ending to the Blazers Knicks game. Deni and Scoot came up big over and over down the stretch.

Bridges with the game winner at the buzzer.

Blazers will make the play in next year. I could see them being 7th or 8th seed with the growth of Deni, Scoot Sharpe and Clingan. I also think they will trade their 1st at the draft for a player like they did with Deni that will help them win now.

[Art Vandelay]

Fine isn't big enough, IMO.

I think it’s set by some kind of rule. I saw a tweet indicating a 2nd violation goes up to $250K.

I still think it should be higher initially. 100k is nothing to these frachises.

If NBA officials were serious about this being a violation, they'd go after lottery odds.

[sco]

Crazy ending to the Blazers Knicks game. Deni and Scoot came up big over and over down the stretch.

Bridges with the game winner at the buzzer.

Blazers will make the play in next year. I could see them being 7th or 8th seed with the growth of Deni, Scoot Sharpe and Clingan. I also think they will trade their 1st at the draft for a player like they did with Deni that will help them win now.

I am rooting for that.

I wonder if they'd consider trading one of their 3 guards for their pick back if they think it will convey next year? Or maybe try to trade for Ayton in exchange for them lifting the protections on the pick and we throw Pat into the deal plus expirings?

[kodo]

Crazy ending to the Blazers Knicks game. Deni and Scoot came up big over and over down the stretch.

Bridges with the game winner at the buzzer.

Blazers will make the play in next year. I could see them being 7th or 8th seed with the growth of Deni, Scoot Sharpe and Clingan. I also think they will trade their 1st at the draft for a player like they did with Deni that will help them win now.

I am rooting for that.

I wonder if they'd consider trading one of their 3 guards for their pick back if they think it will convey next year? Or maybe try to trade for Ayton in exchange for them lifting the protections on the pick and we throw Pat into the deal plus expirings?

I think Simons is gettable because he's an UFA after 1 season. But then the Bulls would inherit the same problem, pay a lot (he currently gets $27M) for him long term or let him walk after 1 season. Sharpe/Scoot aren't being traded for anything reasonable.

Ayton probably isn't hard to get. I actually think Giddey would make him look decent, look at what he's done with Vuc & Zach Collins. I'd rather just a get a cheap rim runner / blocker, I don't think you need to pay $34M for a traditional center.

[DASMACKDOWN]

The Raptors have been doing some of the most blatant tanking that I have seen in years.

And this still keep winning.

A few games back they purposely sat all their starters down the stretch, but their rookie didnt get the memo and won the game at the buzzer lol

Last night agains the Sixers, they had every starter a scratch other than Poeltl whom they only played 17 mins. They tried their hardest to tank against the Sixers but still couldn't.

To me tanking is inevitable. Its something that cannot change.

You can curb it sure. Adam Silver did that by having the play-in. Essentially taking preventing 4 more teams from absolutely tanking. But that isn't enough.

Maybe do something crazy making equal odds for the lowest 14 teams.

[BullChit]

The Raptors have been doing some of the most blatant tanking that I have seen in years.

And this still keep winning.

A few games back they purposely sat all their starters down the stretch, but their rookie didnt get the memo and won the game at the buzzer lol

Last night agains the Sixers, they had every starter a scratch other than Poeltl whom they only played 17 mins. They tried their hardest to tank against the Sixers but still couldn't.

To me tanking is inevitable. Its something that cannot change.

You can curb it sure. Adam Silver did that by having the play-in. Essentially taking preventing 4 more teams from absolutely tanking. But that isn't enough.

Maybe do something crazy making equal odds for the lowest 14 teams.

My latest idea is that Play in teams should be rewarded with more lottery balls.

Then you have like 4 teams that are actually that bad at the bottom and then the next tier either tank intentionally and face consequences or they try to make the play in.

My only plot hole here is Play In teams who intentionally tank and lose their play in games.

[MrSparkle]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

[sco]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

Yeah, there's no way to easily stop tanking other than just making random. I'd be up for that. Use cap flexibility or other mechanisms to make parity easier.

[jnrjr79]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

Yeah, there's no way to easily stop tanking other than just making random. I'd be up for that. Use cap flexibility or other mechanisms to make parity easier.

One alternative to random is just cycling through the picks on an annual basis. You could get the #1 pick in year 1, then #32, then #2, then #31, etc. Or some other type of fixed cycle where you basically have total equality of assigned draft picks.

[cocktailswith_2short]

Randall Flagg broken ankle/foot possibly .

[Dan Z]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

An open FA recruitment would be a mess. Instead of tanking there would be teams cutting players (salary) to get enough money to make a bid on a top player. Plus, if the draft didn't exist then there are no trades involving picks. How would that work?

I'm not sure what they can do to stop teams from tanking and agree with you that there's probably nothing that would work. Maybe the same odds for all the bottom 14 teams like DASMACKDOWN suggested? That way a team doesn't need to completely bottom out to have a chance at the number 1 pick.

[BullChit]

Randall Flagg broken ankle/foot possibly .

Heard it's a sprain Just like Giddey... It's a sign....

[MrSparkle]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

An open FA recruitment would be a mess. Instead of tanking there would be teams cutting players (salary) to get enough money to make a bid on a top player. Plus, if the draft didn't exist then there are no trades involving picks. How would that work?

I'm not sure what they can do to stop teams from tanking and agree with you that there's probably nothing that would work. Maybe the same odds for all the bottom 14 teams like DASMACKDOWN suggested? That way a team doesn't need to completely bottom out to have a chance at the number 1 pick.

I don’t understand? Teams can’t just cut big salaries. If there’s a max rookie contract (let’s say $16M, something above MLE so every team obviously can’t put in their bid), it’s a big risk paying that much money for a 19yo.

I think one nice side-effect would be that teams do their homework to recruit the right guy for their future. It’s not like everybody would have their big offer ready for a mystery like Giannis or Kawhi. And while Luka, Zion, Durant, Lebron were exciting for their original franchises at one point or another, look at everything that happened between draft night and today.

We’re in a different era. The draft was great fun into even last decade. Personally I think Lebron & Durant kinda spear-headed the death of it… and the high stakes of today’s big money, and this Luka trade cemented it.

But I am personally more in favor of an even-odds lotto. Worst thing that could happen is some super team defies odds and gets multiple top-5 picks in a row while already winning. In which case, yeah for that team. 10 NBA teams have never won a ring. Random lotto odds atleast help them in the grand scheme of things, as treadmill squads can catchy lucky breaks with much higher odds than in the tank system.

[Dan Z]

Guys , you can tweak lotto odds all you want. As long as some form of being worse is advantageous, atleast 1-10 teams will take advantage of it.

If you want zero tanking efforts, then you eliminate all weighted odds and have a fair random draw, or eliminate the draft altogether and have open FA recruitment (which would mean teams have to create cap space to make offers to highly prized rookies… so no, Boston and LAL wouldn’t be able to sign Flagg to a huge deal.)

They put rules on every type of contract. Just create a rookie salary structure (maybe tier 1 max, tier 2 mid, tier 3 min) and require atleast 4y team option so that a player can’t sign 1y and leave for Miami.

Bam, presto, done. No more tanking ever again.

An open FA recruitment would be a mess. Instead of tanking there would be teams cutting players (salary) to get enough money to make a bid on a top player. Plus, if the draft didn't exist then there are no trades involving picks. How would that work?

I'm not sure what they can do to stop teams from tanking and agree with you that there's probably nothing that would work. Maybe the same odds for all the bottom 14 teams like DASMACKDOWN suggested? That way a team doesn't need to completely bottom out to have a chance at the number 1 pick.

I don’t understand? Teams can’t just cut big salaries. If there’s a max rookie contract (let’s say $16M, something above MLE so every team obviously can’t put in their bid), it’s a big risk paying that much money for a 19yo.

I think one nice side-effect would be that teams do their homework to recruit the right guy for their future. It’s not like everybody would have their big offer ready for a mystery like Giannis or Kawhi. And while Luka, Zion, Durant, Lebron were exciting for their original franchises at one point or another, look at everything that happened between draft night and today.

We’re in a different era. The draft was great fun into even last decade. Personally I think Lebron & Durant kinda spear-headed the death of it… and the high stakes of today’s big money, and this Luka trade cemented it.

But I am personally more in favor of an even-odds lotto. Worst thing that could happen is some super team defies odds and gets multiple top-5 picks in a row while already winning. In which case, yeah for that team. 10 NBA teams have never won a ring. Random lotto odds atleast help them in the grand scheme of things, as treadmill squads can catchy lucky breaks with much higher odds than in the tank system.

Of course teams can't just cut salary. What I'm saying is that teams would do what they can to have a low salary so they can bid on a player like Flagg. That means many vets would no longer get signed and contracts would probably be shorter.

There also would be little to no trades. If there are no draft picks then you can't give up a pick to shed salary or use picks to trade for a good player. Many teams would be stuck with the roster they have and couldn't maneuver very much.

Take the current Bulls team. Would they have enough to make a decent bid on a top player in the 2025 draft? They could bid on a mid-range talent, but I think they might have to wait until 2026 (when more contracts expire...Huerter, Vucevic, Ayo and Coby).

That means the Bulls would go into next season with no improvements.

As for the lottery odds...you mean a flat odds for all 30 teams? It would suck for a team to win the Championship and then add Flagg, but it would mean that teams no longer tank.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Even the Spurs are packing it in by giving Fox the surgery now after winning a game.

I just hope no matter where we pick, we get a star regardless.

[Dan Z]

Even the Spurs are packing it in by giving Fox the surgery now after winning a game.

I just hope no matter where we pick, we get a star regardless.

The Spurs know it's important for them to have a high pick in the upcoming draft. It's one reason why they kept both their pick and Atlanta's when they negotiated the Fox trade (which is kind of crazy that they were able to do that).

[sco]

Even the Spurs are packing it in by giving Fox the surgery now after winning a game.

I just hope no matter where we pick, we get a star regardless.

The Spurs know it's important for them to have a high pick in the upcoming draft. It's one reason why they kept both their pick and Atlanta's when they negotiated the Fox trade (which is kind of crazy that they were able to do that).

Totally agree, but the Spurs really should do a consolidation trade...they have way too many young players who aren't really developing all that well.