Your team's year in review!

[Texas Chuck]

I think the "bully the kings" narrative was what placed the trade in the same discussion as say the Nets/Celts deal, when IMO the swaps will not be utilized (and even if they are it will be of significance) and Stauskas will never be a player.

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

[Hawk Eye]

I'm really enjoying reading all of these reviews. Lots of great stuff and it's saving me from school work at the moment. Wouldn't mind seeing a review on the Rockets, Pelicans, Magic, and Wizards.

[Kings2013]

I think the "bully the kings" narrative was what placed the trade in the same discussion as say the Nets/Celts deal, when IMO the swaps will not be utilized (and even if they are it will be of significance) and Stauskas will never be a player.

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

The trade IMO was made because they thought Matthews was the ideal SG, on/off the floor to catapult the team or that they might have access to now and between Cousins/Gay contracts. He was visiting that next day and initial reports were the Mavs were not going to reach near the 16/yr the Kings were offering

I'm not going to leave anything out of it. There was a media blitz on the Kings over the last year. I believe in my mind if the trade were made by another team in the Kings vicinity that the scrutiny may have been less. The Kings were in the spotlight for a variety of reasons and I believe that played a part in the characterization of it, regardless of whether or not you agreed with the trade or not.

The trade hasn't played out. If the swaps aren't used and Stauskas remains not a player, and the team is a middle team, Koufos, Rondo (leading the league in assists) and even Belinelli if he collects himself can be worth such a pick, but it is a lot of ifs

[R-DAWG]

Scoot did a great job on the Pacers, but I'm bored at work, so I'll put my two cents in as well.

Draft
Turner - best pick we've had since Paul George, hands down. Not much needs to be said about this.

Joe Young - a good pick for 43rd overall. Has shown some signs, but is definitely a work in progress.

Trades
Hibbert for (eventually) Rakeem Christmas and cap space - Roy just had to go. He was a cancer his last year in Indy, wasn't producing whatsoever, and there was no way we could play uptempo at all with him. It sucks that his value tanked so hard in only a few years, but Bird did well not having to take on another bad deal to get him out of town. Christmas has looked good in the D-League, but hasn't played at all in the NBA, so that part is somewhat incomplete.

Rudez for Budinger - horrible trade. Rudez was terrible at everything but shooting and we needed shooting. Bud was terrible at everything and paid more. He was reportedly a good soldier, but comments today indicate that he "didn't know his role on the team" which is just wrong. He was brought in to shoot threes and hopefully play solid defense. It's his own fault that he lost minutes to Solo Hill and I have no reason to believe Vogel didn't tell him exactly what his role was. I don't expect Bud to be in the league next year. He plays like a guy who doesn't understand basketball and was getting by on his athleticism.

Free Agency
Monta Ellis - lots of people dislike it, but he's been solid for us. Not scoring like he used to, but he's been active on defense and a vocal leader. The fit is off with Stuckey though. So solid, not great signing.

Rodney Stuckey - he's been a good vet, but again, the backcourt rotation is off and he's been injured all year. His contract is fair imo, but external factors have made the signing look meh.

Jordan Hill - he's been a nice placeholder. Doubt we bring him back. For the price though it was a good one year signing.

Lavoy Allen - resigned for a bit over 3 mil a year. Reportedly is a great locker room guy who works hard. He's not a starter, but is a solid 4th big, which at 3.5 mil is a great contract imo.

Ty Lawson - who knows how this will go, but it's a risk worth taking.

Other

Overall I think Bird did an excellent job this offseason. Outside of the Rudez for Bud swap (and declining Solo's option), his moves were all at least decent. In under a year we went from a team with almost exclusively vets and only one rookie deal on the roster (Solo Hill) to a relatively young but competitive team with several cheap guys who have shown varying degrees of promise. And that was done without trading any key guys and not having a top 10 pick.

The Pacers are a very good organization. The only real mistake I thought they made as an organization was not trading David West last summer after Lance left and George got hurt. They could have picked up a protected 1st from a contender IMO.

In a lot of ways the Pacers are a team in transition. 3 of the 5 starters from the back to back conference finals team are no longer on the team. I liked the idea of Monta in Indiana as I thought he and George Hill would be a great fit. Hill is a 3 and D type of PG and Monta could run the offense and make plays like Lance did. But as other's have mentioned with Monta, you really need to have a stretch 4 when playing with him at the 2 because of his shooting. I'm very surprised that he and Hill haven't panned out better because i really thought it was a good fit. I also agree with him and Stuckey being a little redundant.

But the good news for the Pacers when looking at the payroll and roster, it's set up perfectly for a transitioning team. Indiana completely changed their style of play and they don't currently have all the personal they need. Remember, Paul George is only 25 so it's more than ok if it takes another year or 2 to load the roster completely. They need a power forward who can play fast - Thad Young would actually be a great fit here but he's not much of a 3 point shooter.

Long term here is how I look at Indiana:
1) Point Guard - I like George Hill a lot of a player, but he's not a play maker and will be entering his age 30 season and the last year of his deal next year. I wouldn't be surprised if Indiana looks to upgrade that position over the next 12-15 months. Weather in free agency (Indianapolis native Jeff Teague) or via trade packaging Hill with another asset. Indiana does own all their future picks.

2) Shooting Guard - Long term I see Monta Ellis as the 6th man/instant offense/change of pace combo guard ala Jason Terry. CJ Miles is a nice player but likely another spot you would like to upgrade. He has a short term deal.

3) Small Forward - The guy you have is pretty good.

4) Power Forward - This is the biggest position of need. As mentioned above my thoughts are you want an athletic guy, preferably one that can shoot. Your pick is currently projected at #17 and if I were the GM I would call Brooklyn about Thad Young. Thad isn't the greatest shooter but he's athletic, in his prime, and signed to a reasonable deal for the next 3 years. If you move Monta to 6th man and start another shooter with Hill your spacing will be fine

5) Miles Turner looks like the Center of the future. But he's only 19 so it might be another year or 2 before he's ready to play starter minutes on a contending team. Indiana will have to make a difficult decision about Ian, who is having a nice season and likely looking at a big pay raise in free agency. Not sure you want to tie up you cap with him.

I'd look to enter next season with this lineup:

Hill/Miles/George/Young/Turner with Monta Ellis as the 6th man. Thad Young makes you better short term, fits in long term, and doesn't sacrifice much in terms of future assets or flexibility. Next summer focus on upgrading one, or both, back court spots and the following summer focus on the bench.

Even if they do the Young trade they are looking at $20 million in cap space. I'm sorry for the long post but sometimes you read about great front office work and get excited.

The biggest obstacle the Pacers face is getting a 2nd elite player to run with Paul George. I went to IU and love the State of Indiana, but free agents are running to go play in Indiana and while Turner is a nice prospect, all Indiana would have to offer in a trade in addition to him would be late 1st round picks. But on the flip side you have a 25 year old top 10 player, a terrific coach and GM, tremendous flexibility with your cap moving forward, all your draft picks. It could be a lot worse than the situation in Indiana.

[Texas Chuck]

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

Please read my post and then you won't need to accuse me of hindsight. I was critical of the deal immediately. I was critical of it once they spent the cap space they opened up. And I'm critical of it now. Not because of hindsight, but because it was a terribly short-sighted trade. Period.

[HartfordWhalers]

I think the "bully the kings" narrative was what placed the trade in the same discussion as say the Nets/Celts deal, when IMO the swaps will not be utilized (and even if they are it will be of significance) and Stauskas will never be a player.

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

The trade IMO was made because they thought Matthews was the ideal SG, on/off the floor to catapult the team or that they might have access to now and between Cousins/Gay contracts. He was visiting that next day and initial reports were the Mavs were not going to reach near the 16/yr the Kings were offering

I'm not going to leave anything out of it. There was a media blitz on the Kings over the last year. I believe in my mind if the trade were made by another team in the Kings vicinity that the scrutiny may have been less. The Kings were in the spotlight for a variety of reasons and I believe that played a part in the characterization of it, regardless of whether or not you agreed with the trade or not.

The trade hasn't played out. If the swaps aren't used and Stauskas remains not a player, and the team is a middle team, Koufos, Rondo (leading the league in assists) and even Belinelli if he collects himself can be worth such a pick, but it is a lot of ifs

Local (national) media weren't all that kind to it at the time -- http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/7/2/8882241/kings-trade-salary-cap-space-draft-terrible

But the point is pretty simple, claiming your teams questionable moves are only called that because people are bullying your team really has no place on this board. It dumbs down the discussion and starts it off in a terrible place. If you honestly believe that, feel free and rant about it on the Kings board.

[Gomagic44]

I will elaborate: Magic

Pg: CJ Watson had a thigh bruise that apparently killed him for 3-4 months it seemed, now he's back and makes ish smith and Ronnie price look like great pg's.
Jennings played well his first game after the trade, pretty lackluster since.
Elfrid looks like he's stagnated this year. Could be Skiles "system", could also be he just looks lost much of the time.
I wish we never play shabazz Napier again. He is garbage.

Sg: Dipo has been pretty disappointing this year, his numbers appear to have fallen off a bit. His BBIQ is questionable.
Fournier: chucks far too much and doesn't play the 2 well. Selfish player who ices out Gordon and Hezonja.
Mario Hezonja: barely gets play time, gets yanked very quickly after making a mistake. Shot looks smooth, passes pretty well, but he's still getting used to the league.

Sf: I won't miss Tobias, and Fournier plays better at the 3, but at this point I let him walk over the summer.

Pf: Gordon: looks like a young stud. Has incredible atheleticism and hustles his ass off. Needs to work on his shot.
Smith: junkyard dog who performs his roll sort of well, but he is over used and his long twos are becoming unbearable.
Illyasova looks average at best.

Center: Vuc is looking to me like a kanter. He doesn't help us win as a team. His rebounds are down this year, he looks disinterested.
Dedmond: a foul machine.

Coach Skiles: gained a lot of haters rather quickly, and has now lost me as a defender. I love how no nonsense he is, and I don't know if our failure is completely his fault, but it's just not working. I think he's lost the team already.

GM Hennigan: I am starting to lose patience with this "organic" rebuild and "keeping the course". We are shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. I do not know what he plans for this summer, but I think he really needs to swing for the fences.





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[R-DAWG]

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

Please read my post and then you won't need to accuse me of hindsight. I was critical of the deal immediately. I was critical of it once they spent the cap space they opened up. And I'm critical of it now. Not because of hindsight, but because it was a terribly short-sighted trade. Period.

I mean they traded a future protected 1st round pick for cap space before knowing they needed it. Texas Chuck - you and I constantly argue about the Knicks giving up value to move Calderon and open cap space before they know if they need it. That's exactly what the Kings did here.

The swaps are a little crazy and that's why people laugh at the deal. They likely won't come into play. Sacramento also believed, when making the deal they were going to become a playoff team or at least be close, send their pick obligation to Chicago next year, and complete the deal with Philly in 2018, giving them top 10 protection on the pick.

[R-DAWG]

I will elaborate: Magic

Pg: CJ Watson had a thigh bruise that apparently killed him for 3-4 months it seemed, now he's back and makes ish smith and Ronnie price look like great pg's.
Jennings played well his first game after the trade, pretty lackluster since.
Elfrid looks like he's stagnated this year. Could be Skiles "system", could also be he just looks lost much of the time.
I wish we never play shabazz Napier again. He is garbage.

Sg: Dipo has been pretty disappointing this year, his numbers appear to have fallen off a bit. His BBIQ is questionable.
Fournier: chucks far too much and doesn't play the 2 well. Selfish player who ices out Gordon and Hezonja.
Mario Hezonja: barely gets play time, gets yanked very quickly after making a mistake. Shot looks smooth, passes pretty well, but he's still getting used to the league.

Sf: I won't miss Tobias, and Fournier plays better at the 3, but at this point I let him walk over the summer.

Pf: Gordon: looks like a young stud. Has incredible atheleticism and hustles his ass off. Needs to work on his shot.
Smith: junkyard dog who performs his roll sort of well, but he is over used and his long twos are becoming unbearable.
Illyasova looks average at best.

Center: Vuc is looking to me like a kanter. He doesn't help us win as a team. His rebounds are down this year, he looks disinterested.
Dedmond: a foul machine.

Coach Skiles: gained a lot of haters rather quickly, and has now lost me as a defender. I love how no nonsense he is, and I don't know if our failure is completely his fault, but it's just not working. I think he's lost the team already.

GM Hennigan: I am starting to lose patience with this "organic" rebuild and "keeping the course". We are shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. I do not know what he plans for this summer, but I think he really needs to swing for the fences.





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Nice breakdown. It seems as though Orlando has constantly gone best player available and as a result doesn't have the best fitting roster. But now decision time is coming in Orlando. Fournier is going to get a big contract offer this summer. He's young, shooting 40% from 3 point range, and a RFA. It's not hard to imagine him getting paid in the Carroll/Matthews range this summer. Oladipo is entering the last year of his rookie deal next season and Payton is a year behind him. Long term it doesn't seem like both Payton and Dipo will be the future back court of the Magic.

Also, I agree with your statement of Vuc possibility being a good stats/bad team player. Also, centers like him are having a hard time making an impact in today's NBA.

So if your the GM what do you do. Clearly you stated that Gordon is your top prospect and see him as a key piece moving forward. Is anyone else on the roster untouchable? Do you keep Dipo or Payton? What do you do with Fournier? Would you move Vucevic? Would you be better off taking a step back and having another year in the top 5 of the draft?

Another interesting scenario to watch in the league.

[Kings2013]

Nope. It was criticized because it was a horrible trade. Period. Leave the persecution complex out of it. It was a terrible trade at the time it was made. And when you look at what they got for that cap space, it looked bad at the end of free agency. Then when you see the team is better with Rondo off the court, Koufos is only standing in the way of WCS and Bellinelli, it still looks bad.

Even if the Kings don't give up a swap this year or next(something I wouldn't be too confident in for next year just yet btw) they also give up yet another lightly protected 1st they will have to surrender.

It was a short-sighted ill-convieved deal and that's why it got criticized. Not because of some invented "bully the Kings" nonsense that does not exist on this board.

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

Please read my post and then you won't need to accuse me of hindsight. I was critical of the deal immediately. I was critical of it once they spent the cap space they opened up. And I'm critical of it now. Not because of hindsight, but because it was a terribly short-sighted trade. Period.

I don't have a problem with anyone against the trade. The whole sentence was when people placed it with the Nets/Celtics deal. The Nets/Celtics trade is factually one of the worst trades of all time and will probably compromise three drafts greatly. It was such a mistake IMO because King couldn't forecast how good the Celtics/Nets would be so far out, whereas I think Vlade could forecast the Sixers record. I think people placing the Kings trade in that breath were maybe not weighing it from our perspective, but it's opinion

[Gomagic44]

I will elaborate: Magic

Pg: CJ Watson had a thigh bruise that apparently killed him for 3-4 months it seemed, now he's back and makes ish smith and Ronnie price look like great pg's.
Jennings played well his first game after the trade, pretty lackluster since.
Elfrid looks like he's stagnated this year. Could be Skiles "system", could also be he just looks lost much of the time.
I wish we never play shabazz Napier again. He is garbage.

Sg: Dipo has been pretty disappointing this year, his numbers appear to have fallen off a bit. His BBIQ is questionable.
Fournier: chucks far too much and doesn't play the 2 well. Selfish player who ices out Gordon and Hezonja.
Mario Hezonja: barely gets play time, gets yanked very quickly after making a mistake. Shot looks smooth, passes pretty well, but he's still getting used to the league.

Sf: I won't miss Tobias, and Fournier plays better at the 3, but at this point I let him walk over the summer.

Pf: Gordon: looks like a young stud. Has incredible atheleticism and hustles his ass off. Needs to work on his shot.
Smith: junkyard dog who performs his roll sort of well, but he is over used and his long twos are becoming unbearable.
Illyasova looks average at best.

Center: Vuc is looking to me like a kanter. He doesn't help us win as a team. His rebounds are down this year, he looks disinterested.
Dedmond: a foul machine.

Coach Skiles: gained a lot of haters rather quickly, and has now lost me as a defender. I love how no nonsense he is, and I don't know if our failure is completely his fault, but it's just not working. I think he's lost the team already.

GM Hennigan: I am starting to lose patience with this "organic" rebuild and "keeping the course". We are shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. I do not know what he plans for this summer, but I think he really needs to swing for the fences.





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Nice breakdown. It seems as though Orlando has constantly gone best player available and as a result doesn't have the best fitting roster. But now decision time is coming in Orlando. Fournier is going to get a big contract offer this summer. He's young, shooting 40% from 3 point range, and a RFA. It's not hard to imagine him getting paid in the Carroll/Matthews range this summer. Oladipo is entering the last year of his rookie deal next season and Payton is a year behind him. Long term it doesn't seem like both Payton and Dipo will be the future back court of the Magic.

Also, I agree with your statement of Vuc possibility being a good stats/bad team player. Also, centers like him are having a hard time making an impact in today's NBA.

So if your the GM what do you do. Clearly you stated that Gordon is your top prospect and see him as a key piece moving forward. Is anyone else on the roster untouchable? Do you keep Dipo or Payton? What do you do with Fournier? Would you move Vucevic? Would you be better off taking a step back and having another year in the top 5 of the draft?

Another interesting scenario to watch in the league.

I don't think we have the ability to get a top 5 pick. What I would do:

Trade vuc(anyone offering anything decent for him?) or put him at backup center.
Keep Gordon
Fournier can stay on a reasonable contract at 6th man or walk.
Mario is untouchable this summer.
If I keep Dipo, I trade Elfrid.
If I keep Elfrid, I trade or move Vuc out of the starting lineup.
If I trade Elfrid, I keep Dipo and trade Vuc.

I want
(Scoring pg)
Dipo
(Scoring wing)
Gordon
(Defensive center)

We really are a mess fit wise.
It's hard to make a single adjustment or two and feel comfortable with the result.

Fire Skiles
And/or
Trade elf
And/or
Trade Vic
And/or trade Vuc

I don't have any faith in this starting unit ever making it anywhere. Major changes needed.





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[Domejandro]

Minnesota, other than the Drafting of Karl Anthony-Towns, gets a massive "F". I cannot emphasize how devastating Sam Mitchell has been for this franchise, he is substantially worse than Kurt Rambis was.

[R-DAWG]

I will elaborate: Magic

Pg: CJ Watson had a thigh bruise that apparently killed him for 3-4 months it seemed, now he's back and makes ish smith and Ronnie price look like great pg's.
Jennings played well his first game after the trade, pretty lackluster since.
Elfrid looks like he's stagnated this year. Could be Skiles "system", could also be he just looks lost much of the time.
I wish we never play shabazz Napier again. He is garbage.

Sg: Dipo has been pretty disappointing this year, his numbers appear to have fallen off a bit. His BBIQ is questionable.
Fournier: chucks far too much and doesn't play the 2 well. Selfish player who ices out Gordon and Hezonja.
Mario Hezonja: barely gets play time, gets yanked very quickly after making a mistake. Shot looks smooth, passes pretty well, but he's still getting used to the league.

Sf: I won't miss Tobias, and Fournier plays better at the 3, but at this point I let him walk over the summer.

Pf: Gordon: looks like a young stud. Has incredible atheleticism and hustles his ass off. Needs to work on his shot.
Smith: junkyard dog who performs his roll sort of well, but he is over used and his long twos are becoming unbearable.
Illyasova looks average at best.

Center: Vuc is looking to me like a kanter. He doesn't help us win as a team. His rebounds are down this year, he looks disinterested.
Dedmond: a foul machine.

Coach Skiles: gained a lot of haters rather quickly, and has now lost me as a defender. I love how no nonsense he is, and I don't know if our failure is completely his fault, but it's just not working. I think he's lost the team already.

GM Hennigan: I am starting to lose patience with this "organic" rebuild and "keeping the course". We are shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. I do not know what he plans for this summer, but I think he really needs to swing for the fences.





Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Nice breakdown. It seems as though Orlando has constantly gone best player available and as a result doesn't have the best fitting roster. But now decision time is coming in Orlando. Fournier is going to get a big contract offer this summer. He's young, shooting 40% from 3 point range, and a RFA. It's not hard to imagine him getting paid in the Carroll/Matthews range this summer. Oladipo is entering the last year of his rookie deal next season and Payton is a year behind him. Long term it doesn't seem like both Payton and Dipo will be the future back court of the Magic.

Also, I agree with your statement of Vuc possibility being a good stats/bad team player. Also, centers like him are having a hard time making an impact in today's NBA.

So if your the GM what do you do. Clearly you stated that Gordon is your top prospect and see him as a key piece moving forward. Is anyone else on the roster untouchable? Do you keep Dipo or Payton? What do you do with Fournier? Would you move Vucevic? Would you be better off taking a step back and having another year in the top 5 of the draft?

Another interesting scenario to watch in the league.

I don't think we have the ability to get a top 5 pick. What I would do:

Trade vuc(anyone offering anything decent for him?) or put him at backup center.
Keep Gordon
Fournier can stay on a reasonable contract at 6th man or walk.
Mario is untouchable this summer.
If I keep Dipo, I trade Elfrid.
If I keep Elfrid, I trade or move Vuc out of the starting lineup.
If I trade Elfrid, I keep Dipo and trade Vuc.

I want
(Scoring pg)
Dipo
(Scoring wing)
Gordon
(Defensive center)

We really are a mess fit wise.
It's hard to make a single adjustment or two and feel comfortable with the result.

Fire Skiles
And/or
Trade elf
And/or
Trade Vic
And/or trade Vuc

I don't have any faith in this starting unit ever making it anywhere. Major changes needed.





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So if you break it down that way in Hennigans first 3 drafts/years as GM he's landed 2 core pieces (Dipo/Gordon) for the future. Another high ceiling prospect (Mario) and 3 other valuable pieces in Payton, Fournier and Vuc. Plus you have a likely top 10 pick coming up this summer to add another talented young player - my thought is your looking for either another shooter at the 2-3 or an athletic rim protector. Vuc's value is hurt because the league is moving away from slower, offensive minded C's that don't defend the rim. But I think you can get a late 1st for him from a contender. I also think you can get a 1st for Payton, probably mid 1st.

The debate between Payton and Dipo will be helped by how the draft board plays out this spring. if you end up at 7 and grab Buddy Hield you likely trade Dipo and keep Payton but if the board falls the other way and you grab a PG you move Payton.

I agree fit wise your team is a mess, but I think we both agree that it should be easy to re position the assets. Unfortunately, you will likely lose Fournier if you don't wan to pay him like a starting wing, because shooting is a premium and he's one of the best young shooters available.

Stay patient Magic fans. Your heading in the right direction. Just need a little luck in the draft to land that one, truly special player.

[Gomagic44]

I haven't even paid attention to the draft. That was my shiz the last 3 offseasons. Depressing to have to look again.


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[The Rebel]

Denver Nuggets

Background:
Coming off 2 terrible seasons under Shaw where most of the team quit on the coach last January and a roster put together with the idea of competing to make the 2nd round despite most people knowing it would not happen, the Nuggets had to make big changes. Even people in the media do not realize that the Nuggets changed out most of their roster in the 2 years leading up to the new season and are starting 2 rookies and a 21 year old sophomore.

Coach: The Nuggets had a choice between Melvin Hunt, Michael Malone, and D'Antoni to replace Shaw who was fired last march, while he has his warts Malone seems to be the right hire

Draft
#7: While I was not a fan of the Mudiay pick, he has been very good for a rookie at everything but scoring, where he does seem to be improving. I do not think he will ever be a franchise changing talent like the Nuggets seem to think but he can develop into an all star type down the road if his shot and shot selection continues to improve.

#57 - Nikola Radičević- Reportedly a talented young PG, he sustained a hip injury prior to the start of his team’s season in Europe, and will probably be at least a year away from coming to the NBA if he makes it.

Free agent signings
For free agency the Nuggets resigned their own guys.
Nelson was a good signing in that he bring a veteran leader to the team, however signing him to a 3 year 13.5 million deal is already looking like a bad contract as Nelson has spent most of his time in Denver injured.

Darrell Arthur signed a room exception deal which is a 2 year deal with Arthur getting a player option next year, which has been a great value contract but will likely lead to him leaving this summer as he should find a solid market for his skills given his play this year.

Will Barton may have signed the most team friendly contract of last summer in the NBA being on a 3 year $11 million contract.

Gallo and Chandler both signed extensions last year, and while many thought the plan was to trade them later, I think most Nuggets fans are pretty sure the plan has always been to keep them and build with them as they both love Denver and are happy here.

Trades
The Lawson trade was a fiasco, classic case of having a head case and killing his value while hoping you get a better offer. There were reports that the Nuggets had a pick somewhere in the top 10 as recently as the draft, however he had to put out that stupid video and kill that deal, then turn around and pick up another DUI effectively forcing the Nuggets to trade him for cap savings and a swap of a 2nd round pick for a potential 1st round pick.

The Randy Foye deal did a lot to make up for things on the trade front, keeping him and guaranteeing his deal while allowing Ian Clark to walk was seen as a mistake from last summer up until Foye was traded to the Thunder for Augistin , a couple of 2nd round picks, and a bad expiring contract.

Other draft pick signings:
Nikola Jokic was very good in the Adriatic league last year, and has been a top rookie according to advanced stats, they signed him for only 4 years and $5.5 million.

Joffrey Lauvergne was signed about a year ago, so while technically he is a 2nd year player, he was playing in the Euro league about this time last year. He was brought over early to give him the full summer to work with Nuggets staff and so far it has paid off tremendously. He was signed to a 4 year $7.2 million deal with the final 2 years non-guaranteed.

[Golabki]

Thanks for the hindsight and missing the essence of what I was saying

Please read my post and then you won't need to accuse me of hindsight. I was critical of the deal immediately. I was critical of it once they spent the cap space they opened up. And I'm critical of it now. Not because of hindsight, but because it was a terribly short-sighted trade. Period.

I mean they traded a future protected 1st round pick for cap space before knowing they needed it. Texas Chuck - you and I constantly argue about the Knicks giving up value to move Calderon and open cap space before they know if they need it. That's exactly what the Kings did here.

The swaps are a little crazy and that's why people laugh at the deal. They likely won't come into play. Sacramento also believed, when making the deal they were going to become a playoff team or at least be close, send their pick obligation to Chicago next year, and complete the deal with Philly in 2018, giving them top 10 protection on the pick.

The Swaps likely won't come into play, but a 10% chance of overpaying by 100x is the same as overpaying by 10x.

The Brooklyn picks that Boston got were very unlikely (at the time) to be top 5 picks. Doesn't mean King should get a pass.

[R-DAWG]

Please read my post and then you won't need to accuse me of hindsight. I was critical of the deal immediately. I was critical of it once they spent the cap space they opened up. And I'm critical of it now. Not because of hindsight, but because it was a terribly short-sighted trade. Period.

I mean they traded a future protected 1st round pick for cap space before knowing they needed it. Texas Chuck - you and I constantly argue about the Knicks giving up value to move Calderon and open cap space before they know if they need it. That's exactly what the Kings did here.

The swaps are a little crazy and that's why people laugh at the deal. They likely won't come into play. Sacramento also believed, when making the deal they were going to become a playoff team or at least be close, send their pick obligation to Chicago next year, and complete the deal with Philly in 2018, giving them top 10 protection on the pick.

The Swaps likely won't come into play, but a 10% chance of overpaying by 100x is the same as overpaying by 10x.

The Brooklyn picks that Boston got were very unlikely (at the time) to be top 5 picks. Doesn't mean King should get a pass.

That's true. No one expected that Deron Williams would become so bad that Brooklyn had to pay him to leave. But there's huge risk is trading picks 3, 4 and 5 years into the future. Sports can change very quickly. Deron Williams isn't the only player to go from star to average over a 3 year period.

[Warriorfan]

GS Warriors.

Traded

David Lee for G Wallace for Jason Thompson who was cut and stretched for Andy Verajao

Drafted
Kevin Looney for cast lottery pick missed time to recovery from hip surgery. It's early but mgmt us happy with rebounder shooter.

Free Agency
Ian Clark has contributed played in 40 plus games this year.

[R-DAWG]

GS Warriors.

Traded

David Lee for G Wallace for Jason Thompson who was cut and stretched for Andy Verajao

Drafted
Kevin Looney for cast lottery pick missed time to recovery from hip surgery. It's early but mgmt us happy with rebounder shooter.

Free Agency
Ian Clark has contributed played in 40 plus games this year.

In short, fire your GM!!!!!!!!!

[HartfordWhalers]

Okay, so here goes my longer Philly take.


Philadelphia 76ers

The Plan

Get the assets that can lead to sustained success in the future (consistent 50+ win championship contender status)

The Grade

Incomplete/Unknown?

I'm a massive advocate of you cannot pass the buck and then go back and judge a trade after the fact, its about the value at the time. And so I should have a grade at the time.

But the team has 2 giant questions:
1) Who stays/goes of Okafor/Noel/Embiid
2) Who is in charge of deciding 1.

And it is not fully clear on either. Which for the second is bad news, and for the first makes it hard to judge the biggest offseason move -- picking Okafor.

So, last things first.

Front Office

Both Colangelo and Hinkie have in essence given public statements that they are the ones with final decision making and in charge. Not good. Colangelo has threatened to hire a replacement front office person to take over all the things that aren't the things that Hinkie does well. Hinkie has made a crack about Colangelo still being awake at night because he's so old he should be asleep.

It seems... untenable. Along the way Woj has weighed in and called Colangelo usurping Hinkie and taunted Brett Brown to public out Hinkie as lying on his Kendall Marshall comments to Lowe. And Brett Brown has refused to answer in a way that implicates the lying, but has also made a bunch of comments that side with Colangelo versus Hinkie on things like using a 15th man on Brand.

If I had to guess who the people that sometimes know stuff think is in control, its still Hinkie. Otherwise COlangelo would have hired Colangelo by now and pushed Hinkie out. But you also have Hinkie when asked if he would do the Saric trade and get a 1st a high 2nd and a guy viewed as equal prospect but 2 years away from coming again as he would 'vote yes' implying he doesn't get to just pick.

At the end of the day, an ownership group has final say. And thats true everywhere. But in a strong great franchise, that ownership group empowers a GM/president to be in charge and then steps back. Right now its not clear if Philly has that guy, if so who it is, or if they are entering the precipice of a poorly managed franchise where at any moment ownership could side with a different faction. Needless to say, I'm worried. Also, worried. And worried. Besides that? Worried. But...

Maybe Hinkie is still in charge (trade deadline sounded like it) and Colangelo is the public face and the detergent that makes everything look clean after the tanking. And appeases a minority owner. Maybe Colangelo is in charge fully and is just playfully referring to Saric as "that Euro guy' and really knows who the roster is and didn't just have to goggle them like he said. Maybe he is a great exec who does things for team USA and will bring the franchise to greatness and is already empowered.

Did I mention I'm worried?

Front Office stability -- F-/inc/????/ WTF/ help me/ this is all Okafor's fault.

Okafor:

This is probably the basis of everyone else's grades. Okafor's been incredibly gifted as a scorer. Help defense started horrible, but its been improving. Man defense is actually very good, which is why he has such good synergy stats. There is a lot of hate on Okafor for the on offs andthen the on off derived stats, but its mostly ignorant to be blunt. The Sixers defense gives up a similar fg% in comparable situations with Oakfor on and off, with the actual difference that the team gives up a metric ton more turnovers when Okafor plays as the guards are overmatched for playing a feed the post offense and the result is a bunch of easy baskets going back the other way.

So, on talent it seems a pretty good pick. And the upside is tantalizing as heck -- 17.5 points per game on a 53.6% TS% on the Sixers is amazing, least of all for a rookie. But the question is fit. Between Noel, Okafor, and Embiid seems hard to see that a trade doesn't happen. So, who goes? And is {Return for Okafor} + Noel better than guy other than Okafor + Noel? Is Okafor and {Return for Noel} better than other guy and Noel?

That is really hard to answer, and the ultimate question is not has Okafor looked like a good 3rd pick (imo he has, although obviously Porzingis has been intriguing). But its also worth mentioning, his drunken fisticuffs lead to the front office debacle explained above. So thats not good.

The Draft in general
The Sixers went into the draft with #3, #35, #37, #47, #58 and #60.

The end result:
Okafor at #3,
Holmes at #37,
JP Tokoto at #58 (cut).
1.5m cash, 2 future Knicks 2nd round picks (from 35).
#47 and #60 filler in Sac trade.

Holmes has been a revelation. He's been really really great and high energy, amazing on the offensive glass and then equally horrific on the defense glass. Definitely not 20 players showing more, so a nice steal.

Hard to argue the value of the #35 for 2 2nds and cash, and you can only bring in so many rookies. Granted, without the cash I dislike it, and cash never plays.

Free Agency

McConnell has flirted with being on and off the rookie ladder as a top 10 performer, which isn't so bad for an undrafted 21st invite to a 20 man camp. Was pretty torn up when the team cut Wood, but he is back. Marshall was signed to be the 'starting' pg, and he looks like a bad contract. Thankfully its all unguaranteed, and supposedly Milwaukee offered Ennis for him and Philly said no (i'm skeptical unless they wanted to salary dump Ennis).

Oh, and the team signed a 99 year old Brand.

Trades

-- The Sacramento trade was perfect for Philly, and enough ink has been spread on it. But it alone powers a solid grade.
-- The GS trade was solid. Moved JT 3.65m next year into this year and grabbed cash too.
-- The Ish Smith trade was a panic move as a result of the above mentioned front office debacles, and poor value. Ish had a 44% TS%, was an expiring min contract guy and was waived and Philly didn't claim him. 2 high 2nds is an overpay by more than double. The good news? Noel recovered and became a monster after it. And Okafor's efficiency took off as well. The bad news? Ish doesn't have a positive impact on team play, eats way too many possessions and is an expiring aging vet that relies on natural quickness who's contribution to winning this year is moving a 7 team win to 8 wins? =/ But ut did help the team's spirits recover short term.
-- The Joel Anthony trade that wasn't. This was picture perfect Hinkie. Hit the floor, save 15m, get a high 2nd, but for not now when you don't need it. And then it wasn't.

-- The nets pick trade that wasn't with Boston for Okafor? Talk about interesting non trade rumors, this one gets up there. And the best thing? Its uncertain even if it should or should not have happened.

The Review
Besides the front office uncertainty, the which big stays uncertainty and the what you get for which big that goes out uncertainty Philly has 2 big open questions:
Where does Philly pick after finally hopefully slating as the worst team
Does the Lakers pick convey at 4/5 or get rolled over.

Perhaps more than anything Philly did, the lotto ball odds will determine what most think of if the year was a success. But the front office questions are a dark cloud.

The bright side is how well Noel and Okafor have played, which I entirely skipped with Noel until here but still is important.