***Around The League Off-Season Edition***

[Jammer]

OKC will be scary good. Westbrook and PG13 are not ideal facilitators but both played as main ballhandlers in the past so they will figure out. New York assembled a pretty bad roster in terms of contracts. Noah, Hardaway, Kanter. I wonder if we had a chance with Dieng, Aldrich and OKC pick.

Reasons why Carmello Anthony is not a good fit for the Wolves:

Carmello does not set screens
Carmello does not act as a decoy (i.e. if he runs thru the lane you better pass him the damn ball and not swing it to a shooter)
Carmello hustles about half the plays, maybe
Carmello likes to ISO, but when he ISOs, he shoots. Hhas blinders to teammates (like a 3 point shooter in the corner).

[Calinks]

As long as Melo has that silky smooth jump shot, he's a problem. Don't forget his days in Denver when he used to torch us 4 times a season. I am sure he will have some turn the clock back games this season as far as shooting goes and we might be the victim of one of those if our defense isn't up to par.

[King Malta]

OKC have still got to get all these guys their touches on offense. Also, maybe I'm being harsh on Russ, but how willing is he going to be to defer after the season he just had? He's been doing it all himself for 12 months and now he's got two other ball dominant guys to work alongside in the offense (perhaps 3 if Wade decides to go there too).

Don't get me wrong, they'll be good, but I can see us being better if everything clicks.

[Jammer]

Dwyane Wade's agreed to forfeit $8 million of this season's $23.8 Million salary, and has just been bought out.

Wade will be 36 on January 12.

Suitors in the press at this point include:
Cleveland (can offer $2.5 Million but will pay another $10 million in luxury tax)
Miami (has $4.3 Million MLE)
San Antonio (can offer $3.3 Million)
OKC (can offer 10 year vet minimum of $2.3 Million)

[Crazy-Canuck]

Lavine will have the green light to take 20+ shots a game every night. Bulls aren't a threat, so teams aren't even going to game plan for them. Lavine will be one of the league leaders in scoring this year. He's going to have some Monday games this year much like Booker except Chicago has less offensive talent.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[mplsfonz23]

It's not news but I found this funny....

K Love on trade rumors.

“I just take it with a grain of salt at this point and know that wherever I am, I want to be here, it’s well-documented, I want to compete for a championship. But at the end of the day I know that it’s a business and anything can happen at any given moment. I’ve just got to keep my head down and keep working and keep my damn mouth shut and go out there and try and perform.

[Grits n Gravy]

Jamychal Green back to Grizzlies on 2/17 deal
We so should of had him

[Mattya]

Jamychal Green back to Grizzlies on 2/17 deal
We so should of had him

He was an restricted free agent, we don't know how much the Grizzlies would have matched.

[Grits n Gravy]

Jamychal Green back to Grizzlies on 2/17 deal
We so should of had him

He was an restricted free agent, we don't know how much the Grizzlies would have matched.

I understand that but the fact that he signed so cheap and the Grizzlies cap situation with big deals in Conley, Gasol and Parsons leads me to believe we could of had him or worked out a sign and trade.

[MN7725]

Jamychal Green back to Grizzlies on 2/17 deal
We so should of had him

He was an restricted free agent, we don't know how much the Grizzlies would have matched.

exactly, true of any RFA and why so few actually switch teams

VERY difficult to find that sweet spot of not overpaying for a marginal player, yet high enough $ so the matching team will pass on

2017- Hardaway Jr, Galloway
2016- Dellabadova, Boban
2015- O'Quinn, D Will
2014- Parsons

Thats it in the last 4 offseasons out of 70+ RFAs

[Mattya]

Jamychal Green back to Grizzlies on 2/17 deal
We so should of had him

He was an restricted free agent, we don't know how much the Grizzlies would have matched.

I understand that but the fact that he signed so cheap and the Grizzlies cap situation with big deals in Conley, Gasol and Parsons leads me to believe we could of had him or worked out a sign and trade.

For what though? For all we know they view him as worth the money Gorgui or Taj are making, but the market just worked out in their favor at the negotiating table. We really don't have much to offer that I think they would value more than Green.

[Grits n Gravy]

He was an restricted free agent, we don't know how much the Grizzlies would have matched.

I understand that but the fact that he signed so cheap and the Grizzlies cap situation with big deals in Conley, Gasol and Parsons leads me to believe we could of had him or worked out a sign and trade.

For what though? For all we know they view him as worth the money Gorgui or Taj are making, but the market just worked out in their favor at the negotiating table. We really don't have much to offer that I think they would value more than Green.

Well it wouldn't have hurt to test them on the opening of free agency even if we came away without him and lost 3 days of offered cap space.

[KGdaBom]

Lavine will have the green light to take 20+ shots a game every night. Bulls aren't a threat, so teams aren't even going to game plan for them. Lavine will be one of the league leaders in scoring this year. He's going to have some Monday games this year much like Booker except Chicago has less offensive talent.

Turns out that LaVine despite some glowing health reports earlier, probably won't play until at least December and maybe not until 2018.

[Mattya]

I understand that but the fact that he signed so cheap and the Grizzlies cap situation with big deals in Conley, Gasol and Parsons leads me to believe we could of had him or worked out a sign and trade.

For what though? For all we know they view him as worth the money Gorgui or Taj are making, but the market just worked out in their favor at the negotiating table. We really don't have much to offer that I think they would value more than Green.

Well it wouldn't have hurt to test them on the opening of free agency even if we came away without him and lost 3 days of offered cap space.

Yea and you likely end up paying far more than this amount.

[Grits n Gravy]

For what though? For all we know they view him as worth the money Gorgui or Taj are making, but the market just worked out in their favor at the negotiating table. We really don't have much to offer that I think they would value more than Green.

Well it wouldn't have hurt to test them on the opening of free agency even if we came away without him and lost 3 days of offered cap space.

Yea and you likely end up paying far more than this amount.

Of course - I would have offered him like 15-17 million per year, a bit more than we gave Taj.

[Slim Tubby]

Lavine will have the green light to take 20+ shots a game every night. Bulls aren't a threat, so teams aren't even going to game plan for them. Lavine will be one of the league leaders in scoring this year. He's going to have some Monday games this year much like Booker except Chicago has less offensive talent.

Turns out that LaVine despite some glowing health reports earlier, probably won't play until at least December and maybe not until 2018.

That's too bad if true but he's still very young. I was okay with including him in the trade for Butler but I'm still a huge fan of Zach's. I don't watch a lot of other NBA teams but I'll make a point to check out the Bulls when he's back healthy. Of course, I can't wait until he agrees to come back to the Wolves in FA. (I'm dreaming of course.)

[Klomp]

Changes to lottery odds:
1. 25 to 14
2. 19.9 to 14
3. 15.6 to 14
4. 11.9 to 12.5
5. 8.8 to 10.5
6. 6.3 to 9.0
7. 4.3 to 7.5
8. 2.8 to 6.0
9. 1.7 to 4.5
10. 1.1 to 3.0
11. 0.8 to 2.0
12. 0.7 to 1.5
13. 0.6 to 1.0
14. 0.5 to 0.5

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20851002/nba-board-governors-votes-pass-legislation-draft-lottery-reform-guidelines-resting-healthy-players

Also, they'll now draw the top 4 picks instead of the top 3. So a team could fall as many as four spots from where they ended the season.

[Calinks]

Changes to lottery odds:
1. 25 to 14
2. 19.9 to 14
3. 15.6 to 14
4. 11.9 to 12.5
5. 8.8 to 10.5
6. 6.3 to 9.0
7. 4.3 to 7.5
8. 2.8 to 6.0
9. 1.7 to 4.5
10. 1.1 to 3.0
11. 0.8 to 2.0
12. 0.7 to 1.5
13. 0.6 to 1.0
14. 0.5 to 0.5

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20851002/nba-board-governors-votes-pass-legislation-draft-lottery-reform-guidelines-resting-healthy-players

Also, they'll now draw the top 4 picks instead of the top 3. So a team could fall as many as four spots from where they ended the season.

Someone is going to tank and get burned HARD lol

[Klomp]

Someone is going to tank and get burned HARD lol

That's the hope