Discussing Other Teams' Moves Part 3

[dckingsfan]

Is Charlotte for real?

They haven't really be a good team...

[Kanyewest]

I'd trade anyone on the Wizards roster not named John Wall or Bradley Beal for Faried.

Even Eric Maynor?

[verbal8]

Is Charlotte for real?

They haven't really be a good team...

I think mainly they have been benefiting from a weak schedule. If Zeller, Walker and MKG improve they might be a play-off team. Also they recently have gotten Al Jefferson back, so that could help them stay in the play-off hunt.

[LyricalRico]

Wow! Two years, $48.5M extension for Kobe! And he's not even back from the achilles injury yet.

[tontoz]

Danny Ferry is doing a good job in Atlanta. As soon as he took the job he got rid of JJ's seemingly untradable contract. That trade gives them the right to swap 1st round picks with the Nets this year.

Letting Smith walk and signing Milsap appears to be a good move too. They have some productive players on relatively cheap deals and are one of only 3 teams in the east with a winning record.

[Ruzious]

I'm skeptical about Atlanta because they reportedly preferred Brandon Jennings to Teague, and only matched Teague's offer sheet after it became clear that they couldn't come to an agreement with Jennings. And I think they need a lot more depth to stay above .500.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Someone explain the Suns to me. They are 7th in the league in defensive rating and their top 8 minutes leaders are, in order: PJ Tucker, Miles Plumlee, Eric Bledsoe, Gerald Green, Channing Frye, Dragic, and the Morris twins.

Plumlee is an athletic shot blocker. Frye blocks shots. Tucker is a hustle player who plays physically forceful defense. Bledsoe is also physical and very fast on perimeter defense. He is a ball hawk who can gamble because he has shot blockers behind him. Also, Markieff Morris is a good defender. Even Gerald Green can block shots.

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[Ruzious]

Someone explain the Suns to me. They are 7th in the league in defensive rating and their top 8 minutes leaders are, in order: PJ Tucker, Miles Plumlee, Eric Bledsoe, Gerald Green, Channing Frye, Dragic, and the Morris twins.

Plumlee is an athletic shot blocker. Frye blocks shots. Tucker is a hustle player who plays physically forceful defense. Bledsoe is also physical and very fast on perimeter defense. He is a ball hawk who can gamble because he has shot blockers behind him. Also, Markieff Morris is a good defender. Even Gerald Green can block shots.

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I always thought Marcus Morris could play. His improvement in scoring efficiency this season has been great to see - still got to cut down on the to's. I think fisher's point is - All of those players - with the possible exceptions of Bledsoe and Dragic - could have been had for a ham sandwich on rye with a sour pickle a year or so ago.

[verbal8]

Wow! Two years, $48.5M extension for Kobe! And he's not even back from the achilles injury yet.

But he gave them a $19 million discount.

[verbal8]

Rose is out for the season

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... ee-Surgery

[Ruzious]

Rose is out for the season

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... ee-Surgery

That's horrible.

Trade Wall for him. Imagine the tank team we could have next season.

[nate33]

Gilbert Arenas, Part II.

[LyricalRico]

Gilbert Arenas, Part II.

I'd actually say more like Penny Hardaway. Gil only had one injury and he was the one that made it worse by self-rehabbing. Rose is more just bad luck IMO.

And the worst part is that the East is so bad that it's going to be hard for Chicago to tank unless they start unloading players. I actually think that's what they should do. They weren't going to sign Deng to a market-sized deal, and they were likely going to amnesty Boozer. My understanding is that they just wanted to see if they could compete for a title this year before letting those guys go.

After the Rose surgery, they would still likely be a playoff team but there's no way they beat either Miami or Indiana in the playoffs. Might as well sell off the assets they were going to lose anyway and get something for them IMO.

[LyricalRico]

Wow! Two years, $48.5M extension for Kobe! And he's not even back from the achilles injury yet.

But he gave them a $19 million discount.

Yes, how generous of him.

What really bothers me is that this pretty much makes it clear IMO that he doesn't care about giving the team the flexibility to bring in another star and also a few good mid-level pieces (otherwise he would have taken less money like Duncan did in SA). Kobe wants to get no. 6 and 7 on his own, or take the franchise down trying. I guess Kupchak has to start looking at deals at the deadline for guys with some years left on their deals. Other than that, how are they going to build a team?

Unless of course they are expecting the rag-tag group they currently have to maintain this level of play once Kobe returns and then all re-sign for cheap...

[Nivek]

I can see why some would like for a guy like Kobe to take a discount bigger than the one he took. I don't view that as his responsibility, though. The team has loads of flexibility coming even with this extension for Kobe. A good GM ought to be able to assemble a good team. But, this is a business and Kobe's playing days are nearing their end. If I was in his position, I'd want to win, but I'd also want to make a buttload of money as well. It's not like he'll have another opportunity to make $48 million over two years at some point in the future.

All that said, from the Lakers side of things I don't see how this makes a bit of sense. He's had a terrific career, but he peaked 8 years ago and he's not going to suddenly get better. At this point, he's not productive enough to be the alpha player on a championship team (if he ever was). I know that I wouldn't want to be in the position of spending the next three years trying to build a title contender around a 35+ year old who's coming off a torn Achilles.

[fishercob]

Yep. The deal makes financial sense for LA in that they'll sell out their arena (and every road arena, for which they get a piece of the pie) through the life of this deal; they'll continue to profit off of Kobe. But from a cap perspective, it makes little sense to me.

Kobe must be pretty comfortable with his legacy, because if his first priority was really winning another title, he would have given the Lakers more cap flexibility with which to build a roster. I don't judge him for it by any means, but I don't see them winning much with him taking up 40% of their cap space.

[Ruzious]

I'd question the idea that Kobe is going to attract free agents - which I assume Mitch is banking on. It sure didn't work out with Howard. Unless you win a championship with Kobe, you'll most likely get depicted as a loser. God help you if you take a game off. And you will have to sublimate your ego to his. And Hill is likely going to command a big raise to re-sign - if he stays healthy.

I do think LAL and Kobe made the right choice with the contract. Kobe's earned it, and he makes the team better. But they'll most likely fall short of expectations.

[verbal8]

I don't really blame Kobe too much for this. It is pretty hard to turn down nearly $50 million when you aren't even playing. I think short of getting LeBron the Lakers are not wining a championship during this contract.

I think the only way the Lakers would have been able to build a contender would be to retain Gasol and Kobe on well below market extensions that would make them attractive to a big name FA, and have some cap space for another piece or two.

It looks like plan A is get a side-kick for Kobe add the vet-min/D-League all-stars and chase the bottom of the play-offs. Plan B is probably to split the cap space on a couple guys.

It could end up paying off financially for the Lakers. If they can assemble the team under the luxury tax and are in the play-off hunt, things should be pretty good financially. I guess they figured they had leverage now since Kobe isn't playing, but you would have thought they could have kept him cheaper.

All that said, from the Lakers side of things I don't see how this makes a bit of sense. He's had a terrific career, but he peaked 8 years ago and he's not going to suddenly get better. At this point, he's not productive enough to be the alpha player on a championship team (if he ever was). I know that I wouldn't want to be in the position of spending the next three years trying to build a title contender around a 35+ year old who's coming off a torn Achilles.

[LyricalRico]

It looks like plan A is get a side-kick for Kobe add the vet-min/D-League all-stars and chase the bottom of the play-offs. Plan B is probably to split the cap space on a couple guys.

I actually doubt that's what Kobe is signing up for. He wants to compete for titles, not the 8th spot. From the perspective of LA's finances, they'll be fine. But I'm sure Kobe wants another ring or two, which is why I thought he might accept a lower amount so they could acquire more pieces around him. I don't doubt that he's earned it, I just thought he might take a different approach. I guess I was wrong.

[Rafael122]

There's no way they can field a competitive team with Kobe, Anthony and a bunch of scrubs. And it will be even more short sighted if they extend Gasol and Hill and eat into their cap space. Lakers had a chance at rebuilding quickly and this deal kinda puts a damper on it.