Discussing Other Teams' Moves

[TGW]

The thought of these superteams is making me sick. It's obvious this CBA did nothing to protect teams from losing their franchise players for little to no compensation. I mean no offense to Pau Gasol...he's a very good player...but for the Lakers to go from Kwame Brown to Pau Gasol to Dwight Howard just turns me off as an NBA fan.

[Ruzious]

Clippers offer DeAndre Jordan 5 years/40 million.

I think this puts the price tag for Nene, Chandler, Dalembert and probably West over $10 million/season.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... _$40M_Deal

West shouldn't get anything close to that. He's 31 and coming off a serious injury. Remember, Jordan is a young athletic strongly built 7 footer who really turned some heads, and those guys tend to get overpaid. Nene and Chandler - yes, but that was already pretty much a given. Dally - maybe but probably not.

[badinage]

The thought of these superteams is making me sick. It's obvious this CBA did nothing to protect teams from losing their franchise players for little to no compensation. I mean no offense to Pau Gasol...he's a very good player...but for the Lakers to go from Kwame Brown to Pau Gasol to Dwight Howard just turns me off as an NBA fan.

TOTAL turn off.

If it happens, I'll be kicking myself for praying for an end to the lockout.

Stern'll love it. So will fans.

A few great teams, and the rest of the franchises as patsies there mainly to fatten the fat-cats.

The problem with the NBA is that, right now, there are only two clear routes to winning: drafting a dominant, Hall of Fame talent or having loads of money + a desirable location.

The league needs to work it so that other avenues to success can be opened up.

If not -- and I think "not" is the reality -- then no matter how good a builder Leonsis is and how we go about our business as a franchise, we're F U C K E D . . .

[Nivek]

The new CBA was status quo except for one thing: bad teams in small markets are guaranteed to be profitable. Everyone can now spend about the same amount as a team, and on individual players. So, logically top-shelf players will choose their teams based on non-team salary factors like chances of winning, the teammates, proximity to friends and family, uniform color, weather, local taxes, off-court financial opportunities, etc., etc., etc.

[nate33]

For argument's sake, let's assume LA trades Bynum for Howard, and the Knicks somehow land Paul. If that scenario comes to pass, we will have a situation where 9 of the league's top 14 or so players are on just 3 teams:

Distribution of top 14 players
LA: Howard, Kobe, Gasol
NY: Paul, Amare, Melo
MIA: Lebron, Wade, Bosh*
Everyone else: Nowitzki, Durant, Rose, D.Williams, Duncan



* I realize that Bosh's appearance in the top 14 is debateable. He's really in the same tier as a handful of other guys including Aldridge, Bogut, Rondo, Horford, Garnett and Pierce.

[Nivek]

I wouldn't put Amare or Melo in the top 14 either, but your point is still well made. They're widely perceived to be among the game's elite players.

[nate33]

I can agree that Melo might not belong in the top 14. I think Amare does though. With the exception of Nowitzki, he is the most prolific scoring big man of the past 5 years. I realize he's not much of a rebounder and he's a disinterested defender, but bigs that score 20+ points per 36 with efficiency are extremely rare.

[closg00]

^ Amare yes, Melo no. Melo is extremely overrated IMO.

[Nivek]

I agree that Amare is more arguable than Carmelo. I'd have to go through and actually do a list to make sure. My guess is that I could come up with more than 14 players I'd want over Amare. I KNOW I could do that for Carmelo. Which is one of the reasons I'm confident they're going to be a chronic "underachiever" in the next few seasons.

If I was a Knicks fan, one of the things that would concern me about Amare was the significant drop in efficiency when he left Phoenix.

[pancakes3]

Am i hopelessly naive in thinking that an honest-to-goodness team can legitimately contend without whoring themselves out and gun for a future HOF? That a team that's solid 1-5 can compete against juggernauts + roleplayers? I really admired the pistons taking out the lakeshow and to an extent even how the spurs are remaining relavant and the grizzlies making playoff noise. I think we've got a stud in wall and really good pieces around him. Am i in the minority in being glad not wanting to be a part of the cp3/dwight hullabahoo?

[LyricalRico]

What the teams combining for a 3-way if Orlando wants to still compete in the East and NOH want Bynum to start their rebuilding?

Lakers trade: Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Metta, Blake, 2 firsts
Lakers receive: Paul, Howard, Arenas, Turkgolu

Magic trade: Howard, Arenas, Turkgolu, R.Anderson
Magic receive: Okafor, Gasol, Metta, 2 LAL firsts

Hornets trade: Paul, Okafor
Hornets receive: Bynum, Odom, R.Anderson

TRADE ID 5935921

Why for NOH? They get a young big for Paul, plus other serviceable players to help fill out their roster for this season. They also clear out Okafor's longterm salary without having to use the amnesty provision (Odom's last year is only partially guaranteed).

Bynum/D.Anderson
Odom/R.Anderson
Ariza/Ewing
Belinelli(?)/Pondexter
Jack/FA

Why for Orlando? They don't get Bynum, but they do get to remain competitive in the East while they decide on a new direction for their franchise.

Okafor/Gasol
Gasol/Bass
Metta/QRich
Redick/QRich
Nelson/Duhon

Why for Los Angeles? They'd need some backup bigs off the scrap heap, but they set themselves up for a few more title runs. Maybe offer Blake+Walton for a an overpaid PF like Drew Gooden?

Howard/FA
Gooden(?)/Caracter
Turkgolu/Ebanks
Kobe/Arenas
Paul/Fisher

[hands11]

The thought of these superteams is making me sick. It's obvious this CBA did nothing to protect teams from losing their franchise players for little to no compensation. I mean no offense to Pau Gasol...he's a very good player...but for the Lakers to go from Kwame Brown to Pau Gasol to Dwight Howard just turns me off as an NBA fan.

TOTAL turn off.

If it happens, I'll be kicking myself for praying for an end to the lockout.

Stern'll love it. So will fans.

A few great teams, and the rest of the franchises as patsies there mainly to fatten the fat-cats.

The problem with the NBA is that, right now, there are only two clear routes to winning: drafting a dominant, Hall of Fame talent or having loads of money + a desirable location.

The league needs to work it so that other avenues to success can be opened up.

If not -- and I think "not" is the reality -- then no matter how good a builder Leonsis is and how we go about our business as a franchise, we're F U C K E D . . .

This is why I was on the owners side and since this has ended I have been saying the owners got screwed again.

[hands11]

Am i hopelessly naive in thinking that an honest-to-goodness team can legitimately contend without whoring themselves out and gun for a future HOF? That a team that's solid 1-5 can compete against juggernauts + roleplayers? I really admired the pistons taking out the lakeshow and to an extent even how the spurs are remaining relavant and the grizzlies making playoff noise. I think we've got a stud in wall and really good pieces around him. Am i in the minority in being glad not wanting to be a part of the cp3/dwight hullabahoo?

Not sure if it is a minority or majority but I did an entire essay (lol) on the topic.

I would rather root for a team that is mostly home grown. That doesn't mean you can't get player from other teams. Gil for example. He was young enough and still unproven enough that he felt home grown. Same with Crawford. He was still a rookie.

I personally don't want a Miami or New York type team. I want a SA, OKC type team.

Part 2

Report: Mavs Freeing Up Cap Space To Pursue Deron

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... z1foULuF6X

This may be smart for Dallas. Kid is getting really old and Chandler, while good, isnt worth a max. But if they can sign him to a good deal they should. Getting one title may be better then trying for a second and screwing yourself. Maybe they need to skip a year and go for it again in 2013. But replacing Chandler will not be easy for them. Haywood is 32.

Though call for Dallas. They do need to reload while Dirke is young enough to do it again.

[verbal8]

The Clips trade of Baron Davis for Mo Williams has looked terrible, but it looks even worse with their pursuit of Chris Paul.

Reportedly they are not including Gordon or DeAndre Jordan in a trade package. I don't think they really have the assets to make a strong enough offer without doing that. However if they had Irving, he and Aminu would be a good basis of an offer. They also would have enough assets to make a run at Dwight Howard. If it wasn't the Clippers, I would think they are holding out Gordon and Jordan because they are looking to package Jordan and Gordon for a superstar to have their own "big 3" of Paul, Griffin and other superstar.

[hands11]

Clippers offer DeAndre Jordan five years, $40 million

The money is start to fly.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... 0-million/

[Nivek]

The thought of these superteams is making me sick. It's obvious this CBA did nothing to protect teams from losing their franchise players for little to no compensation. I mean no offense to Pau Gasol...he's a very good player...but for the Lakers to go from Kwame Brown to Pau Gasol to Dwight Howard just turns me off as an NBA fan.

TOTAL turn off.

If it happens, I'll be kicking myself for praying for an end to the lockout.

Stern'll love it. So will fans.

A few great teams, and the rest of the franchises as patsies there mainly to fatten the fat-cats.

The problem with the NBA is that, right now, there are only two clear routes to winning: drafting a dominant, Hall of Fame talent or having loads of money + a desirable location.

The league needs to work it so that other avenues to success can be opened up.

If not -- and I think "not" is the reality -- then no matter how good a builder Leonsis is and how we go about our business as a franchise, we're F U C K E D . . .

This is why I was on the owners side and since this has ended I have been saying the owners got screwed again.

The owners got what they wanted -- again. If they end up screwed, they did it to themselves.

[Rafael122]

It's just amusing the owners talked about competitive balance and we may see D12 and CP3 bolt their respective teams. It's hilarious really. Nothing has changed, players still make their money and will still go wherever they want.

[verbal8]

It's just amusing the owners talked about competitive balance and we may see D12 and CP3 bolt their respective teams. It's hilarious really. Nothing has changed, players still make their money and will still go wherever they want.

I think the owners got a big victory in the short term. They lowered the players BRI and losing the pre-Christmas games is probably a bonus for them. However in the long term very little changed.

[Rafael122]

Players always knew the BRI would lower though. That they knew. Everything else, besides some minor tweaks...nothing has changed. Bet you 6 years from now we're going to see the owners pull out of the current deal. It's a 10 year deal with an opt out after the 6th year.

[closg00]

Philly is offering mezzanine level Tix for $17.76, wow!! I believe the comparable Verizon center Tix are in the $50+ range. Philly is really trying to bring-back fans and fill-up their arena.