Your team's year in review!

[buckboy]

44% ts. Lord.

[HornetJail]

Never been happier to eat crow...

I was pretty vocally disgusted with our offseason moves:

-passing on Winslow and a mother load offer from Boston (found later to actually be crap, but whatever)
-drafting Frank Kaminsky
-trading Lance for a useless Hawes on a longer contract
-trading off Hendo and Vonleh (who I thought and still do think is a terrific prospect) for a one-year rental of Batum
-keeping Al
-keeping Marvin
-letting Biyombo walk and not attempting to get any kind of frontcourt defense in an attempt to boost the offense

I was pretty pissed off with all of these moves and non-moves. Out of all them, letting Biyombo walk and not replacing his defense is the only thing that has harmed us this season. Frank's been good (we could've used Winslow especially this year, but it is what it is). Hawes hasn't been as bad as expected (that's for a different discussion, and we managed to also nab Jeremy Lamb in the same trade so that was good. Nic was worth the risk- still love Vonleh, but Nic has been terrific all year and I think we will retain him. Keeping Al hasn't hurt us too much, since he hasn't stayed on the court enough to make our defense crappy and he's coming off the bench when he does play, which is good for everyone involved. Marvin has had a career renaissance- no idea where this came from. Kind of disappointed we kept PJ as long as we did, but I'm happy with the return we got, even though I've hardly seen Lee play since we got him, he's got a good reputation.

B+ season for Rich Cho. It'll turn into an A if we retain Batum.

[Hawk Eye]

Atlanta Hawks

The Plan

Get back to the ECF. Hope for a much better showing aginst the Cavs. Try to at least sniff or come close to the success from the previous season.

The Draft

We went into the draft with the #15 pick and ended up trading it (Kelly Oubre) for #19 and two Washington future 2nd's. We then proceeded to trade #19 (Jerian Grant) for Tim Hardaway Jr. Although he is finally starting to come around a little bit, I still stand by the fact that THJ was not worth #19.

I dont see a problem with the first trade on draft night--picked up future assets and i assumed there would be another guy avaiable at #19 that Bud liked. I just didn't know that guy would be THJ. He's spent just about the entire season in the D-League up until about the last 3-4 weeks. Hopefully he continues to improve and develop.

Overall, it wasn't the best of draft nights for Bud and Wes. The Hawks have an aging core and could have used some young talent to develop. All we really have to show for the past 3 drafts that classifies as young talent is Schroder and to a much lesser extent Tavares. I just dont think locking into a quickly aging core with no young talent in the background to develop and take the reigns in the future is smart GM'ing.

Free Agency

We almost lost Millsap to Orlando so I have to give Bud credit for retaining him. He has been without a doubt our best player this entire season.

Lost DeMarre to the raps but there was no way we cold outbid their offer. DeMarre has definitely been missed this season. We've been starting bazemore at SF all season and he's just too small to guard the bigger wings.

Did Pop a solid by taking in Splitter for free so the spurs could sign LMA. Man what a disaster that turned out to be. He's basically been dinged up all year and in the minutes he was getting there was nothing impressive about him. He was suppose to solve our rebounding issues but now he's just taking up cap space. Maybe he will look better next season after the recent hip surgery.

Signed Justin Holiday who basically just got garbage minutes.

Brought over our 7"3 mystery man Walter Tavares from overseas on a 3 year/3 million contract. I know a lot of Hawks fans that are hoping he becomes the next Rudy Gobert. He still has a long way to go and many parts of his game to develop so we'll see.

Trades/Buyout

Traded Shelvin Mack and Justin Holiday for Kirk Hinrich at the deadline. Mack wasn't getting any burn behind Teague & Schroder. This was really about opening up a roster spot to chase a big on the buyout market so we don't have to see Mike Muscala as the first big off our bench..

I was pissed when we missed out on David Lee, Hickson, and Varejao. But Kris Humprhies was a better option then all 3 of those guys imo so I'm glad we got him. He should definitely get some quality minutes for the rest of the season with us.

The Review

There are SO many problems with the Hawks this season. I could make a mile long list of the reasons why we've dropped off this year. I didnt think we would be a 60 win team again but I expected to be a hell of a lot better than 4-5 games above .500 Its hard to judge GM Bud when we just don't know what offers were on the table for Teague and Horford at the trade deadline. I do think one of two decisions needed to be made at the deadline though. Either A) make a trade for the long term improvement of this team or B) make a trade for the short term improvement of this team. I think Bud is going to regret standing pat and playing things very vanilla or safe. Teagues trade value went down the minute that deadline passed.

I don't think Bud is cut out for the GM role and was given those keys way too soon by our management. With all that being said, he is a brilliant coach and i really hope he re-signs with us when his contract expires this off-season. The hawks have the toughest remaining schedule of any eastern conference teams and as it stands a would be the 5th sees in the playoffs. I have a hard time seeing this group completely miss the playoffs but I suppose it's posssible. I just hope we avoid the 4th, 5th, and 8th seed. I like our chances in the second round against the Raps/Celtics versus the facing the Cavs.

Thanks for the layout loserx!

[bondom34]

Quick overview for OKC:


Draft: Payne

Love the pick, he fits perfectly as backup PG, but hasn't seen time of late, more on that later...


FA: Kanter

It wasn't ideal but had to be done, I don't love the deal but he's overall been OK. Still think he's traded soonish,but given the hand Presti was dealt, he did what he had to.

Singler: No comment, on the plus side he's still better than Dion maybe (maybe).

Traded Lamb for a second. Hate it hate hate hate it. He'd be the best option off the bench and now he's gone for free.

PJ III salary dump. Meh, he's not in the league so no real loss. Bummed b/c he seemed to have potential but low motor is his middle name.

Trades: Augustin/Novak for Foye.

Good deal for the savings and would be totally fine, but for no apparent reason he plays over Payne despite not being as good and being a worse fit w/ Waiters. So like the trade, hate the way he's used.


Love the draft, trade was fine, FA was a mix of passable to oh please no that was awful. So, most of what I expected.

[gom]

Miami Heat Year in Review:

I have mixed feelings about our progress this year and have concerns going forward, especially about the health of Chris Bosh, who has a long-term max contract with the Heat. Chris's future is very much in doubt at the moment as he strives to get answers about his condition, and Heat fans are already preparing for the worst. It's cold-hearted to even consider the Heat's financial future when such an important player has serious health concerns. He is 31 years old and about to be a father again (twin boys this time), so when you think of the team's future your thoughts feel hollow. In any case, let's put that aside for a moment and reflect on what's happened.

2015 Draft:

Justise Winslow (1st round: 10) - Excellent choice for the type of basketball Miami plays. There are numerous arguments that we should have taken the Celtics draft night deal and perhaps tried to get Devin Booker (for example), but Winslow has demonstrated an excellent work ethic throughout the season. He has earned his time on the floor, and I view him as an important player in the Heat’s future.

Josh Richardson: (2nd round: 40) - You don’t often find talent like Josh’s so deep in the draft. His contribution to the team has been growing in the last few weeks, culminating in a 15 point game against Golden State. After going 5-25 in 3 pt attempts during his first 4 months of the NBA, he has been 9-16 in February. That’s a big deal for a team with poor spacing like Miami. I think Richardson could become a good 3 and D winger. His defense is already very good and improving as his tendency to foul declines. In any case, he was a superb choice at 40. Richardson was signed to a 3 year deal using part of the MLE, so his guarantee is similar to what would have happened had he been signed at the end of the first round instead.

Grade: B+

Free Agency:

Gerald Green: Signed for veteran minimum in July 2015. Gerald works hard and is a good teammate, but he is completely unreliable. His poor shooting has been a negative factor in many games and even led to some losses. Yes, you can’t expect too much from a minimum player, but his roster space is reserved for someone who can help us stretch the offense. Since Joe Johnson arrived, we see how his effect should have been.

Goran Dragic: I know many here believe that Goran is an overpaid PG on a bad contract, but my take on it is somewhat different. Dwyane Wade won’t be able to handle the work load forever and I see Dragic as a backbone of the new team. His play has improved through the year and he’s finishing very strong at the rim and passing the ball well too. His contract is 5/85 which sounds like too much until you calculate what max contracts will look like with the larger salary cap. The price we paid for him (a top 7 protected 2018 1st round pick that is unprotected in 2019, a 2021 1st round pick, Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton, & Shawne Williams) is steep if we aren’t a competitive team over the next few years, but Miami is generally in the top 10 teams, and if we are when the picks come due, they won't be all that attractive.

Amar’e Stoudemire: Honestly, I expected nothing and for the first few months that is exactly what we got. The Heat took their sweet time about integrating him into the rotation. When Hassan Whiteside was injured, Stoudemire stepped in and ever since, he’s been excellent. He plays less than 20 minutes a game, but they are solid. Amar’e is a very competitive player and vocal on the floor. He is also well-respected, especially by our young players. This was a good signing.

Dwyane Wade: Signed a one-year $20M contract. At the time nobody thought this was a bargain, but Wade’s performance has been excellent. His per 36 minute ppg lead the Heat, a full 2.1 pts above Chris Bosh. He’s second on our team in PER (20.5) and has already played almost 1800 minutes. He’s on track to play more than 70 regular-season games for the first time since 2010-11 season. Along with his leadership in the locker room, especially with Justise Winslow & Josh Richardson, Wade was also a factor in recruiting Joe Johnson. This was a very good signing, but the drama beforehand should have been avoided.

Grade: B-

Roster Management, Summer League, etc:

A salary dump to get roster spaces: Trading Shabazz Napier and a lot of cash to Orlando for a 2nd round Top-55 protected pick and trading Zoran Dragic and a 2020 2nd round pick to the Celtics for a 2019 2nd round draft pick later used to dump Chris Andersen. I hated both these deals. I don’t think Zoran or Napier got a very good look by the Heat. Spo had no intention of using Zoran and Napier’s confidence was ZERO even before he was sent to Sioux Falls. The fact that Napier has been poor at Orlando is little consolation, because even as bad as he has been, he is still an asset that we should have received *something* in exchange. This made more sense later in the year, as it was one of the first moves to get us under the tax, but at the time, I thought both these deals were very poor.

Henry Walker waived after Summer League. Grateful as I am for his help when Bosh was out in 2014-15 season, Walker, playing for Cedevita now, is not good enough for the NBA at this point in his career.

Our Summer League signings: Hawkins, Benson, Whittington, Lucas III, Tre Kelley, & Briante Weber. I liked Keith Benson (who played for the Warriors a few years ago) & Greg Whittington. Briante Weber, who was injured and didn’t play in Summer League, has some potential and I’d like to see the Heat give him a chance (we have 8 days of minimum salary beneath the luxury tax still) before the season finishes. Most of these players ended up at Sioux Falls, which is one of the better teams of the D-League. In general, though, our Summer League this year wasn’t very good except that we got to see Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson, and Justise Winslow play. The one player we let slip that would have been good to hold onto was Willie Reed, who is now with the Nets.

Grade: C

Early Trades

On Nov 10, we traded Mario Chalmers and James Ennis to the Grizzlies for Jarnell Stokes and Beno Udrih. It was another step in the attempt to get beneath the luxury tax, but it was sold to the fans as an attempt to move Mario to a team where he could get more PT (that was true - he’s been good at Memphis) in order to give more PT to Tyler Johnson & Josh Richardson. Hmmm… At the time, Pat Riley also mentioned that they wanted to develop Jarnell Stokes. This second part never bore fruit - although, to be fair, Stokes is back in Sioux Falls (though not as a Heat assigned player) after going from Memphis to Miami to New Orleans. I really liked Beno Udrih’s clutch play. I’m disappointed he is out for the rest of the season and had hopes he would return for the postseason. In short, I think this was a good deal for both sides, but a better deal (still) for Memphis. On the other hand, I understand why it was done and that it was critical.

Grade: C+

Trade deadline:

1. We traded Birdman, the rest of our 2017/2018 second round picks (the parts not promised to Atlanta), and a 2019 2nd round pick to the Grizzlies and received Brian Roberts. Then we sent Roberts to Portland for cash to get under the tax.
2. We sent Stokes & $700K to the Pelicans for a 2018 highly protected 2nd round pick we will never be able to use.

At the end of the Trade Deadline, we were under the luxury tax. This as a goal is not that exciting for casual fans, especially with the cap about to explode. For us geeky bb fans, though, it was art.

Grade: A

Buyout Season, etc

There was even a little left over to play with, so Heat fans began speculating who we would hire around Mar 8 to help us compete. When Joe Johnson got free from the Nets though, the Heat dove in and signed him. This may end up being a very important signing, since JJ is perfect for a future role with the team. It will take a lot of genius to figure out how to sign Hassan, DWade, JJ, and the others (when Chris Bosh is likely out and consuming 22M of the salary cap).

We were back over the tax until Udrih was bought out. Now we have enough daily salary for 8 player-days at minimum, so we may still sign a d-league player or veteran before the playoffs.

Grade: B+

Summary

All in all, I thought the end of season trades made up for the average to poor start. My end grade would be a B-, mostly because we’ve blasted through a lot of resources to get beneath the luxury tax. I reserve the right to change the grade higher or lower depending on how the rest of the season goes. If Joe Johnson & Goran Dragic keep playing at such a high level, Riley is going to look a lot smarter by May. If not... well.

Right now the resources we have are as follows:

Justise Winslow (on a rookie deal)
Josh Richardson (signed to a 3 year deal)
Chris Bosh (signed until June 2019 - his health issues render this contract to be worthless unfortunately)
Goran Dragic (signed until June 2020 - last year is a player option)
Josh McRoberts (signed on MLE until June 2018)
Tyler Johnson (we have Early Bird rights and will be able to sign him in the offseason - he’s protected by Gilbert Arenas provision)
2017 1st round draft pick (assuming that we finish in the top 20 this season)
Either 2018 or 2019 1st round draft pick (depending on a bottom 7 finish in 2018)
2020 1st round draft pick
2022 1st round draft pick
2023 1st round draft pick
2022 2nd round draft pick
2023 2nd round draft pick
2018 NOP 2nd round pick (56-60)

Thanks for reading. Sorry if it went on too long.

That’s all, folks!

[HartfordWhalers]

Miami Heat Year in Review:

Right now the resources we have are as follows:

2023 1st round draft pick
2023 2nd round draft pick

These aren't available as resources until July 1st, as you can only go 7 drafts out ('16 - '22 as of right now).

[Laimbeer]

Spoiler:

Great thread! My take on ...

DETROIT PISTONS

"TL; DR" SPOILER ALERT VERSION — I think Stan Van Gundy should receive votes for Executive of the Year.

BACKGROUND — SVG was one year into his dual role as "Czar" of the Pistons entering last summer, and while most DET fans were happy with the moves he had made there were certainly still more questions than answers in Motown (and, granted, most of us were ready to erect a statue to him just for cutting Josh Smith!). Our 2014-15 season was a roller coaster of injuries, roster-shaking transactions, and wild inconsistency (featuring double digit winning AND losing streaks). One of SVG's biggest moves was trading for RFA Reggie Jackson, whom he insisted was "not here on a try out;" still, many wondered what Reggie was worth and how the PG situation would play out when Brandon Jennings returned from a devastating injury. Oh, and "cornerstone big man" Greg Monroe was now a UFA, and although SVG mostly inherited this situation from his predecessor, he was still "the man in the chair" who would have to answer for it should he lose such a valuable asset without any compensation.

And then the fun began! And seriously, no matter how you feel about Detroit, it’s undeniable that we’ve been one of the most active and entertaining franchises over the past year (so this is gonna be a long post)!

TRADE: (I HONESTLY FORGET WHO) FOR ERSAN ILYASOVA — Seriously, it was Shawne Williams and another unguaranteed contract. That’s not the important part of this transaction; what was important was it was SVG, yet again, making a tough executive decision — this move signaled that Greg Monroe was officially out the door. As such, the Pro-Monroe camp of Piston posters hated it, and the Anti-Monroe camp applauded (but that was more about removing Monroe than it was being happy about getting Ersan).

DRAFT: STANLEY JOHNSON @ #8, DARRUN HILLIARD @ #36 — And with his first ever first round pick for the Pistons, SVG inspired his first wave of “FIRE SVG!!!” threads (seriously, one year into his tenure!). Many fans (myself included) desperately wanted Justise Winslow and were crushed by the Johnson selection. Then Johnson dominated Summer League and a bunch of us were like, “Oh!” Honestly, in hindsight, I don’t think we could’ve gone wrong with either guy, but it’s impossible not to like what Stanley has shown so far in his rookie year. And as for Hilliard, well, he’s shown enough to make me think he could wind up as an end-of-the-bench / deep rotation guy, and how much more do you really expect from a second rounder?

FREE AGENCY: SIGNS ARON BAYNES (3 YRS, $20M) — Definitely NOT the splash any DET fans expected or wanted to kick off free agency! Needless to say, this signing was widely panned and the “FIRE SVG!!!” crowd grew in size and volume. Seriously, $6M+ per year for a back up C? And boy, did his slow start to the year throw fuel on that fire! But after about the first month, Baynes has absolutely settled in and is thriving in his role as a key contributor off the bench (and his salary looks very reasonable with the impending cap spike to boot). Besides, when your best player is your 22 year old center, you only want his back up on the court for less than 20 minutes a night anyway.

TRADE: A 2020 2ND ROUND PICK FOR MARCUS MORRIS, REGGIE BULLOCK & DANNY GRANGER — So, after striking out in the first 36 hours of free agency on primary targets like DeMarre Carroll and Tobias Harris (but hold that thought!), SVG basically trades all of our cap space for an underwhelming pu pu platter from PHX. “FIRE SVG!!!!” becomes, “The game has passed him by and SVG has no clue what he’s doing! He never should’ve been given the GM position!!!” Granger never puts on a Piston uniform and Bullock spends most of the year glued to the bench (although he’s been okay in spot duty lately due to injuries), but this deal was all about Morris. SVG declared that, ‘We needed a starting SF” after this trade, and most of us replied, “And we still do!” Well, the joke was on us; SVG was right, and Morris has been amazing and exactly what we needed. And he’s 26, and locked up for $5M per year for another three years after this one. And we got him for literally next to nothing.

FREE AGENCY: RE-SIGNS REGGIE JACKSON (5 YRS, $80M) — The Pro-Reggie camp on the Pistons board rejoices, citing his incredible last dozen games of the season as a sign of what’s to come. The Anti-Reggie, Pro-Jennings camp revolts, insisting we just paid $16M per season for a back up gunning combo guard who will lose the starting PG job once Jennings is healthy (and this side was also joined by some neutral fans who, quite fairly, doubted Jackson due to his history in OKC). However (noticing a trend here?), SVG’s faith is yet again justified; Jackson has been absolutely great, putting up fringe-All-Star numbers and pairing perfectly with Andre Drummond in SVG’s pick & roll heavy offense.

TRADE: QUINCY MILLER FOR STEVE BLAKE — Everyone vomits, and rightfully so. Suddenly, it’s very clear that Brandon Jennings will be nowhere near ready to go at the start of the season and this is pure “dumpster diving” for a stop gap 3rd PG to hold us over off the bench until he’s healthy. And Blake is … well, exactly what everyone knew he was. Traded nothing and got nothing in return (although the incoming “nothing” would gain importance a few months down the road, but we’ll get to that …)

FREE AGENCY: DOES NOT SIGN ANDRE DRUMMOND TO AN EXTENSION — This needs to be included ‘cuz it’s crucial to what comes next — SVG convinced Drummond to delay his extension until Summer of 2016 so that he’d have more cap space to spend over the forthcoming 12 months. And Drummond bought into the plan, for the betterment of the team. Which became vital at the trade deadline, when …

TRADE: BRANDON JENNINGS & ERSAN ILYASOVA FOR TOBIAS HARRIS — BOOM! SVG spends a chunk of his impending cap space (in the form of two expiring contracts) for one of the primary free agent targets he previously missed out upon. Yes, this deal forces Steve Blake into the back up PG role for the rest of the season, but that’s the only negative that can be said about the deal. It’s a small sample size, but Harris has been an absolute revelation so far in DET, fitting with our team like a glove and adding MUCH diversity and versatility to the offense. Ilya was one-dimensional and Jennings was not the same player upon returning from his injury, and SVG turned them into a 23 year old combo forward locked up on a long term reasonable deal. I’m sorry for the homerism of this comment, but this trade still baffles me; I get what ORL was doing in clearing cap space and minutes for their other young players, but SVG essentially got another young core piece and significant upgrade to the roster for free.

TRADE (THAT WASN’T!): JOEL ANTHONY & 2016 1ST ROUND PICK FOR DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS & MARCUS THORNTON — Yes, the trade was rescinded ‘cuz D-Mo failed his physical, but it did happen and I think it further shows SVG’s thinking as GM, so I’m including it! If this trade had stood, SVG would have shown a willingness to: A) preemptively spend rather than wait for free agency (an extension of the strategy of the Tobias deal); B) trust his scouting department, as he stated his scouts told him the players available in our pick range weren’t as good as D-Mo; and C) build a team based upon depth and versatility rather than “big name star power."

OVERALL — Stan Van Gundy inherited a dumpster fire and has turned it into a promising YOUNG team (six core players, all locked up or under team control, all 26 or younger) who still have a ton of room to grow and improve from within. Plus, since the D-Mo trade fell through, he’s also still got (I think about) $15M in cap space and his first round pick this summer to play with. In less than two years, he’s completely overhauled the roster (the only holdovers are Drummond and KCP), he’s got no truly “bad” contracts on the books, and he did it without any prolonged tanking. In short, NO ONE has done more, with less, and so quickly, to rebuild a team than Stan Van Gundy. For the first time since the end of the “Going to Work Era,” the Pistons have an identity and an apparent cohesive plan moving forward. When Van Gundy was hired, the phrase, “In Stan We Trust” was (admittedly!) blindly bandied about the Piston boards; looking at where our franchise is now compared to where it was 12 (or 24) months ago, I am confident to say that SVG has earned that unequivocal trust.

(And again, sorry this was so long, but there was a LOT to cover!)

Thanks for a great write up, Doc. You pretty much nailed it. SVG has just been filthy as an exec, getting three long term young pieces (Jackson, Harris, and Morris) without giving up a first or a player that mattered long term.

[Gomagic44]

Magic: major disapointment in coach and elf, Dipo, Fournier, Vuc and Watson.

A wash of a season. No idea what to take from it but that our rebuild is majorly flawed and should be blown up.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[warren weel im]

I think I might be first in giving Mitch Kupchak his year-in review...

So the previous season ended with an uncertainty. The Lakers just had the worst season in recorded history at 21-61 and in danger of losing a high lottery pick at that. To be exact, we would be losing our pick to Phoenix (traded to Philly) if it was 6 or worse; we only get to keep it if it was inside the top 5. The problem, is we're only the 4th worst team in the league and therefore the pick is guaranteed only a top 7 pick.

As the Lottery gods would have it, the entire projected draft order would stay exactly the same w/ the exception of Lakers and Knicks. Knicks were 2, Lakers were 4.

And so there were some champagne bottles that popped in Mitch's office. HIs job just became alot easier. He can now pick one of the draft classes 2 guaranteed future all-star big men: Karl Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor.

To save everyone time, the Lakers picked neither. We seemingly go "against" tradition and not pick any of them, a) because Minny picks Towns and coz b) we chose guard prodigy D'Angelo Russell. Both guys (Okafor and Russell) auditioned twice, of which DAR supposedly killed the 2nd audition. It was a gutsy move by Mitch, something I never thought he was capable of.

With a point guard at hand, we approach free agency ready to kick some butt. We felt like we had as good a chance to land Aldridge or Jordan, buying everyone as many steak as they like, hey, its the offseason. Suffice to say, we got neither and we utilized our cap on Roy Hibbert, who we hoped would remember where he left his mojo. The move was calculated as it meant we preserved cap space to rollover '16 summer and not tie it up on the likes of Tobias Harris and Greg Monroe, who while logical, doesn't always equate to rational.

After FA fell out, we also snagged Lou Williams, the reigning 6th man of the year from the Raptors who decided to use all their money on Demarre Carroll, someone who I thought we could sign using the money we used on Lou. Oh and the ever-reliable-but-not-really veteran Brandon Bass whose entire PF career ends up as our defacto backup C, killing the hopes of Robert Sacre and Tarik Black of ever becoming a max-type of center. End of free agency, wasn't good, wasn't so bad. Except Roy Hibbert remained bad.

Opening day, #1 pick vs. #2 pick. Except it didn't really happen like that. Towns was light years ahead of Russell and Kobe still wanted the spotlight. We lead big but we crumble. Loss to Wolves by a half-shot. Its going to be an exciting season, lots of learning, hopefully .500 and perhaps, just perhaps, be on the outside looking in, enough to convince KD to suit up. After all, the Laker greats up the banners ended at #34, so why not #35? And in case you ask, Metta World Peace is safe at #37.

So, its game 63 and we're still at win 12. We get to keep our pick from Philly but its only top 3 protected this time. Safe to say, the scare we have last year is nothing to this year's. We are almost "safely" lock at 2nd worst, but this time the odds of keeping the pick are significantly lower than last season's. If last year's lottery happened, we'd lose our pick to Philly.

So a move that was made 5 seasons ago, a move that was supposedly going to give Kobe championships 6 and 7 (and 8) and the move after that has backfired heavily. The only justice or redemption is if we get to keep that pick for 1 more year. Everything else is gravy.

Farewell, Thanks AND no thanks, Byron Scott.

[yosemiteben]

Very happy with the Hornets offseason, love the over the top moves to fix our offense and I think the results speak for themselves. Half a game out of the five seed despite no MKG for almost the entire season is better than pretty much anyone was expecting.

[R-DAWG]

New York Knicks:

First 44 games. The team was 22-22, lost a bunch of close games to good teams that they easily could have won, and looked like they would be fighting for a playoff spot and at the least playing meaningful games in April.

Then Carmelo stepped on the ref and rolled his ankle in game 44 against Boston.

Since then, 3-16 in the last 19 games. It's been as bad as it's ever been in New York over the past 2 months. And that's saying a lot considering how bad it's been here over the years. It's a complete mess. Robin Lopez and Aaron Afflalo are nice players, when they are your 5th best starter or 6th man. Porzingis looked fatigued, which is understandable and most rookies have that issue. Point guard play has been the worst in the league. And Rambis makes coach steal your girl look like Pat Riley. What's more, not only do we not have our first round pick, which is currently #8, it goes to the 2nd best team in the East, which happens to be in our division (and the 3rd best team in the East gets the Nets pick - New York basketball at it's finest!). It's bad.

But moving forward, were actually ok. Porzingis is probably one of the top 5 prospect (players still on rookie scale deals) in the game. We own all our picks after this year for the first time in 12 years. Calderon becomes an expiring contract this summer. We will most likely have a max slot (pretty safe to assume Afflalo opts out and 50-50 on Derrick Willimas, could always stretch Jose if needed).

More importantly, it's time for the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony to part ways. Is Carmelo the same guy he was in 2013 when he was 3rd in MVP voting or in 2014 when he had a better year than 2013, no. But he's still darn good. He's passing and rebounding better than he ever has, can still score when needed. Also, having watched him for 6 years he's at his best at small ball 4, not SF. The Knicks are currently not playing that lineup. He's probably got 1-2 years left as a top 20 player in the league and a few more a notch below it. But the Knicks don't have the assets to build a contending team around Melo in that window. Carmelo is starting to show his frustration with the organization and it will be best for both parties to move on. NY might be looking at a package of ok young prospects (Mirotic, Portis) and a few mid 1st round picks. But it's time to move on. Instead of going from a 30 win team to a 40 win team next year, become a 20 win team and land a top 5 pick. Have a few future 1's from other teams from a Melo trade to use in other trades down the road.

I'd also look to move Robin Lopez for a mid 1st. He's the perfect center for today's NBA. Protects the rim while being mobile enough to defend pick and rolls. And while his offense isn't pretty, he's not a complete negative like Tyson Chandler. Plus his contact at 3 years and just shy of $40 million is more than fair, probably below market, in a new cap world. I'd be on the phone with Charlotte, currently with pick #20 and in need of a rim protector (Lopez fits in perfectly there) or Boston, who has pick #19 and could use a C.

[Texas Chuck]

And while his offense isn't pretty, he's not a complete negative like Tyson Chandler. .

I mean I know I shouldn't bother because Knicks fans and Tyson Chandler are like oil and water, but Tyson Chandler is hardly a complete negative offensively. And he's clearly better than Robin Lopez.

He's led the entire league in offensive rating no less than 4 times in his career. Including 2 of the 3 seasons he spent in NY. He's a terrific offensive rebounder and shoots nearly 60% for his career including leading the league in NY.


It's hilarious that you still feel the need to take shots at him 2 years removed.....

[R-DAWG]

And while his offense isn't pretty, he's not a complete negative like Tyson Chandler. .

I mean I know I shouldn't bother because Knicks fans and Tyson Chandler are like oil and water, but Tyson Chandler is hardly a complete negative offensively. And he's clearly better than Robin Lopez.

He's led the entire league in offensive rating no less than 4 times in his career. Including 2 of the 3 seasons he spent in NY. He's a terrific offensive rebounder and shoots nearly 60% for his career including leading the league in NY.


It's hilarious that you still feel the need to take shots at him 2 years removed.....

He can only score on pick and rolls and put backs. He can't post up, he can't hit a mid range jumper, he can't create his own shot. He's a very good pick and roll finisher and one of the best offensive rebounders i've ever seen. But you can't look at the numbers and say he's a 60% career shooter. That doesn't tell the full story.

Lopez on the other hand can post up a little and hit a mid range jump shot. Not great at it, but he can do it. You throw the ball to Lopez 12-15 feet from the hoop and he's wide open he can make that shot. Chandler can't.

[Prez]

We definitely screwed up trading the pick for Vasquez, just an awful decision.

Monroe is an abysmal fit but there's no way you can knock it, we got the guy in FA for no assets, and we're almost assuredly going to be trading him for assets this summer. It sucks because we're looking really solid since we benched him and gave GA/JP bigger roles, we possibly could've been a playoff team with an athletic defense/hustle center instead of Monroe, but honestly given our core trio's develop recently it's not that big of a deal. We should've traded him at the deadline when his value was likely at its highest, now with the benching and him looking upset, everyone in the league knows we're getting rid of him...

Henson's deal blows, hard. If he gets his head out of his ass and plays up to his capabilities consistently it'd be entirely worth it, but he's never been that type of competitor to bring it every night.

Rashad Vaughn is looking like a nice pick, stats be damned, the kid has talent. He's looking like he could develop into a nice 6th man which I'll take every day of the week at #17.

[Texas Chuck]

He can only score on pick and rolls and put backs. He can't post up, he can't hit a mid range jumper, he can't create his own shot. He's a very good pick and roll finisher and one of the best offensive rebounders i've ever seen. But you can't look at the numbers and say he's a 60% career shooter. That doesn't tell the full story.

Lopez on the other hand can post up a little and hit a mid range jump shot. Not great at it, but he can do it. You throw the ball to Lopez 12-15 feet from the hoop and he's wide open he can make that shot. Chandler can't.

Robin Lopez career shooting numbers:

10-16 ft 36%

Tyson Chandler

10-16 ft 34%

Doesn't look like a significant edge for RoLo to me. And since neither guy takes a significant % of their shots(less than 12%) from that range his slight edge is essentially irrelevant.

I like RoLo but you aren't going to find anyone without an irrational dislike for Chandler who believes he is negative offensively. Because he is extremely effective. Who cares if he doesn't have a post-game. That's not the direction the league is going with its big men. His skills are actually far more valuable to an NBA offense as they are.

[loserX]

Just piping in to say I'm really enjoying these reviews so far...they're both fair and well-thought-out. Keep 'em coming, gents!

[R-DAWG]

He can only score on pick and rolls and put backs. He can't post up, he can't hit a mid range jumper, he can't create his own shot. He's a very good pick and roll finisher and one of the best offensive rebounders i've ever seen. But you can't look at the numbers and say he's a 60% career shooter. That doesn't tell the full story.

Lopez on the other hand can post up a little and hit a mid range jump shot. Not great at it, but he can do it. You throw the ball to Lopez 12-15 feet from the hoop and he's wide open he can make that shot. Chandler can't.

Robin Lopez career shooting numbers:

10-16 ft 36%

Tyson Chandler

10-16 ft 34%

Doesn't look like a significant edge for RoLo to me. And since neither guy takes a significant % of their shots(less than 12%) from that range his slight edge is essentially irrelevant.

I like RoLo but you aren't going to find anyone without an irrational dislike for Chandler who believes he is negative offensively. Because he is extremely effective. Who cares if he doesn't have a post-game. That's not the direction the league is going with its big men. His skills are actually far more valuable to an NBA offense as they are.

Again, he's a good pick and roll player and gets a lot of offensive rebounds and put backs. He's completely ineffective outside of 3 feet away from the basket. I watched Tyson play for 3 years and have watched Lopez play for this year. It's not pretty with Lopez but he can do a lot more than Tyson offensively. Forget what the stats say. Watch the games.

Anyway, why are we arguing over 2 below average offensive players. My post simply stated an idea that the Knicks should look to move Robin on draft night to get back into the middle of the first round, a point i've suggested before and other posters have agreed is fair value. A lot of very good points and well thought out posts in this thread.

[winter_mute_13]

As for free agency, we went out and signed Monta Ellis and Jordan Hill. Monta has been a great fit for us, really, and a surprisingly good leader, too. His offense is just now coming around after having his knee drained back in early January or so, and he's been a dynamite distributor for us. He's a surprisingly good pair for George Hill. Jordan Hill has been a solid stop gap for us, too. He's won us a few games with his play, hasn't really lost us many, but isn't really a cog. I'm not sure I expect him to be re-signed, but I'm not unhappy with that addition.

Man, I can't say how much I disagree about the Monta signing. I do agree that he's been playing better recently, but I can't ignore how bad the fit has been. Both Ellis and GHill have experienced substantial drops in production this season - a PER of 13.6 for Ellis and a PER of 13.2 for GHill, both virtually career lows (only their rookie seasons were worse).

To be fair to Monta. I don't think it's his fault exactly. He's been a good soldier for sure. But the combo of Monta being one of our better guard options and Mahinmi being our best big has really cramped the spacing. Turner's addition to the lineup looked like it would solve that issue at first, but his shot has been off recently (or defenses are starting to scout him better) and a lot of the old problems are cropping up again. If I can undo the Monta signing, I definitely would.

The Stuckey signing was ok in isolation, but more than a little redundant with Monta on the team. Jordan Hill has worked out much better than I expected, and if we could keep him in the same role next year as a scoring big off the bench, I wouldn't mind it at all.

Bottom line is, before this season we had one player worth a damn, now we have 2. So in the big picture, things are going ok.

[pacers33granger]

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.

[Kings2013]

The year itself looks like another dead year. The reasons for this are up for debate. I'm very anti-Karl. He is past prime, lame duck, and the team doesn't play for him. He also uses questionable systems/schemes for the talent, so its hard to really judge completely what you have when you believe the coaching staff is sabotaging things. For this reason I'm not really a big advocate on trades until I see the personnel with someone else, and there will be someone else next year.

Vlade himself is unproven, although he is working with a seasoned veteran in Mike Bratz and the team is rumored to be looking at different FO help.

The Philly trade was a media sensation at the time. The reasons why the team would look to make win now moves were clear. The team had statistically one of the best starting units in the league with a garbage bench. It was thought that you build something around Cousins/Gay, who were considered core, before they want to leave. Last summer was the summer before the cap spikes, where middle tier solid FAs like Koufos/Beli might be available, when all other teams have cap for a finite amount of FAs. But the initial goal was Wes Matthews. At the time no team was rumored to be matching 4/64 for him, he was coming in for a visit the next day, and the team would have a different character with him at SG than McLemore - winner, BBIQ etc. 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. True the potentially unprotected pick hurts, but in the context of revamping the roster, revamping also means getting rid of dead weight who were rumored to have personal issues with the star of the team, and acquiring mid tier FAs, its not known what the results are from that yet.

WCS - Has looked like a solid long term option next to Cousins. Kings fans, so used to busts, have high hopes for this frontcourt duo heading forward. He has been showing more offensive versatility and a stealth jumper since the work outs than given credit for.

Rondo - Hard to assess. Some Kings fans want him back, others want the money spent elsewhere. Some nights looks a dominant PG, others like he isn't helping too much. Improved shooting, but the defense hasn't been good this year. This is where Karl coaching really doesn't help. Karl's coaching one of the worst defenses in the league and the team doesn't play for him, its not really known if Rajon could be assisted more defensively with better coaching and a better scheme. If he can, it's still not out of the realm that he could have a good stint here

Belinelli - Has been bad. Again, with better coaching and scheme I think he can come back to life though. He's being used as a primary option, and Ive never seen a player take more contested, off balance stuff. Has a track record to suggest he can be better with the next coach

Koufos - Solid bench big although hasn't necessarily fit well with the other bigs. Still a dependable bench big.

Casspi/Acy/Curry were solid signings. I think Curry will be a rotational player next year, and has looked good with the minutes.