Around the NBA

[saintEscaton]

Donovan was a turrible hiring, he's making Brooks look like a wizard in retrospect.

[bwgood77]

THE MINDSET OF THE FRONT OFFICE
Don’t be afraid to eat contracts
The trend has already started in which teams in the playoff race or heading to the lottery are waiving players with guaranteed contracts to create a roster spot.

Memphis waived injured Mario Chalmers to create an open roster spot for the stretch run. The Chalmers injury was unfortunate, but the Grizzlies’ lack of healthy players forced management to bring in reinforcements. Washington, another team in the playoff race, waived injured guard Gary Neal to sign Marcus Thornton for the remainder of the season.

The Suns waived guard Sonny Weems to get a 20-game look at veteran Chase Budinger. Fortunately for Phoenix, Weems was claimed by Philadelphia 48 hours later.

Although there are financial consequences to eating a contract, the reward of having a new player contribute to a playoff race or finding a hidden gem for the future far outweighs the financial component.

Look at the whole body of work
There are going to be college prospects who are going to jump off your TV screen or wow you in person over the next few weeks.

Although the stage is a bit bigger, scouting the NCAA tournament should not carry more weight than watching a prospect in a conference tournament or a regular-season January game.

The good teams will focus on the whole body of work and not just a two- or three-game sample in late March.

The goal for NBA teams is to block the outside noise and not get fooled by the hype.

Dive into the D-League pool 30
It’s not the number of your favorite basketball player, but the number of NBA Development League call-ups this year.

Compared to past seasons – 63 in 2014-15 and 49 in 2013-14 – the league has seen a significant drop-off in players being called up with just 30.

The number of call-ups might not show it, but the D-League is still rich in talent.

Former NBA players Tim Frazier, Russ Smith, Erick Green and Vander Blue are a few players looking to get back into the league.

TEAMS WITH ROSTER SPOTS
Brooklyn, Phoenix, Minnesota, Orlando, the Clippers, Miami and Cleveland each have a roster spot open.

Brooklyn, Minnesota, Denver, Detroit and Boston have players on a 10-day contract and can create a roster spot if needed.

UNDER-THE-RADAR FREE AGENT
F Marvin Williams, Charlotte

Williams is the unsung hero and glue guy for the playoff-bound Charlotte Hornets. He has really turned himself into one of the better stretch fours in the NBA. He’s having his best year across the board even as his minutes have remained pretty consistent from previous years.
Williams is also very reliable, missing only six games the past two seasons.

He will be one of the more low-profile signings in July, but he will really help a team.

He’s best suited for a playoff team and not being the main focus on a bad team.

WHAT SCOUTS ARE SAYING ABOUT …
Sophomore F Ben Bentil, Providence
In all fairness to Big East Player of the Year Kris Dunn, Ben Bentil is the best player on Providence. A bit of an undersized power forward who has transformed his game from his freshman year. Can do a little bit of everything on the offensive end, posting up, stretching the floor, displaying really nice footwork with a soft touch around the basket. The question for Bentil is what position can he defend at the next level.

If he declares for the NBA draft, it will be interesting to see how tall he measures. He’s listed at 6-foot-8, but there is a good chance he is closer to 6-6.

The feeling around the NBA is that he will declare with Dunn.

He has great value for a team picking in the mid-30s.

SALARY CAP TERM OF THE WEEK
Cap hold and Bird rights for waived players
Players waived during the season will not have a cap hold in July, or Bird or early Bird rights. For example, Memphis will not be allowed to sign Mario Chalmers and the Heat will not be allowed to sign Beno Udrih using a form of Bird or early Bird rights.

However, a player can regain Bird rights if he signs a one-year contract in the offseason with cap space or a type of exception (minimum, mid-level, etc.).

In 2012, the Nets signed Keith Bogans to a one-year contract.

Bogans was injured midseason and was eventually waived. The following season (2012-13), Bogans signed a one-year contract at the minimum with Brooklyn. Because Bogans did not change teams, he was deemed to have early Bird rights when he was a free agent in 2013.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/front-office-insider--beware-of-tournament-time-165740551.html

[MathiasPW]

Washington came out to play against the Pistons tonight. Good for us. If they lose, they might give up on the season completely to try and hold that pick.
Winning by 20 in the first quarter

[bwgood77]

Washington came out to play against the Pistons tonight. Good for us. If they lose, they might give up on the season completely to try and hold that pick.
Winning by 20 in the first quarter

Markieff shutting down Mook. The Pistons have 7 turnovers already. They probably keep seeing Markieff, thinking he's Marcus, and passing to him.

[MathiasPW]

Stan Van Gundy is having outrageous bursts. It's hilarious

[TeamTragic]

Grizzlies lose by 49 to the Rockets. Pistons lose by 43 to the Wizards

[bwgood77]

Damn, Wolves starters putting up some numbers. Dieng playing really well lately with 15p, 7a, 6r, and 3b. LaVine with 28 pts including 6 3s. Towns 18 and 10, Rubio 15 and 11.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400828895

Luckily it's not just us down near the bottom of the standings who gets to play Memphis without Gasol.

[bwgood77]

Cavs Puzzled By Kyrie Irving's 28 Shot, 1 Assist Game
MAR 17, 2016 1:57 PM
Kyrie Irving scored 33 points on 12-for-28 shooting in Wednesday's win in which LeBron James didn't play.

Tyronn Lue wanted Irving to be aggressive with James out of the lineup, but a few Cleveland Cavaliers' teammates were puzzled by how he recorded just one assist in 39 minutes.

During one possession in the second quarter, Irving dribbled for 24 seconds and went nowhere before settling for a tough mid-range jumper.

Brandon Knight was watching this game intently at home taking notes.

[Damkac]

If outside top 2 let's trade our pick + Bledsoe for Irving!

[King4Day]

I miss these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JUtgjSl2zs

[NavLDO]

Spoiler:

I'd rather keep McD then get rid of him. I think he did a good job making value out of Dragic, though I've stated that about 1,000 times and don't want to continue talking about it.

About calling you out, I believe what I said was it seems like the one person who talks about Dragic the most is you. And I still believe that, especially since you have continued the discussion about him since I mentioned it. Sure, Frank mentions him when he shows up on occasion and some others whine about him on occasion too.

If people want to continue to discuss him, I think they might as well do it here.

Well, fine then! And BTW, we just stole your TE, so nanner-nanner-boo-boo! Ha! And maybe your safety as well, if the 'rumint' is true, that he's considering signing w/ the Steelers. So go on and whine about that for a year and we can be even!

But back to the point I'm trying to make, is Frank drones on about McD, saintEscaton drones on about Len, others whine about IT, and a ton of fans whine about the LAL pick--over and over. I'm just wondering why I'm somehow special about RESPONDING to multiple posts about he-who-shall-remain-nameless or countless McD-isms.

So when Frank posts about Dragic or McD and how he wronged Dragic, and I disagree with his assessment, and I'd like to RESPOND to said thread, which, again, is all I've done to date, how is that not Suns-related?

Yup, I am pretty much convinced that those two would have run this team to the ground. No doubts those two would have ever never won 48 games again. Yup, pretty much convinced that a backcourt of Dragic and Bled would regress rather than get better, and chase off any interested FAs...Yup, that chemistry they had developed would quickly dissolve. Damn Channing Frye too... what good was he (like he'll ever play for a contender)

Hey but look on the bright side... if McDuecedInHisOwnDrawers hadn't dissolved that squad

My biggest gripe on McDesparateToMakeaDeal was the dismantling of a team that was right on the brink of the playoffs.

These are just a couple of examples I RESPONDED to in that thread, but regardless, I did not bring up Dragic, that would be Frank, on a couple of occasions in that thread. And yet, I'm the one that keeps bringing Dragic up? Negative. And BTW, I'm not now, either. This is about WHAT I posted and HOW you responded. IF Frank is still upset with the dismantling of the team, which he is talking about Dragic, ho am I supposed to NOT bring his name into my response. I'm not making posts or threads willy-nilly about Dragic, but if someone is STILL UPSET with Dragic being traded, how is that any different than me taking issue with a post that someone is upset with Dragic being traded?

I think we already established that you were just responding to other people who brought up Dragic. I said it's fine. What else do you want me to say? If you feel like we are in an argument, you win. Congrats.

Who did you steal? Ladarius Green? If so, you will like him. He's good. That sucks though, because I've always thought he would be great once Gates left. If you got Gates that sucks too, but in that case at least Green would be around, but I'm guessing it wasn't Gates. Weddle is good too.

Sorry, no, I don't care about "winning" arguments, just that you understood where I was coming from, because it's likely it will come up again, and I just don't want to be the "oh, here's NavLDO AGAIN, with his Dragic whining", when all I'm doing is responding to those who brought this up...I feel like that guy who gets the flag in the NFL for throwing the "2nd punch"!!!

Anyway, dead horse beaten to death...sorry, but yeah we got Ladarius Green, on a great deal when compared to what similarly talented TEs (Allen and Fleener), and for less guaranteed money than 31 YO Marcedes Lewis received.

I can understand why the Chargers kept Gates over Green though, with the chemistry he and Rivers have developed over the years, and how Gates performed last year. You can't pay 2 starter-level TEs, and Green probably wanted an opportunity to be outside of Gates' shadow.

[bwgood77]

I love that the Spurs lost tonight, but GS came very close to losing as well. The TWolves are going to be a force to be reckoned with. People talk about Towns (who is obviously a super stud...I'm thinking maybe better than AD in long run) and Lavine, Wiggins, but Dieng is playing crazy well with those guys and Rubio makes it all work. They are coming together.

[bwgood77]

Wow, I was a little worried Washington losing 5 in a row and Denver winning 4 in a row might help Washington keep their pick as they were dangerously close to the 8th or 9th worst record.

Of course now they win 5 in a row and are only a game and a half back of the playoffs. If they make it I guess the good thing is we know for sure we keep the pick.

[LukasBMW]

Yeah, Keef looks like he has started to play pretty well based on the box scores.

Of Washington's last 12 games, only 6 are against playoff teams. It's still very possible they sneak in unfortunately.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Linsanity 2016!

Knocks the Spurs out of matching the Bulls season record, Jordan would have loved watching that.

[Damkac]

I love that the Spurs lost tonight, but GS came very close to losing as well. The TWolves are going to be a force to be reckoned with. People talk about Towns (who is obviously a super stud...I'm thinking maybe better than AD in long run) and Lavine, Wiggins, but Dieng is playing crazy well with those guys and Rubio makes it all work. They are coming together.

With health issues of AD Towns is the most valuable contract in the league imo. If Wolves don't mess it up they will fight for championship in few years.

[Bogyo]

I love that the Spurs lost tonight, but GS came very close to losing as well. The TWolves are going to be a force to be reckoned with. People talk about Towns (who is obviously a super stud...I'm thinking maybe better than AD in long run) and Lavine, Wiggins, but Dieng is playing crazy well with those guys and Rubio makes it all work. They are coming together.

With health issues of AD Towns is the most valuable contract in the league imo. If Wolves don't mess it up they will fight for championship in few years.

Yeah, this is why I dont understand sometimes howcome they are so bad recordwise. Pretty much every time I get to watch them I'm impressed. Last time I had that feeling was the Warriors a cpl years ago when they beat Miami during the big 3 era, pretty much out of nowhere.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Dangelo Russell 0-8, 0 points, 2 turnovers, -39.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Who is the as-hole GS owner who comes out to brag about his team being so much better than everyone elses (not that he has actually done anything basketball wise apart from pay cheques) just before they break a record.

[lilfishi22]

Who is the as-hole GS owner who comes out to brag about his team being so much better than everyone elses (not that he has actually done anything basketball wise apart from pay cheques) just before they break a record.

When he has a Spurs like dynasty, then talk to me.