Around the League

[bballnmike]

Phoenix apparently doesn't want draft picks though. They've been trying to trade the ones they have now for veterans, but nobody is biting (for them or Boston). I think Knight would be a nice third guard backing up both spots in the backcourt, but I don't think the two teams are a fit. The only thing that might make some sense is Harris for Knight but I don't think Van GUndy does that nor would I want him to.

I agree. Don't see it happening, but man BK would be perfect as a 6th man combo guard to back up Reggie and play alongside him.

They've decided those aren't viable fits together, but we're supposed to think Knight and Jackson play effectively together?

BTW, looks like the Wizards are planning to offer Joakim Noah the MAX. He averaged 4/9 in 29 games last year, and 7/10 the year before. He hasn't been All-NBA level in over 2 years. Yikes.

I don't put much weight in Phoenix's decisions when it comes to managing point guards

[coordinator0]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16480955/breaking-other-side-ibaka-oladipo-trade

Lots of good stuff in here, as always with Lowe. This in particular rings true:

That speaks a lot to how fast the league has evolved. As I wrote last spring, switching defenses have transformed the "stretch 4" into an almost antiquated concept. A big who can launch stand-still 3s is much less of a threat if defenses just switch every screening action, preventing him from popping open and daring him to do something against a smaller defender.

Coaches a year ago started to use the term "playmaking 4" instead of "stretch 4." A playmaking 4 can post up smaller guys after switches, draw double-teams, and whip passes around the floor. Run a playmaking 4 off the arc, and he can shift into drive-and-kick mode. Draymond Green is a playmaking 4. Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis and Myles Turner could develop into playmaking centers with 3-point range. They are the next frontier.

[kf96]

I hear the wizards are gona offer Joakim Noah a max contract lmao

Yeah 4 years 120 mil

[DBC10]

I heard the Noah offer was false, from a WAS trusted beat writer.

That'd be the worst deal in NBA history.

[MrBigShot]

I'm just dumbfounded by that Orlando/OKC trade. Since February, Orlando has essentially turned Tobias Harris, Oladipo, and the 11th pick into Ibaka, who only has one year remaining on his contract. What are they thinking?

Ibaka is a good player no doubt, but not worth what Orlando gave up. On the flip side, I love the trade for OKC. I think Oladipo would be an awesome fit at shooting guard, and I'm intrigued to see how Sabonis develops under their system. If Durant ends up staying, they'll be fun to watch.

Man that's horrendous. I doubt Ibaka even stays there, so they may have traded all of that away for nothing. And if he does stay it'll be because they overpaid significantly.

[Pharaoh]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16480955/breaking-other-side-ibaka-oladipo-trade

Lots of good stuff in here, as always with Lowe. This in particular rings true:

That speaks a lot to how fast the league has evolved. As I wrote last spring, switching defenses have transformed the "stretch 4" into an almost antiquated concept. A big who can launch stand-still 3s is much less of a threat if defenses just switch every screening action, preventing him from popping open and daring him to do something against a smaller defender.

Coaches a year ago started to use the term "playmaking 4" instead of "stretch 4." A playmaking 4 can post up smaller guys after switches, draw double-teams, and whip passes around the floor. Run a playmaking 4 off the arc, and he can shift into drive-and-kick mode. Draymond Green is a playmaking 4. Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis and Myles Turner could develop into playmaking centers with 3-point range. They are the next frontier.

Say hello to King Henry!

[In SVG We Trust]

I hear the wizards are gona offer Joakim Noah a max contract lmao

Yeah 4 years 120 mil

They really like injured big men. Like the Sixers.

[DBC10]

I'm just dumbfounded by that Orlando/OKC trade. Since February, Orlando has essentially turned Tobias Harris, Oladipo, and the 11th pick into Ibaka, who only has one year remaining on his contract. What are they thinking?

Ibaka is a good player no doubt, but not worth what Orlando gave up. On the flip side, I love the trade for OKC. I think Oladipo would be an awesome fit at shooting guard, and I'm intrigued to see how Sabonis develops under their system. If Durant ends up staying, they'll be fun to watch.

Man that's horrendous. I doubt Ibaka even stays there, so they may have traded all of that away for nothing. And if he does stay it'll be because they overpaid significantly.

Wasn't Hennigan a part of the OKC crew that drafted Ibaka in the first place? There might be some thing there, but I doubt it.

[MrBigShot]

Well its more or less official, Thon Maker is 22-24 years old. We dodged a bullet, all those posters questioning him & his agent's motives were right, take a bow.

[zeebneeb]

I'm just dumbfounded by that Orlando/OKC trade. Since February, Orlando has essentially turned Tobias Harris, Oladipo, and the 11th pick into Ibaka, who only has one year remaining on his contract. What are they thinking?

Ibaka is a good player no doubt, but not worth what Orlando gave up. On the flip side, I love the trade for OKC. I think Oladipo would be an awesome fit at shooting guard, and I'm intrigued to see how Sabonis develops under their system. If Durant ends up staying, they'll be fun to watch.

Man that's horrendous. I doubt Ibaka even stays there, so they may have traded all of that away for nothing. And if he does stay it'll be because they overpaid significantly.

You should check out the Orlando board. They are in complete denial about the trade and act as if Ibaka is somehow going to be something he isnt, a primary.

They have for a fact traded, Harris, Oladipo, Erson and Sabonis, for a player they may not even resign with them, and is in no way shape or form worth that price.

That whole fan base is deluded. They act as if everything that has happened is good when in fact the last time they made the playoffs was in 2011/2012 when Stan van Gundy was the coach.

They believe in their GM which is the funniest part of this trade. They are talking 45-50 wins. LMAO.

[Blkbrd671]

I'm just dumbfounded by that Orlando/OKC trade. Since February, Orlando has essentially turned Tobias Harris, Oladipo, and the 11th pick into Ibaka, who only has one year remaining on his contract. What are they thinking?

Ibaka is a good player no doubt, but not worth what Orlando gave up. On the flip side, I love the trade for OKC. I think Oladipo would be an awesome fit at shooting guard, and I'm intrigued to see how Sabonis develops under their system. If Durant ends up staying, they'll be fun to watch.

Man that's horrendous. I doubt Ibaka even stays there, so they may have traded all of that away for nothing. And if he does stay it'll be because they overpaid significantly.

You should check out the Orlando board. They are in complete denial about the trade and act as if Ibaka is somehow going to be something he isnt, a primary.

They have for a fact traded, Harris, Oladipo, Erson and Sabonis, for a player they may not even resign with them, and is in no way shape or form worth that price.

That whole fan base is deluded. They act as if everything that has happened is good when in fact the last time they made the playoffs was in 2011/2012 when Stan van Gundy was the coach.

They believe in their GM which is the funniest part of this trade. They are talking 45-50 wins. LMAO.

I actually wouldn't be suprised to see them a better team. Yes they gave up a lot for Ibaka(who probably closer to 29), however its not like they were a great team with all those assets. Harris was playing like sh*, Dipo looks to have plateau'd and has no chemistry with Payton. You look at all the assets they gave up and they still have a sh* load of talent around Ibaka. They have more of a identity as a team and Vogel will have them playing good D at the very least. Not to mention they just stole a high profile SAS assistant coach.

It will be very interesting to see what Orlando does in FA

[Blkbrd671]

Well its more or less official, Thon Maker is 22-24 years old. We dodged a bullet, all those posters questioning him & his agent's motives were right, take a bow.

not to mention a shady a* agent. From articles i read, apparently Hennigan(Hammond?) knew already but had developed a good relationship with Thon that he didn't care. Put it this way, Giannis 2.0 at 19 vs Giannis 2.0 at 23 isn't all that bad, if he's as raw as everyone thinks, then yes, bullet dodged.

I really don't think SVG had Thon in the first round.

[DBC10]

Well its more or less official, Thon Maker is 22-24 years old. We dodged a bullet, all those posters questioning him & his agent's motives were right, take a bow.

not to mention a shady a* agent. From articles i read, apparently Hennigan(Hammond?) knew already but had developed a good relationship with Thon that he didn't care. Put it this way, Giannis 2.0 at 19 vs Giannis 2.0 at 23 isn't all that bad, if he's as raw as everyone thinks, then yes, bullet dodged.

I really don't think SVG had Thon in the first round.

For sure. I too doubt whether SVG was really impressed with Thon, it was nice to see him get an invite.

But we did dodge a bullet with a lie like that. I kind of feel bad for the guy, he's basically a refugee if you think about it, but had to move all over Australia, U.S, and Canada to play some pro ball. Literally doesn't even have an identity of his own really, to some, that's all that they have.

I mean sure, having guaranteed millions sure helps, but it's the principle of it all.

[MrBigShot]

Well its more or less official, Thon Maker is 22-24 years old. We dodged a bullet, all those posters questioning him & his agent's motives were right, take a bow.

not to mention a shady a* agent. From articles i read, apparently Hennigan(Hammond?) knew already but had developed a good relationship with Thon that he didn't care. Put it this way, Giannis 2.0 at 19 vs Giannis 2.0 at 23 isn't all that bad, if he's as raw as everyone thinks, then yes, bullet dodged.

I really don't think SVG had Thon in the first round.

Yeah I don't think SVG rated him very highly either judging by the comment he made about 2 picks made in the top 12 or so being on our top 30 list, but my instinct was to say "dodge a bullet" because before I knew about any of this age stuff I thought about him as a potential pick for us.

I think a lot of people would've done the same thing in his situation, considering 3-4 years can be the difference between getting a guaranteed contract million dollars+ as a first rounder or having to claw his way onto a team via summer league or the DLeague and earning the minimum.

It's just pretty crazy to think the Bucks used the 10th pick on a guy that raw that could potentially be older than Dre, who is going into his 5th year. Crazy. Maybe he's further ahead than expected and it works out for them, who knows?

[Pharaoh]

Orlando:

Vuc can't defend the perimeter so they got someone who can!

Ibaka can stretch the floor for Vuc, Dunkman & Payton

Dunkman needs to deliver at SF - not just in the dunk comp

Herz - time to shine

Payton - push the tempo

Bucks gambling on workouts where Maker drained jumpers. IF he can develop quickly they've got Monroe, Henson, Maker, Parker & Alphabet across the frontline...still think Middleton is the key for them. Gotta move him to SF & get a shooter in the line up to help him spread the floor

[DETermination]

I know magic fans are trying real hard to make it seem like they didn't get killed in that trade and yeah Ibaka is a good player and a great fit next to Vuc but at the end of the day they traded Tobias Harris Oladipo and a lotto pick for a guy on the last year of his contract. Maybe I'm just used to seeing SVG making all these great trades but if my team did those moves the magic did i would probably be upset.

[coordinator0]

Orlando:

Vuc can't defend the perimeter so they got someone who can!

Vucevic can't defend at the rim either though. He's a hard big to build around with the way the league is going. I really Nikola as a player, but you can't hide him anywhere on defense.

[Pharaoh]

Orlando aren't capped out though so they could add another quality player...

But I agree with the coordinator - Vuc too difficult to build around in today's league

[Lionlifer]

I know magic fans are trying real hard to make it seem like they didn't get killed in that trade and yeah Ibaka is a good player and a great fit next to Vuc but at the end of the day they traded Tobias Harris Oladipo and a lotto pick for a guy on the last year of his contract. Maybe I'm just used to seeing SVG making all these great trades but if my team did those moves the magic did i would probably be upset.

The best part about the trade is on the GB watching Orlando fans say they didn't get robbed, and watching OKC fans say Dipo is just as good as Ibaka.

That being said, if SVG made that trade, I'd be livid

[kf96]

I know magic fans are trying real hard to make it seem like they didn't get killed in that trade and yeah Ibaka is a good player and a great fit next to Vuc but at the end of the day they traded Tobias Harris Oladipo and a lotto pick for a guy on the last year of his contract. Maybe I'm just used to seeing SVG making all these great trades but if my team did those moves the magic did i would probably be upset.

The best part about the trade is on the GB watching Orlando fans say they didn't get robbed, and watching OKC fans say Dipo is just as good as Ibaka.

That being said, if SVG made that trade, I'd be livid

They said the same thing when they traded Harris