2016 Offseason Thread -- Not (just) #KD2DC

[FAH1223]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/750004267553923072[/tweet]

[nate33]

With Woj's reports that this has been it the works for months, it makes me seriously question if KD tanked the Warriors series to make this happen. 12-31 game 5, 10-31 game 6. He can't join Golden State after beating them and presumably winning the title, could he?

Nah. I'm sure the motivation to actually win a title in OKC outweighed his motivation to join Golden State in the future. Heck, if had delivered a title to OKC, it probably would have been easier for him to leave.

[nate33]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/750004267553923072[/tweet]

Somebody will help. Heck, just about every team in the league except Cleveland and San Antonio doesn't really have a chance at a title anyway.

[Kanyewest]

With Woj's reports that this has been it the works for months, it makes me seriously question if KD tanked the Warriors series to make this happen. 12-31 game 5, 10-31 game 6. He can't join Golden State after beating them and presumably winning the title, could he?

I doubt it. Especially since Kevin Durant was 10-19 in game 7.

[verbal8]

Joining Boston would have been much better.
Joining a 73 win team after you choked away a 3-1 series lead is pathetic.

I really feel for OKC fans now.

Absolutely disgusting.

It'll be interesting to see how Golden State fleshes out their roster. Assuming the jettison Bogut, they'll have about $10M in cap room to go along with the following roster:

PG Curry/Livingston
SG Klay/Livingston
SF Durant/Iggy
PF Green/Looney
C ??

I don't think it's wise to start Green at center all season. Who's left to play starting center? They could retain Varejao for cheap, but he's only a limited-minute backup. Still need a starter.

But holy crap! That 6-man rotation at the 1, 2, 3 and 4 has got to be the best of all time.

They'll find somebody at center. It's the most ridiculous offensive lineup we've ever seen. Still a lot of KD at the 4 and Draymond at the 5. Gasol and Dirk still out there.

Gasol is likely going to the Spurs. I think he is looking at $20+ million/year. Dirk doesn't seem like a fit since there need seems to be a rugged center vs. finesse PF.

Can they keep Ezeli?

[LyricalRico]

Maybe Mahinmi will ask out of his deal with us so he can go to GSW?

[keynote]

Remind me why we even care about essentially a 2 team league again? Seriously. Why do the Wizards even exist? Just have Cleveland and Golden Stats play each other 82 times a year and call it the NBA.

This is the unfortunate byproduct of the rapid escalation in salaries. Basically, every year, most teams have had the flexibility to do crazy stuff like this to load up on talent. Eventually, it becomes obvious that the only way to counter a Super Team is to build a Super Team of your own. With a finite amount of elite talent available, everyone else loses out.

Things will settle down once the cap levels off and cap constraints begin to enforce parity again. But for now, there's nothing to do but wait. If nothing else, this gives a glimpse of what the league would look like in the absence of a salary cap (assuming maximum salaries continue to be enforced).

The best solution would be to end the concept of a maximum salary. In such a world, Lebron and Durant would get paid 50-60% of the cap, not 35%, and it would be impossible to assemble so much talent around them.

Actually, I'm not sure if even that would work. Megastars like LeBron and Durant make more money from their shoe deals and other endorsements than they do from their NBA teams. So, while a Conley-level player will almost always take the largest contract available (give or take a year), LeBron has already demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice a few NBA dollars in order to win -- since winning increases their non-NBA dollars. And now Durant has made the same calculation. Durant -- despite having a history of serious injury -- is apparently willing to sacrifice *three years* of guaranteed money to move to a larger market and a better team. If the move is successful, he's got a good chance of making that money back (and more) off the court. I can't see of a way for Silver to change that.

[dckingsfan]

Can't believe we could have had Bogut for a year rental instead of the Mahinmi debacle... sigh

[DCZards]

Actually, 23-year-olds with 4 years under their belt don't typically improve all that much. And Beal hasn't shown any real statistical improvement in his entire career. His PER, WS/48 and ORtg have remained essentially flat, as has his assists, rebounds, steals, FT Rate and 3P%. And last season, his defense was atrocious.

IMO, it's almost impossible to judge how good Beal is capable of being based on last season when he was in and out of the lineup all season due to injury. That kind of inconsistent court time negatively impacts a player's development, particularly a young player. But you're right that he did take a step back defensively.

Demarr DeRozan is Exhibit A of a player (in fact another SG) who has shown significant improvement since he was 23 years old. There's no reason that Beal can't do the same...with hard work, good health and better coaching.

[Illuminaire]

IMO, it's almost impossible to judge how good Beal is capable of being based on last season when he was in and out of the lineup all season due to injury. That kind of inconsistent court time negatively impacts a player's development, particularly a young player. But you're right that he did take a step back defensively.

Demarr DeRozan is Exhibit A of a player (in fact another SG) who has shown significant improvement since he was 23 years old. There's no reason that Beal can't do the same...with hard work, good health and better coaching.

DeRozan is a pretty good example, yeah. But while there may be hope that Beal can do the same, there are many reasons to think he won't - historical precedent, lack of any tangible development in four years, and the injury history you cite as a reason for his lack of progression. I would even throw in his sub-par FT shooting, which is a strong indicator that his ceiling as a 3-point sniper is much more limited than believed... or that he's not putting in work. Either way, that sucks.

I'm not sure what's going wrong with Beal, but he has been a disappointment on many levels. I'm still slightly optimistic on him, but the chances of him ever being an impact player (from a statistical pov) are not good.

[Dark Faze]

sessions only got 12.5 a year from the hornets

even with sato on board I don't understand how we let him go at such a low cost

[Dat2U]

sessions only got 12.5 a year from the hornets

even with sato on board I don't understand how we let him go at such a low cost

Maybe because he wasn't that good? I didn't like the Burke pickup but I think it was time to move on from Sessions. He was a terrible defender and had significant bouts of tunnel vision offensively. We could have done better... even if Ernie didn't.

[keynote]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/750004267553923072[/tweet]

Somebody will help. Heck, just about every team in the league except Cleveland and San Antonio doesn't really have a chance at a title anyway.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/750029215492349952[/tweet]

[80sballboy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BenMehicNBA/status/750030341780439040[/tweet]

[FAH1223]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/750004267553923072[/tweet]

Somebody will help. Heck, just about every team in the league except Cleveland and San Antonio doesn't really have a chance at a title anyway.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/750029215492349952[/tweet]

Mavs may as well bring in Barbosa and Verajao

I'd also sign Nene if I'm them.

[dckingsfan]

sessions only got 12.5 a year from the hornets

even with sato on board I don't understand how we let him go at such a low cost

Maybe because he wasn't that good? I didn't like the Burke pickup but I think it was time to move on from Sessions. He was a terrible defender and had significant bouts of tunnel vision offensively. We could have done better... even if Ernie didn't.

I still look at Boston that looks something like this:

Code: Select all

Thomas    Smart     Rozier   
Bradley   Young     Hunter   Holland
Crowder   Brown      
Horford   Jerebko   Mickey   Yabusele
Johnson   Olynyk    Žižić   


And say, why not just go after Zeller and Sullinger instead of Mahinmi? And Aldrich too for the price. Smh!!!

[LyricalRico]

Now Spurs need to move Diaw to sign Gasol. Would have loved to use the money spent on Mahimni to trade for Bogut+Diaw.

[80sballboy]

Dallas gets Bogut. Dedmon to Warriors?
[tweet]https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins/status/750045331287576576[/tweet]

[80sballboy]

Now Spurs need to move Diaw to sign Gasol. Would have loved to use the money spent on Mahimni to trade for Bogut+Diaw.

Diaw has become a nice player but I wonder if he's the type of guy who would be productive away from Pop. Also has a tendency to get very heavy when not motivated. I'm fine with Mahinmi save for the price. For all the metric experts on this board, he's been very good defensively and will help us more than Gortat, who probably should have been dealt. But I know the money was absurd for a backup C and they might have made a panic move after not getting Horford.

[keynote]

Now Spurs need to move Diaw to sign Gasol. Would have loved to use the money spent on Mahimni to trade for Bogut+Diaw.

Both guys are smart, savvy veterans. But Diaw is 34, and Bogut is injury-prone and turning 32 this November. I can understand why Egg targeted a slightly younger guy (although board favorites Aldrich and Biyombo would've been even better fits, age-wise).

And, while I think we'll regret the 4th year on this deal, there's a part of me that likes having the backup C position settled. We've had to rely on castoffs and rentals for our bench the past few years; the team might benefit from some additional stability.