Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[TheStig]

I've defended Danny Ainge a lot, but I'm not sure what he was thinking letting Hayward walk without compensation. Could've at least bothered CHA and asked for a return on Rozier, who was very good in green before Kyrie returned and messed up the chemistry. Just letting a max rotation player walk when you're over the cap with a decent contending team, it makes no sense unless ownership demanded a cut in salary. But he gambled too much on over-the-hill bums like Thompson and Teague; these guys are end of bench players; like vet. min. ring chaser types, not 5th-8th rotation pieces. They made a GarPax move by having a contending core and over-relying on pedestrian late picks and bargain bin FAs to fill out the bench. It's not like he has cap-space or lotto picks coming to address the depth chart. That $35m expiring Hayward option was his big chip.

I mean they have 3 max deals on that team in Kemba, Tatum and Brown next year. Clearly lux tax was a concern going forward. Are you going to give your 4th option a near max deal? CHA had no reason to negotiate. They knew Boston wouldn't pay him and made the moves to get the space.

Yeah, I would. When you are 2 wins away from the finals, I think it’s absurd to become frugal. I guess the alternative is taking a step back, but it hasn’t worked out favorably for any teams in the past. Milwaukee the latest example of a team that let their 4th guy (Brogdon) go for fodder and took a big step back.

Maybe he got cold feet with the BRK super-team.

Hayward is getting a near max deal, somewhat injury prone, is over 30 for the whole deal and plays the same position as their 2 best players. Brogdan was their 3rd best player, signed on a deal for 50 mill less and is young and really good 2 way player. I'd much rather have Brogdan than Hayward.

[MrSparkle]

I mean they have 3 max deals on that team in Kemba, Tatum and Brown next year. Clearly lux tax was a concern going forward. Are you going to give your 4th option a near max deal? CHA had no reason to negotiate. They knew Boston wouldn't pay him and made the moves to get the space.

Wait for ring chasing cuts after the deadline.

And it's not like they sat pat. They've got a lot of recent 1st rounders on the bench and brought in Teague and TT. They'll pick up someone else too and have assets to make a move for someone they like.

Well like GarPax Bulls and the recent Bucks, those FRPs mean less and less for a contender. Most the league isn’t gonna go into a trade knowing you’re getting their #20 pick in exchange for helping them win a ring.

These picks are empty. MEM and MIL picks ended up being mediocre. Nesmith looks like a bust; Pritchard is fine, but he is exactly the type of player where you scratch your head: Cs are a finals contender, and you address your bench with low-ceiling rookies?

Reminds me of Marquis Teague, Snell and Portis. “Oh we’ll be fine saving money on prime vets!” Yeah not really. You can hope for your DJ Augustin bail-out, but it might not come. Boston looks like a 1st round team now- and murmurs of Stevens not doing enough. Might be out of a great coach pretty soon, too. All sounds faintly familiar.

They might go after somebody with the $15m tpe instead of letting it expire, but at this point, the mid level market looks rough. The contending teams all need help, it’s a very open race; they’re all gonna be interested in the best bargains at deadline, meaning there will be a bidding war for Thad (if AK makes him available), PJ, Plumlee, Redick, and a few other guys... who are good, but not TPE + FRP good.

Just seems like an ill-timed opportunity, especially with MIA & TOR struggling. Davis has achilles issues. Nets, Bucks and Clippers have very vulnerable depth charts. I would've put my money on BOS over a lot of teams, but not with Pritchard rounding out their 6-man rotation. They can throw a hail-mary offer for Vuc, but when your deep bench is completely lifeless, you're grasping for straws. IMO you need a good 9-men to contend, if not 12 serviceable pieces. Ainge sat too long on the "quantity" picks, like GarPax did... and now has at least 6-guys who belong in the G-League. Instead of dumping Hayward for a TPE (unless he was serious about Harden), he should've taken back some veteran starters (hell even that Pacers offer), and consolidated the picks for veterans. Paid the luxury. Contended.

[Pax for Prez]

The Cavaliers are planning to keep Andre Drummond on the bench as they work on finding a trade destination for the veteran center, according to Adrian Wojnarowsi and Brian Windorst of ESPN. As ESPN’s duo explains, Jarrett Allen is considered the Cavs’ center of the future and the team believes it’s unfair to Drummond to limit his minutes as the transition to Allen takes place.

According to Charania, the Raptors and Cavs are engaging in trade discussions about Drummond. However, a deal could take a while to come together as Toronto and Cleveland navigate through cap-related challenges and the possibility of incorporating other teams, so nothing is imminent.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2021/02/cavs-plan-to-sit-andre-drummond-as-they-pursue-trade.html

[erlim]

Randomly---this is old news, but it's interesting to hear some insight from lil' John Lucas III; he claims some players would fake illness so they wouldn't have to play against prime Derrick Rose.

Watch on YouTube

Being around here at the time, it's sad we were just so caught up on 'Deng-Dung', Gimmie Dat Boozer, starting Keith Bogans, and throwing mad shade at DRose for not coming back sooner. We had an unbelievable coach who knew how to draw the best out of his blue collar players, and had the luster to bring in some heavy hitters as free agents. It just sucked that there were the Heatles. But in truth, I daydream about our team getting back to being the Rocky Balboa to Apollo Creed in Rocky 1. The days of going to huge sports bars in LA, seeing our cast just grinding out these unbelievable hero moments to hang with the Celtics and Heat seem like a distant memory. Like it or not, the residual importance of this franchise from those years allowed us to be a player in some free agent signings that kept us in playoff contention and second-rounders. Now we have maybe one decent trade chip in Zach Lavine. Besides jettisoning Boylen, this is the most horrifying reality of all of us who were demanding a rebuild.

[MisterRoy]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

[TheStig]

Wait for ring chasing cuts after the deadline.

And it's not like they sat pat. They've got a lot of recent 1st rounders on the bench and brought in Teague and TT. They'll pick up someone else too and have assets to make a move for someone they like.

Well like GarPax Bulls and the recent Bucks, those FRPs mean less and less for a contender. Most the league isn’t gonna go into a trade knowing you’re getting their #20 pick in exchange for helping them win a ring.

These picks are empty. MEM and MIL picks ended up being mediocre. Nesmith looks like a bust; Pritchard is fine, but he is exactly the type of player where you scratch your head: Cs are a finals contender, and you address your bench with low-ceiling rookies?

Reminds me of Marquis Teague, Snell and Portis. “Oh we’ll be fine saving money on prime vets!” Yeah not really. You can hope for your DJ Augustin bail-out, but it might not come. Boston looks like a 1st round team now- and murmurs of Stevens not doing enough. Might be out of a great coach pretty soon, too. All sounds faintly familiar.

They might go after somebody with the $15m tpe instead of letting it expire, but at this point, the mid level market looks rough. The contending teams all need help, it’s a very open race; they’re all gonna be interested in the best bargains at deadline, meaning there will be a bidding war for Thad (if AK makes him available), PJ, Plumlee, Redick, and a few other guys... who are good, but not TPE + FRP good.

Just seems like an ill-timed opportunity, especially with MIA & TOR struggling. Davis has achilles issues. Nets, Bucks and Clippers have very vulnerable depth charts. I would've put my money on BOS over a lot of teams, but not with Pritchard rounding out their 6-man rotation. They can throw a hail-mary offer for Vuc, but when your deep bench is completely lifeless, you're grasping for straws. IMO you need a good 9-men to contend, if not 12 serviceable pieces. Ainge sat too long on the "quantity" picks, like GarPax did... and now has at least 6-guys who belong in the G-League. Instead of dumping Hayward for a TPE (unless he was serious about Harden), he should've taken back some veteran starters (hell even that Pacers offer), and consolidated the picks for veterans. Paid the luxury. Contended.

How are those picks meaningless for the Bucks? They traded all those picks for a key piece in Holiday.

We don't know what those guys are. You pick Teague, Snell and Portis but they could also be Butler, Gibson and ASik. They see them everyday.

Their TPE is much bigger than that. They'd just have to dump someone else to use all of it. But that TPE and a bunch of picks is pretty attractive. But I don't think they're trying to hit a home run. i think they're just trying to get a nice 2 way player.

I just think they didn't have confidence in Hayward being healthy, fitting in and being worth it. They already have 3 guys who need the ball in their hands. They need another 3 and d guy more than a 4th creator.

[Andi Obst]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Blake isn’t fun to watch anymore, those days are gone. The dunks are definitely gone. It’s really sad to see him barely being able to move his feet out there. He’s a huge negative on both ends and I‘m not interested in taking on his contract unless the Pistons offer an unreasonable amount of assets on top. They shouldn’t do that, although the move to sit him now is a little weird. A trade seems impossible and a buy-out for that much money with over a year left would be insane.

[Chi town]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Blake isn’t fun to watch anymore, those days are gone. The dunks are definitely gone. It’s really sad to see him barely being able to move his feet out there. He’s a huge negative on both ends and I‘m not interested in taking on his contract unless the Pistons offer an unreasonable amount of assets on top. They shouldn’t do that, although the move to sit him now is a little weird. A trade seems impossible and a buy-out for that much money with over a year left would be insane.

Blake will be coughing up alot of money to ring chase.

[kulaz3000]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Fun to watch? He is basically a 3 point shooter now, and he is bad at it. Has he even once dunked all season yet?

[MisterRoy]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Fun to watch? He is basically a 3 point shooter now, and he is bad at it. Has he even once dunked all season yet?

Just did a little look-see at his numbers for the season. Am I allowed to change my mind or is that against the rules..?


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

[Jimako10]

I would trade for Blake in a heartbeat if it meant that DET would give us a maybe top 5-8 protected or better FRP. He's only got 1 year left on his contract after this year. I'll easily take one year of Blake for an extra FRP, especially from a team that's nowhere close to contending. Short of 2 legit stars somehow wanting to join Lavine and create a super team, these are the type of moves AK should be focusing on.

[BullChit]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Fun to watch? He is basically a 3 point shooter now, and he is bad at it. Has he even once dunked all season yet?

He hasn't dunked since 2019!

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk

[ImSlower]

I'm a huge Jimmy fan, and I'm honestly pretty bummed out that the Heat have fallen off a cliff this season. Their wildly unlikely run in the post-season was so damn fun. I didn't expect them to continue to be *that* good, but gee whiz, I didn't expect them to be 4 under .500. Even moreso, I would never have pegged the Knicks to be the ones to knock them out of the current top 8.

The East standings are just wild right now. I fully expect the bottom 4 to stay in those spots, but above that and all the way up to the 4 seed, I'll be damned if I have a clue how it's going to sort out.

Edit: As I typed this, the Heat have gone on a really nice little run against the Clips. Crap, I need to root against them for our own seeding, but damnit I just want Butler to win. Argh. Loyalties are hard.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Seen this from the GB

[RSP83]

Was watching The Jump and it looks like Detroit is going to sit Blake until they find a suitor for him. Gonna be tough. Maybe we do a OPJ/Felicio for Blake and a pick for taking on his salary? He isn't lob city Blake but he could be fun to watch.


Sent from somewhere you've never been.

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

[Andi Obst]

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

More?! Blake is significantly worse than Thad, on both ends.

[MGB8]

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

More?! Blake is significantly worse than Thad, on both ends.

That's the truth. I was actually interested in a flier on Blake prior to the season starting. That would have been exceptionally dumb - the guy is toast.

[RSP83]

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

More?! Blake is significantly worse than Thad, on both ends.

exactly that's what I'm saying (in a nicer way ). Thad is already doing something that I can't envision Blake doing.

[sco]

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

More?! Blake is significantly worse than Thad, on both ends.

exactly that's what I'm saying (in a nicer way ). Thad is already doing something that I can't envision Blake doing.

Blake is just a 1 1/2 year bad contract at this point and a bench player. So if Detroit really wants to start the "moving on" process a year early (by having cap space), they'll need to give up assets to be rid of him. I've been pushing for Grant in a deal that brings them back Lauri (young guy with some potential and try before you buy), Otto (may be keepable on a reasonable deal) plus a protected or future 1st or White. Grant isn't old, but they are rebuilding from scratch, so I'd question how good the fit is, and while he's good, he's not keeping them from losing left and right.

[TheStig]

Thing is I don't think Blake will give us more than what Thad is already giving us. I mean in terms of overall impact. A new addition to our team that's not driven by long-term plan, should be a player that addresses short term needs, filling some holes. We need a legit Center and a point guard. Blake address neither of those.

More?! Blake is significantly worse than Thad, on both ends.

He's not worse than Thad. Not by a long shot. But there is something seriously wrong with his knee and I can't see it being fixed anytime soon or him coming back for more than stretches. A couple of years ago he willed that Pistons team on his back into the playoffs. He was a beast.