RealGM

MartinToVaught wrote:

og15 wrote:

MartinToVaught wrote:I'm relieved we're not giving him $109 million, but it's NEXT offseason that I'm excited about, definitely not this offseason.

I'm just teasing, but I know you probably think the Clippers are going to get Durant, which I don't think is nearly as likely as you think, and when the Clippers strike out on Durant, we're left with, well....

I suppose if all goes well they could get Al Horford (a PF who doesn't actually like playing C), and Batum, a SF who plays with France every year and never lets himself fully rest in the summer. Nice team, but we could keep DJ and still have a chance at a guy like Batum or Chandler next off-season, soo...

Obviously Durant is far from a guarantee, but I think we can make an extremely competitive pitch. Failing that, as sad as it is, Horford out-of-position is still a far better center than DJ. And if we can't land Horford, we can divide the money up among a bunch of pieces and put together a deep roster. We have ample opportunities to build a superior team without putting all our eggs in the DJ basket, and to me, that's all that matters.

Outside of Durant the 2016 free agency looks like this

Centers
-Drummond (restricted)
-Valancuinas (restricted)
-Whiteside
-Mozgov
-Horford
-Noah
-Hibbert
-Jefferson
-Nene

Small forward
-MKG (restricted)
-Batum
-Deng
-W.Chandler
-H.Barnes (restricted)
-J.Green

Probably others I'm missing, but no max players. Based on the contracts this season, you're starting at $13 million with all those SF's, and probably $15 million with most of the C's except Nene who is old, and Mozgov you can get for like $11-12 million probably. Of course the restricted guys aren't going anywhere.

I don't know, we'll see what actually comes of this off-season because I think some seem to believe that Durant is already on his way here, so it's all good, but let's be real also, if not Durant, what? Do nothing and save cap space for another season or two until another guy you want comes? Anyone think Lebron is about to switch teams again or something? Come on.

Sadly the second problem becomes that maybe you don't give Horford the max, but you give him $16-17 million/year and all you saved in comparison to DJ was $3-4 million a year and you still get the same quality level of SF and still have the same "other" options to fill out the roster. It's not as magical as you might think.

My thing with Horford is that I think he looks for a team that will play him at PF, not C. After that, we're realistically talking about Noah, Hibbert or Jefferson, all with issues. Best bet at SF without overspending might be Deng. Health is obviously also big for winning, so Noah is risky. Jefferson pairs poorly with Blake especially on defense. Hibbert and Lance are a bad fit, Hibbert is not a good finisher and is slow. It's still going to be a tough process of getting the right fits, etc, with no guarantees and likely to overpay to get your top choice.

The last couple of days, every time I got a mental picture of DJ it was in a Maverick uniform. I was hopeful, but couldn't get that image out of my head

It's disappointing and it leaves us in a state of uncertainty, but we still have 2 of the best players in the game. Hopes and aspirations will be dialed back for the upcoming season barring some unforeseen game changer, but it is what it is. 2016 FA may end up being interesting for us after all.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/617082596074389504[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/617082942381248512[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/617084027573374976[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/617082935976587269[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/617083628401459200[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/617084503295528960[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ArashMarkazi/status/617077317786042368[/tweet]

og15 wrote:Sadly the second problem becomes that maybe you don't give Horford the max, but you give him $16-17 million/year and all you saved in comparison to DJ was $3-4 million a year and you still get the same quality level of SF and still have the same "other" options to fill out the roster. It's not as magical as you might think.

Horford is better than DJ. I'd rather have Horford + added pieces than an overpaid DJ + pieces.

MartinToVaught wrote:

og15 wrote:Sadly the second problem becomes that maybe you don't give Horford the max, but you give him $16-17 million/year and all you saved in comparison to DJ was $3-4 million a year and you still get the same quality level of SF and still have the same "other" options to fill out the roster. It's not as magical as you might think.

Horford is better than DJ. I'd rather have Horford + added pieces than an overpaid DJ + pieces.

Horford doesn't like playing C and would probably want to sign to a team that can play him at PF. Horford is a better PF than DJ and better player, definitely, maybe not a better C though.

After Horford though, since you're selling him on being a C, and since Atlanta might be fairly good and he wants to say (they have Splitter now, he can play more PF), you're back to guys who aren't much on offense (Noah and Hibbert), and a guy who wants to get post touches all day and won't be a good fit with Blake and isn't good on defense (Jefferson). So where is this team at in terms of being "better" with one of those guys and a SF that could still be gotten if you retain DJ?

I don't mind DJ leaving, it's fine, I had said in the past that doing something like trading him for Mozgov and Chandler was a smart move. Get the guys when they are cheaper, then you have birds rights for re-signing, but I do think we should also be aware that it wasn't just going to be some great "now we have the max, now we fill all the holes the team has" type of situation.

Later player.

og15 wrote:

DLaren wrote:

QRich3 wrote:lol

And just like that, our championship window is shut.

We had a four year window, that's about as much as any team can ask for, and we choked away each opportunity.

We're headed back to the middle-of-the-pack to join the rest of the treadmill teams; at least when we lose early in the playoffs next year it won't be as disappointing.

1 year was not even close to a championship roster unless one was a super homer. 12-13 maybe until Griffin got injured. Essentially it has been 3 years, only two years with a real chance, but even then we all saw glaring holes that were exploitable, especially on defense.

Most of us never really expected a ring from that core (until this season anyway), but we always felt like we had a team that would reach the WCF and be 'knocking on the door'...we squandered that opportunity every year.

It is what it is...I'm already moving on, hoping we re-sign Udoh and actually play him this time-around; maybe a CP3/Blake team might benefit from a season that starts with zero expectations.

Doc and Ballmer must feel like hell. Sterling at home laughing.

yeah i've been kinda thinking a bit that if anything, this is where you try out your small ball lineup with blake at the 5. what do you have to lose?

anyway, i just want paul pierce to make everything better

oh and KD

DLaren wrote:

og15 wrote:

DLaren wrote:
We had a four year window, that's about as much as any team can ask for, and we choked away each opportunity.

We're headed back to the middle-of-the-pack to join the rest of the treadmill teams; at least when we lose early in the playoffs next year it won't be as disappointing.

1 year was not even close to a championship roster unless one was a super homer. 12-13 maybe until Griffin got injured. Essentially it has been 3 years, only two years with a real chance, but even then we all saw glaring holes that were exploitable, especially on defense.

Most of us never really expected a ring from that core (until this season anyway), but we always felt like we had a team that would reach the WCF and be 'knocking on the door'...we squandered that opportunity every year.

It is what it is...I'm already moving on, hoping we re-sign Udoh and actually play him this time-around; maybe a CP3/Blake team might benefit from a season that starts with zero expectations.

Just bring back Ryan superstar Hollins

nickhx2 wrote:yeah i've been kinda thinking a bit that if anything, this is where you try out your small ball lineup with blake at the 5. what do you have to lose?

anyway, i just want paul pierce to make everything better

oh and KD

Fine for the regular season, but in the playoffs, a team like GS for example will easily out-small ball you since their small ball can defend and is more athletic overall, and some teams will just outsize you with someone like Pierce having to play the 4

Ballmer has to be like what the hell did I pay 2billion for now?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/617093340379619328[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/617094243568500736[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/617090353376690176[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/jeskeets/status/617087191337029632[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/617076654842716160[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/RealFrank13/status/617076404648198145[/tweet]

Hadley wrote:

Quake Griffin wrote:people here actually like Roy Hibbert?

Hibbert > No Center at all?

I'd rather acquire assets and stay flexible. Building up a Bledsoe or a Reggie Jackson can net a nice return for your team when you deal them (if you deal them).

Not as interested in pretending we're going to win a championship if we get Roy Hibbert.
We aren't.

Let's get picks. Get younger. Extend CP's career and start building a future so that Blake will want to re-sign and CP will want to re-sign…hopefully at pay cuts that give the team more flexibility.

Not a time for Panic imo.
A time to be annoyed. But not a time to panic. Particularly once you get over the fact that we aren't winning a chip here this year.

^ the JE Skeets tweet made me laugh

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/617098662078844928[/tweet]

https://instagram.com/p/4sNDODrEAx/?taken-by=dodgers

how Blake is dealing with the news.

Hinkie would probably take a couple 2nd's to take Jason Thompson or Carl Landry off their hands... lol

Ranma wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/617098662078844928[/tweet]

as of right now, I don't expect many players to view us as a destination.

Not holding my breath there.

We might get Kendrick Perkins!