I know that some of you guys probably don’t want to give Barstool any clicks, but this is the best summary I’ve seen of the latest (potential) Kevin Durant Twitter ridiculousness. Some exciting news for Wizards fans in here:
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:27 pm
This is huge:
Damn. Wonder if there's anyone available this offseason to replace him who'd like to come to a strong team with a stable front office.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:42 pm
by brian
No state income tax too, but there's no way Lebron is going to SA if Leonard isn't there. That team is on the way down without some kind of a massive reboot.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:44 pm
by Joe K
More likely is that Kawhi and LeBron try to team up on the Lakers, with George possibly joining them.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:48 pm
by Sabo
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:44 pm
More likely is that Kawhi and LeBron try to team up on the Lakers, with George possibly joining them.
Just read the ESPN story that speculated on this. Interesting idea.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:56 pm
by Giff
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 10:22 am
I know that some of you guys probably don’t want to give Barstool any clicks, but this is the best summary I’ve seen of the latest (potential) Kevin Durant Twitter ridiculousness. Some exciting news for Wizards fans in here:
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 10:22 am
I know that some of you guys probably don’t want to give Barstool any clicks, but this is the best summary I’ve seen of the latest (potential) Kevin Durant Twitter ridiculousness. Some exciting news for Wizards fans in here:
Basically a random Twitter account started arguing with a Steph Curry fanboy about whether Curry or KD deserved Finals MVP. The random account said that the team consciously tried to get Curry MVP in Game 4 and also said that KD should leave after 2020 to go to the Wizards.
People did some digging and found that said account has liked/retweeted a bunch of posts promoting Durant and also uses some very similar and unique phrasing to KD’s official account. So naturally people are speculating that it’s another KD burner account.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 1:06 pm
by Joe K
mister d wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:59 pm
"Trade Ball and Kozma for Leonard", basically. Adding in Leonard's shaky last season, does that really make the most sense for LA?
Gotta do it. But if I’m SAS I want Ingram instead of Ball. Teaming up LeBron and Kawhi is one of the only possible ways for any team to have championship equity while the Warriors remain intact. If the Lakers swing the right trade they might even be able to add George too.
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 10:22 am
I know that some of you guys probably don’t want to give Barstool any clicks, but this is the best summary I’ve seen of the latest (potential) Kevin Durant Twitter ridiculousness. Some exciting news for Wizards fans in here:
Basically a random Twitter account started arguing with a Steph Curry fanboy about whether Curry or KD deserved Finals MVP. The random account said that the team consciously tried to get Curry MVP in Game 4 and also said that KD should leave after 2020 to go to the Wizards.
People did some digging and found that said account has liked/retweeted a bunch of posts promoting Durant and also uses some very similar and unique phrasing to KD’s official account. So naturally people are speculating that it’s another KD burner account.
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:27 pm
This is huge:
Damn. Wonder if there's anyone available this offseason to replace him who'd like to come to a strong team with a stable front office.
Based only on the publicly available information, I wonder if Kawhi hasn't made himself a bit of a pariah. He's a huge talent, who I think still has some degree of upside, but it seems like he's acted rather unprofessionally in this mess. I suppose many teams would be willing to deal with that to gain the talent, but it's a bit of a question in my mind. Of course, it's entirely possible that there is more to the story than we know...
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 6:41 pm
by Joe K
ESPN has a big piece on the Kawhi split with the Spurs a a few weeks ago and it’s pretty complicated. Kawhi’s official story is that the team tried to rush him back from an injury. But the team thinks he’s just using that as a pretext because his new management team wants him in a big media market. What complicates things is that one of Kawhi’s managers is also his uncle. Kawhi grew up in a rough part of LA and his father was killed in a drive-by shooting when Kawhi was a teenager. The uncle essentially acted like a father figure after that happened so Kawhi understandable trusts him an awful lot.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 6:46 pm
by RSmith
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 6:41 pm
ESPN has a big piece on the Kawhi split with the Spurs a a few weeks ago and it’s pretty complicated. Kawhi’s official story is that the team tried to rush him back from an injury. But the team thinks he’s just using that as a pretext because his new management team wants him in a big media market. What complicates things is that one of Kawhi’s managers is also his uncle. Kawhi grew up in a rough part of LA and his father was killed in a drive-by shooting when Kawhi was a teenager. The uncle essentially acted like a father figure after that happened so Kawhi understandable trusts him an awful lot.
Thanks mate, that makes some sense. I hadn't seen that; no ESPN here in Raps land ;-) . Very much of the worst behavior of athletes is motivated by their management, I think (see Boras, Scott)...
Then again, who am I to say that Kawhi's version isn't the truth? No one, really...
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:35 pm
by Johnnie
Boogie Cousins is a free agent too, right? He's coming off that injury, but he seems to be flying under the radar.
I wonder where he ends up.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:38 pm
by RSmith
I'm fairly certain the Raps would trade Ibaka for a bag of balls to offload that contract...
Joe K wrote: ↑Fri Jun 15, 2018 10:22 am
I know that some of you guys probably don’t want to give Barstool any clicks, but this is the best summary I’ve seen of the latest (potential) Kevin Durant Twitter ridiculousness. Some exciting news for Wizards fans in here:
Basically a random Twitter account started arguing with a Steph Curry fanboy about whether Curry or KD deserved Finals MVP. The random account said that the team consciously tried to get Curry MVP in Game 4 and also said that KD should leave after 2020 to go to the Wizards.
People did some digging and found that said account has liked/retweeted a bunch of posts promoting Durant and also uses some very similar and unique phrasing to KD’s official account. So naturally people are speculating that it’s another KD burner account.
Gracias.
I didn't really see any compelling evidence in there. Is the insinuation that there aren't real KD fanboys out there? The only thing that I thought had any merit was that the account was apparently deactivated. Otherwise, what was the evidence? That he spelled "because" as "cuz?" That's pretty weak.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:41 am
by Joe K
I think Luka Doncic is easily the best prospect in this draft and if the reports about Ayton and Bagley going 1/2 are correct, the Hawks are going to get an absolute steal. The way the NBA offenses are shifting to the perimeter and big men need to be able to defend guards in space, I think Bagley over Doncic is particularly nuts. Based on how bad his man defense was in his year at Duke, Bagley seems to have a really high risk to be Jahlil Okafor 2.0 to me. And Doncic has already been a key contributor at the highest levels of European basketball, having won championships with the Slovenian national team and with Real Madrid.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:08 am
by Johnnie
Joe K wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:41 am
I think Luka Doncic is easily the best prospect in this draft and if the reports about Ayton and Bagley going 1/2 are correct, the Hawks are going to get an absolute steal. The way the NBA offenses are shifting to the perimeter and big men need to be able to defend guards in space, I think Bagley over Doncic is particularly nuts. Based on how bad his man defense was in his year at Duke, Bagley seems to have a really high risk to be Jahlil Okafor 2.0 to me. And Doncic has already been a key contributor at the highest levels of European basketball, having won championships with the Slovenian national team and with Real Madrid.
So, where does Kawhi end up? Eventually the Lakers, but for next year though.
It would be nice to see him on the Celtics, but I'm not sure if he'd re-sign.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:22 am
by Joe K
Trae Young seems like a classic example of people overvaluing a college player based on an extremely generous comp (in his case, to Curry). Young is significantly smaller, and projects as a much worse defender, than Curry. And as good as he was at Oklahoma, I think it’s very unrealistic to expect him to have an offensive impact anywhere close to Curry’s.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:53 am
by Johnnie
His name was all over ESPN this past season to a Tebowian level, right?
I remember seeing social media getting irate that they were forcefed his existence ever 3 seconds.
So, that combined with your analysis makes me root for failure for whoever drafts him.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:58 am
by brian
Johnnie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:53 am
His name was all over ESPN this past season to a Tebowian level, right?
I remember seeing social media getting irate that they were forcefed his existence ever 3 seconds.
So, that combined with your analysis makes me root for failure for whoever drafts him.
I definitely wouldn't characterize it like that and I watch a lot of college basketball. He got a lot of hype earlier in the season in nonconference and early in the Big 12 season when he was dominating fools, but once teams started to adjust and double-team him, his production went down and the hype tapered.
He seems like a really, really nice decent kid and I hope he does well at the pro level.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:00 am
by A_B
I don’t wish failure on any kid that didn’t go to Duke.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:08 pm
by Johnnie
Well, if it's the Hawks that draft him, it isn't going to make a difference anyway. That team has been an also-ran franchise for decades.
That leads me to this hot take: the NBA needs to contract 10 teams and move an 11th to Seattle. The league only has like 5 teams with a legit chance to win the title every year, so getting rid of 10 seems fine to me.
(And I get the secondary and tertiary effects of this, so I know it couldn't work. But in a vacuum, this would absolutely make sense.)
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:18 pm
by Giff
A_B wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:00 am
I don’t wish failure on any kid that didn’t go to Duke.
I never thought I'd say this, but I may be sticking to college next season if we draft Grayson Allen. It already sucks to root for the same team our fuckface senator (the one with the Spanish last name since we have two fuckface senators).
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:31 pm
by Joe K
Johnnie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:08 pm
Well, if it's the Hawks that draft him, it isn't going to make a difference anyway. That team has been an also-ran franchise for decades.
That leads me to this hot take: the NBA needs to contract 10 teams and move an 11th to Seattle. The league only has like 5 teams with a legit chance to win the title every year, so getting rid of 10 seems fine to me.
(And I get the secondary and tertiary effects of this, so I know it couldn't work. But in a vacuum, this would absolutely make sense.)
An alternative approach to increase competitive balance would be to eliminate the cap on individual player salaries, while keeping a team-wide salary cap. Part of why so few teams ever have a shot is that almost every team that’s ever won a title has at least one MVP-caliber player and there just aren’t that many of those guys in the league. If the true mega-stars like LeBron, Durant and Curry could get their true market value, it’d be a lot harder for whatever team signed them to have enough remaining money to surround them with other all-stars.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:31 pm
by mister d
Pro-rel???
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:38 pm
by Rex
the NBA would probably benefit a lot from the NFL's scheduling philosophy, but more like the really souped up version that existed in the 70's-90's. After reducing to 66 games, needless to say.
A_B wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:00 am
I don’t wish failure on any kid that didn’t go to Duke.
I never thought I'd say this, but I may be sticking to college next season if we draft Grayson Allen. It already sucks to root for the same team our fuckface senator (the one with the Spanish last name since we have two fuckface senators).
Great. Now I'm picturing Cruz's O-Face when Harden does the lean-in from 35 feet away to get three FTs.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:50 pm
by Johnnie
Just picture Rafael playing basketball. It's much sweatier.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:11 pm
by Johnnie
Well, that was fast:
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:35 pm
by DSafetyGuy
Johnnie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:11 pm
Well, that was fast:
It was all a cap move by Brooklyn, anyway. They were going to take on more money this year to have more space in the 2019 free agent market.
Charlotte needed to reduce their cap number this season to be able to use their mid-level and biannual cap exceptions without hitting the luxury tax.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:38 pm
by brian
There's another step the NBA could make to improve competitive balance, also. Get rid of most of the stupid cap exceptions.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:47 pm
by Johnnie
DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:35 pm]It was all a cap move by Brooklyn, anyway. They were going to take on more money this year to have more space in the 2019 free agent market.
Oh, that's right. This season he's "Dwight Howard's expiring contact" and not just a tall dude with locker room issues and a great smile.
So, where does Kawhi end up? Eventually the Lakers, but for next year though.
It would be nice to see him on the Celtics, but I'm not sure if he'd re-sign.
ESPN now reporting that the Spurs told the Lakers to pound sand when they called about a trade. The more I think about it the more it seems that unless the Spurs get a really enticing offer from someone like the Celtics or Suns that can give a superior package of young talent and draft picks, they’ll just keep Kawhi. Since he already missed virtually all of last season would he really sit out 2018-19 too? They can always trade him at the deadline if it comes to that.
Re: 2018 NBA Offseason Thread
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:32 pm
by Brontoburglar
Johnnie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:53 am
His name was all over ESPN this past season to a Tebowian level, right?
I remember seeing social media getting irate that they were forcefed his existence ever 3 seconds.
So, that combined with your analysis makes me root for failure for whoever drafts him.
this makes no sense unless you think Trae Young was telling ESPN to have a constant statline on the screen during his games