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Official 2018 NBA Offseason Thread: the preseason cometh

Why would the Lakers not wait?

Free agency is broken.

One reason could be to get rid of a bad contract that will hinder them going forward. Another reason is if the team stinks big time and has no draft choice, they could lose millions in revenues. Getting PG now would help them do much better next year and put them in a better position to get someone to join him at the end of next year.
 
Silver has a lot of problems to address this offseason. If players start essentially tampering, people aren't going to show up to watch players who openly want to be elsewhere.
 
Lol.

James, Durant, Curry, Irving, Green, Leonard, Harden, Westbrook, Paul, Griffin, Butler, Lowry, Derozan, Lillard, Thomas, Wall, Beal, Millsap, Gasol, Conley, Davis, Cousins, George off the top of my head. Hayward probably slots in somewhere after 20. Horford would be in the 30s.


Sig didn't mention:

Greek Freak
Klay (few people would rather have Hayward or Horford than Klay)
DJ (most would rather have someone who is the best in the NBA at two things than either Hayward or Horford)
KAT
Zinger

i'm probably missing a couple, too.

Yea both of these. Hayward is really good but he's around 20th best in the league or so. Horford is a really good 4th and maybe 3rd option at this point but I don't think you can win a ship with him as your third best player.

Boston was so good least year due to Stevens and his system and the depth they had. Not the overall talent on the team. Isaiah is an amazing offensive player but that hip injury is a bitch and has taken out several players.

The Celtics and Ainge are doing a really smart thing and turning the #1 pick into a really good player who is probably going to produce around the same amount of return as what Fultz does (and it sounds like the Celtics are enamored with him so why take him #1) while also getting a few more solid cracks at another slot at #1 a few years down the road. Keep your team good as long as you can and wait out the Lebron years. It's a good strategy.
 
To get PG this year, the Lakers will have to get rid of some contracts. They don't have close to enough cap space to sign him and keep the #2 pick.

Singing Ball will put them a little over $90M, thus they will have to move about $20M in salaries. Deng and Russell will be about $22.7M.

The sidebar to this is that if the Lakers get PG, it's unlikely they will get the #2-5 pick next year. Therefore, the Celtics are likely to get the Kings' pick in 2019. Too bad Danny.

Kings pick in 2019 is better than the Lakers pick next year IMO. They may be Net-ish in 2018 but with young guys who aren't ready instead of old guys who don't have it anymore.
 
I'd take Hayward over a decent chunk of the names being thrown out. He's an #elite defender who can guard multiple positions, is a strong rebounder for his position, and can create his own offense from any range on the floor.

I recognize that my take on Horford is an unpopular opinion, and probably a tick too strong (~30 feels like a safer bet), but I think his defense and passing get consistently underrated here. He's the best passing big in the league, and while he's not a strong shotblocker, he's one of the best big on-ball defenders in the league. He's added a three point shot to his repertoire, and his overall shot is above average. Rebounding is obviously a (significant) mark against him, but he's really, really good.
 
Maybe Cavs can trade the 2 furthest out 1st round picks that are legal to trade unprotected as the core for PG. Basically just shove all-in and accept that they'll be the Nets for a half decade post Bron

Let the Hornets in on the 3way and we'll give the Pacers Batum, Frank, and our 1st round pick to get Love so PG can go to Cleveland.
 
Why would the Lakers not wait?

Free agency is broken.

I think there is a pretty good reason to not wait. If PG gets rented and has a very deep playoff run and really likes it.....things could get dicey. And that team can offer a lot more money than the Lakers.
 
Yep. And there's the risk that Lavar Ball generates a toxic environment there as well.
 
Kings pick in 2019 is better than the Lakers pick next year IMO. They may be Net-ish in 2018 but with young guys who aren't ready instead of old guys who don't have it anymore.

If they make two good picks this year to go with Cauley-Stein, Hield and the free agents they will have to sign this year should result in them being much better than the Nets.
 
I think there is a pretty good reason to not wait. If PG gets rented and has a very deep playoff run and really likes it.....things could get dicey. And that team can offer a lot more money than the Lakers.

"and likes it". Dude is playing this for endorsements and star power from being a Laker. I don't think a one-year rental that parlays into a ring in Cleveland is going to keep him there.
 
If they make two good picks this year to go with Cauley-Stein, Hield and the free agents they will have to sign this year should result in them being much better than the Nets.

Ehhh, Buddy Hield isn't good and most of these freshman drafted this year won't be good enough to win NBA games their first couple of years because they are super young. It's a great top 10 this year but they are all babies.
 
Ehhh, Buddy Hield isn't good and most of these freshman drafted this year won't be good enough to win NBA games their first couple of years because they are super young. It's a great top 10 this year but they are all babies.

Sac has to spend $30-40M this off-season to reach the Sterling Line. By accident they could overpay and get a player or two.

By the way, after getting to Sac, Hield averaged about 16.5 ppg and shot about 44% on threes. That's good for a rookie.
 
This may not be a unique opinion, but the NBA offseason is far more interesting than the NBA regular season, and probably even the NBA playoffs (at least these days).

That can't be good for the long term health of the league, can it?
 
Adam Silver has an interesting problem. The NBA has a tremendous amount of talent. The problem is the West has far more talent. The East only has a few potential generational talents who don't play for the Cavs. The only Eastern Conference national TV game that was appointment viewing for me this year was Bucks-Knicks. I'll probably make a point to watch healthy Embiid for however long he last.

The league very top heavy and there's no incentive to go all out to win if the cap is the 2nd round. On the other side, the top teams want to rest their players for the playoffs. In the league as it is, teams that are doing what is best for them may be doing what isn't good for the entire league.

I think a 2 year rule would be helpful here. It would help reduce the need to great player development once players get to the league. I think that's where much of the gap is.
 
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I think the East/West thing will work itself out over time... Not sure there is anything structural there. Seems like more of an anomaly, but would be interested in your take.

Agree that the league is top heavy, but that has always been the case, right? I think the NBA (and basketball, in general) lends itself to that because you only have 5 guys on the court at a time (and smaller rosters). MLB/NFL are inherently different sports... Baseball is a series of 1on1 hitting/pitching matchups where starting pitchers only go once every 5 days (and are prone to injury). Football has 22 guys on the field, so each individual is less valuable. I fully realize both of those are simplistic takes, and there are other factors in play... But there always seems to be a handful of "elite" teams in the NBA every year (without a ton of turnover year to year).
 
Oh, and I agree that the longer guys stay in college, the better off both NCAA & NBA basketball will be... But I don't see how you can get the players to agree to that.
 
The Bird Rule and soft caps help teams stay together. If you get a great player, you are more likely to keep him. This is going to be even more prevalent with the new super-max contracts.

Also, there have always been a bigger number of bad management teams than good ones. Because of mobility and the softer cap, better management is more important.

There is much more of a financial incentive to win in the NBA than NFL. Due to the socialistic (almost communistic) nature of the NFL, it is impossible not to make huge profits. In the NBA, you have to be better.
 
I think the East/West thing will work itself out over time... Not sure there is anything structural there. Seems like more of an anomaly, but would be interested in your take.

Agree that the league is top heavy, but that has always been the case, right? I think the NBA (and basketball, in general) lends itself to that because you only have 5 guys on the court at a time (and smaller rosters). MLB/NFL are inherently different sports... Baseball is a series of 1on1 hitting/pitching matchups where starting pitchers only go once every 5 days (and are prone to injury). Football has 22 guys on the field, so each individual is less valuable. I fully realize both of those are simplistic takes, and there are other factors in play... But there always seems to be a handful of "elite" teams in the NBA every year (without a ton of turnover year to year).

I don't think it's an anomaly. I think it's been that way for close to 20 years, since Jordan's 2nd retirement. The top teams in the West have been significantly better than the top teams in the East.

Name a current Eastern Conference player who has led an Eastern Conference team to a Finals? Not a championship. Just the Finals.

Wade
Lebron
Howard

You can throw in Rondo if you want.
 
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