2016-2017 Around The NBA

[The Red Viper]

Just for the record, if the Pistons want to trade Stanley Johnson, I would love to have him here. He is a good defender and has got that edge in him. As much as the shit talk of him getting in LeBron's head was hilarious, for a young player to have the balls to come out and say that was ballsy. Under LeBron's leadership, he can be a total stud.

Shame we don't have anything that would help us make that kind of deal. May be Shump? But at this stage, Shump is a better player. So, I doubt we would do that trade. Unless off course SVG feels he needs some sort of leadership in Dunleavy.

 

[cavsfever]

Yeah, pretty much. OKC had just signed Westbrook to a max contract, and that summer, signed Ibaka to a four year deal. Thus, for Harden, they were only willing to pay $52-$54 million over four years. Harden wanted $60 million over four years. Clay Bennett was unwilling to pay that extra $6-$8 million. Consequently, knowing that Harden would demand an even bigger contract the following free agency, Presti decided to trade him.

Thunder received Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks - which became Steven Adams and Andre Roberson - and one second round pick (Alex Abrines). At the time, many on this board and in general thought the trade was a steal for OKC. Harden was sixth man of the year, but nobody knew what he would become. On the other hand, Kmart and Lamb were very good three-point shooters, and the picks did indeed turn out to be good players.

The dilemma is the sum of what OKC got is still not as good as Harden became. It was tough to see it at the time, but Houston really did make out like bandits, even if many thought they lost.

The thing is, could Harden have become Harden if he had stayed on OKC? Westbrook and Harden are two of the most ball-dominant players not just in the league today, but in the history of the NBA, and Durant needs lots of touches too. It would have taken some kind of genius coach to mesh those three guys together.

But any time you let a guy like Harden go and don't get another superstar in return you are losing out big time.

 

[Jordan]

The thing is, could Harden have become Harden if he had stayed on OKC? Westbrook and Harden are two of the most ball-dominant players not just in the league today, but in the history of the NBA, and Durant needs lots of touches too. It would have taken some kind of genius coach to mesh those three guys together.

But any time you let a guy like Harden go and don't get another superstar in return you are losing out big time.

In my mind they very much could have worked out together. All three of Wade, Bosh, and LeBron were ball dominant (although, admittedly, not as much as Westbrook, Harden, and Durant) and found a way to work together. My theory is that both Westbrook and Harden would have become similar players to what they are today (although Harden would have been more alike to Manu, i.e., a high usage guy who comes off the bench that transforms into a glorified spot-up shooter when playing with the starters). Durant would not be the player he is today, though, had he been playing with Harden and Westbrook. I think his shooting, if anything, would be better than it is currently; however, his ability to score in isolation, would not have developed to nearly the degree it currently has.

So, overall, could they have worked? I think so. Would they be the same players we see today? No, definitely not. Would they be worse players than we see today? Perhaps, but only because of having to split their usage rates. I do see your point, and we would have missed out on all three's individual greatness, but their collective greatness could have surpassed that of the Spurs' dynasty.

 

[Zog]

Just for the record, if the Pistons want to trade Stanley Johnson, I would love to have him here. He is a good defender and has got that edge in him. As much as the shit talk of him getting in LeBron's head was hilarious, for a young player to have the balls to come out and say that was ballsy. Under LeBron's leadership, he can be a total stud.

Shame we don't have anything that would help us make that kind of deal. May be Shump? But at this stage, Shump is a better player. So, I doubt we would do that trade. Unless off course SVG feels he needs some sort of leadership in Dunleavy.

Well, the good thing is he would easily fit into the TPE.

 

[Simon]

Just for the record, if the Pistons want to trade Stanley Johnson, I would love to have him here. He is a good defender and has got that edge in him. As much as the shit talk of him getting in LeBron's head was hilarious, for a young player to have the balls to come out and say that was ballsy. Under LeBron's leadership, he can be a total stud.

Shame we don't have anything that would help us make that kind of deal. May be Shump? But at this stage, Shump is a better player. So, I doubt we would do that trade. Unless off course SVG feels he needs some sort of leadership in Dunleavy.

I was about to bring up Stanley Johnson lol.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Fuck Stanley Johnson. Y'all call it "ballsy" to sound off at the mouth about being in LBJ's head, I call it rank stupidity.

All we need is some 5 MPG clown sounding off at the mouth about sending shivers down the Warriors' collective spine only to get 50 points dropped on his dome by Durant.

No thank you.

 

[Ohio]

Fuck Stanley Johnson. Y'all call it "ballsy" to sound off at the mouth about being in LBJ's head, I call it rank stupidity.

All we need is some 5 MPG clown sounding off at the mouth about sending shivers down the Warriors' collective spine only to get 50 points dropped on his dome by Durant.

No thank you.

Durant is a soft ass pussy tho

 

[Nphan]

How about Vince Carter?

 

[Zog]

CP3 had 20 points, 20 assists, 5 rebounds and 0 turnovers in 30 minutes. Granted, it was the Pelicans, but crazy stat line.

 

[Snarly]

CP3 had 20 points, 20 assists, 5 rebounds and 0 turnovers in 30 minutes. Granted, it was the Pelicans, but crazy stat line.

This is part of the insanity that is the Clippers one night they will put up 200 points and everyone has a quad dub. Then the next game Paul gets teched out and the team puts ups 40 points while D, Jordan has 18 rebounds but missed 18 FTs and the teams loses by 40 points. Then they take a screen shot of Blake as he oddly gets his 16 points and 10 rebounds.

 

[Rich]

This is random, but it's one of the more striking examples of a fan being delusional about how good their own players are vs. others. I know fans are, by definition, fanatical for their teams, so it leads to..shall we say, unclear thinking. But this is just incredible. Found randomly strolling through a Charlotte Hornets' website.

Guy 1, who doesn't play much of a role other than to get the conversation started: "Frank (Kaminsky) isn't a rotation player in the role we need him to fill. We could really use a Jared Dudley type as a more consistent shooter. Marvin isn’t helping either."

Ok, so a pretty standard and rational observation about a couple of players on his team, and wish his team could acquire a very available, not hard to get, role player. Fine.

Then enters Guy 2, who I'm pretty sure was being quite sarcastic: "Maybe we can try Klay (Thompson) for MKG+Cody (Zeller). Make it done Cho."

And now, the guy that every message board has, and most have quite a few, Guy 3. The guy who has no idea what the value of the players on his own team are, nor the value of the players on other teams. He's got those Charlotte Hornets glasses on so tight not even the jaws of life can rip them off. If you asked him the odds that Kemba Walker ends being better than Michael Jordan, he'd tell you to flip a coin.

Guy 3: "Absolute not. Klay would have to go for 40 a night to make up for what we’d lose defensively."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawow.

Forget Klay Thompson for a minute. In my man's mind, Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Cody Zeller are of equal value to a guy who scores 40 points a game. In other words, Wilt Chamberlain.

Guy 4, trying to talk a little sense into Guy 3: "There's no way GS would ever do that."

Guy 3, doubling down, "They would before Charlotte would."

I willfully try to not be this guy, so much so that I probably end up being too critical of my own teams players. But, seriously, if you think there is a chance you're this guy, don't be.

Ok, end of random rant.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

This is random, but it's one of the more striking examples of a fan being delusional about how good their own players are vs. others. I know fans are, by definition, fanatical for their teams, so it leads to..shall we say, unclear thinking. But this is just incredible. Found randomly strolling through a Charlotte Hornets' website.

Guy 1, who doesn't play much of a role other than to get the conversation started: "Frank (Kaminsky) isn't a rotation player in the role we need him to fill. We could really use a Jared Dudley type as a more consistent shooter. Marvin isn’t helping either."

Ok, so a pretty standard and rational observation about a couple of players on his team, and wish his team could acquire a very available, not hard to get, role player. Fine.

Then enters Guy 2, who I'm pretty sure was being quite sarcastic: "Maybe we can try Klay (Thompson) for MKG+Cody (Zeller). Make it done Cho."

And now, the guy that every message board has, and most have quite a few, Guy 3. The guy who has no idea what the value of the players on his own team are, nor the value of the players on other teams. He's got those Charlotte Hornets glasses on so tight not even the jaws of life can rip them off. If you asked him the odds that Kemba Walker ends being better than Michael Jordan, he'd tell you to flip a coin.

Guy 3: "Absolute not. Klay would have to go for 40 a night to make up for what we’d lose defensively."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawow.

Forget Klay Thompson for a minute. In my man's mind, Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Cody Zeller are of equal value to a guy who scores 40 points a game. In other words, Wilt Chamberlain.

Guy 4, trying to talk a little sense into Guy 3: "There's no way GS would ever do that."

Guy 3, doubling down, "They would before Charlotte would."

I willfully try to not be this guy, so much so that I probably end up being too critical of my own teams players. But, seriously, if you think there is a chance you're this guy, don't be.

Ok, end of random rant.

Wait, I have seen weird trade proposals by Cavs fans aswell, even here.
Charlotte have Batum, Lamb, Bellineli at the SG spot. Cody Zeller is an extremely important player for them, he is not flashy but he does play a big role for them, similar to Bogut on GSW.

if they trade MKG, they have no one to fill the SF for them so it's not trival or guaranteed that they become a better team if they make that trade, regardless of how talented Klay is.

 

[Rich]

Wait, I have seen weird trade proposals by Cavs fans aswell, even here.
Charlotte have Batum, Lamb, Bellineli at the SG spot. Cody Zeller is an extremely important player for them, he is not flashy but he does play a big role for them, similar to Bogut on GSW.

if they trade MKG, they have no one to fill the SF for them so it's not trival or guaranteed that they become a better team if they make that trade, regardless of how talented Klay is.

Welp. Out of curiosity, who do you think played small forward for them all of last season?

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Welp. Out of curiosity, who do you think played small forward for them all of last season?

Batum.... so what? he is much better as a SG and who is going to replace Zeller? Kaminsky? they look a like but that's about it.

 

[Meny]

Nerlens Noel is finally back in action, wouldn't mind having him at TT backup