NBA Offseason Thread 2012-2013

buyer95

I imagine we will see Melo having the ball in hi shands, making play and creating offense ala Lebron, what with Kidd's age unless Felton can rediscover his 2010-2011 form.

GoldFour4

Heat close to signing Darko Milicic. Would mean that the no.1,2,4,5 picks from the 2003 drafts would all be on the same team !

padraig_f

malachyscott wrote: »

Heat close to signing Darko Milicic. Would mean that the no.1,2,4,5 picks from the 2003 drafts would all be on the same team !

Milicic went #2 that year, that was one bad pick, picked ahead of Wade, Melo & Bosh. Looking back on draft busts, it seems like a lot of them are 7-footers and also a good amount of them are foreign players. So you're really taking a big risk going for a 7-foot foreigner in the top 5 (and still teams do it). Further down it would be worth the risk.

buyer95

Talking about draft busts, the trail blazersmust be still kicking themselves after they passed on K.D, with their first overall pick in 2007 and drafted Oden

Masked Man

For anybody kinda bored in the offseason here's a long ass list of basketball documentaries. It's a couple of months old so some of the links might not work. I checked a few of them and most did.

Also Michael Jordan to the Max in 1080p.

Paully D

buyer95 wrote: »

Talking about draft busts, the trail blazersmust be still kicking themselves after they passed on K.D, with their first overall pick in 2007 and drafted Oden

In hindsight definitely, but here's a good read about why they did pick him and why many teams in the NBA would have done the same at the time:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1188523-remembering-why-the-portland-trail-blazers-chose-greg-oden-over-kevin-durant

Mikeyt086

Masked Man wrote: »

For anybody kinda bored in the offseason here's a long ass list of basketball documentaries. It's a couple of months old so some of the links might not work. I checked a few of them and most did.

Also Michael Jordan to the Max in 1080p.

Just watched Jordan to the Max, have been working through that Documentary list for the last month and watch almost everything! r/nba is actually great for NBA news and hilarious/awesome videos.

On topic: Bulls are getting Marco Belinelli.

Masked Man

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Just watched Jordan to the Max, have been working through that Documentary list for the last month and watch almost everything! r/nba is actually great for NBA news and hilarious/awesome videos.

On topic: Bulls are getting Marco Belinelli.

I was thinking you would've seen it already. Reddit is pretty great for most sports, I repost a ton of stuff from there.

GoldFour4

Robin Lopez to the Hornets in a three team trade with the Suns and Wolves. New Orleans continues to add pieces.

Suns get Wes Johnson from Twolves and a future first - *minny needs the cap space badly

I love this from the Suns, they got that for a backup center and Hakeem Warrick

Mikeyt086

Looks like the T'Wolves are trying to sign Andrei Kirilenko.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8197304/source-minnesota-timberwolves-phoenix-suns-new-orleans-hornets-discussing-trade

AK47 and Kevin Love would be promising.

Masked Man

http://blog.shamsports.com/2012/07/without-looking-guess-which-seven-teams.html

That's gotta hurt if your the Knicks.

GoldFour4

Masked Man wrote: »

http://blog.shamsports.com/2012/07/without-looking-guess-which-seven-teams.html

That's gotta hurt if your the Knicks.

Crazy figures from the Knicks. Wtf was Portland doing in 2002 to pay 51million ? :eek:

padraig_f

Masked Man wrote: »

That's gotta hurt if your the Knicks.

At least they had something to show for it....oh hang on

The Bulls have never paid the tax, but will this year. The ownership has been getting a ton of criticism this off-season for apparent cost-cutting. I'm willing to give them a pass this year with Rose out, but if the next off-season is the same, I won't be too happy.

Dallas are the second-highest spenders. Interesting comments from Cuban today:
Mark Cuban: It’s not the new luxury tax, it’s the restrictions

I knew about the reduced mid-level-exception for tax-paying teams, but didn't know the sign-and-trade will be going. That should fairly handcuff them, would mean the biggest exception a tax-paying team could use would be the mini-MLE ($3m).

Nuri Sahin

:pac:

Paully D

Lads, can someone explain to me how drafting for European players works? It's always something that has confused me.

Some of the questions that you may be able to answer for me:

Can any European player decide to declare for an NBA draft? Is there anything that the players club can do to prevent them from doing so? Why, in the vast majority of cases don't they sign with the NBA team that drafts them straight away? Why does it seem like NBA teams have to go jump through hoops (no pun intended) to get their European player to the NBA? Is there a minimum/maximum time that they have to move to the NBA after being drafted?

GoldFour4

Paully D wrote: »

Lads, can someone explain to me how drafting for European players works? It's always something that has confused me.

Some of the questions that you may be able to answer for me:

Can any European player decide to declare for an NBA draft? Is there anything that the players club can do to prevent them from doing so? Why, in the vast majority of cases don't they sign with the NBA team that drafts them straight away? Why does it seem like NBA teams have to go jump through hoops (no pun intended) to get their European player to the NBA? Is there a minimum/maximum time that they have to move to the NBA after being drafted?

Basically, professional European teams are College for European players. Instead of going to college like players in the US, they turn pro. Ricky Rubio started playing for Barcelona at something like 14.

Regarding the difficulty in getting players over to the NBA. The main problem is that the European players are pros - ie they have a contract. If they want to leave Europe and join the NBA then they have to buy out the contract. This can be expensive for the player. (I think Rubio said that was a main reason he didn't move to Minny sooner. )

There's no minimum / maximum time as far as I know. You'll see teams trading the rights to European players from time to time (When the player still hasn't moved overseas).

Paully D

Cheers Malachy, that makes things clearer anyway

In other news, the schedule has been released. Some cracking games to start the season, namely Heat V Celtics, Knicks V Nets and Thunder V Spurs. Roll on the 31st of October

slick89

Looks like Nate Robinson is on his way to the Bulls.

Felexicon

slick89 wrote: »

Looks like Nate Robinson is on his way to the Bulls.

Meh, he really makes little to no difference to teams he's on. If he hadn't won the dunk contest very little would be made of his yearly off season moves

padraig_f

slick89 wrote: »

Looks like Nate Robinson is on his way to the Bulls.

Haven't been a big fan of his on-court persona, when he was with the Celtics he seemed to think he was the best player on the team at times. I dunno, maybe it's harmless. Thibs was there at the time so if he was a locker-room problem, they probably wouldn't have got him.

His numbers with the Warriors last year are pretty decent, 17 points/7 assists per 36-mins. The Bulls needed another PG because it looks like Marquis Teague isn't ready yet for a full-time backup role, so it's not a bad pickup.

GoldFour4

padraig_f wrote: »

Haven't been a big fan of his on-court persona, when he was with the Celtics he seemed to think he was the best player on the team at times. I dunno, maybe it's harmless. Thibs was there at the time so if he was a locker-room problem, they probably wouldn't have got him.

His numbers with the Warriors last year are pretty decent, 17 points/7 assists per 36-mins. The Bulls needed another PG because it looks like Marquis Teague isn't ready yet for a full-time backup role, so it's not a bad pickup.

Winning the slam dunk contests was the worst thing that happened to him. His ego inflated and he thought he was a far better player then he actually is. He's a tiny guy for the NBA (5"9) and his skillset is fairly limited. I'd have taken a shot with a younger free agent who would have been cheaper if I was the Bulls.

buyer95

Great game on BBC via the red buton, Argenina(Ginobli,Scola, Nocioni) v France(Parker,Batum, Diaw, PietrusTuriaf) Great to see some live bball on tv(rather then poor quality nba stream!) USA V Tunisia later. Great night of ball!

nerd69

What times the us match iv not seen them yet

GoldFour4

nerd69 wrote: »

What times the us match iv not seen them yet

10.15 I think

buyer95

Getting really annoyed at these BBC basketball commentators, it's pronounced "Dee-ow" not "Dee-awe" as the commentator keeps referring to him, every time he says Diaw's name its like nails on a chalk boards

ButtersSuki

Those flipping Aussie commentators are annoying as f***. If I hear how great "The Boomers" are again, I'm liable to throw a brick through the tv.

ButtersSuki

Still better than Timmy MCCarthy on RTE I suppose!

Paully D

Carcharodon

padraig_f wrote: »

Haven't been a big fan of his on-court persona, when he was with the Celtics he seemed to think he was the best player on the team at times. I dunno, maybe it's harmless. Thibs was there at the time so if he was a locker-room problem, they probably wouldn't have got him.

His numbers with the Warriors last year are pretty decent, 17 points/7 assists per 36-mins. The Bulls needed another PG because it looks like Marquis Teague isn't ready yet for a full-time backup role, so it's not a bad pickup.

I think it is easy to see he has a big ego but more than anything he wants to be loved, Shaq said he was obsessed with his popularity and getting attention.
He has got talent and can definitely provide a big boost in games when he gets hot, he has energy and will energize the crowd. He could well become a crowd favorite and does offer something different.

Warriors sign Carly Landry for 2 years for 4 million a year, that is a serious bargain in my opinion.
Warriors actually look like they have a real team for a change, cautiously optimistic.

Paully D

Good read here, interview with Doc Rivers about Ray Allen leaving for Miami:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--doc-rivers-takes-blame-for-ray-allen-leaving-celtics-for-heat-.html

LONDON – After Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers re-examined everything that set into motion Ray Allen leaving for the Miami Heat in free agency, he's assigned blame to an unmistakable target: Himself.

In his first lengthy and candid interview on the circumstances since Allen spurned a two-year, $12 million offer to sign with the Heat in July, Rivers told Yahoo! Sports that his decisions to relegate Allen to a sixth-man role and give point guard Rajon Rondo complete freedom with the ball and leadership were ultimately what helped lead Allen to leave Boston.

Allen, a future Hall of Fame guard, left the Celtics full of acrimony and disillusionment, ending a spectacular five-year run with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as Boston's Big Three. Allen signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Heat.
"People can use all the Rondo stuff – and it was there, no doubt about that – but it was me more than Rondo," said Rivers, who is working as an NBC analyst during the Olympics. "I'm the guy who gave Rondo the ball. I'm the guy who decided that Rondo needed to be more of the leader of the team. That doesn't mean guys liked that – and Ray did not love that – because Rondo now had the ball all the time.

"Think about everything [Allen] said when he left, 'I want to be more of a part of the offense.' Everything was back at Rondo. And I look at that, and say, 'That's not Rondo's fault.' That's what I wanted Rondo to do, and that's what Rondo should've done. Because that's Rondo's ability. He's the best passer in the league. He has the best feel in the league. He's not a great shooter, so he needs the ball in his hands to be effective. And that bothered Ray.

"And not starting [games] bothered Ray. I did examine it, and the conclusion I came back to was this: By doing the right things, we may have lost Ray. If I hadn't done that, I would've been a hypocrite. In the opening speech I make every year, I tell the team: 'Every decision I make is going to be what's good for the team, and it may not be what's good for the individual.' "

Rivers said he had mediated issues between Allen and Rondo for most of the five years that they played together, but that it became a dramatically worse issue in the 2010-11 season. Beyond the issues on the floor, Allen and Rondo had developed a deep disdain for each other, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports. Allen had problems with how he was compensated and that his name was constantly included in trades talks, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Ultimately, Allen struggled with Rivers' decision to make him a sixth man after he returned from an ankle injury. Rivers said he determined in the preseason that Boston's best chance to be a great team would be to bring Allen's scoring off the bench, but he couldn't do that until young guard Avery Bradley was prepared to move into the starting lineup.

After the Celtics were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games, Rivers says Allen – who had always returned his text messages and calls immediately – became more sporadic and infrequent in his responses. "I thought, 'Uh-oh, we're in trouble,' " Rivers said. "And I just knew that Ray feeling like he had lost his voice in the locker room was a big obstacle too."

Now, Rivers wonders this: Does Allen have a bigger or better role with the Heat?

"Ray's got to do what's best for Ray," Rivers said, "but having said that, he's not going to start in Miami. And I doubt he gets the ball more. But I do think, for a guy like Ray and Paul and Kevin and Kobe [Bryant], it's easier to go somewhere and do that, than have it taken from you where you're at.
"As a coach, you've got to do what's best for the team. If guys don't like it, they're going to leave. If they stay and don't like it, well, your team's going to suck anyway. Even if this happens, you still have to do it. You can't coach worrying about any individual. You've got to coach worrying about your entire team: Whether that gets you a championship or whether that gets you fired.
"I think it allows you to coach free. You're coaching with freedom because you know you're doing what you think is right. I always tell my guys: If I'm wrong, hopefully I'm smart enough, or my staff, or one of you guys – because I do listen to you – will tell me that I'm wrong. But not one player ever told me, 'Hey, I don't think you should start Avery.' "

Whatever issues the public had with Allen leaving for a rival, Rivers says those never entered into his frustration. "I was pissed at him," Rivers said. "I was pissed at him for his reasons for leaving. But what people don't get: I wasn't pissed at him for leaving for Miami. I could care less he went there. And that's a fact. With the fans, I know it was: How could he go to Miami? But once he decided he didn't want to stay with us, he has the right to wherever he wants."

Rivers has come to realize that Allen's leaving was inevitable and his return would've only exasperated the issues and made for an untenable situation in Boston. Shooting guards Jason Terry and Courtney Lee were signed in free agency, and they'll replace Allen.

"For a week or two, I was really disappointed, pissed, because I thought it was for all the wrong reasons," Rivers said. "It was more about himself, his team. And then, I realized: Well, it should be about himself. It was free agency. I wasn't thinking right.

"If Ray came back, it had to be because he was thinking:, 'We're going to work this [stuff] out, and we're going to win. And if he didn't come back, it was because he thought he couldn't work it out here. What they're asking him to do in Miami, he just couldn't do in Boston.

"But here's what wasn't going to change: The ball's not going to be in Ray's hands more, the ball's going to be in Rondo's hands. That's not going to change. Now that you've voiced you should have the ball more, or you want to start, or you want more freedom in the offense, that's not going to go away. It's going to be the same stuff. If he comes back, it's going to be because he's figured it out. If he leaves , it's going to be because he didn't get over it. Whatever he decided, his decision was right."