NBA Offseason 2014

GoldFour4 · 05-08-2014 10:54AM

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

It's a bit sad that so many men who are influential to millions still believe in such nonsense. As another poster said. Religion is more of a problem in poorer communities, Because faith can be a result of ignorance and lack of education of these players parents and grand parents.
However as most of these men have spent at least some time in collage, It's probably more of a stain on American society as a whole

You're completely missing the point IMO. It's more about wishing a fellow player good luck against an awful injury rather than praising the Lord. They're hardly going to send prayers to Stern for George's recovery.

05-08-2014 11:13AM

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

It's a bit sad that so many men who are influential to millions still believe in such nonsense. As another poster said. Religion is more of a problem in poorer communities, Because faith can be a result of ignorance and lack of education of these players parents and grand parents.
However as most of these men have spent at least some time in collage, It's probably more of a stain on American society as a whole

don't want to get to off topic so this is all i will say. I'm not religious but its as ignorant of you to try to push your lack of faith as it is anyone who pushes there faith. calling someone else's beliefs nonsense just because they don't align with yours is childish.

also as the poster above said the point of the tweets was to support a fellow member of the nba community so to try to drag this down to a religious discussion at all is missing the point

D2D · 05-08-2014 01:18PM

John Wall, Bradley Beal and Paul Millsap cut from the USA Team roster. 4 more cuts to be made but the Final 16 Selected USA World Cup Team finalists currently stand at:

DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Stephen Curry (GS Warriors); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors).

NufcNavan · 05-08-2014 03:05PM

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

It's a bit sad that so many men who are influential to millions still believe in such nonsense. As another poster said. Religion is more of a problem in poorer communities, Because faith can be a result of ignorance and lack of education of these players parents and grand parents.
However as most of these men have spent at least some time in collage, It's probably more of a stain on American society as a whole

I disagree with almost everything you said, and it shouldn't be even discussed in this section.

ec18 · 05-08-2014 03:22PM

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

John Wall, Bradley Beal and Paul Millsap cut from the USA Team roster. 4 more cuts to be made but the Final 16 Selected USA World Cup Team finalists currently stand at:

DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings); Stephen Curry (GS Warriors); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors); Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz); Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kyle Korver (Atlanta Hawks); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks); Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors).

Who would ye cut from the 16?

I'd cut hayward, plumlee, faried/drummond and korver

Dublin Red Devil · 05-08-2014 05:21PM

Spain are probably the only side who could stay with the USA

1st - Gasol, Ibaka, Fernandez, Rubio Calderon

buyer95 · 05-08-2014 05:58PM

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Spain are probably the only side who could stay with the USA

1st - Gasol, Ibaka, Fernandez, Rubio Calderon

Pau is a bona fide starter in that team.

Dublin Red Devil · 05-08-2014 06:09PM

buyer95 wrote: »

Pau is a bona fide starter in that team.

Over Serge?

buyer95 · 05-08-2014 07:15PM

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Over Serge?

Pau is a far better international player. Serge is a very good complimentary role player on a good team. Spain runs its offense through Pau. Team USA could not guard him in the olympic finals, he put up 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Pau highly skilled, well rounded game will almost definitely mean him starting.

ButtersSuki · 05-08-2014 08:33PM

Spain will likely have a big advantage inside over the US. The US are going small and quick and that's an extremely high risk strategy against this Spanish team that is loaded with talent, and crucially at home with a bonkers support fan base. As previously quoted they ran them very close in the last 2 Olympic Finals, and they have enough bigs to keep them fresh through rotating, whereas the US bigs will likely have to play heavy minutes in any close game.

Pau will start for Spain. He was the best player on court in the last Olympic final, the US couldn't guard him, particularly in the 4th quarter.

Did I mention I'm going to the semis?

:D:D:D:D hope to pick up a final ticket when I'm there.

Dublin Red Devil · 06-08-2014 01:06AM

Great to see the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs hire Becky Hammon as the first female assistant coach of an NBA team.

ButtersSuki · 06-08-2014 06:47AM

From nba.com (so you can be sure it's very reliable as they never post anything rumor-related without significant back-up; normally they're the LAST people to post anything!). Only new development really is Bennett to the Sixers as the Thadeus Young to Minny part of the deal had already been mentioned.

Report: Cavs, Wolves have ‘handshake agreement’ on Love trade — Last we all heard on the Kevin Love/Minnesota Timberwolves/Cleveland Cavaliers trade saga was that team owner Glen Taylor said a trade of Love was likely to happen by the end of August. Today’s update doesn’t do anything to refute what Taylor said. ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst, in an interview with ESPN Radio 98.7 FM in New York, said that the Wolves and Cavs basically have a handshake agreement on a trade (fast-forward to the 9:39 mark to hear the details). Here’s a transcript of what Windhorst said in the interview:
The deal is done but not done. The teams have agreed, but they can’t say they have agreed and they can’t agree, because we’re in this weird moratorium period because you can’t trade Andrew Wiggins until the 23rd of this month.
So, between now and then – which is, what, 19 days – could some of that happen? Could a team come in with a trade that maybe Minnesota doesn’t see? Yes, it could happen. So therefore it is not done.
But essentially, before the papers have been signed, there is this handshake agreement that Kevin Love to the Cavs, Andrew Wiggins to the Timberwolves, and I believe Thaddeus Young will end up in Minnesota either as part of a separate deal or as part of a three-way deal. Possibly, Anthony Bennett, who’s on the Cavs right now could get re-routed to Philadelphia in part of a deal for Thaddeus Young. There will be draft picks involved.
But essentially what you need to know if you’re an NBA fan, Kevin Love is going to be on the Cavs barring anything unforeseen, and and Andrew Wiggins, No. 1 overall pick, is going to be on Minnesota.

ButtersSuki · 06-08-2014 06:56AM

And now for something completely different:

http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/08/mario-balotelli-one-handed-dunk-video?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily&utm_campaign=Daily%202014-08-05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL481admmMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8UTQ8IWixk

ButtersSuki · 07-08-2014 10:26AM

Just heard Saraunus Marciulionis is headed to the hall of fame, great for him and great for Euro basketball too. I'm guessing a lot of you youngsters are too young to remember him in his NBA heyday? :roll eyes: In the 92 Olympics in Barcelona, he was seen as the biggest threat to the US in the semi final so they put Jordan on him for the whole game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ixG5BA5jAk

Paully D · 07-08-2014 01:20PM

ButtersSuki wrote: »

In the 92 Olympics in Barcelona, he was seen as the biggest threat to the US in the semi final so they put Jordan on him for the whole game.

And he still scored 20 and 8. Impressive.

For Forks Sake · 07-08-2014 01:54PM

Report: Cavaliers and Timberwolves set on Kevin Love trade, which includes Love re-signing for five years | ProBasketballTalk (via http://ble.ac/teamstream-) http://teamstre.am/1nvJIaw

It’s already been reported the Cavaliers and Timberwolves had agreed on a Kevin Love trade.

Even if it hadn’t been, every indication pointed that way.

But this isn’t something that slipped out on a radio interview. This isn’t read reading between the lines.

This is deliberately reported and well-sourced proof Cleveland and Minnesota pan to complete a deal as soon as Andrew Wiggins can be traded, Aug. 23.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

The Minnesota Timberwolves have reached an agreement in principle to send All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round draft pick, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Cleveland is making the deal with Minnesota with a firm agreement Love will opt out of his contract in 2015 and re-sign with the Cavaliers on a five-year, $120 million-plus contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

No third team is involved in the Cavaliers-Timberwolves trade agreement.

The precise deal terms have been agreed upon for weeks, but the teams and Love plan to stay silent about the particulars until the trade is announced in 16 days, sources told Yahoo Sports.

There is no way to make Love’s side of this arrangement binding. He could opt in. He could opt out and leave. Cleveland has no recourse but to take him at his word.

It’s a risk worth taking.

The entire reason I believed potential trade partners should get Love to opt in was, besides guaranteeing an extra year of the star player, Love would be signaling a desire to stay long-term. But this is another way, though less binding, of Love showing that intent.

Regardless, the upside for Cleveland is so high.

Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are going to rule the East. That’s so much talent and production, and their dominance will likely begin immediately. If it takes a year for everyone to jell, as it did for LeBron in Miami, so be it. That core is young enough to contend for years – as long as Love follows through with staying.

That is a heck of a haul for the Timberwolves. Most superstars don’t fetch nearly so much in a trade, especially when they’re this close to free agency. Credit Flip Saunders and Glen Taylor for holding firm, drawing a great offer and realizing it’s the one they should take.

Wiggins won’t necessarily blossom into a star himself, but he has a good chance. In Minnesota, he’ll have plenty of room to spread his wings. Bennett looked much more fit in summer league, and even if he never lives up to being a No. 1 pick, a young top-10-pick-caliber player is valuable. The future first, depending on its protections, could also net the Timberwolves another key asset.

I’m not surprised this became public. I wouldn’t even be surprised if both teams agreed to leak it as a way to hold each other accountable if the deal doesn’t go through.

This is out now. It’s only a matter of waiting until the 23rd.

NufcNavan · 07-08-2014 05:05PM

It's basically going to be Lebron/Love/Irving + cheap vets for the future. That formula worked in Miami, but Dwyane Wade was a former Finals MVP whereas Irving & Love have never even played a playoff game.

padraig_f · 07-08-2014 05:07PM

Listening to the BS Report podcast with Brian Windhorst the other day. Windhorst is pretty close to the Lebron camp, and as much as it makes me feel ill hearing about Lebron's shenanigans, it was pretty interesting.

Simmons made the point that it was no accident that Wiggins and Bennett's names were left out of the letter (while it mentioned looking forward to playing with Dion Waiters & Tristan Thompson). Windhorst pretty much confirmed that, saying that Lebron had known about Love for Wiggins/Bennett trade for weeks.

Windhorst described Lebron as 'function co-owner of the Cavs'. Nothing against that I guess, but I just hate the false narrative of 'aw shucks, I'm just going to play with my home team, and I don't know anything about plans to team up with Kevin Love'.

NufcNavan · 07-08-2014 05:13PM

padraig_f wrote: »

Listening to the BS Report podcast with Brian Windhorst the other day. Windhorst is pretty close to the Lebron camp, and as much as it makes me feel ill hearing about Lebron's shenanigans, it was pretty interesting.

Simmons made the point that it was no accident that Wiggins and Bennett's names were left out of the letter (while it mentioned looking forward to playing with Dion Waiters & Tristan Thompson). Windhorst pretty much confirmed that, saying that Lebron had known about Love for Wiggins/Bennett trade for weeks.

Windhorst described Lebron as 'function co-owner of the Cavs'. Nothing against that I guess, but I just hate the false narrative of 'aw shucks, I'm just going to play with my home team, and I don't know anything about plans to team up with Kevin Love'.

That's the thing. Lebron can always pull the 'going home' card whenever his integrity is questioned.

Having said that though, the Cavs IMO are still only slight favourites to win the East. Their potential line up of Irving-Waiters-Lebron-Love-Varejao isn't gonna make a whole lot of stops. It's fairly poor defensively. If D Rose can stay healthy then I would fancy them in a series against this Cavs team.

NufcNavan · 07-08-2014 05:44PM

But then again, It's not Lebron's fault that franchises like Minny repeatedly fail to build winning teams around their super stars. If Kahn doesn't draft Rubio and Johnny Flynn back to back and then save his 5 years max deal for Rubio instead of Love this never happens. Lebron isn't making a mockery of the CBA, sh*tty franchises like Minnesota are making a mockery of themselves over, and over, and over. It doesn't matter the CBA rules if you have idiots drafting two point guards back to back in the first 6 picks and one of them isn't even Steph Curry when he was AVAILABLE then you are going to have horrible teams that can be taken advantage of repeatedly.

For the record, Cleveland is one of those horrible franchises for the most part and it's the reason they lost Lebron in the first place.

padraig_f · 07-08-2014 08:19PM

NufcNavan wrote: »

But then again, It's not Lebron's fault that franchises like Minny repeatedly fail to build winning teams around their super stars. If Kahn doesn't draft Rubio and Johnny Flynn back to back and then save his 5 years max deal for Rubio instead of Love this never happens. Lebron isn't making a mockery of the CBA, sh*tty franchises like Minnesota are making a mockery of themselves over, and over, and over. It doesn't matter the CBA rules if you have idiots drafting two point guards back to back in the first 6 picks and one of them isn't even Steph Curry when he was AVAILABLE then you are going to have horrible teams that can be taken advantage of repeatedly.

For the record, Cleveland is one of those horrible franchises for the most part and it's the reason they lost Lebron in the first place.

Ah yeah, he's entitled to do it, I suppose what annoys me about is a) the guff about the hometown stuff and b) once things turned slightly disadvantageous at Miami, with Wade no longer being an elite player, Lebron was out the door.

And c), the combination of the two, at least if you want to go to a better situation, admit it.

Maybe the situations next season between Cleveland and Miami are comparable, but certainly over the next few years, Cleveland is much better.

Paully D · 07-08-2014 09:21PM

padraig_f wrote: »

Windhorst described Lebron as 'function co-owner of the Cavs'.

He should be a candidate for Executive of the Year.

NufcNavan · 07-08-2014 10:28PM

Kevin Durant has pulled out of Team USA. Paul George and Kevin Durant are BIG losses for that team considering other elite SFs like Melo and Lebron weren't in the team to begin with.

This gives Spain the advantage now IMO.

D2D · 07-08-2014 10:29PM

KD is out of Team USA's World Cup squad due to "mental and psychical exhaustion"

ButtersSuki · 08-08-2014 07:42AM

With Durant gone, the US really have no choice but to go bigger. They don't just lose his size, they lose his speed up and down the floor. The whole team was effectively built around him so it's poor form for him to drop out this late esp. as he committed to the program, and the consequences for this are firmly on him IMO. I think the Spaniards have a better than 50/50 shot now.

ec18 · 08-08-2014 08:23AM

ButtersSuki wrote: »

With Durant gone, the US really have no choice but to go bigger. They don't just lose his size, they lose his speed up and down the floor. The whole team was effectively built around him so it's poor form for him to drop out this late esp. as he committed to the program, and the consequences for this are firmly on him IMO. I think the Spaniards have a better than 50/50 shot now.

Shame they left guys like aldridge off.......Jefferson mightn't be a bad call up if hes recovered from his foot injury

ButtersSuki · 08-08-2014 08:35AM

ec18 wrote: »

Shame they left guys like aldridge off.......Jefferson mightn't be a bad call up if hes recovered from his foot injury

They need someone quicker, someone who can play an uptempo game to complement the guards. Bit late to add anyone now - except Love.

padraig_f · 08-08-2014 09:50AM

ButtersSuki wrote: »

With Durant gone, the US really have no choice but to go bigger. They don't just lose his size, they lose his speed up and down the floor. The whole team was effectively built around him so it's poor form for him to drop out this late esp. as he committed to the program, and the consequences for this are firmly on him IMO. I think the Spaniards have a better than 50/50 shot now.

Yeah the timing is weird, and he has dumped them in it a bit. Think they said before 'we're building a team, not just selecting the best players', they would've selected other guys assuming Durant was playing.

Reason sounds like rubbish too.

@ramonashelburne: "Why did @KDTrey5 withdraw from USAB? His Under Armour/Nike decision? Fatigue? Fear after PG injury? All of the above, writes @royceyoung"

smh

NufcNavan · 08-08-2014 01:21PM

Isn't it also a bit dickish to announce that you can't play AFTER there has been cuts made to the roster?

buyer95 · 08-08-2014 09:01PM

The much maligned Rudy Gay has been called up by Team USA. Losing Durant is a shattering blow, and there is no replacement. However Gay has enough length to play the 3 or 4 internationally, and has previous Team USA experience. Analytic guys are probably throwing themselves off bridges, but its a solid enough choice imo.

NBA Offseason 2014

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