The Official NBA thread

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

Is the Gasol deal done already? Didn't see anything yet.

All but done.

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

I wonder if James is gonna wear #23 or #6 ... the fans will need to buy jerseys regardless since... well you know ...


I'm leaning towards 6 though.

I would assume 6 or anything other than 23, since he said that #23 should be retired by the league.

[Obsideon]

So I already mentioned why I think Bosh made a dumb move.

Can someone explain to me the logic behind Carmelo going back to NY?!... they have basically the identical team that couldn't even make it to the post-season in the ultra-weak Eastern Conference.
Infact I think they got worse? Trading their ONLY reliable defensive presence (Tyson Chandler) for a defensive sieve in Calderon.
Shumpert is their only perimeter D?
Melo is lazy.
Amare? Old and lazy.
Bargnani?
JR Smith? (I heard rumours Melo and Smith didn't get along)
Kenyon Martin, shell of former self.
Odom - I didn't even know he was on the Knicks lol ... all the news I hear now are his drug and hooker problems.

What does Melo see in this team?... Zen Master making empty promises for 2016?

[Nlkko]

When you have people like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, you just gotta have to at least consider the possibilities they can turn shit into gold.

If Bulls sign Gasol will they have cap for Melo? Bulls is quietly getting a solid squad together. Noah and Gasol? 2 passing bigs with Noah grabbing all the boards. It's crazy. Only if Overrated Rose gets his shits together.

[dachinesedude]

sometime its just beyond basketball

bosh is getting way more money from miami, maybe he doesnt need to go to a championship team cuz he's satisfied with his two titles

melo's wife is from new york, maybe he wants to stay cuz of family?

theres more to winning when it comes to decision making imo

[Obsideon]

I'm a big fan of Rose, but the writing was on the wall so to speak. He plays such a powerful and aggressive game that injuries were bound to happen sooner or later. I see other similar players like Russell Westbrook treading the same dangerous waters. I feel they won't have long productive NBA careers before the pounding on their knees eventually give out. The heart & passion is there but the physical body can only handle so much.
Quite the opposite for bums like Bynum haha

[Obsideon]

Originally Posted by dachinesedude

sometime its just beyond basketball
bosh is getting way more money from miami, maybe he doesnt need to go to a championship team cuz he's satisfied with his two titles
melo's wife is from new york, maybe he wants to stay cuz of family?
theres more to winning when it comes to decision making imo

I thought Melo's wife was an actress that would benefit greatly from being across the street from Hollywood.

Anyway I guess in the end it's just as simple as ...

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by dachinesedude

sometime its just beyond basketball

bosh is getting way more money from miami, maybe he doesnt need to go to a championship team cuz he's satisfied with his two titles

He really isn't getting all that much more money from Miami....Miami is giving him $1.6-mill more per year...only difference is that Miami could offer him 5 years instead of 4....I don't think that would really be a deciding factor. Who knows what's up with Bosh...

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

So I already mentioned why I think Bosh made a dumb move.

Can someone explain to me the logic behind Carmelo going back to NY?!... they have basically the identical team that couldn't even make it to the post-season in the ultra-weak Eastern Conference.
Infact I think they got worse? Trading their ONLY reliable defensive presence (Tyson Chandler) for a defensive sieve in Calderon.
Shumpert is their only perimeter D?
Melo is lazy.
Amare? Old and lazy.
Bargnani?
JR Smith? (I heard rumours Melo and Smith didn't get along)
Kenyon Martin, shell of former self.
Odom - I didn't even know he was on the Knicks lol ... all the news I hear now are his drug and hooker problems.

What does Melo see in this team?... Zen Master making empty promises for 2016?

Amare and Bargs are off the books next year....That's $35-mill in cap space next season....

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Nlkko

If Bulls sign Gasol will they have cap for Melo?

Bulls don't even have enough cap space to offer Melo max WITHOUT Gasol in the picture....

[bballguy]

Melo to re-sign....five-year, $129 million contract....$25.8-mill/yr...

[411ken]

Originally Posted by bballguy

He really isn't getting all that much more money from Miami....Miami is giving him $1.6-mill more per year...only difference is that Miami could offer him 5 years instead of 4....I don't think that would really be a deciding factor. Who knows what's up with Bosh...

It being 5 years definitely has something to do with it IMO. It's chris bosh. He doesn't have a big name and he's securing a 5th year making 20+ If he signed 4yrs with Houston and that's up, he will be 34/35 so I doubt he'd get the same amount. While lebron can manage 4 years as I'm sure he will get paid until he retires

[ChaKo]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

So I already mentioned why I think Bosh made a dumb move.

Can someone explain to me the logic behind Carmelo going back to NY?!... they have basically the identical team that couldn't even make it to the post-season in the ultra-weak Eastern Conference.
Infact I think they got worse? Trading their ONLY reliable defensive presence (Tyson Chandler) for a defensive sieve in Calderon.
Shumpert is their only perimeter D?
Melo is lazy.
Amare? Old and lazy.
Bargnani?
JR Smith? (I heard rumours Melo and Smith didn't get along)
Kenyon Martin, shell of former self.
Odom - I didn't even know he was on the Knicks lol ... all the news I hear now are his drug and hooker problems.

What does Melo see in this team?... Zen Master making empty promises for 2016?

I don't think Bosh sticking in Miami was that bad of a move. While he would probably make Houston a better team, I still don't see them winning it all. He's already got his two championships; I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea for him to start playing for his own image. He has taken a lot of flack for being the third wheel to Lebron and Wade's Batman and Robin, so it would make sense for him to want to establish himself as the go to guy again.
In fact, as far as basketball decisions go, I would go so far as to say it may be a better choice if he finds success in doing so. If he establishes himself as the main guy on Miami, like he was in Toronto, I think he has a better shot of becoming a Hall of Famer, without running the risk of being labelled as a transient, who only goes where he thinks he has a shot at winning. Because he'd really just be seen as a third wheel, again, to Harden and Howard.

Not to mention, there is so much more than just basketball at play here. These guys always say they need to decide on what's best for their families, and I don't think it's all lip service. He and his family obviously enjoy living in Miami and I think they'd prefer not to be uprooted and moved to Texas. Florida doesn't have state income tax as well.

As for Melo, in terms of best decisions for his family, I think the same reasoning is applicable, except to an even larger extent. He and his wife obviously enjoy the lifestyle New York has to offer. They are always seen with various celebrities who also live in New York. Melo's son is also older and probably has his own network of friends by now. He is good friends with Swizz beatz's son for one.

As far as basketball goes, he may also be looking at a bunch of teams he doesn't think will win it all and he would also risk being labelled as that guy that jumps from team to team, yet fails to win. So why not get max money, stay where he enjoys living (while playing for a team that is globally recognized), and play for Phil Jackson who is believed to be a more than capable basketball mind. Amare is only one year older than Melo, although he obviously isn't nearly as effective as he used to be; however, he's coming off the books soon and I wouldn't underestimate Phil Jackson with a considerable amount of salary space and the draw of New York as a city to play for.

Obviously their decisions involve so much more than just basketball. They seem to be trying to find ways to strike that balance between what makes them happy on and off the court. Unfortunately, it really isn't as simple as choosing a team that is a sure-fire win. They've gotta weigh the risk of losing against the quality of not only their lives, but the lives of their family members as well.

[bballguy]

The Lakers, Bulls and Rockets are working on a sign-and-trade deal involving Pau Gasol.
The Bulls are basically on the goal line to get Gasol, so it's more of just a matter of how they'll bring him on board. Gasol seems to be willing to take a major pay cut from his $14 million last year and would be a nice fit next to Noah.

Quite possible that Boozer is headed to Houston...

[bballguy]

Nope....No S&T....Pau will simply sign with Chicago...



Ariza to Houston on a 4-year, 32-mill deal....Which means Houston will say goodbye to Parsons who will be headed to Dallas on a 3-year deal...

Edit: Rockets are still "strongly considering" matching Dallas' offer sheet on Chandler Parsons.
After just signing Trevor Ariza to a four-year, $32 million deal today, it's going to be awfully tough to invest another $45 million over three years to a small forwards. The Rockets do play a lot of small ball, but they might want to use their cap space elsewhere. They'll have one more day to match...



Dumbass Kings sign Darren Collison, when Isaiah Thomas was 10x better than him in every facet of the game, not to mention was their best community guy when the team was trying to convince locals to finance a new arena which ultimately kept them in town....SMH....

[411ken]

Yup. I'm still puzzled why they chose Collison over IT2. I'll never figure that one out. Gotta be something more to it for sure. Til now I still wish the lakers signed him as I love his game

Lebron and his deal is actually only for 2 years and even an opt out next summer lol. He's a smart man as he could get even more money when they reported that the nba will have a new tv deal by then and could raise the cap to 80million.

[bballguy]

^yup....

ESPN reports that the motivation here is to maximize his next deal when the NBA's new television contract is in place, which they say could raise the salary cap to $80 million in 2016.
There is also uncertainty with the current collective bargaining agreement starting in 2017, because the owners destroyed a leaderless Players Association during the last lockout. With the players all but certain to demand huge givebacks amidst skyrocketing franchise valuations, all signs point to LeBron being the centerpiece of an even more complicated Decision Part 3....

[Obsideon]

Originally Posted by bballguy

Nope....No S&T....Pau will simply sign with Chicago...

Ariza to Houston on a 4-year, 32-mill deal....Which means Houston will say goodbye to Parsons who will be headed to Dallas on a 3-year deal...

Edit: Rockets are still "strongly considering" matching Dallas' offer sheet on Chandler Parsons.
After just signing Trevor Ariza to a four-year, $32 million deal today, it's going to be awfully tough to invest another $45 million over three years to a small forwards. The Rockets do play a lot of small ball, but they might want to use their cap space elsewhere. They'll have one more day to match...

Dumbass Kings sign Darren Collison, when Isaiah Thomas was 10x better than him in every facet of the game, not to mention was their best community guy when the team was trying to convince locals to finance a new arena which ultimately kept them in town....SMH....

That's $23m spent on 2 guys that play the same position... as good as Parsons is he's not worth that much. Either look for other cheaper pieces to fill the holes for now and try again next year or look for a deadline trade? Locking in 2 good but not great SF's for 3 and 4 years respectively won't get the Rockets deep in the stacked West.

Maybe now the Kings have a better chance to Vancouver hehe

If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a better player and a better man.

I especially liked this excerpt from Lebron's letter.
Since he did make the jump directly from his Akron HS to the big league, in the same city.
Pretty sure he will play out the rest of his career in Cleveland unless they pull something disastrously bad like trade Wiggins for Bynum, then no one can fault him for leaving

Boozer and Dwight in Houston would be ... amusing to watch I guess.

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

Boozer and Dwight in Houston would be ... amusing to watch I guess.

lol read whole thread b4 u post....no S&T...Pau will sign straight up with Chicago, leaving LA with nothing to show for him...

[Obsideon]

Originally Posted by bballguy

lol read whole thread b4 u post....no S&T...Pau will sign straight up with Chicago, leaving LA with nothing to show for him...

Pau signing in Chicago straight up doesn't mean Boozer can't be traded?

As an armchair GM I would take Boozer and maybe squeeze a bit more out of it. Houston already swung and missed on pretty much everyone so they have the cap space. What's the worse that could happen? He's only got 1 year left on his monstrous contract anyway. Let's see how he does for the year, possibly even re-sign him for less the following season if he does decent in the rotation. IMO better than committing to Parsons for 3 years on a similar cap hit.

[bballguy]

Originally Posted by Obsideon

Pau signing in Chicago straight up doesn't mean Boozer can't be traded?

As an armchair GM I would take Boozer and maybe squeeze a bit more out of it. Houston already swung and missed on pretty much everyone so they have the cap space. What's the worse that could happen? He's only got 1 year left on his monstrous contract anyway. Let's see how he does for the year, possibly even re-sign him for less the following season if he does decent in the rotation. IMO better than committing to Parsons for 3 years on a similar cap hit.

I'd rather have Terrence Jones than Boozer (as in, I wouldn't take away playing time from Jones in favour of Boozer). thus taking on Boozer's contract would kind of be dumb....Taking Boozer's contract is like signing Asik for $15-mill again (actually it's worse than that) lolz...If they want to take a chance on Boozer, they're better off waiting, hoping Chicago doesn't find a trade partner and thus be forced to amnesty him, and then Houston can swoop in and try to convince him to sign at a much more fair rate.

[Obsideon]

Oh good idea lol, but not sure if Bulls will amnesty him anymore if they don't need to free anymore cap. Boozer has more offensive upside than Asik, and isn't he a natural PF? Would be more comfortable rotating in and out for Jones and Dwight.

I wonder what's going on in D-Wade's camp?

[Obsideon]

Paul Pierce to Wizards on 2-year deal

[411ken]

Danggg Miami signed Deng 2 yrs 20mill

Cole/wade/Deng/mcroberts/bosh. Yeaaa. Indiana fans are probably out on the streets dancing lol. And I personally don't see the bulls making any noise for some reason. Just me

[Nlkko]

Noah+ Gasol is formidable. Thib is also coaching. They only need Derrick Rose to STFU, get some brain and stay healthy and they will be a good team. At least on paper. But this is Derrick Rose we're talking about. And who knows, the guy hasn't really played worth shits for almost 2 years.