Official 2013 NBA Offseason Thread

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People talking about Jason Kidd left the bench during the middle of a summer league game to take a phone call.


:lol: he not getting past the all-star break
 
Grantland's offseason grades

Thunder

Hey, remember last July when we thought the Thunder were going to be the best team in the West for like the next 10 years?

I'm sorry.

The Thunder deserve an F forever because of the James Harden trade. I'm sorry.

They've also refused to amnesty Kendrick Perkins so far this summer, which at this point should probably just happen on principle. Then they lost Kevin Martin, missed on all the best replacements for him, and might head into next season pinning their hopes to Jeremy Lamb as a capable third scoring option. Pretty cool summer for Sam Presti. It's a good thing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are aliens who will make this work regardless, because the Thunder have been flunking things for a while here.

Grade: F
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:lol:

Pelicans

People were killing New Orleans on draft night for the Jrue Holiday trade, and plenty of those critics are baffled by the Tyreke Evans move just the same. Let's start with Holiday. If he's one of your two best players, you're going to spend a lot of time wanting just a little bit more. But as a third star on a fair deal who's still the same age as Damian Lillard, Holiday becomes a lot more fun. Likewise for Evans as a second scorer (depending on what happens with Eric Gordon). Evans plateaued or maybe even regressed in Sacramento the past two years, but that situation was a mess for like five different reasons. Granted, Evans didn't help turn things around, but that's why he's making $40 million instead of $80 million.

Look at it this way. If Anthony Davis turns into a monster in the next two years, these flawed superstars — Holiday, Gordon, Evans — become pretty killer complementary pieces. And … Aren't we all assuming Davis is going to turn into a monster in the next two years?

Don't the Pelicans sorta have to bet on that?

Considering Tom Benson apparently gave a directive to Dell Demps to churn out a playoff team ASAP, this offseason couldn't have gone much better.

Grade: A-
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While I probably wouldn't rank it that high and I sided with "wait another year to start winning", it's not like they offered Josh Smith a max contract or overpaid for Monta Ellis. Holiday, Gordon, Evans, are all still young and when Davis makes the leap, all of it could work and it could definitely be a lot worse.

Clippers

They turned a bad coach into a good coach, brought back the third-best player in the NBA, landed two players — Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick — who become twice as valuable on a good team, and drafted Reggie Bullock, who could be huge if he's able to defend the perimeter. They still need DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin to hit another level if we're going to take them seriously as title contenders, but they needed that all along. In the meantime, at least they are doing everything else right.

Grade: A
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Pretty much agreed. Short of being very bold and trading Blake, I don't know what else they could have done better this offseason.

Suns, Bobcats, Jazz, Sixers, and Magic

All of these teams have done a wonderful job setting the stage for an epic tanking contest next year. Not even kidding about the epic part. With half the sports Internet dedicated to following the NBA, the GIFs and YouTube videos and advanced stats will end up making this every bit as entertaining as the playoff race next season.

Grade: TANK!
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:pimp:

More
 
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awwsome said:
Yea when they hired Mike Brown I pretty much figured that was it. It was either Cavs or the Heat, Bron ain't going to start playing for another franchise this late in his career
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Got a GREAT thing going in Miami...why leave? I could see other star players taking a paycut to go to South Beach to hoop w/ Lebron. Let's be real...no matter what people think of his not 2, not 3, not, 4 etc. proclamation, barring injury, the Heat have the best chance of playing in the finals each year as long as Lebron is on that squad.


Animal Thug said:
Yeah; except you and Buc em are just stating your own opinions - and not facts....
.....
http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/mia...es-miami-heat-rule-return-cleveland-cavaliers
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If you believe that....NVM.
 
What a beautiful job the Nets are doing.

I did not see any saltiness from dumb owners when Ray Allen took a pay cut.
 
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TommyIceRocking said:
you guys think players staying back in middle school should get penalized?

watch this if you to know more
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I honestly don't see the big deal...if they don't do it in MS, they do it in HS. It's a fairly common practice...especially in prep schools.
 
Got a GREAT thing going in Miami...why leave? I could see other star players taking a paycut to go to South Beach to hoop w/ Lebron. Let's be real...no matter what people think of his not 2, not 3, not, 4 etc. proclamation, barring injury, the Heat have the best chance of playing in the finals each year as long as Lebron is on that squad.
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That's not entirely true.

Bron does give the Heat, or any team, a good chance at success. But it's not going to last forever. He is, believe it or not, approaching 30 in the next 17 months, and already has more mileage on him pre 30, than any other NBA athlete, in history. I'm talking games, playoff games, minutes, playoff minutes. A TON of tread.

Now, granted, I expect him to be solid for a few more years, he trains well, takes care of his body, works hard, he'll be "fine". But he still will have slight notches come down on his sliders, year by year. So at his usual standards, I expect 3-4 more LeBron like years, followed by 3 more very good, but not LeBron like years. (if you follow what I'm sayin)

Here's the tricky part. Wade, is not on his level, and within the next year, he could be off a cliff for good. Bosh, while healthier than Wade, is also a bit on the softer side of Wade. Now add Ray Allen, Anderson, Haslem, Miller, and Shane, those are 3 bodies that age faster than those in their 20's. You're looking at over half the roster being on the downside. How long can they last? One year? Three? Four? Odds get tougher and tougher. Chalmers and Cole are not enough to make up the difference, drafting at 28-29-30 ain't going to cut it.

Will free agents go there? Yes, absolutely. But as each year goes by, the big 3's salaries increase as well, leaving less room. Lots of minimum type contracts all there is to be had.


And the very last part, a personal belief, no team has made 4 straight Finals since the 87 Celtics. And that team was falling apart. 4 straight years of Finals runs = 65+ playoff games, while most teams get 15-25 maybe 35 if that. And as stated, the Heat already have a lot of age/mileage on them, you're looking at an abrupt, "out of nowhere" slip up in the postseason that one might not be able to predict. See my 2011 LA Lakers sudden struggles with the Hornets, and then the Dallas Mavs of all teams. The Pistons didn't go to 3 straight June's, but they did make 6 straight runs into the ECF and had a 2-0 lead on Clev, and then never won another game. The 89 Lakers were 11-0 in the playoffs, and lost 3 key starters in the Finals and were swept.

Multiple long playoff runs take years off your NBA life. Teams wear down. Without a HUGE infusion of youth/freshness, a team will lose some pieces to poor health, and will take a loss they shouldn't have expected in terms of a series/season.

Not everyone subscribes to my belief, we'll see how it holds up in about 10-11 months.
 
 
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