THE 2015 NBA PRE SEASON THREAD: BEST WISHES TO LAMAR ODOM

[jjs07]

DJ gonna feast off those melo bricks.

Wade/DJ/Melo

Afflalo/Monroe/Melo

decisions, decisions...

 

[pmatic]

I think the Clippers were above the luxury tax by $4M, so they couldn't execute a sign-and-trade.

Edit:

I just checked the Mavs' cap for last season, and they were well above the luxury tax by $7M. WELP.

There is a rule that allows teams to re-sign their own free agents for trading purposes, called the sign-and-trade rule. Under this rule the player is re-signed and immediately traded to another team. This is done by adding a clause to the contract stipulating that the contract is null and void if the trade to the specific team is not completed within 48 hours. To qualify for a sign-and-trade, all of the following must be true:

• •The player must re-sign with his prior team -- a team cannot include another team's free agent in a sign-and-trade.
• •The player must finish the preceding season with that team (deals are no longer allowed that sign-and-trade players who are out of the league, such as the sign-and-trade that sent Keith Van Horn from Dallas to New Jersey as part of the Jason Kidd trade in 200.
• •The player cannot be a restricted free agent who has signed an offer sheet with another team (see question number 44).
• •Starting in 2013-14, the team receiving the player cannot be above the "apron" ($4 million above the tax level) after the trade1, 2. A team above the apron can receive a player in a sign-and-trade if the trade reduces the team's payroll and the team finishes the trade below the apron.
• •Starting in 2013-14, the team cannot receive a player in a sign-and-trade if they have used the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception (see question number 25) that season.1
• •The trade must be completed prior to the first game of the regular season (sign-and-trades are not allowed once the season begins).
• •The player cannot be signed using the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, or any exception that cannot be used to offer a three-year

contract (see question number 25).

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q92

 

[nelson999]

DJ gonna feast off those melo bricks.

Wade/DJ/Melo

Afflalo/Monroe/Melo

decisions, decisions...

Or they just get nothing.

Melo/Kristaps/Shved

 

[denni5themenace]

why do these defensive bigs want to excel on offense so bad?

 

[abematic]

 

Wow, Bulls really giving tons of options for Butler.. No wonder he postponed other meetings. 

 

[comptonprince]

 
Wow, Bulls really giving tons of options for Butler.. No wonder he postponed other meetings. 

Lol might as well cancel them waste of time really he will be a Bull next year 

 

[nick.]

if Phil can somehow create a team of: Grant-D. Green-Melo-Kris-DJ i'd be ecstatic.

bench would be piss poor but i think it's good enough for at least a 5-6 seed in the east

 

[jpzx]

Heat, Kings, Pacers, Hawks among reported Monta Ellis suitors

View media item 1606856

By Matt Moore | NBA writer

The Mavericks are in all likelihood letting Monta Ellis seek greener pastures in free agency this week, and the explosive firebug guard is going to have plenty of suitors who want his particular brand of volume shooting and quick penetration (with some underrated passing to boot).

It started with this from last week:

And then Tuesday it evolved:

RealGM reported Tuesday that Ellis is also interested in a deal with the Hawks. Ellis is reportedly looking to go to East Coast teams, which would of course rule out the Kings.

Let's look at his options.

Miami Heat: Oh, hey, it's a big elephant in the corner of the room wearing a Dwyane Wade jersey. If the Heat re-sign Wade, they won't have room to sign Ellis, period, end-dot. However, if Wade departs in a spat with Miami, Ellis is a capable emergency option. Ellis and Goran Dragic (who Miami expects to re-sign) would be one of the fastest and most dangerous combo-guard combos in the league, and Ellis would wreak havoc with Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh in pick and roll and pick and pop situations. Monta also just feels like a Miami Heat player, based on their franchise history.

Indiana Pacers: Indiana needs a scorer, and that's what Ellis is. He fits perfectly there and George HIll and Paul George could cover for his defensive shortcomings. His overall lack of efficiency isn't a drag there because his inefficient volume scoring is still superior to their pitiful scoring. Ellis could be covered by their defensive system and gives them a scoring threat when Paul George is off the floor. That's a tremendous fit for him.

Atlanta Hawks: Weird that they're interested, but could be interesting if they let Paul Millsap or DeMarre Carroll go. Their whole team success was built upon sharing the ball and finding a quality look, which isn't exactly how Monta Ellis rolls. Monta may have it all, but he does not have the instincts to play that kind of basketball. Now, scoring wasn't really the Hawks' problem last year but it became an issue in the playoffs. They honestly could use an isolation scorer to take the pressure off. The defensive hit is significant though and it's hard to argue they'd be better with Ellis than with Carroll or Millsap.

Sacramento Kings: The Kings want a guard upgrade. Can you play Ellis at point guard with Ben McLemore at the 2? The idea seems more to play Monta Ellis with Darren Collison as a combo guard and move McLemore to the bench. That's a good facilitator/defender-scorer/creator combination, and under George Karl, Ellis might absolutely light it up. That's a combination that might actually work, since Karl preaches aggressiveness and simplicity. But it also might clash like Karl and J.R. Smith did when Smith would repeatedly break the offense.

Either way, it looks like Ellis is going to be a highly sought-after wing when free agency begins Wednesday.

 

[keel252]

Kristaps doubtful for summer league got his eyes on the chip

kid scared of them summer lights. Smart move rather get exposed in late November and early December then July.

 

[denni5themenace]

ya'll gotta let my man porzingod be great

 

[HIM]

Wish nothing but the best for DJ whether he stays or goes to Dallas. Would love to see what he could do if a team actually trusted him on offense. He was never able to develop any type of offense with us but would love to see him turn it around even if it's on another team.

 

[dacomeup]

I wouldn't be mad at teams like SAS or GSW maxing out Draymond because he just makes sense being there. But, if a team like Detroit throws the max at him and expects him to be the face of the franchise (or contenders) with Drummond, then they are in for a rude awakening . A maxed out Draymond is more valuable to championship level teams than he is to a team barely in playoff contention.

Lance is probably the best example of this. Lance is not as good as Draymond, but he had a ton of value before leaving Indiana because he could do everything. He defended at a high level, could be a primary/secondary ball handler, rebound, etc. But, he messed his value up by signing with Charlotte, which ended up being a terrible fit. I don't think that happens if he goes to a contending team with a better roster structure. I think he will end up showing his same value in LA like he did in IND.

I think just about every team thats looking to get over the hump from being a darkhorse contender to true contender in the West would love to have Draymond, though.

Stan Van wouldn't expect adding Draymond to make them a contender, though. He's a very good player, but he's not a franchise cornerstone.

Lance needs the ball to be most effective, whereas Dray doesn't. Lance flourished in Indy because they NEEDED a ballhandler with George Hill not being a great facilitator/playmaker himself. Draymond can hit spot up treys, so his value translates well elsewhere. Pick and pops with him definitely gets him a little less wide open without Steph, but he's still a big time threat. 

 

[nelson999]

Like Monta would even have .00001% interest in joining the Kings 

 

[antidope]

The Spurs can sign LaMarcus Aldridge, but it will be complicated
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

By Mike Prada @MikePradaSBN on Jun 30, 2015, 11:59a

The Spurs don't have enough cap space to sign LaMarcus Aldridge ... yet. Here's everything they must pull off to make sure they do.

Since 1990, the San Antonio Spurs have won at least 47 games in every season but one. Their prize for the year they didn't was Tim Duncan. The torch has been passed seamlessly from David Robinson, to Duncan, to the Tony Parker/Manu Ginobili duo and now to Kawhi Leonard.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the Spurs are one of the favorites to land Portland All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, the best free agent on the market that could actually leave his current team. Aldridge and Leonard would then triumphantly lead San Antonio into a new era that should be filled with many more 50-win seasons and titles.

Yet, actually creating the room to sign Aldridge will not be as easy for the Spurs as it seems. Contrary to popular belief, the Spurs aren't guaranteed to have maximum cap space this summer. There are a number of scenarios in which San Antonio could create the space necessary to sign Aldridge, but they almost certainly require sacrificing key players from their 2013-14 title team. By the time the Spurs move those pieces, Aldridge could already be off to join the Lakers.

The Spurs' challenge is a perfect illustration of the salary-cap gymnastics NBA teams must perform every year in the hours after free agency begins.
The Spurs' situation in a nutshell

The Spurs currently have only five players under contract: Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson. Combined, they make $35.3 million, which is well under the $67.1 million salary cap.

But that doesn't mean the Spurs are actually under the salary cap. Each free agent is assessed what's known as a cap hold, which is always a certain percentage more than the player's salary the previous season. Think of a cap hold like a security deposit. It prevents teams from signing someone's free agent with cap space, then benefiting from the exceptions that allow teams to go over the cap to re-sign their own players.

The actual cap hold for each player depends on the kind of free agent they are and the number of years they've been in the league. Here is the Spurs' situation once you include cap holds.

The first-year maximum salary for Aldridge is a little less than 30 percent of what's expected to be a $67.1 million cap, which comes out to about $18.8 million. The Spurs are $22 million OVER the cap with all their holds. Time to start hacking away.
The easy part

The Spurs will surely release the cap holds of players 10-15 on that list without losing much sleep. They aren't part of San Antonio's future plans.

Those players are now removed, but the last three spots are reserved for what's known as incomplete roster charges. Whenever teams have fewer than 12 players on their roster, they are assessed one cap hold equal to the rookie minimum salary for each spot under that minimum. Since the Spurs would have nine players either under contract or with a cap hold, they have three incomplete roster charges.

There's still a lot of work to do.
Keeping Duncan and Manu

All indications are that the two Spurs legends want to return for at least one more season. Duncan made $10.3 million last year, while Ginobili made $7 million. They have taken less than their market value multiple times over the course of their careers. In order to have a chance at signing Aldridge, the Spurs will almost certainly make them take less again.

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways to remove a cap hold. One is to renounce the player, which almost always means saying goodbye to them. The other is to quickly agree to a new contract with them. At that point, the player's first-year salary replaces the hold. This is beneficial to the Spurs because the first-year salary for both Duncan and Ginobili will be significantly lower than their cap holds.

The question is how much sacrificing they'll do. It appears the Spurs will try to convince Duncan to play for around the average salary. Per the San Antonio Express-News:

There are several NBA player personnel executives who believe the Spurs will offer Duncan a two-year contract that begins between $6 million and $7 million, with a partial guarantee and a player option in the second season.

NBA rules prevent the Spurs from structuring that contract in a way that gives Duncan $1 million this year to preserve space and $12 million the next. Maximum raises must be within 7.5 percent of each other when re-signing players with general Larry Bird rights, per NBA rules. For simplicity's sake, let's say Duncan can make $6 million next year and $7 million in 2016-17.

Ginobili will likely take even less than that. The Spurs could ask him to take the minimum, which would be just under $1.5 million for a player with his much experience. But is that enough to convince Ginobili to put off retirement? If San Antonio wants to compromise, they may have to offer a little more than the minimum.

There is one option that could benefit both parties. The Spurs could renounce Ginobili and remove his cap hold, then sign him to the Room Mid-Level Exception starting at $2.814 million. That's the mid-level exception the Spurs will get by virtue of being an under-the-cap team. This allows (and actually forces) them to sign him after inking Aldridge. Ginobili essentially gets treated like a free agent on another team in this scenario.

There are two complications. For one, it's asking a lot for Ginobili to accept an arrangement that pays him 60 percent less than last season. For another, the Spurs may need the Room Exception to fill out the roster once Aldridge signs. Using it on Ginobil means the Spurs are limited to minimum salaries otherwise.

Nevertheless, it's a tempting scenario for both sides. It gives Ginobili time to make his decision and it gives the Spurs additional cap room to get to Aldridge's maximum. Let's assume that Duncan agrees to an early deal and Ginobili signs for the Room Exception.
The Kawhi Leonard situation

We haven't mentioned Kawhi Leonard, who is a restricted free agent that the Spurs shouldn't let get away under any circumstances. Any new deal with Leonard will, in theory, eat into the Spurs' precious cap space.

Yet there's an easy solution here assuming Leonard goes along with the plan. He is eligible to earn 25 percent of the cap on the first year of his maximum salary, which will be around $16.5 million. But that dollar figure doesn't go onto San Antonio's cap sheet until the deal is officially signed. Until then, Leonard's cap hold, which comes out to about $7.2 million, sits there. Seven million is a lot less than 16.5 million.

As long as Leonard helps out, the Spurs can wait to actually finalize his new deal until after they clear enough space for Aldridge. Leonard could sign an offer sheet elsewhere and torpedo the strategy -- and Spurs rivals with cap space absolutely should make offers to test Leonard's resolve -- but as long as he's confident the Spurs will take care of him, San Antonio will be OK.
There's still more work to be done

Say all that happens, though. The Spurs still have a lot of money to make up.

LaMarcus Aldridge is not signing with the Spurs for a first-year salary of $10 million, no matter how much he wants to leave Portland. Significantly more work must be done to get the Spurs in the range of the $18.8 million Aldridge is eligible to sign for in Year 1. Trading Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson while taking no salary back won't cut it.

(The Spurs could coax Ginobili into retirement, but that's cold even for them. Maybe Ginobili retires anyway and that becomes a silver lining. Let's assume for now that he won't).

Thus, the Spurs likely must make at least one of several difficult choices:

1. TRADE BORIS DIAW WHILE TAKING NO SALARY BACK: Diaw is one of the team's most important players, but started to slow down during the regular season. He signed a four-year, $28 million deal in the summer of 2014. The deal declines each season, is partially-guaranteed in Year 3 and fully unguaranteed in Year 4.

Any team with cap space that's looking for a playmaking power forward might give him a look, but the Spurs may have to attach additional draft picks and/or the rights to players the Spurs have stashed overseas to entice teams. They might still do that if it means keeping Splitter. Diaw turns 33 and could see his production nosedive on a different team.

2. TRADE TIAGO SPLITTER WHILE TAKING NO SALARY BACK: Splitter has value as one of the league's top defensive centers, but struggled with a calf injury last year. He has two years and just under $17 million left on his deal, which is excellent value if he stays healthy, but that's a big if. He's also turning 31 next season and would become somewhat redundant if the Spurs sign Aldridge.

The issue is that San Antonio must complete this trade quickly to get Aldridge. They do not have the luxury of letting free agent centers sign and then seeking out the teams that miss on them as trade partners.

3. RENOUNCE DANNY GREEN'S RIGHTS: This would sting, but it's the Spurs' only recourse if they can't find a trade partner for Diaw or Splitter. Green is an elite defensive player and an excellent three-point shooter, which is why Tom Ziller has him ranked 14th in this class. His market value is well over eight figures, and many teams will be willing to pay that. Renouncing him essentially means saying goodbye and the Spurs will not be able to replace him so easily.

But if the choice is between Aldridge and Green, Aldridge is the obvious winner. The Spurs will have to find a starting shooting guard elsewhere.
Don't say sign-and-trade

This may seem like a workaround to the Spurs' cap issues, but in practice, it's not. That's because the 2011 CBA made sign-and-trade arrangements much more difficult than in previous years.

The most important rule: a sign-and-trade cannot put the new team more than $4 million above the luxury tax under any circumstances. This number is known as the "apron." No matter what happens, the Spurs must stay under that number for the duration of the season. They effectively are forced to operate with a hard cap.

The luxury tax is expected to be around $81.6 million, so the "apron" is $85.6 million. Say the Spurs and Blazers agree to a sign-and-trade that gives Aldridge his maximum and sends him to San Antonio for some combination of draft picks and the rights to foreign prospects.

This is what happens:

All good, right?

Not exactly. Remember: Leonard's situation still must be addressed and the Spurs now cannot go over $85.4 million under any circumstances. A five-year maximum contract for Leonard, a new deal for Green and filling out the roster will blow through that figure.

A sign-and-trade therefore hurts more than it helps. The Spurs will still almost certainly need to lose at least one of Splitter, Diaw and Green to even have a chance of signing Aldridge and staying under that hard cap number. Realistically, they'd still be in jeopardy of hitting the hard cap even if they trade Splitter and let Green go.
A possible loophole

There's one possible scenario where the Spurs could sign Aldridge and keep Splitter and Green, but it's a long shot. CBA expert Larry **** explained it to me over the phone.

Suppose Duncan wants to play for at least two more seasons. He's certainly shown little signs of slowing down, so there's no reason he can't. He and the Spurs could agree to the following arrangement:

Duncan signs a one-year contract for the veteran's minimum for next season. He would be paid just under $1.5 million, but due to NBA rules, only $950,000 would count against the Spurs cap.
In exchange for his sacrifice, the Spurs make him whole by signing him to a three-year contract in the summer of 2016. San Antonio has his full Larry Bird rights, so theoretically he could sign a maximum deal for 35 percent of an exploding cap. Realistically, the two sides would have to pick a number that fits. For simplicity's sake, let's say three years for an average of $10 million per season.
Duncan plays one more year and then retires.
The Spurs and Duncan then agree to pay the remaining $20 million or so left on his contract in any arrangement they choose. The team is not required to defer money when a player retires in the middle of his contract, but it would be beneficial in Duncan's case. The Lakers did this when Magic Johnson and James Worthy retired, according to ****, and they are just one example.

This could raise the league's suspicions because it's clearly taking advantage of a cap loophole, but it could also be explained if Duncan does play a full second year.

If that happens, here is the Spurs' cap sheet for next season.

Now, the Spurs are at least in the ballpark. They can create enough cap room outright by trading Mills away while taking no salary back, and while Mills is a good player on a very good contract, he's not as important as Green or Splitter. San Antonio could also convince Aldridge to take less money by noting that there's no state income tax in Texas, as opposed to Oregon or California.

This scenario is unlikely, but it's out there.

★★★

The Spurs absolutely can create the room necessary to sign Aldridge. They have plenty of ways to save, whether it's signing Duncan and Ginobili to below-market deals, trading Splitter or Diaw and/or letting Green walk. The Duncan loophole also exists as a remote possibility.

But they must make a lot of difficult decisions in a very short amount of time, all while Aldridge is taking meetings with teams that already have the necessary cap space. Ideally, they must make these decisions with full cooperation from Duncan, Aldridge, Green, Leonard and Ginobil, which is by no means guaranteed.

This is the ideal sequence:

If Duncan decides immediately he wants to play again, he signs for below his market value.
If a team decides it will help the Spurs out, they take on Splitter and/or Diaw without sending salary back.
If Aldridge is willing to wait on San Antonio to execute Steps 1-2, he signs for the max.
If Green, who is losing leverage on his impending pay day with every second that goes by, doesn't agree to a deal with another team during Steps 1-3, he re-signs using Bird rights.
If Leonard hasn't grown antsy and accepted an offer sheet with another team during Steps 1-4, he re-signs using Bird rights.
If Ginobili still wants to play, he signs for the Room exception.

That's a lot of ifs. It's certainly doable, but it's also a tough task even for a front office as brilliant as San Antonio's.

Keep in mind: they must pull this off in a matter of days and even hours, not weeks. Now you see why the NBA offseason gets so crazy?

Look at this man. This is why I've stopped caring

 

[jpzx]

View media item 1606873

- Isola checking in, again.

 

[abematic]

 
Lol might as well cancel them waste of time really he will be a Bull next year 

Pretty much. 

All the other teams were interested but i'm sure Butler used other teams as leverage to get what he wants. G BUCKETS of millions. 

 

[jpzx]

Early on the podcast between Zach Lowe and Marc Stein:

On who the best baseball player is of those who play basketball:

Stein: "Brian Cardinal looks really natural out there, Steve Nash in the field "grabs the slow roller with his barehand and whips it to first..." Dez Bryant was out there making catches."

"Spurs are the team in the best position to steal Lamarcus Aldridge away" -Stein

"Is Aldridge a prototypical Spur, I don't know. Some of the body language we saw in the Memphis series, I found that a bit concerning. At that point did he know he wanted to leave Portland and it was over? Or they were overmatched in that series because of all the injuries they have. I don't know. I'm sure there are plenty of justifications for it if we look at it." - Stein

"From everything I know, San Antonio is the only team that Marc Gasol even thought about, and he's going to stay with Memphis. The Grizzlies will have team officials in Spain, it's going to be like 6 a.m. in Spain when free agency starts in the states, so I don't think they're going to meet at 6 a.m., but a couple of hours later they're going to meet, it's going to surprise nobody if they come to a quick agreement on Gasol." - Stein

 

[jpzx]

#Sham is making the 2015 free agency period HIS and I love it. Barely knew who this dude was before this past season.

Enes Kanter, Thunder Set Meeting To Discuss 3-4 Year Deal In Early Window

Jun 30, 2015 2:30 PM

View media item 1606900


Enes Kanter — the Oklahoma City Thunder’s top free agent — has plan to meet with the franchise in Chicago on July 1, the two sides targeting an early contract completion, league sources told RealGM.

The Thunder and Kanter are expected to discuss three- and four-year contract sheets that could reach maximum-level money with incentives, sources told RealGM.

For the organization and Kanter, a restricted free agent, there will be an early window in free agency to reach an agreement before one of the top five available big men pursues larger offers elsewhere.

Oklahoma City has made clear that its main priority in July will be Kanter, a skilled, 6-foot-11 center who averaged 18.7 points, 11 rebounds and 55 percent shooting from the field in 26 games for the Thunder last season. At 23, Kanter gives the Thunder an agile offensive player with the ability to finish inside, hit jumpers and free throws and develop alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.

Nevertheless, several NBA teams will pursue Kanter, including potentially the Dallas Mavericks, sources said. The Milwaukee Bucks have yet to express an interest in Kanter, nor have they broached a meeting with him in free agency, despite his averages against their franchise over the past three seasons: 19.2 points and 10 rebounds per game.

The third overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, Kanter played his first three-plus season with the Utah Jazz, averaging 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds before his trade to the Thunder.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...ting-To-Discuss-3-4-Year-Deal-In-Early-Window

 

[bhzmafia14]

Stan Van wouldn't expect adding Draymond to make them a contender, though. He's a very good player, but he's not a franchise cornerstone.

Lance needs the ball to be most effective, whereas Dray doesn't. Lance flourished in Indy because they NEEDED a ballhandler with George Hill not being a great facilitator/playmaker himself. Draymond can hit spot up treys, so his value translates well elsewhere. Pick and pops with him definitely gets him a little less wide open without Steph, but he's still a big time threat. 

Pick and pops are a lot more deadly for Draymond when the guy with the ball can literally score from anywhere on the court and you have to pick your poison in a lineup full of shooting . I'm not saying Draymond's game cannot translate on a lesser team, but I don't expect his efficiency to be better if he goes to a team with less weapons around him. A team like Detroit giving Draymond a max deal would mean he is a major cornerstone for that franchise. It would be different if the rest of their team was pretty much set or they were very close to contending. So, I don't think Jennings or Jackson + KCP + SVG will make Draymond better than Curry / Klay + Kerr/Gentry did. If anything, they may make him worse.

Teams get far too trigger happy with their cap space and end up messing up their squad in the long run. Giving Dray the max right now in Detroit will not make them worse, but its not going to make them one of the leading teams to come out the East. I think there is a time to find out who your true core players are, build off them for a few years, add a few smaller pieces that will make you a playoff team, then make that big push for a guy like Draymond or whoever it may be to put your team over the top. Teams are so quick to throw money out and then lost in the direction the team needs to go in. The only thing Draymond will do is keep Detroit from having a lottery pick next year in the draft. At this point, I'm still trying to figure out their PG situation with Jennings being under contract another year and they probably are looking to re-sign Reggie to a big deal.

 

[jpzx]

"The Thunder and Kanter are expected to discuss three- and four-year contract sheets that could reach maximum-level money with incentives, sources told RealGM."


View media item 1606903

 

[bhzmafia14]

What are the Thunder plans with Adams? I was thinking it would be better to develop Adams as their low post scorer than to extend Kanter, who is invisible on defense.

 

[jpzx]

Their roles are different?

 

[cashbanks]

Kanter is soo bad on defense.

 

[antidope]

Enes Kanter has that playground basketball game so I can't help but like the guy, he gets effortless buckets. The OKC rebounding numbers feel a bit inflated but cant really use that against him.

 

[jpzx]

"Aldridge went to college only an hour and a half away from San Antonio ... if you're him, do you really want to go to Dallas and be the heir to Dirk Nowitzki, or do you want to go to San Antonio and be the heir to Tim Duncan? He does want to do that. Everyone I talked to said he's not afraid of that burden at all." - Marc Stein

"I don't know when this started, but I wrote this after the D-League Showcase ... like six guys mentioned to me at the D-League Showcase that Lamarcus wanted to go to San Antonio, for THAT specific reason, he liked being the heir to Duncan ... By the way, I agree with you, while Lamarcus has a reputation for a quiet guy, but I do think, like you hear these rumors that he was a little jealous of the limelight Damian Lillard got in POR, some of the body language issues in the MEM series, and he holds the ball a lot. It's not like Pop has an issue with posting up guys who can actually post up and hold the ball, Duncan did it for years, but it's not the way that they've played. I just happen to think he's a malleable player whose good at enough stuff to fit there. " - Zach Lowe

"By the way, did you hear this story during the POR-MEM series, the story that was going around that Aldridge approached M.Gasol on the floor during a game and asked about teaming up in free agency?" - Zach Lowe

"I hadn't heard that one, I hadn't heard that one. But I had heard that there were rumblings in S.A. that they were going to explore ways to try to go after both ... I'm still trying to work out how exactly they afford one of them. They're going to have to trade Splliter or Diaw, I don't see any way around that ... I don't know how they ever thought they were going to get two."