Official 2013 NBA Offseason Thread

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Suberzat1 said:
i think everyone going to look back on howard career i say that stan van gundy was a very good coach. Hoawrd will never win anything for the rest of his career trying to be the number one option.
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I've been dogging Dwight's "post game" and his desire to be the #1 guy focus of an offense, and espn did my work for me:

Dwight Howard's big issue
Bradford Doolittle [ARCHIVE]

ESPN Insider | July 1, 2013


Dwight Howard is once again a free agent and looking for a new team.
Dwight Howard has apparently had some issues with his former coaches. First there was the debacle in his latter days in Orlando, when his coach volunteered to the media that his star player sought to have him sacked. Then just a couple of days before the start of free agency on Friday, word began to circulate that the Lakers' chances of keeping Howard were precarious due to his aversion to Mike D'Antoni's offense.

Howard, of course, doesn't put any of these comments on the record, which is the way of the world in contemporary sports media. Still, the whispers make you wonder just want kind of coach, and what kind of offense, does Howard actually believe is in his best interests? His best option might be to sign with either the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers -- the two teams that currently have coaching vacancies -- because then Howard can just run things himself.

But any fan who says he wouldn't want Howard on his team is either lying, willfully ignorant, engaged in self-deception, or all the above.

Howard is just that good, and that much we can quantify. Figuring out the ideal kind of offense for him is more complicated.

Last season, the worst since Howard's rookie year, he still put up 9.7 WARP in 76 games, which ranked 20th in the league, putting him in the 96th percentile of all NBA players. He was hobbled by recovery from back surgery and played in two unfamiliar offensive systems with two new coaches, all with a brand-new set of teammates. Yet he rated right in the cluster of the top centers of last season with Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah and Brook Lopez. My early projections have Howard bouncing back to about 14.0 WARP this season, and remaining roughly at that level for the next half-decade. Every season at that level makes him likely to be considered the best center in the game.

Value like that is awfully hard to find, especially at the NBA's biggest position of scarcity. Centers used to rule the roost in the league, back in the days before the 3-pointer and when illegal defense rules made guarding a premier post scorer like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar virtually impossible. In the first four years after the adoption of the 3-pointer for the 1979-80 season, the league leader in WARP was a center: Abdul-Jabbar or Moses Malone; from 1991 to 2002, before the current defensive rules were implemented, centers such as David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan led the league a combined eight times.

But no center has led the league in WARP since illegal defense rules were eliminated prior to the 2002-03 season. Howard came close with 20.5 WARP in 2010-11, second in the league behind perennial leader LeBron James.

Evolution of the NBA offense

The evolution of the game over the past 10 years has been stark. Most teams no longer play inside-out, though certain coaches such as Tom Thibodeau still instruct their teams to do so. Floor spacing, a term that used to be reserved strictly for the practice floor, is now a staple of even mainstream basketball analysis. The pick-and-roll has become more prominent than ever thanks to the rise of point guards, who now enjoy more space to operate against defenders who can no longer manhandle them with hand checks. Smart teams now emphasize the 3-point shot, and the action inside the arc often sets up the clean looks behind it.


Dwight Howard was effective in Orlando.
This evolution is reflected on how often centers are used in today's offensive systems. Patrick Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson and especially O'Neal once put up usage rates north of 30 percent, with Shaq doing it 10 times; Howard has never reached 28 percent, and last season was at 22.

The makeover has been so complete that for the first time last season, the NBA deleted the center position from its All-Star ballots.

What kind of offense is Howard looking for?

All this makes you wonder just what sort of offense Howard thinks he will find.

In Orlando, Stan Van Gundy -- who is the only coach who ranks in the top 10 in career efficiency on both ends of the floor since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976 -- fashioned his offense around Howard. He was exceedingly adept at running the pick-and-roll action that Howard now seems to find so distasteful. In the two seasons prior to last season, Howard rated in the 99th percentile of all players as a finisher on the pick-and-roll, per Synergy Sports Technologies. Even last season, in the Lakers' often dysfunctional attack, he was in the 96th percentile. Like it or not, it's what he does best.

Nevertheless, the pick-and-roll was not the staple of Orlando's system. During Howard's best season, the Magic ranked 21st in total pick-and-rolls with the screener finishing the play. They led the league in efficiency on those plays, just ahead of Steve Nash's Phoenix Suns, who led the league in quantity. The Magic offense relied on the post-up, with Howard getting 269 more plays on those sets than any other player in the league. In fact, his 1,019 post-ups were more than any other team in the league, save for the Lakers and Grizzlies.

The Magic's system also had other traits that were telling. First, Orlando ranked 24th in total plays that were resolved in the last four seconds of the shot clock. In other words, there was a heavy reliance on early offense, which fit with Howard's ability to run the floor. Just five teams had fewer sets resolved in transition, so Van Gundy was running a half-court-heavy attack. But the Magic were getting into their sets quickly, which is essential in today's NBA. You can no longer walk the ball up the court and dump the ball into the block, because coaches such as Thibodeau have mastered schemes that clog the lane and bring help defenders down on slow-moving post scorers. You can run an offense through the post in today's NBA, but you have to do it quickly. That's why Gregg Popovich harped on his team repeatedly to push the ball down the floor during the Spurs-Heat Finals matchup.

Last season, the Lakers were third in the league in total post-ups and just 13th in pick-and-rolls finished by the screener, and just two teams had fewer possessions resolved in the last four seconds of the shot clock. In other words, even though D'Antoni inherited a roster that didn't fit together, he managed to run in general terms a scheme very similar to the one in which Howard flourished for Van Gundy. There have been suggestions that the problem wasn't the pick-and-roll set per se -- it was where Howard received the ball on those plays.

There might be something to that -- Howard is not at all skilled when it comes to putting the ball on the floor -- but again, let's not forget that he was extremely efficient on pick-and-rolls anyway. D'Antoni has a reputation as an offensive guru for a reason: He's coached four different NBA teams and since the merger, only K.C. Jones and Scott Brooks have put up a higher aggregate career offensive efficiency.

The bottom line is that the last thing Howard should be concerning himself with is his coach's offensive system. Teams will build their schemes and skew their play calling to accommodate him. The Lakers did it last season and will continue to refocus toward Howard as their ability to churn the roster increases over the next couple of years. But the Houston Rockets would do the same thing, as would the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks or Golden State Warriors. However, if Howard is looking for the kind of old-school center-centric offense that his forerunners used to dominate, he's going to be looking long and hard -- because it no longer exists.
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I'm just hoping he realizes this and stays to play the pick and roll with the master, Nash
 
JJ Watt said:
Blatche
smokin.gif


GOON squad

Evans
Blatche
KG
J.Kidd ( if your a female
nerd.gif
)
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Blatche is with the Nets still? There bench is going to look good, they need a back-up PG doe.
 
Menacin Methods said:
Suberzat1 said:
i think everyone going to look back on howard career i say that stan van gundy was a very good coach. Hoawrd will never win anything for the rest of his career trying to be the number one option.
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Stan van gundy is a great coach but for you to say Howard won't win anything is dumb. He took a bunch of role players to the finals. Yeah he cries like a female but he can be so dominating.
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he took? lets not act like Hedo and Lewis werent balling. to say Howard did it himself is foolish
 
Menacin Methods said:
Stan van gundy is a great coach but for you to say Howard won't win anything is dumb. He took a bunch of role players to the finals. Yeah he cries like a female but he can be so dominating.
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its all falls on howard back...dude is really hurting im not in u notice. The tier howard was planning at in orlando was pretty damn high. Centers were no near his level playing as a center during those seasons. Depending on where he resigns will say it all about his future. DMC and andrew bynum(if healthy) are going to take top center spot. Shot even greg monroe is climbing the ladder. Maybe me saying he will never win a champship is too strong but not sure he will do it in his prime. Maybe dwight just need to play for phoenix.
 
Zyzz said:
he took? lets not act like Hedo and Lewis werent balling. to say Howard did it himself is foolish
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Hedo was playing like an All-Star that year.  Jameer WAS an All-Star (how weird is that??) , and Lewis was ultra-clutch.  

So yeah, that was a very good team at that time.  MJ of Turkey  playing PG in the 4th 
pimp.gif
.  

Next year they let Hedo go, traded Lee for Vince Carter, and Lewis got suspended for roids and fell of a cliff.  Jameer only had one good year left, too.  Too bad.  I was rooting for them.  Blame Otis Smith.

Edit: Rashard Lewis was also an all-star that year.  And Hedo was probably the best on the team outside of Dwight, so they had 4 all-star level players.  Weird.
 
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Kal-El-8 said:
Is Manu retiring or something?
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We can only hope that if he comes back he signs for next to no money and gets replaced by Monta Ellis
PMatic said:
@HowardBeckNYT  Andray Blatche has agreed to re-sign w/Nets, per source. First reported by @PeterVecsey1.
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@HowardBeckNYT  Blatche is returning on a one-year, $1.4 million deal.
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Brook Lopez. Kevin Garnett. Andray Blatche. Reggie Evans. Fun.
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How in the world did they get him to do this? Does he not like money?
 
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you go boy said:
the bulls are going to be a problem next year with that mike dunleavy signing
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Bulls are gonna be a problem regardless of what little roster moves we make. You fools keep joking about Rose, I love it. The guy is gonna beast....mark my poignant words. ..do it!!! Chicago Bulls all damn day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
100027 said:
Hedo was playing like an All-Star that year.  Jameer WAS an All-Star (how weird is that??) , and Lewis was ultra-clutch.  

So yeah, that was a very good team at that time.  MJ of Turkey  playing PG in the 4th 
pimp.gif
.  

Next year they let Hedo go, traded Lee for Vince Carter, and Lewis got suspended for roids and fell of a cliff.  Jameer only had one good year left, too.  Too bad.  I was rooting for them.  Blame Otis Smith.

Edit: Rashard Lewis was also an all-star that year.  And Hedo was probably the best on the team outside of Dwight, so they had 4 all-star level players.  Weird.
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i was really hoping vince was going to be the answer but i was never ok with them letting hedo leave dude was balling
 
So to recap today

Eric Maynor to the Wizards
Andre Blatche to the Nets
CJ Watson to the Pacers
Mike Dunleavy to the Bulls
Gal Mekel to the Mavericks
Pelicans offer Tyreke fat contract
Chris Paul stays with Clippers
 
arstyle27 said:
Bulls are gonna be a problem regardless of what little roster moves we make. You fools keep joking about Rose, I love it. The guy is gonna beast....mark my poignant words. ..do it!!! Chicago Bulls all damn day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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i want to save this quote for next season......he will do alright thats about it. dont over shoot what rose can do.
 
Suberzat1 said:
i was really hoping vince was going to be the answer but i was never ok with them letting hedo leave dude was balling
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He was the heart and soul of that team, they ran everything through him.  He did get too much money though, and was never the same again.
 
Antidope said:
Kal-El-8 said:
Is Manu retiring or something?
Click to expand...
We can only hope that if he comes back he signs for next to no money and gets replaced by Monta Ellis



PMatic said:
@HowardBeckNYT  Andray Blatche has agreed to re-sign w/Nets, per source. First reported by @PeterVecsey1.
Click to expand...
@HowardBeckNYT  Blatche is returning on a one-year, $1.4 million deal.
Click to expand...
Brook Lopez. Kevin Garnett. Andray Blatche. Reggie Evans. Fun.
Click to expand...
How in the world did they get him to do this? Does he not like money?
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The wizards are still paying him and he gets to stay in bk, win win
 
Antidope said:
Kal-El-8 said:
Is Manu retiring or something?
Click to expand...
We can only hope that if he comes back he signs for next to no money and gets replaced by Monta Ellis


PMatic said:
[QUOTE url="[URL]https://twitter.com/HowardBeckNYT[/URL]"]
@HowardBeckNYT Andray Blatche has agreed to re-sign w/Nets, per source. First reported by @PeterVecsey1.
Click to expand...
[QUOTE url="[URL]https://twitter.com/HowardBeckNYT[/URL]"]
@HowardBeckNYT Blatche is returning on a one-year, $1.4 million deal.
Click to expand...
Brook Lopez. Kevin Garnett. Andray Blatche. Reggie Evans. Fun.[/QUOTE]
How in the world did they get him to do this? Does he not like money?
[/quote]

he was amnestied by the wiz and they still are paying him im sure so any contract he gets doesnt add to the money of that contract til it expires.
 
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