⭐ OFFICIAL 2020-2021 NBA Off-Season Thread: Olympics begin 7/23; NBA Draft 7/29⭐

[jpzx]

I bet $100 with a friend last night on the Nets vs. the field coming out of the East.

Bet’s off if Durant, Harden, Kyrie, Embiid, Giannis, or Butler are out for an extended period of time in the playoffs.

 

[pmatic]

What do they have to give up? TLC, Shamet, Brown?

fools gonna be having Shump play 40 mpg in the playoffs

They still have Dinwiddie.

 

[N41D]

KD

He know those 2 rings with GS was funny. It eats at him. That's why he has to respond to lil everything and with the Nets winning w/o him I still don't know if gon get what he's looking for.

I really do wonder if he gives a damn about it...

He does seem sensitive as all hell about how those GSW rings are perceived... But then he bolts to Brooklyn to try and do the Golden State thing on steroids.

 

[amitt5504]

They still have Dinwiddie.

If I’m tryna to blow it up, mr BTC is not who I want

 

[lawdog1]

pmatic need the cliffs. Seems like he’s all but gone

OKB writes for the Athletic now? Awesome.

 

[misha]

I bet $100 with a friend last night on the Nets vs. the field coming out of the East.

Bet’s off if Durant, Harden, Kyrie, Embiid, Giannis, or Butler are out for an extended period of time in the playoffs.

lock of the year
How I view the east
Nets
Bucks
Philly

 

[lovehateself]

yah both teams taking it slow no Need to rush any players

in all seriousness
both guys out at least another 2-3 weeks

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

NBA trade deadline week 2021: Live updates, news and observations from our insiders

With the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, The Athletic NBA insiders — David Aldridge, Sam Amick, Shams Charania, John Hollinger and Joe Vardon — will offer their extensive, deep-dive insight on how the trade market is evolving, instant analysis on the major moves being discussed and potentially made, names to keep an eye on (such as Kyle Lowry and Aaron Gordon) and much more from a league-wise perspective through Thursday afternoon’s deadline.

How Aaron Gordon to Boston could work

So … Sam Amick put out the bat signal for some cap analysis Monday night on this possible Orlando-Boston trade (scroll below), and I am here to oblige.

A deal that sends Marcus Smart to Orlando for Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon is, indeed, possible cap-wise because Smart’s salary is enough to offset Gordon’s, and Fournier fits into Boston’s massive $28 million trade exception from the Gordon Hayward trade. In fact, the Celtics would still have $11 million left over on their exception after taking in Fournier.

However, a better way for Boston to execute this deal would be to include the minimum salary of Javonte Green along with Smart, since otherwise, Boston would have to waive a player anyway. Including Green would send out a $1.5 million salary the Celtics would otherwise end up eating while having no impact on the $18.1 million trade exception the Magic would generate for Gordon.

One other piece I expect to come up, if it hasn’t been already, is a Khem Birch-Tristan Thompson swap as part of any Gordon trade with Boston. Birch has an expiring deal worth $3 million, while Thompson makes $9.7 million next season. Birch and Fournier for Smart and Thompson is clean cap-wise and actually generates an additional $6.7 million trade exception on Boston’s side.

The biggest issue with the Celtics trading for Gordon and Fournier is that Boston is likely to be about $25 million over the luxury tax line if they add Gordon and re-sign free-agent-to-be Fournier and would go further over if they re-sign Daniel Theis. Including Thompson in the trade would cut the number nearly in half and make this whole thing far more palatable from Boston’s end.

Alas, Orlando probably isn’t jonesing to pay Thompson $9.7 million next year either. Such a move would leave the Magic themselves just $10 million from next year’s tax line, and their first-round pick would soak up much of that room. Basically, it would make the Gordon traded player exception irrelevant because they wouldn’t be able to use it, and likely rob the Magic of using their full midlevel exception too. The Magic would need that money to sign a 3-and-D wing after losing Gordon and Fournier. Additionally, Thompson would be another potential roadblock to playing time for 2018 lottery pick Mo Bamba.

All told, I’d bet against Birch and Thompson being in this deal, but I’d be shocked if Boston didn’t broach it.

Finally, one more Orlando-Boston wrinkle: The Celtics should look really hard at setting up this deal as an extend-and-trade with Fournier. (For that matter, they could extend Gordon right now too, but he can get more years if he waits till the summer.) Locking in Fournier at something around his current number of $17.1 million would reduce a lot of the risk in this deal for Boston and have no impact on the Magic.

Salary dumps looming?

While we’re here, and in the wake of Monday’s Mfiondu Kabengele trade, here are a few more salary dump situations to monitor:

• The Lakers are $3.3 million over the tax and just $1 million from the hard cap, with two open roster spots that they can’t yet fill due to the hard cap. Paying somebody to take Alfonzo McKinnie ($1.5 million) would lighten both those burdens considerably, especially with the Lakers — as always — being the lead horse in any buyout race.

• Philadelphia is $11.4 million into the tax and sitting on $6.5 million worth of expiring contacts who never play in Vincent Poirier ($2.6 million) and Terrance Ferguson ($3.9 million). Their contracts are large enough that the Sixers likely would have to include a draft pick rather than just cash to persuade another team to take them.

• Utah does not seem to be sweating the fact that it is $1.9 million in the tax, but it could wriggle out by paying somebody to take the minimum deals of Juwan Morgan and Miye Oni ($1.5 million each). The Jazz would be left with three open roster spots and would need to fill two of them, but dragging things out a while by using 10-days would let them avoid the luxury tax.

• Golden State can slash a massive luxury tax bill — the Warriors are $40 million over — by trading Kevon Looney, who is owed $4.8 million this year and $5.7 million next year. However, they would almost certainly need to include multiple second-round picks in such a deal and by my count only have four left they can trade. Trading Kelly Oubre Jr. while taking less salary back could also help cut their bill.

• If no other deals materialize, Brooklyn has a pretty decent incentive to trade Spencer Dinwiddie, making $11.5 million but out for the season, for a lower-salaried player, simply because the tax savings would be so impactful for a team that is currently $32.5 million past the tax line.

• This hasn’t come up in a while, but the New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder both stand below the league’s salary floor right now. Additionally, that number is now pro-rated over the course of the season to prevent some shenanigans of yore. If New York doesn’t add roughly $13 million in the next few days, or if the Thunder don’t add about $12 million, it will be free money for the players currently on their roster. They’ll be cut checks to make up the difference and bring their teams to the floor.

 

[HOU$TON]

1st team All Rookie

 

[EZMONEY SERVANT]

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAI SIR, MANY MORE
MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU

 

[pmatic]

at WOW Factor.

 

[VARNELL HILL]

WOW

 

[lawdog1]

at WOW Factor.

Bet that came right from Fritata himself

 

[N41D]

The franchise that built itself on threes-or-dunks was going to rebuild its future around Wall and Oladipo? Oof.

 

[misha]

at WOW Factor.

Wall ain’t averaging great numbers as it as especially since he’s the main option . 21 6 3 with 3 turnovers shooting 41 32 74 . Not to mention he’s getting 45 million a year next year

vics number 21 5 5 2 turnovers a game
41 33 77
21 million

 

[lovehateself]

worst wow since way of wade

 

[noblekane]

bruh with the lakers being down like this headdetective being exposed in the mass shooting thread was much needed. cant believe all these years on niketalk and we neverhad a clue

 

[freeze]

Giannis out now too?

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 

[datznasty]

Yikes 45M for John Wallets

 

[getback]

bruh with the lakers being down like this headdetective being exposed in the mass shooting thread was much needed. cant believe all these years on niketalk and we neverhad a clue

Really? Wasn't he in that now deleted conspiracy thread pulling the same stuff? Him and that sharpshooter dude were always talking about crisis actors and fake mass shootings and what not.

Not Sharpshoeter13 he's the good sharpshooter.

 

[amitt5504]

bruh with the lakers being down like this headdetective being exposed in the mass shooting thread was much needed. cant believe all these years on niketalk and we neverhad a clue

Wait what now

 

[datznasty]

Shaq brand office chairs https://www.officedepot.com/a/brows...paign=Office Depot Redirect Link_dealnews.com

 

[friscostylez]

John Walls Fargo

 

[Maximus Meridius]

headdetective being exposed in the mass shooting thread was much needed

What happened?