Ball and DeRozan are great acquisitions. Vucevic getting there is too small a sample size. They’ll be top 4 in the East. I’ll never get tired of watching the Blazers. We haven’t done a damn thing to get better this off-season though. We’re pissing away Lillard’s prime. It’s sad really.
You think Hart + CJ compares to Cj for Simmons or Siakam in terms of needle moving meaning getting into contention? I actually really like both those guys. I just don’t see us winning anything with CJ next to Dame. Or are you saying adding them and then another trade involving CJ? I like Oubre and Hart quite a lot I just don’t see them vaulting us into contention.
I was going to tell you all to keep an eye on Australian 4/5 Jock Landale during the Australia v USA game, but it's too late, he's signed with the Spurs.
LOL No way Chicago is top 4 lol. Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Miami, Atlanta, and Philly have CLEARLY superior rosters. And don’t discount Boston. There’s no one on the Chicago roster as good as Tatum or Brown. Bulls have chance at play-in, I guess.
John Collins is still holding out on Atlanta, supposedly going to reject the 5 year 125 million deal that was offered (per Jake Fischer). I imagine he still ends up in Atlanta but I wonder if there's an opportunity to snag Bogdanovic (if Atlanta is looking to cut costs) or help San Antonio clear space for him (taking on Thad Young and dumping DJJ + a pick to clear salary). I think Bogdanovic for CJ would be an upgrade (in some sort of three way) with respect to defense and size at least.
I don't think Markkanen is coming back, and they traded Thad Young for Derozan... Dosunmu is a combo guard, not a SF. Derozan is not better as a #2 than C.J. as he is worse off the ball. CJ is a better scorer and a similar defender and passer (Derozan just got the privilege of running everything in San Antonio). Lillard >> LaVine McCollum > Derozan Nurkic = Vucevic Powell > Ball Covington > Williams Simons = Caruso Little = White Zeller > Dosunmu
Improvement will certainly not come through free agency. Regardless of what happens with trades, we know free agency will not give us significant gains.
Nate talked about it in his thread. They have a firm figure out the $ values for the profit sharing model the NBA already implements. No reason they couldn't do the same here. This is an interesting thought experiment, but it's still based on the premise that $ trumps all in the decision to play somewhere. I think that in and of itself is flawed. How did the supermax rules work out for player retention? And how many players took less to ring chase just in the past two days? Just because a franchise in a podunk city can offer more doesn't mean a player will take a deal there over a marquee franchise.
Seems to me that the main issue is the formation of super-teams in major markets. Salary limitations are an imperfect means of controlling that because players sometimes are willing to take less money to join their buddies. How about a more direct approach? No team that has 2 or more players that have appeared in an All-Star Game in the past three years should be allowed to sign or receive in trade a player who has appeared in an All-Star Game in the past three years unless they trade off one of their current stars.
all fine in theory, but this problem is only with fans in these smaller cities where players don't want to play. the league will never implement it, however. the revenues/interest among casuals/ viewership all increased in the era of superteams. the general fan who has no rooting interest in any particular team will tune in and watch GS with 4 all NBA players over Milwaukee with Giannis. The data is there to back this up. The league wants this.
We're going to restrict player mobility due to individual success? Or penalize effective cap management? "Sorry that you've done such a good job with player acquisition and development, but we just can't allow you to trade for another all-star." That sounds like something that neither the PA nor the owners would ever go for.
