Exclusive Official Buyout Thread (Aka Neil's dumpster dive for bargains)

Drummond signed with Lakers

 

Don’t think so. The Nets have 15 players on full contracts and two on 2-way contracts.

Source: spotrac.com

 

they have Alize Johnson on a ten day but he he's young and had a monster game couple days ago, doubt they let him go. So the Nets are probably done, but they're obviously going for it, so you never know. If they let him go, Neil should pick him up.

 

Here's an article on the difficulties for small teams signing buyouts. (Although we know San Antonio just signed one).
When a player grows discontented, he pushes for a trade. When no trade materializes, he pushes to get released or bought out. Teams feel pressure to agree, out of fear of alienating agents or being perceived as indifferent to a player’s wishes. Those things can haunt a team, especially a small-market one, when free agency rolls around. “It’s very, very hard for the small markets or mid markets to say we’re not gonna buy you out,” said one small-market GM, “because you can’t get players there anyway. If you don’t do them favors, an agent will say, ‘I’m not gonna bring my guys to you.’”

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/29/nba-buyouts-andre-drummond-blake-griffin
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Oh you just love to poke the nest don't you?
However i agree the Nets might be a powerhouse but they are not a powerful powerhouse. A good defensive team that can score could beat them. Jordan is a good rim protector no question. Durant pre-injury was a good defender but I'm not sure any longer? We know Irving and Harden are not great defenders. What are they going to do with Aldridge? Start him? Is Joe Harris a better option? Is Blake Griffin going to become a cheerleader?
Personally i think this is a weird choice by Aldridge if he was looking for a role where he contributes? As is has been when all are there and healthy Durant has been the PF and Harris has been the SF. Then you have Blake and don't forget Jeff Green.
Nic Claxton is going to get bumped i guess as well at center? I'd take Claxton over Aldridge pretty much any day of the week?

My point is I just think this is a weird move? Not arguing for or against anything really? Just caught me off guard.

 

Whats up with this narrative that a buyout is a favor? Players give back money, and often times bird rights. If you’re a gutter/younger team, why wouldn’t you welcome that proposition? And if you have an issue with players “chasing rings” maybe build a better team. It’s not even about market size. I read somewhere that in that last five years no team has added more players via the buyout market than the Bucks. The Bucks! Even Kanter chose Portland over the Lakers.

I think GMs are gonna have to re-evaluate their roster composition strategies. Maybe a lack of depth isn’t such a bad thing.

 

You caught me! I was just making sure people were applying their theory on us, equally on other teams.

I do think the Nets can win a title. I do think their chances are probably a little lower than the vegas odds because of their defense though.

 

The Lakers weren't even a playoff team that year. I think being a playoff team is nearly a requirement for vets when choosing what team to go to. Next, it really helps to have a guaranteed role for the player (ex: all the backup center minutes).

 

I think it’s inevitable that a bad defensive team will win a championship sometime in the near future. The league is so different now, just look at how many of the statistically best offensive teams of all time are from the current generation. Even the “good” defensive teams aren’t really that good when you compare them to teams of the past. Twenty years ago the best defenses didn’t even give up 90 points per game. Now even the best are giving up over 100.

 

I'd like to see the league change the date players have to be on the team to be playoff eligible.
Ideally, that would be 24hrs after the trade deadline. This would dry up the buyout market & encourage teams to be more willing to give up value in a trade

 

I agree with all of this.

 

I was more talking about market size. Another example would be Dieng who just chose the Spurs over multiple teams in bigger markets with better records.

 

I agree with you in saying market size is not one of the major determining factors for bought out players looking to choose a new team.

 

yeah I think typically it’s either a guy chasing a ring, or a significant role, preferably both. I doubt any guy is prioritizing market size, especially since its only a temporary home. It just so happens that some of the contenders play in big cities.

 

but it's relative.

offenses-are-"better" = defenses-are-"worse" does not mean that the importance of defense has lessened. It might actually be the opposite. That uneven equation was working last season when the 3rd ranked defense won the championship by beating the 11th ranked defense. The year before, the 5th ranked defense beat the 13th ranked defense for the championship

look at the defensive rankings for the top-4 seeds in in each conference:

1 Los Angeles Lakers 106.0
2 Philadelphia 76ers 107.6
3 New York Knicks 108.6
4 Phoenix Suns 108.9
5 Utah Jazz 109.1
8 Milwaukee Bucks 110.3
14 Los Angeles Clippers 111.7
26 Brooklyn Nets 114.3

the obvious outlier is Brooklyn. The Clippers are interesting seeing as how they are 14th after ranking 5th last year. But the Clips lead the league in load management and their 3 best defenders have missed an average of 13 games each. I'd expect their defense to ramp up over the remaining 25 games, especially after replacing Williams with Rondo

and here's the thing: when I have seen this discussion engaged around here, almost always it's a debate about defense based upon Portland's prospects. About where the Blazers need to improve to shed the 'pretender-not-contender' status. About what template Portland can realistically use to upgrade their upside.

so, if the Nets do manage to win it all having a bottom-10 offense, is there any usable template there for Portland? or for any small-market team? How realistic would any template be that says: "first, add three players with the offensive caliber of Durant, Harden, and Irving"....?

it would be interesting if somebody would go back 20-30 years and see how many times in the finals the lower ranked defense has beaten the higher ranked defense. I know that happened 20 years ago when the Lakers beat the 76ers. I'd bet it has rarely happened since, and if it has, it would have still been two top-10 defenses battling for the title

 

that would be an admission by Olshey that he doesn't trust Simons haha yeah right