NBA Draft - Trades - Free Agents

The Clippers may be the best defensive team in the NBA now.

Patstastic said:

To be fair, I do dislike some things about the NFL. I am not a fan of all the attention kneeling got. Nor am I impressed with the officials the past season or so. I just prefer a sport where there is a higher likelihood of an "upset". Where players feel more loyal (Compared to the NBA) to their teams and communities. I do accept the fact Basketball may be bigger globally. But Basketball will never surpass Football in America. And I like it that way.

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That's fair - it's definitely true that the "best" or most talented (however you want to phrase it) team almost always wins in the NBA. Kawhi is great, but with a healthy KD that series is Warriors in 5. I get the loyalty thing too, but I would think its worth noting that part of the reason players are "loyal" is because the owners have them over a barrel, even the elite of the elite due to the franchise tag.

borg said:

The league can afford it in year 1.
After injuries pile up and teams have to replace damaged goods with more guaranteed contracts, how do you think owners will proceed?
Share more revenue?
Raise the cap?
Unlikely

Guaranteeing 75-80 player salaries each year vs 53 will have dramatic effects on how owners proceed going forward.
Likely outcome: minimize risk of future contracts by reducing compensation and / or contract length.
More guaranteed contracts from the same pool of money..... less for all.

Then there’s the issue of guaranteeing all NFL contracts in league whose players’ careers average less than 4 years.
Now go tell the stars in the league to stop getting paid and go on strike in order that 25 JAGs a year will get a bigger piece of their pie.

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The LEAST valuable NFL team is the Bills. Valued at $1.6 billion dollars last year. So yes, share more revenue. Yes, raise the cap (it rises most years anyway as a basic function of NFL economics). I think your assessment of what the owners would do is probably accurate, but that is why the union needs to make them NOT do that in the CBA. They've done some of it - salary cap floors in additions to caps, as an example. Go further. Yes, do it for the JAGs. That's what most of the league is! I don't think Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees or Todd Gurley are looking at NBA contracts and go "thank GOD we don't have a system like that!"

I didn't say it was easy - in fact I imagine it would be quite hard (that's what she said) and involve a prolonged, ugly work stoppage that the NFL players union has never shown the stomach for. Injuries and larger rosters make it even more difficult, yes. But "because the math is hard" isn't a good reason to keep the status quo. Personally I prefer the "hard cap" of the NFL as a system, it's easier for me to follow, but the soft cap of the NBA also increases overall player compensation, and several teams pay the luxury tax yearly in addition to that. The same thing could happen in the NFL. Nobody is walking away from their NFL franchise because they have to share an extra 2-3% of the annual income for their billion dollar industry. They're uber rich guys. You can't just go buy a football team in a different league and keep your status. And if any of them DID want to walk away from it, the team would be bought in a millisecond by someone who was willing to make the financial investments the selling owner wouldn't. Win win.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

I’d say this move puts the clips among the favorites in the west.

Now if OKC really wants to commit to blowing this up and starting over there’s another team in LA with cap space and a hole at PG.

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what do the lakers have left to trade?

captain insano said:

what do the lakers have left to trade?

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According to their pick tracker they have first rounders starting in 2022. Yeah you’d have to wait a few years but a couple future 1s and Kuzma I may be inclined to take that deal if you don’t think you can win with this current group.

Edit: scratch that the lakers don’t necessarily own their picks till 2024-25 due to stipulations in the AD trade. So yeah that’s too far down the road to make any deal. The current front offices most likely won’t even be there by then.

The Knicks may be the team to deal with for Westbrook. That teams desperate for their next star.

it’s a ton to give up........but they will be good next year

Apparently Thunder might want to trade Westbrook, any takers my fellow Celtics fans?

The last of the big NBA FA pieces made a hell of a splash. And, with all of those unprotected picks involved, fans of a team (OKC) will be hoping for injuries on another team like rarely seen in sports history.

Bradyking12 said:

Apparently Thunder might want to trade Westbrook, any takers my fellow Celtics fans?

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Not a Cs fan but no way.

IllegalContact said:

it’s a ton to give up........but they will be good next year

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Barring injury they’ll be good the next 4 years

Bradyking12 said:

Apparently Thunder might want to trade Westbrook, any takers my fellow Celtics fans?

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no thank you. he's more of a headcase than kyrie is.

Bradyking12 said:

Apparently Thunder might want to trade Westbrook, any takers my fellow Celtics fans?

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No use for him, with Walker on board. Boston's needs are at PF and C.

captain insano said:

no thank you. he's more of a headcase than kyrie is.

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In a way different sense. Westbrook always plays hard and wants to win, never takes a game or play off. His problem is he tries to do too much himself and doesn't always get his team mates involved.

Sfpat said:

In a way different sense. Westbrook always plays hard and wants to win, never takes a game or play off. His problem is he tries to do too much himself and doesn't always get his team mates involved.

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Totally agree. But the point is moot since the kemba signing, the area the Cs need help at is in the front court.

Bradyking12 said:

Apparently Thunder might want to trade Westbrook, any takers my fellow Celtics fans?

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Immense talent but I think right now the Cs are hypersensitive to locker room dynamics. Not saying Westbrook is a bad seed but I think the timing doesn't work

Rumors going around that OKC offered Westbrook and George for Toronto for Siakam plus? and the Raptors said no.

Kawhi and Paul George to Clippers. . .

I don't hate the Celtics chances of winning the East now.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

Barring injury they’ll be good the next 4 years

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I just can’t get these “win now” trades. I was shocked by what LA gave away for Davis: number 2 pick Ingram, Hart, number 2 pick Ball, and three number 1 picks, including #4 overall. Wow!! It mortgages the Lakers entire future. I can’t say I am sad about it, but really dumb and shortsighted IMHO.

But this George trade seems even more shortsighted. 5 number one draft picks, two by Miami, plus two possible number one pick swaps?? Plus the very promising Alexander and Gallinari?? Talk about “win now”. The Clippers will be very good for the next few years, but by mortgaging their future this way they are in for a crash. It dwarfs the Boston heist of the New Jersey picks for Garnett and Pierce.

I’ve mostly liked what the Clippers have been doing since when Balmer took over as owner, but this really surprises me.

zydecochris said:

I just can’t get these “win now” trades. I was shocked by what LA gave away for Davis: number 2 pick Ingram, Hart, number 2 pick Ball, and three number 1 picks, including #4 overall. Wow!! It mortgages the Lakers entire future. I can’t say I am sad about it, but really dumb and shortsighted IMHO.

But this George trade seems even more shortsighted. 5 number one draft picks, two by Miami, plus two possible number one pick swaps?? Plus the very promising Alexander and Gallinari?? Talk about “win now”. The Clippers will be very good for the next few years, but by mortgaging their future this way they are in for a crash. It dwarfs the Boston heist of the New Jersey picks for Garnett and Pierce.

I’ve mostly liked what the Clippers have been doing since when Balmer took over as owner, but this really surprises me.

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Kawhi probably wasn't going to join them unless they did pulled off the PG13 trade. SO it amounts to a bunch of picks for George and Kawhi playing out his career there. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Sfpat said:

In a way different sense. Westbrook always plays hard and wants to win, never takes a game or play off. His problem is he tries to do too much himself and doesn't always get his team mates involved.

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The other problem is he is the anti-Harden, that is, his game is about using his extraordinary strength and athleticism and hard work to make places instead of craftiness or skill. I wouldn’t expect his game to age well, and he turns 31 in November I think.

Gronk said:

I think it’s a little weird that “Pride” is what you feel in response the to NFL continuing to devalue and take advantage of their players with non-guaranteed contracts while NBA players have (rightfully, I’d argue) demanded a larger piece of the financial pie that the league generates off their labor, and gotten it. Journeymen and role players are getting $15m contracts. The league can afford it. If the NFL players union had any balls they’d be doing the same thing.

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Apples to oranges. 53 man roster to a 12 man one, 82 games compared to 16, and yes 20,000 arenas compared to 60,000 stadiums............ NFL signing bonuses are the guaranteed part....