NBA 2023-24

[Madcows]

4 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

You'd have to get something in a trade for Draymond, and if you could find a taker you could get at best a solid role player. Which you're gonna need. If you let Klay and Chris Paul walk there are no transactions involved and you suddenly have $75 million to spend. No free agent worth that kind of money yet, but there are always a few surprises and unhappy stars cropping up, like AD. Kerr is coaching the Olympic Team, the best assembly of talent since the 1992 Dream Team. Doesn't hurt for him to spend the summer coaching and socializing with the superstars. 

 

CP3 is guaranteed 30 million for next season.  Whatever he agrees to in term of buyout is the hit the Warriors take against the salary cap.  It won't help the Warriors sign a key piece, and with the team being so far over the cap, they don't get all the money to spend. If they renounce all their cap holds, the salary on the books (assuming every option is picked up) for next year is $170M for only 9 players. If team options aren't picked up, and those rights are renounced, the Warriors remove an additional 13ishM from salary and two more players. If GPII turns down his player option, about another 9 comes off the books and the Warriors are down to 6 contracts at roughly $148M. The salary cap is predicted to be around $145M, so the Warriors are still over the cap even if no option is picked up. Meaning, all they can do is the Mid-Level Exemption, Vet Minimum and Rookie deals. If they can agree to a buyout with CP3, it saves them salary, but won't give them any extra 'buying power' for free agents, it'll probably move them a few million under the cap and give them one more Exemption they can use to go over the cap.  Only way to get a star player is via trade and not sure the Warriors have the pieces necessary for that to happen, unless they mortgage the future and trade multiple 1st round picks and include players like Kuminga and Wiggins to make the trade work salary wise. Dunleavy is going to take the fall for Myers contracts and cap challenges he left behind. Resigning Dray for 4 years and resigning Poole to a max extension is hurting this team. Next year, they will have a lot of money available with basically only Dray and Steph under contract. That would give them the flexibility to sign a star in FA and probably enough room to sign a good role player.  Warriors are cooked for next year, it'll be a struggle for them to make the play-in.

[Jason Sitoke]

1 hour ago, Madcows said:

 

CP3 is guaranteed 30 million for next season.  Whatever he agrees to in term of buyout is the hit the Warriors take against the salary cap.  It won't help the Warriors sign a key piece, and with the team being so far over the cap, they don't get all the money to spend. If they renounce all their cap holds, the salary on the books (assuming every option is picked up) for next year is $170M for only 9 players. If team options aren't picked up, and those rights are renounced, the Warriors remove an additional 13ishM from salary and two more players. If GPII turns down his player option, about another 9 comes off the books and the Warriors are down to 6 contracts at roughly $148M. The salary cap is predicted to be around $145M, so the Warriors are still over the cap even if no option is picked up. Meaning, all they can do is the Mid-Level Exemption, Vet Minimum and Rookie deals. If they can agree to a buyout with CP3, it saves them salary, but won't give them any extra 'buying power' for free agents, it'll probably move them a few million under the cap and give them one more Exemption they can use to go over the cap.  Only way to get a star player is via trade and not sure the Warriors have the pieces necessary for that to happen, unless they mortgage the future and trade multiple 1st round picks and include players like Kuminga and Wiggins to make the trade work salary wise. Dunleavy is going to take the fall for Myers contracts and cap challenges he left behind. Resigning Dray for 4 years and resigning Poole to a max extension is hurting this team. Next year, they will have a lot of money available with basically only Dray and Steph under contract. That would give them the flexibility to sign a star in FA and probably enough room to sign a good role player.  Warriors are cooked for next year, it'll be a struggle for them to make the play-in.

Paul’s contract is non-guaranteed 

[Guy Chamberlin]

17 hours ago, Jason Sitoke said:

I don’t think they’ll have 75mill to spend. By letting klay walk and cutting CP3…I think they’ll end up nearly a first apron team..which means they’ll get their exceptions.  But they’ll be pretty financially limited in free agency as far as I can tell. 

 

It's true, the money they "save" won't even bring them under the luxury tax. If you're willing to live with a huge payroll and penalty tax, you need to see something for the effort. It turns out owner Joe Lacob is that kinda owner and I think he'll be advocating for the bold move. Might not happen this particular off-season, but someone always comes into play, and they are throwing out names like Karl Anthony Towns, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakam or Brandon Ingram. I'm just worried that if you mortgage your young, homegrown, affordable talent to rent a star for 37/38 year old Steph Curry, you could be no better -- or worse -- than you are now. 

 

Maybe they just need a Naz Reid kind of player or two. Costlier than the exception, cheaper than a Klay, Paul, or Wiggins. But I honestly don't know how much a Naz Reid would cost in this market. 

 

And yes, Paul's second year isn't guaranteed and there's little chance the Warriors will pony up. I believe Dunleavey was able to get Washington to absorb Jordan Poole's contract so that money is no longer on the Warriors books. 

[GSG]

How many washing machines is Draymond worth?

[Jason Sitoke]

1 hour ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

It's true, the money they "save" won't even bring them under the luxury tax. If you're willing to live with a huge payroll and penalty tax, you need to see something for the effort. It turns out owner Joe Lacob is that kinda owner and I think he'll be advocating for the bold move. Might not happen this particular off-season, but someone always comes into play, and they are throwing out names like Karl Anthony Towns, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakam or Brandon Ingram. I'm just worried that if you mortgage your young, homegrown, affordable talent to rent a star for 37/38 year old Steph Curry, you could be no better -- or worse -- than you are now. 

 

Maybe they just need a Naz Reid kind of player or two. Costlier than the exception, cheaper than a Klay, Paul, or Wiggins. But I honestly don't know how much a Naz Reid would cost in this market. 

 

And yes, Paul's second year isn't guaranteed and there's little chance the Warriors will pony up. I believe Dunleavey was able to get Washington to absorb Jordan Poole's contract so that money is no longer on the Warriors books. 

Warriors pulled a damn magic act getting out from under Poole’s contract.  Dollar for dollar, Jordan Poole is the worst player in the NBA

[The Murphinator]

Lakers have to feel hopeless. They couldn't have played much better DLo was hitting 3s. Lebron and AD had great games and they still couldn't beat Denver. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

2 hours ago, The Murphinator said:

Lakers have to feel hopeless. They couldn't have played much better DLo was hitting 3s. Lebron and AD had great games and they still couldn't beat Denver. 

 

I don't have a dog in the hunt anymore, but those two games yesterday were pretty damn entertaining. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Always interesting to hear what the NBA players think when they get to be anonymous:

 

https://theathletic.com/5433545/2024/04/22/nba-player-poll-2024-lebron-jordan-goat-celtics-nuggets-rudy-gobert-timberwolves/?campaign=5888993&source=dailyemail&userId=11186373

[AZRaiderH8r]

Is anyone else amused that two of the biggest foul merchants in the NBA (LeBron and Embiid) are the ones complaining the most about officiating? I personally find that to be comical. Maybe it coincides with both of their teams being down 2-0?

[Mavric]

2 minutes ago, AZRaiderH8r said:

Is anyone else amused that two of the biggest foul merchants in the NBA (LeBron and Embiid) are the ones complaining the most about officiating? I personally find that to be comical. Maybe it coincides with both of their teams being down 2-0?

[Guy Chamberlin]

5 hours ago, AZRaiderH8r said:

Is anyone else amused that two of the biggest foul merchants in the NBA (LeBron and Embiid) are the ones complaining the most about officiating? I personally find that to be comical. Maybe it coincides with both of their teams being down 2-0?

 

The official NBA review of the refs revealed some missed calls that went against both the Sixers and the Lakers in the final minutes.

 

They also found some missed calls that went against the Knicks and the Nuggets. 

 

So yeah. It's about being down 2-0. 

[Jason Sitoke]

These stats are from late March.  They reflect the net free throw attempts (team FTA - opponent FTA) over the past 2 seasons:

 

1. Los Angeles Lakers (+1017)

2. New York Knicks (+358)

3. Milwaukee Bucks (+344)

4. Orlando Magic (+311) 

5. Boston Celtics (+271)

[Guy Chamberlin]

17 hours ago, Jason Sitoke said:

These stats are from late March.  They reflect the net free throw attempts (team FTA - opponent FTA) over the past 2 seasons:

 

1. Los Angeles Lakers (+1017)

2. New York Knicks (+358)

3. Milwaukee Bucks (+344)

4. Orlando Magic (+311) 

5. Boston Celtics (+271)

 

That's nuts. The difference between #2 and #5 is meaningless, but the difference between #1 and #2 demands an explanation. 

[AZRaiderH8r]

So happy the Nuggets finished things off last night. I think the next round against Minnesota will be much more difficult, with two evenly matched teams. 

[Madcows]

4 hours ago, AZRaiderH8r said:

So happy the Nuggets finished things off last night. I think the next round against Minnesota will be much more difficult, with two evenly matched teams. 

 

That series was really good and odd. So much being made about the Lakers "winning" 75% of the series and losing 4-1. What that tells me, even with a guy on the Mt. Rushmore of basketball, he couldn't figure out a way to have his team perform in the clutch. Which has been the criticism of him his whole career, his lack of 'killer instinct and closing' and shying away from the big moments.

 

Minny Denver should be fun.  Minny has the size to defend Joker and body him up with KAT, Gobert and Naz Reid.  Ant is playing at a superstar level.  Denver is very well balanced and assuming the rest does Murray, KCP and Jackson well and gets them healthy, it'll be a great series.  I think it goes 7 and Denver wins because of homecourt. IMO, this will be Denver's toughest playoff test in their last 2 play off runs.   I think the winner of this series will represent the West against those dirty cheaters from boston in the Finals.