Omer Asik just signed a 3 year, $25.1M contract from Houston. It'll be intriguing to see if the Bulls match it. It's almost certainly too much for an offensively hopeless bench player, but he is also among the best defensive big men in the NBA. There's also rumors that the Raptors, in addition to making an expected 3 year $36M offer to Nash, are also throwing 4 years and $40M (backloaded) at Lin. The Knicks are almost certain to not match that.
Really? I would imagine they would match that in a heartbeat. Do you know how much money and attention Lin gets them?
I mean, I live in the city, so yes. I don't think they have the cap room. Based on what I heard, the deal is bizarrely structured due to some Arenas Rule/Bird Rights oddities, and would pay Lin approximately $14-$15M in the latter two years. They already have over $60M committed to Chandler, Anthony, and Stoudamire in 2013-14 and have already use the amnesty clause. This would mean they'd have to commit roughly $75M to only four players. That is higher than the payroll of all but three teams this year. Even assuming all the rest of their players are bargain basement, they'd be committing themselves to the biggest payroll in the league. Whether the Raptors are actually doing this, I don't know. But it's technically possible, and there are a lot of Chinese people in Toronto. Financially, he might be almost as valuable if not more to Toronto as he is to New York.
Well, as I said(or rather alluded to), Howard is definitely fucking up more in this regard. One thing that comes to mind is the Cavs firing Mike Brown in a direct attempt to appease Lebron, similar to what happened with SVG. It was also THE free agent move everyone was talking about, as is Howard now. Lebron didn't flip-flop over and over again(let alone cry blackmail) like Howard's doing, which is why he(Howard) is making The Decision look good.
True, but they didn't fire Brown because they were unhappy with him. They fired him because Lebron was unhappy with him and they were doing everything they could to make him happy, like Orlando is(was) doing with Howard.
There's a difference between making a coaching or personnel change because you think it will make your star player happy and having your star player go to the owner and saying outright he wants the coach and GM fired.
Absolutely, which is why he's making the Decision look good. Even 'Melo didn't do that when he wanted out of Denver. And Lebron let someone know he wasn't happy with Brown(I'd link something but all my links from two-ish years ago are on my old computer), he just did it more discreetly.
That's not looking likely... <a class="postlink" href="http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/02/joe-johnson-trade-to-nets-nearly-complete-brooklyn-out-of-dwight-howard-chase/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... ard-chase/</a>
Chris Broussard said that it would take a whole lot more than the Nets were willing to offer to get Howard to Brooklyn because at this point, Orlando is pissed and they aren't going to give Dwight what he wants. I think once the Nets got that message, they started working on Plan B. They still have a shot, but Williams & Howard would have to take less money like James, Wade & Bosh did and I dont see that happening. Johnson got the MAX max contract because the Big 3 all took a little less to leave room for other players. Atlanta didn't have that problem so they gave Johnson the biggest contract available.
If Orlando is taking that tack, they hired the wrong GM. Renting an angry and unmotivated Howard for a year isn't doing anyone any good. The winners of this exchange are probably the Lakers, Mavericks, and Rockets, who now have a shot at getting Howard either during the season or at the end of the year. The Hawks might end up with Howard in exchange for Horford and Teague. I'm certainly intrigued with what Ferry is doing. That being said....messages are still mixed. Williams-Johnson-Gerald Wallace-Howard would sure be interesting. And if Williams goes to Dallas, you probably can pencil in Nash, who lives in New York.
Organizations have done dumber things for dumber reasons. And Orlando's GM in only 30. Whomever offers the best deal is going to get Howard. If not, Orlando keeps him and then he's on the open market. Id love to see Orlando fans boo Howard every time he touches the ball.
Yes, but the question is whether anyone besides LAL and Brooklyn have the incentives to offer anything. No one wants to gut their team for one season of Howard unless he brings them to championship level, and I'm not sure there's anyone else under consideration for whom that is the case. If, absent another good offer, the Orlando GM turns down a deal that would bring in 3 first rounders and two good young players in Lopez and Brooks, he deserves to be fired. Sure, the three first rounders will be high picks given the talent Brooklyn is assembling, but it's better than getting nothing but egg on your face.
Hmm... <a class="postlink" href="http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/03/deron-williams-to-stay-with-nets-lead-them-into-brooklyn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -brooklyn/</a>
Nash headed to the Lakers, that should be good although it'll be fun to see if he will gel with Kobe and his 40 attempts per game style of play.
Um? Everyone wins in this trade. Pau, Bynum, Kobe and Nash. Pau will get fed when he's hot, Bynum will get fed when he's hot, Kobe will also get his shots without ever having to worry about passing the ball or controlling the offense, and Nash won't have to cringe everytime he passes someone the ball PLUS being on a team that knows what the fuck defense is. This is perfect. Good thing is they'll have an off season to work on basic stuff. This all win win for them. Now they just need like an Iggy in the 3 spot to make it all work and its all over.
It always looks good on paper. Nash is 38 and has trouble with younger quicker point guards. Kobe has been showing older legs the last couple of years. I am wondering if the Lakers will be able to stay healthy enough during the year while resting old legs to get a good post season placement. Will they have any legs left once the playoffs start?
I don't think an article by an unabashed Lakers homer/superfan is the most objective source. It's an interesting trade; giving up 4 picks and a major trade exception for 2 years of Steve Nash. Yeah, Nash has defied the age odds so far, but at 39, a player can become old overnight. Same thing happened to Stockton at the exact same age; you just don't know. His body can lose only an extra split second of speed or reaction and he would be transformed from a very good player into an ordinary one. Probably Nash's best choice, but barring some amazing interference from Stern's three zebras, I don't think they will take the West next year.
Offensively, I think he can help the Lakers. He can get the ball where it needs to be. Defensively? He's always been a liability. As 1 expert put it yesterday: It's not like anybody can cover Westbrook or Parker anyways. Going to be interesting to see where Ray Allen lines up. I bet he's not too thrilled with the Celts going after Jason Terry. Allen was already the backup, so adding Terry bumps him down another notch. Did anybody else see that "last" interview with Larry Bird on ESPN? He took a nice shot at Allen potentially signing with the Heat. I love how Bird made it about money. It's OK to to go a team to try and win a Championship on the coattails of younger stars, just don't take less money to do it. Magic tried the same thing when the Big 3 first signed in Miami. Easy for Bird & Magic to say that when they were surrounded by HOF and 2 of the best sports franchises that ever lived. Magic was the one that said coming out of college that if the Bulls drafted him, he would go back to school.