NBA 2016-17

Ezeli at $15M for two years is a cracking deal for Portland. If Turner fits in, Portland will have quietly had an excellent free agency. Ezeli is exactly what was missed, a tough, physical rim protector with huge upside.

Crabbe accepted Nets' offer sheet, $70M for 4 years. I don't think Portland should match for any other reason than to immediately trade him.

Will you guys start Ezeli or bring him off the bench?
 
Will you guys start Ezeli or bring him off the bench?

Feck knows, if he stays fit and integrates with the team he'll be the best center at Portland. Davis and Plumlee are fine but Ezeli has bigger potential defensively I feel. We don't have a PF (Aminu will very likely be moved to stretch 4 though) so I won't be surprised if one of Plumlee and Davis will be moved there for most of the time and the other one will share minutes with Ezeli at C. Also, Plumlee could be used as a trade asset as he is up for renewal next year and would put Paul Allen very deep in luxury tax if resigned.

IMO Ezeli will be a starter when fit.
 
Feck knows, if he stays fit and integrates with the team he'll be the best center at Portland. Davis and Plumlee are fine but Ezeli has bigger potential defensively I feel. We don't have a PF (Aminu will very likely be moved to stretch 4 though) so I won't be surprised if one of Plumlee and Davis will be moved there for most of the time and the other one will share minutes with Ezeli at C. Also, Plumlee could be used as a trade asset as he is up for renewal next year and would put Paul Allen very deep in luxury tax if resigned.

IMO Ezeli will be a starter when fit.
Sad to see Festus go. But his fitness could really be an issue.
 
Are the Bulls trying to build a team of washed up legends?

Next they'll probably sign Ray Allen or Vince Carter and ask Jordan to come out of retirement.
 
Are the Bulls trying to build a team of washed up legends?

Next they'll probably sign Ray Allen or Vince Carter and ask Jordan to come out of retirement.
At 50+ MJ still dunks better than Steph.
 
Are the Bulls trying to build a team of washed up legends?

Next they'll probably sign Ray Allen or Vince Carter and ask Jordan to come out of retirement.
I'd watch that. I'd enjoy watching that.
 
So Gilbert Arenas went to check on Nick Young to make sure he was ok post his breakup with Iggy Azalea and for all of our benefit he decided he would document this on Snapchat for our viewing pleasure:


:lol:
 
Awesome first SL game. Ingram is as advertised, Zubac is a pleasant surprise.


 
Well, you called it!
Yup, but I got a more important one wrong...

Looks like he's housing up in Chicago from now.
I was shocked, but I understand it now. Wade didn't leave because he wanted to leave, he was semi-pushed out. He felt undervalued, and I understand his position, because he wanted to be treated like the legend of the franchise, not based on his on-court performances in 2017. On the other hand, Riley wants to retire soon and he wants to contend for a championship one last time. He feels this is not the time to pay Wade over the odds just to thank him for the last 13 years, because that would hurt Miami's chances of competing for a title soon. Wade simply wanted to be treated like Kobe in his last 2 years, and Riley didn't want to sacrifice a few years just to honour his star like the Lakers did.

It's sad that he left, and by the way, Wade didn't earn more money in Chicago (if you take the tax in account) and he didn't go for a better team (Miami without Wade is a better team than Chicago without Wade), but he left because he felt undervalued, and Riley was ready to let him go because he wants to build a team based on the current value of the players.

It was sad, but understandable in the end. Wade will always be a Heat legend, and Miami will always be his house.

All the best D-Wade!
 
This DL... I'd rather see the DL played during the regular season to give fringe players and rosters cuts game time to improve skills and whatnot. Perhaps allow each club to retain a 20-man squad with 10 in the first team and 10 in the reserve team. I'd also say just allow HS grads to go straight to the pros if desired. NCAA and CBS/ESPN won't be too happy with that though.

Thoughts?
 
This DL... I'd rather see the DL played during the regular season to give fringe players and rosters cuts game time to improve skills and whatnot. Perhaps allow each club to retain a 20-man squad with 10 in the first team and 10 in the reserve team. I'd also say just allow HS grads to go straight to the pros if desired. NCAA and CBS/ESPN won't be too happy with that though.

Thoughts?

I think all 30 teams should have D League teams(they are almost there). Then I think they should expand the draft to maybe 5 rounds. And guys taken after the first they can sign an NBA/D League contract like they do in the MLB or NHL.
 
I think all 30 teams should have D League teams(they are almost there). And guys.....can sign an NBA/D League contract like they do in the MLB or NHL.
I would like to see something like this happen. I already think college kids get a raw deal with their play for no pay set up (and not just basketball). At least this way if kids didn't want to go to college but felt they could have a future playing basketball then they could play in the D league for some pay and then possibly make it to the NBA down the road if they showed some skills.
 
Last edited:
Miami sign Derek Williams on a 1-year deal (value still unclear, thought to be in the region of $5m) and looks like they're gonna pass on Tyler Johnson (who already signed a 4-year $50m sheet from the Nets). Miami are just filling the roster now with temporary contracts (and young players with 'potential'). They're just preparing for the next fish in the free agent market, whoever that will be. They're most probably not going to make a lot of noise in 2017.

Worth mentioning here is Miami (finally) have their own first round draft pick in 2017, without any conditions.

Meanwhile...

 
Nets' offer for Crabbe got matched by Portland, $75M/4 years. I hope it doesn't affect Harkless extension but after CJ pens a new deal next year Paul Allen will be quite deep in luxury tax. Leonard also resigned for $10.5M a year. Somehow I suspect that Blazers might be stocking on some talented trade assets to make a big one during the season, Crabbe could be really valuable to teams like Philadelphia or Sacramento.
 
Good decision to match. They have to match to keep their talent because they can't get free agents easily.

Yep free agents are mostly out of reach unless they really want to play for this particular team, nobody's going to Portland for money or fame. People were expecting Whiteside or Howard this year and they did not even get a meeting.

I'm only worried about price and how it affects Harkless. I don't think it'll have any influence on CJ's extension next year, he's getting a max from Portland and that's beyond any doubt. Likewise I don't think there's any chance of Portland matching Plumlee next year and I'd expect him to be traded for a pick or a young player at some point in not too distant future. There are some teams in the league who could definitely use his talent and he'll be RFA next year so you can keep him if you like him. With Leonard extended, Davis in the team on a friendly $7M contract and Ezeli in, I wouldn't really expect Plumlee to be here for full season.

Funnily I think that the assets Portland have which will be most valuable across the league are Davis and Aminu, two signings from 2015. Both are on $7M a year contracts which are extremely friendly in the new environment and below even the level of role player contracts handed out this year. Crabbe at $18M will be much less attractive to teams although his skill set may be valuable. I really think it's a possibility Olshey will make a run at a star at some point during the next 2 years - if you packaged Crabbe, Leonard, Aminu/Davis/Plumlee and Cleveland's pick together, you may be getting someone really good, besides for Plumlee we might also get a good pick in the next draft. Another possibility is that some of these will be turned into draft picks.
 
Last edited:
Cool guy, one of my favourite players. Bit sad he didn't end it with a title, but still, five of them...won in three different decades...still fantastic.
 
Feels like Scholes retiring, and I'm not even a San Antonio fan.

Probably for the best though, Tim probably took one look at the new Warriors lineup and thought "feck that, I'm getting too old for this shit"
 
From MSN.

Draymond Green was arrested on Sunday and charged with assault. However, as details have emerged it sure appears as if the incident will end up being much ado about nothing.

Taking it a step further, it appears that in the end the Golden State Warriors forward could be vindicated as the victim in the situation, not the aggressor.....

One person who claims to have been at the restaurant where Green and the other man had the altercation says that they have video of the incident and that Green was actually “provoked and bullied” by the other man.
 
Harkless has been brought back for $40M, 4 years. Good contract, he'll be a valuable player. Also , McCollum resigned for $106M, 4 years, which is spectacular news as he would have been RFA next Summer.

Portand might now have the deepest roster in the league. I can't figure out whether Olshey wants to keep the whole squad or if he tries to consolidate 2-3 players for a star (Cousins, Griffin?). Plumlee could be traded because re-signing him next year would put Blazers deep in the luxury tax which Paul Allen might not fancy.
 
Not bad deals for Portland but they've now really minimized their options for the next years as the only way they'll get attractive players is through trades. Makes sense tho, as they don't think any big FA would consider them anyway.

Stolen from another threat:Nowitzki copying Zaza:


He's such a legend :lol:
 
Not bad deals for Portland but they've now really minimized their options for the next years as the only way they'll get attractive players is through trades. Makes sense tho, as they don't think any big FA would consider them anyway.

Exactly. I think they've become disillusioned with free agency this year as Whiteside did not not even give them a look, they couldn't get Howard to meet with Olshey and Parsons rejected them in favour of Memphis despite being offered maximum deal at both and Portland possibly being in a slightly better position to challenge currently with a younger team. Accumulating so many trade assets has to be seen as positive, likewise adding depth to the team. They could comfortably offer one of the big men (Plumlee/Leonard/Davis) plus a good small forward on a cheap contract (Harkless/Aminu) and even add one of the most promising young shooters around (Crabbe) if it was a deal for someone from the very top tier, plus they have Cleveland's pick for next season which is also a good asset. Aminu and Davis are two of the best contracts in the league in current climate, both at $7M a year tied up for the next three seasons.