Official NBA thread

[Flynnatic10]

I loved the cavs picks

 

You like draft a PG and 3 PF's?

[Palodios]

It just goes to show how much seeing a superstar leave can hurt a team. I don't see them filling that big hole at center for quite some time.

[boston22407]

You like draft a PG and 3 PF's?

 

Not Nice

[suns]

We drafted Irving, Thompson, and some foreign guy.

[Jasonbay44]

It just goes to show how much seeing a superstar leave can hurt a team. I don't see them filling that big hole at center for quite some time.

I know, losing Big Z has been devastating for the Cavs and not only that, but he picked up his player option for the Heat, so the most hated team in the NBA has the leagues 2nd best player.

[Flynnatic10]

We drafted Irving' date=' Thompson, and some foreign guy.[/quote']

 

Look who they have a PF

 

Jamison

JJ

TT

Milan Macvan

 

Thompson is a JJ Hickson clone. Not need for 2 of the same player unless it's LeBron James. I honestly believed Chris Grant drafted Thompson for another team, and the Raptors (of all teams) duped Grant. Grant drafted Thompson to trade for Valunicias(sp?) and another pick down the line. He obviously got the feeling that Toronto wouldn't take him at 5, and sure enough they did.

[suns]

Look who they have a PF

 

Jamison

JJ

TT

Milan Macvan

 

Thompson is a JJ Hickson clone. Not need for 2 of the same player unless it's LeBron James. I honestly believed Chris Grant drafted Thompson for another team, and the Raptors (of all teams) duped Grant. Grant drafted Thompson to trade for Valunicias(sp?) and another pick down the line. He obviously got the feeling that Toronto wouldn't take him at 5, and sure enough they did.

 

The cavs are trading JJ.

[Flynnatic10]

I know JJ is on the block but who would want him?

[suns]

I know JJ is on the block but who would want him?

 

There are probably a lot of teams interested in him

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Before you call the guy a scrub' date=' did you ever even watch him or E'Twaun Moore play at Purdue?[/quote']

He's not going to do anything in the NBA. He's basically Rashard Lewis without the great 3-point shot. Not good. He doesn't have the strength to do anything down low. I never heard of E'Twaun Moore, his skill set looks okay, but I have a hard time believing pick #55 will be of much worth.

 

Marshon Brooks would have been so much better. He's not good defensively, but neither are most rookies. Brooks can at least score. Follow him up with a low block rebounder (the skill that translates best to the NBA) in round 2 and you're set.

[Palodios]

The scouting report I read said that Brooks was decent defensively for a SG, and he could be above average if he hadn't used so much energy on the offensive end last year.

[Keeper]

Seems like a really weak draft class.

[Flynnatic10]

JJ traded to the Kings. Kings have a HUGE upside going with Jimmer-Evans-Hickson-Cousins.

 

Now, the NBA is locked out. Sucks :/

[boston22407]

JJ traded to the Kings. Kings have a HUGE upside going with Jimmer-Evans-Hickson-Cousins.

 

Now, the NBA is locked out. Sucks :/

 

Fine with me

[Thunder]

What's the point of this lockout?

[Flynnatic10]

There is no CBA, teams are losing money, owners and players want MORE money.

[schillingouttheks]

Thunder, and whoever else is interested in the details, it is not a simple situation, so bear with me... this may become an essay.

 

It's not at all like the NFL really, it kind of reminds me of the NHL a couple years ago. The problem in the NFL was what to do with the profits - the league is still making a killing every season and owners can still expect to see profits regardless of how they're split. The NBA's franchises, most of them at least, have been losing money for the past 5+ years and the outlook with the current system in place is gloomy for both profitability and parity, according to the owners. The owners and players are trying to figure out what's best to turnaround the NBA's financial situation, and are clashing over how revenues are to be split (revenues as a whole, including profits or lack thereof and the total level of owners' expenses paid out to players). The NBA's situation is far worse than the NFL's and could legitimately shorten the upcoming season because the sides are that much farther apart.

 

Basically, right now the players get 57% of all "basketball-related income" revenues. This includes TV deals, ticket sales, jersey sales, etc. The players have agreed to shave down to around 53-54%, but the owners want them down into the low-to-mid 40% range. This is because the league has drastically lost money over the past 5 years. For this reason, the owners want to completely abandon the current system they're working with. The players and owners also can't agree what necessarily constitutes basketball-related income, so they're extremely far apart. What's interesting, however, is that I would propose basketball, despite losing money, is currently in a much better position than it was 5 years ago. I believe the NBA has lost money due much more to the current economic stresses than a loss of interest in the league - I actually think interest is booming, it's just that basketball, for a majority of fans, will not overtake the MLB or NFL in terms of popularity anytime soon.

 

To get the nitty gritty details down, the owners want to impose a hard cap at around $62 million, to be exceeded only when a team is trying to re-sign its own players, and even then there will be a second-figure only a few million dollars higher that absolutely cannot be exceeded. This will mean the luxury tax will be nullified because it won't be necessary to have one - teams can't spend as much as would be needed for the luxury tax to be imposed. They also want this cap to be in effect for nearly a decade, so that even when the NBA's revenues start rising again the players' gross, cumulative salaries are locked in at that cap. This next piece is a bit ridiculous, because essentially it sounds like the owners want insurance against their own bad decision-making: they want the lengths of contracts given out to be shaved down by 2 years when they're signed to avoid the contracts that have royally screwed teams over. I think this last point is outlandish and they won't be able to maintain that stance. Essentially, the owners are trying to sell parity throughout the league to the fans.

 

The players feel that they've essentially been told to take a substantial pay cut despite being told to expect a large amount of growth in the coming years - in this scenario, essentially, the players are cut out of the growth in revenues that they've been told is in the near future. I wouldn't be happy if I were a player in this situation, especially because I'm the reason the owners are able to sell tickets to begin with. The players like the "soft cap" that is currently in place that allows for the mid-level exception, veterans' exception, etc. and also that allows for teams to spend over the cap to keep their own players. They also want a hike in revenue sharing - right now about 25% of league revenues are shared and they point to the NFL model where almost 70% is shared; they fail to recognize though that this large figure is mainly due to the monstrous television deals the NFL is able to pull off that the NBA simply cannot. Again, they're willing to give back 3% of "basketball-related income", which is approximately $100 million per year.

 

I think it's an interesting situation... the issues that need to be rectified in the NBA are much more important than the NFL.

[Palodios]

In the NFL lockout, I've felt like this all was the owners' fault, and with the NBA lockout, I've felt like it was the players' fault.

 

Somewhere between 16 and 23 teams are losing money. I don't care which of those figures is actually the correct one, that's a ton of teams.

[Flynnatic10]

Yao is retiring. 3

[Dawgma]

I can leave it more than take it. But then, I'm only 5'7" and I could never dribble well either.

The Celtics were disappointing though.... They looked great but didn't have the stuff to finish off like the Brooms did. Oh, I played Hockey as a kid!

[boston22407]

Larry Brown is interested in joining the Celtics' staff as an assistant coach, assuming Lawrence Frank accepts the Pistons’ head coaching job, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Brown has been passed over for a variety of head coaching jobs in the NBA and NCAA, and is reportedly willing to take the job for "less than the going rate." Doc Rivers is more inclined to promote Mike Longabardi, one of his current assistants, but hasn't ruled anything out.

[Keeper]

Saw Larry Bird's Top 50 moments on NBA Network. Man, what a competitor. I love the swagger - and how he backed it up. Definitely would have been my favorite player of the 80s had I grown up in that decade. He was the white MJ, no doubt about it.

[Flynnatic10]

For me, the MJ of this generation is LeBron, or Kevin Durant.

[Emmz]

There's not really a MJ of this decade, or any other decade. There was a MJ from 1984-1998, and his name was Michael Jordan. There was a best played at different times before and since, but when you say someone's the MJ of their era, that's saying that they absolutely towered over their competition and they were the undisputed greatest player of that time. MJ is the only guy who is the absolute 100% only answer to the question "who is the greatest player from 1984-1998".

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Lol I love the Scalabrine chants.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Derrick Rose is really, really good.

 

The Bulls have the pieces to make a trade for Dwight, hopefully they make it happen. Noah's okay but Dwight puts them right there with Miami.

[Flynnatic10]

Derrick Rose is really, really good.

 

The Bulls have the pieces to make a trade for Dwight, hopefully they make it happen. Noah's okay but Dwight puts them right there with Miami.

 

They don't NEED Howard, but it would help them.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Derrick Rose is really, really good.

 

The Bulls have the pieces to make a trade for Dwight, hopefully they make it happen. Noah's okay but Dwight puts them right there with Miami.

 

I love watching him play.

[Emmz]

Over under or push: 4 career MVPs for Derrick Rose?

[Flynnatic10]

Over under or push: 4 career MVPs for Derrick Rose?

 

wayy under. He didn't deserve the 1st one.