NBA Offseason / Summer 2011

[Tiger Hawk]

If Howard was intent on leaving and could get to the Lakers, he would. Of that I have no doubt. I agree that he wouldn't be going to a better situation necessarily (depending on who the Lakers send out) but he'd rather be there than Orlando.

What makes Chicago's draft picks so great anyway? After this draft they only have their own, which will be in the same range as the Lakers for the next few years, and a lottery protected pick from Charlotte. As for a broken down Bynum, he offers more than a broken down Boozer, who's older, more expensive and misses just as many games each year. Plus he's Boozer the Loser. And don't get me started on Noah, a rich man's Dan Gadzuric circa 2005.

Bynum is still only 23. He's had some injury problems but as a team's focal point he'd give you 90% (+) of what Dwight gives you. He's the third / fourth wheel at the Lakers (and hates it). The Magic know all this and would prefer to trade Dwight outside the conference.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

If he desperately wants s title team and LA are the only trade option Orlando will take he might be better off staying at Orlando.

Re: Bulls, idk I thought they had more picks.

It's tough because whatever they do Orlando lose out

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Bulls have other picks this year but the draft is in 2 weeks so they're not going to be able to be included if they do a trade next February.

Lakers got closer than the Magic this year, I have doubts they'll get that close again, but that Magic roster is basically one guy - Howard. He knows this. At least with Kobe he has a slightly better shot. If the Magic are able to blow it up again then maybe he'll stay. But they'd have to win a title.

 

[HowHigh]

28th and 30th first round picks aren't exactly all that

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Bulls have other picks this year but the draft is in 2 weeks so they're not going to be able to be included if they do a trade next February.

Lakers got closer than the Magic this year, I have doubts they'll get that close again, but that Magic roster is basically one guy - Howard. He knows this. At least with Kobe he has a slightly better shot. If the Magic are able to blow it up again then maybe he'll stay. But they'd have to win a title.

I thought they had better picks.

LA need more activity than Howard, who wants Walton and Artest? Orlando are f**ked either way
though.

 

[HowHigh]

If they get a multiple team trade going, maybe offload artest or odom to a younger team looking for some more experience for a higher up draft pick and send that pick with bynum or gasol to the magic for howard.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Nobody will touch Artest unless he's traded with Kobe or Bynum. He's impossible to trade straight up.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Yeah Kobe is the only way I'm considering Artest.

LA could try and scam Orlando with Bynum, Odom and Artest with maybe JJ Redick?

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Lakers would have to take back either Turkoglu (more tradeable) or Arenas I'd suspect. Turkoglu would be a good fit on the Lakers whereas Arenas wouldn't be.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Lol speaking of terrible contracts, Arenas. If it got me Howard and rid of Artest if take Turkoglu tbh

What about Shannon Brown, he has a player option this year doesn't he? He's a decent enough bench option for LA they should try and keep him

 

[Ridders]

I think Shanwow's gone. No way he picks up that player option. I could see him getting around MLE-level money in free agency (unless something drastic happens with the new CBA).

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that what everyone thought last year and Brown had to sign that 2 year deal with the Lakers cause nobody would offer him a bigger contract?

 

[Ridders]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that what everyone thought last year and Brown had to sign that 2 year deal with the Lakers cause nobody would offer him a bigger contract?

I think it was the Knicks who were interested in him? Iirc they offered him a multi-year offer which was rumoured to be in the $4-5 million range.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Really? Wow, can't believe he didn't take that. Doubt he gets anything close to that tbh, not this summer.

Last word on Dwight. I think if he's serious about winning in Orlando, he needs to continue to improve his scoring. As the Mavs proved, you can win a championship built around one star and a bunch of 3-point shooters. But they won because Dirk is such an handful one-on-one, and can score from anywhere. Now I'm not saying Dwight needs to extend his range out to the 3-point line or anything, but he has to improve his footwork and moves in the post so that he can consistently score, especially against the better teams. He took some giant steps last season so hopefully with another summer of work he'll be improved again.

 

[Ridders]

Really? Wow, can't believe he didn't take that. Doubt he gets anything close to that tbh, not this summer.

Last word on Dwight. I think if he's serious about winning in Orlando, he needs to continue to improve his scoring. As the Mavs proved, you can win a championship built around one star and a bunch of 3-point shooters. But they won because Dirk is such an handful one-on-one, and can score from anywhere. Now I'm not saying Dwight needs to extend his range out to the 3-point line or anything, but he has to improve his footwork and moves in the post so that he can consistently score, especially against the better teams. He took some giant steps last season so hopefully with another summer of work he'll be improved again.

But imo, that comparison isn't fair since Dirk never had to worry about being a defensive force since he had Tyson Chandler on the team (who imo is one of the main reasons they won). Dwight is already the defensive anchor for his team. Asking him to also be the team's offensive anchor is more than anything that Dirk had to do.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

I don't agree but......

compare him to Hakeem then! He was another single star surrounded by role players who was both the defensive and offensive anchor for his team.

This isn't Dikembe Mutombo we're talking about, someone who was comfortable being the third or fourth best centre every year he was in the league. Dwight wants to be the best, be remembered for being an all-time great. He needs to show that and morph into the second coming of Dream IMO.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Do you guys think we'll get NBA at all next year with the imminent lockout or another half season like '99?

 

[Ridders]

Hakeem's an all-time great though! That's asking alot from Dwight.

I agree he's not Dikembe, and I agree that he took some significant steps this season in regards to his offensive game. But he's got a fair way to go before he's in the Hakeem class in terms of his offensive game.

 

[Ridders]

Do you guys think we'll get NBA at all next year with the imminent lockout or another half season like '99?

I think we'll miss at least a part of the season. 99 is a reasonable comparison. Both sides are just so far apart. Apparently (at least what Stern's put out) alot of teams are struggling financially and I can imagine that they'll come down hard on these CBA negotiations.

 

[Ridders]

NEW YORK -- In a somewhat conciliatory gesture, NBA owners relaxed their stance on guaranteed contracts Friday during the latest round of collective bargaining negotiations to replace the labor agreement that expires at the end of this month.

The players welcomed the move but cautioned there was still a wide gulf to be bridged. The sides are still hundreds of millions of dollars apart on how to split revenues, and the owners are still asking for a hard salary cap system.

Another labor meeting is set for next Tuesday, and commissioner David Stern said the onus will be on the players to make a new economic proposal.

"The time to have an optimistic or pessimistic view is at the close of the day Tuesday. That's an important day," Stern said after the sides met for nearly five hours. "Time is running out, but both parties seem, at least to me, intent to make a deal by June 30."

The question of guaranteed contracts has been called a "blood issue" in the past by union director Billy Hunter, and the owners had earlier proposed a new system in which all contracts would contain only partial guarantees.

But that proposal was taken off the table Tuesday, with the owners agreeing to continue with the current system in which guarantees on individual contracts are a negotiable issue on a case-by-case basis.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6673181

Interesting to see the owners concede that.