WOOT! MIKE DUNLEAVY! Wait? His ESPN.com Player Card doesn't even work? Oh fuck, he must suck. Who's taking bets on where Howard goes? If he doesn't end up in Houston he is a fucking idiot. Will Greg Oden come back? Will he look like he's 45? Will Gator ever stop dreaming of his penis?
Howard to the Rockets, they lose in the first round of the playoffs, you write another 2 part article expounding on why Howard can't win. It's been one day and I am sick of hearing about where Howard is going. I'd rather hear about Tebow.
This might not be that exciting, but where the fuck are Paul Millsap, David West, Al Jefferson, and Andrew Bynum going? Especially if Howard goes to Houston. There aren't that many decent teams with space for them, and who the fuck wants to play for Charlotte?
Nobody worth watching is coming to Charlotte, MJ has no clue what he is doing and spends his entire work week on the golf course, I had free tickets last year and couldn't give them away.
Agreed, it just looks like they're the only team with cash to burn and no one at the 4, Houston and Indy excepted. Maybe Toronto and Phoenix, but how much money are they willing to spend?
I live in Charlotte, and I must say it is fun to go to Bobcat games...when they're playing me Beloved Bulls. As far as Howard, I still think he stays in LA, but I'm approaching this like a rational human being and not with Dwight Howard's 14-year-old-schoolgirl indecisiveness. The New York Yankees of basketball want to build their entire team around you(and they will this time next year if he signs, only Nash is on the books at the moment), oh and by the way, here's an extra 30 million that no one else can offer you! This should be fairly simple. But since it's Howard, it won't be.
He actually makes less net money in LA unless you assume that he can't make at least 14 million in that fifth year on his next contract, due to saving approximately $1.5 million annually in taxes.
Hmm. Did not know that. Even assuming that's true, Howard's statements to the teams that interviewed with him indicate that team-building will be a big factor in his decision(like when he asked the Rockets GM if they could add a third max-player in the future). With only Nash on the books next year(and presumably a reduced-rate Kobe), there is no better scenario for him as far as team-building is concerned. The only wrench in the gears would be his apparent distaste of D'Antoni's coaching/system.
The entire "can you add a third max player?" angle is just confusing and shows how insanely entitled Dwight really is (and that he didn't take much math). The salary cap is less than $60 million. The luxury tax begins at about $70 million. Harden makes about $15M, Dwight about $22M. Let's say it's a "cheap" max like Hibbert or Harden are. That's $15M. You can't get starters in the NBA for under $3M per season, so the starting lineup costs at a bare minimum $60M. All of a sudden we're over the salary cap, and we only have five players on our roster. So basically he's demanding that any team that wants to sign him must agree that it will be paying the luxury tax even if it gets the dirt cheapest of players. Realistically, three players like that requires $80M or more. And he's committing them to doing that repeatedly, which would mean a luxury tax burden of something like $80M per year. The only reason that Miami is able to pull this sort of thing off is that the three players involved said, you know what, I'm OK with not being a "max guy" and left a solid $2 million a year on the table each. And even in LA, their eagerness to spend is very much related to the fact that Nash, KB24, and Pau are all coming off the books next year. Plus, it's the Lakers.
Holy shit, has anyone looked at ESPN NBA's page? Lot's of action. The most notable besides the dudes staying we knew were staying are (David West, Ginobli, Splitter): JJ Reddick to the Clippers, Eric Bledsoe to the Suns, Pistons making offer for Rudy Gay, Kings retract Iggy off. Oh all the amazing is happening.
I don't like the trade for the Clippers. Since the Redick deal was a sign-and-trade, that's basically a free agent signing (the picks are likely near-worthless). But Dudley was the best they could bring in for Bledsoe? He's an OK player, but I have trouble believing that was the best available package. It would also seem that Kevin Martin really likes money. Not that there is anything wrong with that. He and Budinger fill needs for Minnesota, who were very weak at the 2 and 3 (unless they brought back AK47 or you think Williams can develop into a passable 3). I have no idea who Mickael Gelabale is, but he started 13 games for the Wolves last year at small forward.
AFAIK, Lin and Asik are both making the most Houston was allowed to offer them next season and rookies are almost always signed at the max end of their salary slots, so technically they have multiple max guys already. Of course this doesn't mean much beyond the fact that "max player" is a stupid and pointless term.
This is more or less true, but neither will be signed beyond 2015, whereas Harden is locked up through 2018 and Howard would be there through 2017. So Lin and Asik are one year problems, and actually might be valuable as trade commodities to bring in the hypothetical third star. But yes, in 2015, they would be above the salary cap and juuuuust below the luxury tax level on those four players alone. Two of whom are both centers. They'll almost certainly exercise the team option on Parsons's and Beverly's criminally cheap contracts, but not White or Robinson absent any surprises (they'll trade them if they can). Probably keep Montiejunas and Terrence Jones because they're young and cheap enough. Morey has made some very wise moves with cheap young players. That leaves them approximately 2 million over the luxury tax level with four empty spots. It's unclear if they are better or worse off in 2016 because Lin and Asik expire but so do Parsons and Beverly, while Montiejunas and Jones get $1.5M in raises. Would you rather have $73M tied up in eight players, or $43M in four players? Honestly, though, none of this is a problem is the owner doesn't care. If he's of the Buss/Prokhorov view, then maybe he's fine with paying a shitload of tax money.
Never would have thought Brad Stevens would leave Butler but money talks and evidently Boston tossed enough his way. I thought he signed a million dollar extension last year, be curious to see what the Celtics paid him.
I'm really, really excited about this because I love everything Brad Stevens is about as a coach. That being said, the topic of The Previous College Coach Who Shall Not Be Named still sends me into apoplectic rage, so I'm trying to remain mildly suspicious.
Clearly the illustrious pro tenure of Slick Rick Pitino. Though, while this move is surprising, the fit may be better. Pitino was perfectly suited for the salesmanship and revolving roster of the college game. Stevens is a pure X and Os guy who is obsessed with statistics and analytics and isn't a huge fan of, not very successful in, the recruiting game. At the very least, he gets paid big NBA money for a few years and returns to college with his NCAA rep very much intact.
He Who Traded Chauncey Billups. He Who Drafted Jerome Moiso. He Who Invested in Ron Mercer and Vitaly Potapenko. Fuck that greasy haired shitstain.
Soooo about Brad Stevens. At first, the gut reaction is that the Celtics are engaging the 76ers in the Andrew Wiggins tankathon, but after chewing on it a bit, the move is 100% no lose for Stevens or the Celtics. He fails, he gets paid huge and has his choice of college job. He wins, he wins in the best league in the world with a storied franchise. The Cetlics lose, well, they were going to lose anyway as they rebuild. They win, they look like geniuses. There is no minus in this situation except for Butler.