SilasCoade

I guess, but they haven't extended him yet. If he fucks up the chemistry or just sucks they gave up a late first that was unlikely to provide a difference maker in an attempt to shore up their biggest weakness from the playoffs. If they max him out over the summer or something then yeah, big gamble with potential Parsons failure. As it stands though the Mavs made a pretty decent move.

My opinion of Draymond is not reactionary to recent games. I've consistently felt he was overrated since 2017. He puts himself in good position on defense, but he gets away with a ton of shit that should be fouls because of his rep. FWIW I would absolutely take Draymond over Gobert, but that seems like damning with faint praise.

I completely agree with the last several posts about Draymond. He doesn't suck and I didn't say he does. I maintain that he is an above average player whose positives are magnified by the context in which he plays (2 all time great shooters, motion offense, refs swallowing whistles). He's good, just not this savant he's imagined to be. Put him on the Clippers and the Clippers still Clipper. I honestly can't think of a playoff team that you could insert Draymond into and turn them into legit champion contenders. Heat? He's a worse shooting PJ Tucker or a much less athletic Bam on defense. In other words, he's a bit redundant for their current roster and not an upgrade. Phoenix? Maybe you can play more small ball with him but they have an elite distributor on offense and a truly elite wing defender already. Just don't see how he pushes them over the line. Mavs? Maybe. He could definitely fill a need as a switchable big on defense but Luka and Brunson are not guys built to play off the ball the way Klay and Steph are, so having him trigger the half court offense is a non-starter. Bucks? They wouldn't be worse, but they're only not in the finals because of an injury to their second best player. Sixers? They go as far as Embiid's body takes them regardless of supporting cast. Draymond maybe makes them better defensively but he would be a terrible offensive fit.

Just trying to balance out the incredible knob slobbing. The truth is in the middle but damn the praise heaped on a guy that couldn't start for half the teams in the league is crazy.

Draymond is strictly above average. This narrative of his genius basketball IQ and defensive wizardry is ridiculous. He is athletically limited relative to NBA players and always has been. He is worse than offensively challenged as a scorer and his value as a facilitator relies entirely on a motion style offense that does not require him to put the ball on the floor. His handle is looser than Adriana Chechick's asshole after a gangbang. The motion offense works because they can typically put 3 guys on the floor capable of hitting the 3 at 35-40%, forcing defense to be more spread out, opening passing lanes. Be real and recognize that Dray is not 6'6" Jokic as a passer. He gets away with a dozen egregious fouls per game, which is considered stellar defense but is really just borderline dirty bullshit. He's opportunistic and puts himself in good position, but he's not locking down Kyrie or Luka or Jokic. If he got officiated correctly he'd foul out every game.

Any fans of the league of peoples series by James Alan Gardner? Just read the first 3 books and I'm hooked. I love thoughtful speculative fiction that keeps a sense of humor.

Rodman was a lot of things but limited athletically was not one of them.

Claiming that Bertans was getting back on defense is hurting the credibility of this story.

Not sure how you can watch the video and conclude that Poole was trying to protect himself rather than impede White. I don't think it was an attempt to hurt White but he was definitely fouling.

The problem there is that it would have to be sign and trade, which has worse cap math for Dallas and would make it difficult to take back Randle's salary. Otherwise sure that's a good deal for next year.

Powell and THJ are not shitty. Powell coming off the bench is probably fine but if he's the starting big the team is fundamentally limited. THJ is a fine, starting caliber player. He just does not provide enough complementary value to the roster and is one of the few pieces that might bring value on the trade market. That said, yeah, they should try to win trades. Isn't that always the case?

Me: trade THJ and Dwight Powell for guys that fit needs better @Porterhouse: you're on acid b/c THJ and Dwight Powell don't fit this team's needs Me: that's why I said use them as assets to acquire what is needed to get the team over the hump @Porterhouse: I still don't know English.

Maybe try reading gooder. I said they need to turn THJ and Powell into a 3 and D guy and big that is worth a shit, as in trade them for that.

I agree with all of this. For me the key for the offseason is choosing between THJ and JB. I think you keep JB and try to turn THJ and Powell into a reliable 3-and-D wing and an athletic big who can provide some defense. They proved they can win without THJ's offense but the defense struggled in too many games (in part because they have to hide Luka). If they keep THJ they really have to upgrade the frontcourt.

I would be shocked to see the Warriors do anything but ride the Curry/Klay train as long as they can. Especially if they think they have something in Kuminga (I think they do) and Moody (jury's out), whose timeline for a payday contract might better match the timeline for sunsetting Curry/Klay.

Let's just look at recent trades involving first round draft picks. (We'll ignore the Sixers-Nets deal b/c that was so heavily influenced by circumstances beyond need/fit/value.) The Blazers sent CJ McCollum, who is an All Star caliber player, a sixth man, and filler to the Pelicans for a sixth man, filler, a protected first and a couple second round picks. Basically CJ for the picks and the rest was to make the contract numbers work. Celtics sent a first, a pick swap, a possible sixth or seventh man, and a Romeo Langford for a sixth man on a favorable deal. Raptors sent Dragic and a first to the Spurs for a couple borderline contributors and a second in a clear salary dump. Basically the Spurs bought a first round pick. Cavs sent a protected first and two seconds with the corpse of Rubio to the Pacers for Levert (possible starter/sixth man) and a second. Hawks got a first for Cam Reddish but had to take Kevin Knox to get it. Guys with production value comparable to Gordon involved as principal players in these deals are all considerably younger. CJ got the Blazers a first but he's a far superior player to Gordon. Maybe a team like OKC that is awash in draft capital would offer a first for Gordon if they think their young guys are ready to really compete, but they aren't.

Lol sure okay

If your team is a John Wall or Eric Gordon away from title contention you can probably get there without trading a first round pick for either guy and just finding replacement level players in free agency. If your team is not built such that those guys get you over the hump, you need the pick more than you need either guy. I just can't imagine thinking "yes, I'll take 34 year old Eric Gordon over the guys you can expect to pick up in the mid to late first round most years." And the hubris you've got to have to be the guy thinking you have the key to unlocking the John Wall reclamation project. The best thing you can say about John Wall is he's not Russell Westbrook.

Obviously GSW would have been competitive any year they had healthy Steph and healthy Klay, but part of the calculus in saying they would have been one and done without KD is that KD would have been on some other competitive team. He could have joined LeBron and won 3 rings in a row. He could have joined the Celtics and made things interesting in the East. He could have sped up the Process in Philly, maybe even influencing their pick in the 2016 draft. Could he have signed with the Spurs even? Man, that would have been a nice team. I know what-ifs are worthless, but it's not unreasonable to say the Warriors would only have the one ring without KD. As for the Warriors off season, Poole and Wiggins have probably played themselves into larger contracts than the Warriors can stomach. They are probably gone unless they are willing to offer a hometown discount to the team (which they shouldn't). Looney is a fine player but he's not really a key piece. If you think there's any chance Wiseman can give you similar production on both ends of the floor you should be fine letting Looney leave.

don't bring that shit in here, man.

I think they should keep the divisions but do away with the scheduling model. Have a series of tournaments hosted by each team. Reduced travel overall. Reduced strain of back to backs. Improved access to fans who are no longer constrained by geography in the she of global media. A Knicks fan in Sacramento is not a weird thing.

Talk like talk radio fan talk, sure, but not talk like businessmen and city government making it happen talk.

I'm going to get rightfully crucified for saying this, but this kid looks like a bigger version of Ja Morant. Definitely someone I think warrants a second round pick, maybe even a late first. That size, athleticism, and finishing in the lane is hard to find. His FT% improved by 15 points in 2 years at NC State suggesting there's hope that his jumper just needs reps and time. If you can get him to buy in on defense he could be a Dejounte Murray kind of guy.

They must be keeping the lid on that pretty good. When Seattle was trying to pull in the NHL franchise it was all over local media for months or even a full year before anything was formally announced. Have not heard anything about NBA yet.