NBA: ***Official NBA Draft and Offseason Thread***
- Thread starter jbindm
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Bulls are gonna be real bad. Lineup of
Kris Dunn
D-wayde(if still on roster)
Lavine/Zipser(depending on ACL)
Bobby Portis
The other lopez brother.
After that it's a collection of talentless point guards and non-nba players. And Markannen, who they reached on.
And the Nets also have no incentive to tank down the stretch, unlike the Bulls, Pacers, Hawks, Magic and Lakers.
Bulls and Hawks are going to be super bad this year, you have to figure one or two teams from the west are one injury from getting absolutely crushed in that conference as well. Who knows with Philly as someone could have a cold and they will sit him out for the year as a precaution. Id put Nets as a 5 or 6 worst team.
Man, I don't know. There are a ton of angles to this trade and I'm not sure who came out on top. My gut feeling is that Cleveland won because they got a much better return for a superstar than the Pacers or Bulls did this summer and they dodn't sacrifice their status as the conference favorites. They dealt one elite score first PG that can't or won't defend well against the Warriors for another and added a quality wing plus (potentially) a top five pick in 2018. And if Lebron bails after next season then they've got some flexibility to kickstart a rebuild. For a rookie GM, I thought Koby Altman nailed it. It would be helpful to the Cavs if they got some sort of indication from Lebron what he's planning on doing after the 17-18 season but he's going to let them twist in the wind. The two unknowns that will ultimately swing the deal are:
1. What's Kyrie's ceiling now that he's not playing alongside Lebron? Is he more than just a scoring PG? If he is, then maybe the Celts won the deal.
2. Where does that Nets pick fall in 2018? Just glancing at the list of NBA teams, I see eight teams right now that could have a worse record than Brooklyn - the Knicks, Kings, Suns, Lakers, Bulls, Pacers, Magic, and Hawks. Maybe New Orleans if everything falls apart with Boogie and Brow. As has been noted already, the Nets have no incentive to tank, so that pick could easily become a tenth overall pick - still useful, but outside of the cream of the crop.
1. What's Kyrie's ceiling now that he's not playing alongside Lebron? Is he more than just a scoring PG? If he is, then maybe the Celts won the deal.
2. Where does that Nets pick fall in 2018? Just glancing at the list of NBA teams, I see eight teams right now that could have a worse record than Brooklyn - the Knicks, Kings, Suns, Lakers, Bulls, Pacers, Magic, and Hawks. Maybe New Orleans if everything falls apart with Boogie and Brow. As has been noted already, the Nets have no incentive to tank, so that pick could easily become a tenth overall pick - still useful, but outside of the cream of the crop.
I think they're going to buy Wade out. It's just a question of when. And then I expect to see him in Cleveland.
I would love to know the details on how the Celtics valued the Nets pick compared to the Lakers pick. That pick needs to fall in the 2-5 range for it to convey next year or else turns into a pick swap with Philly or Sac in 2019. I think there's a decent chance the Lakers end up in that range next year with how tough the West will be and maybe they think the Kings 2019 pick will be the best bet at another high pick.
Cleveland could easily rebuild around Bagley or Porter. Lebron and Thomas will probably both leave in the offseason
I'll take action on that.
If Kyrie can become a facilitator under Stevens this is a great trade. He didn't have to do that in Cleveland since Lebron got there, but he is one of the best pure scorers in the game IMO. Stevens might be able to do wonders for him.
I don't think they will because they have no reason to. DWade would have to accept a really low buyout for that to happen which I don't see him doing. He went to Chicago to get paid.
There's 5 star-superstar level prospects in the draft (Bagley, Porter, Doncic, Ayton, and Bamba). The Nets don't need to finish last for Cleveland to land a great piece for a rebuild, bottom 5 would be good enough. The ones I think could drop are Ayton, Doncic (doesn't develop more in EuroLeague) and Bamba.
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The Cavs are going to seek additional compensation. The Celtics are claiming that they were completely above board in disclosing IT's hip issue. Who blinks first? I think it'll be Boston because they have more to lose by the trade being rescinded. Cleveland could just take Kyrie back and put him right back on the market knowing exactly what he's worth. The Celts did them the favor of setting the price.
