thecampster

That easy pass that when through Jock's hands (should have been a dunk) and hit him in the face was pain full.

I hate wasting internet bits on this but Jock Landale is perhaps the worst summer league player I've ever seen.

How often you and I agree is disturbing at times.

Well this obviously isn't happening but you kind of have to forget about trading away Plumlee...We are short 1 or 2 bigs right now. In our new system, Moose is going to slide back to his natural position of stretch 4....mainly because we need it. If you look at our depth chart listed on Yahoo sports, you'll see the unbalance. https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/atl/roster/ Collins and Dedmon are both listed as PF and Center in the depth chart. We're only 5 deep there total. We have 9 players between the 1-3 but 5 between the 4-5. Plumlee and Moose aren't going anywhere without a signing.

He's going to be a good NBA player. But like our guy and Doncic...it is going to take time. Tonight he was only 8/4 on 1 of 7 shooting.

Just an FYI, JJJ came back to Earth yesterday with 10/8 on 4/11 shooting.

So imagine as the primary ball handler you've A) not been able to trust your teammates to handle the ball and B) primarily only seen zone defenses in your life He's been playing a completely different game his whole life. He is going to take time to adjust. Every trip up the court, someone is grabbing him 1v1 at 30 feet+ and sticking with him. Trae is not waiting for picks, but instead moving zones and swinging the ball immediately. He is still approaching things as if he's facing the zone. Then after swinging the ball, he looks absolutely shocked when his teammates pass the ball between themselves (especially those who've run NBA sets before). He goes flat footed and starts watching. He's a bit dumbfounded right now and that is only going to change with time, coaching. Be patient.

Okay so lets think about the East logically. Color Key - red is gets worse, grey is stays the same, green is gets better, purple is questions abound. Charlotte - takes a step back Brooklyn - stays the same Chicago - minor step back Hawks - depends on future moves Detroit - step forward Indiana - depends on future moves Miami - minor step back Milwaukee - depends on Jabari Parker Knicks - who the hell knows Orlando - might get better but not better than the Cavs Philly - small step forward (depends on Reddick/player health). Toronto - needs to drop salary...will step back Washington - who the hell knows - they have cap/LT issues. So what does this color mess mean? Charlotte, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta all remain worse than Cleveland. NY and Brooklyn may or may not be better than Cleveland. For now lets say worse. That makes Cleveland (worse case scenario) the 7th worst team in the East. Last year 5 teams finished with 35 or less wins (one is LA). That makes Cleveland...by conservative estimates, the 11th worst team in the league. Assuming they don't sell assets, assuming no team is hit by the injury bug and gets pushed down the list and assuming no other team decides to tank because now the West is heavy and whats the point of competing for the next 3 years....Cleveland at this point seems like a lock to not be 10th worst and to convey the pick.

if its any consolation. the Hawks are 1000-1. Or at least they were June 3rd.

Let's call it the Lebron effect. Lebron improves teams simply by producing his steroid induced super human efforts. But he is also ball dominant. Everyone's else's key stats (and thereby their "warp projections") suffers because Lebron is on the floor. Every rebound Lebron snatches by crashing in and turning a bad shot into a rebound dunk, is a lost rebound opportunity for a big. Every pass out of a double team he makes for a 3, is one less assist for the PG. Everyone's stats suffer a bit. His last year in Minny, Love averaged 26 points and 12.5 rebound per contest. His best season in Cleveland was 19/11 with averages of 17.5 and 9.8. This is the Lebron effect. Were you to plug Love's numbers in at 24/12 his WARP would improve as well. Consider George Hill who got 1 more minute per game in Cleveland but whose scoring when down almost a full point per game and was down 7 points and 2 assists from his previous year in Utah. Consider Rodney Hood. His scoring average dipped 6 ppg when he went to Cleveland, in 2.5 less minutes of play. JR Smith experienced the same. The hardest to understand is Tristan Thompson. His style of play "conflicted" with the open lanes Lebron needed to work his mojo and so Thompson's time on the floor consistently dropped over 5 years...moving him from an 11/9 guy as a second year player to a 6/6 guy last year. This is why your WARP numbers don't add up. Lebron makes teams better, but not necessarily the players around him. He is just a big stat sucking black hole which requires every other player on the floor to fit. This is probably why you saw "0" change in Korver. He is the perfect player for a Lebron system. Hang out on the wing and get a pass...same thing he's been doing for years.

Oh those big salaries aren't going anywhere. Hard to find a buyer for Love...not because he isn't valuable, but because its hard to fit 24 million onto any roster. All teams under the cap (mostly) are rebuilding...all teams over would have to send Cavs a similar player (salary wise) to Love. Its a hard fit. As always....Korver could be on the move though.

I'm thinking Hill be one of those 3 way deals. Like sending him to Orlando, Orlando assets + some compensation to 3rd team, 3rd team sends player to Cleveland to shed a bit of salary....something like that. Hill has more value than the trash on Orlando or similar teams. There will be a bit of salary swapping kind of deals to fit needs. He could also be moved at the trade deadline (more likely) to fill another team's need.

From a cap perspective. Cleveland is now only 8 million over the cap, 12 million under the LT. Cleveland needs to remain under the LT this year no matter what to clear repeat offender status. They need to move George Hill ($19 million). Expect them to deal Hill to get lower on the cap and flip that money for a 3 replacement for Lebron and then to use 1 exception to sign a vet and 2 vet minimums. Their roster as currently constructed (assuming moving Hill) is worth about 35-40 wins which would just barely net us that pick. If they trade away Love....no...we'll lose it. The problem is all of the assets they accumulated to help Lebron win are still there. If not traded away, they'll be good enough to just barely sneak into the lottery and here is where it gets dicey. Even if they have only the 12th worst record, we don't necessarily get the pick. They have to lose the lottery, then we'd get it.

Holy smokes Spellman looks thick standing next to JC.

Go back in the Homecourt draft thread around the high 80's. I made the case for Trae's defense back then. The simple answer is the vast majority of NBA games are a direct reflection of fast break opportunities. One of Lebron's greatest traits is that possessions with Lebron on the floor lead to less transition opportunities. This is the mark of a great facilitator...how often he creates transition the wrong way. Consider Jason Williams (White Chocolate). Very flashy point guard but also very turnover prone and a poor shooter. Williams shot 32.7% from 3 for his career and 39.8% overall. He averaged a fine assist to turnover ratio (5.9 to 2.1) but that was completely overshadowed by the fact he couldn't shoot and didn't draw defenders. Turnovers told very little of the story. He created bad possessions. Now compare this to Young's freshman season. He shot 36% from 3 and 49% from 2 but while drawing enough fouls to create 8.6 free throws per game. His offensive creation for both himself and others limits bad shots for both. A small rise in offensive efficiency across the board limits transition baskets for the other team. Additionally, his rebounding creates 2nd opportunities which immediately stops transition opportunities. One on one defense is only part of the game. Limiting transition opportunities for the opponents is just or more important.

He shot 30.9% last year from WNBA length 3?

There were other things going on when Lebron was out...other injuries, etc.

which is what I'm saying. In order for the pick to have conveyed this year, it has to be 11 or lower. Last year's 11-14 Charlotte - 36 wins Detroit - 39 LA. Clippers - 42 Denver - 46 I think that team is good enough to win 36

Sorry but they will still be a good team. George Hill, Collin Sexton, Kyle Korver, JR Smith, Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson, Cedi Osman, Ante Zizic, Larry Nance Jr. and of course....Kevin Love. This is a team more than capable of finishing higher that 10th worst. They also have multi exceptions available for players.

So I got around to setting the DVR tonight for the first 3 games. I have to say, it was the most excited I've been to watch a basketball game in a long time....and its summer league. I've had a real identity problem with the team ever since Bud took over. I got my guy in Trae and paired with Collins it should be very exciting.

The Pelicans have 11 players under contract (4 are not guaranteed). If you include their cap holds (including Rondo and Cousins) they are $36 million over the cap and $19 million over the expected LT. Giving Cousins $30 million would inflate that number further. They are also expected to give a reasonable ($5 million or more) contract to Rondo. Can they? Yes!....Will they?...I don't know man. They just barely hung under the LT last year so there is not repeater penalty but New Orleans is not a rich franchise. They can't commit to living in the LT.

Man I loved Omari's answer. "I uh..never thought of myself teaching someone. I"m 20."

Trae's answer to the first question about a rebuilding process. "year before I got to Oklahoma they were 11-20". I think we might forget that. They had a 9 game turnaround in 1 year. That's how bad they were before he got there.

https://929thegame.radio.com/articles/michael-lee-talks-about-most-important-thing-hawks-need-success