NBA Free Agency.

[Captnhowdy]

Nobody's started a thread yet about Free agents moving's in the Association. So I thought I would, and am hoping somebody can take the reigns and keep us updated on the comings and goings of top free agents. And trades if said person wishes to do so.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

SI's The Point Forward has been really good at staying on top of everything - http://nba.si.com/

 

[CorduroyG]

im a laker fan. am i stupid for hoping dwight lands somewhere other than lala land?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

im a laker fan. am i stupid for hoping dwight lands somewhere other than lala land?

No. You're stupid for being a Lakers fan.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk

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[Captnhowdy]

im a laker fan. am i stupid for hoping dwight lands somewhere other than lala land?

Nope. I couldn't blame you for not wanting that unappreciative, flip-floppy soap opera that is Dwight Howard.

 

[Orangezoo]

im a laker fan. am i stupid for hoping dwight lands somewhere other than lala land?

absolutely not - I would want nothing to do with that Diva on my team. Its a real shame he couldn't put that frame and raw ability to better use.

 

[Knicks411]

Dwight is a tough one, he's a great player, but he hasn't been the same player the last year or so, and he's really annoying.

 

[djcon57]

If I'm a Laker fan (of which I am not, I am a "hater")...

You should not resign Dwight, tell Kobe to take a year off, trade Pau, Nash (small chance), MWP and gain picks and young players and tank this season.

Get a top 5 draft pick next year and try to rebuild for one last Kobe run and sign Lebron (or Durant, maybe). That's it. That's the plan. Any other plan will result in a fine run of #4/5 seeds.

 

[CorduroyG]

yea kobe aint taking a year off

 

[djcon57]

yea kobe aint taking a year off

Ok..."Kobe come back whenever you want, but you'll be playing with Earl Clark and a bunch of no-names"

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So I've been reading some Jazz message boards after it was announced that they're helping the Warriors with a salary dump and some of the posts are just awesome. I've never considered many Jazz fans to be particularly... savvy, when it comes to this stuff. Anyway, there's a guy over there going by the name David Stern that's just laying out why it's a great deal (he's right) and people are pulling their hair out. They truly hate Ty Corbin. It's hilarious.

 

[longislandcuse]

Would've loved to see Dwight in Golden City with Curry and Thompson etc under Mark Jackson. The West is going to be fun next year. Houston is a contender and Golden State picking up Iguodala. That Warrior lineup is pretty nice: Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Lee, Bogut. I also love the Knicks trading two garbage players and a pick for Bargnani. Bargs should take a lot of pressure off Melo and can relegate JR to a 3rd option which better suits him. I think the Nets move is about as high risk/high reward as you can get.

 

[CorduroyG]

dwight to the rockets, good riddance!

 

[cliftonparksufan]

So I've been reading some Jazz message boards after it was announced that they're helping the Warriors with a salary dump and some of the posts are just awesome. I've never considered many Jazz fans to be particularly... savvy, when it comes to this stuff. Anyway, there's a guy over there going by the name David Stern that's just laying out why it's a great deal (he's right) and people are pulling their hair out. They truly hate Ty Corbin. It's hilarious.

Anyone who doesn't like that trade for the Jazz is a moron. That 2014 draft pick is Golden.

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[OttoinGrotto]

Anyone who doesn't like that trade for the Jazz is a moron. That 2014 draft pick is Golden.

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100% agree.

They even Ty proofed this trade. If Corbin finally does the right thing and commits to playing the young guys, they'll be bad and likely be in shape for a good draft pick. On the other hand, Corbin loves him some over the hill veterans, so if he ends up giving Jefferson and Biedrins a lot of run... well, they're awful at this point, so the Jazz will be bad and likely be in shape for a good draft pick.

I will say though, their fans are right to fear Corbin. He already has it in his head Burke isn't going to play much, let alone start:

"He's going to have a lot of stuff, all of these guys are going to have a lot of things thrown at them (people) are going to put more pressure on to speed the process up why he’s not playing, why he’s not starting whatever that thing is.
"That kid has to continue to work. As excited as we are to have him we know what it’s going to take to get him up to where we want him to be and that’s a process.”

That's what Corbin said the day after the draft at their introductory press conference. Keep in mind, at the time the jazz had zero (0) point guards under contract, meaning Corbin already felt better about mystery signing door number 3 starting than Burke starting.

 

[OrangeDW]

im a laker fan. am i stupid for hoping dwight lands somewhere other than lala land?

I'm not upset at all about him leaving. He's hard to like, and while he's very good, I think he already peaked prior to coming to LA, and I wasn't entirely sold on him being the building block going forward. If you could pair him with another great player who he can work with in 2014, great. But with his personality, that might've been easier said than done.

It seems that his offensive game is what it is at this point, and I doubt he's touching the top of any backboards again. I'm interested to see if he clashes with Harden and Houston's chuck 3's oriented attack, the way he wanted the ball more in LA. If he can just shut up, stay healthy, rebound, defend, and be content with his 18 ppg, he should make Houston title contenders within the next few years. He only did 2 of those 5 things in LA. We'll see.

Next year will be a struggle for the Lakers. Summer of 2014 is what it's all about at this point.

 

[Knicks411]

I also love the Knicks trading two garbage players and a pick for Bargnani. Bargs should take a lot of pressure off Melo and can relegate JR to a 3rd option which better suits him. I think the Nets move is about as high risk/high reward as you can get.

The Knicks interior defense right now, aside from Chandler, is atrocious. Maybe they can bring Brand in or something to help defensively, but right now it's going to be a nightmare. Bargnani should be more efficient without the burden of being a #1 option, but i don't think he's really good either.

If the Knicks hadn't needlessly given Novak a fourth year than they wouldn't have needed to do this deal to get some extra cap space in 2015.

 

[Knicks411]

It seems that his offensive game is what it is at this point, and I doubt he's touching the top of any backboards again. I'm interested to see if he clashes with Harden and Houston's chuck 3's oriented attack, the way he wanted the ball more in LA. If he can just shut up, stay healthy, rebound, defend, and be content with his 18 ppg, he should make Houston title contenders within the next few years. He only did 2 of those 5 things in LA. We'll see.

Sounds a lot like the 09 Magic team, though with a better supporting cast around Dwight. (And probably not the same Dwight)

 

[OrangeDW]

Sounds a lot like the 09 Magic team, though with a better supporting cast around Dwight. (And probably not the same Dwight)

True, though Dwight was clearly "the man" in Orlando. With Harden, I'm not sure he is...offensively, at least. That shouldn't be important, but to him it may be.

 

[Knicks411]

True, though Dwight was clearly "the man" in Orlando. With Harden, I'm not sure he is...offensively, at least. That shouldn't be important, but to him it may be.

Though if they acquire Josh Smith the makeup of the team is a little different.

You may be right about Dwight wanting to be the man, I was just thinking from a spread the court around Dwight in the middle idea.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/7/5/4497610/dwight-howard-lakers-houston-rockets-nba-free-agent

 

[longislandcuse]

The Knicks interior defense right now, aside from Chandler, is atrocious. Maybe they can bring Brand in or something to help defensively, but right now it's going to be a nightmare. Bargnani should be more efficient without the burden of being a #1 option, but i don't think he's really good either.

If the Knicks hadn't needlessly given Novak a fourth year than they wouldn't have needed to do this deal to get some extra cap space in 2015.

it seems all signs point to a Brand signing. If they can get him and somehow lure in a speedy pg like Will Bynum or Aaron Brooks, I think that's about as good of an offseason as we could have. While Bargs defense leaves some to be desired, i still think well be ok defensively with Shump/JR as perimeter defenders and Tyson inside. Our bench looks stacked with Pablo, JR, Amare, Hardaway jr and hopefully Brand and a speedy pg. I just think offensively our starting unit makes sense.. Offense goes through Melo who will be back at his normal position, Felton and Shump are capable of being solid role players while they run pick and roll with Tyson and pick n pop with Bargnani. The floor spacing should give a lot of teams problems with 4 guys on the floor at all times who can spread the floor. Even if they sign Brand, he and Amare have decent mid range jump shots. Bargs might be a soft rebounder for his size but he will bring the other teams PF/C away from the basket and Melo's rebounding number may go up since he wil be operating against small forwards.

 

[Knicks411]

Offense goes through Melo who will be back at his normal position,

Is that a good thing though? Knicks played great with Melo at the 4. If Bargnani can provide spacing that will help. But right now the Knicks have one good defensive player at the 4/5 positions. Brand would be a nice pickup if they can swing it.

Melo's rebounding number may go up since he wil be operating against small forwards.

If anything, I would expect them to go down. If he's guarding 3's he'll be further away from the bucket.

I have to disagree with you on the defense; last year they were 18th in the NBA in defensive efficiency. I'm not sure how much better, if any, they will be this year. If Stat and Bargnani get serious minutes, the defense could be really bad unless Tyson plays like Superman

Knicks should be a solid team next year. Probably won't win 54 and/or finish second in the East, but they should be in the low 50's and contend for home court in the first round. Considering how most of the last decade went, I probably shouldn't complain too much

 

[moqui]

I couldn't blame you for not wanting that unappreciative, flip-floppy soap opera

that was a an apt description of Kobe Bryant for most of his career . . . forced Shaq out of town, couldn't get along with Phil Jackson, demanded a trade until he was coddled personally by Jerry Buss. I mean, seriously - you can't get along with the Zen Master?

And, oh yeah, he's an analrapist. Talk about a soap opera.

So, Dwight Howard (if he cared) could seep soundly knowing that, by his own standards, Captnhowdy thinks he made the right decision


greater point being that Kobe's title chase is over. Dwight isn't the only guy in the Association who thinks that Kobe is an ahole. All that cap space is not going to bring a franchise FA in 2014 unless Kobe retires or the Lakers decline to re-sign him.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Jettison Kobe somehow (his Achille's may do it) and get LeBron to take his talents to Venice Beach next year. I've read conjecture, fwiw (and that ain't much), that there are "only" 3 possible teams that LeBron may sign with after next season: Miami (depending in large part on Wade's health, Cleveland (been there, done that, move on), or LA. How sweet would he look in a Lakers uni?

Meanwhile, the soap opera goes on...http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/7/6/4499316/lamar-odom-free-agency-nba-los-angeles-lakers