Jump to content

NBA 2013 - 2014 Season


Ms. Spam
 Share

Recommended Posts

They really aren't in bad shape for the future.

 

They should deal Gortat (expiring contract) for assets, preferably a future 1st rounder. Continue to suck this coming year and land a top 5 pick in a positively loaded draft. They've only got $19M on the books for 2015. It ain't so bad.

 

It's just depressing knowing that if there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel, it won't get here any time soon. I actually have hope that both Len and Goodwin (and from I've read, I can even see Alex Oriakhi being a useful role player) - but it's likely to be quite awhile before they're fulfilling a substantial share of their potential. After Markieff Morris' rookie season, I felt pretty good about him, but he failed to really show any progress last year. Kendall Marshall brought all kinds of promise, but had a generally horrible rookie season. So, we have talent that is still rather young (at 23, the Morris brothers are the oldest of that group) and may yet develop, but none are likely to truly blossom any time soon.

 

We're coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, we no longer have even a single star player, and the few decent players we have are best served as trade bait, like you said. Adding insult to injury, Michael Beasley proved to be exactly what everyone (except apparently the former Suns regime) expected him to be - and now we're stuck paying the underachieving, inconsistent headache $12M+ over the next two seasons.

 

I became a Suns fan the day Charles Barkley was traded to them and ever since, we've had quite a few seasons as championship contenders and almost always been at least playoff contenders. To just have the bottom drop out like this and know that we'll likely not even be competitive in the foreseeable future just really bums me out. :no:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sure would be nice to have a draft pick to actually get excited about, I'll give you that. That alone would make a big difference and make the bottom-feeding easier to take. For so long, the best we've had is "well, let's wait and see", with considerable "WTF were they thinking?!?" and "Draft picks, get your red hot draft picks here!" (so long Luol Deng & Rajon Rondo...we'll catch up with you down the road, Marcin Gortat). We even had the rights to Dragic and traded him away before reacquiring him (to replace Steve Nash, another guy we traded after two years and then had to reacquire - anyone noticing a trend here?).

 

So, yeah, since we're going to have a long, sucky season anyways, it'd be great to have it actually serve some purpose. We haven't had a rookie to really feel good about in over a decade (Amare in '02).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, you don't need to tell me you told me so about Beasley, because I was saying it, too - I hated the signing as soon as it happened. If he had been a 1-yr minimum deal or something, it would've been worth the risk. However, it wasn't - and it wasn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always viewed the Beasley pick exactly like Jamarcus Russell. You had people fawning over them and I (granted, as a casual, non-professional observer) had no idea why.

 

But you know, I thought Jimmy Clausen had the potential to be a decent NFL quarterback, so what do I know really?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah but Jamarcus Russell made his career off of a bowl game against Notre Dame. Beasley actually put together a hell of a freshman year. Who knew he would make no attempt to play defense on any level. Or even attempt to be the scorer he was without Wade having an off night. But hey things worked out for the Heat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, Beasley actually got off to a decent start his first couple of years in Miami (though he was less consistent his second year) and had a very strong offensive year his first season in Minnesota. Like Met says, though, he made no effort to really improve his overall game and then in his second year as a T-Wolf (fourth year overall) he actually started regressing. His FT% went from 80% in year two, to 75% the next year, and just 64% in his fourth season. As a rookie, he shot a solid 47% FG - that has dropped to 45% in years 2 and 3, then 44% in year 4, and last year with the Suns, he shot just 40%. Likewise, his 3pt shooting was very good as a rookie (almost 41%) and has never again reached that level (only 31% last year).

 

Unlike Russell, Beasley showed that he could play at this level...he just usually doesn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He'd trade Dirk for a Mountain Dew. Seriously though he said Dirk has two "elite" years left in him. So he either has to go all in or start over.

It's the same for the Lakers and the Spurs. They aren't going to trade Kobe or Duncan, because of their contributions to the franchise. All 3 of these players will retire with their respective teams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't think he or Chris Paul were going anywhere. Do either of those teams have cap space to sign anyone else and actually improve? Of course, Indiana can do that just by getting Granger healthy, but the Clippers need more than just Doc Rivers, I think (and I don't mean a dumbass trade to get Dwight Howard).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cap space? No. Do they have the ability to sign people to improve? Yes.

 

The David West deal puts the Pacers at close to $63M (over the salary cap of $58.5M), with the luxury tax level at ~$71M. So they can still use the Mid-Level Exception, the Bi-Annual exception, and the Minimum Salary Exception to sign guys. According to Bird, they "aren't going into the tax for any reason," so they've got $6-8M to play with. They've signed CJ Watson for "more than the minimum."

 

The good news, despite them having little money to work with is that the bench was so bad last year that almost any warm body will be an upgrade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suns, Bucks, and Clippers just completed a trade.

 

Suns trade away Dudley and a second round pick for Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler.

 

Milwaukee trades away Redick for two 2nds.

 

Clippers trade away Bledsoe, Butler, and a 2nd for Redick and Dudley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bright Side of the Sun

Wow, who saw this coming? In a surprising move, the Suns trade Jared Dudley to the Clippers and receive Caron Butler &... Eric Bledsoe!! Jared, we'd like to thank you for everything you've done for this team and we wish you nothing but the best! But we'd also like to take this time to welcome Eric Bledsoe to Planet Orange!

 

Holy ****ing ****...I know I sure didn't see this coming! Just saw the above on my FB (thanks for the details, Lucas). Damn, I'm excited...but confused. I figured that if the Clips traded away Bledsoe, they'd get more out of it. Also, Bledsoe is a combo guard and they spent a 1st round pick in each of the last two drafts on guards. Unless they plan on moving Dragic (which seems unlikely), Goodwin and Marshall are going to be fighting for playing time scraps and aren't going to develop too quickly (unless one of them is going to be moved, too).

 

Still, at least it's something to be excited about. That is what I asked for, I guess!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bledsoe is an expiring deal, too, so it will be interesting to see how soon if at all the Suns coax him into signing an extension.

 

It's going to be interesting to see who tanks the worst next year. Bobcats, Celtics, Suns (sorry Lohr!), Hawks (I'm going ahead and assuming that they aren't getting Howard), Sixers, Magic... maybe the Raptors if they unload Rudy Gay to Detroit like is being rumored. Those teams are all expected to be reallllly bad. And they're all going to be very content to be bad.

 

This is hysterical by the way: Something called a Slim Thug tries to convince Howard why he should go to Houston

 

With the Dwightmare Sweepstakes down to four teams (LA, Houston, Dallas, Golden State), it will be interesting to see which three come out winners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Piggybacking off what I said up there about the Raptors unloading Rudy Gay:

 

Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that the Pistons actually offered Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva (both expiring contracts) to the Raptors for Rudy Gay.

 

Are the Pistons serious? It's like they haven't been watching Rudy Gay get worse at basketball over the past several years. Gay is owed $37M over the next two seasons! Why wouldn't Toronto jump all over this? If they do they'll have shed close to $60M over the next two years by getting rid of Bargnani and Gay.

 

- Oh and the Kings apparently withdrew their offer to Andre Iguodala because he wasn't ready to give them an answer yet. Weird.

 

-The Hawks tendered Jeff Teague making him a RFA.

 

- The Pacers originally tendered Hansbrough making him a RFA, but they rescinded it so he's unrestricted now. This opens the door for the Miles Plumlee era in Indiana. Or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the Dwightmare Sweepstakes down to four teams (LA, Houston, Dallas, Golden State), it will be interesting to see which three come out winners.

 

Nice. :thumbsup:

 

This trade is horrible - it makes them better and now's not the time for that ****! lol

 

I expect the Suns to start the pitch right away with Bledsoe that he's going to be one of the keystones that they will be building around. They need to get him locked up. He's shown considerable flashes and he's only 23. I say they see what they can get for Dragic and rally try to develop Bledsoe, Marshall, and Goodwin in a 3-man rotation. And as we talked about before, though I'll miss the Polish Hammer, they should try and get something for him, too. If we're going to have to rebuild, then let's actually do it. This trade is a great start.

 

I like Butler, but I have a feeling he won't be around for long. I wouldn't be surprised to see a buyout, so he can hook up with a contender. That would be fine with me. Like I said, i do like him, but the young guys need the playing time and so what if Butler may have done better? The nice thing is that the Clips are my second favorite team and I was actually dreading Bledsoe leaving - now I'm thrilled! Likewise, Jared Dudley was my favorite Sun and though he kind of had to go, at least he went to a team I like. I'm happy.

 

Now that I have more time to think about the trade, i do like it better for L.A., too. My initial thought that they didn't get enough was based on what I had seen on FB, which made it seem like Dudley for Bledsoe. It didn't mention Redick. I think both of those guys will do well with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. They'll help with the spacing and Dudley is also a real hustle guy. I hope they keep Chauncey Billups, which they should (assuming they're planning to use Dudley at the 3 and that they don't have another guard on their FA radar).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oops, forgot that the Clips still had Jamal Crawford. Still, Chris Paul can't handle the ball 48 minutes a night. I can still see value in having Chauncey.

 

If I were a Houston fan, I think I'd rather see them go after people like Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, or Paul Milsap. There are front court players out there that can help your team on the court and not tear it up in the locker room. I've heard that they are looking at Smith as a contingency plan, but I don't care what Slim Thug (?!?) says, Howard should not be their top target.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Smith isn't much better. He's one of those guys who is "just good enough to get you fired." The guy thinks he's a small forward, and he hates spending any amount of time in the lane. And he's a headcase. I'm actually very much looking forward to the prospect of Dwightmare and he on the same team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, they look pretty tight right now (I'm going to go ahead and assume that Ridick's is supposed to be 6.3M - not $63M!). So, that would bring their current roster up to over $65M - over the expected cap, though not at the expected luxury tax thresh hold. They do have the mid-level exception and a small trade exception that expires in a week or so. They're probably better off using those on the frontcourt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.