LeBron’s team topped KD’s in flag football 70-63 in last night’s game. KD’s team came back from a 21-point deficit to tie it at 63-63, which was sparked by a 108-yard interception for a TD by Durant, but it wasn’t enough. Big winner though: Everybody’s ACLs — no injuries. Phew. (If you want to watch the whole thing, it’s right here.)
John Hollinger and Chad Ford break down the long-term impact of the new CBA for OKC: “It just got a lot harder to keep Serge Ibaka two years from now, since the price on the max deals for Durant and Westbrook just went up and I’m guessing Harden will be the first priority from the 2009 class. While revenue sharing will help a bit, it’s hard to imagine this small-market franchise retaining four players with $10 million-plus contracts and a fifth (Kendrick Perkins) not too far away.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says the Thunder didn’t work on a buyout for Nate Robinson: “The Thunder didn’t discuss a contract buyout with Nate Robinson on Wednesday, but he desperately wants to get out of the final year of his deal, a league source said. He’s just not going to play much for the Thunder. Orlando could be a landing spot for Robinson, should he become a free agent.”
Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop with tips for enjoying the full NBA experience: “Before you leave the house, declare it — best throwback jersey in the crowd, least tolerable song most likely to be played during a timeout, over-unders on number of blocked shots by players under 6-foot-5 and player on the floor most likely to win a gauntlet match. These diversions come in particularly handy if you’re staring at a 24-point game midway through the third quarter.”
Quality post from J.A. Sherman of Welcome to Loud City on the Parker-Westbrook stuff: “The last element that underscores the difference between Parker and Westbrook is what I call the “in-between game.” Parker has never been a dead-eye outside shooter in the way that Steve Nash is, but over time he developed both a medium-range game and a teardrop shot that he can make with regularity. This in-between game enables Parker to put defenses completely on their heels, because if they play his drive, he can pull up and make the 12 footer. If they crowd Parker out high, he will drive past them with ease.”
KD on losing last night: “Damn I’m so mad we lost to @KingJames team in flag football, we fought back hard but couldn’t get the win! Had so much fun tho.”
J.A. Adande on revenue sharing: “Small-market teams are worried about getting dragged into higher payrolls by the large markets. When the Lakers or Celtics sign mammoth local television contracts it drives up the basketball related income for the entire league, which increases the salary cap. And with the new agreement calling for all teams to spend at least 85 percent of the cap in the first two years and 90 percent afterward, the small markets fear their payroll will rise at a faster rate than their income.”
Brian Windhorst on the flag football game: “There are plenty of positives coming out of the NBA lockout ending. Here’s another one: it’ll reduce LeBron James and Kevin Durant’s free time. Spurred by boredom and quite clearly a longing for competition, Durant and James staged perhaps the lockout’s most over-the-top sideshow Wednesday night. It was a flag football game, theoretically. But really it was sort of the super bowl of flag football complete with enough organization, equipment and production to make it an event worth remembering for its logistical complexity as much as the actual contest itself.”
Arnovitz eats a lot of fruit. I'm all for healthy dining, but dang, I bet he's bloated with fiber and farts more than the Basketball Jones.
Just started my fantasy draft, boy this is thrilling!
I'm really not a fan of bringing in Howard or Paul. I love the fact that we have four players with all-star potential on the roster. I want to see them row and learn together.
I also agree with this. I don't see any need to blow up a painstakingly well-crafted team to bring in Howard or Paul without giving the current guys some more time to reach their potential. Russell is still very young so I'd take my chances with him rather than Paul with shaky knees. In my opinion, I think Russell's current play style and mindset can be changed to benefit the team and what he really needs is for the coaching staff to get more creative with the offense playbook. They need to come up with sets not just for KD or Russell isolation but also for Serge and Harden which will vary the offense. We already have the pieces, it's really just about using and developing them.@Fezzy
@Fezzy I'm with you here. But for me its more about the economic concerns of bringing either one in, coupled with what we would give up. If you bring in either one, you'll have to give them the veteran max, no question. That's 60% of the cap in two players, and likely another 35-40% in whatever other starters you keep, if not more depending how you finesse it. What makes us so good as we stand is that our second unit is stellar. We tie up all of our money in the first unit and that goes bye bye
@JimboSlice@Fezzy The Heat went to the finals, and probably should have won with basically three stars and a bunch of scrubs. LA, San Antonio, Boston, and Miami have been showing for years that your backups don't mean squat for winning the title, just getting better seeding between top 4 teams.
Dwight took an incredibly flawed Magic team to game 6 of the finals. I would have no problem locking up 55-60% of our cap in KD and Howard, then just filling around them. Dwight is instant top 3 defense as a team. KD is an instant top 5 offense as a team. Even if we only were able to keep Harden, the PG wouldn't have to do anything but hit open players and spot up for threes. And Ibaka's skills are rather superflous with Dwight.
@Keith00@JimboSlice@Fezzy When orlando beat us like by 20, the lane was non existant. Dwights presence is astounding
@Fezzy I agree with this, but am intrigued by the idea of howard, KD and JH, thats a hell of a well balanced three...
@Gimbodo@Fezzy Id take Howard in a second. problem is, wed have to give up Westbrook, which I try to consider but my brain really cant compute it. However, Id put RW on the table before I would Harden. Its a difficult argument, and while both are very unique players, I think Hardens skill set at the two would be very hard to replace, while a lesser player than RW at the one, just a solid ball distributor with good D would be a boon to our over all chemistry.
@Gimbodo@Fezzy Like i'd be okay if we got Howard for RW if our PG was Nash, or Ramon Sessions, Devin Harris, Eric Bledsoe (Whom we drafted) or a few others, but Id really miss RW. hes going to be very exciting to watch for many years. Theres not two many 2's out there ith Hardens games, save Manu and Iggy, but Hardens ceiling really has me salivating
Why not retain 4 players with 10 million plus contracts, plus Perkins? It may not even put you in the luxury tax. Example: Durant 15M, Westbrook 13M, Ibaka 10M, Harden 10M, Perkins 7M totals = 55 M.
Fill out the rest of the roster with cheap rookie deals and minimum salary vets chasing a ring. 10M to 12M should be enough for that, so 65 to 67 million total. The Spurs did this and won multiple championships.
Problem is Durant is getting the max, which now starts at around $17 million a year. Westbrook also wants the max or close to it, so he's not going to get $13 million.
@DXL i like this idea more
Just echoing what several others have already said: it's GREAT to have everyone back on DT and to be talking about playing basketball again. It's kind of like the spinning house finally landed and we've opened the door and stepped into the full-color world. And guess who's wearing the ruby slippers this season! :)
So if Nate isn't bought out, whats more likely, they use amnesty on him or trade him for a 2nd rounder or whatever?
I wish all the Lebron and KD stuff didn't make me uncomfortable, but it kind of does. bummer for me, not them.
How about a potential trade for Howard centered around RW and Ibaka?
@Gimbodo
I'd prefer RW and Perk for Howard.
Imagine Ibaka and Howard swatting everything in the paint.
Maynor
Harden
Durant
Ibaka
Howard
@erics MY concern is whether they would be content with Perk, but really, they won't get much more in terms of star power return than RW. would Howard sign an extension here? if he would, who would say no to that?
@Gimbodo I love it. You can obviously disagree with LJ's decision, but hes not a thug and you cant compare him to KD. And KD must see something good about him if hes such teh angel we make him out to be