2018 NBA "Off"Season-Because It's Always On

[Digby]

28 minutes ago, Wings said:

People are so tired of the Warriors that they want the hated Lakers to eventually to dethrone them. 

 

[OnWis97]

23 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

I’m gonna be absolutely SHOCKED if Lebron doesn’t stay in Cleveland for at least one more season. Not only does leaving a team that just made their FOURTH straight finals not make a lot of sense, who else out there is really a better option, even long term? The Lakers, maybe. But that’s a pretty big maybe. Philadelphia? It’s an odd fit for what they’re doing, and I still don’t think they’d be better than Golden State. The Warriors? That’d Be HILARIOUS, but no. Houston? That would suck, I don’t think It’d work, and it would also be an odd fit. 

 

Maybe the Celtics!  

I don't think he's staying, but I am having a difficult time imagining where he might go.  

 

Honestly, with what's going on at Golden State, I don't think LeBron's winning another title.  Therefore, I think the best thing for his legacy is to stay.  People will view his team-hopping with much less negativity.  He left a moribund franchise and then he went back and won them a title.  If he leaves now for greener pastures, I think it's all magnified.  If he just hangs with this inadequate roster and goes out putting up more big numbers, he's right up there in the top-ten and the negativity is quieted unless he's being compared to Jordan.

 

That said, he probably wants to compete for more titles and it does not look like Cleveland's going to be the place to do it.

 

My totally un-educated (I don't know anything about any non-Wolves cap situations) and meaningless rank order of where I think he ends up:

• Philly
• Lakers
• Cleveland
• Houston
• OKC
• The Field

I think he is smart enough to stay in the East.  And if he gets Philly over the hump, he'll seem like 2018's missing link, of sorts. And with all the young talent, he can probably get more bench time as he gets older.  The Lakers are getting better but he only signs there if some other key player is going to do the same.  He's not enough to make them a real threat against Golden State.  

 

I actually would love to see him go to Houston or OKC.  Houston would just be a superteam response to the GSW but at least it would be competitive.  GSW would have him paired with Westbrook and would seem almost just given what Durant did to them a couple of years ago.

 

Another interesting one would be Milwaukee...Giannis looks like he may spend some time as the best team in the game.  I think they win the East just by adding LeBron.  Then again, a lot of teams would win the East that way.

 

At this point, I kinda hope he just keeps his talents in Cleveland.  It's a more graceful way to end his career.

[dfwabel]

6 hours ago, Kaz said:

I was looking at the Cavs' payroll to see if they could dump some of their bad contracts onto say, the Nets, for their first rounder in a desperation move to clear room for a Paul (Chris or George) that would keep Lebron in town.  I already knew Thompson and JR Smith had poison contracts, but yeesh, George Hill for $20/19/20 mil?

But 23 of the 30 teams are over the cap and the cap number isn't going up.

 

More importantly, this year's restricted free agents are not going to get contracts like those in the last two offseasons as teams don't want to have their bluffs called.

https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/249237/Projected-2018-Cap-Space-For-All-30-NBA-Teams

 

[BBTV]

He said that he wants to play off the ball (I'm not totally sure what that means), and that he could play well with someone like Ben Simmons.   I guess that means he'd be cool with Simmons being a true point guard?  

 

Apparently, Vegas has odds on this, and the Sixers are +150 favorites to get him.  I don't know exactly what the money part means, just the "favorite" part.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/76ers/vegas-gives-sixers-best-odds-land-lebron-james

 

[dfwabel]

48 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

He said that he wants to play off the ball (I'm not totally sure what that means), and that he could play well with someone like Ben Simmons.   I guess that means he'd be cool with Simmons being a true point guard?  

 

Apparently, Vegas has odds on this, and the Sixers are +150 favorites to get him.  I don't know exactly what the money part means, just the "favorite" part.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/76ers/vegas-gives-sixers-best-odds-land-lebron-james

 

Bet $150 to win $100.

[See Red]

9 hours ago, OnWis97 said:

I don't think he's staying, but I am having a difficult time imagining where he might go.  

 

Honestly, with what's going on at Golden State, I don't think LeBron's winning another title.  Therefore, I think the best thing for his legacy is to stay.  People will view his team-hopping with much less negativity.  He left a moribund franchise and then he went back and won them a title.  If he leaves now for greener pastures, I think it's all magnified.  If he just hangs with this inadequate roster and goes out putting up more big numbers, he's right up there in the top-ten and the negativity is quieted unless he's being compared to Jordan.

 

That said, he probably wants to compete for more titles and it does not look like Cleveland's going to be the place to do it.

 

My totally un-educated (I don't know anything about any non-Wolves cap situations) and meaningless rank order of where I think he ends up:

• Philly
• Lakers
• Cleveland
• Houston
• OKC
• The Field

I think he is smart enough to stay in the East.  And if he gets Philly over the hump, he'll seem like 2018's missing link, of sorts. And with all the young talent, he can probably get more bench time as he gets older.  The Lakers are getting better but he only signs there if some other key player is going to do the same.  He's not enough to make them a real threat against Golden State.  

 

I actually would love to see him go to Houston or OKC.  Houston would just be a superteam response to the GSW but at least it would be competitive.  GSW would have him paired with Westbrook and would seem almost just given what Durant did to them a couple of years ago.

 

Another interesting one would be Milwaukee...Giannis looks like he may spend some time as the best team in the game.  I think they win the East just by adding LeBron.  Then again, a lot of teams would win the East that way.

 

At this point, I kinda hope he just keeps his talents in Cleveland.  It's a more graceful way to end his career.

 

Houston would be tough without losing any of the pieces that would make LeBron want to go there.  Even if they let Chris Paul walk, they still couldn't afford to give LeBron a max deal, and he wouldn't take a discount to play without Paul there.  The sign-and-trade rules have changed so that's not a great option anymore.  He'd probably have to do what Paul did and opt-in and then have Cleveland trade him.

 

Is there any way LeBron and Kawhi could both end up in Philly without them having to move Simmons or Embiid?  If so, that's what I will be hoping for.

[dfwabel]

Colangelo and his Twitter accounts

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/29/17406750/bryan-colangelo-philadelphia-76ers-twitter-joel-embiid-anonymous-markelle-fultz

 

Quote

In February, The Ringer received an anonymous tip that Bryan Colangelo, the Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations, had been secretly operating five Twitter accounts. Since then, we have scrutinized and archived those accounts in an attempt to verify the source’s claims that the longtime NBA executive has been using them as a platform to:

    Criticize NBA players, including Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Nerlens Noel
    Publicly debate the decisions of his own coaching staff, as well as critique former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri
    Telegraph the 2017 trade in which the Sixers acquired the no. 1 overall pick that would become Markelle Fultz
    Disclose nonpublic medical information about Okafor and gossip about Embiid and Fultz to members of the national and Philadelphia media

 

And Ben may get hit with the Kardashian curse too.

https://pagesix.com/2018/05/29/kendall-jenner-is-dating-nba-star-ben-simmons/

[rams80]

Somebody doesn't trust the process.

[Tracy Jordan]

CP3 is a free agent this summer, right? I wonder if there's even a remote possibility that LeBron could convince CP3 to join him with the Lakers? If not, I could definitely see him going to Houston to play with CP3 and Harden.

[Around the Horn]

Just a fantastic day in Sixer land...

 

I would be shocked if Bryan Colangelo doesn't get fired... Twitter is already starting the Hinkie bandwagon.

[BBTV]

Embiid to Coangelo,s admitted fake account:

   

 

[dfwabel]

17 minutes ago, Tracy Jordan said:

CP3 is a free agent this summer, right? I wonder if there's even a remote possibility that LeBron could convince CP3 to join him with the Lakers? If not, I could definitely see him going to Houston to play with CP3 and Harden.

The "Over 38" rule will come into play with both LeBron and especially CP3. Paul will want the longest, most lucrative contract possible as he's 34. So he's going to ask for 5 year SuperMax contract which was verbally agreed to during his trade from LAC.

The Lakers with two SuperMax guys over age 33 would be such a poor move by Magic Johnson.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I take back every nice thing I've said about Bryan Colangelo. What a mess.

[Digby]

You know it's bad enough when we anonymous internet cretins are constantly second guessing and criticizing NBA executives, but now the NBA executives are invading our basement-dwelling turf in return? Fair play, I guess!

[pmoehrin]

With regards to Bryan Colangelo.

 

First of all, hats off to The Ringer on putting together one of the best pieces of sports journalism ever written. The article is extremely lengthy, but it's well worth it just to gloss over it. Its one of if not the best piece of investigative journalism related to sports I've ever seen.

 

As for Colangelo himself, I am just floored by why someone in such a position would even do such a thing. You're the GM of an NBA team. People are supposed to react to the things you say and do. Not the other way around.

 

I've gone through a few Tweets of the alleged burner accounts, and most of them come off as intelligent with valid criticisms and critiques, which leads me to believe it likely is Colangelo sending them out. At the very least it's not someone calling into a radio show to talk terrible trade ideas who is Tweeting on these accounts. Whoever is running these accounts knows basketball inside and out. NBA GM's know basketball inside and out and as the article mentioned some of these Tweets might be a little too on point as in there is no way an average fan could even be aware or know some of the things mentioned.

 

If its true, I would have to think that's it for Bryan Colangelo's GM career with the 76ers or anyone else for that matter. If I'm an agent, he's the last GM I'd want to sit down with, because how do I know the private conversations we have aren't going to end up on Twitter? You could be the smartest guy in the room, but if nobody trusts you, it makes no difference. Nobody is going to want to work with or for you.

 

I thought the Hinkie departure was weird, but that was standard procedure compared to this. This story is head scratching on so many levels, least of all why do it in the first place? Other than satisfaction for his ego, there was nothing to be gained from this.

 

If Colangelo is fired (which I think will happen very soon if not by the end of the day) it will be the most bizarre reason to fire a GM I can ever recall in any major sport. For a team on LeBron's short list of potential destinations, this couldn't have come at a worse time.

[kimball]

1 hour ago, pmoehrin said:

 With regards to Bryan Colangelo.

 

First of all, hats off to The Ringer on putting together one of the best pieces of sports journalism ever written. The article is extremely lengthy, but it's well worth it just to gloss over it. Its one of if not the best piece of investigative journalism related to sports I've ever seen.

 

As for Colangelo himself, I am just floored by why someone in such a position would even do such a thing. You're the GM of an NBA team. People are supposed to react to the things you say and do. Not the other way around.

 

I've gone through a few Tweets of the alleged burner accounts, and most of them come off as intelligent with valid criticisms and critiques, which leads me to believe it likely is Colangelo sending them out. At the very least it's not someone calling into a radio show to talk terrible trade ideas who is Tweeting on these accounts. Whoever is running these accounts knows basketball inside and out. NBA GM's know basketball inside and out and as the article mentioned some of these Tweets might be a little too on point as in there is no way an average fan could even be aware or know some of the things mentioned.

 

If its true, I would have to think that's it for Bryan Colangelo's GM career with the 76ers or anyone else for that matter. If I'm an agent, he's the last GM I'd want to sit down with, because how do I know the private conversations we have aren't going to end up on Twitter? You could be the smartest guy in the room, but if nobody trusts you, it makes no difference. Nobody is going to want to work with or for you.

 

I thought the Hinkie departure was weird, but that was standard procedure compared to this. This story is head scratching on so many levels, least of all why do it in the first place? Other than satisfaction for his ego, there was nothing to be gained from this.

 

If Colangelo is fired (which I think will happen very soon if not by the end of the day) it will be the most bizarre reason to fire a GM I can ever recall in any major sport. For a team on LeBron's short list of potential destinations, this couldn't have come at a worse time.

 

PLOT TWIST: Colangelo is fired, Hinkie is rehired. And, just in time to complete the process with a major FA signing and championship ring. 

[BBTV]

44 minutes ago, kimball said:

 

PLOT TWIST: Colangelo is fired, Hinkie is rehired. And, just in time to complete the process with a major FA signing and championship ring. 

 

OMG please please please!!!!!

 

coangelo is a twit. A total twit that has done nothing but lie to and show total disdain for the fan base. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Colangelo was a fine GM who did some really stupid tweeting. He got the Sixers more wins in one season than Hinkie did in four.

 

Sports are so stupid.

[BBTV]

10 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Colangelo was a fine GM who did some really stupid tweeting. He got the Sixers more wins in one season than Hinkie did in four.

 

Sports are so stupid.

 

With all due respect, you don’t hear his BS every day. False injury updates, nonsensical answers that totally avoid questions, flat out refusals to answer questions, drafting Fultz, etc. Neither Coangelo did much. 

 

Its foolish and to compare win totals, since their goals were totally different. I’m not saying that Hinkie was ever going to be the one to turn it around, but that wasn’t what he was brought in to do 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Fair enough. Suffice to say, the Sixers GM job is probably the most attractive in the league. I'm not sure who the current candidates are though.