2019 NBA Summer season

[The Six]

OKC is a big winner here. They'll get to unload Wussel, get a ton of picks, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That kid's going to be a star and it hurts to lose him, but this is what the Clippers FO has been planning for two years, and they actually pulled it off, so they can't have any regrets.

[dfwabel]

11 minutes ago, Tracy Jordan said:

 

If everyone is healthy come playoff time, you think they could beat a healthy Warriors team with Klay back in the lineup? Kawhi, Paul George and Pat Beverly is a hell of a defensive trio. Plus, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell coming off the bench? I might have to pick the Clippers.

It will be more about how teams in the West will treat the regular season compared to others.

 

Utah and Denver will easily put more emphasis on the full 82 compared to the Clippers, Rockets, Warriors, Lakers, and even Blazers.

 

Wow, I listed seven teams, where are Andrew Wiggins and KAT with the Wolves?  Wait, they just like hoarding money and being .500!

[dfwabel]

2 minutes ago, The Six said:

OKC is a big winner here. They'll get to unload Wussel, get a ton of picks, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That kid's going to be a star and it hurts to lose him, but this is what the Clippers FO has been planning for two years, and they actually pulled it off, so they can't have any regrets.

Are they?  Doesn't that all depend on if Presti stays for at least half of those picks?  Or if Donovan stays? 

As I posted before, Billy Donovan is only under contract for this season.  While NCAA hoops is a mess, he can get any open NBA job he wants next June. 

[dfwabel]

 

[dfwabel]

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'm in Vegas now at Summer League and was surprised to learn about the PG/Kawhi move after 1. a gotdamn earthquake which happened 2. during a Penn and Teller show I saw.

 

After processing, it makes sense. Kawhi chose the New Balance of NBA franchises and has a younger, deeper bench.

 

They'll have a great regular season record, but I think I still like the Lakers in the playoffs, assuming everyone's healthy. As with most LeBron teams, he's surrounded himself with guys who have been there before and will likely add a couple more.

 

One note about Summer League: we're entering peak hipster Clippers fandom. You want to see white guys in ironic t-shirts, Clipppers hats and bad moustaches? Here we go!

[DEAD!]

8 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

So then he left Toronto to take less money in exchange for a better chance to win, to be close to home, and to be in the LA area.  Don't blame him at all, but it disputes the point made earlier that he just left for the money.

I don't blame him either. I am sure if I was offered millions of dollars to work and live in LA, I would take it. I also can appreciate Masai and Webster not making the proposed trade for George. They did not let the emotion of winning the title get in the way of their plan for the future.

[habsfan1]

1 hour ago, Ice_Cap said:

I mean...is it?

 

Look. We've all known Kawhi would likely be gone after one year. We all knew that going in. And the team, and Kawhi, made the most of that year. The Raptors are NBA Champions. Something I never thought I'd ever see. I'll always be grateful for what he did for this team and fanbase. I'm not mad, I'm not disappointment. I'm grateful that, despite being in a situation he clearly didn't prefer, he opted to give it his all and do something special for this team. He'll always be the greatest Raptor in my book. I wish him nothing but the best in LA. It'll be interesting to see a Lakers/Clippers rivalry that's actually fun.

 

That being said...

It's the Clippers. I look forward to their upcoming second round collapse against...I donno...the Jazz or something

 

Totally understandable.

 

Now, a lot of gratitude has been expressed towards Kawhi for bringing a title to Canada in his sole season. That said, when the Clippers visit the Raptors in the 2020 season, maybe there's a chance he gets cheered by his former crowd when the intro guy says his name. Lebron got booed out the building in Cleveland, when Miami visited. But given this scenario has a lot of different circumstances, I'll hold onto the chance it won't be the raging boo birds like Lebron or KD's return to OKC.

[dfwabel]

8 minutes ago, habsfan1 said:

 

Totally understandable.

 

Now, a lot of gratitude has been expressed towards Kawhi for bringing a title to Canada in his sole season. That said, when the Clippers visit the Raptors in the 2020 season, maybe there's a chance he gets cheered by his former crowd when the intro guy says his name. Lebron got booed out the building in Cleveland, when Miami visited. But given this scenario has a lot of different circumstances, I'll hold onto the chance it won't be the raging boo birds like Lebron or KD's return to OKC.

Kawhi was traded to Toronto.

He didn't get to there freely, but he left there freely and gave you a 'Chip in the process.

 

Stop being so thirsty.

[habsfan1]

14 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

Kawhi was traded to Toronto.

He didn't get to there freely, but he left there freely and gave you a 'Chip in the process.

 

Stop being so thirsty.

 

I'm understanding of the situation. But I'm not going to blatantly lie and say that the Raptors losing 2 of their best players is easy.

 

It's mixed emotions. Some of those emotions are me being thankful they finally got a Title.

[Digby]

I think the angry booing of departed players is overstated, and that those guys are more often cheered upon their return.

 

holding an exception for Kyrie Irving, a garbage person who can go to hell.

[dont care]

9 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

So then he left Toronto to take less money in exchange for a better chance to win, to be close to home, and to be in the LA area.  Don't blame him at all, but it disputes the point made earlier that he just left for the money.

When you take into account taxes he actually makes 11 million more over the 4 years with the clippers.

[dfwabel]

8 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

Updated Westgate odds.  Looks like the deal helped the Clippers (duh) and Sixers, hurt the Lakers and Raptors (again, duh.)

 

I'm not a gambler, so I may be reading wrong, but it looks like they give the favorite "only" a 25% chance of winning.

 

 

updated:

 

@DG_Now, drop by a book before you leave to get us live odds! 

[dfwabel]

FYI...

 

[Digby]

This won’t happen because Boston’s not much of a basketball town relatively, but for my money Kyrie ought to be the biggest sports villain in Boston since Roger Clemens. Free agents come and go but I’m still kind of stunned at the audacity in how badly he went back on his word. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a star-level player so obviously put in zero effort in a playoff series like he did against Milwaukee. Enjoy the angst and conspiracy theories, Brooklyn.

 

also getting a kick out of the “Welcome home” narrative for the Nets signing a guy from West Orange. Gold.

[dont care]

26 minutes ago, Digby said:

This won’t happen because Boston’s not much of a basketball town relatively, but for my money Kyrie ought to be the biggest sports villain in Boston since Roger Clemens. Free agents come and go but I’m still kind of stunned at the audacity in how badly he went back on his word. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a star-level player so obviously put in zero effort in a playoff series like he did against Milwaukee. Enjoy the angst and conspiracy theories, Brooklyn.

I don’t view him as a villain more than just a cancer that needed to be cut from the organization. He could ball but had zero leadership skills and it showed. Acquiring Kemba is a great improvement because he’s always been a leader at UConn and Charlotte. Losing horford is a huge blow though. 

[BBTV]

Are things still not yet official in this dumb league?  Was just checking Sixers page to see about new uniform numbers and the roster has barely been updated. Almost all the departed players are still listed. Usually they're pretty good about these things.

[FiddySicks]

So, Westbrook to Detroit in a multi team, multi player, multi pick deal now? 

 

 

This off season is almost too much. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

13 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

So, Westbrook to Detroit in a multi team, multi player, multi pick deal now? 

 

 

This off season is almost too much. 

 

Where are you seeing this?

 

I was hoping for Westbrook with Harden in Houston, moving Chris Paul to Miami.

[FiddySicks]

25 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

 

Where are you seeing this?

 

I was hoping for Westbrook with Harden in Houston, moving Chris Paul to Miami.

 

It’s just a rumor. Still crazy that this off season is here, now. I expected a lot, but the possibility of Westbrook getting traded before the start of next season? Uh, I definitely didn’t think that was possible.