2011 NBA Offesason Thread

[Lights Out]

First off the T Wolves did alright.

Haha, no. This was David Kahn's draft strategy:

1. Spend days trying to trade the #2 pick in trades that largely don't make sense and hurt the team.

2. Keep the #2 pick. Draft Williams. Briefly consider trading him.

3. Trade Jonny Flynn for BRAD MILLER.

4. Draft another guard, negating the fact that you just cut back on them.

Other than keeping Williams (which is a decision that even a trained chimp would make), Kahn continued to display his complete ignorance of how to construct an NBA roster.

[rams80]

Somebody want to explain what the hell the kings were thinking?

Salmons gets traded to Chicago for Andres Nocioni and short term cap space who then gets dealt to Philly for Samuel Dalembert and short term cap space, and that short term cap space is what Sacramento used to trade for John Salmons.

This was what I was referring to.

They paid themselves to screw themselves.

Hawks on verge of being sold.

Let those rumours on the Hawks to Winnipeg begin....

If the arena is thrown in, cue more wailing and gnashing of teeth from Atlanta fans. If it's just the team, what psychopath wants to be taking out a lease with these guys?

[RyanB06]

I heard a rumor Isiah likes Iman and was the one who made the pick. I guess this means you know who is coming back.

If he does come back I motion we change his nickname from "Zeke" to "Rasputin".

Rah Rah Rasputin ruiner of the Knicks team he was so inept New York wanted his head.

Boney M reference. Love it.

[Milo Meningocele]

Wow, nobody at the draft knew how to pronounce "Qatar"?! I thought it sucked too, how they spent the whole night giggling over all the foreign names.

[cameroncrazie07]

I also loved how much coverage the T-Wolves were getting on channels like ESPN and NBA TV. I happened to be watching "Around the Horn" Tuesday I think and they were talking about one of the dumb trades that there were rumors about. Then at the end Tony Reali just says "wait why are we talking about the T-Wolves again?". Sometimes I think that low tier NBA teams create awful trade rumors just to get in the news.

[NEW.ERA]

And that's the problem with the NBA. Such a vast difference between the ceiling and the basement. Every year reminds me more and more of the major soccer leagues in Europe, if you don't have the big bucks or play in a big market off and let the mainstream media make fun of you.

Granted many of the small teams seem to be run by idiots.

[TFoA]

There's your answer. Small-market teams can succeed (that's what the cap is for), just not with idiots running them.

Speaking of idiots running franchises...the sooner the Hawks get sold, the better. The only people gnashing their teeth are the few people who believe the crew who ran the hockey team outta town, handed out one of the worst contracts in league, let the arena become a mess, & are basically the Anti-Arthur Blank in this town are good for sports here. There's been too

much smoke surrounding the sale of the team for there to be no fire. These clowns may finally be on the way out.

Also, the draft got its highest ratings since 2007. It may have been a bad draft when it comes to league-changing talent, but it was a bonanza for the league. Once again, NBA's popularity is at an all-time high & these fools want to have a lockout. >_>

[dfwabel]

After 15 years of covering the draft, Chad Ford summed it up pretty well:

Despite all the money that's spent, the ability to predict the success of a NBA draft prospect has not gotten better. Until the league finds a way to work with player agents to recreate a more intimate process, it's likely to remain a crapshoot for a long, long time.

[The_Admiral]

That draft really sucked. The production, the actual players, just a crappy night. Of course, I watched it. The only memorable part of the night was when the foreigner was asked how he was similar to Chris Bosh and he responded by drooling on himself and wetting his pants. Confronted with the request to compare myself to Chris Bosh, I'd probably do the same, and my English is generally described as adequate.

I'm not even sure who the Bulls drafted. I know that Miami had the 28th pick, which they sent to Toronto for Bosh, which they sent to Chicago for James Johnson, which the Bulls sent to Minnesota, who flipped it back to Miami. That, in a nutshell, is this year's draft.

[cameroncrazie07]

That draft really sucked. The production, the actual players, just a crappy night. Of course, I watched it. The only memorable part of the night was when the foreigner was asked how he was similar to Chris Bosh and he responded by drooling on himself and wetting his pants. Confronted with the request to compare myself to Chris Bosh, I'd probably do the same, and my English is generally described as adequate.

I'm not even sure who the Bulls drafted. I know that Miami had the 28th pick, which they sent to Toronto for Bosh, which they sent to Chicago for James Johnson, which the Bulls sent to Minnesota, who flipped it back to Miami. That, in a nutshell, is this year's draft.

I actually got a lot of enjoyment out of this draft. Probably because after the first 3 picks no one had any idea where they were going to wind up. The Tristan Thompson pick at 4 had me and my friends stunned. Overall it was a pretty fun draft, and one of the few that I have watched all the way through. (Mostly because I wanted to see all 3 Duke players get drafted, and I had 5 bucks in a pool to see who get the most picks right). Watching ESPN today someone said that "this years draft won't have many players making an immediate impact, but it will have a lot of guys turning out to be solid NBA players." I think that quote sums it up the best. No Lebron's or D-Wade's in this years draft, but still a lot of good players.

[pmoehrin]

The only reason I watched was to see trades that never happened.

The draft class itself I think is one of the weakest ever and outside of Derrick Williams there is nobody I'm really sold on as being a player you can bulid around.

[YessSir32]

I enjoyed the draft as well. It wasn't a strong draft, but more of a role player draft. Most of the players drafted will impact teams in positive ways without being superstars. I was glad to see Darius Morris from Michigan drafted to the Lakers. I'm hoping he will do good there. I'm also glad that the Pistons finally drafted talent and not a bunch of forwards. I think that Brandon Knight was a steal and Singler and Macklin weren't bad picks either.

[loogodude90]

I'm very happy with Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton for the Wiz. The picks made perfect sense.

We don't need any more guards, and assuming McGee develops a bball IQ, and sticks around, we didn't really need to draft a Center. Vesely looks like he can provide some energy/hustle/spark to our SF/PF positions. All of our forwards (at least the ones who stay healthy) are WAY too laid back and soft on BOTH ends of the floor.

Chris Singleton was a great pick for his defense which seems to be a foreign concept to the Wizards. Maybe he can teach them about it.

[dfwabel]

That draft really sucked. The production, the actual players, just a crappy night. Of course, I watched it. The only memorable part of the night was when the foreigner was asked how he was similar to Chris Bosh and he responded by drooling on himself and wetting his pants. Confronted with the request to compare myself to Chris Bosh, I'd probably do the same, and my English is generally described as adequate.

With more well known and better college players and the broadcast teams (even with Peter Vescey), the draft was much more exciting when on TBS or TNT. When watching those on NBATV last week, they were better overall.

As for the "rear dirty pants moment", that went to Jonas Valanciunas: "I have no strong body."

The "front dirty pants moment" went to Vesely in kissing his very, very tall female companion.

[knnhrvy16]

The Jazz's draft is getting some good grades, which I'm obviously happy about. Picking Kanter helps out in the size department, as that was a big need because of the length of teams like the Lakers and Thunder - thise teams usually beat us up inside. Also, Kanter is supposedly a terrific rebounder, which should help open up alot more offensive opportunities. Burks, I still don't know a whole lot about yet, but I haven't heard anything bad really about the pick. He'll help out offensively, an area in which the Jazz were in DIRE need of help. All in all, I'm very happy with this draft. They took advantage of a huge opportunity with two lottery picks. Now looking back and realizing the D-Will trade produced a great veteran in Devin Harris, a very exciting young talent in Derrick Favors, and now Enes Kanter, that move has produced a fantastic result. Add the Hayward and Evans picks of last year to Burks this year and the result of the D-Will trade, and you have a young core that I can't help but be excited about.

Oklahoma City has recently proven that building a young core can lead to great success down the road...I'm optimistic that this core Utah has could eventually produce the same result.

[AnythingChicago]

Wow, nobody at the draft knew how to pronounce "Qatar"?! I thought it sucked too, how they spent the whole night giggling over all the foreign names.

COTT-err. It's not "kuh-TAR" or "cudder". Better get used to it, because in 11 years the world cup is in Qatar.

[Still MIGHTY]

Hawks on verge of being sold.

Let those rumours on the Hawks to Winnipeg begin....

I'd imagine bluelandbeliever and any diehard Thrasher fan is going to be a little more pissed at ASG if this goes down. Wasn't ASG saying during the whole Thrashers thing that they weren't selling the Hawks/Phillips when those "local groups" were appearing, and then the Thrashers move. And if the Hawks/Phillips do end up getting sold, I'd know I wouldn't be happy if I was an Atlantan hockey fan/

ASG is a terrible sack of people.

[ninersdd]

Hawks on verge of being sold.

Let those rumours on the Hawks to Winnipeg begin....

I'd imagine bluelandbeliever and any diehard Thrasher fan is going to be a little more pissed at ASG if this goes down. Wasn't ASG saying during the whole Thrashers thing that they weren't selling the Hawks/Phillips when those "local groups" were appearing, and then the Thrashers move. And if the Hawks/Phillips do end up getting sold, I'd know I wouldn't be happy if I was an Atlantan hockey fan/

ASG is a terrible sack of people.

MAYBE someone from Seattle can buy them and move them there! Seattle Hawks has an interesting ring to it. (Yes I know they need a new arena)

[Lights Out]

David Kahn, you've done it again.

26-year-old rookies and trading for Brad Miller: just another dysfunctional week in Minnesota.

[dfwabel]

The Jazz's draft is getting some good grades, which I'm obviously happy about. Picking Kanter helps out in the size department, as that was a big need because of the length of teams like the Lakers and Thunder - thise teams usually beat us up inside. Also, Kanter is supposedly a terrific rebounder, which should help open up alot more offensive opportunities. Burks, I still don't know a whole lot about yet, but I haven't heard anything bad really about the pick. He'll help out offensively, an area in which the Jazz were in DIRE need of help. All in all, I'm very happy with this draft. They took advantage of a huge opportunity with two lottery picks. Now looking back and realizing the D-Will trade produced a great veteran in Devin Harris, a very exciting young talent in Derrick Favors, and now Enes Kanter, that move has produced a fantastic result. Add the Hayward and Evans picks of last year to Burks this year and the result of the D-Will trade, and you have a young core that I can't help but be excited about.

Oklahoma City has recently proven that building a young core can lead to great success down the road...I'm optimistic that this core Utah has could eventually produce the same result.

Please don't judge a NBA draft, especially one for the after 24 hours. Just look at the last eight NBA champions to see that most do not have many original draft picks on their roster. The Spurs had the most with talent who contributed major minutes, not just newly drafted scrubs (2007: Duncan. Parker, Manu).

The Mavericks prove that drafting means little.

David Kahn, you've done it again.

26-year-old rookies and trading for Brad Miller: just another dysfunctional week in Minnesota.

Here is the thing about Kahn, he worked as a reporter, so he has seen talent and has the ability to write well. He also received his JD and was an attorney which worked with a firm which had NBA team ties.

Yet, Kahn possesses ZERO negotiation skills! He allows other GMs to outsmart him and clown him (see below). I have no idea on the backgrounds of the current MIN scouting staff and the time which they have been with the team, but combined, they seem to be like a circus calliope.

The team is also trying to piggyback on state funding for a new Vikings venue. Kahn should not make the legislature be confident in their investment.