2012 NBA Offseason Thread

Ain't no party like a Harden party

Originally posted by monsterzero789:

Lol @ Kobe going try-hard mode against Chinese celebs. 68 points in 15 minutes in a charity game

Did you see the video? It looked like he was playing a bunch of jr high kids, and he was moving about 50% speed. lol

Apparently the Lakers put a "you have 36 hours to get this done, or we're out" deadline on Orlando when the Magic approached them again a couple of weeks ago.

Originally posted by sacniner:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
Don't get me wrong...I do agree with you that we're probably never going to see a superstar leave his incumbent team to go to a place like OKC or San Antonio via free agency, and this is an advantage that places like LA, Miami, & NYC enjoy. I also don't think that there's anything a CBA can do about that. Nothing's going to make a superstar say, "you know what, given a choice, I'd love to go play in Milwaukee!"

Despite this, I think the least accessible way of improving a small market team (free agency) is also the least effective way of improving any team, outside of signing superstars. Take Orlando, for example. Orlando DID sign a key free agent. In fact, they signed the biggest free agent of 2007, when they gave Rashard Lewis $117M. Orlando's had a Top 3-5 payroll in the league for the last few years. It's not that they couldn't spend with the big boys, it's that they spent poorly and didn't acquire the right guys. While I think Dwight was a douchebag in how he handled the situation, I don't feel badly for Orlando in the respect that they lost him. Last year, they compounded their previous mistakes by doubling down on guys like Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson.

Point being, Orlando had the resources to build around Dwight, but chose the wrong guys. Heck, when the big, bad Lakers were making bad personnel decisions and not getting talent on the team, Kobe Bryant wanted out too. I don't think guys like Duncan or Durant are special in terms of personality. Would Duncan have stuck around for all of these years if the Spurs were inept? Probably not, IMO. The only guy that I can think of that stayed loyal to a crappy franchise, regardless of whether they were big or small, was Kevin Garnett in Minnesota...and even he eventually wanted out.

IMO, there are 3 ways for a team to build a consistent contender. Via the draft, via trade, or via signing a superstar FA away from another team. Any team can participate in the first two markets, and while the third is generally reserved for certain destinations, I'm not sure that anything can be done about that. The other market, which is the rest of free agency, is the one where the most franchise-damning mistakes are made, IMO.

I agree. Duncan wouldn't have stayed if his team didn't draft well. SA does an amazing job of scouting talent. Especially "under the radar" guys. OKC did an damn good job drafting also. That is where Orlando and Cleveland failed. And like you said, Orlando did a horrendous job. Those teams (OKC and SA) have figured out the recipe for small market success. But, it ain't easy and the odds are against you. Ask a bunch of other teams.

A team like the Knicks has done an embarrasing job the past several years. But, now they have Melo (team killer or not). I'm relatively confident that they should be able to sign the next key free agent and be a ECFs type team again soon. Or, they will sign a couple big names. A select few teams, LAL and NYK chief among them, can recover and sign big time guys any offseason. Wait... this is the Knicks we are talking about. Nevermind

the warriors play in a big market, right?

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
the warriors play in a big market, right?

Ya, it's considered to be the 6th largest market in the NBA.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
the warriors play in a big market, right?

Ya, it's considered to be the 6th largest market in the NBA.

such a waste
what a s**tty franchise

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
the warriors play in a big market, right?

Ya, it's considered to be the 6th largest market in the NBA.

It's so peculiar as to why GS never gets mentioned with the other "big markets." Maybe when the move to SF it'll change?

Also, maybe changing their name from GS to SF would make a difference?

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
That's fair. I was going to say that I don't think that there's much that can be done about guys wanting to sign in big markets, but what they really should do is eliminate the max cap on what superstars can make. What's LeBron worth on the open market? $40M per year? $50M? What about Howard? $30-40M? If LeBron's getting what he's worth, there's no way you could afford to have Dwyane Wade (worth $25-30M per year?) and Chris Bosh too ($18M-$22M?) and fit under the salary cap. You could say the same thing about the Lakers with Kobe & Howard.

IMO, that's the biggest reason behind the superteam phenomenon.

Never thought about it that way... Good point. Give them their "fair" market value. Interesting....

Originally posted by sacniner:

It's so peculiar as to why GS never gets mentioned with the other "big markets." Maybe when the move to SF it'll change?

Also, maybe changing their name from GS to SF would make a difference?

because they're arguably the worst franchise in the history of sports

Originally posted by sacniner:
It's so peculiar as to why GS never gets mentioned with the other "big markets." Maybe when the move to SF it'll change?

Also, maybe changing their name from GS to SF would make a difference?

All they have to do is run their franchise well for a few years, IMO. The Clippers fit the same description. I know there's an inclination to just think of them as the Laker's little brothers and not a real big market team, but there's plenty of room in LA for two successful teams. Heck, they had ONE good year this year, and the buzz around them in LA was enormous. Then, of course, they let the FO guy that put the team together (Neil Olshey) walk to Portland for more money.

Maybe I'm biased here, but I think the Bay Area is f**kin' awesome, and if I was a millionaire in my mid-20's, it would be pretty high on my list of places I wanted to play. There's no reason that they can't build a contender with a badass arena (which they're working on) surrounded by tons of restaurants and clubs (which they're working on) and accompanied by a nice, big local TV deal.

Could you imagine how much love the Dubs would get in the Bay Area if they were actually good?!?!? Hell, it's already one of the most loyal fanbases in the country...how many casual fans would you guys pick up if you actually had a perennial contender?

Originally posted by ImaMod:

Originally posted by sacniner:

It's so peculiar as to why GS never gets mentioned with the other "big markets." Maybe when the move to SF it'll change?

Also, maybe changing their name from GS to SF would make a difference?

because they're arguably the worst franchise in the history of sports

I don't know about all that.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

I don't know about all that.

you don't think so?
after reading that grantland article about how terrible they are I was convinced they're bottom 3

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
That's fair. I was going to say that I don't think that there's much that can be done about guys wanting to sign in big markets, but what they really should do is eliminate the max cap on what superstars can make. What's LeBron worth on the open market? $40M per year? $50M? What about Howard? $30-40M? If LeBron's getting what he's worth, there's no way you could afford to have Dwyane Wade (worth $25-30M per year?) and Chris Bosh too ($18M-$22M?) and fit under the salary cap. You could say the same thing about the Lakers with Kobe & Howard.

IMO, that's the biggest reason behind the superteam phenomenon.

I believe hard salary cap will work better. Get rid of soft cap and all these mid-level exceptions and mini-exceptions.

Originally posted by ImaMod:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

I don't know about all that.

you don't think so?
after reading that grantland article about how terrible they are I was convinced they're bottom 3

Not in the "History of all sports".


Hell no. lol

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
That's fair. I was going to say that I don't think that there's much that can be done about guys wanting to sign in big markets, but what they really should do is eliminate the max cap on what superstars can make. What's LeBron worth on the open market? $40M per year? $50M? What about Howard? $30-40M? If LeBron's getting what he's worth, there's no way you could afford to have Dwyane Wade (worth $25-30M per year?) and Chris Bosh too ($18M-$22M?) and fit under the salary cap. You could say the same thing about the Lakers with Kobe & Howard.

IMO, that's the biggest reason behind the superteam phenomenon.

I believe hard salary cap will work better. Get rid of soft cap and all these mid-level exceptions and mini-exceptions.

Great idea, won't happen though. Too many teams way way over the cap, which is a measly $58.044M, compared to the NFLs $120.3M. If they bumped it to 75-80M then it's a different story.

Then owners like Dolan in NY wouldn't be able to spend and spend out his arse on bad contracts and bad players. Teams like LA Lakers, Miami, OKC, San Antonio, Boston, NY Knicks, are all over or way over the cap in next years.

OKC dishing out 48M for Ibaka, Boston giving out ridiculous deals to Jeff Green, big deals to Brandon Bass, KG, Miami adding LeBron and Bosh to Wade 2 summers back, LAL getting Howard, and hoping to sign him to extension, max of course, with Kobe, Pau, Artest, and others, just bad cap management.