NBA Offseason Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

The Bulls were going nowhere, so I guess they can take a chance on Parker and see if he can ever come back from his injuries. I'm a bit skeptical myself; always thought that 2014 class (outside of Embiid) was overrated, and not sure Parker (like Wiggins) has the fire or desire to lead teams to the next level.

[Jameis1of1]

The Bulls were going nowhere, so I guess they can take a chance on Parker and see if he can ever come back from his injuries. I'm a bit skeptical myself; always thought that 2014 class (outside of Embiid) was overrated, and not sure Parker (like Wiggins) has the fire or desire to lead teams to the next level.

The Bulls have a very, very talented and young starting 5 with: Dunn/LaVine/Jabari/Markenen(sp?)/Carter … if they can keep those 5 together for 5+ years, they could be special.

As for Jabari himself … he reminds me of Melo. Wiggins has T-Mac ability, but yeah, I agree, neither seem to have that competitive fire necessary to really maximize their potential … they can still both be All-Stars though

[WilyWestbrook0]

It's official - Kawhi Leonard is finally out of San Antonio. He's been traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first rounder:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...-demar-derozan

[pwskelly]

It's official - Kawhi Leonard is finally out of San Antonio. He's been traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first rounder:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...-demar-derozan

Many of the media outlets in Canada are hailing this as a major coup for the Raptors. As a Spurs fan I think that Buford got as good a return as he was going to get for Kawhi, particularly given that he had backed them in the corner and there were few trade partners emerging to court Leonard.

Sad to see Kawhi go but DeRozan is a nice consolation prize.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Many of the media outlets in Canada are hailing this as a major coup for the Raptors. As a Spurs fan I think that Buford got as good a return as he was going to get for Kawhi, particularly given that he had backed them in the corner and there were few trade partners emerging to court Leonard.

Sad to see Kawhi go but DeRozan is a nice consolation prize.

Yeah this is probably as good as they were going to get at this juncture. DeMar is very coachable and does well in structured systems, so I can see him doing well under Popovich. Obviously he doesn't have Kawhi's defense, but he'll give them much needed offense on the perimeter. Toronto obviously needed to do something, and this is huge for them. Without having to deal with LeBron anymore out East, I'm curious to see how they do now with Kawhi, and how well they can compete with Boston and Philly.

[pwskelly]

I'm kinda shocked that the Lakers let Kawhi go. I know the Spurs were asking for a lot but let's face it, Kawhi is a top 5 player when healthy. The fact that he wants to go to the Lakers, and the fact that Lebron ain't getting any younger would lead you to believe that LA should have tried to move on Kawhi THIS YEAR!

Magic pulled this garbage of wait and see with Paul George, who adamantly told everyone he wanted to play for his hero, Magic, and his childhood team, the Lakers. Magic thought that he'd get cute and wait until George made it to free agency. Well, that plan didn't work out too well for the Lakers did it LOL?

I know that Kawhi is saying that he doesn't want to play for TO but I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his mind. Wth his addition (and Lebron's departure), I strongly believe that the Dinos become the instant odds on favourites to win the East, even with Boston and Philly improving. In terms of cities, Toronto is a beautiful city with a crazy sports fan base. Sure, the winters suck but at least he'll have Drake keeping him company at courtside during the season ...

I agree that DeRozan will be an excellent fit for the Spurs. Although he's not the defensive player that Kawhi is, he'll help replace most of Kawhi's scoring and quickly adapt to Pop's playbook.

[pwaldo]

Is Leonard even going to report to the Raptors? He seems pretty upset about having to go to another country and if the Spurs wanted to stick it to him they really did with this trade.

[pwskelly]

Is Leonard even going to report to the Raptors? He seems pretty upset about having to go to another country and if the Spurs wanted to stick it to him they really did with this trade.

I think he has to, in the very least from a personal pride standpoint.

Financially, If he sits out another year, he's probably going to lose some leverage when it comes to picking up his next contract, even if he and the Lakers have already decided that this will happen.

Secondly, I think that even for a player as great as Kawhi, missing almost two seasons of play in the NBA is probably going to have a negative effect on his game. I don't think he wants to wait for another year to test himself against NBA competition and a chance to make the playoffs.

I think the real reason however, is that he wants to prove his doubters that they were wrong. Keep in mind that the main reason (or at least one of the main reasons) he left SA is because his health, and his toughness, were questioned by his teammates, the organization, and the fans. If Kawhi sits again this season, it was just prove to everyone that Kawhi was the problem, and not the Spurs. Something tells me that Kawhi will be motivated to have a monster season in Toronto, even if its only for one year.

[creasecollector]

I think finically he would be smart to play this year. I’m hoping he uses it as motivation and does really well for the Raptors this coming season. Sucks that it’s it’s only for 1 season though.

[WilyWestbrook0]

lol well wow. I just read how both players feel about being traded, and neither are happy. DeRozan took to Instagram about feeling stabbed in the back, and yeah, apparently Kawhi doesn't want to be in Toronto.\

Seems like a screw-you-player move by both organizations: to DeRozan for failing continually to lead the Raptors past the LeBrons, and the Spurs to Kawhi for all the drama his situation caused the team's image.