NBA Offseason Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Discuss the draft and other major off-season moves and events here. I expect we'll see some major action as teams scramble to one-up Golden State and build for either the present or future.

[pwaldo]

Really should just be renamed where is Lebron James going thread because nothing else really matters with this off season. I know some trades may be made and you have some good guys who can sign but nothing will compare to the seismic shift on where Lebron James plays next year. It could make a new team into a contender and there are a bunch of possibilities where he lands.

[bakemeister52]

LeBron will be the big news but what will the Warriors do with there team. Will George and Carmello stay put, will the Rockets add someone to make there team better to compete with the Warriors and what will Celtics do with a healthy team?

[WilyWestbrook0]

Carmelo is definitely going. He hasn't hidden his unhappiness with the situation in OKC, and his teammates haven't hidden their disdain for him (although Steven Adams' "fat fingers" excuse was one of the most hilarious ones I've ever heard).

[Theodor Madison]

Though I think Melo as really good player. I has only played really good part time. He has never wanted to take charge of the team, or he never wanted responsibility for a TEAM.

Carmelo is definitely going. He hasn't hidden his unhappiness with the situation in OKC, and his teammates haven't hidden their disdain for him (although Steven Adams' "fat fingers" excuse was one of the most hilarious ones I've ever heard).

[Theodor Madison]

LeBron will be the big news but what will the Warriors do with there team. Will George and Carmello stay put, will the Rockets add someone to make there team better to compete with the Warriors and what will Celtics do with a healthy team?

Don't see much as far as the Warriors changing. Lebron is not needed there. Why should trades be made for him. Perhaps he would join them for a year at no charge just to know how much fun that will be. May be his only real dream team he will get to play with.

[Jameis1of1]

GREAT thread idea Wily!

LeBron is the biggest name but he's not even close to the only one ... Paul George, Boogie Cousins, Kawhi (trade?), Melo (trade?), etc., are all huge names.

In fact, if LeBron goes out West to sign with the Rockets and a player like Paul George goes East and signs with the 76'ers, it's possible that THAT will be the more impactful signing, as I could see a LeBron-led Rockets team still not being enough to topple the Warriors (especially considering I don't trust CP3 to stay healthy), whereas adding Paul George to Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and the boys could be enough to make Philly the Beast of the East.

As for Melo ... he's not going anywhere unless OKC can find a trade partner imo, which is doubtful. He's a bad fit in OKC but I'd be shocked if he doesn't exercise his player option as he won't get anywhere near the same $$$ on the free agent market ... so ... unless OKC wants to take back Houston's trash (Ryan Anderson and Nene) I'm not sure they'll be able to get rid of him.

Kawhi Leonard is also fascinating and I can't believe the Spurs won't trade him ... they just don't seem like the sort of organization to risk losing him for nothing the way the Magic lost Shaq for nothing in the summer of 1996, so I've got to think the Spurs will trade Kawhi to the Lakers (for Ingram, Kuzma and Deng), 76'ers (for Fultz, Covington and picks), Cavs (for Clarkson, Cedi, Nance, Zizic and picks) or Celtics (for Kyrie) ... and as Kawhi could be key to where LeBron signs, I'm almost just as excited to see where Kawhi lands as I am to see where LeBron lands.

Boogie Cousins is also a super-interesting case ... the Pelicans apparently are low-balling him so I could see him sign with the Mavs or Lakers.

If I had to list what my dream summer for the NBA would be, it would be:

REALISTIC DREAMS:

LeBron and Kawhi going to the 76'ers, giving them a starting 5 of: Simmons/Redick/Kawhi/LeBron/Embiid with Dario Saric as the 6th man

Paul George & Boogie & a re-signed Randle going to Lakers, who would have a starting 5 of: Lonzo/Ingram/PG13/Randle/Boogie w/ Kuzma as 6th man


SEMI-REALISTIC DREAM:

Carmelo Anthony traded to the Rockets (who also re-sign Trevor Ariza) for Ryan Anderson, Zhou Qi & Chinanu Onuaku, giving Houston a starting 5 of: CP3/Harden/Ariza/Melo/Capela with Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker as their 6th and 7th men


UNREALISTIC BUT AWESOME DREAM:

Celtics trade Kyrie and Baynes (to make the salaries match) to the Knicks for Kanter, Ntilikina, Mudiay and the #9 pick - Kyrie reportedly will leave Boston with NOTHING to sign with the Knicks after next year anyways, so why not get a nice package for him now if you're Boston?


THREE-TEAM BLOCKBUSTER (Actually realistic but unlikely):

Raptors Trade: DeMar DeRozan
Raptors Receive: Andrew Wiggins, Sam Dekker and the #20 pick
Why: DeRozan has reached his potential and can't shoot from distance so is a bad fit with Lowry ... Wiggins is "Maple Jordan" and a Canadian hero, and bringing him in along with a talented young SF and the #20 pick could be a great move for the Raptpors

T'Wolves Trade: Andrew Wiggins
T'Wolves Receive: Danilo Gallinari, the #12 and the #13 pick
Why: Wiggins and Jimmy Butler are not a good match whereas Gallinari is a perfect fit at the SF spot in Minny thanks to his marksmanship from deep ... adding both the #12 and #13 pick makes this a great return for Minny, especially as their coach seems to prefer Jimmy Butler to Wiggins anyways

Clippers Trade: Danilo Gallinari, Sam Dekker, the #12 and #13 picks
Clippers Receive: DeMar DeRozan
Why: The Clippers need a face of the franchise star and hometown legend DeRozan fits the bill, period ... and if they can sign a top free agent PF like Derrick Favors, they could have a nice playoff roster with Beverly/DeRozan/Harris/Favors/Jordan

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER SIGNING DREAMS:

Dirk Nowitzki: I'd like to see him sign wherever LeBron signs, period.

Michael Beasley: I'd like to see him sign with the Hawks and take 30 shots a game, every game, for an entire season, LOL

Isaiah Thomas: I'd like to see him sign with the Spurs and drive Popovich crazy

Jabari Parker: Signed and traded to the Utah Jazz ... he'd make nice running mate for Donovan Mitchell and as he's a Mormon, I think he'd play inspired ball for the Jazz

[WilyWestbrook0]

No idea what George will do. He didn't bad-mouth OKC or Russ at all after the playoffs and actually implied that he enjoyed playing for the team, unlike Melo, who was clearly unhappy. If he does leave, OKC will obviously need to get more help from somewhere because Russ will break down if he keeps doing the triple-double stuff (he didn't really need to do it last season, but Donovan and his teammates had this deal where they allowed him to take rebounds from the other players, which I was surprised they allowed when I learned about it).

Boogie can afford to go considering how well Mirotic filled in for the Pels in his absence. Boogie is a great talent, but he's such a head-case, and I wonder how well he can recover from that devastating injury. Hard to say what kind of situation he could thrive in at this point.

LOL @ the Michael Beasley and Isaiah Thomas dream comments. I was so glad when the Cavs moved Isaiah at the trade deadline last season. His first game back in December was promising, but what a colossal dumpster fire everything after that was. LeBron admitted recently that he didn't even think they were going to make the playoffs at one point, let alone the Finals, like they eventually did. Worse yet is that Isaiah kept yapping after he was shipped to the Lakers and never took any responsibility for his own failures, but kept pointing the finger at others. He really shot himself in the foot last year and will never again have anywhere near the value he had in Boston's system.

[Jameis1of1]

No idea what George will do. He didn't bad-mouth OKC or Russ at all after the playoffs and actually implied that he enjoyed playing for the team, unlike Melo, who was clearly unhappy. If he does leave, OKC will obviously need to get more help from somewhere because Russ will break down if he keeps doing the triple-double stuff (he didn't really need to do it last season, but Donovan and his teammates had this deal where they allowed him to take rebounds from the other players, which I was surprised they allowed when I learned about it).

I'd be surprised if Paul George doesn't leave and I'd be just as surprised if Melo doesn't stay ... PG13 is as good as gone I think, and I'd be shocked if Melo didn't pick up his player option to return to OKC, though I'm sure the Thunder will try to trade him once he does ... it might be tough to find a taker though.

Boogie can afford to go considering how well Mirotic filled in for the Pels in his absence. Boogie is a great talent, but he's such a head-case, and I wonder how well he can recover from that devastating injury. Hard to say what kind of situation he could thrive in at this point.

I agree ... I've always liked Boogie but I'm not sure anyone other than a desperate team like the Mavs would give him a monster long-term contract this summer.

LOL @ the Michael Beasley and Isaiah Thomas dream comments. I was so glad when the Cavs moved Isaiah at the trade deadline last season. His first game back in December was promising, but what a colossal dumpster fire everything after that was. LeBron admitted recently that he didn't even think they were going to make the playoffs at one point, let alone the Finals, like they eventually did. Worse yet is that Isaiah kept yapping after he was shipped to the Lakers and never took any responsibility for his own failures, but kept pointing the finger at others. He really shot himself in the foot last year and will never again have anywhere near the value he had in Boston's system.

I agree ... I'd just like to see him drive Popovich crazy, hahahaha

[AplusCardDealer]

Lebron coming to lakers and bringing paul george along for the ride.


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