Around the League: Offseason

[Oatmeal]

Guys, get this: Danny Ainge had an offer from IND for Gordon Hayward, an unrestricted free agent who notoriously wanted out of BOS after three years of injuries and a diminishing role. The Pacers were willing to give up (via sign and trade) Miles Turner, a 1stR and a 'rotation player' (apparently it was McDermott). Still, Ainge demanded even more. So obviously Pritchard called Ainge's bluff and didn't give in, thus leaving BOS with nothing instead, since now CHA has signed Gordon Hayward to his mammoth $120M contract.

The spin? It's being said Ainge didn't want Turner, and that he made calls around the league looking for a taker but didn't find anything to his liking.

https://twitter.com/ThisIsJMichael/status/1331766667819556865

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/k ... he_pacers/

Myles Turner isnt that good.

[Mori Chu]

The post seems to imply that Ainge is dumb for not taking Turner plus a 1st-round pick for Hayward. But gaining a 1st-round pick might not be worth it if you have to take on an albatross contract or bad player along with it. I don't hate Turner, but it sounds like he would have been re-signed to big money over many years, and Ainge didn't want that.

[ShelC]

Turner's making like 17.5 per over the next 3 years and given the lack of depth and athleticism in the Cs frontcourt, he could've been a solid addition. Maybe Ainge would rather have the cap flexibility or there's something else there with Turner. I don't love Turner either but he'd seem useful with Smart, Kemba, Tatum and Brown as part of a young core.

[Ring_Wanted]

In my opinion, Turner fits perfectly in BOS; I concede he has not improved at the desired rate since his rookie season, but even if he never develops further, he still is a defensive anchor (led the league in blocks in 2019 in his age 22 season) who can shoot from three. And he is signed until 2023 for 18M per, which is not an albatross contract in any way.

Still, the main point is that Hayward was gone from BOS and Ainge had the chance to get an useful player along with a couple extra assets, yet he demanded even more so he ends up with nothing (although pending on what CHA does with Batum, BOS could get a TPE).

[Superbone]

Turner is not bad but he's no Damian Jones.

[ShelC]

I'm actually really excited for some Damian Jones dunks if/when he gets in there!

[Ring_Wanted]

Turner is not bad but he's no Damian Jones.

Haha

[Flagrant Fowl]

It's been a poorly kept secret that Miles Turner has been available for a while now. This recent situation sheds some light on how the rest of the league values him and his contract.

[pickle]

Tristan Thompson is actually a really solid addition for the Celtics... He's much more physical, even if he doesn't space the floor as well.

I was initially quite surprised by this Hayward development, but the more I think about it, it seems to make sense from the Celtics perspective. Turner has eye-popping shot blocking numbers, but he's apparently a very bad defender in the post. Despite his listed playing weight he seems to play much smaller, and Embiid and other low post behemoths always end up abusing him, and he isn't particularly good at stopping other smaller but skilled post players either. On the other side of the ball, he tends to shoot long 2s and not actually 3s, and he also can't get into the paint and make the other team pay when they defend him with a smaller guy, which makes Turner just a wing in a 6'11 body who happens to dominate fantasy with that one single stat but comes up short on the court for when it matters. Thompson costs half the money and addresses what the Cs need more, which is top notch rebounding, while being quite competent defending the pick and roll against smaller players. I almost wish we had the money to sign him. Going up against his effort and tenacity in practice everyday would do Ayton a lot of good.

Oh well.

[INFORMER]

Turner's making like 17.5 per over the next 3 years and given the lack of depth and athleticism in the Cs frontcourt, he could've been a solid addition. Maybe Ainge would rather have the cap flexibility or there's something else there with Turner. I don't love Turner either but he'd seem useful with Smart, Kemba, Tatum and Brown as part of a young core.

Agreed. I think Ainge screwed that up.

[INFORMER]

NBA free agency: Evaluating how Hassan Whiteside fits with Kings

Whiteside is an advanced-stats dream. He averaged 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game for the Portland Trail Blazers last season. He shot 62.1 percent from the field, although his range is limited to about 10-feet.

The raw numbers don’t tell the entire story. Whiteside finished the season with a 125 offensive rating and 107 defensive rating. Those are shockingly good numbers. He also managed to post 5.6 offensive win-shares and 3.0 offensive win-shares for a staggering 8.5 total win-shares, which ranked 12th overall in the NBA. For comparison, Nemanja Bjelica led the Kings with 5.3 win-shares last season.

Whiteside is a tremendous rebounder on both ends of the court. He has a huge 7-foot-7 wingspan and he protects the rim about as well as any player in the league.

On paper, he checks every box where the Kings are lacking -- interior scoring, rebounding and rim protection. Last season, the Kings ranked 23rd in offensive rebounds, 25th in defensive rebounding and 27th in blocks.

Unfortunately, the eye test and the advanced stats don’t really match up. Whiteside was consistently out of position last season in Portland. He hunted rebounds and gambled for blocks.

There was a time when Whiteside could sprint the floor like a gazelle. Those days are over. If the Kings hope to push the tempo, then you need a big that can get out and draw a crowd. That’s just not Whiteside’s game.

His limited range is also an issue.

https://sports.yahoo.com/does-free-agen ... q9HYr7YU8v

[3rdside]

Full summary of each team’s off-season activity:



- Can’t see how Atlanta’s moves are equal to ours nor how Miami’s was only marginally worse
- Josh Jackson plays for Detroit now on a two year deal
- Milwaukee, ouch, and I must be missing something with Portland ..

[Split T]

I think Portland should be really good. It’s a mixture of a couple really good moves and getting back their WCF team healthy.

Honestly I see a lot of parallels with the suns.

Dame/CJ vs CP3/Book

Probably the two best backcourts in the league. On and off ball star ability in both guys.

Nurkic/Ayton

Good offensive centers. Ayton has shown more defensively, Nurkic more as a secondary playmaker. Think Ayton has a higher ceiling this year.

Covington/Bridges

Two of the best 3-D guys in the league.

Trent/Cam - Wing shooters off the bench.

Jones Jr/Melo/Hood vs Crowder/Moore/Galloway

Just role player..more size for Portland, more shooting for us.

Saric vs Collins

First bigs off the bench. Saric more playmaking, Collins more defense.

Smith vs Kanter/Giles

And

Simons vs Carter/Payne

I’d expect us both to be pretty close in the standings all year. Would be a fun series as well in the playoffs.

[Drewsprocket]

I think Portland should be really good. It’s a mixture of a couple really good moves and getting back their WCF team healthy.

Honestly I see a lot of parallels with the suns.

Dame/CJ vs CP3/Book

Probably the two best backcourts in the league. On and off ball star ability in both guys.

Nurkic/Ayton

Good offensive centers. Ayton has shown more defensively, Nurkic more as a secondary playmaker. Think Ayton has a higher ceiling this year.

Covington/Bridges

Two of the best 3-D guys in the league.

Trent/Cam - Wing shooters off the bench.

Jones Jr/Melo/Hood vs Crowder/Moore/Galloway

Just role player..more size for Portland, more shooting for us.

Saric vs Collins

First bigs off the bench. Saric more playmaking, Collins more defense.

Smith vs Kanter/Giles

And

Simons vs Carter/Payne

I’d expect us both to be pretty close in the standings all year. Would be a fun series as well in the playoffs.

Nice take. Nurkic gets those assists off his picks. Ayton really gonna have to continue his growth on D and also not losing his man in the paint.

[3rdside]

Solid take dude, cheers

[Mori Chu]

I agree that Portland will be good. I don't like their frontcourt rotation as much as ours, though. Melo? Hood? Blech. Nurkic is good, but will he be healthy? He's also a bit slow and plodding. I like the way our frontcourt guys would match up with theirs. Dame always torches us, though.

[The Bobster]

As long as they're giving a lot of minutes to Melo we'll be okay.

[3rdside]

Random comment for the day - I’m currently drinking behind the Illawarra Hawks stadium where Lamelo ball played .. had no idea it was in this city called Wollongong. An ex-steel working town on the beach, he definitely picked an out of the way team being 90 minutes south of Sydney by car ..

[Split T]

If Portland stays healthy, they should have the benefit of only playing Melo if he helps them. He helped them last year. If he just plays his role and takes open shots without trying to be ‘09 Melo, he’s fine for them. I think the injury concerns are legit. Nurkic, Collins, Hood all got stuff going on. But Portland has the best player on the court in most games they play, and will against us. They’ll score a ton of points. The big question will be how much Covington can impact their defense. He’s very good, but is he good enough to make a significant difference. I do think it’s possible Portland is pretty bad defensively.

[ShelC]

We'll be battling Portland and probably Utah for most of the year. The NBA is about matchups and Portland will probably give us the hardest time. They're big up front and have the firepower in the backcourt. SF and PF are their soft spots.