Around the League: July 2014

[Superbone]

Are we going to be upset down the line that we didn't take Nerlens Noel last year? He had a pretty strong debut in summer league: 6/11 from the field, 7/7 FT, 19 pts, 2 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, and a blocked shot in 26 minutes.

[dragickingdom]

I guess we'll see how Len pans out.

[TOO]

2 rebounds in SL is pretty sad tbh. Everyone can score.

[Superbone]

2 rebounds in SL is pretty sad tbh. Everyone can score.

Yeah, that did stand out to me. Time will tell.

[In2ition]

I watched the game. He looked really good. Although, after all the talk that they worked and rebuilt his shot, it still looked jacked up.

[In2ition]

Seriously bad break for Pierre Jackson. He may have made the Sixes this year, but he tore his Achilles in the game.

[dragickingdom]

Seriously bad break for Pierre Jackson. He may have made the Sixes this year, but he tore his Achilles in the game.

Why should that effect anything. The Sixers seem to like injured players that are out for the year, perfect fit for the roster

[carey]

https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/485834436588474368

Still curious who these FAs are that are getting James to stay in Miami. Deng? Another small forward when you already have LBJ & Wade on the wings? If you intend to move to a more spread out offense, Deng is not the player you need. Marvin Williams? A tweener PF that shoots the 3 around 36%? I think Riley needs to do better than this, but what do I know?

[Ring_Wanted]

I think Deng+ could appease the King and friends, but I am not 100% sure. Still, he's an allstar role player, is in his prime and has pedigree. Deng has been linked to Atlanta and to a lesser extent, the Mavs. Atlanta would have to overpay to get him. Dallas, probably too. But maybe Miami can offer Deng enough title aspirations to give up 2M per on the table. 12M per instead of 14 from Atlanta, for instance. 10M per would be really good.

They couldn't get other top UFAs like Lowry or Gortat, and I doubt they go after Stephenson, although just by impact within the conference could be a real hit, and Lance-Wade could share the PG stuff, with Napier and one vet min player off the bench.

Anyway, I don't know if they have much better options than Luol Deng. Maybe they could go the multiple role players route, but look at the kind of money those are commanding. Marvin doesn't make a ton of sense with Bosh but he could be cheap(er). If I were them I'd give PJ Tucker a look.

Riley must be burning the phones right now.

[ShelC]

I think they're blowing it. They're going after names instead of reloading with young talent that can play off of the stars. They need some swings to take the onus off of Wade and LeBron, but more than anything, they need bigs. Let's say they have 12mil to spend. Why go after Deng for 10 or Marvin Williams for 7-8? Get a bunch of young, athletic guys on the cheap. For 12 mil, they can get James Johnson who can play 3 positions, Ed Davis for the 4/5, Al Farouq Aminu for 3/4. You can get all 3 for 4 mil each, if not less. They may not be huge names or proven veterans, but they've all played in the league, proven themselves at the NBA level and do things the Heat need.

Hell, for that 12 mil, they could've had Hawes and Patrick Patterson at 6 each, both of whom would've helped a ton.

[dragickingdom]

The Heat are in a catch 22. LBJ doesn't want to resign with the Heat unless they upgrade the roster and guys aren't willing to take a pay cut unless they still have the big 3.

[Mori Chu]

I totally agree, Shel. Riley has become afflicted with his own "Disease of More". Rather than trying to hit a bunch of solid singles and doubles, he had been swinging for the fences on guys like Deng and Melo.

[Mori Chu]

Really Lebron is asking for the impossible. They can't make the team any better if they max him out and also pay Wade and Bosh big money.

[carey]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--b ... 43153.html

Diaw gets $22Mil to stay with the Spurs for 3 years.

[Mori Chu]

A little overpaid I think, but he gave them real value in the Finals. I would worry that he would get fat and lazy now that he has a new multi year contract, though.

[SwingMan]

A little overpaid I think, but he gave them real value in the Finals. I would worry that he would get fat and lazy now that he has a new multi year contract, though.

Your worries will not be unfounded.

[carey]

A little overpaid I think, but he gave them real value in the Finals. I would worry that he would get fat and lazy now that he has a new multi year contract, though.

Your worries will not be unfounded.

The fat part is here to stay. He'll never look like his ATL/PHX days again. The lazy part? I guess we'll see. Pop is a great motivator & just won't play him if he fucks around.

[Phoenix219]

A little overpaid I think, but he gave them real value in the Finals. I would worry that he would get fat and lazy now that he has a new multi year contract, though.

Nice to see that the Spurs are taking care of their own, coming off the title run. Class organization.

[iLLmatic]

https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/485975475500503041

[iLLmatic]

https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/485973472502218754