Around the League News - 2022 Offseason Edition

[Shabazz]

Pretty wild story here...and NO IT DOESN'T INVOLVE OUR DARIO

Unless I missed something, there wasn't much there once you actually read through it. He just has some connections to gangsters, but no actual proof of him being a kingpin.

On the flip side (the legitimate side), I thought this was really crazy:

[INFORMER]

"My client and I had irreconcilable differences about whether or not he sucks."

Well the agent made it clear he doesn't want Russ to agree to a buy out if/when he is traded.

Russ doesn't suck; he is still very productive. He just plays a brand of basketball that isn't conducive to winning. If he would just buy in to making better decisions with the basketball, and not quitting on defense, he could contribute on a contender.

[Split T]

Ya I personally don't think there's a huge difference in talent between Westbrook and say Dejounte Murray. Murray is also a bad shooter, but he takes care of the ball, makes better decisions, and plays defense. If Westbrook just dialed it back a bit and played smarter, he could have a Murray like impact imo.

[INFORMER]

What about Phoenix? We won 64 and now we're going to turn around an win less than 53?!

Well the highest win total is 55, so I wouldn't get caught up with the win total. But there are clear signs that this team could take a significant step back.

[In2ition]

What about Phoenix? We won 64 and now we're going to turn around an win less than 53?!

Well the highest win total is 55, so I wouldn't get caught up with the win total. But there are clear signs that this team could take a significant step back.

Unfortunately, I whole heartedly agree with this. Even if KD gets traded and we dump dead weight, I could still see the Suns taking a step back record wise.

[Indy]

Out of the 30 teams over the last 50 years (yeah I know there weren't always 30 teams) there have been ~1500 chance to win as many games as you can. There have been only 22 times where a team has had a higher win % than the Suns last year, and a third of those happened pre-merger. So yeah, it would be silly to expect it to repeat this year.

[Split T]

Mostly because I think we learned our lesson that the regular season doesn’t matter. We need to keep everyone fresh and give guys like Mikal and Ayton more chances to try stuff. 55 wins and a top 4 seed should be fine if we’re healthy and we’ve given more players confidence to do things with the ball.

[specialsauce]

What about Phoenix? We won 64 and now we're going to turn around an win less than 53?!

Well the highest win total is 55, so I wouldn't get caught up with the win total. But there are clear signs that this team could take a significant step back.

Unfortunately, I whole heartedly agree with this. Even if KD gets traded and we dump dead weight, I could still see the Suns taking a step back record wise.

Guess what 64 wins bought us last year? A bag of dicks. Who cares. Just make the playoffs healthy and sharp, and whoever is on this team at that point needs a shot of HGH so they don’t just invert their weewees when the lights turn on

[specialsauce]

Mostly because I think we learned our lesson that the regular season doesn’t matter. We need to keep everyone fresh and give guys like Mikal and Ayton more chances to try stuff. 55 wins and a top 4 seed should be fine if we’re healthy and we’ve given more players confidence to do things with the ball.

We need to lose some games trying to do different shit with different players. Book and CP3 have to chill on the minutes and the crunch time iso ball and stop trying to force every W to the detriment of the long term team goal.

[Split T]

Ya I bought into all of it last year because I thought maybe it was what gave them their edge, but it’s almost like they relaxed to coast the final 6-7 games of the regular season and could never turn it back on, even in the playoffs. They had moments, but they just never looked like the regular season team for more than a half at a time. I think they were burnt out from trying to win every game. They relaxed for a moment and just didn’t have enough left in the tank to turn it back on.

[In2ition]

What about Phoenix? We won 64 and now we're going to turn around an win less than 53?!

Well the highest win total is 55, so I wouldn't get caught up with the win total. But there are clear signs that this team could take a significant step back.

Unfortunately, I whole heartedly agree with this. Even if KD gets traded and we dump dead weight, I could still see the Suns taking a step back record wise.

Guess what 64 wins bought us last year? A bag of dicks. Who cares. Just make the playoffs healthy and sharp, and whoever is on this team at that point needs a shot of HGH so they don’t just invert their weewees when the lights turn on

Turtling

[Flagrant Fowl]

HGH can help with that?

Asking for a friend.

[Split T]

Ugh I was interested for the 1 second it took me to get to the warriors stuff

[INFORMER]

That's a really good get for the Warriors.

[Indy]

Especially if they just use their BAE. Do they have that? Or will it be just a vet min deal? His option was for 8.2M, so...

[Shabazz]

Bah.

The good news is that he sucked last year so it’s definitely possible that he’s washed.

[Indy]

Let's hope.

Oh, and you need to update your signature.

[Split T]

Especially if they just use their BAE. Do they have that? Or will it be just a vet min deal? His option was for 8.2M, so...

Don’t think you can use the BAE if you’re above the tax apron as it hard caps you. I’m sure it’s a vet min deal.

[INFORMER]

Former Denver Nuggets guard Markus Howard is set to join Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, sources tell BasketNews.

According to sources, both sides have agreed on a two-year contract.

"Home of Glory" first reported about Howard being close to signing with Baskonia.

https://basketnews.com/news-175274-bask ... oward.html

Would have loved to have him on the roster. He is someone to keep an eye to see how/if playing overseas helps him to further develop his game.

[INFORMER]

Especially if they just use their BAE. Do they have that? Or will it be just a vet min deal? His option was for 8.2M, so...

Don’t think you can use the BAE if you’re above the tax apron as it hard caps you. I’m sure it’s a vet min deal.

Yeah, I was assuming it was a vet min deal. Anything more than that, it isn't as appealing of an addition. As 'bazz alluded to, Green struggled to connect from long range last season. If he isn't hitting the 3 ball, he doesn't have a lot of value.