Around the League: Week 17 2/16-2/22

[ShelC]

I think it's time Lindsey Hunter gets the <CENSORED> treatment from now on.

[OE32]

I think it's time Lindsey Hunter gets the <CENSORED> treatment from now on.

I'd give that to Terry Porter, Destroyer of Dreams. Lindsey wasn't here long enough to matter, and he helped us get Len!

[carey]

Amare Stoudemire, worst free agent signing of all time according to 538.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/wher ... uisitions/

[INFORMER]

Lindsey wasn't here long enough to matter

Yes he was. His IER (Idiot Efficiency Rating) dwarfs Porter's.

[INFORMER]

Ricky Ledo is getting waived from the Mavericks to make room for Stoudemire. Philly should be all over him.

[OE32]

Lindsey wasn't here long enough to matter

Yes he was. His IER (Idiot Efficiency Rating) dwarfs Porter's.

Yeah but the opportunity cost with Hunter was low. We lost a chance to win 5 more games in a meaningless season? Porter may have cost us a championship. I really believe that. (Of course you have to assume Stoudemire wouldn't have lost his eye in my alternative universe but butterfly effect and all that)

[INFORMER]

Refreshing candor from Danny Ainge:

The decision in December to trade Rondo to Dallas (in a five-player deal that netted Boston a couple of picks and a $13 million trade exception) was, according to Ainge, unanimous among the leaders of the Celtics. He focused his owners and staff on two questions as Rondo, who turns 29 on Sunday, played out the final year of his contract. "Is the team good enough to keep him here? And is he somebody that we want to pay $110 million to going forward?'' says Ainge. "Rondo knew that, and he had the same questions: Is Boston where I want to stay, and what am I going to get on the open market?

"It's hard, it's challenging, to get a point guard that doesn't score, that's not a great defender, but that is a master passer -- and to pay him that much money,'' Ainge goes on. "That's how we debated it. And now he has a team that the guys he passes to are going to make a higher percentage of the shots; and his passing, his intellect and his experience in winning a championship, those are all assets for Dallas.''

Ainge could not be sure that a max contract in Boston could prevent Rondo from signing with the Knicks to play with Carmelo Anthony, or with the Lakers to join with Kobe Bryant. The best decision, as Ainge saw it, was to take what he could get for Rondo while focusing on the development of his replacement at point guard, Marcus Smart, the No. 6 pick who has the potential to become a better defender and shooter than Rondo.

"I loved my time with him, though he was never as easy on my coaches as he was with me in one-on-one settings,'' Ainge says of Rondo. "I loved his intellect. I loved his desire to become better. He did create some of his own challenges himself. But he's grown up, and I've seen him mature in his time in Boston, and I feel good about that.''

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/i ... index.html

[OE32]

Great excerpts. Worth the read. Thanks!

[Mori Chu]

This Draymond Green max contract talk is utterly absurd. Couple it with the ridiculousness (and ambition) of Michele Roberts, it all adds up to an epic lockout. Yay.

I totally agree about Draymond Green. He's kind of the current poster child for guys who are about to get way more money than they deserve. Hassan Whiteside is probably due for a similar payment soon.

As for the lockout, the players seem to feel (somewhat justifiably) that they gave up too much in the last lockout and are now missing out on the fruits of the great state of the league right now. So they'll undoubtedly fight hard to get a better slice of the pie next time. But I do think that part of the reason the league is doing so well is BECAUSE the lockout made salaries and terms more reasonable. I don't like the state of the league when the players have too much power, earn too much money, etc. I don't want the pendulum to swing back too far in the other direction.

[INFORMER]

Hassan Whiteside is probably due for a similar payment soon.

Except Miami protected itself and signed him to a 2-year deal. So he'll have to prove he's not a one-hit wonder.

[Mori Chu]

The players are going to point to the huge sale value of franchises right now as proof that the league is doing great and should give them more money. But I don't look at it that way. The franchises are selling for billions because (a) there is an extremely limited supply, and (b) rich assholes stop caring at some point and just pay whatever it takes. I don't think the Clips selling for $2 billion means that player salaries should suddenly skyrocket to the point where the majority of the league's teams are unprofitable again. I know not every owner cares whether he turns a profit, but not bleeding money every year is critical to several of the league's owners. I think it's a dangerous road to go down, structuring player compensation such that the owner has to have other huge sources of income every year to offset the many millions of dollars being lost every year on the team.

[SDC]

I don't think the Clips selling for $2 billion means that player salaries should suddenly skyrocket to the point where the majority of the league's teams are unprofitable again.

the clippers arent worth 2 billion. i have a sneaking suspicion that the nba paid half of it just to get sterling to accept the compensation/overpayment and go away.

[Indy]

Amare Stoudemire, worst free agent signing of all time according to 538.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/wher ... uisitions/

[ Image ]

Congrats to Vin Baker for making the top 20 twice!

[carey]

The Wolves are buying out K.Mart. I can see him winding up in a lot of places. The Clippers makes a lot of sense. Miami? We need a veteran bad, but I don't see him making much sense here as long as IT & Green are still around. Regardless if Goran is moved or not.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken ... approaches

[INFORMER]

Perhaps back to OKC?

[SDC]

Perhaps back to OKC?

you said they need spot up shooters...

[carey]

https://twitter.com/JoeGoodmanJr/status/568907029361725440

[carey]

Who broke the Tweet plug-in? Anyway it's supposed to say that the Heat are expected to announce Bosh's season is over. I wonder if they would have done anything differently had it happened just one day previously.

[Wally_West]

Who broke the Tweet plug-in? Anyway it's supposed to say that the Heat are expected to announce Bosh's season is over. I wonder if they would have done anything differently had it happened just one day previously.

MOOOOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIIII!!!!!!

[Cap]

Now you have to use the mobile URL to make it work.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JoeGoodmanJr/status/568907029361725440