Around the League: Week 18 2/20 - 2/26

[Aztec Sunsfan]

OKC is going All-In around Westbrook, and they should, so that's itself it's a motivation to go for it. Gibson mirroring Adams gives them a tailor made partner frontcourt for Russell every minute of the game as well as injury insurance, they can play together, turns Kanter into a complementary piece, and Sabonis into "whatever we get from him is gravy". No doubt Gibson is a really good pick up for them, and they get to see how much it is worth to keep him, so low risk. McDermott was buried behind Names, so he was not going to beat those guys with Numbers.

Presti is a great GM, trapped in a budget conscious team. Perfect for us.

[pickle]

Maybe I'm too high on Payne and Lauvergne. I think Gibson won't stay past this season and they should be able to get more than McDermott and a second for those two. Oddly I also feel Chicago totally lost this trade. They could at least have gotten some minor pick from Boston who needs the rebounding toughness for a few months of Gibson. All in all this was by far the one deadline deal that made the least sense to me.

[Mori Chu]

The Thunder are like the 2001 Sixers in that they need to build the entire rest of their team around their ball-dominant chucker guard. So they need veteran players who can space the floor, run hard, play D, hit 3s, set great picks, and so on. Taj Gibson seems like an awesome 4 to put next to Westbrook. Wish he could hit 3s, but otherwise he knows his role and seems like he will really fit in well. He also helps them defer relying on the rookie Sabonis to contribute too much too soon. As for McBuckets, I got the sense that in Chicago he has been underwhelming a bit, but maybe in OKC he'll get open looks when defenses collapse on Westbrook. I think overall the Thunder did a great job here of acquiring heady players who will fit in really well with their particular needs.

[pickle]

I understand surrounding Westbrook with specific complementary players. That's why I asked how much it would take to re-sign Taj. Don't see him staying with OKC and he's not helping them go deeper this year.

[ShelC]

The Thunder are like the 2001 Sixers in that they need to build the entire rest of their team around their ball-dominant chucker guard. So they need veteran players who can space the floor, run hard, play D, hit 3s, set great picks, and so on. Taj Gibson seems like an awesome 4 to put next to Westbrook. Wish he could hit 3s, but otherwise he knows his role and seems like he will really fit in well. He also helps them defer relying on the rookie Sabonis to contribute too much too soon. As for McBuckets, I got the sense that in Chicago he has been underwhelming a bit, but maybe in OKC he'll get open looks when defenses collapse on Westbrook. I think overall the Thunder did a great job here of acquiring heady players who will fit in really well with their particular needs.

Exactly this.

[Mori Chu]

I understand surrounding Westbrook with specific complementary players. That's why I asked how much it would take to re-sign Taj. Don't see him staying with OKC and he's not helping them go deeper this year.

I think the market for Taj won't be that great in the offseason. Only a small group of teams would want a role player like him at the price range he's likely to command. And the new CBA (now that the giant salary cap jumps are done) is much more favorable toward re-signing your own guys rather than losing them to free agency. I think OKC will be able to keep him if he wants to stay. So really it comes down to whether it goes well for him the rest of this season. If he fits in well, I think he'll re-sign there.

[Hermen]

Skal's legs are so skinny you can barely see them.

[pickle]

Yeah I also mentioned that possibility. If it takes 15 mil to re-sign Taj, do you do it? They'd be committing 25 mil to Adams, 18 to Kanter, and ~15 to Taj, and paying the luxury tax for this? Also there's about 18 on the books for Oladipo and Westbrook's 25, IIRC. That's true basketball purgatory IMHO, a luxury tax paying lineup that's never gonna take you out of the second round, if everything breaks perfectly.

[Ring_Wanted]

They have to do it imo. Westbrook is their only reason to live now and he has to have the supporting cast to not want to bolt. I also believe if OKC keeps winning, their pieces gain value, and that gives Presti trading ammo for a second/third banana guy.

[Ring_Wanted]

Anyway, the buyout market is here.

Deron Williams to Cavs, Calderon to GSW. Bogut should be on his way to a contender too. And Sullinger, I guess.

[carey]

Yeah I also mentioned that possibility. If it takes 15 mil to re-sign Taj, do you do it? They'd be committing 25 mil to Adams, 18 to Kanter, and ~15 to Taj, and paying the luxury tax for this? Also there's about 18 on the books for Oladipo and Westbrook's 25, IIRC. That's true basketball purgatory IMHO, a luxury tax paying lineup that's never gonna take you out of the second round, if everything breaks perfectly.

They wouldn't pay the tax for James Harden when they had Westbrook & Durant, they're not paying it for Taj Gibson. When it was rumored that Roberson was a part of the deal I thought maybe it was about not re-signing him but they moved Payne who still had 2 years on his rookie deal instead. I'm not really sure what OKC is doing. It's the sort of win now move you expect from a top 3 seed.

[Flagrant Fowl]

30 years ago, having the 2 best big men in the league on the same team would have practically guaranteed you would win the Championship.

30 years ago? The Lakers won back to back just 7 years ago mainly because of the twin towers of Gasol/Bynum. Don't let Kobe's MVPs fool you, they don't win those titles without Gasol/Bynum dominating the way they did.

Kobe is still better than anyone else on the Pels roster.

[pickle]

Yeah I also mentioned that possibility. If it takes 15 mil to re-sign Taj, do you do it? They'd be committing 25 mil to Adams, 18 to Kanter, and ~15 to Taj, and paying the luxury tax for this? Also there's about 18 on the books for Oladipo and Westbrook's 25, IIRC. That's true basketball purgatory IMHO, a luxury tax paying lineup that's never gonna take you out of the second round, if everything breaks perfectly.

They wouldn't pay the tax for James Harden when they had Westbrook & Durant, they're not paying it for Taj Gibson. When it was rumored that Roberson was a part of the deal I thought maybe it was about not re-signing him but they moved Payne who still had 2 years on his rookie deal instead. I'm not really sure what OKC is doing. It's the sort of win now move you expect from a top 3 seed.

Exactly why I really don't understand this deal for either side. Feels like the classic making a move to make a move trade.

[carey]

Exactly why I really don't understand this deal for either side. Feels like the classic making a move to make a move trade.

Also, people complaining about our Knight trade... how does that trade Chicago made to acquire the pick used on McDermott look in hindsight? The picks used to get him turned out to be Gary Harris (arguably already better than McDermott) and Nurkic (who is pretty good in his own right but Denver just turned him into Mason Plumlee.)

[Mori Chu]

I always liked Jose Calderon. Doesn't play a lick of defense, but an awesome passer and decent shooter. Not doing much of anything this season, averaging 3.3 ppg and 2.1 apg in 12 minutes a game. He's age 35 right now.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/repor ... rs-buyout/

http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2806/jose-calderon

[carey]

I'm not entirely sure why they needed Calderon with Livingston in the backup PG role where he's mostly excelled since joining G.S. The one thing Shaun doesn't do is shoot 3-pointers so maybe they wanted to have yet another shooter on the court. Break glass in case of emergency? They clearly chose adding him over Bogut which seems odd to me. I thought that was a done deal because not having him for games 5, 6, & 7 of the finals last year is a bigger deal than people talk about.

[Mori Chu]

Watching OKC vs NOP right now. Looks like Pelicans are headed for another loss, 0-3 since Boogie showed up. Westbrook has over 30-10-10 again tonight, and for the season. Ridiculous. Gotta be the MVP.

[carey]

Watching OKC vs NOP right now. Looks like Pelicans are headed for another loss, 0-3 since Boogie showed up. Westbrook has over 30-10-10 again tonight, and for the season. Ridiculous. Gotta be the MVP.

The Pels have a big 2 and nothing else. Jrue has been trash lately and they have no 3-point shooting. They are playing guys they just signed off the street. Hollis Thompson and Reggie Williams.

[SDC]

the new "Bruise Brothers": Taj Gibson and Steven Adams

[UglyTruth]

Watching OKC vs NOP right now. Looks like Pelicans are headed for another loss, 0-3 since Boogie showed up. Westbrook has over 30-10-10 again tonight, and for the season. Ridiculous. Gotta be the MVP.

The Pels have a big 2 and nothing else. Jrue has been trash lately and they have no 3-point shooting. They are playing guys they just signed off the street. Hollis Thompson and Reggie Williams.

They need a 3 & D PG who knows his role.

I could see them maybe trying to pull a trade for Delladadova this summer.