Around the league: June 2014

[TOO]

I think Davis is THAT good. He's gonna carry that team to big things.

[carey]

I can't believe they have up a first round pick for the right to pay Asik $15 Million. Their big problem is still going to be guard play. $35 Million worth of Gordon, Evans & Holiday is brutal. They have to ship one of those guys off.

[Ring_Wanted]

This obviously improves the Pelicans but I am not afraid of them. As good as Davis is, their roster is still too flawed. They are also playing the risky game of gambling with their draft picks before having anything secure or stable.

[carey]

This obviously improves the Pelicans but I am not afraid of them. As good as Davis is, their roster is still too flawed. They are also playing the risky game of gambling with their draft picks before having anything secure or stable.

Bad guard play, Anderson is hurt, and they whiffed pretty hard on the Rivers pick. The bench is fairly terrible as well. Will the front court be tough to score on? Probably. But they aren't even close to a balanced team.

[Ring_Wanted]

Agreed.

[Shabazz]

...but Davis. What a freaking monster.

[Ring_Wanted]

The pick Houston is getting is said to be protected 1-3 and 20-30 in 2015, so the Rockets get it if ends up #4-19. No word on further protection if it doesn't fall in that range.

Also, due to the Stepien Rule the trade will be completed in July 10, and the Pelicans will also need to clear salary to absorb Asik's 8.4M. Probably Rivers, Morrow, Miller and Roberts, supposedly at the draft.

[Phoenix219]

Random thought, in a random place, does anyone think this site could ever obtain (or find useful) a member chat interface like facebook and what not uses? Hrm.

Don't mind me, just bored at 4am after work. Not much going on.

[Ring_Wanted]

Marc Stein is reporting that Pistons and Kings are in talks to trade Josh Smith for Terry, D. Williams and Thompson.

Supposedly because Sacramento is also targeting Rondo and Smith is his BFF or something.

If true, Detroit better get it done before the Kings sober up.

[Gladiator]

So the Kings are trying to put Cousins, Smith and Rondo on the same team? Oh boy

[SwingMan]

So the Kings are trying to put Cousins, Smith and Rondo on the same team? Oh boy

No lie - go full hog and see what bench Rasheed Wallace can be talked off of?

[Mori Chu]

Sacramento is crazy. That team will be 100% knucklehead.

[Ring_Wanted]

Supposedly the Suns and Bulls both are targeting Stauskas and are willing to use their picks to move up to secure him.

[carey]

@WojYahooNBA: After exercising his $16.5M player option for 2014-'15, Zach Randolph has agreed to 2-year, $20M extension with Memphis, sources tell Yahoo.

[Sunsfan4life]

Reasonable deal. Good job of Memphis getting it done.

[carey]

Wade has opted out.

https://twitter.com/SBNationNBA/status/482968861122105344

[carey]

I'm going to assume that means LBJ is staying? Not sure Wade opts out without assurance from LeBron that he'll be back. What do you think?

[carey]

Bosh and Haslem have opted out as well.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

I'm going to assume that means LBJ is staying? Not sure Wade opts out without assurance from LeBron that he'll be back. What do you think?

Interesting, Lebron is making everybody on Miami to bend over just to keep alive the hope. However, I'm not sure that all this will make it a done deal, but just a prerrequisite to sit at the table with the "King" and talk. He is still doing his tour around the league, and I bet with a more open mind to hear proposals that during the last "Decision", hindsight told us that Miami was the chosen one all along.

[carey]

https://twitter.com/TimBontemps/status/483054470650429441

I hate linking to the post but I don't think anyone else has it yet. I don't know who the fuck Kidd thinks he is. Half of his first season was a dumpster fire.

According to a league source, Kidd recently approached ownership with a series of demands, including the role of overseeing the Nets’ basketball operations department in addition to his head coaching responsibilities. The source said Kidd didn’t want general manager Billy King to be dismissed, but wanted to be given a title and placed above him in the organizational hierarchy.
Ownership declined to grant Kidd that kind of power, which is rare for any coach in the league to have. The source said ownership felt Kidd wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility after having only one year of coaching experience — the team finished his first season on the bench with a 44-38 record, good for sixth in the Eastern Conference — and allowed Kidd to seek other opportunities