Ethan Skolnick saying he was told by the Heat repeatedly that they would only use their taxpayer MLE for a rights player playing at below value...and that David West would qualify as that.
What I've noticed with Winslow so far these two games is Tyler Johnson and James Ennis are getting the bulk of the touches when they're in, and Winslow sees a lot less of the ball because of this. When they both sit and Winslow stays with the subs/rotations, that's when we see his aggressive drives to the basket and him drawing fouls. I don't know if it is by design or not that Ennis is seeing and holding so much of the ball, but he's all over the place with it. Tyler Johnson is better, but if he's going to be PG from now one, he needs to learn how to distribute a lot better. Right now he's just looking to drive always and it stagnates the offense a great deal. I want to see the ball a lot less in the hands of Johnson and specially Ennis, and more on Winslow's. He's the different talent of the group, no reason he should only be getting protagonism when the other starters sit.
Well, with the Heat, Cleveland and SA, all have basically the same money. Our MMLE is better than Cleveland's due to income tax, but Texas has same benefits. He would probably have the greatest role here. Not sure where he fits in on Cavs. SA he'd be 4th at best behind Duncan LMA and Diaw. Here he'd probably play before Mcbob
Per David aldridge, West sign with Spurs lol, that was fast. At least the LMA speculation lasted 36 hours. this was 36 minutes
I don't mean to imply that he's another Lebron. He isn't. But he does have some of the all-around elements of Lebron's game. Winslow might even have a better basketball IQ than Lebron did when he first came into the league. I also believe Winslow is coming in as a better defender. Winslow might be even close to what Lebron was in terms of strength at that point as well. But Lebron was bigger and faster and a better leaper right out of the gate. That uber-athleticism is what gave Lebron an almost limitless ceiling. Winslow has a much ceiling. What's impressing me about Winslow is that with almost all rookies you assume that they're going to hurt your team early on until they develop more understanding of the pro game. Winslow might be an exception to that. Obviously he has to develop, primarily on offense, but he may be a + defender immediately. That defense with his passing is enough to let you trust him early on. I think Winslow will develop into one of those that make everybody around him better.
And West took the veteran's minimum. I respect that. He said his decision was solely about winning and he put his money (literally) where his mouth was.
I was just about to post that in the last 10 years, does anybody remember a "Big" in the NBA (PF/C) that fell off as quickly as David West did?
So the Spurs have brought back Ginobili and added West. Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Leonard, Green, - if they can retain Mills maybe West is Diaw's replacement. If not, the with Diaw the Magnificent Seven return for one last ride together.
I wonder how much the shot/ball distribution has to do with who the 'locks' for the roster are. Winslow is a lock. Johnson and Ennis, not so much, so maybe it's cool/expected that they'd try to make more of a splash.
Normally I'd say it's going to be a question of how well these guys can gel together and how quickly.. but I doubt it'll be that huge of an issue with an organization and coach like they have.
See the difference with Winslow ball handling now without Ennis and TJ? Aggressive and in attack mode. He got Stanley Johnson in foul trouble real quick.
Justise Winslow has Stanley Johnson in JAIL. Put him nicely in a little package and stored him in his back pocket. Drew three fouls on him, and then Stanley got a 4th in 4 minutes.
Spurs trolling the rest of the NBA...getting comical. At least Heat fan will avoid seeing Bron win a title this year, nobody is beating that team.
Not in overall talent...... But their depth is gonna keep them fresh all year..and a fresh Spurs team come playoff time is tough to beat.
Hard to match the talent/depth/experience/unity and very significantly coaching of that team. Clippers have lost to less talented teams the past 3 years.
Justise needs to work on his jumper. Main thing that's missing from him right now. He's got the defense on lockdown, drives with control but aggressive, and draws contact expertly. Jump shot is the only thing he's struggling with.
I'm sure West is going to fire his agent... lol what horrible advice to opt out to then realize no one wants you for more than mini mle/vet minimum
LeBron is going to retire with two rings. GS is still my favorite. The spurs are old as hell. Its championship or bust this year for them and they're going to have to luck into some FAs again next year to replace Duncan, ginobili and maybe even parker. They lost splitter and west is a 1 year rental. Basically gonna build around kawhi and Aldridge.
I can report in here...the report from Cleveland.com that says the Heat inquired about Jamal Crawford......is incorrect. It was the other way around. The Clips shopped Jamal Crawford to the Heat.
Yup. I mean, jumper-wise, he was always going to be a strictly catch-and-shoot type for the near-future. That was the projection. The rap on him going into Duke is that he really could not shoot, apparently (worked at it to shoot over 40% from 3 on mostly spot-ups). I don't worry about him getting his points in the flow of the offense or in transition, and I think today you saw the staff purposefully putting him in a more demanding, unfamiliar role to run the offense and create with lots of minutes on a third-straight day. They're asking him to do, like, everything right now and pushing him hard. I like it.
Thoughts on the fit? A short term answer obviously but Crawford can still get on those ridiculous hot streaks and drop 30 before you know it
Lol, apparently Winslow and Stanley made plans to hang out in Orlando and go see Ted 2. Winslow then ditched Stanley and saw it without him
He averaged nearly 16 ppg and shot 32% from 3. And he's a career 35% guy from 3. If Rio had put up those numbers we would have been the 6th seed Rather have Crawford for one year than Rio
The Fit? confusing. Works well for when Wade is out, but I always look at another guard with how he would play in a three guard lineup with Dragic and Wade. I don;t think he fits there. Marcus Thornton does.
The way the Heat struggled on offense at times last year, especially with their stars out of the game, means I would welcome Crawford. He's the definition of streaky and can hurt you when he's cold, but when he's hot he can really light it up. I've always liked him so if the price is right, I'd be on board. As for the Spurs, I don't get why so many are handing them the trophy or suggesting they have some kind of superior lineup to the rest of the league. This is a team that got knocked out by the Clippers last year. THE CLIPPERS! Aldridge is obviously a very good player and will make them better, but Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker are all a year older and while David West is solid, he is not even close to what he once was and might not be much of an upgrade over Splitter (Splitter had a significantly higher PER). They have the best coach in basketball and are still a good team, so I'm not writing them off as title contenders, but I think people are overhyping them a little bit right now.
I think the Spurs will be great but the overwhelming slobbering by the basketball "inteligensia" about them is always annoying. You read Zach Lowe, or any of those Grantland guys really, Kelly Dwyer, etc., it's all slobbering. Between the annual "Why don't you idiots watch the Spurs and marvel at them?!!!!!" columns, and the Poppovich cultists, it's very annoying. Also, the Spurs put out that "Built not Bought" crap two years ago when they beat us, now that they lsot in the first round, they went out and "bought it". Won't hear a peep from Zach Lowe though, who is too busy saying "Holy hell!" to notice. Are you getting the point that I don't like Zach Lowe and find him incredibly irritating? He also hates the Heat, in a far more passive aggressive way than somebody like Simmons or barkley, but worse, because he's a damn hypocrite. You go back to any Zach Lowe column before the trade deadline last year and you will find a mention of Goran dragic and how great/fun he is while lamenting that he doesn't get national attention. Now, in today's Zach Lowe Spurs Fellatio, uh, I mean column, Goran Dragic is the 30 year old guy who relies on speed that is a bad 5 year contract. Apparently Zach only just found out Goran was going to be 30 this year, after the trade deadline
