depending on what that and... is, that could be horrible news. If it's TJ, or McBob, or Stokes, fine. If it's anyone of value that would be very, very stupid.
I think Dragic is definitely on the table IF and only IF it lands you Demarcus Cousins or Al Horford.
Neither of those guys are getting traded. Or, if they are, it's for some amazing piece. But I don't see how they get moved.
I wouldn't be shocked if they moved Dragic should they find a good deal. If you just watch some of his Phoenix highlights, I mean he was a different player. I don't know if the fit here will ever be that good to where we see that type of offense. Personally I'd keep him because I think that adding some shooting would unlock some of that floor game for him...but it's not a guarantee. Just saying I wouldn't be too surprised.
Rumors of a knicks-cavs-Celtics blockbuster according to Frank Asshola (or Isola...I prefer the former since he's basically the Knicks version of Omar Kelly since he hates the the team he covers). Knicks would send Melo to the cavs, Love would go to boston, Knicks would get expiring and picks...presumably at least 1 of the Nets picks that Boston has (hopefully at least 2 1st rounders over all). Melo has said he would veto any deal but I do think it's important to note for the offseason that melo has said he'd veto just about any deal and that he wants another star next to him. On 1 hand I'm surprised he'd veto a deal to Cleveland when he's been trying to play with Lebron since they were in HS. On the other hand, Lebron has an option out this offseason anyway and Cleveland isn't really a Melo (or Lala) kind of town....
Is there anything more on this with the Heat, anything credible? My twitter timeline is just full of talk about that damn fantasy trade engine. It's actually kind of annoying. I'm gonna start tweeting about trades I make on NBA 2K.
That'd be very interesting. In a way, it works out for all parties, but in another way it's questionable for all parties (depending on exactly what the return would be for the Knicks). It would certainly be going all in for the Cavs, but does it make them much better even in the short term? Yes, Melo is a better scorer than Love, but he's just as bad defensively and needs more shots than Love does. Would he be ok being the 3rd option, or would Irving be ok being the 3rd option? Doubtful. On top of that, Melo's deal is for at least 2 more, and probably 3 more (because he'd be foolish to opt out) years making max money. The Cavs would pretty much be out of the free agent market for the foreseeable future. If the Cavs did that and it blows up in their face, it could blow up in their face badly. If it doesn't work out this year for whatever reason and there is an early exit from the playoffs, LeBron could look at that situation, see that it's not getting better anytime soon, and say "peace out".
Nothing real beyond what Sec and Ethan said about Casspi. Trade machine tweets are an automatic one day mute on my end.
I think Melo needs to stay quiet, and trust that Kristaps will have an excellent second half of the season and make their way to a bottom seed. Dont like the Knicks but they got some good core pieces to build around with.
Melo's defense has been actually pretty damn good this year for the most part. The injury has held him back some games but other games he looks excellent on d. And by excellent I mean Winslow or Paul George caliber. Either way melo came out today and said he's not going anywhere
The perception of Melo is one if the worst fairy tales I have ever seen. The popular sentiment is still to call him selfish and a ball hog etc... Meanwhile he is more active around the boards than I remember seeing over years past, he also looks to pass the ball more than people want to admit. If he goes to Cleveland they almost assuredly are penciled in for the finals where they have a decent shot at beating the Spurs.
For those interested, Ethan wrote a great article about the friendship of Wade and Bosh and how it evolved after LeBron left. If only there were a Dolphins beat writer at Ethan's level. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article60256701.html
There was, Darlington... And then he went National so we are stuck with clowns now.. Darlington still gives tons if dolphins news at times. Obviously a Miami fan
I don't think Darlington was on Ethan's level. Volin was better as a pure source of information than Darlington, as Darlington was too reliant on a couple of persons who had clear agendas. Volin's morphed into a caricature of northeastern smugness, unfortunately. This is not to say that Darlington was bad or not worth paying attention to, just that I don't have him in the same tier. Salguero likes to think he's the tops of all beat writers in SoFla, but lol to that.
Nah he's been very strong on Defense. He's had games where he did an outstanding job defending Lebron, Wiggins helping defend Stephen Curry, etc. He did a lot of it on his own. In previous years he was merely average...he's been well above average. He was top 5 in many defensive metrics for the first couple of months til his knee started barking on and off
It was really, really good. The year when Vince Carter beat the likes of T-Mac and Steve Francis was pretty damn good too, though. I'd say this one was up there with that one.
He's literally a - defender. The Knicks give up more points with him on the floor than without him. Both his DRtg and DBPM show that. Comparisons at the 3 position, DBPM, Kawhi - 2.8, LeBron - 2.2, Carmelo - -0.2. For context's sake, noted lousy defender James Harden has a DBPM of -0.5. Melo's worst ever was -2.3 and that's worse than a replacement level player. He has never been an average defender save for 2011-12 when he had a 0.0. The value for an average defender in DBPM is 0.0.
Aaron Gordon had the better dunks but i dont understand the outrage by all the fans over Lavine winning... I mean they were in a virtual tie since 10 is the highest number and lets be honest, you put 27 as the highest number and the judges would score 27 accross the board on each dunk.. These judges arent going to be scoring olympic ice skating in the near future that is for sure.. But anyways the last dunk by Aaron Gordon vs Lavine's last dunk, everything else was a tie, those last two dunks it was obvious Zack had the better dunk..
Gordon's second mascot dunk was the best I've seen in a long time. But yeah LaVine is sick. Good stuff, ended the night on a high note.
I don't care what the judges say the whole contest should have been ended after Aaron Gordon jumped over the mascot...twice. the first one was impressive. The 2nd one should been a 60 on a 50 scale.
I thought it was better. But I can understand why you'd say that. Jordan vs Dominique was still the best but this one was close imo
Again one of those guys is playing with a balky knee and has missed games. The same one, melo, was ahead of Kawhi and Bron the first month or two of the year before the knee started barking. And since when did DB PM become and accurate measure? Watch the damn games.
It always was. You don't like it but it is a legitimate statistic. You haven't cited any of these metrics where Melo was Top 5 yet. Melo has always been a poor defender and the numbers bear that out. His DRtg has always been poor as well. He's ranked 151st in the league in DRPM and these figures are consistent over his career. He has always been a poor defender and is now around average. I haven't seen one single defensive stat over the course of his career that favors Melo.
"In Toronto to coach the West in the NBA All Star Game, Gregg Popovich sat down with Marc Kestecher, P.J. Carlesimo and Marc Stein for a highly entertaining interview in which he admits that he's thought more about the Warriors this year than any other team in any other year. He praises the job Steve Kerr has done with Golden State, and calls them "unsolvable." If that seven-and-a-half minutes isn't enough for you, then feel free to enjoy this 2013 interview that Pop gave the last time he coached in an All Star Game. It's chock full of interesting tidbits and is as revealing about his mindset as a coach as anything I've ever heard from him."
Reports are Miami is in talks for Howard with Whiteside going the other way. The salary doesn't match, though. Wonder what that deal would look like.
I'm still searching for an explanation as to how Howard helps us He doesn't solve out shooting issues and he demands to be fed the ball way more than Whiteside I just don't get it, particularly since you'd have to send Deng/McBob back as well. Maybe more
The plus would be to clear money for the offseason, if they're willing to take on McBob/Bird with Deng's expiring. Howard's a better fit than Hassan in a heavy PnR offense, I guess, but other than that HW is probably the better player. Both are likely to have this be their last season in Miami - Dwight probably opting out, and the Heat perhaps having their minds made up on Hassan. Personally I think this would involve Dragic as well, and that the Heat may see this as an opportunity to move him, thinking that the fit just isn't working. Maybe a swap with Beverly, add Thornton, or maybe they like Ariza?
I don't know. It seems like a wheel spinning trade to me And what if you strike out on Durant. Do we let Howard walk and save chips for '17?
Not too excited over a trade for Howard either. I think Hassan can be a force for us for a long time. I realize Howard is much better on the offensive end, but really, we need shooting more than we need Howard.