****The Official 2016-2017 NBA Thread****

What about testing the waters with OKC for a Westbrook/Dragic trade? If you think about it, it might not he a bad deal for OKC considering cost of Dragic which gives them the ability to make other roster signings and gives us a superstar that I think would mesh well with our young nucleus of players... just food for thought. (I know it might be premature but from what I read, Russell and his agent have zero plans on renegotiating anytime soon)

"Vertical Limit wrote:

The point is to get rid of his contract off the books. We arent going to bring jrue back.

If you are getting rid of contracts, there is a better one to get rid off.....

I said this on twitter..will say it here.

Wayne Ellington is on a 2 year $12mil contract. the second year is a TEAM OPTION..(this is key)

Spo gets Ellington to average 14-15ppg on 38% 3pt. shooting (very doable with minutes), How ATTRACTIVE will that contract be? Answer: VERY.

This draft coming up as well, is 20 deep at least. You can get a REAL contributor up to pick 20 without a doubt. It's as good as the 2008 draft.

"Section126 wrote:

This draft coming up as well, is 20 deep at least. You can get a REAL contributor up to pick 20 without a doubt. It's as good as the 2008 draft.

Do we actually have a pick? I'm under the assumption we don't have any picks until 2057.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Do we actually have a pick? I'm under the assumption we don't have any picks until 2057.

Yes. They own their pick without any restrictions. They actually aren't allowed to trade it by rule until after they make their pick. You cannot trade consecutive picks.

The other thing with Dragic is to keep in mind the big picture. This season is about the development of Whiteside, TJ, JRich, and Winslow, and seeing how/if this promising young core fits together. Removing a proven veteran (one of the few left) who is the only true PG on the roster probably isn't the best way to facilitate the growth of these young players.

Whiteside and Dragic have a budding friendship and it was starting to show results on the floor before the end. You want to keep those two together for at least one more year.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Whiteside and Dragic have a budding friendship and it was starting to show results on the floor before the end. You want to keep those two together for at least one more year.

That will make for some solid 1st and 2nd Rd battles.

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http://www.hothothoops.com/

Section mentioned the bombs will be dropping. Fun article.

Edit: Click on "The Miami Heat nobody sees coming."

Howard Beck reporting Russ could be traded sooner rather than later and Boston is the favorite to land him.

There's like a 90% chance Ainge is just trying to stir up the rumors to get some momentum on this, but still interesting.

Russ and Stevens is an interesting mix in that Stevens would finally have an alpha type star that he'd have to build a system around.

"PhiNomina wrote:

Howard Beck reporting Russ could be traded sooner rather than later and Boston is the favorite to land him.

There's like a 90% chance Ainge is just trying to stir up the rumors to get some momentum on this, but still interesting.

Russ and Stevens is an interesting mix in that Stevens would finally have an alpha type star that he'd have to build a system around.

I'll believe it when I see it. Ainge tried to trade his entire chest of goodies for Jimmy Butler and failed. But now he is gonna trade LESS and get Russ?

oh.....kay....

"Section126 wrote:

I'll believe it when I see it. Ainge tried to trade his entire chest of goodies for Jimmy Butler and failed. But now he is gonna trade LESS and get Russ?

oh.....kay....

You never know. The Thunder might be in all out rebuild mode after KD left. Whereas Chi signed Rondo and Wade and kept Butler, so no one really knows wtf the Bulls are doing as far as what direction they want the team to go in. I guess they have their reasons for keeping Butler. I've seen stranger things this offseason.

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"Section126 wrote:

I'll believe it when I see it. Ainge tried to trade his entire chest of goodies for Jimmy Butler and failed. But now he is gonna trade LESS and get Russ?

oh.....kay....

Wait do you have that report? Everything I saw was that Ainge lowballed his offer on Butler.

It still seems weird to me that a team's primary draw would be we have a really good young coach (Brad Stevens). It worked for Miami with Derrick Williams but that's Derrick Williams...not Russell Westbrook.

I feel like Miami's been a bit more honest and effective saying yeah we have a great young coach but really we have no state taxes, cool beaches, hot women, Chris Bosh, (until this year) Dwyane Wade, and maybe a few financial perks the NBA office doesn't know or care about.

Interesting. Russ would have to want to go to Boston for all of this to happen, first of all. If he did, you would think it would have to start with Thomas and a bunch of picks. That's not a great haul, but in a good draft class like this one, maybe the Thunder are content with that.

Trading for Westbrook is a tough spot to be in. First of all, he obviously has to want to go to your team. Secondly, you almost certainly will not be able to get any kind of solid commitment from him to sign because I believe the rules prevent him from doing so. Then, on top of that you have to give up a ton of assets, when you could potentially just get him or another of the stellar free agents next summer. For example, if you're the Heat, it would seem like a no-brainer to trade a package of Dragic and Winslow and/or Richardson, and/or Johnson. But would you rather have Westbrook with no real guarantee, or all of those young kids with a decent chance to land Greek Freak, Griffin, or Heyward?

"ckparrothead wrote:

It still seems weird to me that a team's primary draw would be we have a really good young coach (Brad Stevens). It worked for Miami with Derrick Williams but that's Derrick Williams...not Russell Westbrook.

I feel like Miami's been a bit more honest and effective saying yeah we have a great young coach but really we have no state taxes, cool beaches, hot women, Chris Bosh, (until this year) Dwyane Wade, and maybe a few financial perks the NBA office doesn't know or care about.

The Cult of Brad Stevens is really weird. I had Twitter come AFTER me for suggesting he wasn't a top 3 coach. Like that's some sort of insult!

Sec and I already went through this - but you just can't put Stevens above Pop and Carlisle. And I don't even really see the argument to put him ahead of Kerr, Bud, Clifford, Spo, Doc, SVG.

"Section126 wrote:

I'll believe it when I see it. Ainge tried to trade his entire chest of goodies for Jimmy Butler and failed. But now he is gonna trade LESS and get Russ?

oh.....kay....

Well you guys are the ones telling me they'd take Dragic as a center piece in a deal for Westbrook, so yes I do think Boston has a good chance if that is the case.

"finfansince72 wrote:

Well you guys are the ones telling me they'd take Dragic as a center piece in a deal for Westbrook, so yes I do think Boston has a good chance if that is the case.

In a deal including Justise Winslow and/or Josh Richardson, Dragic is hardly the centerpiece.

Another Couper Moorehead special:

http://www.nba.com/heat/newsrecap/summer-weber/

"The Summer of Weber"

"sports24/7 wrote:

In a deal including Justise Winslow and/or Josh Richardson, Dragic is hardly the centerpiece.

Dragic is the only established starting player in a deal with those guys and with his contract he's the centerpiece. I still don't think OKC would do that deal.

"finfansince72 wrote:

Dragic is the only established starting player in a deal with those guys and with his contract he's the centerpiece. I still don't think OKC would do that deal.

The real prize, though, is the prospects in this deal or the one with Boston. At the end of the day, it has more to do with what Westbrook wants, but if you were hypothetically deciding between Boston and Miami it would come down to draft picks vs. somewhat proven young talent in Winslow, Richardson, and Johnson.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Another Couper Moorehead special:

http://www.nba.com/heat/newsrecap/summer-weber/

"The Summer of Weber"

Maybe it's because I followed VCU and Weber throughout college but I'm just stoked we have him as a developmental player. This team has a knack for making players better shooters - if they do that with Briante it'll be another UDFA steal under Riley/Spo's belt.

File this under stranger than fiction:

https://twitter.com/fuzznacht/status/753306830584025088

Heat pulled out a final minute victory over the Pelicans to advance in the Las Vegas tournament. They'll play the Phoenix Suns tomorrow.

Briante Weber really had a good game evidently. He was 2 of 2 from behind the arc including hitting the game-tying 3 pointer with less than 2 minutes to play. Then when the Heat were up by 2 points with less than a minute to go, Briante stole the ball in the backcourt on long inbounds pass and got fouled, put both in to go ahead 4 points and put the game away.

Heat signed Stefan Jankovic. I guess a 6'11" guy with his jump shot and pure offensive capabilities just couldn't be allowed to dangle around out there.

Poor Victor Rudd. He'll catch on somewhere. Heat have probably pulled in their last summer league guy, between Briante Weber, Rodney McGruder and now Stefan Jankovic. I'd still love to see them make some promises toward Jarnell Stokes and pull him in. Don't let him be the next Willie Reed.