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

Yeah please no Dion unless we want to see a mediocre chucker 90% of the time he plays.

The Heat can't afford Dion Waiters. He's 24 years old, can score, and had some moments in the playoffs for a team that nearly went to the finals. With all of the money that was thrown around this offseason, he will almost certainly get paid.

The allure with Dion Waiters I take it is that he's a guy that can create in isolation. Or at least try to. Typical "chucker" like dolfan32323 mentioned. That's kind of why I want to keep Rudd around. He can create.

Ethan Skolnick going national with CBS as an NBA writer.

Still doing the drive time radio though.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Ethan Skolnick going national with CBS as an NBA writer.

Still doing the drive time radio though.

Bummer because good beat writers in this market are few and far between, but it was only a matter of time. He absolutely deserves to be national.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Bummer because good beat writers in this market are few and far between, but it was only a matter of time. He absolutely deserves to be national.

Agreed. Sure he'll still have a good Heat scoop but definitely looking forward to his coverage of the league as a whole.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Bummer because good beat writers in this market are few and far between, but it was only a matter of time. He absolutely deserves to be national.

He was more of a beat columnist than a beat writer.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Ethan Skolnick going national with CBS as an NBA writer.

Still doing the drive time radio though.

It's weird how on this site people generally like Skolnick but on RealGM, they hate him, they hate Windhorst, they hate Ira. lol I think Skolnick is legit, a company man just like Lebatard but still good stuff.

I stopped reading the Sun Sentinel after Skolnick left. That, and because they set up a pay wall on their web site. Well, I'll still read it on mondays during football season, but that's it.

"Section126 wrote:

So to recap..Ainge has offered his chest of goodies for:

Justise Winslow, and then Jimmy Butler. But now it's gonna work for Russell Westbrook.

Got it.

I'm going to disagree a little bit with this. If the Boston offer is the best one Presti has on the table, he really has no choice but to take it. What else is he going to do, lose his job because he got nothing in exchange for losing two of the top ten players in the NBA?

Personally, I kind of hope Sacramento and OKC trade Westbrook and Cousins to each other just to spite the rest of the NBA.

Jesus, Brian Windhorst is fat

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"Desides wrote:

I'm going to disagree a little bit with this. If the Boston offer is the best one Presti has on the table, he really has no choice but to take it. What else is he going to do, lose his job because he got nothing in exchange for losing two of the top ten players in the NBA?

Personally, I kind of hope Sacramento and OKC trade Westbrook and Cousins to each other just to spite the rest of the NBA.

Unless this ends up being a rental situation, I really don't think it will be a "best offer on the table" situation. And if it is a rental, he won't be getting back much of a return anyway. More likely, Westbrook will let his suitors be known and Presti will have no choice but to trade him there, because no other team is going to give up any value unless they feel good about keeping him.

Derrick Rose says Golden State and the Knicks are the two superteams in the NBA.... and then everyone fell to the ground with their legs in the air like an anime laughing their asses off..

"Vertical Limit wrote:

Derrick Rose says Golden State and the Knicks are the two superteams in the NBA.... and then everyone fell to the ground with their legs in the air like an anime laughing their asses off..

Wayne Ellington showing what he brings to the table: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIJWsSihYEQ/

His jumper is so silky smooth.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Unless this ends up being a rental situation, I really don't think it will be a "best offer on the table" situation. And if it is a rental, he won't be getting back much of a return anyway. More likely, Westbrook will let his suitors be known and Presti will have no choice but to trade him there, because no other team is going to give up any value unless they feel good about keeping him.

Westbrook letting suitors be known would be rather unique. Which other impending free agent has done that? How often does that scenario happen?

The only semi-example I can think of is Carmelo Anthony, but he intended to sign with the team that had his Bird rights to get the maximum money. The Knicks traded for him to ensure they would be able to offer that.

Well dragic did that to the suns which is why he didnt get traded to houston or the celtics

I dont think anyone can tell whats on Westbrooks mind because his character is a little bit more unique than others. He seems like the kind of guy that wants his own team, i might be way off but he just seems like that. I think he loves oklahoma. I think durant gave some signs during the season what his intentions were, multiple times saying westbrook is the best player on the team.

I think Presti and Westbrook will sit down and westbrook will say to him, why did you trade ibaka..? Presti will have to draw out a plan on how they will build around westbrook and that westbrook will be the centerpiece and based on that he will make his decision.

"Desides wrote:

Westbrook letting suitors be known would be rather unique. Which other impending free agent has done that? How often does that scenario happen?

The only semi-example I can think of is Carmelo Anthony, but he intended to sign with the team that had his Bird rights to get the maximum money. The Knicks traded for him to ensure they would be able to offer that.

Yeah, like VL said, that was basically what happened with Dragic. You don't see it very often because you don't see situations where star players essentially make it known they're leaving very often. Westbrook may very well not tell them where he wants to go, and I think he wants to wait until the offseason anyway, but in that case you just can't give up very much to get him unless you think he gives you a shot at the title THIS YEAR. And even then I think you'd be hesitant.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Yep, you have kids. (I say in pain from having to watch too many Peppa Pigs.) (At least now mine are old enough for Teen Titans and Spongebob.) (Ugh.)

Obv a Knicks Warriors final

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"eltos_lightfoot wrote:

Yep, you have kids. (I say in pain from having to watch too many Peppa Pigs.) (At least now mine are old enough for Teen Titans and Spongebob.) (Ugh.)

Hahah. She's not even three yet. We won't be there for a while.

"sports24/7 wrote:

Yeah, like VL said, that was basically what happened with Dragic. You don't see it very often because you don't see situations where star players essentially make it known they're leaving very often. Westbrook may very well not tell them where he wants to go, and I think he wants to wait until the offseason anyway, but in that case you just can't give up very much to get him unless you think he gives you a shot at the title THIS YEAR. And even then I think you'd be hesitant.

Here's the problem… we don't know Westbrook's preferences. So I'm quite reluctant to think he'll pull a "I'm Only Going There™". And frankly, if he hasn't expressed a preference, you take the best deal and stop caring because it's not your player anymore.

So yeah, I'm not really seeing a convincing argument against the idea that Presti shouldn't take the Celtics' offer. It's extremely low, but other offers will be lower.

"Desides wrote:

Here's the problem… we don't know Westbrook's preferences. So I'm quite reluctant to think he'll pull a "I'm Only Going There™". And frankly, if he hasn't expressed a preference, you take the best deal and stop caring because it's not your player anymore.

So yeah, I'm not really seeing a convincing argument against the idea that Presti shouldn't take the Celtics' offer. It's extremely low, but other offers will be lower.

Right. If you're talking about the assumption that it's a rental with the hope that you can convince Westbrook to sign in the offseason, then sure, Presti is going to take what he can get. If that's the case, I think we're talking about low offers, though, and maybe Boston can get it done.

If that's the case and you're the Heat, I wonder what you'd offer. The hope would be that living in Miami for a few months and being a part of a fist class organization would be a pretty good sell and give you even a tiny advantage on the open market. Without assurances, you certainly can't give up Winslow AND Richardson, and probably can't even give up Winslow. You don't really want to lose a player like Dragic for a rental, but the prospect of having a ton of money next offseason with other great players on the market is somewhat appealing. I would probably try and explore Dragic and TJ with any other player not named Richardson, Winslow, or Whiteside included and seeing what they think of TJ. I'd probably even be willing to add Richardson with the hope that you can convince Russ to stay. Would one of those packages be preferable to the type of package Boston would offer (probably something like Bradley and a draft pick that isn't from Brooklyn)? We'd have to see.

Well no intelligent GM is going to give up assets for a rental. Maybe if Ainge seriously thought the Celtics could beat the Cavaliers in a series, he will give up some assets for Westbrook, and then try to pick up someone else to round out the roster. Already one of their first round picks has said he is going to play in China.

If Boston trades for Westbrook, and they manage to get past Cleveland, you can pretty much lock him up for 5 years after that. On paper that looks like a 5 game series in Cleveland's favor, but crazier things have happened. No one in the Cavs can guard Westbrook, even worse so him and Isaiah together..