Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/18/15
There was quite a bit of hype leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, and that class was supposed to contain a number of players possessing star-level talent who were worth tanking for. Unfortunately, the reality didn’t quite live up to the hyperbole that preceded last year’s draftees, and in fact, quite a few of the top ranked players missed significant time last season due to various injuries. These players included No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker, No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid, and No. 7 pick Julius Randle, just to name a few. The rest of the rookie class struggled to adjust to the pro game, as was to be expected, and while a number of players showed flashes of promise, none enjoyed a particularly dominant first year.
Of course, one lone season is not a sufficient sample size to properly judge a player, and many of these NBA sophomores should demonstrate significant improvement in their second professional campaigns. This brings me to the topic of the day: Which second-year player do you expect to have a breakout season in 2015/16?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the player or players whom you expect to have breakout seasons. If you are taking the glass is half empty approach, and don’t think any of last year’s draftees will distinguish themselves, then feel free to weigh in on why you feel that way. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/17/15
The DeMarcus Cousins saga has been a constant source of news, rumors and innuendo throughout the offseason. The mercurial Kings center is certainly one of the most talented players in the league and, at 25, is just entering the prime years of his career. He’s also locked up contractually through the 2017/18 season.
That hasn’t slowed down the rumor mill that the Kings will deal Cousins well before his contract expires. Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck fueled the fire today by saying that most of the people within the organization want the franchise to trade him away (video link), prompting Cousins, president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive to suggest on Twitter Monday that the report was nonsense. Beck added in his video report that coach George Karl would still like to see the team deal Cousins, even though Karl has said otherwise.
Cousins recently met with Karl and later said that they were on the same page. That meeting came after a brief encounter between Cousins and the coach at summer league that was reportedly their first interaction for a period of months. Cousins had tweeted snake and grass emojis shortly after a report surfaced indicating that Karl had actively attempted to have him traded.
Karl’s reported desire to get rid of Cousins upset Ranadive to the point that he considered firing the coach, and a conflicting narrative exists about whether the Kings reached out to John Calipari as a potential replacement.
The Lakers were reportedly in talks to acquire Cousins around draft time. And while Cousins’ personality may rub some people the wrong way, there would undoubtedly be strong interest around the league in his services if the Kings decided to shop him.
Therefore, our question of the day is this: Do you believe DeMarcus Cousins will remain with the Kings throughout the upcoming season? If not, when do you think he will be traded?
Take to the comments section below to sound off with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot us a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/16/15
As we learned earlier today, James Harden is confident that his new teammate Ty Lawson can overcome his alcohol-related issues and fit in well with the Rockets. Lawson, who recently completed a 30-day rehab program in the wake of his second DUI of the year, was shipped from Denver to Houston last month in a five-player deal.
Whether Lawson will be available for the season opener is subject to debate, according to an ESPN.com report. The league normally does not administer punishment until after court cases have been settled, the report points out. Lawson is due back in court on Aug. 20th in Denver.
There are more reasons to think Lawson and the Rockets won’t quite work so well besides his troubled past. Lawson does not exactly complement Harden because the two have similar skills — and similar deficiencies. Lawson is a ball-dominant player and is not a great defender. Despite that, I believe Lawson improves the Rockets because he is such a threat offensively. He also provides the team some speed that was seemingly missing during the playoffs.
Thus, the question of the day: Keeping in mind Lawson’s struggle with alcohol, how does Lawson fit with the Rockets?
Take to the comments section below to sound off with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot us a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/15/15
JaVale McGee has shown flashes of becoming an impact player in the NBA. When the former No. 18 overall pick agreed to a buyout with the Sixers last spring, he failed to generate much interest as a free agent. His lack of development, along with his health concerns, were major reasons why teams weren’t champing at the bit to sign the center.
The Mavs finally signed McGee earlier this week. Dallas previously had serious concerns about the center’s health, but it has apparently cleared that hurdle, as the Mavs remain confident that his injured leg will heal in time for the 27-year-old to join the team in training camp.
McGee’s deal, which covers two seasons, is only guaranteed for $250K, with another $250K becoming guaranteed if he remains on the roster past September 29th. Dallas currently has 20 players under contract, as our Roster Counts page shows, but it needs to trim that down to 15 by opening night. The Mavs have 15 players with fully guaranteed deals on the roster and opening up a regular season roster spot for McGee will be especially difficult, as the team only has six players who are eligible to be traded prior to the season.
Dallas has shown a willingness to eat guaranteed money in the past, waiving Bernard James and Gal Mekel last fall despite their fully guaranteed salaries. Even if McGee makes the roster, he will face competition for minutes at the center spot. Samuel Dalembert and trade acquisition Zaza Pachulia are likely to see significant minutes. The team presumably will prioritize getting free agent signee Salah Mejri on the court to give the 2011 FIBA African Championship MVP a chance at locking down the team’s open starting center spot.
If McGee can defy the long odds of becoming the team’s starter at the five, or at least crack the rotation, he could put himself in great position to remain relevant in the NBA and potentially raise his stock for the summer of 2017, when he could become a 29-year-old free agent. Dallas is a franchise that has a history of rehabilitating player values, as I illustrated in the Free Agent Stock Watch of Wesley Matthews. The team employs Rick Carlisle, who is one of the best coaches in the league and has demonstrated he can get the most out of players.
So here’s the topic of the day: Will JaVale McGee make an impact on the Mavs? Can a good environment in Dallas rehabilitate his value? Will he even make the team?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to reading what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @CW_Crouse to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/14/15
On Wednesday, the league released the official team schedules for the 2015/16 NBA season. Some of the more notable changes for this season are that the NBA was able to cut the average amount of back-to-backs per team from 19.3 last season to 17.8 for 2015/16, and reduced the amount of four games in five days teams will play from 2.3 in 2014/15 to .9 this coming season, as well as cut down the distance each team will be required to travel by 2%. These alterations were done with the hope that they would reduce wear-and-tear on the players, as well as to improve the overall product on the court by keeping the players fresher.
One debate that seems to rear its head every year regards the overall length of the regular season. NBA teams began playing 80 games each beginning way back in the day during the 1961/62 campaign. The league then bumped that number up to 81 for the 1966/67 season, courtesy of expansion, and finally settled on the current 82 game format the following year. While the team owners certainly benefit financially from playing more games courtesy of TV contracts, gate receipts, and of course, concession sales, one can argue that the longer season creates less meaningful games, as well as increases the injury risk for all of the players involved.
So here’s the topic of the day: Is the current 82 game regular season schedule too long? If so, what changes should be made to improve the quality of the game?
There have been suggestions made by members of the league and the media to decrease the overall game count to 76, which could help reduce the amount of late season contests where star players are resting up for the playoffs. After all, with how expensive it can be nowadays to attend an NBA event, shouldn’t fans be able to see the best players on the court for their hard-earned cash? A more radical suggestion, made by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz a few years ago, called for paring down the amount of games to 44. Under that plan, teams would play just twice a week, one game midweek, and the other on the weekend. While that big of a reduction is highly unlikely given the amount of revenue it would cost the league, it would also likely create some seriously contentious CBA meetings, which would be needed to ratify such a change, since there would be salary cap and pay scale adjustments needed to accompany such a significant alteration.
What are your thoughts on the current season length? If you believe a change needs to be made, then how many games should teams play each campaign? Are there any other changes, such as length of the preseason, playoff series, All-Star break duration, that you think would help improve the NBA? Take to the comments section below to chime in. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/13/15
Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s name will forever be associated with injuries, and it is difficult to make a compelling argument that he wasn’t one of the biggest NBA Draft busts of all-time as a result of his maladies. The 27-year-old center has managed to appear in just 105 games spread out over three NBA campaigns, and his career averages of 8.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.2 BPG to go along with a slash line of .574/.000/.648 certainly underwhelm. For Portland fans, I’m sure simply evoking his name is enough to elicit a wince, and it becomes even more painful knowing that the Blazers could have nabbed former MVP Kevin Durant in the 2007 draft instead.
Oden found a new reason to remain off the court during the 2014/15 season — legal troubles, as he faced multiple charges related to domestic violence. He avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement in February in which he pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge and the three other charges against him were dismissed.
The latest news on the former Ohio State star is that he signed a deal with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association for the 2015/16 campaign. Oden would be eligible to ink an NBA deal at the completion of the CBA season in February, or when/if his team was eliminated from the playoffs. This brings me to the topic of the day: Will Greg Oden play in the NBA again? If so, which team would be the best fit for the oft-injured big man?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. Or if you are a Trail Blazers fan who never quite got the closure you needed on that chapter of your basketball life, feel free to share your feelings, and hopefully achieve some level of catharsis. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/12/15
Suns forward Markieff Morris has reportedly demanded a trade that would remove him from Phoenix prior to the start of the 2015/16 campaign. Markieff and his twin brother, Marcus, had both inked extensions with the Suns last September with the intention of remaining together throughout their respective playing careers. Unfortunately for the twins, Marcus was dealt early in July to the Pistons in an effort for Phoenix to clear the necessary cap space to make a run at unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, who ended up signing with the Spurs.
Markieff has painted himself into a bit of a corner, as well as likely reduced any potential return that Phoenix would receive for him, with his pointed statements toward the Suns organization. “One thing for sure, I am not going to be there,” Morris said on Tuesday of Phoenix. “If you want to put that out there, you can put that out,” he added. “. . . I am not to going to be there at all.” According to the report by Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Morris isn’t upset that the team traded his brother, but instead believes he was misled by the team, as well as feels slighted by how he and Marcus were informed of the deal with Detroit.
So here’s the topic of the day: How will the Markieff Morris/Suns situation be resolved?
Will Phoenix be able to find a taker for Morris, or is a buyout arrangement in the cards? If Morris is in fact traded, what team do you see as being a good fit for him and his salary? What kind of return will the Suns be able to get for the 25-year-old? Or do you see the two sides working out their differences, even if it is for the short term? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/11/15
One of the more divisive on court strategies utilized in the NBA is the increasingly commonplace “Hack-a-Shaq” defense, where teams intentionally foul opponents’ weaker free throw shooters down the stretch of close games. The debate over whether this strategy should be outlawed was renewed during this year’s first round playoff series between the Spurs and the Clippers, courtesy of San Antonio, when Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was a wholesale target of the practice. Needless to say, it slowed the games to a crawl at times and made for less than compelling theater.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged back in May that the league had considered a number of rule changes to discourage this practice. “It’s something that I’m on the fence about,” Silver had said. “My thought used to be that we should definitely change the rule, and then having sat through several general managers meetings, competition meetings and having heard from some of the game’s very best, the view is the players should hit their free throws. That’s changed my view a little bit. Having said that, when I watch some of these games on television, frankly, it’s not great entertainment for our fans, and that’s important as well.”
It doesn’t appear that there will be any changes made regarding the hack-a-(insert player name) defense for the 2015/16 campaign, with former NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson saying, “We had a pretty spirited discussion on the subject, and we talked prospectively about how we might change it. But in the end, there wasn’t enough support to change it. There was a feeling that by changing the rule you would be essentially rewarding a player for a lack of skill by allowing him to stay in the game.”
Some ideas that have been kicked around to fix this aspect of the game include:
- When a player is intentionally fouled he not only gets the allotted free throws, but his team also gets possession of the ball.
- Creating a “super bonus” situation where extra free throws are given after a team commits a predetermined amount of fouls in a quarter.
- Teams being allowed to retain possession and inbound the ball instead of taking free throws when they’re intentionally fouled.
- Allowing the team receiving the free throws to pick the player who gets to shoot them.
None of these changes seem like the perfect solution, and could also serve to disrupt the pacing of the game. There is also the traditionalist point of view that asserts that professional players making millions of dollars ought to be able to sink their attempts from the charity stripe. This brings me to the topic of the day: Should the NBA alter its rules regarding the “Hack-a-Shaq” defense? If so, then what changes need to be made?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts, opinions, ideas…and potential fixes (if you believe the rule needs to be altered). Being mindful of our commenting policy, let us know what you think the NBA should do. We look forward to what you have to say!
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/10/2015
Rockets GM Daryl Morey has proven one of the canniest executives in the NBA over the years, but for now, he seems to have painted himself in a corner. The Rockets have yet to sign No. 32 overall pick Montrezl Harrell, and they haven’t re-signed Jason Terry, either, despite reports from last month that they were close to a deal. They renounced their Bird rights to Terry to accommodate the Ty Lawson trade, leaving them with only a $2,274,206 chunk of the mid-level exception to exceed the minimum salary for either, based on numbers from Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Yet using that exception for either would trigger a hard cap of $88.74MM, since they’ve already used nearly the entire $3.376MM amount that teams above the tax apron are limited to paying via the mid-level on K.J. McDaniels.
High second-round picks almost always command more than the minimum, as our list of draft pick signings from this year shows. Using the minimum salary exception for Harrell would also limit the Rockets to just two years in a contract for him, while three-year arrangements tend to be much more team-friendly for numerous cap-related reasons. Similarly, Terry likely proved capable of commanding more than the minimum, and he’s reportedly received an offer from the Pelicans, who have the $2.139MM biannual exception at their disposal.
So, our question today: What should the Rockets do with Harrell and Terry? Should they offer Harrell only the minimum and risk him taking the required one-year, minimum-salary offer that would allow him to hit free agency next year, as McDaniels did with the Sixers last year? Should they spend on Harrell and risk losing Terry to the Pelicans? Should they sign neither for more than the minimum and keep from triggering the hard cap in case they find an appealing trade later in the season?
Being mindful of our commenting policy, let us know in the comments section what you think the Rockets should do. We look forward to what you have to say!
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/9/15
The summer has seen some big-name players land lucrative deals. To list a few, LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the Spurs, Greg Monroe joined the Bucks, Wesley Matthews inked a deal with the Mavs and Monta Ellis signed with Pacers. Other marquee players re-signed with their respective teams such as: LeBron James, Marc Gasol, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, Kawhi Leonard, DeAndre Jordan and Dwyane Wade.
There were several more signings, however, that seemingly flew under the radar. Mo Williams joining the Cavs and Al-Farouq Aminu signing with the Blazers are two that come to mind. While these kind of signings lack the appeal of others, they are usually vital. In many cases, offseason signings for teams — regardless of how much money is involved — can restore depth, add veteran leadership and fill holes.
Thus, the question of the day: What has been the most underrated signing of the summer so far?
Aminu’s move is an underrated one, in my opinion, because he is a talented two-way forward who can rebound. Portland needed to fill holes after it lost Aldridge and Matthews to free agency and Aminu helps in that regard. Williams joining the Cavs is an underrated move as well because his contract is a bargain for the production he will likely provide as the team’s sixth man.
Being mindful of our commenting policy, let us know in the comments section below what you think is the most underrated signing of the summer so far.