2017 NBA OFFSEASON

the spurs don't just happen to always hit on the draft

yeah thats important too. its not like a struck of luck "how do they find these guys?" they know how to evaluate talent and fit and work really hard to develop skills.

and the players they pick are usually guys who know theres going to be a lot of work to get their games up to nba standards.

that seems like the most difficult part figuring out if a 19 y/o will work insanely hard

yeah, some of that is personal, but a lot of it is the culture of the team. i'll use dejounte murray as an example. when he got drafted, he talked a lot about wanting to work on his game. it helps when the best player on your new team is an award-winning multiple all-star and a total gym rat.

so i totally expect him to be a quality starter even though he was drafted 29th bc thats just what happens with spurs PG draftees (tony parker, george hill, cory joseph, beno udrih)

spurs also never draft in the lottery so they get to focus on finding their guy rather than evaluating all the top talents

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19657372/the-best-picks-every-nba-draft-slot

League sources: Cavs, Pacers and Nuggets have discussed a three-way deal that would land Paul George in Cleveland and Kevin Love in Denver

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 25, 2017

kevin love and jokic could form the best offense outside of GSW but defensively it would be an adventure

that is....odd for denver

my issue with the love deal is it doesn't address either of the nuggets biggest problems: defense or point guard

that's not to say i wouldn't love watching love play every day. i'm still a believer

i believe in a th- *taken out by The Basketball Sniper*

i dont think the nuggs shd give up young players for kevin love

same

young teams that have an ahead of schedule good season and decide to accelerate the process usually doesnt work out great eg phoenix suns

i mean if u cn get him for super cheap fine but seems unlikely, also yeah that frontcourt wld be so flammable

love is underrated imo and gets a lot of shit thrown his away, sometimes deservedly i admit, but i think it would be cool to see paul george play w/ lebron and kyrie

the trade wld def be good for the cavs lol

nuggs should try to make the playoffs before they get too rowdy with trades. current roster should be able to do it, they were one game out this year despite taking half the season to figure out their rotation

they do need a point guard though

zach lowe touched on this briefly in his butler/wolves write up but teams that have a bunch of good young players have to decide which ones they want to trade bcuz you can't usually re-sign all of them under the cap

i.e. the nuggets already know they have to max our jokic and probably will have to w/ murray at some point as well, maybe they don't want to give gary harris a huge second contract as well idk

but they'd only get love for two more seasons which really means there'd be tons of pressure for them to win this season so as to not have to deal w/ whether to trade him this time next season so it doesn't really make sense to give up much

would be sad to lose the harris/jokic telepathic link

i'm thinking based on their owner nuggs mgmt is feeling a lot of pressure to make the playoffs this year

yeah everyone talks about how they've been trying to make a play for any established star the last few years

i guess they see themselves as a 7-8 seed contender this year if they stay pat could jump into the 4-5-6 range if they acquired that "star" & tho i don't think it's the best move for them it isn't out of the question

i think rubio would be good on the nuggets if he's still available

long term stability to do things right is such an advantage in the nba

i forgot that kyle lowry is a FA

31 y/o fwiw

i think rubio would be good on the nuggets if he's still available

― ciderpress, Monday, June 26, 2017 12:07 PM (twenty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

im fixated on this happening now

an alridge/millsap sign and trade would be a pretty good deal for the hawks and spurs.

my understanding is that sign and trades cant rly happen anymore right?

jesus the hawks are gonna be paying bazemore 20mil in 19/20.

xp
altho its an intriguing idea. rly similar stats, same age, same position. it's hard for me to see LMA playing with the spurs next season at this rate. is millsap a more mobile defender? not as much of a shot blocker.

omg that bazemore deal is BADDDD

milsap def more mobile/active than lma generally

lma is strong and can bang bodies with post-up guys like z-bo, but he isn't a quick-footed defender and posting up is very old-fashioned these days

all-rookie teams
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDQxAP_WAAEpcyl.jpg:large

and all-defense teams
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDQzgkTXYAASCZe.jpg:large

All-Defense Team, other players with votes: Damian Lillard 1

ha, gotta be a portland beat writer, yeah?

lol Lillard.

I'd give Covington a spot over Giannis.

millsap's a really good defender, bise. some of the best hands for a pf in the league. always swiping the ball away. good shot blocker and plays the perimeter well too.

ok im sold, lets do it

it'd be a great get by the spurs if they can pull it off. hawks might be looking for someone a little younger tho

millsap not on that list seems bad. they should probs have 3 all nba defensive teams

millsap is the definition of a spurs player.

who's starting at the 5 for yall next year?

Great question. I'll let you know once we have one under contract.