2020 nba offseason draft free agency etc

i guess it's not the rockets GM's money and he's basically just flipping identical contracts and taking on the worse player for the price of a pick but you're basically lighting your entire team on fire by having that much cap dedicated to john wall

washington and atlanta in an absolute dogfight for the 8th

i don't understand what the rockets are trying to do... you trade robert covington but then sign christian wood but then trade for john wall... are they trying to be good or bad? i legit have no idea

Yah it’s a mystery.
I’d imagine James wil be next right?

Sources: Protection on the first-round pick that the Wizards traded to Houston in Russell Westbrook/John Wall trade: 2023, Lottery; 2024, Top 12; 2025, Top 10; 2026, Top 8; then becomes two second-rounders.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 3, 2020

if these are the protections this is an easy win for washington

i guess the rockets GM figured the most value that could possibly be extracted from westbrook is a heavily protected first round pick & he might be right on that but damn if i'm taking that john wall contract off your hands i'm grabbing shit off your dresser on my way out

i don't understand what the rockets are trying to do.

John Wall makes around $200k less than Russell Westbrook and Fertitta's casinos are fucked

saving $200k is not worth agreeing to pay john wall $47 million three seasons from now!

That's a problem for another day hehe

that trade is a crime

wall wasn't even like a top 5 PG at his peak, can't imagine where he'll end up now

he had a case in '16-'17. he's going to need to change his game a lot and it doesn't seem like anyone is sure he's willing or able to do that.

hard to picture what john wall minus explosion would even look like ... he's only an okay shooter, is he going to read the floor really well? i don't understand what skills he's bringing

that trade is a crime

sums it up nicely. there's no hidden upside for the rockets. this can't even be justified by desperation. but I guess anything that makes the west weaker is OK by me.

maybe wall put a ton of work into his shot over the last, uhh, extremely long amount of time

wall is still a good passer and he should still have a decent first step. but best case may be something like derrick rose's second act.

this trade is incredible kudos to everyone involved

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30438683/nba-says-48-positive-covid-19-initial-re-entry-testing

didn't see a version of this posted yet. not great!

EMERGENCY RINGER PODCAST: could the Covid All-Stars beat the Lakers in a best of 7?

9% seems like a high percentage of players to have the rona at the same time

its actually less than the average for the whole country haha wow not great

well if we tested everyone in the country we'd be below 9%...... maybe?

yeah it would but still

does this make the wiz an eastern playoff contender?

westbrook, not covid of course. but maybe both!

they'll be neck and neck with the hawks for homecourt in the play-in tournament

rwb already had corona iirc

feel like the east is thus:

contenders: MIL, MIA, BOS, PHI, BK, TOR
might could, might not: IND, ATL, ORL, WAS
prolly not: CHA, DET
nah: NYK, CHI, CLE

west

contenders: LAL, LAC, DEN
playoff teams: POR, DAL, UTA, PHX
might could, might not: GS, HOU, MEM, NO
prolly not: SA, MIN
nah: OKC, SAC

the phx is in

for the east i would have it as

contenders: MIL, MIA, BOS
prove it to me: PHI, BK, TOR, IND
first round sacrificial lambs: ATL, WAS, ORL
prolly not: CHI, CHA, DET
straight trash: NYK, CLE

baynes was a nice signing for TOR but i think losing gasol and ibaka knocks them down a peg for me. PHI and BK def have the talent but there's lots of moving parts, continuity + chemistry questions w/ those rosters and coaching staffs in a condensed/weird season and i'm not sure i trust either roster to come together and excel in a tight playoff scenario. major clippers vibes to the nets w/ the stars coming into a scrappy culture first team and acting like they run the place. i don't have confidence in them sticking together thru adversity. IND has some weird vibes w/ oladipo and i don't think they have a contending ceiling but should still be a top 6 team in the regular season. hawks were a 20 win team this year so expecting much more than play in tourney discussion still feels premature to me.

west

heavy favorites: LAL
contender...?: LAC
strong challengers: DEN, DAL
playoff teams: POR, UTA, PHX, GS
no fucking clue but hey james harden: HOU
play in babies: NO, MEM
prove it to me: MIN
nah: SAC, SA
not trying to win: OKC

after waltzing thru the west in the bubble the lakers get their own tier for me. i can't put the clippers on their level after their shameful exit + chemistry issues, but there's enough top end veteran talent there that i would nonetheless pick them over DEN and DAL in a playoff series. i still think steph + draymond is enough to get you into the playoffs w/ an actual roster around them, i thought oubre was a nice save and i'm a bit bullish on what wiggins could do there. harden is still so good by advanced numbers that i don't think there's much precedent for a player of his caliber to not at least make the playoffs, and his mere presence puts them above NO, MEM for me, despite how bizarre HOU's roster is and how bad the vibes are. but i prob see them in a play in round battle w/ those two teams. i don't think towns + russell is enough for the wolves to break above them, their defense will be bad and they might have a completely unqualified coach.

Wondering if this is a bust year for philly

Philly definitely in prove it mode. If the team is pointing to Embiid and Simmons plus shooters could work, then I think Morey will ride with that (and try to bring in more shooters at the deadline). If the team looks like last year, one of Embiid and Simmons is gone at the deadline.

Based on how many positive tests we had before the bubble it’s reasonable to think that 40% of the league has had Covid. The country as a whole is probably at 25% now.

IIRC the bubble testing was also one week and 10% of the players tested positive that time too

Did we talk about this

LiAngelo Ball is signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 2, 2020

lil bit

I’m not sure I’ve seen a player who so obviously doesn’t belong in the nba get signed before

what about master p

It’s close. I guess LiAngelo has youth

its weird whats the angle of signing then cutting the 3rd ball bro

Los Angeles Ballers (2018)
On July 9, 2018, Ball signed with the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association, a league founded by his father as an alternative to college basketball.[70] He joined in the middle of the season and made his debut on July 14, tallying 53 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.[71] Ball was named to the West roster for the JBA All-Star Game and was named co-MVP of the game after scoring 39 points.[72] Ball recorded 39 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals in a 202–189 win to claim the All-Star Game MVP award.[73] In his first playoff game, he scored a season-high 58 points in a 157–134 win over the Philadelphia Ballers.[74] On August 12, Ball matched his season high of 58 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in a Finals victory over the Seattle Ballers and was subsequently named Finals MVP.[75] At the end of the season, Ball was among 14 players in the league named to the JBA USA select Team, which faced several European teams on an international tour.[76]

lmao the team names

Big Ballers Ballers Ballers Brand

The NBA stopped drug testing for marijuana and JR Smith immediately began trending

Legend pic.twitter.com/Px9hJFHt2p

— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) December 3, 2020

yeah, stop testing for all non performance enhancing drugs

Is cocaine a performance enhancing drug?

If you do enough

we need to see russell westbrook play a game on coke to reach a scientific conclusion

would love to see some of those late 70s games with a cheat sheet for who was on what drugs

westbrook on coke would get his entire body stuck in the basket teen wolf style