NBA 2014/15 Season Thread

[Cole]

Excited to go to another Raptors game or two this year, hoping they can improve their performance next year by winning a playoff round. Just need to have another good regular season, I feel like with the new GM (Masai Ujiri) we're on track for a winner.

[Plubby]

Very confident about the Hornets this season. I think that Stephenson will thrive both on and off the court, under the leadership of Big Al and Marvin. MKG seems to have developed a jump shot and Noah Vonleh ( ) & PJ Hairston were steals.

I am watching them as well! Boo YOUR team!

Cole: Ujiri will keep building good teams as long as he continues to be able to trade with the Knicks.

[VerbalPuke]

I'm actually pretty excited to see what the Pistons can do now that they finally have a good coach (we have had a bunch of scrap heap shit since Flip Saunders was fired). We didn't make any splashy moves but bringing in Meeks, Augustin, and Butler were solid moves. Two of the biggest things is that we need to be a better shooting team, which is why the three guys we brought in give me some hope to space the floor. Second thing is that I hope SVG can get either Smith or Monroe to buy into coming off the bench. That is what will happen, but hopefully neither of them fucking pout or put up a shit fit because either of them as a sixth man greatly improves our bench.

Honestly, I think Monroe is the better candidate to come off the bench. He can back up the 4 and 5, so if Smith needs to come out, Monroe steps in, or if Drummond comes out Monroe can move to the 5. Monroe is likely gone after this season, and we probably can't trade him, but hopefully he has a good season and helps us get back to the playoffs. We have some guys that need some playoff experience, even if it is an 8th seed.

I really hope to see KCP take a big leap this season, his defense is already pretty good, but he disappointed with his shot last year. If he can knock his jump shots down, that will greatly improve the team.

Oh and one more thing. Brandon Jennings. He is a knuckle head that takes poor shots, but he is also a talented knuckle head, if he buys into the system, he could actually turn out to be a pretty good point guard. I know it's a lot to ask, but I think he's going to be on a short leash with Stan, and he's still pretty young.

And of course, hoping to see Drummond continue to improve and maybe make the next step to becoming an elite center in the league.

By the way, James Edwards laughs at the idea of "best mustache in NBA history".

Edited October 3, 2014 by VerbalPuke

[Plubby]

That mo is a travesty. I get that you gotta show your Pistons some love...but really?!

[VerbalPuke]

That is a bad stache on a bad man. He didn't spend all of his time as a Piston either.

Fine, do I need to pull the Kurt Rambis card!?

[gunnar hendershow]

Please.

[Benjamin]

Ah, Bird's "I forgot to wash my face" moustache. Fantastic.

[Quom]

Someone really needs to explain to Paul Pierce it's pre-season. Nearly started two fights.

[gunnar hendershow]

The new NBA TV deal is triple what they had before. LeBron is rumored to be leading a charge to abolish the max contract, but you'd think a lot of lower-tier players who suddenly could be making $15 million as benchwarmers wouldn't want the max to go away any time soon. Either way 2016 is going to be a bonanza in free agency, and it's good new for the Wizards looking to bring Kevin home.

[Mofoticon]

The new NBA TV deal is triple what they had before. LeBron is rumored to be leading a charge to abolish the max contract, but you'd think a lot of lower-tier players who suddenly could be making $15 million as benchwarmers wouldn't want the max to go away any time soon. Either way 2016 is going to be a bonanza in free agency, and it's good new for the Wizards looking to bring Kevin home.

I'd say it's bad news for the Wizards and getting Durant. Before, they had the max space to already sign Durant and most other teams did not have enough room to team up Durant with other stars potentially. Now? Durant can team up with 2 or 3 other max players and go to LA, NY, Brooklyn...hell, even stay in OKC (if they stop being cheap). If Durant doesn't care about markets then I don't see why he'd leave OKC, but if he wants to create his own super team he'd go to the Lakers or Knicks at this point over signing with the Wizards in 2016, IMO.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Mofoticon

[gunnar hendershow]

The new NBA TV deal is triple what they had before. LeBron is rumored to be leading a charge to abolish the max contract, but you'd think a lot of lower-tier players who suddenly could be making $15 million as benchwarmers wouldn't want the max to go away any time soon. Either way 2016 is going to be a bonanza in free agency, and it's good new for the Wizards looking to bring Kevin home.

I'd say it's bad news for the Wizards and getting Durant. Before, they had the max space to already sign Durant and most other teams did not have enough room to team up Durant with other stars potentially. Now? Durant can team up with 2 or 3 other max players and go to LA, NY, Brooklyn...hell, even stay in OKC (if they stop being cheap). If Durant doesn't care about markets then I don't see why he'd leave OKC, but if he wants to create his own super team he'd go to the Lakers or Knicks at this point over signing with the Wizards in 2016, IMO.

It's not like he'd be coming to a barren wasteland in DC. The issue before was the Wizards wouldn't have enough cap space for Wall, Beal, and Durant. Now they will.

I'm curious what happens with Cleveland too. They'll have a ton of free cap space then and it was reported James took the deal he did to guarantee himself a huge payday when the cap skyrocketed. Does he take up most of that additional space or do they have the money to then bring in a 4th All-Star to the fold?

[Benjamin]

Is there really enough space for a fourth All-Star? That would be madness.

[phatman]

Well they're estimating that the soft cap could potentially go from $62 mill to $88 mill... Definitely seems like there'd be enough room to sign another all-star calibre player...

[Mofoticon]

Well they're estimating that the soft cap could potentially go from $62 mill to $88 mill... Definitely seems like there'd be enough room to sign another all-star calibre player...

The Cavs actually have a major trade asset to get another big piece in Brandon Haywood's non-guaranteed contract next year. This article http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2014/07/brendan-haywoods-contract.html explains how the Cavs can use it to get a very good player by next summer but regardless money is never an issue for them because the owner spends whatever it takes to win. Not sure they'll have the cap to sign a 4th star outright (like Show said, LeBron and company will eat at the extra space) but players will always take discounts to play with LeBron now.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Mofoticon

[phatman]

I just can't help but feel this new deal is going to lead us to another lockout though...

If it does, hopefully it is resolved quickly and doesn't drag on like the last one...

Owners ARE going to have to make concessions here because of the deal, I hope they realise this and get a new CBA sorted ASAP this time...

[gunnar hendershow]

Silver will want his first CBA to make concessions, the lockout happened in large part so Stern could take the heat instead of Silver.

Granted nobody saw this humongous increase in the cap coming.

[Benjamin]

Curious. I didn't much follow the business side of the NBA when the last lockout happened, and reading literature about it just confused me even more. Can someone explained what happened and why it led to this weird ass problem for 2016?

[Quom]

I wonder how the owners will manage to sell fans on being made poor by owning a team in the NBA this time.

[JasonM]

Curious. I didn't much follow the business side of the NBA when the last lockout happened, and reading literature about it just confused me even more. Can someone explained what happened and why it led to this weird ass problem for 2016?

Well the last lockout was I think 2 years ago. And it was more about how much of the money should go to players, before the lockout it was a 57/43 split for the players, and during the lockout it got dinged down to 50/50 because the owners alledged that they were running heavy losses and basically wanted an equal cut.

Now this monster deal has happened that has tripled tv revenues and will make the NBA and all the owners a fucktonne of cash, and will no doubt increase profits by a big margin over the coming years.The players on the other hand feel short-changed, having had to cut the money they made 2 years ago because the league was in bad waters and now it has suddenly done a complete 180. The owners will make tonnes of money, and the players won't see a penny for it.

So the players now want to get rid of the max-wage and increase the soft-cap for wages. That way players can make more, and teams should be able to pay more too.

I personally feel that there needs to be a compromise though. Cuban has said that it needs to be more NFL-like in terms of contracts. No max-wage, but also no guaranteed contracts for longer than a year. So players can't cash in after a good year, and then tank completely and expect to keep making the big money deals. Players want guaranteed money, owners want guaranteed performances, neither are realistic from any standpoint.

I'm all for raising the cap and nixing max-wages. But the players also need to compromise in that regard, and getting rid of the terrible guaranteed deals would go a long way in making the league a lot more competitive. And helping to get rid of the high-earning low-performing players who don't add anything.

[Monkey D. Lars]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpRUw7f7XUI