2010/2011 NBA Thread

[naiwf]

Rudy Gay getting max money makes the baby Jesus cry. I know that teams can do whatever they want with their money, but it's idiocy like that that's eventually going to lead to a lockout. Owners and GMs need to be saved from themselves every couple of decades and it's truly sad. Rudy Gay's not leading you to a championship, so why pay him like he's one of the league's elite? The same thing applies to Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, David Lee, Carlos Boozer, Amare and a handful of others who will be collecting about $20 million per in 2013.

My basic rule of thumb is that a guy who's never made the All-NBA 1st team shouldn't even be in the mix for making max money. D-Lee is a 20-10 hustle guy who plays no defense on a shitty team and someone's going to give him a $50+ million deal. It truly boggles the mind.

Whoever offered Darko $20 million for being tall needs to be fired from his job and banned from the NBA for life. Seriously.

[Colossus]

It's the same guy that managed to drive Rubio away and picked Flynn instead of Curry (which, by the way, could have been a great duo: Rubio and Curry, with Love and Jefferson up front). So, he has a story

[sahyder1]

I can understand Bosh and even Boozer getting max money or close to it but guys like Joe Johnson make absolutely no sense. NBA is definitely heading to a lockout. I don't understand why people are surprised at these bench guys getting big money. The NBA has been like this for long time.

[Guest JukeboxHero]

I'll never get the hate for LeBron James. Phenomenal basketball player. I'll be a fan of him whether he stays in Cleveland or not. The support for him here in Cleveland has been absolutely off the charts, though.

He met with the Knicks and Nets yesterday and I read that he was very noncommittal. He meets with the Heat and The Clippers today and I believe with Cleveland tomorrow.

If he doesn't stay in Cleveland, I think he'll fit in well in Chicago. Dunno if or when he's meeting with them, though.

[naiwf]

Paul Pierce will continue to flop in Boston for the next few years. 4 yrs/$61 million, mutual option for year # 4. I have absolutely no idea why the Celtics are determined to keep this team together when they're basically going to need duct tape to hold guys together by next year's playoffs. Garnett, Pierce and Allen are on the downside of their careers, Rondo is great but can't shoot and Perkins is a solid defender/rebounder but has no offensive game to speak of. Instead of doing the smart thing and rebuilding around their young guys, they're probably going to bring back Ray and end up struggling through an 82 game regular season in the hope that they'll catch lightning in a bottle again in next year's playoffs. I just don't see that happening.

[Your Mom]

I'll never get the hate for LeBron James. Phenomenal basketball player. I'll be a fan of him whether he stays in Cleveland or not. The support for him here in Cleveland has been absolutely off the charts, though.

He met with the Knicks and Nets yesterday and I read that he was very noncommittal. He meets with the Heat and The Clippers today and I believe with Cleveland tomorrow.

If he doesn't stay in Cleveland, I think he'll fit in well in Chicago. Dunno if or when he's meeting with them, though.

He is meeting with Chicago tomorrow

[Colossus]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

[Lowerdeck]

Any star going to the Knicks, regardless of the money, is pretty ridiculous.

Do the Nets have a legit shot of signing any big names? I assume they are a wild card in the LeBron sweepstakes, with/behind CHI, MIA, and CLE.

[Colossus]

I thought that they were going to get Gay, but now, If they don't get LeBron or Wade, I think this Free Agency is a failure to them

[naiwf]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

I am now convinced that James Dolan's mission in life is to destroy the Knicks franchise.

[DMN in the House]

Rich get richer. Steve Blake to YOUR World Champions, 4 years, 16 mil.

Definitely and upgrade over Jordan Farmar. My boy from UCLA will be missed.

[Lowerdeck]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

I am now convinced that James Dolan's mission in life is to destroy the Knicks franchise.

It took you this long?

[naiwf]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

I am now convinced that James Dolan's mission in life is to destroy the Knicks franchise.

It took you this long?

I used to just think that he was just incompetent. Now I think his sabotaging the franchise is deliberate. You spend a decade sucking ass and after years of spinning your wheels you finally start getting rid of shitty contracts, clear the decks for the first time in the millennium and then decide the best thing to do is give away the mother of all shitty contracts?

It hurts

[gunnar hendershow]

Don't worry Knicks fans, in 2 years there will be a new team in New York for you all to support.

[Lowerdeck]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

I am now convinced that James Dolan's mission in life is to destroy the Knicks franchise.

It took you this long?

I used to just think that he was just incompetent. Now I think his sabotaging the franchise is deliberate. You spend a decade sucking ass and after years of spinning your wheels you finally start getting rid of shitty contracts, clear the decks for the first time in the millennium and then decide the best thing to do is give away the mother of all shitty contracts?

It hurts

The Joe Johnson one in Atlanta might be worse.

[jrtdot]

Rumor has it that the Knicks are offering a 5 year, 100 million contract to Amar'e. I love Amare, but that is just ridiculous

I am now convinced that James Dolan's mission in life is to destroy the Knicks franchise.

It took you this long?

I used to just think that he was just incompetent. Now I think his sabotaging the franchise is deliberate. You spend a decade sucking ass and after years of spinning your wheels you finally start getting rid of shitty contracts, clear the decks for the first time in the millennium and then decide the best thing to do is give away the mother of all shitty contracts?

It hurts

The Joe Johnson one in Atlanta might be worse.

Much worse.

[naiwf]

Atlanta's been in the playoffs three years in a row and are improving year to year. The Knicks have spent most of the last decade acquiring terrible deals and giving away lottery picks while winning about 30-35 games a year. They finally get out from underneath the weight of all that salary cap hell and then offer a guy who isn't that big of a star and plays no defense whatsoever $100 million to play on a team with no one else to get him the ball. Was Darko not available for max money?

[JStarr]

Atlanta's been in the playoffs three years in a row and are improving year to year. The Knicks have spent most of the last decade acquiring terrible deals and giving away lottery picks while winning about 30-35 games a year. They finally get out from underneath the weight of all that salary cap hell and then offer a guy who isn't that big of a star and plays no defense whatsoever $100 million to play on a team with no one else to get him the ball. Was Darko not available for max money?

But...Atlanta's coach just got shit-canned, primarily because Joe Johnson played with his head up his ass against Orlando and bitched out the fans when they had the gall to be annoyed with him. Mike Woodson's replacement has never coached an NBA game. For 12 ppg and 27% shooting in a playoff sweep that was nearly unprecedented in its savagery, Johnson's getting re-upped for max money.

Say what you like about Stoudemire not being a big enough star or whatever, but he's done quite a bit more to deserve that kind of cash than Joe Johnson ever will.

I will agree that it's not as helpful to bring him on when there's no useful point guard on the roster, though. Amare had Nash to set the table, and before that, he had a pre-Vaseline-diet Starbury. I'd be pretty surprised if Toney Douglas gets anywhere close to the level of either of those guys.

It's pointless to complain that "X guy doesn't deserve the max" because frankly, no one outside of LeBron and Wade does this year...and yes, that also includes Bosh. Problem is that everyone's cleared the deck chairs off the Titanic for two years, and dammit, somebody's got to get the max deals to make the fans think they're supposed to be excited.

[naiwf]

So Nowitzki and Pierce are staying with their teams. It's looking like Joe Johnson is staying in Atlanta. Toronto doesn't want to do a sign and trade with Bosh since they want him to either eat the $25 million or so he'd lose for walking away or reluctantly stay with them, and the only person who is planning to move thus far is apparently Stoudemire to the Knicks.

I swear, if LeBron stays in Cleveland and Wade stays in Miami this entire free agency period will be as lame as the vast majority of the playoffs were.

EDIT: I think Johnson signed for the max with Atlanta. Thank you Hawks for saving Dolan from himself, now all we need is Miami to sign Amare.

Edited July 4, 2010 by naiwf

[MyKILLv2.0]

Sounds like Bron'Bron may be heading to NYC to play with STAT and possibly Tony Parker, if they can pull off the sign and trade deal with David Lee to San An that everyone seems to be buzzing about.

......which if it is the case will create an AMAZING Eastern Conference finals match up with Orlando and the Knicks.....however the Lakers will cream whomever wins that in Five. :crying: