Best case scenario would be for him to play his RFA year out and then enter next year as a UFA.

He's really good, but I don't think he's max out good.

Logo hasn't been around the Lakers in 12 years.

The toilet is likely going to be exactly where they were last year, when they had Howard, as a 7th or 8th seed.

What trades did Logo fleece? Vlade at the time was a really good center when he was traded for Kobe. Eddie Jones/Elden Campbell for Glen Rice? I loved Rice, and while it was a necessary trade to get Kobe SG minutes, that's hardly a fleece job.

Logo was great at his job though.

I think he is too.

Lakers are going to have to get real lucky to get someone that's of star quality for Kobe to pass the torch to so to speak.

I have no idea who it is, but I also didn't think Pau Gasol was anything but a pipe dream in 2007.

The Cavs are now the favorites to get Pekovic it looks like.

They can **** right on off, but holy **** I'd love to see a team in 2014 of Kyrie, James, and Pek.

Sexy as hell team. Scary good offense AND defense.

And the luxery tax for going over the cap has become cost prohibitive. The Lakers are going to have to change how they do things. They are still over the cap with the departure of Howard...

Peconic would be awesome. But I can't imagine Minnesota letting him get away.

For this year they are.

I doubt very much they change how they do things from a money perspective. The brand brings in tons of money, the Time Warner deal brings in tons of money.

The CBA has hurt them, but I'll wait to rush to judgement about how it will or won't hamper them until I see how things go next summer.

In the end, the Lakers invested a broken Andrew Bynum, Josh McRoberts and a lottery protected 1 for Howard. It didn't work out but the damage isn't catastrophic.

Its not that big a deal for the Lakers. They will pay the luxury taxand were prepared to do it this year. They will get under next year clearing the the tax penalty. They just have to work the numbers a bit better when they get the penalty down from being over for so many years.

what the hell would the Sixers want in trading for Royce White

that guy is one of the biggest jokes in pro sports

Been a great couple of days for Rockets fans. Now Garcia is back for vet minimum.

@WojYahooNBA: Josh Smith has agreed to a four year, $56 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, league sources tell Y! Sports.

You just pissed off RustShack.

That's a pretty nice front court. Monroe is just a horse and Smith will do a ton of the dirty work.

I hope my man Siva can stick on the Pistons

The Pistons are garbage

Why in the world would he come home to people that burned his jersey and wanted him to die? Yall don't deserve shit. GTFO.

Jarrett Jack signing with Cleveland is pretty big. He could start at PG for multiple teams... I'd say we have the best PG tandem in the NBA. You can even throw Dion Waiters in that mix as a combo guard who can really handle the ball too.

It will also be real interesting to see how the 76ers handle Royce too. If they learn from Houston's mistakes they got a steal.

Not to say it was all Houston's fault... They shouldn't have to cater to his needs. But both sides could have made it easier. So hopefully Royce also learns from his mistakes. It did seem like he was making a lot of progress towards the end, and at least played in some D-League games.

Do his issues keep him from running in a gym? Because when he finally stepped on the floor for their DLeague team, dude was way out of shape. I'm afraid he's a lost cause. That's too bad, as I thought he'd be a really positive spokesman.

It's sports, he realizes the impact that his decision made on his home state (by the way, he literally mentions Akron soooooo many more times than any other player in the league has ever mentioned theirs) and in a way, this situation works out perfectly. He is drafted by Ohio, spends a few years there and then realizes he can't win his championship there yet, leaves to go get his first championships, and comes back with an experience of winning and will end out his career giving his hometown what they've begged for decades for. LA has nothing to offer him besides a literally vacant roster and a promise of media that will over analyze every step you take and will directly terrorize your life if you don't succeed every single year (ask Dwight how that was).

Rockets got the steal

Lebron has very low self esteem for a superstar. He won't want to finish his career with his hometown hating him. Or with people believing his legacy is linked to buying a championship. I wish the cavs could have won without him. But in spite of all he did, if he wins anything in Cleveland he will become immortalized.

How do the 76ers or any team even handle Royce White, he literally sits on a roster collects a paycheck and refuses to play.

And even if you get him to play, he's like a 40 year old pitcher that refuses travel. So no matter how you cut it, at the very best scenario he's a part time player who can play in like half the games. How do you get that guy to fit a system or gel with teammates and play significant minutes knowing half the time you have to change the lineup around him when he can or can not play.

Why

in the world

does anybody think LeBron is going anywhere next year.

He's there for the rest of his career.

Get.

Over it.

What did they trade for Royce? Royce can and will fly, he just doesn't do it unless he absoulatly has too... That's the biggest misconception by the media, and wasn't his problem with the Rockets. His problem was they weren't taking the proper steps to ensure there was a plan in place incase anxiety kicked in, and he wanted a safe environment.

It really wouldn't have been hard for the Rockets to do that, they just refused. I would assume the 76ers are willing to go the extra mile since they traded for him. Plus in Philly he's closer to more city's making travel in his RV a little easier.

Royce was made for the NBA.

Prima donna extraordinaire.

Why in the world do you think LeBron would stay in Miami? I'm not convinced yet that he's sold on Cleveland. But why would a player like him stay in a place where his fans suck, he is surrounded by expensive veterans who are all on a massive decline, he's playing on a smaller contract (he sacrificed in order to bring in Wade and Bosh) and he'll always have to carry a legacy that he only won championships because he built his own superpower instead of organically?

I don't know where he'll land. But now that he's repeated a championship in Miami, I'd be shocked if he stayed in Miami. And the way the Cavs are building their team, it does look like they're prepping for a really strong pitch to bring him back.

Probably because Miami is going to be the same thing he left in Cleveland. You think he's going to win not 1... not 2... not 3... not 4... not 5... not 6... in Miami with Wade on crutches and Bosh's vagina crippling the team, with their contracts, from keeping up?

they traded peanuts for him, Rockets basically gave him away just so they didnt need to deal with it anymore. Philly is in tank mode, but Philly is now ran by a guy from the Rockets tree, so I dont see how is approach would be any different unless there were other forces (DM, etc) that trumped his thought process on how to handle White

Him and Hinkie do seem to have a good relationship though and there is this:

So there is a chance he could play, at least.

**** Royce white.

What a bitch
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I think he has some promising talent on the court. What a shame.

Again, when the guy finally decided to play, he was in terrible shape. His anxiety issues aren't his only problem. When you know your issues are going to cause a problem, wouldn't you do everything you could to keep yourself prepared to play when that time eventually comes? Guy was drawing a large paycheck and not doing anything.

Well at least White was impregnating bitches on his tour bus.

#BeWell

Watching a little summer league action today. Oladipo looks like he'll step right in. Trey Burke on the other hand appears to be a bit overwhelmed by the size/speed of guys at this level.

lazy or out of shape or not he still filled the stat sheet

Ill gladly take those numbers from a bench big, its not like he would be a starter

I mean it's pretty common for someone not to be in top shape when you know/think you won't be playing anytime soon. It's well known basketball isn't his love either... If be cared more about the game he could have been drafted real high. He's seemed real positive on twitter since this trade, and the 76ers are a lot more welcome to him than Rockets fans were when he was drafted. I hope he's motivated to work harder now and makes the best of his second chance. I understand people's hate towards him, but the media has made him out to be worse than he really is. The Rockets knew he had a disorder, and should have known they would have to deal it.

It's essentially like hiring someone in a wheelchair but not having a ramp for them to get into work.

No its essentially no where close to that.
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If he loved basketball there wouldn't be an issue.

Good point
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All he wanted was a plan in place for his and others safety because of his disorder. He also wanted them to talk to a medical expert for his situation, they didn't want to do that.

They shouldn't have expected his disorder to suddenly go away after he was drafted. He had zero problems at Iowa State, it's not hard to take care of him.

If flying is a part of your job duties I would think there would be an issue with it. He knew that going in. I'm guessing he signed a contract while knowing that...
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If there's any "hate", it's likely a result of his own words on Twitter. He did not handle things well at all.

And the team knew of his issues going in also. They offered the contract while knowing that.

Flying wasn't the issue, so you obviously haven't been following the situation at all. He flew a few times at Iowa State when there wasn't time to drive.

I'm sure there was a reasonable expectation that he would be able to perform the duties of an everyday player
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To be fair, Dwight's coaching in Houston will be Olajuwan and McHale, two of the best five post players offensively of the past 30 years.

having to take the amount of flights was an issue.

He would have to take sedatives and thought he wouldn't be able to play at a high level.


sounds like he couldn't perform the duties of a pro player
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The guy has a disorder the rest of the league don't have. You'd think people hiring him would want to know what went with that and not assume he'll be just like everybody else.

If Lebron thought he was going to stay in Miami, he would be saying that. He's not. Lebron may very well stay in Miami but he's definitely considering his options at this point.

So he wants full pay to play home games and games he can drive to?

Look I'm probably more in tune with dealing with people with disabilities and the different needs than most here, but you can't expect them to be able to do all the same things as someone without the disabilities db's definitely can't expect then to get the same pay with half the work
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The Houston Rockets drive me crazy. They are building their team like an amusement park. There's no plan except to sign every big name they can. Even though I hated Miami's big three thing, at least they were smart for how they built around the superstars and looked like they had a plan.

The fact that they acquired Harden after they paid Lin way too much money (even though they're the same type of player) and Howard to replace Asik (making Asik an unbelievably expensive guy to play scrap minutes) makes me not want to root for the team. Nevermind that Howard was a douche in the way he handled himself.

we are talking about a guy that was on Calipari's radar to transfer to Kentucky, the day of the signing, shit his pants with one of his attacks and refused to get on the plane to sign, and thus never did.

The talent was always there, but essentially if he doesnt love basketball, he did enough to collect a nice million dollar per rookie contract being selected 16th. its not like he is some 2nd round flyer. The dude went 16th overall and a little more effort would have easily been top 10/top 5.

Right now he looks like an expiring contract more than anything, if he continues to be how he is, he will be off the 76ers books next year and he will be out of the league, as no team will sign him for a 2nd contract and waste cap space on him. It's really up to him if he wants to keep getting paid or not

I'm a Sixers fan, I think he would be a good pairing to platoon with Thad Young and Nerlens Noel. That's a good set of skill sets for the team to build around, but I am not getting my hopes up he is going to pan out, other than wondering how they are going to approach him. The 6ers are clearly tanking this season, so the fans will need something to talk about and the Royce White circus will be of the major topics I'm sure. Just like Bynum not playing was this passed season, only difference is we didnt give up the best veteran on the team (Iggy) and two good young prospects for him that caused the team to be blown up

I really wouldn't be surprised at all for him to play in Philly, and play very well.

He never played for Minnesota either before transferring to ISU.

This is the fourth major move the Rockets have made in the last 4 years where they've re-evaluated.

They drafted Jeremy Lamb with 1.12 then traded him for a much more expensive Harden. They gave Jeremy Lin a mega contract then brought in Harden (the two are a bad mismatch for each other). They signed Asik to a mega contract then realized he wasn't as good as advertised and now are paying him a shitload of money to do virtually nothing. They drafted Royce White with no care in the world about his history.

The Sixers are fine. Like Oden, they'll gamble with White and if it doesn't work, who cares. But the Rockets... wow. They make so many of these big splash moves and then backtrack. They don't have any kind of a plan.

He's worked with Hakeem extensively every off-season. It hasn't mattered one bit.

He also had the chance to work with Kareem, but that never materialized.

McHale is a dogshit coach. He may have been one of the best post players of all time, but that hasn't translated into anything during his coaching tenure.

Howard's offensive game isn't just going to blossom now that he's working with these guys. If teaching moves was so easy, Jordan would be instructing his team every day.

He either has it, or he doesn't, and at 28, he's not adding much to that game that's not already there.

I think you mean "Like Bynum" not Oden.

And the Sixers are not fine, they had a core and were a 5-6 seed playoff team before Bynum, it cost them Iggy, Harkless and Vucevic. If you are asking me now would I trade those three for Andrew Bynum you are crazy, especially now that they blew the team up, have a new coach and GM, Harkless and Vucevic would have been HUGE young pieces to build around.

White literally cost them nothing, Bynum cost them the loss of basically their head coach, GM, and the domino effect of multiple players (Iggy, Hark, Vuc, Holiday trade, Lou Williams) and then taking on terrible players like Jason Richardson, and signing scrubs like Nick Young

Direckshun, anything you want to wager on the fact that LeBron won't retire a member of the Miami Heat?

The Dwight trade hurt the 6ers the most.

If they had Vucevic, no need to trade for Noel. A group right now of Vucevic, Thad Young, Harkless, Turner and Jrue is one of the 7 best teams in the east. That's young, athletic as hell. The only real area they'd have to address is Turner and adding depth.

The 6ers have ****ed themselves.

yea Doug Collins was Scott Pioli level bad with roster moves in that 12 month span where the Sixers made terrible roster moves. I hate them both equally. Scooter more because I love the Chiefs more, but ya know.

Asik's trade value isn't going anywhere, Lin's contract isn't nearly as big as everyone makes it out to be (similar to what Dragic got), and they have young forwards with decent potential. They have a very flexible plan

Lin's contract is absolutely awful. Lin stinks and really isn't in the same stratosphere as Dragic in terms of NBA talent.

No one is taking on that deal unless it's packaged with a young asset.

Still young. Im fine keeping him. Averaged 16ppg last year in the second half of the season after coming off injury. Shot 44/34... He'll probably raise his three-point percentage to 37-39 range. Just needs to get those turnovers down, and get some more experience. 3-year, 25 mil isn't that bad. Though the backloaded salary for next year is pretty funny. I understand the hate though.

No plan? What are you talking about? Morey has been collecting cheap assets along the way with the hope of trading for or signing top 20 players. They lost Yao Ming long before they expected. They signed Lin and Asik away from teams that wanted to keep them. Lin looks a bit expensive now, but he only has 2 years left and he could still improve (24 years old). Asik was a really nice find, and he's only 23 and still improving. He's also a very nice trade chip at this point. After signing those guys, Harden fell into their lap. You going to tell me they shouldn't have traded for Harden because he and Lin weren't a fit? Morey had no idea he was going to get Harden when he signed Lin. Meanwhile, he created space to sign the best free agent available this season, a guy who is a nice match with Harden and Parsons. If Howard is healthy and becomes what he was with Orlando, it's a great signing.

As for Houston and Royce White.....Morey doesn't seem like the type of GM who doesn't do his homework. He understood what he was getting into in terms of special circumstances; what he didn't understand was how difficult White was to deal with.

Lin will easily be the first scapegoat Dwight throws under the bus if the team is doing poorly, probably because of his turnover problems.

I can't see him ever selling out his boy Parsons or Harden, so Lin and Asik would be the first Dwight would cry about

same thing he did in Orlando

Winning does cure this, but only for so long.

Asik is incredibly tradable.

I wish the 76ers would trade for Asik lol

That is completely ignorant.

It was worded poorly. I agree with you. His trade value is outstanding and they can wait til next year if they want

In Orlando, he was right. They put garbage around him. Hedo and Jameer were their end of game go to players. He obviously handled it poorly down the stretch of his Magic tenure, but he was in the same position as LeBron in Cleveland.

Well Parsons and Lin are probably closest on the team. I imagine they'll all get along. McHale is a player's coach too

The 76ers were winning nothing with their current setup. They ended up with Noel and two possible lottery picks in the best draft of the decade. There's a good chance they could get two franchise players along with Noel, who can be an elite defensive center/rebounder.

It's not a bad idea for them. I'm fine with all the talent going to the East next year

Should have never traded for Noel. Asik would be a perfect fit if that didn't go down.

Makes no sense to me at all.

I may be overrating Jrue, but I thought he was supremely underrated.

@DerekJ3031: BREAKING: Royce White's trade won't be official yet and @Highway_30 will be playing #YCapCity Weds night! 5:30 Valley Southwoods WDes Moines

I wonder if he will be in better shape.. Hopefully this is at least a step towards getting in shape if not.

In Lin and Asik, you have $16M per year to guys who are now deadweight and will be more difficult to deal at that price tag. Howard is a big signing, but he's also a head case. Royce White was a head case. They don't seem to care about draft picks and while they've been surprisingly successful in the second rounds, their first round recent track record is beyond lousy and most of them have been dealt away. While they got a great deal on Thomas Robinson, he'll be a so-so NBA player. And in 2 years, Parsons has a contract that's going to make him more difficult to sign.

I think you give way too much credit to Morey. He seems like a guy more interested in proving how clever he is versus building a blueprint for a team.

if they had never made that trade their roster would have been

PG - Jrue/Lou Williams
SG - Evan Turner/Lou Williams
SF - Iggy/Harkless
PF - Thad Young/Lavoy Allen
C - Vucevic/Hawes

even if Iggy walks, or they knew he was gonna, they could have did a sign and trade that yielded something back in terms of picks or depths that was not Bynum, and kept Harkless and Vucevic, and still packaged Jrue for Noel.

then you have: Hark, Vuc, Noel, MCW, etc.

They lost two prospects right now that will be better than anything they get next year, because you dont know their pick slots, but you can assume top 10. But there is a lot of teams tanking next year, so it's actually cooler to lose next year then it is for middle of the road teams to compete. So either way its going to be tough to get a top pick. And I'm not going to just assume they are getting Wiggins, and realistically if they dont get a top 5 pick than Vuc is better than anything they get, as it stands. They lost more than they gained in the last year, but a large margin.

In two years, both Lin and Asik are off the books if not traded. There goes the Parsons problem. I think Asik gets good value next year

T-Rob isn't on the team.

They still got a a really high 2nd for the White mistake. Got a high second back for the Morris mistake

1st rounder Terrance Jones looks promising. Showed flashes last year and dominated the D-league. He had 24/12 today in the summer league.

1st rounder Jeremy Lamb was a big part of the Harden deal

1st rounder Donatas Motiejunas has also shown promise and has apparently bulked up. His play on his national team should be interesting

Drafted Brooks, Landry, and Budinger as late picks.

It's an amusement park strategy. We're looking at a 5 year draft strategy and the only names we can pull out are Chase Buddinger, Chandler Parsons, and a bunch of prospects with upside?

I guess he's smart in that he's made a ton of mistakes and the team isn't in dire straits. And I guess credit him for being ultra-active. But the only thing I see is that he threw a shitload of money at two superstars and has surrounded them with a below average supporting cast where much of that talent can't even be on the same floor as the starters. And the young talent is very subpar compared to teams who have drafted well for 5 years.