****2018-2019 Official NBA Regular season thread****

[dirk digler]

Didn't see anybody starting this thread so I guess I will.

Anti climatic season starts tonight and my prediction is GS vs Boston in the NBA Finals.




First 2 Games tonight on TNT with Philly vs Boston and OKC vs GS. Westbrook is out tonight so that game will be a blowout most likely.

[Mecca]

It looks really bad because teams are to stupid to realize "You know this guy really isn't a max player" but they give them the deals anyway.

I understand some guys who aren't true elites will get paid but it gets real stupid when teams grasp for any thread possible and you have some average dude with a huge deal.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Gotta be Paul.

It could be Wiggins but he's at least young and his max was cheaper than Paul's.

$40 million/season for that dinosaur is just awful but it's the kind of thing desperate teams will do when they think they see a path to success in front of them.

That John Wall Supermax hasn't even kicked in yet and he may be done done.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Mecca

It looks really bad because teams are to stupid to realize "You know this guy really isn't a max player" but they give them the deals anyway.

I understand some guys who aren't true elites will get paid but it gets real stupid when teams grasp for any thread possible and you have some average dude with a huge deal.

Players Union is going to cry foul if the cap space isn't used thus crazy salaries.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The Bird rights wouldn't be relevant as to him, but rather Davis.

And as a trade acquisition, don't the Lakers already have Bird rights as to Davis? They get Leonard under contract now while they have the max space, then they use the Bird rights on Davis to pass the cap in 2020 and they have all 3 guys long-term (and they would have to pay up for Kuzma next year as well if they wanted to keep him).

That's why I'm saying the deal would need to happen this year for him to go to LAL or it won't happen at all. There's just not a good way to fit him in after Davis inks a max deal.

Or are you saying that he can't do the 1+1 structure and get his mega-max in 2021? I wasn't aware of that wrinkle but ultimately if he wanted to, he could do a 2+1 and then still be eligible for the same mega max deal a year later (and at that point in his career, the extra max year on the back end is likely to be more than he'd have gotten via a new deal AFTER the expiration of the 5 year term).

Is it the 'full' Bird rights that are up for discussion here? The ability to give the extra year? Or is it simply the Lakers ability to go over the cap and retain him. So if they got him on a 1+1, could the Lakers still go over the cap on a 4 year deal at 35% rather than the full Bird exception 5 year deal?

I was unaware of any stipulations requiring that he be on the team for 3 years before the Lakers could exceed the cap to retain him. I would've just thought it applied to his ability to get that 5th year only.

Players acquired as FAs must be with the new team for 3+ years to have full eligibility to go OTC. Players acquired via trade or amnesty are exempt, which is why the Raptors could Supermax Kawhi despite getting him only last year.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Players acquired as FAs must be with the new team for 3+ years to have full eligibility to go OTC. Players acquired via trade or amnesty are exempt, which is why the Raptors could Supermax Kawhi despite getting him only last year.

But again, in Kawhi's case, since they'd be acquiring him via a 1+1 where he'd be on max salaries in both years, they could offer him a 4 year 35% max after 2 seasons via the Early Bird, no?

It wouldn't break the 175% of the previous year's salary threshold so they could still go over the cap on a 4 year, 35% max deal.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by O.city

I don't think guys can become that much better shooters once they get to the league. Similar to my thoughts that a QB isn't going to become accurate once he gets to the NFL.

Maybe a slight improvement, but meh.

Siakam went from basically not being able to shoot at all when he was drafted to hitting 3s at a nearly 40% clip from the corner. He's still not a good shooter overall, but he's improved remarkably.

Simmons just hasn't even tried. His pride won't even let him shoot jump shots during games.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Siakam went from basically not being able to shoot at all when he was drafted to hitting 3s at a nearly 40% clip from the corner. He's still not a good shooter overall, but he's improved remarkably.

Simmons just hasn't even tried. His pride won't even let him shoot jump shots during games.

No no no no no, you've got it all wrong.

He's unselfish...

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Siakam went from basically not being able to shoot at all when he was drafted to hitting 3s at a nearly 40% clip from the corner. He's still not a good shooter overall, but he's improved remarkably.

Simmons just hasn't even tried. His pride won't even let him shoot jump shots during games.

The dude is 0-17. Taking any more than that is being a piece of shit teammate. Good for him. No clue how knowing what you are good at is having too much pride.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

But again, in Kawhi's case, since they'd be acquiring him via a 1+1 where he'd be on max salaries in both years, they could offer him a 4 year 35% max after 2 seasons via the Early Bird, no?

It wouldn't break the 175% of the previous year's salary threshold so they could still go over the cap on a 4 year, 35% max deal.

They can't do a 1+1 and get Early Bird. Has to be at least two years w/ no options.

If he does a 1+1 with Toronto and levels up to 10 years of service, he's eligible for the 10 year Supermax that entitles him to 35% of the cap, because he's already full Bird. If he opts out after one year, he can only get 30% of a team's cap if he leaves, because he's under 10 years of service.

He would have to sign at least a two year deal with the Lakers just for them to get Early Bird Rights, and the contract must include two years (no options and could be no longer than four).

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

They can't do a 1+1 and get Early Bird. Has to be at least two years w/ no options.

If he does a 1+1 with Toronto and levels up to 10 years of service, he's eligible for the 10 year Supermax that entitles him to 35% of the cap, because he's already full Bird. If he opts out after one year, he can only get 30% of a team's cap if he leaves, because he's under 10 years of service.

He would have to sign at least a two year deal with the Lakers just for them to get Early Bird Rights, and the contract must include two years (no options and could be no longer than four).

So the option would be the problem then, I see.

Well if his plan would be to use a bridge contract to get to the 35% max, then there's little utility in him going 1+1 vs. 2 anyway, so that's not a huge hurdle.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BWillie

The dude is 0-17. Taking any more than that is being a piece of shit teammate. Good for him. No clue how knowing what you are good at is having too much pride.

Because he will continue to suck at it if he doesn't work on it. And you and I could do more than 0-17 if we had a shot. The problem isn't that he's not good at it, the problem is that he's so damn bad at it that he can't get defenses to get up on him at all.

Fix that. My god you're a professional athlete who's been in the league for a couple of years now, how can you still be that bad unless you're just not trying?

I think it was Bruce Bowen I was listening to that told me how to spot a bad teammate - watch them shoot a half-court shot at the at the buzzer. Bad teammates will ALWAYS let the shot go just after the buzzer sounds because they know they aren't gonna hit it and they don't want to dick up their shooting percentage. They don't want to look like they're jaking it to the fans, but the guys on the court know. It's a completely risk-free shot that actually goes in on occasion, but a selfish ballplayer doesn't care, he's gonna let that buzzer sound before he releases so his SH% doesn't suffer.

There's a lot of that streak in what Simmons is doing right now. The guy is so concerned with looking bad out there that he refuses to shoot the ball outside of the FT line. And that is hugely damaging to his team's offense.

[dirk digler]

Can you imagine paying a QB a $150M who can't throw the ball past 10 yds?

Well hold on how much did we pay Alex Smith again?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Because he will continue to suck at it if he doesn't work on it. And you and I could do more than 0-17 if we had a shot. The problem isn't that he's not good at it, the problem is that he's so damn bad at it that he can't get defenses to get up on him at all.

Fix that. My god you're a professional athlete who's been in the league for a couple of years now, how can you still be that bad unless you're just not trying?

I think it was Bruce Bowen I was listening to that told me how to spot a bad teammate - watch them shoot a half-court shot at the at the buzzer. Bad teammates will ALWAYS let the shot go just after the buzzer sounds because they know they aren't gonna hit it and they don't want to dick up their shooting percentage. They don't want to look like they're jaking it to the fans, but the guys on the court know. It's a completely risk-free shot that actually goes in on occasion, but a selfish ballplayer doesn't care, he's gonna let that buzzer sound before he releases so his SH% doesn't suffer.

There's a lot of that streak in what Simmons is doing right now. The guy is so concerned with looking bad out there that he refuses to shoot the ball outside of the FT line. And that is hugely damaging to his team's offense.

This is true. You'll also notice that guys always try them in the playoffs, because they all know that it does matter.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So the option would be the problem then, I see.

Well if his plan would be to use a bridge contract to get to the 35% max, then there's little utility in him going 1+1 vs. 2 anyway, so that's not a huge hurdle.

If he's looking to maximize earnings in LA, the move would be to do a three year deal with the Lakers (would put him at Bird+ > 10 years of service), then do the 5 year Supermax. He'd earn a fair amount more on the back end that way and be ~ 31 when signing the second deal.

However, they'd have to resort to the MLE and buyouts to fill out the roster over those last five years, because they have so few picks.

If Pelinka was smart, he'd also start buying second round picks, hoping his scouting department could find contributors that way. Robert Sarver is always looking to sell off assets

[Al Bundy]

I’m told Willie Cauley-Stein coming to the Warriors. Was Damian Jones that bad in the Summer League debut? Does that mean no DeMarcus Cousins?

— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) July 2, 2019