NBA Off-Season Activity (Draft/Transactions/Signings)

I think Houston is going to be a dominant team this year. Donatas Montejunas is a big surprise and going to be huge for them (no pun intended), Jeremy Lamb is #1 so far in the Summer League and was drafted 12th making him a huge steal as well, and Terrence Jones/Royce White are both big pieces that I would consider to be steals in the draft as well. Along with Chandler Parsons who was obviously a steal in last round's draft, Jeremy Lin and Kevin Martin, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with. I'd say that of any team out there, the Houston Rockets have the most top-notch prospect scouts for sure.

As for Dwight Howard, I just heard that he'll agree to a contract extension if he were to be traded to the Lakers. If Howard goes to the Lakers, they're going to be battling it out with the Heat for the title.

 

ok well at the time i posted that none of these trades were 100% lol

umm the only people he isn't overrated to are these obnoxious asian lin fans. sure, it was a cute fairytale story but what happened in february isnt happening again.

and no way was Lin the best point guard option for NY lol. that contract is ridiculous. felton is in no way washed up too, he still posted close to 12 and 7 last year with portland. and his chemistry with amare when he was in NY was undeniable. i would take felton over lin any day of the week. whether lin liked it or not, hes a locker room cancer because of the media and it clashes with the types of guys he played with in NY.

no way hes putting up close to 20/10 in houston lol. he is definitely not a #1 option on any team. hes not gonna be relevant by the end of next season.. hes done

i seriously doubt there'd be cap space for him regardless

 

He's not going to be putting up numbers like he did during the beginning of Linsanity, but his season averages were very respectable (~14/7). If he can replicate those numbers $8M/year is definitely reasonable.

If you look at other point guards who are making $8M/year for their contracts, it's really not that ridiculous. Amare and Melo both have ~$20M contracts, and Amare definitely isn't getting any better. Melo's talented, but the Knicks aren't going to get past the 2nd round anytime soon.

Felton's peak was during his time on the Knicks. PG's excel under D'Antoni, and now with Woodson in the mix, he definitely won't be putting up 17/6 with Melo on the team.

Felton's a solid guard but he's only going downhill from here, while Lin is still a work-in-progress.

I highly doubt he's going to be "done" in Houston. Houston wants him to play, and having dealt with Yao Ming for nearly a decade and a receptive coach, they'll definitely be utilizing Lin as best they can both off and on the court. He might not be putting up 20/10, but his numbers should increase from last year's season averages.

They had 3 years to figure it out, in 3 years time Amare will be a washed up All-Star player with an expiring contract, and Melo/Chandler are viable trade options as well. That being said Lin's off-court marketability definitely would've raked in more than what the Knicks would have to shell out. MSG stock rose 30% in the course of 5 months, with a market cap of $300M, that comes out to $90M USD. Not to mention overseas contracts, jersey sales, ticket sales, etc.

 

Jason Terry to the Boston Celtics! Are the Maveracks even a play-off team anymore?

 

definitely are.

they added Elton Brand and Chris Kaman
signed OJ Mayo
traded for Darren Collison

and you still have Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, Brandan Wright, Rodrigue Beaubois and of course the big man Dirk Nowitzki. their draft picks Jared Cunningham (24th), Bernard James (33rd) and Jae Crowder (34th) look promising too.

 

Wow Dwight Howard... "Agent says that he will not sign extension with any team" What the hell is up with this guy, I wonder what is going through his head.

 

thanks for the update. signing oj mayo is a pretty good decision. he almost single handedly taken out the clippers in the 2012 playoffs.

 

i think they should choose micheal jordan to play on the team

 

Mavs are definitely playoff contenders, but I don't see them advancing very far unless each of their role players is playing magnificently.

On another note, this whole Dwight Howard debacle is getting ridiculous...

 

Why doesn't Howard want to play with Nash and Kobe? That would be an amazing lineup. Is he really that self centered and wants the team to revolve around him? Personally I dislike Howard and think he is overrated offensively.

 

I don't think he doesn't want to play there. Last I heard, he agreed to a contract extension if he were to be traded there.

 

Am I the only one who thinks Dwight Howard is going nowhere until the midseason trade deadline?

 

Here's the bottom line with Dwight Howard, and honestly if I were him I'd do the same thing.

He has 4 options right now:

A) If Dwight Howard goes forth with a sign-and-trade, the CBA rules only allow for a 2 year contract extension at a 4.5% raise. The max he'd get is 2 Years/$41.5M from this option.

B) Howard doesn't sign a contract extension and instead signs a new contract at the end of the '12-'13 season with the team he currently plays for. This would result in a 5-year contract extension worth at maximum 5 Years/$116.8M. However, players aren't allowed to agree to signing contracts ahead of time, so there still is a risk that D12 would leave.

C) Howard signs with a new team at the '12-'13 season. This option comes with a 4.5% raise, and at maximum results in a 4 Year/$86.7M contract.

D) Howard extends his contract during the season with the team he's playing on. This comes with a 4.5% raise with a max contract of 3 Years/$65M

With Dwight having gone through back surgery and turning, he probably wants the maximum he can get for the longest amount of time possible just in case his career falls into a sharp decline (Think Greg Oden, Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and other perennial all-stars who were never the same after injuries/age. Although Oden was never an all-star, the common consensus was that he would've been had he not undergone multiple surgeries.)

The Lakers don't have the salary cap to sign Dwight to a Max contract extending 5 years, so Dwight would probably leave the team to get a Max contract over 4 years from another team which is why the Lakers are hesitant to trade for him without an extension.

Teams such as the Houston Rockets do have the salary cap, which is why they think they can keep D12 if he does get traded there (And honestly, who else would turn down a 5 Year/$116.8M contract for a 4 Year/$86.7M contract)

The problem with Dwight is that him and his PR reps have been horrible at figuring out what he's going to do...

 

as far as i see it, either way, the heat are going all in this year. They are going to be literally unstoppable. I am not saying they are going to win every game but, gl to the other 29 teams in the nba

 

There are still plenty of teams that can contend and plenty of things that can go wrong with the Heat.

 

Literally, but not absolutely.

They're not going 82-0, but I do expect them to clinch the Eastern Conference now that the Bulls have been thrashed by injuries. The Playoffs are a whole different atmosphere and they may get upset by the Western Conference contender or another top seed in the East in the later rounds.

Also, if Lebron James gets injured, then their championship hopes go out the door for sure (Example: D-Rose's ACL injury was pretty much the reason why the Bulls exited in the first round this year. As good as DWade/Bosh/Allen are, that's not a finals team unless Wade shows flashes of his former self during the Heat's 2006 run, but even then he had Shaq...)

 

bulls are gonna suck next year, but hoping d rose comes back as strong as ever!

 

Unfortunately, he'll likely be out until around March.

 

The Bulls have set it up so that the 2013 off season (next summer) will be a big summer for trades, and setting up the championship run. That will be Derrick Rose's first full year after the injury. He recently told UK coach John Calipari (his former coach at memphis) "wait til you see my body when I get back." As a Bulls fan and big Derrick Rose fan, this makes me pretty excited. With Hinrich, Belinelli, Radmanovic and Mohammed all signing short-term deals, the plan to clear major salary-cap space in 2014 will remain intact. That's also when Luol Deng's contract expires, Nikola Mirotic could come over from Real Madrid and Carlos Boozer likely will be a victim of the amnesty provision. I looked at the free agents during next off season, and there are tons of big names, notably Amare Stoudemire and Dirk.

 

i would have an orgasm if howard went to the heat too