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The Sacramento Kings have a "very high" level of interest in quickly making a trade, according to a source. It is believed that some conversations have advanced beyond the preliminary stage.The Kings have a 3-7 record and have several veterans that could be attractive to playoff contenders.
Looks like my jumper
@KCJHoopPer sources, Derrick Rose tore his right meniscus and will need surgery.
(Image removed from quote.)
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery Monday, the team announced.The 2010-11 league MVP had the medial meniscus repaired in his right knee at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.The surgery was to be performed by Dr. Brian Cole, who performed the ACL surgery on Rose's left knee in May 2012.Heading into the procedure, there appeared to be two options for repairing Rose's knee. He could have had the meniscus, or a portion of it, removed and been back on the floor in a matter of weeks. Having the meniscus reattached, which appears to be the route Rose and the Bulls took, sidelines him four to six months.While the first procedure would have put him back on the court sooner, many players who have had that procedure, including Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, say that it causes more problems later in a player's career.It appears that with the 25-year-old Rose the organization chose to take the longer approach with the hope that he can return to being the same player as before his first knee injury.Before the surgery, coach Tom Thibodeau said the team felt bad for Rose after all the work he had put in to return."I talked to him at length last night. He's in good spirits," he said. "About as well as can be expected under the circumstances. And he's already thinking about his rehab, and typical Derrick -- concerned about his team, his teammates. But that being said, we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We're the Chicago Bulls. We have one goal, that's to win. And I believe we have the personnel in that locker room to get it done."Thibodeau said he expects Rose to make a full recovery but acknowledged there is disappointment throughout the locker room."There's disappointment for Derrick because of the type of person he is," Thibodeau said. "And he's such a great teammate along with being a great player. But I think we have an understanding of what we need to do. We know we can't feel sorry for ourselves. So we have to circle the wagons and then go out there and get the job done."You just take things as they come. This is all part of the NBA. Injuries are part of it. That's why it's a team. I have a lot of confidence in the guys that are on our bench. They've done a good job of preparing themselves. They have to understand what their job is, get in there and get the job done."
Kobe Bryant signs 2-year extensionUpdated: November 25, 2013, 11:44 AM ETKobe Bryant signed a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.The Lakers did not announce financial terms of the deal, but a source told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne that Bryant will remain the NBA's highest-paid player over the course of the extension.Bryant, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, will make over $30.4 million this season, the final year of his current contract with the Lakers.The team announced the deal in a press release, saying that the signing "should ensure" that the 35-year-old Bryant finishes his storied career with the Lakers."This is a very happy day for Lakers fans and for the Lakers organization," general manager Mitch Kupchak said in the release. "We've said all along that our priority and hope was to have Kobe finish his career as a Laker, and this should ensure that that happens."To play 20 years in the NBA, and to do so with the same team, is unprecedented, and quite an accomplishment. Most importantly however, it assures us that one of the best players in the world will remain a Laker, bringing us excellent play and excitement for years to come."
ESPN just said 2yr/$48M.
The True Hollywood Story of Kobe's Crippling ContractBy Zach Lowe on November 25, 2013 4:01 PM ETThere are trades and contracts that require cold, calculating analysis about whether the logic of particular transactions accomplishes the clear goals of the franchises involved.Kobe Bryant's two-year, $48 million contract extension is not really one of those deals. At the very least it requires a different set of standards for judgment — standards only a handful of teams would actually use in judging themselves. Making Bryant the highest-paid player in the NBA over the next two seasons is, objectively, not a smart thing. He's 35 years old, and he has not played a single minute of in-game basketball after suffering a traumatic injury that has devastated nearly every player who has suffered it and managed to stay in the league.He had precisely zero other suitors at this specific moment. He may have had suitors this summer among the 10 or so teams that could work their way to max-level cap room, but some of those teams are not in the right evolutionary position to spend that kind of money on a 35-year-old, and others could not have cleared enough space to compete with this L.A. deal. Bryant was not the best player in the league last season, nor was he even really close to it. The Lakers have voluntarily decided to pay him at that level as he enters the twilight of his career, amid unprecedented (for him) health uncertainty.The deal also kills the Lakers' dreamy goals of bringing two max-level stars to team with Bryant this summer. The Lakers could have, at most, about $21.5 million in cap space this summer if they retain Steve Nash's full salary. And even that figure assumes the following:• L.A. renounces its rights to Pau Gasol, and does not re-sign him;• The Lakers pick around no. 14 or no. 15 in the draft;• The Lakers sign zero other players before luring Star Player X in free agency, so that the empty remaining roster spots carry minimum charges of only about $500,000 each.And even in this scenario, the Lakers could not fit the maximum salary of, say, Carmelo Anthony. Using the stretch provision on Nash could open up about $6 million of cap space, allowing the Lakers to sign that max-level player — and little else. Los Angeles floundered in 2012-13 with Bryant, Gasol, Nash, Dwight Howard, and a bench of minimum-salaried retreads. How do you think they would fare in the ultra-competitive Western Conference in 2014-15 with Bryant, Anthony, Nash (or not), and a bench of minimal-level retreads? They may be better off bringing back Gasol at $10 million or so over two seasons (if he'd take such a deal), finding a couple of other solid mid-priced guys on short-term deals, and seeing how things go from there.They've hung in this season, at 7-7, with a dreary offense and a surprisingly solid defense that has (not surprisingly) improved without Bryant's irresponsible roaming and declining athleticism. They've done so in part because they spent way over the luxury tax to sign and re-sign some useful veterans (Steve Blake, Jordan Hill, Chris Kaman) and hit nicely on some minimum-level contracts (Jordan Farmar, Xavier Henry, Nick Young).They could use various forms of Bird Rights to re-sign some of those players this summer, going over the cap in the process. But they'll face competition for guys like Hill, balling out this season now that Mike D'Antoni has finally provided playing time, and Bryant's new deal is so huge as to hamstring the Lakers' pursuit of multiple star-level free agents. Remember: Using Bird Rights on Hill (or Nick Young, or Farmar) means leaving those players on your books during free agency via a temporary charge called a cap hold — a charge that eats into that cap space allegedly earmarked for a Carmelo type.Look, it's all fine, if you view it through the right lenses. Bryant is a massive star, and the limits on individual maximum salaries ensure that every true franchise player is underpaid (by his team, anyway) for most of his career. Bryant is taking a slight pay cut here, since he's earning north of $30 million this season, but he did not take a team-friendly discount on the levels of Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and even LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in Miami. That's cool. Bryant is right to fight for as much dough as possible. The Lakers are right, in their Lakery way, to give him that dough. He's a drawing card, a guarantee of sellouts amid falling ticket sales, and he has helped the Lakers to five NBA titles.And Bryant, by the way, remained a phenomenal offensive player last season before his Achilles tear. He hit 51 percent of his 2-point shots, the very best mark of his career, as Kevin Pelton pointed out last week at ESPN.com. Among 106 players to finish at least 75 post-ups with a shot, drawn foul, or turnover, Bryant was the most efficient in the league, per Synergy Sports. The most efficient! At age 34! He hit 55 percent of his post-up shots and produced 1.05 points per possession from the block, per Synergy. Factor in passes from the block, and only one of those 106 players leaps past Kobe in points per possession on post-ups: Kevin Durant.Bryant still got to the line eight times per game. His footwork remains impeccable, balletic, brilliant. He's still a fantastic passer when he wants to be, reading the floor three steps ahead like a score-first Jason Kidd. He remained efficient as a scorer and passer in the pick-and-roll. The Lakers scored 107.4 points per 100 possessions with Bryant on the floor last season, and just 99.7 points without him. That's a huge gap, and an accurate reflection of Bryant's value on a team that otherwise lacked any perimeter punch.But every player who has suffered an Achilles tear, even the anomalous All-Star Dominique Wilkins, has suffered a drop-off in play upon returning. And those players were about 29 years old on average, according to Pelton's work and this study from researchers at Drexel University. Those players came back less efficient overall, and Pelton's work found a significant decline in most of the stats we associate with athleticism — free throw attempts, steals, blocks, rebounds. Free throws are a hugely valuable part of what Bryant does, especially since he has never been a very good spot-up guy from 3-point range. That could change with more careful shot selection, but he's never going to be Ray Allen in his old age.Expecting Bryant to be the same player again is unrealistic, or based upon something other than available precedent. Sometimes precedent is wrong; available precedent suggested that the Spurs would whitewash Oklahoma City in the conference finals two years ago, and the opposite occurred. But if the choice is between age and precedent on one side, and Kobe's Mambalicious work ethic on the other, I'm sticking my cash on age and precedent. His defense was a massive net-negative for the Lakers already; he was very nearly a one-way player before his injury, though he could still turn up his focus and fundamentals to a useful level during periods of high intensity. But those stretches were brief, and there were not nearly as many of them as there used to be.Again: The deal makes sense in its own way, and it’s only a two-year extension. The Lakers will have an honest chance at unrestricted free agents that crop up after 2015-16, a group that could include Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Kevin Love, a long-rumored Laker (and Knick) free-agent target. But Love can opt out of his deal after next season (KAAAHHNNNNN!!!!!!!), and the new CBA makes it so that players should enter free agency at the first possible moment in order to secure a max-level long-term deal right away — before injury, a new and more restrictive CBA, or some other variable can pop up. In that scenario, Love would hit the open market in the summer of 2015, with Bryant still clogging up the Lakers' books. Hibbert and Lopez can do the same if they decline their own player options. The Lakers will have a hard time signing any big free agents that summer, especially if they give out even one big-money multi-year deal in the interim (i.e., this summer) to Gasol or someone else.The Lakers could have driven a harder bargain here, insisted that Kobe look in the mirror, accept his hoops mortality, and take a salary commensurate with his age and skill level. They could have thrown the cap sheet in his face and pressured him into a larger pay cut for the good of the team. They could have dared him to enter free agency, a move that would have alienated a fan base that adores Kobe as if he were a deity.Boston fans have a similar devotion to Paul Pierce, though it is perhaps less fierce than the grip the NBA's Lord Voldemort has on his Death Eaters. But the Celtics did not flinch when the opportunity arose to deal Pierce and Garnett in exchange for some bad contracts and three plum first-round picks. They let Doc Rivers, the only man to coach them to a title since the mid-1980s, broker his way to the Clippers in exchange for another pick.There are other ways to handle business, even the business of a legend. Those ways are probably smarter than the route the Lakers took today. The Celtics are now the envy of every front-office executive who craves a rebuilding challenge, provided the challenge comes with some nice resources. The Lakers are an expensive mediocrity overpaying a franchise star in decline.That's fine, if that's what you want. But let's not pretend anything else is going on here.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/83785/the-true-hollywood-story-of-kobes-crippling-contract
Maybe now Kobe stans would STFU about how nobody cares more about winning than Kobe.
Quote from: Smooth Groove on November 25, 2013, 07:23:43 PMMaybe now Kobe stans would STFU about how nobody cares more about winning than Kobe.Kobe pulled out a big win for Kobe, so maybe they're on to something.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to trade Derrick Williams to the Sacramento Kings for Luc Mbah a Moute.The trade is contingent on Mbah a Moute passing a physical.Williams was the second overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.No picks, cash or others players are expected to be included in the deal.
It’s common practice that after every game each player is provided a scoresheet. The sheet breaks down the individual players’ contributions as well as team totals.That won’t be happening anymore in Toronto. Rudy Gay has put a stop to it.Gay sees the scoresheets as an unnecessary barrier to team unity or even a temptation to be more focussed on what is best for the individual as opposed to what is best for the team.“We’re not playing for stats,” Gay said.Gay said there was no incident or no moment that pushed him toward this decision but as a leader on this team, he felt it was just something that was best for the team.“I wanted to just nip it in the butt before it became an issue,” he said. “We come in here after losses, after wins and people are staring at those stat sheets, but that’s not what we’re about. We’re a team and the stat that matters is the W.”
A locker room is a sanctuary for the players on a professional team.It is the primary space away from the court where they develop the chemistry and bonds that help them become even better than their collective talents.Even coaches, men in charge of these players, men who tell these players what they expect of them and how they will be deployed respect the room as the players’ space.Raptors coach Dwane Casey and his staff obviously have access to the room, but they have their office and the players have their room.Which brings us to what you are not going to find in the players’ locker room anymore.And that would be scoresheets.It’s common practice that after every game each player is provided a scoresheet. The sheet breaks down the individual players’ contributions as well as team totals.That won’t be happening anymore in Toronto. Rudy Gay has put a stop to it.Gay sees the scoresheets as an unnecessary barrier to team unity or even a temptation to be more focussed on what is best for the individual as opposed to what is best for the team.“We’re not playing for stats,” Gay said.Gay said there was no incident or no moment that pushed him toward this decision but as a leader on this team, he felt it was just something that was best for the team.“I wanted to just nip it in the butt before it became an issue,” he said. “We come in here after losses, after wins and people are staring at those stat sheets, but that’s not what we’re about. We’re a team and the stat that matters is the W.”When it’s pointed out that isn’t always the case in a league where the gap between the highest paid the lowest paid members on a team can be huge and stats may mean more to some than others, Gay agreed.“It isn’t,” he said, “but at the end of the day if we win everybody gets their just due. I’ve seen it. I’ve been a part of it.”Gay said there were no objections from his teammates when he delivered the news.“No, none. It was pretty easy.”Ironically, the numbers these days are looking more promising than they have in some time for most of the Raptors. Gay, who came down with the flu Thursday and woke up Friday out of breath, all achy and tired from a restless night skipped shootaround in order to be at his best for the game that night. His numbers weren’t all that great but, like his teammates, delivered when he was needed most.As it turned out, Gay was no better Friday night than he was Friday morning but he said there was never a thought to not play.“We’re a team and I’m going to push through things and hopefully the rest of the guys will do the same thing,” he said.DeMar DeRozan had a big first half allowing Gay to ease into the game and figure out what he was capable of doing given his unhealthy state. In the fourth, when DeRozan started to falter it was Gay who picked it up scoring with 11 in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.Both men ended up with 17 on the night but that number was irrelevant as far as Gay was concerned.The Raptors got win No. 6 and that was the only number that mattered. And he didn’t need a scoresheet to tell him that.
QuoteIt’s common practice that after every game each player is provided a scoresheet. The sheet breaks down the individual players’ contributions as well as team totals.That won’t be happening anymore in Toronto. Rudy Gay has put a stop to it.Gay sees the scoresheets as an unnecessary barrier to team unity or even a temptation to be more focussed on what is best for the individual as opposed to what is best for the team.“We’re not playing for stats,” Gay said.Gay said there was no incident or no moment that pushed him toward this decision but as a leader on this team, he felt it was just something that was best for the team.“I wanted to just nip it in the butt before it became an issue,” he said. “We come in here after losses, after wins and people are staring at those stat sheets, but that’s not what we’re about. We’re a team and the stat that matters is the W.”
Kupchak: "Everybody forgets that Kobe would be a free agent this summer too. So we got who we feel is one of the top free agents available"
If you think you've seen the Blazers looking at iPads on the bench during games, your eyes are not deceiving you. Multiple members of the team are indeed viewing game tape on the bench, during games, with an eye towards strategic adjustments.A quick survey of Portland's key players on this subject produced some interesting results. Lillard, Matthews, Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge all said that they are using iPads for help during games. Interestingly, they are pursuing individual approaches when it comes to what footage they want to watch, and they also have personal preferences about when and how they view the on-demand footage.Matthews and Aldridge were the biggest advocates of the new technology. Matthews told Blazersedge that he uses the tablet to examine plays on both sides of the ball. On his offensive touches, he's concerned with his shooting form, whether he's rushing his shots, and whether there were additional options available to him when the ball swings his way. On defensive plays, Matthews is checking for his stance, his spacing relative to his opponent, and how players are scoring on him.Aldridge, by contrast, does not look at Portland's defensive possessions, instead reviewing the opposition's defensive coverages when he has the ball in the block or in isolation. Where are the double teams coming from? When do they come? Which of Portland's shooters are opponents choosing to leave open? What are his passing options? He sounded like a football quarterback or an offensive coordinator when describing this instant, in-game "reading the defense" process.
