The NBA thread

[bachikarn]

It's funny. When the Cavs were looking for a new coach, didn't a lot of coaches turn them down? Bet that wouldn't have happened if they knew they were getting Lebron.

The biggest loser here is John Calipari, who turned down about 80mil/multi year contract and some GM powers.

Billy D turned them down too but not sure for how much. Paying Cal that much is so ridiculous though. He isn't that good of a coach, but an elite recruiter. That advantage is completely negated in the pros.

[Phoenix Dark]

NBA players already have infinite white women and cars, Cal wouldn't be effective at all.

[HiResDes]

The East is pretty much completely up int he air now right And what was Houston thinking letting go of Parsons and Lin? Also Melo must not care about winning.

[Stoney Mason]

Lin was a salary dump to clear room for Bosh. It just didn't work out that way. I don't think Parsons is worth 15 mil  a year unless he was part of a group where you are making a serious title run. I guess Morey decided this wasn't the year the Rockets were going to be capable of that after missing out on Melo and Bosh.

In all honesty I think these were the right moves for this specific situation.

[Human Snorenado]

Shorter etoilet: "People don't want to live and play in Sacramento, and this makes me sad"

[Stoney Mason]

I still can't believe the Lakers haven't hired a coach. It's so ass backwards. Might as well just let Kobe player/coach next season.

[Human Snorenado]

Also, request that Mandark change his tag to INTERNET OLD plz

[etiolate]

Kevin Love has received quite a lot of media coverage, before the Lakers/Cavs rumors. I barely watch NBA shit and I know that.

It shouldn't be surprising why the league focuses on stars though. You're not going to get people to care about a Bucks game unless they have a player you can sell. If Parker becomes a great player than I'd expect the team's current situation to improve. Likewise if the Kings were good, or had a star player (like they did in the early 00s) their situation would be better. I just don't see the point in expecting the league to treat teams "evenly" when no sport does that.


A better argument would be to give teams more power to help deter players from leaving, ie a franchise tag.

Nobody does  coverage completely evenly, but the NFL does have every team shown each week. The NBA goes out of its way to feature a select few and exclude many.

You say if sac had a star? Cousins might be the best center in the game. In a bigger market he goes go to the all star game.

[Phoenix Dark]

Kevin Love has received quite a lot of media coverage, before the Lakers/Cavs rumors. I barely watch NBA shit and I know that.

It shouldn't be surprising why the league focuses on stars though. You're not going to get people to care about a Bucks game unless they have a player you can sell. If Parker becomes a great player than I'd expect the team's current situation to improve. Likewise if the Kings were good, or had a star player (like they did in the early 00s) their situation would be better. I just don't see the point in expecting the league to treat teams "evenly" when no sport does that.


A better argument would be to give teams more power to help deter players from leaving, ie a franchise tag.

Nobody does  coverage completely evenly, but the NFL does have every team shown each week. The NBA goes out of its way to feature a select few and exclude many.

You say if sac had a star? Cousins might be the best center in the game. In a bigger market he goes go to the all star game.

The NFL is significantly more popular than the NBA though, and regular season games actually matter. More importantly there is more parity in the league. Why would anyone watch a Kings or Bucks game at any point in the year, whereas in the NFL more often than not you're watching at least one team on the road to the playoffs.

Looking back at last season in terms of bad teams that got lots of TV presence...Washington comes to mind, but it's obvious why that was the case (RG3, plus no one expected them to be that bad). But you're not going to see a Tampa Bay Bucs v Buffalo Bills game get high billing, for instance.

Aren't all star games based on votes? I can see why a small market team would be at a disadvantage...but then again Kyrie Irving seems to be doing well for himself despite being in a worse market than Sactown.

[Stoney Mason]

Oh boy. More of this NFLversus NBA horseshit. How fascinating!

 

[etiolate]

Why would anyone watch a Jaguars game or a Dolphins game? Or the Rams? Because there's regional interest. The NBA doesn't give a fuck about regional interest. I do feel the league needs less games per season and the ability to feature more games. Take notes from the most popular league. Don't just look at what the NFL does and not even try to copy a thing or two. The NBA says to not care about these teams and so nobody does.

And only the starters are based on votes. The rest is coaches. I also hear the media talk about all the big men in the West and leave Cousins off their list nearly every time. When Mitch Richmond was here he was one of the best two players in the league and he was ignored until he won All-Star MVP.  And Kevin Love did not get that much attention in Minny. Rubio and Adleman kind of upped his exposure. He got some all-star games and that increased his talking head time in the press, but it still wasn't that much for what he was doing. Now I hear about Love every day, because he might change teams. I assure you the press is thinking "if he goes to a splotlight team then I'll cover him more."  If he was like LMA and everyone thought he'd be resigning in his small market? Good luck getting press clippings.

[Phoenix Dark]

Stoney: nothing of the sort, we're just comparing them while noting where it's apples and oranges. The NBA isn't on the NFL's level popularity wise, which makes TV comparisons hard.

The Bucks get regional coverage just like an NFL team does. The difference is that the audience is smaller, and no one cares about the Bucks whereas even small or bad NFL teams get good ratings; I should know, as a Lions fan.

If you want to fix the NBA's small market exposure problem, make games matter by cutting the bloated season, allow teams to franchise players, and get more games for national broadcast in the afternoon and evening. More Saturday and Sunday night games.

[etiolate]

Regional coverage in the NBA is tied to regional cable channels that are sort of disconnected from the central media outlet hub of the NBA. Don't feel it compares to the local network coverage the NFL or MLB does. The NBA's network coverage is terrible and it's best cable coverage is on the cable network not affiliated with the main broadcast partner of the NBA.

[Stoney Mason]

Stoney: nothing of the sort, we're just comparing them while noting where it's apples and oranges. The NBA isn't on the NFL's level popularity wise, which makes TV comparisons hard.

The Bucks get regional coverage just like an NFL team does. The difference is that the audience is smaller, and no one cares about the Bucks whereas even small or bad NFL teams get good ratings; I should know, as a Lions fan.

If you want to fix the NBA's small market exposure problem, make games matter by cutting the bloated season, allow teams to franchise players, and get more games for national broadcast in the afternoon and evening. More Saturday and Sunday night games.

We've had this discussion dozens of times. No offense. It's always brought up by etiolate. The form of the arguments change slightly but its the same discussion at its core.

[Mandark]

When Mitch Richmond was here he was one of the best two players in the league and he was ignored until he won All-Star MVP.

wut

[benjipwns]

Was Mitch Richmond ever one of the two best players in the Pacific Division?

[Stoney Mason]

Seems like Lance is one of the last remaining "significant" guys left. But a lot of teams seem to already have made up their mind and chosen their direction. I have a feeling he is probably burning inside that he is worth that much less than players like Haywood and Parsons.

[etiolate]

that should have been best two-way players

[Kara]

I think the whole thing is counter-intuitive, especially in the land of freedums to have such a socialist system

You shouldn't think of it as the S word so much as rigging the game to ensure you risk little and profit greatly. The current crop of dipshit small market owners basically think they should be entitled to year-over-year profit even though as a group they are generally incompetent at running their organizations.

[benjipwns]

You shouldn't think of it as the S word so much as rigging the game to ensure you risk little and profit greatly.

[Kara]

But I thought no one profited under socialism?

[Stoney Mason]

https://vine.co/v/Mx9Fg3POT3m

They'd be nuts to trade this kid for Love. He has a lot of potential.

[benjipwns]

"Honestly, I was offended by the whole process," Parsons told Yahoo Sports on Monday in a phone interview. "They publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that's just how they viewed me as a player. I don't think I've scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I'm ready for that role. You can't knock them for always trying to get better. [Houston general manager] Daryl Morey is very aggressive, is a genius, a great GM and I have nothing but respect for those guys. And they are looking to make their team better. That's what they were doing. I just thought I could be that guy that could do that."

"Throughout the whole process they pretty much told me they were going to match everything," Parsons said. "I understand it's a business. I understand they had to do what they thought was best for their organization. It definitely caught me off-guard a little bit."

[Stoney Mason]

I can understand his perspective and he has every right to feel that way as a person. Especially when the franchise is saying those things to him. I think Parsons was a very good player and a steal on the old contract. We'll see about the new contract (I'm skeptical) and how he performs for the Mavericks but I'm sure Carlisle will get good use out of him.

[benjipwns]

Does anybody else forget that Flip Saunders wasn't an NBA player?

I feel like I'm always rediscovering that he wasn't some 6-4 bench warmer in the 1980's but a 5-11 dude who never played pro ball.

It helped when he was coaching the Pistons because he would be standing next to Billups or whoever in timeout huddles.

[TakingBackSunday]

Parsons will do well in Dallas, but dude is a fucking cunt.  Back in his UF days, a friend and I were playing golf one day and he happened to be walking off the course as we were about to start.  We were like "oh hey Chandler" without wanting to start a conversation (we were just "hey chandler, good game last week) and he came directly up to us and asked " WHERE DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL."  Since I had zero SEC ties, I just said Belmont and walked towards my bag to fake-look at my clubs, but my friend casually said Vanderbilt.  Parsons went on a cocktrip rant about how no one in the SEC could stop him and how Vanderbilt should be kicked out of the SEC.  My buddy just stood there listening too all of this.  When parsons finally walked away my buddy very vocally said to me "what an asshole." Parsons definitely heard it but didn't do anything.

Dude kinda reeks of dick but he's still a great player.

[Stoney Mason]

I would have just kidded back with him. It doesn't sound that serious. But I wasn't there I guess.

[bachikarn]

Parsons will do well in Dallas, but dude is a fucking cunt.  Back in his UF days, a friend and I were playing golf one day and he happened to be walking off the course as we were about to start.  We were like "oh hey Chandler" without wanting to start a conversation (we were just "hey chandler, good game last week) and he came directly up to us and asked " WHERE DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL."  Since I had zero SEC ties, I just said Belmont and walked towards my bag to fake-look at my clubs, but my friend casually said Vanderbilt.  Parsons went on a cocktrip rant about how no one in the SEC could stop him and how Vanderbilt should be kicked out of the SEC.  My buddy just stood there listening too all of this.  When parsons finally walked away my buddy very vocally said to me "what an asshole." Parsons definitely heard it but didn't do anything.

Dude kinda reeks of dick but he's still a great player.

Well trash talking is part of the fun of sports so maybe that's what he was doing or maybe he is just an asshole. I don't know when it happened, but he matured A LOT while he was at UF. Complete douche as a freshmen but I thought he was a lot better as a senior. And let's be real, 99% of professional athletes are huge dicks.

[Stoney Mason]

http://grantland.com/features/2014-nba-free-agency-winners-and-losers-houston-rockets-chandler-parsons/

The Second Annual “Milwaukee Bucks WTF Are They Doing?” Award

This award was born one year ago, when the most common question I heard in chats with NBA executives in the stands at Summer League was some variation of “Man, I can’t figure out what Milwaukee is up to. Can you?”

4. Detroit: The Pistons chose the same route as the Lakers, only they already have at least one young star in Andre Drummond, and they spent much more conservatively on guys who fit actual needs in D.J. Augustin, Butler, and Meeks. The Lakers just threw random amounts of money at guys to fill a barren roster.

The Meeks contract is a puzzling overpay, but Stan Van Gundy wanted shooting, and he got it before the market could sink its fangs into Meeks. Van Gundy also has a record of turning subpar wing defenders into good system guys.

Detroit still has to figure out the Monroe situation, and Monroe’s camp is still making noise about possibly signing the one-year qualifying offer if Detroit doesn’t come with a max deal. But Detroit is still decently positioned going forward, and Van Gundy will have this team playing better this season.

3. Los Angeles Lakers: The Lin trade was a nice predatory move, but it’s unclear why they decided to toss so much money at Hill and Young instead of going hard for a young talent like Thomas, Stephenson, Lowry, or any number of restricted free agents. The Lakers are just filling the roster with short-term contracts until they land a star, and they couldn’t get any big names to bite this time around. If they don’t land Love next summer, who is the next realistic target?

The bright side: They have a shot at being bad enough to keep next year’s first-round draft pick, which they owe to Phoenix if it falls outside the top five.

2. Orlando: Mostly covered here. But I trust this front office over the long haul.

1. Sacramento: There will be more to come on this. No one outside the Kings’ brain trust can figure out what is up here.

 

[etiolate]

Yeah, the Kings have confused everyone. Watching their SL games, it looks like they want to change the offense into a more team oriented offense. The moves seem to be based on passing more often and pace. They skipped on Vonleh because they had poor assist #s from the PF spot and Vonleh has questionable BBall IQ. They were considering Stauskas or Payton, and went with Stauskas. Both improve passing on the team. Stauskas is actually pretty selective with his shots and can create for others, and will make the extra pass.

Not resigning IT and never planning to seems to do with IT's refusal to be a 6th man. They got Collison for pace and passing. DC isn't pass first or a great passer, but he can function within an offense without dominating the ball. He also gets into transition quickly and will pressure the other PG 3/4 court. RayMac can also pressure the PG. They want that to increase pace.

Their disinterest in IT was base don his wanting to be 'the man' and his tendency to dribble the ball.

Article on this: http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2014/7/13/5896453/passes-per-possesion-time-or-where-did-the-kings-ball-go-to-die

Team was last in the league in Assists per game and second to last in passes per minute. Isaiah Thomas was one of the worst guards in the NBA getting regular minutes at passes per minute at 7.763 while Collison was much higher at 11.528.

The question still is why they got nothing in return for IT who was a very good asset that they seemed to never have interest in starting. Why not trade him during the season for something valuable? Why trade him just for a Trade Exception? Oh, because you have a really high salary and are a 28 win team. The salary issues have some to do with Gay's contract and some of the bad contracts they inherited, but they did some Landry to a long contract at 5-6mil per for no good reason other than the coach wanted a familiar vet. Now they have tons of money tied up in PFs that they don't like and are right up against the luxury tax threshold. So what they could take back for IT was already limited by previous problems. They could have still taken something of worth back and cleared space by the trade deadline to avoid paying the tax, but they did not.

To me, that's the real mystery. What the hell they plan to do with all these PFs and what they do about their payroll. I can sort of see the plan/logic with IT to DC and Stauskas. The issue is that they need another shotblocker inside and are throttled by their PF salary problem.

[Steve Contra]

Man, I feel like we've had this discussion a million times about why Etiolate is confused why no one cares about the Kings.

[Great Rumbler]

Dirk Nowitzki's new contract with the Dallas Mavericks is smaller than previously reported. Nowitzki will make $25 million over the next three years, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. That's $5 million less than what was previously reported. Nowitzki did it so that the Mavericks could sign Chandler Parsons to a three-year, $46 million contract to be the team's new starting small forward.

Stein also reports that Nowitzki had max contract offers on the table from the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. Both franchises have failed to become major players in the free agent market after striking out on Carmelo Anthony.

Nowitzki's contract stands in opposition to the one the Lakers gave to Kobe Bryant (not that anyone should blame Bryant for accepting it). Bryant will be making about as much next season as Nowitzki will over the life of the three-year deal. Both players will be 36 years old next season.

[naff]

"Honestly, I was offended by the whole process," Parsons told Yahoo Sports on Monday in a phone interview. "They publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that's just how they viewed me as a player. I don't think I've scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I'm ready for that role. You can't knock them for always trying to get better. [Houston general manager] Daryl Morey is very aggressive, is a genius, a great GM and I have nothing but respect for those guys. And they are looking to make their team better. That's what they were doing. I just thought I could be that guy that could do that."

"Throughout the whole process they pretty much told me they were going to match everything," Parsons said. "I understand it's a business. I understand they had to do what they thought was best for their organization. It definitely caught me off-guard a little bit."

Why so salty? He got a great deal and he's better suited to Dallas - Dirk will show him how to be man.

It's not a sincere question. It's not actually relevant to what I had said. It tries to reframe the conversation into something else to try to dismiss the person you aim to attack. Your baiting is pretty obvious. You're internet old and your tricks are tired.

Mandark is still an extremely crafty veteran. While he's been surpassed by guys like Phoenix Dark, Esch, and Pigeon (on GAF), just as Kobe was eventually surpassed by LeBron and KD, he can still be a top 10 guy in our league on nights where everything is clicking.

[Phoenix Dark]

It's not a sincere question. It's not actually relevant to what I had said. It tries to reframe the conversation into something else to try to dismiss the person you aim to attack. Your baiting is pretty obvious. You're internet old and your tricks are tired.

Mandark is still an extremely crafty veteran. While he's been surpassed by guys like Phoenix Dark, Esch, and Pigeon (on GAF), just as Kobe was eventually surpassed by LeBron and KD, he can still be a top 10 guy in our league on nights where everything is clicking.

Mandark just plays the right way.

[Stoney Mason]

Bulls say goodbye to Carlos Boozer. Have used amnesty provision. Teams will be able bid for him.

[Phoenix Dark]

The Man Who Sold The World
Daryl Morey’s greatest fleecing as a GM? Selling the media and public on Daryl Morey.
https://medium.com/the-cauldron/the-man-who-sold-the-world-3df16d8b754a

A Coli poster wrote this. Haven't read it but he has had some interesting college basketball articles before.

[Stoney Mason]

A bit too much hyperbole for my tastes. I think the idea of the article is fine. It's just like the writer had a big axe to grind.

[benjipwns]

I think Boozer was the last amnesty candidate standing?

Free agent Mike Miller has committed to take a less lucrative deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers to rejoin LeBron James, a source close to the situation told ESPN.com.

Miller was offered a three-year deal worth $12 million by the Denver Nuggets, but instead opted for a two-year deal worth $5.5 million in which the veteran shooter has a player option following next season.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11219276/nba-jerseys-now-feature-gold-tabs-collars-indicate-teams-won-titles

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/11220961/shabazz-napier-says-know-how-unfollowed-lebron-james-twitter

 

[benjipwns]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11221796/lance-stephenson-charlotte-hornets-3-year-27-million-deal

Lance Stephenson has signed a three-year, $27 million deal to play for the Charlotte Hornets, according to league sources.

The deal was signed early Wednesday morning after Hornets owner Michael Jordan, general manager Rich Cho and coach Steve Clifford met with Stephenson and his representatives Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The contract, which includes a team option for the final season, ends Stephenson's productive yet volatile stay with the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers offered Stephenson a five-year, $44 million contract on July 1. But Stephenson, who led the league in triple-doubles, felt the offer undervalued him.

Indiana was unwilling to increase its offer.

Like many teams, the Hornets, while fans of Stephenson's play, had concerns about his antics and attitude. But sources say those concerns were alleviated in Tuesday's face-to-face meeting.

[benjipwns]

[T-Short]

well derp, already posted

[Your Stalker]

[Stoney Mason]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11221796/lance-stephenson-charlotte-hornets-3-year-27-million-deal

Lance Stephenson has signed a three-year, $27 million deal to play for the Charlotte Hornets, according to league sources.

The deal was signed early Wednesday morning after Hornets owner Michael Jordan, general manager Rich Cho and coach Steve Clifford met with Stephenson and his representatives Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The contract, which includes a team option for the final season, ends Stephenson's productive yet volatile stay with the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers offered Stephenson a five-year, $44 million contract on July 1. But Stephenson, who led the league in triple-doubles, felt the offer undervalued him.

Indiana was unwilling to increase its offer.

Like many teams, the Hornets, while fans of Stephenson's play, had concerns about his antics and attitude. But sources say those concerns were alleviated in Tuesday's face-to-face meeting.

Good signing for Charlotte. That isn't a bad contract relative to what others are getting.

[Stoney Mason]

Carmelo Anthony's new five-year contract with the New York Knicks is worth $124 million, $5 million less than the maximum, according to ESPN New York sources.

Anthony's contract also includes a rare no-trade clause and has an early termination option after the fourth year, according to league sources.

Anthony was eligible to sign a contract for a maximum of $129 million but agreed to a deal worth $5 million less to give the Knicks more financial flexibility to pursue free agents in future summers.

lol.

Look I'm not saying he shouldn't make as much as he can. That's what we all would do. I'm generally on the player side during this stuff. But 5 million over 5 years isn't allowing for "flexibility".  I'm not sure why that part is even reported.

[Beezy]

I could've sworn that I read that the 5 million was for the 2nd year alone so they can chase another max contract player (Marc Gasol) next offseason.

Anyone know anything about this Jason Smith dude that the Knicks signed?

[Stoney Mason]

I could've sworn that I read that the 5 million was for the 2nd year alone so they can chase another max contract player (Marc Gasol) next offseason.

That makes a bit more sense then.

[TakingBackSunday]

Marc Gasol with Melo 

that's a pretty nasty SF/C combo

[Your Stalker]

[Kara]

(Image removed from quote.)

[Your Stalker]

[Stoney Mason]

(Image removed from quote.)

[Stoney Mason]

The NBA submitted an official proposal to reform the lottery this week at competition committee meetings in Las Vegas, pushing aside the Wheel idea in favor of a revised weighting system that shifts each team’s odds of getting the top pick, per several sources who have seen and reviewed the league’s proposal.

The proposal, which dominated the lottery-reform discussion in league meetings this week, is essentially an attempt to squeeze the lottery odds at either extreme toward a more balanced system in which all 14 teams have a relatively similar chance at the no. 1 pick, per sources familiar with the proposal.

Under the current system, the team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance of snagging the no. 1 pick, perhaps the most valuable asset in the entire NBA. The team with the second-worst record has a 19.9 percent chance of winning the no. 1 pick, and the third-worst team enters the lottery with a 15.6 percent chance of moving up to the top slot. The odds decline from there, with the final five teams in the lottery — the teams with the five best records — each having a 1.1 percent or worse chance of moving up to no. 1.

The league’s proposal gives at least the four worst teams the same chance at winning the no. 1 pick: approximately an identical 11 percent shot for each club. The odds decline slowly from there, with the team in the next spot holding a 10 percent chance. The lottery team with the best record will have a 2 percent chance of leaping to the no. 1 pick, up from the the minuscule 0.5 percent chance it has under the current system.

The proposal also calls for the drawing of the first six picks via the Ping-Pong ball lottery, sources say. The current lottery system actually involves the drawing of only the top three selections. The rest of the lottery goes in order of record, from worst to best, after the top-three drawing is over.

The league could implement lottery reform as early as next season, though there are many hurdles to overcome before then. And it’s important to note that the league has kicked around several different proposals with varying weights; the 11 percent figure for the first teams is not universal among those proposals, sources say.

The goal of this initial proposal is obvious: to prevent out-and-out tanking among the league’s very worst teams for the no. 1 pick. Equalizing the odds for the five worst teams, and giving the next few clubs odds very close to that 11 percent chance, goes a long way toward removing the incentive to race toward the bottom. That slice of the reform targets team’s like last season’s Sixers and the 2011-12 Bobcats, both of which rather blatantly constructed rosters designed to be as bad as possible in those particular seasons. The end goal was a 25 percent chance at the top pick. The NBA’s proposal would grant such teams just an 11 percent shot at it, merely a hair better than the chances for mid-rung lottery teams that, in some seasons, are at least within spitting distance of the playoff race after 40 or so games.

By keeping the odds for the very best lottery teams on the low side — just 2 percent — the league is working to avoid building in any incentive for a team chasing the no. 8 spot to tank out of the playoffs. That is the league’s fear about a lottery system that gives all 14 teams an equal shot — that teams with a real chance at a bottom-rung playoff spot would instead ease out of the race with an eye on a top draft pick. And that’s a legitimate concern, since having seven-game series in the first round minimizes the chance of a no. 8 seed pulling off an upset. As I’ve written before, all of these issues are intertwined — lottery odds, the playoff system, the salary cap structure, and hard feelings between big- and small-market teams.

Two early concerns about the league’s proposal have already emerged:

1. The timing of implementation. Teams that have constructed short-term building plans under the current rules will likely oppose any attempt to change those rules midstream. The Wheel proposal, submitted to the league by Mike Zarren, the Celtics’ assistant general manager, called for instituting the Wheel only after all draft picks that have already been traded actually move between the trading partners. Due to the protections on some future first-round picks that have been traded, implementation would have waited at least a half-dozen years. (The Wheel is detailed here.)

2. There are already burbling concerns that a restructured odds system will encourage some late-season tanking among teams all over the lottery. Teams clustered around the middle of the lottery may begin jockeying for a top-five position, or to move up from, say, no. 12 to no. 9.

There is concern that such teams might hold out star players in late-season games, and that we might even see some repeats of the infamous Mark Madsen game, in which the Timberwolves in their 2006 season finale allowed Madsen to jack 3-pointers in an embarrassing attempt to maximize their odds of losing. A loss in that game gave Minnesota a much greater chance of keeping its own pick in the forthcoming draft.

The Wheel proposal is more complex, and it has gained significant support from some powerful people around the league. It took a backseat this week as the competition committee focused more on the league’s favored proposal.

The discussion is still in its early stages, and there are more proposals floating around from team officials. Those ideas could get more air time, and the league could always tweak its own proposal or put forth another. But it’s clear that Adam Silver is serious about tweaking the lottery system, possibly as early as next season. It’s important that the league examine all unintended consequences before instituting a revamped lottery. This is gonna get interesting, fast.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-lottery-reform-is-coming/

[benjipwns]

LAS VEGAS -- The Indiana Pacers have agreed to terms with free agent guard Rodney Stuckey on a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.

The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to terms with free agent forward Ed Davis on Wednesday.

It is a two-year deal worth $2 million, a league source confirmed to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Davis has a player option on the second year.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Brandon Rush and the Golden State Warriors have agreed to a two-year contract.

The Washington Wizards have acquired veteran forward DeJuan Blair in a sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas acquired the rights to Emir Preldzic, a 2009 second-round draft pick, in exchange for Blair.

The Orlando Magic are finalizing an agreement with free-agent point guard Luke Ridnour, sources told ESPN.com.

The Detroit Pistons and the Sacramento Kings have resumed trade discussions on a deal that could send Josh Smith to Sacramento, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.

Sources told ESPN.com the Kings have continued to express interest in Smith and the parties are on the hunt for a third team that could help facilitate the deal.

...

Sources said the Pistons also seriously discussed various sign-and-trade scenarios this month that would have landed restricted free agent Greg Monroe in Portland, but the Blazers ultimately pulled themselves out of the race for Monroe by signing free-agent big man Chris Kaman to join Robin Lopez in the Blazers' center rotation.

[TakingBackSunday]

Smith for Boogie, make it so

[Stoney Mason]

http://www.morningjournal.com/sports/20140717/cleveland-cavaliers-now-willing-to-include-wiggins-in-kevin-love-trade-offer?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[etiolate]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/11229606/carlos-boozer-join-los-angeles-lakers

lakers could be wonderfully dysfunctional

[Phoenix Dark]

Josh Smith is horrible and seemingly can't be coached.

[Himu]

And what was Houston thinking letting go of Parsons and Lin?

I've asked this question everyday since last week. The Houston Chronicle still hasn't gotten over the Parosns breakup and are making daily Pls. rockets. stahp. posts in their blog and in the paper. People are getting tired of it even though they agree. Rockets fan emotions vary between apathetic and rofling (me) to delusional "we didn't need parsons anyways" (my dad) to agitated and angry (my friend)

I love to hate on this teams management!

[etiolate]

[Beezy]

Lebron wants Love in Cleveland. Wiggins out?