'15 NBA Draft/Offseason Thread

#lovewins was a nice touch.

 

It seemed like a lot of the national media, or at least some of the national media, thought he'd walk. The local Cleveland guys were sure he was returning. It was an interesting split to watch.

 

LeBron pulled out his guitar and sang this song:

 

Paul Pierce signs a 3 year contract with Doc Rivers. There's no way anyone thinks Pierce will be on the Clippers in the 3rd year, or even the second. It's just a way to pay him over 3 years. This is outright fraud

 

Well, two years from now they get to use his expiring contract as trade bait.
Wasn't there a guy a couple of years ago who was either retired or had suffered a career-ending injury and hadn't played in a year, but was still a valuable commodity in the trade market because he had a sizable contract that was set to expire? IIRC, whatever team he was on (I think it was the Hawks, but I'll be damned if I can remember the guy's name) was able to deal him, too.

 

Expiring contracts are less valuable now because most teams have cap room. If they don't, they're usually so far over the cap - the Cavs - that an expiring won't really help them. It has happened a couple times in the past few years, with Theo Ratliff springing to mind. The contracts for injured players do have practical value a lot of the time, in that the team can often get insurance money. (i.e. The player will still get his $10M, but the team might recoup some of it from an insurance company.)

 

Lol.

 

Amir Johnson at $12mm per? Tristan Thompson at $16mm per? Kyle Singler at $25mm for 5? Insanity.

 

So is the money that is about to come in. Cap is going up 160%

 

Yeah, that's forcing up the value for some of the mid-tier players. If guys like Kevin Love and Butler remain elite for the length of their contract, they'll also looks like deals in the final years. It doesn't seem like many guys had the stomach to chance 1 or 2 year deals, like LeBron (superhuman) and Greg Monroe (already banked some cash) are.

 

Worth noting, in this environment, that Curry makes $11.4M next season and $12.1M the year after that.

 

Sooooo the Kings just pulled off a Kings'ian trade. I think Woj had it first, but ESPN is also reporting it - Landry, Thompson and Nik Stauskas to Philly, to clear cap room. Two drafted second round picks go to Sacramento. Philly also gets a first round pick (Top 10 protection), and the right to swap picks with Sacramento in two drafts. Just an absolute drubbing. And to top it off, Zach Lowe and Marc Stein said the Kings' free agent targets are Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo.