That is what I was thinking as well.

If the Rockets get just Melo they still wont win shit

Brussard is the ****ing worst NBA reporter i have ever come across. if you want anything thats the truth its Woj from yahoo or Steven. A. Smith. David Aldridge is pretty solid too.

They didn't win shit with the team they have now either. Adding Melo is adding talent. Does it make them a favorite? No. But dealing with Melo, Harden, Howard, Beverly and Parsons doesn't sound like a lot of fun if I'm coaching another NBA team. People forget that Harden is capable of being a facilitator. His last year in OKC, he had the ball in his hands in the 4th quarter creating for KD and Westbrook.

LMAO Like you know shit...

Riley is really aiming high this offseason.

Broussard must be trolling.

No. Onewinski will remain Onewinski.

Hopin Embiid drops to 4

The cavs really need to trade down to 4. Philly isn't going to take another injured center. The cavs might land a 12, affalo, and still get embiid. If they do that, on that pick alone, they may have won the draft.

The Nuggets get Afflalo for nothing Would have been a perfect fit for the Thunder. Presti is asleep at the wheel.

Thankfully, the Chiefs and Royals have trained me well for this incompetence. If they give a first round pick for Shumpert who is an inferior player or use both picks I just don't what the **** to say.

Where does Early project for tonights draft?

Always enjoyed watching him play for WSU.

LMAO You have had excellent training...

Late first round. He's actually a player I'd be happy with if OKC uses their pick Since he's a 4 year guy he might be ready to contribute.

Mid First to Second Round.

Connection and Kev's teams look to be swapping players.
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...argeting-Ennis

James, Irving, Wiggins. The new Big3.

Oh Philly won't draft Embiid you say???

Makes sense to me that the best three get drafted top three.

...




lolz @ homer calling someone else out.

Yeah...he may not be.

Lebron on that Cavs team would actually be pretty damn dynamic

Also, **** Philadelphia for taking Embiid. **** you Philly. **** you. And **** you Orlando for taking Aaron Gordon. **** you. Guess they probably would have taken Exum if they weren't planning on grabbing Elfrid Payton. Which brings me to my next **** you. **** you Philadelphia again for taking Payton at 10 and forcing Orlando to trade Saric and two future draft picks for him.

Irving, Wiggins, Waiters, Bennett... There's a lot of young talent and scoring potential.

I know everyone likes to call Bennett a bust after just year one with the awful coach/situation he was in. But I think he will end up all right. Never number one pick good, but he can still turn into a good player. I'm excited to see what Blatt/Lue can do with all this young talent.

And yes I've said it for awhile now and I still believe it. LeBron is coming back.

I hope he does so the Spurs can sweep him in the Finals twice as a member of the Cavs.

Tri grandpas are toast...and rusty cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Extremely happy with how the draft played out for the Hornets last night.

Vohnley, and PJ HAIRSTON?

I can dig it.

Scoring, scoring scoring.

LeBron is not going anywhere.

http://touch.sun-sentinel.com/#secti.../p2p-80663339/

Yep. Really his only option to save face.

Wade opts out now. Waiting on Bosh.

Would be awesome if nobody wants to pay Wade, including Miami.

There's no way Wade/Bosh/Haslem opt out unless they have assurances from Riley about new contracts. And probably from James, about him coming back as well.

For sure. They arent acting independently of each other.

Yeah. Shitty situation for the Heat. I'm sure they'd rather them go elsewhere. Stuck with Wade/Bosh, so you better get them at discount

Clearly priority #1. LeBron really wouldn't want to look disloyal to haters like yourself, now would he?

Youre being naive or trolling or are just reeruned. It's like a guy getting married to a new 25 year old women every 10 years and throwing the old one out at 35. He's probably best off that way but comes across like a first class douche.


I can't imagine he is happy with his image and popularity level. Anything but going back to Cleveland or staying in Miami would have made him look even worse. He scored points in my book for staying and showing loyalty to something other than himself.

They all have the same agent expect LeBron.

If he can leave Cleveland and deal with all the bullshit that followed that, he can leave Miami just as easily. He'll be looked as a douche by haters like you no matter what he does (whether it's go somewhere else to join a contender or try to create a 2nd version of the super team in Miami), so that clearly isn't a consideration, nor should it be.

No way he expected the backlash from places outside of Cleveland after The Decision. I believe he genuinely wants to be liked and that people liking him matters to him. I wont ever be a fan but staying in Miami shows some character IMO.

I believe winning matters to him above all else (which explains why he left Cleveland in the first place and why he is considering leaving again). Certainly far more than whether some fans don't like him.

And even if there was more "honor" in staying with Miami, something that intangible shouldn't be the basis of this kind of decision. Any legacy that he has will be improved far more by further winning, not staying with a sinking ship to appease people that don't actually matter.

Isn't he one of those arrogant guys when he's out in public that doesn't care at all about the fans and refuses autographs and shit like that all the time?

I don't think he cares about people's opinions. He wants championships.

Heard this before.

http://nypost.com/2014/06/28/denied-...lk-with-bucks/

According to this report, Jason Kidd made a power play to try and become the Nets head of basketball operations + head coach. A source says the Nets shot him down, didn't think he had enough experience yet. Now the Bucks have come calling and the Nets have given them permission to talk to Kidd.

hey, lebron is a bitch

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Yahoo Sources: Armed with young talent, assets and max contract space, Suns will pursue a LeBron-Carmelo partnership. <a href="http://t.co/aDtL46xUGi">http://t.co/aDtL46xUGi</a></p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/483288947569999872">June 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jason Kidd is in for a wake up call if he thinks hes going to get any talent to play for him on the Bucks. Way to piss off a Russian owner that has no problem going over the luxury tax making you look like a better coach than you actually are.

I cant think of a worse idea than pairing Lebron with Carmelo, its the worst possible superstar to compliment Lebron. I mean, yeah its better than Lebron and some avg player like Xavier Henry, but honestly not much.

Think of the ticket and merchandise sales though!

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...ues-statement/


Chris Bosh makes opt-out official, Pat Riley issues statement

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have now all officially opted out of the final two years of their respective deals, and are unrestricted free agents who can sign wherever they choose for next season.

They’ll all be signing in Miami, of course, and the only question is, at what price.

The trio staggered their opt-outs for reasons known only to the individuals, but the reasoning was the same — to sign long-term deals for more guaranteed dollars in total, while taking less in the short-term to provide the team with immediate financial flexibility to upgrade the roster.

Bosh was the final piece of this puzzle, and once he notified the Heat of his intentions on Sunday, Pat Riley issued the following statement:

“Today we were notified of Chris’ intentions to opt-out of his contract. Chris is one of the most versatile and dynamic big men in this league, and he has been an instrumental key to our championship success over the last four seasons. We look forward to meeting with Chris and his agent in the coming days to discuss keeping him in Miami for many years to come.”

That’s been the plan all along, and it’s one that can formally be set in motion now that all three stars have opted out of their contracts.

There is more talent in Milwaukee than you are giving then credit for. If Sanders can stay healthy, and Parker can score, the bucks can make the playoffs.

I'm sure the Kansas fans will get a kick out of this. I would post it in their thread, but I got banned because they are butthurt about Iowa State becoming relevant in basketball. I ordered a Cavs Wiggins jersey today. I have a James and Irving one too.

I don't know much about Vonleh or Hairston, but the revert back to the Hornets and their uniforms and court theme is a total win in my book. I started getting into basketball back when they had Mourning, LJ and Bogues. It was a good time to be a beginner fan of the NBA in my opinion.

ESPN is reporting that LeBron is not going to settle for less than max money this offseason. Teams that contact him will have to offer a max salary. The teams that can do that are the Mavs, Lakers, Suns, Jazz, Sixers, Magic, and Heat. That means Wade and Bosh would have to take the financial hit to keep the Heat together.

Weird. Maybe I spoke too soon about giving him credit for showing some heart and loyalty.

Cracks me up when people think these guys should take pay cuts for whatever reason.

Would you take a pay cut at your job for any reason?

Lebron shouldnt take anything less then the max right now. He did that once already. He's the boss of bosses right now in the NBA. Its HIS TIME. Its been his time, but he was playing on a discount. I can never get upset over an elite player getting what he deserves in his sport.

Wade and Bosh is the 2 that need that super duper discount because they have fallen the **** off.

Cracks me up when people don't understand how a salary cap works.

They won't. Heat have to overpay since they were nice enough opt out. They'll still make 30 million combined and the Heat will be stuck with these losers for multiple years. It's perfect. No room for a guy who can make a real impact with LeBron.

I've seen one projection of 4.4 million in cap space LMAO

No but if I was worth millions I may think about it. It does happen. I wasn't was referring to pay though. Didn't he already have a max deal.

No.
Posted via Mobile Device

Who doesn't? Miami is currently 55 mil under the cap. Lebron getting a max deal isn't going to ruin that. He deserves significantly more than Wade and Bosh and they know that too and will structure their contracts accordingly.
Posted via Mobile Device

I've Been as critical of LeBron as anyone. I appreciate that he is being direct vs stringing a team along, as he did last time. And I think it is crazy to expect anything less than max value. If he stays with Miami, I respect that too because he shows an interest in loyalty vs. rigging the system.

I can't blame LeBron if this is what he's thinking. I'm pissed such a shitty fan base gets the benefit and I can't stand Wade, but this is another sign of big time maturity on LeBrons part.

Now LeBron is even getting criticized for wanting max money for the first time in his career? He still wouldn't be getting compensated anywhere close to his actual value to a franchise due to the salary cap, but apparently that's too much. The guy will just never win with some.

Depends if he Wade and Bosh got together and agreed to opt out and each take pay cuts to make the team better, then when that happens James demands max money it is kinda shady.

If no such agreement existed then he is perfectly fine demanding the maximum pay allowed.

We may never know if such an agreement existed.

I know. It's ridiculous the hate Lebron is STILL getting. Jordan likely got kicked out of the league for gambling on sports. Cheated on his wife. Wasn't the best father, and was a world class trash talking shithead. Lebron calls press conference, donates money from the proceeds to charity. Vilified.

By who?

Just look on twitter and on ESPN comments. Tons and tons of people.

Yeah. I have respect for guys that take discounts in sports but don't fault the ones that don't.

Here's a fun fact : LeBron James has never been the single highest paid player on any team he's on in the league.

Highest paid player by that NBA team. Good for him.

NBA salary obviously. He and Bosh make the same, Ben Wallace made more in Cleveland.

The argument for opting out was so that they could take less and bring in better players.


Get back to me when taking the max is taking less.

What an asshole, Lebron is, for opting out, to take max salary, while being the best player in the entire league. Complete dick move.

:rolleyes:

He should be vilified for the decision.

But this is not "the decision." If he stays loyal to Miami, it's the exact opposite.

There's nothing wrong with 1 player (Who just so happens to be the best player in the league and the ONLY player to show up for the Heat in the Finals. ) taking a max deal. Wade and Bosh are the ones who should take significant pay cuts. Not LeBron.

In the end LeBron likely will take less than a max deal, but he doesn't have to and if he doesn't, shouldn't be blamed for it.

I honestly don't know how anyone could fault a player for getting the most money he could possibly get out of his contract. Peyton Manning did. Tom Brady did. Kobe Bryant did. If a team overpays a player, that's the team's fault. In this case, given that LeBron is worth more than a max deal, the team is getting a good deal.

The only people should give a shit are the ones who are Heat fans and it prevents them from acquiring supportive talent the same way we bitch about the possibility of Alex Smith breaking the bank foe the Chiefs and weakening the teams ability to sign other players.

He deserves max money. Period.

Wade and Bosh should be taking significantly less than Max


Bosh was never worth the Max and Wade is broken