NBA 2015 Off-Season Thread

Pharazon

Silver Knight of the Realm
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I'm much less excited about this draft than any in history... I could get used to this picking last thing. Beats the hell out of being between 6 and 15 every year.
 

Lasch

Trakanon Raider
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Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA

Portland is finalizing a trade to send Nic Batum to Charlotte for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson, league sources tell Yahoo.

Charlotte going to Charlotte.
 

Generol_sl

shitlord
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Love opted out of his contract with Cleveland. I am surprised by this move. Logically thinking about it I can't think of a reason a player would want to leave a championship caliber team except, likely, LeBron and his "relationship" was as bad as was reported earlier in the season. It wouldn't be the first time Lebron had issues with a teammate and given what he did with Blatt I am sure Love got a lot of shit behind the scenes. The moronic trade they made for the one year rental looks even worse now.
 

Blitz

<Bronze Donator>
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Curious if Love returns. A lot of talk that he signs a 1 yr deal with Cavs, aims to get the title, and walks away next free agency once the cap absolutely explodes.

Love is a stud, but there is no doubt if you could go back now you'd retain Wiggins. As great as Love is, the power forward position always has a "stat-stuffer" element to it if you can't play really solid defense.
 

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
3,389
141
Love opted out of his contract with Cleveland. I am surprised by this move. Logically thinking about it I can't think of a reason a player would want to leave a championship caliber team except, likely, LeBron and his "relationship" was as bad as was reported earlier in the season. It wouldn't be the first time Lebron had issues with a teammate and given what he did with Blatt I am sure Love got a lot of shit behind the scenes. The moronic trade they made for the one year rental looks even worse now.
I said this above, but opting out was the obvious decision for him. LeBron is going to opt out of his deal too. If you're a max player, that year you can opt out of is no brainer because you'll still make the same amount of money but now have the security of a 4 or 5 year deal. Love was going to do this no matter what. It really has nothing to do with him wanting to leave Cleveland. Along with that, Cleveland knew this would happen when they made the trade.
 

Generol_sl

shitlord
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I said this above, but opting out was the obvious decision for him. LeBron is going to opt out of his deal too. If you're a max player, that year you can opt out of is no brainer because you'll still make the same amount of money but now have the security of a 4 or 5 year deal. Love was going to do this no matter what. It really has nothing to do with him wanting to leave Cleveland. Along with that, Cleveland knew this would happen when they made the trade.
Ah okay. I was under the impression opting out meant he was not going to extend. So this is (typically) nothing more than a negotiation tactic?
 

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
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Correct. The only real hitch in all of this is that in a year the cap is supposed to rise pretty dramatically which means a max deal a year from now is worth more than a max deal right now. In some instances it may make sense to play on a one year deal then reup once that bigger deal is possible. This makes sense for LeBron, maybe, who already has 100s of millions and is getting older but still without question would get a max deal.

For Love, he's still an elite player, and lots of dudes worse than him get max contracts, but he's coming off a down year production wise and just had that shoulder injury. It makes a lot of sense to get the 4 or 5 year deal right now when he can.

I'm not sure I'd even call it a negotiation tactic though. Love has that opt out because we wouldn't give him a 5 year deal because at the time Kahn didn't think he was worth it. The exchange was he still got max money, but less years and demanded that opt out since it gave him the ability to leave MN sooner. You can blame our previous front office for Love having the ability to do this, not him. And if you're a player that demands max money, you're always going to opt out of that last year (if you're able to) to get more guaranteed money. That may happen in Cleveland, it may happen somewhere else. The big point is just that he was going to do it no matter what.
 

popsicledeath

Potato del Grande
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I thought Love was on a contract that extended through next year. Everyone was saying how it's perfect for Cleveland because Love will want to stay to get a max deal after next year, so they're sure to at least have him two seasons and that he shouldn't be opting out. Now people are saying it's proof he's staying in Cleveland because he's opting out, which doesn't make sense to me. Can't have it both ways, you can't just say anything Love does it's obviously he's going to stay with Cleveland.

Especially because it's been reported that Lebron said he isn't going to woo Love this time like he did last time if he opts out, Lebron is just going to let him make a decision. But meanwhile, all the other teams will be wooing him, which is going to feel pretty good when your current team seemed luke-warm to you all along and isn't even pursuing you to stay. And it seemed like they didn't appreciate Love when he was in the line up, then he gets hurt and people say the team is maybe actually better without him. All reports, media bs, instagram photos of the inner circle, momentum, assumptions, everything leads me to feeling Love should want to bail.

Honestly, why would he stay, aside from the Cavs fans not understanding that every player in the world wouldn't cut off their nuts to lose more championships with Lebron? If he can sign a max deal for long term now with a handful of big market teams, why would he the Cavs? If he can stay in Cle another year or sign a one year deal and then be free for the cap increase, why would he sign in Cle over another team? Why is everyone assuming the Lebron factor is so huge, when it didn't seem to be all that much fun for Love this season not only as a 3 option, but pushed out of the inner circle and just about every step of the way shoved aside.

What we do know for certain is the only way he can leave is by opting out, which he has done. It's not a sure thing he's leaving, but it's the first step he'd have to take if he were. I think he leaves, though.
 

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
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Because he will have far and away the best chance at winning in Cleveland vs any other team that could possibly afford him (rebuilding Lakers and Portland).
 

popsicledeath

Potato del Grande
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Because he will have far and away the best chance at winning in Cleveland vs any other team that could possibly afford him (rebuilding Lakers and Portland).
Far and away? Not sure I believe that. Maybe I've just gotten doubtful, because they've been saying that about Lebron's teams from the beginning and that hasn't exactly happened.
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
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7,564
Yes far and away. You think he has a better chance with the fucking Lakers? Get outta here with your LBJ hate.
 

Convo

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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This draft is just so compelling. Some teams want to move up, others want to move back. The first 3 picks could potentially throw the draft into a shit show with trades. It's crazy thinking about all the senarios.
 

popsicledeath

Potato del Grande
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This reminds me of the time the Heat were going to win 8 in a row.

Lebron is great and the Cavs will be contenders faster, but chasing 'next year we'll win it for sure' has rarely worked. It didn't work this year for Cleveland, and I think they'd have had even less of a shot if Love was healthy. I think that's what Lebron is realizing: the experiment with Love didn't work on any level and Lebron has put the writing on the wall that he's not going to suddenly be included in instrgram photos if he stays.

The reason Love would stay in Cleveland is the reason Karl Malone went to the Lakers. That kind of shit rarely works. It barely worked for Lebron in Miami. Meanwhile, teams that keep winning championships are ones that were home grown, built from scratch.

So, even if it's not immediate, I think Love may be seeing he can be THE guy in a big market that can build a team to win for the future and not just try to shoot for one year in Cleveland hoping Lebron finally wins and almost makes it to .500 in the finals.
 

PatrickStar

Trakanon Raider
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LeBron forced the Love deal because he didn't want to wait 3 years to groom Wiggins. Now they are going to lose both assets. If they don't resign Love they have no choice but to chase someone else like Aldridge.
 

popsicledeath

Potato del Grande
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LeBron forced the Love deal because he didn't want to wait 3 years to groom Wiggins. Now they are going to lose both assets. If they don't resign Love they have no choice but to chase someone else like Aldridge.
It seems like what you're saying is Lebron isn't a great GM?
 

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
3,389
141
Love/Kyrie/LeBron were the most productive trio in the league last season. I guess if I was in Cleveland's shoes I would take that "experiment not working" and be ok with it.

Pops tell us how you really feel about LeBron. Preferably in a post greater than 1k words.