* Offiical NBA Off-Season Thread: I'll give one of my damn kidney's for these Melo rumors to stop *

[durden7]

Originally Posted by Do Be Doo

Durden7 wrote:

---

Youve got to stop taking negatives comments about other people personally. 

But SOME PEOPLE have to stop talking CRAZY about a person they don't know personally.

I mean some dudes need to stop with the HATE. It's YOUR fault for following every move BRON makes.

  

How am I following ever move he makes then?  Im just reading this thread.
So now its unfair to judge a person weve never met based upon their actions and what they say?

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan

Originally Posted by Im Not You

I just noticed the oldest player on the Wizards is Josh Howard at 30. Followed by Kirk Hinrich at 29.

Youngest team in the league?

Prolly OKC

I raise you both with the Kings. We got two 29 year olds, and a 28 yo. With an average age of 24.2

 

[not a sneak]

Troy Murphy, Travis Outlaw, Devin + Fillers + picks for Kmart, Melo, Billups?

Billups/Farmar
Morrow/Twill
Melo/Hayes
Kmart/Humphries
Brook/Petro

 

[Deleted member 38182]

^Ya the Nuggets would jump ALL over that

 

[RyGuy45]

I just noticed the oldest player on the Wizards is Josh Howard at 30. Followed by Kirk Hinrich at 29.

Youngest team in the league?

But look at this

Minnesota Timberwolves current roster

Michael Beasley 21
Corey Brewer 24
Wayne Ellington 22
Jonny Flynn 21
Lazar Hayward 23
Wesley Johnson 23
Kevin Love 21
Darko Millicic 25
Nikola Pekovic 24
Luke Ridnour 29
Greg Stiemsma 24
Sebastian Telfair 25
Anthony Tolliver 25
Martell Webster 23


23.5

 

[Deleted member 38182]

^

like whoaaa

 

[buc em]

Originally Posted by RyGuy45

I just noticed the oldest player on the Wizards is Josh Howard at 30. Followed by Kirk Hinrich at 29.

Youngest team in the league?

But look at this

Minnesota Timberwolves current roster

Michael Beasley 21
Corey Brewer 24
Wayne Ellington 22
Jonny Flynn 21
Lazar Hayward 23
Wesley Johnson 23
Kevin Love 21
Darko Millicic 25
Nikola Pekovic 24
Luke Ridnour 29
Greg Stiemsma 24
Sebastian Telfair 25
Anthony Tolliver 25
Martell Webster 23


23.5

That roster is TURRRRRIBLE. Free K-Love.

 

[lamarownsem]

Is that considered tampering? Does Isiah actually work for the Knicks?

 

[i nasmatic i]

More info via Ron Tillery (Grizzlies beatwriter).

Teams can pay players between 80 and 120 percent of an amount set by the league's rookie scale. The Griz have offered Henry 100 percent of that salary with the extra 20 percent tied to performance-based bonuses.

The Grizzlies' proposed incentive package includes:

Participation in summer league.

A two-week workout program with the team's training staff.

Satisfying one of the following: play in NBA rookie/sophomore game during All-Star weekend, or earn an all-rookie selection, or average 15 minutes in at least 70 games.
Source

I'm a Henry fan and all for blaming Memphis' management, but those goals are all fair (particularly the average 15 minutes in at least 70 games).

 

[japanair21]

Originally Posted by I NaSmatic I

More info via Ron Tillery (Grizzlies beatwriter).

Satisfying one of the following: play in NBA rookie/sophomore game during All-Star weekend, or earn an all-rookie selection, or average 15 minutes in at least 70 games.

Source

I'm a Henry fan and all for blaming Memphis' management, but those goals are all fair (particularly the average 15 minutes in at least 70 games).

Is that really what he's debating over??

It's not like he's on a deep team where he wouldn't get the minutes, and it really won't be that hard for him to make the rookie game as long as he tries.

 

[bigmike23]

if that is all true maybe he just doesnt want to play there?

 

[steve cash]

Originally Posted by LamarOwnsem

Is that considered tampering? Does Isiah actually work for the Knicks?

he doesnt work for the Knicks

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

if that is all true maybe he just doesnt want to play there?

Uh-oh, here we go. 

  

 

[i nasmatic i]

Well he does have to play behind Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Tony Allen and Sam Young to achieve those incentives.

So maybe he does want out and get minutes immediately. But then again, the Grizzlies do need his outside shooting.

 

[not a sneak]

Originally Posted by rck2sactown

^Ya the Nuggets would jump ALL over that

Why not? They aren't going to get much better then that. You get three productive pieces and nice draft picks. They only long term contract is Travis and thats 35 mil over 7 years Devin expires in 2 years and Troy expires this year while Kmart and Billups have 2 and 3 years left on their deals, so they get younger and they get cap space. Melo already through any great deals out the door, we might even throw in Derrick if talks get serious. 

NY can give Curry + Danillo/Wilson and cash; no picks.

HOU can give Lee + Scola + Hill + Battier + Picks(low first rounder since they do pretty well without Yao and Melo already) +cash

Orlando can give Rashard(4 years left on contract) + VC + Pietrus/Gortat/Bass + picks + Cash

Only thing that looks semi interesting is the NJN deal and thats because of the picks and Devin. Melo will be moved with Billups they are going to get Billups contract out of there also if they are trading away their franshise. Those are Melo's requested destinations and no other team will trade for him because they don't know his future. I also think the Nets can absorb 3-4 million also so that gives us more operating room.

 

[bijald0331]

I'm sure people who have been keeping up with the big blogs know about this debate but I thought this was another nice article on it.

Kobe Bryant: Prophet of the New Positionality
8/19/2010 12:15 PM ET
Matt Moore
NBA Blogger
If you're new to the positionality philosophical discussion being raged (at least more intently recently than in previous years/decades) by hoop heads, here's a quick catch-up. Basically, with the way basketball athleticism has developed and the game itself has grown and expanded, the old nomenclatures and traditional roles for players are becoming obsolete, but we're struggling with an alternative.

An example? Tyreke Evans. Evans can attack the basket, snare rebounds, has terrific length and instincts defensively, and knows how to find his teammates (despite calls he's a terrible passer, he averaged five assists his rookie campaign, with little to no weapons on the Kings). But because he's tall and has better scoring ability than passing ability, he's "not a point guard" which automatically makes him a shooting guard. Except he's not a shooting guard. He's best with the ball in his hands, setting up and creating within the offense. Hence our problem.

The recent discussion stems from a Basketball Prospectus article from Drew Cannon (which I was surprised to find is not the name of an adult film star), outlined by Rob Mahoney on Two Man Game. The crux is that players should instead be described not by position, but by what they are most fitted to do which is needed on the floor. An example is Jason Kidd listed as a "creator/scorer" as opposed to Shawn Marion, described as a "rebounder." The other element seeks to identify players defensively, identifying what traditional positions they can guard. Mahoney took another crack at this system, revising it after criticisms from our own Tom Ziller. Mahoney's move was to describe players defensively by what they are physically suited to do. It's a utilitarian approach to the problem, but its structure is still too weak to stand. After all, just because a player is physically big enough to play inside, that does not make them an inside player defensively. What they can do skill-wise cannot be ignored if we're really looking to find an accurate model. The search continues.

So what's so important about this discussion? At the scouting level, it means that players that could be very real assets for teams are either ignored or devalued based on their inability to fit our more traditional 1-5 positions. Unless they are super-freaks like LeBron James, we struggle with how to really implement them into systems (and even James has positional problems due to him consistently playing the small forward position, which has restrictions). From an evaluation standpoint, we assign negative values to players like Tyreke Evans, who are incredible stars, simply because they don't fit our traditional model.

And if you want to know how relevant this discussion is among actual basketball players? Go no further than the leader of the defending champion Lakers, Kobe Bryant.

Dime Magazine spoke to Bryant at a World Basketball Festival event at Rucker Park in Harlem last weekend, and the legend actually weighed in on the matter. From Dime:
Kobe said the influence of international players in the NBA has helped create a "hybrid" culture, where players of all sizes possess skills in all areas and can conceivably play any position on the floor.

"That's the one difference I'd like to see us kind of shift to," Kobe said.
From Ron-Artest's-God's mouth to your eyes. It's not surprising that Bryant would lean towards this kind of approach. After all, he himself is not only willing, but voracious in approaching any position on the floor. You could tell Kobe "go guard Nene with one arm" and he'd make a go of it (and Nene would likely walk away wincing a bit, even if he won the war). But the meaning is very relevant. This is one of the greatest basketball players and minds on the planet saying that essentially, the goal should be not only for us to get away from traditional positions, but eventually to homogenize personnel to be able to play within any construct we have. It's a bold idea, since all of our previous constructs are devoutly built on the idea that a player is defined by what he can and can't do. Removing limitations from the equations leads us to a new kind of basketball nirvana, where Andrea Bargnani is not a problem because he's not a 5, and Tyreke Evans is simply regarded as being of the "awesome position."

This debate's far from over, and then the rest of the basketball-breathing world has to catch up to whatever standard is eventually morphed into, if any. But with Bryant as a prophet, that speaks to how relevant this discussion has actually become. And think of that. A healthy debate that has nothing to do with one-hour television specials or egos. Could use some more of this, actually

 

[i nasmatic i]

Originally Posted by Not a sneak

Originally Posted by rck2sactown

^Ya the Nuggets would jump ALL over that

Why not? They aren't going to get much better then that. You get three productive pieces and nice draft picks. They only long term contract is Travis and thats 35 mil over 7 years Devin expires in 2 years and Troy expires this year while Kmart and Billups have 2 and 3 years left on their deals, so they get younger and they get cap space. Melo already through any great deals out the door, we might even throw in Derrick if talks get serious. 

NY can give Curry + Danillo/Wilson and cash; no picks.

HOU can give Lee + Scola + Hill + Battier + Picks(low first rounder since they do pretty well without Yao and Melo already) +cash

Orlando can give Rashard(4 years left on contract) + VC + Pietrus/Gortat/Bass + picks + Cash

Only thing that looks semi interesting is the NJN deal and thats because of the picks and Devin. Melo will be moved with Billups they are going to get Billups contract out of there also if they are trading away their franshise. Those are Melo's requested destinations and no other team will trade for him because they don't know his future. I also think the Nets can absorb 3-4 million also so that gives us more operating room.

Best believe the Nuggets would ask for Derrick Favors or Terrence Williams (if not both) for Melo.

 

[japanair21]

A core of Brook, Devin, Melo?

Not bad.

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

A core of Brook, Devin, Melo?

Not bad.

MEH...

 

[cicero avenue dopeman]

Originally Posted by JapanAir21

A core of Brook, Devin, Melo?

Not bad winning .

 

[bigmike23]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

if that is all true maybe he just doesnt want to play there?

Uh-oh, here we go. 

  

   Naw this time i wasnt even talking %**+.

 

[knock0ut king]

 

[knock0ut king]

 

[airjordan jb23]

Devin, Melo, & Brook looks good in my book. That trio could possibly get us to the playoffs (8th seed).

I wouldn't mind giving up picks, Favors, & another piece for Melo. (As long as its not Brook). We have expiring contracts, & some good names that could help a Denver squad.

That Washington trade doesn't look bad either. It could end up helping both sides.

 

[mr jordan04]

D12+Melo