NBA Free Agency 2014

[theAlaskanBear]

I don't mean to sleep on Blatt. I was more thinking of the discussion from upthread on how these Cavs have a potential advantage at every position on the court. (Conveniently forgetting LeBron, who is unlikely to be better over the next few seasons than he has the most recent few. I don't expect a dropoff, but we have probably already witnessed this special player's absolute peak.) I was making the claim that it would be presumptuous to *assume* Blatt is superior to Spoelstra. I understand CDu's lack of faith in him, but a number of the league observers I most respect have had high praise for Spoelstra. Just as an example, the gambler Haralobos Voulgaris, a guy who has made millions building proprietary statistical models for the NBA and using them to bet, has remarked that he felt Spoelstra was clearly sharper on game-to-game adjustments over Popovich in the 2013 Finals. This year that was emphatically not the case; Popovich is the king, and you don't outscheme him on the regular. But it's one thing to be a Mike Brown who wins big in the regular season only to get exposed in the playoffs and another thing entirely to helm a crew that goes back-to-back. Very difficult to be a hack and accomplish that, especially with Bosh's 2012 injury and Wade's overall unreliable health.

Also, I think Paul is the third-best player in the league. His health may make him less than the third most-valuable guy, but on a given night he's better than all the others.

In regards to coaching, I'm not sure I agree that it is too early to assume success for Blatt. It IS too early to assume he will win a championship. One should never assume that. It's hard to compare the two coaches because I think Spoelstra was in a fairly unique situation. He comes up from the ranks of the Heat org with no prior experience, has great success with a team predicated on the individual and team brilliance of LeBron James. Let's make no mistake about it: Dan LeBatard is wrong, Miami's championships were won on the back of LeBron James, not the other way around. But what I am getting at is that Spoelstra may be a coach who was perfect for a specific time and place, and never reaches those heights again. Miami's 4 year run was bookended by two series in which Spoelstra was clearly the inferior coach to Carlilse and Popovich. No shame in that, but never have I watched a Heat game and been -- brilliant move. I would place more of the Heat credit in the personnel decisions by Riley, who crafted a roster to create the blueprint of how to leverage James' unique talents -- a measured, spread the floor offense with James as point-forward rather than point-guard (looking at you, Mike Brown; James' usage % and ast % peak in the three years before Miami). However you decide to assign credit for the success of the Heat, I think at this point in his career it would be a shock if Blatt wasn't fairly successful. Not only does he have the best player in the world still in his prime (even if he may have peaked, as Des suggests), but the man has performed well and won in nearly every single situation he has stepped into, and those have been myriad.

[NSDukeFan]

Oh my bad, you're right. It's just the way he worded it and the spacing on my browser threw me off. The bolded part were the last words in a line of text for me, so it looked like this:

Too bad only 3 of the 12 are playing on the Olympic team.

[Des Esseintes]

In regards to coaching, I'm not sure I agree that it is too early to assume success for Blatt. It IS too early to assume he will win a championship. One should never assume that. It's hard to compare the two coaches because I think Spoelstra was in a fairly unique situation. He comes up from the ranks of the Heat org with no prior experience, has great success with a team predicated on the individual and team brilliance of LeBron James. Let's make no mistake about it: Dan LeBatard is wrong, Miami's championships were won on the back of LeBron James, not the other way around. But what I am getting at is that Spoelstra may be a coach who was perfect for a specific time and place, and never reaches those heights again. Miami's 4 year run was bookended by two series in which Spoelstra was clearly the inferior coach to Carlilse and Popovich. No shame in that, but never have I watched a Heat game and been -- brilliant move. I would place more of the Heat credit in the personnel decisions by Riley, who crafted a roster to create the blueprint of how to leverage James' unique talents -- a measured, spread the floor offense with James as point-forward rather than point-guard (looking at you, Mike Brown; James' usage % and ast % peak in the three years before Miami). However you decide to assign credit for the success of the Heat, I think at this point in his career it would be a shock if Blatt wasn't fairly successful. Not only does he have the best player in the world still in his prime (even if he may have peaked, as Des suggests), but the man has performed well and won in nearly every single situation he has stepped into, and those have been myriad.

Again, I don't really think I am doubting Blatt here. As you say, we should expect him to succeed right away given his pedigree. I just have a fair amount of respect for what Spoelstra broughtto those Heat teams, and I am reluctant to assume Blatt will constitute a clear upgrade there. To be one, he'd need to be in Pop/Thibs/SVG territory, and that is a high bar indeed.

I'd also add that Riley as savvy GM seems a stretch. He coaxed three magnificent players to him forces, and he deserves immense credit for the salesmanship there. But his efforts to fill the blanks in around them were too often uninspired. Big name lottery tickets predominated over cultivating the kind of risks in young talent that might have extended the title window. Juwan Howard, Michael Beasley, Oden, Mike Bibby, etc. So many roster spots wasted on washed up has-beens. Those could have gone to the draft picks they sold or D-League flyers.

[Newton_14]

In regards to coaching, I'm not sure I agree that it is too early to assume success for Blatt. It IS too early to assume he will win a championship. One should never assume that. It's hard to compare the two coaches because I think Spoelstra was in a fairly unique situation. He comes up from the ranks of the Heat org with no prior experience, has great success with a team predicated on the individual and team brilliance of LeBron James. Let's make no mistake about it: Dan LeBatard is wrong, Miami's championships were won on the back of LeBron James, not the other way around. But what I am getting at is that Spoelstra may be a coach who was perfect for a specific time and place, and never reaches those heights again. Miami's 4 year run was bookended by two series in which Spoelstra was clearly the inferior coach to Carlilse and Popovich. No shame in that, but never have I watched a Heat game and been -- brilliant move. I would place more of the Heat credit in the personnel decisions by Riley, who crafted a roster to create the blueprint of how to leverage James' unique talents -- a measured, spread the floor offense with James as point-forward rather than point-guard (looking at you, Mike Brown; James' usage % and ast % peak in the three years before Miami). However you decide to assign credit for the success of the Heat, I think at this point in his career it would be a shock if Blatt wasn't fairly successful. Not only does he have the best player in the world still in his prime (even if he may have peaked, as Des suggests), but the man has performed well and won in nearly every single situation he has stepped into, and those have been myriad.

I am kind of in the middle on this between you and Des. On the one hand, Spo has never "looked" like a great coach to me. Fairly or not, my impression of him has always been one of a young guy in over his head, and Lebron won despite the handicap of Spo. However, my impression changed in one day literally this season. I was watching Kenny Smith breaking down film one day on TV, of the Heat. He broke down a couple of offensive sequences, and defensive sequences, showing a couple of offensive sets beginning to end, and then same on defense. I honestly came away thinking, "wow, that was brilliant". One of the offensive plays was very intriquing. They made 5 passes without the ball touching the floor, and moved the defense exactly where they wanted them to be. Little did the defense know the first four passes was simply setting them up. The real play started with the catch of the 5th pass. It led to a "slip the pick action" and a free rim run right down the middle of the lane for a dunk. I know it was just one set, but that was beautiful basketball with the set executed exactly as drawn up. The defensive set was equally impressive.

Now that is only one aspect of coaching and of course does not get into the art of making adjustments, but it was impressive. The jury will still be out until we see how he does without Lebron, but I think it could go either way. Something to watch.

[greybeard]

I am kind of in the middle on this between you and Des. On the one hand, Spo has never "looked" like a great coach to me. Fairly or not, my impression of him has always been one of a young guy in over his head, and Lebron won despite the handicap of Spo. However, my impression changed in one day literally this season. I was watching Kenny Smith breaking down film one day on TV, of the Heat. He broke down a couple of offensive sequences, and defensive sequences, showing a couple of offensive sets beginning to end, and then same on defense. I honestly came away thinking, "wow, that was brilliant". One of the offensive plays was very intriquing. They made 5 passes without the ball touching the floor, and moved the defense exactly where they wanted them to be. Little did the defense know the first four passes was simply setting them up. The real play started with the catch of the 5th pass. It led to a "slip the pick action" and a free rim run right down the middle of the lane for a dunk. I know it was just one set, but that was beautiful basketball with the set executed exactly as drawn up. The defensive set was equally impressive.

Now that is only one aspect of coaching and of course does not get into the art of making adjustments, but it was impressive. The jury will still be out until we see how he does without Lebron, but I think it could go either way. Something to watch.

In the 2013 championship series, it did not happen by chance that Miller and Battier were getting to spots, that the ball was arriving with perfect timing and placement from players who saw and acted without hesitation. Did the coach expect the display that they put on. Well, he sure as hell expected a display, a big one, and those two guys, those amazingly great ball players, loved that he saw champion in them and rather than tightened, loosened into the spotlight and lived the moment that their coach conceived for them and their teammates created for them. I said to myself, Holy Wow, as I watched. Still do when I think back on it.

[brevity]

This is really more of a 2016 NBA free agency story...

Drake costs Toronto Raptors C$27,331.25 because he's an idiot

"Before we leave, I just want to show one of my brothers something," Drake told the crowd. "You know, my brother Kevin Durant was kind enough to come to the show tonight and watch us. I just want him to see what would happen if he came to play in Toronto. Let him know what would happen."

Note: When Drake refers to Kevin Durant as "my brother," he doesn't mean it like an actual brother, but in the spiritual, Zoolander sense. Which is more meaningful I think.

[superdave]

This is really more of a 2016 NBA free agency story...

Drake costs Toronto Raptors C$27,331.25 because he's an idiot



Note: When Drake refers to Kevin Durant as "my brother," he doesn't mean it like an actual brother, but in the spiritual, Zoolander sense. Which is more meaningful I think.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-da...152027875.html


He is good at self-promotion. Maybe Dan Snyder could hire him to promote the Redskins name.

In other news, here is the list of remaining free agents to date: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/99...ents-2014-2015

Elton Brand is still out there.

[kAzE]

Despite the logjam we now have on the wings, I'm strongly in favor of this move. Marion is a tough, defensive minded veteran, and that's exactly the type of player this team needs. Good signing.

[theAlaskanBear]

Despite the logjam we now have on the wings, I'm strongly in favor of this move. Marion is a tough, defensive minded veteran, and that's exactly the type of player this team needs. Good signing.

I have never been a big fan of Marion, and at this point in his career, I don't think he offers much other than a replacement level player with veteran experience. He is not the defender he used to be, he can't shoot worth a damn. That said, his rebounding has remained fairly consistent, and he has aged more gracefully than I expected. Maybe he brings some toughness and some vet special sauce to the team?

[NSDukeFan]

I have never been a big fan of Marion, and at this point in his career, I don't think he offers much other than a replacement level player with veteran experience. He is not the defender he used to be, he can't shoot worth a damn. That said, his rebounding has remained fairly consistent, and he has aged more gracefully than I expected. Maybe he brings some toughness and some vet special sauce to the team?

If you can pair LeBron, Love and Kyrie with all replacement level players, you have yourself a pretty good team that can contend for the title.

[theAlaskanBear]

If you can pair LeBron, Love and Kyrie with all replacement level players, you have yourself a pretty good team that can contend for the title.

Sure, but ideally you would find replacement level players with growth potential, rather someone who is nearly guaranteed to decline, otherwise, once your stars max out you spin in neutral like Miami. Guys like Jeff Adrien, Al-Farouq Aminu. Both of them went for vet minimum contracts, one to Houston, one to Dallas. Adrien is in his prime, and Aminu is just 23.

[kAzE]

Sure, but ideally you would find replacement level players with growth potential, rather someone who is nearly guaranteed to decline, otherwise, once your stars max out you spin in neutral like Miami. Guys like Jeff Adrien, Al-Farouq Aminu. Both of them went for vet minimum contracts, one to Houston, one to Dallas. Adrien is in his prime, and Aminu is just 23.

Holy crap, it seems like he's been around for way longer than that. I would have believed you if you told me he was 29.

[FireOgilvie]

Holy crap, it seems like he's been around for way longer than that. I would have believed you if you told me he was 29.

I recently realized that Mason Plumlee is actually several months older than Aminu and DeMarcus Cousins.

[dukelifer]

Holy crap, it seems like he's been around for way longer than that. I would have believed you if you told me he was 29.

Greg Oden is 26 and looks about 46.

[cspan37421]

Greg Oden is 26 and looks about 46.

That's great news! Good for him if he did indeed get a facelift.