2017 NBA Summer Thread

[JasonEvans]

A max deal for Porter is a joke. This could really decide the near future of the Wizards. They match the contract and they are done imo.

I dunno. As I said a couple weeks ago when some of us were discussing a redraft of the 2013 NBA Draft, Otto Porter has turned himself into a very nice NBA player and I won't be even remotely surprised if he is an All-Star in a couple years.

We are talking about a guy who has improved his scoring average, rebounds, steals, shooting percentage, 3pt percentage, and FT percentage every season he has been in the league. Sure, some of that is a function of minutes played (which has also gone up in each of his 4 seasons), but a lot of the reason for his improvement is just plain hard work to get better.

Last year he averaged 13.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg while shooting 43.4% from 3 point range while playing on a fairly decent playoff team. His various advanced metrics were phenomenal. He had the most win shares of anyone on Washington (including John Wall), he had the LOWEST TURNOVER PERCENTAGE OF ANY PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE NBA, and he posted a 129.1 offensive rating, second only to dunking machine DeAndre Jordan's 129.3. Put another way, he was arguably the most efficient offensive player in all of basketball last season.

He is a classic 3&D guy who plays strong defense... most of the time.) Plus, he is still young. The Kings just bought Porter's 24-27 year old seasons. That's a good time to be paying a player as you typically see guys hit their peak in that age range and the wear and tear of the game doesn't start to break down their bodies yet.

Porter had a lot of suitors in free agency and someone was going to offer him a max deal. It is worth noting that Poter has not accepted the Kings offer yet. I won't be surprised if another team offers him a max contract. Though it is probably moot as Washington is almost certainly going to match any deal he gets offered.

-Jason "Mark my words, 4 years and $100 mil is not a bad deal for Otto Porter" Evans

[Truth&Justise]

I dunno. As I said a couple weeks ago when some of us were discussing a redraft of the 2013 NBA Draft, Otto Porter has turned himself into a very nice NBA player and I won't be even remotely surprised if he is an All-Star in a couple years.

We are talking about a guy who has improved his scoring average, rebounds, steals, shooting percentage, 3pt percentage, and FT percentage every season he has been in the league. Sure, some of that is a function of minutes played (which has also gone up in each of his 4 seasons), but a lot of the reason for his improvement is just plain hard work to get better.

Last year he averaged 13.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg while shooting 43.4% from 3 point range while playing on a fairly decent playoff team. His various advanced metrics were phenomenal. He had the most win shares of anyone on Washington (including John Wall), he had the LOWEST TURNOVER PERCENTAGE OF ANY PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE NBA, and he posted a 129.1 offensive rating, second only to dunking machine DeAndre Jordan's 129.3. Put another way, he was arguably the most efficient offensive player in all of basketball last season.

He is a classic 3&D guy who plays strong defense... most of the time.) Plus, he is still young. The Kings just bought Porter's 24-27 year old seasons. That's a good time to be paying a player as you typically see guys hit their peak in that age range and the wear and tear of the game doesn't start to break down their bodies yet.

Porter had a lot of suitors in free agency and someone was going to offer him a max deal. It is worth noting that Poter has not accepted the Kings offer yet. I won't be surprised if another team offers him a max contract. Though it is probably moot as Washington is almost certainly going to match any deal he gets offered.

-Jason "Mark my words, 4 years and $100 mil is not a bad deal for Otto Porter" Evans

Is there any serious path to contention -- even just to make the Finals and get killed by a team from the West -- if the Wizards are paying max-level contracts to Wall, Beal, and Porter? Would there ever be a way for that core to improve?

I understand the things Porter does well, and why there is hope he will continue to improve. But a team handcuffs itself if it pays max-level money to a non-star, and I'm less optimistic that Porter ever becomes more than a very good role player. I see him more in the mold of Demarre Carrol or Kent Bazemore. At best he's a younger Luol Deng or Tayshaun Prince, maybe close to Harrison Barnes. But I think there are advantages to flexibility if Washington avoids committing to this core without any possible chance of external improvement.

[JasonEvans]

Is there any serious path to contention -- even just to make the Finals and get killed by a team from the West -- if the Wizards are paying max-level contracts to Wall, Beal, and Porter? Would there ever be a way for that core to improve?

Wall is 26, Beal is 24, Porter is 23. Are you really asking if they can improve?

[kshepinthehouse]

Wall is 26, Beal is 24, Porter is 23. Are you really asking if they can improve?

Agreed. This is a pretty good point guard-small forward lineup that is young and can definitely improve together.

[wsb3]

Melo waives no trade for 2 teams..Cavs Rockets

[JasonEvans]

KD re-signs with the Warriors for 2 years, $53 million. That is the most ridiculously undervalued contract EVER!!

[mattman91]

KD re-signs with the Warriors for 2 years, $53 million. That is the most ridiculously undervalued contract EVER!!

Wonder if he and Steph made some kind of under the table deal to split some of his 200 million

[NSDukeFan]

Wonder if he and Steph made some kind of under the table deal to split some of his 200 million

You're right. He did.

Kevin, if you only sign for a discounted 26 & 1/2 million for each of the next couple years, we'll let you win a couple more championships with us. What do you think?

[kshepinthehouse]

KD re-signs with the Warriors for 2 years, $53 million. That is the most ridiculously undervalued contract EVER!!

Haven't looked at the details yet but can't he opt out next year and sign a deal similar to Curry?

[tbyers11]

Haven't looked at the details yet but can't he opt out next year and sign a deal similar to Curry?

Yes, player option for year 2. He can opt out and renegotiate new terms next year.

[FadedTackyShirt]

Yes, player option for year 2. He can opt out and renegotiate new terms next year.

If the 'Dubs keep their core 4 together with the expected salary adjustments, they're looking at owing $200M in luxury taxes in both 2020 and 2021. Klay would be the most expendable/easiest to replace.

[WHOneedsSOX]

Wonder if he and Steph made some kind of under the table deal to split some of his 200 million

Ehh, KD has made a little over $132 million in salary already in his career while Curry has made $56 million. And KD will sign a similar deal to Curry's next off-season. I know you were joking by the way.

[kshepinthehouse]

If the 'Dubs keep their core 4 together with the expected salary adjustments, they're looking at owing $200M in luxury taxes in both 2020 and 2021. Klay would be the most expendable/easiest to replace.

I wonder how much more revenue and team can make by winnning the NBA finals vs a playoff team. Not sure that it's $200 million or anywhere close. But I did read that since the owner bought the team they increased in value from $450 million to over $2 billion. Except that isn't cash in hand.

[Troublemaker]

I wonder how much more revenue and team can make by winnning the NBA finals vs a playoff team. Not sure that it's $200 million or anywhere close. But I did read that since the owner bought the team they increased in value from $450 million to over $2 billion. Except that isn't cash in hand.

Yeah, I have some mixed feelings about this. What Durant did was kind of cool, I guess, but I wish the person making the sacrifice* had been owner Joe Lacob instead. This strikes me as the owner fleecing his player a little bit.

Also, I hope this doesn't become the new standard by which the media and fans judge unselfishness. You can't ask superstars to take this kind of pay cut; by all accounts, they're already underpaid because top-10 players are worth more than the max salary and sometimes way more to a franchise once you're talking about a player at the level of Lebron or Durant. Further, this strikes me as different from when a player sacrifices money to fit another free agent under the salary cap. GSW is already way over the cap, and therefore this was about saving Joe Lacob money on his luxury tax payments.

* That said, as others have either pointed out or will point out, this isn't that much of a sacrifice for KD. He's already a very wealthy man, and he knew that once his salary was announced, the media and fans would slobber over how unselfish he is. Is it worth $10 million to carry around the reputation of Mr. Unselfish? It probably is to him.

[FadedTackyShirt]

I wonder how much more revenue and team can make by winnning the NBA finals vs a playoff team. Not sure that it's $200 million or anywhere close. But I did read that since the owner bought the team they increased in value from $450 million to over $2 billion. Except that isn't cash in hand.

Oracle Founder/America's Cup winner Larry Ellison somehow thought he was going to get a hometown discount on buying the 'Dubs and tried to low ball the prior owners, but thankfully got outbid.

'Dubs will get a big revenue bump when they move into their new privately financed SF arena. 'Dubs were crappy for 40 years, but still had very loyal fans in Oakland. The Giants also financed nearby AT&T Park and leverage that asset from additional revenue via non-baseball events (concerts, a bowl game, etc...). Even had an opera there a few days ago.

'Dubs will host NCAA tournament games and concerts at Chase Arena. Oakland's hosed since major events will migrate to SF or San Jose (Shark Tank).

[CDu]

Yeah, I have some mixed feelings about this. What Durant did was kind of cool, I guess, but I wish the person making the sacrifice* had been owner Joe Lacob instead. This strikes me as the owner fleecing his player a little bit.

Also, I hope this doesn't become the new standard by which the media and fans judge unselfishness. You can't ask superstars to take this kind of pay cut; by all accounts, they're already underpaid because top-10 players are worth more than the max salary and sometimes way more to a franchise once you're talking about a player at the level of Lebron or Durant. Further, this strikes me as different from when a player sacrifices money to fit another free agent under the salary cap. GSW is already way over the cap, and therefore this was about saving Joe Lacob money on his luxury tax payments.

* That said, as others have either pointed out or will point out, this isn't that much of a sacrifice for KD. He's already a very wealthy man, and he knew that once his salary was announced, the media and fans would slobber over how unselfish he is. Is it worth $10 million to carry around the reputation of Mr. Unselfish? It probably is to him.

Just to be clear, it is partly a boon to the owner and partly a boon to Durant. The max Durant could have made next year is $34.8 million. But because the Warriors don't have his Bird's rights yet, that would have meant signing him with cap space. Which would have meant renouncing the rights to Iguodala, Livingston, and their exceptions. So to keep their monster team together, Durant had to sign a cheaper deal using non-Bird's rights. That max was $31.8 million. So he took about $7 million less than the max he could make in his best interest.

But next summer, the Warriors will have his Bird's rights and will be able to sign him for the true max contract. And presumably the cap will be higher then too. So the true cost to Durant, holding everything else constant, is probably about $5 million or less.

[dukelifer]

Just to be clear, it is partly a boon to the owner and partly a boon to Durant. The max Durant could have made next year is $34.8 million. But because the Warriors don't have his Bird's rights yet, that would have meant signing him with cap space. Which would have meant renouncing the rights to Iguodala, Livingston, and their exceptions. So to keep their monster team together, Durant had to sign a cheaper deal using non-Bird's rights. That max was $31.8 million. So he took about $7 million less than the max he could make in his best interest.

But next summer, the Warriors will have his Bird's rights and will be able to sign him for the true max contract. And presumably the cap will be higher then too. So the true cost to Durant, holding everything else constant, is probably about $5 million or less.

He will be just fine. It is all Monopoly money after a certain point and not being the highest paid player actually has huge positive benefit- you get to look like a team player who values winning over dollars.

[kshepinthehouse]

Jamal Crawford a front runner to sing with the Warriors of the trade goes through and he gets a buyout. The rich get richer.

[FadedTackyShirt]

He will be just fine. It is all Monopoly money after a certain point and not being the highest paid player actually has huge positive benefit- you get to look like a team player who values winning over dollars.

David West's end career moves are more impressive. Solid player, 2x All-Star, but never a superstar. Made plenty of $s, but will spend his final three seasons with the Spurs and 'Dubs. Two exceptional organizations with legit title shots and signed with both for the veteran minimum.

[dukelifer]

Jamal Crawford a front runner to sing with the Warriors of the trade goes through and he gets a buyout. The rich get richer.

Wow. That would give a pretty dynamic bench