RandomAct Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I saw a much more NBA-ready player from Towns than I did Okafor in the games that I watched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I think Towns fits much better next to Pek than Okafor would. Less overlap in their skills and it would give them the rim protection they need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfredoE Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I liked both. Okafor didn't show much on defense though. Mudiay is really the only guy out of the 4-5 mentioned in that top 5 range that I wasn't too sure about. I agree with Towns being a better fit if the TWolves keep Pek. As a Laker fan, I'll take whoever they pass on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Okafor concerns me a little bit. I don't trust a player who has to rely on a finesse big man game but shoots 50% from the line. That's not to say he can't improve, it's just troubling. I mean, everyone is saying that Al Jefferson is a player that is comparable. Would you draft Big Al but with way worse FT shooting number one overall? I think Towns is probably the best bet at number one. I think Mudiay could be solid as well. He's big and fast and his stats were good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APO Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Okafor is a massive defensive liability, IMO. I think he needs to be paired up with a stretch 4 like Ibaka to really hide his weaknesses on that side of the ball. Offensively, he's fantastic in the post, but he'd bog down teams that like to run like the Wolves(which is why I think he's a bad fit for Minnesota, even if Flip really likes him). Also, the spacing issues and his suspect range make him a bad fit for a team with little to no shooters worth a damn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Thibs is officially out. The press release didn't exactly throw him under the bus, but the bus was definitely in the vicinity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2015/05/wade-heat-have-significant-difference-in-contract-negotiations-wade-open-to-leaving-heat-if-it-doesn.html Wade, Heat have significant difference in contract negotiations; Wade open to leaving Heat if it doesn't get resolved The Heat and Dwyane Wade have been discussing potential resolutions of his contract situation and there’s a significant difference in what both parties believe he should be paid for the next three seasons, according to multiple sources. Though Wade prefers to stay with the Heat, where he has spent his entire 12-year career, he is now open to leaving this summer if the Heat does not raise its offer, according to two sources with direct knowledge. Wade must decide by late June whether to opt out of a contract that would pay him $16.1 million next season. The Heat wants to keep him but believes that paying him what he’s seeking would dramatically reduce its flexibility to add additional players during the summers of 2016 and 2017. Last summer, in order to give the Heat flexibility to augment its roster, Wade opted out of the final two years of a contract that would have paid him $41.6 million. He instead accepted a two-year, $31 million deal, which included a player option for next season at $16.1 million. Wade said last summer that he was curious to see what he could command in the summer of 2016, when the cap is expected to skyrocket from $67 million to $89 million. That led to the belief that Wade would opt-in this summer. But according to associates, Wade wants to opt out this summer, with the hope that the Heat would give him a lucrative three-year deal that would extend past his 36th birthday. That does not appear to be the Heat’s preference. The Heat apparently would be content with Wade opting in for next season, then re-signing for good, but not huge, money for another two seasons after that. Regardless of whether Wade opts out or not, there is believed to be a sizable gap between what Wade would like over the next three seasons and what the Heat would prefer to pay him. Asked about that gap, agent Henry Thomas declined to comment. So did the Heat and Wade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mco543 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 If he leaves he leaves but I can't imagine him being worth more money to another team, then again I would've given him whatever he wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I really can't imagine a scenario where Wade leaves Miami. If he goes he's either getting really paid by a shitty team or getting the mid-level from a contender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mco543 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I don't see him leaving Miami just to fuck off and take the MLE from another contender. Wade has given up more money than probably any other superstar player and I imagine he wants to recoup it and get paid. Him leaving would be the dumbest thing he could do, he's a God here, he is sports in South Florida, he's easily eclipsed Marino (especially with the people under 30), and he'll get a statue outside the building upon retirement and I don't see a team giving him the obscene money (the max?) it would take to make it worth pissing all that away. But like I said if it were me it never gets to this point and would've been a 20 second discussion that ended with "you got it, Dwyane we'll send the paperwork over as soon as it's drawn up." Some guys you don't fuck around and play hardball with and the face of your franchise is definitely one of them. Wade in another uniform would look as weird as anything in the history of sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's not exactly accurate to call him the best player in franchise history (I mean, two of the twenty best players ever won titles there, and that's being pretty conservative) but he's the best Heat ever, if that makes sense? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mco543 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It makes sense but it's weird. It's the difference between homegrown and store bought, I guess but then again a good amount of fans here would rank Zo at 2 after Wade I'd imagine. I like "face of the franchise" better but for simplicity's sake I don't see a real problem with calling Wade the best player in franchise history despite Shaq's stopover and Lebron's run. The closest comparison I can think of with Lebron would be like saying Mark Messier is the greatest player in Rangers history because he's probably top 15 or 20 all-time when a lot of Ranger fans would probably say Brian Leetch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 He'll stay. He's got such a sweetheart deal where he only plays when he feels like it and there really isn't much pressure to win another championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 D Wade- Chicago Player Coach. On the Bulls coaching front, the great and powerful Woj said at least three Bulls starters had unkind words about Thibs in their exit interviews after the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfredoE Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I can't see Wade leaving Miami either. Watch the Knicks offer him the max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Honestly, I think there are way worse things the Knicks could do than to throw a mini-max at Wade. And they'll probably do all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm trying to think of the most insane possible Knicks outcome. Trading for Lance Stephenson is the best I can come up with, followed by max money for Rondo. Maybe both? Would both be in play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm trying to think of the most insane possible Knicks outcome. Trading for Lance Stephenson is the best I can come up with, followed by max money for Rondo. Maybe both? Would both be in play? Great news! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Unless Phil Jackson has officially lost his mind, I don't see "Knicks gonna Knick" happening for awhile. Much sympathy will be felt for the fanbase of whatever team gives Rondo a max deal though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Hard to say. Phil hasn't really done much as a GM yet, so it's hard to know how good or bad he'll actually be. But being a first-time GM coupled with the Knicks fucked-up front office doesn't fill me with confidence for them. Interesting tidbit re: the Bulls' coaching search: The Ames Tribune reported Thursday that Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg in April “let it be known to five-star recruit Cheick Diallo that his immediate future at Iowa State was not a certainty.” Multiple Tribune sources told the paper that “while Hoiberg did not definitively say he planned to move on to the NBA, he also communicated that he couldn’t fully commit he would be returning to ISU to coach Diallo and what figures to be a preseason top-10 Cyclones team in 2015-16.” Diallo committed to KU a month ago, so either he knew something was in the works or was just keeping his options open for NBA jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Didn't Hoiberg have heart surgery recently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Yeah, he had a valve replacement after the season ended. That had been planned for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuetsar Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Regarding NY, wouldn't it be the most Knicks thing ever to have Isiah Thomas meddle with the team(in his current role with the Liberty), and have Phil Jackson rage quit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 However it goes down, I think there's a 100% chance that Thomas is their next GM after Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfredoE Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm guessing the Knicks are going after guys who fit the triangle offense. Not sure who in FA or draft would fit in. I keep seeing Mudiay in mock drafts for the Knicks and that guy looks like furthest fit to that offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts