jmmagicfan

Vic comes off, Biz has at least one more year

Great minds

At least they’ll all float

Actually, isn't there a restriction about trading him in conjunction with other players? I think they can trade him with picks, and/or money; but I don't think they can trade him with any other players going out.

Link?

Except that Exum is a RFA, so Utah can match. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of RFAs that sign for the qualifying offer this summer, and go full UFA next year.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23988592/guard-michael-carter-williams-houston-rockets-agree-one-year-deal Another PG off the list, not that I was interested in him, but interesting he gets signed to a low offer while others are still available.

IT4thewin?

Boston will match, as the most we can offer is MLE. Also, Smart is another defensive player with limited offense and passing. I don't like his fit with our front line core.

I've said several times that I would love to see a Vuc/Jeremy Lin swap, as the numbers match up pretty well. Yes, we would be taking a slight risk, as he was out with injury last year, but it is an expiring contract just like Vuc's, so not a huge issue if it doesn;t work out.

I was ticked too, until I realized that the management at the time didn't really make any effort to actually retain him.

just hope he comes in stronger than steel?

But that's okay, because it's hip to be square! lol

I get that, I just think Vuc/Simmons/OKC pick plus taking back Deng's contract is too much for Ball. I just don't like his game that much; and the Lavar baggage just adds to my concerns.

No, it is $18M this year and $18.8M next. I'm not sure how bad that really is, because he didn't really play last year; because they were trying to give the minutes to their younger players. He played 13 minutes in only 1 game all year. The truth is, nobody knows for sure if he has any game left or not; but probably not much. What can be said FOR him, is that he did not cause any issues for the team either in the media, or the locker room; but by most accounts, was the consummate professional about it. He did request a trade, but with his salary one was not forthcoming.

Why do you feel the need to go on the attack all the time? I tend to agree with you that Deng's contract sucks; couldn't you have just said that.

I hope you are wrong, I just don't like the Ball/Deng fit here, and certainly don't think we should be giving up any picks to go with it.

The Isaiah Thomas idea definitely has its pros and cons - the problem is we just don't really know enough about him to really know which is which. 1) The age thing - I would agree that on a 1 year deal, or even 2 year with minimum guarantee he's not a bad option. I don't see him as the long-term PG for us, just an interim piece that could potentially benefit both us and him. 2) He had miserable stats last year - I don't put much stock in this because he was returning from an 8-9 month layoff due to injury, played with two different teams/coaches/teammates without a training camp. Will he come back to his pre-injury self? There seemed to be indications that he would in the LA games. Does he hurt our team defense? I think if he is engaged and playing with effort, he will be better than Payton. At least he is quick enough to get in front of people. Will he be engaged/play defense with effort? He has something to prove again, and that is what took him from #60 in his draft to contending for MVP. 3) Does he fit? This to me is the biggest question mark. IT is a scoring point guard who needs the ball in his hands to be effective. I could see him being detrimental to the development of AG, JI and Mo if he doesn't keep them engaged on the offensive end, and I think that really falls on the coaching staff to make sure it doesn't happen. On the other hand, he did seem to keep the younger guys engaged while he was in Boston. We don't have Brad Stevens on the bench, but I don't think Clifford is the type of coach to let IT get too far off the rails either. I think IT might be worth a flyer on a mid-level, make good contract that gives him a chance to prove to the league that he can be the player he was pre-injury/pre-trade.

Maybe, but I would want the option to switch 1st round picks with Brooklyn next year as well. I think I would still prefer a straight Vuc for Jeremy Lin trade, though.

No, we are giving up too much and not getting enough back. Deng's awful contract and a non-shooting threat PG, plus his father(!?!), for our two expiring contracts. I think Ball has potential, but taking back Deng for a couple of years and dealing with Lavar is a non-starter. We need more than that to facilitate this trade for LA/San Antonio.

I think one of the things we really lost by letting 'Meer go was the camaraderie among the team. He was the guy who always did the team building, getting the guys together for player-only mini-camps, bowling, dinners, etc. I'm sure he alone couldn't have prevented the Fournier/Vuc clique from happening; but maybe it could have minimized the impact? His locker room presence I think would bring far more than he brings on the court. Having said that, he still averaged 3.6 assists per game last year in just over 20 mpg. You can't expect much more than that from a end of the bench, emergency use PG.

He's an UFA right now, so who knows where he goes; maybe even back to Orlando on a vet minimum?

By stretching Shelvin's $1M out over three years, it gives us an additional $666,667 under the luxury tax this year, which should allow us to use both the full mid-level exception of $8.57M and the Bi-Annual exception of $3.35M without worrying about going over the luxury tax line. Remember, when you cross that line, not only are you paying a penalty, but you are losing out on sharing in that luxury tax money. Generally speaking, 50% of the luxury tax is distributed to non-tax paying teams. So if next year there is an estimated record $400M in luxury taxes paid, then the other 15-20 non-tax teams get to split $200M of it. That works out to a minimum of roughly $13.3M, more if there are fewer teams sharing it. Since I believe that this is the last year of Watson's stretch, and you are close to the tax with Gordon's new contract, and potentially taking on more salary with the MLE and the BAE, and/or with trades, or veteran minimums; why wouldn't you stretch it. You make every move that makes sense to stay under it. This is the reason teams make some strange moves to stay under it, not just the penalty you pay; but the luxury tax distribution that you miss out on.

GP MPG FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% RPG APG BLKPG STLPG PFPG TOPG PPG 2017-18 Regular Season 12 8.9 0.8-2.6 .290 0.3-1.4 .176 0.4-0.5 .833 1.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.3 2.2 Career 35 6.1 0.6-2.0 .282 0.2-0.9 .242 0.1-0.2 .833 1.0 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4 1.5 Not sure why we want a 6'9" SF with these numbers, even if he is only 22?

Kemba/Batum/Monk for Vuch/Fournier/Ross works from a numbers standpoint.