Nba 2016-2017 Season! Let's Get It On!

[azraelmd]

May pagasa pa si lebron.....ayain na nya si wade na lumipat....

[MrSniper88]

f#&k! Akala ko sa spurs o new york pupunta si KD. Why KD? Ayaw nya pagpaguran magkaroon ng ring? Gusto nya easier route for a ring? I wish sana maKARLMALONE sya.

[EL_PY]

KD decided what the best for him.

Win championship and earn. Period.

We may dislike the methods of these players but at the end of the day, priorities matters.

Saka since two years lang yan, he will surely opt the 2nd year.

Lebron and KD can have max deals next year pag nag effect higher cap space.

[kind patron]

One way in which Durant can be effective on the Warriors is with the pick-and-roll. According to NBA.com's player-tracking data, Golden State averaged 1.08 points per possession with Marreese Speights as the roll man and 1.06 points with Festus Ezeli in the same role.

Now imagine Thompson or Stephen Curry coming off picks set by Durant. Either combination could be potentially deadly, especially on pick and pops when Durant floats out to the three-point line.

Durant's drives into the paint will inevitably leave shooters open on the outside, too. In that sense, Thompson should be a major beneficiary. Opposing defenses had a hard enough time covering Thompson over the last few years. Now, they'll have to worry about keeping a man on Durant at all times.

As intimidating as they seem on paper, the Warriors are bound to have an adjustment period as they accommodate Green, Durant, Thompson and Curry on the same court.

[Guiness]

the issue here is not KD leaving OKC. its KD signing with the Warriors. This is more of a coward's move. If he wanted to leave fine, he's entitled to that, but you leave for a situation where you compete with others to get a championship and EARN it through your own merit. He could have signed with a team like Miami, Boston, or even San Antonio or even if it was a longshot the Knicks and lead that team.

 

Not join an already established team who was 1 win away from winning a 2nd championship team. The WArriors can win a championship without Kevin Durant. That's how good they are as a team. Even if KD wins a championship with the Warriors. He won't earn that championship. It's a hand me championship because he was riding on the coattails of the WArriors and Steph Curry.

 

There's no parity in the league anymore by him doing this, i'm not gonna watch the NBA if all im going to see are 2-4 teams being the only legitimate contenders. Tha'ts f-u.cking boring, watching Golden State winning all the time. There's no more competition.

 

These are some of the reactions from ESPN regarding KD's decision to sign with the Warriors

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bp9kJucv44

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhAFrtyZJs

 

From what they are saying Fans outside of Golden State will be booing Kevin Durant more than ever when they come to play in their arena. You will see words like Coward, Traitor, Sellout and other words describing how they view Kevin Durant. From What Colin Cowherd says, Durant will be the villain here kind of like what happened to Lebron when he came to Miami. I know Durant cares how people view him, i wonder how he will react to people booing him now because he's never been hated in his career. This will be quite an experience for him.

Edited July 5, 2016 by hahnz

[kind patron]

i love that reaction from the NBA from Bleacher Report's twitter account

[Guiness]

The Frank Caliendo impersonating Morgan Freeman's voice while reading KD's letter in the background while fans burn KD's jersey tweet?

 

yea it was good. Frank Caliendo is a talented impersonator. He impersonates a lot of sports personalities in basketball and mostly in American Football.

 

People from social media are brutal they're calling him a pu.ssy and a bi.tch for joining an already great team. Not going to a team that needed pieces to win a championship. Its kind of like Jollibee and Mcdonalds. I don't see Mcdonalds merging with Jollibee to form a super fast food, i see them competing against each other and that's why people are ticked off at what prompted Durant to make this asinine decision.

 

Pierce took to Twitter to talk about his opinion on the KD Decision

 

 

Pierce taking a shot at KD. what a surprise.

[Guiness]

Mavericks agree to trade for Andrew Bogut, will sign Harrison Barnes

The Dallas Mavericks will be adding a pair of Golden State Warriors -- forward Harrison Barnes and center Andrew Bogut -- in the wake of Kevin Durant's decision to sign with the Warriors, according to league sources.

 

The Warriors and Mavs have agreed to a trade that will send Bogut to Dallas, according to league sources. The Mavs also reached a verbal agreement on a four-year, $94 million maximum deal with Barnes.

Sources told ESPN that the Warriors will renounce their rights to Barnes as a restricted free agent with Durant heading to Golden State, meaning there will be no three-day waiting period while his previous team ponders whether to match the offer.

The Warriors needed to shed Bogut's $11 million salary to create cap space to sign Durant to a two-year, $54.3 million deal.

 

By adding Bogut, Dallas, which acquired center Zaza Pachulia from the Milwaukee Bucks in a similar salary dump last summer, would fill a need at starting center with a proven veteran on an expiring contract.

Barnes, 24, turned down a reported extension totaling $64 million before the 2015-16 season. He in turn had his best campaign as a pro, averaging 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 66 games.

 

A polarizing player because of his inconsistency, Barnes has been a key cog in the Warriors' back-to-back runs to the NBA Finals, particularly in their small-ball lineups.

Barnes thanked the Warriors and fans for his four years with Golden State.

"I've grown up in Oakland and thank everyone for all the love that was shown there from day one," he said on his Twitter feed. "You guys have been rockin with the team for decades before we got there so it was rewarding to bring a championship to the Bay."

 

Bogut, 31, suffered bone bruises to his proximal tibia and distal femur, two major bones in the leg, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals and missed the final two games of the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bogut's injury did not require surgery.

[bakedzitiguy]

concede na ba ang season sa golden state?

[joveybbb]

New York will be a good team

[Guiness]

Dwyane Wade commits to Bulls, tells AP he's made 'the right choice'

Free agent Dwyane Wade has committed to joining the Chicago Bulls.

"This was not an easy decision, but I feel I have made the right choice," Wade said in a letter released to the Associated Press.

"He's home," one source close to Wade said of the Chicago native.

"Watching the Bulls growing up inspired me at an early age to pursue my dream of becoming a basketball player," Wade said in his letter. "My most treasured memories were watching my dad play basketball on the courts of Fermi Elementary School and developing my game at the Blue Island Recreation Center. I have never forgotten where I came from, and I am thankful to have an opportunity to play for the team that first fueled my love of the game."

 

Wade has agreed to a two-year deal worth $47 million, according to the AP. The Miami Heat, Wade's team for his entire 13-year career, had a two-year, $40 million offer on the table for him.

 

Extreme acrimony had been building between Wade and the Heat over the past week. Wade met with Heat owner Micky Arison in New York on Monday.

 

"Miami dared a very proud man to go home, and that man's best friend [LeBron James] just won a title by going home," a source very close to the process told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

 

Arison took to Twitter late Wednesday to thank Wade for his 13 years with the Heat.

 

After Wade and the Heat failed to reach an accord Monday, the Bulls picked up their intensity in attempting to trade players, sources said. Wade and the Bulls entered serious negotiations late Wednesday after he held free-agent meetings during the day with several teams, sources said. The Bulls had ramped up efforts to clear needed space to give Wade the multiyear deal he has been seeking.

A source told ESPN's Chris Broussard that Jimmy Butler had a phone conversation with Wade in which he recruited him. Wade and Butler, who are both Marquette products, are looking forward to playing together, according to the source.

 

Wade also considered Milwaukee because of the Marquette connection, the source told Broussard, but the Bucks couldn't get near Wade's asking price of 2 years, $50 million.

 

The Bulls had been gaining momentum on landing Wade and believed they had a trade partner willing to take on Jose Calderon to clear salary-cap space, sources told ESPN.com.

 

The Los Angeles Lakers have swooped in ahead of the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Calderon, according to league sources Thursday. Calderon and two future second-round picks are headed to Los Angeles in exchange for a player to be named later, the sources said.

Calderon seemingly was headed to the Nets, but sources say Chicago informed Calderon's representatives that they are trading him to L.A. instead.

 

The Bulls have also agreed to a trade that will send Mike Dunleavy to the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to sources.

James has long coveted Dunleavy as a teammate, a source said.

 

Calderon became a focus of trade talks because he is in the final year of a contract that pays him $7.7 million.

With the Bulls sending Calderon to the Lakers, according to sources, Chicago clears the way to create more than $20 million and beat the Heat's offer for Wade.

Shipping Dunleavy out removes the $4.8 million he was slated to earn this season.

 

The richest offer for Wade had been from the Denver Nuggets, who offered him $52 million over two years. Wade met with the Nuggets on Wednesday.

Wade has told friends if he ever left Miami, where he has played 13 seasons and won three titles, it would be to play for his hometown Bulls, sources said.

 

Information from ESPN's Chris Broussard was used in this report.

[direstraits94]

Tim Duncan has retired

[Guiness]

Adam Silver: Kevin Durant's decision to sign with the Warriors as a free agent is not "ideal from the league standpoint," adds, CBA needs change

 

LAS VEGAS -- NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed concern about the impact of Kevin Durant joining the Golden State Warriors and indicated that changes are needed in the collective bargaining agreement to maintain the league's competitive balance.

"Just to be absolutely clear, I do not think that's ideal from the league standpoint," Silver said during a news conference after the league's annual board of governors meeting, referring to Durant's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to be part of a so-called super team with Golden State. "For me, part of it is designing a collective bargaining agreement that encourages the distribution of great players throughout the league. On the other hand, I absolutely respect a player's right to become a free agent and in this case for Kevin Durant to make a decision that he feels is best for him. I have no idea what's in his mind or heart in terms of how he went about making that decision. ...

"In a way, the good news is that we are in a collective bargaining cycle, so it gives everybody an opportunity -- owners and the union -- to sit down behind closed doors and take a fresh look at the system and see if there is a better way that we can do it. My belief is we can make it better."

 

The league's current CBA, negotiated during the 2011 lockout, runs through June 30, 2021. However, either side can opt out June 30, 2017, if it notifies the other party by Dec. 15.

 

Silver described the discussion regarding this year's free-agency cycle -- and specifically Durant's decision to join a Golden State team that already featured three young All-Stars and is coming off two consecutive Finals appearances -- as "robust" and "with various views" among the owners and team executives attending the board of governors meeting. Silver clearly stated that he believes it's in the league's best interests to make changes to the CBA regarding free agency.

"There are things and corrections we can make in the system," Silver said. "Of course, I'm not going to negotiate here with the union, but it requires two parties to make those changes. I think we've had very productive discussions with the union so far and we will continue to do so."

 

Silver mentioned that he did not "necessarily want to overreact to a particular situation," referring to Durant's decision. He added that part of the discussion in the board of governors meeting was about how much of what happened in free agency was an "anomaly," created in large part by the unprecedented spike of the salary cap.

 

Due to revenue from the NBA's new television agreement, the salary cap soared from $70 million last season to $94 million this summer, allowing the Warriors to create cap space to sign Durant to a max contract while maintaining their core of All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as well as sixth man Andre Iguodala. The cap is projected to rise to $102 million next summer.

 

The NBA approached the players' union with a "smoothing" proposal that would have resulted in much more gradual increases to the salary cap -- and would have eliminated the Warriors as a realistic option for Durant in free agency -- but was rejected. Silver acknowledged that the league "did not model for such a large spike in the cap," enabling teams such as the Warriors to make moves that otherwise would not have been possible.

"We all knew all this money was going to come into the system and many of these things could have happened," Silver said. "The fact that it's now in front of us and we're looking at how the money is being paid out and we see a particular player move, yes, without suggesting I'm negotiating, there's no question that those are things that will be discussed in future meetings with the players' association."

 

A major emphasis during negotiations of the current CBA was to give every team, regardless of market size, an equal opportunity to compete for a championship. For example, the CBA allows a team that owns the Bird rights of a player to offer its free agent a five-year contract with 7.5 percent annual raises, with other suitors limited to offering four-year deals with 4.5 percent annual raises.

 

In the case of Durant, the Bird rights weren't a factor because it made sense for him to sign a short-term deal with the salary cap continuing to rise and him a year away from reaching 10 years of experience, making him eligible for the highest tier of a maximum contract. Durant signed a two-year, $54.3 million deal with the Warriors that includes a player option for the second season.

 

"My sense is some of the player movement we just saw isn't necessarily a function of market size," Silver said. "It's clearly a case of one particular player's desire to be in a situation with a group of players that all have already proven that they can win [a championship]. By the way, I don't mean to be so cryptic. In the case of Kevin Durant, I absolutely respect his decision, once he becomes a free agent, to make a choice that's available to him. In this particular case, he operated 100 percent within the way of the system, and the same with Golden State.

 

"Having said that, I do think to maintain those principles that I discussed in terms of creating a league in which every team has an opportunity to compete, we do need to re-examine some of the elements of our system so I'm not here next year or the year after that talking about anomalies."

 

Adam Silver Doesn't Think Superteams Are Good For NBA

 

Adam Silver was asked for his response to the Golden State Warriors creating a superteam by signing Kevin Durant this offseason.

The Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are widely expected to win their conferences again for the third straight season.

 

"I don't think it's good for the league," Silver said.

"I do think we need to reexamine some of the elements of our system," said Silver.

"There are certain things, corrections we can make to the system."

 

Silver was frequently quoted as saying the NBA's new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011 would create more competitive balance.

Edited July 13, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

NBA Trade Rumors: Blake Griffin Could Join Celtics From Clippers In Three-Team Deal

Move over, Russell Westbrook. You’re not the only athlete rumored to be shipping up to Boston. Los Angeles Clippers All-Star big man Blake Griffin could be in green next season, if the latest Blake-to-Boston Celtics whispers are true. Here’s this, from RealGM’s Keith Smith.



We’re not going to sit here and give Smith a hard time for this report. Sources say what sources say. But moving Blake Griffin to acquire Rudy Gay doesn’t just sound like a terrible trade — it is one. The Clippers are title contenders — super team in Golden State notwithstanding — and unless they’re blowing things up (and even if they are), you can be sure that type of return is unrealistic. But, hey, it’s July. What else are we going to talk about?

Edited July 14, 2016 by hahnz

[smyts]

Hack a Shaq no more =(