Goran Dragic hinted that he will likely return to the Miami Heat next season.
"I look forward to come back to have a great season with the Heat," Dragic said in a video released to Heat fans. It makes a lot of sense for him to return to Miami considering they can offer an extra year (Heat can offer five years while other teams are limited to four), but stranger things have happened in free agency. The Heat were decimated by injuries this season, but a potential lineup of Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside would be pretty deadly in the weak Eastern Conference.
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Apr 22 - 9:57
According to Yahoo Sports, Rajon Rondo will not return to Dallas next season if Rick Carlisle is the head coach.
This should surprise no one, as it's pretty obvious that Rondo and Carlisle's relationship has been disastrous at best. Rondo played just 10 minutes in Tuesday's defeat in Houston, and Carlisle opted to go with Raymond Felton to close out the game. Yahoo Sports reported that the Lakers would have been Rondo's choice had he never been traded to Dallas, so it looks like a move to Los Angeles could be in the works for the mercurial guard. This story is only going to heat up if the Mavericks are eliminated, so be sure to check back for updates.
Source: Yahoo! Sports
Apr 22 - 9:35 A
You can not play Melo at the 4 and Monroe at the 5 that would be Horrid defensively...
Minus the ejections, of course.
Before injury he was probably looking at a 4 year deal starting around 11 million....
I could see him taking a 2 year deal maybe starting at 8 opt out after 1...But again who knows there could be a team still willing to give him 11 million..you just never know
The good thing about this draft it is starting to look like a deep draft....
It is starting to look like a clear top 5 with Winslow starting to rise...
The cap is supposed to jump to 90 million next year...
then 108 the following year
I think there is a consensus top 4, Towns Okafor Mudiay Russell..I dont think anyone will crack the top 4
- Does Towns jump off the page athletically more than he appears to in-game?
-Does Okafor look like someone who can improve defensively more than WE think when you see him up close?
- Mudiay could sky rocket with good workouts (as high as #2 overall for sure)
-Can Porzingis show himself to be a special talent worth gambling on?
-Is Winslow a potential Leonard type? or a role player?
Problem with the Euro is he's seemingly at LEAST 2 years from having impact. He looks about as thin as I can recall seeing a player be at this stage. Are the Knicks willing to wait for maybe 3 years before the guy is making a difference?
-Is Winslow a potential Leonard type? or a role player?
This is the interesting one, this is a copy cat league and it seems the new one is finding another Butler or Leonard...
If Winslow shows in workouts he can be that type of player he is going to jump into the top 4...
Winslow it seems is the hot name right now
He might "surprise" you with him being more athletic than people think. His shot might be more impressive etc. He's a lock #1 either way. Doesn't really mean he's the clear best talent though.
I personally dont like russell i am jut going by what i read and what i read is that is the top 4...
Mudiay is interesting, there are people that love him and people that dont want to touch him...
The problem with Porzingas like Dan said is he may be 2 or 3 years away, so that may scare some teams off, i think it will scare the Knicks off
What aren't you sure about with Ronnie Mund?
When Rondo realized his run with the Celtics was over this year, he planned to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer, league sources told Yahoo Sports. He expected a maximum contract. Once Dallas made the trade, he was open to re-signing with the Mavericks – only there are no max contract offers for Rondo on the market. Not in Dallas, nor Los Angeles. He's played his way out of that payday – not just this year, but since that terrible ACL injury two years ago.
Everyone can insist that Rondo no longer cares, that he's stopped trying, and Game 2's debacle made a case for it. Rondo is the prince of moody, yes, but he's lost with these Mavericks – and they're lost with him. Nevertheless, Rondo hasn't given up on salvaging this season, nor his Mavericks career.
On Monday evening, Josh Smith stopped over to the Toyota Center to take extra shots. There was a ball bouncing inside the arena, and as he ducked inside, Smith found a familiar face getting up shots: Rajon Rondo.
Rondo always does the work, the preparation, but everyone could see again in Game 2 that his struggles with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle remain an immense hurdle. On the court, there were those who believed Rondo's eight-second violation for failing to cross the midcourt line was an act of protest on the coach's calling of plays. Rondo played 10 minutes, picking up fouls for slapping at James Harden, and finally a technical to start the third quarter for shoving Harden out of sheer frustration.
Carlisle banished him to the bench, choosing Raymond Felton over Rondo in the fourth quarter. Everything's pushing Rondo closer to his inevitable free-agent fleeing to the Lakers this summer. As long as the coach is back, Rondo's gone, sources told Yahoo Sports. The parting could be mutual.
When Rondo and Carlisle had it out on the bench and again in the locker room in February, teammates heard Rondo ask him: "Why the [bleep] did you bring me here?"
Quote:
I keep hearing the 7 ft Euro is skilled and is more special then Pau at that age. With adding strength could be special. I'm sorry but I don't see that potential with Russell. Not sure on Mund yet.
What aren't you sure about with Ronnie Mund?
Porzingis can do some amazing things with Candy Cane's
- Jose Calderon traded for a bag of wet sand
Granted he's a RFA but for a team that has plenty invested in their PG (injury or not, referring to Jennings).
Jackson is a sensational athlete who was stuck behind Westbrook. It was clear he'd light it up once given time and he has.
He also has a great relationship with Fisher. Give me Jackson and Hardaway over the Achilles twins of Calderon and Matthews any day.
I hope Hardaway is off this team let a lone the starting SG...
If your starting backcourt is Jackson and Hardaway along with Melo you better have 3 balls to play with...
You can't fix all positions on this team in one offseason. But getting some viable BIGS and a PG is more critical than a SG, especially one like Matthews (where there is a major injury concerns right off the bat).
Give me a good shooting 2 guard who plays tough hard defense and is a leader over the chucking point guard...
You mentioned needing 3 balls for gunners like Jackson, Melo etc. Jackson avg'd nearly 10 assists since arriving in Detroit
You know why? because both will play hard defensively every time down the court and both can knock down the 3, which is very important in the triangle offense
Well... if you go by the trend that was occurring towards the end of the season then you can see why people want a PG. The Knicks weren't running a strict Triangle but were running more PnR and incorporating other facets into the offense. I think they realized that the Triangle of the Bulls and the Lakers isn't necessarily the way to go here and are willing to incorporate other things into the system.
You mentioned needing 3 balls for gunners like Jackson, Melo etc. Jackson avg'd nearly 10 assists since arriving in Detroit
Who said anything about Calderon?
Like i said give me Galloway and Matthews back court...
Yes jackson averaged 17 and 9..
He also did it on 43% shooting and 33% from 3...He also averaged 3.5 turnovers per game...
So ok, So Jackson gets the max and Monroe gets the max...
so your line up is what then?
Jackson
hardaway
Melo
Monroe
who is your starting 5?
Quote:
but Jax is an elite athlete that can score, dish, defend
So ok, So Jackson gets the max and Monroe gets the max...
so your line up is what then?
Jackson
hardaway
Melo
Monroe
who is your starting 5?
If that's the lineup, presumably either Towns or Okafor
Hardaway/??
Melo/Early/ Thanasis
Monroe/Acy?/
Amundson??
Sure you could draft Towns and he would be slotted in at the starting 5 but like many have said you can not rely on getting Towns...
Even Jackson said yesterday the rookie they draft can not be counted on to come in right away...
Basically your relying on Towns to be your defensive force and make up for Hardaway, Melo and Monroe
Quote:
In comment 12244325 Pep22 said:
Quote:
but Jax is an elite athlete that can score, dish, defend
So ok, So Jackson gets the max and Monroe gets the max...
so your line up is what then?
Jackson
hardaway
Melo
Monroe
who is your starting 5?
If that's the lineup, presumably either Towns or Okafor
Hahaha
Jackson
Hardaway
Melo
Monroe
Okafor
That lineup would give up 150 points per game
nygiants16 : 1:47 pm : link : reply
In comment 12244325 Pep22 said:
Quote:
but Jax is an elite athlete that can score, dish, defend
So ok, So Jackson gets the max and Monroe gets the max...
so your line up is what then?
Jackson
hardaway
Melo
Monroe
who is your starting 5? --> I'm not inclined to think RJax gets the MAX. Also, why are you discounting the fact that we get a high # 1 pick.
PG: Jax, Galloway, Calderon
SG: Hardaway, Shved
SF: Melo
PF: Monroe
C: KAT
This Jax scenario wouldn't work if we landed Mundiay or Russell.
Quote:
In comment 12244331 nygiants16 said:
Quote:
In comment 12244325 Pep22 said:
Quote:
but Jax is an elite athlete that can score, dish, defend
So ok, So Jackson gets the max and Monroe gets the max...
so your line up is what then?
Jackson
hardaway
Melo
Monroe
who is your starting 5?
If that's the lineup, presumably either Towns or Okafor
Hahaha
Jackson
Hardaway
Melo
Monroe
Okafor
That lineup would give up 150 points per game
Yeah, the big 3 would be scarily inefficient on defense