"The Toronto Raptors are hiring assistant Nick Nurse as the franchise's new head coach, league sources tell ESPN. Sides are working through details of contract now." - Woj
And so the Raptors finally make their decision as well. Nurse was apparently the guy that inspired Casey to go with a new offensive approach last year, which was a large part of Casey getting CotY. Will be interesting to see what he can do now he's fully in charge himself.
Since NBA Draft is a week away, it's time we started getting into the flow of the thing.
My way too early draft hot take: Michael Porter Jr is the next Joel Embiid. All the talent in the world, but brittle as glass and never grows to full potential due to missed time in rehab.
pls let Mo Bamba go to the Mavs. Pretty please.
GET YOUR POPCORN READY EVERYONE, WE ARE IN FOR A WILD WEEK BEFORE THE DRAFT.
Seriously, the NBA offseason is the best, always so much rumours. Agents and players and frontoffices, none of them seemingly give a fuck and they play it all out in the media. Love it.
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Lebron to the Lakers getting more and more likely if Kawhi ends up there too.
Kawhi is dead to me. He clearly wasn't the guy I thought he was.
You don't buy in to Pop? You can gtfo
I also dont see what LAL has to trade. All their Picks? Because none of their players would do well here. If Lebron ends up with the Lakers, I'll just quit the NBA because I do not like players enabling Lavar Ball. Also, his sons suck.
Last edited by Crissi; 2018-06-15 at 05:45 PM.
"Draft scuttle: Hearing Toronto is exploring all of its trade options in hopes of assembling a deal to acquire a draft pick high enough to select Kentucky's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander" - Marc Stein, NY Times
And apparently everything is open to get that pick and no player is safe.
And then Kevin O'Connor chimes in with:
"Interesting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grew up one hour from Toronto. He hasn't worked out for any teams. He declined to name which teams he met with at the Combine. He hasn't even done much media since. ������������������"
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.
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"Draft scuttle: Hearing Toronto is exploring all of its trade options in hopes of assembling a deal to acquire a draft pick high enough to select Kentucky's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander" - Marc Stein, NY Times
And apparently everything is open to get that pick and no player is safe.
And then Kevin O'Connor chimes in with:
"Interesting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grew up one hour from Toronto. He hasn't worked out for any teams. He declined to name which teams he met with at the Combine. He hasn't even done much media since.
Well then: http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/sour...medium=twitter
I usually follow along with these things on twitter more than on the broadcast, cuase shows like that are typically awful apart from seeing the prospects be happy. Guess I'll be forced to pay attention to the broadcast this year. =/
"Sources: Charlotte traded Dwight Howard to Brooklyn for Timofey Mozgov, two second-rounders and cash considerations." - Charania
Dwight Howard is not a popular guest on teams it seems.
Yeah, but what's the point of following on twitter when it's at the same time as the broadcast? Might as well watch then.
"The Lakers have acquired the 39th pick in Thursday’s Draft from the 76ers, league source tells ESPN. Lakers will send Philly its 2019 second round pick via Bulls and cash."
First draft trade!
Kinda unspectacular, but both sides get something nice. Philly had more picks this year than could reasonably be used and the Lakers are getting the 9th pick in the second round which is kinda nice if you need ammo to make trades for players (like Kawhi) or to help get rid of players (Luol Deng) and expect your future picks to not be worth much due to (hopefully) having a championship caliber team.
I have seen some people recently dismiss the title potential of various possible teams as far as being destinations for Lebron James, claiming he is too ball dominant and needs to have the ball in his hands to have an impact. He has stated that he is very willing to play off the ball, and it brings this video to mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA7nFXH6R_4
I think not only would he be deadly off the ball on a team with high end creators, but it will make him even fresher and more energized for the playoffs and extend his career in general.
IT's all up to Sacramento, basically. If they go Bagley, there will be a run of teams calling Atlanta to trade up for Doncic. If Doncic goes 2 to Sacramento and Bagley is available, Atlanta might not get as many calls and might just turn the pick in for Bagley. Then again they might still trade back and take on contracts from other teams cause Atlanta is definitely taking the long view and trying to build assets.
And if the Suns shock everyone and DON'T take Ayton first this whole thing gets even crazier. Going to be a fun night.
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1st Suns: Ayton
2nd Kings: Bagley
then 3rd Atlanta picks and trades Luka Doncic to the Mavericks and then Mavs will pick Trae Young and trade him + a future first to Atlanta.
3rd Mavs: Doncic
4th Grizlies: Jaren Jackson
5th Hawks: Trae Young
Yeah I knew Phoneix is gonna pick Ayton to pair with Brooker, but man... passing on Luka might be a huge mistake.
Phoneix already have Alex Lens, Dragan Bender, any reason they still value Ayton that much high?
and like everyone is saying Mavs won this draft and that Mark Cuban is a genius now.
Im happy. The Big German gets to mentor the Slovakian phenom. We shall continue the european greatness in Dallas.
Also I see Mo Bamba went to Orlando. Hope he does ok there. Doncic is the only person Id want to pass Mo over for, and we got him.
Mo Wagner from Michigan to the Lakers, have to officially hope he gets traded now to help bring Kawhi to LA, cause I can't root for him in a Laker uniform.
Celtics get Robert Williams, who was apparently supposed to go top 20, but ended up going at 27. Hope Brad Stevens can work his magic and get the kid motivated to play.