2021 Offseason

Well, the off-season has officially begun! What do you all think of the Grizzlies-Pelicans trade?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A-CUV7pM0A

Someone explain to me how two ball-dominant cats like Lebron & Westbrook can work together on the court?

Definitely cause for scepticism there. Certainly, one of them won't be putting up familiar numbers.

Definitely cause for scepticism there. Certainly, one of them won't be putting up familiar numbers.

Lebron's a terrific passer - he's at his best when he's surrounded by legit, knock-down shooters (so he can drive and dish). Cats like Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal, Steph Curry, even Kevin Durant would be perfect with him. Russ is not that, and we saw what happened between he and Durant when they blew that series against Golden State.

Lebron, Russ & AD are going to have to have a "meeting of the minds". Reminds me of the 'Big Three's' first year in Miami.

Definitely cause for scepticism there. Certainly, one of them won't be putting up familiar numbers.

Lebron's a terrific passer - he's at his best when he's surrounded by legit, knock-down shooters (so he can drive and dish). Cats like Klay Thompson, Bradley Beal, Steph Curry, even Kevin Durant would be perfect with him. Russ is not that, and we saw what happened between he and Durant when they blew that series against Golden State.

Lebron, Russ & AD are going to have to have a "meeting of the minds". Reminds me of the 'Big Three's' first year in Miami.

I think they will have to come to terms that the offense will need to be run primarily through AD, which will then open up opportunities for LeBron and Russ, which will then open up easier opportunities for AD. IMO, the first thing Russ is going to have to do is stop shooting the team out of the offense with those pull up jump shots. It's not about who will get less touches, but about how often they will make it easier for each other to be effective.

I'd say Russ will also have to forego his identity as Mr. Triple-Double.

They will all average triple doubles. Assisting to each other 5 times a game. Imagine them all crashing the boards to grab 10 a game.

That would indeed be something.

Great job by the Bulls, getting Lonzo. He'll fit nicely with Lavine.

Knicks? Meh.....

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2021/8/3/2 ... lonzo-ball

I think award for best front office of the off season goes to the Bulls if iam honest, they turned I think if iam not correct about 9-10 mil of cap space into 53 mil of new signings lol

Of course giving up Thad was huge as even at his age he was a better fit next to Vuc than Lauri was/is so not sure how this works in the front court

Free Agent Tracker so far;

https://www.nba.com/news/every-reported ... l-30-teams

I'm not sure I'm crazy about the pairing of LaVine and DeRozan... they have a nice paper squad but idk.

Definitely remains to be seen, but I like that DeRozan can work the midrange while LaVine is attacking the basket or taking threes. Worth the gamble.

Kinda reminds me of when the Bulls had Rondo, Wade and Butler.

Spurs look like they're totally gonna suck; Suns retain CP3 but Jazz add hella depth to an already-solid team with Rudy Gay and Whiteside.

After 20+ years of 50-win seasons and five championships, it's strange to see them struggling. They remained in the mix for a lot longer than most teams do, though.

After 20+ years of 50-win seasons and five championships, it's strange to see them struggling. They remained in the mix for a lot longer than most teams do, though.

Not surprising though. HOF franchise players (to build around) like Tim Duncan don't come around that often. You have to be in the right place, right time (plus a little bit of luck) to get them.

We haven't had a franchise player in NYC since Patrick, and we just missed out on Zion & Ja Morant. No luck for us.

Definitely. They did a great job of retooling to stay competitive and they got lucky as well, but the writing was on the wall after they traded Kawhi Leonard. Still an impressive run, though.

Wow, this was a surprise move by the Clippers, trading Pat Bev;

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/08/15/c ... c-bledsoe/

Wow, this was a surprise move by the Clippers, trading Pat Bev;

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/08/15/c ... c-bledsoe/

Must be a money move. I wonder if Beverly's poor sportsmanship in his last game had anything to do with this.
The two teams Eric Bledsoe was traded from before New Orleans and Memphis were just in the finals against each other. So, once Bledsoe leaves, the Clips will get a Finals run. Bledsoe-Jackson-George-Morris-Ibaca or Jackson-George-"Lukwhi"-Batum-Ibaca, with Bledsoe off the bench. Maybe they will start Mann at the 2 to develop him while Kawhi is out.

Now to see if Rondo ends up returning to the Lakers, where he and Westbrook will have to get along.

I think Philly overpaid for Embiid;

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/joel ... port-says/

I'm still finding it difficult to gauge what counts as overpaid these days, now that we're in an era of journeyman role players getting $15 million a year. As I've said before, $15-18 million seems like the new $5-8 million.

For me, it's not about Embiid's talent, but his injury history. I hope he can stay healthy for the duration.

It's going to be a fun Christmas here in NYC - Hawks/Knicks, Nets/Lakers....wow, what a great lineup of games. I love that NY & ATL have a little rivalry going. Hawks were better than we thought and took it to the Knicks.

https://www.nba.com/news/2021-22-openin ... al-release


Anyone watching summer league? I caught bits and pieces. Liked what I saw from Cunningham and the Thomas kid from the Nets.

Absolutely, that continues to be a concern; even with "load management".

Markkanen goes to Cleveland in a 3-team deal;

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/320 ... il-blazers

I also heard Rondo plans to rejoin the Lakers.