This topic contains 9 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar Hitster 10 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #47832
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    ItsVictorOladipo
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    I was just looking at some of the teams who could have sizable room in FA next year and realized that a ton of teams, most of them are in the bottom half of the league could be big players in the offseason; Charlotte, New Orleans, Utah, Cleveland, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Detroit, LAC, Atlanta, Sacramento, should all have all sizable cap space and Philadelphia, Portland and Orlando might be able to swing room for a max or near max player as well.

    1. Chris Paul. Paul have once again established himself as the top PG in the game, and has helped create a good Clippers team out west. The Clips are playing great ball but there are rumblings that not everybody is happy in paradise. CP3 is in a good situation, with Griffin, Jordan, a strong bench and in a big market city, but there must be question marks about re-signing with a franchise with a losing history and a terrible reputation.

    Prediction: I think CP3 stays with the Clips although Dallas provides serious temptation. I don’t think he will actually consider this, but Utah or Detroit would be interesting spots for him to end up at, with two promising young big men at both locations and teams that desperately need a PG and leader.

    2. Dwight Howard. All has not gone according to plan in La-La land for Howard. The Lakers have struggled to be a playoff team and Howard has received his fair share of criticism. Most of the top players surrounding him are also on the wrong side of 30 (although that doesn’t seem to be affecting Kobe much). Nonetheless the Lakers are an iconic franchise with a history of success and LA is a huge market for him to get the attention he craves in.

    Prediction: This is a toss up for me. I think it’s about 50-50 with him staying or going. There are tons of teams that would be good fits for him. He is known to have wanted Dallas last year and that’s still a possibility, although the Mavs are probably going to lose a ton of players. San Antonio is an interesting possibility, if they don’t extend Splitter or resign Ginobli they will have enough $ to go after Howard. A starting 5 of Parker, Green, Leonard, Duncan and Howard with Diaw, Neal and co off the bench could be terrifying. That might be the best spot for Howard, a team which wins, a great coach, a mentor in TD and still the ability to be the face of their franchise for the future. A couple of teams which might also be good fits but because of the cities could be less likely for Howard to look at are Cleveland (playing with Irving, Waiters, and Thompson) and New Orleans (Vasquez, Gordon, Anderson, Davis need a true center to anchor their team).

    3. Josh Smith. Smith is probably the best player in the league to not make an All-Star game yet. He is a very good player who is still in his prime but seems like more of a complimentary piece instead of the franchise guy that he wants to get paid like. Still with this many teams with big cap room someone is going to throw some serious money at him.

    Prediction: Despite being a home town boy the chances of him staying are close to zero. The possibility that he will go to a team with his buddy Howard is there but I think his best spot and a likely destination is Houston. He would be paired with a superstar and would be allowed to play Robin to Harden’s Batman. His athleticism and jack-of-all-trades ability would shine in Houston. The Rockets starting 5 would be Lin, Harden, Parsons, Smith and Asik. Also if the Rockets don’t use their salary cap room this year it will get eaten up by Lin and Asik’s escalating contracts next year.

    4. Andrew Bynum. Hard to rank someone at all, when he is injured so frequently. However Bynum is still just 25 and if he was healthy this past year he might be at the top of the list. I can’t see anyone offering him a big money long-term deal, but a short term deal with the possibility of an extension should be considered by many of the teams in the league.

    Prediction: If the Sixers let him go without a fight, they will have given up Vucevic and Harkless for nothing. They are sure to be in the thick of things for his services and I think will retain him. Although Cleveland might be a bit of a darkhorse as well.

    5. Al Jefferson. Jefferson has been one of the most productive centers in the league over the past few years, has stayed healthy, and is still in his prime. However he is a bit of a black hole on offense, doesn’t do much on defense and isn’t capable of carrying a team. Still somebody will throw a massive contract at him.

    Prediction: That someone won’t be Utah who are ready to see what Kanter and Favors can do with more minutes and want to see the rebuilding process continue. I think Jefferson ends up on a team near the bottom of the league, maybe Charlotte, they have their PG of the future (Walker), their SF of the future (Kidd-Gilchrist), should be able to address SG in the draft (with either McLemore, Muhammed or Oladipo) but need an offensively talented big man to play next to the long, defensive presence of Bismack Biyombo. Although personally if I was Charlotte management I’d be more likely to offer a slightly smaller contract to Nik Pekovic.

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  • #760473
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    The8thDeadlySin
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    Any chance that MJ decides to spend some money and moves for a CP3 and Howard/Smith combo? As best I can remember, Paul is from North Carolina and I’m sure he would like to play 41 games in his home town.. Granted, it would be a huge reach and highly improbable, but I would like to see it.

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  • #760490
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    ItsVictorOladipo
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    Any chance that MJ decides to spend some money and moves for a CP3 and Howard/Smith combo? As best I can remember, Paul is from North Carolina and I’m sure he would like to play 41 games in his home town.. Granted, it would be a huge reach and highly improbable, but I would like to see it.
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    That would be pretty crazy if he could pull it off. If only he didn’t have Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon’s bloated contracts on the payroll.

    If was kinda looking to see if any team had the room to try to pull off 2 max players this offseason but I’m not really sure there is (alhtough that would depend on what the salary cap is modified to). Atlanta maybe, but outside of their starting lineup they would have Lou Williams and a bunch of scrubs. Still if Atlanta can sign the trio of friends of Howard/Smith and Antony Morrow (should be pretty cheap and give them outside shooting) they would have a starting lineup of Teague-Morrow-Smith-Horford-Howard with Williams providing scoring off the bench, which would be pretty scary.

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    • #760581
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      XYRYX
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      That would be really crazy to see Paul back in a Hornets uniform if the NOH rename the team to the Pelicans and if Charlotte gets rhe Hornets back!

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  • #760558
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    BasterdInABasket
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    If Ellis opts out, they decide to let Jennings and Redick go and Gooden is amnestied, there’s a possibility Milwaukee could have a total of only 6 players under contract this off-season for a total of $23 Million: Ersan, Sanders, Mbah a Moute, Udoh, Henson and Ish Smith. Plus some of those players could be traded or even bought out.
    Thats a lot of money but too bad no FAs want to come to Milwaukee, so hopefully its a roster implosion this year since I dont want to see Redick. Ellis or Jennings making $10+ Million per and they can get in on the 2014 stacked draft class. OR make room for the potential Lebron/Wade/Bosh/Melo/Kobe FA class, lol

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    • #760561
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      ItsVictorOladipo
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      I haven’t really considered the possibility of the Bucks letting Jennings go without offering him a big contract. With so many teams with cap room looking to upgrade, I could see him making big money in a few spots. Probably more than he really deserves.

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  • #760568
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    FastAndFurious
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    Paul will leave LA if:

    1. The Clippers don’t go far in the playoffs, or cant form some type of identity to where he feels he can win there.

    2. If somehow Dwight and Josh end up somewhere and CP3 can join them as well.

    I really think it’s 50-50 for Paul staying with the Clippers, I cant imagine him being a lifelong Clipper.

    Dwight I think is leaving LA, LA sucks to be honest, they barely are making the playoffs, Dwight isn’t being babied like he thought he would be.

    But I do think there’s some chance for Dwight to stay in LA, they just have to turn things around quick, and after Kobe retires Dwight would be the face of possibly the best franchise in the history of the NBA.

    Josh Smith:

    1. Josh Smith wants out of ATL, if the right team throws him the right money and ATL doesn’t match it Josh is good as gone………UNLESS, Dwight and CP3 can somehow land there, then I think he would stay.

    Bynum: Dont really know much about his situation

    Jefferson: see Bynum

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  • #760569
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    fcb206
    Participant

    the corny, wannabee sportswriter vibe of your post was embarrassing to read. I didn’t know Skip Bayless posted here.

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  • #760571
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    FastAndFurious
    Participant

    Actually his post was pretty good

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  • #760668
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    Hitster
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    CP3 and D12 could form a duo but would be very hard to add Josh Smith. I could see Atlanta trying to make a run at CP3 and even D12 but then ironically Smith could be the odd man out.

    I like Al Jefferson to the Bobcats and I could see Atlanta making a run at him too. Big Al would give the Bobcats the proven scorer they have never really had and Atlanta would want to remain relevant I would think. Also he could be the sort of player that Philly would target, they need a proven post player and with the Bynum fiasco, they would be getting a durable near 20ppg player in Big Al.

    Detroit also have a load of cap space but could they attract a very top FA and would they want to pay top dollar for a guy a level down when they are already developing quite nicely via the draft.

    Dallas I think will look to land at least one top FA but would CP3 or D12 be any better going there unless they went as a duo and Josh Smith could only go there if D12 didn’t go as Dirk is in situ. I am however fairly certain that Cuban, Donnie Nelson and co will look to land a major signing but may still want to keep one eye on the 2014 FA market.

    As regards D12, if he leaves the Lakers he could leave a lot of money on the table and his list of options are restricted with new tigher S and T rules.

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