I just wanted to throw this out there as a random thought; I’m not sure if the money works at all. I don’t like the look of things in Denver and Andre Iguodala can opt out of his contract. I keep thinking Oklahoma City should take a run at him if he does.
They’d probably have to amnesty Perkins to free up cap space, but I like your thinking. Good perimeter defender, and a fairly efficient scorer who doesn’t hog the ball (he’s averaged 11.6 FG attempts per game in his career). So long as Westbrook comes back healthy and Kevin Martin can continue the good 3 point shooting he showed this season, they could put a pretty exciting small ball lineup out there of Durant, Ibaka, Westbrook, Iggy, and Martin.
Of course, for whatever reason, they’ve seemed bound and determined to stick with Perkins, even though he’s a total stiff.
Right, I meant to add that for this to happen the Thunder would have to convince Iguodala to take a pay cut, and that may be unlikely. But I thought they could slot him into Kevin Martin’s spot. It sounds like Perkins isn’t going anywhere.
Ah, I see Martin’s contract has expired. I think he would take a pay cut to stay with OKC. But it’s fine if they don’t re-sign him. Just get a cheap perimeter guy who can hit a 3. Those guys are a dime a dozen.
Iguodala is set to make $16 million next season. If he opts out, he’s obviously not getting that much in any single season of a new deal. But he may be fine with that if he can get a new four year deal.
Martin made $12.4 million this year, not that the Thunder could necessarily offer all of that to Iguodala.
Perkins was a favorite of mine in Boston, I’ve hated to see him erode into such a liability. And he’s only 28! Though other right-out-of-high-school guys have broken down early; Tracy McGrady, for instance.
I like Iguodala, but getting an NBA player to take a pay cut is like striking oil in your backyard: it’s possible, but you’d be a fool to count on it.
I’d like to see OKC amnesty Perkins, and try to add a mid-tier center like Nikola Pekovic and develop him at a reasonable salary. They’d still have their mid-level and some cap room to replace players who are likely departing (Derek Fisher, Kevin Martin, Ronnie Brewer, DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton, and Hasheem Thabeet are all free agents). I like Ronnie Brewer’s game, maybe toss him a reasonable offer, but the rest can walk if they won’t play for peanuts.
If Houston manages to land Dwight Howard, as they supposedly intend to, that would mean Omer Asik would be expendable. OKC might be able to land him.
He’s going to regardless because of the new CBA. I’ve read 4 years in the $48-52 million range.
Pekovic is nice, but I expect Minnesota to match any reasonable offer for him.
WTF was that?
“Gary Neal has 14 points so far, let’s look at some stats”
Cue a 30 second camera shot of a guy on his smartphone. And no stats!
Chris Bosh… smh… really… That guy is masquerading as a superstar… The Spurs just hammered those dudes last night with the Big three of San Antoine just facilitating…
That was a beating… this is morphing into a referendum on what Miami really is…
I think the Spurs’ D on LeBron is the bigger story. 7-21 tonight, he hasn’t scored more than 18 this whole series. He’s gotta get going.
Heat have to be shaking their heads. Duncan-Parker-Ginobili combine for only 25, and they still got crushed.
At least the Heat can take solace in the fact that Neal or Green will never have a game like that again. Plus, the Heat’s really good at coming back from losses, so I would probably bet on them next game, if I bet
If Tony Parker is injured, you’ll have a hard time finding anyone to take that bet.
Really? Wow, if they can get Iggy for Kevin Martin money, they should leap on him.
Oh, sure, OKC would have to overpay, but Perkins is borderline unplayable in playoff games at this point, and their small lineup is highly vulnerable to the Spurs and Grizz, among others. They need a competent two-way center, badly.
The Spurs invited him to take long 2’s and 3’s, and he took the bait far too often. When the Spurs had Danny Green on him in the first half he was able to take him down low and score, but Kawhi Leonard has done a very nice job in the post, to the point where James hardly posted up at all in the second half. He’s doing damage as a passer, but the Spurs are keeping him out of the lane enough to stifle Miami’s offense.
I dunno bout that, remember that Green had a great game 2 as well. He’s taken his game to a very high level right now, beyond just spot-up shooting. His defense on Wade has been stalwart as well.
I was elated to see the Spurs make such a deliberate effort to get the ball to Duncan on the block, they need to show Miami multiple actions and not just Parker/Duncan pick and rolls. Also really dug the action where Splitter screens for Parker as Duncan posts up, it allows the option of a clean entry pass to Duncan over a front. Indiana did the same thing with West screening for Hill as Hibbert posted up.
And I can’t say enough about Kawhi Leonard. In three games, he’s grabbed 38 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals, and 33 points, while defending LeBron James about as well as anyone ever does.
What a brilliant trade that was to get him from Indy.
I could’ve imagined a lot of things happening in game three, but a huge blowout by the Spurs was something I didn’t see coming. The Spurs played very good defense on LeBron, and Leonard has done that all series. He almost never got anywhere near the basket and couldn’t pull the defense around to find open guys on a consistent basis. Green has been shooting very well all series. There was a very short period where it looked like the Heat might make a game of it, but they couldn’t stop the Spurs on offense.
You’re shaking your head at Bosh? He had 12 and 10 with three blocks, which is pretty solid. Wade continues to be really bad and his reliance on long jumpers early in the shot clock is really hurting their offense.
There was one sequence that was pretty telling regarding Wade - in the 3rd(?), he shot a 20 footer that hit nothing but air, and just a few seconds later he left Green wide open for a corner 3. Just ugly.
Yeah, Wade reverted to what he was in the Indiana series, taking long jumpers he can’t make, and his “defense” (and Miller’s, but at least Miller’s scoring efficiently) is what allowed Neal and Green to explode the way they did.
One startling thing on the box score: 0 free throws for LeBron.
When’s the last time LeBron didn’t have a free throw in a game? And a playoff game at that?
2009, per Grantland. He has only 10 career games without a free throw attempt.