Huh. Either I was oblivious to all that, or the Spurs and Jackson kept it close to the vest until now. Jackson praises Pop in that article, so I guess he could still come back, but if his minutes weren’t being cut because of his ankles, the Spurs might not be interested.
So, the Spurs are at zero head cases, the way is clear to add one. Josh Smith, Andrew Bynum, Monta Ellis, JR Smith…so many choices.
Ordinarily I’d agree with you but the Lakers’ salary situation is at absurd levels right now. The penalties next season for being 20+ million over the cap is $3.25:$1 instead of the old 1:1 ratio. It’s a possibility.
I agree that they might move him; I disagree that it’d be to the Spurs, who have little of value that they are willing to part with and are in the Lakers’ way for reclaiming dominance of the West. You might see him traded to a team with lottery picks or a package of young players, though.
Also, the Lakers can afford it, and the nasty cap stuff doesn’t kick in until you’re a repeater, and that doesn’t start until the season after next. Since the Lakers’ books are almost totally clean for '14-'15, they have the option of sticking it out over the cap next year then getting under it in '14-'15.
Human Action, I just wanted to say you’re a terrific sports journalist. Thank you for your informative and engaging posts!
Thank you. I love the NBA, and it was a great season. The league is in fantastic shape, in terms of the players, the style of play, and the way (be the rookie salary scale, more pro-style offenses in college, or something else) each draft class is bringing in humble, driven, team-oriented guys like Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving.
Speaking of the draft, best of luck to Kentucky’s own Nerlens Noel and Archie Goodwin!
What do think, first 5 picks?
Cleveland - Cavs are being quite cagey about it, but ultimately I think they still take Noel.
Orlando - McLemore’s pretty much a lock here as far as I can see.
Washington - assuming the Cavs don’t take him, Porter is the obvious choice here.
Charlotte - they need help pretty much everywhere, and Bennett is as good a prospect as anyone in this draft.
Phoenix - they need a scorer badly. The popular choice here appears to be Olidapo, and I don’t know enough about the Suns to argue.
I’m putting my answer in the NBA off-season thread I started a few minutes ago.
Soooooooooo…what’s the verdict on Miami’s small ball approach? Vindicated? Inconclusive? They got pushed to two game 7s after cruising through the regular season, but they did ultimately survive. Their main weaknesses were a lack of rebounding, and fatigue in the playoffs on the offensive end from maintaining an energetic perimeter defense. It took having the best player in the league to keep their flaws from sinking them.
On the other hand, it’s trivial to conclude that they need bigs (or at least, a different big than Bosh). EVERYONE wants bigs, and there’s only two Gasols to go around. If the talent pool makes it much more likely that you’re going to find a Kawhi Leonard, and very unlikely that you’re going to find a Marc Gasol, doesn’t it make sense to go smaller and more athletic? I think that’s a big part of the reason why there’s been a point guard “renaissance.” You’re just more likely to find an elite guard than you are an elite big (or even an above average big), so build your team around a PG.
If the Cavs end up keeping the #1 pick, I’m coming around to them taking Otto Porter over Nerlens Noel, who has more red flags than Tiananmen Square. SF is a definite need for them.