The NBA Thread

[Geezer]

The King is dead! Woohoo! Let's go Shryke, I want a C's/Suns final!

[Buscemi]

The King is dead! Woohoo! Let's go Shryke, I want a C's/Suns final!

I said that the Cavs would blow it yet again and you refused to believe me. You trust me now, Geez?

Meanwhile, expect the crowds in Los Angeles to be extremely hostile towards the Suns and not just because of the team. The recently passed anti-immigration laws in Arizona have gotten the states of California and Arizona to really hate each other (there is even a statewide boycott of Arizona products so the Staples Center won't be a pleasant place to be for Games 1 and 2).

[Geezer]

When did I say the Cavs were winning it Boush? I believe I picked the Celtics to go to the finals at the start of the year, and to win this series. READING COMPREHENSION MAN!!!

[Buscemi]

You questioned my belief on the Cavs blowing it. You were actually acting as if they finally had a shot for once. In fact, you could have Pat Riley coaching and an entire All-Star team around LeBron and they would still blow it.

Anyways, I'm betting that LeBron either goes to the Knicks or the Nets in the off-season. The Knicks have the promise of a big market and it's known that LeBron is already liked among the New York crowd (he's a Yankees and Giants supporter after all) but the Nets can give him a much bigger contract (with the new majority owner's personal fortune of over $13 billion dollars and his willingness to spend money like it's nothing, you could see LeBron getting $30 million a year).

[BarcaRulz]

Serious LOL@Cavs. How bad did The King choke during the playoffs, he was really not himself at all.

Now hopefully the Magic spank Boston and take it down. The way they have been playing, I really do think this is their year, fingers crossed.

[W]

Umm... I don't know if you know American sports all that well, but three of the four sports have what is called a "sal-a-ry caaaap," basically stating that the only players that deserve fair market value are baseball players. If a team were allowed to pay LeBron $30 million a year, don't you think Mark Cuban would have offered $50 million when his first contract ran out? And before you say it, no, they're not going to break the rules. If you don't believe me, Google Joe Smith Kevin McHale.

If he stays in Cleveland or they decide to sign-and-trade him, a max contract will be worth $126M/6 years for $21 M/y. If he signs with another team outright, it'll only be $96.2 M/5 for $19.24 M/y.

If he goes to NY, you'll see a Bosh or Wade go with him. The only bloated contract they have left is Eddy Curry's $11 M If they can get David Lee for Boozer type money, that's a move they need to make.

Chicago or Miami look much better as they actually have pieces in place. Chicago has more pieces, though. Lebron, Deng, Hinrich, Noah, and Rose would are an excellent semi-young cast to go with.

[Buscemi]

Do you think anyone pays attention to the salary cap? If anyone paid attention to it, the highest salary would only be $10 million a year. Players demand high salaries and owners can only meet those demands.

Besides, the NBA doesn't really care. After all, its commissioner has been a puppet since the beginning of the Chicago Bulls dynasty. Hell, pretty much all commissioners are puppets for the owners.

[W]

...you have no idea what you're talking about...

Yes, the owners pay the commissioner, but that's why you have the players associations. There's a such thing as a "maximum contract" in the NBA and it is different for each player based on seniority, their last paycheck, and tenure with their team. There is a soft salary cap so that you can sign certain players to certain contracts (MLE, LLE, minimum, Bird Rights, etc) but you can't just give a player more money than another team unless he has Bird Rights, meaning he played for you (or was traded to you) . If your only response is "well, they'll break the rules," I implore you once again to Google "Joe Smith Kevin McHale" and see how it worked out for the Timberwolves.

Please tell me how you can sign a player to a $30 Million contract when they're in their 20's right now today... I would love to hear the argument of how to do this under the current rules and situations because no person who's 365 day a year job it is to figure these things out has figured it out. Jordan pulled $33 M at the end of his career because of tenure with his team and how long he'd been in the league, but you just can't do it until you're like 35 unless their's major inflation, a change to the bargaining agreement, or the league makes a ton more money.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Celtics pimpslapped the Cavs.....but I doubt they'll make it to 5 games against the Magic.

How the Suns are playing has got me a little worried. Then again, I thought that about the Jazz and look what happened there.

I'll call a rematch of last year's Finals, and Kobe breaks his tie with Shaq and gets Ring Number 5

[transformers2]

I badly want a Suns/Celtics final because those are my two favorite teams and either way I would be happy who won the title. I honestly hope the Lakers choke I really do not want those shitheads back in the finals.

[BarcaRulz]

...you have no idea what you're talking about...

Yes, the owners pay the commissioner, but that's why you have the players associations. There's a such thing as a "maximum contract" in the NBA and it is different for each player based on seniority, their last paycheck, and tenure with their team. There is a soft salary cap so that you can sign certain players to certain contracts (MLE, LLE, minimum, Bird Rights, etc) but you can't just give a player more money than another team unless he has Bird Rights, meaning he played for you (or was traded to you) . If your only response is "well, they'll break the rules," I implore you once again to Google "Joe Smith Kevin McHale" and see how it worked out for the Timberwolves.

Please tell me how you can sign a player to a $30 Million contract when they're in their 20's right now today... I would love to hear the argument of how to do this under the current rules and situations because no person who's 365 day a year job it is to figure these things out has figured it out. Jordan pulled $33 M at the end of his career because of tenure with his team and how long he'd been in the league, but you just can't do it until you're like 35 unless their's major inflation, a change to the bargaining agreement, or the league makes a ton more money.

I don't know if this happens in the US (probably does), but in Australia the AFL has salary caps as well, and what teams do to get around that is they sign the player to the maximum contract, and then give him money on the side through shifty manners.

For example, there is one player (lets call him the LeBron of AFL) who got traded to another team. The other team gave him the maximum contract they could under the salary cap, but then they also gave him a job as a 'spokesperson' for a company owned by the president of the club. So he has a 'title' but does not do anything, and as such is getting more than he is allowed. You really can't do anything to stop something like that.

Not saying it will happen with LeBron, but the rules aren't exactly foolproof mate.

[W]

He was talking about giving him a $30 million contract, which is undoable. If it were to be found out as a term of the contract, there would be franchise destroying consequences (see McHale/Smith). As of now, there's something in place with a Chinese businessman in Cleveland, but that happened after he was a Cav.

When it was done in Minnesota for a role player like Joe Smith, they took away five first rounders (they got one back) and they weren't allowed to sign him again (they traded for him later, though). With someone like LeBron it could be 10 first rounders in a sport where the first round of the draft is half of what you build your team around and the other half (free agency/trades) rely heavily on it as well. Also, could you imagine the nightmare it would cause for the league? No way it happens with the number one player in the league... To many eyes, too big of consequences and for even a multiple of his salary it just wouldn't be worth it as he makes more from Nike than he does the NBA. If he really wanted to, he could play overseas for $30 million tax free, but it isn't worth it. Now, Nike could say something like "Go to New York and we'll remember it next time you re-up with us.

Contractually, American sports aren't as shady as others. It isn't in the owners' best interest.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

W. is right, LeBron won't get more than the max allowed.

I don't think it's about money anyway to him, he just wants to be on a serious contender.

And if NY trades for Tony Parker and signs another mid-level star free agent, it'll probably be where LeBron goes.

[Ron Burgundy]

Well well well, it seems ive stumbled upon some sort of NBA thread (awesome).

My thoughts:

Orlando lose to Celtics, who would have thought Boston could beat Orlando twice at home??? Go Garnett! Orlando better shape up quick, or they can go home (where they dont want to be right now it would seem) van Gundy will sweat over another gameplan and im sure they can win one in Boston, Howard, Lewis and Carter are too good to just bow out like this, or are they?
Celtics in 6.

LA beat suns pretty good in game 1, if Odom can play as well as he did for the rest of the playoffs, and if Kobe remains injury free, they have the best chance of winning. Its a pity the Suns are the team i was rooting for. I think Phoneix have got some great talent, and because of their depth on the bench, they still have a chance to go to the finals. Nash, Stoudemire and j Rich are all excellent players, i believe they can make the series go to 7 but only if Stoudemire fires and lopez plays out of his skin, Gasol and bynum are two of the best big men going round, and id like to see the matchup against Wallace and Garnett.
Lakers in 7.

Then for the finals, well im not so sure until we get there.

As for Lebron, i hope he actually goes to NJ and not NY, they need some starlight, But it will probably be ther Knicks in the end. and yeah he will get paid 300Mil next year, Im super serial

Wizards, lucky bastards

[Buscemi]

Am I the only one who thinks of the late Gene Siskel when they see Jeff Van Gundy?