That's all that teams who would want him have to offer.

Can CLE (OKC?) also give back some bad salary to cut luxury tax?

how can noah leave the team and not have to pay $ back?

This is totally dependent on Kawhi's health, right? They were beating GSW by 23 in the playoffs before Kawhi got hurt.

Who could have seen that coming?

This was part of one game. Gsw is just better and their core is much younger than the spurs. The warriors lost to the Cavs by twenty one in one game, imagine it was game one....it doesn’t mean they were even competitive at all even if they stole a game.

I'm not saying that SA would have a 50-50 shot to beat GSW or anything like that. I'm saying that "totally hopeless" and "shouldn't try to compete" don't seem like the correct takes, even if a bit hyperbolic.

Also, your Cavs comparison is a totally different situation. They won when they were at home, down 0-3 in the series.

If the Cavs had blown GS out in game 1 at GS, their situation would have looked much different, and they would have had a better chance to win the series, than their win at 0-3.

yeah - too right - they should make him play

oh wai....

lol yeah i doubt they want him there. i'm just surprised he can stake claim to the money if he isn't even with the team. maybe that is the agreement just so he isn't a drain on the rest of the team

Piecing the reports together - it appears to be something like ...

Jo was pissed that in a game without O'Quinn and KP he only got 4 minutes of garbage time (NY losing by 15-20?). At the end of those 4 mins - with only a couple left in the game - Jo was yelling at Frank as they came up court for missing/messing up a play on D and Hornaceck gave him an immediate hook. Jo and Hornaceck then exchanged "words" as Jo came off court and allegedly in the locker room after. Then - again allegedly - there was a full blown row at the next practice between Jo and Hornceck, and Jo was sent back to NY.

I imagine that Jo is pretty adament that he's ready to play - but is pissed at Hornaceck. And Hornaceck presumably thinks he ought to make a stand. So here we are.

Obviously no one is trading anything for him (he has 2.5 years to go at 18mil/year), and NY really doesn't want to stretch him. (Although http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...sion-seriously is quite an original idea.) So there's not much left apart from paying him off or letting him sit at home (for a while at least).

look at the roster and cap situation, there is no way they can outscore the warriors for 4 games and are more likely to exit in round 1 than to make the finals. everybody got older, simmons left. frankly it was a miracle that they looked so competitive last season thanks to popgoat but i'd have bet heavy money on the warriors after game 1, it just wasn't sustainable for the spurs.

spurs have quietly been having terrible offeseaons and they're going to pay for it for a couple more years at least

hard to bink 3 HOFers in a 10 year period like they had with Duncan/Manu/Parker. they still have a few now but 3 are old as dirt by nba standards. aldridge hasn't been bad this year but not a guy you really want to build a real contender around. he's soft and he's inefficient for a big.

The Clippers and Pistons are engaged in serious talks on a deal centered on All-Star forward Blake Griffin, league sources tell ESPN. - Woj

oh lawdy

as far as draft assets go, pistons have all their first rounders in the future. they are owed a '19 second rounder, and they owe a '20 second rounder

cant imagine what rotation players are getting discussed, would assume salary pros could maybe sniff this out

im guessing that avery bradley would be a lock to go and clippers would prob want stanley johnson too

Tobias and a 1st? 1st better be lottery protected, but then again Detroit sucks at drafting so I guess it doesn't matter too much.

If anyone could find a way to make a bad deal trading Flake, it's Doc

its not gonna be doc tho (?) its dave wohl and lawrence frank

meanwhile pistons have their coach making the trade call (SVG)

fair to assume clippers are gonna get the better side of this deal. it may be multiple firsts in addition to AB and SJ

five years from now we're gonna see all the assets clips got from their big 3 and see if it ended up working out okay. meanwhile pellies will prob never sell the top on AD/Boogie.

@ShamsCharania

Sources: Clippers, Pistons are finalizing a deal that would send Blake Griffin, Willie Reed for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and a draft pick. Multiple players involved have been informed of deal.

WELP

Pistons raped.

Too bad they still don't have much of a pg. I'm prbly higher on Blake than the rest of TZ tho.

I largely agree with your diagnosis, but not with your prescription. By "not competing" and "totally hopeless going forward for at least a couple more years," do you mean that they should just completely waste Kawhi's prime for several years?

If they don't expect him to be healthy again, then sure, but if he's going to be healthy, then I think they should try to compete for the next several years with Pop & Kawhi, rather than try to wait out GS for 3-5 years, at which point they might no longer have Pop or Kawhi.

weird, i like this deal more for detroit. they have blake and drummond locked in thru 2021. surely gonna be an interesting destination for free agents.

imagine kemba getting dumped onto this team in the expiring year of his contract, for example.

clippers prob gonna deal DAJ you'd think? they are gonna clean house. i think they could have done better than this.

Lol Clips as usual.

DAJ to Cleveland for something involving the BRK pick is live!

DAJ is pretty much gone with this trade, they're in full rebuild mode which makes sense, if Cavs give that brooklyn pick for DAJ that's just terrible.

What am I missing? This seems like a heist for LA. Blake is 29 in a month, in the 1st year of a 5 year max, has been unable to play >70 games since 2013-2014, and is a pretty terrible fit next to Drummond. The Clippers cleared cap space, acquired two plus guys, and draft picks. I'd argue the Clippers just got better in the short AND long term. Meanwhile the Pistons have about the same ceiling they did pre-trade, and just handcuffed their avenues to improvement.