The NBA PreSeason 2004/2005 Thread

[pennington10]

I will do up my mock draft later this week. I want to finsh watching the NFL draft.

The one thing you are wrong on is Telfair. The Clippers have a boner the size of the Staples Center for him. Plus it looks more and more likely Kobe will go to the Clippers so all Telfair will have to do is pass Bryant the ball.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Nah, there's no way they can reach that high for Telfair and apparantly his stock is really dropping.

 

[RUSI]

Originally posted by ShiftyPowers
Ok guys, I realize I'm a huge nerd, but **** it. I just took a lot of time and decided to see what the roster of the Bobcats would look like next season. As you know they get to pick in an expansion draft; in the expansion draft they must select between 14 and 29 players and can only take one player from a single team. Each team can protect up to 8 players, but must leave at least one player unprotected (if the team doesn't have 9 players on it at the time of the expansion draft). Mostly teams will protect youngsters and throw out veterans making too much money for draft eligibility to clear cap. Teams are also allowed to trade players or draft picks in exchange for the Bobcats taking a certain player (or NOT taking a certain player). The Bobcats can also select as many players as they want as long as they are under the cap of roughly $31 million by their first game. Anyone they draft and cut does not count against the cap.

Here's what I think the draft might look like, rounds don't really matter.

Kevin Ollie
Melvin Ely
Jamal Sampson
Troy Bell
Omar Cook
Reggie Evans
Lonny Baxter
Pat Garrity
Eddie Robinson
Darvin Ham
Tony Delk
Tamar Slay
Brian Skinner
Eric Piatkowski

The Bobcats draft Robinson for the Bulls and promptly cut him, saving the Bulls $6.2 million next season. In return the Bulls send the #2 pick to Charlotte in exchange for the #4.

With the #2 pick, Charlotte takes Dwight Howard. With the #34 pick, Charlotte takes Rickey Paulding.

Darvin Ham gets cut, Reggie Evans gets cut.

That puts their salary at $23.165 million. They are capped out at roughly $31 million, meaning they have about $7 million for free agents, plus the MLE. Some free agents available that might go to Charlotte..... Brian Cardinal, Adonal Foyle, Toni Kukoc, and Manu Ginobli. I think they probably can get Cardinal and Kukoc, which they will gladly accept. I think Cardinal will accept a contract somewhere around $4-$5 million a year, and Kukoc will take either the MLE which is about $4.5 million.

Eric Piatkowski gets cut.

FINAL ROSTER:

PG: Tony Delk
SG: Troy Bell
SF: Brian Cardinal
PF: Dwight Howard
C: Melvin Ely

Bench.....
PG: Omar Cook, Kevin Ollie
SG: Rickey Paulding, Tamar Slay
SF: Pat Garrity
PF: Toni Kukoc, Lonnie Baxter
C: Brian Skinner, Jamal Sampson

That puts their salary at $30 million. They are capped out at roughly $31 million and including their other exceptions they come out right there. The team may not be competitive right away, but they have a bright future. Omar Cook, Troy Bell, Dwight Howard, Melvin Ely, and Jamal Sampson all have the potential to be very good. Tony Delk is a good Point Guard and so is Kevin Ollie, Brian Cardinal is a pretty good Small Forward, and Toni Kukoc would be a good mentor for Howard.

WOW!

That takes an unbelievable amount of thinking

Not a bad team at all, but I expect them to do terrile of course

 

[pennington10]

Originally posted by ShiftyPowers
Nah, there's no way they can reach that high for Telfair and apparantly his stock is really dropping.

That is the thing. The only team who wants Telfair at all is the Clippers. All the others won't draft him in the first round. The Clippers have shot themselves in the foot by coming out so early and expressing their interest in him. The real problem is the Clippers won't get much if they trade down because every team knows who they want.

Also I heard Portland really wants Livingston. They lack a really strong point guard who can play an all around game. The rumor floating around is that Portland would be willing to Trade Abdur-Rahim and their number 1 pick and a future number 1 to Charlotte for someone they pick up in the expansion draft and the number 4 pick. I am not sure if Charlotte would do that given Abdur-Rahim's history of not winning.

Oh and Hakim Warrick will more than Likely end up back at Syracuse. He has said he won't come put unless he is a top 15 pick and next year he would be a lock to be in the top 15. He did the same thing with flirting with the NBA but came back so I can't see him leaving with him not being a top pick.

 

[SRB]

abdur rahim was a 20-10 guy every day when he was at atlanta. i for one would be very glad to have him on my team no matter what his history was. portland was idiotic not to start him.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Originally posted by pennington10
That is the thing. The only team who wants Telfair at all is the Clippers. All the others won't draft him in the first round. The Clippers have shot themselves in the foot by coming out so early and expressing their interest in him. The real problem is the Clippers won't get much if they trade down because every team knows who they want.

Also I heard Portland really wants Livingston. They lack a really strong point guard who can play an all around game. The rumor floating around is that Portland would be willing to Trade Abdur-Rahim and their number 1 pick and a future number 1 to Charlotte for someone they pick up in the expansion draft and the number 4 pick. I am not sure if Charlotte would do that given Abdur-Rahim's history of not winning.

Oh and Hakim Warrick will more than Likely end up back at Syracuse. He has said he won't come put unless he is a top 15 pick and next year he would be a lock to be in the top 15. He did the same thing with flirting with the NBA but came back so I can't see him leaving with him not being a top pick.

The Clippers just can't take Telfair over Gordon or Harris, it really doesn't make any sense at all. But it IS Elgin Baylor, so who knows.

Interesting gossip about Portland.

Here's the thing, Warrick's stock hasn't really rose this past season and the longer he stays in college the longer scouts have to see weaknesses in his game and realize that they aren't going away. If he stays in school another year and still doesn't have a jump shot he could potentially fall out of the first round.

 

[pennington10]

The problem with LA is that is if Dunleavy gets any say in the pick. Baylor and Donald Sterling want Telfair they see something in this kid that no one else sees. If Dunleavy does have a say in the pick then they will go for Gordon just because they a shooter and Ben Gordon is the perfect mold for what the Clippers need more than Harris. Also it depends where the Clippers end up because Harris could be off the board early.

As far as Warrick his real problem is he is not strong enough to play the 4 and he can't shoot well enough to play the 3. As much as I hate to say this right now he wil be useless on the NBA level because he doesn't have a postion to play. I think he will learn from Damone Brown who was in the same Mold as Warrick. A 6'9 lanky forward with an average shot who despite his college succes could not cut it in the Pros. Also next years High school class will not be as deep (and may be none if the NBA gets its way) so he will move up solely on that alone.

 

[pennington10]

Here is some gossip that has been making the rounds. Now it all depends on where the picks land but Orlando and Cleveland have been talking about a deal.

Orlando needs to win next season or face losing T-mac and right now if Orlando manages to get a top two pick they will look to trade down. The Magic feel the Howard will not be able to contribute right away and that is game lacks polish on the pro level. The Magic's real concern is that they reportly don't think Okafor will be worth a top two and won't fit in with the team. They think that he won't be able to play Center in the NBA and that they have a PF with more of an all round game in Gooden. (Which I think is true) They also have concerns about Okafor's defense. He won't be able to roam around the basket like he did at Uconn and that he will have trouble guarding the more all around PF's in the game. Also they already have one Defensive question mark in T-Mac and they don't need two on the court at the same time.

The Magic really covet Jameer Nelson. They think he is someone that can come out and play right away. The Magic have no backcourt what so ever and the loss of Darrell Armstrong really hurt them more than they thought. They view Nelson as someone who can run the offense but also stay out of T-mac's way. Yet the also think that he can get his own shot when needed and will provide an outside scoring punch that they need. With Nelson teams will not be able to collaspe om T-Mac when he drives. The one concern about Nelson is he is turnover prone.

Cleveland on the other hand want a more athletic big man who can run the floor and make the team more run and gun to suit LeBron James' style of play. This means that Z.I. could be traded if they have a shot at either Howard or Okafor who will make the team quick by leaps and bounds but will still offer a strong presence down on the blocks. Cleveland wants to get young and isn't in a rush to make the playoffs next year as James is locked up long term and the Cleveland front office wants to have a soild core of young players around to build up into a great team. They also think that Jeff McInnis is a point guard who can lead them to the playoffs but want some veteran depth to provide a spark off the bench and some defensive abilty.

So the deal would be something in the Neighboorhood of the Magic getting Cleveland's first round pick (between 8-12 more than likely) and Z.I. and maybe a second round pick and Cleveland will get the Magic's first round pick (If it is 1 or 2) and Tyrone Lue and possible a conditional first round pick.

This also based on Pat Garrity getting selected in the expansion draft as well.

The Magic would then have a starting five something like

C- Z.I.
PF- Gooden
SF- T-Mac
SG- Gerieck
PG - Nelson

It isn't the 96 Bulls but it is good enough to make the playoffs in the east and more importantly it complments T-Mac very well.

The Cavs will looks something like this

C - Howard or Okafor
PF - Boozer
SF - James
SG - Dajaun Wagner (Expect a big season from him)
PG - Jeff McInnis

Now the reason they can put Wagner at 2 is because with McInnis' size he could guard the 2 guard and Wagner can guard the point. Also This will be Wagner's 3 year in the league and he has shown flashes of what he can do and everyone is expecting him to contibute big time. Also with Lue on the bench it gives them someone who can play tight defense if needed.

Again this is all speculation but this could be likely depending on where the Draft picks fall and who gets selected in the Expansion Draft.

 

[$teauA]

Doc Rivers officially named new Boston Celtics coach today. The regular season has just finished and already 2 coaching changes but of course for teams who had interims. Hopefully the East teams will try and give these coaches some time not fire them after one season.

article about doc rivers signing http://www.nba.com/celtics/

 

[SB9Dragon]

Thanks tons for the mock draft Shifty, amazing thinking had to go into that

Anywayz I'm happy that Doc Rivers is the new Celtics coach. Hopefully he can take the team and bring back the past glories. Though I sort of agree with Tommy (Celtics game announcer) who said that Danny Ainge should trade the 3 first round picks the Celtics have for a higher pick. The team doesn't need 3 young players to grow and maybe become big. The team needs a star right away.

 

[SRB]

i feel bad for doc. he goes to another team with a superstar who has no supporting cast.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Originally posted by pennington10
Here is some gossip that has been making the rounds. Now it all depends on where the picks land but Orlando and Cleveland have been talking about a deal.

Orlando needs to win next season or face losing T-mac and right now if Orlando manages to get a top two pick they will look to trade down. The Magic feel the Howard will not be able to contribute right away and that is game lacks polish on the pro level. The Magic's real concern is that they reportly don't think Okafor will be worth a top two and won't fit in with the team. They think that he won't be able to play Center in the NBA and that they have a PF with more of an all round game in Gooden. (Which I think is true) They also have concerns about Okafor's defense. He won't be able to roam around the basket like he did at Uconn and that he will have trouble guarding the more all around PF's in the game. Also they already have one Defensive question mark in T-Mac and they don't need two on the court at the same time.

The Magic really covet Jameer Nelson. They think he is someone that can come out and play right away. The Magic have no backcourt what so ever and the loss of Darrell Armstrong really hurt them more than they thought. They view Nelson as someone who can run the offense but also stay out of T-mac's way. Yet the also think that he can get his own shot when needed and will provide an outside scoring punch that they need. With Nelson teams will not be able to collaspe om T-Mac when he drives. The one concern about Nelson is he is turnover prone.

Cleveland on the other hand want a more athletic big man who can run the floor and make the team more run and gun to suit LeBron James' style of play. This means that Z.I. could be traded if they have a shot at either Howard or Okafor who will make the team quick by leaps and bounds but will still offer a strong presence down on the blocks. Cleveland wants to get young and isn't in a rush to make the playoffs next year as James is locked up long term and the Cleveland front office wants to have a soild core of young players around to build up into a great team. They also think that Jeff McInnis is a point guard who can lead them to the playoffs but want some veteran depth to provide a spark off the bench and some defensive abilty.

So the deal would be something in the Neighboorhood of the Magic getting Cleveland's first round pick (between 8-12 more than likely) and Z.I. and maybe a second round pick and Cleveland will get the Magic's first round pick (If it is 1 or 2) and Tyrone Lue and possible a conditional first round pick.

This also based on Pat Garrity getting selected in the expansion draft as well.

The trade doesn't work because of salary cap provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Salaries have to be within 20% of each other and in this case the salaries are WAY too far apart. The #2 pick overall and Tyron Lue is roughly 1/3 of what Zydrunas Illgauskas makes. The only way this trade works is if Orlando can get Cleveland to take Grant Hill's contract; that's not happening.

 

[pennington10]

It is offical Warrick will stay at Syracuse for his senior year. It is looking more and more likely that any player under 20 will not be allowed in the draft next season which will raise Warrick's stock a bunch.

 

[SB9Dragon]

I finally found the thread after I increased the date of all the threads I can see in this forum

Anywayz I was just wondering when Grant Hill will be back, if ever?

 

[$teauA]

Originally posted by SB9Dragon
I finally found the thread after I increased the date of all the threads I can see in this forum

Anywayz I was just wondering when Grant Hill will be back, if ever?

There are rumors that the Bobcats could pick up his contract in order to get a higher draft pick, I doubt it though.

 

[pennington10]

No Hill is going to give it one last try. He will more than likely sit out next season and then try it in 2005/2006.

 

[SRB]

why would he sit out next season? as i recall there were rumors of him trying to come back this past season but he decided against it. im pretty sure he would be healthy enough in his own mind to come back sometime this coming season. unless there are news i missed or something.

 

[$teauA]

Hornets have signed a free agent

 

[pennington10]

It looks like he took Baron Davis' number

 

[$teauA]

Originally posted by pennington10
It looks like he took Baron Davis' number