2019 Offseason Trade Rumors & Free Agency Thread

[Danger]

27 minutes ago, 11sanchez11 said:

TJ is making the same as Demarcus Cousins is this year lol

And the Lakers got an absolute steal. That's absurd. You have the 20...16? Pelicans plus LeBron more or less.

[SBLIII]

5 hours ago, beekay414 said:

Like Donovan Mitchell, right now, is basically post-achilles Kobe. It's not good.

Mitchell is the new Wiggins.

[Leader]

The NY Post weighs in with post draft/FA power rankings:

1. Clippers
Doc Rivers’ squad made the playoffs last year, then landed Leonard and George in one fell swoop to team up with Patrick Beverley and company. It not only stole the momentum from their Los Angeles counterparts, but instantly made them the team to beat.

2. Bucks
The team with the NBA’s best record last year, before squandering a 2-0 lead over the Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals, will be back with mostly the same crew. They lost Malcolm Brogdon, but MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is still the Greek Freak.

3. Lakers
The Lakers waited for Leonard and whiffed, but tried to rebound by scooping up DeMarcus Cousins and Danny Green to join LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma. It’s a top-heavy unit that will need to stay healthy to do damage.

4. 76ers
They traded away Jimmy Butler but still had a strong offseason — getting back Josh Richardson, re-signing Tobias Harris and sneakily landing Al Horford. Could this be the year they finish The Process with a championship?

5. Nuggets
They were arguably the biggest surprise in the West last year and fell a game short of the conference finals. They didn’t make any offseason splashes, but may not need it.

6. Rockets
Though there were reports of trouble in paradise between James Harden and Chris Paul and a potential break-up of the roster, the Rockets will try to weather the storm. Their biggest roadblock, the Warriors, may no longer be in the way.

7. Jazz
Coming off a strong season, the Jazz quietly bolstered their lineup behind Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Veteran Mike Conley comes in to run the point while Bojan Bogdanovic will add a threat from deep.

8. Trail Blazers
The backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is still one of the best in the league. Trading for Kent Bazemore and Hassan Whiteside — a big presence in Jusuf Nurkic’s (broken leg) absence — could help.

9. Warriors
The dynasty may be left behind in Oracle Arena as they head across the bay, but Golden State still can’t be counted out, especially if Klay Thompson (ACL) is able to return late. While Kevin Durant is gone, D’Angelo Russell will arrive to help Stephen Curry carry the load.

10. Celtics
This may not have been the roster they envisioned after losing Kyrie Irving and Horford to free agency, but Boston added Kemba Walker, hoping he can fit better with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward.

The Year-Aways

11. Nets
12. Pacers
13. Raptors
14. Mavericks
15. Spurs
16. Kings
17. Magic

They’re coming

18. Pelicans
19. Thunder
20. Heat
21. Timberwolves
22. Pistons
23. Hawks

The Projects

24. Knicks
25. Bulls
26. Wizards
27. Suns
28. Grizzlies
29. Cavaliers
30. Hornets

 

[DoleINGout]

@Leader guess Celtics are #10?

[Leader]

3 minutes ago, DoleINGout said:

@Leader guess Celtics are #10?

Your right. Sorry. A copy+paste oversight. Editing now. Thanks for the heads up.

[Leader]

Bleacher Report top five starting five rosters:

1. Houston Rockets
2. Philadelphia 76ers
3. Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers' wait didn't end with the LeBron/AD/Kawhi Big Three. They shouldn't be kicking themselves too hard over that, though. If there was even the slightest chance of landing Leonard, they had to see that through. And even without him, the Lakers may have the best top two in the league. LeBron and AD pick-and-rolls, flanked by Green's shooting (40.4 percent from three for his career) or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope off the bench (36.5 percent from three over the last two seasons), are going to be nearly impossible to stop. And the frontcourt pairing of AD and Boogie was just starting to develop some chemistry in New Orleans before the latter went down with an Achilles injury in January 2018. While the Lakers may have missed out on a few good fits while waiting on Kawhi, there were still solid options on the market to fill out the supporting cast.

4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Milwaukee Bucks

Rounding out the top ten:

6. Golden State Warriors
7. Utah Jazz
8. Denver Nuggets
9. New Orleans Pelicans
10. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Field:

11. Boston Celtics
15. Toronto Raptors
22. Memphis Grizzlies
24. Brooklyn Nets
29. New York Knicks
30. Cleveland Cavaliers

 

[NYRaider]

9 hours ago, 49er pride said:

LOL I love that you keep taking shots at the Lakers to justify Mitchell's terrible efficiency 

Also, Mitchell-excuses. Again, what happened in the playoffs. He had the same team he had those numbers for a whole 44 games. 

I could pull up Lakers stats but I'd have to go back 20 years.

[NYRaider]

12 hours ago, Bullet Club said:

44 games of evidence? That's all it takes? I have a strong feeling it's the "he plays for my team therefore I think he's way better than he is" bonus. Because there isn't a metric on Earth that projects him as a top 20 player in the league. Outside of pure PPG of course. If he didn't have the NBA's #2 defense behind him this wouldn't be a discussion. Actually it isn't anyway. Being the #1 scorer on a team that's great because of it's defense is admirable but nothing special. It's just your opinion which is backed up by nothing and no one. 

ORTG: 104. Mediocre as hell. Worse than his DRTG. Literally the worst ORTG on the team of guys who played 50 games.

WS/48: 0.092. Like 7th on his own team. Nowhere near top 20 in the NBA.

Usage: 31.6% #8 in the NBA

TS%: 53.7 League average is 56.0%

PER: 17.2 League average is 15.

BPM: 0.6 Not top 50.

VORP: 1.7 Not top 50.

On/Off: +3.5 Pretty solid I guess but not necessarily good

RAPM: +2.02 #52 in the NBA

He didn't lead his own team in any of these stats except usage. Sure, he plays with Rudy Gobert. He wasn't second on any of these other. Third? Nope. I'm sure you'll call out the use of every relevant advanced stat and say they are bad metrics for whatever reason. Even though they all point to the same thing. Also his game fell off a cliff and painted him as a gigantic liability in the postseason. Not something you expect from a top 20 player. At least to the degree of 10% drop in FG, scoring less on more shots, and getting less rebounds/assists in more minutes and turning it over way more. Mitchell is a promising young scorer whose actual impact on the game leaves a lot to be desired at this stage in his career. Could he eventually be top 20? Absolutely but he's not all that close right now. I see why you like R.J. Barrett so much. He's exactly the same way. Except he can't shoot and is significantly more selfish. 

7

Again pulling up a bunch of meaningless advanced stats that mean absolutely nothing. He had to be ultra-aggressive for us to be competitive but I guess in your world it would've been better for him to defer to Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles. Right? How many games would we have won then? I keep mentioning the last 44 games because he was hurt the first half of the season, is that difficult for you to understand? 

I got stats for you buddy. 

2019 (last 44 games with healthy Mitchell): Mitchell: 26.5/5/5 on 45/42/80 - Jazz Record: 32-12

[NYRaider]

9 hours ago, beekay414 said:

I drive the anti-Mitchell bandwagon...just ask @FinneasGage. I agree with you 100%. Kid is chuck city. Believe he had a game where he took 30+ shots and had 0 assists. He's not conducive to winning when it matters. Not a fan of his at all and he's going down the Westbrook "I think I'm better than I really am" route. He better take a backseat and let Conley drive his play rather than taking the ball out of Mike's hands otherwise it'll be the same old, same old Mitchell bs.

Again, what else was Quinn Snyder supposed to do? Encourage Ricky Rubio, Joe Ingles, and Derek Favors to lead our offense? Mitchell took a team that was dead in the water to back to back 50+ win seasons and outplayed PG13 and Westbrook in the playoffs as a rookie. 

[NYRaider]

9 hours ago, beekay414 said:

Like Donovan Mitchell, right now, is basically post-achilles Kobe. It's not good.

Post achilies Kobe was putting up 27/5/5 on 45/42/80. Damn I forgot how good he actually was. Giannis wouldn't even make the playoffs if his secondary offensive options were Rubio and Ingles boy boy. 

[NYRaider]

4 hours ago, SBLIII said:

Mitchell is the new Wiggins.

When did Wiggins become the first player in history to average 20+ ppg and lead a 50+ win playoff team in scoring during his first two seasons? Oh he didn't that was Spida.

[SBLIII]

1 minute ago, NYRaider said:

When did Wiggins become the first player in history to average 20+ ppg and lead a 50+ win playoff team in scoring during his first two seasons? Oh he didn't that was Spida.

He did not. But he also did not have the DPOY helping him out. His efficiency is below average.

[SBLIII]

3 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Post achilies Kobe was putting up 27/5/5 on 45/42/80. Damn I forgot how good he actually was. Giannis wouldn't even make the playoffs if his secondary offensive options were Rubio and Ingles boy boy. 

That was pre achilles not post. 

[NYRaider]

Just now, SBLIII said:

He did not. But he also did not have the DPOY helping him out. His efficiency is below average.

And he also had to carry our offense surrounded by mediocre offensive players. Joe Ingles was our #2 option and our spacing was some of the worst in the league with Rubio/Favors/Gobert.

[NYRaider]

1 minute ago, SBLIII said:

That was pre achilles not post. 

And that's what Mitchell averaged during the 2nd half of the season when he was healthy. He got off to a slow start last season but when he was healthy he put up superstar numbers on very good efficiency. Doesn't fit the chucker narrative though so FF posters are incapable of comprehending it.