NBA Chat With Alex Kennedy 8/3/12

Join HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy for his weekly NBA chat this Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Submit your questions early because this chat fills up fast!

  1. ernesto orozco

    do you think jodie meeks will sign with the lakers to try to win a ring?

    • Alex Kennedy

      What’s up everyone? Thanks for submitting your questions. Let’s get started.

      I talked to Jodie Meeks earlier today and the Lakers are definitely still in the mix. He’s weighing his options right now. He has also received interest from the Bucks and Wizards. Now that C.J. Miles has decided to sign with the Cavaliers, I think that increases the likelihood of Meeks signing with L.A. With Miles off the market, the Lakers may shift their attention to Meeks and get something done. We’ll see what happens.

  2. Golden Refugee

    With the signings of Rush and Landry, the Warriors are looking good on paper. They are deep and talented. I know a lot hinges on the health of Curry and Bogut, but can’t they make playoffs this year, and even make noise once in?

    • Alex Kennedy

      The Warriors have done an excellent job this offseason. They have several talented players at every position and they’re looking like one of the deepest teams in the league. Making the playoffs in the Western Conference will be tough, but they’ll definitely be in the hunt. I think the final seed in the West will come down to Utah, Golden State and Minnesota. If the Warriors can stay healthy and get everyone on the same page, they’ll have every opportunity to grab a playoff berth.

  3. Harry From Philly

    Hey what’s up Alex. I think if the new CBA plan was to keep existing star players on there current team then they got it backwards. Common sense would say let the current team extend a players contract now for 5 years. But If they want to play the season out and become a free agent then the can resign with their current team for 4 years and if they want to walk and sign else were with another team via free agency then they can only get a max of 3 years.

    That’s how the new CBA should of went. Instead it goes a little something like this. You can extend now for 3 years with your current team. Which makes no since, because when you become a free agent you can get a max of 5 years with your current team. More years equals more money. But if you decide to walk and sign with another team vis free agaency you get 4 years. Now if that player happens to sign with a team in certain cities with no state tax or a big market team and he gets a couple endorsements and a sneaker deal. You can easily make that one extra year up. So in reality a star player would leave that small market team for a big market team in a heart beat. Which leads me to believe the new CBA was more about stiffer luxury tax penalties for big market teams then it was about keeping star players in small markets. What you think Alex.

    • Alex Kennedy

      I completely agree. No superstar is going to sign an extension under this collective bargaining agreement. It doesn’t make sense for them to sign the three-year extension when they can wait and sign a larger five-year deal when their contract expires. We’re seeing this with Chris Paul and Dwight Howard right now. It’s backwards and should be changed in the next CBA. It makes it harder for teams to lock up their stars and encourages players to test free agency.

  4. Naj

    When is the deadline in signing free agents? Can the team sign a player even the season starts already?

    • Alex Kennedy

      Players can sign until the final day of the regular season.

  5. John

    Hey Mr.Kennedy I have a question Lets say a team has a Restricted free agent like in eric gordons case he wants to play for another team but his team wants to keep him so a team issues him an offer and his current team matches the offer is he forced to stay with the team the entire length of the contract or is there some way to get out of it after only a year? and do they have to sign? lets say Brandon rush didnt want to sign with GSW could he reject their offer?

    • Alex Kennedy

      Eric Gordon will be under contract with the New Orleans Hornets for the next four years. Gordon can pout and ask for a trade, but he can’t get out of his contract. That’s what happens when you sign an offer sheet as a restricted free agent – your original team can match and lock you up. If Gordon really wanted out of New Orleans, he should’ve signed for the qualifying offer, which would have allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Instead, he signed the max offer sheet with the Phoenix Suns and tried to talk his way out of New Orleans, which didn’t work.

      Restricted free agents have no control. If Brandon Rush had signed an offer sheet with another team and Golden State matched, he wouldn’t be able to reject the offer. He would be under contract with the Warriors. He could choose not to report, but then he would be fined. Like I said, restricted free agents really don’t have much control over the process, the team calls the shots.

  6. sharanraj

    Orlando magic were willing to take the nets offer(Brook Lopez+few others).. I cannot figure out why the Magic are not wanting Bynum in any deal. Clearly, Bynum are far better than ‘unable-to-rebound center’?

    • Alex Kennedy

      The Magic weren’t willing to take the Nets’ offer, which is why Dwight Howard hasn’t been traded yet. Orlando and Brooklyn had lengthy talks, but they couldn’t agree on a deal.

      I’ve been told that the Magic don’t want Andrew Bynum because they don’t want to go through this drama again. Bynum is entering the final year of his contract and the last thing Orlando wants is another soap opera. Orlando would rather enter a rebuilding phase, acquiring picks and prospects. That’s how the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to go from bottom feeder to contender in a few years and Rob Hennigan wants to follow that model.

  7. Sven

    Hi Alex, how are you ? Comparing Landry’s salary of last year with his new contract would you say he was overpaid last year or will be underpaid the coming years ?

    • Alex Kennedy

      I think the Warriors signed Carl Landry at a bargain rate. He probably deserves more, but it was an excellent signing by Golden State. He has shown that he can be a very good player in this league and he could start for many teams. I don’t think he was overpaid last year, I think the Warriors got him at a discount. He’s really going to help that team. Their second unit was good before, but now it has to be considered one of the best in the league.

  8. Bob

    please explain why salaries are based on another player “setting the market”.
    Just because one owner is stupid enough to overpay someone, does that mean that I, in turn have to overpay my free agent?

    • Alex Kennedy

      That’s how the business works. When agents are negotiating a contract, they use the salaries of similar players to get their client paid. If you and I are the same age and averaging the same stats, I’m going to expect a similar deal to the one that you signed. One owner overpaying for a player can create a domino effect, as you said.

  9. Kevin

    Hey Alex,

    How much of a head start do you think the Olympic games is going to give A Davis? Hanging out with the elite talent has to rub off right?

    • Alex Kennedy

      The Olympic experience is going to help Anthony Davis so much. That’s the best NBA prep course imaginable. Not only is he learning from the best players in the league, it’ll also give him a confidence boost heading into his first season. Davis missed out on the summer league experience, which is unfortunate because he wasn’t able to play with some of the New Orleans Hornets’ other young players like Austin Rivers, Xavier Henry, etc. However, there’s no question that being in London gives him a huge head start over his peers.

  10. David from Portland

    Hey Alex, enjoyed your piece on the rookies.

    Is Damian Lillard a true PG? I’ve seen only a few SL games and saw him score at will. The only thing I fear is that he might be a Jerryd Bayless, who was trying to be converted to a PG. And Bayless was also the MVP of summer league.

    • Alex Kennedy

      I’ve talked to Damian Lillard about this and he insists that he’s a true point guard. In college, he was forced to carry the scoring load for Weber State because they didn’t have much talent surrounding him. In Las Vegas, he was usually the best player on the court so he took over games. Once he’s playing with veterans like LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, I think he’ll be more a facilitator. He can score the ball at will, as you mentioned, but I think he’s an underrated playmaker as well.

  11. johnny

    hey alex. i was just wondering who you thought deserves most of the blame for the whole dwight mess. Dwight? Otis? Alex Martin?

    • Alex Kennedy

      There’s plenty of blame to go around. Nobody has handled this situation the right way and everyone comes away looking bad.

  12. ted the talking beari

    Do u think the lakers are really set at the pg position!? Nash is old and blake got no defense. With me?

  13. Will

    Is Houston goal to trade for Dwight then pair him with another star like Gay or Iggy?

    • Alex Kennedy

      Yes. If the Houston Rockets are able to acquire Dwight Howard, they want to land a second star player to keep him happy. Houston knows that they would have to make other moves if they want any shot at persuading Howard to stay.

  14. Derek

    Hi Alex, I was a HUGE Howard fan. But after all he has said or lack of, I think he has looked worst than Lebron and Melo. He keeps hidding behind his agent and threating any team Orlando would trade him to. What happend to the Howard we THOUGHT we knew? To the Howard that called Orlando HIS City?

    • Alex Kennedy

      This has been a PR mess for Howard and he has really hurt his image. There are a lot of people who feel the same way as you. This soap opera has dragged on for so long and Howard has lost a lot of fans in the process. When this saga ends, Howard needs to come out and give his side of the story if he wants to repair his image.

  15. DanielB

    Hey Alex, love the integrity of your work.

    Couple questions for ya:

    It was just reported that C.J. Miles signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Lakers coach was Byron Scott and Cleveland featured Mike Brown, do you think C.J. MIles would be a Laker right now?

    Also, Andrew Bynum has been reported to being open to a trade. He is not in the resentful mindset that Howard is towards Orlando right now (obviously)..Because Bynum can be persuaded to re-up his contract once it expires, based on your knowledge, what are the odds that Orlando and the Lakers do a 2-way trade, leaving out the 3rd team?

    Thanks for the time Alex!

    • Alex Kennedy

      It sounds like Byron Scott’s relationship with C.J. Miles was a big reason why he chose Cleveland over L.A. so it’s possible. That’s tough to say though. I’m sure the opportunity to play a larger role in Cleveland also factored into his decision.

      Orlando and Los Angeles may eventually discuss a straight up trade with Howard and Bynum, but I think Orlando’s preference is to bring in picks and prospects, which is why they’ve tried to involve a third team like Houston or Cleveland. However, as we’ve seen throughout this process, bringing in third and fourth teams complicates things so this could end with a two-way trade. We’ll see.

  16. Max

    will wizards make playoffs next season?

    • Alex Kennedy

      That’s the message coming out of Washington. In the last few weeks, I’ve caught up with John Wall, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor and Bradley Beal and all of them have said that the team is aiming for the playoffs. They feel that this is the year that they’ll make the jump from up-and-coming team to playoff team. I think they’ll be in the playoff hunt, but they’ll have competition for the final seed from Philadelphia, Toronto and Milwaukee. We’ll see how they look when the season starts.

      Thanks for all of the questions. If I missed you, send me your question on Twitter (@AlexKennedyNBA). Have a great weekend!