NBA Chat With Joel Brigham, 10/13/11

1. Mutang

   Here’s the deal; I’m a Utah Jazz fan. All we’ve ever had for pro-sports in Utah is the Utah Jazz. Thats why the arena there is always the toughest to play, we eat, drink, breath Utah Jazz. You know how many kids and now adults out there are named Stockton?? We live Jazz basketball, and have no other professional outlet to cheer for. And when the NBA does start back up, they’ll see that fans are not coming back. And thats just Utah fans. Imagine those fans that support the Knicks, or Clippers, whoever and actually have other sports teams to cheer for???? The NBA players are going to be STUNNED…..owners too. They blew it.

   • Joel Brigham

     All I can say is that I hope you’re wrong. I get the backlash, because both sides are killing the sport together right now, but I also understand that neither side wants to be pigeonholed into a cruddy deal for the next decade. It’s just a mess that I, as a Bulls fan, hate just as much as any other fan in the league. Pretty sure, though, that your sentiments echo those of a lot of fans right now. Let’s hope they get this done quickly before too much more animosity hits the world, yes?

2. Capone

   How long before you see the cavs competing again? And who would be the best options for them in the 2012 draft?

   • Joel Brigham

     The Cavs really aren’t even close. Six years ago a team spearheaded by Baron Davis and Antawn Jamison would be considered easily one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but not anymore. Those two guys seem more or less forgotten and lost in the shuffle in what’s about to be a serious youth movement in Ohio the next few seasons. So, knowing that they won’t play much the remainder of the time with the team, you’re looking at seeing a whole lot of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, and Andy Verajao the next few years. Honestly, what they really need before we can start talking about competing is another draft pick or two.

     Which, of course, brings us to your follow-up question. Assuming they’ve got PG and PF more or less locked up (at least you hope they do), you’ve got to look for a scoring guard (at least some kind of athletic swingman) or some more size. Kentucky center Anthony Davis is pretty much at the top of everybody’s list right now for prospects, so he’d be the ideal prospect to add to the mix there. I think Harrison Barnes would be a little better fit, though. Barnes, Irving, and TT give you three guys the same age with similar backgrounds ready to jumpstart a franchise. I’d be happy with that. Austin Rivers could be a good supplemental scorer, too.

3. Gunnar

   T-Mac came so close to signing with the Bulls last season but the Bulls dodged at the last minute. Was it a mistake?

   • Joel Brigham

     I don’t know that it was ever “so close” to getting done, because the Bulls decided pretty quickly and definitively that T-Mac wasn’t the best fit for their team. I’ll grant you that he had a better season in Detroit than any of us thought, but I still don’t know what kind of fit/influence he would’ve been in that Bulls locker room. A big reason they overachieved so hugely last year was their chemistry and commitment to Tom Thibodeau’s system. All it takes is one vocal veteran like McGrady to say screw this, and who knows what kind of domino effect it may have had? I’m okay with that no-move, even to this day, though I’d be more likely to take a flower for 2011-2012 now that I know he’s got an appropriate amount of gas left in the tank.

4. Chris

   Hi Joel. I think most NBA fans (sans Lakers fans) want a league (like the NFL) where every team has a realistic chance to compete for a title every year and retain its star players. Who, in your opinion, has offered the most realistic proposal for this to happen?

   • Joel Brigham

     Well, considering the fact that players want literally nothing to change in terms of system, I’d have to say the owners with their idea of a harder cap. The only way you’re ever going to have financial parity in a league is if there’s a hard cap keeping the richer teams from spending way more than the smaller market organizations. A hard cap, or even a soft cap with a super-tax, means every team has more or less the same amount of money to spend, and the team that spends it most wisely is the one that sees the most success from a yearly basis. I’d have to think that this would help the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the more I hear about it, the less likely it seems that a hard cap will be part of the new CBA. The player are absolutely against system changes and would rather give up a bigger percentage of the BRI than forfeit the current softer cap and the exceptions they’re allowed under it.

5. Madiochus

   Joel, would J-Rich be willing to come back to the Bay as a free agent? I know he wants to go to a contender but I would love to see him back. Maybe supplant Wright at the 3 and have Wright come off the bench as a 6th man? Looks like GSW may have a little money to spend. Thanks!

   • Joel Brigham

     They’ll have a little, but probably not enough to bring J-Rich back. I’m sure he’d consider it, because I know he really liked playing in Oakland, but from a financial standpoint there are going to be teams with more money to spend than the Warriors, and since Richardson is one of the top free agents on the market, he’s likely going to command more than GS can afford. Fun idea, but not particularly probable in practice.

6. Josh

   Joel,

   I know that players cant be talking to owners and such but can owners talk to owners. For example, can they talk to each other in trades saying after the lockout is lifted we have this deal in place?

   • Joel Brigham

     I don’t see why not. It would be the same as a couple of future free agents just talking casually to each other about where they might want to play when the lockout is lifted. That said, I doubt many GMs are calling each other and having conversations about players. It doesn’t make a lot of sense until they know what their salary cap situation is going to be under a new CBA. You wouldn’t want to take on or jettison any contracts that you realized later you didn’t need to move or couldn’t have afforded. Everybody is pretty much putting all their NBA efforts into getting a new collective bargaining agreement. Anything beyond that just isn’t all that important to people in the process right now.

7. devonte wilson

   is the mediator really the deal breaker for a deal to go down? does it mattter what side he picks? because i think this would make matters worst

   • Joel Brigham

     Neither side really has to listen to the mediator. I mean, it obviously didn’t bring the NFL to a conclusion, right? But the hope is that by bringing in a third party they can get some outside perspective on this thing and do what’s best for the league. I’m not particularly optimistic that this is the thing that gets a deal done, but I suppose it’s a logical step and certainly worth trying. They’ve got nothing to lose by doing this except time, and time was going to pass with or without the mediator. I just hope this thing gets done soon. I’m ready to get back to work. Real work, not just chats and top-five all-time rosters for all 30 NBA teams (25 to go!).

8. paul

   Why is this site so addictive i must visit every day

   • Joel Brigham

     Long before I wrote for HOOPSWORLD, I too was a daily visitor. I checked it daily most times of year, and hourly around the draft and trade deadline. I guess I still check it all the time for news updates, but most of the goods get sent to my email inbox ahead of time now, so the element of surprise is sort of gone. Either way, thanks for reading!

9. Andrew

   After seeing him play in the eurobasket, do you still have many doubts about Kanter? Was he taken in the correct spot in the draft, or should he have been taken later rather than sooner? He has a strong motor, so I’m thinking he might become like a better offensive Luis scola. If that’s the case I like him playing along side milsap and/or favors.

   • Joel Brigham

     In this draft, him going #3 seems just about appropriate. There were so many questions about how his game would translate to the NBA, but we saw some really positive things out of him this past summer. Plus, ya know, he’s huge, so that helps, too. There aren’t a lot of guys his size in the league that also have his skill set. I think he’ll be fine.

     Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams both still seem like better prospects from ’11 than Kanter, but Utah grabbing him at #3 seems less and less controversial by the day. The only guys in this class I could see looking better than Kanter as a pro are Valanciunas, Vesely, and maybe Kemba Walker, but all those are risks, too, no more or less than Kanter was.

     One of my favorite parts of a new season is seeing which rookies will step in and become factors right away. Consider that one more joy this lockout has robbed from my life. First, no Media Day (which is my favorite day of the year, honestly… it’s like the first day of school or something), then no preseason. Now, no games and no first look at the rooks. The bummers just keep piling on.

10. E

    rules aside, if you wanted to get kaman for the rockets, what fair offer would you present the clipps?thanks!

    • Joel Brigham

      When you say “rules aside,” I assume you mean to forget about matching salaries, but I simply can’t do that. Ethically, I don’t even know how to construct a hypothetical trade that couldn’t actually happen in real life. But with rules aside, someone like Courtney Lee added with Goran Dragic or Jonny Flynn would be fair for Kaman.

      In real life, though, the Rockets just don’t have an ideal combination of salaries to make a deal that benefits both teams. The closest I could come to finding a real trade that checked out okay in the Trade Checker was this:

      Houston gets: Chris Kaman
      LAC gets: Jordan Hill, Goran Dragic, Hasheem Thabeet

      Houston doesn’t really have to give up a whole lot to get themselves a starting center, while LAC can cash out Kaman for some younger assets that still could potentially turn into something more than they’ve been early in their careers.

      That said, I think there’s a better deal out there for the Clippers than anything Houston could put up. But if we’re just playing around hypothetically, that’s what I’d suggest.

11. Zac

    is it time for Portland to trade Camby and try to get a younger canter and who do you think is a realistic target?

    • Joel Brigham

      Well, he’s a $9 million expiring contract, which could end up holding some value in a league populated by teams who could very well be looking to cut some salary. But from a basketball standpoint, unless you’re trading him for, as you said, another younger center, it doesn’t seem like they should be in too huge a rush to move him this “season.” With the hectic nature of a shortened season, I’m not sure how easy it will be to make such a move, anyway.

      You have to keep in mind, too, that there aren’t many teams out there willing to take on Camby in exchange for a promising young big. You’d have to target a team in contention that had an expendable young kid with lots of upside. Those are the teams that are going to want a veteran to win now. I wonder if San Antonio would show any interest. I doubt they’d trade Tiago Splitter for Camby, but somebody like that is about what I’d expect to be possible. Much more than that, and I just don’t think teams will want to give up much for a center pushing 40 years old.

12. Jesse

    Do you think Boozer is an amnesty candidate? He seems to constantly be injured and then disappears during the playoffs. Taj and Asik really performed well during the playoffs, not to mention Nikola Mirotic is coming in a few years. Seems like their money could be spent in better places…like a shooting guard.

    • Joel Brigham

      I don’t think so. That would require the Bulls to just swallow $60 million to stay under the new cap, and I think they’ll be pretty close to being under the cap anyway. Someone like Ronnie Brewer is more likely along those lines because he’d be less expensive to buy out but could potentially be enough cash off the books to slip under a new cap.

      No, they’d rather have Boozer be part of the plan they promised him he’d be part of, and just hope that he get his act together and not transform into Ben Wallace, Part 2.

13. vince

    Hey Joel since this has turned into a trade thread what do you think about this 1. Cousins and Salmons for Al Horford n Teague, hawks get a true center and sf with a little mor cap space and the Kings get a hard working pf leader with a little less potential than Cousins and an electric guard that will replace Thornton so the Bulls can sign him?

    • Joel Brigham

      Atlanta wouldn’t do it. They’re not trading Al Horford unless they get an All-Star back, and neither Cousins nor Salmons is that. Nor are they even close to that. Not a prayer.

14. mike

    have u heard about rose having an event on sat where he is inviting his fb friends to play with him. hes posting clues of a place and password and who ever can find out wat they are gets to play with him. i cant figure it out by any chance can u help that would b a dream come true

    • Joel Brigham

      I’ve heard nothing about it. Derrick has a Facebook page, but he sure as heck doesn’t run it. If it’s the “official” D-Rose web page, there might be something to it, but I’d have to see it to believe it. Hopefully it is real, though, and hopefully you’re able to solve the clues to take part! Good luck!

15. Brian

    Hey Joel,

    Do you think that there will be an Amnesty Clause in the new CBA??
    If so, do you see Biedrins and Haywood becoming casualties?
    Which of the two would contribute more to the Knicks if they were the starting center?

    • Joel Brigham

      Either one of those guys would work as amnesty cuts, though Haywood seems a little less likely because A.) Dallas probably doesn’t want to pay him $35 million just to go home and veg out watching “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and playing Madden 12, and B.) They may not be able to re-sign Tyson Chandler, which means they’ll actually need him to play some center for the next four years. Shawn Marion might be the smarter guy to let walk via amnesty on that roster.

      Biedrins isn’t a whole lot better, slated to make $27 million the next three years, and Golden State is far enough under the cap where they might need to make an amnesty move, anyway.

      Either way, if one or both of them does get let go, New York would be wise to pounce all over them. Either would be a pretty significant upgrade for them at center.