NBA Chat With Stephen Brotherston 10/29/12

1. Deven

   Are you as stunned as I am about Harden being traded to Houston? And why would Presti trade him now rather than wait? Does this put an end to their title hopes?

   • Stephen Brotherston

     Welcome to this afternoon’s chat.
     It’s been a couple of days of wall-to-wall Harden trade talk – and it should be. That was a gusty move by both clubs.

     Stunned, surprised – not that it happened – it didn’t make sense for a small market team like OKC to add another max player and lose all that very valuable depth – rather, the surprise was Presti did it early (when you are supposed to) instead of being frozen by the decision. That’s the mark of a good GM.

     It’s possible this move ends up as a push from OKC standpoint. Maybe there are repercussions, but they don’t seem likely. More likely Maynor handles the backup PG duties, Martin provides scoring off the bench and possibly a little more offensive punch playing off the ball and OKC is just as good – might be better, but that’s a stretch at this point. Let’s see them play some first.

     Title hopes over? No – this isn’t going to change the perception about OKC chances at a title – at least not straight away.

2. LA in LA

   I just became a big Raptors fan. Here’s hoping Raptors make the playoffs or are a bottom 3 team.

   Also, does Jonas V. have good post D? Is his role going to be “rebound, play post d, score off put backs”?

   • Stephen Brotherston

     I’d be hoping for playoffs or just missing in the last week of the season so that 1st round draft pick that now goes to OKC is in the 12-14 range. Raptors need an exciting season and I believe that’s what we are going to see.

     Jonas has played well in preseason – his post defense has been solid. His strengths are in rebounding, blocking shots and he should develop into a very good help defender – he has looked pretty good straight up so far. His offense will be a work in progress – good pick-n-roll player and that side of his game will be developed – pretty quickly, but initially it will be offensive boards, putbacks and what the opponents give him. He has a couple of decent moves in the post already if he isn’t double-teamed.

     But Preseason is not regular season – everything changes on Wednesday. Jonas experience playing against the veterans on the top teams in Europe and at the World Championships & Olympics should help ease his transition.

3. LA in LA

   Also I saw this post and wanted your thoughts on it:
   “i once read an article on realgm on the paths of james harden. 2 examples: manu ginobli and joe johnson. manu stayed, won championships. joe johnson left the suns in about ’05 for ATL, no rings. harden might have taken the ladder.”

   • Stephen Brotherston

     If its my decision – I take the guaranteed money every time – especially when you are young – in the end, being a professional athlete is a job – work for the team that pays you the most. If you want to sacrifice some cash for a chance at a championship, do it at the end of your career. There are zero guarantees that you won’t get hurt and this contract isn’t your last contract.

4. Jim in Cyber Space

   I know it’s all Thunder Rockets Trade talk.
   Presti did exactly what he should have in this small market situation. It’s not NYC or LA. Stern preached about “sharing” talent…that’s what’s happening.
   Kevin Marin is no slouch, look at his shooting Pct’s? I think he’ll make a nice sixth man for OKC. Jeremy Lamb is athletic…multiple draft choices… especially that 1st round protected choice from Toronto..history shows that might be a good one?
   He now again has salary cap space, which he covets.
   By all reports Kevin Martin was really happy when he heard the news?
   Now DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton, and Andy Rautins makes the team. Rautins’ is the perfect reserve 3 point shooter to replace Daequan Cook?

   • Stephen Brotherston

     Presti did the right thing for his team in his market – I’m not hearing any different from any corner. This move protects what he has and gives him options – pretty smart move. They’ll miss Harden, but that’s just the way it is.

5. andrey

   would you say the nba players quit showing loyalty,is decling. The league is so predictable in that since 1984, there have only been 8 different teams (BOS, LAL, DET, CHI, HOU, SA, MIA, DAL) to win the NBA title. Nearly every star (LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Howard, Stoudemire, etc) is so narcissistic that they will all buddy up in the offseason and play together in order to win. You would never see MJ, Magic, or Bird all team up, they had too much pride and competitiveness to do so.

   • Stephen Brotherston

     There is less loyalty between teams & players over time – but that is one of things the players have (rightly) fought for – the right to choose. The right to limit how long teams can limit their income and their ability to change teams. In the past, some of that famed loyalty was not because of a player’s choice – more owner’s power.

     I would like to see teams have the ability to offer much more in free agency to their own guys – It is better for the game (not necessarily the individual player) to have more players spend their entire careers with one team. More cash can compensate some guys enough to stay in one place.

6. chris

   would you say the nba is fixed to help certain teams win. in 2012 lebron was clearly helped by stern to win.in game two boston miami game rondo was hit in the head by haslem around 1:18 left in the game.even commentators who are paid professionals admitted rondo was clearly wacked.also in that game,wade kicked garnett end of the game instead foul was called on garnett

   • Stephen Brotherston

     There are plenty of examples of strangely fortuitous results in pro sports. It doesn’t mean there is a conspiracy – but in today’s society, you know someone would tell-all eventually if bad things were going on behind the scenes.

     Best example I can think of is a long time lawyer I know tells me whenever he goes up against a “rookie” or “import” and the judge knows him much better than the other guy, he gets the benefit of the doubt on almost everything while the rook won’t be able to catch a break. Sport imitating life – why wouldn’t it?

7. francis

   on the james harden trade y didnt the raptors offer a deal if you were toronto would you make a deal or try to make one

   • Stephen Brotherston

     OKC would have made inquiries with any team that had pieces they were interested in, but….

     OKC was dumping contracts they didn’t want with Harden to get back 3 draft picks & a starting 2 guard with an expiring contract and a lottery pick SG from this year’s draft – Raptors just didn’t have the pieces to make an offer. Can’t think of any team that could have matched that package?

8. Joe

   With the new addition of James Harden, where do you see the rockets go as far as rebuilding? Tank and get their future superstar or use James Harden and Jeremy Lin as bait for baiting a star in free agency? Where do you see the direction of this team going?

   • Stephen Brotherston

     Rockets are rebuilding/ trying things out on the fly – direction is TBD, but this year its headed towards the lottery. Tanking not required.

9. Raptorfon

   Do the Raptors view Ross and Demar as the core SG/SF? Will Demar be the smallest starting SF in the NBA if that is the case? What does Demar need to do to adjust his game to the SF spot?

   • Stephen Brotherston

     Raptors have invested a ton of time & effort in DD – this is the season we find out if it was the right decision. I believe Casey has been good for DD – I haven’t seen anything to suggest DD can play a lot at SF yet. T Ross is this year’s project – love the talent, we’ll see where it takes him. They might form a core SG/SF in the future, but that’s t.b.d.

     DD at SF? – a lot stronger without losing any speed

10. keo

    5 secs left on the clock ..do you give it to kwame brown, Perkins, or asik? Lol

    Seriouse question

    The rockets has to have the worst gm…trading two first round pick which will be obviously high …over paying lin and asik..and now they gonna pay max for harden….why isn’t he fired yet?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Well, the Rockets were using Asik until yesterday.

      Well there is lots to be upset about in Houston – but getting Harden was the best deal they made since, can’t remember. Sure it’ll cost a fortune to keep Harden, but at least there’s a chance he’s worth it and Harden won’t be a bust even if he doesn’t develop enough to justify the money. Harden is a good player.

      Why don’t owners fire GMs who can’t seem to win? A mystery wrapped in an enigma….at this point, what’s the rush, may as well ride things out and see if it works… a little late to change things now

11. dennis

    Ben Gordon; 6th man of the year. What do you think?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Gordon may have just found himself in a good spot (for personal stats) – Hard to win awards with the Bobcats but I agree he should have a good year.

12. dennis

    I think that now is the time for utah to trade jefferson. You have milsap, who is a great pf, and Fevors/Kanter, who are ready for a breakout season. With Jefferson they are at their best the 7th or 8th best team on West. If they trade him they could find a nice player and some draft picks. I think that this trade could work with teams like boston, houston, milwakee, charlotte or atlanta. What do you think?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      There’s no rush, but trading Jefferson could easily happen – depending on how good the young guys look early on when the games count. Houston would be a good target – they have a few assets kicking around and are eager to deal. The Bucks might be tempted too.

13. Kuda

    Sup Stephen ? J. Bringham has put the Raptors @ 9 missing the playoffs. I dont see why they deserve that spot especially with the players they have. Hawks lost J.J who used sinle handedly kill the Raps by himself, so did Iggy for Philly and Rose who is done for atleast a couple crusial games. I know the Raps are going to make NOISE this year but what you think after the preseason peformance they have had? GO RAPS!!!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Joel isn’t ready to bump someone from the top 8 for the very problems he and everyone else can see. He is waiting in the “show me” camp – not unreasonable and when you’re predicting something, you have to take a position.

      But, I see the 76ers as having a much bigger hill to climb than is being described. Bynum is a great center – but he’s never been “the guy” and he’s not a leader – 76ers traded away their leader and that’s not something to gloss over. The other obvious team that should almost be expected to disappoint is the Knicks – they got talent, but they haven’t proven they have a clue what to do with it – and like the 76ers, injury concerns are huge.

      There are no guarantees, but I see the Raps squeezing out one of the 76ers or Knicks for 8th

14. Richard

    Hey Stephen,

    Players playing in the summer for their national teams seems to be becoming an issue. Teams like Toronto with numerous international players that play in some type of tournament every summer, whereas the American superstars pretty much only play in the Olympics, are running into problems. I can’t hate on a man for proudly repping his country. Where I get annoyed is when they play in these tournaments in the offseason then come back to the team injured, fighting an injury, or just flat out exhausted. Case in point Calderon, kleiza, and turkoglu. I get worried with someone like Jonas who pretty much has played for 2 years with no rest. We may have dosged a bullet with his muscle strain but While he’s 20 he may hold up for now but he can’t keep that up forever without coming back to Toronto a mess. It’s not fair to the fans or the organization to have to sit through a season with them not playing at full strength because of their summer time commitments to play. Touchy subject with a lot of grey areas. What are your thoughts? Anything teams can do such as a cap on number of tournaments? Maybe every other year type thing. Thanks Stephen.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Playing for one’s national team can become an issue – especially if the player needs to take time off from his NBA team (training camp/preseason – right Hedo) – But the league requires teams to let their players go if they want to.

      All teams can do is advise their players to do what is best for their careers – some guys can play every off season for their National team without problem – some can’t. All teams can do is hope their players will be smart about it.

      The age limit used for soccer internationally has some real merit – even if the NBA players don’t like it.

      Some of those National teams should really try to look after the professional needs of the players they bring in a lot better and maybe the issue would solve itself.

15. Raps4ever

    Watched your analysis on Wheather or not bc should extend Demar. While I agree with everything u said I think if we want to keep him we need to extend him, otherwise trade him. In a world where vastly over paying RFA is the norm it could cost us way more to match an offer for Demar from someone who values his services. If we just extend him now to a 7-8 mill a season deal now as opposed to the mid level exception like you proposed, in the end I think we save money. If not we are better served to just trade him instead of matching an albatross 10-12 mill a season contract he very well could get offered. Thoughts?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      It is a risk that DD has a good season and the Raps get hit with offer that is uncomfortable to match during RFA. There isn’t an easy way around it and there are several other teams in the same position.

      At least DD is not causing a distraction because he is in the final year of his deal. He is playing it straight up and just doing his job – his play will set his value.

      Of course if the Raps had a chance to improve the team by trading DD, not having an ext done makes the move a little easier to accept.

      There is no right answer with pending RFA – teams/players do the best they can – hopefully it doesn’t become a distraction and force a move.

16. j-cousins

    why can’t raptors beat Indiana this Wednesday at home?. We play them close last year with a way worst team.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      It is normal for teams to play well during their home opener – the guys are pumped to go, the crowd at the ACC will be loud – It should not surprise anyone if the Raps come out on top

17. KdubTdot

    Stevie B, How’s it going man??

    Quick one for you, when during the season do you think we’ll start seeing a high screen and roll with Bargs and Big Val? (with Bargs being the ball handler of course)
    Big men in the league would be completely lost as to how to stop this action!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I don’t think we’ll see that as a set play for a while, but it could easily happen on its own – say after a long rebound. Bargs is a good passer, Jonas has great hands. Bargs & Val are complimentary players. The longer they play together, the more sets we’ll see that take advantage of what they can do to disrupt defenses.

18. Homer

    Hey Stephen,
    Despite the $ sign next to it, I think Landry Fields is a great option for the Raps, which begs the question: what’s the plan for Demar? Ross is going to compete his butt off to crack the rotation- albeit eventually- and Demar still hasn’t demonstrated much in the way of a jumpshot.Is he safe, or is he being shopped?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Casey has been pushing hard for DD to be his slasher & FT guy. Raps have enough shooting to spread the floor now. Plan is to see if DD can elevate his ability to cause chaos inside and up his defensive presence. Casey believes jump shooters are born and not made and DD wasn’t born a jump shooter.

      Colangelo seems pretty happy with his off season, but if a big name SF was to come available, young guys like DD and Ed could be the trade chips being requested.

19. ben

    what do you project from harden (stats-wise) now that hes 1st option?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      On the Rockets – he had better be a 20-5-5 guy – he has the talent and he shouldn’t lack for minutes or shots.

20. justin

    just by watching the preseason i could see that the raptors don’t need Jose Calderon. John Lucas and Kyle Lowry off the bench work good. Just trade him for a first round pick well do.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Raps almost lost 2 PGs on Sunday. They need 3 guys that can play the position – for now anyway. A deal part way into the season could make a lot of sense. There will be some backup PG available or young FA projects they could pick up.
      Right now, there aren’t any deals for a 1st round pick – Jose makes $10m, teams generally just don’t carry that kind of salary cap space into the season. Jose has been shopped pretty hard this summer & last summer – too valuable to Toronto to just give away.

21. Allan

    Hi Stephen. Wouldn’t it be wiser if Colangelo signs DeRozan to an extension at about $6 to $7M per season?. I mean, his value is not too high right now, so if he does have a breakout this season, he’ll be a bargain. If his game stays the same, it’s not really an outrageous amount to pay is it?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      This extension offering period requires a deft touch. It is better to say you want to wait until RFA starts than to make an offer the player feels is low-balling. I agree DD hasn’t done anything to justify a big long term deal, but DD and his agent should (with some justification) believe that by the end of this season, he will be able to command a big deal.

      Logic says the 2 sides should comprise like you are suggesting – but, that would be a big commitment for the Raps if DD stalls in his development = risk. And potentially a big discount for DD if he has a breakout season – also = risk. It’s safer for both sides to wait.

22. Blake

    Any concerns that DD won’t be good to go Wednesday?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      A poke in the eye is not something to causally ignore, but it is a very common occurrence in the NBA, usually without any serious implications. Unless we hear that he off to see a specialist, I’d expect DD to be go to go on Wed.

23. Lemarcus Brownson

    Are you excited for opening night? Any special matchups or aspects of the game we should be watching for? How do you believe Jonas will fair against the Pacer bigs, specifically Hibbert?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Opening night in Toronto is a blast every year – even when the team flat out sucks.

      Jonas will do just fine against Hibbert. A tough challenge to be sure and Aaron Gray will likely be helping out by picking up some of those necessary fouls to slow Hibbert down.

24. rapluva

    Mr. Brotherson: Is it true that OKC was looking for a Val/Calderon for Harden swap? Ofcourse, we don’t bite on that, although, I think OKC will do just fine without Harden.

    Harden should become a star, but he’s got to earn it now with no Westbrook and Durant that took away the focus from a James Harden. What do you think?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I didn’t hear that, but I wouldn’t blame OKC for asking and Colangelo for saying no.
      OKC came out of that deal – at the very least – no worse off, maybe better off.

      Harden has star potential – but its potential until he becomes a star – let’s go!

25. Matty D

    Hey Stephen,

    What would you grade the Raptors preseason? I know its early but how many minutes is TROSS expected to be getting once the regular season starts? How are they going to use him?

    Thanks

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Raptors had a good preseason – Players worked on what they needed to. Casey gets to beat them up about how important defense is – it was all good.

      Ross is going to have to fight to win a spot in the rotation – I have a story coming out later today on what Casey told us about Terrence’s chances to play – Did I mention how good Alan Anderson has been doing?

26. dub

    I know its only preseason but I liked the win over memphis on the road. That’s a sign of a strong team when you can go on the road and beat a playoff team. A sign of things to come?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      toss the Grizz game in the trash – their starters didn’t play. Raps had a good practice in Memphis, that’s all.

27. dub

    I wonder was the harden deal a spur of the moment thing? Because im sure the raps could have offered derozan and amir and snagged harden. Was there any other potential trades or did the thunder grab the first deal?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      That deal had all the earmarks of a GM having all his ducks in a row – Presti knew what he was going to do no matter what Harden told him – it was all planned out – no signs of being rushed

28. Andrea Bargnani's Mother

    Do you expect landry fields to get his jump shot together? He’s looking brutal when he shoots. What is going to happen to BC’s prized signing? As of now, I don’t like the signing, what about you?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Fields was a very good jump shooter in college – its not a skill that’s just lost forever – it should come back.

      Preseason is a tough time to judge how a player will do when it counts, Fields is definitely working things through – but he seems to have some chemistry with Lowry and that should help him get on the right track.

      We all want to see how this works over the first month – Fields seems like a solid guy – reason to be positive.

29. Neddy Simps

    I hope that jonas Val is a stud andl is able to make the Derrick Rose rule when his rookie deal is done. Would it be better if he didn’t make the rule and got paid say 4 years 50 mil(rough estimates) compared to the 5 years 95 mil? Less cap space will be taken!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      If JV can justify a DR rule deal, plan the parade route – not because the Raps win a championship, merely because Toronto will have a contender for the first time in…. mind going foggy, too painful to remember

30. Steve

    Will there be a move by the raptors any time soon or is this the roster that will get raptors to tue playoffs

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Nothing on the horizon – but this is the type of season that actually should see Colangelo pull the trigger on a deal by the deadline.

31. bjoe

    Presti got a better deal for Harden than Orlando for Howard. Poor Magic fans.
    Comment?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I hate to compare, but yeah – Presti is looking pretty good right about now.

      That’s all for today
      Thanks for all the great comments and questions