2011 Toronto Raptors/NBA/Labour Negotiations Spectacular

[Erndog]

Bird flew out to meet Nene.  Although with West on board now not sure where he'd play.  It's probably nothing more than to have the cap space available for the future.

I don't know a ton about how Denver's been using him and I know they used to have a front court of him and Camby but NBA.com does have him listed as a centre and at 6'11 and 250 lbs. he's certainly got the size for it. Obviously Hibbert creates duplication there too and, from what I've read, the Nets are the real players for Nene so I agree it doesn't add up.

I'm not entirely sure how Denver was using him either, but from what I was reading a week ago (when the Pacers were trying to court him) was that he was a C/PF combo type capable of playing either role very well (and really, with Camby, Nene was definitely the PF in that duo).  It was either him or West to pair with Hibbert.  They likely chose West because he's more of a natural PF (with Hibbert as the C) and his asking price wasn't as crazy as Nenes because he was coming off an injury.

Nene would play C and Lopez PF in NJ then I guess.


Edit:  Actually, I can see Nene and Lopez interchanging quite a bit.  Lopez played C a lot for NJ last season.

 

[Kin]

Nene would play C and Lopez PF in NJ then I guess.

Edit:  Actually, I can see Nene and Lopez interchanging quite a bit.  Lopez played C a lot for NJ last season.

Or, if the Howard deal gets done, they go with Nene at PF and Howard at 5, which would be a pretty tough front court to deal with. Toss in Deron Williams and that'd be a team you'd have to put up there with the aforementioned group of 4 legit contenders in the East.

 

[Erndog]

Nene would play C and Lopez PF in NJ then I guess.

Edit:  Actually, I can see Nene and Lopez interchanging quite a bit.  Lopez played C a lot for NJ last season.

Or, if the Howard deal gets done, they go with Nene at PF and Howard at 5, which would be a pretty tough front court to deal with. Toss in Deron Williams and that'd be a team you'd have to put up there with the aforementioned group of 4 legit contenders in the East.

When the Lakers were rumoured to be acquiring CP3 for 2 big men, I had visions of them going after Howard and Nene next.  Sign Nene, trade Bynum ++ for Howard, etc. 

Anyways, if NJ manages to sign Nene and pull off the Howard deal I think they would instantly become a significant contender in the East.

 

[Erndog]

If you're the Heat, do you go after Chauncey?

Billups last year vs. Championship year 2003-04:

Even though he is 35 I think he would make a great addition to the Heat. 

 

[L K]

If you're the Heat, do you go after Chauncey?

Billups last year vs. Championship year 2003-04:

Even though he is 35 I think he would make a great addition to the Heat.

He's not enough of a facilitating PG, but he is miles better than Mario Chalmers so, yeah, that makes the Heat infinitely better if he officially clears.  There was some talk of MJ picking him up on waivers...but some of that might just be conjecture because he's been a bit of a SOB with his comments when they are polar opposites of his own lockout commentary when he was a player.

 

[Kin]

If you're the Heat, do you go after Chauncey?

Billups last year vs. Championship year 2003-04:

Even though he is 35 I think he would make a great addition to the Heat.

He's nowhere near the defender he used to be and I don't know if he's ever been enough of a space creator to really mesh with the Lebron and D-Wade show but it's not a terrible idea if they're looking for some scoring off the bench and a guy to hit some open threes. Obviously the issue for them will be what it takes to sign him if they've already committed the majority of their MLE to Battier.

 

[maplesyrup]

Clips nabbed him.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The Chris Paul trade show continued anew on Monday night, when a source confirmed an ESPN.com report that the Hornets and Clippers re-engaged in discussions to send the four-time All-Star point guard to L.A. It was the latest revelation in a wild day for the Clippers, who matched a four-year, $43 million offer sheet from Golden State for center DeAndre Jordan and picked up veteran point guard Chauncey Billups via the league's new amnesty waiver wire.

The renewed discussions come just hours after a proposed deal fell apart because, according to sources, the NBA's asking price for Paul was simply too steep.

The dynamics of a possible deal have clearly changed now, with one source close to the situation saying the league has taken over almost all negotiations while Hornets general manager Dell Demps has been relegated to a minimal role. The ripple effect around the league could be great, as teams steadily grow wary of dealing with the Hornets and many executives become convinced the league won't deal fairly.

SI.com reported Monday that the deal was in the "final stages" of completion after the teams re-engaged in discussions Sunday afternoon. The Los Angeles Times first reported Sunday night that the near deal would give the Hornets second-year Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe, veteran center Chris Kaman, second-year forward Al-Farouq Aminu and the Clippers' unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick that they received from Minnesota. One source close to the talks, however, told SI.com that shooting guard Eric Gordon could be part of the deal as well.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/12/12/clippers.chris.paul/index.html#ixzz1gNZEbxL7

 

[maplesyrup]

Sound like Paul to the Clippers has been completed...

 

[Kin]

ESPN's reporting:

To the Clippers: CP3, two second round picks
To the Hornets: Gordon, Aminu, Kaman, Minnesota's unprotected #1

Pretty good return for the Hornets all things considered. The Lakers/Rockets package wouldn't have been as good long term but probably would have made them more competitive next year. Still, this whole process just highlighted what a joke it is that the NBA owns one of the franchises.

 

[Erndog]

Yeah, that package is probably better long term but I guess it really depends on what they can get with minny's first round pick.

I love the Clippers starting 5.

PG-  Chris Paul
SG-  Chauncey Billups
SF-  Caron Butler
PF-  Blake Griffin
C-  Deandre Jordan

That's quite a good starting 5, although I may be a bit bias as I am very high on Jordan and always really liked Butler.  They have some of everything, offense, defense, size, scoring, rebounding, an elite passer, a great finisher, etc.  Dont really see any holes in there.

 

[Kin]

That's quite a good starting 5, although I may be a bit bias as I am very high on Jordan and always really liked Butler.  They have some of everything, offense, defense, size, scoring, rebounding, an elite passer, a great finisher, etc.  Dont really see any holes in there.

The only thing that I don't love is Billups starting on the off guard. I don't think he's big or quick enough to defend the spot and I haven't seen enough of him playing without the ball to know how he'll do as a spot up shooter. I wonder if they wouldn't be better starting Randy Foye and using Billups the way Dallas used Jason Terry.

 

[Trolloc]

ESPN's reporting:

To the Clippers: CP3, two second round picks
To the Hornets: Gordon, Aminu, Kaman, Minnesota's unprotected #1

Pretty good return for the Hornets all things considered. The Lakers/Rockets package wouldn't have been as good long term but probably would have made them more competitive next year. Still, this whole process just highlighted what a joke it is that the NBA owns one of the franchises.

A few days ago I would agreed. That being said, they got a better deal for the Hornets by rejecting the deal with the Larkers. Seems like they made a smart decision.

 

[Erndog]

That's quite a good starting 5, although I may be a bit bias as I am very high on Jordan and always really liked Butler.  They have some of everything, offense, defense, size, scoring, rebounding, an elite passer, a great finisher, etc.  Dont really see any holes in there.

The only thing that I don't love is Billups starting on the off guard. I don't think he's big or quick enough to defend the spot and I haven't seen enough of him playing without the ball to know how he'll do as a spot up shooter. I wonder if they wouldn't be better starting Randy Foye and using Billups the way Dallas used Jason Terry.

I agree, but Billups will be valuable beyond what he provides on the court.  His experience, and leadership could really help a mostly young team.


On an unrelated note, Kendrick Perkins lost 32 pounds and looks a lot different:

With his mean streak, and his much better conditioning, he could be in for a real nice year.

 

[Erndog]

This is sort of cool, this is Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan and Caron Butler at a children's hopistal reacting to the news of acquiring CP3:

http://www.foxsportswest.com/12/14/11/Raw-video-Blake-Griffin-and-DeAndre-Jord/landing_clippers.html?blockID=626930&feedID=3661

 

[Peter D.]

So Brandon Roy has retired from basketball.  I found that intriguing considering that it was widely suggested in hindsight (maybe even at the time, I'm not a huge follower) that the Raptors should have taken him 1st overall as opposed to Bargnani.

 

[Corn Flake]

So Brandon Roy has retired from basketball.  I found that intriguing considering that it was widely suggested in hindsight (maybe even at the time, I'm not a huge follower) that the Raptors should have taken him 1st overall as opposed to Bargnani.

Wow.  That is brutal for Roy to retire so young.

Were his knee issues known at the time of drafting?  I hate those hindsight "we should have picked that guy who went like 4 picks later" positions.  We could go all day about drafting Banana instead of several others.  Didn't that draft pretty much just end up as one of the worst to have a 1st overall pick in?

 

[Erndog]

So Brandon Roy has retired from basketball.  I found that intriguing considering that it was widely suggested in hindsight (maybe even at the time, I'm not a huge follower) that the Raptors should have taken him 1st overall as opposed to Bargnani.

I think his knee issues started a little in college and he was missing some cartiledge, but it was obviously something that got worse with time.  I think it happened mid season too, just all of a sudden wham, missed a bunch of time, was out indefinitely then took a year, blah blah never recovered and here we are today.  So yes, it was 'known' he might have had some knee issues but stuff like that happens all the time.  Not sure anybody knew the extent to which he was going to eventually suffer from it.

For what it's worth, Lamarcus Aldridge is the best player from that draft easily.

 

[Kin]

For what it's worth, Lamarcus Aldridge is the best player from that draft easily.

Easily better than Rajon Rondo?

 

[Kin]

A few days ago I would agreed. That being said, they got a better deal for the Hornets by rejecting the deal with the Larkers. Seems like they made a smart decision.

Regardless of whether or not that's true, and that's debatable, it's still a situation where the GM doesn't have final basketball-related authority and has to answer to 29 owners, each of whom have their own agenda as it relates to their own team.