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nrhar · 3 years ago

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Rodney Stuckey consiguió 29 puntos

Si no se lleva la palma es gracias a la pantomima de 2002. Y es que el concurso de Oaklando 2000 con Carter y McGrady pesa demasiado. Incluso el de 2003 con J Richardson.. ''The entire organization needs to work harder to find a solution. We will get there.'' Yormark called Avery Johnson to talk about his tweet. ''It's the same thing I've been saying all along, 'We all have to get better,''' Johnson said of their conversation. Lo vengo diciendo, me dupla bejárati ajtó ára dan mucho miedo y respeto estos Spurs. Al IQ de Parker, Duncan, Gino, Diaw. Les aades este Kawhi (DPOY de 21 puntos por partido), a Aldridge (20 10 con la gorra) y a West, que se le caeran los puntos en los momentos clave, y te sale uno de los principales candidatos. The Mavericks are to be celebrated with gutsy and smart moves like bringing in Peja Stojakovic(notes) to run at power forward midway through the first quarter, sitting Dirk Nowitzki in the process, or knowing exactly when to go to the zone as Kobe dribbled away. But Los Angeles is the real story here. A championship contender was just swept out of the second round as it abandoned all the elements that made this team so great during its three straight trips to the finals. Rodney Stuckey consiguió 29 puntos, Tayshaun Prince colaboró con 14 tantos para que los Pistons venciesen 100 104 a los Sixers en su visita al Wells Fargo Center. pantofi sport tip soseta dama Los Sixers (41 41) perdieron por quinta vez en los últimos seis partidos, sin poder conseguir marca ganadora por primera vez desde la temporada del 2004 05. Miami espera a Philadelphia en la primera ronda de novolux 60 led los 'playoffs'. Muchos zattini promoção de botasaficionados y periodistas que cubren habitualmente la información de los Lakers apuntan directamente a Durham, Carolina del Norte. Myke Kryzewski, el célebre 'Coach K', es objeto de deseo de cualquier franquicia de la NBA y los Lakers no iban a ser menos. Sin embargo, es complicado que el veterano seleccionador estadounidense salga de su despacho de la Universidad de Duke, donde lleva 34 aos. He explained what he'd observed through the Patriots' offseason team activities and their minicamp. "Pretty much the sense of urgency," Gilmore said on "Zolak and Bertrand" Wednesday. "And the way they practice is super fast. Aunque San Antonio y Cleveland son los dos grandes corredores en la l de salida, la NBA dista mucho de ser una Liga a la escocesa. En el retrovisor se dibuja un grueso grupo de competidores capaces de dar un golpe de pedal que les sit en cabeza de carrera. Uno de estos contendientes son los Bulls de Chicago, que estos d recuerdan los treinta a del debut de Michael Jordan, el mejor jugador de todos los tiempos.. Gortat calificó la semana "de locos" y deseó que Marc y Rose "regresen fuertes"; Harrison Barnes, de los "divertidos Warriors", sealó que "odio cuando un compaero o rival se lesiona, rezo por Iguodala, Marc y Rose"; Brandon Knight (Pistons) les mandó "pensamientos positivos" y deseó "una rápida recuperación"; Greivis Vasquez, ex compaero de Marc, cruzaba los dedos para que "ojalá no sea grave lo de Marc", y Roy Hibbert, puntal defensivo de los Pacers, fue tajante: "Lamento las lesiones de Marc, Rose e Iguodala. Mis pensamientos están con vosotros. Los tres hacéis esta liga mucho mejor. "Queremos estar seguros de que cuando tu esposa o tu hija van a una

gioco cubo di rubik amazon

entrevista de trabajo tienen las mismas oportunidades que un hombre. Creo que ese es el objetivo más grande. Ya se trate de baloncesto, yeezy off white boost del ejército o de altos cargos de multinacionales. Los Cavs fueron décimos en la Conferencia Este del baloncesto norteamericano con un balance de 33 triunfos y 49 derrotas, por lo que no avanzaron a los playoffs, algo que no consiguen desde la marcha de LeBron James en 2010. El equipo aún busca nuevo entrenador tras el reciente despido de Mike Brown. He visto a Ayton, y mini melissa picole vidro Maker me ha dejado un poco más impresionado. ''It's tough for a lot of teams to come here and win (but) we're playing for something,'' Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. ''They're playing for something, too, and nike mercurial nere e gialle they're a little beat up, like we are. And I just thought tonight our defense set the tone early and it was a nice flow for 48 minutes.''. He shot over 53 percent from the field and just under 78 percent from the free throw line. Despite the fact he only averaged 18 minutes per night, Pachulia finished 15th in the NBA in screen assists per game (3.5). Pachulia made slightly less than $2.9 million last season. Jimmy pasó a vivir en la calle durmiendo también en casas de algunos amigos. Su meta era sobrevivir. Esa fue la historia de su vida con el baloncesto como gran aliado. Para answear sandale copii variar los precedentes de esta serie, el choque arrancó con posesión para los locales. Primer salto que no facturaba Pachulia. Fue ponerse en faena los de Ohio y romper el molde. I have to do a better job of figuring out how to get my guys involved. It wasn't the best start, but there were some positive parts.". Klay Thompson sumó 22 puntos y 8 asistencias que ayudaron a los Warriors a vencer 101 102 a los Pelicans y romper racha de tres derrotas consecutivas. David Lee consiguió 19 puntos y 7 rebotes. El veterano Jermaine O'Neal, que jugó nike hip pack por primera vez esta temporada como titular, destacó en su juego dentro de la pintura con 18 puntos y 8 rebotes. Gregg Popovich committed no basketball crime on Thursday. In actuality, he made life a little easier and our enjoyment much more certain once the playoff decals go down next spring. As per usual, he used his head and heart and willingly hamstrung the team he loves in order to construct a bigger, smarter picture.. Anoche Westbrook salió a la carga desde el primer momento dispuesto a merendarse a los Knicks xD. La sensación fue la misma que en el primero de la serie contra Memphis en los pasados PO. Una apisonadora imparable y que encontraba a los compaeros en ventaja una y otra vez.

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goalhofer · 5 years ago

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1st NBA Draft Pick By Birth Country

USA: Chuck Share (1st overall, Boston) 1950

Canada: Bob Houbregs (2nd overall, Milwaukee) 1953

China: Tom Meshchery (7th overall, Philadelphia) 1961

Mexico: Manuel Raga (167th overall, Atlanta) 1970

Italy: Dino Meneghin (182nd overall, Atlanta) 1970

Germany: John Brown (10th overall, Atlanta) 1973

The Netherlands: Swen Nater (16th overall, Milwaukee) 1973

Trinidad And Tobago: Ken Charles (38th overall, Buffalo) 1973

Morocco: Mike Flynn (113th overall, Philadelphia) 1975

Denmark: Lars Hansen (37th overall, Chicago) 1976

Romania: Ernie Grunfeld (11th overall, Milwaukee) 1977

The Bahamas: Mychal Thompson (1st overall, Portland) 1978

Puerto Rico: Alfred Lee; Jr. (10th overall, Atlanta) 1978

UK: James Donaldson III (73rd overall, Seattle) 1979

Panama: Rolando Blackman (9th overall, Dallas) 1981

Iceland: Petur Gudmundsson (61st overall, Portland) 1981

France: Jacques Wilkins (3rd overall, Utah) 1982

Spain: Wallace Bryant; Jr. (30th overall, Chicago) 1982

Jamaica: Wayne Sappleton (38th overall, Golden State) 1982

Nigeria: Hakeem Olajuwon (1st overall, Houston) 1984

South Sudan: Manute Bol (31st overall, Washington) 1985

Haiti: Yves Joseph (36th overall, New Jersey) 1985

Bulgaria: Georgi Glouchkov (148th overall, Phoenix) 1985

Lithuania: Arvydas Sabonis (24th overall, Portland) 1986

Greece: Panagiotis Fasoulas (37th overall, Portland) 1986

Croatia: Drazen Petrovic (60th overall, Portland) 1986

Russia: Alexander Volkov (134th overall, Atlanta) 1986

Lebanon: Rony Seikaly (9th overall, Miami) 1988

Brazil: Rolando Junior (26th overall, Portland) 1988

Dominican Republic: Alfredo Horford (39th overall, Milwaukee) 1988

Argentina: Jorge Gonzalez (54th overall, Atlanta) 1988

Serbia: Vlade Divac (26th overall, Los Angeles Lakers) 1989

Egypt: Alaa Abdelnaby (25th overall, Portland) 1990

Democratic Republic Of Congo: Dikembe Womutombo (4th overall, Denver) 1991

Australia: Luc Longley (7th overall, Minnesota) 1991

Colombia: Alvaro Teheran (44th overall, Philadelphia) 1991

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Predrag Danilovic (43rd overall, Golden State) 1992

Slovakia: Richard Petruska (46th overall, Houston) 1993

Ghana: Will Njoku (41st overall, Indiana) 1994

U.S. Virgin Islands: Charles Claxton; Jr. (50th overall, Phoenix) 1994

Czech Republic: Jiri Zidek; Jr. (22nd overall, Charlotte) 1995

Ukraine: Vitaly Potapenko (12th overall, Cleveland) 1996

South Africa: Steve Nash (15th overall, Phoenix) 1996

Estonia: Martin Muursepp (25th overall, Utah) 1996

Israel: Doron Sheffer (36th overall, Los Angeles Clippers) 1996

St. Vincent & The Grenadines: Adonal Foyle (8th overall, Golden State) 1997

Slovenia: Marko Milic (33rd overall, Philadelphia) 1997

Montenegro: Predrag Drobnjak (48th overall, Washington) 1997

Georgia: Vladimir Stepania (27th overall, Seattle) 1998

Sweden: Miles Simon (42nd overall, Orlando) 1998

New Zealand: Sean Marks (44th overall, New York) 1998

Turkey: Hidayet Turkoglu (16th overall, Sacramento) 2000

Senegal: Mamadou N'Diaye (26th overall, Denver) 2000

Mali: Soumaila Samake (36th overall, New Jersey) 2000

Finland: Hanno Mottola (40th overall, Atlanta) 2000

Belgium: William Parker; Jr. (28th overall, San Antonio) 2001

Cameroon: Ruben Boumtje (50th overall, Portland) 2001

Luxembourg: Alvin Jones III (57th overall, Philadelphia) 2001

Poland: Maciej Lampe (30th overall, New York) 2003

Latvia: Andris Biedrins (11th overall, Golden State) 2004

South Korea: Seung-Jin Ha (46th overall, Portland) 2004

Central African Republic: Romain Sato-Lebel (52nd overall, San Antonio) 2004

Uzbekistan: Sergei Karaulov (57th overall, San Antonio) 2004

Switzerland: Thabo Sefalosha (13th overall, Philadelphia) 2006

Belarus: Vladimir Veremeenko (48th overall, Washington) 2006

Gabon: Yann Lasme (46th overall, Golden State) 2007

Taiwan: Joe Alexander (8th overall, Milwaukee) 2008

Republic Of Congo: Serge Ibaka-Ngobila (24th overall, Seattle) 2008

Tanzania: Hasheem Thabit-Manka (2nd overall, Memphis) 2009

Venezuela: Greivis Vasquez (28th overall, Memphis) 2010

Hungary: Hanga Adam (59th overall, San Antonio) 2011

Iran: Arsalan Kazemi (54th overall, Washington) 2013

Cape Verde: Walter Tavares (43rd overall, Atlanta) 2014

Macedonia: Cedi Osman (31st overall, Minnesota) 2015

India: Satnam Singh-Bhamara (52nd overall, Dallas) 2015

Austria: Jakob Potl (9th overall, Toronto) 2016

Cyprus: Aleks Vezenkov (57th overall, Brooklyn) 2017

Japan: Hachimura Rui (9th overall, Washington) 2019

Angola: Bruno Fernandes (34th overall, Philadelphia) 2019

Sudan: Bol Bol (44th overall, Miami) 2019

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sportsv · 5 years ago

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【歷史沒有如果】當年CP3交易的蝴蝶效應？!

文／阿怪

NBA本季的聖誕大戰，特地安排洛城德比對抗：快艇戰湖人。只見八屆全明星控衛Chris Paul技壓湖人小將D'Angelo Russell，帶領空拋之城輕鬆擊敗本季結束將高掛球鞋的傳奇後衛Kobe Bryant所領軍的紫金軍團。

只是在另一個平行時空中，或許是Bryant攜手Paul上演showtime 2.0，面對快艇生猛有力的一雙年輕後場Eric Bledsoe與Eric Gordon。然而這一切的改變，或許都得回溯到2011年的12月。

2011年的蝴蝶效應

美國氣象學家Edward Lorenz在1979年的一場演講談到，一隻蝴蝶在巴西搧動翅膀，有可能會導致德州引起一場龍捲風。係指初始條件微小的變化，卻能引起整個系統的長期巨大連鎖反應。

而2011年12月震驚聯盟的Paul交易案若成真，或許就是一個蝴蝶效應範例：紫金王朝有望迎接另一個盛世，也可能促成John Wall與Anthony Davis並肩作戰，或是雷霆早就高捧金盃，甚至是Bryant與LeBron James已然上演眾人期盼的總冠軍經��對決。然而這一切的可能，都伴隨著當時聯盟總裁David Stern一句『籃球因素』的理由，給一併否決掉了。

回首當年，正值封館球季，經歷一番勞資協商，停擺五個月的新球季正式重啟，然而卻爆出三方交易底定的大新聞：

洛杉磯湖人獲得黃蜂(現鵜鶘)Chris Paul交易出Pau Gasol、LaMar Odom

休士頓火箭獲得湖人Pau Gasol交易出Goran Dragic、Luis Scola、Kevin Martin及2012選秀權

紐澳爾良黃蜂獲得湖人Lamar Odom、火箭Goran Dragic、Luis Scola、Kevin Martin及2012選秀權交易出Chris Paul

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這無疑讓湖人獲得隊史自Magic Johnson之後的最佳控衛，當時26歲的Paul兩度拿下助攻及抄截王，生涯前六年場均18.7分、9.9助攻、2.4抄截。然而許多球隊老闆並不贊成，尤其是剛走了王牌球員James的小市場球隊騎士老闆Dan Gilbert就極力反對，還寫了封落落長的信件向Stern陳述反對理由。當時黃蜂正由聯盟託管，因此其餘29支球隊可以說是集體擁有黃蜂的管理權，由於許多老闆並不支持這個促成紫金強權復辟的交易，最終Stern拍版定案以『籃球因素」為由，否定了這個交易，也讓湖人及Paul吃了悶虧，大嘆不解。

Paul只能在推特上寫下『哇！』來傳達自己的無奈。而湖人總管Mitch Kupchak則說湖人已經盡可能的表示不滿之意，但誰能夠阻止Stern的最終裁決呢？

隨後，黃蜂再次策動交易，將Paul交易到快艇，換回Eric Gordon、Chris Kaman、Al-Farouq Aminu及一枚首輪選秀權。雖說Paul依舊來到了洛杉磯，但Bryant仍舊沒等到最佳助手，紫金倒塌、快艇崛起，而這也牽動了後續聯盟的『蝴蝶效應』。

湖人重啟霸業？

如果當時Paul交易案沒遭到否決，這些參與其中的球隊會有怎樣的發展呢？交易主角湖人雖然捨棄了陣中兩大長人，但獲得攻守兼具且又傳球第一的Paul加入，無疑可以分擔Bryant的壓力，雖然Paul與Bryant兩人都是需要持球在手的球員，但Paul的天賦與能力，將能夠讓Bryant釋出球權，也能給予Braynt更多的幫助，或許Bryant之後就不會遭逢影響生涯的傷勢；Paul的領導力也絕對能夠駕馭湖人並協助湖人眾將，他的多功能性也能配合Braynt的球風，讓Bryant追逐生涯的第六冠。湖人可以擺出老將Bryant+正值顛峰中生代Paul+潛力新生代中鋒Andrew Bynum的組合；甚至也仍有本錢進行交易，換回Dwight Howard組成CP3+Kobe+Howard的洛城三巨頭，與熱火新成軍的三巨頭一較高低。

談起當年的Paul交易，現任湖人教練Byron Scott就說：「有時候你會想說：『Stern真是該死！』我剛聽到那交易案時真的覺得『哇！這真的太神奇了！』」然而如果沒有被否決，湖人的教練一職也不會一路由Mike Brown換到Mike D’Antoni再到現在的Scott教練。

而Paul與Howard的搭檔也會讓人期待，Paul能夠激發出Howard的戰力，有如Paul能與DeAndre Jordan搭配、將Jordan的生涯表現推進至新的里程碑，而能力更佳的Howard將有更大的發揮空間。湖人戰績將維持高檔，Howard與Bryant的不合齟齬傳聞也不會發生，而Howard更不可能離開洛杉磯。湖人將在Bryant退役後，由新一代的控衛-中鋒連線扛起紫金王朝大旗。

而獲得Gasol的火箭將以這位全能長人來搭配Kyle Lowry、Courtney Lee、Chandler Parsons，實力仍然穩健，何況當年他們也很有機會再簽下自由球員Nene，來年選秀會上火箭依舊可以選來Jeremy Lamb與Terrence Jones來充實板凳。不過Gasol一來，火箭就不會去積極交易來James Harden，火箭將走上一條完全不一樣的道路。而新教練Kevin McHale與Lowry間的問題依舊無解，看來Lowry一樣會離開休士頓，而屆時2012年暑假的自由球員大物Deron Williams或許早一��重返德州故里了，也不會導致後續在布魯克林的種種不如意。Williams+Parsons+Gasol的陣容或許無法衝擊冠軍，但仍會充滿競爭力。

而離開火箭的Lowry會在多倫多找到第二春嗎？假使 Paul到了湖人，那麼Steve Nash也不會轉投洛城，他很可能回歸加拿大加盟暴龍，那麼暴龍也不會爭取Lowry加入，Lowry將落腳何處呢？在為暴龍效力前一直不被重用的Lowry還會成為今年明星賽的先發後衛嗎？

而從黃蜂（現鵜鶘）角度來看，雖然交易出球隊招牌Paul，但也換回一車實用性極佳的好球員。Jarrett Jack將出任先發，他的替補則是由Dragic擔綱，而Kevin Martin與Marco Belinelli、Greivis Vasquez、Trevor Ariza都是穩健的角色球員，前場則有Odom與Scola負責，都是兼具經驗與實績的好手。這陣容不會讓黃蜂戰績退步太多，因此隔年看來將無緣狀元籤，也就拿不到Anthony Davis入隊。選秀會上若運氣好點，或許可以挑中Damian Lillard，但大概最有可能的選擇是Michael Kidd-Gilchrist、Dion Waiters、Thomas Robinson；而交易來的選秀權（16順位)則可能選擇Tyler Zeller或Jared Sullinger其中之一。之後更名鵜鶘後，在陣中已有Dragic的情形下，也不會去交易來Jrue Holiday，因此2013年第六順位的Nerlens Noel很可能就留著自己培養。紐澳爾良或許戰力依舊不濟，但可以不必歷經Paul出走後那麼長久的重建旅程了。

而Odom也可能延長他的職業生涯。因為當年交易風雲，使得重返洛城的Odom鬱鬱寡歡，最終輾轉小牛快艇，不但提早結束了NBA生涯，還因為吸毒與買春等場外因素，造成身心極大的創傷影響。或許當年成功轉至紐澳爾良，能夠讓他繼續以全能第六人身手持續在聯盟有一席之地。

不過這就會牽動2012年狀元Davis最終花落誰家，這位肯塔基體能怪物很可能會落在夏洛特山貓(現黃蜂)、華盛頓巫師、克里夫蘭騎士之手。這樣一來Davis與2010年狀元Wall聯手或是與2011年狀元Kyrie Irving搭檔，無論哪種搭配，都將成為聯盟新一波的頂尖雙人組合。

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沒有Paul的快艇？保有Harden的雷霆？

而在Paul來到前14年只打入過一次季後賽的快艇，沒了Paul掌舵，將無法成為如今的爭冠熱門強權了。沒有交易來Paul，快艇只能圍繞Eric Bledsoe與Blake Griffin打造陣容，這也代表J.J. Redick不會轉投快艇，因為Eric Gordon將會穩坐主力得分後衛，Gordon的生涯也會依舊璀璨，不會由當年22.3分的明日之星射手變成如今在紐澳爾良平均僅14.9分的玻璃射手。或許快艇會追逐Arron Afflalo來出任側翼，也可能在2013年出手競標自由球員Andre Iguodala或Tyreke Evans。

然而少了Paul，快艇大概只能是一支不上不下的球隊，戰績在第七第八種子徘徊，也沒法在2014年以20億美元高價出售給前微軟執行長Steve Ballmer了吧！

而在以上球員都就定位後，反而使得太陽無法打造如今以Bledsoe與Brandon Knight為核心的後場組合。出手重建也算大器的太陽可能會將目光鎖定在出身亞利桑納州大的Harden，母親也長住亞利桑納的Harden很可能會成為太陽新少帥，與Knight一起帶領太陽。太陽可以端出Marcin Gortat、Jared Dudley、Markieff Morris等硬底子球員與雷霆交易，到12-13球季後還可以空出薪資空間追逐Howard，或許鬍獸連線就可以在鳳凰城重新聚首。

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而如果火箭當時換來Gasol，那麼雷霆若選擇留下Harden再戰，會有什麼樣的後續呢？身手皆是聯盟前十好手的Kevin Durant、Russell Westbrook、James Harden是否有可能早先金州勇士一步打造跑轟冠軍球隊？早早捧起金盃？而雷霆三巨頭與湖人三巨頭又誰強誰弱呢？

而擁有Paul與Howard鼎力助陣的Bryant，或許老早就可以重返冠軍戰，在2013年與勁敵James來場全球期待已久的Bryant vs. James大對戰，讓2009年無緣的24號 vs. 23號對決終於成真。

不過這些都隨著Stern大筆一揮，一句『籃球因素』終結了以上的種種可能。「湖人搞定了一個可以立即讓我們奪冠的交易。」Bryant回憶起當年的交易案時說：「但NBA卻否決了這個交易，如果這交易能夠成功…」

然而，歷史是沒有如果的。

否決交易

Paul交易否決案是史上少見的案例，以往的否決案大多都是體檢未過，最知名的莫過於1993-94球季的Robert Horry與Sean Elliott交易。當時休士頓火箭正打出聯盟開季最佳的15連勝（已被勇士打破），戰績來到32勝11敗，但火箭卻認為陣中的先發前鋒Horry出手太少、射程及準度不夠，因此在二月決定把Horry與Matt Bullard打包送去底特律活塞，換回射手Elliott。Horry抵達底特律後，決心改變心態，加強進攻。然而此時Elliott卻因為腎臟疾病（後來導致他在1999年接受移植手術)，無法通過火箭體檢，因此交易取消，使得已經在底特律練球幾次的Horry又得搭機返回休士頓。不過這趟旅程，激發了Horry的意志，讓他搖身一變成為火箭隨後二連霸的關鍵射手，也成為日後在湖人及馬刺揚名立萬的『Big Shot Rob』。

另一次交易取消案例，也與紐澳爾良黃蜂有關，2009年黃蜂已經將當家中鋒Tyson Chandler交易至雷霆，但隔天雷霆卻以Chandler腳傷為由取消交易。一說是雷霆股東因為股災損失，不願意雷霆吸納Chandler未來兩年近2500萬的合約；也有一說是聯盟不希望黃蜂失去主力Chandler，影響未來賣相與市值。

Stern觀點

這是聯盟少見的否決交易，主因是黃蜂當時由聯盟託管，黃蜂的未來賣相會是聯盟考量。如果黃蜂交易掉了球隊門面Paul，新換來的Odom（32歲）、Scola（31歲）、Martin（29歲）則都是中生代了，長期的潛力並不佳，這會使得黃蜂出售難度提高。而Stern或許認為快艇提出的交易包裹更為吸引人，22歲的Eric Gordon與21歲的Al-Farouq Aminu都充滿潛力，加上未來的選秀權，前景更好。

另一方面，封館協商主要議題在於如何保障小市場球隊利益，而封館一結束就爆出Paul加盟洛杉磯的交易，難怪除了騎士老闆Gilbert跳腳，諸如小牛老闆Mark Cuban、山貓(現黃蜂)老闆Michael Jordan都大力反對。認為這不但讓讓大市場湖人獲得強援Paul，沒拿出選秀權，又省下4000萬薪資，是大大的不公。

因此在各方考量下，Stern只得做出『籃球因素』的否決決定了。

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#Yahoo #運動視界 #Kobe Bryant #Chris Paul #交易

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msnbcnews05 · 2 years ago

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nba.com/bucks Greivis Vasquez NBA player highlights all possessions Bucks vs Nets 02-11-2015 FLASH BACK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDDfH4Ljh6s&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr kia.com

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nbatrades · 10 years ago

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Utah Jazz Acquire Steve Novak from Toronto Raptors

On July 10th, 2014, the Utah Jazz traded guard Diante Garrett to the Toronto Raptors for forward Steve Novak and a 2017 second round draft pick (Jonah Bolden).

Steve Novak became a member of the Toronto Raptors when he was traded by the New York Knicks with Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson, a first round pick and two second round picks for center Andrea Bargnani. Novak saw some minutes with Toronto, but he generally was in and out of the rotation. Novak made appearances in 54 games (one start) and amassed 3.3 PPG and 1.1 RPG in 10.0 MPG.

The Raptors began the 2013-14 season 6-12 before they made a blockbuster deal, trading forward Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings in a seven-player deal. The trade reinvigorated the team, with young players Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan elevating their play. The team improved on both ends of the floor, winning 13 of their next 18 games. The Raptors continued their ascent, rising to the third seed in the East by season’s end with a 48-34 record.

In the postseason, the Raptors faced the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. The Nets stole the first game in Toronto 94-87. DeRozan had 30 points in Game Two to help the Raptors even the series with a 100-95 win.

Brooklyn won Game Three by four points, before the Raptors took the fourth game with an eight-point win. After the Raptors gained a 3-2 series advantage with an 87-79 victory in Toronto, the Nets forced a Game Seven with 97-83 final score. In the seventh game, Brooklyn won after Lowry had his shot blocked by Nets forward Paul Pierce on the final possession.

Novak played in four of the seven playoff games for Toronto. Though he did receive rotation minutes (11:05) in Game Six, Novak went scoreless in 15 total minutes during the series.

The Utah Jazz signed guard Diante Garrett to a multi-year contract as insurance for recently injured rookie point guard Trey Burke (broken right finger). Brought in after the team waived guard Jamaal Tinsley, Garrett had been playing for the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy when he was called up to the Jazz.

Garrett backed up veteran guard John Lucas III while Burke was out. He lost his spot in the rotation when Burke returned, but eventually passed Lucas on the depth chart. The combo guard played in 71 games and registered 3.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.7 APG and 0.6 SPG in 14.8 MPG. Garrett’s defense impressed the Jazz and he was solid outside shooter, but he was an inefficient scorer (45.9 true shooting percentage) and a questionable decision maker (1.6:1 assist-turnover ratio).

The Jazz were one of the worst teams in the NBA during the 2013-14 season. Utah dropped 14 of their first 15 games. Their play improved as the season progressed, but they never could escape the hole they dug themselves early on. The team finished with the worst record in the Western Conference.

Though there was hope that he could stay around for the Jazz, Garrett was traded to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that primarily centered around financial flexibility. The Jazz took on Steve Novak’s salary ($7.2 million over two seasons) and received a future second round pick for their troubles. By acquiring, Garrett's non-guaranteed contract, Toronto gained some wiggle room to escape the luxury tax, re-sign guard Greivis Vasquez and pursue other options in free agency.

Garrett had a non-guaranteed salary of $915,000 for the 2014-15 season and was waived by the Raptors about a week after the trade. Novak joined the Jazz and rarely played. He appeared in 22 games with the Jazz (2.2 PPG and 0.7 RPG in 5.0 MPG) before being traded with Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade also involving the Detroit Pistons.

More than two years after the trade, the Jazz dealt the second round pick acquired in the Novak deal to the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade to dump the salary of center Tibor Pleiss. The Sixers used the pick on Australian center Jonah Bolden in the 36th spot of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Steve Novak on his fit with the Jazz (via Brandon Judd):

“We are a young team and I think guys like me and Trevor [Booker]... We are the veterans and I think both of us have never really been the oldest guys on the team. I think this year we are and I think we have to play our role, and for me, that’s to spread the floor and allowing these guys like Trey [Burke] and Alec [Burks] to operate in the middle and make shots from the perimeter to give the big guys the space down low to operate.”

Image via Getty Images/Ronald Martinez

#Jonah Bolden #Diante Garrett #Steve Novak #2014 #2014*15 Season #Jazz #Raptors

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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Why I became a fair-weather sports fan after years of being diehard

When fandom becomes badge of suffering, we all lose.

Over the past five years, I have turned into a fair-weather fan of a sports team I used to be obsessed with. And I have to tell you: it’s wonderful.

I grew up addicted to watching basketball, reading about basketball, playing basketball (poorly), playing basketball video games (less poorly), talking about basketball. And my team was the Sacramento Kings. And the Kings were horrid most of my childhood. All of my childhood? Pretty close.

I remember the 1996 playoffs series against the Sonics like it was yesterday. I was a teenager but felt like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning watching that series. Pure catharsis, even in defeat.

I worshipped Mitch Richmond and booed when the Kings passed on John Wallace for somebody named Predrag Stojakovic. (An astute analyst even then, it’s true.) I cried for Bobby Hurley and believed in Corliss Williamson more than anyone. As someone who enjoyed the Fab Five immensely, I was over the moon when Chris Webber showed up. I relished the era he heralded. So much so that as sports blogs were becoming a thing I started up a site that eventually became Sactown Royalty, the second NBA blog on SB Nation.

For nine years, I led and grew a community of like-minded fanatics. I wrote in depth about Bonzi Wells, Mike Bibby, Shelden Williams, Desmond Mason, Jason Hart, John Salmon, Francisco Garcia, Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, Tyreke Evans, Jimmer Fredette, Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Thomas Robinson, Omri Casspi, Donte Greene, Greivis Vasquez, Tyler Honeycutt (RIP), Sylven Landesburg, Orien Greene — Orien Greene started at point guard on an opening night for the Sacramento Kings! There was Justin Williams, Bobby Brown, Chuck Hayes, Kenny Thomas, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Marcus Thornton, Rashad McCants, Bobby Jackson, Travis Outlaw, Andres Nocioni, Ronnie Price, Quincy Douby and exactly one game of Drew Gooden. I feuded with the play-by-play guy, two local columnists, several national reporters, the general manager, the press relations head, the owners, two head coaches and one head coach’s wife. (I think I have since buried the hatchet with all of them save for one of the head coaches, the play-by-play guy and one of the national reporters. I think. It’s hard to keep track of all of my professional squabbles.)

I was the model hardcore fan. I hated the Lakers with disturbing fervor. I would watch every game of a 17-win season and write about that horrid team 10 times a week. When I wasn’t watching or writing about them, I was thinking about them. I was hoping that someday I’d get to write about and root for and watch a good team.

And if I had kept on like that, I’d still be waiting.

In early 2014, I handed the reins of Sactown Royalty over to the team that is now at The Kings Herald. I continued to watch every Kings game that season, even having excised the professional obligation. I was still a hardcore Kings fan. But over the course of the next couple of years, I stopped the obsession. I stopped watching every single game. I stopped thinking about free agency, the coaching carousel and the NBA Draft first through the prism of what they meant for the Kings. I stopped being upset by the foibles of the doomed franchise, and started appreciating how hilariously inept the team was.

I stopped caring so much when the team gave me so little to care about. I became a fair-weather fan.

Before the coronavirus shutdown, I was to the point where I watched the Kings as much as I watched, say, the Pelicans or Grizzlies (two teams quite fun to watch, but for whom I have no real rooting interest). If the Kings were on and the game wasn’t entertaining, I’d change it. If they went on a mystifying three-game losing streak, I’d roll my eyes and watch some Lakers highlights. If they won a couple of games, if Harry Giles had a nice stint, if De’Aaron Fox looked healthy for the first time in months, I’d be excited. I allowed myself to enjoy the Kings as a fan without wrapping myself in the trappings of suffering when things went south.

I had deprogrammed myself from an obsessive fandom into something that certainly seems more healthy.

Now and then, someone will tweet about how I must never have been a true Kings fan since I gave it up now, as a decade of doom mounts. What a nightmarish view of fandom, that unless you’re willing to absorb infinite, eternal despair you are faking it! The world is suffering enough without fake-ass purity tests around hobbies. And that’s the key here: do you view your fandom as an identity or as a hobby? That’s the transition I’ve made. That’s where so many fans who can’t rattle off the 2007 opening night starting lineup but wear the ballcap or the T-shirt live. Having it as your identity is totally fine provided that doesn’t lead you to police the fandom, to determine who is good enough to be granted admission to the happy times when misery lifts for the team.

As someone who wore his fandom like a second skin before and wears it like a hat now, I can tell you that being a fair-weather fan is a totally valid way to experience sports. In fact, if your team is as punishing to your psyche as the Kings have been to their fans, I recommend it!

In fact, if you’re interested in conversion, let the coronavirus shutdown ween you off of obsessive fandom. Allow this break to detach your fandom identity from your corpus and make that team earn your loyalty not through mere continued existence but through success or good works or the creation of happiness. You don’t owe anything to the Knicks, the Browns, the Mariners, the Liberty, Arsenal, Georgia football, the Mets, the Kings, the Hornets, the Jaguars, UCLA basketball, the Sharks or the senior United States Men’s Soccer Team. You can make them try to earn your fandom and spare yourself little miseries when they continue to fail to do so.

The pull of nostalgia and identity and, in many cases, herd fandom and geography are strong. I completely understand and respect those who can’t shed the skin. For those of you who remain all-weather fans, godspeed.

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viraljournalist · 5 years ago

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The Kawhi pitch - Toronto's best case to keep its superstar free agent

New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/the-kawhi-pitch-torontos-best-case-to-keep-its-superstar-free-agent/

The Kawhi pitch - Toronto's best case to keep its superstar free agent

What does Kawhi want?

This is the essential question that has occupied the Toronto Raptors since their bold trade for Kawhi Leonard last July. Leonard is one of the NBA’s most inscrutable superstars, a man of few words and little subtext.

He’s not uncommunicative, but he is quite literal. When he was asked after the Raptors’ Game 2 blowout road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, “Where do you go from here?” Leonard replied, “To Toronto for Game 3.” This isn’t a player interested in disseminating messages in the media to convey his feelings or leverage his power.

For NBA teams, trafficking in superstars is a two-part process — acquisition, then retention — and it’s that latter stage that presents the greatest challenge. Any front office with the requisite assets can trade for a superstar, but only one skilled at the art of persuasion can keep him. Tied 1-1 with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals (Game 3, 9 p.m. ET on ABC), the Raptors will soon shift their attention to the retention project they’ve been planning for nearly a year — signing Leonard to a long-term contract in free agency to remain in Toronto.

How do you sell someone not easily sold? How do you sculpt a pitch about external factors when the target of that pitch is someone so internally focused? What can you really offer that other leading NBA organizations can’t? How can the Raptors compensate for their geographic disadvantage to a team like the LA Clippers in recruiting a Southern Californian whose preference for temperate climes is well-known?

The Raptors executed the trade last summer with the belief that, when it came time to make their sale to Leonard, they’d be a strong incumbent with a track record of competence and achievement. This is the case Toronto can make to Leonard with confidence.

Kawhi:

When we started crafting our pitch to you to make the Raptors your long-term home, we realized that the most important considerations aren’t necessarily the things we think we do well as an NBA franchise, but the things you believe are most important as an NBA superstar. This decision is about both your professional and personal lives, and it’s the first real opportunity you’ve had to choose a home with no restrictions.

Your honesty is one of the qualities we most admire in you, so in identifying the factors we feel at work in this decision, we’d be smart to take you at your word. We think about your introductory news conference from last September, when you were asked what you want most to accomplish in your NBA career.

You responded, “Just be able to be healthy. That’s my No. 1 goal — play a long, healthy career, be able to be dominant wherever I land. That’s about it. I want to win championships and get in those record books.”

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You’re a rare breed — a player who is well-aware of his greatness, but who also appreciates the limitations of a human body against the grueling NBA schedule. That’s why when you arrived in Toronto, you clearly articulated your expectations: A commitment to your physical health was what you wanted from our organization this season, above all else. That meant a coordinated effort in which every stakeholder — you, our front office, our coaching staff, our medical team, those you trust to advise you — would work toward that common goal.

It’s fair to say that, over the past year, Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors together created a new template for the NBA. You know as we do that what was referred to casually — and often dismissively — in the media as “load management” was so much more than your finding rest on back-to-back stretches. It was a collaborative and thoughtful process befitting of an athlete who plays with uncommon magnitude and force, whose every movement on the court is a portrait of intention.

You teamed up with our director of sports science Alex McKechnie, physiotherapist Amanda Joaquim, as well as others in our organization, and methodically navigated your output to perfection. When you said in March that the NBA’s regular season was “82 practices,” we fully embraced that characterization, just as we endorsed your larger approach. McKechnie, for years, has been at the forefront of this performance movement, and we consider your partnership with him an achievement.

We’re a forward-thinking NBA franchise that understands that there are many reasons you’ve been the MVP of the 2019 playoffs — your talent, preparation, temperament. But there’s also your devotion to best practices. We look at an otherworldly superstar like James Harden and wonder had he not crossed the 3,000 minute threshold sometime during Game 4 of the Rockets’ first-round series — a multiyear pattern for him — whether we’d be facing Houston and not Golden State in the Finals.

There are stars, front offices and coaches who reject this thinking, who reside in an old-world sensibility where toughing it out in a “man’s league” is the dominant worldview. Not us. Like you, we appreciate that every small decision is part of a much larger whole. There’s no one game, single practice or individual workout that stands apart from the greater goal of winning a championship; every choice impacts the greater outcome.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

Watching you go about your business on a daily basis has been a revelation to us. From the moment you arrive at the facility, it’s an exercise in machine-like efficiency: weights, shots, medical, film, practice, ice, and whatever else your preparation demands. Not a moment or movement wasted. And it’s not simply that we admire how you put in a day’s work — we’ve learned from it. You made us aware early on that you’re a player accustomed to structure, and we listened. As a result, we’re a better basketball operation today than when you arrived, something that has been borne out this spring.

Our head coach, Nick Nurse, has won at every level throughout his career — but more importantly, he’s a listener. When you asked questions about defensive rotations or coverage schemes, we explained that our principles of ball pressure and getting in gaps were less specific in their directives, but over the course of the regular season and playoffs, we melded our approaches. In doing so, we extinguished the East’s top-ranked offense, rendering it impotent in a six-game series.

On the other end, we installed an offense that both maximizes the collective intelligence and inherent unselfishness of our unit, but also empowers your exceptional individual skill set. We’ve worked with you to put you in the best position to succeed on a given possession by furnishing you with the brightest teammates who intuitively understand where, when and how you like the ball. While we respect that you’ll survey the field for other franchises with talent, we are steadfast in our belief that you will not find another roster with more professionalism, experience and unselfishness. Nor will you find a collection of teammates with a willingness to defer to your dominance at the biggest moments, while doing all the little things required for you to succeed in those moments.

The Warriors and Raptors are set to clash in the Finals. Tune in here.

Friday, June 7 • Game 4 | 9 p.m. ET | ABC/WatchESPN

Monday, June 10 • Game 5 | 9 p.m. ET | ABC/WatchESPN

We have veteran players who still have productive seasons ahead, and young players who are only going to get better, including Pascal Siakam, who is projected to walk away with the league’s Most Improved Player award in a landslide. We selected him with the 27th pick, just as we have overperformed with so many of our younger players: We stole Norman Powell from Milwaukee by sending out Greivis Vasquez, found OG Anunoby with the 23rd pick, and picked up off the scrap heap an undrafted Fred VanVleet, who has been crucial in helping you win the biggest games in Raptors franchise history.

We could tell you why we think Toronto is the greatest basketball city on the continent, how being the face of a truly national franchise is a privilege, but we also know that you might value the strengths of our market differently than others. We appreciate that peripherals aren’t as important to you, but we know that a professional workplace devoid of external noise is. And we present the events of the last 10 months as evidence that, in this respect, the Toronto Raptors are a perfect fit for Kawhi Leonard.

An NBA team with a pending free-agent superstar can be beset by intrigue and disruption, but despite the uncertainty about your future, our season together was devoid of high drama. That’s a testament both to your character and our commitment to doing things the right way: We didn’t succumb to distractions because, together, we simply wouldn’t allow it. If there’s an organization that has produced a more harmonious season of basketball in recent years with such uncertainty, we haven’t seen it. This wasn’t a fluke; we believe it is — and will be — a fundamental feature of the Toronto Raptors in a Kawhi Leonard Era.

But more than anything, our boldest selling point is you — specifically, our decision last summer to change the course of our franchise in an effort to make you a Toronto Raptor. Our rivals in the Eastern Conference had greater resources and assets necessary to acquire you. We can’t say why they didn’t. Perhaps they didn’t believe you could restore yourself to full health, or you weren’t worth their best prospects. Maybe they didn’t have sufficient faith that the overall quality of their organization would be enough to convince you to stay.

We took the risk they didn’t, not only because we were confident you’d find the conditions for both health and on-court success to be present in Toronto, but because we also understood that you would make us a better NBA franchise — you would make us the kind of organization that would be the best long-term home for Kawhi Leonard.

Coming soon: The case for the Clippers

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laculpaesdelavaca-blog1 · 6 years ago

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sportsv · 6 years ago

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Anthony Davis 高喊要到洛杉磯！塞爾提克真的毫無機會？綠衫軍的四個強勢方案（上）

文／ JGT

Anthony Davis在2012年以狀元之姿進入NBA後就備受矚目，一方面是他6呎10吋、7呎6吋的臂展，另一方面是後衛出身的打法裝進了長人之軀帶來革命性的球風。由於紐奧良黃蜂(尚未改名鵜鶘)當時正處在Chris Paul出走、已故老闆Tom Benson收購球隊經營權，也讓當時黃蜂獲得狀元籤被傳聞是前NBA總裁David Stern的「贈禮」，因此AD更背負了「紐奧良救世主」的包袱。

6年過去，AD生涯場均「23.8分10.5籃板2.1助攻1.4抄截2.4阻攻」無疑是MVP水準的成績，然而鵜鶘卻僅闖進兩次季後賽，即使天天上演鬼神般的表現與史詩級數據，但球隊就是贏不了球又或是贏得非常辛苦，AD的領袖氣質也成了他輝煌履歷中的最大質疑。

AD此時此刻喊出賣我、轉戰更有競爭力的球隊並不令人意外，早些時候就有某些坐在主播台上的名人堂級前輩隔空勸他趁著還年輕做出對自己最好的選擇。這些話看在紐奧良球迷的眼裡當然很不是滋味，但就如當年明尼蘇達失去Kevin Garnett一樣，時間到了他們仍然願意祝福AD。

根據Bleacher Report的報導指出聖誕節前夕許多總管齊聚拉斯維加斯考察發展聯盟球員表現時皆受訪表示AD最快將於19-20球季開打前離開鵜鶘，而他的下家球隊將會是經典世仇「洛杉磯湖人」或「波士頓塞爾提克」。

本文主要會分析塞爾提克在爭奪AD時可能提出的交易方案，但請讀者切記此篇文章並非絕對且交易包裹也只是筆者自己的預測。但在進入主題前，這邊先用一段不短的篇��來回顧鵜鶘GM Dell Demps究竟做了多少荒唐的動作讓AD終於失去了耐心。

#Demps不斷重蹈覆轍的操作

「Demps是個糟糕的GM，他交易來的那些球員到現在都已離隊，而現在還可能失去Davis。」

By. David Stern

2018年10月Stern接受了Sports Illustrated記者Chris Ballard的訪問，談到鵜鶘總管Dell Demps他毫不保留地諷刺一番，相信大家還有印象的話絕對會先砲轟Stern當年以「籃球原因」否決了Demps所策劃的黃蜂、湖人、火箭的三方交易：

Stren以黃蜂當時由「聯盟代管」為由表示黃蜂並未在此交易案中得到等值回報，因此才會使這筆可能改寫NBA歷史的交易案胎死腹中，最終Demps只能改與快艇交易：

更多最新 NBA 精選好文：

從西區第一跌至聯盟谷底　曼菲斯的下一步該如何走？

尼克、小牛新年前 KP–DSJ 震撼交易：一場皆大歡喜的對換？

爛約比一比：John Wall 的超級頂薪是 NBA 最差的簽約？

事後來看可以得知當年聯盟若沒有否決三方交易，那麼黃蜂可以得到三名中生代即戰力與一名準明星控衛維持競爭力，但也可能因此錯過AD這張神主牌。

萬萬沒想到AD的到來反而才是Demps脫序演出的開始，他選擇的不是與紐奧良相似位於小市場的奧克拉荷馬雷霆「選秀��隊」當然更不可能是邁阿密熱火組建「LCD三巨頭」的速成強權，他選擇的道路是2003年~2010年LeBron James尚未離隊的克里夫蘭騎士，嘗試用手中原有的角色球員、老將或用溢價合約購買非頂級球星輔佐AD，事實證明當年的騎士失敗了，而Demps也在AD高喊吹密後宣告失敗。

#2013

Demps為了取悅AD瘋狂送出手上選秀權的速度遠遠超過球隊增加的勝場數，他將2013年首輪第6順位籤選到的Nerlens Noel、2014年首輪籤(兌現為Elfrid Payton)向進入「坦克元年」的七六人換來Jrue Holiday；接著不到一個月後Demps打包高控衛Greivis Vasquez、藍領中鋒Robin Lopez與國王、拓荒者三方交易得到Tyreke Evans、Jeff Withey，搞出轟動一時的「後衛海」。

#2014與2015

命運多舛的鵜鶘飽受傷病所苦(這點或許也跟其醫療團隊長年與NFL聖徒隊共享有關)，「三衛」接連因傷缺陣，季中送走表現空間不足的Rivers、夏天眼看Withey不是能無法在NBA立足的料加上AD表態不希望長時間擔任先發中鋒，Demps又拿出該年首輪籤(兌現為Sam Dekker)換來火箭亟欲出清的毒藥合約Omer Asik並於隔年休賽季分別給予他與替補中鋒Alexis Ajinça一份5年58M、4年20M的肥約。

#2016

以為這樣就結束了嗎? 2016年夏天NBA進入大頂薪時代，手上多了一堆銀彈的Demps不但沒能留住Gordon還宛如發瘋似地向只因7場季後賽繳出「7.7分4籃板、57.9%三分球命中率」連曇花都不算的Solomon Hill開出4年52M、E'Twaun Moore開出4年34M的合約，前者現在已是個天大的笑話；後者雖在這兩年證明物有所值但在當時明顯是多花了不少冤枉錢。

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早已擺脫爛隊的刻板印象！重建進��超前的東西軍：籃網與國王

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除了黃綠強權之外還有他們！競爭 Anthony Davis 5 隊交易提案

#2017與2018

16-17賽季鵜鶘再度陷入低潮，Demps將無法適應Alvin Gentry戰術體系的Hield為主體搭配Evans、Langston Galloway以及一枚2017首輪籤(兌現為Zach Collins)盤來「第一中鋒」DeMarcus Cousins，後來在去2月阿��里斯腱斷裂後選擇與他分手、暑假也未能留住老大哥Rondo，這些或許也都加速了AD做出賣我宣言的速度。

對了，這邊可還沒提到Demps作繭自縛亂開肥約導致2017年夏天被迫用最高規格的5年126M續留Holiday，縱使他在一年後證明了自己是個攻守兼備的A咖球星也入選年度防守第一隊，但當時他在市場上根本不可能獲得如此待遇...

太多缺乏遠見的交易與簽約導致Demps近年不斷用十天合約或底薪短約試用被其他球隊淘汰的球員來填補陣容空缺，事後諸葛來看鵜鶘為了迎接並送走Asik等於賠掉Dekker、Chandler Hutchison(2018 No. 22)兩名首輪側翼球員；為了Boogie付出本季已成場均可提供20分火力的Hield以及先發替補兩得宜的長人Collins。

AD現在喊賣我可說是對Demps與鵜鶘最大的仁慈，他阻止了Demps可能繼續動用選秀權去補強步上當年「籃網大撒幣」的後塵：「不斷拿未來作為賭博籌碼卻換來那不存在的當下。」而且Demps比Billy King幸運擁有AD這塊高價瑰寶，至少在他被摘烏紗帽前擁有彌補過錯的機會，也因此鵜鶘球團公開聲明並不會倉促做出交易，而是會做出對球隊最有利的交易。

#湖人的野望

暑假AD決定將個人經紀人換成LBJ的好友兼事業夥伴Rich Paul，被聯想成他加入湖人的前兆，部分高層也透露確實存在可能性，雖然AD與Paul甚至是LBJ都否認這個傳言，但從AD個人的角度來湖人不但享有洛杉磯廣大市場與老��塢的鎂光燈曝光率，可以符合AD團隊期望「在NBA更有影響力」、「獲得更多品牌代言」的願望。

球員的部分，當今聯盟第一人LBJ是AD兒時最崇拜的對象也是他選擇23號作為背號的原因，又有去年教導他走向領袖之路的心靈導師Rajon Rondo，陣中也有幾位中鋒戰力可以讓AD不用長時間擔任中鋒增加受傷機率，比較需要注意的是以往與LBJ合作的明星長人都必須具備穩定的中遠距離投籃能力，可惜AD生涯6季三分球命中率從未突破35%產量也不算太高。

然而要把AD送到哪、怎麼賣終究取決於球團。同處西區恐怕會使鵜鶘降低交易AD至湖人資敵的意願、LBJ與Paul這對事業搭檔這季的敲邊鼓以及今年NFL國聯冠軍賽紐奧良聖徒因為關鍵誤判敗給洛杉磯公羊等等恩怨都可能加重鵜鶘對於湖人的不滿。

湖人為了避免夜長夢多勢必要在本季交易截止日前就完成談判，到了夏天湖人能拿出來的籌碼還是這麼多，反觀手握更多交易籌碼且更具組合性的塞爾提克擺脫「指定新秀條款」束縛後即可參戰，相較起來湖人面臨的危機並不比綠衫軍來得小。

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除了巨星 Anthony Davis，這些待交易戰力也可能牽動聯盟版圖！

雙重逆境竟還能絕地翻身！爵士從西區墊底衝上前八的關鍵

Kyrie 趕快認清事實吧！綠衫軍問題不在小將，而在這名攻守中樞

Brandon Ingram、Lonzo Ball、Kyle Kuzma、Josh Hart、Ivica Zubac將會是兩隊接下來談判的主要內容，若想趕在2月7日前得手他們孩需要在交易中放上Kentavious Caldwell-Pope的千萬合約來滿足規範，現在就看湖人究竟願意付出幾名潛力小將以及多少選秀權了。不過假設交易成功，湖人接下來幾年內的選秀權沒意外的話預計都會落在25順位之後，這對進入重建的鵜鶘而言並沒有無法抗拒的吸引力，即使是要拿來當後續出清Holiday肥約的配菜效果恐怕也不會太好。

#塞爾提克等待多年的期待

傳言打從AD還在Kentucky開始，塞爾提克總管Danny Ainge就朝朝暮暮盼望有一天能看到他為綠衫軍效力。許多人讚嘆Ainge慧眼獨具，但從2014年至今4屆選秀會他手持誇張的19枚選秀權如今還能站上NBA舞台的球員僅剩10名、尚留在自家陣中的則剩8名，若非少帥Brad Stevens總能幫子弟兵找到角色定位，恐怕Ainge洗大量選秀權刷首抽的絕活也會成為後世人的閒話家常。

Demps若想避免走上籃網之路，那麼6年前讓King成為笑話的始作俑者又精通「選秀權分裂術」的Ainge絕對是他最佳合作夥伴，這也是為什麼AD賣我宣言爆出後多方消息指出鵜鶘球團無意在本季交易截止日前動手的原因，他可以先聆聽Ainge提供的交易報價作為底價去向其他球隊開口，從中獲取更多的回報又或是要求Ainge多送點東西出來。

綠衫軍在3個賽季前便開始重塑贏球文化，後續操作所建構出來的陣容配置也很像是在為了迎接一名頂級長人做布局，如今陣中多了私交不錯又曾向波士頓球迷公開表達忠誠的Kyrie Irving擔任招募對象，放眼全NBA塞爾提克大概也是最有辦法滿足AD內心所望共創「三贏」局面的球隊了！

一切都看似很順利很美好還是得潑幾灘冷水，因為綠衫軍不但需要等待Irving暑假換約才能擺脫DPE的限制外，六月將滿33歲的Al Horford是否會執行來季高達30M的PO也可能影響到籌碼內容，以常理來看他沒有理由放棄如此高薪，除非他真是「活佛轉世」願意降薪改簽年限較長的合約留在波士頓一圓冠軍夢終老。

再來NBA近年因為薪資膨脹以致新秀合約成了CP值最高的資產，以目前局勢來看塞爾提克今年最多可擁有「4枚首輪籤」(灰熊前8順位保護、國王or七六人取高順位者、快艇樂透保護、自家)。不過此時需要考慮最重要的事情：「時間」，從現在開始至自由市場開市前Ainge除了擔心AD會不會就此獎落他隊外、選秀也早已結束，所以在選秀會時若得不到鵜鶘的承諾他即會陷入兩難：「若為了順從鵜鶘的喜好選擇恐破壞球隊未來規劃、若為了球隊未來又可能與AD擦肩而過。」

交易需要考量薪資對等，選秀權兌換成新人後只要確定不放洋海外那麼最快在7月中旬即可簽署四年合約，且會根據順位的不同分配到不同的最大金額並在簽約後30日(預計八月中旬)可列為佔有薪資價值的交易籌碼，從好處想綠衫軍能趁這段期間先完成戰力補強並可能保住一至兩名年輕潛力股，只是也得花更長的時間賭鵜鶘不會找到更好的交易夥伴以及選中的新秀不會在夏季聯賽出包降低身價...

接下來幻想的交易方案會是非常複雜的議題... 在開始之前先從以下兩張圖來窺視綠衫軍接下來幾年內的團隊薪資，再從中去探討爭奪AD時必須拿出怎樣的包裹。（未完待續）

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遠離靠爸成為火箭「聖誕禮物」！Austin Rivers：現在是我最快樂的時光

#NBA #yahoo #Anthony Davis #運動視界 #塞爾提克

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morganbelarus · 7 years ago

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Under Armour Loses Its Footing

Under Armour Inc. was betting it could dance with Nike and Adidas at the hot sneaker prom. It was not to be.

The sports clothing label reported a 2 percent decline, to $237 million, in footwear revenue for the quarter, compared with a 58 percent jump over the same period in 2016. Those numbers are a bigger disappointment than they sound, since in recent years the brand has sought to sharpen its image with a sexy sneaker lineup that would draw shoppers away from rivals. Looking to regain its swagger by finding growth—especially in its important sneaker business, Under Armour has been left humbled.

“Footwear slowing is a big deal,” said Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Instinet. “Because footwear slowing, if not a one-time blip, [it] does essentially cap how large the company can be.”

Under Armour announced a restructuring plan and cut its annual sales forecast on Tuesday, eliminating around 2 percent of its workforce amid sagging sales. The company said it plans to shore up back-end efficiencies under its new chief operating officer, Patrick Frisk, including the speed at which it can get new shoes and other items to market. Frisk previously ran the Aldo Group, a privately held shoe seller.

Even before Tuesday’s earnings news, it’s been a rough year for the company. Chief Executive Officer Kevin Plank triggered consumer ire with his public support of President Donald Trump and admitted to various missteps when the company posted its first-ever loss back in April.

Shoes are the key to Under Armour’s growth and why it’s considered in the same league as much larger competitors such as Nike Inc. and Adidas AG. The question becomes whether Baltimore-based Under Armour can regain traction for its sneaker business, whether through new athlete endorsements or the resurgence of an existing one. Plank said he knows that footwear is Under Armour’s biggest opportunity and that it remains a focus.

“We’re not sitting here tone-deaf saying we’re just going to make cleats,” he said on a conference call with analysts, pointing to the newly released training shoes under NFL quarterback Cam Newton’s name, expanding his line from on-field cleats to signature shoes for the gym and sidewalk. “Like, we understand what the market’s asking for.”

The NBA’s Stephen Curry is Under Armour biggest sneaker star, and the company hopes the next iteration of his kicks can spur its shoes along. The Curry 4 doesn’t hit store shelves until this fall, although the basketball star introduced the style during the NBA finals in June. Curry and his brother Seth have been on a tour promoting Under Armour in Asia this summer, hosting camps and showing off the new sneakers. Plank said response to the new shoes during the playoffs was “quite positive.”

Still, Under Armour lacks the big-name arsenal of Nike, especially on the basketball court. Nike boasts sneaker-selling powerhouses such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving. And of course, Nike has its dominant Jordan franchise.

Other than Curry, Under Armour’s bench boasts such middling names as Greivis Vasquez and Kent Bazemore. But not all shoe news for the brand has been bad. This June, the company signed Josh Jackson—the former University of Kansas standout and fourth overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft—to a multiyear endorsement deal. Under Armour hopes he’ll evolve into the brand’s next big pitchman. It was the first time Under Armour had ever signed a top NBA prospect.

Also this summer, Under Armour introduced a customizable footwear platform called Icon, which allows shoppers to pick their own colors and patterns or use limited-edition prints. Sneakerheads can also emblazon their own pictures or images on shoes.

“We’re going to make a meaningful number of pairs of shoes this year that’ll give us the attention and the scale that we need in order to be a long-term player in this space,” said Plank. “And so a lot of what you’re hearing today is how Under Armour’s positioning for long term and I think that plays out in no category more so than footwear.”

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/03/17/washington-post-melo-trimbles-maryland-story-is-still-being-written-18/

Washington Post: Melo Trimble’s Maryland story is still being written

ORLANDO — Legacies aren’t really meant to be evaluated midstream, and we don’t know how much longer Melo Trimble will be around to add to his at Maryland. We know he has Thursday — and maybe through the weekend and maybe into next week and possibly even next year. Each of those opportunities matters.

Trimble leads these Terrapins, the first version that could accurately be described as wholly his Terrapins, into his third NCAA tournament Thursday evening against Xavier. He has never known a March without the madness, yet he evaluated his mood Wednesday thusly: “Still nervous to play.”

Maryland, as a program, should aspire to be an annual participant in a setting such as this. That’s the history, and that’s the standard.

But Trimble’s mere appearance behind a microphone on a dais should serve as a good reminder for Terps fans that, even recently, it wasn’t always like this. Disappointed by a sixth seed in the West Region? Forgot the unexpected giddiness of a 20-2 start and are instead obsessed over four losses in the past six games? All that colors this tournament appearance with a could-go-either-way feel.

[NCAA tournament cheat sheet: Top upset picks, myths to avoid, and the perfect bracket]

(McKenna Ewen/The Washington Post)

Yet even in the middle of all this, Trimble must be evaluated as one of the most important glue guys in his program’s history. He may not have reached that upper echelon of Terrapins greats — Juan Dixon or John Lucas or Albert King or Walt Williams or Len Bias. But would these Terrapins have been here — giddily flinging shots from half-court to complete a light and loose practice session at Amway Center on Wednesday afternoon — without Melo Trimble?

Remember: Before Trimble showed up in College Park, the Terps had failed to play a single tournament game since 2010. That was the senior season of Greivis Vasquez, the final face of Gary Williams’s tenure. So don’t forget this about Trimble: “He changed the face of our program,” Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said.

Put differently and not hyperbolically: He went a long way toward, if not saving Turgeon’s job, then at least making him feel much more comfortable in the chair.

When Trimble arrived on campus in fall 2014, Turgeon again had missed the NCAA tournament in his third season replacing Gary Williams — who, you might remember, won a national championship at his alma mater. Worse was the unsettled feeling around the program. Five players — Seth Allen, Nick Faust, Roddy Peters, Charles Mitchell and Shaquille Cleare — transferred from College Park.

The Terrapins needed stability and quickly. “We had to kind of establish ourselves,” Turgeon said. Trimble, as a freshman, and senior holdover Dez Wells provided it.

Now Turgeon feels entrenched at Maryland, and Trimble’s personality pervades the program. This isn’t obvious from the outside. As a freshman, Trimble could — and did — defer to Wells. In Trimble’s sophomore season, Rasheed Sulaimon, an ebullient transfer from Duke, and senior Jake Layman served as the program’s spokesmen.

[Don’t fall for these March Madness spin jobs]

But go back to November of his freshman year, when Ryan Lumpkin, then a sophomore manager for the Terps, boarded a bus en route to a game against Iowa State in Kansas City. Row after row, Lumpkin searched for a seat. He ended up with Trimble in the last row. Trimble scored 11, and the Terps beat the No. 13 team in the country. Since then, Trimble and Lumpkin — star and manager — haven’t changed it up.

“If I try to sit in another seat — nope,” Lumpkin said. “Got to make sure I sit in the right seat.”

There is an inclusiveness about Trimble that isn’t a trait associated with players of his stature — a three-time all-Big Ten selection, in the running to have his number honored at Xfinity Center. He counts Lumpkin, one of his roommates, and sophomore walk-on Andrew Terrell among his closest friends. When Trimble comes out of a game, which is infrequently, he makes sure to go to the end of the bench and exchange high-fives or fist bumps with each and every player.

“Even if he’s mad about coming out,” Terrell said. “He said his reasoning is he appreciates what we do. He told me that to my face a couple weeks ago. He doesn’t care if you play 30 minutes, score 30 points or if you’re sitting there cheering him on. Him being who he is, he could be a jerk and it wouldn’t matter. He’d still play 39 minutes. But he cares, and he’s genuine.”

Yet his game is dissected like few Terrapins’. Part of it might be that his freshman year was, almost inarguably, his best statistical year. He shot better from the field overall and from three-point range. He turned it over less. He got to the line more. There was a chance, after one year, that he would head to the NBA. Twice, he came back.

“I feel great on the decision to come back,” Trimble said. “It’s new. I play with a lot of young guys now. . . . It’s different. I’m able to be a leader.”

Which isn’t something that comes naturally. When the Terps meet, even informally, Trimble wasn’t one to speak up. But on a team with three freshmen as primary contributors, he had to.

“I think it was learning the impact his voice has,” Lumpkin said.

“His voice carries a lot of weight in those meetings,” Turgeon said.

But where, in Maryland history, does Trimble fit?

So much of how athletes are evaluated after their careers is determined by what was expected of them before and during. Trimble, for one, established a high bar as a freshman. Then he was paired with Sulaimon, Layman and freshman center Diamond Stone, the flashiest recruit of Turgeon’s tenure, on last year’s team, which was an across-the-board top five selection entering the season.

[The perfect bracket to win your March Madness pool]

How, then, is that season viewed: a success because it represents Maryland’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003, or a failure because the Terps got only that far? Trimble, too: He was first-team all-Big Ten as a freshman, second team as a sophomore.

Now there is another chance. On Wednesday afternoon, as the Terps finished practice, they heaved those half-court shots and hooted at each other. Trimble stepped up and let it fly.

How his career will be evaluated, in full, will be determined against Xavier — and perhaps Saturday against Florida State and perhaps beyond that.

“There’s no ‘legacy’ with him,” Lumpkin said. “He doesn’t think that way.”

Either way, when his shot puffed through the net, the Terps let out a holler. Everyone smiled, relaxed and ready for another try at March. It’s worth remembering that might not have happened had Melo Trimble not laced them up for Maryland.

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nbatrades · 10 years ago

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New York Knicks Land Quincy Acy In Four-Player Deal

On August 6th, 2014, the New York Knicks traded guard Wayne Ellington and forward-center Jeremy Tyler to the Sacramento Kings for forwards Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw.

*The trade also features the removal of a protection on the 2016 second round pick that the Kings owned from the Knicks from a prior trade.

Travis Outlaw became a member of the Sacramento Kings in a unique way. The forward was waived by the New Jersey Nets through the amnesty clause that came about from the 2011 NBA lockout. After the lockout ended and the CBA was agreed to by both owners and players, a one-time rule came into effect. Teams were allowed to waive a player, and remove that player's salary from their cap sheets.

Outlaw had signed a five-year, $35 million deal with the New Jersey Nets and had largely disappointed in his first season with New Jersey. Seeing an opportunity to get rid of Outlaw, the Nets used the amnesty clause on the forward, getting rid of four years and $28 million on their payroll owed to Outlaw. The next step of the amnesty waiver clause was teams making bids to sign Outlaw. The Kings won the bid, signing Outlaw to a four-year, $12 million deal.

The Kings were in the midst of a six-year streak of losing seasons coming into the 2011-12 season. They got off to a poor start (2-5) when the team fired coach Paul Westphal. Westphal and young star DeMarcus Cousins had failed to see eye to eye. The team replaced Westphal with assistant coach Keith Smart.

The Kings never turned their season around under Smart, going 20-39 over the final 59 games to finish 22-44. Outlaw was on the fringes of Sacramento’s rotation in his first season. The Mississippi product played in just 38 games games and averaged 4.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.5 SPG and 0.5 BPG in 14.4 MPG.

In the 2012 offseason, the Kings had the fifth pick in the 2012 draft and selected Kansas forward Thomas Robinson. Though Sacramento’s offense was solid, finishing 12th overall during the 2012-13 season, the team was second to last in overall defense. Sacramento began the year 2-8 and never recovered, going 28-54. Outlaw still couldn’t find much time in his second year on the court. He saw action in 38 contests and compiled 5.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG and 0.6 APG in 11.7 MPG.

In the 2013 offseason, the Kings had the seventh overall pick and used it on Kansas guard Ben McLemore. Sacramento hired coach Mike Malone to take over. Sacramento also made some key personnel moves, dealing former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans and acquiring Greivis Vasquez in a three-team trade with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers.

Though Malone had started to build a better relationship with Cousins compared to his predecessors, the Kings were still far away from a playoff team. Sacramento struggled again, finishing the 2013-14 season with a 28-54 record. In December of that season, the Kings made a deal with the Toronto Raptors, acquiring Rudy Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy.

Acy ended up appearing in 56 games with the Kings, compiling 2.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 14.0 MPG. Outlaw played in 63 games (four starts) and posted 5.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 0.8 APG in 16.9 MPG.

In the 2014 offseason, Acy appeared in Summer League for the Kings’ entry in Las Vegas. Acy put up 11.3 PPG on 53.8% shooting, 6.7 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.9 SPG and 0.7 BPG in 26.3 MPG. The Kings had a glut at power forward with Acy, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry on the roster.

Seeing a way to get rid of Outlaw’s onerous contract, the Kings dealt Acy along with Outlaw to the New York Knicks. Outlaw ended his time in Sacramento with averages of 5.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 0.6 APG in 140 career games. He posted shooting splits of 39/31/74 from the field, three-point line and free-throw line respectively.

Jeremy Tyler had a long path to become a New York Knick. He first joined the Knicks Summer League team in Las Vegas in 2013. Tyler impressed, piling up 12.8 PPG on 56.2% shooting, 6.4 RPG and a whopping 27.8 PER in 17.7 MPG.

After his strong showing in Summer League, the Knicks committed to him with a two-year, partially guaranteed contract. Tyler competed in training camp for the Knicks but was a final cut in training camp due to a stress fracture in his right foot.

Tyler went back to the NBA D-League whoile rehabbing his foot. He ended up playing for the Knicks’ D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks. Tyler excelled, averaging 19.8 PPG and 11.4 RPG in five games before the Knicks decided to sign him back to the main roster after waiving J.R. Smith’s little brother Chris Smith. The deal was a two-year deal for $1.8 million. The second year of the deal was non-guaranteed.

At times, Tyler showed potential as a solid pick and roll big man. He could never get consistent playing time, appearing in 41 games and managing 3.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 0.5 BPG in 9.7 MPG. The Knicks finished the 2013-14 season with a disappointing 37-45 record. The team had gone through changes in the front office, hiring former coaching legend Phil Jackson as president of basketball operations.

The 2014 offseason saw the Knicks make a big move when they dealt center Tyson Chandler and guard Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. In return, the Knicks acquired Samuel Dalembert, Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington and two second round picks. Known as a quality three-point shooter, Ellington had one year left on his contract.

In his second Summer League stint with the Knicks in 2014, Tyler had a weaker performance. In five games, the 6′10″ big averaged 9.8 PPG on 43.2% shooting and 5.8 RPG in 25.7 MPG. This would be Tyler’s last performance with the Knicks before he was dealt with Ellington to Sacramento.

As part of the deal, the protections on a 2016 second round pick that the Kings owned via New York were removed. The pick was protected from 31-37 in the draft. The Knicks first dealt the pick to Portland in a 2012 deal involving Raymond Felton, Kurt Thomas and Jared Jeffries. The second rounder later moved to Sacramento in the three-team deal involving Tyreke Evans and Greivis Vasquez. After removing the protections, the Kings dealt the future second rounder to the Houston Rockets in September of 2014.

After the trade, the Kings waived Wayne Ellington using the stretch provision nearly one month after the trade. Ellington had one year and $2.77 million remaining on his contract. By rule of the CBA, the stretch provision stipulated that if a player was waived before September 1st, their remaining salary is paid out in twice the remaining years, plus one.

Since Ellington had one year on his deal, he was waived and the Kings paid out the rest of his salary over a three-year period. Ellington went on to sign a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Tyler was waived a few days after Ellington.

For the Knicks, Outlaw — and his guaranteed contract — was traded in 2014 preseason so the team could make room on the roster to sign undrafted free agent Travis Wear to a contract for the season.

The Knicks began the 2014-15 season with hope, winning two of their first three games. A run that saw them lose 35 of their next 38 games destroyed any chance of playoff hopes that the franchise had coming into the season. New York would finish the season with the second-worst record in the NBA at 17-65. The mark set a franchise record for the worst season in terms of winning percentage in the franchise’s history.

The losing and subsequent injuries to forwards Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani allowed Acy to see serious minutes in New York’s rotation. Acy explored developing a three-pointer. After attempting 17 long bombs in his first two seasons, Acy took 60 threes, making 18 (30%). He ended his season with averages of 5.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 1.0 APG in 68 games (22 starts) and 18.9 MPG. In the offseason, Acy ended up signing back with Sacramento on a two-year deal with a player option in the final year.

New York Knicks general manager Steve Mills on the trade (via ESPN):

“We were clearly heavier at (shooting guard) and needed to strengthen our situation at (small forward). So this clearly helps us there.”

On Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw (via USA Today):

“Quincy, we’ve watched him and paid attention to him. We actually saw him a lot in Summer League. He adds a lot of energy. He’s a high energy player and he defends, he can play multiple positions, he runs the floor, blocks shots, he adds a level of energy that we think is missing when we look across the roster and we think he can be helpful there. He’s also a guy who is young and a guy who is going to give us everything he can, regardless of how many minutes he plays. With Travis, he’s a veteran, which we like, he can shoot the 3-ball, he’s long and athletic and we know he’s a guy that has the capabilities to play behind Melo (Carmelo Anthony).”

How Acy provides energy which is unique (via New York Post):

“[Quincy] adds a lot of energy. He’s a high-energy player and he defends, he can play multiple positions, he runs the floor, blocks shots. He adds a level of energy that we think is missing when we look across the roster, and we think he can be helpful there.”

On Outlaw (via Newsday):

“With Travis, he is a veteran that can shoot the three and he’s long and athletic. We know he’s a guy who has the capabilities to play behind Melo.”

On trying to balance the roster out (via New York Post):

“Phil [Jackson] and I have been looking at our roster ever since we made the [Tyson Chandler trade], and one of our goals was to balance the roster out from a position standpoint a little bit better than it was following the trade. Part of this was to make the roster better balanced, and also to provide us with depth across all the positions.”

Sacramento Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro on the trade (via The Sacramento Bee):

“We want to thank Quincy and Travis for their contributions to the Kings organization. We all wish them great success.”

Related Tweets:

Major S/O to the Kings fans and org. I thank Vivek, Pete & ESPECIALLY Coach Malone, & all my teammates. Ready for the next chap. #KnicksTape

— Quincy Acy (@QuincyAcy)

August 6, 2014

Man all the Knicks fans showing love is great, I appreciate it all, I see all the love #KnicksTape

— Quincy Acy (@QuincyAcy)

August 8, 2014

Image via Lockerdome

#Kings #Knicks #2014 #2014*15 Season #Jeremy Tyler #Quincy Acy #Wayne Ellington #Travis Outlaw

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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How Masai Ujiri built a juggernaut Raptors team without any lottery picks

Ujiri’s relentless wheeling and dealing has finally paid off with Toronto’s first-ever NBA Finals appearance.

Masai Ujiri patiently waited his turn, like a chess-master with a fianchetto lurking in the backdrop. And once LeBron James’ stranglehold of the center loosened with his decision to leave the East to head out West, it was Ujiri’s time to strike. And strike he did.

Now, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champions, after defeating the Golden State Warriors 4-1 in the NBA Finals. It was Toronto’s first Finals appearance in franchise history, and they would not have made it here without Ujiri, the general manager who built a powerhouse in Denver before taking on a similar challenge up north. Toronto’s slow process has finally paid off. The Raptors have an opportunity to win it all.

Toronto’s championship run has one face: it’s Kawhi Leonard, the do-it-all sensation who has shouldered the entire franchise on his way back to the NBA Finals.

But the Raptors would not have Leonard had it not been for Ujiri, whose wheeling and dealing landed Toronto the best hand the franchise has ever possessed. He’s somehow assembled a roster without a single lottery pick among the 10 players who have logged the most minutes.

Ujiri has been a chessmaster, sacrificing pawns and knights to develop rooks and queens, then trading his queen for a king. These are the moves that led to the closest checkmate the Raptors have ever had.

Almost (but not) blowing it up

When Ujiri left Denver for the Toronto job in May of 2013, he nearly opted to bulldoze the entire roster and build this thing from scratch. The roster he inherited hadn’t made the playoffs in the five seasons before his hire, and it was clear Ujiri was looking to upgrade it by any means necessary.

During the 2013-14 season, Toronto’s president of basketball operations was open to dealing his two franchise cornerstones. DeMar DeRozan’s name was mostly secure, but in December of 2013, a deal was in place that would have sent Kyle Lowry to the New York Knicks for Metta World Peace, Raymond Felton, and one of Iman Shumpert, Tim Hardaway Jr. or a future first-round pick, according to The New York Daily News. “The deal was done,” Lowry told USA Today in 2016.

Th two sides had agreed to the trade, but Knicks owner James Dolan vetoed it at the last minute. Ujiri had already robbed New York blind in the Carmelo Anthony trade (with Denver) and the Andrea Bargnani trade (with Toronto, more on that later). “Dolan Didn’t want to get fleeced again by Masai,” a Knicks source told the New York Daily News. “They had a deal ready.”

At the time, Lowry was in and out of favor with coach Dwane Casey, having been benched for Jose Calderon the previous season. He was not the All-Star we know today. But Metta World Peace’s career was already on the downturn in New York, and Raymond Felton’s best season came under Mike D’Antoni as head coach. The Raptors weren’t getting a player of Lowry’s caliber in return in this deal, and then watched Lowry shed weight and become one of the league’s best point guards.

The trade falling through was a blessing in disguise.

Instead of dealing his backcourt, Ujiri moved everyone else

In the summer of 2013, he traded former No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani to the Knicks for:

Marcus Camby

Steve Novak

Quentin Richardson

a 2014 second-round pick (No. 59: Xavier Thames)

a 2016 first-round pick (No. 9: Jakob Poeltl)

and a 2017 second-round pick (No. 36: Jonah Bolden).

In December, Ujiri pulled off an even more important deal, trading Rudy Gay — a marquee acquisition the year before by previous GM Bryan Colangelo — Quincy Acy, and Aaron Gray to Sacramento for Chuck Hayes, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Greivis Vasquez. The Raptors stunningly improved by 14 wins the following season, but immediate success wasn’t the vision. This was the first domino to fall in a series of more important ones.

After losing to Brooklyn in the first round of the playoffs, Ujiri flipped Salmons over to Atlanta for Lou Williams and Lucas Nogueira. More importantly, he traded Vasquez to Milwaukee the following summer. For what in return? The rights to second-round pick Norman Powell, and a 2017 first-round pick that became O.G. Anunoby. Not bad.

Ujiri’s wheeling and dealing was unrelenting. In 2017, he traded Terrence Ross and what became the No. 25 pick in 2017 to Orlando for Serge Ibaka. In 2018, to avoid living in the luxury tax, the Raptors dealt DeMarre Carroll’s massive contract (at the time: two years, $30 million remaining) along with 2019 picks No. 29 (Dzanan Musa) and 40 (Rodions Kurucs) to Brooklyn for Justin Hamilton, who was waived shortly after. That enabled Toronto to re-sign Ibaka and Lowry.

Last summer, of course, Ujiri dealt DeRozan, Poeltl, and Toronto’s top-20 protected 2019 first-round pick for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. That worked out pretty well.

Finally, in the wake of Philadelphia’s blockbuster move to acquire Tobias Harris at the trade deadline, Ujiri dealt Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round pick to Memphis for former Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol. Gasol was integral in each round of the playoffs, defending Nikola Vucevic against the Magic, Joel Embiid against the Sixers, and helping on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Without blowing it up, Ujiri patiently turned DeRozan, an underachieving Lowry, and Gay into Leonard, a much-improved Lowry, Gasol, and Ibaka.

But what about the rest of this stacked team?

Trades don’t account for Fred VanVleet, Toronto’s bulldog backup point guard. VanVleet put together brilliant performances in Games 4, 5 and 6 against Milwaukee. His play made all the difference for a Toronto team that needed help from anyone not named Kawhi Leonard.

VanVleet went undrafted in 2016, but signed a Summer League contract with the Raptors shortly after. Toronto signed VanVleet to a multi-year deal after that, and assigned him to their G-League affiliate Raptors 905 squad on numerous occasions.

That G-League team was coached by Jerry Stackhouse, who led them to a championship in 2017. Powell also spent time in the G-League his rookie season, as did Wright in his rookie season in 2016.

So did emerging star Pascal Siakam, drafted with the No. 27 pick in 2016. Siakam was an unexpected selection out of New Mexico State, but earned spot starter minutes in the NBA as a rookie. When he saw his role diminish the next season, he dropped down to the G-League for a handful of games and ultimately won G-League Finals MVP in leading Stackhouse’s club to the title. This season, he has been a revelation, becoming Toronto’s second-best player and its best non-Leonard building block for the future.

VanVleet, Powell, Siakam, Wright, and several others who went up and down the team’s G-League ladder were underrated talents drafted by Ujiri, but they were also developed through an organizational infrastructure that Ujiri built and fostered.

Then there’s Patrick McCaw, the former Golden State Warriors forward who flat-out refused to re-sign with the defending champs last summer. He signed a fully non-guaranteed two-year, $6 million contract with Cleveland on Dec. 28. The Cavaliers waived him on Jan. 7, and the Raptors signed him for the rest of the season shortly after.

McCaw’s numbers are so minuscule, we may as well not even mention them. But competing against a team he played for last season may give Toronto some sort of an extra advantage.

SAY WHAT YOU WANT 3 STRAIGHT NBA FINALS APPEARANCES?! I CAN'T MAKE THIS UP ... MY FAITH GOT ME HERE, NOTHING BUT GOD!!! ZERO WORRIES ZERO DOUBTS

— Patrick McCaw (@PMcCaw0) May 26, 2019

Even if the Warriors are healthy, Toronto still has the deepest roster of the two teams in the NBA Finals. They also might have the best player in the series if Leonard continues this ridiculous surge.

None of that would have been possible had Ujiri decided to stay in Denver, rather than leave for the Toronto franchise that bred him when he first entered the NBA. This is why Masai Ujiri will always be considered on of the best front office executives in the NBA. His vision has come to fruition.

The Raptors are four wins away from checkmate.

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