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Five Russ Westbrook trades that might make sense: Pistons, Heat could make deal work; Rockets always star-chasing threat

Detroit, Miami and Houston are reportedly interested in Westbrook, and could have packages needed for a blockbuster
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I think Westbrook's contract is going to be very hard to move. I can almost see Detroit doing the deal, because Griffin, Drummond, D-Rose and Westbrook wouldn't look terrible on paper and the east could be a 3 or 4 team race. Plus, Griffin's age and contract make him untradeable, so why not take one run at the title while he is still in his prime? The downside is that Detroit will be atrocious at the back end of all of these bad contracts.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
www.cbssports.com

Five Russ Westbrook trades that might make sense: Pistons, Heat could make deal work; Rockets always star-chasing threat

Detroit, Miami and Houston are reportedly interested in Westbrook, and could have packages needed for a blockbuster
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

I think Westbrook's contract is going to be very hard to move. I can almost see Detroit doing the deal, because Griffin, Drummond, D-Rose and Westbrook wouldn't look terrible on paper and the east could be a 3 or 4 team race. Plus, Griffin's age and contract make him untradeable, so why not take one run at the title while he is still in his prime? The downside is that Detroit will be atrocious at the back end of all of these bad contracts.
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The back end. . . . meaning next year or the year after? Including this year, Blake(player option 3rd year) and Andre have 2 years and Westbrook 3? That isn't impossible to overcome. On the one hand, the Pistons are in a purgatory of mediocrity so this would help and is a decent fit on paper. On the other hand, does anyone really want Westbrook? The better question is why in the world would Miami do this?
 
djct1999 said:
The back end. . . . meaning next year or the year after? Including this year, Blake(player option 3rd year) and Andre have 2 years and Westbrook 3? That isn't impossible to overcome. On the one hand, the Pistons are in a purgatory of mediocrity so this would help and is a decent fit on paper. On the other hand, does anyone really want Westbrook? The better question is why in the world would Miami do this?
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I don't know Dragic's health situation, but I really like his game. He is not nearly the athlete Westbrook is, but he also comes with no bull Spartacus.
 
I am not interested in your opinion if you don't make some predictions yourself. I predicted the East, and will get to the West in the next day or two.
 
I think the East is a toss-up in some ways, but Milwaukee should be the favorite. West will be as well.

1. Bucks
2. Celtics
3. Pacers
4. 76ers
5. Raptors
6. Nets
7. Heat
8. Magic
 
East predictions
(Tiers --)

1) Bucks - Giannis is that good.
2) 76ers - D is going to be insane. Embiid will get hurt, though. If JRich and Horford can hit 40% from 3, they'll be #1.
--
3) Raptors - Core is older, but still really solid. I think Siakam takes a leap.
4) Celtics - Team should fit better together. Could pass Raptors if Tatum's trajectory reverts back to expected after 1st year.
--
5) Orlando - Surprise of the season. Defense comes together, take advantage of 5-9 teams having weaknesses.
6) Pacers - Missing 2 months of Oladipo +rust hurts.
7) Nets - I like a lot of their pieces, but not sure of the D and there's a gaping hole at the 4 until next year.
8) Heat - Addition by subtraction of Whiteside.
9) Pistons - Blake Griffin begins to break down at age 30 like an NFL RB.
--
10) Hawks - Will be playing too many young guys to make the playoffs, but will start getting the frisky tag.
12) Bulls - A lot of good, starter-quality players. Need a star.
11) Wizards - Beal will keep them out of the bottom 3.
--
13) Hornets - Of the bottom 3, have the most veteran guys who who won't tank.
14) Knicks - How do you spend that much money in FA and still suck? Very young starting lineup.
15) Cavaliers - Year 2 of the tank Hopefully they get into top 3 this time.
 
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Lakers add Bradley, who played well for Memphis after struggling with the Clippers. He should be a nice bench piece.

Nuggets trade for Grant, a quality 3/4. The Nuggets only had one weakness: SF. They have fixed that. If Jamal Murray becomes a star they are the next Golden State.
 
auror said:
East predictions
(Tiers --)

1) Bucks - Giannis is that good.
2) 76ers - D is going to be insane. Embiid will get hurt, though. If JRich and Horford can hit 40% from 3, they'll be #1.
--
3) Raptors - Core is older, but still really solid. I think Siakam takes a leap.
4) Celtics - Team should fit better together. Could pass Raptors if Tatum's trajectory reverts back to expected after 1st year.
--
5) Orlando - Surprise of the season. Defense comes together, take advantage of 5-9 teams having weaknesses.
6) Pacers - Missing 2 months of Oladipo +rust hurts.
7) Nets - I like a lot of their pieces, but not sure of the D and there's a gaping hole at the 4 until next year.
8) Heat - Addition by subtraction of Whiteside.
9) Pistons - Blake Griffin begins to break down at age 30 like an NFL RB.
--
10) Hawks - Will be playing too many young guys to make the playoffs, but will start getting the frisky tag.
12) Bulls - A lot of good, starter-quality players. Need a star.
11) Wizards - Beal will keep them out of the bottom 3.
--
13) Hornets - Of the bottom 3, have the most veteran guys who who won't tank.
14) Knicks - How do you spend that much money in FA and still suck? Very young starting lineup.
15) Cavaliers - Year 2 of the tank Hopefully they get into top 3 this time.
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I think this highlights how much "if" there is across the east. Milwaukee looks like a consensus favorite, but they lost a little depth. Some prognosticators say the Nets are best. The Raptors got a lot worse. Boston may have gotten better, may have gotten worse.

Lots of people on this board are high on Philly, yet I think they got a lot worse, losing Butler and Reddick. They don't have defensive answers for quick, smaller guards, lack ball handling and outside shooting. Horford only started taking 3s when he got to Boston, and even then only when completely uncontested. Playing as a 4, those will be contested a lot more often and he won't be able to take them in volume or make them at a 40% clip.
 
auror said:
East predictions
(Tiers --)

1) Bucks - Giannis is that good.
2) 76ers - D is going to be insane. Embiid will get hurt, though. If JRich and Horford can hit 40% from 3, they'll be #1.
--
3) Raptors - Core is older, but still really solid. I think Siakam takes a leap.
4) Celtics - Team should fit better together. Could pass Raptors if Tatum's trajectory reverts back to expected after 1st year.
--
5) Orlando - Surprise of the season. Defense comes together, take advantage of 5-9 teams having weaknesses.
6) Pacers - Missing 2 months of Oladipo +rust hurts.
7) Nets - I like a lot of their pieces, but not sure of the D and there's a gaping hole at the 4 until next year.
8) Heat - Addition by subtraction of Whiteside.
9) Pistons - Blake Griffin begins to break down at age 30 like an NFL RB.
--
10) Hawks - Will be playing too many young guys to make the playoffs, but will start getting the frisky tag.
12) Bulls - A lot of good, starter-quality players. Need a star.
11) Wizards - Beal will keep them out of the bottom 3.
--
13) Hornets - Of the bottom 3, have the most veteran guys who who won't tank.
14) Knicks - How do you spend that much money in FA and still suck? Very young starting lineup.
15) Cavaliers - Year 2 of the tank Hopefully they get into top 3 this time.
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This looks closest to mine so I'll piggyback. I'd go Pacers, Nets, Orlando, Miami for tier 3.
 
.-.
HuskyHawk said:
I think this highlights how much "if" there is across the east. Milwaukee looks like a consensus favorite, but they lost a little depth. Some prognosticators say the Nets are best. The Raptors got a lot worse. Boston may have gotten better, may have gotten worse.

Lots of people on this board are high on Philly, yet I think they got a lot worse, losing Butler and Reddick. They don't have defensive answers for quick, smaller guards, lack ball handling and outside shooting. Horford only started taking 3s when he got to Boston, and even then only when completely uncontested. Playing as a 4, those will be contested a lot more often and he won't be able to take them in volume or make them at a 40% clip.
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No one with an opinion with listening to has the Nets as the favorite.

I do agree that defending smaller guards is a weakness, but it is actually less of a weakness than last year. Richardson is better than Butler versus those types and Thybulle and Zaire Smith came in with reputations as defensive stoppers at the 2. The biggest weakness will be late game scoring as they lost their closer but they will rack up a lot of regular season wins.
 
auror said:
East predictions
(Tiers --)

1) Bucks - Giannis is that good.
2) 76ers - D is going to be insane. Embiid will get hurt, though. If JRich and Horford can hit 40% from 3, they'll be #1.
--
3) Raptors - Core is older, but still really solid. I think Siakam takes a leap.
4) Celtics - Team should fit better together. Could pass Raptors if Tatum's trajectory reverts back to expected after 1st year.
--
5) Orlando - Surprise of the season. Defense comes together, take advantage of 5-9 teams having weaknesses.
6) Pacers - Missing 2 months of Oladipo +rust hurts.
7) Nets - I like a lot of their pieces, but not sure of the D and there's a gaping hole at the 4 until next year.
8) Heat - Addition by subtraction of Whiteside.
9) Pistons - Blake Griffin begins to break down at age 30 like an NFL RB.
--
10) Hawks - Will be playing too many young guys to make the playoffs, but will start getting the frisky tag.
12) Bulls - A lot of good, starter-quality players. Need a star.
11) Wizards - Beal will keep them out of the bottom 3.
--
13) Hornets - Of the bottom 3, have the most veteran guys who who won't tank.
14) Knicks - How do you spend that much money in FA and still suck? Very young starting lineup.
15) Cavaliers - Year 2 of the tank Hopefully they get into top 3 this time.
Expand ...

East Tier 1:
1. Bucks---- bledsoe/matthews/middleton/giannis/lopez
2. Sixers----simmons/richardson/harris/horford/embiid
East Tier 2:
3. Celtics---walker/brown/hayward/tatum/kanter
4. Pacers---brogden/lamb/warren/sabonis/turner
5. Nets-----irving/levert/harris/kurucs/allen
6. Raps-----lowry/vanvleet/powell/siakham/gasol
East Tier 3:
7. Heat-----dragic/waiters/butler/johnson/adebayo
8. Magic---augustine/fournier/hayes/gordon/vucevic
9. Pistons--jackson/rose/kennard/griffin/drummond
10. Bulls---white/lavine/porter/markkanen/carter

West Tier 1:
1. Clipps----beverley/shamet/george/leonard/zubac
2. Lakers----rondo/green/james/davis/cousins
West Tier 2:
3. Nuggs----murray/harris/barton/millsap/jokic
4. Jazz-------conley/mitchell/ingles/bogdanovic/gobert
5. Rockets---paul/harden/gordon/tucker/capela
6. Blazers----lillard/mccollum/hood/collins/whiteside
West Tier 3:
7. Pels-------holiday/redick/ingram/zion/favors
8. Warriors--curry/russell/mckinnie/green/looney
9. Spurs-----white/forbes/derozan/morris/aldridge
10. Mavs----wright/hardaway/doncic/powell/porzingis
 
Last edited:
1. Bucks
2. Sixers
3. Celtics
4. Pacers
5. Pistons
6. Nets
7. Heat
8. Magic

Unless the Raptors make a massive trade
to get Bradley Beal maybe, then I see these 8
 
West
1. Clippers
2. Jazz
3. Nuggets
4. Blazers
5. Rockets
6. Lakers
7. Warriors
8. Spurs

Dallas could challenge for the 8 seed maybe.
my suns are terrible...
 
West Regular Season Rankings

Tier 1 team are championship contenders. Tier 3 teams will battle for the playoffs.

Tier 1

1) LAC - Great high end talent and great depth. Weakness should be center defensively. Harrell is to small and Zubac is mediocre. May not be an issue, but they will have some unfavorable match-ups in the playoffs.

2) Denver - Amazing depth throughout. Nice pickup today with Grant. The front office seems to expect that Porter will eventually be their 1a or 1b player and that would be scary.

3) Houston - The most undervalued team. They were the #1 threat to the Warriors the past 2 seasons and are running it back.

4) LAL - It wasn't long ago that Bradley and KCP were more highly regarded than Green. Green couldn't shoot 2 years ago. Bradley and KCP were complete failures when given more of the offensive load. I have a hard time imagining they are completely washed at age 28 and 26. If they just suck there will be a lot of defensive issues against quick guards.

Tier 2

5) Utah - Great regular season offensive team. My concern is the lack of defensive wings in the playoffs. How can Bogdan and Ingles possibly handle Kawhi/PG?

6) Portland - They are incredibly high on Anfernee Simons and he looked great the other night in SL. They need Collins to blossom because Whiteside won't cut it.

7) Warriors - This may be the worst collection of wings in the league. They are taking all offense, no defense to the next level.

Tier 3

8) Spurs - Underrated signings with Morris and Carroll. Merely competent, but heir only competent wing last year was Gay and he is a much better 4 at this point. They expect huge things from Dejounte. Murray, White and Lonnie Walker IV can be a very promising young backcourt. Walker has looked awesome in the SL.

Mavs - They blew the offseason by striking out on all available wing players.

Kings - Really like their young talent and depth throughout the roster. One of their young kids needs to take the jump.

Pelicans - Great depth and young talent throughout. I think Zion will be merely good. Frontcourt defensively will be an issue.
 
.-.
West:

1) Clippers - This is how you build a team. Deep and talented across the board, can handle an 82 game regular season and have a team fresh heading into the playoffs. Rivers is a great coach for this squad too.

2) Nuggets - Like the talent. The Joker is going to have a monster season, and Millsap is the perfect complement to him down low. Murray could make the All Star team this year. Grant was a good pickup, and I like Beasley and Morris off the bench. I do not like Malone though, and that is the only thing holding me back from putting them in the conference finals against the Clippers. They will have a good regular season though.

3) Jazz - Mike Conley is too short and has lost a quarter step and is just an OK shooter, and he just has game. Teams that want to make ESPN's SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays get Kyrie Irving. Teams that want to win get Kemba Walker or Mike Conley. Mitchell's erratic shooting was a problem in the past, but with Conley and Bogdonavic the offense should be more consistent. Gobert erases a lot of defensive mistakes. Ingles becomes a 6th man, which is the right role for him.

4) Rockets - Stop trying to make a big splash, and instead try to find a good backup wing. Capela is becoming a force inside, and Paul still has it. I like Eric Gordon, and Harden is one of the top scorers in the NBA.

5) Spurs - I like this team. DeRozan and Aldridge are a solid inside outside tandem. I think Murray has a ton of upside, and this may be the deepest team in the NBA.

6) Warriors - I am not crazy about the fit, but Russell is a good player and will relieve a lot of pressure from Curry. The Warriors are going to have problems defensively but they will still win 45-50 games.

7) Portland - Lillard and McCollum are a very good backcourt, but they are going to miss Kanter. Nurkic is probably missing the season, and Whiteside may put up a few huge games, but it is hard to forget how useless he is most of the time. With Nurkic, this is a 55 win team. I don't think they get to 50.

8) Pelicans - Jrue has some finishers to work with, and I think he is going to have a great year. The team is still a little young, but they have a lot of weapons.

9) Kings - Hield and Fox is a good backcourt, and Bogdoanovic could be a star. This team could shock everyone and get a 6 seed.

10) Lakers - I was not a fan to begin with, but playing LeBron at point is insanity. He will break down by New Year's.

11) Dallas - Doncic and Porzingis should be a deadly combo. I like Hardaway as long as he is not asked to do too much. The roster has a bit of a rotisserie feel to it with so many moves in the offseason for secondary players, and it could take a while to get the team on the same page.

12) Thunder - this team is not terrible, unless they trade Westbrook, but the west is too good for a team like this to sneak into the playoffs. 5 years from now they could be awesome though.

13) Timberwolves - bad team, and bad franchise.

14) Grizzlies - great offseason, but next year is a rebuilding year.

15) Suns - suck
 
I think the Clippers are going to be very good too but I really doubt they are going to be the number one seed in the West...I think they will settle around 4 or 5. Paul George is coming off a serious surgery and may not even be ready to start the season and Kahwi is going to sit a lot of games as he did last season. By the playoffs they will probably be the most dangerous team. Nuggets and Jazz should be the top on the regular season.
 
Bold Nelson...one strong disagreement is Minnesota. They were competitive when Covington was healthy last year - I feel they will compete for the 8 seed.
 
The more I think about it, the more I think Detroit has to make a move for Westbrook. Detroit is not a free agent destination, so cleaning house and hitting the free agent market is not going to work. They need to make a trade to get better. They have two immovable contracts already, so they don't have a lot of moves to make on the trade market. They basically need a team that is doing a salary dump to get into rebuilding mode. Meet the Thunder.

Westbrook has issues as a player, but he did make it to an NBA Finals and he is still averaging a triple double. He is still one of the top 10-20 players in the league, and unguardable 1-on-1. Put him on a team with 3 other scoring options like Griffin, Drummond and Rose, and Detroit has a shot in the east. It also enables Detroit to load manage Griffin better because they won't need him on the court to score. Detroit would be in salary cap purgatory for a while, but Detroit is going to be there anyway with Griffin's contract so why not take a shot at a title?

By waiting they have lowered the price for Westbrook to the point that OKC may include a draft pick or two just to get someone to take that contract. If Detroit could hold back Kennard and do a salary dump to get Westbrook plus a draft pick or two, I think they should make the deal.
 
1) LAC/MIL - doc & depth gives them best record. giannis builds on MVP year.
2) HOU/PHI - harden is harden, maybe some cohesion after a few years together gets them over the top. PHI massive/versatile front court will overpower teams.
3) LAL/BRK - LAL will have a season of streaks and “time to panic?” segments on sportscenter, but the talent and veterans will have this team in position to win a title come playoff time. Caris/Dimwiddie/Harris/Allen is a nucleus of young guys who are just getting better. Kyrie/jordan are just icing.
4) UTA/IND - Picking up bojan is most underrated move of offseason. Pacers won a lot of games WITHOUT olidipo last year.
5) GSW/BOS - We saw what curry did without KD, and without klay as well.. he might be on a MVP campaign this year. A healthy Klay come playoff time and they are a threat to beat anyone. WCS/Looney will be hold down the 5 and draymond isn’t going anywhere. Boston will need big improvements from tatum/hayward to compete with top of east.
6) DEN/DET - A loaded west and someone has to drop, but porter being an impact player could move them up a few spots. Blake/drummond is good enough to win games in top heavy east.
7) POR/MIA - Don’t think portland got better, another victim of elite conference. MIA almost snuck in last year, swapping wade for jimmy will get them a few more wins.
8) NO/ATL - Could be Dallas, but if zion is runaway rookie of year and ingram continues to improve.. they’ll sneak in. ATL is talented enough to sneak in as well.
 
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aceboon said:
Ainge once again
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I loved Murray and Levert.

Can’t blame him for siakam. No one else mocked him in round 1, at all.
 
navery12 said:
And we're back to big news

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Yeah wonder what the thunder will do with Chris Paul as I’m sure he doesn’t want to be on a rebuilding team at this stage of his career.
 
3rdbass said:
Yeah wonder what the thunder will do with Chris Paul as I’m sure he doesn’t want to be on a rebuilding team at this stage of his career.
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There's really no option for a buyout with $120M left. Maybe they flip him to DET or MIA for all the same reasons we talked about them trading for Westbrook
 
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