NBA 2013-2014

[MarkGrace]

Non-tax teams

That sound you hear is the Mikhail Prokhorov ATM spitting out cash to teams under the luxury-tax line. Little known fact: under league rule, half of all the NBA's aggregated luxury tax is split amongst the non-tax teams (for more on this and more CBA fine print, pull up Larry Coon's indispensable CBA FAQ).

Instead of slashing payroll in the midst of a disappointing season, Prokhorov opened up his wallet yet again. By taking on Marcus Thornton's contract, Prokhorov has added more money to the pot. Remember, the deeper you go into the tax, the harsher the penalty; the luxury tax is not dollar-for-dollar anymore like it was in the old CBA. So even though Prokhorov added only $730,000 to his payroll, it translated to an additional $3.3 million in tax payouts, bringing the total luxury-tax payment to a whopping $88 million. As it stands now, the 26 or so non-tax teams should each receive about $2 million straight from Prokhorov's bank account.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...winners-losers

That's pretty amazing.

[Blueintheface]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...winners-losers

That's pretty amazing.

A real life Communist Robin Hood.

[MarkGrace]

Oden got his first start since '09. Good for him.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Oden got his first start since '09. Good for him.

I'm rooting for Oden.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[MartyFunkhouser]

I think Washington will be a good fit for Miller.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...wizards-debut/

John Wall wants to be like Andre Miller
http://www.csnwashington.com/basketb...e-andre-miller

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Knicks are now 6 games out of the 8 seed in the East. I scoffed at the idea of Carmelo going to Miami this off-season, but with all of the losing this year and missing the playoffs being likely at this point, I wonder if that will push him to be willing to take less than the max like LeBron/Bosh/Wade did to play together.

I can't remember what analyst it was, but he was saying Riley's initial plan this off-season is to try to get each of the Big 3 to opt-out of their deals, and then all sign back on with Miami for $14 M per. The speculation was that it would then allow Riley to convince one other star player to take $14 M to play in Miami, then they'd finish out the roster with minimum salary guys (along with Chris Anderson and Norris Cole, who are both under contract for next year). And Anthony was the guy this writer said would be the first one they'd go after. Under the projected cap number of $62 M I guess that plan would work. But that is quite the pay cut for 4 guys to take, especially for James/Wade/Bosh that already took less money to play together the first time.

Just can't see four guys leaving that much money on the table.

[smokymountainrain]

Knicks are now 6 games out of the 8 seed in the East. I scoffed at the idea of Carmelo going to Miami this off-season, but with all of the losing this year and missing the playoffs being likely at this point, I wonder if that will push him to be willing to take less than the max like LeBron/Bosh/Wade did to play together.

I can't remember what analyst it was, but he was saying Riley's initial plan this off-season is to try to get each of the Big 3 to opt-out of their deals, and then all sign back on with Miami for $14 M per. The speculation was that it would then allow Riley to convince one other star player to take $14 M to play in Miami, then they'd finish out the roster with minimum salary guys (along with Chris Anderson and Norris Cole, who are both under contract for next year). And Anthony was the guy this writer said would be the first one they'd go after. Under the projected cap number of $62 M I guess that plan would work. But that is quite the pay cut for 4 guys to take, especially for James/Wade/Bosh that already took less money to play together the first time.

Just can't see four guys leaving that much money on the table.

I don't think adding Carmelo Anthony helps that team. There might be some teams he could help in a title run, but I don't think Miami is that team.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I don't think adding Carmelo Anthony helps that team. There might be some teams he could help in a title run, but I don't think Miami is that team.

He's making 43% of his 3's this year. And that as the #1 option, or only option, on his team. He also has a decent rebound rate for a stretch 4. Perfect fit next to LeBron? No. Help the team? Absolutely. They'd have Bosh/Anthony/Wade playing while LeBron rested. That's all LeBron ever needs, is for his team to not lose a lead when he goes out. And they'd be one of the best teams in the league w/James on the bench.

Would they be better with Eric Bledsoe instead, making their defense elite? Maybe. Better with Greg Monroe and his passing? Luol Deng for his perimeter defense? But their offense can't put a non-shooter out there or it clogs everything up. Or hope Pau has enough left in the tank for 2 more years and will come in on the cheap for another ring?

[smokymountainrain]

He's making 43% of his 3's this year. And that as the #1 option, or only option, on his team. He also has a decent rebound rate for a stretch 4. Perfect fit next to LeBron? No. Help the team? Absolutely. They'd have Bosh/Anthony/Wade playing while LeBron rested. That's all LeBron ever needs, is for his team to not lose a lead when he goes out. And they'd be one of the best teams in the league w/James on the bench.

Would they be better with Eric Bledsoe instead, making their defense elite? Maybe. Better with Greg Monroe and his passing? Luol Deng for his perimeter defense? But their offense can't put a non-shooter out there or it clogs everything up. Or hope Pau has enough left in the tank for 2 more years and will come in on the cheap for another ring?

If he would be willing to come in and play the role of stretch 4 - rebound and hit 43% of his threes, be a scorer only during those 10 or so minutes LeBron is on the bench - yes, he'd help the team. I don't think he'd ever be willing to do that or even close to it. I could be wrong.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Sacramento losing 50-19 to Houston. Rudy Gay shooting 40% from the field and 24% from 3 in the month of February. Sacramento 20-36.

Meanwhile in Toronto, the Raptors are 7 games over .500, DeRozan has a higher PER and WS/48 than Gay ever has, and he makes $10 M less.

[MarkGrace]

Muhammad scores 20 tonight. That's almost half his scoring output for the entire season.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Muhammad scores 20 tonight. That's almost half his scoring output for the entire season.

Read a Bonzi Wells comparison for him tonight. That be a pretty solid scenario for Minny if he could ever become Bonzi. Maybe it was Pelton that said it?

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Remember when Durant was the MVP of the league in February? And how the Heat were coasting?

Lebron with 61, 7, and 5 tonight. And before tonight's game he had already significantly closed the edge KD held in PER. And Miami was only 1 back in the loss column of Indiana, even though Indiana has played 4 more home games.

[MarkGrace]

Damn what a night.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

LeBron has now made at least 2/3 of his shots in 5 straight games. His previous longest such streak was 3 games. And two of the games were on the road against WC playoff teams (Dal, OKC). He averaged 20 FGA/gm over those 5 games.