Lakers Hold all the Cards

Now that the dust has settled with Kevin Durant leaving Oklahoma City there is a lot of speculation as to where Russell Westbrook will be next season. Westbrook is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. This means Westbrook can field offers from every team that has cap space to sign him. Westbrook also has the option of signing a long term extension that would give him more money. The question is if Westbrook does not sign an extension where will he end up? 

From rumors going around right now it is believed Westbrook would like to be a Los Angles Laker. He is an L.A. guy, even playing for UCLA in college. If the Thunder feel that Westbrook is leaving, Oklahoma City will try to trade him to get anything in return. Knowing that the Lakers are a real option for Westbrook, OKC might try to cut a deal with Los Angles that would land them good young talent.

Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram

The Lakers are salivating at the chance to get Westbrook and would like to get him in L.A. as soon as possible. But the Lakers have to realize that they have the upper hand in any deal. The Lakers have built a very good young core that in a few years could become competitive. Giving up any of those pieces will be hard, but it will make them competitive instantly by adding Westbrook. The problem is giving up too much for Westbrook. The Lakers need to make Brandon Ingram off limits. In no way should the Lakers trade him, because in a few years they will be kicking themselves for trading him. Also in a package for Westbrook they should only include two young players maximum. Giving up three young players for one guy is asking a lot. I only say this because three of the five starters are still on rookie contracts. That means they don't need to match money using all of their contracts. If anything the Lakers should look to trade another one of these young players for someone they can put along side Westbrook. So using up all their trade bait would leave them with one superstar and no leverage to add another guy.

And if the Lakers do not get an offer they like they should say no. Los Angles needs to remember that if they cannot add Westbrook this year they could always sign him next off season. Los Angles has made so much progress in their rebuild and they are about two to three years from being competitive with what they have. They have already suffered for three years so they have to be careful with the decisions they make. 

From the Thunder side of things Sam Presti should be pushing for Westbrook to sign an extension. If he does not sign it then Presti should trade Westbrook as soon as possible. This is where Presti can take advantage of the Lakers. Their starting five have not played a single game together yet and the Lakers will be without Kobe Bryant this year. This means they will all get their touches and have the opportunity to prove themselves. If it turns out that the core the Lakers have play well up to the trade deadline, they might be hesitant to trade for Westbrook knowing that their current pieces have shown their potential. And this will decrease the package they would put together for Westbrook. Presti needs to play off of the Lakers uncertainty about the group they have and take advantage of it by trading before the season starts. It will get Presti more in return and the Lakers will have Westbrook for a full season. It should be interesting to see how everything unfolds.

Pursuing Lance Stephenson

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NBA free agency has progressed very far to this point, but there is still one name on the market that many teams are on the fence about. That guy is Lance Stephenson. Memphis decided not to pick up Stephenson's team option for next year making him an unrestricted free agent. Stephenson has not had much success since leaving Indiana in 2014. Stephenson had a miserable year with Charlotte before getting traded to the Clippers during the 2015 off-season. Stephenson did not see much playing time in L.A. averaging about 15 minutes per game in the 43 games he suited up for. Here is what makes Stephenson an attractive free agent right now. Stephenson was traded to Memphis at the trade deadline and not long after being traded all of Memphis' key players went down with injuries. This allowed Stephenson to get more playing time and be the primary ball handler. Stephenson played very well during his short stint with Memphis averaging 14.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game. He managed to achieve these numbers while playing only 26 minutes per game. To put in a better perspective Lance averaged 19.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 6 rebounds per 36 minutes. Those are respectable numbers in the NBA.

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The question is what team does Lance Stephenson fit on. Stephenson is good at creating for himself and others when he is on the floor so he would be a good primary ball handler for a team lacking someone that can create. Also Stephenson has not played very well coming in as a deep bench guy. He plays at his best being the sixth man or as a starter. That means teams with plenty of depth might take a look at him, but probably won't extend an offer. And finally Lance has a reputation of being a locker room problem. Now in his last two stops we didn't here much of this, but he had two very well respected coaches and many veterans around him.

With all this said Stephenson may fit in on multiple teams. His best fit would probably be Orlando or Brooklyn. Orlando just traded their primary offensive ball handler so adding Stephenson to the team would slightly make up for losing Oladipo. Plus him and coach Vogel have a good relationship that they developed when Stephenson was under him in Indiana. The only problem here is it could stunt the growth of Elfrid Payton. Payton is in position to become the leader of this team. Each play would start with him and he would be the floor general. This is great opportunity for Payton who is in his third year in the league. Bringing in Stephenson could ruin this opportunity.

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For Brooklyn, they are in bad shape right now. Brooklyn seems all over the place. They have quite a few young players now, yet they signed four veterans. I would hope they are just there for locker room presence because the Nets should be developing all their young talent. With that said, the Nets don't have a primary ball handler that can create and make things happen. The closest thing they have would be Jeremy Lin or Randy Foye. Caris Levert and Sean Kilpatrick might become players that can create their own shot, but they are still young and really have to prove it next season. So bringing in Lance Stephenson to this team could be a plus. He would get plenty of playing time and would become the number 2 option on the team behind Brook Lopez. The problem again with bringing Lance to Brooklyn is he would stunt the growth of all the young players by taking up playing time and he could also become a locker room problem. For a first year coach having a guy that is know for disrupting a locker room, it might not be the ideal situation.

That leads me to my final two teams. The Warriors and the Cavaliers. These teams will fit the same categories since they offer the same situation for Stephenson. Stephenson would go to a team that is looking to compete for a championship and would most likely replace any bench depth that these teams lost this off-season. It would be a great opportunity for Lance to grow and learn from the best. The down fall to playing on these teams is Stephenson will not play much at all. He will be there to play on nights where guys need rest or if an injury plague hits. If he can accept a back seat roll one of these two teams would be the best option for him.

Dwyane Wade to Cleveland?

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In the wake of Kevin Durant making his decision to join the Golden State Warriors. The Cavaliers may have to find a way to upgrade their roster more. With that said Dwyane Wade is still on the free agent market after talks with Miami have stalled. Multiple teams are looking to sign Wade and the Bucks and Nuggets are offering Wade a max contract. The chances of Wade leaving Miami for Denver or Milwaukee are very slim.

Today rumors are have it that Dwyane Wade is in talks with the Cavaliers. By no means is it a guarantee that Wade will join the Cavs, but the fact he is even talking to them it's a start. The Cavaliers have one way of getting Wade in Cleveland and it would be very easy. Wade can join the team on a mini-mid level exception. That means Wade would make $3.5 million per year. That is $16.5 million less than what Miami is offering and a low offer for someone of his talent. The more realistic option would be to make some trades and free up cap room for Wade. Iman Shumpert and Kevin Love would probably be one of the pieces to trade. The problem then is that Cleveland would lose bench depth. The Warriors were able to sign Durant by only giving up Barnes and Bogut. Ezeli will also most likely be on his way out. The thing is that Durant is a huge upgrade that these pieces are worth losing for him.

With that said it is hard to imagine Wade in Cleveland, but the Cavs could probably free up about $9 million in cap space as well as offer Wade the best shot at winning an NBA title. LeBron could really use Wade right now in the wake of the Kevin Durant decision and Wade may feel the need to help. At the end of the day it is most likely that Wade stays in Miami, but do not be surprised if he is willing to take much less to compete. He is going to turn 35 next season so maybe he will realize he can still get a few more titles if he is willing to take less. Or he can opt stay in Miami and collect big pay checks at the risk of being bounced in the first and second round for the rest of his career. These are all the things Dwyane Wade is thinking about right now and will ultimately help him in his final decision.

The Los Angeles Lakers top Free Agent Targets

The Los Angles Lakers have not landed a big name free agent in quite some time and they are looking to change that this off-season. The question is how realistic is it that they can land a big name free agent this summer? Well it depends on their expectations. Any Lakers fan that thinks Durant will decide to join their team this summer will be extremely disappointed because it will not happen. But there are other free agents out there that can improve their team. Most specifically the center position. Without further ado here are some of the Lakers top free agent targets.

DeMar DeRozan

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DeMar DeRozan is near the top of the free agent talent poll this summer. With that said many teams want there chance at him, but so far DeRozan has expressed that he would like to stay with the Toronto Raptors. His number two option would most likely be the Lakers. Well why the Lakers? DeRozan grew up in Compton and the Lakers are his hometown team. By going to the Lakers he would immediately become the Lakers number one option and be the star of the team. He would also have the chance to be the face of the Lakers in the post Kobe era. The down fall for DeRozan joining the Lakers is they are a very young team. On one hand they could all develop into good players, but that will take some time. This means DeRozan would not be competing for a title any time soon. But if the Lakers go all in they could trade their young talent for another superstar to join DeRozan. In the end it is unlikely DeRozan ends up in L.A., but it is not out of the question.

Hassan Whiteside

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Another target for Lakers this summer will be Hassan Whiteside. From all the speculation Whiteside is apparently pretty high on the Lakers list of free agents. It makes sense for the Lakers. They would get a defensive minded big that would also provide rebounding. This would allow the Lakers to retain the young core four they have and add another talent to the one position they need to fill. The problem is Whiteside is 27. If the Lakers retain the 1-4 positions this summer that would make Whiteside three years older than the next oldest player in their starting five. So by the time the current roster starts to enter their prime Whiteside may be reaching the end of his prime. Overall for the Lakers basketball wise Whiteside makes sense, but he could end being a headcase for a team that already has a couple of them and young guys just learning the ropes. If the Lakers go after Whiteside they really should try to find veteran players to fill out the roster. Without a veteran in the locker room things could get out of hand.

Al Horford

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This is where Al Horford comes in. Horford is a small center, but in today's NBA it probably does not matter as much. What Horford would provide is another offensive weapon. That is about all though. He isn't a great defensive player or rebounder. Where he would help the Lakers is he would be a good leader for this young group of guys. He has been in the league for nine season and has had plenty of experience. The thing is Horford is now 30 and is probably looking to contend now. The Lakers do not provide that. Out of all the players the Lakers would like to sign he probably is not high on their list and the Lakers probably are not high on his list. 

Pau Gasol

Another free agents the Lakers would probably love to sign is Pau Gasol. Gasol played very well last season and would be a great addition to any team. Where the Lakers would have an advantage is Pau played for them before and he seemed to love the city and the team. For the Lakers that would be perfect. A veteran player and a champion who knows the team and the city. He would provide guidance and leadership while still being productive on the floor. For Gasol this does not make much sense. The problem is Gasol is 35. Unless he is satisified with his career to this point, then he probably will not sign with the Lakers. Most productive 35 year old players are looking to win a championship and if Gasol goes to the Lakers his days of competing for championships would be over. 

Probably the best thing for the Lakers to do is just keeping rebuilding this team. They have a solid core of young players now. If anything they should look for a veteran presence to be on the bench and a contributing big to start at center. It should be interesting to see what moves the Lakers make this summer.

What is the Nets plan?

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The Brooklyn Nets have just traded their second best player for the 20th pick in this years draft and future second round pick. What does this all mean for the Nets? Well I am going to break it down.

Kelly Kline

First off the Nets traded away every first round pick they have until 2019. The only year they will have a pick is 2017, but most likely it will not be their own. So by getting a pick this year the Nets can start a rebuilding process much faster. They will also be making the team much younger. The down side of having a pick in this years draft is that the draft is not very deep. This will make it extremely hard for the Nets to find the diamond in the ruff even if it is the 20th pick.

Second, let's look at what this move does for the Nets Salary cap space for this upcoming season. The Nets had about 36 million dollars in cap space going into the summer, but by trading Young that figure jumps to around 48.5 million dollars. This would allow the Nets to sign multiple big name free agents, if they would even consider Brooklyn as a landing spot. If not the Nets do not have to use up the cap space this summer. They could very well stay on the rebuilding route they are on rather than opt for a quick rebuild. All that leads into the next point I am about to make.

If the Nets do not find a solid free agent to sign this summer, they will trade Brook Lopez. Lopez is in his prime now and still has two years left on his contract. This means that a team trading for him will get Lopez at his best while he is locked into what can be considered a cheap contract of $20 million a year. I say that because $20 million a year will no longer be considered a max contract so teams picking him up will get him at a great value. Now that the Nets have pulled the trigger on Young it might be time to trade Lopez too while they can still get a lot in return. The Nets could easily get back a solid starting player as well as first round draft pick or a developing player with high potential.

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That all leads up to tonight's draft. Is Sean Marks looking to pull off a huge draft night trade that can land the Nets a lottery pick, or is he just making subtle moves to help jump start this rebuild. All in all this trade is not horrible, but the Nets could have gotten much more for Young. In the end it opened up a lot of cap space and got the Nets a first round pick this year. Hopefully this is the start of good things to come.

NBA Summer Madness Has Begun

This time of year there is are so many things happening around the NBA. The NBA draft begins tonight and then in just a couple of weeks free agency begins. To top it all off teams are making trades to improve their roster or start a rebuild. This year it didn't take long for the trades to take place with two pretty big trades happening yesterday.

The first trade I'll talk about is the three team trade between the Pacers, Jazz, and Hawks. The Hawks seem to be starting what could be a rebuilding process. They traded Jeff Teague to Indiana and in return they got the 12th pick in this years draft courtesy of the Jazz. As for the Jazz they received George Hill in return. This add's more back court depth to their team as well as a veteran presence.

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

The biggest winner in the trade has to be the Indiana Pacers. They gave up a good point guard in Hill, but they get a much more scoring oriented guard in Teague. This should take some of the pressure off Paul George to score the basketball. All the Pacers need to do now is find a stretch four that can spread the floor and open up driving lanes for Ellis, Teague, and George.

The losers in this trade are the Hawks. They ultimately made this deal because Teague wanted out and they want more cap room to resign Al Horford and Kent Bazemore. In the end they will now free up more playing time for Dennis Schroder who has been playing backup to Teague for years now. It should be interesting to see how all three teams fair next season with their new acquisitions.

The next big trade that happened yesterday was the Chicago Bulls traded Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks. The Knicks traded Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, and Jerian Grant to Chicago for Derrick Rose, Justin Holiday, and a 2017 second round pick. It's not surprising the Rose was traded to the Knicks. Most people knew the Bulls were looking to trade Rose and the Knicks are looking to quickly improve their team after back to back disappointing seasons. What is shocking is how little the Knicks had to give up to land Rose. In all fairness Rose is in the last year of his contract so the Bulls would have had trouble negotiating a better deal.

With the NBA draft taking place tonight keep an eye out for draft night trades as well. There are still murmurs of teams trading high picks for talent and some offers may still be on the table. That will all unfold later tonight.

It's Finally Over

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors finally settled the NBA finals last night. The game lived up to all the hype surrounding it and basketball fans witnessed probably one of the best finals games in history. So many story lines were being talked about going into last night. Will Cleveland win its first championship since 1964? Will the Warriors cap off the best regular season in history with a championship? Would LeBron fulfill the promise he gave Cleveland fans two years ago? And would LeBron and Curry show up?

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Well after 48 minutes of lead changes and spectacular plays the Cleveland Cavaliers finally brought the championship back to Cleveland. So much happened in the final two minutes, but two plays stand out that made a huge difference for Cleveland. The first play is a break away layup that Andre Iguodala seemed to have. Iguodala got out on the break made a move to avoid J.R. Smith, but when he went back up LeBron swooped in just in time for a chase down block keeping the game tied at 89 with 1:51 left in the game. The next great play of this game and basically the seal on the game was Kyrie Irving's three point shot over Steph Curry with 53 seconds left. Kyrie went right at Curry with no hesitation and then did a step back pull up for three right in the eye of Curry. It was an unbelievable shot that gave Cleveland the win.

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Kyrie Irving had a good game scroing 26 points and grabbing 6 rebounds for the game. He also hit the biggest shot. LeBron James had a spectacular game. With 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists; James became only the third player in NBA history to have a triple double in a finals game 7. James also became the only player in NBA history to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks for a series. These stats were enough to earn him the Finals MVP giving him his third Finals MVP.

From the Warriors side of things the splash brothers did not play well. Klay Thompson had 14 points and Curry had 17 points. The only player to show up was Dryamond Green. He played very well last night scoring 32 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, and racking up 9 assists. The only thing is the Warriors did not go back to the hot hand of Green in the fourth quarter and it really cost the Warriors.

Overall this game was such a treat to basketball fans because it is not very often that we see a Game 7 in the NBA finals. Let alone the Cavs were the only the third team to push a 3-1 deficit to seven games. And they became the first team ever to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals. We all witnessed history last night and hopefully next season can provide us with the same level of excitement.