13 Rules: Random NBA Thoughts – NBA Offseason

Make sure to listen and add the 13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts podcast to your list! This week Steve shares his thoughts as the NBA Offseason gets started.

NBA Offseason – Western Conference

• I’m starting to wonder about LeBron James. Is it because he’s in his last years that he seems to always seek publicity? Picking up his option at over $50 million and then saying he wants to win a championship are two things that can’t go together. Every NBA team except the Nets is over the cap, and if he wants to be traded, teams would be decimated after trading and matching salaries to reach LeBron’s salary. If he really wanted a title, he should have become a free agent and looked to sign for the minimum with a contender. LeBron’s ego would never let him do that. I also think the Lakers, now with Luka Dončić, are ready to move on, making all this an uncomfortable situation for all parties involved.
• All was going great for Denver as they acquired Cam Johnson in a trade for Michael Porter and signed Jonas Valančiūnas to back up Nikola Jokić. It looked like Denver was trying to improve their team and get backup help for Nikola Jokić. If they did this a year or two ago, they might have won another title. With Valančiūnas strongly considering going to Greece to play, he puts Denver back into looking for backup help for Jokić and possibly ruining Denver’s plans.

NBA Offseason – Eastern Conference

• Considering all that has gone on prior to Mike Brown being hired by the Knicks, it came out okay. I don’t think many people would say he is a better coach than Tom Thibodeau. I believe Thibs was an all-encompassing coach. By that I mean he did everything his own way, rarely listening to the owner, front office, or his assistants. The expectation is that Brown is a collaborator and will listen to differing opinions. Keep in mind, if a coach is in trouble and needs to win or get fired, they don’t usually listen. Hopefully, Brown doesn’t get in that situation, but all coaches do at some point.
• Speaking of the Knicks, I thought signing Guerschon Yabusele was a good move and at a cheap price. However, signing Jordan Clarkson was not as good a move. Knicks fans will both love him and hate him. Clarkson never met a shot he didn’t like. The Knicks have plenty of scoring; they need defenders.
• The Boston Celtics are the first team to get shafted by the dreaded second apron, but it won’t stop there. Any future championship team will be facing this at some point and will have to get rid of contracts to get under the second apron. The restrictions in the second apron make it next to impossible to keep a team together.
• If the Boston Celtics want to get under the tax line this year, the only thing left to do is trade either Jaylen Brown or Derrick White.
• The Milwaukee Bucks signing Myles Turner and releasing and stretching Damian Lillard‘s contract was the definition of a panic move to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee. It would make a lot more sense if the player they signed was better than Turner.