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OT: LeBron to...

That would require cap space.

Celtics are hanging out right below the luxury tax level. If they feel like they're close going to the finals, especially without Lebron, they could still add a non taxable MLE player AND still be just under the level, which allows them to make a trade. I don't think their ownership is opposed to paying a tax when they're close to the finals based on economics, I think Danny Ainge just wants flexibility for trades because of their logjam of draft picks and guards.
 
Maybe no one gets by Golden State. But I am not sold on Cleveland having better players than LA. Kuzma, Randle (if he stays), and Ingram all averaged 17.1 points per game each on mostly efficient shooting last year and are all upside. If they can trade Lonzo Ball (they should), draft picks, etc., they could add someone that way in addition. Need a pure three point shooter for sure.

Magic also talked of a two year plan -- and next year's free agent list includes Klay Thompson (dad played for the Lakers, they won't be able to offer him a max if Durant gets his super max), Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard (who wants to be in LA), Kevin Love (return to LA and return to Lebron?), Marc Gasol, and many others. I think 2019-2020 becomes
"The Last run of a King" or something that eventually becomes a 30 for 30.

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My guess is we see Wannamaker in very limited minutes up front but Stevens has been great at adjusting line ups based on performance and match-ups so he could earn more.
They likely cannot bring back Randle AND have cap space next year. If they want max cap room next year they will have to either give up assets to trade Deng or stretch him. They would also then either have to not have Randle OR trade him out without salary coming back. That gives them a shot at getting close to max salary next year, but means they essentially punt this year with no chance of even being the 2nd best team in the West.
 
Trade Deng to the Hawks (they have 22 million in cap space and next year risk the salary floor), throw in Kent Bazemore and a first round draft pick for a loaf of bread. Now you have space for Bird righting Randle and signing a big free agent next season.
 
Trade Deng to the Hawks (they have 22 million in cap space and next year risk the salary floor), throw in Kent Bazemore and a first round draft pick for a loaf of bread. Now you have space for Bird righting Randle and signing a big free agent next season.
Bazemore is a Hawks player and costs almost as much as Deng. How would that help their cap situation? It would give them less flexibility next year because it would be harder to trade Bazemore and there would be less advantage with a stretch.

If they sign Randle to any sort of multi year contract, they will not have close to max salary cap space unless they trade him.
 
Randle to New Orleans.

Demarcus Cousins to Golden State
The league that has always lacked parity is now just a parody.

I hope this somehow makes the NHL more popular. Much more entertaining and much more balanced. The whole league has to be pi$$ed right now. I'd boycott it if I were them. Why should they bother to watch? Won't be watchable until the next CBA when the owners advocate for a hard cap.
 
So now GSW is even more unbeatable. The Lakers are going to be probably the 4th best team in the West and completely reliant on using all their assets to trade for a star or sign one next year to even be able to compete with GSW. The Rockets put together a really great team and have essentially 0 chance of getting out of the West.

Everyone else in the West should basically go into full rebuild for the next 2-3 years. The NBA is going to be awful if this continues.
 
The league that has always lacked parity is now just a parody.

I hope this somehow makes the NHL more popular. Much more entertaining and much more balanced. The whole league has to be pi$$ed right now. I'd boycott it if I were them. Why should they bother to watch? Won't be watchable until the next CBA when the owners advocate for a hard cap.

Cap doesn't matter much when you have guys like Durant and Cousins willing to take small and large pay cuts to be on the same team. I mean only two teams last year paid the high luxury tax I believe, it's not like everyone is in a spending arms race. At some point the players are just wealthy enough they don't really need supermax money and will simply form teams with guys they want to play with through free agency. Plus the owners might not want to risk a work stoppage when revenue has increased from the game going global. They can't make money if there aren't games.

The 80s golden era had only a few great teams. If you look at say, 1983, basically only three teams had any real shot -- Lakers, Celtics, Sixers. I mean maybe the Bucks? But that was about it. Most years in that decade you had Celtics, Lakers, and then either Sixers or Pistons depending on the year. A lack of parity hasn't really been bad for the NBA

The problem is this particular Warriors team could be so good that they're the only team with a chance to win the title, which was the problem in the 96-98 Bulls run, where it got boring seeing the Bulls beat everyone. A couple of super teams can be fun, one is a problem. . The Warriors also got Curry, Thompson, and Draymond through the draft and that's what attracted Durant in the first place. It wasn't all free agency. But they're now still too good.
 
Randle to New Orleans.

Demarcus Cousins to Golden State
The league that has always lacked parity is now just a parody.

I hope this somehow makes the NHL more popular. Much more entertaining and much more balanced. The whole league has to be pi$$ed right now. I'd boycott it if I were them. Why should they bother to watch? Won't be watchable until the next CBA when the owners advocate for a hard cap.

NBA ratings are fantastic and they just signed an enormous TV deals. Bench players now make 8 figures. There will never be an NBA vs NHL competition in terms of interest. The NHL is what it is. Its a very popular league in 6 or 7 cities, semi-popular in the other NHL cities, and not even on the radar in cities without teams. Atlanta could not support an NHL team but its new MLS team is extremely successful, drawing 40K+.
 
Fans watch individual NBA games, many of which are fun, entertaining games. The season lasts forever and by the time the playoffs roll around it's May or June so those following the other teams don't really care anymore that their team has been eliminated again.
 
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Fans watch individual NBA games, many of which are fun, entertaining games. The season lasts forever and by the time the playoffs roll around it's May or June so those following the other teams don't really care anymore that their team has been eliminated again.
Yup. The big difference between the NHL and NBA is that the NBA promotes players, while the NHL promotes teams.
 
I think the Warriors problem creates an issue for, say, fans and the owners of the Utah Jazz. But will Adam Silver care if they are basically printing money through national TV contracts and consistent growth in huge markets in Asia and Europe? It depends how many of the small owners band together. At some point it's hard to regulate players just going where they want if they have free agency, something protected not just by the CBA but even by supreme court decisions.
 
NBA ratings are fantastic and they just signed an enormous TV deals. Bench players now make 8 figures. There will never be an NBA vs NHL competition in terms of interest. The NHL is what it is. Its a very popular league in 6 or 7 cities, semi-popular in the other NHL cities, and not even on the radar in cities without teams. Atlanta could not support an NHL team but its new MLS team is extremely successful, drawing 40K+.
Actually the ratings are way, way down. ABC/ESPN is losing hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars.

Definitely true on the NHL, though. Sad, but true.
 
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American finals ratings are down and ABC regular season ratings are down. Total global viewership and revenue is way up, especially thanks to League Pass, which cuts out the middle man. League Pass data is proprietary so they don't share total numbers, but it's clear if you look at the leagues finances overall that they're really increasing subscriptions.

And even in a down year and even just in the US, the finals viewership was the second highest after the super bowl, roughly 3 times as high as NHL finals viewership.
 
Indeed. I really do think the NHL could’ve been a much more popular league, if it weren’t for the jags running the league. But hey, how about the Outdoor Life Network, right? :rolleyes:
I know it's heresy here in the Burgh, but in Gallup polls, more American sports fans rate soccer above hockey in their sports preference.

(And, yeah, that might be because there are over 11 million Americans natuonalized from or of Mexican ancestry. ) But, numbers count with advertisers.
 
The problem is this particular Warriors team could be so good that they're the only team with a chance to win the title, which was the problem in the 96-98 Bulls run, where it got boring seeing the Bulls beat everyone. A couple of super teams can be fun, one is a problem. . The Warriors also got Curry, Thompson, and Draymond through the draft and that's what attracted Durant in the first place. It wasn't all free agency. But they're now still too good.

The one advantage the Bulls had was that they had Jordan, thus despite their dominance, people tuned in because they loved watching him play. The Warriors don't have that. Sure, Durant, and Curry are great players, but Jordan was on the level of Babe Ruth as an icon that transcended his sport. Those guys don't approach that.
 
The one advantage the Bulls had was that they had Jordan, thus despite their dominance, people tuned in because they loved watching him play. The Warriors don't have that. Sure, Durant, and Curry are great players, but Jordan was on the level of Babe Ruth as an icon that transcended his sport. Those guys don't approach that.

Commercially, I agree. But even then there was the Sports Illustrated covers like:
0c9a941cbeea8f550454e83dbf2dd11b--nba-sports-sports-illustrated-covers.jpg


Super teams still aren't a problem to me -- unless there is only one, which might be where we are for at least one more season.
 
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