NBA and WNBA thread

If Cousins stays healthy, loses some weight then he can be a force again.
It’s been a while since a big has been 6th man of the year but it would actually be an ideal role form him at least next season.

Honestly don’t know what OKC should do. They’re not exactly a glamorous location for NBA players but they’ve got a decent fan base locally and around the world thanks to KD, Russ and PG to some extent.

Considering Westbrook’s stats it’s surprisingly tricky to think where he might fit on other teams (not that many are in position to trade for him apparently).

Is he easy to play with? Sam mentions Miami but Butler is also getting a rep for not exactly being a “glue guy”. Toronto might not be a bad destination with a small guard line up with him and Lowry? Charlotte - he is a Jordan brand signature player isn’t he?

On the topic of all these trades I’m constantly surprised by how little NBA jerseys for traded players are reduced by retailers. Kwahi Leonard Spurs jerseys are still £50?
I quite like the NOLA Davies jersey but Mrs C would not be amused should another jersey make its way into my over stocked basketball apparel collection :-)

I was right about Miami, they're favourites to land Westbrook. Detroit are in the mix too as are Dallas and 1 or 2 others. It's a shame the Spurs aren't interested as they have some nice pieces to trade but more importantly it would be interesting to see if Pop could get him to change how he plays at all. That concern is probably the precise reason they're not interested in him but if anyone can get him to play differently, it would be Pop. He might coach him for the national team, not sure but think Russ is on it, but that's not the same thing at all.

Well I've been there before, approximately 2003 to 2010, apart from one surprise season in 2005 that kind of came from nowhere before the then Sonics reverted to sucking again the next season. I'm not too upset as this lineup clearly wasn't going to contend.

What I tend to do in the doldrum years (and we had one as recently as 2015 due to injuries) is pick a second, more interesting team to keep an eye on. I mean next season is shaping up league wide to be one of the most competitive yet but I'll be watching a lot of the Pelicans and Zion.

Agree Westbrook and Butler won't do anything, the Heat need another good player. Now, if they could persuade D.Wade to come out of retirement...

Good enough not to get relegated, anyway. I don't think they can make a trade for Westbrook that works with matching salaries though.

Houston pulled it off, as expected sending CP3 the other way, who Thunder will reroute. End of an era. Now Harden isn't coming off the bench it will be fun seeing who takes the most shots out of he and Russ. I don't think they will contend but they'll put a lot of points up!

And one.

I might wear Dirk occasionally but he's so old one of players called him old school and that was before he retired. There will be no #77 vest for me.
It's the same with football. Stortford may have 87 year old Jamie Cureton somehow still banging in the goals but he's younger than me. The current row over the lack of stripes is passing me by.
I'm old

Well he got traded to Houston though I think he had given the clippers a shortlist of teams he'd want to play on. And to be fair if he hadn't got hurt in the playoffs last year the Rockets probably beat GS and who knows, win the finals too.

Very surprised he could be staying put now though, and apparently he's open to the idea too. Maybe a playoff spot isn't totally out of the question?

Back to two Brits in the WNBA, just in case anyone cares. Temi Fagbenle showed up in Minnesota and was activated by the Lynx, and the LA Sparks just signed Karlie Samuelson to a 7-day contract.

You would think multi millionaire basketball players and multi-billion dollar corporations could find something better to do with their time and money.....
Nike should have taken the high road and let him have it. Its not that great a logo anyway and what are they going to do with it?

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27217677/nike-files-countersuit-kawhi-logo

Leonard is certainly not the guy we all thought he was in his early days in SA. I've got to say, as great a player as he is, I am even more sceptical about his so called injury issues in the last season there. It is a shame the Spurs have too much class to really let the NBA world know what took place.

www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/27238783/wizards-beal-latest-withdraw-team-usa

I guess this is a NBA topic but hopefully some September we will have a FIBA WC thread.

With the overall improvement in standard around the world I think this could possibly be Indiana all over again. These drop outs tend to be a chain reaction and one begets another. It’s a shame as people want to see the best players but on the other hand we also don’t want a cake walk to the final as it sometimes feels like in these when the big guns are out.

Good point about Pop. I see Harris also dropped out....not sure why a gold medal at World Cup wouldn’t appeal to him. What’s he won??

Great TD back in NBA.

I remember him from NBA 98. It's scary how many are gone from that particular season; Bobby Phills and Denis Scott off the top of my head. And, of course, Brian Williams AKA Bison Dele
Didn't think there was much mystery about Dele. It all kicked off a boat, his brother killed him and he's now swimming with the fishes.