The Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Suns’ Deandre Ayton are frontrunners for Rookie of the Year. Young also has a chance.
But Sexton – though much further behind – is still plausibly in the race.
Was Smith just giving his honest opinion on the race? I’m fine with that, though I also don’t share a locker room with him.
Was Smith trying to motivate Sexton? This could be a well-intentioned – and maybe eventually effective – tweet as it pertains to Sexton.
Or was Smith just unthoughtful or, even worse, malicious about how this would affect his teammate? There’s obviously a difference in each of those scenarios, and a whole spectrum between them. But it’d all fit under a not-ideal label.
This isn’t anything worth fretting about unless the Sexton or Cavs management views this tweet as part of a larger pattern. Which maybe.
Draymond Green’s thoughts on Drake if Warriors play Raptors: “Drake can’t shoot”
The Warriors are just killing time and trying to get healthy. They will have nine days off between the end of their sweep of the Trail Blazers and the start of the NBA Finals against either the Bucks or the Raptors.
The Warriors are watching the Toronto/Milwaukee series like the rest of us, which of course includes Drake being Drake in the front row, giving Nick Nurse a massage and being allowed to patrol the sidelines like a coach. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is not a fan.
Draymond Green was asked about Drake, should the Warriors play the Raptors, and Green didn’t exactly seem concerned (via Nick Friedell of ESPN).
Draymond on how he'll handle Drake if Warriors play Raptors:
"Drake can't shoot. Nor can he pass. You ever seen Drake play basketball?"
Has Draymond?
"I saw a couple highlights. They wasn't so high. So I really don't care."
When it came into existence in the latest CBA, it was nicknamed the “Kevin Durant rule.”
Officially called the “designated veteran extension, the idea was to give teams leverage to keep their best home-grown players. To qualify, a player had to be in his 8th-10th NBA season (the end of the first extension of his rookie contract), still with the team that drafted him (or he was traded during his rookie contract), plus the player needs to have made been named MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or have made the All-NBA team in the most recent season or two previous ones. If a player meets the criteria, they could get a “supermax” extension that gave them 35 percent of the salary cap to stay, plus a fifth year, rather than the 30 percent of the cap and four years that other teams can offer.
Except guys are not sticking around for that extra cash.
“I mean, the players that are eligible, frankly, are players that are going to get paid, and they’re going to have any number of alternatives,” Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, told ESPN. “It hasn’t hurt them. It was something that they were able to secure and they were interested in getting it, and it was going to be a tremendous advantage in terms of just the amount of money.
“But I still don’t see a downside. The only downside is to the extent that people absolutely believed that it was a slam dunk way to keep their guys. And it just isn’t. And if they doubted it, they can now take a look at Anthony [Davis] and see, ‘Oh, wow, there is no way.'”
Expect the process to be tweaked in the next round of negotiations. The league is always looking for a way to give small and medium market teams a leg up in keeping stars.
Of course, put the right team around those stars (ala Milwaukee) and it’s not much of a problem.
NBA cancels 2019 Global Camp, showcase for international prospects
Right as the NBA Finals are tipping off here in North America, there was going to be a collection of potential NBA players — plus scouts and members of team front offices — gathering in Monaco for a showcase of their own. The NBA 2019 Global Showcase is a chance for draft-eligible international prospects to impress teams and see if they can find their way into the second round, or higher. Think of it as an NBA Combine for international prospects.
“We have canceled the NBA Global Camp 2019 due to logistical issues and other contributing factors that jeopardized our ability to successfully conduct the camp,” NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe said in a statement to ESPN. “The camp will return in the future.”…
Sources say that confusion over which venues actually were booked by the organizers are among the key reasons for the last-minute cancellation. AS Monaco Basket, a professional team that competes in the French first division, said it was not consulted about the availability of its arena, which was slated to host the Global Camp.
AS Monaco is favorited to still be playing in the French league playoffs at that time, and if so their building would not be available for the camp.
There are 59 international players currently eligible for the draft, many of them would have been working out and showcasing their skills at this event.
For years, Adidas hosted the EuroCamp in Italy at this time, and it served as sort of a combine for these international prospects. However, the event evolved and last year the NBA took it over to make it more like what the American players go through. The NBA hosted the event in Italy last year, but was moving it to Monaco this year.
Next year, the event will back on… somewhere in Europe.
Watch Klay Thompson scoff upon learning he missed All-NBA, super-max eligibility (video)
That’s a costly missed opportunity for Thompson, who also finished behind Bradley Beal in voting. Thompson’s max contract in free agency this summer projects to be worth $190 million over five years. If he made All-NBA, it would have been a projected $221 million over five years.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic:
Klay Thompson learns he didn’t make All-NBA (“Oh I didn’t?”) and is clearly a little ticked (it affects his next contract): “When you go to five straight Finals, it takes more than a couple All-NBA guys…Do I think there are that many guards better than me? No.” pic.twitter.com/bW5DiBavo1
That’s cool and all, but when you go to five straight Finals – I respect those guys. But, holy, when you go to five straight, it takes more than just a couple All-NBA guys.
But whatever. I’d rather win a championship than be third-team All-NBA. So, it’s all good.
Do I think there’s that many guards better than me in the league? No.
To me, the All-NBA teams should honor the players who had the best regular season that year. It’s not about who the best players are. It’s not about who advanced furthest in prior years. It’s about who performed the best during that regular season. (Obviously, better players are more likely perform better.)
Maybe Thompson conserved energy for the playoffs. That would have been the right approach. The Warriors are good enough to bank on reaching the postseason, and the organization should emphasize this time of year.
But a side effect is being less deserving of regular-season awards.
That’s why super-max contracts probably shouldn’t be tied to All-NBA. A player’s value to his team stems so much from the playoffs, and these awards are voted upon immediately after the regular season.
For the most part, it will work out fine. But Thompson is the exact type of player to get slighted. I wouldn’t blame him for resenting the system.
He’s focused on a different question – who are the best guards, especially in the playoffs? – than most All-NBA voters were answering. Incidentally, Thompson’s question is much more similar to one teams ask themselves when determining players’ salaries. Unfortunately for Thompson, the All-NBA voters’ considerations will matter much more in how much he gets paid.
