*** OFFICIAL *** 2017-18 NBA Thread

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

If you don't like the NBA FA shit I just don't know what to say...this shit from a team that wouldn't tack on like 2-3M/year onto a contract offer to james harden because they were worried about going into the fucking tax...now they are basically paying Carmelo Anthony $53M to play for them (tax included) with zero hope of winning anything...and by that extension they are paying russa russ $80+M to play for them...

Free-agent guard Raymond Felton has agreed to a one-year, $2.4 million deal to return to the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told ESPN.

Felton's signing will push the Thunder's payroll and luxury tax hurtling past an historic NBA threshold: $300 million. The Thunder are responsible to pay $150 million in tax on the 2018-19 season's roster, if the roster stays intact through the end of the season.

There is almost zero chance that Anthony and his full salary are still on the books for OKC this season, either by a trade or just by stretching and waiving him. That will cut down their tax payment by over $50 million. I don't even know if a trade is possible at this point with most of the bad teams that also have cap space already using up a bunch of it. Plus, why would you want to get draft picks from OKC when they're most likely going to be a playoff team for the foreseeable future? But I guess there are reasons why teams like the Kings and Bulls are what they are...

And that deal for Felton is fine. You're getting a competent backup point guard for cheap.

from everything I've read the thunder aren't going to wave him...obviously that could change as the year goes on...don't know why they wouldn't, maybe not piss off other superstars that might come the OKC way or an agency...

nothing wrong with the felton signing...only thing that was funny about it was that it sent them rocketing to the 100% tax bracket, thus having to pay over $50M for melo...and also paying 100% tax on a team that has zero shot to compete for anything...

[KidPresentable]

The OKC front office has never been great, so I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something stupid like paying Melo all that money to not play. But my recollection is they’ve historically been super cheap, so it would seem odd to have total salary and tax obligations even higher than the Warriors and maybe be the 3rd or 4th best team in the West.

I think you’re right that the only reason to keep him would be if George and Westbrook really wanted him to stay. That seems dumb since he was unplayable against all but the shittiest teams last year, but players aren’t always the best assessors of talent.

[blake]

With those weird 1 year contracts of all the replacement level players looks like the Lakers are going to punt this year and then try to make a run in next summer's free agent class (when Lebron is 34-35 yr old).

I wouldn't say they are punting this year. Assuming they make no further trades, taking a 35 win team and adding LeBron and removing Brook Lopez and broken-IT automatically makes them a 50 win team at their floor and probably a 3-4 seed if everyone stays relatively healthy.

I'm excited to watch a lineup of Ball-KCP-LBJ-Ingram-Kuzma on the floor, and you still have Hart, Stephenson, Rondo, Javale as rotation guys...its a sneaky good team. People are acting like theyre doomed because they didnt get a 2nd "star". They probably already have one in Ingram.

i think they’ll be a decent team and fun to watch, but i also think lebron’s mindset has shifted into lifestyle/retirement mode.

he chose the lakers to live in LA, where his kid wants to play high school ball. he’s 33 and will be 34 next year come december. the fact that he didn’t care who else was joining him, to me, suggests winning is no longer his priority.

[ErickAA]

The OKC front office has never been great, so I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something stupid like paying Melo all that money to not play. But my recollection is they’ve historically been super cheap, so it would seem odd to have total salary and tax obligations even higher than the Warriors and maybe be the 3rd or 4th best team in the West.

I think you’re right that the only reason to keep him would be if George and Westbrook really wanted him to stay. That seems dumb since he was unplayable against all but the shittiest teams last year, but players aren’t always the best assessors of talent.

Cutting and stretching him would literally save them $100M, because of all the tax implications. There is literally no other option. Even if he was good and they wanted him (he isn't and they don't) they would have to do this for financial reasons.