slothman92 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 As a Mavs fan my hopes of Deron Williams coming to Dallas were slim, that is until Nets decided to take on Joe Johnson's previously thought to be untradeable contract, and killing their ability to get any other players of consequence.Would Deron Williams rather play with Joe Johnson or the German Moses? For the first I am optimistic about the Mavs chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I think it is almost a forgone conclusion that Howard and Williams will be playing for Mark Cuban next season. I think there has been a lot of smokescreen, but this deal has been set up for close to a year already on the Mavs end. I just don't think Donnie Nelson would have made the moves he made last season without this being the ultimate outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Howard thought he could force a trade to Brooklyn ala Carmelo Anthony to NYK. If he signs with any other team besides the one he's on at season's end, it will cost him $50+ million. Rumor is he opted in at the deadline last season because he was about to get traded to Houston, and thought he could force a trade to Brooklyn that summer or at the next deadline.But Brooklyn has nothing Orlando wants. Neither does Dallas.It's not a forgone conclusion Dwight will get to play where he wants if it means walking away from that kind of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothman92 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I think it is almost a forgone conclusion that Howard and Williams will be playing for Mark Cuban next season. I think there has been a lot of smokescreen, but this deal has been set up for close to a year already on the Mavs end. I just don't think Donnie Nelson would have made the moves he made last season without this being the ultimate outcome.I really hope you are right. I don't want to hate Cuban anymore for letting Chandler go. Even through, frankly, I would rather have Dirk/Deron/Chandler than Dirk/Deron/Howard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Screwing everything up. Surprised they're going through with this.Tell me about it. I have no idea what they are thinking. Apparently the deal only goes through is Williams re-signs but like you said, Deron, Gerald and Joe are NOT a championship team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Tell me about it. I have no idea what they are thinking. Apparently the deal only goes through is Williams re-signs but like you said, Deron, Gerald and Joe are NOT a championship team.It's fun to watch a petulant and maddeningly indecisive NBA superstar for once get absolutely nothing that he wants.But for the life of me I can't figure out what the hell the Nets are doing. You're going to turn your back on one of the five best players in the NBA who is on record that he will only sign with you because you can't bear to wait a year? So you go all in on an overpaid semi-star who at best gives you the 3rd or 4th best core in the Eastern Conference? You can count on one hand the number of NBA teams that even have a window in which they can become a title contender and the Nets seem absurdly intent on foregoing theirs.Once Prokhorov finds out what this deal actually means I wonder how long it'll take for Billy King to be reported "missing". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Thursday Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 So Danny Ferry is making waves in his new job, huh? Along with the Joe Johnson trade, he's also managed to trade Marvin Williams for Devin Harris, apparently. Pretty sweet manoeuvring, because suddenly the Hawks are in the hunt for Dwight Howard! And with the ability to actually put a reasonable offer on the table, suddenly it actually sounds kind of plausible. Horford + Teague for Howard is more than Dallas or Houston could offer...ST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Go Nets, it is good to know the Knicks will not be the only NY basketball team run and owned by utter morons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeu Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Deron, Gerald and Joe are NOT a championship team.How about if they resign Brooke Lopez? Then they will be in business, right? Umm..right?P.s. It seems like if this deal goes through, Nets will officially have 2 players under contract: Joe Johnson and Marshon Brooks, plus the commitment from Gerald Wallace. Under the "best case" scenario, they resign Williams and Lopez to have 5 players under contact for about $55 M and be pretty close to the salary cap. Hard to believe that was the master plan, after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Tell me about it. I have no idea what they are thinking. Apparently the deal only goes through is Williams re-signs but like you said, Deron, Gerald and Joe are NOT a championship team.I pretty much rely on a confused reading of Bill Simmons for all my NBA news, so I have no idea what I'm talking about, but is there anything the Nets could do to make a championship team (or even reach the finals)? Seems to me they just don't the pieces to put together a team that could compete with the Heat, the Bulls (if Rose is healthy), or the Celtics (assuming they can stay healthy).If that's the case, wouldn't a semi-decent team that'll reliably go out second round of the playoffs, actually be a good thing to shoot for? They got all those new fans, they gotta have something to get them excited about the team. Gotta have someone to put on the marketing campaign, particularly if Williams leaves. I know that usually its bad to be stuck in that grey zone of decent, better to either be gunning for a title or tanking for lottery placement, but it seems to me the Nets situation is kinda unique thanks to the Brooklyn move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Imp's Advocate Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The Hawk's GM has to be some kind of god in Atlanta right now for getting rid of Joe Johnson's contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime L Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 If that's the case, wouldn't a semi-decent team that'll reliably go out second round of the playoffs, actually be a good thing to shoot for? They got all those new fans, they gotta have something to get them excited about the team. Gotta have someone to put on the marketing campaign, particularly if Williams leaves. I know that usually its bad to be stuck in that grey zone of decent, better to either be gunning for a title or tanking for lottery placement, but it seems to me the Nets situation is kinda unique thanks to the Brooklyn move.I'm pretty sure you've hit on the reason they're going through with the Joe Johnson trade - so they can make a splash as they move to Brooklyn as a pretty good team that will create buzz and hopefully steal some of the attention away from the Knicks.The problem is it's gutless. The whole point of sports is the competition - to either win the title or build towards winning the title. If you're just settling for pretty good because it's the best short term financial decision or because there's more risk involved the other way that's anathema to what we love about sports. The Brooklyn move shouldn't be an excuse to cash out and say "this will get us to 50 wins every year and the second round of the playoffs, that should keep the fans happy". I'd have far more respect for the Nets if they pushed their chips to the center of the table and decided they were going to do whatever they could to pair Williams with Howard and take their title shot. They'd have 2 of the 10 best players in the NBA - that's a good enough core that if you can scrounge up the right combination of role players around them, you can win a title that way.But you can't win a title if you sub out Howard for Joe Johnson. And it's so fucking frustrating as a fan of a team who never gets an opportunity as golden as this one. There's virtually no way to get a superstar in the NBA unless you fall ass-backward lucky into one by winning the lottery in the right year or just by virtue of being the Lakers, Heat or Knicks. The Nets had one practically begging to come there but they decided "nah, we just want to be good enough."Hell I'd even be more forgiving if they legitimately think this is the way to win a title. They'd be fucking morons and ignorant of 50 years of NBA title history but at least they'd be competing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exa Inova Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The one who makes no sense in this drama is Howard. He wants to leave florida for what? More money? A chance for a championship?Doesnt he understand that to go to or become a contender you need more pieces than just Howard? So if he's going to whatever team that team has to give up important pieces to get him. So if Im Orlando and Howard wants to go to LA I would demand Bynum and Gasol back. I would give Orlando more chances to get to the finals than LA.From a contending standpoint going to team up with Williams makes no sense. Does he really believe that teaming up with Williams will land him a championship?Like Heer Donderdag wrote: Atlanta can offer more now. He has more chances to win teamed up with Smith and the rest of the Hawks than in either LA or Brooklin. Dallas is only interesting if they land both Williams and Howard and keep Nowitsky (all others are expendable).At the end of the day Howard has to understand that to become a champ he has to work on his game. Unless he makes his free throws and always commands double teams, second round and the occasional CF will be his ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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