Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 412. (Read 903361 times)

Harden, and Lillard are in the same situation however, their is a bit of a difference between the 2.

For Lillard, many teams are interested in getting him because of how good he is offensively. It's just that, he just want to play with the Heat. Harden on the other hand, has no teams interested on him anymore, or if there is, at least they will not try to get him this season. Teams will prefer waiting for him to be a free agent, then he will be offered with a contract.

Harden's situation is kind of different since no other team wants him currently, he must either play with the Sixers, or his value will decrease, and possible that he will get a lower contract next season. Right now, Lillard is safe, and he has a decision if will play with the Blazers or not. As for Harden, he has no choice but to play with the Sixers because it will affect his value. If he sit's out for the season, for sure he will be paid lower.

No team wants him anymore even though he's the top leading assist last season. I wonder why hmmm. 

We will see if both Harden and Lillard sit out next season. If that does happen, I believe the NBA will need to consider making some rule changes. They cannot allow this situation to happen again. What if other superstars follow suit, demanding trades to their desired teams, and if those demands aren't met, they just sit out? I think it's unfair to the organizations that have invested in them. It appears that the players are the ones dictating the terms, and this goes against the traditional business dynamics of the capitalist side.

He probably cannot do anything about it if no team is really willing to sign them up. All he can do is wait for something to materialize. It will be the agents of both said players who will be working like a horse this next month to land their players something good. Some teams had enough of drama queens while some might still want to risk letting go of their players to sign one of them.
But here's another problem, most teams that didn't end with a playoff spot have a good player in the point guard position in their roster so they won't take the risk.
Hornets has LaMelo Ball.
Wizards have Tyus Jones and Jordan Poole
Magic has Cole Anthony and they are firm about their young roster to create chemistry.
Rockets may not want James Harden back.
Jazz has Clarkson.
Spurs already invested with Tre Jones but there's a chance here for Harden. He with Wemby might be a good pair since we already saw how good of a playmaker Harden could be when paired with big men. i.e. Capela and Embiid.

I read this earlier today and I think they demanded some big return from the Clippers which ended the trade talks obviously, it wasn't a reasonable trade at all when they wanted more for James Harden. looks like they are handling his attitude for more months after this trade talks ended and they needed to talk with the other teams right now in order to quickly trade him because he is not committed for the team anymore and wanted to get out from the 76ers as soon as possible.

^^ As far as I know, the workout will be this week, so it might not have started yet as we speak, so obviously, there will be no news for now. As for the James Harden situation, it seems that we have 2 high profile sit down for this season, Harden and Lillard.

So it's going to be interesting what Adam Silver will do with this kind of situation. I think he will have to step up and see what he can do as a commissioner so that this two superstars will play and not just like sit while fans wanting them to see in action.

Still no update regarding to this and if ever they will be going to sign him, they might be planning for something that will work
for both Dwight and the rest of his teammates, that will play with him.

We know by a fact that coaching staff will check and balance the possibility and how they will be able
to maximize the use of each player that they've got.

I personally think that they are seeing something that can be useful. That's why they are giving a
chance we never know till they already sign him and let him play for them.

NBA Central is reporting that the Clippers have ended trade talks with the 76ers for a potential James Harden trade. This isn’t good news for Harden, as he’s now faced with having to sit out the season if a new suitor doesn’t appear to his liking. Pretty similar situation as with Dame, although two completely different situations regarding loyalty at the same time.

This sort of thing has been happening more and more over the past few seasons. It's definitely not normal that some players are abusing their influence. By the way, Silver has once again said that he doesn't like it and wants players to honor the terms of their contracts.
As I see it, the NBA management should increase the fines for such actions by players multiple times because $50-100k fines seem quite insignificant to some players.

The news being reported today is that the Miami Heat and the Portland Trailblazers have made some progress on their trade talks. I think Damian Lillard’s threats about making drama in training camp were probably enough for Portland to just give in and give him what he wants. Dame shouldn’t have re-signed there if he didn’t want to stay there.

You can't just decide not to play and still get paid.  Otherwise people can sign these mega deals and just do whatever they want.  If he is healthy and chooses not to play he would get docked his equal pay for the time he doesn't play.  Anything other than that would lead to chaos, owners would never sign up to that.

Yeah, he may not be perfect for that but there could be some changes for this play if they're up against Denver. But since it's not just that they're going to be focusing with them, I guess that there's a lot of usage that they can do with Dwight.

Anyway, just because him and the Warriors had a meeting, that still doesn't guarantee anything at all. So, while it's not yet finalized then we will just have to let it go and let  Warriors do their thing.

But nice analysis, mate.

They know what Dwight can do and can't do these days but the fact is, they had a meeting because they have an idea that Dwight might be useful to them. You know, just to man their center and do the rebounding for them because Green will do the rest for the Warriors defense and they got Looney and Wiggins as well. He is not expected to do all the chores because he's not the way we used to know like in the previous years where he can really dominate any team that he was up against. Let's just trust the Warriors because we're already in the point where they know what they are doing.

Finally, the rumors will stop about his trade.
He didn't win to be traded this season but I bet he will push this harder on the next one. Trail Blazers did not do anything to fill the holes that are needed to give him a championship-caliber team so he won't stop pursuing to be on another team that would best suit his skills.

Very nice. He deserves this contract. He already showed his greatness last season where the Lakers rely on him when it comes to defense and some offense beneath the rim and the paint. Well, he actually already showcased that during his years with the Jazz but he looks better now with a team that is really focused on getting a ring. He is also one of the reasons why they won the play-in tournament and better, headed to the Western Conference Finals so yes, this amount is just perfect for his efforts.

His attitude? Or maybe he isn't fit for on the league right now because we've seen Centers who are shooting threes as well, and we know that he can't do that. We saw Jokic, Embiid, and other bigs shooting threes, and him? He isn't good at it.

Between the 2 reasons that I said, I think the 2nd one is the reason, but if Howard be given a contract with the Warriors? He isn't recommended to shoot threes anymore, and he can just focus on rebounding which is his strength. I still believe that he's a good defender as well at his current age. I will not be surprised if he will be given a contract with the Warriors. A good rebounder, and a good mentor to the rookie big Jackson-Davis.

The one problem the Warriors have last season has been solve "IF" he will get a contract.

If he will not play this upcoming season, the team will be fined based on the new rules. Him not playing for the rest of the season if he will not get traded? We might see another version of Kawhi Leonard when he's in the Spurs.

Anyway, since it went out online, there hasn't been any traction on that trade talks, and it has been months since it got hyped. After all, the Blazers aren't rushing to trade him, and maybe the Blazers want either Butler, and Adebayo to be included in the trade package. Anyway, like you I'm also curious on how Dame time will react on this one. Will he still play with the Blazers? Will he sit down, and will not play for the rest of the season (which is impossible)?

I agree, and the only solution here is to let Dame go and move to Miami his destination team. He wanted to move there so bad that he will risk his reputation and money for sitting this season as what it was reported before.

Of course it's never be a personal thing for players and teams, they just want the aim of winning and if it's not working then, the partnership should go. We've seen a lot of franchise player moving on a block buster trade and so it will not have a huge impact to both of them in the long run and still a win-win situation.

It could be a violation of a contract, but there are no legal liabilities associated with it. I believe Lillard's camp is not foolish enough to make a decision that would lead to more significant problems in the end. While he may not be paid for the games he played, it's the team that is affected significantly. As mentioned, ticket sales will drop, and the Blazers will have no chance of making it to the playoffs.



It seems like a similar situation, so why would the Blazers wait so long before trading him if it's going to lead to him just sitting out the whole season?

I think it will be an obvious violation of his contract if he is healthy but doesn't want to play. If he is not, or have some kind of injuries, so there's no question about it, he can sit.

So it will be over like Ben Simmons case in Philly, wherein he doesn't want to play anymore and if I'm not mistaken, he losses millions due to that. But in the end, the Sixers can't do anything but to really let Simmons go and move to Brooklyn Nets.

That's why there's a contract. If Lillard doesn't violate his contract by sitting out the whole season, then he cannot be held liable for any damages. The Blazers should have already anticipated events like this, as similar situations have occurred in other teams in the past. So, if they choose to keep Lillard but he refuses to play, I think the better solution would be to trade him. In the end, it's not personal; it's all about business and should aim to be a win-win situation for both parties. And if there are losses involved in the decision-making process, at least they can work on minimizing them.

Yeah, it's really hard to see Lillard sitting this season and not playing for the Blazers. And if you look at his contract, it's about $216 million left. So that is a huge money that they are going to pay him if he is not going to play this season.

Looking very ugly right now, not good for Dame and for the Blazers as you have said, they are losing big money every day that Lillard misses and probably the tickets are also going down as fans doesn't want to watch the game live without him in the Blazers uniform.

I have read some days ago that Lillard even refuses to take part of training camp with the Blazers. That of course also means he doesn't want to start or play the regular season.
In my opinion that's really shameful. These players sign contracts and have to be held accountable for that. You can't just refuse to do your job. Next to not getting paid these players should also get extra fines for contract violations I think, otherwise this will never end.

Not showing up is damage to the team. Not only do they not have their best player and therefor it's impossible to compete but also they will lose jersey sales. Which fan on Portland thinks about buying Lillard's jersey if they have to assume he is leaving anyway -> missed sales for the franchise.