2020 Mock Off-season Rules, Teams, and Discussion Thread

[Somebody]

Looking to flip Wiggins and picks for an upgrade at the wing position. Also open to moving Klay for the right package.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

[Somebody]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

Mind posting a list on notable free agents when it starts?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

Mind posting a list on notable free agents when it starts?

I'll do that, but you can find a list of RFA and UFA online.

[footey]

I have several team option contracts that I may want to terminate. Do I just announce this and try to figure out my cap space?  Is there a website that can help me calculate my cap space after cutting guys?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I have several team option contracts that I may want to terminate. Do I just announce this and try to figure out my cap space?  Is there a website that can help me calculate my cap space after cutting guys?

http://www.shamsports.com/capulator

I use this and its what I requested people use for cap calculations, especially with the numbers all up in the air.

That's a good point on terminated contracts. I hadn't thought of that. I think we can start with that Friday. Just announce once the free agency period begins on Friday and I will add significant players to the free agency pool.

[Jvalin]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

What happens with player options? How do we know whether a player picked up his option or not?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

What happens with player options? How do we know whether a player picked up his option or not?

That's a negotiation thing that will start Friday.

I'll make a thread for all this stuff today or tomorrow to make sure we are all on the same page. I haven't thought through how it should all work, but I will try to make it smooth and give everyone equal opportunity.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Rumor out of Orlando is that the Magic and Aaron Gordon would both prefer a change before next season. Having never played his natural position, both parties feel it would be better for him to play the four. They are reportedly looking at all options, but aren't looking into trades to simply dump a player.

[gouki88]

Wanting to get a bit of discussion going.

From the perspective of my TrailBlazers, we felt as if it was time to let McCollum go. His $100m extension over 3 years is gaudy, and we believe Buddy Hield will be able to provide almost all McCollum can. They have different strengths, but I rate them equally. Hield's average salary over the next 4 years is about $10m/year lower than CJ's. Hield is also, in my book, underrated. Neither he nor McCollum are good defenders - if anything, I think Hield is slightly better as he's stronger.

However, on offence, I love Hield's fit next to Dame. Hield is a top-5 shooter in the NBA, shooting roughly 10 3's a game at 40%. I think him next to Dame makes them the equal of the Splash Brothers when it comes to shooting. Using their 2019-20 stats, they combined for 7.7 3PM a game on 19.6 3PA a game. That's a hair lower than the Splash Brothers, and I believe with the elite floor-spreading the two will give each other they will shoot even better.
Klay Thompson's 3P% dropped from 44.5% (with Curry on the floor) to 38.7% (with Curry off the floor) from 2014-15 to 2018-19. I think similar things will happen with Dame and Buddy.

Further, I love the selection of Avdija. To me, he is a top-7 talent, and we got him at 14. I think he'll end up as a blend between Portland Batum and Detlef Schrempf. We also foresee Nurk returning to his pre-injury form, and he was on the verge of returning before COVID struck. We're big fans of Jalen Smith as a back-up center for the immediate time being, as he is a strong athletic big who can stretch the floor and protect the rim.

Get ready for an immensely powerful Portland offence!

[Jvalin]

Wanting to get a bit of discussion going.

From the perspective of my TrailBlazers, we felt as if it was time to let McCollum go. His $100m extension over 3 years is gaudy, and we believe Buddy Hield will be able to provide almost all McCollum can. They have different strengths, but I rate them equally. Hield's average salary over the next 4 years is about $10m/year lower than CJ's. Hield is also, in my book, underrated. Neither he nor McCollum are good defenders - if anything, I think Hield is slightly better as he's stronger.

However, on offence, I love Hield's fit next to Dame. Hield is a top-5 shooter in the NBA, shooting roughly 10 3's a game at 40%. I think him next to Dame makes them the equal of the Splash Brothers when it comes to shooting. Using their 2019-20 stats, they combined for 7.7 3PM a game on 19.6 3PA a game. That's a hair lower than the Splash Brothers, and I believe with the elite floor-spreading the two will give each other they will shoot even better.
Klay Thompson's 3P% dropped from 44.5% (with Curry on the floor) to 38.7% (with Curry off the floor) from 2014-15 to 2018-19. I think similar things will happen with Dame and Buddy.

Further, I love the selection of Avdija. To me, he is a top-7 talent, and we got him at 14. I think he'll end up as a blend between Portland Batum and Detlef Schrempf. We also foresee Nurk returning to his pre-injury form, and he was on the verge of returning before COVID struck. We're big fans of Jalen Smith as a back-up center for the immediate time being, as he is a strong athletic big who can stretch the floor and protect the rim.

Get ready for an immensely powerful Portland offence!

Thing is, Klay complements Steph perfectly cause he's an elite defender, whereas both Hield and Lillard are way below average defenders. Chances are, Avdija won't be a lock down defender either.

The way I see it, Hield is a one-dimentional player. He's an elite shooter and that's about it. He literally does nothing else. If his shots don't fall one night, he's a net negative.

McCollum is a terrific shooter as well, albeit worse than Hield. At the same time, he's better at creating his own shot, and most importantly he can create shots for his teammates. When it comes to slashing ability/court vision/passing/ball handling/basketball IQ, McCollum is hands down the better player.

Obviously, the Blazers have Lillard on the ball. I guess you decided that McCollum's skill set is redundant next to Lillard. The Bucks wanted to move on from Bledsoe, hence I opted for the better ball handler/shot creator in McCollum. I really like the trade for the Bucks. If I were the Blazers, I would have gone after a 3+D specialist instead of Hield.

McCollum's contract sucks a bit (Middleton's sucks even more), but the Bucks are in win-now mode. It's possible that Giannis is NBA's next megastar after LeBron. He generates tons of revenue for the franchise. As long as Giannis plays for the Bucks, our financial situation is gonna be fine. We are willing to do whatever it takes to keep Giannis in Milwaukee.

[gouki88]

Wanting to get a bit of discussion going.

From the perspective of my TrailBlazers, we felt as if it was time to let McCollum go. His $100m extension over 3 years is gaudy, and we believe Buddy Hield will be able to provide almost all McCollum can. They have different strengths, but I rate them equally. Hield's average salary over the next 4 years is about $10m/year lower than CJ's. Hield is also, in my book, underrated. Neither he nor McCollum are good defenders - if anything, I think Hield is slightly better as he's stronger.

However, on offence, I love Hield's fit next to Dame. Hield is a top-5 shooter in the NBA, shooting roughly 10 3's a game at 40%. I think him next to Dame makes them the equal of the Splash Brothers when it comes to shooting. Using their 2019-20 stats, they combined for 7.7 3PM a game on 19.6 3PA a game. That's a hair lower than the Splash Brothers, and I believe with the elite floor-spreading the two will give each other they will shoot even better.
Klay Thompson's 3P% dropped from 44.5% (with Curry on the floor) to 38.7% (with Curry off the floor) from 2014-15 to 2018-19. I think similar things will happen with Dame and Buddy.

Further, I love the selection of Avdija. To me, he is a top-7 talent, and we got him at 14. I think he'll end up as a blend between Portland Batum and Detlef Schrempf. We also foresee Nurk returning to his pre-injury form, and he was on the verge of returning before COVID struck. We're big fans of Jalen Smith as a back-up center for the immediate time being, as he is a strong athletic big who can stretch the floor and protect the rim.

Get ready for an immensely powerful Portland offence!

Thing is, Klay complements Steph perfectly cause he's an elite defender, whereas both Hield and Lillard are way below average defenders. Chances are, Avdija won't be a lock down defender either.

The way I see it, Hield is a one-dimentional player. He's an elite shooter and that's about it. He literally does nothing else. If his shots don't fall one night, he's a net negative.

McCollum is a terrific shooter as well, albeit worse than Hield. At the same time, he's better at creating his own shot, and most importantly he can create shots for his teammates. When it comes to slashing ability/court vision/passing/ball handling/basketball IQ, McCollum is hands down the better player.

Obviously, the Blazers have Lillard on the ball. I guess you decided that McCollum's skill set is redundant next to Lillard. The Bucks wanted to move on from Bledsoe, hence I opted for the better ball handler/shot creator in McCollum. I really like the trade for the Bucks. If I were the Blazers, I would have gone after a 3+D specialist instead of Hield.

McCollum's contract sucks a bit (Middleton's sucks even more), but the Bucks are in win-now mode. It's possible that Giannis is NBA's next megastar after LeBron. He generates tons of revenue for the franchise. As long as Giannis plays for the Bucks, our financial situation is gonna be fine. We are willing to do whatever it takes to keep Giannis in Milwaukee.

To be honest I don't particularly rate McCollum's secondary playmaking next to Lillard, as he is heavily reliant on driving. They're both top players in points per drive (Lillard is #1, IIRC McCollum is #5 or so), and with Nurkic inside I don't want that. I also find that McCollum has somewhat of an over-reliance on the mid-range for my team. He's certainly good, but I don't differentiate too much between he and Hield. Hield has only been on a competently run team for the last two seasons.

I also don't see the downgrade between the two in terms of playmaking as significant enough to warrant concern, given what you highlight - we want Lillard controlling it with the secondary playmaking coming off the wing. We think Avdija will be a solid defender, as he is athletic, long and smart, as well as fiery.

I think the trade was pretty mutually beneficial. We think the return of Hood and the continued presence of Ariza will help offset the lack of defence. We didn't get any worse on defence. I also think McCollum will work quite well next to Giannis, so it suits everyone

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Wanting to get a bit of discussion going.

From the perspective of my TrailBlazers, we felt as if it was time to let McCollum go. His $100m extension over 3 years is gaudy, and we believe Buddy Hield will be able to provide almost all McCollum can. They have different strengths, but I rate them equally. Hield's average salary over the next 4 years is about $10m/year lower than CJ's. Hield is also, in my book, underrated. Neither he nor McCollum are good defenders - if anything, I think Hield is slightly better as he's stronger.

However, on offence, I love Hield's fit next to Dame. Hield is a top-5 shooter in the NBA, shooting roughly 10 3's a game at 40%. I think him next to Dame makes them the equal of the Splash Brothers when it comes to shooting. Using their 2019-20 stats, they combined for 7.7 3PM a game on 19.6 3PA a game. That's a hair lower than the Splash Brothers, and I believe with the elite floor-spreading the two will give each other they will shoot even better.
Klay Thompson's 3P% dropped from 44.5% (with Curry on the floor) to 38.7% (with Curry off the floor) from 2014-15 to 2018-19. I think similar things will happen with Dame and Buddy.

Further, I love the selection of Avdija. To me, he is a top-7 talent, and we got him at 14. I think he'll end up as a blend between Portland Batum and Detlef Schrempf. We also foresee Nurk returning to his pre-injury form, and he was on the verge of returning before COVID struck. We're big fans of Jalen Smith as a back-up center for the immediate time being, as he is a strong athletic big who can stretch the floor and protect the rim.

Get ready for an immensely powerful Portland offence!

It's a fascinating experiment in my opinion. I mean, Your guards could be launching something like 23 threes a game from all range, and they are great shooters.

It was a bet that could pay off, but it was pretty risky to do that has the potential to disenfranchise your franchise star.

[Jvalin]

Here's a question regarding matching salaries in trades: Taxpaying teams are not allowed to take back more than 125% of their outgoing salary + $100,000. If a team trades away more salary than they acquire in return, is there any restriction regarding the acquired salary? To put it another way, are teams allowed to take back way less incoming salary than their outgoing salary?

[Jvalin]

1) PLEASE POST/ANNOUNCE ANY TRADES INVOLVING DRAFT PICKS IN THE DRAFT THREAD. THIS GIVES US UPDATED INFO THAT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGES. SAVE ALL DISCUSSION FOR THE THIS THREAD.

2) PREPARE FOR FREE AGENCY. I WILL MAKE A THREAD FOR FREE AGENCY, BUT IT WILL OPEN PROBABLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AT LIKE 8EST. "PLAYERS" WILL MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY. BE READY TO SEND THOSE OFFER SHEETS OVER OR YOU MIGHT MISS OUT.

How much is our salary cap going to be? There is no official number announced yet. No one can possibly know the final number because of the pandemic.

Several other figures are dependent on the movement of the salary cap from year to year.

tax line ?
luxury-tax threshold ?
Standard MLE ?
Taxpayer MLE ?
Room MLE ?
Bi-Annual Exception ?

Here's a projection from February 18, 2020. Can't find a more recent one. Shall we use these figures as a point of reference?

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/02/mid-level-bi-annual-projections-for-202021.html

Obviously, this is before March 11 when the NBA decided to suspend the season. Chances are that the actual numbers are gonna be way lower than that.