Sporting News: C's targeting Griffin, will make major deal soon

[tankcity!]

I'm looking for you to explain what you mean when you say "legitimate". It really isn't a complicated question.

I am looking for you to explain why you need me to do that. I want to know your intentions which you never made clear. It's not that complicated a question.

You could have just said you're not interested in this conversation and you would have saved both of us some bandwidth.

Then you shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Please tell me how the website isn't 'legitimate.'

I've got no idea what a "legitimate website" is, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Let's not go through that again.

Larbrd called it a tabloid (i.e. not legitimate). I called it legitimate. It's not that complicated to understand what was being said.

TP

Battle the negativity on this board.

There are to many "scoffers" on this board sometimes

Battle it all you want.  Bottom line is the Blake Griffin rumor is fake according to every credible writer I've seen waste time on it.   So don't pass out breathlessly waiting for a trade that is almost definitely not happening (at least not until closer to the deadline if it looks like Blake isn't returning).

These fake insiders have nothing to lose by posting about it on twitter.   The credible ones are going to look like fools if the trade goes down despite several days of them saying, "This rumor is fake... nothing is happening... it's made up". 

Also, still waiting for someone to share some proof that any of those oft-mentioned RealGM forum "insiders" have ever been right about anything.  I've personally seen LBF and BfB proven wrong about multiple things.

Falsification test:

Which NBA insiders have you seen not be proven wrong about multiple things?

p.s. As for Simmons, I can easily imagine there being a standing "No Leaks Are to Ever Make Their Way to Bill Simmons" order within both front offices, out of precaution for secrecy or out of resentment for him personally.

What are you guys arguing about? Are you saying that these rumors are true?

[Donoghus]

I'm pretty sure we had a thread or poll back in the day about who people found to be the most credible sources for NBA and/or Celtics info. Can't remember what the results were.

I had have to imagine that the views of some of these people have changed in subsequent years.

[LarBrd33]

I'm looking for you to explain what you mean when you say "legitimate". It really isn't a complicated question.

I am looking for you to explain why you need me to do that. I want to know your intentions which you never made clear. It's not that complicated a question.

You could have just said you're not interested in this conversation and you would have saved both of us some bandwidth.

Then you shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Please tell me how the website isn't 'legitimate.'

I've got no idea what a "legitimate website" is, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Let's not go through that again.

Larbrd called it a tabloid (i.e. not legitimate). I called it legitimate. It's not that complicated to understand what was being said.

TP

Battle the negativity on this board.

There are to many "scoffers" on this board sometimes

Battle it all you want.  Bottom line is the Blake Griffin rumor is fake according to every credible writer I've seen waste time on it.   So don't pass out breathlessly waiting for a trade that is almost definitely not happening (at least not until closer to the deadline if it looks like Blake isn't returning).

These fake insiders have nothing to lose by posting about it on twitter.   The credible ones are going to look like fools if the trade goes down despite several days of them saying, "This rumor is fake... nothing is happening... it's made up". 

Also, still waiting for someone to share some proof that any of those oft-mentioned RealGM forum "insiders" have ever been right about anything.  I've personally seen LBF and BfB proven wrong about multiple things.

Falsification test:

Which NBA insiders have you seen not be proven wrong about multiple things?

p.s. As for Simmons, I can easily imagine there being a standing "No Leaks Are to Ever Make Their Way to Bill Simmons" order within both front offices, out of precaution for secrecy or out of resentment for him personally.

Yeah maybe you're right.  Maybe the leaks sneak past Simmons all the way to the 16 year old Rhode Island high schooler. 

[Dino Pitino]

I'm looking for you to explain what you mean when you say "legitimate". It really isn't a complicated question.

I am looking for you to explain why you need me to do that. I want to know your intentions which you never made clear. It's not that complicated a question.

You could have just said you're not interested in this conversation and you would have saved both of us some bandwidth.

Then you shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Please tell me how the website isn't 'legitimate.'

I've got no idea what a "legitimate website" is, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Let's not go through that again.

Larbrd called it a tabloid (i.e. not legitimate). I called it legitimate. It's not that complicated to understand what was being said.

TP

Battle the negativity on this board.

There are to many "scoffers" on this board sometimes

Battle it all you want.  Bottom line is the Blake Griffin rumor is fake according to every credible writer I've seen waste time on it.   So don't pass out breathlessly waiting for a trade that is almost definitely not happening (at least not until closer to the deadline if it looks like Blake isn't returning).

These fake insiders have nothing to lose by posting about it on twitter.   The credible ones are going to look like fools if the trade goes down despite several days of them saying, "This rumor is fake... nothing is happening... it's made up". 

Also, still waiting for someone to share some proof that any of those oft-mentioned RealGM forum "insiders" have ever been right about anything.  I've personally seen LBF and BfB proven wrong about multiple things.

Falsification test:

Which NBA insiders have you seen not be proven wrong about multiple things?

p.s. As for Simmons, I can easily imagine there being a standing "No Leaks Are to Ever Make Their Way to Bill Simmons" order within both front offices, out of precaution for secrecy or out of resentment for him personally.

Yeah maybe you're right.  Maybe the leaks sneak past Simmons all the way to the 16 year old Rhode Island high schooler other, non-Simmons NBA insiders like a professional scout or NBA beat writer or high school buddy of a GM.

Fixed.

More like "get withheld from" rather than sneak past.

Simmons isn't some rumor spider whose web catches all the rumors flying around. He's a dude who's going to have a very predictable rolodex of finite good sources. Wouldn't be that hard to put a general kibosh or selective kibosh on his limited stream of insiders. How many players are on each roster? 15, more or less. How many agents are there for those players? 30 or so. How many people work in a front office? Whatever that is. Group email asking all to be careful to avoid giving news about anything at all or just one particular deal to Simmons or his circle. Voila. Simmons winds up out of the loop and is reduced to reading RealGM insiders and second-hand smoke of said rumors in mainstream media, just like the rest of us, and maybe he resents that. Maybe he resents such insiders for having access to things that've been quarantined from him even though they are clearly inferior analysts of the NBA. (Remind you of anyone? No? Just asking.) Maybe he's insecure about being a headline-making book-writing NBA pontificator who gets more and more disconnected from the pulse of the grapevine the more he spends his time developing content for profit to support his now extremely-comfortable lifestyle and humble-glossed huge ego.

[SHAQATTACK]

We got a star yet 😈

[kozlodoev]

We got a star yet 😈

Is this a question or a statement?

Either way, I've been here for a long time already so the issue is moot. 

[Roy H.]

I'm looking for you to explain what you mean when you say "legitimate". It really isn't a complicated question.

I am looking for you to explain why you need me to do that. I want to know your intentions which you never made clear. It's not that complicated a question.

You could have just said you're not interested in this conversation and you would have saved both of us some bandwidth.

Then you shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Please tell me how the website isn't 'legitimate.'

I've got no idea what a "legitimate website" is, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Let's not go through that again.

Larbrd called it a tabloid (i.e. not legitimate). I called it legitimate. It's not that complicated to understand what was being said.

TP

Battle the negativity on this board.

There are to many "scoffers" on this board sometimes

Battle it all you want.  Bottom line is the Blake Griffin rumor is fake according to every credible writer I've seen waste time on it.   So don't pass out breathlessly waiting for a trade that is almost definitely not happening (at least not until closer to the deadline if it looks like Blake isn't returning).

These fake insiders have nothing to lose by posting about it on twitter.   The credible ones are going to look like fools if the trade goes down despite several days of them saying, "This rumor is fake... nothing is happening... it's made up". 

Also, still waiting for someone to share some proof that any of those oft-mentioned RealGM forum "insiders" have ever been right about anything.  I've personally seen LBF and BfB proven wrong about multiple things.

Falsification test:

Which NBA insiders have you seen not be proven wrong about multiple things?

p.s. As for Simmons, I can easily imagine there being a standing "No Leaks Are to Ever Make Their Way to Bill Simmons" order within both front offices, out of precaution for secrecy or out of resentment for him personally.

Yeah maybe you're right.  Maybe the leaks sneak past Simmons all the way to the 16 year old Rhode Island high schooler other, non-Simmons NBA insiders like a professional scout or NBA beat writer or high school buddy of a GM.

Fixed.

More like "get withheld from" rather than sneak past.

Simmons isn't some rumor spider whose web catches all the rumors flying around. He's a dude who's going to have a very predictable rolodex of finite good sources. Wouldn't be that hard to put a general kibosh or selective kibosh on his limited stream of insiders. How many players are on each roster? 15, more or less. How many agents are there for those players? 30 or so. How many people work in a front office? Whatever that is. Group email asking all to be careful to avoid giving news about anything at all or just one particular deal to Simmons or his circle. Voila. Simmons winds up out of the loop and is reduced to reading RealGM insiders and second-hand smoke of said rumors in mainstream media, just like the rest of us, and maybe he resents that. Maybe he resents such insiders for having access to things that've been quarantined from him even though they are clearly inferior analysts of the NBA. (Remind you of anyone? No? Just asking.) Maybe he's insecure about being a headline-making book-writing NBA pontificator who gets more and more disconnected from the pulse of the grapevine the more he spends his time developing content for profit to support his now extremely-comfortable lifestyle and humble-glossed huge ego.

Why would the source of the leaks embargo Simmons, but not Car Dealership guy, or whoever else is making up this nonsense?  Don't you think that if there was any legitimacy here that Danny would find out who the leak was, and shut it down?

I don't disagree with part of your point:  Simmons breaks very, very few story, and doesn't seem overly well-connected within the organization.  However, the team is notoriously tight-lipped.  They're not going to be sharing their business with a bunch of random people seeking attention.

And, of course, the "tell" that this is fake is related to the huge volume of information this twit supposedly has.  He's answering intimate details about the negotiations that is simply unprecedented in sports reporting.  Well, that and the fact that absolutely nothing he's reported has come true so far.

[kozlodoev]

And, of course, the "tell" that this is fake is related to the huge volume of information this twit supposedly has.  He's answering intimate details about the negotiations that is simply unprecedented in sports reporting. Well, that and the fact that absolutely nothing he's reported has come true so far.

Yes, that was a point I forgot to make a while ago. Based on the level of detail he's provided, his source must pretty much be Ainge, Zarren or Stevens.

[saltlover]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first?  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

[LarBrd33]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

In general, they have a loose approach to moderating the fake insiders there.   It draws people to the forum.  People genuinely enjoy it.  I've said it before, but it's the same reason my Aunt used to buy "Weekly World News".  It didn't matter if Bat Boy was obviously fake... she found it entertaining regardless.

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.  It came from some second-rate Bubbletea guy who uses powdered mix.  My personal bubbletea guy tells me it's nonsense and he uses various fruit purées... so I believe him.

[DarkAzcura]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.

The reason realGM forum members have talked so much about the Griffin rumor is because Smitty did confirm that there were talks. He's actually one of the basis' for where the rumor originated, and I believe he started to hear about it around the Orlando Summer League (which is closed to the public).

LBF pretty much knows drafting stuff only and on occasion. It's not his job or anything. He had the Sully pick and even alluded to the Brown pick a couple times prior to the draft. I don't really keep links on hand, but I do know he had both these picks. Can't remember anything else really. I'll admit that the Brown pick is something a lot of people could have guessed. The Celtics' have been pretty easy to read the last three drafts (players brought in for second workouts have a high shot of being drafted by the Celtics lately it seems).

ddb had the KG trade, and a bunch of people actually put some money down on the Celtics' 100:1 odds prior to the KG trade because of ddb, lol. May sound dumb, but it happened for a few there.

Another guy has been swearing up and down that Durant would go to the Warriors for 6-12 months now. I hated on him a bit for believing that, but hey, he was right. Kudos to him.   

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first?  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

Smitty hasn't broken anything (yet) other than announcing that the Celtics renounced Sully before anyone else did (which was just him just watching some NBA transaction wire or something). He seems pretty new to this. From what I can tell, he is a part-time cap specialist for RealGM who got to go to the Orlando and Vegas summer league. I think he has mentioned some prior ties before, but it seems like this was a big summer for him, I dunno. I mostly trust him in general because of all the other guys, he has a lot more at stake than the other guys (he is a mod for one, he actually works for RealGM in some small capacity for another).

IMO, most of the stuff I liked from him recently was just his notes and interactions with scouts and some league guys at the summer leagues. I don't put a lot of stock into anyone's sources to be honest.

[LarBrd33]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.

The reason realGM forum members have talked so much about the Griffin rumor is because Smitty did confirm that there were talks. He's actually one of the basis' for where the rumor originated, and I believe he started to hear about it around the Orlando Summer League (which is closed to the public).

LBF pretty much knows drafting stuff only and on occasion. It's not his job or anything. He has the Sully pick.

ddb had the KG trade, and a bunch of people actually put some money down on the Celtics' 100:1 odds prior to the KG trade because of ddb, lol. May sound dumb, but it happened for a few there.

Another guy has been swearing up and down that Durant would go to the Warriors for 6-12 months now. I hated on him a bit for believing that, but hey, he was right. Kudos to him.

As far as I can tell, DDB is a total fraud.  He claimed that the Celtics would reach out to Reggie Lewis's widow for permission to use #35 (days after Hardwood Houdini wrote an article suggesting the same thing in their article about us having too many numbers retired).  And then when Kevin O'Connor later interviewed Reggie's mother and asked how she'd feel about Durant wearing #35, she seemingly gave a half-hearted approval by saying she didn't know how she'd feel, but that she didn't think she'd be upset about it.  DDB then publicly bragged that this was proof he had inside sources.   Anyone who would use that as evidence of his inside sources - clearly does not have inside sources.  Think about it logically. 

Also, nobody has linked to him correctly guessing KG would be the target, but fwiw there were rumors about KG for a full year before we actually got him.  Even on Celticsblog, Jeff had written about KG being our target several months prior to the deal going down.  It wasn't a hard guess to make.

Likewise Durant to the Warriors.  That is something Woj had written about half a year ago and got traction on various blogs.   Next time you think one of those guys is actually an insider, find the post that proves they are an "insider" and then do some googling.  In my experience 100% of the time there is some blog or tweet from a prominent writer that predates it.  These guys aren't very creative.

[Dino Pitino]

I'm looking for you to explain what you mean when you say "legitimate". It really isn't a complicated question.

I am looking for you to explain why you need me to do that. I want to know your intentions which you never made clear. It's not that complicated a question.

You could have just said you're not interested in this conversation and you would have saved both of us some bandwidth.

Then you shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Please tell me how the website isn't 'legitimate.'

I've got no idea what a "legitimate website" is, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Let's not go through that again.

Larbrd called it a tabloid (i.e. not legitimate). I called it legitimate. It's not that complicated to understand what was being said.

TP

Battle the negativity on this board.

There are to many "scoffers" on this board sometimes

Battle it all you want.  Bottom line is the Blake Griffin rumor is fake according to every credible writer I've seen waste time on it.   So don't pass out breathlessly waiting for a trade that is almost definitely not happening (at least not until closer to the deadline if it looks like Blake isn't returning).

These fake insiders have nothing to lose by posting about it on twitter.   The credible ones are going to look like fools if the trade goes down despite several days of them saying, "This rumor is fake... nothing is happening... it's made up". 

Also, still waiting for someone to share some proof that any of those oft-mentioned RealGM forum "insiders" have ever been right about anything.  I've personally seen LBF and BfB proven wrong about multiple things.

Falsification test:

Which NBA insiders have you seen not be proven wrong about multiple things?

p.s. As for Simmons, I can easily imagine there being a standing "No Leaks Are to Ever Make Their Way to Bill Simmons" order within both front offices, out of precaution for secrecy or out of resentment for him personally.

Yeah maybe you're right.  Maybe the leaks sneak past Simmons all the way to the 16 year old Rhode Island high schooler other, non-Simmons NBA insiders like a professional scout or NBA beat writer or high school buddy of a GM.

Fixed.

More like "get withheld from" rather than sneak past.

Simmons isn't some rumor spider whose web catches all the rumors flying around. He's a dude who's going to have a very predictable rolodex of finite good sources. Wouldn't be that hard to put a general kibosh or selective kibosh on his limited stream of insiders. How many players are on each roster? 15, more or less. How many agents are there for those players? 30 or so. How many people work in a front office? Whatever that is. Group email asking all to be careful to avoid giving news about anything at all or just one particular deal to Simmons or his circle. Voila. Simmons winds up out of the loop and is reduced to reading RealGM insiders and second-hand smoke of said rumors in mainstream media, just like the rest of us, and maybe he resents that. Maybe he resents such insiders for having access to things that've been quarantined from him even though they are clearly inferior analysts of the NBA. (Remind you of anyone? No? Just asking.) Maybe he's insecure about being a headline-making book-writing NBA pontificator who gets more and more disconnected from the pulse of the grapevine the more he spends his time developing content for profit to support his now extremely-comfortable lifestyle and humble-glossed huge ego.

Why would the source of the leaks embargo Simmons, but not Car Dealership guy, or whoever else is making up this nonsense?  Don't you think that if there was any legitimacy here that Danny would find out who the leak was, and shut it down?

First, I think the Twitter "insiders" are total frauds.

Second: You pay attention to politics, the legal system, corporate PR. Right? Political campaigns, prosecutors, and executives try to control leaks in more than one way. Some leaks they want and make happen, some they don't want and try to undercut. Some things they want leaked, but only in a certain context. Deniability, you know? RealGM has a legit side, but like I said most of it is a message board full of randos waging half-assed groupthink wars, just like any other message board in the universe. It's a great place for an idea to make its way to league consciousness but still be seen as fundamentally dubious and therefore very easily deniable.

The problem might be (mind you, I'm just speculating about this, just like the Simmons thing, just hypothetical scenarios, but in my opinion still very plausible as a way to explain some curious things, more plausible than their opposite, the everything-is-bunk theory) that Smitty's info got to be too credible with the California/whale thing, the deniability was blown. It's interesting that the mods put out a call for another mod, and then some flaming Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. n00b shows up and ruins everything and drives Smitty's golden goose away, posting a stream of things any two or three of which near the end would've and should've gotten a "ballboy" like that insta-perma-banned, and yet was still allowed to post after costing the board a precious insider, who is also a mod, even after physically threatening people, which the mods saw and merely warned him about, which is mind-boggingly unusual. The conspiracy theorists among us should already be recklessly connecting the dots, lol, but I think it's actually pretty plausible that Smitty wanted out, and the mods as a group teamed up to give him an out by manufacturing a flame war, a flame war that would never in a trillion years be tolerated for one minute there these days.

I don't disagree with part of your point:  Simmons breaks very, very few story, and doesn't seem overly well-connected within the organization.  However, the team is notoriously tight-lipped.  They're not going to be sharing their business with a bunch of random people seeking attention.

And, of course, the "tell" that this is fake is related to the huge volume of information this twit supposedly has.  He's answering intimate details about the negotiations that is simply unprecedented in sports reporting.  Well, that and the fact that absolutely nothing he's reported has come true so far.

Forget the Twitter twits.

Did you read the huge volume of Smitty's information in that one single post I linked to?

[saltlover]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.

The reason realGM forum members have talked so much about the Griffin rumor is because Smitty did confirm that there were talks. He's actually one of the basis' for where the rumor originated, and I believe he started to hear about it around the Orlando Summer League (which is closed to the public).

LBF pretty much knows drafting stuff only and on occasion. It's not his job or anything. He has the Sully pick.

ddb had the KG trade, and a bunch of people actually put some money down on the Celtics' 100:1 odds prior to the KG trade because of ddb, lol. May sound dumb, but it happened for a few there.

Another guy has been swearing up and down that Durant would go to the Warriors for 6-12 months now. I hated on him a bit for believing that, but hey, he was right. Kudos to him.   

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first?  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

Smitty hasn't broken anything (yet) other than announcing that the Celtics renounced Sully before anyone else did (which was just him just watching some NBA transaction wire or something). He seems pretty new to this. From what I can tell, he is a part-time cap specialist for RealGM who got to go to the Orlando and Vegas summer league. I think he has mentioned some prior ties before, but it seems like this was a big summer for him, I dunno. I mostly trust him in general because of all the other guys, he has a lot more at stake than the other guys (he is a mod for one, he actually works for RealGM for another).

IMO, most of the stuff I liked from him recently was just his notes and interactions with scouts and some league guys at the summer leagues. I don't put a lot of stock into anyone's sources to be honest.

Thinking KD would go to the Warriors isn't insider knowledge.  It's a guessing game.

I would like a link to the KG thing, which was not Smitty and 9 years ago, but I'm still curious.  I'm unimpressed with "Smitty went to the Orlando league."  As I say, in DC you hear a lot of crap that people talk about.  Everyone thinks they know what's going on, but having experienced a couple of decisions get made, only 5-10 people do, except for really big things might get up to 20 people.  I'll end that line before this gets pulled into politics, but my gut says basketball trades are the same way.  You've got 1-2 scouts/pro personnel, a cap guy, 1-2 assistants, a GM, and maybe an owner talking on each side of a trade.  And the scouts probably don't know what's going until things are really close to happening, because they're suddenly asked some very specific questions.  If it's a big trade, maybe a team is allowed to talk to a player first, as the Cavs were with Love, but that doesn't happen too often.  Maybe sometimes a player leaks out a trade demand to a few teams, as Dragic did 17 months ago, but again, that's atypical and done for a reason.

Scooping trades is ridiculously difficult, the same as scooping business mergers.  People keep this stuff very close to the vest for a reason.  It happens, but I've so far seen zero evidence Smitty has any capability at it.

[DarkAzcura]

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.

The reason realGM forum members have talked so much about the Griffin rumor is because Smitty did confirm that there were talks. He's actually one of the basis' for where the rumor originated, and I believe he started to hear about it around the Orlando Summer League (which is closed to the public).

LBF pretty much knows drafting stuff only and on occasion. It's not his job or anything. He has the Sully pick.

ddb had the KG trade, and a bunch of people actually put some money down on the Celtics' 100:1 odds prior to the KG trade because of ddb, lol. May sound dumb, but it happened for a few there.

Another guy has been swearing up and down that Durant would go to the Warriors for 6-12 months now. I hated on him a bit for believing that, but hey, he was right. Kudos to him.

As far as I can tell, DDB is a total fraud.  He claimed that the Celtics would reach out to Reggie Lewis's widow for permission to use #35 (days after Hardwood Houdini wrote an article suggesting the same thing in their article about us having too many numbers retired).  And then when Kevin O'Connor later interviewed Reggie's mother and asked how she'd feel about Durant wearing #35, she seemingly gave a half-hearted approval by saying she didn't know how she'd feel, but that she didn't think she'd be upset about it.  DDB then publicly bragged that this was proof he had inside sources.   Anyone who would use that as evidence of his inside sources - clearly does not have inside sources.  Think about it logically. 

Also, nobody has linked to him correctly guessing KG would be the target, but fwiw there were rumors about KG for a full year before we actually got him.  Even on Celticsblog, Jeff had written about KG being our target several months prior to the deal going down.  It wasn't a hard guess to make.

Likewise Durant to the Warriors.  That is something Woj had written about half a year ago and got traction on various blogs.   Next time you think one of those guys is actually an insider, find the post that proves they are an "insider" and then do some googling.  In my experience 100% of the time they got the idea from some more prominent blog or tweet.

I've been posting there for years. I know that guy had it out there before Woj (Durant > GSW) because I've been arguing with him about it for like a year, lol. These guys do get checked out by the mods. There have been several posters that have been claimed to be insiders only to get outed and ran off the board pretty quickly. If you choose not to believe them that's up to you, and you are totally in your rights. I believe them, and I trust the mods on the forum 100%. I don't think you are there enough to really notice all of the fake insiders get run off the board. If these guys (ddb, lbf, etc) were fake, they would have been ran off long ago. It's hard to provide proof since no one bookmarks links, and the search post function is pretty much broken on realgm.

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first.  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

I'll answer best I can.  I've yet to see a single member of that forum correctly guess something.   There's no evidence supporting any of them have inside information.  The one time I saw someone point to a specific example of a correct guess, it was quickly followed by someone pointing out that the correct guess came after a prominent sports writer had already written about it.   There's a legend that a user by the name of LBF once correctly guessed the Celtics were going to draft Kelly Olynyk.  I've yet to see the proof of this... and it likely came after someone more in-the-know connected the Celtics to Olynyk. 

The mods vouche for some of these guys, but if you ask the mods for proof they say "well other people vouche for them".   They vouche for them because other users vouche for them... and those users vouche for them, because the mods vouche for them. 

Fwiw, I totally believe that Smitty guy attended Summer League and probably asked some questions.  Is he even predicting we're trading for Blake Griffin?  I don't think Smitty is the origin of that fake rumor.

The reason realGM forum members have talked so much about the Griffin rumor is because Smitty did confirm that there were talks. He's actually one of the basis' for where the rumor originated, and I believe he started to hear about it around the Orlando Summer League (which is closed to the public).

LBF pretty much knows drafting stuff only and on occasion. It's not his job or anything. He has the Sully pick.

ddb had the KG trade, and a bunch of people actually put some money down on the Celtics' 100:1 odds prior to the KG trade because of ddb, lol. May sound dumb, but it happened for a few there.

Another guy has been swearing up and down that Durant would go to the Warriors for 6-12 months now. I hated on him a bit for believing that, but hey, he was right. Kudos to him.   

I've asked this before and I'll ask this again -- what trade or signing or even draft pick has Smitty from Real GM EVER reported first?  I ask not because I'm trying to be a jerk.  I ask because I never go to real GM, and I just dont know if he's ever done that.  I just need one example.  Not 5 or 10.  Just one.

A lot of people here have really strong opinions supporting Smitty.  That's fine.  But has he ever scooped something?  Paying money to go to scout school is nice.  Rubbing elbows with some people in the know is nice.  But has he ever reported something first? If so, great.  If not, then he's behind at least one poster on the Celticsblog forums, and I don't see why you're holding to what he says so much.  And I really don't know why the front page of this blog is reporting on him at this point.

Kudos to him for knowing Ainge was going to San Diego, where he has a child and grandchildren whom he probably only sees during the summer and some holidays.  I mean, it's not nothing, but not much more.  Has anyone verified that's where Stevens and/or Zarren also went?  Because IIRC, he said all three were going.

Anyway, it would be really nice if any of his staunch supporters here could point me to a single time he was right first.  He doesn't have to have been correct about the entire details of a trade -- getting the basic outline of a deal first will do for me.  Or reporting a free agency signing first even.  If he's proven he gets good info sometimes (and not just about flight plans for someone that he then extrapolates upon), I'd like to start following him too.  But right now he sounds like someone who thinks he knows a lot more than he does.  Living in DC, I come across a lot of those people every day.

Smitty hasn't broken anything (yet) other than announcing that the Celtics renounced Sully before anyone else did (which was just him just watching some NBA transaction wire or something). He seems pretty new to this. From what I can tell, he is a part-time cap specialist for RealGM who got to go to the Orlando and Vegas summer league. I think he has mentioned some prior ties before, but it seems like this was a big summer for him, I dunno. I mostly trust him in general because of all the other guys, he has a lot more at stake than the other guys (he is a mod for one, he actually works for RealGM for another).

IMO, most of the stuff I liked from him recently was just his notes and interactions with scouts and some league guys at the summer leagues. I don't put a lot of stock into anyone's sources to be honest.

Thinking KD would go to the Warriors isn't insider knowledge.  It's a guessing game.

I would like a link to the KG thing, which was not Smitty and 9 years ago, but I'm still curious.  I'm unimpressed with "Smitty went to the Orlando league."  As I say, in DC you hear a lot of crap that people talk about.  Everyone thinks they know what's going on, but having experienced a couple of decisions get made, only 5-10 people do, except for really big things might get up to 20 people.  I'll end that line before this gets pulled into politics, but my gut says basketball trades are the same way.  You've got 1-2 scouts/pro personnel, a cap guy, 1-2 assistants, a GM, and maybe an owner talking on each side of a trade.  And the scouts probably don't know what's going until things are really close to happening, because they're suddenly asked some very specific questions.  If it's a big trade, maybe a team is allowed to talk to a player first, as the Cavs were with Love, but that doesn't happen too often.  Maybe sometimes a player leaks out a trade demand to a few teams, as Dragic did 17 months ago, but again, that's atypical and done for a reason.

Scooping trades is ridiculously difficult, the same as scooping business mergers.  People keep this stuff very close to the vest for a reason.  It happens, but I've so far seen zero evidence Smitty has any capability at it.

About the bolded...you could pretty much say that about anything. That's a pretty agenda filled statement, imo, no offense. So when someone gets something right, "he probably guessed." When someone is wrong, "see, they are fake!" Gotta give credit where credit is due. When guys like him (this wasn't Smitty) are saying Durant will likely go to GSW, and Woj backs it up later on, while everyone is laughing at the idea of a top 3 player going to one of the greatest regular season teams of all time..I mean no one can really guess that. What Durant did was unheard of. I was laughing at the poster for believing it, and Woj for reporting it. I (and a lot of others) couldn't believe that such a great player would even consider it.

As far as Smitty, honestly, he is probably wrong about the Griffin thing in some capacity because you are right. Scooping trades is incredibly difficult. That doesn't mean he doesn't have sources of some type, though. He definitely does, but whether they are actually good or not is a different question all together.