The Heat aren’t particularly interested in acquiring Rockets forward Ryan Anderson, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. A rumored trade that would involve the Houston power forward and a draft pick in exchange for either Tyler Johnson or James Johnson doesn’t appeal to Miami’s front office, Jackson continues. Anderson has a higher salary than both of those players, so bringing him in would worsen the team’s luxury-tax issues. Additionally, even though James Johnson has three years left on his deal compared to Anderson’s two remaining seasons, Miami values his versatility, Jackson adds.
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- Rookie Trae Young realizes the commitment the Hawks made to him by trading starting point guard Dennis Schroder to the Thunder, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. While Young was non-committal about whether he or Jeremy Lin should start, Young knows he’ll get ample playing time. “Obviously when they move the point guard they’ve had for a while, their starting point guard, it definitely opened my eyes,” Young told Vivlamore. “It shows how much they are committed to me. Bringing Jeremy in as well is a good fit for us. I know there is a lot on my plate.”
- The Wizards’ new G League team, the Capital City Go-Go, will share the same practice facility as the NBA team. The G League team’s GM, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, sees that as an incentive for his players, as he explained to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I think it’s going to help motivate these guys. We’re going to be practicing in the same place that the Wizards do and the Mystics do,” Mensah-Bonsu said. “I think if these guys can see Dwight Howard and John Wall and Bradley Beal walking around every day, it will help motivate them to get to that next level.”
- The Magic are bucking the league trend by building around big men, as Nick Zappulla of RealGM details. The trio of rookie Mo Bamba, Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon provide versatility and game-changing ability on both ends of the floor, Zappulla adds.
I just cannot agree with Zappulla. I do not think the Magic are bucking the trend at all, quite the opposute actually..
While there has been several Guards that have been lighting up the NBA, and while the NBA game is in fact getting faster and moving further away from the basket, those are not the only trends evolving today’s NBA game…
Look no further than this year’s draft. Think about the top 10 or so picks, and then look at how many of those picks were 6’9 or taller…
Versatility, especially in big men, and position-less basketball is what is evolving today’s NBA. And in that sense, the Magic are attempting to fall right in line with the on-going trends..
They would be bucking the trend if they were drafting and collecting a bunch of Dwight Howards, but this is NOT the case..
Instead, the Magic are drafting incredibly athletic, versatile, high basketball IQ, and play-making bigs, that are capable of playing outside the paint AS WELL AS inside.
The future of the NBA is about these so-called “unicorns.” So yeah, I just do not see it. In my opinion, I see the Magic doing exactly what everyone else is doing, trying to draft and develop their own set of unicorns…lol
If anyone disagrees, I’d love to read your counter argument. I’m no basketball guru, so I could be wrong. I’m just saying that’s how and where I see the game moving, and I see the Magic trying to follow and keep-up with the Jones’, so to speak..
link to espn.com
Agree with you bravesfan88, sadly Orlando aren’t doing anything new under the sun, that is why they are so bad. All the teams are trying to do the same, so the few that get it better or are luckier are shinning the rest doing bad. Teams should try to find their own path, play different systems & ways, following the trend of what all the teams are doing is the surest path to failure. Playing the GSW way no one can beat them, you have to find a way to play them that beats them.
I agree but with GSW you need automatic buckets. Every missed shot is essentially a turnover against that team. While you cant play big the whole game you must dominate the glass keep them out of the paint and get easy buckets when you can.