Community Shootaround

On Thursday, the Raptors officially announced that they and center Jonas Valanciunas reached an agreement on a contract extension worth $64MM over four years. The pact also includes a player option on the fourth year. “Jonas’ contributions continue to improve with each season and we view him as a significant part of what we are building in Toronto,” Toronto GM Masai Ujiri said in the team’s press release regarding the deal.

The extension didn’t come as a surprise after Ujiri had relayed this past spring that Valanciunas was “a huge part of our team” for the future. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun had reported in early July that the Raptors planned to work toward extensions with both Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, though the team’s front office has seemed to be especially enamored with Valanciunas, and they seemed to blame the team’s coaching staff for the slow development in the center’s game. The Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey overhauled the team’s group of assistant coaches this offseason, bringing in Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse to hopefully hasten Valaciunas’ development along.

Valanciunas’ $60MM deal makes him one of the league’s most highly paid big men, eclipsing the $12MM a year that Nikola Vucevic snagged on the extension he signed with the Magic this past fall. Enes Kanter came away with a max deal of about $70MM this summer as the salary structure of the NBA continues to change in advance of the projected leaps in the salary cap. This brings me to today’s topic: What are your thoughts on Jonas Valanciunas’ extension with the Raptors?

Do you feel that a $15MM annual salary is in line with Valanciunas’ production and potential? With salaries expected to jump dramatically on deals signed beginning next Summer, will this pact be looked at as a bargain in a few short seasons, or a bust? Whatever your feelings are on the matter, we want to hear them. Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.

There was quite a bit of hype leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, and that class was supposed to contain a number of players possessing star-level talent who were worth tanking for. Unfortunately, the reality didn’t quite live up to the hyperbole that preceded last year’s draftees, and in fact, quite a few of the top ranked players missed significant time last season due to various injuries. These players included No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker, No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid, and No. 7 pick Julius Randle, just to name a few. The rest of the rookie class struggled to adjust to the pro game, as was to be expected, and while a number of players showed flashes of promise, none enjoyed a particularly dominant first year.

Of course, one lone season is not a sufficient sample size to properly judge a player, and many of these NBA sophomores should demonstrate significant improvement in their second professional campaigns. This brings me to the topic of the day: Which second-year player do you expect to have a breakout season in 2015/16?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the player or players whom you expect to have breakout seasons. If you are taking the glass is half empty approach, and don’t think any of last year’s draftees will distinguish themselves, then feel free to weigh in on why you feel that way. We look forward to what you have to say.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.

As we learned earlier today, James Harden is confident that his new teammate Ty Lawson can overcome his alcohol-related issues and fit in well with the Rockets. Lawson, who recently completed a 30-day rehab program in the wake of his second DUI of the year, was shipped from Denver to Houston last month in a five-player deal.

Whether Lawson will be available for the season opener is subject to debate, according to an ESPN.com report. The league normally does not administer punishment until after court cases have been settled, the report points out. Lawson is due back in court on Aug. 20th in Denver.

There are more reasons to think Lawson and the Rockets won’t quite work so well besides his troubled past. Lawson does not exactly complement Harden because the two have similar skills — and similar deficiencies. Lawson is a ball-dominant player and is not a great defender. Despite that, I believe Lawson improves the Rockets because he is such a threat offensively. He also provides the team some speed that was seemingly missing during the playoffs.

Thus, the question of the day: Keeping in mind Lawson’s struggle with alcohol, how does Lawson fit with the Rockets?

Take to the comments section below to sound off with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot us a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com.

On Wednesday, the league released the official team schedules for the 2015/16 NBA season. Some of the more notable changes for this season are that the NBA was able to cut the average amount of back-to-backs per team from 19.3 last season to 17.8 for 2015/16, and reduced the amount of four games in five days teams will play from 2.3 in 2014/15 to .9 this coming season, as well as cut down the distance each team will be required to travel by 2%. These alterations were done with the hope that they would reduce wear-and-tear on the players, as well as to improve the overall product on the court by keeping the players fresher.

One debate that seems to rear its head every year regards the overall length of the regular season. NBA teams began playing 80 games each beginning way back in the day during the 1961/62 campaign. The league then bumped that number up to 81 for the 1966/67 season, courtesy of expansion, and finally settled on the current 82 game format the following year. While the team owners certainly benefit financially from playing more games courtesy of TV contracts, gate receipts, and of course, concession sales, one can argue that the longer season creates less meaningful games, as well as increases the injury risk for all of the players involved.

So here’s the topic of the day: Is the current 82 game regular season schedule too long? If so, what changes should be made to improve the quality of the game?

There have been suggestions made by members of the league and the media to decrease the overall game count to 76, which could help reduce the amount of late season contests where star players are resting up for the playoffs. After all, with how expensive it can be nowadays to attend an NBA event, shouldn’t fans be able to see the best players on the court for their hard-earned cash? A more radical suggestion, made by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz a few years ago, called for paring down the amount of games to 44. Under that plan, teams would play just twice a week, one game midweek, and the other on the weekend. While that big of a reduction is highly unlikely given the amount of revenue it would cost the league, it would also likely create some seriously contentious CBA meetings, which would be needed to ratify such a change, since there would be salary cap and pay scale adjustments needed to accompany such a significant alteration.

What are your thoughts on the current season length? If you believe a change needs to be made, then how many games should teams play each campaign? Are there any other changes, such as length of the preseason, playoff series, All-Star break duration, that you think would help improve the NBA? Take to the comments section below to chime in. We look forward to what you have to say.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.

Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s name will forever be associated with injuries, and it is difficult to make a compelling argument that he wasn’t one of the biggest NBA Draft busts of all-time as a result of his maladies. The 27-year-old center has managed to appear in just 105 games spread out over three NBA campaigns, and his career averages of 8.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.2 BPG to go along with a slash line of .574/.000/.648 certainly underwhelm. For Portland fans, I’m sure simply evoking his name is enough to elicit a wince, and it becomes even more painful knowing that the Blazers could have nabbed former MVP Kevin Durant in the 2007 draft instead.

Oden found a new reason to remain off the court during the 2014/15 season — legal troubles, as he faced multiple charges related to domestic violence. He avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement in February in which he pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge and the three other charges against him were dismissed.

The latest news on the former Ohio State star is that he signed a deal with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association for the 2015/16 campaign. Oden would be eligible to ink an NBA deal at the completion of the CBA season in February, or when/if his team was eliminated from the playoffs. This brings me to the topic of the day: Will Greg Oden play in the NBA again? If so, which team would be the best fit for the oft-injured big man?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. Or if you are a Trail Blazers fan who never quite got the closure you needed on that chapter of your basketball life, feel free to share your feelings, and hopefully achieve some level of catharsis. We look forward to what you have to say.

Note: Since these Shootarounds are meant to be guided by you the reader, we certainly welcome your input on the topics we present. If there is something you’d like to see pop up here for a discussion, shoot me a message at hoopsrumorsmailbag@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @EddieScarito to submit topics or ideas for what we should present in future posts.