Author: Carter Huff

LA Clippers will re-sign Shooting Guard Avery Bradley to a two-year $25 million dollar deal.

Former Rookie of the Year,Michael Carter-Williams agrees to a one-year minumum deal with the Houston Rockets.

Former Cavs Forward Jeff Green will sign with the Washington Wizards on a one-year minumum deal.

Guard Tyreke Evans will sign with the Indiana Pacers on a one-year deal worth $12 million dollars.

Boston Celtics star point guard Kyrie Irving and Minnesota Timberwolves star wing Jimmy Butler are trying to find a way to play together. Irving and Butler are both free agents next summer.

The Denver Nuggets have traded small forward Wilson Chandler and draft considerations to the Philadelphia 76ers. Trading Chandler to Philadelphia will save Denver $50 dollars in combined salary and luxury tax.

Raul Neto agrees to a two-year contract extension with the Utah Jazz.

Center Dwight Howard has finalized a buy out with the Brookly Nets and will sign with the Washington Wizards on a one-year deal.

The Golden State Warriors will retain power forward Kevon Looney on a one-year minumum contract.

Day 2 (July 2)
Sharpshooter JJ Redick will return to the Philadelphia 76ers on a one year deal worth twelve to thirteen million dollars.

Former Dallas Mavericks Center Nerlens Noel will sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder on a two-year deal worth the minimum.

The Utah Jazz will retain Power Forward Derrick Favors on a two-year deal worth thirty-six million dollars.

Point Guard Jose Calderon will agree to a one-year two point four million dollar deal with the Detroit Pistons.

Free-agent forward Mike Scott will sign a one-year deal with the LA Clippers.

Veteran Power Forward Anthony Tolliver will signa one-year five million dollar deal with the Minnesota Timeberwolves.

Point Guard Rajon Rondo will agree to a one-year deal with LA Lakers.

Seth Curry has agreed to a two-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers the second year having a player option.

After the LA Lakers renounced his rights,Forward Julius Randle will sign a two-year deal worth eighteen million dollars.

The best Center in the NBA,DeMarcus Cousins,will sign with the seventy-three win Golden State Warriors.Cousins took a massive pay cut to sign with Golden State on a five million dollar deal.

Star forward LeBron James will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year $154 million dollar deal .James does have a secondary home in LA, so it wasn’t out of the question so it wasn’t out of question for The King to head for the purple and gold. James will help attract free agents and maybe even bring in star wing Kawhi Leonard in via trade.

Wing Glenn Robinson the third will sign a two-year deal worth 8.3 million dollars with the Detroit Pistons.

Center Salah Mejri will return to the Dallas Mavericks on a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum.Mejri is a former teammate of the Mav’s number three pick, Luka Doncic.

You may be thinking… Why can’t the Rockets contend for a championship? They just re-upped with Chris Paul. Well, it’s because of the loss of Trevor Ariza.

Trevor Ariza, the former star three and d player for the Houston Rockets who made the Western Conference Finals and were one win away from the NBA Finals. Now the Rockets could not retain Ariza,  who signed a one-year deal worth fifteen million dollars.Ariza was a great defender for Houston.He defended the opposing teams’ best player.Whether that be LeBron James , Kawhi Leonardon the Spurs, Kevin Durant on the Warriors. Ariza is also a great three point shooter who shot the three ball at 37 percent. Ariza averaged almost twelve points per game, and five rebounds on the offensive side. Ariza averaged almost two steals per game, and almost a block per game.Houston will have to get a new Trevor Ariza. I’m sure that Trevor Ariza will be a great veteran leader for the Phoenix Suns.

Late Day 0 News (June 30)

The Denver Nuggets will retain wing Will Barton a four-year $fifty-four million deal.

The deal that we have all been waiting for has happened.The Oklahoma City Thunder have retained star Small Forward Paul George on a four-year $one hundred thirty-seven million contract.

Small Forward Doug McDermott will sign with the Indiana Pacers.

The Brooklyn Nets will re-sign Shooting Guard Joe Harris to a two-year $sixteen million deal.

The Milwaukee Bucks will sign Power Forward Ersan Illyasova to a three-year $twenty-one million deal.

Early Day 1 News (July 1)
The Houston Rockets will retain their future Hall of Fame Point Guard, Chris Paul, on a four-year $one hundred sixty million deal.

Small Forward Rudy Gay will stay with the Spurs on a one-year deal worth $ten million.

The Dallas Mavericks have landed former LA Clippers star Center DeAndre Jordan to a $24 million deal.

The OKC Thunder will retain reserve Small Forward Jerami Grant on a three-year $27 million deal.

The Brookly Nets have signed former Portland Trail Blazers Center Ed Davis to a one-year $4.4 million deal

Former Warriors Forward Omri Casspi wil sign with the Memphis Grizzlies on a one-year deal.

Wing Marco Bellinelli will sign with the San Antonio Spurs on a two-year $12 million deal.Marco will return to the team he won the 2014 NBA Finals with after spending 2017-18 with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers.

Three and d star Trevor Ariza will sign a one-year deal worth $15 million with the Phoenix Suns.

The Houston Rockets will bring back reserve shooting guard Gerald Green on a one-year $2 point four million deal.

The Boston Celtics will retain backup Center Aron Baynes on a two-year $11 million deal.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are expected to bring back Point Guard Derrick Rose on a one-year deal worth around $one to two million.

Nik Stauskas and the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a one-year deal.

Star small Forward Kevin Durant will remain with the Golden State Warriors. The second year in his new contract is to contain a player option. The first year is worth thirty million dollars and the option year is worth $31.5 million. Durant returns to the Bay after winning the past two NBA Finals MVPs.

NBA Free Agency has not started but we have three stars or former stars opting out of their contract.

June 28
Star wing Paul George told the OKC Thunder that he will be opting out of his contract.George will become an unrestricted free agent.

Knicks Center Enes Kanter is heavily leaning towards opting into his 18.6 million player option for 2018-19.

June 29
We’ve already talked about LeBron opting out of his contract.He is likely to sign with Boston,Philadelphia,Los Angeles (Lakers),Houston Rockets,San Antonio Spurs,or the Cleveland Cavaliers.

DeAndre Jordan,a guy I was talking about opting into the final year of his contract and try to facilitate a trade to the Mavs is opting out and is now looking to get a deal with Dallas.

Dirk Nowitzki,will opt out to be a free agent,the only reason being because they want to work out a deal with DeAndre Jordan first and then sign Nowitzki.

Just like Paul George did yesterday, LeBron James has decided to not pick up his $35.6 million player option of the last year of his contract. James will headline a free agent class that includes big names such as the earlier mentioned Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul, and more. James will become an unrestricted free agent.

Los Angeles Clippers Center DeAndre Jordan is likely to opt in to his twenty-four million dollar player option so he can facilitate a trade to the Dallas Mavericks. Four years ago, he had committed to sign a four-year contract with the Mavs ,a home state team, but instead decided to return to the Clippers.If the Mavs can make it work this team could possibly win thirty-five or more games in the tough western conference. Maybe they could sign DeMarcus Cousins but he is a big fish and I really don’t see it happening. Here’s what a trade would look like:

Dallas Mavericks Receive
DeAndre Jordan, Center

Los Angeles Clippers Receive
Harrison Barnes, Small Forward
Salah Mejri, Center
Picks

While the trade doesn’t seem that out there,this is a fair deal for both sides. Let’s see what each team got and who won the trade.

Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs are getting the second best center if he were to go into Free Agency in DeAndre Jordan. I don’t see it happening but maybe LA could give up a few picks. Dallas has always needed a player like Jordan who averaged twelve points and fifteen rebounds in 2017-18. This is a huge get for Dallas if they can work out this trade because Dallas has always needed DeAndre Jordan to come back home.

Los Angeles Clippers: Harrison Barnes could be headed back to California where he played with the Golden State Warriors at the beginning of his career.Barnes is a guy who averaged nineteen points, six rebounds, and shot the ball at almost forty-five percent overall.Barnes could be the answer the Clippers have always needed at Small Forward. While Mejri is not a very good center,he will at least be a decent role player to replace Jordan.

Who would won this trade: The Dallas Mavericks.If the Mavs only have to give up Barnes (who is a key player),but Salah Mejri will not hurt. Trading for DeAndre Jordan must be a sucess for Mark Cuban and the Mavs.

Today I make reasonable predictions for each of the top five players at each position go.

Point Guards
5.Fred VanVleet 2017-18 Team: Toronto Raptors New Team: New Orleans Pelicans
4.Rajon Rondo 2017-18 Team:N ew Orleans Pelicans New Team: New Orleans Pelicans
3.Elfrid Payton 2017-18 Team: Phoenix Suns New Team: Phoenix Suns
2.Isaiah Thomas 2017-18 Team: Cleveland Cavs/LA Lakers New Team: Orlando Magic
1.Chris Paul 2017-18 Team: Houston Rockets New Team:

Shooting Guards
5.JJ Redick 2017-18 Team: Philadelphia 76ers New Team: Boston Celtics
4.Avery Bradley 2017-18 Team: Los Angeles Clippers New Team: Memphis Grizzlies
3.Will Barton 2017-18 Team: Denver Nuggets New Team: Detroit Pistons
2.Zach Lavine 2017-18 Team: Chicago Bulls New Team: Chicago Bulls
1.Tyreke Evans 2017-18 Team: Memphis Grizzlies New Team: Boston Celtics

Small Forwards
5.Carmelo Anthony 2017-18 Team: Oklahoma City Thunder New Team: Oklahoma City Thunder (Opted In)
4.Jabari Parker 2017-18 Team: Milwaukee Bucks New Team: Sacramento Kings
3.Paul George 2017-18 Team: Oklahoma City Thunder New Team :Los Angeles Lakers
2.Kevin Durant 2017-18 Team:Golden State Warriors New Team: Golden State Warriors
1.LeBron James 2017-18 Team: Cleveland Cavaliers New Team: Boston Celtics

Power Forwards
5.Dirk Nowitzki 2017-18 Team: Dallas Mavericks New Team: Dallas Mavericks
4.Derrick Favors 2017-18 Team: Utah Jazz New Team :Utah Jazz
3.Nikola Mirotic 2017-18 Team: New Orleans Pelicans New Team: New Orleans Pelicans
2.Julius Randle 2017-18 Team:Los Angeles Lakers New Team:Los Angeles Lakers
1.Aaron Gordon 2017-18 Team: Orlando Magic New Team:I ndiana Pacers

Centers
5.Jusuf Nurkic 2017-18 Team: Portland Trail Blazers New Team: Phoenix Suns
4.Enes Kanter 2017-18 Team: New York Knicks New Team: Atlanta Hawks
3.DeAndre Jordan 2017-18 Team: Los Angeles Clippers New Team: Dallas Mavericks
2.Clint Capela 2017-18 Team: Houston Rockets New Team: Houston Rockets
1.DeMarcus Cousins 2017-18 Team: New Orleans Pelicans New Team: New Orleans Pelicans

The NBA Awards are tonight at nine pm eastern on TNT. Here are my predictions. I’m not going to be doing a lot of explaining in this post, just my predictions.

MVP: James Harden, SG, Houston Rockets
Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis, PF-C, New Orleans Pelicans
Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons, PG-PF-SF, Philadelphia 76ers
Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo
Sixth Man of the Year: Eric Gordon, SG, Houston Rockets
Coach of the Year: Brad Stephens, Boston Celtics

Sorry guys… I’ve been at camp but I’m back hoping to bring you a post a day over here and I’ve got a good one. Here are four teams Kawhi Leonard could be traded to…

This list is least likley to most likely to

After Kawhi Leonard demanded a trade from the San Antonio Spurs there are four contenders for his sweepstakes.

4.Philadelphia 76ers
I really don’t see this happening because Ben Simmons has to be in this package to make it work. They could use a package with Dario Saric and Markelle Fultz but Fultz was hurt so he’s not as good of an asset as he once was. If Philadelphia were to trade Simmons they would be called not loyal and plus Simmons is only twenty-two years old and most likely a rookie of the year.

3.Los Angeles Clippers
This could be interesting but all the Clippers really have is Tobias Harris and if the Spurs actually accept this deal it’s going to mean the two teams in front of them put worse offers. This is not likely to happen so I’m not expecting Kawhi Leonard to be on the Clippers.

2.Los Angeles Lakers
If Kawhi does get traded here for let’s say Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma he would most likely bring in LeBron James and Paul George as free agents but I don’t think they beat the one team on this list because they can’t bring back free agents such as Brook Lopez. The rest of their roster would include Lonzo Ball and hope that a bunch of veterans would fill out the roster. Plus LA has the endorsements that Kawhi Leonard has always wanted. The final problem is it’s going to be hard for LA to get the deal done due to the amount of assets and picks that the top team has.

1.Boston Celtics
The amount of picks and assets Danny Ainge has brought in for his team are amazing. It is not that often you can trade for a legit superstar in their prime. They would give up Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Aron Baynes and a few picks for a top-five NBA player in Kawhi.There starting lineup would be Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, Gordon Hayward, and Al Horford. Everybody in that lineup except for Kyrie can switch on defense to any position on the floor. The NBA Finals may actually be between two teams who can beat each other.