Breakfast Links 6-27-15

76ers :: Sign TJ McConnell to partially guaranteed deal

Blazers :: Olshey denies Aldridge’s impending departure

Hornets :: Charlotte reportedly turns down mega offer from BOS for #9 pick

Kings :: Ranadive gave Cousins’ agent permission to pursue LAL trade

Knicks :: Carmelo backs Prozingis pick

Nets :: Brooke Lopez will opt out; Likely to stay in Brooklyn

Warriors :: GM Bob Myers says Warriors will bring back Marreese Speights

Wizards :: Paul Pierce will opt out; Clips favorite to land Truth

NBA :: Alexander, Wood amongst the undrafted

NBA :: CJ McCollum interviews Adam Silver

Recommended television: Married With Children (reruns on TBS)
The BEST 80’s sitcom ever. Whoa Bundy!!

Pat Riley Believes He’s Not A Quitter

Last week, Pat Riley challenged his three superstars his two superstars LeBron James to stay in Miami and see through their his effort to win not 6, not 7, not 8 championships… Riley turned a lot of heads last week when he began his press conference with one simple statement: “I’m pissed.”

While the basketball world spins on its axis waiting to see where not only James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh land, Riley alluded to the character that is required to win multiple championships at the NBA level. “This stuff is hard,” he explained, “and you got to stay together, if you’ve got the guts. And you don’t find the first door and run out of it.”

Wow! Tough talk. Especially from a legend like Pat Riley. He doesn’t know the meaning of quit. This guy’s the next Jimmy Volvano! He never gives up! No matter how tough things get…

… Or maybe he does. All the time. Simply stated, I’m not buying the bullshit Riley’s selling.

Let’s start in 1991. After a year of working on NBA on NBC, Riley returned to the sidelines with the New York Knicks. Things started off great as Riley’s Knicks adapted a hard-nosed, physical style of play that helped them push the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the 1991/92 Eastern Conference Finals. In 1992/93, Riley led NYK to their best regular season record in team history (60 wins, tied with 1969/70 Knicks) but again couldn’t get past the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, this time losing in six games. Entering the 1994/95 season, after Michael Jordan retired to play baseball, one would have to think that this was the Knicks’ best chance to advance to the Finals. However, after defeating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals that year, the Knicks advanced to the Finals only to lose to the Houston Rockets in seven games.

So the Knicks were one game away from a NBA championship—which would’ve been the franchise’s third chip (their first since 1973). Note: one game away from an NBA championship appears to be FAR closer than the Heat came this year losing their series 3-1 and by an NBA Finals record 14.5-point margin of victory. Nonetheless, Riley began to question his role with the team and his future in New York. I have to assume that in 1994, Riley had yet to learn the life lessons he so hypocritically pontificated last week in Miami. There were no guts and there certainly wasn’t any togetherness in New York, but there was a door and Riley ran through it.

“For the last two years,” Riley said, “I had consistently and repeatedly expressed to Knick management my desire and need to be charged with ultimate responsibility for all significant aspects of the ballclub. During this time, I had tried my best to reach an agreement with management on these issues. Unhappily, the gap between us could not be bridged.” He continued, “I do not believe that any team can realize its potential when its head coach, the person most intimately involved with the players, cannot make final, critical decisions on matters bearing directly and intensely on the team, its performance and its future.”

Knicks President Dave Checketts and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld responded by stating, “We didn’t make any trades that Pat didn’t want. He was in favor of every player that’s on this roster.”

Checketts added, “If anything, he was resentful I couldn’t deliver to him ownership and everything he was seeking. We delivered an offer to him that we thought was extraordinary.” Newsday reported that Riley at one point asked for $50 million over five years, plus 25% ownership of the team, and the Knicks countered with a five-year, $25-million offer.

For the record, I don’t begrudge anyone for attempting to better their own situation, but there is a certain way to go about things as we saw last week when Jason Kidd was heavily criticized for the way he bullied his way out of Brooklyn for more power in Milwaukee. And Riley didn’t show any more professionalism than Kidd did when he exited New York. Riley, an alleged class act, informed the Knicks of his resignation via fax.

In fact, Riley’s move from New York to Miami was so suspicious that it triggered an investigation was so shady and controversial that it lead to an investigation into tampering. Eventually the two teams agreed that the Heat would have to compensate the Knicks with a first round pick and $1 million in cash.

So let’s take a deeper look into the hypocrisy Riley spewed last week when he challenged LeBron and company to stay in Miami and see through HIS vision. As I stated earlier, Riley left a team that was on the doorstep of an NBA championship with New York. Even from the most optimistic perspective, the Heat aren’t on any doorsteps. At best, they’re on the block, but a few houses down. LeBron’s gonna need some new roommates to bring another chip home.

In 2010, when Bosh and James decided to join Wade in Miami, they signed similar cap-friendly deals that would allow them all to opt out in the summer of 2014. They all took less money and potentially less years in favor of having more control of their career paths four years later. In turn, Riley’s assertion that if any of the Big Three moved onto greener pastures, it could be viewed as quitting or “running for the door” holds no weight. Bosh, James, and Wade lived up to their contractual agreements, something Riley failed to do in New York. OK, so Riley quit on the Knicks. Twenty years later, he railed on his three stars challenging them not to be quitters. Seems hypocritical, but perhaps the Knicks’ situation was an isolated incident. I doubt Riley ever quit before (or after) on a team.

After his 1989/90 season with Los Angeles, despite winning Coach of the Year, Riley quit on the Lakers after they were unceremoniously ousted by the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Semifinals. By the end of season, many players including Magic Johnson and James Worthy, had spoken to management about Riley’s long mentally fatiguing practices as well as his refusal to listen to constructive criticism. Riley decided enough was enough, and despite the two years remaining on his deal, Riley ran for the door. Guts are an afterthought; doors are now the best options. After a disappointing 2003/04 season with the Miami Heat, Riley was again looking for an out. Easily enough, with Riley now acting as both head coach and general manager of the team, he decided to step down as head coach and was succeeded by assistant Stan Van Gundy. However, after drafting Dwyane Wade in 2003 and adding Shaquille O’Neal in 2004, the seemingly remote possibility of winning a championship began to become more realistic. That’s when the opportunist gears in Riley’s head started to once again grind. Despite Van Gundy’s insistence that he quit in the middle of the 2005/06 season to spend time with his family, it was widely speculated that the roster simply got too good, and the urge to return to his former coaching glory was too great.

In his book, “Shaq Uncut: My Story” with Jackie MacMullan, Shaquille O’Neal defended himself against the allegation that he had forced Stan Van out by saying that it was all Riley’s decision. “Stan got fired because Pat wanted to take over, not because I wanted him out,” he said.” I had no control over it — not a smidgen of control. We all kind of knew it was coming because Pat and Stan were always arguing. Pat would come down and tell Stan how to do something and Stan would want to do it his own way, and that was a fine game plan if you wanted to get yourself fired.”

So in conclusion, Pat Riley should be allowed to talk about quitting. He has proven to be an expert in the field and could probably offer some good advice. Mike D’Antoni should take notes. But when it comes to not quitting, or honoring a contract, or anything else related to professionalism, Pat Riley’s opinions hold no weight.

Who is in a more disheartening position? Carmelo Anthony or Thaddeus Young?

Carmelo Anthony

Where is he now?

Melo’s in a bad spot. He’s arguably having the best season of his career averaging 28.2 PPG (2^nd in the NBA behind Kevin Durant, 31.6 PPG) and accounts for 28.8% of his team’s offense (2^nd in the NBA behind Kevin Durant, 30.2%). Additionally, Melo has been pulling down a career-high 8.6 boards a game (19^th in the NBA) and has a PER of 25.4 (8^th in the NBA). Unfortunately, he’s on the Knicks… And they’re god damn terrible. NYK is currently 11^th (5.5 games out of 8^th place) in the worst Eastern Conference in the history of the NBA, and barring a miracle, they’re not going to the playoffs (this year or next). Despite the Knicks’ struggles, Carmelo’s looked really good this season. He’s shooting efficiently, scoring a shitload of points, rebounding aggressively, and even showing signs of life on the defensive end.  Even the biggest Melo haters would have to concede he’s having a very efficient season, dude just doesn’t have anything around him.

What does he have around him?

Well let’s start with the good. Tim Hardaway Jr. has had an impressive rookie campaign… And I hear Tyson Chandler is a nice guy. Some people still like Iman Shumpert, but I think I’m off the bandwagon—he’s always hurt and perpetually on the trading block. Now on to the bad… He’s being led by a lame duck coach, the worst starting point guard in the NBA, and J.R. Smith, whom (for better or worse) Anthony has played parts of 8 seasons with. I mean if you were Batman, could you select a more undesirable Robin? And if that’s not bad enough, you still have the ghost of Amare Stoudamire wearing furs and scoring a career-low 10.1 PPG. Rounding out this dysfunctional bunch, you have Andrea Bargnani (which cost the Knicks a first rounder), Kenyon Martin (allergic to hardwood), and Pablo Prigioni (37 this May)… So after Melo and Hardaway, the most desirable piece the Knicks have just may be Jeremy Tyler (yikes!).

What’re the team’s prospects?

Dismal. Due to the fact that the 2014 NBA Draft is widely considered to be the strongest draft class since 2003, it’s only logical that the Knicks would do whatever they could to not pick in it. Mission accomplished! Their first rounder is headed to Denver (from the Carmelo/ Danilo deal) and their second round pick is going to Houston as part of the Marcus Camby trade. It’s also worth noting that if the Knicks somehow have a decent pick in 2016, the Nuggets have the right to swap first rounders with New York (also via the Melo/ Gallinari deal).

As far as current salaries, the Knicks couldn’t be more handcuffed. Imagine having JR Smith and Raymond Felton both signed through 2014/15, and both have PLAYER OPTIONS for 15/16 (Smith for $6.4M and Felton at $4.5M)?!? In fact, in addition to Smith and Felton, they also have Amare, Chandler, Bargnani, Shumpert, and Prigioni ALL under contract through 2014/15! And unfortunately, this isn’t ten years ago. One thing we learned from this season’s trade deadline is that due to the new CBA, expiring contracts don’t hold the value they used to. In other words, no one’s biting on Amare’s contract like they would have Raef LaFrentz’s or Theo Ratliff’s expiring deals in the past.  Again, the only bright spot for the Knicks remains Tim Hardaway Jr’s deal. He has team options that take him through 2016/17.

What’re the individual’s prospects?

Well it all comes down to Melo and how much he really wants to stay in New York. Anthony has a player option for $23.5M and for most players, it would be hard to walk away from that kinda gwop. But this isn’t one of those Charlie Villaneuva/ Ben Gordon-type situations where the player would be a fool to walk away, Carmelo actually holds value. He could easily find a suitor to throw a max-deal at him (Mavericks, Lakers?), but how much does Melo really want to stay in New York? Recently, Anthony has reportedly stated that he would be willing to take less than a max deal to stay with the Knicks (although New York would still be able to offer him more years and more money than any other team). But Melo’s not a kid anymore—he’s turning 30 this May, and although he’s never suffered from any catastrophic injuries, he’s in his 11^th NBA season and his body has logged a ton of mileage. Nonetheless, I still think it’s quite plausible that Anthony can continue to play on an elite level for another 3-4 seasons.

Thad Young

Where is he now?                                                                                                                    

On the second worst team in the NBA, and that could become the WORST team very shortly. The Sixers recently dealt their leading scorer Evan Turner and their leading rebounder Spencer Hawes. Poor Thaddeus Young—he’s the only remaining player from a Sixers team that was one win away from the Eastern Conference just two seasons ago. Nonetheless, Young’s had a breakout season. He’s currently averaging career-highs in scoring (17.5 PPG), assists (2.0), and steals (2.2). But what do those numbers mean? Sure, a strong argument can be made (and was made against Turner for the first half of the season) that his numbers are greatly inflated due to the fact that he plays with scrubs, but Thad has a very respectable PER of 17.67.

What does he have around him?

The Sixers might be first NBA team ever to have only 2 above-average players, Young and Michael-Carter Williams. Besides them, you would be hard pressed to describe any player on the Sixers’ roster as “good.” To be clear, I love Tony Wroten, but the Grizzlies did essentially trade him for (less than) a bag of basketballs. The 76ers’ plan moving forward is quite clear: Carter-Williams is the point guard and Nerlens Noel is the center. Other than those two, no one is guaranteed a spot on next year’s roster (well perhaps the untradeable and never present Jason Richardson).

What’re the team’ prospects?

Winning either this year or next year seems highly unlikely. Even the idea of playing .500 basketball by 2015/16 seems to be a stretch. But GM Sam Hinkie has a plan. He’s got 7 picks in this year’s draft (2 possible lottery picks and 5 2^nd rounders) and a ton of cap space. One would hope that Hinkie could unearth a 2^nd round gem such as Chandler Parsons as he did with Houston, or perhaps even land a top-tier free agent, although that could prove difficult without any other “superstar” players to lure in such talent. The Sixers have never been known as top free agent landing spot (ahem, Elton Brand).

What’re the individual’s prospects?

The worst case scenario for Thad Young is simple: After he plays the remainder of this season, the Sixers force him to play the entire 2014/15 season in Philadelphia as well… After that, Young has options. He could then either A) accept his player option in 2015/16 for $9.7M or B) bail—and go somewhere where they play competitive hoops. However, I doubt Thad makes it through this summer in Philadelphia. I very much anticipate the 76ers move Young on draft night. So unless they trade him to Milwaukee (or perhaps New York or Brooklyn), he HAS to go to a better team. If he goes to a middle of the pack team (such as an Atlanta or Chicago), he can just play out the season and pick his own destination in the summer of 2015. If he likes where he ends up (Houston or Portland?), perhaps he’ll pick up his option and play two seasons on a competitive squad. The least likely scenario involves Young re-signing with the Sixers. Simply stated, it’s just not gonna happen. Both parties are looking to move in a new direction. What most people don’t realize is that the 8-year veteran turns just 26 years old this June.

The bottom line…

It depends what your goals are. First, the obvious… Carmelo Anthony is a superior basketball player to Thaddeus Young—that cannot be debated. If Melo can win a championship in NYC, he’ll stand on top of the basketball world. He’ll walk around New York like he’s Jay-Z, and will literally go down as one of the greatest Knicks of all-time (this isn’t Boston or LA, just one chip does it). But the Knicks are going to be bad. They’re bad now, they’re gonna be bad next season, and there’s no reason to believe they will turn it around any time shortly after that. The Knicks might not be a playoff-caliber squad until Melo’s 34 years old. Does Anthony really want to spend the prime of his career scoring 34 PPG (with summers off)? If I was Melo, I’d get the hell out of dodge! Signing with New York for less than the max shouldn’t even be an option. Signing with New York FOR the max shouldn’t be a viable option either. He’s already made over $135M in his career—it’s time to go play for a winner. Sadly, the Knicks don’t have any options other than signing him, and in all honesty, I don’t see Melo walking away from that cake.

Good news, Thaddeus! There’s light at the end of the tunnel—and the tunnel’s not that long. I’m going to assume June 26, 2014 will be his last as a Sixer. It makes all the sense in the world for both parties to move him on draft night. The 76ers’ trade partner will receive a quality forward (who can play both positions) who has one year left at $9.2M and a player option for 2015/16 for $9.7M. At the least, if Young opts out, the team will own his Bird rights… For the tanking Sixers, a draft night trade will most likely yield a return much greater than what Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes brought back at the trading deadline. If for whatever reason Young starts next season in Philadelphia, he will be moved during the season. It’s very unlikely Philadelphia sees him as a building block for their future…

So who’s in a more disheartening position? Who would you rather be? I’d rather be Thaddeus Young. He has carte-blanche to do whatever he wants to do. Expecations are nill in Philly. All Young has to do is play major minutes, lose by 30, and plan for the future. You’re either gonna be dealt to a contender (it’s very unlikely a struggling team trades for him), or you’re gonna bolt Philly and choose your own suitor.  While it’s true Melo is a better player, more sought out free agent, and possible franchise cornerstone, he’s not in a position to succeed right now. No matter how many 40-point nights he can post, he’s the franchise player on the most disappointing franchise in the league. If he decided to sign an extension with NYK, he’s signing his own death certificate. If he bolts to LA, he’s still gonna be on a bad team in a city with lofty, unrealistic goals… AND HE will be held accountable for all of the losing. Ask Pau Gasol how much fun that is? If he goes to Chicago, what will happen there? Derrick Rose will watch him play basketball? Admittedly, it’s a better situation than New York and LA… You have a dominant, All-Star level center, a young, defensively gifted wing player, and one of the best 5 coaches in the NBA. But where would Melo fit in with this roster? Is there any room for 32 shot attempts and Jimmer Freddette-level defense? I’m not quite sure. Anthony is going to have to pick his own poison, and because there no clear cut Plan A, I have a feeling Melo’s gonna go with Plan Z, re-sign with the Knicks. Cash those checks and play regular season basketball. And if he gets the chance, watch Thad Young play next May.