Could the new Seattle Supersonics possibly bring back Jeff Green if he was made available? Not at the current price.
As Sonic fans we’ve pretty much been relegated to the thought that the only way the Seattle Supersonics are going to brought back to Seattle is by having an existing NBA team move here. There has been a little talk of adding a single expansion team into the league. There isn’t a whole lot of support for adding another team to the league, but it has been discussed and the league hasn’t completely killed this idea yet.
What if there was expansion? What if David Stern’s final act as NBA Commissioner was to push through the addition of one more franchise in the league? What if we got our Seattle Supersonics back for the 2014-2015 NBA season?
Let’s say we used the same rules that were used when the Bobcats entered the league and predict what players would be potentially available to us from each team and how we could potentially use the first pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Note: These are predictions based upon current contracts, PER, simple +/- rating, defensive efficiency rating, offensive efficiency rating, clutch rating and on/off court team rating.
*(Position/Rating)*
Atlanta Hawks: Louis Williams (SG/18.1) and DeShawn Stevenson (SG/4.6)
Boston Celtics: Jeff Green (SF/6.3), Courtney Lee (SG/1.0) and Fab Melo (C/0.0)
Brooklyn Nets: Gerald Wallace (SF/11.1) and Marshon Brooks (SG/26.3)
Charlotte Bobcats: Bismack Biyombo (F/9.99) and Kemba Walker (PG/25.4)
Chicago Bulls: Taj Gibson (PF/12.9), Jimmy Butler (SF/9.6) and Marquis Teague (PG/-1.4)
Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson (PF/21) and Tyler Zeller (C/6.2)
Dallas Mavericks: Jared Cunningham (PG/11.1)
Denver Nuggets: JaVale McGee (C/29.5), Wilson Chandler (SF/-4.33) and Jordan Hamilton (SF/18.6)
Detroit Pistons: Brandon Knight (PG/8.5)
Golden State Warriors: David Lee (PF/19.6), Klay Thompson (SG/4.8) and Draymond Green (PF/1.17)
Houston Rockets: Royce White (PF/0) - If he’s still in the league and Terrence Jones (SF/16.7)
Indiana Pacers: Ian Mahinmi (C/11.6), Gerald Green (SG/11.1), Miles Plumlee (PF/13.1) and Orlando Johnson (SG/-27.8)
Los Angeles Clippers: DeAndre Jordan (C/21.6), Eric Bledsoe (PG/24.6), Jamal Crawford (SG/28.7) and Trey Thompkins (PF/9.7)
Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Nash (PG/4)
Memphis Grizzlies: Josh Selby (PG/-28.6), Quincy Pondexter (SF/6.3) and Tony Wroten (PG/-12.44)
Miami Heat: Joel Anthony (C/2.1), Norris Cole (PG/5.5) and Udonis Haslem (PF/10.2)
Milwaukee Bucks: Drew Gooden (PF/16.6), Ekpe Udoh (PF/11.8), Larry Sanders (C/16.4) and Doron Lamb (SG/2.3)
Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Williams (SF/15.7)
New Orleans Hornets: Greivis Vasquez (PG/14.3)
New York Knicks: Iman Shumpert (SG/8.8), Steve Novak (SF/2.1) and Raymond Felton (PG/21.8)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Nick Collison (PF/10.1), Kendrick Perkins (C/3.1), Perry Jones (SF/-4.1) and Reggie Jackson (SG/14.7)
Orlando Magic: Jameer Nelson (PG/12.1), Al Harrington (SF/14.9) and Glen Davis (PF/11.7)
Philadelphia 76ers: Jason Richardson (SG/16.2) and Thaddeus Young (PF/26.9)
Phoenix Suns: Jared Dudley (SF/10.5)
Portland Trailblazers: Nicolas Batum (SF/26.7)
Sacramento Kings: Jason Thompson (PF/18.6) and Jimmer Fredette (PG/17.1)
San Antonio Spurs: Corey Joseph (PG/3.7)
Toronto Raptors: Terrence Ross (PG/9.4)
Utah Jazz: Enes Canter (C/14.3) and Alec Burks (SG/-7.2)
Washington Wizards: Chris Singleton (SF/13.7) and Nene (C/15.6)
There are some players on this list that you might think I’m completely insane for putting on this list (Kemba Walker?) and there is no way in hell that their team would leave them unsecured during the draft. I can’t argue with you on that front and some of these names are a stretch and it doesn’t include potential free agents. Which means there could be a potential other thirty players that I am completely leaving off this list. I am also taking into account some cap casualties.
Eric Bledsoe (PG) - Over the past few years he has received a ton tutelage from Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups. He plays like a controlled Russell Westbrook, but looks to pass first and get his teammates involved. Can take over a game if needed, shoots 66.5% in the final five minutes of a game or overtime and is 2-2 on his game winning shots (83% better than Kobe Bryant).
Greivis Vasquez (PG) - For me this is a total homer pick, but not without merit. Vasquez isn’t the most talent, nor is he even remotely the most athletic or agile. Where is lacks in those areas he makes up for in brains, leadership, unreal basketball IQ and extremely hard work ethic. With his length and knowledge of defensive angles he’ll drive opponents nuts, he’s a smooth passer and not afraid to take a big shot.
Steve Nash (PG) - He would be 41 years old during this season and probably looking to hang it up. Why not send him out in a player/coach role. Give Bledsoe and Vasquez some tips on running the pick and roll.
Marshon Brooks (SG) - I thought Brooks could have eventually been an All-Star in the Eastern Conference. His minutes are way, way down this year because Brooklyn decided to bring in Joe Johnson. Brooks has a true shooting percentage of 87% and is a very solid passer into the lower post for his position. Has solid handles and can run the point in a pinch.
Jamal Crawford (SG) - Need a fearless shooter off the bench. Crawford is a hometown boy who is currently in his 12th year in the league and is also another guy who is going to probably be looking to hang it up in the next few years. Why not give him some burn here for a couple of years and let him retire a Sonic?
Derrick Williams (SF) - I really like Williams. I really, really like this guy. I think he is in the wrong system and under the wrong coach. Minnesota has already shopped him twice and he needs a change of scenery.
Terrence Jones (SF) - There still might be some bad blood for him taking more money to join Coach Cal in Kentucky. He’s had some maturity issues, but grew up a lot last season in college and he benefitted greatly from that extra year in school. He’s currently in the D-League averaging 31 points a game and pulling down nearly 10 rebounds. I think as a back up he’d do just fine on this team.
Thaddeus Young (PF) - The kid is long, has a good post game, can hit the mid-range jumper, rebounds well and plays defense. He’s no Shawn Kemp, but he’s definitely no Vin Baker either.
Jason Thompson (PF) - Very hard worker. Sometimes the only real bright spot on the Kings team.
DeAndre Jordan (C) - Up until this year he was an offensive liability that you could only throw lobs too. He started to put it all together. He’s got a post game and a baby jumper. He’s a monster on the boards, you don’t dare drive the lane on him and he’s energy personified.
JaVale McGee (C) - He’s basically a carbon copy of Jordan. Lanky, rebound machine, probably would MC the Capital Hill Block Party. Yes, that was a terrible pun.
The rest of the roster would be made up free agent signees.
OH!
And with the first pick of the 2014 NBA draft, the Seattle Supersonics select Andrew Wiggins, from the University of Florida State (projected).
At the very worst this kid is a five time Slam Dunk Champion. Reachable ceiling is the best Canadian basketball player ever. The game is effortless for him, strong work ethic, prides himself in defense and is extremely humble.
If we can’t get Eric Bledsoe (which we probably won’t, don’t think the Clippers will let him go) then we draft Andrew Harrison from the University of Kentucky.
In case this very unlikely scenario does some how come to fruition, what are you thoughts and potential predictions?
I want the Kings next year. Can’t wait two more years.
that would be nice, but beggars cant be choosers. As a Sonics fan, I’ll take whatever we can get here in Seattle.
I think it wouldn’t be the best thing for the league (more talent dilution) but would prefer it so that Sacramento or whoever doesn’t lose their team…unless the Kings are definitely leaving in which case I’d prefer to take them.
Oops. By “it” I mean an expansion team.
Any scenario in which we end up with Andrew Wiggins makes me happy.
Wouldn’t the Clips protect Bledsoe?
They’d obviously protect CP3 (assuming he re-signs) and Blake. After that, Bled is probably their third most valuable asset. You really think there are 6 other guys on the Clips roster that they would protect over him?
Also, nothing about Eric Bledsoe is “controlled.” His TO% is 16.7% this year, which is a career best (it was 24.4% last year). Westbrook, by comparison, has a TO% of 14.4 this year.
Not trying to pick on you — I just watch a ton of Clippers games.
I fully expect them to hold on to Bledsoe, but this was me having some wishful thinking. Vasquez I know would be there. He’s extremely under appreciated.
And thanks for updating me on the stats. I had Bledsoe at 7.8% turnover rate. I might have swapped that with Pe’Shon Howard’s stats though. Was multitasking haha.
Vasquez would be a great building block. Have admired his game since UM.
Glad your a fan of his. He’s one of my five favorite Terps ever.
‘sup nesgodawg! nice post. cheers
I think the league is willing to expand, but only if they have to in order to get a team here. They’ll try hard to get a team for Chris to buy and relocate here first, and they’ll probably succeed, making expansion a mute point. That’s where I think the 3-5 year timeline for expansion to be a possibility Stern gave makes sense. I think they’ll give it their best to get a team to relocate here in the next 2 or so years, maybe more, but if no team relocates here by a certain point in the 5 years, the league will open up expansion talks.
if I recall Peter Holt of the BOG gave a 3-5 year timeline for expansion to be a possibility too.
Im not sure how you came up with these names. Why do you think teams wouldn’t protect DeAndre Jordan? Klay Thompson? Eric Bledsoe? JaVale Mcgee?
If the rules and situations were similar as the Bobcats version I would use the cap space to get back players with bad (but short) contracts and draft picks for the first year. Then draft some good young players over years one and two and start using my new cap space to sign stars (and hope some of my draft picks panned out) to create a great team. It would be foolish to try and build a playoff team from the jump using guys from the expansion draft as building blocks.
mostly based on near expiring contracts and very movable assets. Not one of those guys mentioned would have to be on the roster for more than two years.
I realize this list is made up. But there is no way any of these players would not be protected:
Walker
JaVale McGee
Klay Thompson
David Lee
Jordan
Bledsoe
Derrick Williams
Batum
Jason Thompson
Terrence Ross
Enes Canter
I’d skimmed past Batum being on the list. We might as well as Russell Westbrook to the list, because they’re equally likely to be unprotected. This list of allegedly potentially available players is bogus.
In order for a hypothetical what-if list to have any relevance, it has to have at least some ghost of a chance of being realistic. This list fails. When we start putting players like Batum on the list we might as well add Stephon Curry, Kevin Love, and a 24-year od Julius Erving. It’s an unrealistic fantasy, not a basis for discussion.
Kind of harsh response, I reckon.
Just a rule of thumb, anytime you’re about to hit send on a response that includes the phrase “It’s an unrealistic fantasy…” , take a minute to reconsider.
Would be nice to have the first pick, but for some odd reason the NBA restricts expansion teams from having the 1st pick in their first year.
You’re right. I missed that rule. Damnit. No Wiggins
Gerald Wallace was the only attractive player that was left unprotected. You would be looking at a combination of high salary older players and lower impact scrubs. Names that I would expect to be the most interesting would be those like Carlos Boozer. Hard to get inspired talking about scrubs right now…
If the league really wanted to throw the Maloofs under the bus then they would expand to Seattle and VB.
What then, George?
we dont know what is gonna happen, we all thought there was no way the nba would leave seattle market for okc. perhaps we end up with kings and some how sacramento gets new arena and obviously a new owner who isnt a dirtbag. Nothing should be suprising in nba. perhaps sacramento and vb are expansion teams. like the bobcats replacing the hornets. we will get our sonics one way or another.
I don’t think anyone out there believes that the Sacramento situation is salvageable. Given that, The Kings are moving. The only question is when and where.
The attendance is so far down the drain, I can’t imagine the Kings being able to survive another year. They’ll lose every single sponsor (that they haven’t already lost) and there’s no way season ticket holder will re-up. If something is going to happen, it’s going to get done this year so next year is a throw-away year or the team actually moves in the off season.
That just leaves the where. The league won’t approve a move to anywhere else in CA. The pipe dream about Virginia Beach is just that. They’re way to far away from having a stadium deal in place to make a legit play right now. That just leaves a sale to Seattle. The only hurdle is the Maloof’s desire to not sell.
I honestly can’t see it playing out any other way. I’d put money on Hansen’s team making the 2013 draft pick for the Kings/Sonics.
agree cysco, maloofs dont have a choice really. Even if vb gets a deal together i find it hard to think the b.o.g would let them move over there when seattle has patiently waited and built a solid foundation. you dont make guys like ballmer and hansen wait or allow vb to budge ahead. im pretty confident the nba knows seattle’s best chance is this plan. they will probably never get a plan more solid to return the nba to one of the best fan bases around
Expansion makes no sense from a financial perspective or from a talent perspective, but I’ll play along. You’d be dealing with scrubs and guys with expiring deals for the first few years of the franchise’s existence, I think we’d be similar to the Vancouver Grizzlies … suck badly enough to get a top 5 pick and hope that guy is actually something you can build around.
@xteve your probably right. however i wouldnt go as far as saying we’d be similar to the grizzlies. Chris Hansen and ballmer and others in this group love basketball and want your city to be a champion. Believe me i live in british columbia, the grizzlies experience could have played out so much better had they focused on building a winner. In my opinion they never got off on the right foot. Rather than selecting the home town canadian kid steve Nash they went with clay bennetts nephew(lol) big country reeves. Nash would have brought instant marketing as hes the best canadian basketball player ever. That was the original sin. Then the steve Francis debacle. stu jackson and crew never had a clue. Hansen would make damn sure this team would be contending very soon.
I think you got your drafts mixed up. They picked Shareef Abdur-Rahim the year Nash was drafted.
The league will avoid expansion if they can. The only way I see expansion is if at a certain point in our 5 years the league still can’t find a team for Chris to buy and move here. If the league cant get the Maloofs to sell to Chris they’ll eventually expand here IMO, probably by the 3-5 year timeline we heard.
Expansion is a pretty scary scenario. It’s really tough to build a team based around bad contract players that no team wants to protect. I don’t see how you would build a team out of the list laid out above.
2013 has some potential for franchise-level players at the top of the draft. At the rate they’re going, the Kings will in a good position to grab a top 3-4 pick and be in the the Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad, Cody Zeller sweepstakes.
The Kings situation reminds me of the Sonics before they were taken to OKC. There’s some talent there and a top four draft pick appears to be in their future. The team is demoralized and has no will to win. A smart GM should be able to take the current roster, a top draft pick and a couple moves and make a solid team within a couple years.
It’s sad for the fans in Sac, but I really think that Kings squad is 2-3 years away from really competing. Fortunately for us, They’ll likely be playing in Seattle when they hit their stride.
Well, I’m not that big of a fan of that 2013 draft class.
Shabazz could be really good, Zeller might turn into a good power forward and Noel should block some shots, but after that there’s not much quality left.
It’s pretty much the 2011 draft all over again with most scouts not being all that happy about this years draft class and I can understand that.
BTW: If we were to receive an expansion team we should be aware of the fact that it will be a 3 - 5 year plan to build this thing into a winner.
We’d receive the #4 pick(top 3 won’t happen if we don’t trade up cause the league wants to hold it’s draft lottery) and the chance to select some end of the bench guys or players that are heavily overpaid and unwanted.
I’d then take on a bigger contract(not more the 2 years remaining) or two to get to that minimum salaries required by the league while adding some picks during the process.
That would give us a vet or two and the chance to add more young guys/trade chips for the future.
Since the Vancouver Grizzlies were mentioned earlier. I thought this article would fit in, the Vancouver Grizzlies practice court is for sale. For $13,000
http://deadsp.in/UCTWeM
wow, that’s actually a seriously good deal. someone will buy that floor, cut it up and sell it to high-end home construction. you can get $10+ per sq/ft for that floor for architectural purposes. Someone’s gonna make 50-75k profit on that thing.
I’d probably build a fieldhouse and install it. Payton, Kemp, Jordan, etc have sweated on that court.
Hell I think the sonics were undefeated on that court.
They can’t be undefeated on it, it’s only the practice court lol.
menace, i gooofed. ya big country was 95 draft. rahim was 96 draft. My point is the whole thing was terribly managed from the beginning. Just because winters was an assistant under wilkins doesnt mean he was a coach like wilkins. its just sad it would have been nice to see a flourishing rivalvry van-seat-port. Even at the lowest point attendance was never as bad as what we are seeing in sac town. they may announce 14 thou but only maybe 8 thousand butts in the seats.
I really hope that no Seattle fan who would rather take a team from another city over waiting a year for expansion have ANY ill will about the Sonics leaving town. You don’t deserve it. I’m not ready to put self interest above all else and sacrifice what I thought was our moral high ground. The Sac situation might be inevitable, but I’m certainly not choosing to be the villains over 1 measly year after everything we’ve been through. Makes me sick.
Sean, so if the Maloof’s went to Hansen and said, “we’re selling the team. You want to move it to seattle? It’s yours.” and then the same day the commission said, “Chris, you want an expansion team in a couple years? It’s yours.” you’d tell the Maloofs to sell their team elsewhere?
I fail to see the logic there.
If all local resources have been exhausted in Sacramento and it’s decided the team has to move, I absolutely want them moving to Seattle. Will it suck for Kings fans? Of course it will.
There was a movie, or something, and the lesson was that “no team is safe”.
That’s complete conjecture that an expansion team would be made available in a year. You have to take what you can if you want a team back here.
The situations are totally different. Everyone involved with the Sac Kings situation knows clearly what the intentions are if Hansen was to purchase the team.
Would it suck for the Kings fans of course it would their great fans. Would I feel bad a little bit, however their Sacramento Kings were originally the Rochester Royals who turned to the Cincinnati Royals then Kansas City - Omaha Kings and finally Sacramento.
If you look at the NBA as a whole, it would do the league well to contract by two teams.
Beggars cant be choosers. We take what we can get. However…..whenever.
I agree with Menace. As for the Kings history is there actually any rule in place saying we have to refer to their history or in anyway use it? Couldn’t Chris just make a deal with Sacramento that the Kings history would be on pause until a new Kings team was in place in Sacramento?
I’m not concerned with their history. I’m more concerned with ours and what we have to do to get it back, 100%, from Bennett and co. OKC fans don’t even recognize it.
plus, we don’t want their history.
Everything just seems to go wrong with anything Kings related………
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/04/5028712/mayor-gets-fppc-fine-on-charity.html
My question is, who would you guys want to run the team? Who would you like to see coach? What about GM?
I would really love to have Lenny as our GM. I’d also like to have a proven coach, Jerry Sloan or someone like that, with GP on his staff.
although I do like Mike Budenholzer as well and would like to see him get an HC job.
I wouldn’t mind Lenny as our GM.
Would Brent Barry like to be an assistant coach?
That the question that popped into my head while watching NBA tv last night.
I think he’d be a pretty good assistant coach.
Not sure I would want Lenny. I appreciate everything he has done for this franchise. He should be part of the franchise in some capacity. He shouldnt be the GM though. In his last stints in the NBA he seemed a little bit out of touch. The guy is 75 years old.
I love GP. But I dont think he would make a very good coach.
Of all the ex Sonics who they may or may not consider to be part of a staff I would think Detlef would be the choice. I believe he is the only one who actually has coaching experience at this point.
what about Sikma?
Sure. He has experience.
Sikma was a coach the same year Det was.
He stunk. The players blew him off all the time.
I’d rather have coaches who coach instead of getting ex-players to learn coaching on the job. Already went through that debacle once.
Sikma is currently an assistant for the Timberwolves
GP has expressed interest in coaching. That’s why I said I’d like to have him on the staff of someone well-respected, someone who can teach him the ropes.
Thats totally cool. If thats the case then I would ask why he isnt coaching now at some capacity? HS, college, asst in the NBA or whatever.
I just dont think its a good idea to hand over any kind of coaching jobs based on the player they were. Coaching and playing are two very different ball games. Some of the best players that ever lived have been shaky at best coaches.
What about Hersey Hawkins? I think he does Player Dev in Portland right now. He might have coaching experience too.
RE: Potential GM I’d want someone like Tom Penn or Mike Zarren. Give me the Sam Presti kinda guy. Someone who truly understands how to work the CBA. The thing that kills franchises more than anything is getting locked into bad contracts.
RE: Potential Coach, assuming Phil Jackson isn’t in the running in some fashion, my choice would be Mike Budenholzer. The guy has been the right hand man to Popovich for like 20 years! Then, you bring in GP as assistant coach.
Essentially, I want our entire management to be younger guys who have trained under the best in the league.
For GM I would love Troy Weaver. He was a former asst coach at Syracuse, worked in Utah’s front office then joined OKC as asst GM. He is credited as the guy who was pushing for Presti to draft Westbrook.
For coach I would choose Jeff Hornacek.
Also add Clifford Ray, Rod Strickland and Bob Weiss as assistant coaches
Who would be the head coach? I know Phil Jackson’s name has been brought up before. Besides him though who would everyone want to be the head coach?
I like Stan Van Gundy. I have always been a fan of Eric Musselman. He is doing good in the D-League.
Nate McMillan would be a consideration. Flip Saunders?
More VB news
Price tag for proposed Virginia Beach arena jumps $46 million
http://bit.ly/11Pkf3i