What do you guys think about the news that the Dallas Mavericks will be releasing JaVale McGee? I’ve always thought JaVale was underrated and can’t really understand why teams like the Lakers and Warriors didn’t hold onto him when they saw success with him. Is this an opportunity for the Lakers to grab a quality backup at center for cheap?

I don’t know how serious the trade scenario of Karl Anthony Towns for Damian Lillard was, but apparently it was serious enough for Portland to comment that they don’t want KAT. I’m a little surprised by that, as I don’t think they’re going to be able to get a better player for Dame, but maybe they just want lots of draft picks or something.

Zion definitely doesn't look "scary" to me at all. He is still overweight and he can play however he wants while he plays, and he could be a good player when he plays but it has been years and he still hasn't played a single decent season, he keeps getting injured time and time after again.

I bet that if he lost some of that weight, he would have been a better player but we all know that it's not looking like he will lose any of that weight, instead he turns that fat into muscle but still if you have way too much muscle that hurts your chances of staying healthy as well, it's just too much power on joints. Imagine a 260 pounds or even more, maybe 300 pounds dude jumping very high and then going down, when he touches the floor, his knee joints is taking a punishment every single time.

Could be. Perhaps the trade was in a 1:1 ratio so they cannot take that. Maybe for them, Damian Lillard is too much for just that. Another thing that may be considered is the difficulty to find a shooter like Dame.

I just finished reading about this from the NBA.com notification.
Well, it took the NBA a long time before they could finalize whatever fine they will give Harden after what he did. But I am still curious about why the 76ers are still not granting his trade request. It's a player option so he is illegible to opt-out and pick another team according to his contract.
Perhaps that reason and other things are all combined which is why Harden became furious at Daryl Morey.
NBA should also look into that and not just put all the blame on Harden. Why would he act like that and what is the reason behind all this ruckus he is making?
If there's a contract that must be followed then the 76ers must do so, but it seems they don't want to let go of him.

---

Here's a good interview with Steph Curry on Gilbert Arena's podcast.
https://sports.yahoo.com/whos-got-next-steph-curry-043711056.html
Oh, I do agree with you Steph.

Well if there is already a crack in the relationship between Harden and the management, or even like players to players before the start of the season, it could be a bad sign for that team. Remember the case of Jordan Poole and Draymond Green, I believed that this carry on the season until the playoffs wherein Poole was not given enough minutes and the management have to decide whether to trade Poole or retain Green.

So we shall see, if I'm a Sixers fans then I would be concern on what is going from behind even before the start and as you have said, it will be uglier and could be compare to the Ben Simmons nightmare that the Sixers has in the prior years.

Same opinion here, KAT doesn't have that capability to lift his team. He has been surrounded by good players before but unable to reach the finals. I used to remember both DRose, Butler and Wiggins play alongside with him.

Fast forward, Dame will not get that trade as even they've got a same market value as of the moment
but the leadership might be the big difference, and like what you said Blazers is more after with future
picks or maybe veteran player who have a much lesser market value to acquire more.

I would definitely say with him the trade is fair enough and they cannot ask for more unless the Timberwolves want to give some more just to get Dame. But the trade was off so probably they were just asking for more and an unreasonable price for Dame which didn't go right for both teams. Let's see what team will be interested in Dame this year will they be successfully traded him this time or they will be just like the Lakers who struggled to trade Russel Westbrook as well?

That is a big sign that the Portland Trail Blazers are now looking forward to rebuild their team and carve out a new franchise image from the future picks they could get out of Dame because they specifically denied the Timberwolves request in giving KAT and some other future trades in-exchange for Dame Lillard.
Furthermore, Blazers are seems to be still sticking with what Dame wants by giving the Heat a chance to make a good trade but up to now, there are still no signs that both teams are going to agree with something to make it a done deal.

I think when Dame requested trade, the Trail Blazers realized that it's time for them to move forward. And most likely it was that sign, so the y sign Jeremi Grant with a huge contract and perhaps he will be their next corner store for their franchise.

But they don't want to give up their future picks and that could be the problem that they are facing right now. Maybe Miami is demanding some future picks to them that they can't really decide whether to take that risk or not.

But he would not last that long and that's the argument why he doesn't look scary. The teams that usually compete for the playoff spot wouldn't be scared or worry too much about the Pelicans since they know Zion won't be playing on a regular basis.