Hello CSL fans, I'm Cindy Cindy and welcome to CSL Tonite! Please welcome Steve Smith as he talks about some of the offseason moves thus far!
Alright Cindy Cindy, let me start off by saying "COTTON PICKIN'" as in what were the New Orleans Pelicans thinking about by trading a Superstar talent like a Damian Lillard deciding to continue on with PG Bryce Cotton... I mean Cotton is an outstanding player and I had him as a Rising Star coming into last season but Lillard is a Superstar and those guys don't just grow on trees. He came in putting up 28 ppg and gave them 4 rebounds and 6 assists and was a great addition to PF Anthony Davis and yes I understand that Pelicans team was a defending champion but it seems as though Cotton didn't make the big leap the League was expecting putting up 11 and 8 and after falling in the Playoffs you have to wonder if the Pelicans have enough to recover...
Next up we'll talk about the Phoenix Suns... This was a team that had high hopes coming into last season and after getting off to a slow start they stumbled across the finish line and inevitably lost in the first round and you've got to start asking yourself if you're a Suns fan, will they continue to go the grow and develop route that has been so good to the Sacramento Kings or will they start looking to move pieces around to challenge for the Pacific Division as other Pacific teams make moves to challenge for the Division crown...
Lastly we'll talk Eastern Conference and two teams who look to make huge strides this coming season in the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors. Milwaukee adds a LeBron James to a stud in Greg Monroe and they suddenly become quite a lethal team as we all know LeBron can will his team to wins, you add a Greg Monroe to the mix and that may be enough to get teams to panic in the Central Division while Toronto gets Kawhi Leonard back from his season ending injury from the previous season to go along with a guy in C Andre Drummond who is still scratching the surface of his abilities and a Marc Gasol and Toronto suddenly becomes a huge threat...
I'm looking forward to what the season will have to offer as we'll soon get a look at the rookie class and guys like a Jahlil Okafor, a Stanley Johnson Jr, a Marcelo Huertas, and a guy I really like in a Cameron Payne that could really start to change the balance of power in the League maybe even sooner rather than later...
Last edited by WillyJakkz on Sun May 01, 2016 1:28 am, edited 6 times in total.
ORLANDOMAGIC:
PG L Ball | SG A Edwards | SF D Bane
PF J Isaac| C M Williams
Haha - well I'm pretty happy with the return I got for Lillard, essentially three lotto picks. But I think Gordon is underrated, first off, and I think Turner as a shot to turn into something special.
Ha, Suns fans are happy with the situation. We have a consistent winner (improved every season thus far), CAP room, talented youth, and a lot of future assets in the form of 1st round picks. Absolutely no reason to panic or make a desperation move.
As for stumbling in the 1st round, it was against the defending champs without 3 of our top 4 front-court players. Bobby freaking Portis had to go up against Davis all series long. Still, we didn't roll over and die.
In a league owned by James Harden aka Jordan, 50 wins and perennial playoff appearances is pretty much considered to be the cream of the crop when it comes to franchise success.
Good write up. I miss seeing these throughout the year. I think the Pelicans can overcome the loss of lillard, but we will see. I'm looking forward to seeing the ratings of this class.
