In the early hours of today the Golden State Warriors scooped their first NBA title by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, completing a 4-2 series win. And while Stephen Curry beat out the other four players nominated to the All NBA First Team, it was left to a wiley veteran to win the Finals MVP as Andre Iguodala claimed the prestigious honour.
But unfortunately this ends another NBA season. It doesn’t mean that the gossip stops though.
WARRIORS WILL HELP LEE FIND A NEW TEAM
David Lee’s future with the Warriors looks certain to end after he won his first NBA title.
Both sides are working on coming up with a workable solution for the veteran, and a new home in 2015-16.
Lee, 32, gave the Dubs an unexpected boost in the NBA Finals as the first man off the bench in Games 3, 4 and 5. He’s owed $15.4 million next season.
Via ESPN:
Sources said the Warriors have privately acknowledged to Lee and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, that it would be unfair to the former All-Star to ask him to continue to serve in a limited role next season after Lee accepted his diminished minutes without complaint all season.
Although discussions on this topic were essentially tabled by both sides until after the playoffs, sources said Wednesday that the Warriors and Bartelstein have resolved to work together to “come up with a good solution” to find a new home for Lee this offseason. […] Lee, 32, lost his starting spot to Draymond Green early in the season due to bad timing as much as anything else, as he suffered a hamstring injury after a strong showing in training camp. Once the 67-win Warriors launched to a 21-2 start with Green as the starter, Lee was forced to settle for spot minutes in the midst of the fifth season of a six-year, $80 million deal he signed with Golden State in the summer of 2010.
“It’s been a really interesting year,” Lee said after Game 1 of the Finals, in which he didn’t log a minute of playing time. “… I’ve actually gotten to see kind of the other side of the NBA. I’ve always been the guy that’s out there for 35 to 40 minutes. I’ve never really, I don’t think, had the true respect for guys … to see guys that don’t get a chance to play very often and come out and produce on a consistent basis — I never knew how difficult that was. […] So it’s really been a great learning experience for me this year. And while it’s been frustrating as a competitor to not be in there as much as I want to be in there, it’s been kind of cool to let go of my ego this year and say, ‘Hey, this is about the team.’”
NOWITZKI WOULD WANT LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE IN DALLAS
Dallas Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki wants Portland Trailblazers big man LaMarcus Aldridge at the club next season.
Via the Dallas Morning News:
Nowitzki believes the 6-11 power forward would look great in a Mavericks uniform. […] “We’d love to have him,” he said at an appearance at the Mavericks Hoop Camp presented by Academy Sports at Episcopal School of Dallas on Tuesday. “He’s a great mid-range shooter. He plays bigger than he is on the defensive end. He’s a good rebounder on both ends of the floor, and on that left block he’s a beast. So I mean, he’s a really, really good player.”
Not that it’s a slam-dunk decision for the Mavericks. Aldridge turns 30 next month. He’s no longer a spring chicken, although he looks like that when compared with Nowitzki, who turns 37 on Friday. […]Age is a serious factor when evaluating free agents. The Mavericks and just about everybody else with enough salary-cap space to offer maximum contracts will have to decide between players like Aldridge and the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan when the free-agent gate opens on July 1. Jordan will turn 27 next month. He’s just entering his NBA prime and has led the league the last two seasons in rebounding, where the Mavericks desperately need help.
“We’ve been ousted twice in the first round the last two years, and whatever I got to do, I’m ready to help,” Nowitzki said. “I know that, at 37, I can’t be the No. 1 option if we want to play for the championship. That’s how the cycle goes. Really, if you look at our roster, we only got four or five guys, so we got a lot of work to do. We need a little bit of everything.” […] And for those who believe Nowitzki has crystal ball access to what the Mavericks are thinking, he said: “Honestly, I have no clue what the team’s going to look like next year. But that’s part of the excitement. We’ll just see. And then we’ll go into free agency with an open mind, and with an open checkbook in [owner Mark Cuban’s] case, and hopefully get better.”
