Cavs vs. Warriors III showcases former coveted recruits, underdog prospects
The 2017 NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Warriors will feature seven current All-Stars and four former All-Stars. The “three-match” between Cleveland and Golden State has been marketed as LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love versus Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
According to multiple league sources, the Trail Blazers have been Cheap Jerseys Rugby open to deals for some combination of the picks. Portland has contract commitments to 12 players next season already, and a projected salary of $133 million, which is $12 million over the league’s luxury-tax threshold. That puts the Blazers in line for $21 million in luxury tax payments.
Any deal involving a Portland pick would likely involve an easing (or erasing) of the team’s tax burden. Portland doled out about $340 million in contract commitments — young holdovers Allen Crabbe, Moe Harkless, Meyers Leonard and C.J. McCollum, plus vets Festus Ezeli and Evan Turner — last summer following a solid, 44-win season. But they regressed to 41 wins this year, and apart from McCollum, none of their signees significantly improved.
The Jaguars made a bold gamble making Bortles, an intriguing but flawed prospect, the first QB off the board in 2014. Results have been mixed, at best. After a predictably rough rookie year, Bortles looked to make big strides in 2015, throwing for 35 touchdowns and 4,428 yards. However, his 2016 was a disaster. Bortles’ mechanics went to hell, as he developed a Tebow-esque throwing motion and horrific footwork. He committed to hand out turnovers like candy, the Jaguars bottomed out (again), and Gus Bradley got canned.
Now Doug Marrone is in charge, and one of his biggest challenges will be trying Cheap Jerseys Stitched to salvage something from the Jags’ investment at QB.