Official NBA Discussion Thread

[sharkboy 3:16]

I never even knew about the trade machine until the above post lol, I've been trying it out lately to see what I can come up with.

All of the big winning streaks have been ended, the biggest streak going right now is the Rockets who have won 5 straight, what do you guys think of them as a team, theyve had alot of injures, Brooks was out for quite awhile, Yaos out for the season yet theyve still managed to keep a decent record. I think once Brooks comes healthy they are going to be hard to stop. Brooks and Martin play well together and run the ball well, Scola is usually really good scoring and reboundingwise besides the odd game, Battier I feel is a little overated but he is a good defender, Hayes is a little underated imo, he was made center last year and is playing there again this year and he isnt the size of a usual center but he still managed to play alright, he's got good hustle but doesn't do much on the scoring end, then you look at the bench, Lowry who's playing really good, courtney Lee, Chase Budinger, Brad Miller (old but has been playing well), Jordan Hill and young ish smith who I like. If they stay healthy I see them being a huge threat in the West, even if theyre a low seed in the playoffs I could see them making upsets.

Magic are starting to play well, Arenas is slowing coming along, Turkoglu has actually been doing alright, much better then the way he was playing with the Raptors and Suns and Richardson has been good too, the more they play together the better they will get I think. What you guys think? Also trade rumors that Melo might be traded to the Mavs for Dirk, highly doubtful but if that were to happen then the Nuggets would be doing extremely well imo.

And also the Spurs are still dominating and breaking records for best start to the season and whatnot, the way theyre playing I can't see any team beating them come playoff time.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Cuban will NEVER trade Dirk straight up, and definitely not for Melo. Dallas has alot of pieces they can use, but Denver is going to want Roddy to go along with the bust ups they would offer, like Caron Butler or Shawn Marion. If I were the Nugs, I'd demand Roddy with whatever ugly expirings they'd have to offer, which in all likelihood would be Caron and scrubby DeShawn Stevenson. No way Denver brings in Shawn Marion, or Jason Terry when they have a cheaper version of Terry in JR Smith who is coming off the books and Dallas isn't parting ways with Tyson Chandler. Brendon Haywood's value has dropped tremendously.

If Dallas goes with the scenario I presented they have mad cap room and a PG of the future and can send Chauncey packing this offseason as he will be a good expiring as he is still a very effective pg. If Denver loses Melo, Chauncey, K-Mart's salary comes off the book, so does JR Smith, they get something like 57 million in cap room. That is fucking ridiculous and they'll have some talent in Nene, Roddy, Lawson, which kind of clogs the PG spot, and can resign JR Smith on the cheap, and have the best shots at the other free agents that aren't Melo. And Chauncey is so valuable, they could turn him into something so great, either a group of promising prospects or even another star.

And Spurs, 26-4, greatest start after 30 games in NBA history. But best of all, the bukaked the Lakers.

 

[sharkboy 3:16]

Billups can still definitely play, since Melo's been out billups has been getting 20+ point games, was 6 from 6 from downtown the last game and has been getting alot of assists too, he could really help a team and would make for a good trade imo.

Pistons just beat the Celtics in a pretty one sided game, what the hell, they can do that but they can't beat the Bobcats?

Spurs Vs Mavs tomorrow, should be an awesome game, hopefully Dirk plays to make it even better, this will test the spurs and their league best record, I think theyll be able to get the W but if Dirks playing it wont be easy.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

That's all I need is for the Spurs to beat the Mavs. Those are the only two teams that matter to me in regards to the Spurs, but of course if they down the Mavs, ESPN will still rank the Heat above the Spurs in Hollinger's weekly rankings and it will read something like this;

1. Heat. The only team to go 10-0 on the road in a calendar month. Wow.

2. Spurs. Best record in NBA history after 30 games. Beat the Lakers and Mavs. Still questions.

Mark my words.

 

[straight_edge76]

Enzo's Spurs are much like my Falcons in the NFL, only to a lesser extent. They aren't flashy and dont blow teams out, but they do everything right. Without much fanfare or without a big marketable name (Aside from Parker/Duncan/Manu how many Spurs can the average fan name?), they are IMO the best time in the NBA and I dont think it's close. The Celtics and Mavs are good, the Heat, Magic and Lakers are also up there but I think at this point it's hard to see a team playing better than them.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

When did the Falcons win 4 titles? Boast 4 future hall of famers? Have the highest winning % of all major sports team in the past twelve years? Or have the best start in league history? And the Spurs have blown plenty of people out, the Lakers by 15 and the incredibly over rated Thunder by 19 all in one week. The Falcons have missed the playoffs more times the past ten years than the Spurs have since their inception.
































































Not rippin on the Falcons, I think they're going to take the NFC, but not even the Patriots can be compared to the Spurs. Only teams that are comparable are the Yanks. You have to go back to the days of the Russell Celtics to find such consistent excellence.

 

[NinoBrown]

Yanks are comparable to the Lakers, I'm sorry. Patriots and Spurs are pretty equal. The pieces have always been there (Brady, Belicheck, Duncan, Pop), some players have left (Bruschi, Horry) and some new players have joined (Welker, Jefferson) but both teams have always been a team to look out for when the playoffs begin.

 

[straight_edge76]

When did the Falcons win 4 titles? Boast 4 future hall of famers? Have the highest winning % of all major sports team in the past twelve years? Or have the best start in league history? And the Spurs have blown plenty of people out, the Lakers by 15 and the incredibly over rated Thunder by 19 all in one week. The Falcons have missed the playoffs more times the past ten years than the Spurs have since their inception.
































































Not rippin on the Falcons, I think they're going to take the NFC, but not even the Patriots can be compared to the Spurs. Only teams that are comparable are the Yanks. You have to go back to the days of the Russell Celtics to find such consistent excellence.

LOL maybe I should have been more specific. What I meant more was the way each the Falcons and Spurs this year have been constantly doubted/knocked for the style of play despite the success this season. Neither team is flashy or have household names all over the lineup. With the NFL it's about margin of victory more so than the NBA, and even with the NBA it seems like whenever the Spurs beat the Lakers most people were saying it was more because of the Lakers being in a slump more than the Spurs just being the better team (best in the NBA if you ask me).

The more I think about it. It's crap like this that really makes me hate ESPN more lol.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

^^^ESPN is garbage. Aside from the PTI guys and the non-ESPN affiliated columnists on Around the Horn, there aren't many, if any, ESPN analysts with an original thought or non biased towards whomever the Network is pimping. ESPN is to sports what MTV is to music and its really sad.

Yanks are comparable to the Lakers, I'm sorry. Patriots and Spurs are pretty equal. The pieces have always been there (Brady, Belicheck, Duncan, Pop), some players have left (Bruschi, Horry) and some new players have joined (Welker, Jefferson) but both teams have always been a team to look out for when the playoffs begin.

I'm talking in the Duncan era. The Spurs have never won less than 50 games, while the Lakers after Shaq but before Gasol never won more than 45 games. The thing with the Lakers is that they spend far more than any team, 30 million more after luxury tax and the Yankees have the biggest bankroll in all of sports. And A-Rod and Kobe are two of the most over rated sports figures in sports history. I can't even begin to start with how over rated Kobe and A-Rod is just another name on a long list of cheaters in a sport ravaged with cheaters.

I can see the Patriots-Spurs comparisons, but as far as consistency is concerned, basically the Spurs are in a league all of their own, they might not have been able to repeat, and if it wasn't for a bogus .4 or a last second Manu foul, things would easily be different. But alas it is not the case, but right now the Spurs have a chance to be a team for the ages and prove all the god awful naysayers wrong, as they always do. It seems every year since 2006 people have been trying to write them off because they win without the bravado and braggadocio and media hype of other teams. It's sad when ESPN slurs a team that has done nothing and been nowhere as compared to the team that has been the most successful franchise of the modern era of sports and rarely gets a byline on the damn website. Fuck ESPN and where has the "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio" respect gone to teams that have actually earned it?

 

[NinoBrown]

Finally, Melo gets traded.

New York Knicks have acquired Carmelo Anthony, league sources told ESPN The Magazine senior writer Chris Broussard on Monday night.

The swap is a three-way deal including Minnesota, a league source told Broussard.

The deal would end the season-long trade saga involving Denver's All-Star forward and send him to his desired destination. If it goes through, it puts Anthony alongside Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt -- at a heavy cost to the Knicks.

As a part of the deal, the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who would get additional picks and cash, the sources said. Along with Anthony, New York would acquire Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.

New York will send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota as part of the deal in exchange for Corey Brewer.
The Denver Post first reported the trade.

"I'm glad it's over," Nuggets coach George Karl said, according to the newspaper. "I'm glad it's an opportunity to reinvent. I think everybody handled it as classy as you could handle it. There's some sadness to it, there always will be."

Denver might not be Gallinari's final destination. League sources told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher the Nuggets are not expected to keep Gallinari once their acquisition of him is completed.

While Broussard reported that the Nets might try to acquire Gallinari after striking out on Anthony, there are several other interested teams with first-round draft picks to offer in exchange for the perimeter-shooting forward. Other potential suitors include the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors.

The need for time to move Gallinari is why Denver pulled the trigger on the Anthony deal Monday night, rather than get closer to Thursday's trade deadline to see what else develops, sources said. The Nuggets are not looking to deal Felton or Chandler, a league source said.

The Nuggets have explored an Anthony trade since he refused to sign the three-year contract extension worth nearly $65 million they offered him last summer. They appeared on the verge of sending him to the New Jersey Nets on multiple occasions, but the Knicks increased their offer enough to land Anthony, who was believed to prefer New York all along.

 

[straight_edge76]

Honestly, I'm glad this Melo bullshit is over. It was honestly a lot more annoying than the Summer of LeBron. Now let's see if Melo was really what the Knicks need to get over the hump.

 

[NinoBrown]

What the Knicks need is defense and they don't have it.

And Deron Williams gets traded to the Nets what? For Devin Harris and Derrick Favors what?

Utah won in that trade.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

The Jazz and Nuggets both won their trades. The Knicks gave up WAY too much for Melo and the Nuggets are one solid star away from being a very dangerous team and once KMart comes off the books, they have salary cap space to go and get that guy and Nene will get to move back to PF and will blossom even further. They have 8 guys on the roster that are scoring double figures this season and have so, so much depth, if they can get someone to grow a set and be their leader, they can be a dangerous first round opponent, if they go the route of letting JR Smith be the volume shooter that Melo was, well, they're fucked.

Blazers made a good move getting Wallace and if Roy can be a 15 ppg guy and not bitch about Andre Miller, they too could be a dangerous first round team.

Boston trading Perkins is stupid. The Oneals are banged up and Nenad Kristic holds up in the post as well as a cardboard match in the rain. And even if they are waiting on Troy Murphy, it's still a bad move. In all honesty, if Perk didn't go down in game 7 the Celts still hold on despite the refs bailing the Lakers out. The move doesn't really help the Thunder, sure they have a decent defensive anchor in Perkins and Nazr is a solid addition, but now they have the worst collection of scoring bigs in the L. Don't really like that move.

The Cavs lost the deal bringing in Baron Davis, he's going to mope and half ass his way to the bank while LA actually made a good trade and free up a little cap space.

LMAO of the Grizz trading Thabeet for Battier, not that it doesn't improve them immediately, but just that Thabeet was such a stunning bust, as the guy who really should have been a top five pick in DeJuan Blair, who went 40 something picks after him because he has no ACLs, has more 20-20 games than Thabeet has 20 minute games. And LMAO at the Rockets trading Brooks, definitely could have gotten better or atleast fused him into a worthwhile sign and trade, instead of getting Goran Dragic.

So basically Winners: Nuggets, Jazz, Grizz, Blazers

Time will tell: Hawks, Thunder, Kings, Hornets, Nets (depends on if Williams can be convinced to stay around to build around him)

Losers: Celtics, Rockets, Knicks (gave up too much for Melo)

 

[sharkboy 3:16]

The Knicks gave up WAY to much for melo. Felton, Gallinari, Chandler and Mozgov who was startin to play quite well all go to the Nuggets when really they should have kept Felton imo who was playing the best ball of his career and was doing wonders for Amare or they could have tried to keep Chandler or Gallinari, to good double digit scorers. Knicks also got Billups who is good but he's obviously quite old and wanted to stay in Denver so I don't know if that was a good idea or not, Felton would have been much better staying there.

The Nuggets come away looking pretty good, theyve now got Lawson and Felton at PG who I think are both pretty good and young, Aaron Afflalo and JR Smith at SG, Afflalo is having a good season and JR can have big games, Gallinari and Chandler are both solid scorers and id have them instead of melo anyday, plus Kmart, Nene and Birdman and theyre looking pretty damn good. I do agree that they need one main star or something to be a top contender but I feel the team they have now could cause a few problems.

I have no idea what the celtics were thinking, the Oneals are always injured, Erden isnt anything special and they decide to trade perkins and get Nenad in return? Seriously what the fuck? The Rockets have the more improved PG and a great scorer who hasnt been doing too well since injury and for that they trade him for Dragic? I like Dragic but trading Brooks for him is Blue. Two of the stupidest trades I could think of.

I'm suprised the Jazz let D-Will go but they get Devin Harris and Derrick Favors in return, Harris is hardly any worse then Williams I feel and Favors is a promising young rookie so Utah come out of that pretty well but now the Nets finally have the star in D-Will that they were looking for and that theyll try to build around. Interested to see how they do.

Dunno what the Grizz want with Battier but getting rid of Thabeet was smart, hes shit.

Wallace to the Blazers was good for them, if Roy comes right I can see them being a lower seed playoff team and maybe making an upset or two.

Crazy trades, some good and some awful, pissed that rip wasnt traded.

 

[Hometown Kid]

^ I think the Celtics wanted Green more than Nenad. He's no good either though. That trade was weird for Boston.

Just to talk about the Grizz some, I thought the Thabeet trade was silly, just because they gave up a first round pick for Battier. Thabeet sucks though, sucks bad. But I think they were counting on trading Mayo as well to Indiana. (Their trade with the Bulls would have been WAY better for Brewer and 3 picks) Mayo's actually played really well for the Grizzlies this year, and trying to trade him and failing was really dumb on their part. I like Shane and all, but with him and J-Will coming back, I can't imagine why they're trying to put that band back together.

I'd say watch out for them in the first round when Gay comes back if they get in. Everything's wide open in the West right now, and they've matched up well with every team in the top 5 this season except LA.

Also, LMAO at the Pistons boycotting their coach. What an organization!