NBA Thread

Originally posted by lineears LOL Donald Sterling, is he the GM who missed on Lebron and melo? I read that the GM before that also missed out on VC, garnett, pierce and etc. That franchise is a fail. They need fking better scouts lol.

Sterling is the owner.  The GM was Elgin Baylor, who is currently suing the owner. As far as I know, they have not replaced him with anyone else, though I admit I don't pay attention to the Clippers much.  My guess is Dunleavy is making the call on the draft choice.

The Clippers fail at all facets of basketball, whether it be draft picks, free agents, coaching.  doesn't really matter.  There is no saving that franchise unless its sold.  At one point a couple years ago, other NBA owners were suing Sterling because he was bringing the value of the league down.

Heard some interesting stuff just now.  Houston talking about a T-Mac, Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry swap with the Suns for Amare and Barbosa.

A new nickname for Shaq, "Cleveland Steamer"

Tmac is "slowly passing his prime"?  Where have you been?  Tmac passed his prime at ludicrous speed a couple years ago.  He is nothing more than an aging role player with a ton of skills right now.  That guy is 29 going on 50.  He has problems with curvature of his spine, it causes his body to be unbalanced.  Years of playing ball has wreaked havoc on it.  He simply can't sustain the athleticism he once had, no matter what he does.  Same thing is going to happen to Greg Oden, one of his legs is an inch shorter than the other.  That doesn't affect you in the beginning, but after years of running around, it causes huge problems.

It would kinda make sense for the suns though if they are just after cap space.  Think about it, with T-mac's contracts coming off the book next year, as well as everyone they just picked up from cleveland, they would drop somewhere around 40 million from the cap in 2010 when LeBron, Wade and Bosh are all free agents. 

Houston would get rid of a guy who isn't helping them much anyway.  Artest has taken over the 3 spot anyway.  Yao seems like he is basically past the McGrady combo taking them anywhere and seems like he wants to win. 

The only problem I see is that Yao needs to quit the Chinese team, and I dont know if his country will let him.  He basically has played basketball for six or seven years straight with no break, thats why he has so many stress fractures.  A body that big just can't take the abuse. 

If LeBron wins this year, it will be interesting to see how much of the "can't win without Shaq" theories surface.

Lakers just sold the 29th pick to the Knicks for 3 million

Brandon Jennings has declined his invitation to sit in the green room at the draft.  Possible clue that he is going to fall quite a bit ala Qyntel Woods, Rashard Lewis etc. 

Iverson didn't fit it in Detroit because their offense is more like the Princeton offense.  They have no super athletic scorers other than Stuckey, so they make do with ball movement and cutting.  Nothing wrong with that, just Iverson is more of a get up and down kinda guy.

I have no idea who pays him, though I agree that he will probably just get the 5.5 million exception from someone.  He has also said he may retire.  The guy took care of himself financially, so he doesn't need the money.

Rasheed Wallace is still out there, but that statement he made about not playing for less than 8 million was crazy. 

There is always trade speculation every year.  The only difference now is the economy and some teams are actually making moves purely for financial reasons.  The Hornets and Bobcats are both really broke right now in particular.  Many other teams are feeling the pressue.  This gives the teams with money a chance to strip off guys in deals that normally wouldn't happen. 

Big reason why Portland's GM is on the phone so much, Paul Allen gave him the green light to spend whatever it takes. 

Portland will only be a free agent player this year really.  Next year they have to sign Aldridge and Roy to extensions.  They know it, thats why they are trying to get something done this summer.  We will be over the cap for a while with those guys on the team.  Not to mention Oden three years from now if he stays even remotely healthy. 

Real GM is reporting that the Rockets are now talking to Golden State about a Tmac deal. 

Rockets forward Carl Landry has an opt out clause next year and might be pressuring the Rockets for a contract now or he will use it supposedly.

Thats the rumor anyway, might explain why they are suddenly looking to dump him.  That deal with the Suns would make them a strong contender though. 

Hopefully the Mavs dont choke this year, their supposed to get a sick new up comer

Local Portland media is spreading a Blazers/Suns trade right now.  No names, just saying there is something big about to go down. 

I don't know if I believe it.  They have been saying we wanted Nash, but we don't have the parts to make it work, then they said we wanted Amare, which is just plain stupid as he won't take a back seat to Roy.

I love the NBA because of all the big trades that happen.

Nets/Magic talking about a Rafar Alston/Vince Carter swap with some filler included.  Being reported by ESPN as almost done. 

Holy crap, the magic would be viscous  with Carter there!

VC in Orlando would be pretty sick.

That would not shock me at all to be honest.  Even Yao has been making side comments that he would rather not play this summer.

Good thing he loves his family, or that dude would have defected by now.  He pays half his NBA salary to the Chinese government. 

Oh wait, just read on Yao's contract that it was not the Chinese government, some advisor basically tried to take it all, but it was later caught.  

greg oden was such a bust...i mean i dont blame the blazers because we were in need but still ughhh...same thing happend years back with jordan

yeah this class does suck.  i think they should take evans and convert him to point guard.

Looks like the VC trade is official now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4287197

The New Jersey Nets have traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee.

I can.

Grant Hill basically got five years off.  So even though he is old, he doesn't have much mileage on him.  Once they figured out the problem and got hm strong again.  It doesn't surprise me at all that he can keep going.  He is about the same size he has always been, and doesn't appear to be in bad shape at all.

In a way, I kinda want Portland to try and sign him for some verteran leadership and to be the secondary ball handler that we need so we can run a big guard offense.

My goodness....

I like Harden to OKC.  Rubio dropping.  I wonder if the Kings are going to follow the plan and take him, or find a way to shtook it up?

Timberwolves now the dumbest team in the draft.  They pick two little point guards in a row?

I think they dealt Rubio and it just hasn't been announced yet. 

Warriors apparently want to piss off every player on their roster as much as possible.  First tell Crawford to opt out because you hate him, next fine, suspend and upset Ellis.  Then draft his replacement after you specifically told him you weren't going to just to piss off the Knicks. 

The more I think about it, the more I think Rubio was dealt.  The wolves kept the pick they wanted at 6 because you can pay him less.  They were heavily active on the phones today supposedly and there was all kind of talk that they were trying to move something big, then it all stopped suddenly. 

I thought Jennings was going to drop into the high teens. 

Yeah, Golden State is not a happy place right now.

Kinda surprised that hansbrough went that early.  But he will be a decent NBA player.