Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[Maximus Meridius]

If the Heat and OKC both continue at this pace I think Durant will get it. He definitely deserves some consideration but I think some of the voters will feel like "Lebron already has 3...". I wouldn't be mad if either one of 'em got it but Lebron covers up so many weaknesses on that team. Dude is the SF, PG, PF, sometimes SG when DWade doesn't show up. He has talent around him but none of those dudes are consistent.



Im watching Royce Whites interview on Real Spots and son said if he played in the NBA right now he would be risking his life.

 

[david bowman]

Royce seems like a narcissist.

Feel terrible for others were mental disorders who will now hide their pain. He's ruining it for everybody. Hard to blame the next team for passing on someone with anxiety. You think they wanna deal with this ****?

 

[victor page]

Wait you think they wouldn't be?

I seriously would like to know how a team led by Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference....would be worst than a team led by Westbrook/Martin in the West.

 

[Bert.]

Heat without Lebron>>>>>>>>>>>>>OKC without Durant

is that even a question? srs?

 

[scotthallwithapick]

Heat without Lebron>>>>>>>>>>>>>OKC without Durant

is that even a question? srs?

iiight

 

[big j 33]

Wait you think they wouldn't be?

I seriously would like to know how a team led by Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference....would be worst than a team led by Westbrook/Martin in the West.

They have Serge Ibaka too.

And it's not about a pure talent comparison, but will Wade and Bosh be able to give the nightly effort over the course of a season? Because I'm far more confident in Westbrook's durability and youth over Wade in that regard.

 

[seymore cake]

Wait you think they wouldn't be?

I seriously would like to know how a team led by Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference....would be worst than a team led by Westbrook/Martin in the West.

Personally after watching the way leads disappear the minute he leaves the floor and the other two are left to run the show yes I do believe they would be worst...

But I'd be interested in seeing the +/- for both teams when each is in and out of the game.

 

[datznasty]

You know when KD leaves the court leads vanish too, right? Granted, he hasn't been off the court a whole lot lately, and yes he even plays point forward when he subsidizes our bummy bench unit. Wade and Bosh have each individually carried teams into the postseason and again play in the East. No way together they couldn't lead a team into postseason.

 

[foampositemd90]

You know when KD leaves the court leads vanish too, right? Granted, he hasn't been off the court a whole lot lately, and yes he even plays point forward when he subsidizes our bummy bench unit. Wade and Bosh have each individually carried teams into the postseason and again play in the East. No way together they couldn't lead a team into postseason.

I seriously would like to know how a team led by Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference....would be worst than a team led by Westbrook/Martin in the West.

Yeah exactly my point.

Y'all acting like Wade and Bosh are bums that never took their teams to the playoffs without Bron.  Kevin Martin never SNIFFED success till he came to OKC and Westbrook can't carry a team and get 8 dimes per game without Durant, especially in the West.

You're smoking crack if you Miami would flop without LeBron, but OKC would be "okay" without KD.

 

[hongcouver604]

Nothing concrete yet obviously, just some scenarios for the Houston Rockets... possibility of landing D12?

Intradaresting.

http://www.caller.com/news/2013/jan...nd-roster-rockets-mavs-o/?partner=yahoo_feeds

CORPUS CHRISTI — Having watched every game that the Los Angeles Lakers have played this season, I can tell you right now that unless the team makes a major trade involving Pau Gasol that nets them a few athletic pieces that can shoot, they will not come close to winning a title this season. The defense is horrid and the offensive continuity isn't anywhere close to where it should be halfway through the season. Injuries and a coaching change have contributed to their shortcomings, but for the most part, this is a team that just doesn't fit.

Giving up on a team that many thought would be the best squad in the Western Conference is obviously not a decision that you make overnight, but if the Lakers have not made significant progress in the playoff race by the all-star break, there's a chance that general manager Mitch Kupchak puts Dwight Howard, a player he slaved all off-season to get, on the market. Such a decision would cause riots in Lakerland, but it just may be the best thing for the future of the team.

I know, I know, he was acquired to be the future of the franchise, but that doesn't mean Howard has the same intentions. If he wants to, Howard can leave Los Angeles in dust this off-season and sign with any team with max cap space. The leverage the Lakers have is the ability to offer Howard up to $20 million more than any other team because they own his Bird Rights. That said, Howard clearly isn't loving his time in Los Angeles and his relationship with Kobe Bryant seems strained to say the least (Kobe says he texts Dwight at 3 AM with recommended reading materials), which means the Lakers may be better off trading Howard now instead of risking losing him for nothing in the off-season.

It may be a stretch, but I think there's a good chance that the Lakers reach this decision point before the trade deadline and I think that trading Howard would be a smart move if the right opportunity presented itself. Los Angeles has not gotten the Superman that led Orlando to the NBA Finals a few years ago and he isn't even the discussion for the Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time of his career. His back injury is clearly still bothering him and he is no longer in the category of a LeBron James or Kevin Durant when it comes to overall value. There's a possibility that Howard will never regain his Orlando form but Los Angeles can still get a lot of value for him by selling his struggles this season as team related.

In the event that the Lakers do start fielding offers for Howard, I think the all three Texas teams should be the first ones on the dial to Kupchak. Here's the how and the why:

Houston Rockets

You can pretty much count the Rockets in for any negotiation involving a superstar player. That is just the way Daryl Morey operates. Morey has been in the hunt for Howard before and even though he has fewer assets now than he did when he tried to pry Superman from Orlando, he still may be able to get the job done because of how poorly Howard has recovered from back surgery. The issue, as discussed in my other article about potential trade targets for the Rockets, is that the majority of their players are on tiny contracts, which means they have to be packaged in Sams' like quantities in order to match salaries with a superstar. Realistically, we aren't going to see an 8-for-1 deal, which is basically what it would take for the Rockets to get Howard without trading one of their top three players.

That leaves trading either Jeremy Lin or Omer Asik as the only viable option, whether it is in a straight up deal or a three-team trade. Even though it would make him a back-up for Nash, a deal solely with the Lakers would probably include Lin over Asik since D'Antoni and Lin are BFFs. A Rockets/Lakers trade would probably look something like this: Lin, Carlos Delfino, Patrick Patterson, Chandler Parsons and Cole Aldrich (cap filler) plus a draft pick if necessary for Dwight Howard and Darius Morris. The problem with this deal for Houston is that it leaves them thin at the forward spots. They'd probably end up with a starting lineup of Douglas, James Anderson, James Harden, Marcus Morris and Howard with Asik, Patrick Beverley, Morris, Terrence Jones, Greg Smith and Donatas Motiejunas coming off the bench. That's not great, but you've got the Harden/Howard foundation in place, which is the important part. Houston could also dip into the D-League to get someone like Chris Douglas-Roberts to help fill their forward void.

Houston can also look for a three-team deal, which may make more sense for the Lakers since they probably don't want Lin because of his contract. I brought in the Raptors and came out with this deal: Jose Calderon, Linas Kleiza, Delfino, Patterson and Parsons to the Lakers, Morris and Howard to the Rockets and Lin to the Raptors. You can supercharge this trade and throw in Gasol going to Toronto with Andrea Bargnani going to the Lakers, but that could happen without the Rockets losing or gaining any pieces.

For Houston, the tough part about trading for Howard is sacrificing intriguing prospect Chandler Parsons, who is the only current NBA player that Kobe follows on Twitter. While Delfino and Patterson are nice players, they are acceptable casualties in the battle for star power in today's NBA. And since I never thought that the Harden/Lin combo would work, unloading his salary is a plus for the Rockets from my perspective. Some may say that this deal wouldn't intrigue the Lakers because they aren't getting a star back, but that is exactly the kind of mentality that has them in the position they are in. Los Angeles needs to start building an actual team with depth and role players and I think the deal mentioned above would give them adequate depth with players that actually fit with D'Antoni's style. A team like the Sacramento Kings/Seattle Supersonics could woo the Lakers with an offer involving DeMarcus Cousins, but if the star offers don't come, these are the kind of deals the Lakers will be looking at.

 

[memo]

 again play in the East.

who in the east are they beating without Lebron? they barely have a better record than the Knicks and Nets, and they are tied with the Pacers. the bulls are only 2 games behinde them and that's without Derrick Rose.  there's a reason he has to play 40 mins a game, plus Wade gets hurt to much. 

 

[datznasty]

 again play in the East.

who in the east are they beating without Lebron? they barely have a better record than the Knicks and Nets, and they are tied with the Pacers. the bulls are only 2 games behinde them and that's without Derrick Rose.  there's a reason he has to play 40 mins a game, plus Wade gets hurt to much. 

They would have a greater sense of urgency and wouldn't be coasting through the season so I could see them beating every team in the EC except the NY ones and Chicago since Wade always sucks in those games. They're just 2 and a half seasons removed from being franchise players who carried teams by themselves to postseason play

 

[mjd77]

I see New Orleans is making "Pelicans" official tomorrow with a press conference and logo unveil. Changing from the current unique color scheme to garbage as well.

 

[mjgreatxii]

Nothing concrete yet obviously, just some scenarios for the Houston Rockets... possibility of landing D12?

Intradaresting.

http://www.caller.com/news/2013/jan...nd-roster-rockets-mavs-o/?partner=yahoo_feeds

Thats a pile of garbage

Rather dwight walk

 

[JD617]

 again play in the East.

who in the east are they beating without Lebron? they barely have a better record than the Knicks and Nets, and they are tied with the Pacers. the bulls are only 2 games behinde them and that's without Derrick Rose.  there's a reason he has to play 40 mins a game, plus Wade gets hurt to much. 

You realize there's a win column AND a loss column, right? They're not tied with the Pacers.

 

[datznasty]

Delonte West filed paperwork to join the D League. If nobody claims him in the NBA by Friday, he'll go to the lowest waiver wire team in the NBADL

 

[mertonhanks]

^ They wouldnt coast through the East without Bron. As Great as Lebron is, what people dont realize is he makes up for so many of his teams deficiencies. They have no true PG, no C, cant rebound, etc... They wouldnt be able to run the same style of offense either without James.

 

[memo]

You realize there's a win column AND a loss column, right? They're not tied with the Pacers.

yes, I was talking about being tied for wins, which is still not that great seeing as OKC is 33-9. if the heat were so great they should have a comparable win to loss record with OKC.  

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

I always love the argument "take player x off that team and they're lotto bound". Ok yea take him off and replace him with who? Joe Tiddylicker? Or just ride out with an empty roster spot?

What about put Kd in mia and Lbj in okc....that would be interesting

 

[antidope]

Wait you think they wouldn't be?

I seriously would like to know how a team led by Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference....would be worst than a team led by Westbrook/Martin in the West.

They have Serge Ibaka too.

And it's not about a pure talent comparison, but will Wade and Bosh be able to give the nightly effort over the course of a season? Because I'm far more confident in Westbrook's durability and youth over Wade in that regard.

Statistics aside, y'all seriously think a Miami team with no LeBron is worse off than OKC without Durant?

This can't be real life.  

Wait you think they wouldn't be?

Heat without Lebron>>>>>>>>>>>>>OKC without Durant

is that even a question? srs?

iiight

 These 3 guys. They know things. I shouldnt have to post it again but

Theres one man running an entire team.... He leaves, it all falls apart.

 

[mmg]

Damn I had no idea the T-Wolves were this thin :x

 

[HIM]

Can't wait for drummond to get out of the hell-hole in Detroit. Would be a shame to see him rot there.

 

[100027]

OKC would be significantly worse, obviously, but they have role players and strong defenders.  Miami's built completely around Lebron from offense, defense, hell he's probably the best rebounder on the team.  

Then again, from an offensive perspective Bosh is obviously a better option than anything OKC's got-- they'd have a hard time scoring points without Durant.

 

[jordan23dotcom]

 These 3 guys. They know things. I shouldnt have to post it again but


Theres one man running an entire team.... He leaves, it all falls apart.

Those numbers are great, but whats important are the numbers right under them. Not saying you're wrong btw. What are the runner up stats to those?

 

[mmg]

Joe Johnson picking on this small wolves backcourt