Official NBA thread

[msubulldogs21]

Didn't he put up 40 in a summer league game a week or so ago?

 

Yes he did. It was actually his debut.

[YanksHater213]

40 in the summer league is like scoring 100 in y-ball...

 

greene is raw as f***... he's got the skills to be a very good swing

 

but he won't get there

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Celtics open up the preseason tomorrow night in Amherst... any hardcore Celtics fans here? Besides myself?

[YanksHater213]

HUGE celts fan

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

HUGE celts fan

Thank you I was getting worried.

 

 

 

Honestly, I'm more of a Celtics guy than a Sox guy. Even with the new age of success, Sox are offseason filler (damn good offseason filler, but filler nonetheless).

 

 

 

I actually watched some Celtics preseason games in favor of the 2004 Sox postseason, so there you go.

[YanksHater213]

I used to be a bigger Sox fan than a Celts fan, but things change I guess...

[schillingouttheks]

I used to be a bigger Sox fan than a Celts fan' date=' but things change I guess...[/quote']

 

My God you're probably the biggest Celtics fan I know. You're f***ing insane.

 

That said, I love the Celtics as well.

[YanksHater213]

preseason opener tonight at 7 vs the 76ers @ umass

[See Red]

Iverson to the Pistons. Billups to the Nuggets.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3679931

[TheKilo]

WOW

[YanksHater213]

I hate this deal for this year if I'm the Pistons.

 

Billups is a matchup nightmare for most of the East's best teams PGs (Rondo, Williams, Nelson, etc. with the exception of Andre Miller). Losing McDyess AND Samb shoots down any big man depth they had. They're going to have to deal with putting even more added pressure on Johnson, who is nowhere near ready at this point.

 

Iverson will give some scoring and excitement, but I don't think it makes them as much better as some people are making it out to be.

[TheKilo]

I agree, YH213, and the only other positive I see out of this for the Piston's is that AI has an expiring contract...this could benefit them in the very near future.

 

IMO they were the 3rd of 4th best team in the East, best case scenario anyways.

[See Red]

Great trade for the future for the Pistons. I didn't see them winning the East this year anyway. Either Stuckey or Hamilton will go to the bench.

 

Great trade for the Nuggets, as well. No more Anthony Carter starting at PG, JR Smith can start now.

[Cocos Disciples]

Wow. Cool.

[See Red]

And by the way, McDyess isn't going to be a Nugget. He was only thrown in to make the deal work. He'll either negotiate a buyout and go back to the Pistons or retire, I think.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Pistons -- awful deal, but one less team for the Celtics to worry about come spring.

 

 

Nuggets -- revive their playoff hopes

[See Red]

Pistons -- awful deal, but one less team for the Celtics to worry about come spring.

 

 

Nuggets -- revive their playoff hopes

 

Awful deal for the present, maybe. But it sets the Pistons up awful nicely when 'Sheed and AI come off of the books.

 

I think it's a good deal for the Pistons, a great, great deal for the Nuggets. Opens the floor up for 'Melo, who'll get the ball quicker in possessions. My one prediction has been proven correct... I said in the Predictions thread that my only prediction is that AI doesn't finish the year in Denver. Go me!

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Awful deal for the present, maybe. But it sets the Pistons up awful nicely when 'Sheed and AI come off of the books.

 

I think it's a good deal for the Pistons, a great, great deal for the Nuggets. Opens the floor up for 'Melo, who'll get the ball quicker in possessions. My one prediction has been proven correct... I said in the Predictions thread that my only prediction is that AI doesn't finish the year in Denver. Go me!

Yeah the Pistons have cap space for the 09 offseason... but what for?? Next summer's FA class is headlined by Andre Miller, Mike Bibby, Hedo Turkoglu, and an old Steve Nash/Jason Kidd. No all-star players for a team that's going to need them to stay afloat, unless Carlos Boozer or Kobe Bryant opt out of their contracts, which you can't bank on.

 

 

If they made this trade with 2010 in mind, that's also foolish. The big guys on the market who are still relatively young are LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Josh Howard (option), Michael Redd (option), and Amare Stoudemire (option). Three of those seven have player options that they're likely to exercise, and for the remainders the Pistons will have to bid against big city teams like the Bulls, Nets, Knicks, and Heat, as well as playoff teams that will be desperately looking for that big piece to push them over the top. I favor the field as opposed to the Pistons.

 

 

The Pistons are in a ditch now. The best they can do now is flip Iverson's contract somewhere else for a good draft pick and rebuild that way.

[YanksHater213]

I think Howard and Redd will forego their options, first and foremost.

 

I think Bosh and Wade will re-up themselves as well, and I could see Johnson being dealt to a contender if Atlanta flops.

 

And I wouldn't say their in a ditch.

 

It's a win/win situation. I don't think they were winning with their previous roster, and they obviously needed to shake something up. If Iverson works out, terrific. If he doesn't they just don't bring him back. It's not really too difficult of a concept. The more I think about this, the more I like it for the Pistons.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

I think Howard and Redd will forego their options, first and foremost.

 

I think Bosh and Wade will re-up themselves as well, and I could see Johnson being dealt to a contender if Atlanta flops.

 

And I wouldn't say their in a ditch.

 

It's a win/win situation. I don't think they were winning with their previous roster, and they obviously needed to shake something up. If Iverson works out, terrific. If he doesn't they just don't bring him back. It's not really too difficult of a concept. The more I think about this, the more I like it for the Pistons.

 

They're basically wrapping up their team's fortunes in free agents-to-be. The Pistons can't bank on signing one of Wade, Bosh, or LeBron (the only three franchise cornerstones out there), regardless of how much cap room they have. They have to convince those guys to forego signing with a big market team like the Bulls, Nets, or Knicks, on top of leaving their original teams.

 

What likely happens is, the Pistons end up with Josh Howard or someone of his caliber, and become just good enough to be respectable, but not good enough to be where they were for the better part of this decade, making constant appearances in (at least) the conference finals.

[See Red]

If they didn't have Rodney Stuckey I might agree, but he's going to be a very good PG for them.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Stuckey's got potential, but can he be the man for that franchise? Remains to be seen, in my book.

[YanksHater213]

You obviously didn't watch the playoffs last year. He was great vs. the Celtics AND Orlando. He may not be a solid 1, but he's a great combo guard who can take the ball up if you need him to. The kid has an insane motor, and it doesn't stop. Add in his size, which is good for a combo-guard, and his defensive talents, and he's going to be a hell of a player for Detroit in the future.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

You obviously didn't watch the playoffs last year. He was great vs. the Celtics AND Orlando. He may not be a solid 1' date=' but he's a great combo guard who can take the ball up if you need him to. The kid has an insane motor, and it doesn't stop. Add in his size, which is good for a combo-guard, and his defensive talents, and he's going to be a hell of a player for Detroit in the future.[/quote']

 

Hell of a player yes, main man for the franchise? Is this guy Allen Iverson all over again? I'm not sure.

 

 

Yes he tore up the Celtics and Magic last spring, but (as much of a cop out as this probably seems), now teams are gameplanning for him. Teams will be much more focused on stopping Rodney Stuckey.

[TheKilo]

It'll be interesting to see the adjustments Stuckey makes logging more minutes than he ever has before though.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

It'll be interesting to see the adjustments Stuckey makes logging more minutes than he ever has before though.

On top of playing with a guy who will command the ball a lot more than Chauncey did.

[msubulldogs21]

In other news, the Sacramento Kings absolutely suck. I figured we'd be bad this year, but our defense has been even worse than I expected - it's probably the worst in the NBA. We also just went 0-4 on our East coast road trip. Freakin awesome. The young guys like Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes have looked pretty good so far so at least that's encouraging. Fortunately we oughta have a lot of cap space in the next couple off-seasons, so bringing in a big time FA could be a possibility.

[YanksHater213]

The Spurs look HORRENDOUS as well. They need Ginobili back in a terrible way. Even then, I'm not sure how well they can do with him in there, that's how truly bad they've looked.

[See Red]

Hell of a player yes, main man for the franchise? Is this guy Allen Iverson all over again? I'm not sure.

 

 

Yes he tore up the Celtics and Magic last spring, but (as much of a cop out as this probably seems), now teams are gameplanning for him. Teams will be much more focused on stopping Rodney Stuckey.

 

Yes, because on a team with AI, Rip hamilton, and Sheed (hell, and Tayshaun), they're going to be focused on Rodney Stuckey.

[msubulldogs21]

The Spurs look HORRENDOUS as well. They need Ginobili back in a terrible way. Even then' date=' I'm not sure how well they can do with him in there, that's how truly bad they've looked.[/quote']

 

The Spurs are just old. Take away Duncan/Parker (and Ginobili when healthy) and have a look at the rest of their roster. It's not pretty.