Official NBA thread

[Jasonbay44]

Joe Johnson is really overrated. I mean Brooklyn has a good roster, but they aren't better than Miami and I'm not even sure they're better than a healthy Chicago team.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

That's gonna be one expensive 46 win team in Brooklyn.

[Jasonbay44]

Warriors signed Andre Igoudala and were also able to get rid of two huge contracts in Jefferson/Biedrins in a salary dump with Utah. Warriors are reportedly trying to also work out a sign and trade with Lakers for Dwight Howard involving Bogut/Barnes.

 

With or without Dwight, the Warriors have a very solid team now. Love the Iggy signing.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Story broke that Dwight chose the Rockets, but it was shot down by Dwight's agent and some other reporters. But apparently the Lakers, Warriors, and Mavs are all out of the picture so I don't know where that would leave him aside from Houston.

[Jasonbay44]

Latest I've heard is he's likely going to Houston, although its not official yet... Also heard Houston is very close to acquiring Josh Smith in a sign and trade involving Asik.

[Flynnatic10]

Man it will feel different to see Pierce in a different uniform. Though good things have to come to an end at some point.

 

Brad Stevens shall be a good coach for the Celtics JMO. Rondo shall be traded at some point for more picks and Celtics go tank for Wiggins.

 

Dwight Howard needs to make up his fcking mind already. Sick of his junk IJS.

[Jasonbay44]

Now Dwight is 50/50 between Houston/Lakers. This dude really cannot make up his mind, holy s***.

[Flynnatic10]

Dwight's offically chosen Houston. The meeting in LA was to tell Mitch about his decision. Edited July 6, 2013 by Flynnatic10

[Palodios]

With all the big players trying to form power teams... Dwight chooses a team of nobodies. Interesting. Did he mention what his favorite kind of cupcake was?

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Harden's a top SG in the league. He put some big numbers last season at reasonable efficiency in his first season as the man, with only Parsons to take pressure off, even though the entire league knew of his talent, so he wasn't sneaking up on anybody. Depending on how things shake out with Wade's aging and Kobe's injury/aging, Harden could well be the best shooting guard in the NBA come April. Harden and Howard is a worthy tandem, on par with McGrady and Yao. Parsons is a worthy third wheel. With the roster filled out, that's a top 4 team in the west, for sure.

 

Houston's achilles heel last season was their defense. Dwight by himself helps a lot to address that, seeing as he's one of the better defensive anchors to ever play in the league. If the Rockets add Josh Smith via S&T, which they certainly have the means to do and has been rumored for a while (for Asik), you can add another elite level frontcourt defender to that mix. Now you're a championship contender. If that goes down, I have them coming out of the west next year.

 

Daryl Morey already deserves next year's executive of the year award. The Rockets appeared rudderless and mediocre ever since Yao went down in the 09 playoffs. Last fall they turn it around by capitalizing on OKC's impending cap hell and stealing Harden, now they pull Dwight and they have assets left over to maybe add one more guy they need.

 

The issue now is whether Dwight will grow up and stop disrupting everything. You'd think he will, since he chose his destiny here and free agency is no longer looming, but after the way he's handled himself over the past year and a half, who knows. His personality is disturbingly similar to Manny's.

[Flynnatic10]

I don't think Dwight will be back to his Orlando days and it shall bite Houston in the butt. Historically speaking, center with a serious injury don't come back to their form, as stated by this part of an article

 

Reality No. 5: The odds are extremely favorable that Dwight will keep declining

 

In just two seasons, Dwight's per-game averages dropped from 22.9 points and 14.1 rebounds (2011) to 17.1 and 12.4 (2013), and his PER free-fell from 26.1 (2011) to 19.2 (2013). I looked up the year-by-year PER of every memorable "big" from Kareem on to see if any of them suffered a 25 percent PER drop-off within a two-year span during the first 12 years of their career.

 

Our results: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (not even close), Shaquille O'Neal (no), David Robinson (yes), Hakeem Olajuwon (no), Tim Duncan (no), Moses Malone (close in Year 10, but no), Kevin Garnett (no), Yao Ming (no), Artis Gilmore (no), Patrick Ewing (no), Bob Lanier (no), Kevin McHale (no), Alonzo Mourning (yes), Chris Webber (yes), Jermaine O'Neal (yes), Charles Barkley (no) and Karl Malone (no).

 

So only four of those 18 guys suffered a comparable drop-off, all because of injuries: Robinson (back), Webber (knee), Mourning (kidney) and Jermaine O'Neal (everything).7None of them ever regained their kick-ass form — Robinson came the closest, making two more All-Star teams before his body finally broke down (although his days as a 26-12 guy were long gone). Are you willing to wager $118 million that Dwight Howard will become the first marquee big guy in four-plus decades to buck that 25 Percent Drop-off trend? History says Old Dwight is never coming back.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9308573/searching-dwight-howard

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

I guess someone forgot to tell Bill Simmons that a) Howard was injured last year, but it wasn't a major injury comparable to the 'yes' guys on that list, and PER is a strictly offensive statistic (although I think rebounding has some influence), and Howard has never been particularly great from a strictly offensive standpoint. Compared to many other guys on that list, Howard's post game leaves a lot to be desired. His impact has always revolved around his ability as a defensive anchor and rebounder.

 

Orlando Dwight was Dwight at his best physically. Just like Cleveland LeBron was LeBron at his best physically. Has LeBron's game declined since then? No it has not.

[mvp 78]

PER uses steals, blocks and defensive rebounds. It's not strictly offensive.

[rjortiz]

Smith to the Pistons.

[Jasonbay44]

Smith to the Pistons.

Weird signing for both sides. You'd think after years of playing on an average team Smith would look to go to a contender.. and you'd also think Pistons would be content with Drummond/Monroe down low.. as Smith is a terrible shooter for a SF and its not like signing Smith guarantees Pistons make playoffs, even if they do, they'd get murdered. It would make much more sense for Detroit to just play their young guys and maybe even tank for a shot at Wiggins.. But whatever, its Detroit, the same team that gave Charlie V and Ben Gordon huge contracts a few years ago.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Smith cares about money at this point, can't say I blame him for taking it. Bad signing for Detroit though, unless Monroe is on the trading block. Even then though Detroit doesn't have many offensive options on that team, so there's nobody to stop Smith from running wild and firing up the hasty 19 footers he's become notorious for the past couple seasons. They'll probably make the playoffs this season thanks to tankapalooza, but after that they're looking like a perennial 38 win team unless Drummond turns into a star center.

 

As for PER, okay, but still a lot more to defense than steals and blocks.

[Jasonbay44]

Smith cares about money at this point, can't say I blame him for taking it. Bad signing for Detroit though, unless Monroe is on the trading block. Even then though Detroit doesn't have many offensive options on that team, so there's nobody to stop Smith from running wild and firing up the hasty 19 footers he's become notorious for the past couple seasons. They'll probably make the playoffs this season thanks to tankapalooza, but after that they're looking like a perennial 38 win team unless Drummond turns into a star center.

 

As for PER, okay, but still a lot more to defense than steals and blocks.

This.

 

According to PER Tony Allen is one of worst SG's in league, ranked behind guys like Mike Miller, Marshon Brooks, Nick Young, Jordan Crawford and etc. I'm pretty sure almost any team in the league would take Allen on their team, he is a great defender, and isn't that bad offensively.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Metta World Peace amnestied by the Lakers and picked up by the Knicks.

 

Melo, Amare, Bargnani, and now MWP in the same frontcourt is a recipe for disaster. Knicks finally looked like they were on track for some success, now with their leadership gone and the malcontents they're bringing in they could be headed for another 2006 style implosion. Okay probably not that bad, but still.

[User Name]

MWP will be on his best behavior the first season, just like he was with the Lakers, when his faux pas count was rather insignificant, even by Laker standards.

[Jasonbay44]

Did anyone see Baron Davis claim he was abducted by aliens a few days ago? lol

[redsoxrules]

Interesting.

The NBA is changing the finals format from 2-3-2 to 2-2-1-1-1

Edited September 30, 2013 by redsoxrules

[Northern Star]

Interesting.

The NBA is changing the finals format from 2-3-2 to 2-2-1-1-1

 

Which makes sense if you are serious about the higher seed having an actual advantage (before, the lower seed gets 3 of the first 5).

[Jasonbay44]

So, the NBA season starts back up tonight. Heat/Bulls should be a good game. Derrick Rose is finally making his return

 

Wizards squad looks pretty nice this year, this could be year they make playoffs for first time in a while.

[Thunder]

Damn Heat going on a 15-6 run to end the 1st with the lead.

[Jasonbay44]

Damn Heat going on a 15-6 run to end the 1st with the lead.

 

That's what the Heat do, there is a reason they are best team in NBA and have won back to back titles.

[Northern Star]

Knicks owner "expects a title" this year. Don't wait up.

[Thunder]

Even as an OKC fan, it's weird and just feels wrong to see Pierce and KG playing for someone besides the Celtics.

[Jasonbay44]

Maybe it was just one game, but KG and Pierce looks like complete garbage tonight. They both look extremely old and were absolutely abused defensively. Nene made KG his bitch.

 

Nice to see Wiz win 2 in a row after 3 losses to start the year. Nene finally being healthy and getting on the court has been huge. Him and Gortat have played well together thus far and Wall/Beal have been great together. I can't wait to see what Wiz will look like when Otto Porter finally gets on court.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Jasonbay44

[Jasonbay44]

Derrick Rose left the game with what appears to be a serious knee injury... Early reports are he has a torn right ACL. If this is true, this is horrible, Rose cannot catch a break.

[Bellhorn04]

It's only early, but the Atlantic Division looks like it might be a contender for the worst division in pro sports history. It's not too often that a 6-10 record will get you first place in a 5-team division.