Jeremy Lamb is going to be back next year. With a season of strength training, he's going to be a lethal player for Big East opponents. Walker's gone, but they retain most of their core, and should be a very good team in 2012.
Best part of the championship was that obvious shove on Jeremy Lamb leading to a Butler two point basket, and a very loud expletive being caught on CBS.
If you look at Pedro's adjusted ERA, he has six seasons that place in the top 20. All during that span that Divinity states Johnson was better. Randy Johnson has zero.
I think they can afford to take a gamble when it comes to someone like Hernandez. He's only 24, and will anchor the rotation for the next half decade. The Red Sox also have four or five 1st round picks, which they can use to restock the farm system, and with the money they have, they could easily sign some top international FA's.
They have been playing very well of late. I like the five of Wall, Young, Crawford, Blatche, and McGee, although I see Young as more of a sixth man. With the two picks in the first round, and one being a lottery pick, I could see the Wizards threatening for an 8th seed next year.
I don't see how you can blame Love, because the Timberwolves are a horrible basketball team. If you look at PER ratings Love is ranked higher than Carmello Anthony, plus Anthony has never been ranked in the top 10 in his career.
His numbers are virtually identical to Russell Westbrook, yet there is no discussion about him being the MVP. Rose also loses value, because he is a poor defender. Despite this, the Bulls still have one of the top defenses in the NBA. Even without Rose on the floor the Bulls manage to outscore their opponents by 4.9 every 100 possessions.
(http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/4755/a-closer-look-at-lebron-vs-d-rose-mvp-debate)
Dwight Howard and Lebron James both add value, because of their defensive abilities. I think that should put them over Rose, but I still think Rose will win, because the Bulls are unexpectedly in first place.