2006/07 NBA Thread

[OGpistolpete]

I agree, the Pistons lethargic attitude is really hurting them right now. It seems to me that they had every opportunity to win yesterdays game, but squandered it on missing jump shots and bonehead turnovers. The Pistons can be a really fucking frustrating team to watch, especially when you know what they can be capable of.

And make no mistake, the Cavs deserved to win. Lebron is great, plain and simple. The guy is a superstar, and impresses me not only with his scoring, but his high numbers in rebounding and assists. I think once Cleveland adds a real piece to that puzzle they have, they will be riding high for years. Still, I don't think this year is the year for them, but I believe it'll be soon. I was also impressed with Daniel Gibson, he looks like he has a bright future in the league.

[Green Demon]

Getting Garnett to Cleveland would be virturally impossible. We have a bunch of bad contracts that dont expire for another couple years and trading what else we would have left if Minn would even take it would pretty much gut this team and since we are in the ECF I wouldnt want to do that, I do understand that changes need to be made. They need a playmaking PG a la Andre Miller or Jason Kidd, who can let Lebron move off the ball and get easier baskets. Gibson IMO would be a better SG that could also handle the ball sometimes but be the shooter that he is that gets the kick outs when lebron drives to the basket.

[Trey]

I know it's very unlikely that the teams would trade between themselves, but I think Chris Duhon would be a good fit for Cleveland. He's a very solid defender and a good passer, a nice point guard. Gibson has potential and he's in-house, and Steve Blayke could also be pursued.

[VerbalPuke]

I know that it's not relevant anymore, but imagine if Michael Redd had signed with Cleveland when he was a free agent. I think that they'd be ready to contend with Redd and Lebron, but that also assumes no Hughes, Marshall, or Jones. I think Redd alone would have been better for Cleveland than those three combined. Of course, this situation never came to fruition and is a moot point due to Redd's loyalty to Milwaukee. Still, I shudder to think of the damage that Lebron and Redd could have done together.

[Green Demon]

And believe me we think about that in Cleveland as well, Redd/Lebron would be one of the top scoring duo's in the league and if Lebron did decide to pass at the end of the games nobody would be complaining if it was going to Micheal Redd. Along with that the way that Marshall and Hughes arent really showing the are worthy of thier contracts and D. Jones sits on the bench and is just the team jester so not having those guys wouldnt be a huge deal altough I have liked Hughes's D espesially this series.

Obviously I am happy with this team now because they are in the ECF and have a nice future with Lebron around. The key for this team will be in 2 years when it is the year before Lebron's possible last season(has a player's option for another season) the only players that are signed for sure are Lebron and a couple other guys and the big bad contracts such as D Jones, Marshall, and Eric Snow all come off the books and we should have a lot of wiggle room to hopefully go out and get a high quality player to go along with Lebron.

[Mofoticon]

hughes is out for game 4, and possibly the rest of the postseason due to that foot injury he suffered game 3...and honestly, I say thats a good thing. He hurts the team much more than he helps

[OGpistolpete]

hughes is out for game 4, and possibly the rest of the postseason due to that foot injury he suffered game 3...and honestly, I say thats a good thing. He hurts the team much more than he helps

[Green Demon]

Yeah I agree, Larry Hughes recently has been somewhat of a liability on the offensive end but I got to give him credit cause he is one of the reasons that the Pistons guards arent playing as good as they usually do. I think we should be able to do fine with out Larry for maybe a game or two but I hope he isnt out for that long.

[Mofoticon]

Hughes is shooting like 32% right now on offense...he has been absolutely horrible since coming over from Washington 2 years ago. He is also very overrated as a defender, he is above average but not a lockdown defender like he was built up to be. We didn't pay this guy 60 mil to be a defender, either.

[livid]

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's playing the point for them when he's a natural 2 guard. Before he moved there he was relatively effective. Now, he may be having a bad series but to say it's a bad thing when the second best scorer on the team goes down? Yeah, that's not even a plausible opinion, it's just ignorant to say that. Would it have helped the Mavs if they lost Dirk in the Golden State series? No, but he sucked ass. Just because someone's doing bad doesn't mean that losing them is a good thing.

And guess what? He's going to play tonight and that's a good thing. It proves a couple of things: he's tough and he's committed to the team, because a tear of the plantar fascia is a big deal.

[OGpistolpete]

Gibson is playing great. Hopefully he can stay in longer that they thought.

[Mofoticon]

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's playing the point for them when he's a natural 2 guard. Before he moved there he was relatively effective. Now, he may be having a bad series but to say it's a bad thing when the second best scorer on the team goes down? Yeah, that's not even a plausible opinion, it's just ignorant to say that. Would it have helped the Mavs if they lost Dirk in the Golden State series? No, but he sucked ass. Just because someone's doing bad doesn't mean that losing them is a good thing.

And guess what? He's going to play tonight and that's a good thing. It proves a couple of things: he's tough and he's committed to the team, because a tear of the plantar fascia is a big deal.

[OGpistolpete]

Wooo! 2-2 series is tied. All thanks to LeBron, Gooden, and Boobie!

[Mofoticon]

The Cavs have been the best team in the series throughout 4 games, and easily could have swept the Pistons...this is far different from last year, when Detroit was clearly the better team. Just gotta hope we take game 5 now.

[Green Demon]

Yeah the key is defiantly the next game if some how Cleveland can pull out the victory in Detorit I have a feeling that Cleveland will play alot harder then last year to try and get into the finals. Gibson was defiantly a bright spot tonight and I believe that he is a player that will countiue to excel in the future.

[VerbalPuke]

It seems the Pistons can't get any sort of consistency out of their starting five. It seems that when one or two play well, the other two or three play like shit. It's eerily reminiscent of last years conference finals with the Pistons lacking consistency, and not getting any production out of the C spot. I'm not totally surprised since Webber's track record in the playoffs is checkered at best.

I still think the Pistons can take the series, but I'm not going to be surprised if the Cavs are the catalyst to Detroit's next rebuilding period.

Edited May 30, 2007 by VerbalPuke

[Trey]

I liked Gibson when he was playing at Texas, so it's good to see him doing well in the playoffs. This series seems to be a lot better, probably because the Cavs match up with the Pistons much better then almost any team in the East, at least in my opinion. I'll be rooting for whoever comes out of the East as a team just because of conference loyalty, but right now I'm rooting for the Cavs because I think they want it more.

[Trey]

Kobe wants traded, and with a no-trade clause, he can pick and choose. The rumors are he's told the Lakers he only wants to go to the Bulls, but even if that isn't true, the Bulls have to be a front-runner. This is huge news.

[Maxx]

Shall we start the rampant speculation?

Keep in mind Kobe can veto the trade, so that'll help us rule out quite a few teams

Bobcats, Hawks, Grizzles, 76ers, Bucks they're out, Kobe won't want to go there.

Next, we rule out the teams that don't have enough peices to get Kobe without becoming as bad as the Lakers are now, basically superstar for superstar trades, or half the team for a star trades

T'wolves, Celtics, Raptors, Pacers, Cavs, Clippers, Kings, Hornets are ruled out here

Now the teams that could make a trade for Kobe, but more than likely won't.

Heat, Nuggets, Spurs, Suns, Jazz, Wizards are out here.

That leaves us with:

Chicago Bulls

New York Knicks

New Jersey Nets

Detroit Pistons

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Portland Trailblazers

Seattle Supersonics

Golden State Warriors

Now then, I'd say its safe to rule out the Warriors, since there's no way the Lakers would trade Kobe to a division rival.

The Dallas Mavericks might be tempted to trade Dirk, but that doesn't help the Mavericks much as they should be more concerned with getting more defense than another superstar, especially at the risk of losing Dirk.

Now I'm sure Kobe would play for the Knicks, but there's no way the Lakers would take any of the players attached to the contracts they'd have to pick up to make the deal work, so they're out the window

I'd say rule out the Blazers as well, they like where they're headed and they won't want to give up the #1 pick or Brandon Roy and to get Kobe, they'd have to give up one of them

That leaves us with:

Chicago

New Jersey

Detroit

Houston

Seattle

These are, IMO the most likely destinations, with the exeception of Seattle. Certainly getting Kobe would help them keep the team in Seattle, but I doubt the Lakers would accept Ray Allen and a few others for Kobe, unless it came with the #2 pick and there's no way the Sonics are trading that. A trade of Allen and Ridnour for Kobe works money wise, but the Lakers would surely want more. Perhaps a sign and trade with Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen could work, but I don't think the Lakers would want to pick up a combination that couldn't get the job done in Seattle.

Houston is certainly plausible, as the Lakers would certainly take T-Mac and a minor player for Kobe.

However, as we saw with the Shaq trade, they probably want to move Kobe out of the conference if they're going to move him.

Chicago is where Kobe wants to go, but they don't desperately need him and the proposed trades that send Deng, Gordon and Wallace to the Lakers for Kobe and Andrew Bynum, don't make the Bulls any better off than they are now. Plus, the Bulls have been reluctant to trade these guys for Garnett, who would almost certainly guarentee them a title or at least a trip to the finals, so I don't think they'll want to part with them for Kobe.

In my opinion the trades that work the best are New Jersey and Detroit.

New Jersey needs a change and is going to lose Vince Carter. Surely an offer for Carter and Richardson, or Carter, Marcus Williams and a few others would have to be considered by the Lakers.

If Detroit is worried Chauncy Billups will leave in free agency, I could certainly see them exploring the option of bringing in Kobe and they have the pieces to pull of such a move as well.

[Typical Phenom]

Kobe wants traded, and with a no-trade clause, he can pick and choose. The rumors are he's told the Lakers he only wants to go to the Bulls, but even if that isn't true, the Bulls have to be a front-runner. This is huge news.