2007-2008 NBA Thread

[VerbalPuke]

For the record, I like Toronto and hope they do well as long as it's not at the Pistons expense. I still try not to let visions of Chris Bosh in Pistons red, white, and blue haunt my dreams (we'd have been a dynasty with him).

Anyway, I really like the Pistons team this year. We only made some subtle changes, adding Jarvis Hayes and a few young guys. Plus the emergence of Jason Maxiell has helped immensely, he's going to be a great sixth man for years to come. Rodney Stuckey saw his first action of the year last night against Memphis, but only saw limited time. He could turn out to be a very good player, evidenced by his work in the pre-season. Oh, and let's not forget Aaron Afflalo who has impressed thus far despite some of the more fickle fans in Detroit shitting on the pick. The dude has shown that he can hit his jumpers, and plays hard nosed defense, reminiscent of the year we had Mike James and Lindsey Hunter together.

I think this team has the potential to be as good as the team that won the championship in 03/04.

Oh, and has anybody else noticed Antonio McDyess's quite efficiency as a starter? Good old Dice.

[Maxx]

Bulls have fired Scott Skiles.

So yeah, they better find a solid interim replacement for this season, or they may not even make the playoffs

[buck...]

on the pistons, dice had been great, and I am happily surprise with him as I was a bit worried but, he showed that he still is a very good player. I loved watching the Boston game, as it drove me nuts so I hope that is the eastern finals. Pistons are playing as good as the Celtics are right now, not that it matters at the moment but both teams are playing very well and showing they are head and shoulders above the rest of the east on most nights( Detroit's slip ups against Chicago) I am going to the pacers-pistons game Friday and have decent seats. So, I'm happy.

The bulls thing is bullshit in my eyes. That is Paxton's team and you can blame all you want on skiles being a tough coach, but they didn't get an inside scorer, nor do they have a dead eye jump shooter from any range. Paxton is trying to save face for his team by firing the coach, and I think its bullshit. But, that is corporate basketball.

[Trey]

Was it even Paxson's decision to fire Skiles? Anyway, I think that they problem is that this is a young team and with all the off-season crap happening, they just got rattled and simply haven't recovered. Add in the fact that Thomas/Gray/Thabo aren't getting any minutes when they obviously should be, it's not a good combination.

[PH4E]

Let's talk about what's important.

Dallas dominated Golden State tonight to go up 2-0 in the season series this year, proving the Mavericks finally found a way to beat Golden State.

[buck...]

only if they can beat them in the playoffs, if they do play them.

paxton is at least taken the blame for it, and my guess is that it was.

[thuganomic]

Am I the only one that's ridiculously tired of hearing about Player Efficiency Ratings? seriously, fuck ESPN. It's nice to bring it up once in awhile, but to use it as the only thing to evaluate players? Gay.

[gunnar hendershow]

Considering an ESPN journalist thought up the concept, or at least made it well-known, they're going to milk it for everything it's worth.

The real way you judge who a great player is happens to be by this weird concept known as watching basketball. I know, shocking. All this said though, the statistical formula behind PER is super cool. I happen to be a big fan of it, but yes, I do think it's getting overused.

Edited January 11, 2008 by damshow

[Toe]

The Toronto Raptors almost screwed it up, but after double overtime came out ahead of the Trailblazers. The young Raptors showed a lot of character, not letting some big mistakes sink their chances of winning.

Brandon Roy is a monster though. Have to say that.

[Toe]

Wow. The Raptors just annihilated the Wizards. I was at the game, my first time going to a game live, and it was awesome. Bosh got into some foul trouble, and then left the game early because the Raptors were running away with it. Bargnani has been getting better lately, and Calderon was fantastic again with 11 pts and 11 assists.

[Maxx]

Apparently there's a deal in place to send Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Jarvis Crittion and picks

[sahyder1]

I hate the Lakers so I'm a little pissed of that they just got someone I like.

The Lakers have acquired Pau Gasol in a three-player trade with the Grizzlies, SI.com has confirmed.

The deal, which was first reported by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, sends Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010.

[thuganomic]

What an amazing trade for the Lakers if this actually goes down. I can't believe Memphis did this. Are you telling me they can't get anything from Chicago for Pau Gasol?

[Maxx]

Its more of a case of them trying to land a big free agent this offseason, as Kwame's massive contract comes off the books, as will Stoudamire's.

Edited February 1, 2008 by Maxx

[sahyder1]

Here is a more detailed report from ESPN. Gasol's brother is part of a the package going to the Grizzles.

The Memphis Grizzlies will send Pau Gasol and a future second-round pick to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, the unofficially retired Aaron McKie , the draft rights to Pau Gasol's brother Marc and future first-round picks in 2008 and 2010, NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

Pau Gasol

Gasol

Kwame Brown

Brown

It is believed that the Lakers would need to arrange a sign-and-trade for McKie to make the salary cap math work for the deal. McKie is not currently playing in the NBA but his rights are owned by the Lakers.

According to The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, which also reported the trade, the Grizzlies decided to move ahead with trading Gasol because the team felt it could no longer move ahead with him off or on the court -- and that the acquisition of Brown, who is earning $9,075,000 in the last year of his contract, would provide the franchise salary cap relief.

The Commercial Appeal also reported that the Grizzlies are trading Stromile Swift to the New Jersey Nets for center Jason Collins. The Grizzlies and Nets have been discussing that deal for the past week and expect to finalize it on Monday, according to the report.

Swift met with Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni and general manager Chris Wallace on Friday, was sent home and did not practice with the team and will not play in Saturday's game against Utah, the newspaper reported.

Marc Stein is a senior writer for ESPN.com

[JStarr]

Damn, the Lakers just got a very solid player for nothing. Well, okay, they may miss those two first-round picks, but as far as pieces of this trade that have a pulse, they won't miss any of these people.

A lineup of Gasol-Walton-Odom-Kobe-Fisher with Farmar, Turiaf, Radmanovic off the bench? Yes, please. And THEN they'll get Bynum back later. I've never been the biggest Kobe fan, but he may just have the pieces he needs to get to a Finals without having to share credit now.

[sahyder1]

Damn, the Lakers just got a very solid player for nothing. Well, okay, they may miss those two first-round picks, but as far as pieces of this trade that have a pulse, they won't miss any of these people.

A lineup of Gasol-Walton-Odom-Kobe-Fisher with Farmar, Turiaf, Radmanovic off the bench? Yes, please. And THEN they'll get Bynum back later. I've never been the biggest Kobe fan, but he may just have the pieces he needs to get to a Finals without having to share credit now.

[naiwf]

This team has pushed the Suns in the past without a bench or even a legit starting 5 as it was basically Kobe, Odom and some other guys against Phoenix. I think they could take them if everyone's healthy just because Phoenix can't defend the low blocks and the Lakers would theoretically have a gargantuan front line. I also think they could beat the Mavs if they have homecourt, but San Antonio's still iffy just because the Spurs find a way to win more often than any other team in the league. The Nuggets might miss the playoffs so I won't worry about them. They're not necessarily the favorites, but they've got just as good a shot as the other big teams in the West now.

[jonnycomelately]

Gasol will fit in perfectly in Phil Jackson's triangle offense. I heard on the radio that Memphis is starting to shed cap (Stromile Swift is on the outs too) so that they can eventually sell the team without having massive startup contracts on the books for new owners. With Stoudamire taken care of and Gasol and Swift elsewhere, Memphis doesn't have a single player making over 10 mill a year. Mike Miller makes 9 mill and change, Darko makes 7 mill, and Brian Cardinal (ugh) makes 6.2 mill. None of the three though are signed past 2010. Memphis is more than likely going to stink out the joint until then but if ownership's plans are to sell, they are trying to soften the cost substantially.

Speaking of stinking out the joint, the Knicks kill me. Jamal Crawford missed his last 13 shots but they consistently ran plays for him and gave him crucial shots in crucial times. I know he has been one of the few bright spots for this team so far this season but come on now. The guy didn't hit the rim for a whole quarter and you're banking on him to win you the game. Just sad.

[JStarr]

Mike Miller makes 9 mill and change, Darko makes 7 mill, and Brian Cardinal (ugh) makes 6.2 mill. None of the three though are signed past 2010. Memphis is more than likely going to stink out the joint until then but if ownership's plans are to sell, they are trying to soften the cost substantially.

Now see, I'm a Purdue guy, and even I had no clue that Cardinal was even still in the league, let alone raking in decent coin. I love the guy to death, and he'll run through fire, snakes, and and a floor covered with AIDS-infected crack needles to save a ball going out of bounds, but shit. I'd pay him the minimum and force him to like it, because he's just not got the game.

And just for fun, a friend and I were running some prospective Jason Kidd deals through that ESPN Trade Machine doohickey last night. Some interesting prospects:

Kidd to Cleveland for Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes

Kidd to Dallas for Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, and DeSagana Diop

Kidd to Chicago for Chris Duhon and Ben Wallace

Kidd to Houston for Bonzi Wells, Shane Battier, Rafer Alston, and Mike James

Kidd to the Lakers for Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher

Those are about the only teams I could really see making any kind of run at Kidd, having any kind of PG need, and him being even somewhat willing to play there. Even so, it'll be hard as hell for any team to get a deal made, even with a third team involved. Also, a lot of the possibilities involve the Nets getting players who still have multiple years left on the contracts, which for me would be part of the point in getting rid of Kidd. Big contract, griping attitude...guy's an albatross right now.