2009/2010 NBA Thread

[DMN in the House]

The Lakers have a few things the Rockets don't. A coach who put up with Dennis Rodman, a strong leader who won't take Ron-Ron's shit (and gets along with him), and one of Artest's best friends, Lamar Odom. You don't seem to understand, the Lakers are built to win NOW. Not in three years... this year, next year. They're trying to overtake Boston for the most titles. Artest is going to come in and bust his ass, because that's ALL he's ever done. He wants to win, no one can say differently. Yeah, he's probably a headcase, and, unlike Rodman, he's probably a legitimate headcase (Rodman, my favorite player of all time, was mostly an act), but the people around him in Los Angeles are going to be better able to deal with that than at any other stop he's been at. With Artest, the Lakers can claim to have a top FIVE player at ever position except PG (that's with a line-up of Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Odom, Pau. Hell, you can argue that Bynum is a top five center), with Ariza? I don't think so. Artest's game isn't predicated on speed, it's about strength and intensity, two things Ariza doesn't have and the Lakers desperately needed.

[jrtdot]

...Another day, another Raptor movement:

According to RealGM.com, Toronto will trade Roko Ukic and the rights to Carlos Delfino to the Milwaukee Bucks for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.

This stems from Roko being basically the odd man out in the PG position with the arrival of Jarrett Jack and Toronto's lack of money to acquire Delfino who would also not see much court time with the Raps rotation looking basically complete.

Amir became expendable to the Bucks with their signing of Hakim Warrick, so this may be a win-win with the players possibly getting more court time out of this.

The good thing also is that both Amir and Sonny are in their last contract years (for Sonny, TO has a team option).

On the bad side, Ukic was very impressive and he could make it big in the NBA, TO may be kicking themselves in the coming years but you never know.

[Soundgarden9]

Since this is about basketball...what are your guys' opinion on the NBA Draft Lottery?

I for one think it is incredibly unneeded. I think that if you're the worst team in the NBA, you deserve the first pick. No questions asked. So many teams have been cheated out because of the Draft Lottery.

I know they originally used it for when the Houston Rockets got accused of cheating in 1984/1985 by purposely losing games to automatically get the number one overall pick. But shouldn't that go for every league? Who knows if the Detroit Lions lost all 16 games on purpose just so they could get Matthew Stafford? If we're talking length of games, why doesn't the MLB use it either, considering the 82 games of the NBA to the 160 or so games in the MLB? I think they should just go back to the normal win-loss order just like every other league. Or at least advocate it for the MLB, NFL, etc.

Think about it. Last year, do you think that the Chicago Bulls REALLY needed Derrick Rose? Considering they were only the 9th worst team in the NBA (33-49) and had guys like Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, as well as a pretty good roster already (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, etc.). I think the Bulls would have made the '09 playoffs regardless of Rose or not.

What do you guys think?

[Maxx]

Since this is about basketball...what are your guys' opinion on the NBA Draft Lottery?

I for one think it is incredibly unneeded. I think that if you're the worst team in the NBA, you deserve the first pick. No questions asked. So many teams have been cheated out because of the Draft Lottery.

I know they originally used it for when the Houston Rockets got accused of cheating in 1984/1985 by purposely losing games to automatically get the number one overall pick. But shouldn't that go for every league? Who knows if the Detroit Lions lost all 16 games on purpose just so they could get Matthew Stafford? If we're talking length of games, why doesn't the MLB use it either, considering the 82 games of the NBA to the 160 or so games in the MLB? I think they should just go back to the normal win-loss order just like every other league. Or at least advocate it for the MLB, NFL, etc.

Think about it. Last year, do you think that the Chicago Bulls REALLY needed Derrick Rose? Considering they were only the 9th worst team in the NBA (33-49) and had guys like Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, as well as a pretty good roster already (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, etc.). I think the Bulls would have made the '09 playoffs regardless of Rose or not.

What do you guys think?

:lmao:

And if you seriously think that is something that is even remotely possible, I'll be ignoring your opinions from now on.

[livid]

Since this is about basketball...what are your guys' opinion on the NBA Draft Lottery?

I for one think it is incredibly unneeded. I think that if you're the worst team in the NBA, you deserve the first pick. No questions asked. So many teams have been cheated out because of the Draft Lottery.

I know they originally used it for when the Houston Rockets got accused of cheating in 1984/1985 by purposely losing games to automatically get the number one overall pick. But shouldn't that go for every league? Who knows if the Detroit Lions lost all 16 games on purpose just so they could get Matthew Stafford? If we're talking length of games, why doesn't the MLB use it either, considering the 82 games of the NBA to the 160 or so games in the MLB? I think they should just go back to the normal win-loss order just like every other league. Or at least advocate it for the MLB, NFL, etc.

Think about it. Last year, do you think that the Chicago Bulls REALLY needed Derrick Rose? Considering they were only the 9th worst team in the NBA (33-49) and had guys like Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, as well as a pretty good roster already (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, etc.). I think the Bulls would have made the '09 playoffs regardless of Rose or not.

What do you guys think?

Uhh, I'd think it'd be kind of obvious that they needed him. They didn't make the playoffs without him and were in the lottery because of it. Why would you assume that they would make the playoffs in a conference that got stronger in '09 than it was in '08?

And as far as the lottery goes, it's good. It works; why try and fix something that's not broken?

And Maxx, I doubt (re: hope) that he doesn't actually believe that and was just trying to make his point, as bad as the point may be.

[Soundgarden9]

Since this is about basketball...what are your guys' opinion on the NBA Draft Lottery?

I for one think it is incredibly unneeded. I think that if you're the worst team in the NBA, you deserve the first pick. No questions asked. So many teams have been cheated out because of the Draft Lottery.

I know they originally used it for when the Houston Rockets got accused of cheating in 1984/1985 by purposely losing games to automatically get the number one overall pick. But shouldn't that go for every league? Who knows if the Detroit Lions lost all 16 games on purpose just so they could get Matthew Stafford? If we're talking length of games, why doesn't the MLB use it either, considering the 82 games of the NBA to the 160 or so games in the MLB? I think they should just go back to the normal win-loss order just like every other league. Or at least advocate it for the MLB, NFL, etc.

Think about it. Last year, do you think that the Chicago Bulls REALLY needed Derrick Rose? Considering they were only the 9th worst team in the NBA (33-49) and had guys like Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, as well as a pretty good roster already (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, etc.). I think the Bulls would have made the '09 playoffs regardless of Rose or not.

What do you guys think?

:lmao:

And if you seriously think that is something that is even remotely possible, I'll be ignoring your opinions from now on.

Ok, yea that was a little too much. I didn't seriously think that. I'm just saying what if a team like that lost out the #1 pick to lets say, the Jets? It would be strange.

Since this is about basketball...what are your guys' opinion on the NBA Draft Lottery?

I for one think it is incredibly unneeded. I think that if you're the worst team in the NBA, you deserve the first pick. No questions asked. So many teams have been cheated out because of the Draft Lottery.

I know they originally used it for when the Houston Rockets got accused of cheating in 1984/1985 by purposely losing games to automatically get the number one overall pick. But shouldn't that go for every league? Who knows if the Detroit Lions lost all 16 games on purpose just so they could get Matthew Stafford? If we're talking length of games, why doesn't the MLB use it either, considering the 82 games of the NBA to the 160 or so games in the MLB? I think they should just go back to the normal win-loss order just like every other league. Or at least advocate it for the MLB, NFL, etc.

Think about it. Last year, do you think that the Chicago Bulls REALLY needed Derrick Rose? Considering they were only the 9th worst team in the NBA (33-49) and had guys like Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, as well as a pretty good roster already (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, etc.). I think the Bulls would have made the '09 playoffs regardless of Rose or not.

What do you guys think?

Uhh, I'd think it'd be kind of obvious that they needed him. They didn't make the playoffs without him and were in the lottery because of it. Why would you assume that they would make the playoffs in a conference that got stronger in '09 than it was in '08?

And as far as the lottery goes, it's good. It works; why try and fix something that's not broken?

And Maxx, I doubt (re: hope) that he doesn't actually believe that and was just trying to make his point, as bad as the point may be.

Good point. I just think that a lot of other teams would be well deserving of a guy like Rose.

Eh, whatever. My points suck. Ignore.

[Mr Evil Guy]

so raptors are beating the cavs by 20 right now; fuckin right

[Numbahs]

It's hard to believe the Suns are doing so well.

If not tonight, their downfall begins tomorrow in LA.

[theburninator77]

Stephen Jackson probably going to the Bobcats... I think the Bobcats now have a slim shot at getting the 8 or 7 seed in the East... very slim mind you.

[Toe]

The Raptors are consistant in their offence but not in their defence. They continue to be one of the more powerful offensive teams in the NBA, but they fail to put in a decent defensive effort at times and this has led to them going 6-8 out of the gates. When Reggie Evans returns, hopefully he can add some energy and grit to the team.

With a better defensive effort, the Raptors could easily be 8-6 or better. They score at will at times, and with the weapons they have, they always have at least two good offensive weapons on the floor.

Edited November 22, 2009 by Toe

[HeyThereVelvet]

Since no one has replied in this thread in over a month, I'll figure that no one likes the NBA anymore. With that said, how much of an idiot can one Gilbert Arenas be? The face of the Washington franchise, one of the biggest contracts in the entire NBA and you bring not one gun, but THREE guns into your teams locker room? This guy must really have no shame and think he is above and beyond any other player in the NBA.

I could deal with his previous antics like ball hogging, thinking he's god's gift to the NBA, when in reality he's a close second best player on his own team. After seeing what happened to Plaxico Burress last year, wouldn't you think these sports stars would have learned there lesson?. Granted, he says the guns weren't loaded, and he says he didn't pull them on fellow team mate Javaris Crittenton, but, knowing David Sterns strict policy on violence, This won't go well on Gilbert. He truly defined himself as being "Agent 0"

Edited January 6, 2010 by HeyThereDelilah

[JStarr]

This is the problem. No one does follow the NBA anymore. Al Sharpton complains about no big uproar over Arenas/Crittenton, and claims it's because it's black-on-black crime. His thought was if it was a white player pulling a gun on someone, it'd be a huge story.

That's not the issue, it's a "duh, only 18 people seriously follow the NBA anymore, and 13 of those work for ESPN" issue.

If you had two Redskins pulling guns on each other, there'd be wall-to-wall coverage.

If I'm running the Wizards, he's gone. There's a morals clause in his contract that the Wizards may be able to invoke to void the rest of his contract. They won't win without him, but WTF, they're not winning with him, so where's the difference? Save money for the LeBron/Wade/Bosh sweepstakes.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm just upset the team no longer calls themselves the Bullets.

Oh and I follow the NBA, watch it time to time. For the most part there's nothing to talk about until February.

Edited January 6, 2010 by damshow

[Colossus]

I still watch it.

That being said, Durant is just gonna dominate the league in 3 or 4 years. The guy is just too good. I think that he will be onr of the few guys preventing LeBron's team from winning the title

[HeyThereVelvet]

Durant is finally coming into his own and I love it. Watching him develop has been a fantastic journey. While he's not quite in the top 3-5 in the NBA yet, he's cracked the top 10. Watch out for him and Russell Westbrook to carry that Thunder team for a long time. If only they could solidify a big man in the next couple years and they could be REALLY dangerous.

[JStarr]

I'd had my attention piqued when the Thunder had a trade in place for Tyson Chandler, last year near the deadline, I believe.

If that deal had gone through, giving them another rebounder/shot changer, I wonder if they wouldn't be leading the division right now.

I'll be a lot more sold on Westbrook once he realizes that the team's better off with Green and Harden getting more shots than him and settles for being a 9-10 assist per game guy.

And God love Arenas, it seems even Tiger has some words of support for him. http://starr-rated.blogspot.com/2010/01/to-gil-from-tiger.html

[Colossus]

I still think that Harden has to develop a little bit, but he's not been bad.

And when Westbrook grasps what Starr said, the Thunder will be an dangerous team. And then, I think what would have happened if they had drafted Rubio or Tyreke...

[Tits McGee]

The Thunder can HAVE Chandler. I can't believe the Bobcats straight up traded Okafor for him. Chandler isn't even the starter most of the time for our team now, he is that awful.

It's sad too, because he has/had the potential to be one of the best big men in the league.

[Colossus]

And well, the Thunder could add LeBron next season. That would be scary, very scary...

[HeyThereVelvet]

LeBron would never want to play for the Thunder. James's fascination with the NY area will have him going to the Knicks or the NJ Nets. And that's only IF he even wants to leave Cleveland. I could never see him going to OKC no matter how good Kevin Durant is.