2010/2011 NBA Thread

[DMN in the House]

lol, NBA.

Fuck, I have to say it again, it's great to be a Lakers' fan. Who's more hated in Cleveland, LeBron, or Art Modell?

And fuck, Stephan A. Smith was right!

[JStarr]

And fuck, Stephan A. Smith was right!

Of course he was, he threw out identical stories for about four different teams, didn't he?

[naiwf]

This is certainly going to be good for the NBA though, and definitely has some mouth-watering prospects in terms of match-ups. Miami against Boston's Big Three, Orlando, and the Lakers, plus the return to Cleveland eventually. It'll make for an incredibly interesting season.

I don't see how having 3 of the best players on the same team is good for the NBA. Miami only plays 82 times a year. Now with all three guys on Wade's squad there is NO appeal to Cleveland/Boston, Cleveland/Orlando or Cleveland/LA. Miami vs those teams would have been fine without LeBron. All he did was cripple his hometown franchise, do the whole state of Ohio dirty with no lube and make himself the most hated man in the NBA.

Any title he wins will be done on Wade's team though which pretty much cements D-Wade as the most important player from that draft, and I'm cool with that.

[sahyder1]

And fuck, Stephan A. Smith was right!

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Fait Accompli]

And the entire city of Cleveland is on suicide wa - THEY'RE BURNIN' HIS JERSEY! IT'S AMAZIN'!

[sahyder1]

This is certainly going to be good for the NBA though, and definitely has some mouth-watering prospects in terms of match-ups. Miami against Boston's Big Three, Orlando, and the Lakers, plus the return to Cleveland eventually. It'll make for an incredibly interesting season.

I don't see how having 3 of the best players on the same team is good for the NBA. Miami only plays 82 times a year. Now with all three guys on Wade's squad there is NO appeal to Cleveland/Boston, Cleveland/Orlando or Cleveland/LA. Miami vs those teams would have been fine without LeBron. All he did was cripple his hometown franchise, do the whole state of Ohio dirty with no lube and make himself the most hated man in the NBA.

Any title he wins will be done on Wade's team though which pretty much cements D-Wade as the most important player from that draft, and I'm cool with that.

A championship is still a championship. Jeter doesn't get his rings without that Yankee pitching staff. Kobe wouldn't have 5 without Shaq, Brady without the defense, etc. We kill athletes all the time for being all about the money but here are 3 all-stars who are taking less money in order to put a winning group together. The Heat season tickets are sold out. They are going to sell out every arena they go to. They will generate a buzz for the NBA during the regular season. I haven't really watched much NBA during the regular season for years but this team will have me tuning in.

[maninblack]

Aw man. Cleveland

So, how long before this Big Three implodes on itself?

EDIT: As interesting as it'll be to see if and when that happens, I'll have to agree with sahyder. Wade, Bosh and James have seen how Garnett, Allen and Pierce all got on the same page to win a title.

The sucky part is that Cleveland loses its native son to what's essentially (for the time being) Dwayne Wade's team.

Edited July 9, 2010 by maninblack

[jrtdot]

unfortunately it is Miami oh well, there goes the world! Still Go LAKERS!!!

Here's some other news -

David Lee accepts S&T to Golden State

David Lee has agreed to a six-year, $80 million deal with the Warriors via a sign-and-trade.

The Knicks are likely to receive Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike back in return.

Golden State and New York had worked on the framework of a deal during the day on Thursday that was contingent on the decision of LeBron James.

Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/67996/20100708/david_lee_agrees_to_golden_state_deal/#ixzz0t99XSAj4

Clippers have hired Vinny Del Negro and have signed -

The Clippers have signed Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes to contracts, the team announced on Thursday

Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/67997/20100708/clippers_sign_foye_gomes/#ixzz0t99nt2CL

[JStarr]

David Lee now going to Golden State for Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike.

At least the Knicks are trying to move on with life.

[naiwf]

A championship is still a championship. Jeter doesn't get his rings without that Yankee pitching staff. Kobe wouldn't have 5 without Shaq, Brady without the defense, etc. We kill athletes all the time for being all about the money but here are 3 all-stars who are taking less money in order to put a winning group together. The Heat season tickets are sold out. They are going to sell out every arena they go to. They will generate a buzz for the NBA during the regular season. I haven't really watched much NBA during the regular season for years but this team will have me tuning in.

I get it. You're LeBron's biggest fan and he can do no wrong in your eyes. The dude is a scumbag, simple as really. They're not taking that much less money. Wade is getting max dollars regardless and Bosh and LeBron are going to get $96 million for 5 yrs and barring retirement or a catastrophic injury they'll be making $20+ million in the 6th year of the deal whether it's in Miami or someplace else. Essentially they're not taking anywhere from $5-9 million now to fuck over their previous franchises for the next decade.

The NBA is NOT stronger having these three guys on one team. People will no longer pay any money to see Toronto, Cleveland and Miami come to town since their cornerstones are all on one team now. 41 road game sellouts isn't going to save the NBA when you consider that Cleveland and Toronto are now dead franchises for 82 games a year apiece. This is awesome news for Miami and that's about it.

EDIT: This would be like the Yankees getting Cliff Lee and Strasburg and somehow having people argue that it's better for the league to see what's left of the Seattle and Washington fanbases die to strengthen a team that was already going to compete in front of sold out crowds. Miami w/Bosh or LeBron keeps one franchise in play. Miami with both kills two and does nothing extra for anyone. NJ's dead for 2 years now too, and the Knicks are back on life support with the Clippers. So basically, half the league cleaned out capspace for the free agents, one team got everyone of note and somehow this is a good thing.

Edited July 9, 2010 by naiwf

[maninblack]

A championship is still a championship. Jeter doesn't get his rings without that Yankee pitching staff. Kobe wouldn't have 5 without Shaq, Brady without the defense, etc. We kill athletes all the time for being all about the money but here are 3 all-stars who are taking less money in order to put a winning group together. The Heat season tickets are sold out. They are going to sell out every arena they go to. They will generate a buzz for the NBA during the regular season. I haven't really watched much NBA during the regular season for years but this team will have me tuning in.

I get it. You're LeBron's biggest fan and he can do no wrong in your eyes. The dude is a scumbag, simple as really. They're not taking that much less money. Wade is getting max dollars regardless and Bosh and LeBron are going to get $96 million for 5 yrs and barring retirement or a catastrophic injury they'll be making $20+ million in the 6th year of the deal whether it's in Miami or someplace else. Essentially they're not taking anywhere from $5-9 million now to fuck over their previous franchises for the next decade.

The NBA is NOT stronger having these three guys on one team. People will no longer pay any money to see Toronto, Cleveland and Miami come to town since their cornerstones are all on one team now. 41 road game sellouts isn't going to save the NBA when you consider that Cleveland and Toronto are now dead franchises for 82 games a year apiece. This is awesome news for Miami and that's about it.

Yes, Cleveland and Toronto are likely going to fall off the map for the next few years at least; but in the end, if the athlete decides he can do better elsewhere (money or championship, depending on his priorities), then it's his prerogative to do whatever he can to achieve it.

David Stern probably should have stepped in when Wade and the other FAs were talking about this "summit" they were going to have, but he didn't.

In any case, this Miami Big Three is still all potential at this point.

[Fait Accompli]

That would've been the case if there was a combo of three players including LeBron that went to the Knicks, Nets, Clippers, or Chicago. Most of the league was shot half to hell anyway before this, and I'd argue the teams that didn't get any of those three will still probably be in the same position they were last year - with the exception of Chicago and maybe New York.

[sahyder1]

Uh, I am far from LeBron's biggest fan but this LeBron hatred tonight is just stupid. For years people have been knocking him for not caring about winning and just caring about the brand. He carried the Cavs on his back for years. Once Bosh said he didn't want to go play in Cleveland what did people want him to do? He could've gone to NY and be worshiped there. He could've gone to the Nets and be the face of basketball in Brooklyn. He could have gone in Chicago. No matter what he did, people were going to criticize him for it. Heck, I've always hated the Heat. I hate Pat Riley. But I can't argue against this. The Raptors are far from dead. They've dealt with this 3 other times already in their 15 years and yes, they've bounced back to be a playoff team each time. Their attendance will have a slight drop but they will return just like they did after Stoudamire, after T-Mac and after Vince Carter. For the first time in about 4-5 years I'm actually interested in following the NBA regular season on a day to day basis.

By the way, I don't think it is out of possibility that CP3 (who's supposedly the 4th member of this little clique) ends up there taking less money next year.

[naiwf]

By the way, I don't think it is out of possibility that CP3 (who's supposedly the 4th member of this little clique) ends up there taking less money next year.

I'm sure that will be seen as a positive when CP3 destroys New Orleans and does the "selfless" thing of joining his buddies for $20 less. I'm not faulting these guys for doing what they want. I'm just not buying in that these guys are doing something noble by destroying playoff level franchises in a league that is as top heavy as it is already. They may as well just try to relocate Toronto already. No one of significance will ever play their entire career there.

In the last 2 1/2 seasons Gasol went to LA for a bag of peanuts and LA picked up two titles thanks to the deal, Boston got Garnett & Allen for not much more and added to their championship collection, and now Miami has 3 of the 12 or so best players in the league, while Toronto and Cleveland have cap space no one will use, Memphis is still Memphis, Minnesota is a wasteland and a team that only won 12 games this season can't get better since they got the # 3 ball in a 2 player draft and no one will take their money except some stiff named Outlaw. This league is broken because the rich continue to get richer and the poor can't do anything to stop it. On opening day later this year it's a 4/5 team race with the champion coming from either Boston, LA, Miami, Orlando or a very long shot in someone like OKC. The other 25 teams are just playing for draft position and 11 meaningless playoff berths.

[Fait Accompli]

By the way, I don't think it is out of possibility that CP3 (who's supposedly the 4th member of this little clique) ends up there taking less money next year.

I'm sure that will be seen as a positive when CP3 destroys New Orleans and does the "selfless" thing of joining his buddies for $20 less. I'm not faulting these guys for doing what they want. I'm just not buying in that these guys are doing something noble by destroying playoff level franchises in a league that is as top heavy as it is already. They may as well just try to relocate Toronto already. No one of significance will ever play their entire career there.

In the last 2 1/2 seasons Gasol went to LA for a bag of peanuts and LA picked up two titles thanks to the deal, Boston got Garnett & Allen for not much more and added to their championship collection, and now Miami has 3 of the 12 or so best players in the league, while Toronto and Cleveland have cap space no one will use, Memphis is still Memphis, Minnesota is a wasteland and a team that only won 12 games this season can't get better since they got the # 3 ball in a 2 player draft and no one will take their money except some stiff named Outlaw. This league is broken because the rich continue to get richer and the poor can't do anything to stop it. On opening day later this year it's a 4/5 team race with the champion coming from either Boston, LA, Miami, Orlando or a very long shot in someone like OKC. The other 25 teams are just playing for draft position and 11 meaningless playoff berths.

Isn't that how the NBA has been in the last like...30 years since the expansion of the league? I mean it's always been a 4-8 team race to see who would win the championship as only 8 teams in the last 30 years have won the title. There's not parody in this league and there probably won't ever be any parody until the owners and the players decide to structure it like the NFL so that teams can have a legit chance at winning.

[Hellfire]

I see nothing wrong with Lebron going to Miami. He's playing with his friends and has the chance to win multiple championships. That wasn't going to happen in Cleveland. Maybe Chicago would have been better but I think this will be much more interesting plus Cleveland fans get to suffer some more. They like that out there right?

But seriously, this upcoming season will be interesting to watch. I'm going to wait till the dust totally clears but with everyone moving around there will be new contenders while other teams will sink to the bottom like an anchor (I'm looking at you Cleveland!)

[DMN in the House]

LOL. Keep buying the hype, sahyder. You'll get yourself a job on ESPN with that shit.

If he cared about winning, he'd have gone to Chicago or the Clippers. MIAMI DOES NOT HAVE A ROSTER. They have FIVE players under contract, one of whom is unlikely to be there next year (Beasley). Miami CANNOT build a roster that will win a championship. Shaq's not coming, that bridge is burned. Chris Paul's not going there, they can't afford him. This team will have NO bench, NO inside presence, and will NOT get out of the East. A bunch of vet minimum dudes, two of the top five players in the league, and Chris Bosh.

Sound and fury meaning nothing. Excuse me if I'm not excited that Cleveland has been destroyed as a franchise and Toronto has been shut down again. The only team that came out of this that has truly done anything smart is New York, who improved, and didn't break their shit to do it. Chicago got better as well.

[Lint]

I agree that the "players summit" deal was BS. Had the owners gotten together to have a discussion about what to do about big name free agents, the players union would have been screaming lawsuit

[naiwf]

Isn't that how the NBA has been in the last like...30 years since the expansion of the league? I mean it's always been a 4-8 team race to see who would win the championship as only 8 teams in the last 30 years have won the title. There's not parody in this league and there probably won't ever be any parody until the owners and the players decide to structure it like the NFL so that teams can have a legit chance at winning.

I'm usually not one to rip someone's spelling but I think it's awesome you talked about how this league has no parody, when that's exactly what it is becoming, a cheap knock off of a professional league. Parity isn't part of the NBA, but there have been a lot of teams that contended for a title in the '90s even though they didn't win one (Ewing's Knicks, 'Zo's Heat, Miller's Pacers, Stockton/Malone's Jazz, Barkley's Suns, etc). Now we're talking about Conferences that only go 2 or 3 deep at most and we're dangerously close to the majority of the league being farm clubs for LA, Boston etc. In a few years what are the odd that John Wall leaves Washington and decides to go play with LeBron or someone like that?

[SeanB]

The things some of you guys say "wow" me. I think we just saw what can happen when 3 of the league's best players unite... hello anyone remember Boston? People were saying the same thing about the Celtics as they acquired their big 3... and look what they were able to do. And those 3 guys were all in their 30's by the time they got together, none of these 3 guys have even hit 29 yet! If you don't think there are going to be vets lining up to play for these guys. Hell, they might even be able to convince Allen Iverson to swallow his pride and join the team. That's probably a longshot, but I'm willing to bet he can get his act together to play and produce behind those guys. I know he's stunk in his past few situations, but all those were doomed to fail from the beginning.

You can book the Heat now for the 2011 NBA Championship. Probably 2012, and 2013 as well.