Real Deal

Those three, in bold, are all-stars you could see making the team for years to come (maybe Gordon). To me, only one of those players is a superstar, and that's D-Rose. Kevin Love is pretty good, but he's not where Duncan, Garnett, and other former superstars have been over the years...at least not yet. LeBron, Wade, Melo, Bosh...that's a nasty group. Add David West, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, TJ Ford, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, Josh Howard, Mo Williams, Kyle Korver and Rick Rickert...it's hard to ignore that draft. The following year produced Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Devin Harris, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, JR Smith, Kevin Martin, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, and Trevor Ariza. 2005 had Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Andrew Bogut, Monta Ellis, Andrew Bynum, Danny Granger, David Lee, Brandon Bass, Louis Williams, and Marcin Gortat. You can make a case for a lot of those.

No, humans wouldn't have free will, because if God (or a god) was intervening that much, there would be no struggle...and there's no point of free will. A man, diving off a 10-story building, would be saved...and that is just one example of his free will being ripped away. Extrasolar planets aren't perfect for life, though...and out of the 750 or so we've found outside of the solar system (I'm sure the number has grown a bit more), we have only found exoplanets that are similar to the others in our solar system...not necessarily Earth, and when we do find something close, it's only because it shares a similar property. Us humans all have similar body temperatures, but we aren't the same. My green eyes are like my cousin's, but she's a female with blonde hair. Words like "theoretically" and "probably" are also words that scientists want to avoid at all costs, whether they want to admit it or not. If a scientist were to acknowledge an unknown form of life outside of the Earth, he would really have to acknowledge the possibility of a higher power...and, in that case, a god. Theories are based on assumed facts, but we all know that assumed facts have been manipulated and changing for years in the field of science. I can never compare a comic book, or a fairy tale, to religion. We know exactly where Batman came from, who created him, and when. Nobody has a clue who has written about the first god, or who claims to have seen one, etc...and Batman was created with everyone's knowledge that he was a fictional character. Far different. What if someone really did see a higher power building pyramids that are so massive and well-constructed, it's impossible to imagine it being done by your average human? There are far too many unexplained events that science will never fully dig into. Things just don't happen, not with this kind of design, not this complex. We have billions of people, hundreds of testimonies, and still no answers to how this all started, if there's life on other planets, if there's another Earth with humans, if we can create life out of nothing, etc. It all goes back to this: if I was God, and I wrote my story and handed it to multiple people to translate (or I created a story by walking the Earth during that time)...you could go thousands of years into the future and see that the story shares the same ideas (ex. a higher power). But, it was manipulated and altered to fit the understanding of that particular culture, creating multiple religions and, thus, making some believe that this is all a hoax. A hoax...that some genius actually sat down at a table, thousands of years ago, and wrote what is the greatest collection of books on Earth...and that "story" (whether it's fact or fictional) actually persuaded nearly an entire planet to believe in something that most had never seen before (again, if this was created by a typical human). It's just very hard to imagine that.

There are a little under two deaths on Earth every second, and 150,000+ per day. Do you expect him to save every single person? You're right, he's an all-loving god, and he doesn't pick and choose. Living on Earth is about free will, and how you live your life AND impact those around you...that's what you'll be judged for when the time comes. Sit back and imagine a world that knew, for a fact, that God existed...and not only that, but he was saving every life on Earth. Not taking into account how crowded it would be, you're basically going to see a planet full of mindless drones. The world would be so perfect, you really wouldn't have a purpose, at that point. The general idea is that there were "gods" or some sort of a higher power, a creator. Much like a story you and I could tell someone, then have them pass it down to a line of 30 different people...how things took shape on this Earth, over that course of time...those stories were probably misunderstood by other cultures, even slightly, which is why you see multiple religions/beliefs in numerous different books. Maybe a "Water God" was Jesus Christ walking on water, and as years passed (and not just years, but centuries), that story, and all that followed it, were translated differently. Pictures were created to tell a story, and eventually, those pictures and shapes were all transferred to books. But you're as much sure of this as you are about how the universe was created, because none of us have experienced absolute death (that we know of). See, science is about presenting facts...so why would a scientist come out and say that he/she knows the final result of death? Visually, you're just a body...but what you present in happiness, sadness, among many other emotions and reactions...you're a soul. One can basically "regenerate life" using apple seeds, and if scientists claim this universe was created from a Big Bang, life is indeed life, and that means scientists can't rule out life after death for humans, as much as they can't for other things on this Earth. If you take an all-black culture from centuries ago, and look at their pictures (nothing else), without any knowledge of God or a god...you'd have to assume that a picture of God (or a god) would be the same skin color. Language was created by man, and interpretation? Created by man. -------------- Like I've said many times before, I fail to see how we all came from something that didn't involve a designer. Our bodies, everything around us, were designed to function perfectly together, with the perfect Earth and its atmosphere and resources, perfect distance from the sun and moon to support life (MUCH unlike any other planet we've ever discovered). I find it hard to believe that particles around me can't collide and create before my very eyes...never witnessed by anyone, ever, in any open environment. Puzzling to me.

Pretty sure he's pissed...probably the same feeling Eric Gordon has right about now, because he was headed out of NO.

For ABL, this > mega-millions lottery victory.

There's actually some good in this, for those of you who don't think he's worth that amount of money: it's a two-year deal, and teams like Cleveland and Charlotte were having trouble getting him to accept anything less than three years. So, if Howard is SOMEHOW on the Magic in February, and Brooklyn decides to re-visit those talks for Dwight, it won't be as hard moving Humphries.

LOL...Nash reported it on Twitter, then added this picture: http://instagram.com/p/NMnhZQA5HS

Don't ever be surprised, lol. I just couldn't remember the name of the team, but I read about MLSE last year, when I was adding them as owners of the Raptors on the team roster page I set up (which needs updated).

Glad to see you back. I've stated it before, but your walls are easily among the best I've seen.

We knew this would happen eventually, back in December, but yeah.

Jamison suddenly becomes our best bench player. Now we just need B-Rush, somehow, and we're good. Rush and Jermaine O'Neal just worked out for us today.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. They own the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Toronto FC (soccer) and a hockey team.

Wow. Double wow.

No, Tyreke is their two-guard. He's their primary SG, and he actually played more SF than he did PG last season. Their PG is Isaiah Thomas (the rookie out of Washington). And what I'm saying about Calderon's $10.6 million is that...the Raptors don't necessarily have to remove it from the equation, because they are still well below the salary cap. They aren't holding back for luxury tax reasons, that's clear as day. So, if they were to amnesty Calderon, that doesn't mean they are going to use that $10.6 million on players, because they have yet to reach the salary cap to begin with (having money ready to use as we speak), and yet, they haven't gone out to sign many impact players. If OJ Mayo wanted to go to Toronto for $6 million a year, he could do it right now...with Calderon still on the roster. That's what I'm saying.

1) Hitting a player with an amnesty clause doesn't necessarily give you that money to offer to others. 2) However, the Raptors should be well under the cap, if I recall correctly, and signing free agents like Mayo and Brooks shouldn't be a problem for them (cap-wise), even if they keep Calderon. Regarding Aaron Brooks, though...I doubt he would want to be in Toronto, because he wouldn't be starting over Kyle Lowry. I think he ran off to Sacramento because he has an opportunity to start over Thomas/Jimmer. I have no idea who Jeff Finger is, so I'm assuming you're talking about the Maple Leafs. The only problem I see with all of this (regarding the Raptors being cheap) is that they HAVEN'T amnestied Jose Calderon yet, and that they just overpaid for Landry Fields (in hopes to give Steve Nash big bucks). I think, when it comes to the Raptors, there aren't many players who are rushing to play alongside Bargnani in Toronto.

Still waiting for his decision. I wouldn't mind him coming to LA, but I guess it depends on how we do in our efforts to acquire Brandon Rush (who I would rather have, obviously).

I really wish we could find a way to get more athletic and run faster. I mean, I know what Dallas did two seasons ago, but they had players who could get up and down the court, also. I don't want Jermaine. He's way too injury-prone, and I just don't trust him out there for us. We need someone that can come off the bench and spread the floor, a stretch-four. We can't have anyone trying to take up space on the low block, whoever it is. If it's out of these three, I see no reason to shy away from Jamison. I would hope the Lakers know better (and I'm sure they do). He's the guy.

If he is, it's only because he's a diabetic, like me.

Starting over Thomas?

If you can't play the point in college, you sure the hell won't play it in the pros. I really have no idea what the Hornets are doing. Maybe they have a plan to acquire a PG before the season starts? Maybe they will bring in a point-forward to come off the bench with Rivers at the point? Right now, it doesn't make sense to me. First 10 games as PG: more turnovers than Jeremy Lin's first 10?

So the Suns drafted Kendall Marshall, picked up Scola, and added Beasley and Dragic from free agency. Could be getting OJ Mayo as well, and you can't forget, they landed two first rounders and two second rounders by trading Nash to LA. That's pretty impressive.

At one point, Portland wasn't even sure if Felton could run up and down the court for more than 15 minutes without looking like a 45-year old veteran back-up. Hopefully, for the Knicks' sake, he comes into camp with a new look, much better conditioning, and ready to learn from J-Kidd. It's the money, and I don't blame them for not wanting to match, really. I mean, Lin looked spectacular for a while, but he turned the ball over more than any player in NBA history through a stretch of games, and many just feel the Knicks were in dire need of a true point, instead of someone like Toney Douglas in there doing absolutely nothing for them. If the Knicks could have signed Lin on their own terms, not having to match an offer sheet...well, you would more than likely see Jeremy Lin back in New York.

I'm shocked the Knicks fans are happy about this, to be honest. I understand you didn't want to overpay for Jeremy Lin, especially when you consider he didn't give you a full season of all-star play...but wiping that from the table for a minute, taking Lin completely out of the equation, your starting PG is going to be Raymond Felton.

Donatas was Don'tnatas tonight.