Real Deal

Taj Gibson is staying in Chicago, and Thibs likes Asik quite a bit. Watson, Bogans, Brewer...those guys would be dealt before Gibson, especially if Chicago can bring in Lee and find a cheap PG in free agency.

If Miami wants Roy, they will need to cut Wade, LeBron or Bosh. ------ What I would like to see happen is Brandon Roy telling Portland that he won't take the massive player option in 2013, unless he hits certain numbers in his game (conditionals). That way, Portland can give him two years of what...$30 million or so...and then get rid of him on his own terms, the team and player parting ways and being friends for life! But yeah, this is the NBA, and I doubt that would be the case, no matter how nice Roy is. I think Portland should hold out for just one season. They can waive him this summer, and have a shot at Howard (and by that time, Oden will be expired, assuming they will match any offer sheet coming up...giving him a one-year deal and unrestricted free agency afterwards). It would work out better that way, in my opinion.

With a shorter free agency period, and many other SG's to choose from, it's more likely a team won't overpay for Parker, and Cleveland should get him back. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he took off. His numbers have taken a hit since going to Cleveland, he's probably playing a bit less, and I wouldn't assume he'd be too happy about that.

Well, eventually, DeMar will need to create his own shot. That's going to be his forte down the road. He's got enough potential to be a very good player. When I point out Calderon being a detriment to the team, I don't feel he's taking shots away...but he's not on the court as much as he should be, and he's always playing injured (seems that way). Every single time I watched Toronto last season, the guy was either limping around, not playing at all, or getting pulled from the game after about 20-25 minutes...and that is an issue with young teams learning how to play with their point guards. Not to mention he's still horrible on defense, but there's no point in arguing that. I watched Jack and Bayless...and I wasn't sure if they were ready. But, someone will need to step up and take it from Calderon, and I believe Jose has been struggling with his shot AND getting that extra step on his defender, which means it's time. The Raptors are really hard to figure out, at least for me. As the owner, I would honestly use the amnesty on Calderon, try to trade Bargnani (or vice-versa, since Bargs is making far much more in a longer contract), and go from there.

So the Rockets don't have much confidence in Thabeet after all? Denver has to sign and trade him away. They have to get something, and they most certainly can. They won't find much from a team like the Heat or Celtics, even though both teams would love to have Nene...but there are teams in the league (like Houston) that would dish out some decent players. Paul, that would be interesting. There's no way you'd trade Horford, though, correct? I'd have trouble doing that. Denver would have to take back Joe Johnson (no-show Joe), and give me someone else with Nene (Afflalo), for me to consider that.

Otis needs to phone Dwight and simply ask him. I sure the hell would. I'd say, "Hey, Dwight...I want your opinion on Gilly. Cut him, or see how it plays out? I'm going to reconfigure this entire team to keep you around, simple as that, no beating around the bush...so do you think he can be a contributing teammate, or will cutting him mean more playing time for someone better?"

Przybilla is going to be lucky to play 50 more games for the rest of his career, let alone a couple of full seasons. His knee is incredibly bad, and he can barely jump now. Kwame wouldn't be bad, but they should shoot for Dalembert, maybe just so Miami doesn't pick him up instead. Dally would be better than Brown, obviously...maybe not as cheap, but Boston will be able to afford him, unless some desperate team comes in and throws a big amount at him.

I was going to write up a big post, but I remembered that Bargnani and Calderon are on this team. As long as they are around, I can't expect too much from DeRozan, unfortunately. I'm not sure if he'll be let loose. I was talking to another Raptor fan on this board I frequent, and he was basically saying the same thing, more about Bargs than anyone...and I just don't understand why DeRozan isn't being marked as their primary option. Oh, and I have to say...his guy is Kobe. If he works as hard as Kobe, you Raptors fans have to be happy. Anyone that works that hard should get significantly better.

Better now than some other time. I wouldn't have been surprised if Bosh was thrown into a gazillion trade rumors this summer (if we had a summer). I know they just brought him in, but I also don't think the Heat want to wait too long, because Wade is getting old quick (or maybe I'm getting old quickly). I can't say Bosh is a top three PF in the league, but he can bring enough to the Heat, in a trade, that would probably help Miami even more. Wade and James are scary together...just the duo. If they had the pieces around them, and holes were filled in the roster, that team is probably better. The only thing is, for his sake, I hope he doesn't try and adjust his game too much. If he gets this idea that he needs to be a traditional, back-to-the-basket boss in the low post, I think it's going to hurt him when he realizes he'll have to go back to the old Bosh near the end of the season. Truth is, the Heat don't need that kind of offensive player, unless the superstar duo is out of the game, and Bosh isn't skilled enough to cover all of that on his own. Defensively, though, is where he has to improve. If he can stand his ground better, and take into consideration just how important an extra 10-15 pounds of muscle is on that end of the court...that's a bad deal for the East.

Just an FYI - Andrew Bynum is suspended for this game (Barea incident), and he'll miss the first five games of the season.

You Jamesus PLP TSmaili ms2326 But I'm pretty sure there are others, without the team rep. And yes, the option to search for that is in the Members tab > Use Advanced Filters button...but you have to count them out, unless you have access to the database and phpMyAdmin.

Seems like a few of our dedicated guys don't have team reps. The Nets are missing a few (Guru and Uni, just me glancing and noticing). The Lakers are obviously going to take this, but one thing that should be noted is that I never changed the name of the Lakers' team rep file. Same with the Clippers. When I re-created the team reps, and renamed all but two (probably had something to do with them being in LA together), it actually removed all team reps from OTR aside from those, and almost everyone had to go back and redo their profile section for them. Still, we need more variety. Lakers 105 Celtics 34 Heat 30 Bulls 29 Knicks 26 Cavs 25 Raptors 25 Hawks 20 Rockets 18 Nets 17 Magic 17 Suns 15 Mavs 14 Nuggets 13 Sixers 13 Spurs 13 Pistons 11 Wizards 11 Thunder 9 Blazers 8 Pacers 7 Wolves 6 Warriors 5 Clippers 5 Bucks 5 Bobcats 4 Grizzlies 4 Hornets 4 Jazz 4 Kings 3

Haha...done. Had to put something up. I'll start adding rumors soon.

TIME: 10:30 PM ET TV: ESPN

TIME: 8:00 PM ET TV: ESPN

TIME: 5:00 PM ET TV: ABC

TIME: 2:30 PM ET TV: ABC

TIME: 12:00 PM ET TV: TNT

Funny story...I was messing around late morning, told a couple of friends that LSU would win by four touchdowns. They wanted to make that bet, basically give me a 28-point spread to bet on, and I wasn't going to take it. However, they kept slamming me for my statement, and I took a $100 bet. LSU wins by 32. While I didn't really care who won the game, aside from the bet, it's going to be incredible once I get my money tomorrow.

OTR has been dead. Here, I'll go this route: one day this last month, my age was a bigger number than the amount of posts. And, today, we only got around 200.

They'll have a few more chances down the road, but it makes me wonder just how much longer Spo will have a job (I don't think he's doing that bad) and how long it will take to deal Bosh and realize he's not going to help Wade and James out as much as they thought. Personally, if I were the Heat, I'd send LeBron to Orlando.

Sadly...Vick, Cutler, Henne, Kolb, Collins, Schaub, Cassel, and Campbell are all out with injuries, though (Collins had to retire because of concussions). Only three...McNabb, Orton and McCown...have lost their jobs healthy.

I LOVE THE NBA! We are aliiiiiiiiive! Thanks for all the updates and discussions, guys. Everyone is doing a great job.

Why the hell would the Magic take Bogut over Bynum? That's my question. They could probably take both Bynum and Odom from us, if they give us the right package.

That's true, but much different at the same time. The Lakers were 6th defensively (2009, by the way), and they would've lost against Houston or Denver if they were terrible on that end of the court. Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Bynum (50 games) and Ariza? Not to mention Phil Jackson, and while Fisher is probably an average starting PG at best, he's also one of the most clutch players over the last decade. If the Knicks make room for CP3, they will have three players on their roster. Filling the rest with minimum contracts won't assure them a ring. Maybe an ECF visit, but I can't sit here and say they could beat a team with a legitimate defensive anchor + one of the better superstar scorers in the NBA (ex. Dallas).