Real Deal

Grass is greener, but the Knicks need one more guy. Lee gave them double-doubles and bad defense every night at the five. Amare will do the same, with a few more points, maybe less boards.

It's ridiculous that this is actually news, and that ESPN is making this out to be BREAKING NEWS. I hope he used his real email address, so it gets FLOODED with Twitter mail notifying him of each new follower.

I had faith in Brock the entire time. My dad loves the fights, and he and my bro were picking Carwin. I just didn't think Brock would get killed in that first round, though...had his face beat in.

You actually do it frequently, disrespecting a lot of members and their opinions. It's over with...there are plenty of other forums for you to post on. And to SOME of the fans who were getting mad when he disrespected your team or fanbase, you should probably look back a year or two (and even sometimes currently) and realize how much it sucks when you did it (or do it). Aaron asked me last week if people were done trolling Lakers fans, so he could come back and post regularly. That's my administrator, having to ask me that.

LOL. It's just you, Matt. Nope. Delete your cookies (at least your OTR cookies). I think a few people are going to find the same problem...had to make an adjustment on the site.

Assuming Bosh doesn't re-sign with Toronto, and this is if he walks, who would you say will emerge as the leader of this team? Not so much team captain (because that usually goes to veterans, and they don't necessarily have to do much on the floor), but as far as being the primary option and dragging the team into the playoffs (aim high!), who do you think it will be? According to someone's Twitter, it's DeRozan.

He seems to be acting greedy and arrogant at times. I don't know. I think it'll end up leaving a sour taste in the Toronto fans' mouths. The more he does it, the more I really don't want that sign-and-trade with the Lakers. I know it's a long shot from happening, but still...

By the way, welcome to the site. I hate green.

Well, that's what I was saying. I don't like the idea of trying to acquire three superstar free agents, because it's impossible to do that AND maintain a good supporting cast, mainly because of the salary cap. Of course, doing it through trades works, especially when you have a high payroll. Funny thing is...the Knicks were topping $120 million at one point, and didn't get it done. Now they are at about $19 million, and if they come out of the fire with a couple of stars instead of superstars, it may cripple that franchise for a long time.

All Fisher has on Blake is that ability to hit the biggest shots with seconds left (the super-clutch, that's what I call it), leadership, and physical strength. Blake takes him in everything else, especially defense, and that's one of the biggest holes we've ever had on this team...defense at the point. Smush was terrible, Atkins was horrible, Payton was out of his prime, Fisher doesn't have the legs for it, and Harper wasn't a point guard. We haven't had a real point guard in forever, let alone a defensive-minded one...and the ridiculous rumors about the triangle demanding a non-traditional point guard are asinine. Whoever thinks that should probably study the offense a bit more. In fact, it gets so bad that there are Lakers fans thinking Ray Allen and Mike Miller would be good point guards in our offense. We finally have a traditional point guard, one that can pass very well, make the post-entry pass, and actually PLAY like a point. I absolutely love this deal we made. I wouldn't mind having Fisher back, but that $5 million for three years is just Odumb.

Yeah...that $3.5 million sounds about right for Lowry. Farmar, I don't know...he could put up better numbers if he plays more minutes, but he's probably in that range as well. Felton can get at least the MLE from someone, and do much better than a one-year deal.

I'm not so sure Ray Williams made $50 million during his career, though. I'm sure there's an article somewhere that probably states he made that much, but I have to question that because players were getting paid around $2-3 million a year back in the late 80's...and I imagine it was a little less in the last 70's and very early 80's. Williams played 10 seasons, so he'd have to average $5 million a year.

LOL. I think $200/mo. is pretty fair. I work at an oil refinery, managing systems and blueprints for the tankers and machinery out there. Then I come home and become a web designer (very few clients, though) and a computer technician (slow right now). It's really not that big of a deal if you're unemployed, fellas. A LOT of people are where I live. Not necessarily your fault, so I hope people understand that before they start commenting in this topic (because on the old board, this became an issue).

A "big three" can be built in many ways, though. You know how it is, haha. Boston pulled it off, while having the role players to go along with it, and they won a title the first season. Los Angeles has a big three, because Bynum is a double-double when healthy, but I won't dive into that much because they've won two consecutive rings with him injured and playing 15+ minutes a game. But the way teams have tossed everything aside to offer the three max deals...it's not the same. Bringing in those three players using free agency just seems like a bad move, at least attempting to, because if you hit and miss with two superstars, you probably won't get the third, either.

http://i49.tinypic.com/8wf7sj.jpg SICK.

I smell city/state rivalry. It's like the Clippers versus...the Clippers.

Novak was a good shooter in college. I'm 100% sure he has already shot below 40% in two of his 4-5 NBA seasons (can't remember when he was drafted), and I know for a fact he was pathetic his rookie season. And you say we need a point guard...so why Novak? He's almost seven feet tall. He wouldn't even get playing time over Josh Powell, let alone Lamar Odom.

Dude, Fisher isn't even in the same boat as Bryant. We could go through every single NBA team and say that about every player, in that case...so therefore, we never blame anyone for our struggles? So Derek Fisher had 3-4 big shots in the fourth quarter this season? That makes up for the rest of his play? I don't buy that. Throwing Kobe (or Gasol, or anyone) under the bus to defend Fisher...doesn't make sense at all. It sucks when Kobe has to get his rest two minutes at a time, and play at an extremely high level the entire game. Go back to our schedule (the results) and check out how many real blowouts we had...double-digit wins, that will work. Then compare that to, say, Cleveland or the Magic. The more we work Kobe, Gasol and Artest, the less chance we have at winning rings later. Through the season? Well, Kobe admitted he was on empty when he reached the Finals. Fisher is wide open most of the time. He needs to knock down his shots and play defense, simple as that (and in a way, it is simple because he is always open and he's a physical player, but he'd rather miss layups and flop than anything else). Now he wants $5 million a year, three years? Please. He's going to play his cards until Mitch decides to let Shannon walk, just to make room for the extra $2-3 million. We wouldn't win it all with Blake at the point? You can't say that. I believe everyone was saying we couldn't do it with Gasol, either...because I distinctly remember all of us wanting Garnett or Jermaine, and we felt that LA settled for Gasol and that the "first round virgin" would never help take us to the top. I want Fisher back, but not for $5 million a year. That's actually $10 million because of the luxury tax. Not worth it, not for three more seasons.

LOL. You're crazy, dude. My best idea for us all is the Bulls trading Rose to the Lakers. On a serious note, getting rid of Deng's contract would open the flood gates up. If that means dealing for Bayless and Przybilla, then, trading for picks, that's understandable. We all know the Bulls are ready and willing to unload players for cap space. As far as trading Noah goes, I have this hunch that he really is untouchable, yet he would go in an instant if it meant bringing in LeBron or Wade...but not Bosh. Can that tie in with CB4? Most definitely, because the Bulls may only get Wade by getting Bosh in on the deal (as you said). Confusing, yes...but the next 2-3 days will probably be even crazier.

No, I know...that's my point. He has been telling everyone it was already done, just needing to wait until the 8th. Maybe he got word that there was really no chance of it happening to begin with, and so he did the most logical thing: made something up to cover his own ass.

Not really sure if I believe this...because it wasn't just a week or two ago, Steven A. Smith told everyone that the deal was already in place, that the three had already agreed. He said his source (who hasn't given him bad info in 15 years) confirmed it. So this seems like he's pointing at someone to blame, saying, "Hey, I was right...but Bosh backed out of it." I don't know.

Fisher has to be clutch to make up for the pathetic defense, and pathetic shooting, he gives us for the first 47 minutes of every game he plays. The clutch excuse gets old, guys. If we had a point that could defend, we wouldn't need 6-7 Kobe game-winners or a Fisher clutch three.

Wow, good deal for the Bulls. Bayless will be an excellent backup to Rose...could even play him at the two. Przybilla actually plays like a big man, so that's also good for Chicago. Deng needs a new home. Portland may be good for him, but I'm wondering...he'll be coming off the bench, right? Because I know Batum is some superstar to the Blazers' front office...

Pfft...I was saying this a year ago, my Canadian buddy. (not really)

Yeah, I feel like the Lakers are going to go after one more player with the remaining MLE, then shoot a vet's minimum at Bell.