Real Deal

Talk around OKC is that the Thunder traded for Aldrich so they can have a true defensive-minded center starting for them, and that they will try starting him a few times during the season (or do what they can to get to that point).

I have to say Shaq and Kobe as well, because both demanded doubles. Chicago did a lot of great things with Jordan and Pippen, but they had shooters galore, knocking down shots every game. I wouldn't throw Horry (showing up only in clutch moments) and Fisher (same) in a similar boat with Paxson, Kerr, Armstrong, Kukoc and Harper. During their dynasty, Kobe and Shaq were the two most dominant players in the league. During that second and third ring, you could argue that Kobe was also the best overall player, as he and Tim Duncan were neck-to-neck in overall skills, while nobody in the league could defend Shaq by themselves, up until his days in Miami and Phoenix.

Hmm...well, uh...Boozer and Johnson?

At the center position?

Do you consider LeBron a greater player than Malone, already?

That makes things even worse. Four players (assuming they were to make that trade). It would've been nice if the Knicks had that first-rounder this year. Paul George Cole Aldrich Ed Davis Xavier Henry Those guys, and a few others, would've helped attract free agents. Especially George.

LOL.

Chill out guys, please...

That could always be the plan, but New York has to realize that it could prove to be a fatal mistake. C - none PF - none SF - Gallinari | Walker SG - Johnson (FA) | Douglas PG - Rodriguez Once you make that trade, you have that. If you were LeBron or Wade (or Bosh), would you be tempted to sign with a team containing a roster of five players? Literally...just five, with so many question marks as to who they will sign before the start of the season? Bosh wouldn't, because he would look at it and realize he would probably have to play center, something he stated multiple times he doesn't want. LeBron sees that Gallinari is starter-material, and playing him at the four means James doesn't have a post scorer to go to. Wade won't run the point, and Johnson wants the two...so there's another problem. At the end of the day, I think the idea to trade everything you have to bring in the superstars won't work. Miami has Beasley and Chalmers retained, and Bird Rights on Dwyane Wade. That covers three positions in the starting five already, and with an option to bring back Anthony (who's a decent defensive big man) and picking up the big men they did in the draft (which was an excellent idea), Bosh will more than likely be satisfied with what they are trying to build there. I think the Knicks just hit a brick wall when these stronger, more developed and potentially dangerous teams starting making room...and last year, I had this gut feeling it was going to happen.

Yes, it's basically keeping the same payroll if you work the sign-and-trade deal, because you'll still have what you have now, and that's enough money to offer two max deals.

That can't happen, unless they all take much less, or the Knicks end up dealing EVERYONE or buying them out. At that point, you will probably win just 50 games with Bron, Wade and Bosh...but that's mainly because your other players will be Omar Cook, Pavel Podkolzine, Tierre Brown and Shammond Williams.

Knicks, because they have basically threw their entire team out the door in hopes to get two superstars, and getting a Boozer and a Gay (ha) won't suddenly boost them into 45-50 wins. Granted they didn't have much being thrown away in the first place... There's more to basketball than marketing in NYC. Once playoff teams opened the doors for these superstars to dive into a potential championship contender (Miami and Chicago are two), that pretty much smoked the Knicks right out of the war room.

Not exactly, because your point does a lot of cutting to and through to the corners after bringing the ball up. You can't really say two positions on the floor are interchangeable in the offense because you're literally forming a triangle on the court, and the three strong-side positions go to players with different roles. I mean, you don't want a post player and two spot-up shooters forming the triangle. Sort of hard to explain without a bunch of diagrams.

And DraftExpress stated he was 6-11, but that's not the point.

Sorry Jer, something went all weird with the topic-merging, so it took the other poll and completely deleted it.

I truly think he should push for a sign-and-trade to Los Angeles, for Bynum and whoever else needs to be added to the mix.

GM's didn't follow the rules with Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani (#1 picks). Same with Adam Morrison and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (#3) and even Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love (#5).

I think some of you are sliding out of the discussion a bit. It's asking if teams would've selected him at 1-5 if he were black, not if he would be a better player. So...if Cole Aldrich was a 6-11 true center, black skin, would more coaches/GM's considered selecting him higher in the draft? Would more have paid attention to his defensive skills? People STILL slobber over Andrew Bynum being a true big. He's had three major knee surgeries, missed probably 50% of his games in the last three seasons. But even before he was drafted, he was a big deal and would've been selected top three had he went to college for at least one year.

Where did he say that at?

Both of them were going to get suspended, but then I noticed the IP address matched PointForwardGuy, who has been banned probably three times already...and a couple of you suspected it was him. Looking back at his posts, I don't blame anyone for calling him a moron.

Thank God the NBA isn't like soccer. There are more stretchers being used than points being scored, and there's no flopping in soccer? LOL...give me a break. Fake injuries and flopping...those have to be drawn-up plays or something, because they happen constantly. Refs don't determine the outcome of a game? They did, USA vs. Slovenia (as mentioned earlier), and they also let Ghana walk in slow motion when substituting, and they made some ignorant calls down the stretch as well. I am so thankful for basketball. After today, I appreciate the sport more than ever.

I'm doing everything I possibly can to enjoy the game...but DAMN... I just don't get all the flopping. I thought the NBA was bad. We missed 3-4 good shots at a goal, and I just want to headbutt my wall.

1) Cole Aldrich 2) Xavier Henry 3) Evan Turner 4) Jordan Crawford Aside from those four, I could care less about the rest (until the Lakers drafted Ebanks and Caracter, of course).

Ah, yep...you're correct, using your timezone. But either way, I was wrong on the date. The 27th (before 11:00 PM, my time) was when I opened the site back up. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/3-rebuilding-the-dynasty