Real Deal

Toronto wouldn't be able to do anything with the expiring contracts, because they would be expiring for next season. The free agency period everyone wants to participate in is this summer's. Just ask yourself: would you do that trade if you were the Raptors? Someone will throw out an all-star caliber player. Golden State could offer Monta Ellis. Philly may show interest and try to hand over Iguodala. That's just two teams off the top of my head, and those two players (Ellis and Iggy) would be in Toronto quicker than you could say the name Jordan Hill. The chance that Houston has, though, will be based on how quickly everyone else signs. If Bron and Wade take forever, Houston has more time to work out a deal because most teams will be focused on those two superstars. Don't get me wrong...Bosh is a superstar, and teams will be interested, but we know where he stands when compared to those two. The Rockets will need to sweeten the pot with one of their starters. I would be absolutely in SHOCK if Houston started the season with Yao, Bosh, Ariza, Martin and Brooks as their starting five.

Yeah, no chance for Jennings. Maybe when he dropped 50+ on Golden State, but he hit rock-bottom so fast, it threw him out of the race. It was between Evans and Curry, and Tyreke deserved the award. Not very many rookies average 20 PPG, 5 RPG and 6 APG on 46% FG. That's pretty amazing, even on a bad team.

I don't know why. It's been proven true over and over again on this site. Real talk, the definition of an MVP changes every single year. Who's the best player in the NBA today, this very minute? LeBron. When I asked who the best player in the NBA was in 2007, everyone was saying that it didn't matter, and that the award was asking for most valuable to his team. Then I heard that certain players weren't winning the award because they weren't a 50-win team. Well, now, 50 wins doesn't mean anything because it's a bottom seed in the West. A few years back, Steve Nash won his MVP because he basically did everything without Amare Stoudemire. Nash wasn't the best overall player in the NBA, nor did he have the best team in the league...but he had lesser teammates. Today, everything is thrown out the window, and the definition of an MVP is changed once again...best player in the NBA. Funny story, nonetheless...and not a single person on this site can disagree with this post.

Houston would have to hand over a lot more than just Jordan Hill to grab Bosh. There will be plenty of teams interested, some that are looking sign-and-trade as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulls (even though they have the money) will try and offer a sign-and-trade, and Bosh agrees to sort of "give back" to Toronto. That may be the case with everyone interested, to be honest.

I don't see Thibodeau leaving Boston until Garnett does, to be honest...but who knows. I like Avery Johnson, but I really think the Sixers should pursue Mark Jackson or Jeff Van Gundy as well. JVG really needs to get back with a team.

How do you feel about it? Should it be illegal, like it is in high school? Just how effective is it? Read more... http://i39.tinypic.com/fwsuxc.jpg http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/25/fullj.377214c1b4bec89c0dbb311f33bb7114/377214c1b4bec89c0dbb311f33bb7114-getty-98244836mw070_oklahoma_city.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/2cng46.jpg http://www.nba.com/media/kobe21_600_070330.jpg

I just realized I never updated anyone on this. Wait until the new version, which shouldn't be too long. IPB support actually worked with me on this problem, and the fix is going to be a bit too complicated for this version.

Probably Griffin or Turner. I think it'll take Wall a couple of seasons to adjust to the NBA game, but once he does, he'll be amazing. He'll probably come in third. Consider this: Griffin has already been through NBA practices, and he played through preseason. We saw what he has the potential to do. You can't ignore that. He could walk into the NBA and average a double-double his rookie season (15/10, maybe). That would be good enough for consideration.

He wants to start, but I don't see any confirmation yet.

Haha, really? On behalf of NBA.com? Don't spam my site. Thanks.

I know it was a while back, but lay off the personal attacks. I moved the old topics into the Off-Topic forum, just to make it easier to see what topics are most important in this forum.

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/11279-cavaliers-celtics-series/

Fill in the following. Ten points for each correct answer, minus ten for each missed (which includes extending the series over the correct amount of games). If you feel the series will extend past four games, continue to add an answer to each game you think the series will play to. +10 bonus for the correct series winner, +15 for a perfect series. For example, if you believe the Cavs will win the series 4-2, you should fill in six winners. Cleveland has home court advantage.

The Suns need to let Roy get his. He's still got a bad knee, no matter the surgery, and letting Roy shoot jumpers gives you a bigger chance of winning the game, despite it being in Portland. If he's not in, let Miller go off and stop everyone else. Dre is on tired knees, so you won't be seeing a significant performance out of him, at least not in the 30's or 40's, as long as you stay in front of him. Phoenix also has to rebound. When they do, they are tough to beat, especially when they grab boards and start the break. Portland needs a lot out of Batum this game, and Bayless has to attack when Nash is defending him. Aldridge won't be able to do it all, and Roy's injury will keep him under 30 points and a reckless performance. Also, the Blazers have to keep an eye out for Frye and Dudley. Phoenix will be content with 30 threes, so it's up to Portland to close out and not allow them to get hot.

Manu's nose is really giving him fits. When you bust your nose, it feels really heavy (sort of like when you jam your elbow, and you can barely lift it), and I can imagine it's really throwing him off, the way he drives to the rim, shoots the ball, and pretty much everything else about his game. And that's where the Mavericks have to capitalize. Duncan will play well, more than likely, but they have to limit what Hill and Parker do on the court. George Hill escapes his man and runs to that corner three way too much, and Parker forces defenders to collapse on him when he drives the lane, two things the Mavs have to limit if they want to pull out of San Antonio with a victory. For the Spurs, they need others to step up. Blair has to bring his intensity, and guys like Mason and McDyess have to hit their open shots. Jefferson can be the one that carries Manu's luggage while he struggles to find a rhythm, but ultimately, it will be up to Duncan and his ability to make his teammates better (also known as giving them open looks), and Pop's adjustments to compensate for Ginobili's injury.

TIME: 8:00 PM EST TV: TNT

TIME: 10:30 PM EST TV: TNT

If there's a legit discussion over an incident by a player, and it is current (ex. the towel boy incident that has been discussed by ESPN), it will be a topic up for discussion on OTR, if a member makes that decision to create the thread. In that thread, you will NOT personally attack a member and accuse him/her of posting the topic to run a player into the ground. Legit topic everywhere else, legit topic here. Get it through your head. If members are going to be harassed based on their team rep (because if a non-Lakers fan were to post a topic about James, it would be fine), I will remove all team reps from this board, then start banning people, no warning system used. No suspensions. No second chances. It's time to weed out those who think they can dictate what is posted here at OTR, and the community will have absolutely NO say in who stays and goes, so the best way to keep your friends here is to let them know if they are screwing up. To be completely honest, I will drop every member until this issue is resolved, even if it means we are down to 10 active members. Quite frankly, I don't care, and I promise I will do it. If you think you're immune to a ban, you'll find out just how wrong you are, because every single member will go if they become a problem, from admins and mods to writers, staff and regular members. Two members have been suspended for five days. Those accounts will be deleted, with every post they've ever made, if they return and present this site with the same problems they left with. There will be no discussion over this, because every registered member here will understand it. If you don't, you are encouraged to leave.

Which is absolutely frustrating, by the way. It would be fantastic to see a team double him right when he touches the ball, but Cleveland has eight guys capable of knocking down threes (Mo, West, Gibson, Moon, Parker, Jamison, Jawad, Big Z). LeBron really does have the perfect teammates for his game, just as Iverson did in 2001. Hell, teams still double Bryant when he touches the ball at 23 feet, but it's been a little less since the injury. Still...

Yeah...but it's Orlando. The Hawks have been off and on all season long. After the Bucks won their second game against Atlanta, I really had no doubt in my mind they would at least go the distance in this series, and even in this Game 5 (may not have predicted a win, but still...). The Magic will crush the Bucks. It's going to take one hell of a series from Jennings to match what the Magic do, because the Bucks will not be able to contain Dwight, Carter OR Nelson. Not at all...and Nelson may be the most dangerous, with Howard getting his double-doubles. Keep this in mind: Charlotte was one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. Without Bogut, the Bucks are going to struggle defending Howard, which will open up a lot of shots for a team that can knock them down with the best of them. Sweep, or no more than five games.

LeBron doesn't play PG. He's a point-forward. If he played the point every game, all season, he'd get lit up, and his help defense would suffer more than anything else, because he wouldn't be able to leave his man at all, for any reason.

You do know that Kobe told Phil he was defending Westbrook, right? Kobe and the big men deserve the credit. It was Bryant who took out Westbrook (who has been dominating us in the series) and he spoon-fed the big men, who were FINALLY running to the rim and getting buckets with dunks and oops, the way bigs are supposed to play. Because of that, they also rebounded very, very well and finally played the defense they needed to play. Phil would've let Fisher defend Westbrook again, had Kobe kept quiet.

Bryant played with arguably the most dominant center of all-time and scored just as much as he did in two of those championship runs. Just because a Finals MVP wasn't awarded to him doesn't make him Robin. We discuss this crap all the time. Tony Parker didn't lead the Spurs in 2007, Tim Duncan led that team...but he didn't win the Finals MVP. Bryant has ran the triangle offense AND was a primary option along with Shaq. He was also the lockdown defensive player on the team. His role was far, far, far greater than that of Scottie Pippen's, even greater than Shaq's, and until any of you find me a "Robin" that has scored almost 30 PPG and ran the offense, AND defended the best player, from a championship team, you have absolutely nothing. Don't even bother looking. Kobe is the best overall player to ever play the game, arguably second behind Michael. Greatness, which includes the number of championships? He's not there yet...but overall play, offense and defense, skillsets, etc...he's there. To say he isn't shows your animosity towards what he has done in his career, and what he has done to your team.

Nene out for the rest of the night with a sprained knee. Not a good sign for the rest of the series, let alone the night.

Close game so far, but the Nugs are trying to pull away. Can't let Deron shoot that three though.