Real Deal

They are pushing hard to deal Dalembert, but teams won't take him unless Iguodala is included, and those teams are still reluctant to hand over an all-star, which is all Philly will accept for Iggy right now. Something has to give, though.

As far as the three-point contest go, they selected players that are typically heavy three-point shooters (attempts). Gallinari - 326 Frye - 277 Billups - 238 Curry - 205 Pierce - 174 Cook - defending champion From the Cavs, only Mo Williams had more 3PT attempts than 2-3 of those guys, but he was injured and unable to participate. The Sophomore team for Hickson? Michael Beasley Eric Gordon Kevin Love Brook Lopez Danilo Gallinari Russell Westbrook Marc Gasol O.J. Mayo Anthony Morrow Every player on that roster is better.

Trade edited.

I'd give it a D if it were in another stadium. The location, the record-setting crowd, and the All-Star game, balanced it out. Average.

Lakers and Spurs. Playoff series... 2001: Lakers 4, Spurs 0 (WCF, Lakers go on and win the championship) 2002: Lakers 4, Spurs 1 (2nd, Lakers go on and win the championship) 2003: Spurs 4, Lakers 2 (2nd, Spurs go on and win the championship) 2004: Lakers 4, Spurs 2 (2nd, Lakers go to the Finals) 2008: Lakers 4, Spurs 1 (WCF, Lakers go to the Finals) The two teams have seven of the ten championships in the decade. Kobe versus Bruce Bowen, Shaq versus Duncan. The player of the decade versus one of the best defenders of the decade, and the most dominant center versus Mr. Fundamentals. Looks like that rivalry has topped Sacramento, at least in my opinion. Sacramento never beat us when it counted, so technically, they were just a roadblock we continued to kick over.

Yeah, nobody wants Vujacic...but if Portland wants Thomas (and they do, badly), this might be their only way of getting him.

Tyrus Thomas and Sasha Vujacic to Portland Kirk Hinrich to Los Angeles Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, Adam Morrison, and a first-round pick (or Juwan Howard) to Chicago

Yeah, I'm thinking if it's not Beasley, the trade will include Wright or Haslem. It may be the reason why a deal hasn't happened yet. You know the Heat need to make one, but I'm not sure WHAT they are thinking at this point. I'm definitely against trading Beasley, though. I think that's a big no-no, especially for a guy who may not stick around after three months of playing.

Artest has been a boost for us, pushing the team to a #2 ranking, defensively...and, just for future reference, Gasol would wreck Ilgauskas in the Finals. If we get there? We'll walk into the Finals. I just have no idea who we'll face. Those 66 wins looked pretty good last season, but the first 12 wins in the playoffs is more important. LeBron says he wants respect (and his team). Maybe he should look in the mirror and ask himself, "Why should I deserve respect, being the leader of this team, when I have trouble giving it?" LeBron has disrespected the Orlando Magic, disrespected the Chicago Bulls (the Noah incident), disrespected the league with his "Check my $tats" shirt, and that's without touching on what Shaq has been doing/saying. O'Neal disrespected Howard just the other day. So, with all of that coming from their team captains...why would any of them expect anything different from the rest of the league? As you can see, the Cavaliers are becoming more hated at every turn. There are guys on OTR who didn't mind rooting for them in 2007 (myself included). I actually considered LeBron my second favorite player for years, and I can say that there were quite a few Lakers fans on TLN that did as well, rooting for him to crush the Spurs, and loving how he put Detroit to rest. Now? There are fans from other teams (teams that shouldn't care what Cleveland does) that don't like LeBron or Shaq, tons on RealGM and on a few other sites I've been on, and on OTR. You gain respect by giving it. Cleveland doesn't give it. Things like that will push other teams to try their hardest against them when it matters most, and to be honest, that's definitely not a good thing for the Cavs.

And him shooting it with those big, silky, muscle-smothered arms?

The Bucks are finished (with a surprise third player, and a new Jennings cut). :o Also, the Wolves are done.

Jazz and Spurs completed. EDIT: And Magic...and the Thunder.

Statistics and awards from 2000-2009: Kobe - 28.0 PPG on 46% FG, 5.9 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.7 SPG 4 NBA championships (25 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 5.1 APG in first three, by the way) 1 MVP award 1 Finals MVP award 3 All-Star Game MVP awards 10 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team) 7 All-Defensive 1st Teams 2 All-Defensive 2nd Teams 10 All-Star Games Shaq - 22.6 PPG on 59% FG, 10.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.1 BPG 4 NBA championships 1 MVP award 3 Finals MVP awards 3 All-Star Game MVP awards 8 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team) 3 All-Defensive 2nd Teams 9 All-Star Games Duncan - 21.4 PPG on 50% FG, 11.7 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.3 BPG 3 NBA championships 2 NBA MVP awards 2 Finals MVP awards 1 All-Star Game MVP award 10 All-NBA Teams (7 1st Team) 8 All-Defensive 1st Teams 2 All-Defensive 2nd Teams 10 All-Star Games Include the achievements for Kobe that I listed here... ...and you can't leave out Kobe in this conversation, no matter how much you hate him. Someone also made a good point...

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq The Sixers are pushing for it. Do they really think Amare will want to stay in Philly after the season is up, or is this a desperation move to get way below the cap?

...according to Chad Ford. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq So maybe they are trying to keep Beasley after all? I wonder if they are talking to Houston...

Chad Ford thinks so, if they land the Amare deal... http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq

Bryant is twice the defender. LeBron shows up, defensively, on weak-side blocks and steals in the passing lane. Problem is, there won't be a weak side in this game, nor will there be passing lanes. Both healthy, Kobe takes him. This will happen for at least another year, also...but I don't expect it to be that way much longer.

Fish7718 - 1 Rondo - 2 iBoldin - 3 Swish - 4 Confidence - 5 Dee - 6 Yugo - 7 Legacy - 8 .50. - 9 Smitty - 10 Riot - 12 Dabearfan101 - 13

It's going to be whoever gets the "lucky" number. I figured it wouldn't be as fair...and the best in the competition shouldn't be too worried about it in the first place.

2009-2010: 47.8% (with healing Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2008-2009: 47.7% (with injured Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2007-2008: 44.6% (with Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2006-2007: 51.6% (no Garnett) 2005-2006: 50.5% (no Garnett) 2004-2005: 49.7% (no Garnett) I know you see what I see. Those are allowed eFG% by Pierce, season-by-season. See how they decrease? Now do you know why Kobe had so much trouble against the Celtics in 2008? Do you really think it was all Pierce? It's easy defending guys that can't drive to the rim because of defensive monsters waiting for them. And I never said Pierce wasn't in the top ten...but he's at the bottom of that list. He sure the hell isn't up there with Bird, Russell, McHale, Cousy and Havlicek. All were better overall players. And I'm sure I could make an argument for Dave Cowens. If you're so interested in Defensive Win Shares, check out the 2005-06 season for the Lakers. Smush Parker was at 3.0, right behind Bryant's 3.7. Really? Smush Parker was pathetic on defense. How about this season, though? Bynum is third, Gasol fourth...and Artest fifth? Yet, that doesn't exactly match up with what the "people who make millions to analyze games and players" are saying. To them, Ron Artest is arguably a top five defender in the NBA. And every Lakers fan knows how pathetic Bynum has been on defense as well, to the point where the Lakers are considering benching him this second half. Guess who is just one point from Paul Pierce in career defensive win shares? That's right...Dirk Nowitzki, someone who has been known for being an average defender all his career. I bet you can't guess who is just two points behind Kobe Bryant. It's Allen Iverson, who has been a matador all his career as well. Career scoring average is also a bad way to look at it. If a two-point gap is too close to call between Bryant and Pierce, you wouldn't mind the two-point gap between Pierce and Michael Redd...and we know how one-dimensional Michael Redd is. But maybe it has more to do with roles on a team...like Pierce's with Boston, as he was their leading scorer for most of his career, not having to pass the ball to very many, just as Redd was for Milwaukee. Bryant, on the other hand, was benched for a couple of seasons, then running an offense until around 2001, then was given the role to run that offense AND score 25-30 a game. You can say all you want about Pierce, but don't compare him to Bryant, in any aspect of the game. Pierce is a top ten Celtic, but Kobe is a top two Laker, top ten player of all-time (top five or better once his career is done). Pierce isn't even on that planet.

Wow, that's awesome Sean...pretty interesting. Good job, Wade. He played big tonight...well deserved MVP. With that said, Karl is an idiot. Nice going, giving Melo the final shot. That ball should've went to Dirk, simple as that. Stupid...but you already knew he would draw that up. I hope Dallas crushes Denver in the playoffs.

Shaq dominated the decade for six years. Bryant had it since 2002. I would give it to both guys, though, for the simple fact that Shaq was more dominant at his position...but you have to consider his position as well. How many dominant centers, from 2000-2009, challenged him? I like Duncan, and I think he's the overall best big man (overall skills, at least) since Hakeem...but he wasn't dominant at his position. When a guy scores 81, outscores a team through three quarters (62 vs. Dallas), averages 35 PPG in a season, has four consecutive 50+ point games, nine consecutive 40+ point games, 13 consecutive 35+ point games, facilitates the offense AND scores 25-30 PPG in three of four championship seasons, plays defense and has an MVP, Finals MVP and three all-star MVP's to show for it, you can't ignore that.

Basically. He tried doing that already, though, by trading them Shaq for cap room. He's probably still happy that the Cavs franchise was the first to actually give him a chance in the NBA, also, when he was in his 3rd or 4th year in the league.

This is merely an idea of the blogger's, nothing more. Detroit has been hit up by a few teams regarding Rip, including Cleveland...and I'm sure that Cleveland offer included JJ Hickson, who would be much better for Detroit than Dampier (or his contract).

Butler over Terry? Kidd is an all-star.