Real Deal

Ouch. Don't go that far just yet, haha. Thabeet needs at least 40 games under his belt before you dropkick him into planet Bust. But yeah, after seeing him get dominated in the SL, I don't know what to think. I had high hopes for him.

1) Chicago Bulls - Derrick Rose 2) Miami Heat - OJ Mayo 3) Minnesota Timberwolves - Brook Lopez 4) Oklahoma City Thunder - Russell Westbrook 5) Memphis Grizzlies - Michael Beasley 6) New York Knicks - Anthony Randolph 7) Los Angeles Clippers - Eric Gordon 8) Milwaukee Bucks - ?

[expletive] Al Davis.

True, but they can only win 17 with him.

Yeah, I know. I'm just hoping we get the first pick in the draft now, so we can draft Tebow and get rid of everyone else on the team except for Aso, McFadden and Miller.

Here's to Frye taking Russell's starting job by the third game of the season.

Ah, I wanna try this. Superbowl this year? I really don't have a favorite NFC team, but if I had to pick one... Vikings vs. Al Davis

Or he'll phone Leandro Barbosa and see if he can tear him away from the Suns for a season.

He's not a great defender even when he tries to be. It has more to do with his inability to defend, not his laziness. But worthless? I don't think I'd go that far, realistically. And comparing McGrady to Pistol Pete...really? Charles Barkley didn't win anything, either...but that doesn't mean he wasn't a great player, because he's the third best power forward ever. You say you used to be a fan. Well, there's a reason for that. You can't suddenly dismiss why you were a fan just because of McGrady's current state. He used to be a very important asset to his team, from Orlando to Houston...but things just didn't work out in either city. Hell, Yao choked in 2007 against the Jazz. He shot 44% from the floor and still attempted 18 shots a game, along with McGrady's 39% shooting. And in Game 7 against the Jazz, it was Yao's pathetic rebounding (6) and his 9/20 shooting that contributed the most to Houston's loss, not McGrady's 29 points, 13 assists on 48% shooting.

Just in case you haters didn't know, JaMarcus is now as good as John Elway. So YEAH.

Please don't overrate OR underrate Tracy McGrady. 1) He doesn't play defense. Don't say he does. He's an average defensive player at best, even if he gives it his all. 2) He has had the help of arguably the best center in the NBA, yet he still couldn't get the job done in the first round of the playoffs. Truth is, neither could Steve Francis, and as we speak, Tracy is following in his footsteps quite perfectly. 3) If he was healthy, he would be one of the best second scoring option in the NBA, possibly a decent franchise player. I wouldn't say he's a better franchise player than Yao Ming, but Yao may also never play a 60+ game season ever again, either, so who knows. 4) McGrady is an excellent scorer in the playoffs. He's also shot a low percentage his last two playoff seasons with Houston, shooting under 43% in 2008 and a horrible 39% the previous season. Let's not put McGrady in the same sentence as Kobe, Wade, LeBron, or even Durant right now. At the same time, I don't think he should be stuck in there with the likes of Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace, Luol Deng or Caron Butler...all good, but definitely not worthy of being notable franchise players.

So Billups was more of an MVP candidate than Melo? I'd love to hear that argument.

We're talking about clothes, not sexual preference. Stick to the topic, please, especially when the smallest talk of sexual preference ruins topics instantly. I could care less what anyone wears. I don't wear jeans but once or twice a year. I'm a shorts and sweatpants guy...but that doesn't mean I can't stand people that wear jeans, big or tight.

Well, haha, that's not fair. Mayo is a potential superstar. I think Love's ceiling is all-star, but that may be reaching in a league with an abundance of talented power forwards. I think Memphis made the right choice to trade Love for Mayo, at that time and for the future. I'm just not so sure about Thabeet...but that's for another topic.

I laughed LOUD right when I saw Garnett. That was hilarious. Shaq had a huge mouth when he was a kid. Wade got me laughing a bit.

The Knicks are going to drop him. It's pretty obvious. Even Bird Rights won't keep Lee in New York, not if the Knicks land LeBron, Bosh or Amare. Nate is a little different, though, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's dropped as well. Since drafting Jordan Hill, I think it's pretty obvious where the Knicks are headed. They want Hill to become starter-material, so they can dish out Lee for a rookie contract or a nice draft pick, which gives them the room to sign a big free agent superstar AND have enough money left over to chase a veteran with more than just the MLE. Great plan, but it's definitely not fail-proof. If the Knicks miss out on their superstar free agent, they are dead in the water.

...so the Nuggets still won 50 games without a leader? That's pretty damn good then. I'd say that Carmelo should have gotten an MVP over Kobe in 2008, in that case. I've been hearing the excuse that Iverson was never a leader. I heard it in 2000. I heard it in 2002 up until today. But I don't remember anyone saying it in 2001, when he joined the ranks of guys like Hakeem, that were able to lead a team to the NBA Finals without another offensive threat on the floor. But I'm going to assume that it was Matt Geiger who led that team. Chauncey sure didn't do much leading against us in the WCF. He also didn't in those previous seasons with the Pistons, especially when Daniel Gibson lit him up in a deciding game in the playoffs. Billups is about as overrated as they come, especially when you start hearing a gullible Denver crowd chanting "MVP" during their games, when we all know he didn't touch Melo's production on the floor.

Amazing how the Nuggets won 50 games with Iverson, then. Someone is going to have to explain that one to me.

Well, knowing you could've had Jefferson, Mayo and possibly Rubio in two years...that's pretty crazy.

Yeah, but that happens quite a bit. I also heard rumors that the Lakers were going after Hinrich, Sessions, Marbury and anyone else who plays the point and wants a ring (which is everyone who plays the point). Mitch had no interest in Iverson to begin with. He just doesn't make sense for the triangle offense, unless he's coming off the bench, and that makes him less valuable anyways. We were shopping Farmar, but that's because Shannon Brown has proven to be a legit backup and potential starter for us.

http://www.backstagegfx.com/cutgallery/uploads/44ECIQZ6X_magicjohnson.psd

I've watched quite a few Wolves games since they traded for Love in the draft (gotta love League Pass), and I noticed that Love is a decent player. But I'm looking at his stats, and this sticks out: 11.1 PPG, 9.1 RPG (3.4 offensive), 25.3 minutes Compare those numbers to Pau Gasol, who I believe is a top three or four power forward in the league (and an all-star last year): 18.6 PPG, 9.2 RPG (3.2 offensive), 37.0 minutes Now I know that Love doesn't shoot at a higher percentage, and he does foul a bit more than Gasol does. Thing is, I think Love can be a 18/10 player soon, and he could have the potential to do it in the next couple of years, especially with the addition of a point guard in Sessions that can actually get him the ball in better positions, and with Rubio coming in two years, who knows? I'm sure it would've been twice as awesome to keep OJ Mayo, but Love isn't a bad consolation prize.

...and you still disregard the fact that Iverson and the Nuggets were a 50-win team, and so were Billups and the Nuggets (just 54 wins) with the addition of a healthy Nene, along with Chris Andersen, and no Camby (who was an overrated defender). You take Melo, Iverson, Nene, Andersen, Smith, K-Mart and the others...and they still get to the WCF and drop to the Lakers in six. No difference. It's not like Billups had to be there to contain Fisher, and Chauncey was terrible in the WCF anyways, shooting under 40% against us. At least Iverson shot 43.4% against us when we swept you guys in 2008, and he averaged 24.5 PPG in doing so. Billups didn't even rack up over six assists against us, nor did he get over 18 points per...and he also didn't even touch 24.5 PPG against any team in the playoffs this past season. But you'd be saying the same thing about Billups once he's done with the Nuggets. The truth is, it wasn't Billups that gave Denver the four extra wins, it was the frontcourt additions and subtractions.

Pretty much it.

Not sure who won the welcome image contest here. Danny is a veteran, been doing it for a long time...so I can't exactly judge him the same. Haha but seriously, stick around. We aren't as active as TLN, but we have the best team forum discussion out of any other basketball sites you can find (other than RealGM, of course). We're just waiting for the damn season to get here. Not to mention we cover every game of the year.