AboveLegit

Bron Wade Dwight CP3 Dirk

Vinny Del Negro is an idiot. How does he constantly go to Billups off screens rather than utilizing Blake and CP3 more?

Billups is just not good, the SG position will hurt the Clips a lot. Chauncey cannot run with Golden State, he needs to play in more halfcourt sets. Oh yeah, and he shoots a lot of threes..

Miami-OKC Miami will roll right through this season, I was completely convinced after the Bulls series last playoffs that they would be dominant, and despite LBJ's Finals collapse, I still maintain that they will dominate this league for years to come. I understand that this team has it's flaws, but the duo of Bron and Wade is just too good. Last year 3 different PGs and 3 different centers started at least 11 games for Miami, which had an effect on their chemistry together. I have a ton of faith in Chalmers, he shot better as a starter, and displayed a lot of confidence during the Miami series (at times, the big three was Wade, Bron, and Chalmers). I don't think we'll witness the start Miami had last year when they went 9-8, they won't suffer from learning to play together, and there won't be much free lancing going on.

Derrick Williams, have spoken highly of him since March madness, and I remain optimistic that he will be an All Star in this league.

Durant has the best chance by far, he's the clear leader of his team while guys such as LeBron, Wade, Chris Paul, and Melo have legitimate superstars beside them. Thunder have a tremendous supporting cast, and should be a top 5 team at the end of the season (record wise). But I really have my eyes set on Derrick Rose. I know its irrational to name the reigning MVP a darkhorse for the award, but no one has mentioned him thus far. He's in the perfect position to win it again, he doesn't have an all star next to him, he simply has a great supporting cast. He's the closer of that team, and has been working hard to improve his jumper. With the way the league is set up, Rose will be in contention for this award for the next few years (assuming this core stays intact).

Trading Iggy would only mean more time for Thad Young and Evan Turner, who could turn out to be better all around players than Andre. And if you have a hard time picturing the Cavs not in the playoffs, I do not know what to tell you.

Are you serious? Philly made the playoffs last year, and only got better and more experienced this year. To say they are questionable in an otherwise weak playoff race is asinine.

I'm not one to underrate the Spurs because I know how well Popovich can coach under any circumstance. And if I remember correctly, I had them being a lower seeded playoff team in the West before the 2010 season only to see them become the #1 seed. However, there's just too much to be skeptical about in San Antonio. Kawhai Leonard is extremely raw offensively, and will struggle early on finding his niche on defense. Pair that with the aforementioned fact that Popovich's teams rarely produce high impact rookie players, and it leaves very little hope for him this year. You guys lost George Hill too, who was an important piece coming off the bench. He was the perfect player alongside Manu, and was capable of playing with Parker. Can you really expect Gary Neal to assume that role effectively? Bonner, Tiago and Blair are good backups, but they're abysmal on defense, if you see them playing extended minutes, expect to be outscored.

Deshawn isn't a SF though. My guess is that the Nets don't trust Marshon yet, his game needs maturing and he looked lost on the court last night. They also desperately need some perimeter defenders.

The way I see it, Orlando still has to trade Dwight if they want anything in return for him. Apparently this is the same injury Robin Lopez had, which kept him out for 7 weeks. New Jersey expects Brook to be back by February, which is before the trade deadline. But I doubt Otis pulls the trigger on a deal for Brook involving the best big man in the game. That would be insane of him. This gives the Lakers a ton of leverage now, unless another team comes out of nowhere and makes a better offer and Dwight wants to sign there. Hell, they might be able to pull off a trade without giving up Gasol. Nets fans better hope and pray Bynum gets injured again this season. But the Nets were not going to make the playoffs anyway, they are not a deep team and don't have much quality talent outside of Deron. But this does nothing for Dwight, he doesn't care what the team looks like now or whether they are winning or not. He cares that Deron Williams is there and committed to play long term in Brooklyn. I firmly believe Deron will stay in Brooklyn, he's become very close to Billy King and is consulted by the front office regarding changes to the roster. If for some reason Dwight doesn't get traded, they will reappear as the frontrunner.

I like the way you have always done it with creating all 1230 game threads. I think by letting others create the threads, we'll see less motivation from posters to create them because they just aren't interested in posting in a thread by themselves. If you create all of them, at least it is already there. I agree that 50% of game threads don't get any activity at all, but it's what separates OTR from other forums. I have not seen a forum do what we have been doing for the past few years.

If Troy Murphy really is a rotational player for the Lakers, they are in a lot of trouble. This team has no quality depth outside of McRoberts. Someone really has to breakout before I consider them a threat to the upper echelon of teams.

East: 1. Miami 2. Chicago 3. Boston 4. New York 5. Philly 6. Indiana 7. Orlando 8. Atlanta I don't trust New York's depth right now so I'm skeptical of putting them over Boston right now. Celtics are known for starting the season off strong, with a shortened season and a veteran team, I think their record will be fine. I also have faith that Rondo will have a monster season. I really like the Sixers coming into the season, they have 2 starter worthy players coming off the bench (Thad Young and Evan Turner) and one of the better scorers off the bench in the league in Lou Williams. They are a young, disciplined team that plays great defense. I like Indiana as well, but not they're not as well rounded as Philly is. Orlando is an interesting story, I fully believe Dwight will be traded by the deadline, so they should maintain a solid record that takes them to the playoffs. Atlanta is probably the team I could see falling out of the playoff, but they do have quality depth and some solid stars still on the roster. West: 1. Oklahoma City 2. Memphis 3. Dallas 4. Clippers 5. Lakers 6. Portland 7. Denver 8. San Antonio Clips should look good this season, but their defense is still relatively suspect. I don't trust Chauncey as a 2 guard, he's not quick enough to guard opposing SG's, nor is he capable of playing the position to the level he did when he first came into the league. Dallas, Memphis, and OKC are the three elite teams in this division, they have quality depth, and established starting lineup, and great coaching. I may be underrating the Lakers, I predict Bynum to have a great year, but outside of him, there's a lot of question marks. Pau's state of mind will be in doubt up until the trade deadline, Kobe's health is already taking a hit, and their depth is garbage for the most part. A huge problem last year for Portland when I watched them was that when LMA went out of the game, the offense suffered massive scoring droughts because they couldn't run the offense through anyone else. I think with the addition of Jamal Crawford, they will be much stronger in that regard. However, you gotta fear the depth they have at the center position. Denver is very deep, and I expect Lawson to continue to improve, but they still lack that go to scorer. And lastly, the Spurs, who are only getting older, still lack a good wing player, I just do not trust them coming into the season. The schedule contains multiple back to backs, as well as emphasizing conference play. The West is stacked, San Antonio is not built for this rigorous season.

Amazing. Probably my favorite of the year.

See, I'm very skeptical of Boozer because players that tend to get injured a lot in their 20's generally fall off once they hit 30. But his fundamentals are impeccable, and his positioning and footwork in the paint are great. His game doesn't require athleticism, so I really do think he can only improve as a Bull from here. Even if Boozer does fail, it won't kill a franchise the way Peja, Arenas, Shard, or even Ben Wallace's contracts did because they have Taj Gibson backing him up. If Taj can get stronger, develop a consistent jumpshot, and implement a go to move in the paint, he will be a very good starter in this league. I think Luol still has room to grow. His game continues to developwhen he plays for a good coach, at Duke you saw him improve as the season went on, most of Skiles tenure brought out the best in him, and under Thibs as well. The only exception is the VDN era when there was no sense of direction for the team. The '07 playoffs is a great indicator of how good he can be. 22PPG and nearly 9RPG in 10 playoff games is impressive, and he did it efficiently. I credit Skiles a lot because his motion offense was the ideal situation for Deng's game. His strong suit is coming off baseline screens and using his deadly accurate midrange jumper. I firmly believe he's a great fit alongside Rose, it's just that we have yet to see this Chicago team at it's best because Boozer hasn't been at his best.

It's possible because they have no definite second star in Chicago, but his situation is much different than Dwight's in Orlando. Chicago has invested money into players coming into their prime (with the exception of Boozer who I believe was a mistake). Deng has some room to grow, as does Noah. Not to mention, Chicago drafts very well. And I know people will be quick to point out LeBron's comments when he was in Cleveland, but Rose genuinely wants to be here long term and wants to win here. His mentality is why fans love him so much, he doesn't care for teaming up with other stars, he wants to win by himself. Just last year we thought it was far fetched when he said "Why can't I be MVP?" but he backed it up and did exactly what he wanted to do. And I remember during the 2010 offseason when he refused to recruit players to play in Chicago.

You're not alone on that one, he probably won't make the ASG because of all the great PG's in the East (Rose, Williams, Rondo), but he's an all star caliber player. He defended Wall very well in the first half, frustrated John on occasion, and forced some turnovers. He does a great job staying in front of his man. I think Blatche is turning the corner now, he has matured, and for the most part, he's making good decisions. He's a terrific passer in the paint (always has been), and he's now using it to his advantage. He's also posting up more which is nice. JaVale was also a bright spot tonight, I love the fact that he's attempting to develop a go to move on offense. If he can perfect that hook shot (he's far from it right now), he'd become an all star. Jordan Crawford on the other hand is quickly becoming one of my most hated players. His jumper is broke, he plays out of control, commits a ton of unforced turnovers, and just hasn't developed a niche as a starter. Luckily, Nick is back and should be the starter this season.

Lol some serious Nick Young hate going on in this thread.. I think people have the wrong impression of Nick, because they think he's just a scorer (on offense it's true). He's very efficient scoring the ball, he's a good one on one defender, and is probably the best catch and shoot SG in the game today. When you're the backcourt partner to John Wall, you gotta do three things very well: run the floor, catch the ball, and shoot it. If you can't do it (see Jordan Crawford), then you're better off on the bench. Now I agree he's pretty one dimensional on offense, he doesn't rebound well despite seeing time at the 3, and he's not a great passer, but to his credit, he was asked to carry the load scoring the ball because he was one of three players on the team capable of creating their own shot. The price is high, and I'm happy we didn't cave into his demands and opted for the qualifying offer instead, but this will concern me if Jordan doesn't develop an outside game this season. But this is all very similar to the Bulls situation a few years ago with Ben Gordon demanding 10 mill a season. They declined, he signed the qualifying offer, and then got overpaid the following offseason in Detroit. Things turned out well for Chicago because they stuck with the plan and refused to spend their money without any regard.

I was very high on him throughout the draft process, and do think he could contend for the ROY (I still have Derrick Williams winning it). Matter of fact, I had him going #3 to Utah in my mock: http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/23700-abls-2011-mock-draft/ As for him being better than Wall, i don't see it. He's not near the prospect John was coming out of college, and his ceiling isn't projected to be higher than John's.

I love that Ujiri is bringing the core back and wants to develop all of his assets, but he has tied a lot of money into his players. Nene isn't going to get better, if anything he will start to regress in a year or two. You still have to extend both Lawson and Gallinari soon, and have basically omitted yourself from making any noise in future offseasons. This team is still lacking that franchise player, they have a myriad young talent, but are lacking that one go to guy. If they keep it up, they can only hope to be a lower seed in the west for years to come.

http://twitter.com/#!/WojYahooNBA Mavs have been busy this offseason, signed Delonte and Vince Carter today as well as trading for Lamar Odom.

I wonder what happens to Eric Bledsoe and/or Mo Williams.

http://twitter.com/#!/WindhorstESPN

I just don't see them trading him, they held onto guys like Kirleinko and Boozer, this situation probably isn't any different. He's on a great contract and is probably the Jazz's best player right now despite the possibility of him not starting. I have a hard time seeing them trade him strictly for saving money. As for this CP3 to LA rumors, Mitch needs to understand that he has to give up Bynum in order to get his guy, and that it is almost impossible for him to get both Paul and Howard.