AboveLegit

Someone please sell me on this because I'm not seeing how he's worth this contract. Between Derozan and Fields, they essentially have invested a max contract into two wing players. Not to mention they drafted a SG, who I thought would step into a starting role in a year or two.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--james-harden-gets--80m-extension-with-rockets-31181709.html He's undoubtedly a max contract player, but the Rockets gave him the 5th year as well.

That's a pretty safe investment, and provided he gets healthy, it could be a steal.

Not early on in his career. It's not that he should run his Phoenix offense exclusively, I just think it's better than using the Princeton and designating spots to everyone on the floor. A free flowing offense suits the personnel much better than an offense that simply forces you to be at the right spot at the right time. And I really don't think it's worth spending so much time on. Pau and Kobe are adaptable, but Dwight and Nash have played in one system. And knowing Eddie Jordan, he's going to spend the majority of practices working on the offense, which cripples Mike Brown on defense. That's not a recipe for success. This offense requires so much off ball movement, weakside cuts, backdoor action, high pick and rolls, and probably LA's biggest Achilles heel - spacing. Kobe is a great without the ball due to his experience in the triangle and his IQ, but Artest? Not so much. I think at its' peak, Kobe will benefit from the offense most because Eddie likes to run iso's, quick hitting cuts, and have his guards on the block, but I'm really not a fan of having Nash spot up or cut. If I was LA, I'd want the ball in his hands.

Well when you're bringing in a player like Nash to run your team (RUN the team, not lurk around the baseline looking for screens, or playing through the pinch post), you have to cater to his strengths. This offense requires a ton of commitment, I don't think you'll get that from everyone (particularly Dwight). And honestly, it'll probably take this team months to perfect, which means there's less time working on the defense (which looked horrid tonight). Nash has run one system his entire career, I just don't see why he can't make this offense successful that same way. Even during the Amare days he ran the pick and roll, had a player like Frye set up on the weakside, with Hill and Richardson on the corners. It worked brilliantly. You have your Amare in Dwight, Pau on the elbow, and have Kobe and Artest on the perimeter. I know that's an oversimplification, but it sounds a helluva lot better than running the Princeton and taking the ball out of Nash's hands. Kobe will get his no matter what. We saw that even today, he didn't go one on one as much (even if he wanted to, previous matchups with Mayo suggests he'd light him up), and he didn't have to dribble around and shoot over 3 guys.

I'll say around 20PPG, 4APG, and 4RPG. There's gonna be a huge adjustment period, defenses will gameplan for him, double him, and they won't help off him like they did at times in OKC. I don't expect his assists to really go up, one thing that worked for him so well in OKC was playing the pick and roll/pop game on one end, and having Durant or Westbrook on the weakside for kick outs. Lin is a streaky outside shooter, and is still recovering from his knee injury. But he was so efficient last year scoring the ball, getting to the rim and finishing, it's hard not to see him being a 20PPG scorer as the main option.

As I said before, the Princeton offense doesn't fit this team. Yeah it's one game and adjustments will be made, but even during the second half, you saw the team simply dumping the ball into Dwight. This is an offense that takes time to grasp and for players to fully trust it, so I doubt they go away from it anytime soon. You need to give Steve Nash the ball and let him operate, he doesn't need a full fledged system in place. Dwight looked particularly slow on his defensive rotations as well. That's something to keep an eye on as he continues to get healthy.

When you're able to get into the lane that easily, relentless players like Varejao will feast on the glass. Sucks not to have Seraphin and Nene sitting on the bench in a game like this, both aren't great rebounders, but they box out and rotate so well on defense. Varejao would probably wind up with half of those boards. Waiters looked good, but he struggles at finishing close to the basket. His outside jumper is definitely better than I had expected though. Irving was dominant. He had the likes of AJ Price and Jannero Pargo on him though, so I'm really not that impressed with his performance. But the kid is a star already, I'll be surprised if he doesn't win an MVP trophy in the next 3 years. He's that good. Beal struggled to find any ryhthm, but that's all on Wittman. He yanked him at the 4 minute mark of the first quarter because he got pick pocketed by Waiters and failed to run back on defense which allowed a fast break dunk, but didn't put him back in till the 2 minute mark of the second. He did the same in the third (around the 8 minute mark), and didn't out him back in till the 4 minute mark of the fourth. Hard to really establish anything (especially for a shooter). This team will be hard to watch for the next month.

Honestly, does Boston have one definitive advantage over Miami? Chalmers is rapidly becoming one of the best on ball defenders at his position, and I think that disrupts a lot in the grand scheme of things for Boston. Doc needs to roll with the bigs more than he did tonight. I get that when you're down the best option is to get out and run, and shoot your way back into the game, but they allowed a lot of weakside cuts and Bosh abused those undersized forwards (Green, Sullinger, Bass). But really it all comes down to LeBron. He looked incredible tonight.

MVP: Eli Manning Offensive MVP: Aaron Rodgers Defensive MVP: JJ Watt Surprise Team: Colts Disappointing Team: Lions Disappointing Player: Cam Newton Offensive Rookie: RG3 Defensive Rookie: Chandler Jones Coach of the mid season: Leslie Frazier Comeback Player: Peyton Manning

You're making me sad.

Do you go the direction of Sam Presti or the Utah Jazz with Deron Williams and trade him earlier than expected, or do you wait it out and risk another Dwightmare like Orlando? Consider this, OKC could have waited, let the season play out and contend for a title, then revisit contract talks next summer by either matching a max offer or trading him. Obviously in hindsight you're probably choosing the former because of how ugly Dwightmare and Melodrama was, but, Harden seemed like a guy that wasn't going to let the media in on everything the organization was doing or what he was demanding. So it is safe to assume that the drama wouldn't take a complete toll on his teammates (although the constant barrage of questions would still be prevalent). Regardless, the Thunder were a top 3 team in the NBA coming into the season, and they thrived off chemistry. Now, it's clear that LA is the better team, they lost some of that chemistry, and have that massive shadow casted over the season.

From what I recall, nothing was ever discussed, there were only reports that Presti met with Beal and liked his game.

It was never discussed.

Right now? Of course not. But I think we have to give him a full year as the man first.

Kevin Martin does have a $12 million expiring contract. Does Presti roll the dice and trade him at the deadline and risk chemistry that served them so well all of last year?

Really not liking this deal for OKC, LA is the heavy favorite now. I don't trust Scott Brooks as an innovative head coach, I find it extremely hard to believe that he'll go away from the high pick and roll offense now that Harden is out. Nor do I trust Durant or Westbrook to assume the playmaking effectively. I can't believe Presti went from offering him $54 mill a year to trading him when it became clear that he wanted the full $60 mill. Unbelievable.

More to come.... Wow.

I don't think Brooklyn is a lock for a top 4 team in the conference, not with their prospects at the defensive side of the floor. I do think there's a chance that your Josh Smith scenario becomes true.

Probably a battle between Philly and Toronto to be that bubble team, but that's assuming Bynum comes back after the All-Star Weekend, which I won't bet on because he's the scum of the Earth and will sit out as long as he can (sorry Philly fans). You're selling Atlanta short there. I think they have the potential to be a top 4 team in the East this year. Healthy Horford (who is an all star center), contract year for Josh Smith, an array of sharp shooters, and two good PG's (one that is a breakout candidate in Teague), I think this team is better than what they were last year. Ferry has done a tremendous job in such a brief time as GM.

I love Indiana, and think they're a top 3 team in the east. But will they beat a team like Boston in the playoffs? I'm not so sure. They have so many weapons on offense, but they don't have a a pure passer to get them easy shots when the going gets rough, and lack a true go to scorer (both are generally an issue in the playoffs). And I love their defense, but their lack of perimeter defenders (sans Paul George) will hurt them in a star studded wing group in the East (Bron, Melo, Pierce, Thad Young, Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace).

Celtics took the Heat, albeit undermanned, to 7 games. They got better with all of those signings, they should compete. Whether or not they're better than Indiana is a different story however.

Boston has just as good of a shot to upset Miami. Unlikely, but there's a chance.

I wonder if the owners pushed for this. I don't know what to expect from Adam Silver. I have a feeling he'll be exactly like Stern, he's been his right hand man through his most controversial years as commish (last 6 years).

Dwight, and I don't think it's even close. He got SVG fired and decided to opt in for an extra year in an attempt to salvage his reputation around the league. Not to mention LeBron was a FA and had every right to leave that horribly managed team, the Nuggets received a kings ransom for Melo, while Orlando got completely [expletive]ed in the deal (though that is their fault). Just everything about it was bad.