Built Ford Tough

Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about it. Just seems off to me. I am liking this whole Louis thing, though. Really interested to see where they take this as I definitely expect him to play a huge role in the penultimate season, setting up the final season for the long anticipated Dex vs. Deb/Miami Metro showdown. At least that is what I think/hope will happen in the final two seasons. Of course, all theories can change after the season finale airs.

I'm not sure I buy it. I think this is the case of the NBA trying to sucker the Clippers into including both the Minny pick and Gordon into the deal. The Clipps know that they have all the leverage in negotiations since Paul has pretty much said he would only extend/pick up his option for one of the two LA teams. That likely eliminates Boston and Golden State from contention. They also know that the Lakers really have nothing to offer other than Bynum, who they seem to be saving for a Howard trade. So why would they include their two major assets in the Wolves pick and Gordon? The NBA tries to make it seem like the Lakers and Hornets are back in negotiations and put the thought of Paul being dealt to the Lakers in the back of the Clippers mind and hoping that they cave and include both major assets. I don't see it happening. The NBA is going to have to realize that it is going to be one or the other considering the lack of other possible Paul trades.

And, as usual, Doug Smith is wrong about another Raptors related story. The Nuggets didn't match and Forbes is officially a Raptor. I'm fairly sure that the deal is for two years with a team option for the third. I also heard that the Raptors offer was around 2-3X the amount of his qualifying offer from the Nuggets. If that is true, it would put the offer in the $2-3M range as the QO was just under $1M. If I had to guess, I'd say $2.5M. Well, Colangelo has to at least make one stupid signing an offseason, so at least this one wasn't crippling.

What the hell happened to Kulemin offensively this season? He is still playing very well defensively, but he is playing nothing like he did last year at the other end of the rink. Last year he was nearly impossible to knock off the puck, had a very quick release on his shot and was able to locate it exactly where he wanted to most of the time. This year whenever he gets the puck it is basically a turnover waiting to happen, he takes forever to get his shot off and when he does actually shoot the puck, he either misses the net by a mile or shoots it right at the goalies chest. If you would've told me at the beginning of the year that Kulemin would be far and away the weak link of the KGM line (a line that is no longer together) I would've called you crazy. They really need him to pick it up because Kessel and Lupul aren't going to be able to continue to carry this team offensively.

I would imagine Haywood would play center. Lineup will likely look like this: C: Haywood PF: Dirk SF: Marion SG: Carter PG: Kidd with Terry, Odom, West, Beaubois as the main reserves They definitely need to add another center, though. I like Haywood, but it is going to be very tough to rely on him as the only center on the team.

I love this guy.

One of the posters over at RealGM made a spreadsheet tracking the prospects of this draft. It is very well done and makes it very easy to get a look at top prospects stats. Definitely worth checking out: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Att6UkE6YL9pdEN3cFlqaEU2VTFwTnowaDdPMll6NlE&hl=en_US&rm=full#gid=0 As far as I know, he upgrades it after every game from one of the players listed.

That isn't really fair. The Magic lucked into the Finals by beating a KG-less Celtics team in 7 games and beating a one-man show in the Cavs. Is there really any doubt that had Garnett been healthy that they would've been in the Finals that year instead of the Magic? I don't think so. Carter didn't play all that bad for the Magic, given how they used him. Everybody knows he isn't a spot up shooter, yet that is how he was used in Orlando, just like basically any other perimeter player. He still managed to put up around 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 45 FG% and 36 3PT% in 30 minutes a game during his 102 games with the Magic. Not prime Carter numbers, but they aren't terrible by any means given his role on the team. Did the Magic get worse after acquiring Carter? I guess if you want to get technical you can argue that they did since they never got back to the Finals after picking him up, but if you ask me they weren't any worse than they were prior to him. They just happened to not get the same luck with him. As for Phoenix, he was a bad fit there, but they did just lose Amar'e to free agency and went out and overpaid for mediocore talent. It is the same situation in Dallas. If they don't repeat as champions, which is likely going to be the case, is it because Carter is a kiss of death? To me, that would be very unfair, just like what happened in Orlando.

So.... Does Maggette average more shot attempts (FG and FT) than points this year? With the Bobcats relying on him to be their number one option, it should be a close race.

To be fair, a mix can make anybody look talented. To prove my point, I give you Joey Graham, future All-Star: Seriously though, he is a good hustle, energy big. He just happened to be redundent with Hansbrough on the roster, since the two of them give basically the exact same things to a team. He isn't ever likely to be a starter or anything like that, but he will definitely have a successfull career as an energy big.

If they sign Crawford, I'd be shocked if they went after Mayo as well. Where would he fit in with Collison, Hill, George and Crawford all in the mix at the 1/2? Add Brandon Rush to that mix, assuming he isn't involved in the deal and it gets even more crowded. I guess you could slide George over to the 3, but even then, it is still awfuly crowded in that backcourt. I think that Mayo was their backup plan in case they weren't able to sign Crawford. I think they got word that they have a good chance of signing Crawford, which is why they used their amnesty cut on Posey to create more space and minutes. One last point, wasn't the deal supposed to be centered around McRoberts anyways? With him signing with the Lakers, it doesn't seem very likely that the deal would happen and this offer reflects taht even more. I think it was more of an either or situation and they never planned on getting both.

With West, Carter and Terry all on the roster, I can understand the Mavs dealing Fernandez. I'd play all 3 of them over Rudy and you just know that if he doesn't get the playing time that he wants, Fernandez would throw a fit. EDIT: They also got Brewer:

Kings fired Terry Murray last night. Can't say I blame them as many people expected the Kings to contend for a top 3 seed in the West and yet they are currently in something like 12th place and among the lowest scoring teams in the NHL. When you have as much talent on the roster as the Kings do, there really isn't any excuse for them to be on the outside looking in of the playoff picture. There is speculation that they might hire Darryl Sutter as their next head coach. It would be great to see him behind a bench again because he has basically fallen off the face of the earth after leaving Calgary. Dude could be dead for all we know.

If the Pacers get Crawford, I really like their team heading into this season. C: Hibbert PF: West SF: Granger SG: George PG: Collison with Crawford playing the super sixth man role. They aren't on the level of a Bulls, Heat, Celtics or Knicks, but I do see them right up there with the Hawks and Magic in that "2nd tier" group of Eastern Conference teams.

It looks like the Nuggets are going to match the contract (Forbes is an RFA, if you didn't know), according to Doug Smith: http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/ Also saw this, but I have no idea who he is or how credible he is: It was on the HoopsHype rumour page.

Crosby is out with concussion like symptoms again and there is no timetable for his return. This situation is looking way too similar to what Eric Lindros went through, and it would be an absolute shame if we get robbed from seeing one of the all-time great players play because of concussions, or any injury for that matter.

Odom just acted like a gigantic baby. Considering Pau has already been "traded" and isn't demanding out, crying to the media or anything like that, I don't think you have to worry about him. Bynum went through all of the trade rumours 2 seasons ago, whether it was for Bosh or whoever as well, and he didn't put and cry, either. In fact, correct me if I am wrong, he played better after all of the trade rumours came out. I wouldn't be worried about him pouting and demanding a trade, either. As for Kobe, well, he isn't leaving. These three are much more professional than Odom is and realize that this is a business and shit happens. Odom didn't "have" to be traded. If he would've just sucked it up and acted like a professional, he would still be in LA and this whole thing would've been forgotten in 2 months. Instead, he acted like a baby and pouted his way all the way to Dallas.

If the Lakers "expect" to keep Bryant, Gasol and Bynum, they better not "expect" to make any big trades.

I was watching an interview with Davis on Raptors.com and he mentioned that he put on about 16 or 17 pounds in the offseason. If that is the case, he would be around 240-245 or so. If the reptorts of Amir being up to 240-250 are true as well, and he certainly looks bigger, I am really looking forward to seeing how these two are able to hold their own in the paint. They are good defensively positionally and understand where they need to be on the court, but they both simply couldn't match up strength wise. Hopefully with the added muscle, they will be able to hold their position more. I also hope that they are able to keep on the additional weight as we all saw how Bosh lost his extra bulk as the season went on, and that was during a normal year. It will be even more difficult in a condensed schedule like this one.

Actually, scratch what I posted here. If a team picks up a player using the amnesty clause, that player must stay with the team for the remainder of the season. So no team would be able to pick up a player off of the "amnesty auction" with the intentions of trading him that season.

Curious move since Posey was expiring after this season anyways. Do they plan on making a run at another free agent this summer and needed the extra cap space to sign him? Some of the more well known names out there who still haven't signed are guys like Samuel Dalembert, Rodney Stuckey and Jamal Crawford. Possibly Andrei Kirilenko as well? Although I heard that he wasn't coming back to the NBA unless he got a better deal than the one he has overseas.

The Lakers also got a 1st from the Mavs for Odom. You know damn well that pick and the subsequent TPE from the trade is going to be used in an attempt to land Howard. They can't take on Turkoglu's contract since the TPE is only for $8.9M, but they can easily take on somebody like JJ Redick with this TPE and, say, Chris Duhon with the one from the Vujacic trade. So say the Lakers offer Bynum, Mavs 1st and a future 1st of their own for Howard. Then they use their TPE's to take on some of the undersireable contracts of the Magic. It isn't a fantastic return by any means, but it is suddenly looking very comparable to what the Nets can offer. Although the Nets can afford to take on Hedo's deal.

Mavs are sending the Lakers a 2012 1st round pick and possibly a 2nd rounder as well.

Yeah, you could build a team around them. The team would be knocked out in the 2nd round year after year, but whatever. I'm not denying that Gasol or Nene aren't talented (although Nene is highly overrated if you ask me). But neither one of them are capable of having a championship calibre team built around them, even if they are paired together. I just don't see it. Both are complimentary pieces and if the Rockets had done this trade, neither one would ever be able to compliment a star player in Houston because they would have no chance of landing one. Losing Hayes because of this (assuming he was coming back) sucks, but it is Chuck Hayes. Its not like he is irreplaceable. I like what he brings to a team, but there are plenty of players around the league that you can find who will give you basically the exact same things and come at possibly a better price. Oh well, I guess I just see things differently than you do. I know if I was a Houston fan I would be jumping for joy that this trade didn't happen.

Be thankful that Stern stopped the Rockets from paying a Gasol/Nene frontcourt around $107M over the next 3 years? That would be my guess. Seriously, the Rockets got so bent over in that trade that they should be thankful it wasn't allowed. They would've went from being a treadmill team with some nice assets to being a treadmill team with no assets and no cap flexibility. Both situations suck, but give me the 1st one over the 2nd one any day of the week. I honestly don't think adding Gasol and Nene at the expense of Martin and Scola makes the Rockets any better than they were last season. Maybe 5 wins or so, which puts them from a 9th seed to, what, a 7th seed and first round exit?