Built Ford Tough

http://m.torontosun.com/2011/12/08/sale-of-mlse-to-rogers-bell-is-close I don't know what is the lesser of two evils between MLSE and Bell/Rogers. Having both Bell and Rogers as majority owners of the Raptors (and Leafs, Marlies and TFC) is kind of scary as who knows what the hell is going to happen. On the other hand, maybe having the two of them together may be a positive thing as Bell may push Rogers to spend money to field a winning team as opposed to being content with just making a profit (or vice/versa). I really don't know what to think about this. I would've prefered to have some private owner such as Mark Chipman (who bought the Jets) but given the ridiculous amount that the OTPP wanted for its 80% share in MLSE, that was likely never an option anyways.

Only teams under the cap can bid and you can't make a bid that would put you over the cap. And yeah, it is silent. You make one bid to the league and that is all. There is no bidding war or anything like that. Each team who wants to bid on the player submit their bid to the league and then the player is given to whichever team made the best bid.

More like this: http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/915689/CP-got-Stern_d.gif On a serious note, though, this league is completely [expletive]ed up. It is actually hilarious to see how completely and utterly dysfunctional this league is. I can understand the whole owner vetoing a trade because it has happened (such as Jordan vetoing the Calderon/Chandler trade last summer after it was agreed on by both GM's) but to say that Demps has full authority to make a trade and then turn around and say "On second though, scratch that. You can't make this trade" is just brutal. It makes the league look completely bush league. Just a complete disaster.

Depends on the winning bid. If the best bid is for $6M, he comes for $6M. If the best bid is for $8M, he comes for $8M. etc... As for the signing, it is a great fit stylistically, but I would be a bit concerned about Chandler. He has shown issues in the past about becoming complacent after getting a large payday. I doubt he does that on a conteding team, but it is a possibility. Then there are the obvious injury concerns, especially in a shortened season. Will his back/ankle issues be able to withstand the grind that is the condensed schedule? On the whole, the signing is worth the risks since he showed last season that he can anchor a championship calibre defense and the Knicks desperately needed that.

Very nice signing for the Heat. Battier is going to be the exact same kind of player that James Posey was for the Celtics during their NBA Championship back in 08. Anybody who saw the Celtics that season knows just how valuable Posey was off of the bench for that team, especially in the playoffs. A Wade, James, Battier and Chalmers perimeter defense is going to be incredible to watch. Teams are going to have a hell of a time trying to score on the Heat. If they somehow find a way to bring in Dalembert or another defensive anchor, this team is going to be absolutely scary on the defensive end of the floor. If they work out their kinks offensively, good luck to the rest of the NBA.

Easy for you to say when the Heat don't have any draft picks for the next 100 years and are going to be in the playoffs for the next 100 years.

Ford playing under Popovich? I like it! Too bad this didn't happen pre-Horford clubbing incident. He isn't nearly the same player as he was before that. If Pop could've worked with that Ford, I think he could've been just as good, if not better than Parker was. Of course, I'm a Ford homer.

First Canadian to ever play for the Raptors. Not a bad signing. Magloire sucks now, so he won't hurt the Raptors draft stock. He also gives the Raptors the center depth that they were looking for, although I doubt he plays much. Next on the wishlist is going to be either a small forward or a 3rd string point guard.

I actually think Kaman, if he can get past his injury problems, is pretty much the ideal center that you would want next to Griffin. He is a good man defender, good help defender, good shot blocker, good, bordering on great, rebounder, solid passer and has the ability to hit 10-15 foot jumpers. He doesn't have a real consistent outside shot, but he has the ability to hit them which at least will keep the defense honest, unlike Jordan who teams don't have to guard unless he is right under the rim. Kaman also has a very nice post game to give you another look offensively. Pair Kaman's advanced post game with Griffin's freakish athletic ability and Gordon's perimeter attack and you have a very dangerous offense. Add a potential Chris Paul trade that involves anything other than these three pieces, and you suddenly have the makings of very legitimate championship calibre team. Injuries would be a concern since Griffin, Kaman and Paul have all missed significant amounts of time, but if they stay healthy and are able to mesh together, they are scary. It is a shame that he was injured last season because I honestly think that a healthy Kaman playing up to his potential would've shown what I have mentioned in this post.

Sorry, two-thirds of the season then. (Don't jump on me if it isn't actually 2/3rds of the season. I just threw that number out there, haha) I know that the players in China aren't technically missing the entire season, but they are still missing a large majority of it.

I'm sure it will be cheap. Likely just a one year, stop-gap solution to Aaron Brooks being stuck in China for the season. Try him out as a backup this season and if he impresses, give him another contract next season as a backup to Brooks, assuming Nash signs somewhere else or retires. I can't see this being for anymore than 1 or 2 years at the vet minimum.

Sounds like Dwight may be setting up the excuse for why he will leave in the summer. By saying now that he will only re-sign with the team is if they acquire another star/borderline star he puts the ball in Smith's court. He knows full well that the odds of the Magic actually being able to pull of any sort of big move is miniscule at best given the complete and utter lack of assets at their disposal. After flaming out in the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs again Howard leaves and the blame is put on Smith's shoulders because of his inability to give Howard the supporting cast that he wants; a supporting cast that Howard knows full well is not possible to acquire in one season. Just another way (albeit a pessimistic way) of interperting these comments.

The NBA and NBPA met today to hammer out the details of the "B-List" issues that we have heard so much about. Some details are: In the old CBA it was 2 years. The NBA originally wanted 5, but agreed to cut it down to 3. There is talk about allowing players to enter the draft out of high school, but if they are not chosen they will be able to go to college. However, if they do declare and aren't drafted, they will have to go to college for 3 seasons before being draft eligible again. That is just one of the scenarios I've come across, but as of now, it is all just speculation as there is no real set rule in place as of now. That is all I've found for now. When I come across more, I'll add to this post.

Gordon for me. What seperates him from Curry is that Gordon has elite/near elite potential on both ends of the floor as opposed to Curry who, as great as he is/can be offensively, he is not much of a defender. Gordon has the ability to play lockdown defense on both 1's and 2's while chipping in with 20-25 points and 3-5 assists a night.

I'm watching the Arizona-Florida college basketball game on The Score (a sports network in Canada) and on the ticker they showed a stat that Claude Giroux has 26 of his 32 points in Flyer wins this season. It made me curious, do you know what they record is in games that Giroux doesn't record a point in? Has it been a situation where if Giroux doesn't score the Flyers are unlikely to win, or is it just a coincidence that so many of his points come in Flyer wins?

Andrew Wiggins. Currently the #1 rated player in the 2014 high school class and considered far and away the best Canadian basketball prospect ever. It is obviously really early, but many people are projecting him as a future 1st overall pick and saying that should he reach his potential, he has top 10 player in the league talent. He is only 16 years old and 6'7, 200 pounds with a near 7'0 wingspan. He has already received interest from powerhouse schools such as Duke, UNC, Kentucky and Syracuse.

It really isn't that bad. He is overpaid by a bit if you ask me, but Hayes will do quite a bit of good for that team considering their youth. With young bigs like DMC, Hickson, Thompson and Whiteside it is a good idea to bring in a savy veteran like Hayes, who, despite being vastly undersized, has carved a decent niche in the league as a post defender and could be a nice teacher/mentor for the young bigs, Cousins and Whiteside in particular. Both of them possess twice, maybe even three time, the physical tools that Hayes has yet he is a vastly superior defender. He could really teach them a thing or two about defending in this league. You also have to keep in mind that there is a salary floor that the Kings need to reach, so they have to spend money. It is a similar situation as what the Florida Panthers had this past summer in the NHL. They needed to spend money to get to the cap floor so they went out and signed solid players. They paid them a bit more than they are worth, but they had to so that they would be able to reach the floor. The Kings this year are in basically the same situation as the Panthers were. (Of course, this is assuming that this deal is done, which does not appear to be the case).

And when you do, this guy will be at the top of the list: http://p.twimg.com/Af3Z6NsCIAAeRO6.jpg

Another Grantland piece (written by Sebastian Pruiti, who's stuff is always great) worth checking out. This one is strictly about Anthony Davis, who seems to be pulling away from the pack as the best player in this draft. I'm just going to post the link only because a lot of the worthwhile parts of the article is in diagrams and video breakdowns of players, like most Pruiti struff. http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/11616/the-pros-and-cons-of-kentuckys-anthony-davis If you want to check out Bradley Beal, the Arizona-Florida game is on The Score in just over 30 minutes. EDIT: Also forgot to mention that Austin Rivers and Duke are playing at the same time, but that game isn't on TV here in Canada, so you would have to find a stream if you wanted to watch it.

Not really. It is just pretty comical how you go out of your way to take a jab at the Raptors in a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with them while also not having your facts straight in your attempt to chirp them. Just really unecessary. Take jabs at Raptors all you want, they certainly have given fans a lot of ammunition, but at least do it in threads about them rather than derailing threads that have nothing to do with them. Don't get me wrong, Jordan is still developing and he brings some very good attributes to the table in terms of size, shot blocking and lane intimidation. The problem with the contract is that they are paying him based on what they project he will become, rather than what he is currently worth. Paying players based on potential is hardly ever a good idea because more often than not, GM's opinions of their own players are inflated. Isn't there also concerns about his attitude and work ethic as well? I remember the reason why he fell from a projected top 10 pick to a 2nd rounder is because basically every GM came away very unimpressed about his attitude and work ethic during all of the pre draft camps, workouts, etc... That was a few years ago so he obviously could hav matured by then, but if there are still some issues about those particular areas of his personality, it makes paying a guy based on your preceived potential of him even riskier. I understand the rational behind the offer since if he does reach his ceiling he can become a very good defensive player. I just think it is a little much considering where he is currently at in his career.

It was posted on RealGM and the source was supposedly a radio site in Houston. The deal is for 4 years, so $5M a season.

Yes, because a Knick fan should really be chirping somebody else about bad contracts...

Barnes is playing tonight. Game is just getting underway now. http://www.firstrowsports.tv/sport/basketball.html You'll find a link there.

From Woj's Twitter: Gotta love it. We have a near 6 month lockout and the day teams are allowed to make offers to free agents, you get an $8M per year offer to a big man who averaged 7/7 last season. (Yes I realized he is being paid based on his "potential" but still) Best part of all of this is you just know that somebody is going to sign him to an offer sheet that pays him around $9-11M a season.

Tampa and Florida look so out of place with the Northeast Division teams. Kind of strange having them there.