Built Ford Tough

Bayless with 3 straight turnovers and Leo Rautins crucifys the guy, yet he praises Calderon for such a great game when he shoots 3-12. I can't stand this damn guy. Not to say that Bayless shouldn't get flack for turning the ball over because they were pretty bad decisions on his part.

Leo Rautins all over James Johnson's nuts already. That sure didn't take long. Nice to see DeRozan attack the rim. As much as I have enjoyed seeing the progress in his jumper, he has been settling for it a bit too much for my liking.

Good news: Raptors seem to have locked up a bottom 5 record now that the Nets have Williams. The worst I can see them finishing is 3rd last in the East and 5th last overall. That pretty much guarantees them a top 6 pick at the very least. Bad news: I was reading that Jared Sullinger and Enes Kanter both might not declare for the draft. Not that I particularly want either one on the Raptors (although Kanter would be a decent consolation prize if Irving is gone), but if they both pull out this draft continues to go down the gutter. It isn't as big of a deal with the Raptors not having a 2nd pick anymore, but it greatly reduces the chances of them getting Irving, Jones or Barnes should they not move up into the top 3 of the lottery. It is still early, though. I don't think anybody can really say anything until after March Madness.

Its a great time to be an NBA fan of the Heat, Knicks, Nets and Bulls. The rest of the east is screwed. I think Utah got a damn nice return. I don't know what people are talking about when they are saying that they didn't get much. I think this is a hell of a deal for the Jazz. They got Favours, who I don't think will be as good as advertised but you never know. Allowing him to play behind vets like Millsap, Jefferson and Okur is only going to be good for his development. If Sloan was still around, I think that he could definitely reach this "potential" everybody is talking about. Harris isn't a bad player at all and maybe a change of scenery will do him well. He was awesome for the Nets when they first acquired him and maybe will revert back to form now that he is in the West again. On top of that they got two lottery picks considering I don't see New Jersey turning it around this season and making the playoffs with nothing but Williams and Lopez (unless Porkohov pulls another deal out of his ass) and that Warriors 1st next season is pretty much a lock for the lottery considering it is the Warriors. I know this draft seems relatively weak, but next years class is looking to be the best class since 03 and you can definitely get an impact player in the mid-late lottery. The Jazz definitely got worse in the short run, but they are suddenly looking very good in the long run. If only they didn't completely screw up last season by drafting Gordan Hayword. Their future would like very nice right now if they hadn't.

http://twitter.com/#!/STEIN_LINE_HQ/status/40249608760340480 I like the move for the Hornets if they can sign Landry to an extension. He would be a nice fit alongside Paul and would give the Hornets a very nice backup for West. As for the Kings, I guess Thornton is solid. This will likely mean Evans plays more point guard as otherwise the minutes just aren't there. PS: I finally made a thread that wasn't a repeat today. I guess the third time really is the charm.

Augustine has 16 points on 6/9 shooting. Can Calderon please get his minutes cut? Any positives that he brings to the table on offense is completely negated by turning every point guard he faces into Isiah Thomas.

Yeah, the Raptors draft board back in 09 was pretty much DeRozan, Holiday and Johnson. If DeRozan was picked before their pick, I have a strong feeling that they would've drafted Johnson. As for him being in the D-League, he was sent down Janurary 27th and recalled Febuarary 15th. He averaged 19.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg in 8 games with the Iowa Energy.

What exactly did you think the Raptors would get for what is likely to be the 26th-30th pick in a terrible draft? They got a mediocore prospect for a third rate pick. If you expected much more, you have a ridiculous opinion on the value of late 1st rounders in shitty drafts.

That is pretty much my view on things. I don't mind if you want to use a basic prop like what Ibaka did or Gerald Green when he did that windmill over the table or whatever it was, but bringing out a 2nd hoop or a [expletive]ing car is just stupid. The dunk contest is no about who uses the best props and has very little to do with the actual dunks. I know that most things have already been done and all that, but I really enjoyed this dunk contest and the dunks I enjoyed the most were the ones that didn't feature stupid props. This contest would've been great even if we didn't have 2 hoops or a car.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1094376 I like it. This draft is looking to be weak on both talent and depth, so that Miami pick is very likely to wind up being nothing more than an end of the bench salary obligation for the Raptors. I know Johnson has hardly impressed with his play so far in his career, but maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. He will likely be a starter for the Raptors, or at the very least, he will see around 20-24 minutes as the primary backup at the 3. I'd rather the Raptors try and buy an early 2nd or something than use Miami's first anyways. You are going to get pretty much the same caliber of player but he won't be guaranteed money like a late 1st is. EDIT: Blah, didn't see the thread in the Bulls forum. My bad, again.

Gallinari is actually a pretty decent perimeter defender for a guy his size. Not anything special, but he isn't really a liability, at least int he games that I have watched of his. He isn't quick or anything like that, but he uses his length pretty well to bother players when they are shooting and it helps to compensate a bit for his lack of quickness when they are driving. I think he would probably be the Raptors best perimeter defender outside of Julian Wright (but he doesn't count as he never plays), should they trade for him. That isn't exactly saying much, though. Honestly, I would rather have Wilson Chandler over Gallo. The only thing that scares me about him is that he is probably going to be looking to get paid this offseason and will wind up being overpaid. I think he would be about as good of a fit as you could hope for on this team, but by no means would I balk at trading for Gallinari, assuming the price is right.

Absolutely stupid trade for the Clippers. Next years draft is supposed to be one of the deepest drafts since 03 and has been highly touted for the past 2 seasons. No way in hell would I give what is very likely to be a top 5 pick in a potentiall great draft for Gallinari. I like him (Gallo), but he is never going to be a star and there is a damn good chance that the Wolves 1st next season will land you a star player. Give me a trio of Griffin-Gordon-Gilchrist/Miller/Rivers/Kabongo/Nash over a Griffin-Gordon-Gallo trio any day of the week. Sure, one of those prospects might be a bust but that is not a smart risk to take. EDIT: By the way, why is this in the Wolves forum?

I don't know how I didn't see this at first. I should probably not make threads once I wake up, haha.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6146336&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_6146336 I wouldn't really want to move the Raptors 1st for him, which is probably what it would take to get him from the Nuggets, but he would be a nice fit on this team. His size, shooting ability and defense (from what I have seen he is solid defender) would be ideal for the Raptors considering they are one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA. If it is true about the Clippers offering the Wolves 1st for him, they can have him though. I like him, but I don't think I would give up a top 5 pick for him. He may end up better than the Raptors draft pick this season, but that is not a risk I would be willing to take.

Yeah, it will expire July 7th as you get exactly 1 year to use it. The only way I can see it being used is if the Raptors really like some guy in the mid-late 1st round and a team is looking to possibly shed some salary in light of the uncertainty around the CBA. Raptors eat a 2-3 year deal or something and get an extra draft pick. I don't see it being used, though.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/load-o-bull/2011/02/nbpa-proposes-lottery-teams-get-two-first-round-draft-picks.html#ixzz1EfDfVOtb Interesting idea, but I don't see it ever happening. If people are upset about tanking now, could you imagine how badly teams would tank in a situation like this? I wouldn't mind the league adapting the MLB free agency situation where if another team signs your "Type B" free agent, you get their first rounder the following year and if a "Type A" free agent is signed you get their next two firsts or something. I think that would be a nice addition to the league, but that may just be me.

Interesting Tweet from Woj: Also, Ujiri did a great job managing all of this. His experience with Bosh in Toronto last season really paid off as he played the Knicks like a fiddle. I find it funny how everybody was hating on him all season long for the way that he has handled this situation. I really like the way that he went about this whole situation and he came away with an awesome deal (not as good as the Nets deal, but Melo was never going there in the first place), that saw the Knicks cave to every demand. (assuming he wasn't overruled by the owner and was still the main guy).

You aren't serious, are you? The younger stars always play more than the veterans (Kobe excluded beause of how competitive he is). I would be willing to bet that guys somebody like James didn't play much more in this game than all of his other apperances. Older players like Garnett, Duncan and Dirk rarely play anyways. It doesn't matter who is coaching. I guess Popovich is a douche for playing Kobe and Durant so many minutes as well. He is clearly trying to tire them out for the playoffs because you know, they can't handle playing for about 7 minutes of competitive basketball.

I <3 Russell Westbrook. Just wanted to make that clear, in case I haven't said that enough so far this season.

Hopefully they actually start to get down and play some real ball during the 2nd half. I wasn't paying much attention to the 2nd quarter as it got too playground-esque for me. Derrick Rose has been really underwhelming in this game. For some reason I thought he would come in and light it up, but he has done pretty much nothing from what I have seen. Also, Duncan looks like he would rather be in the Virgin Islands pounding back a few beers. He seems to be about as interested in this game as Gerald Wallace was in last years dunk contest.

Boo hoo, you just had the priviledge of watching LeBron James 82+ times a year for the past 7 years. The Raptors have been [expletive]ty and boring to watch ever since 2001. I think I have it worse. What does this mean? DeRozan said that he was going to go "ham" during the second half of the season after the dunk contest last night and I have absolutely no idea what he means by that.

Watching this game, guys like Westbrook in particular, makes me borderline suicidal when I think about having to go back and watch Jose Calderon and the Raptors. [expletive] my life...

Al Horford should be embarassed. How the hell do you get blocked by Dirk Nowitzki, in an All-Star game no less? Allen, Rondo and Pierce have been terrible. Turnover city since they came into the game.

Yes, good for him. These games are [expletive]ing painful when players aren't actually trying. PS: You can't really hate on him, either, considering LeBron and Wade are notorious for gunning for the MVP in these games, LeBron in particular. Only if you were a complete moron.

There wasn't anything special about it, but how can you tell me that Griffin's second dunk was better than DeRozan's first? DeRozan's was more difficult and he completed it in less attempts than Griffin who took about 1:40 to actually get one down, and yet Griffin got the higher score. Are you really trying to say tell me that Griffin deserved a 10 for his 2nd dunk in the first round, especially after DeRozan did basically the exact same dunk in last years contest? I'm not saying that it was rigged or anything like that, but anybody who thinks that the NBA wasn't ultimately pulling for Griffin is delusional. It was pretty clear that they wanted him to win. This entire weekend has basically been all about him. EDIT: Just to be clear, I don't have any problems with Griffin winning this, either. I think I posted that in the other thread.