Erick Blasco

It's because there's basically nothing there. A project and some "mehs" for an All-Star.

The first volleys of trading and free agency have swept across the NBA battlefield. Let’s examine the first trades fired and what they’ll mean to their prospective teams. Only trades involving two teams swapping players who weren’t subsequently cut will be analyzed. New York acquires Anthony Randolph, Ronnie Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike from Golden State for David Lee David Lee would be superfluous with Amare Stoudemire in tow, so the Knicks shipped him off for solid depth and a potentially high reward in Randolph. Randolph is a long, lean forward who runs like a gazelle, falls in love with his inconsistent jumper, plays zero defense, and has a limited understanding of the game. However, If he can gain some upper body strength and put things together, he could become a big time player in an up-tempo offense somewhere down the road. Turiaf will always play hard on defense, even if his undersized frame mitigates the success rate of his efforts. He’ll block shots, rebound, and make plays simply on his competitive spirit. Azubuike can defend a little, shoot a little, handle a little, and run the floor. He’s not a bad backup wing, especially in an uptempo offense. Still, the pickups do little to plus the gaping holes the Knicks need plugged at the guard and power forward/center position. Grade: C- Golden State acquires David Lee from New York for Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike. Lee has terrific rebounding instincts and an extraordinarily quick second jump which allows him to dominate the glass. Aside from Dwight Howard, Lee probably has the most rebounding range in the NBA. His ability to rebound, make quick outlet passes, and run the floor will add another dimension to Golden State’s fast break. He doesn’t need the ball offensively, but he’s an excellent screen-slipper and finisher with both hands around the rim, particularly his left. He’s also improved his game to the point where he’s a dangerous mid-range jumper. He’s far too quick off the dribble for centers to handle, forcing them to give up space for him to shoot 18-footers at will. Of course his defense is deplorable, but in Golden State that’s hardly a footnote. With Golden State’s get-up-and-go gameplan, expect him to put up even bigger numbers than the gargantuan totals he produced under Mike D’Antoni. Getting him for filler amounts to the basketball equivalent of highway robbery. Grade: A Milwaukee acquires Corey Maggette from Golden State for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric. Maggette fills a major hole in Milwaukee’s lineup. He’s a ferocious baseline player with a penchant for ducking in, sealing weaker defenders, and finishing or drawing fouls at the hoop. Looking at the Bucks roster, you’ll see a team devoid of interior finishers. Andrew Bogut is solid up front, but John Salmons takes too many dribbles to get to the hoop, Brandon Jennings is a pathetic finisher, Luke Ridnour is soft, Michael Redd’s career is in limbo, Jerry Stackhouse is running on fumes, Kurt Thomas is strictly a jump shooter, and Ersan Illyasova has trouble finishing among the trees. Acquiring Maggette gives Milwaukee’s offense much needed muscle power to go with the team’s heart and scrappiness. Sure, Maggette’s as ball-hungry as they come, but he hasn’t played for a coach with a strong personality in years. He’ll always play hard on offense if he gets his touches, but looking at Milwaukee’s roster, he’ll be a primary option down low. Plus, if he overdribbles or takes too many quick jumpers, he’ll have to deal with Scott Skiles and a number of well-respected veterans who will make sure he falls in line. Defensively is a different story as Maggette’s never been a good defender. The hope is that he improves by osmosis and provides enough offensive production to offset his lack of defense. Grade: B+ Golden State acquires Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric from Milwaukee for Corey Maggette. Taking on players is the secondary aspect of this deal. Golden State is more than happy to shed Maggette and free up more ball time for Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry. Bell is a defense-oriented guard who is too small to defend shooting guards, and too slow to defend point guards. He’s a respectable shooter and playmaker but is hampered by lack of size. Gadzuric can run the floor and his active on the offensive glass, but he has no offensive game to speak of and gets pushed around defensively. He’s strictly a third center. Each will be lucky to see more than spot duty. The Warriors are perfectly fine with that. Grade: B+ Sacramento acquires Samuel Dalembert from Philadelphia for Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes. Dalembert is a terrific weak side shot blocker and springy rebounder who will clean up some of the mistakes of Sacramento’s novice perimeter defenders. He also displays poor judgment and will take two or three jump shots per game that are beyond his range. Still, his clean up defense will help Sacramento’s offense stay in games, and he’ll feed off the cookies provided by Tyreke Evans’ penetrations. He’s a short term upgrade over Spencer Hawes, with Hawes lacking the potential to become anything more than a journeyman center. Nocioni had no future in Sacramento’s plans, and had fallen out of favor by clashing with Tyreke Evans. Grade: B Philadelphia acquires Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes from Sacramento for Samuel Dalembert. With Dalembert set free, the Sixers will have more playing time available for Elton Brand, Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young. While no player in that trio is a center, the Sixers will be able to split Brand and Speights at the center position, while having the other split time with Young at the four. If the lack of size is an issue, Spencer Hawes won’t embarrass himself by playing major minutes at center. Noccioni used to be a plus defender and a versatile scorer but he’s lost a step. His defense is no longer exemplary, and he has trouble finishing in a crowd. He can still shoot the three, and he still plays hard, giving the Sixers’ bench more teeth than it has with Jason Kapono. Grade: B New Jersey Acquired Quinton Ross from Washington for Yi Jianlian. Defense is Ross’ stock-in-trade—he offers virtually nothing on the offensive end of the floor. At worst, he’s an upgrade over Trent Hassel, and an indicator of what the Nets think of Yi after two seasons. Grade: C Washington acquires Yi Jianlian from New Jersey for Quinton Ross. Softer than a sponge, Jianlian is little more than an oversized shooting guard. Yi offers little without the ball so it’s a wonder why the Wizards traded for him when they have so many players who’ll need the ball to be effective next season. Grade: F

I'm ready to jump off the ledge.

It's not the fact that he left, but the fact that he tortured Cleveland's fanbase just to reject them that has people so upset.

Part if it is poor coaching, but some of it is LeBron's need to dominate the ball. Yes, Mo Williams has proven time and again that he fires blanks in the clutch, but there can be system guys in place. Anthony Parker is a ball mover. Varejao is a screen-setter. Delonte West, until last year's awful campaign, is a good decision maker. You had Shaq in the post. If Mike Brown was a stronger personality, the Cavs could have ran a more complicated offense where they use LeBron as a finisher and not a playmaker. It would eliminate some of the pressure off him. We're probably going to see if LeBron can play without the ball against NBA defenses now that he's with Wade, Bosh, and Riley. If he can't, the Heat will be ripe for underachieving. Fair point, though I think Kobe's come a very long way starting in 2007 when Fisher came back to the Lakers and he started to put more trust in his teammates. I also don't think LeBron is as great a passer as his rep, but he does make good decisions in his drive and kick. I'm also talking about Individual games late in series where scouting knows everything each team will do and there are stakes for the opposing team as well. Orlando was up 3-1 and on the road for LeBron's Game Five outbreak. Game Six saw LeBron on the road and saw the Magic with a higher sense of urgency. I'm also talking about a team with the talent and the mentality to win a championship. Last year there were only two, Boston and LA. The Cavs as constructed last year were too one-dimensional offensively to win, and got little out of any supporting cast members other than Shaq and Parker. Orlando last year took three games to simply play hard. Boston lost in the Finals but their play was championship-worthy. That version of the Pistons was lazier than the 2004 and 2005 versions. They started getting full of themselves and not taking their opponents seriously and couldn't get things in gear against Miami and the following year Cleveland. The performance against Boston in Game Seven was a fantastic performance. Looking back though, LeBron's achieved all his successes as an underdog. The 2007 Cavs were underdogs to Detroit as were the 2008 Cavs underdogs to Boston. It's the last two years as favorites where LeBron has struggled to close out good teams. Kobe's never had to put up those numbers in order to win in the postseason. He's always been with Phil Jackson who fosters balance. And his performance against Phoenix last year was pretty dominant and arguably more efficient than LeBron's series against Orlando. Kobe had five games with two or fewer turnovers, LeBron had two. Kobe had four games shooting over 48%. LeBron had two. Kobe had three games with double figures assists, LeBron had one. The quality of defense was much, worse, but Kobe knows how to dominate series' too. The only response I have to that is how much do you consider series' vs. the 2009 Pistons, 2009 Hawks, and 2010 Bulls playoff series? Those are series where the Cavs have virtually no way to lose to those teams. His numbers will be off the charts because a steady diet of LeBron will overwhelm them. I don't think Kobe will ever be the goat either. He's just not as good as Jordan was. I actually disagree that LeBron has more ways to kill a team because Kobe can attack different weakpoints from different areas. I think LeBron's fundamental weakness is that he's so good in the efficient areas of the court (at the rim and also from three) that against defenses know how to force opponents to take mid-range jumpers, he struggles. Boston knows that the basket and the three-pointer are golden for efficiency and form defenses that force you to go off from 15-20 feet. Can you beat them from the mid-range? I do think, though, that most of LeBron's flaws are intangible related and unquantifiable. There's no quantification to study the causes of quitting when an opponent doesn't lay down and die.

He did the same things in Game 6 against Orlando that he did in the four losses against Boston (though I don't think he played poorly from games 1-5). His game plan is too simplistic to be at Jordan/Kobe level. He doesn't know how to work below the free throw line so when he initiates his offense, he's out beyond the three point arc. It gives good defenses time to rotate, and since it's such a steady diet of the same plays, the defenses will know how to recover to the shooters. It's the same thing that gets Kobe in trouble, but Kobe's better at working without the ball to free himself up, and can initiate from the free throw line down. He's also better at reading defenses and making trigger passes that lead to other players getting open looks. And Kobe's midrange game allows him to find soft spots in the middle of defenses instead of LeBron's pull up threes or straight line drives into walls of defenders. That's how you wind up with nine turnovers. When does LeBron work without the ball except when Cleveland runs that strong-side screen/roll where the other big backscreens for LeBron? Of course his numbers are going to be prodigious---he's a great player who dominates the ball, who also rebounds exceptionally well. He's also in the span of two years made himself into an all-nba caliber defender. But there are so many parts of his offensive game that are so grossly underdeveloped that you question just how much he wants to learn the game. One thing about Kobe, most of his warts have been trust and selfishness issues in his own right, but when has anyone said that he's had an underdeveloped aspect of his game? His technique is near flawless and though he breaks it off a lot, he knows how to run the triangle when teams are taking him away. LeBron force feeds too much. Also, because the Lakers offense involves more motion and versatility, Kobe's supporting cast members worry about playing basketball. LeBron's supporting cast members worry about having to make that open shot or they've failed. Then there's the intangible stuff---all of LeBron's insecurities, his self-absorption, his sense of entitlement, the dancing, the playing...Kobe's ego is gigantic too, but it's centered around a competitive drive of proving he's the best instead of assuming he's the best. Pat Riley's a strong personality and he won't be afraid to demand more accountability from LeBron which will be the best thing in the world for him. There are no more excuses from poor coaching (I have no confidence Eric Spoelstra coaches this Heat team, and am sure Riley will take over), to poor teammates. Look, in a vacuum, LeBron's the best player in the game. He's easier able to impose his will on both ends of the court. Non-elite defenses get worn down by him...not his team, but him personally. He dominates the rim and has improved his three-point shooting, the most efficient areas on the court. He'll always rebound, and he's become a terrific defender, better on the ball than Kobe, and with fewer mistakes. The difference comes in high-level series where there isn't an overwhelming talent difference and intangibles become a much bigger factor in determining winning and losing. The little personality things that cause Vince Carter to look like a D-Leaguer against Boston, and the killer instinct things that have the Celtics play at a much lower energy level in Games 1, and 6 of the NBA Finals than in any other game, LeBron isn't immune to it. And except for a series when the Pistons had the exact same hubris as the Cavs did, and a Game 7 where Paul Pierce wasn't going to let the Celtics lose in the second round, have we seen LeBron take over against a really good team? Not yet.

As classy as Gilbert's was petty.

BFT, you need to make the initials of your moniker MVP because you are dominating OTR with the info you're dropping on this board.

In a sense he's right though. One reason why the Celtics have worked out so magnificently is that on any given night, Pierce, Allen, or KG is perfectly fine having a game where they take seven shots. Whether the Heat will have that level of self sacrifice is yet to be seen.

For context's sake, there's also 8-21 shooting and nine turnovers in that game... If you're going to declare your own damn self as the king, you should put up more efficient numbers. That or pass the scouts test of not giving the ball up early to lounge on the weak side not getting back into the play, or to do more work without the ball to end up in more advantageous scoring positions than high screen/rolls, or to be a sharp enough player to be in a system that's more than high screen/rolls, a set an excellent defense can contain if it's all you do. Cleveland's offensive funk last postseason was more than just Mike Brown. I'm interested in seeing how LeBron's game will evolve when Pat Riley inevitably cans Spoelstra. Bron's already taken strides defensively. It's time for him to develop a post game and to learn how to play without the ball.

So that's another strike against Stephen A. Now all I'm waiting for is Jalen Rose's "Book it, done" guarantee a year and a half ago that LeBron and Bosh are heading to New York.

Well, the Celtics did knock Wade and LeBron out of last year's playoffs.

NBAPlaybook thinks Lance can play the point... http://nbaplaybook.com/2010/07/07/is-lance-stephenson-a-point-guard/#more-3269

Ball

There was a high level of sarcasm in my post. If you walked around with a sarcasometer it would have been beeping like crazy!

Absolutely. Hey, if Stephenson has poor court awareness and everything, at least you can stick him at the two guard spot, run a simple play, and if that doesn't work, just give him the ball on the wing and say do your thing. Some two-guards can get away with being selfish because most teams need those guys to create points for themselves. Maybe a light will go off as a bonus. My qualm is starting him at the point. Imagine Jamal Crawford as a true point guard? He can get away at the point in Atlanta because the Hawks play iso ball all the time, but he'd never run a complicated offense and Indiana actually runs a pretty complicated offense. There's probably more "system junk" in O'Brien's offense than any other team aside from the Jazz. You'd have Stephenson bring the ball up, a bunch of guys executing their cuts, Stephenson would wait for them to stop moving and then he'd iso or maybe use a screen. The other Pacers would be ignored and become disinterested. They'd stop cutting hard and playing hard, and you'd have a stale, lifeless team.

So uhhhh, you don't think Hedo should be the locker room leader?

I would pull a muscle laughing if that happened. Or if he puts on a Phoenix Coyotes jersey and says he's going to give the NHL a try. Miami needs a shooting point guard, a bulky center, and some backups that won't piss their pants to go along with either Beasley, Wright (if he's resigned), Haslem, (if he's resigned), and Chalmers. Trading the Beas Knees may fetch one or two of those things. The losers in this deal? Milwaukee and Atlanta Boston will still be sharp for a year, Orlando will be a tough team, and whatever team LeBron signs on with (except Miami which is already great, and New Jersey which will need more help) should be really good. This leaves Milwaukee and Atlanta fighting with Chicago as a team trying to claw its way to the second round, With the way they spent their cash, they each assume they can be major players and can at least get to a conference finals. Now it looks doubtful.

Chicago finally gets a post player about five years after they needed one. Even with Boozer, they're below Boston, Orlando, and the SuperHeat in the East pecking order. Noah complements Boozer's poor defense by being a shot blocker, and Chicago has enough weapons to win one playoff series. Good signing from a personnel standpoint, but they too overpaid for his services and will be hurt down the road.

It's what I do.

Miller + Wade = bad spacing, though I'd be in for a long night if I were a small guard on an opposing team. Those two would dish out some bruises. Miller needs to go to a team where he has two players who can shoot at the two and three.

That's what she said!

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1176

1) Read the article and you will see! 2) Mods delete previous thread. I have no clue how that second thread even got posted