bravenewworld

Beasley, imo, deserves to be the second overall pick. His first year numbers were only really hindered by his minutes and the Heat seem to want to take his development slowly. Still, second year 16-8 3/4 is very good. I'd also give the Knicks Love over Randolph or a guard. This way come 2010/11 FA they would at least have David Lee and Love as their big men to work with before signing big contracts.

Yes, it is a requirement of photoshop.

Pierce got stopped last season.. so what? [expletive] happens. Like Kobe has not been stopped before (oh wait... the irony here being Pierce defended the [expletive] out of Kobe in the finals)? Pierce is one of the most overlooked players in the league and has been for a while, RD you are one of the few people ive seen who will actually argue that he is not an A defender nor an elitist on offense. Most professionals put this guy in the top 10 of Celtics players of all time... You have to be an elite player to be on this list no question.

Nay, did you read my post at all? Did i highlight the part about winning rings or did i highlight a different sentence? No, i am not contradicting myself. It is because Billups actually makes his team better. Because he took a questionable 8th seed (who even after receiving him was questionable simply because people did not realize his true impact to teams) and turned them into consistent yearly Western contenders. If you really want to sum up my post to one of those quotes then use this one: Billups gets ignored simply because people love to look at the three basic numbers of basketball (which imo is pretty damn stupid) but if you take a look at Denver before and after Billups you see extreme changes and if you look at Detroit with Billups and without Billups you see extreme changes and there is no way to deny his impact of being a true leader; Almost Jordan-esk, nor deny his true value on a team. Detroit 07/08 - W/Billups. 59/23 - 2nd seed, Eastern Conference Finalists for six years. Two finals appearances, one ring. Nuggets 07/08 - W/O Billups. 52/32 - 8th seed, knock out first round (sweep). Zero team balance, zero leadership. Detroit 08/09 - W/O Billups. 39/43 - 8th seed, first round knock out (sweep). Zero team balance, zero leadership. Nuggets 08/09 - W/Billups. 54/28 - 2nd seed, Western Conference Finalists. Nuggets 09/10 - W/Billups. 35/18 - 2nd seed, Western Conference Finalists (predicted). Billups has missed 9 games this season, of those 9 games the Nuggets are 3-6. With Billups this team is 32-12. It is ignorant to deny this mans impact on a team and to suggest that he is not the most important piece to the puzzle because i can promise you this: If you take Melo off this team and replace him with Tayshaun Prince (big time numbers difference) then this team would be just as successful with Billups. The same cannot be said if they took Billups off the team.

Thats kind of why this is a big deal. They will not have any kind of cap space until 2013, which then they will have Rondo signed and that is about it. In 2012 they will have like 20 freed' up but next season they will be massively over the cap.

No he was never the best. But he was the most valuable. Before Billups that team was a questionable 8-10 seed in the West. Hardly anyone had them in a play-off bracket and the ones that did had them losing in the first round. When he went to this team he proved the leadership, skillset and knowledge to create an elite western team that quickly went from 8th to 2nd. Even more you could see the change in his teammates. In Melo, Nene, KMart, JR Smith. These guys' mental and physical developments were not random acts of basketball, they happened because they now had a positive influence on the floor, a true leader, a floor general. Even after this trade many highly underestimated what the one time champion, two time western conference finalist, six time eastern conference finalist could do. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1176391/did_the_denver_nuggets_or_the_detroit.html?cat=14 But to many's dismay, Billups ended up changing the face of the franchise. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/162139-the-reacquisition-of-chauncey-billups-denvers-return-to-relevance http://www.streetball.com/forum/topics/should-chauncey-billups-get The real question is: When is the NBA going to start awarding the true MVPs? Also that little bit about "Every GM in the league would take Carmelo Anthony over Chauncey Billups" i am going to call bollocks on. Melo is a molding player, meaning he takes the shape of what is around him. Don't get me wrong he is an astonishing player, just not a leader of any kind and his NBA career (you can really see a difference in his personality and play with AI vs Billups) proves this and GMs are not stupid, they realize this. Billups on the other hand is a man you bring in to contend and lead and any GOOD GM would pick up a PG of his stature over Melo.

Aye. Blasco speaks the truth.

1. Kevin Durant 2. Paul Pierce 3. Lebron James 4. Carmello Anthony 5. Ron Artest For the past three seasons Ron Artest has been able to put up 17-20 offensive averages with pretty even FG/3%s, This season he is only averaging 11ppg, but i do not think that means he is only limited to that rather his offensive situation has obviously changed. Add all that in with being labeled as arguably the best defensive player in the NBA and he deserves a spot on a top 5. The rest of the guys everyone else has. BTW, Durant has been more impressive this season then LBJ has IMO. Pierce is an elitist who can lead his team to a title.

So are you saying that if you had a team that needed a SF you would pick Gerald Wallace over Pierce? Pierce is easily an A defender with an elitists offensive skill set and to top it off is a team leader.

Trade for youth. If the rumors are true the Celtics have been getting some decent offers or suggestions for him and they really need to pull the trigger on one of them. In the KG/Allen trade the Celtics really shot themselves in the feet when considering the future and as it stands, 2 years from now they will have Rondo, Perkins and a bunch of guys using walkers to get up and down the court. Was the KG/Allen trade worth it? Of course, but now they need to move on and face the fact that their little experiment is over they need to start a new one. Especially while Allen's expiring contract holds so much value.

he could definitely make the most out of that team. AI2 may not need to be dealt with Brown on the bench calling the shots.

I think we will see the teams make the expected trades. I do see Hinrich going to the Lakers, Cavs will land someone if they want any hope of keeping LBJ, Miami might make a trade. Doubtful Denver will make a trade though.

Not quite sure what that has to do with anything we were talking about but whatever.

Oh please. Majority rule. If Christianity did not play a role in our government, laws and ethics then we would not see half the stuff we do. "Goddamn" being censored on radio and television while "[expletive]" can be said. Stem-Cell research and cloning being. illegal (SC is now legal but was made illegal in the first place for religious reasons) Gay marriage being illegal in most states, creationism being taught in Kansas schools as fact, ect. ect. ect. Another rule.... no nudity. It is not the naturalists, atheists or agnostics who say sex and the human body is a sin. We have taken some positive steps to get away from religion but you're kidding yourself and ignoring daily life facts if you do not think this is a Christian nation.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Religions_of_the_United_States.png Closest thing to true evil we know. Evil.

Its because we are a Christian nation and Christianity is the closest thing to true evil that we know in this world.

Yea. LBJ does nothing but power dunks, Brown does some all-star weekend [expletive] in regular games.

Its amazing some of the dunks he pulls off (or tries to) in game situations.

- Link

I only wear a watch when i dress up to go out and i need some "bling bling" to fit the uniform.

Calipari should not be allowed to coach in the NCAA imo. If he wants to pay players then he needs to go to the NBA, the problem is he is not that good of a coach to be successful in the NBA.

Not to stray off topic here, but didnt Daryl Morey (GM of Rockets) make the Artest trade because he tried it out in NBA2k and it worked out?

Nearly ehh? Glad there is some NBA news source that has the time to write out quality articles about never never land such as this one.

Wow..... try paying attention to what i said. I said... "for most of his career." which is very true. Those guys you just mentioned he had for 3 years of a 13 year career dude (which of those 3 years, 2 were the top statistical years of his career) The other 10 years he had guys like Shaq, Payton, George, Butler, Horry, Fox, Atkins (Yes, Atkins was good on the Lakers), Malone, Fisher, Odom, Gasol, Artest, Bynum. So yea.... Really.

Dunno if that is an accurate statement. The Big East only has 4 legit NCAA Tourney teams and only about one of those guys are NC worthy.