Nitro

That's what happens when your superstar demands to be traded to a certain team and says he won't sign an extension with anyone but that team.

Harden shot 39% from 3 last season..last 3 seasons Gordon has been hovering around 36-37%. Huh? He's never played an international game and now he's useless? Dude is a 20/12 player in the NBA with above average passing and ballhandling skills for a big man...you have 0 basis to say that he'll be useless in international play.

Lol, Harden has 4 bad games and people are ready to crucify him, forgetting just how good he was this past season. Eric Gordon played what, 2 games last season? Even assuming he is 100% healthy, I'd still probably lean towards Harden. And Davis over Griffin? Davis hasn't even played a minute in the NBA, and we have no idea how his game will adapt to stronger competition...especially when you consider how the FIBA game can be quite physical. And if any games in the medal rounds are close, would you trust a 19 year old kid with no NBA experience to perform at the level necessary to win? Besides, Griffin is a proven ALL-STAR. His weaknesses were exposed this past season since the Clippers received so much national attention and they made the playoffs, but he is still a terrific, proven talent.

I've always been a big fan of Camby...great help defender, rebounder and very underrated passer. However, with Fields gone and Shumpert likely to miss a good chunk of the season due to his torn ACL, I would have probably focused on solidifying the wing positions before going after Camby. Still, he would be a great addition to the Knicks.

I agree the Spurs weren't what most would consider a "super-team", but the Manu/Parker Spurs were better than the '99 squad with Robinson still producing 20/10 nightly. They were more well-rounded from '04-'07, and while Manu and Parker never started at an ASG, they were both extremely effective and underrated. Manu was a MONSTER those years, he just never got the recognition for it because he came off the bench, didn't play 40MPG and didn't need to take 22 shots every night. He was fully capable of putting up 25/5/5 a night on strong efficiency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsbrrLOhxGo Off the new album.

Great pickup. Still an absolutely brilliant player offensively, and with two seven footers (or Dwight alone) and a strong Mike Brown-coached team defense, the Lakers should once again be in the thick of the championship hunt. Nash will make this stagnant, predictable offense so much more dangerous and versatile.

It's really not even as stacked IMO as the 2008 squad, and they came very close to letting the Gold medal game slip away. That team also had the benefit of gaining chemistry together the previous year in the FIBA tournament. Not saying this team shouldn't dominate, but don't get too carried away and underrate the international game.

I'd take Mo over Chauncey any day of the week, month or year.

The thing is that Dwight has said he wants to come to Brooklyn, via sources and his own mouth, therefor making the obstacles a lot greater to get him is stupid. Also, from a basketball standpoint it makes little sense. JJ is a very good player, but his contracts alone will take up over 1/3 of the cap every year. You can get a LOT of value with that money, and to spend it on a single player who is barely an All-Star and will be WAY past his prime the final year or two of his contract is not a smart move. Yes, we overpaid on bums in the past, but that is not the standard which you should hold future deals to. And if the Deron/Dwight moves fall through, then the Nets are stuck with the worst contract in the league, another bad contract, an injury plagued Center, and will have lost all those amazing rebuilding assets they had a year or two ago before bringing in Deron and Wallace.

Yeah, because taking the floor with Sonny Weems, Andrea Bargnani and Demar Derozan is sooooooooooooo much more enticing than Amare (his 2nd option during the two trips to the WCF Nash had). Melo (superstar), Chandler (DPOY), JR Smith (6th man candidate), Shumpert (ROTY candidate), Lin (great backup PG), and D'Antoni (who Nash had his best years under)... Nash and Amare have proven to work brilliantly with each other, and with the addition of Nash, Melo will never again be put in the position of having to be playmaker. The only consistent iso player on the team would be Melo, and the rest would all work effectively and efficiently as a team with Nash orchestrating the offense. I would not worry about the offense at all with Nash...the lasrt 3 years he was with Dallas the Mavs had the top rated offense in the NBA statistically, and we all know what he did with Phoenix from 04-10. Give him some firepower and whatever offense he runs will be terrific. Anyway, as I said a few months ago, I just don't see Nash going to Toronto. He has very little talent to work with there, I am sure almost any team he goes to can offer him a front office position post-retirement if he requests it, and at this point in his career I just don't think going back to his home country and a few extra million will be enough to make him choose Toronto over places like Dallas and NY.

The worst thing you can do in the NBA, especially under the new CBA, is hand out max, long-term deals to guys past their prime. JJ and Wallace alone will take up over half the cap for the next 4 years, and neither guys are stars and are both on the decline. Those two contracts make it so much trickier to bring Dwight in, and without some kind of guarantee that Dwight stays, there is a good chance Deron bolts to a perrenial contender like Dallas. And if that scenario plays out where they get neither, then they are stick with two bad contracts, not a ton of draft picks or young prospects, and will likely be just good enough to stay out of a top 5 pick each year. That is just about the worst position you can be in as a franchise. And even if they are able to get just Deron or Dwight, that is a 1st or 2nd round knockout every year, and with these contracts they will have little room to make big improvements to the roster. JJ is a very good player, but there is a reason why Atlanta traded him for basically nothing, and it isn't because of injury or bad attitude...for what he is, he is not worth the money he is getting, and at his age he is definitely not worth 4-5 more years of $20-25M annually.

It's not impossible to sign Howard, it just makes things so much more difficult. And let's say they DO somehow land Dwight and Deron...JJ is a declining and a borderline All-Star with like 4-5 more $20-25M years on his contract. That is just an insanely bad contract. Billy King might be thinking that bring in a big name like that will help fill the seats and maybe attract Deron and/or Dwight, but it is an awful move from a basketball stadnpoint. You can add so mich depth or a few quality, yoinger role players for that price. Besides, Dwight has made it crystal clear through sources and his own mouth (read his recent quotes from the Woj article yesterday) that he wants to go to Brooklyn. So why would they do ANYTHING to help [expletive] up their chances of landing him. And even with JJ, I doubt that will be enough for Deron to stay unless it is a sure-fire thing that Dwight is coming. If that's the case, then that will make this one of the worst deals in NBA history.

Yes. Dwight's probably the 2nd most valuable/dominant player in the league, assuming he's healthy. Not at all. But in the long run, overpaying role players, especially ones at the tailend of their prime, is not a smart move. And Dwight has pretty much made it known, through sources and his own words (read Woj's recent article where he said there's only one team I'll resign with), that Brooklyn is where he wants to be. Therefor, Brooklyn has to be shooting for the stars while being smart in how they build what should be a contender for years to come.

I see no reason why the Magic would trade for JJ. One of their primary goals if they trade Dwight is to dump the awful contracts of guys like Hedo so they can speed up the rebuilding process. Why would they take on the worst contract in the league...one that is for a guy who has never been a superstar and is on the decline? God damn Billy King. Damn him to hell.

Lol. Holliday is arguably the best defensive PG in the league, and solid offensively, but he is nowhere near deserving of a max extension. I am not going to look at every team, but off the top of my head at least half the teams in the league have a PG who is currently better than him, or has All-Star talent that would warrant a fatter contract. If you aren't even in the top half of guys at your position, to even think about getting a max deal is ridiculous.

WHY!?!?! First. they overpay a 30 year old, 10 year veteran for 4 years, and now trade essentially all their secondary assets (expirings, draft picks) for a guy that's been on the decline for years and has the WORST contract in the NBA. Dude is set to make over $20M through 2016, I believe. Even if the Nets can still manage to somehow resign Deron and trade for Dwight via Lopez/Brooks/draft picks/whatever else, or a straightup signing next offseason, I still don't think this is a great signing. JJ and Wallace alone are going to command over $35M per year over the next 4 seasons, and neither of them have ANY upside...they are both on the decline, and both aren't even stars. Wallace is a role player (a very, very good one), and JJ is a borderline All-Star. Now it is going to be damn near impossible to sign both Deron and Dwight, which was extremely likely heading into FA. And for what? Two role players? Amd if they manage one of those guys to come to the Nets, that team won't have a chance at beating Miami, and probably not even Chicago or Boston (for the next 1-2 years, anyway), or a number of WC teams. SMH. Billy King needs to GO!

I wouldn't classify it as a bad contract, but it is a little pricey for a guy who averages less than 15MPG and has zero offensive talent/minimal athleticism. His rebounding and defense is tremendous, but now that he will see an increase in minutes as well as responsibility, I question if he can live up to expectations.

He's 30 years old and entering his 11th season in the league. I've always really liked Wallace, and think he could live up to his contract for the first year or two, but overall it just isn't a good contract at all.

How do you figure the Knicks being able to afford Paul if Melo, Amare and Chandler are all making over $15M per year? Anyway, as BFT said, this is a non-story. Besides the money, I'm sure he also wants to see if management will make the moves necessary to make the team a contender. As we all know, Sterling and the Clippers organization isn't exactly known for breaking the bank to improve the team, and aren't known for making the smartest decisions.

Ray Allen would definitely be a nice addition. Yes, Miami has a number of other spot-up shooters, but Ray would be the only one who could create open looks with his off-ball movement, as opposed to standing in one spot and waiting for Bron/Wade to draw the defense and kick it to him. He can also put the ball on the floor and sometimes finish at the rim, something Miller/Jones/Battier don't do. Lastly, he would give Miami a go-to option for game-tying/game-winning shots. I do agree that they need a quality C first and foremost, but they do not come cheap. Hell, last season Kwame Brown signed for nearly $7M, which is certainly out of Miami's price range. Miami proved this season (and 10-11 as well) they don't necessarily need to play a traditional lineup to win...in fact, against most teams the smaller lineup actually worked better because it opened up the offense. Therefor, I feel it would be smarter to spend whatever money they have on talent and value as opposed to 'fit'. If they spend money on a stiff at C, that player is going to fail, be a bad fit with the team and be glued to the bench by February. That's why it'd be better to get an upgrade over what they already have, and then figure out how to plug holes.

I wish they didn't get rid of Mo, but with Paul, Young, Billups, Foye and Bledsoe...he was certainly expendable. They got a 35-40MPG superstar PG, a veteran PG with championship experience that does essentially the same thing as Mo in Billups, a young and explosive SG in Young, and two very solid backups in Foye (who was tremendous last season) and Bledsoe. Mo was definitely the best of that group besides Paul, but they are not lacking in the PG or explosive scoring/undersized SG department. What I don't understand is giving up someone who just came off a terrific season for a PF who just came off an unbelievably poor season; the worst of his career, in fact. And as we saw last year, if you have multiple perimeter players who do all the ballhandling/playmaking, then Odom become kinda useless offensively as he is not a great jumpshooter/post-up scorer. I think his versatility and rebounding can be valuable for LA, but he wasn't worth giving up Mo. Instead, they should have traded Mo (and maybe a few other pieces) for an athletic SF with a decent 3pt shot and who posseses very solid defense. Or, a SG with similar qualities that isn't undersized like the rest of their backcourt roster. I think a swingman that fits in the offense, is a great defender, and can create his own shot when needed is EXACTLY what this team needs. Caron Butler, when he was younger and before the injuries would have been close to what they needed, but his best days are behind him. They could also use another true Center who is a good rebounder and PHYSICAL defender. Besides those two areas, all this team needs is anlother year of chemistry and another offseason for Griffin/Jordan/Young to improve individually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW1fqcjPt38 HOLY SHIT Crooked I's verse is jaw-dropping. The entire thing is amazing.

Huh? Why do you bring up JO? And don't overlook just how good JO was at one point...he was a serious MVP candidate back in 03-04.

1) He's a tweener. Too small defensively and on the boards to play PF, too slow on both sides of the ball to play SF. 2) He's proficient in only one area, scoring, and he does so very, very inefficiently because of a low FG% and inability to get to the line a lot. 3) Poor attitude and intangibles.