Nitro

From 04-08, they wouldn't have had much more success, besides maybe 06-07 where they would have probably gotten to the WCF, and 05-06 they would have made the playoffs since T-Mac was injured half that season. Yao was always missing half the season, and until 07-08 they never had much talent around T-Mac/Yao, but that was the year Yao missed the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs. They usually badly lacked a bench and 3rd guy who could make plays for himself, and until Scola/Landry came Juwan freakin' Howard was their starting PF. Before 07-08 the team was always slow, unathletic and old, and that wouldn't have changed with LeBron. 08-09 they would have been really, really dangerous, but once again Yao went down in the playoffs, and they wouldn't have won a title without him. BTW, T-Mac absolutely carried that team from 04-08. He always gave at least 25/5/5, was the definition of point-forward, carried them to really good records with Yao out, and put up huge numbers in the playoffs. Until 08-09 when his body finally collapsed for good, he was the best and most important player on the team (just check the records without T-Mac, then without Yao).

To be fair, Wilt's era may have been inferior, but the reason he didn't win more championships was because Russell's Celtics had more HoF'rs on it than any team in NBA history, from the players to the coach. But I agree with most everything you said, otherwise, and we pretty much agree on the top 10.

Deron is a true PG playing on a team with an awful supporting cast that doesn't have it's only serious scoring threat in Brook Lopez. Because of that, it's not a shock that Williams hasn't been efficient and is playing the worst basketball in years (all of them being in a very PG friendly offense with a lot of weapons at his disposal). Still, his raw production has been very high (and his TS% of .535 is mediocre, not as inefficient as his raw FG% makes him look), and he's done about as much as any true PG in the league could do with that roster. As for Irving, he has had an amazing season, especially for a rookie. However, his defense is awful (enough to where Byron Scott still doesn't give him the minutes his numbers indicate he deserves), and besides scoring efficiency he has nothing on Deron in terms of production...Williams averages 3 more points, 4 more assists (and better AST:TO ratio), and same number of rebounds. Deron's team just doesn't cater to his abilities well at all, but all things aside he is still hands-down a better player than Irving and his production has been at worst on-part.

Well, individually, guys like Chandler and McGee rely COMPLETELY on perimeter players and offensive rebounds to get their points. They can never be the focal point of an offense, while you will have more of a chance of generating offense with Young or Beasley.

Evans/Thornton do not compliment each other at all, and both player better when the other is either out or is invisible on the court. Neither are efficient, and that's an issue when they are taking so many shots and have a center who is taking a lot of shots and is also inefficient. I still have a relatively high opinion on Evans and what he could be with the right system and role players around him, though, and Cousins is really evolving into a very, very good offensive/rebounding big man. Basically, if you dump one of Thornton/Evans, and give them a true PG who is efficient shooting the 3, I think the offense skyrockets.

I'd definitely take Jordan, Russell, Magic, Bird, Shaq and Kareem over Kobe without hesitation. I used to think Wilt was an easy pick over Kobe due to his stats and apparant dominance, but I saw some interesting analysis on Wilt over at RealGM that made me question his true impact. He put up huge stats, but it wasn't always to the benefit of his offense, and often times his teams under-performed. Still, I'd probably take him over Kobe. Duncan and Hakeem are right with Kobe. At their peaks, I think both were better and more impactful than Kobe. However, neither of their peaks lasted long enough to put over Kobe, who has had one of the most remarkable longevity in league history. And throwing in Kobe's advantage in championships and some other individual accolades, Kobe may have the edge. Hakeem's peak was absolutely unbelievable and insanely dominant, though, so I may take Hakeem by a very slight hair at this moment, and give Kobe the edge over Duncan. So, I'd say 9th. Could be as high as 7th, and no lower than 10th.

I think they should...besides maybe the Bulls, they have the best 4-man 4/5 rotation in the league. But with Milsap and Jefferson being so dangerous and deserving of at least 30-35 minutes a piece, there is no reason to not deal one of them to add the offensive firepower on the wings that they desperately lack. Give them a versatile, explosive wing, and the Jazz could become a pretty dangerous team. Any one of Milsap/Jefferson/Favors will bring in a nice return.

If they can get a versatile, explosive scoring SG, then yes. Rip's body has been breaking down for a few years now, and he just isn't the same player he was a few years ago. I don't think the addition of him alone will put them over the Heat, who have more ammunition this around the Big 3 than they had last season. The Bulls need a SG who can stretch the defense as well as make plays off the dribble to take the pressure off Rose when things get tight in the 4th quarter of a playoff game. JR Smith would be a nice addition, as would OJ Mayo if he is still available. An explosive scoring guard like Terry, Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, and similar players is exactly what they should be looking for.

Why not D-Will? The Nets' record sucks, but he's averaging 21/9/4 on the season, though his effiiency hasn't been great. Still, I think he's shown to be a better player than guys like Irving and Jennings. Milsap is the only big snub for me, and Lawson/Lowry could have definitely made it for sure.

'Playing basketball'? You made a layup while dribbling towards the rim like a female elementary school player, and did like 10 seconds of a super-basic drill. Seriously, what made that video worthy of a topic, and why would you post it actually expecting a vibrant, productive discussion?

Per 36min he averages 6.3RPG at 6'11'' while working as hard as he can. And he can only really play 2 positions, and that versatility is only because he's somewhat of a tweener. He's added depth, but on a decent team he shouldn't be seeing more than 10MPG.

Who the hell did you coach with handles like that? 2 year olds at gymboree, inbetween snack time and the parachute game?

I've seen most of the last 2 games and I'm officially impressed. He has a very good feel for the game, is on-point with his passes and decisions in the pick-and-roll, is deceptively quick going right and has decent finishing ability, his jumper is a little shaky but he knocks 'em down, and he works on defense. He needs to prove he can make plays going to his left, but as a PG on a team with two elite scoring options, a very good PnR center, a decent all-around role player at SG, and a PG-friendly offensive system, I definitely see him continuing to make a strong impact on this team. I do think, however, in the next few games before Amare/Melo come back he'll come back down to Earth a bit as he will literally be THE guy teams gameplan for. And as an undrafted player getting his first real burn while being the centerpiece of this current squad, I think his flaws will begin to be exposed. But as I said, once Amare/Melo get back, he'll be in a perfect situation to keep making a big impact on games.

He's made $37M in his career averaging 5PPG on horrifically bad percentages. For 6'11'' he's an awful rebounder and it's not like he's anything special defensively. I just don't get it. Hustle players still need to bring SOMETHING tangible. He doesn't whatsoever. He's so [expletive]ing bad.

Now please explain to me how EVERYONE on the Knicks was at least +7 (besides Bibby with a +3), and most like +15, while Jared Jeffries was a -10 with 25min of playing time?!?! How is that even possible? I really hate Jeffries. One of the most useless offensive players ever.

Dwight was passing really, really well out of the post tonight. When he passes like that to all those shooters, while putting up about 25/25 and dominating the way he does defensively, he's truly unstoppable. For the Heat, they simply got outworked tonight. Badly. They got DESTROYED on the boards, for long stretches were late rotating out to 3pt shooters, and in that 3rd quarter they just weren't working the ball around enough to get any good looks. Ugly performance.

Heat went down big, about 17 in the 2nd quarter because Ryan Anderson went OFF (22 first half points I believe), and as what's been a common occurance, the Heat over-rotated around the paint and left the Magic's 3 point shooters open time and time again. However, Wade went nuts in that 2nd quarter, hitting his first 9 shots and scoring 18pts. Heat really need to clamp down on the 3 point shooters in the 2nd half, and the Magic need to stop playing cookie-cutter defense on Wade's drives. He's getting far too many easy points.

He could have taken contol of the team the first 26 games. It's not like he lacked the shot attempts or opportunity. As for what he will look like without Anthony, I'm sure he'll look somewhat like 06-11 Amare now that he's got a real PG giving him the ball in sweet spots and in ryhthm.

Explain. And please be thorough, so I can meticulously rip your reasoning apart section by section.

That's a strong compliment, though it's not anywhere near as stunning as when Celtics fan were giving Kobe 'MVP' chants in Boston. Players like Bird tend to be somewhat level-headed and objective, but for a Laker to get 'MVP' chants in Boston is something really special.

Blame LaLa for not properly warming him up before the game...

What do you expect them to say? Their answers are as predictable as whatever upcoming Laker opponent that annoints Kobe as the best player in the game. If and when LeBron wins his first ring and plays to his capabilities while doing so, it is gonna be a sight to see how rapidly people will be going from "He's a choker and second-fiddle" to "He's a top 15 player all-time before he's even 30." People are really letting their hate cloud how good this guy really is, just like they did with Kobe a few years back. It's a shame, because once he changes everyone's opinion, he may only have a few great years left for people to fully enjoy what they are seeing.

I'm glad you brought up the hip surgery he had that made one leg longer than the other, not many people know that fact and wonder why his legs keep falling apart. It's a shame what has happened to his career. I remember back in 2007 I was on the Oden bandwagon, thinking he'd be a dominant center for years to come. His post game was kind of raw, but he was good around the basket offensively, and defensively and on the boards he was a monster. Back in college, he was exceptionally athletic for his size, and definitely had all the potential in the world. Even after the first microfracture, he was a beast defensively and showed a lot of potential. If he and Roy stayed healthy and continued to improve on their games, with Aldridge as the 3rd wheel and a strong cast of role players and a tremendous coach, they had the chance to win quite a few championships. BTW, T-Mac had a really, really good 7-8 year run, I wouldn't put him on that list. Also, with Oden becoming a FA this offseason, he should go to either Phoenix or Detroit. The team doctors for both those teams use voodoo black magic to resurrect careers. McDyess, Hill, T-Mac, Amare, Redd (work in progress), sustaining Nash, etc...

Andrew Bynum better than Kobe? No. If he learned to calm down in the post and make the right basketball decision (i.e the occasional pass to an open teammate), you could make the case. But right now? Hell no. And yes, he does get most all his points on difficult, inefficient shots, but he actually puts it all together at respectable efficiency. Not LeBron/Durant efficiency, and not AI/Arenas inefficiency. As for him being the most overrated player in sports...it depends. He either tends to be criminally overrated (people who say he's the best player ever), or criminally underrated (people who say he's barely top 15 all-time, or worse). The truth lies somewhere in the middle. On a site like this, run by a huge Kobe fan and populated by a bunch of Lakers fans, people probably think I'm a Kobe hater, and on a site like RealGM they think I'm a homer. I try to keep things in perspective as much as possible. BTW- Manu is consistently more efficient than Kobe. Actually, he's usually one of the most efficient offensive players in the league.

Stick Deng on Durant and pack the paint on Westbrook like Chicago does with Wade, I don't see OKC having enough elsewhere to beat Chicago. Miami is a similar situation, except they have a lot more scoring options in a tight, slowed-down playoff series.