Nitro

He's a low-risk, mild-reward signing. He'll probably go wherever at the vet minimum, so it's not like you're risking a whole lot to sign him. The Celtics could definitely use some offensive firepower, and Arenas can offer that spark from time to time. The Knicks have little backcourt talent, and in D'Antoni's system he could actually have a chance to shine as much as his knee will allow. You could give him some of Fisher/Blake's minutes at PG for the Lakers if they don't plan on filling that void elsewhere through trade. With Maynor out for the season, the Thunder could use him for depth at the PG position. And the Bulls could use another scoring punch off their bench, which is pretty offensively challenged. So, yes, I do think a few teams could definitely use his services in ideally a limited backup role.

Huh? He still has nearly a 20 PER this year, still averaging 16/10/2 on great percentages, and is still the most skilled post player in the NBA. He's playing next to a dominant offensive and rebounding big man, and the leading scorer in the league, so those numbers are really dumbed down compared to what he's still capable of. There's still a LOT of teams that would love his services. Trading Bynum and Pau is way too much for just Howard, despite my personal opinion that at very worst he's a top 4 player and arguably the most impactful player in the league. Bynum is a better post scorer than Howard and not a far worse rebounder, and also good defensively. Pau, as I mentioned before, is the most skilled post player in the NBA, a great passer for his position, and a good rebounder and solid defender. That's a LOT of talent and size to be giving up. Orlando knows if they don't trade Howard he'll be gone for nothing but cap relief, so they don't have the leverage, especially since LA will be contenders regardless and they have the best prospect of all the teams Howard wants to be dealt to. If LA is to be giving up both their big men, they will need at least 1-2 other good role players in return. Hedo would actually wouldn't be a bad fit on the Lakers and would fill a need at SF, although if I were the Lakers I'd make a push to get Jameer in the deal. Then they could use the TPE and maybe a guy like Ebanks to sure up their frontcourt depth.

About damn time. Blatche is a super-talented, but absolutely retarded player. Doesn't use his post ability near enough, is an inefficient scorer who is a volume chucker, an awful defender, has a terrible attitude, and is TO prone. However, because of his talent, it wouldn't surprise me if a team like the T-Wolves made a move for him. Khan loves taking on these kind of projects, and the Wizards actually might get a bit of return for him. He DOES have a lot of talent, and I'm sure there will be a few teams out there that believe they have the coaching personel to tap into his potential, so he there might be a market for him.

Get the paper bags ready.... http://cdn.gunaxin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/alg_nets_bagheads.jpg Seriously though, if there's no movement on the Dwight trade 2 days before the deadline, you make a fullcourt push to trade Deron away for at least a few draft picks and 1-2 servicable, preferably young players. If he commits to a contract extension with another team, obviously that will increase the return the Nets get. But the Nets will need draft picks and a few servicable role players as they move forward.

I rememeber the first preseason game against the Nets the announcers saying that Amare gained 20-30 pounds of muscle in the offseason...from the start, I knew he'd have lost a step this season. Mix in the fact that he's now playing at PF and it's definitely been a struggle for him to get to the rim.

3pt line is shorter as is the court, thus allowing for less spacing, which makes it harder for players to get to the rim. You are allowed to grab the ball off the rim, which in the NBA is goaltending. The referees tend to be even more awful than the NBA, and they allow for more physicality. Lastly, zone is a lot more popular in the international game.

Iman Shumpert, a first round draft pick and Mike D'Antoni's mustache. http://9.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/pringles.jpg

He dominated in the clutch every series last year besides the Finals. In Cleveland he had multiple years as the best statistical clutch performer in the league. He dominated in the clutch in the 2009 ECF (where he averaged 38/8/8). He had one of the best clutch performances ever in the 2007 ECF to get his team to the Finals. His failures are overblown. He isn't the greatest clutch performer in the world, but because he hasn't won a championship and he's LeBron every single time he doesn't get it done it's national news. When Kobe fails in the clutch, it's overlooked or blamed on his teammates. Wade's failures in the clutch are never mentioned, and over the last year or two he hasn't been great in those situations (and he's my favorite player). Why do those two get away with it? They've won a championship. Until LeBron wins one, every little thing he does will be dissected to pieces. It's kinda ridiculous.

That's actually a really good mix. He's very much like Rondo defensively, and kind of like Steve Nash without the same shooting/scoring game.

I'm pretty sure Elmatic came out in 2010. I haven't listened to much full albums/mixtapes this year, although R.E.D by the Game, The Dreamer, The Believer by Common, W.A.R by Pharoahe Monch and TM103 by Jeezy come to mind immediately.

All the teams you included are the ones I had in mind when I opened the thread. I feel you can maybe add a healthy Grizzlies team to the West, but that's a big question mark.

T-Mac's never gunna [expletive]in make it out of the first round

I posted about this in the "Activity needed" thread. It's only the gameday threads in the gameday forum that doesn't show up in the New Content.

What a fake by Paul! Got a good look at the basket. Great, great game. Can't wait for this OT.

He's a huge upgrade. Chalmers is careless with the ball, bad at running the fast break, and makes too many dumb decisions. Nash is one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, amazing at running the fast break, and would help give the offense a better flow in the halfcourt. Yes, he's not a great defender, but not any worse than Bibby was last season...and that team was still sensational defensively.

Paul is playing OUT OF HIS MIND tonight. I really wish he'd be this aggressive all the time. He often plays a little too low key to keep his FG's at a high clip and turnovers low, but when he takes chances it really helps make this offense devastating and energizes the team. That was a sick spin move by LeBron at the end of the 3rd quarter. Him and Wade need to get out of the post a bit and get into the lane the way they have been doing their entire careers. Entertaining game, gonna be a fun 4th quarter.

I'm not sure exactly what his prognosis is, but generally speaking some people are just more succeptible to ankle sprains than others. With the way he's built, I think he'd be best served to really strengthen it through lifting, and then diligently stretch it after workouts (which is when you build most flexibility) and also before and during games. If you strengthen the muscles and tendons, and make them more flexible, it should at least decrease the chance of in-game injury.

On replay it actually looked like an offensive foul, he held down Anthony's arms with his left arm.

What a shot by Dirk to put the Mavs up by 3 with 5 seconds to go.

Entertaining battle going on between Melo and Iggy right now, with Melo hitting some really difficult jumpers over him. After a hot start Philly has really stifled the New York since, which I'm impressed with since this is the 3rd game of a back-to-back-to-back for Philly.

I didn't read the article, but everyone has to keep this in mind...Hollinger ONLY uses stats when making his judgements. And so far the Sixers have been leading the league in SRS, which is a combination of point differential and strength of schedule. However, if you look at their wins and losses, they lost to Portland and Utah, both of which are playoff teams, and then they crushed a bunch of bad teams (Kings, Warriors, Suns, Pistons, Raptors, Hornets and Pacers without Granger). Using general stats like SRS it would make it seem fair that they are first, but if you look at all the games individually it is clear their work so far doesn't warrant them being rated so highly. The Heat and Bulls have essentially the same record but have more quality wins under their belt, and I'm sure 1-2 WC teams also have the same claim.

Question- when does his contract expire? I don't think they will trade him this year, although I wish they do. The Suns are still an entertaining team and Nash probably rakes them in a lot of money and fans. If he were to be traded, I really don't know what his value would be at this age, especially with what I'm assuming is a contract of at least $10M/year. A bunch of playoff teams could use him, including the Heat, Lakers, Knicks, Hawks, Grizzlies, Pacers and maybe Thunder. Who would have the assets to make that trade? And which one of those teams would be willing to part with young assets for a 38 year old PG? Your guess is as good as mine.

He's played what, 7 games this year? And he's been injured for like half of them? There's no issues with him as long as he's at roughly 90% health. He's still an exceptional, efficient scorer, very good passer, very good rebounder for his position, and one of the best defenders in the league. He is not perfect, and sometimes his flaws get exposed (considering he plays a similar brand of ball to LeBron, it is more obvious than it normally would be), but he is still a top 4 players at the absolute worst. Oh, as for his gambling and over-help defensively, that is something the entire team has an issue with. It helps them create turnovers and usually completely shuts down the other team from scoring at the rim on the first attempt, but it does open up the 3pt line and the offensive glass, and that was exposed in the Finals against Dallas. But when Wade needs to play tight man defense with minimal help, he does it, as seen with his defense against Ray Allen in the EC Semi's last year.

That's the most amazing thing about Kobe IMO...his longevity. The last 13 seasons he's been so consistent it's unfathomable. Granted, at his peak he was capable of more than he was the first and last few seasons of this 13 year run, but he is still without a doubt an elite player and doing things at roughly the same volume and efficiency year after year. And considering his insane mileage (which includes so many deep post-season runs) and rash of injuries, he is nothing short of remarkable.

LeBron has led the league in 4th quarter scoring multiple times the last few years over Kobe, and through the first 3 rounds of the playoffs last year he dominated in crunch time. He failed against the same team Kobe averaged 17PPG against in the playoffs and got swept by. And when LeBron is averaging 30/8/8 with 3.6TO's and a RIDICULOUS TS% of .650 to Kobe's 29/6/6 with 3.9TO's and a low TS% of .537, it isn't too hard to see why people think LeBron is better. Not to mention LeBron at this point is a far more impactful defender as well, and more versatile in terms of the number of positions he can play. There is no arguement anymore