NBA 2011-2012 Season

[Sir Thursday]

does anyone think this is a good trade for the warriors?

I think so - Bogut when healthy is going to be a huge improvement to their front court. And I think he's just unlucky rather than injury prone. Both of the long term injuries he has suffered have been freak accidents. Monta + Curry wasn't the greatest fit, so I reckon the addition by subtraction may just help. Klay Thompson's style of play would seem to be better next to Curry, and this opens up more minutes for him. Giving up Udoh hurts a little I suppose, but every time I see Bogut play he seems like a monster defensively and I think he was worth giving up.

Taking back Jackson does kind of impact their long term cap flexibility adversely...but at the same time he might be motivated to play well for them. And if he isn't, well I guess they stand a chance of keeping their pick this year (top 7 protected, or it goes to the Jazz).

ST

[Greywolf2375]

NFL FA is the hot topic, but the NBA just saw a key piece come off the board. Howard agrees to stay in Orlando for the remainder of the year and for next year.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ken-berger/17814675/howard-waives-opt-out-agrees-to-stay-in-orlando

[Morpheus]

The Knicks- Unfortunately D'Antoni leaving probably won't change much. As long as Dolan runs the show they remain a terrible orgsanization.

Dwight Howard's decision all but kills the Nets as they move to Brooklyn. Is there any chance Deron Williams stays now? I kinda wish D'antoni's rumored desire to trade Carmelo for Williams happened but it looks like the Mavs for him.

[Sir Thursday]

So, winners of the trade deadline?

- Washington made a pretty good deal - adding Nene is going to help them a ton, and getting rid of McGee and Young is the first step on the road to getting rid of the toxic me-first culture they've got going on over there.

- Clippers were able to take Nick Young for basically nothing. I think they've got an environment going that's much better suited to Young, so I'd expect him to do pretty well there - he definitely fills a need.

- You could make a case for the Lakers as well, I suppose - Sessions addresses a key need, and they added Jordan Hill who could be a decent young player for them without losing too much at all.

ST

[Calibandar]

At the end of the year, the teams are arranged in reverse order of their records. All the teams that didn't make the playoffs (ie. the bottom 7 in each conference) are put into a lottery, which is weighted in favour of the teams with the worst records. They determine which teams get the top three picks using the lottery, and then the rest of the teams are sorted in reverse record order. Once the lottery teams have been ordered, they then put in the playoff teams in reverse order after that.

Ok, so is that why highly rated youngsters like John Wall and Kyrie Irving are now playing for lesser sides like the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers.

[childe roland]

Lakers gave up very little to improve a great deal in my opinion. Unless you were gettin Howard you could not justify gasol or bynum being on the block. Also how screwed is brooklyn next year

[Sir Thursday]

Ok, so is that why highly rated youngsters like John Wall and Kyrie Irving are now playing for lesser sides like the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Yep, that's right. Washington and Cleveland were the two teams that won the lottery the last two years. Both of them were bad enough to stand a decent chance of winning the lottery. (FYI, the team with the worst record has a 25% chance of winning, and the probabilities go down from there to the 14th pick, who has a 0.1% chance). Ironically, Cleveland won the lottery with a pick that they had traded for from the Clippers earlier that season (despite the fact that they had the 2nd worst record in the league that year, and so were much more likely to win with their own pick).

It is a bit of a shame that the brightest sparks of the draft class will almost all go to situations where they're not going to get much exposure and are playing on bad teams, but if they're good enough, then you expect them to be able to help drag their team out of the mire. Irving is doing a reasonable job of that with the Cavaliers this year. They'll get another influx of young players this year (They've just acquired the Lakers' draft pick in a trade) and as those players mature you'd expect them to start getting better.

The famous example of when this doesn't happen is what happened with the Spurs about 15 years ago. They had a very good team, but their best player (David Robinson) was out for the season and they ended up in the lottery. They won the lottery and selected Tim Duncan, immediately becoming a very strong team. They went on to win 4 championships over the course of the next decade.

ST

[Greywolf2375]

The famous example of when this doesn't happen is what happened with the Spurs about 15 years ago. They had a very good team, but their best player (David Robinson) was out for the season and they ended up in the lottery. They won the lottery and selected Tim Duncan, immediately becoming a very strong team. They went on to win 4 championships over the course of the next decade.

ST

Man Timmy would have looked nice in Celtic green. worst draft ever.

[Jaime L]

Portland is so cursed.

They were looking so loaded a few years back. Now Roy has retired, they've finally severed ties with Oden who may never play again, and they've let McMillan go at the top. They still have Aldridge to build around, and Nic Batum is a nice asset, but it does seem like they're in complete rebuilding mode now.

It is a bit surprising to see how far Portland has fallen. They had the world on the platter a few years ago. They were supposed to be what OKC is now and maybe woulda been had they taken Durant. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and hard to chalk up what happened to Oden and Roy as anything more than horrendous luck.

[Greywolf2375]

It is a bit surprising to see how far Portland has fallen. They had the world on the platter a few years ago. They were supposed to be what OKC is now and maybe woulda been had they taken Durant. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and hard to chalk up what happened to Oden and Roy as anything more than horrendous luck.

So, speaking of "how far they have fallen", Agent 0 is back:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/17908203/report-grizzlies-to-sign-gilbert-arenas

23 games left, $300k, just over $1mm for a full season. Might be worth the risk as long as he has bought a gun cabinet in the interim.

[Greywolf2375]

There has always been speculation some teams tanked years to get a better draft pick (SA). This however seems to be one that wouldbe eminently provable:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_stephen_curry_warriors_out_ankle_032812

If the Drs clear Curry to play and he doesn't, I've got to think that would raise eyebrows and questions. Not to mention the fans view, actually, I think they are stilled boo'd out after the Mullins # retirement.

[Greywolf2375]

And in this weeks version of WTF....the Celtics are in first place? holy crap the east is full of suckitude.

[Calibandar]

Incredible performance again by Oklahoma to beat Chicago Bulls. They were up some 35 points after the 3rd quarter and took off both Durant and Westbrook, allowing the Bulls to close the gap to 14 points. Seen a couple of really impressive matches from Oklahoma lately, they also thoroughly took apart the Miami Heat two weeks ago. Amazing team. Ibaka, Perkins and Harden are very good players next to the two superstars as well.

Miami Heat beaten again, this time by Celtics. Orlando also beaten. Celtics have been on a bit of a roll lately. As have the San Antonio Spurs btw, they are on an incredible streak.

So it looks like the playoff teams may look like this ( if I understand it correctly)

West:

Oklahoma

San Antonio

La Lakers

La Clippers

Dallas

Memphis

Denver

Houston

East:

Chicago

Miami

Orlando

Indiana

Atlanta

Boston

Philadelphia

New York

Excellent players that to me seem like they should be transferring to a truly top side:

Kevin Love ( incredible player)

Kyrie Irving

John Wall

[Greywolf2375]

Kevin Love ( incredible player)

I will be suprised if he leaves MN - they are putting him in place to replace Garnett as the all time Face Of, with good reason. When he came out of UCLA I really thought he'd be a good, above average player but nothing to write home about. Even if the ppg are a product of the team he is on, averaging more than 12 rebounds for his career so far is pretty bad ass. It would be a lot of fun to see this kid surrounded with some more talent.

[Biter]

So it looks like the playoff teams may look like this ( if I understand it correctly)

West:

Oklahoma

San Antonio

La Lakers

La Clippers

Dallas

Memphis

Denver

Houston

East:

Chicago

Miami

Orlando

Indiana

Atlanta

Boston

Philadelphia

New York

If these are the playoff teams, that would mean 14 of the 16 teams that qualified last year make the playoffs this year as well. (the other two teams are New Orleans and Portland).

Will Utah be able to pass either Denver or Houston in the standings (they're currently 1.5 games behind both of them)?

[Greywolf2375]

So little going on in the NBA right now that a Bulls 2 game losing streak is news.

And this just in: Blake Griffin isn't human. Wish I could link the follow up dunk he had last night with his eyes level with the rim.

[Calibandar]

This is what you mean:

Great player. Really big guy at 6'9 or 6'10, and then tremendously athletic. My brother-in-law is freakishly tall really at 6' 8.5, and he doesn't have the muscularity or athletic ability of Griffin by a long shot. But as a 6'2 guy myself I am overwhelmed by his size when I get close to him. Pretty amazing to consider that you've got 6 ft point guards who have to make their way past these giants.

[Relic]

Melo had one of those games that reminds everyone why he's a top 10 talent in the NBA and absolutely buried the Bulls. Those threes were so fucking clutch.

[Trebla]

That was painful. I'm not used to seeing Rose and Deng both choke. They both have been clutch. But this time they did and Carmelo made them pay. I'm glad this is a home and home. They play again at the UC on Tuesday. Hopefully they can return the favor. Good win for the Knicks.

[Greywolf2375]

3 games up with 10 to play and the Sxers are looking like yesterdays fish. I would never have guessed that the Celtics could have actually hosted a playoff series this year and right now they're looking at a first round with Atlanta.