Let's talk NBA

[HendrixFan]

The 2012-2013 is just two weeks away!

There are quite a few interesting subplots going on this year, seemingly more than most years. The Lakers stole the headlines, and will likely do so all year, win or lose. While I don't think the parts fit too well, it will still be an interesting team to watch and root against.

OKC seems most intriguing. They locked up Ibaka but have yet to do so for Harden. After his stinker in the Finals are they ready to cut him free? Without such a crushing cap looming I'm sure they would give the guy his money, but they couldn't afford him and Ibaka. I agree with their choice between the two.

I've read articles speculating they are just going through a long process but at the end will match any offer after the season. I don't see that. I'm thinking the do a sign and trade that nets them draft picks. If they draft smart (and they have a good track record of doing so) then they can stock some decent guys at cheap rates since they are dropping big bucks on Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka.

Oh, and an amnesty for Perkins unless he shows tremendous improvement.

The Bulls should tank to try and get a good pick. They won't have Rose back in time to do anything this year, so just write it off and start fresh with a new draft pick (and an amnesty or trade of Boozer). I bet they don't do that, Tibs pushes his guys to play for a top 3 seed and they get bounced early again. Sigh.

Dirk is hurt and the Mavs are likely in full tanking mode. Just like the Bulls should be doing, but Cuban is actually a bright guy.

The Heat are the team to beat, of course, and this new small ball point power forward game can really cause trouble for the rest of the league. Big question will be Wade's knee though.

The Celtics really seem to be building a roster to try for another run. I'm not sure it is worth the effort.

Linsanity in Houston? Could be fun. The Knicks went older, slower and took a step back defensively with their roster changes meanwhile. Hmmm.

I still have a few weeks to pick my league pass teams and beyond the Heat and Thunder, I'm still really undecided. The Clippers, Rockets, Nets and TWolves are all heavily in play at this point.

 

[BoomerD]

National Bookkeepers Association?

http://www.nationalba.org/home.cfm?

 

[PokerGuy]

Should be a 3 way race this year, Heat, Lakers and Thunder. Everyone else is just playing to see how far they can go before they get knocked out by one of those three.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Don't agree with your assessment of the Mavs. They are not in full tank mode. The mavs don't give a flip about the draft or improving their draft position. The Mavs front office truly believes they have put together a team that can compete while keeping their options open for the future (free agency, trades).
I do think with the addition of Kaman, Brand, Mayo, and Collison that they will be competitive. Not championship material but I believe it will be a playoff team that will be fun to watch.

 

[dbk]

Actually excited about the Wiz this year .. i know John Walls out for a while, but excited to see what Bradley Beal can do.. and they finally have some depth down low

Been a Spurs fan since they drafted Tim Duncan.. Pop has kept them playing at a high level even with Timmay declining so much past couple of years. Parker is in his prime but I dont know whos gonna be able to carry the torch with him, so to speak. Maybe Manu if he can stay injury free (unlikely) However, it wouldn't surprise me to see them get to 60 wins this year. Cant beat coaching sometimes, ya know?

 

[Gibsons]

As a Mavs fan, my take:

As is, they are probably just good enough to make the playoffs and lose in the first round. Assuming Dirk's healthy and up to par.

The one thing is they're in a good cap situation, very few teams are. So, maybe they pull some kind of move during the season. I don't see what that move is though, so we might wait a(nother) year to take advantage of it.

 

[darkewaffle]

I'm rooting for Steve Nash, but not so much the Lakers. I'm not sure how that's going to work though lol.

 

[vi edit]

Adding Allen and Lewis to an already talent stacked Miami team is freaking scary. Talk about stretching a defense apart. Yikes. Ray Ray is old...but guy can still game it up for 50+ nights a year.

Will be interesting to see how healthy LA stays and how well Mike Brown can control that much headline talent. Nash is what...102 years old now? Curious to see what happens to the offense when he's on the bench.

 

[child of wonder]

Timberwolves will be a lot of fun to watch this year and should grab a playoff spot provided Roy's knees hold up and Rubio comes back strong. I could see them finishing as high as 5th in the West.

 

[bolomite]

I think the Lakers will fall far short of what most people are expecting. Kobe and Nash will be a volatile mix (due to Bryant of course) and Mike Brown is spineless when it comes to dealing with high profile players. I predict a 4 or 5 seed in the West.

 

[Garet Jax]

Who cares - basketball has turned from a team game into a bunch of guys playing for themselves. No interest.

 

[mikegg]

I think the Lakers will fall far short of what most people are expecting. Kobe and Nash will be a volatile mix (due to Bryant of course) and Mike Brown is spineless when it comes to dealing with high profile players. I predict a 4 or 5 seed in the West.

People are expecting them to play in the Finals or get knocked out by OKC. You honestly don't think they can at least play OKC in the playoffs?

Listen, their fit won't be that great because their entire starting lineup needs the ball but you can't deny their talent.

I find it hard to believe that they can't win more than 55 games at least with that kind of talent. They upgraded the PG and C spot. They added more bench depth.

I think 2nd seed for Lakers.

 

[dbk]

Timberwolves will be a lot of fun to watch this year and should grab a playoff spot this year provided Roy's knees hold up and Rubio comes back strong. I could see them finishing as high as 5th in the West.

Aren't Roy's knees bone on bone?? Yikes! The Timberwolves are definitely up and coming.. Rubio/Love combo reaks of "dynasty" but obviously too early for that. At least Michael Beasley is gone.. (EW)

 

[dbk]

People are expecting him to play in the Finals or get knocked out by OKC. You honestly don't think they can at least play OKC in the playoffs?

Listen, their fit won't be that great because their entire starting lineup needs the ball but you can't deny their talent.

I find it hard to believe that they can't win more than 55 games at least with that kind of talent. They upgraded the PG and C spot. They added more bench depth.

I think 2nd seed for Lakers.

But don't you agree that the offensive system under Mike Brown is such a downgrade compared to the trangle offense? Pau Gasol looked so lost on the court last year! I want that free flowing triangle offense back.. Pau at free throw line, Dwight down-low, Artest in the corner.. Kobe and Nash up top.. YOU KNOW?!

 

[child of wonder]

Aren't Roy's knees bone on bone?? Yikes! The Timberwolves are definitely up and coming.. Rubio/Love combo reaks of "dynasty" but obviously too early for that. At least Michael Beasley is gone.. (EW)

He underwent PRP treatment in his knee just like Kobe did and it's rumored he may have even underwent some sort of stem cell treatment as well.

Even if it doesn't hold up, the Wolves were right there in the playoff hunt with a starting lineup of Rubio, Ridnour, Webster, Love, and Pekovic. They should still at least compete for the 8th spot even if Roy goes down and they're left with Rubio, ???, Kirilenko, Love, and Pekovic.

 

[mikegg]

But don't you agree that the offensive system under Mike Brown is such a downgrade compared to the trangle offense? Pau Gasol looked so lost on the court last year! I want that free flowing triangle offense back.. Pau at free throw line, Dwight down-low, Artest in the corner.. Kobe and Nash up top.. YOU KNOW?!

Mike Brown isn't the best offensive coach but the year before Phil Jackson retired, the Lakers couldn't score either. They were swept by the Mavs and Phil Jackson retired.

The Lakers had a lot of issues last year. They were solid defensively. In fact, they came within a few minutes in the 4th quarters to beating OKC. But Kobe choked.

Bottom line is, Mike Brown can't help Ron Artest shoot better wide open 3s. He can't get his super bad D-league bench to play NBA level basketball. It's not his fault that he couldn't get Pau & Bynum to play effectively together. Phil Jackson couldn't either. It was always either Pau dominates or Bynum dominates.

Dwight is an offensive upgrade over Bynum. I don't care what anyone else says. 20 PPG as the first option and insanely good efficiency is better than whatever Bynum was able to do. Nash is a massive upgrade over Fisher/Sessions.

The only thing standing in the Lakers' way is health and age.

 

[mikegg]

He underwent PRP treatment in his knee just like Kobe did and it's rumored he may have even underwent some sort of stem cell treatment as well.

Even if it doesn't hold up, the Wolves were right there in the playoff hunt with a starting lineup of Rubio, Ridnour, Webster, Love, and Pekovic. They should still at least compete for the 8th spot even if Roy goes down and they're left with Rubio, ???, Kirilenko, Love, and Pekovic.

They are going to limit Roy's minutes so he should hold up. Blazers have the worst medical staff in the NBA. They ruin every franchise player they get their hands on. See Roy and Oden as examples.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Should be a 3 way race this year, Heat, Lakers and Thunder. Everyone else is just playing to see how far they can go before they get knocked out by one of those three.

Pretty much this - Add in Boston in the East & Mavs in the West as disrupter - don't see either getting to the Finals.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Should be a 3 way race this year, Heat, Lakers and Thunder. Everyone else is just playing to see how far they can go before they get knocked out by one of those three.

Meh, Miami got lucky to get by my Pacers in the playoffs.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

As a Blazers fan, I am feeling very despondent about the coming year. We're clearly rebuilding, but we don't seem to have a clear idea of what that means, we're going to stubbornly overpay for Batum and he just doesn't warrant it, and Aldridge is going to be frustrated when the pieces around him are continually letting him down. Lillard has shown some excellent flashes in the summer league and pre-season, but that's a far cry from an actual NBA season. Myers Leonard? Who knows. The rest of the roster is hard to get excited about. But it won't be a full-on tank year, just another 10 seed or so out west, in No Man's Land, with low lottery picks for a team that doesn't typically draft well.... Fuck it.

The Lakers, Heat and Thunder look exciting. The Knicks are a perennial "I don't know what's going to happen there, but it could be exciting" team, but I feel compelled to root against them because Raymond Felton and Carmelo Anthony are the biggest "Fuck Those Guys" in the NBA. The Spurs are playing on borrowed time, but they seem ageless, so who knows? Denver should be pretty good with the addition of Iggy. And the Clippers... Well, you never can tell. At the very least, there should be a lot of high-flying alley-oops. Brooklyn should be fun with their bevy of stars who always seem a tad disinterested with what's going on. And Minnesota... They're going to be awesome, or every single player on their roster will be out with injuries. It's too early to tell.

 

[mikegg]

As a Blazers fan, I am feeling very despondent about the coming year. We're clearly rebuilding, but we don't seem to have a clear idea of what that means, we're going to stubbornly overpay for Batum and he just doesn't warrant it, and Aldridge is going to be frustrated when the pieces around him are continually letting him down. Lillard has shown some excellent flashes in the summer league and pre-season, but that's a far cry from an actual NBA season. Myers Leonard? Who knows. The rest of the roster is hard to get excited about. But it won't be a full-on tank year, just another 10 seed or so out west, in No Man's Land, with low lottery picks for a team that doesn't typically draft well.... Fuck it.

Talent isn't the Blazers' problem. It's the medical staff. How many franchise players are they going to misdiagnose before Paul Allen opens the wallet for better doctors and trainers?

 

[dougp]

Oh look, a NBA thread.

Spurs under the radar despite being the #1 team in the West. Let's see if they've retooled enough to give the Thunder some competition despite some lopsided games.

Oh, and if you don't like my post - here's my preemptive go fuck yourself, you're stupid. I think this season I'll keep my blinders on and think my Spurs can do no wrong. If you don't like it, ignore me.

 

[Gibsons]

Oh look, a NBA thread.

Spurs under the radar despite being the #1 team in the West. Let's see if they've retooled enough to give the Thunder some competition despite some lopsided games.

Oh, and if you don't like my post - here's my preemptive go fuck yourself, you're stupid. I think this season I'll keep my blinders on and think my Spurs can do no wrong. If you don't like it, ignore me.

Lol, what are you so defensive about?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Lol, what are you so defensive about?

The Western Conference Finals.

 

[bigpimpatl]

Talent isn't the Blazers' problem. It's the medical staff. How many franchise players are they going to misdiagnose before Paul Allen opens the wallet for better doctors and trainers?

Pritchard knew about Roy's knees beforehand, he just made a huge bet and lost.

Same thing with Oden, coupled with a freak accident to pop out the knee.

The blazers just have had a lot of bad luck.