2012/2013 NBA season thread

[octothorp]

I have to say, I'm shocked at how many not-very-good teams seem to be trying to make immediate fixes rather than tanking for the draft. Teams like Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Sacramento, all seem to be trying to build for the playoffs now. Washington, Phoenix, Utah, Orlando, and maybe Boston and Philly seem to be the only tanking teams at this point.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I have to say, I'm shocked at how many not-very-good teams seem to be trying to make immediate fixes rather than tanking for the draft. Teams like Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Sacramento, all seem to be trying to build for the playoffs now. Washington, Phoenix, Utah, Orlando, and maybe Boston and Philly seem to be the only tanking teams at this point.

You are telling me. I was praying that Ferry was going to tank for us when Howard didn't choose ATL, but then first thing he does is sign Millsap to a 2 yr deal. I wouldn't have minded if it was a 4 yr deal and we chose build around Millsap and Horford and let everyone else go, but now we are in it for Ellis and Bynum too. Atlanta will be at best a 2nd round team as per usual.

[PeteLFan]

Nash confirms that Coward was a bitch and refused to run the system.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Remember when you had Dwight as your avatar Pete? Whoops.

Also, and this speaks to why the Lakers are such a mess, between 2008 and 2016 they will have had exactly 2 first round picks, one of which they traded on draft day (Tony Douglas) with next years still to come. The Lakers have to suit up D-Leaguers because of this very reason.

[PeteLFan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Remember when you had Dwight as your avatar Pete? Whoops.

Also, and this speaks to why the Lakers are such a mess, between 2008 and 2016 they will have had exactly 2 first round picks, one of which they traded on draft day (Tony Douglas) with next years still to come. The Lakers have to suit up D-Leaguers because of this very reason.

I do remember and like I said earlier if this was 1 year ago I would have been upset.

Being subjected to the coward for a full season I now know why people said he's not a franchise player.

Sometimes numbers and things look great from the outside from limited viewings.

The one thing he does is change the game on D. He can change shots and he's dominant, but his shot blocking is horrific when you consider he just pounds it out of bounds.

I understand I sound butt hurt right now, but he wanted to be traded to Brooklyn, LA or Dallas.

He would have been good for the D, but his offensive game is bad real bad.

The drafting has been bad and it's time the lakers start drafting more players. I think right now they are going to squeeze the Kobe era and get as many rings as possible by loading up on free agents. This is the same predicament the flames where in with iginla, do you rebuild or do you try to win a ring. I kobe case he has been a winner before and I think he can win again surrounded by better talent.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

I do remember and like I said earlier if this was 1 year ago I would have been upset.

Being subjected to the coward for a full season I now know why people said he's not a franchise player.

Sometimes numbers and things look great from the outside from limited viewings.

The one thing he does is change the game on D. He can change shots and he's dominant, but his shot blocking is horrific when you consider he just pounds it out of bounds.

I understand I sound butt hurt right now, but he wanted to be traded to Brooklyn, LA or Dallas.

He would have been good for the D, but his offensive game is bad real bad.

The drafting has been bad and it's time the lakers start drafting more players. I think right now they are going to squeeze the Kobe era and get as many rings as possible by loading up on free agents. This is the same predicament the flames where in with iginla, do you rebuild or do you try to win a ring. I kobe case he has been a winner before and I think he can win again surrounded by better talent.

His offensive game might not have been that good on the Lakers, but they misused him in a big way (or as Lakers say he didn't try to fit in). However, he is the best offensive center in the game, that is not an opinion it's a fact. You can blame him all you want, but D'antoni should have tailored his offense to having the best big man in the NBA. Howard doesn't need to make a 8 footer, he is unstoppable on the post where he should be seeing the ball all the time.

Without getting Lebron, there will be no more rings in LA for Kobe and I don't really see them getting Lebron.

[moon]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

Nash confirms that Coward was a bitch and refused to run the system.

With the way that "system" ran and the way Nash looked "running" it in the 3-4 games he was actually healthy I think I would claim that guys weren't running the system and that is why Nash and the Lakers looked so bad rather than admit it was age and a lack of talent.

[PeteLFan]

Another reason for cowards departure child support.

[Senator Clay Davis]

You sound like a jilted lover Pete. Howard was a loser, forget about him and move on. Also the Cavs sign Andrew Bynum, 2 years, $24 million, $6m guaranteed in the first year and team option on the second. If he stays healthy the Cavs could be an intriguing team next year. A lot of talent in place and if healthy Bynum is easily the best big man in the East.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

You sound like a jilted lover Pete. Howard was a loser, forget about him and move on. Also the Cavs sign Andrew Bynum, 2 years, $24 million, $6m guaranteed in the first year and team option on the second. If he stays healthy the Cavs could be an intriguing team next year. A lot of talent in place and if healthy Bynum is easily the best big man in the East.

I am not sure he is healthy. Articles I have been reading have said that Atlanta and Dallas were scared off by something as neither even made an offer. Speculation is that he is still a ways off from playing.

[darklord700]

$6M for Bynum's potential is a good gamble. Two things that go against this signing is that Bynum won't workout for teams, why? The second is that he just started practicing now which makes me question his work ethic.

[PeteLFan]

His knees are shot. He still has a good offensive game, but he too is a head case.

I hope mike brown remembers him taking 3 pointers and saying how he's adding it to his game.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Nets just signed AK47 to a mid level exception.

Williams-Johnson-Pierce-Garnett-Lopez +Terry and Kirilenko off the bench makes them a real force if they stay healthy.

[darklord700]

Still with Kidd being an unproven 1st year head coach, merging all these talents is not a job I think he can handle.

Just learned that AK 47 was giving up $10M guarantee money to sign with the Nets for $3M. Something is not right here and both AK 47 and the Nets owner are Russian, just saying.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Still with Kidd being an unproven 1st year head coach, merging all these talents is not a job I think he can handle.

Just learned that AK 47 was giving up $10M guarantee money to sign with the Nets for $3M. Something is not right here and both AK 47 and the Nets owner are Russian, just saying.

Not only are both Russian, but in the late '90s AK played for Prokhorov's Russian Pro team. However, he might just have wanted to play for a contender, which Minnesota is not.

[Drake]

The rest of the NBA had resigned itself to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's relentless pursuit of players and playoff success, absorbing it all until the Brooklyn Nets are pushing an unprecedented $185 million in payroll and punitive taxes. From Deron Williams to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce to Joe Johnson, these Nets embody the spirit of the Russian's imperialistic vision.

Prokhorov had come to conquer the NBA, constructing a basketball arena in the borough of Brooklyn and empowering general manager Billy King to transform a barren roster into a championship contender. The Nets were destined to gather talent in this kind of boldly belligerent way, big names and bigger contracts stacked to the stars. From $101 million in salary to $82 million in luxury tax, Brooklyn has introduced itself as one of the biggest targets in the history of the NBA.

Only this time, the rest of the NBA believes the Nets have gone too far, delivering the league into an unfiltered rage. The signing of Russian free agent Andrei Kirilenko – a $10 million-a-year player last season – for Brooklyn's $3.1 mini-midlevel exception has transformed rival owners and front office executives into an angry mob of disbelievers.

Once the Russian billionaire convinced a superb Russian player to take $7 million less to be a backup to Pierce, the rest of the NBA's reaction was instant and uproarious. For the first time now, the Nets have truly arrived as a contending franchise. They're good, with a chance to be great, and the rest of the NBA wants an investigation.

"Brazen," one Western Conference GM told Yahoo! Sports.

"Let's see if the league has any credibility," one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. "It's not about stopping it. It's about punishing them if they're doing it."

Another Eastern Conference GM: "There should be a probe. How obvious is it?"
The telephone calls and text messages kept coming on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the reason was simple: Few trust Prokhorov to honor the NBA's salary-cap rules and regulations. He made his $15 billion fortune in the wild 1990s in Russia in what he called, "cowboy territory with no sheriff." Bribes were part of the business culture, and Prokhorov confessed to his part in it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--ne...180604173.html

[darklord700]

If it quacks like a duck.....

The AK47 deal doesn't make any sense.

I'm a LBJ fan and I would put the Nets over the Heat on paper. But I just don't trust a rookie coach with no coaching experience to mesh all these talents in a season.

[Drake]

They look so sad:

[Hockey_Ninja]

I'm sure they'll feel better once Wiggins get there...

[Senator Clay Davis]

Danny Ainge has the look of a guy who's tanking. But its funny cause the last two times the Celtics tried to tank they didn't get Tim Duncan or Greg Oden/Kevin Durant. This draft is so stacked though that even if they end up 5th they could get a franchise guy.