The NBA Thread

[dave from knoxville]

"This point is futile and I regret arguing about it because it's everything I hate about sports - ranking guys, the difference between 'good' and 'great', etcl blah blah blah. It's Mike Francesa stuff. "

Uh oh.

[Mr. Spacely]

To steal from Tom...

This Lakers team is pure garbage. What a bunch of washed-up fossils.

[nec13]

To steal from Tom...

This Lakers team is pure garbage. What a bunch of washed-up fossils.

With every loss, the chances of D12 ultimately ending up in L.A. diminish. And I for one couldn't be happier about that.

[Mr. Spacely]

Holding out for D12 is the only thing keeping me going!

[Gilly]

I think it depends on Howard's ego and if he thinks he's a far better player than Bynum that can transform the Lakers from a playoff contender to a championship contender. He's not, but you never know what a person can think about themselves especially when the other option is the 8-18 Nets. I don't know if I see Chicago changing up arguably the best team in the NBA to bring him in and the Clippers don't have anybody to give in return but I think they were off the radar anyway. Basically, it comes down to two teams- The Lakers who will remain mediocre replacing Bynum, or the Nets which would basically be Orlando 2.0 for this year at least. I think the allure of wearing the purple and gold, being in Hollywood and the player Orlando will get in return will put him in a Laker jersey.

[nec13]

I think it depends on Howard's ego and if he thinks he's a far better player than Bynum that can transform the Lakers from a playoff contender to a championship contender. He's not, but you never know what a person can think about themselves especially when the other option is the 8-18 Nets. I don't know if I see Chicago changing up arguably the best team in the NBA to bring him in and the Clippers don't have anybody to give in return but I think they were off the radar anyway. Basically, it comes down to two teams- The Lakers who will remain mediocre replacing Bynum, or the Nets which would basically be Orlando 2.0 for this year at least. I think the allure of wearing the purple and gold, being in Hollywood and the player Orlando will get in return will put him in a Laker jersey.

I can't argue with anything you said in this post.

I don't envy Otis Smith right now. He doesn't really have any good options at this point. You can't just let Howard walk and receive nothing in return. But if the best you can do is Andrew Bynum and other assorted flotsam and jetsam, that's not all that appealing either. In the end, however, I think he'll be forced to choose the least bad option, which is trading him to the Lakers. 

[Mr. Spacely]

Well, there are so many things at play here. What's best for Howard, what's best for Orlando, and what's best for the Lakers.

As a Los Angeleno, I can tell you the Lakers desperately want a post-Kobe star. Lakers High Command would never be content with a Nuggets or Sixers-style team (even though plenty of fans would). They want stars.

So, Howard certainly checks that box. Howard is also a couple notches above Bynum as a player, so a Laker core with Kobe, Pau, and Bynum is probably 3-4 wins better than the current core.

That said... the Lakers have HUGE holes at PG, SF and the bench. Holes that Howard alone can't fix. Holes so big, that in the long run of this season, they make a Kobe-Pau-Howard core not all that much better than the current one.

So, I don't know. If Howard is savvy, he sees this and thinks, "Hm, maybe LA won't get me that ring all that much faster than Brooklyn would, consider Brooklyn actually has cap room..." Then again, at no moment of this "process" has Howard demonstrated anything resembling savvyness.

[Greggulator]

Dwight Howard's awesome but NBA players need to open up the cities they'd play in a bit more than LA, Miami, Chicago, NY and kinda Dallas/Boston.

1) America is pretty terrific and there are great cities everywhere. I can't believe no one wants to play for Golden State. They have the most hardcore fan base in the country, San Francisco's pretty great, etc. I'm obviously incredibly partial to Philly -- Allen Iverson never hurt for endorsements or media attention. I like Houston a lot -- multimillionaires live like kings there. Portland has a great fan base and while it's too Portlandia for me, it's still really awesome. Phoenix has low tax rates, great winter weather AND Steve Nash, who only has a history of making everyone he plays with look significantly better than they are (thus wealthier). DC has a history of losing but it's the second or third most significant media market due to the politics -- a superstar in DC will get a ton of media attention, ala that one year everyone loved Gil.

I know my tastes are different than a 23-year-old multimillionaire.

With all the technology we have today, you can really live anywhere you want and bank endorsements, unless you're counting on those lucrative car lot deals. KD stayed in Oklahoma City and has a ton of commercials (and even a movie). If you're good enough, you'll get a shoe deal.

2) It limits the players pull over the market by being so open as to who you'd sign with. I'd rather have 29 teams thing they can bid for me than limit to it three or four.

[Greggulator]

My Twitter feed the past two nights has blown up regarding Jeremy Lin.

Can we please calm down about this? It's two good games back-to-back against the terrible Nets and average Utah teams, whose PG is Devin Harris, who has been brutal. And one of those games had eight TOs. He's racked up about 78 DNP-CDs this season on the friggin' Knicks.

And since when did we start rooting for people from Harvard to succeed? Aren't they the enemy to slobs everywhere? I know he stands out because of his ethnicity but, aside from that, he's a fortunate son who fell under the AAU radar and had a great career... but it was at Harvard.

[gravy boat]

My Twitter feed the past two nights has blown up regarding Jeremy Lin.

Can we please calm down about this? It's two good games back-to-back against the terrible Nets and average Utah teams, whose PG is Devin Harris, who has been brutal. And one of those games had eight TOs. He's racked up about 78 DNP-CDs this season on the friggin' Knicks.

And since when did we start rooting for people from Harvard to succeed? Aren't they the enemy to slobs everywhere? I know he stands out because of his ethnicity but, aside from that, he's a fortunate son who fell under the AAU radar and had a great career... but it was at Harvard.

I'm a Nets fan and watched the Lin "debut." He did not destroy the Nets--he got the better of Deron Williams, one of the best in the game, time and again on both ends.  Is he for real? Can't tell yet, but he makes that Knicks team about 10x better than any other stiff they have.  People are rooting for him because he came from out of nowhere.  You should know that people like that kind of story. I believe there is a statue in your fair city to this effect. 

By the way, I just finished your brother's book (which is superb--real funny and touching). All I can say is I am making my WFMU donation this year in honor of your parents' perseverance.

[Greggulator]

My Twitter feed the past two nights has blown up regarding Jeremy Lin.

Can we please calm down about this? It's two good games back-to-back against the terrible Nets and average Utah teams, whose PG is Devin Harris, who has been brutal. And one of those games had eight TOs. He's racked up about 78 DNP-CDs this season on the friggin' Knicks.

And since when did we start rooting for people from Harvard to succeed? Aren't they the enemy to slobs everywhere? I know he stands out because of his ethnicity but, aside from that, he's a fortunate son who fell under the AAU radar and had a great career... but it was at Harvard.

I'm a Nets fan and watched the Lin "debut." He did not destroy the Nets--he got the better of Deron Williams, one of the best in the game, time and again on both ends.  Is he for real? Can't tell yet, but he makes that Knicks team about 10x better than any other stiff they have.  People are rooting for him because he came from out of nowhere.  You should know that people like that kind of story. I believe there is a statue in your fair city to this effect. 

By the way, I just finished your brother's book (which is superb--real funny and touching). All I can say is I am making my WFMU donation this year in honor of your parents' perseverance.

I get what you're saying. But Rocky works because he was some poor schlub from a terrible part of Philly who got a big break and made the most of it. Lin was a borderline second round draft pick overcame riding the bench. It's barely on the same radar. The real underdog story is someone like Ivan Johnson who got kicked out of the Korean league or Sundiata Gaines, who toiled in the minors before getting a big break and, in his first game in the NBA, nailed a buzzer beater and turned that into a stable contract.

And thanks for the comment on my brother's book! I can attest that my parents could not be more normal, traditional people. Also: I just got a new job I start in a few weeks which will give me a lot of free time for my own book!
 

[Gilly]

I don't envy Otis Smith right now. He doesn't really have any good options at this point. You can't just let Howard walk and receive nothing in return. But if the best you can do is Andrew Bynum and other assorted flotsam and jetsam, that's not all that appealing either. In the end, however, I think he'll be forced to choose the least bad option, which is trading him to the Lakers.

If Orlando can get Bynum it would be one of the best deals ever for a star who wants to be traded. As long as he wants to play there... his contract ends at the same as Howard's. But it's not too often that you get a player like Bynum for a player who is forcing his way out especially with the limitations he's putting on the Magic.

[buffcoat]

Ha!

NBA places I would not want to live if I were a young millionaire:

• Oklahoma City - I have driven through twice.  The first sign you see in Oklahoma is "hitchhikers may be escaped criminals" and it heads downhill from there.  Also, Oklahoma was one of the few states to have a higher percentage of votes for Kerry than for Obama, and it doesn't seem to me that that was driven by Oklahoma's natural affinity for a French-seeming guy from Massachusetts.
• Milwaukee - it's maybe unfair to put a place I've never been on this list, but you can only see the Fonz statue so many times.
• Charlotte - in my home state.  Absolutely zero culture.
• Sacramento - Albany west!
• Cleveland - poor Cleveland.
• Detroit - not yet, anyway.  Maybe in 10 more years.

I would also throw in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Atlanta, but that's more from personal experience with Texas and Atlanta.  A young millionaire might be able to find some enjoyment in at least three of these.

[Mr. Spacely]

I would do the Lamar Odom thing and demand to only play for a team near the beach.

[NewGuyPeteD]

My Twitter feed the past two nights has blown up regarding Jeremy Lin.

Can we please calm down about this? It's two good games back-to-back against the terrible Nets and average Utah teams, whose PG is Devin Harris, who has been brutal. And one of those games had eight TOs. He's racked up about 78 DNP-CDs this season on the friggin' Knicks.

And since when did we start rooting for people from Harvard to succeed? Aren't they the enemy to slobs everywhere? I know he stands out because of his ethnicity but, aside from that, he's a fortunate son who fell under the AAU radar and had a great career... but it was at Harvard.

I'm a Knicks fan who has watched nothing but crappy PG play all of this year and most of last year...While the "Linsanity" may be a bit overboard, he is clearly making them better by getting guys open looks (see: Steve Novak) and setting the pace of the offense. I WILL get excited because when Amare and Carmelo come back Lin won't have to work as hard on offense and they should be big-time beneficiaries his natural progression as a floor general.

I'M PUMPED UP RIGHT NOW!