*NBA THREAD* Abe will be missed (3 Viewers)

[timschochet]

Orlando looks very impressive in the first half. Of course, its the Wizards.

 

[ivnabru]

Don't know how long you can keep a guy who is openly saying he wants out. If I were running the Nuggs, I'd take the Nets offer that included Favors + picks. Guy is a beast. If Melo won't sign an extension with NJ, take Gallinari, Chandler, cap relief and a couple future picks.

Not to rub people the wrong way, but I don't see Anthony as a "franchise" player. I can't put my finger on exactly why except that there's just some intangible missing - leadership, attitude, something. Like, I compare him to Durant, and the measurables seem pretty similar, but I get a sense that Durant is already in a tier that Anthony will never reach. Don't get me wrong, he's a big talent, but I just don't see cornerstone in him for whatever reason. He's a Pippen more than a Jordan. I guess I'm saying he might be doing the Nuggets a favor here by turning down the extension with them.I wonder how his teammates on the Nuggets feel when they hear him say stuff like that. They'd never admit to it affecting them publicly, but seriously, how much effort are you going to put into getting along/working with someone who is pretty much saying he doesn't want to be on the team you're on.

I think you're being a bit unfair to Pippen when Jordan was gone playing baseball he was close to taking that team to the finals as the unquestioned leader. And he was pretty close with Houston and Portland in his old age. Scottie only really had 2 years of his prime without Jordan.

Can't we say kinda the same thing about Anthony? He did get to the WC Finals 2 years ago.

Melo is still early enough in his career that we'll probably know what he's all about in a couple years. Pippen though is continually underrated because people want to remember Jordan as some sort of inhuman machine.

 

[Kev4029]

I'd be starting to get tired of this guy if I was a Nuggets fan.

Carmelo Anthony ...

Management wants "to sit down and talk, but my thing is it's way beyond this year," he told Yahoo! Sports. "It ain't got nothing to do with the new GM [Masai Ujiri], Josh [Kroenke, team president], the players. For me, I feel it's a time for change.

"If I do nothing now, I'm never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay."

"But as far as the money that's on the table, I understand the money that's on the table. I understand it's a lot," he said on "The Scott Van Pelt Show". "But it's more than the money. Right now I'm here, I'm with the Nuggets."

I know as a Laker fan I got tired of Kobe's captain bitter act back in the summer of '07. Things turned out pretty well subsequently - maybe the Nuggets can call up the Griz for a trade for Gasol too.

Not that Marc Gasol would change Melo's mind, but that kind of player is exactly what the Nuggets need. Gasol is a decent defender on the block and can play offensively on the block and hit short jumper, and would allow Nene to play pf. On top of all that, I don't expect the Grizz to pay him the 10 mil/yr he's going to want, so I see them likely trading him this season if Thabeet shows he can ball at all. A lineup of Billups, Afflalo, Happy Melo, Nene, Gasol with a bench of Lawson, JR, Harrington, Birdman and KMart would challange the Lakers for the west title.I wish that could really happen.

On a good note for the Nuggets and their fans, Melo played like #### during the first half and the Nuggets were still up by 20. Ewing theory?

Only caught the last part of the game. Sheldon Williams with 16 boards, how did he look other wise? Also did Nene bulk up some, he looked huge out there.

I was at the game and I was very curious to watch him so I was focusing on him much more than I should have....He is a really hard worker and got the Nuggets a handful of offensive boards because he didn't give up on plays. Defensively he is pretty good on ball and seems to have decent feet. He mostly stayed out of the way on offense an looked for short jumpers and crashed the boards. I also watched him in warmups and he seems to have a fairly nice jumper.

On the negative side, he has no idea what hes doing sometimes. There were probably 5 or 6 times where he would pick up somebody elses man who was already covered coming back on D leaving his man wide open, which resulted in at least two wide open layups. There were also another 2 or 3 times in transition on defense where he would pick up his man at the three point line leaving the other big man wide open near the hoop resulting in another couple easy hoops. He also has pretty iffy hands, and dropped a couple passes and probably could have had another 5 rebounds that were taken away from him because the ball would bounce off his hands.

Overall, he played far better than his 1 million dollar contract and if Martin and Anderson come back healthy he will be an excellent 5th big man that does all of the things a 5th big should, and while the Nuggs wait for Bird and Martin to come back I feel that he will give enough effort to play 25 mpg and not hurt the Nuggets.

The Nuggets have done a GREAT job picking players off the scrap heap for minimum deals the last 4 years.

Anthony Carter, Dahntay Jones, Chris Anderson, Shelden Williams...

 

[No. 16]

For all the talk about the Warriors improving their defense, they surely did suck. After 1 game at PF it's pretty apparent David Lee still sucks on defense. I know Scola is very good in the block and fairly underrated, but Lee let him get any shot he wanted. I love everything else about Lee's game, but his defense is craptacular. I also don't like the small ball tendencies of Smart. Hopefully once Lou Amoundson and Udoh come back there's no reason to have Lee at C. I know Biedrins was in trouble, but I'd rather have Jeff Adrien or Gadzuric in there.

Took a late flyer on Dorell Wright in my fantasy league and was pleased with his numbers and run last night. How does he fit in there? I've heard some suggest Williams should be starting over Wright, but Wright got all the burn last night.Your thoughts?

I think Wright's stat line last night is about what you should expect. I mentioned earlier I expected Shane Battier type box scores but with a bit more scoring and assists. I think Wright will continue to get as many minutes as he can handle because he's our best perimeter defender. He could potentially be the best pick up for the dubs this off season.

 

[Statorama]

Good grief, Utah looks like a YMCA team against the Suns tonight. No hustle, especially around the boards. Overall it's just an embarrasing performance by the Jazz tonight.

 

[TommyGilmore]

Celtics might release Delonte West after he punches teammate

 

[Gr00vus]

Celtics might release Delonte West after he punches teammate

Poor Von. I wonder if he caught Delonte putting the moves on Mom Wafer.

 

[Gr00vus]

Dampier signed with the Rockets. Yao insurance.

 

[Gr00vus]

Stern blabbing about the NBA expanding to Europe. Why? Wouldn't they need to change the name of the league at that point? I guess they have Canadian team(s) so that's already been breached. But he's talking about contraction and expansion into Europe. Would Europe want the NBA or are they happy with their existing hoops leagues? I guess ostensibly the best players around the world go to the NBA, so maybe Europe would want the NBA over there. Still it'd be hell on western time zone teams, and the European teams when they have to go to the pacific time zone to play.

Time for hypothetical Euro NBA team names.

 

[Yenrub]

Nets win again! 2-0 baby!

 

[Courtjester]

I'd be starting to get tired of this guy if I was a Nuggets fan.

Carmelo Anthony ...

Management wants "to sit down and talk, but my thing is it's way beyond this year," he told Yahoo! Sports. "It ain't got nothing to do with the new GM [Masai Ujiri], Josh [Kroenke, team president], the players. For me, I feel it's a time for change.

"If I do nothing now, I'm never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay."

"But as far as the money that's on the table, I understand the money that's on the table. I understand it's a lot," he said on "The Scott Van Pelt Show". "But it's more than the money. Right now I'm here, I'm with the Nuggets."

I know as a Laker fan I got tired of Kobe's captain bitter act back in the summer of '07. Things turned out pretty well subsequently - maybe the Nuggets can call up the Griz for a trade for Gasol too.

This is turning into exactly what I knew it would and what I didn't want. Every Nugget game I watch the intro is about what will happen to Melo, the half-time is what will happen to Melo, the post game is all about getting sound bites from Melo. It makes me just want to turn the sound off and not read the local paper.I was thinking about this last night and Denver is in a tough situation because let's say Denver does well and is sitting at 2nd or 3rd in the West come January, what do you do if Melo still shows no interest in signing? Do you trade him for pennies on the dollar to a team happy to rent him for the remainder of the season, but this basically just destroys the remainder of your season? How could a team leading their own division decide to throw in the towel mid-year? Do you ride it out, but understanding this would have to be a championship or bust type mission?

As much as I believe they should have traded him already, I honestly believe this team is going to fall into that first scenario and have to dump him to avoid getting Lebron'd.

However, the best thing that is happening for Denver is Stern spreading doom and gloom about the coming labor problems--this has to weigh on Melo that he very well may be leaving 10's of millions of dollars on the table if the CBA swings more to the owners.

 

[D'OHtis]

Week 1 Thoughts:

Looks like another long long year in NY. No cohesion at all there. Big trouble if the offense is going through Amare.

Love Love Noah in Chicago. He's the type of player you want on a championship level team (Chicago's not one yet, just in general). Such a great effort player -- reminds me of the Rodman days in Chicago. I think they made the right move not dealing him. I think the wrong move they made is with Boozer. Just really think they're going to regret that the last couple years -- though not to the extent of the Ben Wallace fiasco.

Wonderful effort from Rose tonight. Looks like he's going to catapult into the Top 3-4 PG's in the league. (I think Nash is going to plummet along with the rest of the Suns. While doubtful we do it, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see what there is for him at the deadline & hand it over to Dragic. Lottery just looks very very likely for quite awhile). With Nash's conditioning, I think he's still got another high caliber year or two, but he's now asked to carry the Franchise (he doesn't have a Robin [stoudemire] anymore). I'm not even sure Hedo will be starting all year (and I think the Suns front office expected 17-20 and 5-8 boards/game in the offense).

 

[simmonjm]

Week 1 Thoughts:

Looks like another long long year in NY. No cohesion at all there. Big trouble if the offense is going through Amare.

It is puzzling why NY is giving the ball to Amare behind the 3 pt line and having him drive to the hoop like he is Chris Paul. Their offense is a work in progress but surprisingly their defense is stout. Once Gallinari, Randolph, and Azubuike get healthy this could be a dangerous team then again Azubuike might never get healthy and Gallinari's slump could continue indefinetly ending any hopes of a NY postseason berth.Hey Goggins its ridiculously early but at this juncture Knicks would not have to swap picks

0-3 Rockets, 1-2 Knicks

 

[Steelfan7]

So the Knicks have no shot at Melo because they don't have a 1st rd pick until 2027?

Didn't they trade a 1st rd pick for Tracy McGrady?

No. They (essentially) traded TWO 1st round picks for McGrady.Its not just about the picks. Its also about the players they can offer and the relative value of that package compared to what other teams can offer. The (rumored) Nets offering would get Favors (a top 3 guy in the draft who has "top 5 big man in the game" potential) and two first round picks. The best the Knicks could offer would probably be Gallinari, Randolph....?

They did not trade two 1st rd picks for McGrady.

They traded one and Houston gets to swap one. So, one free first round pick, and one swap that probably nets them 20 spots in the draft.

Rockets 0-3

 

[Juxtatarot]

So the Knicks have no shot at Melo because they don't have a 1st rd pick until 2027?

Didn't they trade a 1st rd pick for Tracy McGrady?

No. They (essentially) traded TWO 1st round picks for McGrady.Its not just about the picks. Its also about the players they can offer and the relative value of that package compared to what other teams can offer. The (rumored) Nets offering would get Favors (a top 3 guy in the draft who has "top 5 big man in the game" potential) and two first round picks. The best the Knicks could offer would probably be Gallinari, Randolph....?

They did not trade two 1st rd picks for McGrady.

They traded one and Houston gets to swap one. So, one free first round pick, and one swap that probably nets them 20 spots in the draft.

Rockets 0-3

The Rockets are a good team and should finish with a better record than the Knicks, but 20 spots is crazy. Swap should be about 5.

 

[Balco]

Nets haven't exactly faced playoff caliber teams, but they look night and day better than last year. Interested to see what Troy Murphy adds when he comes back. That Anthony Morrow signing is going to really help them, the Nets were horrible shooting the 3 last year, which cause teams to just collapse on Brook Lopez.

And I like what I see of Favors so far. He needs to really work on his offensive game, but he is going to be a very good defender, IMO. And what is the deal with Kris Humphries? Surprised he was so well traveled before coming to the NEts. He is a solid rotation guy.

 

[No. 16]

Nets haven't exactly faced playoff caliber teams, but they look night and day better than last year. Interested to see what Troy Murphy adds when he comes back. That Anthony Morrow signing is going to really help them, the Nets were horrible shooting the 3 last year, which cause teams to just collapse on Brook Lopez.And I like what I see of Favors so far. He needs to really work on his offensive game, but he is going to be a very good defender, IMO. And what is the deal with Kris Humphries? Surprised he was so well traveled before coming to the NEts. He is a solid rotation guy.

Glad to see Morrow get consistent minutes. Dude is a hard worker, one of the few players plays the game with great enthusiasm/hustle, and is one of the best 3 point shooter in the NBA.

 

[Premier]

25 minutes for Kevin Love last night?

 

[Britney Spears]

25 minutes for Kevin Love last night?

Rambis is an idiot.No other possible explanation.

 

[Premier]

25 minutes for Kevin Love last night?

Rambis is an idiot.No other possible explanation.

14 points, 13 boards and 0 fouls. And he plays 25 minutes. How is this possible?

 

[Balco]

25 minutes for Kevin Love last night?

Rambis is an idiot.No other possible explanation.

14 points, 13 boards and 0 fouls. And he plays 25 minutes. How is this possible?

Its been dating back to last season as well. Rambis doesn't like Love's defense, which is funny considering the Timberwolves as a whole don't play much D. Rambis is going to chase off a foundation for that team. If I were opposing gms I would be calling the Wolves right now.

 

[boubucarow]

Week 1 Thoughts: Looks like another long long year in NY. No cohesion at all there. Big trouble if the offense is going through Amare.Love Love Noah in Chicago. He's the type of player you want on a championship level team (Chicago's not one yet, just in general). Such a great effort player -- reminds me of the Rodman days in Chicago. I think they made the right move not dealing him. I think the wrong move they made is with Boozer. Just really think they're going to regret that the last couple years -- though not to the extent of the Ben Wallace fiasco. Wonderful effort from Rose tonight. Looks like he's going to catapult into the Top 3-4 PG's in the league. (I think Nash is going to plummet along with the rest of the Suns. While doubtful we do it, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see what there is for him at the deadline & hand it over to Dragic. Lottery just looks very very likely for quite awhile). With Nash's conditioning, I think he's still got another high caliber year or two, but he's now asked to carry the Franchise (he doesn't have a Robin [stoudemire] anymore). I'm not even sure Hedo will be starting all year (and I think the Suns front office expected 17-20 and 5-8 boards/game in the offense).

Noah will typically be the best rebounder on the floor, play very good defense, provide 6-10 post up points, run the floor much better than 90% of centers, and throw in 6-10 garbage points a night. Not bad. He is worth the price IMO.Rose was unreal last night. He kept the Bulls in the game when nobody else could buy a bucket and then he finished off the Pistons. Not ready to put him in the Williams/Paul/Nash class but he is right there with Rondo in the next tier. Both are perfect for their teams where Rose needs to score and Rondo just needs to create. On the fast break he has few peers especially at his height. He looked good from distance as well.Especially until Boozer returns, what hurts this team is Deng's inconsistency on the offensive end. He just doesn't have the foot speed to beat his man to the basket and takes too many long jumpers. If he can't score 20 a night now, the Bulls will struggle when Rose isn't dominating. However, he deserves a ton of credit on defense. After doing a quality job on Durant, he took on Ben Gordon in the 2nd half after Gordon put in 20 in the first half on perfect shooting. Gordon was no impact in the 2nd half and the Bulls dominated.Like what James Johnson provided as well. He still is in a rush at times and makes mistakes. But his energy on the boards, defensively, and on the break made a huge difference in the 2nd half.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Like what James Johnson provided as well. He still is in a rush at times and makes mistakes. But his energy on the boards, defensively, and on the break made a huge difference in the 2nd half.

They wouldn't have won the game without him, IMO.It will be interesting to see what happens with him. Apparently he was told earlier by Thibodeau that he wouldn't be in the rotation but that certainly seems in doubt now. Bogans hasn't played that well and Brewer's been terrible so they are wing player minutes ripe for the taking. After watching him play poorly most of last year and this year in summer league, I'd given up on him but he has played great last night and during the preseason. I now think he'll have a decent NBA career.I also have been pleased with Omer Asik. He's going to be an excellent defensive force.

 

[boubucarow]

Like what James Johnson provided as well. He still is in a rush at times and makes mistakes. But his energy on the boards, defensively, and on the break made a huge difference in the 2nd half.

They wouldn't have won the game without him, IMO.It will be interesting to see what happens with him. Apparently he was told earlier by Thibodeau that he wouldn't be in the rotation but that certainly seems in doubt now. Bogans hasn't played that well and Brewer's been terrible so they are wing player minutes ripe for the taking. After watching him play poorly most of last year and this year in summer league, I'd given up on him but he has played great last night and during the preseason. I now think he'll have a decent NBA career.I also have been pleased with Omer Asik. He's going to be an excellent defensive force.

Asik took two huge charges on quick rotation plays. I had given up on Johnson as well. He still could slow down a bit more with the ball, but he has earned a spot in the rotation for sure and played when it mattered most.

 

[Redwes25]

Week 1 Thoughts:

Looks like another long long year in NY. No cohesion at all there. Big trouble if the offense is going through Amare.

It is puzzling why NY is giving the ball to Amare behind the 3 pt line and having him drive to the hoop like he is Chris Paul. Their offense is a work in progress but surprisingly their defense is stout. Once Gallinari, Randolph, and Azubuike get healthy this could be a dangerous team then again Azubuike might never get healthy and Gallinari's slump could continue indefinetly ending any hopes of a NY postseason berth.Hey Goggins its ridiculously early but at this juncture Knicks would not have to swap picks

0-3 Rockets, 1-2 Knicks

The lost the Blazers was painful. The offense just fell apart at the end and they really blew that game.

 

[thecatch]

I wish the Kings could play the Raptors, Cavs, Nets, and T-Wolves all year. Some pretty exciting games amongst the worst few teams in the league.

 

[JMon348]

Bulls made a mistake not going harder after Shannon Brown.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

I wish the Kings could play the Raptors, Cavs, Nets, and T-Wolves all year. Some pretty exciting games amongst the worst few teams in the league.

Heck of a game. Those two threes casspi hit in the 4th were killer. I'm starting to get a man crush on Reggie Evans. Haven't seen anyone rebounding like him since rodman.If think both teams really get up for these games as they are playin teams on their own skill level and actually believe they can win.

 

[boubucarow]

Bulls made a mistake not going harder after Shannon Brown.

If he continues hitting threes like he is early, probably. Brown and Watson seem pretty similar although Brown would be an upgrade. It seems the biggest issues on this team other than health are wing scoring and backup point. Brown could have provided a bit of both. As it stands now, Deng and Korver need to put up 30 a night when Boozer is healthy. And they need to figure out what to do when Rose is sitting as the team looks shaky when he is out so far. As I stated in the offseason, Deng has become increasingly more confident in that baseline three and he hit 3 of 5 last night after hitting 60% in the preseason. For now it seems Thibodeau would like to roll out Rose, Deng, Korver, Noah, and Gibson/Boozer at the end of games. That is possible if Deng and Korver can guard the wing men on the opposing team although that won't always be possible. Ronnie Brewer looks like the bad signing of the group so far.And props to Deng for his 40, that was maybe the quietest 40 points ever.

 

[hxperson]

I wish the Kings could play the Raptors, Cavs, Nets, and T-Wolves all year. Some pretty exciting games amongst the worst few teams in the league.

Heck of a game. Those two threes casspi hit in the 4th were killer. I'm starting to get a man crush on Reggie Evans. Haven't seen anyone rebounding like him since rodman.If think both teams really get up for these games as they are playin teams on their own skill level and actually believe they can win.

On the flip side, how useless is Bargnani? How can a player with his height, minutes, and location on the court only get 3 rebounds in 2 games?? On top of that, he provides no help defense. The team will never be a contender with him as a starting 4 or 5. My hope for this season is for Derozen to develop into a solid contributor, Ed Davis to be healthy and get quality minutes, and for the Raps to finish last and bring in a potential stud - either at the 5 or the 1. Thx Sacramento for helping the cause.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

I wish the Kings could play the Raptors, Cavs, Nets, and T-Wolves all year. Some pretty exciting games amongst the worst few teams in the league.

Heck of a game. Those two threes casspi hit in the 4th were killer. I'm starting to get a man crush on Reggie Evans. Haven't seen anyone rebounding like him since rodman.If think both teams really get up for these games as they are playin teams on their own skill level and actually believe they can win.

On the flip side, how useless is Bargnani? How can a player with his height, minutes, and location on the court only get 3 rebounds in 2 games?? On top of that, he provides no help defense. The team will never be a contender with him as a starting 4 or 5. My hope for this season is for Derozen to develop into a solid contributor, Ed Davis to be healthy and get quality minutes, and for the Raps to finish last and bring in a potential stud - either at the 5 or the 1. Thx Sacramento for helping the cause.

I don't think I'd call him useless but yeah, his rebounding and help D are pretty pathetic. Having Evans beside him definitely helps mask a little bit of his rebounding deficiencies. I don't care if he isn't grabbing ORebs since his game is typically played away from the basket, but he should be grabbing a minimum of 6 DReb a night with his height. I disagree that a team can't be a contender with him at the starting 4/5. Pair him with the a 5 that can defend, rebound and block shots, you'd have a pretty nice front court ie. Howard, Hibbert, Noah, Lopez, Bogut and if they could ever stay healthy, Yao and Bynum. to the lottery.

 

[No. 16]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!

Are you kidding me?!

Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA.

Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

 

[Kev4029]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

I think he and Felton are nearly at the same level, but Conley has some upside.... terrible contract though. The Grizz are gonna have half of their cap taken up by Conley and Gay for the next 5 years, awesome.What is going to happen to Gasol and Randolph and their contracts this year? What about Mayo next year?

 

[Smarge]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

Simmons had a good line on Twitter. Said the deal must be $5M for 45 years, not $45M for 5 years.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

Hollinger doesn't think it is so bad:

The public perception is that Conley's five-year, $45 million extension is preposterous. Those who have seen him in preseason and the first three regular-season games, however, will tell you that Conley is one of the league's most improved players."He appears much faster," said one scout who wasn't sure if Conley had genuinely become faster or simply figured out how to make use of his speed on the basketball court. Conley also appears to have a bigger role in the offense than last year's pass-to-the-wing-and-jog-to-the-weakside-corner routine.A career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter, Conley needed only to make his drive-and-dish game more of a weapon to become one of the league's better operators; for years I'd been puzzled by his inability to do so given his quickness. Apparently, he's starting to figure it out. I'm still not sure if it makes him a $45 million player, but this extension might not seem nearly as silly in a couple of months.(By the way, for those asking why Memphis' Marc Gasol also wasn't extended: As a second-round pick originally, he's not on a rookie-scale contract. The maximum Memphis could give him in an extension starts at just under $4 million a year, which I think we can all agree is a wee bit below the Bearded Wonder's market value.)

 

[Smarge]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

I think he and Felton are nearly at the same level, but Conley has some upside.... terrible contract though. The Grizz are gonna have half of their cap taken up by Conley and Gay for the next 5 years, awesome.What is going to happen to Gasol and Randolph and their contracts this year? What about Mayo next year?

Randolph is a guy they probably don't want to commit long term money to at this point. Gasol almost has to be kept. It almost seems as if they decided on Conley instead of Mayo with this deal. A core of Gay/Conley/Gasol isn't going to win many championships.

 

[Sammy3469]

No Knicks-Magic tonight....asbestos falling from the ceiling during renovations

 

[No. 16]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

I think he and Felton are nearly at the same level, but Conley has some upside.... terrible contract though. The Grizz are gonna have half of their cap taken up by Conley and Gay for the next 5 years, awesome.What is going to happen to Gasol and Randolph and their contracts this year? What about Mayo next year?

Randolph is a guy they probably don't want to commit long term money to at this point. Gasol almost has to be kept. It almost seems as if they decided on Conley instead of Mayo with this deal. A core of Gay/Conley/Gasol isn't going to win many championships.

Yah, it looks like Mayo is the odd man out. That core certainly won't win championships because Gay is overrated as a franchise player. If I were the Grizz, I would have let Gay go or traded him before FA, see what Conley gets as an RFA, same with Mayo, and then work on a extension for Gasol for around 10 million per. I can live with paying a highly skilled offensive center $10 million over perimeter players who are streaky shooters.

 

[mlball77]

I wish the Kings could play the Raptors, Cavs, Nets, and T-Wolves all year. Some pretty exciting games amongst the worst few teams in the league.

Haha, no kidding. Getting a couple of road wins was nice though, despite the competition being below par.It will be interesting to see how the Kings fare vs. tougher competition (like LA tomorrow).

 

[Kev4029]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!Are you kidding me?!Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA. Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

I think he and Felton are nearly at the same level, but Conley has some upside.... terrible contract though. The Grizz are gonna have half of their cap taken up by Conley and Gay for the next 5 years, awesome.What is going to happen to Gasol and Randolph and their contracts this year? What about Mayo next year?

Randolph is a guy they probably don't want to commit long term money to at this point. Gasol almost has to be kept. It almost seems as if they decided on Conley instead of Mayo with this deal. A core of Gay/Conley/Gasol isn't going to win many championships.

Yah, it looks like Mayo is the odd man out. That core certainly won't win championships because Gay is overrated as a franchise player. If I were the Grizz, I would have let Gay go or traded him before FA, see what Conley gets as an RFA, same with Mayo, and then work on a extension for Gasol for around 10 million per. I can live with paying a highly skilled offensive center $10 million over perimeter players who are streaky shooters.

Mayo, Gasol and Randolph are probably all going to be looking for a 5/60 contract or there abouts. I think it would be nearly impossible for the Grizz to re-sign two of the three, that would tie up 50 million+ for 4 players and I doubt their #### owner would pay for that. I think their best plan of action would be to look hard at trades between now and the trade deadline. That Gay contract killed them, I think Mayo, Randolph and Gasol are all better players and his contract is the end of at least one and possibly two of them.

 

[No. 16]

$9 million a year for Mike Conley!

Are you kidding me?!

Unless you have a sure fire stud, I don't understand why GMs lock up mediocre/unproven players to contract extensions instead of allowing the market to set their price as RFA.

Raymond Felton is signed for 7.5 per year and I think Felton is better than Conley. Only way he justifies 9 million is if he continues to average 8+ ast and 3+ stls, otherwise this will be a cap killer.

I think he and Felton are nearly at the same level, but Conley has some upside.... terrible contract though. The Grizz are gonna have half of their cap taken up by Conley and Gay for the next 5 years, awesome.What is going to happen to Gasol and Randolph and their contracts this year? What about Mayo next year?

Randolph is a guy they probably don't want to commit long term money to at this point. Gasol almost has to be kept. It almost seems as if they decided on Conley instead of Mayo with this deal. A core of Gay/Conley/Gasol isn't going to win many championships.

Yah, it looks like Mayo is the odd man out. That core certainly won't win championships because Gay is overrated as a franchise player. If I were the Grizz, I would have let Gay go or traded him before FA, see what Conley gets as an RFA, same with Mayo, and then work on a extension for Gasol for around 10 million per. I can live with paying a highly skilled offensive center $10 million over perimeter players who are streaky shooters.

Mayo, Gasol and Randolph are probably all going to be looking for a 5/60 contract or there abouts. I think it would be nearly impossible for the Grizz to re-sign two of the three, that would tie up 50 million+ for 4 players and I doubt their #### owner would pay for that. I think their best plan of action would be to look hard at trades between now and the trade deadline. That Gay contract killed them, I think Mayo, Randolph and Gasol are all better players and his contract is the end of at least one and possibly two of them.

Understatement of the year. It ranks only behind the Joe Johnson contract as the worst signing this off-season IMO. I'd rather take Amare and his contract over Gay.

 

[JMon348]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

 

[TobiasFunke]

I'd like to request that the powers that be add a John Wall dance emoticon to the FBG collection, please.

 

[mlball77]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

Yeah, that is out of control. Making fun of someone by comparing them to a person battling cancer is in extremely poor taste. I've always liked KG pretty well and enjoyed most of his antics (that I know about), but this is way over the line, imo.

 

[the moops]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

Yeah, that is out of control. Making fun of someone by comparing them to a person battling cancer is in extremely poor taste. I've always liked KG pretty well and enjoyed most of his antics (that I know about), but this is way over the line, imo.

I'm sure KG has said far worse things. Just in the past, I imagine most players didn't feel the need to tweet about it.

 

[mlball77]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

Yeah, that is out of control. Making fun of someone by comparing them to a person battling cancer is in extremely poor taste. I've always liked KG pretty well and enjoyed most of his antics (that I know about), but this is way over the line, imo.

I'm sure KG has said far worse things. Just in the past, I imagine most players didn't feel the need to tweet about it.

If this is true, I've lost basically all respect for him.

 

[JMon348]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

Yeah, that is out of control. Making fun of someone by comparing them to a person battling cancer is in extremely poor taste. I've always liked KG pretty well and enjoyed most of his antics (that I know about), but this is way over the line, imo.

I'm sure KG has said far worse things. Just in the past, I imagine most players didn't feel the need to tweet about it.

What could be worse? Everyone knows Charlie V has a disease that causes him to not look normal, KG took it way too far. I really cant imagine him or anyone else saying anything much worse.

 

[Al_Czervik]

He's always been a punk with a stupid look on his face. He thumps his chest more than any other average player I've ever seen.

 

[the moops]

KG use to be one of my favorite non Laker players of all time. I don't know if he's always been like this but, he's now being exposed for a punk #####. Its been discussed plenty of times on here how much he acts like a ##### on the court, but he might of taken it to a new level last night. Charlie Villanueva tweeted after the game that Garnett was calling him a cancer patient all night. Then called him out for being a ##### saying he probably has never been in a fight, and he would love to get in the ring with him. Its one thing to talk trash and be physical on the court but KG takes it to another level.

Yeah, that is out of control. Making fun of someone by comparing them to a person battling cancer is in extremely poor taste. I've always liked KG pretty well and enjoyed most of his antics (that I know about), but this is way over the line, imo.

I'm sure KG has said far worse things. Just in the past, I imagine most players didn't feel the need to tweet about it.

What could be worse? Everyone knows Charlie V has a disease that causes him to not look normal, KG took it way too far. I really cant imagine him or anyone else saying anything much worse.

I could come up with some worse things, but no way they woudl fly here.It's a doosh thing to say, no doubt. I imagine there are just as bad things uttered towards opposing players all the time though.

 

[the moops]

Charlie V had his best game of the year last night. Maybe he should get made fun of more often.