Nba 2011-2012

[MrMarcello]

And unlike Howard, Ewing/Robinson could actually shoot outside six feet. Howard would be pulled from the paint and considering how those big men could pass/move, the current side would struggle to defend that open space.

One question - How would the zone rules affect the old guard?

 

[gooDevil]

The Houston trade is looking like this:

Orlando gets:
Kevin Martin SG [17.1 ppg]
Patrick Patterson PF [#14 pick '10]
Chandler Parsons SF [#38 pick '11 had a fantastic 2nd half of the season]
Marcus Morris PF [#14 pick '11 who I like]
Jeremy Lamb SG [#12 pick '12]
Royce White PF [#16 pick '12]
Terrence Jones PF [#18 pick '12 who I like]
multiple first round picks, including Toronto's from Lowry trade

Houston gets:
Dwight Howard C
Hedo Turkoglu PF
Jason Richardson SF
Glenn Davis PF
Chris Duhon PG

Pretty fantastic group of young talent for Orlando, and getting rid of Turkoglu and Richardson would be huge.

 

[RDCR07]

Yes but does Howard want to move to Houston? Plus Houston might be deluded to think he will sign an extension there. Magic is a stronger association and he did not want to sign one there.

 

[gooDevil]

Houston seem willing to roll the dice on him staying.

If I was Howard, I wouldn't want to play with Turkoglu, Richardson and Duhon again, that's half the reason he wants to leave, the crappy teammates he's been saddled with.

But i guess any team that gets Howard will have to take half the Magic with him, pretty funny really.


Watching Pacers summer league, Dennis Scott announces that Humphries might be signing with the Nets again, and he and the other guy are both complimenting the owners for pulling out the wallet again, as if this is exciting.

They couldn't get a draft pick for Humphries when trying get Howard, and while he can rebound he's probably the 28th or 29th most exciting starting PF in the league.

Lopez was injured so it's a bit unfair, but this is the same Nets team that got killed by everyone last season, plus a very good shooting guard who is desperately overpaid.

Howard would have made them a contender, as they are now I'm not sure they're any better than the Bucks or Knicks. They'll probably make the playoffs with the Sixers likely falling off, but if they don't get into the top 4 they'll be seen as underachieving.

 

[gooDevil]

Kwame 'Most Unworthy Millioniare' Brown has signed for two years at 3 mil a year for the Sixers.

Amazing anyone thinks he's a basketball player. But at least he didn't get another 9 mil a year deal like the Warrior gave him last season.

 

[ha_rooney]

I bet the Philly fans boo him after 1 game.

Incredible he still gets paid, apparently he's earned $64 million in his career at the end of his latest contract

 

[MrMarcello]

Can't imagine why any person would choose to live/work in Houston, then again, for $20m per year I could handle it (and live in an affluent area like The Woodlands, Sugarland, etc.)

 

[gooDevil]

I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that Kwame files for bankruptcy before he's 40.

 

[gooDevil]

From the Orlando Summer League:

AirTran Airways Orlando Pro All-Summer League Teams*

1st Team

G – Alec Burks, Utah
G – Lance Stephenson, Indiana
F – Andrew Nicholson, Orlando
F – Austin Daye, Detroit
C – Miles Plumlee, Indiana

2nd Team

G – Brandon Knight, Detroit
G – Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City
F – Lazar Hayward, Oklahoma City
F – Jared Sullinger, Boston
C – Kyle O’Quinn, Orlando

Honorable Mention

Boston – Dionte Christmas, E’Twaun Moore
Oklahoma City – Garrett Temple
Utah – Enes Kanter, Jeremy Evans
Orlando – Justin Harper, Maalik Wayns
Detroit – Kim English
Philadelphia – Jacob Pullen, Justin Holiday
Brooklyn – Al Thornton, Tyshawn Taylor

 

[adexkola]

Can't imagine why any person would choose to live/work in Houston, then again, for $20m per year I could handle it (and live in an affluent area like The Woodlands, Sugarland, etc.)

Houston is brilliant. I like it down there. Excellent nightlife too. Texas overall is great, is what I'm trying to say.

 

[gooDevil]

Mavs claim Elton Brand for 2.1m off the amnesty waivers. That's a million less than Kwame Brown was signed for.

Collison
Vince Carter
Marion
Nowitzki
Brand

bench:
Beaubois
Jared Cunningham
Jae Crowder
Yi Jianlian
Kaman

Or maybe Kaman starts at center and Brand comes off the bench?

Not a bad team, especially if Collison can get back to his New Orleans form.

 

[RDCR07]

They will not reach the second round of the playoffs.

 

[gooDevil]

No way.

Scola would be a nice pick up too, but really they have pretty good size, Jianlian is due a breakout season I think, he's a good shooter.

I really like Jae Crowder but it may take a year for him to master their defense and offense and adjust to the pros. If he can scrape together enough points his energy and rebounding and everything else can keep him on the court.

Their only hope is if Collison really does get back to his best from the Hornets, he had a triple double there as a rookie, he had a 20 assist game, completely different player than what we saw for Indiana. In Indiana's defense, they changed coaches and philosophies half way through his first season, I believe, Vogul is not a run and gun coach.

I really like Collison's game, lets hope he hasn't forgotten how to run a showtime offense.

 

[gooDevil]

The Rockets might want to think again about trading all those players, they just killed in their first summer league game! Donatas Motiejūnas, the 7'0" 222 lbs center who hasn't been included in trade talks for Howard, had 25 pts on 11-13 shooting, made two 3s, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. Always impressive when a center can get steals and assists.

Also for the Rockets:
Chandler Parsons 16 pts, 6-11 fg, 5 re, 4 ast
Terrence Jones 17 pts, 9 re, 1 ast, 1 blk
Jeremy Lamb 16 pts, 6-11 fg, 2 ast, 1 st, 1 blk

 

[ha_rooney]

I don't understand why the Rockets would trade away the majority of their team to get a bunch of overpaid players and Howard who is unlikely to sign an extension. One of the reasons Howard wants to leave Orlando is he doesn't like the supporting cast, and , as others have pointed out, taking those players with him to Houston isn't going to make him any more likely to stay there long-term.

Orlando should take that Houston deal and start afresh. The quicker they see an end to the D12 saga the better.

 

[ha_rooney]

Just seen a video of Kobe and Irving challenging each other to a 1-on-1 game next year with money going to charity. Never seen Irving play but Kobe should wipe the floor with him.

I would love to see Kobe and Bron-Bron have a 1-on-1 game, preferably in the all-star week.

 

[gooDevil]

I'm calling it after one summer league game, Mike Kidd is better than Thomas Robinson.

Charlotte was so far ahead the starters didn't play in the 4th quarter, so in 3 quarters Kidd had 18 pts on 7-12 fg, 8 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals, and completely stole the show.

He's going to score a ton of points this season.

 

[MrMarcello]

Houston is brilliant. I like it down there. Excellent nightlife too. Texas overall is great, is what I'm trying to say.

Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin are great cities, Houston is the Detroit of the South.

 

[ha_rooney]

The latest rumours on the D12 saga are that he is heading to LA, Bynum to Cleveland and about a million picks to Orlando.

At this rate, we're more likely to get peace in the middle east before this saga is finally over.

 

[RDCR07]

Houston is getting stupider by the minute because of how much they are offering to get Howard.

 

[gooDevil]

Since Howard has claimed he'd only sign an extension with the Nets he should probably come out and let people know what he's going to do now that it seems the Nets won't be able to sign him next summer, or if he thinks there's some way for him to still sign for the Nets.

The better guess is that he's resigned himself to having to play elsewhere and is now weighing his choice between Houston and LA. Though perhaps Orlando is just going to take the best deal and let his new team worry about it!

 

[gooDevil]

One Yahoo! news source claims the Knicks are working on signing Raymond Felton and will let Lin join the Rockets.

Probably best for Lin, he's was never going to be allowed to run a pick and roll offense with Melo, who wants to be the offensive initiator in the high post.

 

[Danny1982]

Why would Howard want to go to Houston?!

I really don't know how Howard is thinking..

 

[gooDevil]

He's never shown any interest in Houston, for all we know he still hasn't said he'd sign an extension with any of the club looking to trade for him.

You'd think Dallas would have guys calling him begging him to just see out his deal and sign with them next season, Nowitzki and Howard is as good anything else he'll find out there.

Is Howard any good at the pick and roll? I don't watch much Orlando, terrible team, I don't remember him doing much of that, he definitely can't pick and pop!

I'm gonna laugh from a deep place in my belly if Howard ends up traded to the Lakers and signing an extension. After losing Paul, after all the posturing, it would be a strange twist of fate.

LA has a memory of about 5 seconds, once the season starts all the nonsense would be forgotten and the whole town would love him.

 

[gooDevil]

Jason Lloyd ‏@JasonLloydABJ [Akron Beacon Journal]
Nothing to these trade rumors involving ‪#Cavs‬, Lakers and Magic, league source confirms. No merit to them at all.

Probably true, the Magic did say they wouldn't get back to working on Howard till monday.

 

[gooDevil]

Dwight's twitter 'DM' with a fan was made public by said fan. Not sure what Dwight is insinuating isn't true, perhaps that he won't resign with LA or Houston?

Spoiler

On a more basketball related note, the Houston youth had another fantastic summer league game.

Motiejunas - 19 pts, 7-11 fg, 6 re
Jeremy Lamb - 19 pts, 7-15 fg
Terrence Jones - 17 pts, 7-13 fg, 8 re
Royce White - 11 pts, 4-6 fg, 10 re, 7 ast [as a forward]
Marcus Morris - 11 pts, 5-11 fg, 8 re

 

[puNANI]

Lakers are close to signing Antawn Jamison. Good option off the bench. Now they need to resign Jordan Hill and sign Grant Hill and find themselves a decent back up PG for Nash cause Blake won't cut it.

 

[ha_rooney]

Lakers suck in the summer league games.

 

[gooDevil]

Absolutely dreadful, they must just be lazy. There were quite a few decent players that didn't get contracts that could have been brought it, but it looks like the Lakers don't even care.

If I was someone like Tu Holloway sitting on the bench for another summer team I'd be thinking I should have gone and started for the Lakers.

 

[MrMarcello]

Supposedly the Mavs have just enough assets to trade for him although highly doubtful. However, if he plays out his last seasons regardless of where, could Dallas be his final destiny?

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/7/2/3133611/dwight-howard-rumors-mavericks-nets

 

[gooDevil]

From ESPN:

"Two sources within the organization tell ESPNNewYork.com's Stephen A. Smith that the Knicks will not match the offer for Jeremy Lin."



I caught the last bit of someone on NBA TV explaining how if the Knicks signed Lin that they would likely pay a total of 50 million in luxury tax in 2014-15. Someone else said Lin alone would cost them 30 million in taxes that year, which sounds about right as the Knicks are often 20 mil or more over the cap each year.

Personally I think Lin is worth it from the support he brings, sounds like they're making a basketball decision rather than worrying about marketing.

It won't be popular but a year from now it may be the right move, Felton is more of what their new offense calls for.

 

[gooDevil]

Supposedly the Mavs have just enough assets to trade for him although highly doubtful. However, if he plays out his last seasons regardless of where, could Dallas be his final destiny?

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/7/2/3133611/dwight-howard-rumors-mavericks-nets

Wouldn't be a bad choice, Mavs fans put up with so many bad years in the 90s I don't think they'll mind that Dwight isn't very popular these days and welcome him to the town.

They've never had a [top quality] big man, so he'd forever be known as the Mavs greatest center, and the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area is frigging huge, he'll sell a lot of Dwight shoes.

And Adidas is happy because Dwight can dominate that market without competing with Kobe or Rose.

if the Magic are in the driver's seat in these negotiations then he's unlikely to go there, but if Howard can dictate where he does I guess anything is possible.

 

[MrMarcello]

Biggest star in the southwest would be Durant and he has Nike so that would be perfect for Howard and adidas. Nike also has Dirk, Duncan and Parker.

As for big man, they did have Tarpley who was immensely talented but couldn't lay off the dope and suffered a few devastating injuries. But Howard would be the franchise big man they've lacked.

 

[RDCR07]

You know what! feck Dwight Howard. I say we focus on Bynum and get him to somehow sign an extension. If we prove to him, he is the man for us next year and not worry about trading him, then he may yet sign an extension with us. Also hope we sign Jamison.

 

[gooDevil]

The Lakers 50 point loss last night was the worst loss in the 8 year history of the summer league.

And don't say it's because we never have any low numbered picks in the draft, the Spurs have won just as much as we have these last 10 years and they have role players they've managed to gain from the draft.

I'd love to know why LA hasn't just bought out everyone who works for the Spurs.

 

[gooDevil]

If the Mavs sign Mayo they may actually make the playoffs. He's as close to replacing Jason Terry as they could get.

Not a bad squad considering.

If Mayo and Collison can get back to their best they could be dangerous.

Collison
Mayo
Marion
Nowitzki
Brand/Kaman

bench:
Beaubois PG
Vince Carter
Jae Crowder SF
Yi Jianlian PF/C
Kaman/Brand PF/C

And someone on this list won't make the 15 man squad:
Dominique Jones SG
Jared Cunningham SG
Dahntay Jones SG/SF
Tadija Dragicevic SF
Brandan Wright PF
Bernard James C

[edit: forgot Crowder]

 

[ha_rooney]

Yahoo reporting Lakers meeting Magic today to sort out a move for D12:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report-lakers-making-strong-push-161005120--nba.html

This saga is getting boring now.

 

[MrMarcello]

Decent enough to make the west playoffs as the 8th seed and get swept then miss out on the lottery too.

Rather they miss the playoffs to be honest. Maybe luck out and get a top 3 pick (we've seen the Magic and Spurs do this) then go after one or two top tier free agents. Might have an instant contender.

 

[gooDevil]

The Nets have reportedly signed Chris Humphries to a 2 years, $24mil contract! They couldn't get a draft pick for him when they were trying to collect them for a Howard trade, but he's worth 3 mil shy of a max deal?

He's a brick wall and hustles all game, I'll give you that, but who do does he match up with favorably in the league? He has a few moves but he's very limited, his scoring was up but he was the only big on a bad team, someone is going to score a few points even if they're awful.

I've convinced these more stringent free agent rules are causing players to cost more in free agency because so few of them are available as unrestricted options.

They'll get more form their money than $9mil on Kwame Brown, but this is a tremendous waste of money in my book.

 

[gooDevil]

Terrence Jones with 17 points a 8 boards with 4 minutes left in the 3rd period, shooting over 50%. Jeremy Lin will enjoy playing with this guy in Houston, I think he's going to be a big hit.