Real Deal

Sixers going hard today.

Kevin Garnett Brandon Bass Jared Sullinger Fab Melo Greg Stiemsma JaJuan Johnson Interesting bunch. If I were a Celtics fan, I wouldn't mind picking up a better center (true center), just so I can stick KG at the four against bigger teams (their best three above are PF's), but Boston isn't looking that bad. I really thought they were going to look different heading into next season.

A one-year deal? I really thought he would get a 2-3 year contract somewhere. I know LA wanted him, but that was all tossed out the door with Nash using our TPE.

Two years, $10 million? That's more than I expected.

Yes, prime Kidd over prime Nash. Kidd does more for you, overall. There is a reason why I valued Kobe so much when he was in his prime. Kidd wasn't the ultimate player, and he had holes when he was at his best, but while Nash worked wonders with an Amare-less Suns squad (which you bashed him for once, because you used to support Amare quite a bit, and I distinctly remember you trying to discredit Nash for a few things back on the old OTR)...J-Kidd took his Nets team to back-to-back NBA Finals with Kenyon Martin as his scoring "force" (if you want to call him that). A PG's offense is very significant, but as a Boston fan, you see first hand just how important a PG's defense is, also..and Rondo is very similar to a guy we're talking about right now. I won't need to explain any further.

Cuban isn't going to get D-Will, more than likely won't get Dwight Howard, lost out on Nash, lost Jason Terry to the Celtics, lost Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler to the Knicks, and the Lakers landed Nash with the TPE they received from Dallas in the Lamar Odom trade...and Lamar Odom is now a Clipper. LOL.

Other than scoring 30 a night, what doesn't Jason Kidd do? He's not a bad offensive player at all. He shoots the three pretty well, hitting 40% a few seasons and, on average, 4-5 of them a night. He's also a stellar passer, which is also offense. Won't have to mention just how good of a defender he is. Like I said, it's up in the air for me when it comes to Nash. I just hate that he is so bad on the defensive end of the floor, and that he doesn't take more shots and is more aggressive. There are plenty of times Nash should have taken over games, because he has that ability to (he has against the Lakers), but he declined, and it has cost him a few big games. Nope, but I already explained why LeBron was criticized so much, and you completely ignored it, I see.

He's a $10.6 million expiring contract. See what you can get for him, and when the February trade deadline rolls in, his value could be a bit higher because: 1) teams may desperately need a PG by then 2) tax-paying teams may see that they aren't much of a contender and would rather shed some salary for the summer 3) he may prove to be a decent sixth man, which will entice a few contenders who feel they can't win it all without more bench production

Kind of figured this was going to happen.

Well, in March of 2010, I said he was the third best PG in the NBA (over Rondo and Rose): http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359606-nbas-fab-five-point-guards I've said numerous times that he is an offensive genius. None of that, or what has happened over the last 2-3 days, means I'm changing my stance on him robbing Kobe of his MVP awards (at least one), because Nash has never, ever been a better player than Bryant...at any point of his career. It's going to be based on how I think the MVP award should be handed out differently, but that's a different discussion altogether. Is Nash a HOF'er? Well, I don't believe he deserved at least one of those MVP awards, and he doesn't have a championship, so based on that, I don't think he should be...but he still won two MVP's, and if he ends up with a ring in LA, it's hard for me to ignore that. The guy is the best shooting PG I've ever seen in all of my years watching the NBA.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2hi5f7k.jpg

I remember people retracting similar statements when a 38-year old Jason Kidd was the PG of the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks.

Honestly, if that all happened, I wouldn't give a shit who our PF was, picking out of Ron Artest and Jordan Hill. We won five championships with Derek Fisher in our starting five.

Well, a lot of people thought that, but that's also because many thought Jerry West was still running the team in Memphis...and it wasn't him. Also, despite what people believed, there were a few scouts who were thinking Marc Gasol was going to be a pretty good player. I really didn't think so, just because I didn't see much of him, but when I started reading that people were saying he was a defensive-minded version of his brother, I was intrigued. I don't know where the post is anymore, but looking back, the Grizzlies made an incredible trade with what they did in regards to spending the extra cash they saved + getting Marc Gasol. Let me put it this way: I think the biggest question mark was put on display when the Wolves traded Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. Kevin McHale picked up the phone and called long-time Boston teammate and great friend Danny Ainge, and he made that deal happen. When TLN (LakersNation) was GetGarnett.com, how many non-Lakers fans believed that Garnett would end up in Los Angeles? I really didn't think so, and it was because of McHale.

Ah. I read from someone on Twitter (retweeted by one of the ESPN guys) that Houston didn't want to make the trade because they were trying to deal Lowry to the Kings for that 5th, and since Robinson fell and ruined it, Houston had already made the decision to use up their picks to draft young talent. Either way, Ross was obviously the bigger picture at that point, and I can see why they didn't trade that 8th (not saying I think they should have drafted Ross, but I won't get into that).

Yeah, but you guys were willing to deal #8 for Lowry (considered it), so I wouldn't be shocked if the Rockets caved in and took the future first for next season, and Toronto gladly accepted the deal. Looks like Jeremy Lin will still be a Knick, though, so who knows.

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingdwight?Source-says-Nic-Batum-wants-no-part-of-t=1&blockID=735074&feedID=8351

If Lowry wants out bad enough, and Houston doesn't snag Jeremy Lin, you could just offer that 2013 1st, top 3-5 protected, and I'm sure Houston will bite.

Dwight may get criticized for it, but I doubt Nash will, because he has been at the tail end of his career for a while now, and he's 38-39 years old. Kobe has five, all for LA, so there's no reason to hate him. Bynum was drafted here, Gasol was traded without a request. People just expected the younger guys (LeBron and Bosh, really) to not team with each other, since the three were in their primes and had a combined one championship (Wade's).

Nash is solid, but letting go of Shump?

Just to be clear, we really aren't rivals anymore...and to be honest, that only lasted for a couple of seasons, and was mainly fueled by Raja Bell.

Even though we basically let them have SHANNON BROWN??!?!?!?!

No, people complain about athletes in general not caring much about winning, but when you're a superstar and the best player in the league (he is right now), people expect you to win without the help of another superstar AND an all-star. How would I have felt if Bosh wasn't on the team? Well, a little better, but then again, I think LeBron and Wade would have made for better rivals, too. I think the NBA needs rivalries, and you sure the hell won't get that with LeBron and Carmelo (which should have been one). Durant and LeBron could be one, but does KD really give you the vibe that he can fuel a rivalry with anyone at this point? My reason(s) weren't just because of the Decision. LeBron slipped from being my second favorite player, down to my most disliked, when he started acting like a jackass on the sidelines with his teammates, when he would taunt Joakim Noah during a game, wear a "Check My $tats" shirt, and crown himself "King James" and "The Chosen One" before doing anything significant (marking himself as a champion). I stated that in my comment above, also. I realize there are people that hate LeBron just because he is a good player. I don't give a shit. Durant is probably going to top Kobe in scoring someday, and I don't care...Durant is my dude, and I was wanting him to get a championship this season. Blake Griffin came in as the guy who was going to "take over Los Angeles" and, really, that was cool...didn't care, and I liked him his rookie season. Then, he started flopping far too much, started whining about minimal contact, delivering elbows when he dunks over people, and acting like he's already the greatest PF to play the game. Complete 180 for me...can't stand him now. Kobe, Jordan, even Magic...they had a cocky side to them, and they knew how good they were, but they didn't take it overboard every single night, and off the court as well. They did their share of trash-talking, but they weren't snapping fake pictures before games, dancing around after being fouled (more than just one time, too), and making the game more of a circus than anything else. LeBron even made a statement...that he changed the way he acted, changed his attitude, and that he believed it was a big reason why he was so successful this season. If the guy admitted he was doing something wrong over the last 3-4 years, that should be enough reason to dislike him for that duration. At this point, I'm not really sure what to think. I'd like to see how he comes into next season...if he's going to revert back to the Bron we saw earlier, or the killer we saw in the playoffs. I can go on and say that, right now, I like LeBron more than I do Dwyane Wade...but that could be short-lived, just depends on how he approaches his quest for a second ring.