Real Deal

Bizzy wasn't banned...unless I'm just not seeing his name change (I don't even have a Bizzy on the member list, for some reason).

Did they ever come out with a patch for the thousands of glitches in this game? At one point, my CAW just came to the ring with half a face (no jaw), did some sort of a cartwheel/backflip variation through the ropes, and is now standing through the ring, and floating around (I was coming out to interfere in a match). Also, one of the funniest things happened. I played as Cena in Universe, wanted to win a match so my CAW would become the #1 contender (instead of Heath Slater...come on). So, I put Slater in an AA...and I immediately started taunting him again, he got up groggy, and Cena automatically put him in another. And another. And another. Lasted about five minutes, same exact thing...seemed like 25-30 AA's without me touching a button, stuck in a loop, and I had to turn the PS3 off.

Naughty Dog created Uncharted, right? If the environment is anything like those series of games (well, second and third one), I'll be buying this, definitely.

I may be on the other side of the fence. I want the Hornets to get something. Quite frankly, why not have them pick up a halfway decent player? I want them to win about 40 games. Reason? It's for the same reason I'll be rooting for the Wolves this season (because I'm assuming the Hornets will end up with that pick, somehow). I want to see a mediocre team...not a great one, not a terrible one, that has two mid-first rounders to their name, no CP3, and I want to see the Hornets fans pissed. Stern wants one of two things: to sell the team with CP3 still around, OR to sell the team with two of the top 10 draft picks on it (Davis and Lamb, for example). If he ends up missing out on both, he looks like a complete fool, and he'll be considered a failure. Now, maybe the TPE won't do much for him...not sure if the Hornets would use it the proper way, but who knows. Assuming we can get better, though...I could care less what happens over there. Landry is worth more to us than that TPE is to the Hornets, especially when few GM's will want to negotiate with Stern...so as long as we aren't giving him Gasol or Drew, I'm fine with it.

West is going to be GREAT to have, as long as he's not in lunatic mode.

From my understanding, the Hornets can work a sign-and-trade with Landry for our TPE. That's assuming the Hornets even care about extra cash, anyway. They don't seem to care about youth, money, veteran play, or anything.

I wonder how much the Jazz would ask for Paul Millsap.

LA can bring in someone else, with the $8.9 million TPE they have, or the TPE that will soon expire from the Vujacic trade. Landry is still out there, among others. May not be a big move, but it would be a decent replacement for Lamar. Billups is also a possibility, with the Vujacic exception.

I think I made it clear that there were more than one. It just strikes me as funny that Dan Gilbert would, yet again, write a letter and get involved, and that's why I created the topic about him (sort of about him) in the Heat forum. Mark Cuban has been bitching for years. So has Popovich. However, those two are bitching because they absolutely, positively hate the Lakers. Both have a championship (Pop with four). Gilbert acts as if his Cavaliers are losing out in free agency when this happens, but we all know that Cleveland isn't the place to go, simple as that...and not just because of the city, but because Gilbert made an ass out of himself when he wrote his letter and posted it on the team's website. He's leading these teams on. I hate the Clips, hate the Celtics...but the truth is, Boston didn't have time for a Plan B to bring in David West, and they lost him to Indiana. If this was a 82-game season, and we were in July, it would be different...but Christmas is just around the corner, TPE's from last season are going to expire very soon, and players/teams don't have much time to negotiate. He's allowing all of these trades to file into the NBA offices, then he's cancelling them...which is unheard of. If he really cares, he would tell Dell Demps not to trade CP3, or tell him what exactly CP3 is worth. Letting the trade go all the way through, then demanding another pick and a star player, is just David Stern being an ass. Chris Bosh and the Raptors, then...doesn't matter. It works with any team that has had trouble keeping their superstars. Name me more than six contenders from the 1986 NBA season. Only six teams were 50+ wins. The contenders were BOS, LAL, MIL and HOU. Maybe the Sixers. Everyone else didn't stand a chance. http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1986.html Last year? DAL, MIA, OKC, CHI...maybe the Lakers, if Kobe was healthy. Looks similar to me.

I know you're trying to make a point, but in a way, you should blame him. It's the small-market owners that were so stubborn during the lockout, begging Stern to find a way to keep these superstars on their respective teams. It's no coincidence that both LA deals (two different teams) fell through, even though one was for quite a bit of talent, and the other was for youth, an extremely good pick, and cap room. Just like many others are saying on another board: Stern is doing this purposely. He's putting it out there that it takes a lot to rake in a superstar, that it shouldn't be just draft picks (ex. LeBron to Miami), that superstars should not dictate where they go while they are still under contract. CP3 and Stern do not see eye-to-eye, at all...and that all started during the lockout. He's proving to the entire league that owners can have leverage, they can hold these superstars hostage, and that is the way to go about it all. And who did this? Cleveland did, with LeBron. While LBJ didn't ask for a trade, you know he wanted it. He lied his ass off, but you know he wanted out before his final season. Cleveland kept him, and not too long ago, after one year of "suffering" with a bad record, they end up with the top pick in the draft AND the #4 pick. So, yes...this is all going back to keeping the small market teams competitive. No other owner in the NBA would've passed on either of these deals, knowing that CP3 is gone in July. None. Stern wants to change that.

What the hell is Stern doing?

It's going to be an exiting decade for the Hornets. They will win 20 games next season, have two top ten picks in the draft, select two busts, have more bad seasons, relocate, and be in the same position as they are today...in a different city.

The league can't stop a Howard trade. It's not the Hornets dealing D12.

The Clips can entice Howard with this...shoot out Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, and a couple of first-rounders. That would make me sick. Hard to see how they would make the Howard/Griffin duo work, though...but it's possible, with CP3 running the show.

You like Wesley Johnson?

Right. Again, that's just one source. I highly doubt the Lakers would be dumb enough to ask that much for a 30+ year old disgruntled bench all-star (not starting all-star, that's what I mean). RealGM gets all of their stories from affiliated blogs and other sources, so not everything they write is legitimate. I could probably go on Twitter and post a rumor, get it carried out to many people, and I wouldn't be surprised if a well-known blog or website ran with it, calling me a source. Hell, if this was even remotely true, it's because the Lakers told the Warriors what the Hornets wanted from them. We're finding out that it was the Hornets (well, Stern) that tried to get K-Mart, Scola, Lowry, and either Hill or Patterson from Houston.

Contending, and winning championships, are two different things. If we can keep our current roster, and replace Odom with someone like Paul Millsap, we'll have a great chance in the West. Otherwise, if it's just Kobe and Howard (and scrubs, basically), we'll get tossed in the playoffs by the Thunder, Mavericks, Clippers (if they get CP3), maybe even the Spurs and Blazers. Unfortunately, the Lakers have put themselves in a hole. We have veteran players that are nearly worthless to other teams (Fisher, Ron, Blake) and second-round picks that are big question marks (Morris, Goudelock, Ebanks, Caracter). Barnes has been on every team in the NBA, it seems. After that...Kobe is still Kobe, but over 30 years old. Howard would be the only person around, eventually... Kobe would be making $20+ million probably the rest of the way. Howard will be at $20+ million. Probably $50 million or more at one point, for two players, which means we'll have no max contract to offer. Once Kobe goes, it will be just Howard and MLE's...and that's the Orlando Magic. At that time, the Clippers may be the destination for big-name players, and Howard will be a bit older. He's 26 years old right now. For most teams, getting to the conference finals is a big deal, and those front offices play to get that far. If we have Kobe Bryant, and we don't win championships, it's considered a failure...and that's how it always has been. In fact, many consider it that, even non-fans. The 2005-06 season (and the one after that) were considered failures, and people talked shit on Kobe, even though we made the playoffs AND took the Suns to seven games. However, when a team like the Magic get eliminated in the first round, people don't say anything about Howard...just his teammates...and that's the difference between the Magic and the Lakers, and the superstar factor in each city.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ldp3jukzHo1qb9a2wo1_500.png

You have to be reluctant, because we'd be starting Ron Artest as PF, with Derrick Caracter as our backup center, and Matt Barnes as our backup PF. C - Howard | Caracter PF - Artest | Barnes SF - Ebanks | Walton SG - Kobe | Goudelock PG - Fisher | Blake | Morris No way.

If the CP3 trade goes down, the Lakers more than likely take back Jermaine O'Neal (Boston would've been the fourth team), and David West would go to the Celtics in a sign-and-trade. Kind of funny how that works (well, how that doesn't work).

Whoa. http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/385028_10150418909188995_159957123994_8604337_1609314901_n.jpg

I'm done paying attention to this stuff for now, going to go to my parents' house and watch football with my dad, and forget the NBA exists. I've had 6-7 tabs open for three days, staying up until 3-4 in the morning and not working on projects I should be finishing. Hope something happens.

Yancy Gates with the cheap shot...not surprised.