Real Deal

LeBron does more on the court, on both ends. I can make a case that Durant is the best scorer in the NBA, but best overall player? I can't say that.

Hawks fans. They weren't as loud as the Thunder fans...haha.

Yes sir. Or, the Thunder and Heat, as long as I can get a guarantee from the basketball gods that the Thunder will win in six, close out on their home floor. OKC (the city itself) would go nuts in the Finals.

Three players can't beat teams by themselves. With a hard cap, the Heat will struggle to find role players. Right now, their role players are stepping up and hitting shots, playing defense, etc. There's talk of getting rid of the MLE and LLE. The Heat would be cap-strapped as long as they have LeBron, Wade and Bosh. Bibby and Chalmers are both FA's in July, Big Z is retiring, Juwan Howard should retire, Dampier and Magloire are FA's, James Jones and Carlos Arroyo should be FA's as well, IIRC. Miami may have screwed themselves by signing Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony through the 2014-15 season (with player options they will take). If a hard cap is put into place, those guys will hurt them in the books more than they help them on the court, especially Mike. The salary cap isn't what hurts small market teams. The Milwaukee Bucks took Joe Alexander in the draft a few years ago, despite having an offer on draft night to move up the ladder and select someone else (could've been Eric Gordon). A year before, they fell for the hype and took Yi Jianlian, instead of Joakim Noah. While Bogut is a good center, they passed on CP3 and D-Will just two years before that. Teams like the Spurs ended up drafting their dynasty...Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and you can throw D-Rob into the mix if you want to include Duncan's first ring. It's not the cap that kills the teams, it's the decisions being made.

Yes, the hard cap would suck for the NBA. I've already discussed that in another topic, though. And Nene isn't going to take the MLE.

Chicago needs to close it out here, get a bit of rest, and prepare for the Heat. Could be a pretty tough task, though...the Hawks are going to feed off of their fans, and it's going to be crazy loud, I'm sure.

TIME: 9:00 PM ET TV: ESPN

TIME: 8:00 PM ET TV: ESPN

There's no reason to apologize to Kobe and Laker fans. I'm sure some actually care, but still. As far as a dynasty goes, I'm not going to go that far yet. I don't want it to happen, and I'll admit that, because LeBron is a jackass. I will always give credit where credit is due, as far as his game goes, and I also proved where I was saying how good the Heat can be back on TLN (among tons of Lakers fans, where you shouldn't say anything like that). I'll say this much, to just close the personal agenda I have with the Heat: it's more about LeBron. If this were Durant, Wade and Bosh (even though I don't like Bosh), I wouldn't have a problem with them winning, and I would've been rooting against the green in this series, like I always used to. But, LeBron makes me sick to my stomach, once my second favorite player is now one of my most hated (I actually like Shaq more). It has absolutely nothing to do with him catching Kobe, or doing anything of the sort. I never have that problem with players, past or present. I love MJ. Many Kobe fans don't, and vice-versa. Durant is awesome. I like Griffin, even though he's a Clipper. ----- I think the Bulls present a problem bigger than the Celtics do. Chicago can run with the Heat. Garnett, Pierce, Allen...three guys all having to defend much younger superstars and all-stars (sorry Bosh)...it's a difficult task, and when you lose a massive contributor on the defensive end (gave the numbers already, Perkins did as much as Garnett when one or the other was out of the games), you can't rely on help as much, which is what the older players have to do. If Memphis gets into the Finals, which would be astounding, I think they could give the Heat trouble (assuming they get there). Dallas finally has a defensive anchor, but I don't have a clue who they will use to stop Wade. Marion can do whatever against LeBron, but the Matrix isn't who he was back in his younger days in Phoenix, so that series would become a shoot-out. The Thunder have the goods. However, all of this is concerning the current season only. A dynasty could also depend on the new CBA, which I don't think many are going to consider right now. If the league turns to a hard cap, you may not see a dynasty, anywhere, for a long, long time.

I won $200 as long as Chicago gets to the ECF's. I bet my cousin (who thought Boston would be in there against the Bulls) that it would be the Heat and Bulls. Once the Perkins trade went down, the door opened a bit more for Miami. You have to go up or pass after the pro hop. You can't take a step in. He took a step, then a pro-hop (which is technically a travel), then another step in after his feet slid. So, he actually traveled at the beginning (with the pro hop after the drive step), then a second time as his feet slid, then a third when he took the step in. You're right, it's not three steps...it's four + a slide. Better hope it's not the Heat and Thunder in the Finals. You'll see 60 FT's every game, just between Durant, Westbrook, Wade and James.

That's not saying much with the KG playing in this current series, who seems to be lost and on his own little planet, but yes, a MEM/MIA series would give Bosh the green light.

Bryant was rarely on Jason Terry. He defended Kidd, and J-Kidd went from shooting 48% in the first round (against POR) to shooting 28% in the second round, and from 40% 3PT against Portland, to just 29% against LA.

Wesley Johnson shouldn't be getting in over Jordan Crawford, as it stands. In fact, if Crawford had the opportunity to make something of himself a bit earlier in the season, he probably would've made the first team. I'd probably remove Johnson and Favors from the list, slide in Davis and Crawford.

Damn, this is sad news, and creepy for me. Last week, my friend was having trouble breathing, and holding his chest, while we were playing ball...and I asked if he was okay and called him Tractor Traylor. Makes me feel like shit now. RIP.

I was thinking about this last night. What are the two things Miami doesn't want teams to do? 1) Play through the post. 2) Defend Wade and LeBron well. This is going to sound ridiculous to a few that don't want to hear it, or don't watch the Grizzlies (maybe more ridiculous if I had said this back in March), but I'm thinking the worst possible match-up for the Heat (meaning, not in their favor) would be the Memphis Grizzlies. Gasol and Randolph...how do the Heat stop that duo up front? Haslem will more than likely struggle to contribute on either end of the court. Not taking jabs at Bosh, but come on...he can't defend as good as Duncan/McDyess or Ibaka/Perkins, and Zach could eat him alive. Nobody to defend Marc down low. Aside from that, what two players would defend Wade and LeBron better than Tony Allen and Shane Battier? LeBron will be able to take Battier off the dribble, but as intelligent as Shane is, he'll lead James straight into help, and the Grizzlies have the tougher, defensive-minded Gasol brother. What one player would you stick on Dwyane Wade in a series? Probably Tony Allen. Not to mention the fact that Mike Conley has the ability to torch Mike Bibby, and OJ Mayo would be the best bench player in the entire series. I see Chicago doing well against them. OKC likes to run, and it'll turn into a free throw game. Boston is done. Dallas would have trouble getting shots off against a team that relies heavily on their perimeter defenders. Atlanta doesn't have a clear-cut player that can take over against Wade or James. Memphis? It seems like they have not only the puzzle pieces, but they had the damn thing glued together, framed, and hanging from their wall.

Reading a bit more into this, it sounds like the Bucks are already fed up with Jennings. The best available player, to them, could be Kemba or Fredette at that 10 spot. If I were Milwaukee, I would still pick the best available out of the position(s) I need. The Bucks have Bogut and Jennings...might as well take one more shot at putting pieces around those two. Does Kemba make sense? Sure...he's a scorer, and Milwaukee had trouble scoring all season long. However, if they do draft Kemba, they are going to need to trade Jennings, and there's no question about that. Jennings plays like a two-guard, but despite the Iverson comparisons he was getting early on, he's not going to be able to contribute at that position...ever. I would take a chance on Jan Vesely, who could turn out to be difficult to defend in the NBA. Then, with that second-round pick, take Josh Selby if he is still around (I have him going late first right now, though). That gives you a versatile and athletic PF that's 6-10 or 6-11 (can't remember how tall he is) and a combo guard that can play behind Jennings for a while, play some two-guard, and see where he fits in best. Either Selby, or Malcolm Lee, who is a defensive wizard at the two.

Yeah right. I wouldn't want a guy who takes pride in being voted as a top eight "worst poster" on another board he frequents, someone that registered a fake Facebook profile to bad-mouth the site on our FB page, and one who gets on a fake Twitter account to harass celebrities and athletes. He's still a child. I'd rather have bang^3 back, posting full-time. The only recognition Matt gets is for being king of the trolls, and even some of his friends (who never posted here and knew him better than us) told me how immature he was when I spoke to three of them on Facebook.

I thought it was really weird that they put up a "jersey swap" feature for Dwight. I don't see why any Orlando writer or news outlet would want to do something like that...makes absolutely zero sense. If anything, the entire city should want to keep him, and write positive articles about Otis Smith looking to reconfigure this team around Dwight, going for another title run, etc. No fan or writer benefits from losing Howard.

I almost hit that road, but then I had Jessica move in with me, so when she's in there watching Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy, my ass is on OTR. "Brandon, do you want to watch my show with me tonight?" "No baby, I have a few members acting up and fighting each other after that damn Jazz/Pistons game. It's crazy...gotta go take care of it."

A big "NO" (as in, stay in New Orleans) for David West. He's an awful defensive player, and that's the last thing we need.

Yeah, I think Hinrich would defend Rose better, but Teague is making Rose work harder on the defensive end. Both would be effective. Big surprise to me, though. I didn't think Teague had it in him.

Not really sure if the Knicks had a choice, though. If they didn't, and they let him go, they'd be relying on a draft pick to run the point, or Toney Douglas.

Gasol and his typical, generic replies. "Um, well, I am obviously disappointed in my, um, play. That I was not, um, dere to help my team. We will make the necessary changes and come back, um, stronger for next season. It is what it is."

Superstar in the making. The difference is, he's also a big.

The Clippers would be dumb to accept any player for Blake at this point, even LeBron James. I doubt he's traded.