Real Deal

Does Shannon Brown (potential) and Adam Morrison (contract) ring a bell? Nearly the same, as the Lakers had to dip into the luxury tax to pay Morrison's $5 million or whatever (actually costing Buss $10 mill).

He wasn't the only Cavalier to do it, but he was the one doing it the most, five times more than anyone else. Would you say that it's unprofessional to be dancing on the sidelines and on the court, like he did against the Bulls tonight, when the game is a blowout? Joakim Noah was so upset, he was actually mouthing off to LeBron as James was shooting a free throw...and Noah was sitting the bench at the time, and LBJ made the first free and walked over to confront Noah.

I think Kobe has 28 or 29 total, Jordan with 26, including the frees. Without frees, Bryant has 24 or 25, and Jordan has 20.

That Kobe list you posted doesn't include free throws, but Jordan's list does. If frees are included, Kobe surpassed Michael already. If not, you gotta recount MJ's list, and he ends up with only 20, Kobe with 23 or 24.

Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of what LeBron was doing. Just not right.

Chris Paul: 16 points, 15 assists, 8 steals, 6 rebounds. Bet that sucked for Minny.

Utah was actually up 22-3 to start the game, rallied a bit and then were outscored by the Pacers by nine points for the other 36 minutes of the game. Turned out to be a good one.

508 posts today, guys...and post count total resets to the next day at 12:00 AM EST. That means only a page and a half of the Lakers/Heat topic counted towards that 500. Great job once again. Things are only getting better.

Yeah, Thad or Williams would have to be included in the deal. I doubt a team would take anyone else with Brand (and Iggy won't be included, so that's out of the question). Gonna be hard to deal him.

Wade had way too many easy buckets off of those damn screens by Chalmers. Fisher (yes, not the team, but Fisher) needs to fix that, pronto. Wade is too fast for Kobe to push out of that screen and catch him in time, so it's Fisher's job to tail Chalmers until the screen, then jump to Wade before he gets in the paint and at least contest a jumper. Good game by the Heat and Wade, great game and shot by Kobe (and Fisher's three), good game by a handful of Lakers. We have things to fix before we win another championship, just as the other contenders.

I actually thought you were joking, lol.

The guy only JaMarcus Russell would throw at (if they were on opposite teams, of course).

Four out of the 17 they've played. Only one road loss. Not really a good thing, though. People may think it's great to have an easy first half schedule, but the second half (when everyone is tired) will be filled with away games and long road trips.

Philly needs to run, like Atlanta is doing. If they want to keep Brand, they need to stick him at the five and go small, instead of worrying who's getting open in the Princeton offense. Adelman is running the same thing in Houston, and it's working well...because they are going small and they have guys that can knock down shots (ex. Brooks, Battier). When you stick a big in the five, and you still want to run an offense that relies heavily on its shooters, you need him to command doubles. Yao did it. Brand doesn't get that attention on defense. In the end, you have the Sixers going down low to Elton, and then everyone is standing around waiting for something to happen...and they end up playing a slow half-court game that lacks ball movement, which is why they are one of the worst teams in the league at 5-14.

LeBron uses his strength to get to the rim more than anything else. Artest is in Los Angeles to take care of LeBron, Melo, and Pierce...guys that are too strong for Ariza. Bryant will most likely handle the speed demons, along with Shannon Brown. Even though he's not as fast as he used to be...he's still faster than Ron.

I hope Artest believes he won't be able to contain Wade, and that it should be Bryant's job. Wade will light Ron up...just too quick.

He's there, haha. It's Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Howard.

I actually took Blake as my ROY winner before the season started, figured he would pull down double-digit boards and give the Clips at least 17 a game. That would be enough, in my opinion...and maybe even good enough to push them directly into the playoffs. I know guys are going to bring up Michael Olowokandi and Danny Manning, but I'm not sure if Griffin should fall into that category just yet. His injury isn't severe, and when it happened, he was still able to play. I believe he's probably already healed up by now, maybe just getting his legs back under him and making sure he's 100% before he suits up again.

Only problem is, McGrady won't be re-signing after this season. The chance of that happening is slim to none, unless Houston decides to overpay (which would be astounding). Trade McGrady to the Knicks for Harrington and a filler. New York seems to be interested in dealing him, McGrady has an expiring, might as well make it rain in the Big Apple.

Well, as I said, even if Boykins was going to fake and drive, or pull up for that shot...damn, just let it go. If you're going to contest a potential game-winner, you don't have to try and block it, just get a hand in the face...and that doesn't take a player jumper 40 inches off the ground, especially when your opposition is the shortest player since Muggsy Bogues.

Under 16 minutes per game, just three shot attempts a night (on average)... Yeah, I'd be upset. Some will argue that Gortat is just as good of a defender as Dwight is.

Nah man, there have been some good dunks...but they were all underrated. Iguodala's performance comes to mind, and so does Dwight's sticker dunk, and that tap-off-the-glass dunk was incredible. Problem is, DeRozan would literally have to showboat, and I actually think it was a good idea what was mentioned above these posts...about wearing a Carter jersey. He should put it on and go after Carter's reverse windmill (his first dunk in 2000) or the elbow in the rim (which I'm not sure if DeRozan can do either of those, especially the reverse windmill).

Well, Miller is the better overall player, but Blake is a shooter, and that's what Roy wants...and that's what McMillan likes (with him taking that role on a few times in his Sonics days). However, I don't think either of those guys fits this team, to be honest. Miller will pass the ball and run the point as a true PG would, and Blake is a shooting point that can also pass. I'd much rather see a slashing, score-first point guard in this offense...like Bayless, even though he's barely playing. Roy handles the ball most of the time, probably leading the team in assists because of that, so to me, this team has all the right pieces besides a suitable point guard.

Actually, yes. Harrington's contract expires soon, and that's $8-10 million off the books (don't remember how much he's making). I know Tyrus has a player option after this season, since I was actually hoping the Lakers would trade for him, and Jerome James is overpaid but PROBABLY expiring...so really, assuming the salaries are probably going to have to match due to cap restrictions, there's no reason for the Knicks to do this. Well, unless Harrington wants out. That could be it. Otherwise, this is a stupid move for New York as a team looking to be WAY under the cap, and a stupid move as a team looking to win games this year.

So... C - Bosh PF - Amir SF - Hedo SG - DeRozan PG - Jack Is that the lineup? I have no clue. I guess maybe they can play Hedo at the four, start Wright (someone that should be in the doghouse to begin with).