Check my Stats

No. He brings nothing to the table at this point.

Blazers have gotta be a dark horse. If I was forced to bet money, it would be on the none option that was not given.

I would kill BFT so I could win this vote. THAT is how die-hard I am.

Can't fill building, design new uniforms to offset lack of concession sales.

Lakers, Thunders, Spurs, Nets, Pacers, Heat. Miami and OKC. Miami. The only one that was tough was OKC. I think LA is better on paper but I just inexplicably want to pick OKC. I try not to go against my gut feeling, and I don't think OKC is a ridiculous guess. Its not like they don't have an interior presence that can handle (well, not 'handle', but do a formidable job compared to most) LA's front court, as well as the most dynamic 1-2-3 punch in the league. I don't think LA has anyone that can guard Westbrook and Durant as well as Ibaka and Perkins could do against Dwight and Pau. Durant ate Artest's soul last summer, not sure why he can't do it again. I guess I just need to see this LA team play a meaningful game before I can put them over the defending west champs, who are no slouch at all.

I have the Raptors pegged from anywhere between 33 and 42 wins (somewhere in the middle being most likely, 37 has been my guess all summer and pre-season). I think it depends on a lot of things: -Can Demar give us 16-18 a night on close to 50% with commitment defensively? -Is Bargs going to be able to give us 20+ a night on good percentages and commit defensively? -Can Jonas stay on the floor close to 30 minutes a night (arguably the biggest key, as well s the biggest if) -Is Kyle Lowry going to be a borderline all-star (probably the biggest key)? If all 4 of those things happen, I think everyone would (or should) be pretty surprised if we missed the playoffs. I don't think 33 wins is an outrageous prediction, I do think its a bit on the low end though. I think Lowry, a hopefully healthy Bargs, added shooters, a full training camp, an attacking Derozan (still very flawed admittedly, but we need the offense), the best backup point in the league, and a gigantic upgrade at center (I can't stress this enough), is worth more than 4 extra wins. I think a lot of people don't realize how decent we were last year when healthy. Could we have sustained that all season? Most likely not, but I think we are a definite threat for the playoffs this year. I think we could just as easily win 40 as we could 33. Lowry and JV are bigger upgrades than I think a lot of people think, and not only that, Amir goes from being a subpar starter, to a very good bench big, which is huge for us. Same with Jose. I think our depth is going to be a big asset too. Sure we don't have the sexy names like other teams, but Jose and Amir have tremendous chemistry, Davis has been rock solid (this Amir-Davis dynamic is very exciting to me off the bench), and hopefully we can get contributions here and there from Ross, Kleiza, Fields. I think without a doubt our biggest weakness is our wing rotation, and if anything is going to put us back a step, it is that.

Dwight, Melo then LeBron in that order. I don't respect any player who not only forces their way off a team, but then wants to CHOOSE what team they go to. Its ridiculous.

I put an emphasis on the word like, as in similar to, as in comparable too. I even said, key word, which I thought emphasized I know Fields is far from a desirable role player (especially at his outrageous salary). But Melo basically implied that a guy who is a role player, does nothing, or he just doesn't know what it is that role players do, which is even more hilarious. He just doesn't see the big picture, and is kind of a shit teammate. Its not really worth us sitting here and arguing over, especially semantics... Like wtf. I know Fields is garbage, I've never once defended him on this forum, so I don't know why you're getting so bitchy about it. Also I would take Fields over JR Smith any day of the week. Give me the guy who knows his role over the guy who can't spell role. And I say this knowing Fields is best suited as a backup, far down the bench.

For some inexplicable reason, I want to say DeAndre Jordan

If anyone wants help with blackouts hit me up. I got around them last night, so I can only assume it will work again the next time I try. I will make sure it works multiple times though before I promise anything though. Very excited though, and I didn't have to buy a VPN! 80 bucks to watch any single NBA game every night, can't beat that. I don't want to post anything here though, so just PM me in a week or two.

If you think you can win without quality role players, not Landry Fields specifically, (my clear point, at least I thought), then there's nothing really here to discuss. Shut up and move along please, you're just being annoying. EDIT: BFT already covered it.

Melo is such a bitch man. He says that he wants to win, but doesn't want to do anything to get it. Waste of talent.

This guy doesn't belong in the same room as an NBA player at this point, nevermind actually being ON a team. In fact, he should be Kobe's gatorade fetcher for the rest of Kobe's career.

I'd like to say he isn't going anywhere, but the fact they haven't gotten to an agreement is pretty frightening as an OKC fan (if you are). There is only one number worth discussing, and its the max. Everyone and their grandmothers know that he is going to get it, if not from OKC, but from somewhere else. And how are you going to pay a clearly inferior player (Ibaka) potentially more than Harden. It is ridiculous that they are crying about not being a lux tax team, after paying Perkins and Ibaka 25% + more than they are worth. I suggest you read this grantland article from Simmons, its actually a decent read. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8486795/the-harden-dilemma It would just be a brutal breakup for both sides. Harden isn't an alpha dog, and he fits in perfectly in OKC. I would trade Ibaka 100 times before I even thought about moving Harden once. Regardless, they should be able to afford the entire core, at least for a bit longer once they amnesty Perkins. OKC is just going to have to be shrewd through the draft (like they were this year) and try and pick up ring chasers each year. I have no doubt that they can keep this core together for a couple more years at least.

Pretty sure the only reason they are even being considered is because it is his parents' alma mater. I could be completely wrong, and I am too lazy to look it up, but I am almost positive that is why.

I think it is awesome when players sort of break this "Kentucky Mold". I honestly think it might get to the point that if you can be a player and dominate NOT on that team, it is going to help your draft stock. I would love to see Wiggins go to FSU.

Melo is a joke lol. I hate Fields' contract but I don't think Melo realizes players like (important word here, like) Fields are players that help win championships. This kid just really doesn't see the big picture, and its going to drive you Knicks fans crazy for the next half a decade until he fizzles into obscurity.

If I am the Kings, I call every team in the league and let them know we would listen to offers for Cousins. He's not worth shopping and trading for shit value, but if someone offers something worth listening, they should take it. That kid is bad, bad news. Such a shame, so much talent. Top 3 big in the league type of talent. Even if he reaches it though, I'm not sure you win a championship with a guy like that.

Lakers are way ahead of the pack in the 'funnest team to watch' race, and we haven't even seen Dwight yet.

For some reason the game wasn't blacked out on the league pass so I was able to catch the end of the 4th quarter. JV is going to be such a stud man I'm so excited about this kid. I love this team. I know we're probably nothing more than an Atlanta Hawks/Indiana Pacers team at best in the future, but when you consider our history, that is pretty damn good. I am so happy we wound up with Lowry instead of Nash too. I was kind of happy in the summer, but now I'm just so happy about it. He is a really solid player.

I have been reading up on this stuff and I am pretty sure I am gonna buy it. I am not counting on being able to work around the blackouts (I think I am going to be able to do it though, downloaded the chrome proxy thing, and when I use a different proxy it lists a different price for the page so it worked. We'll see I guess, not counting on it, but it'd be nice), but like BFT said, its worth it just for the archived footage, and to watch other games. The fact I have no cable, and can get upwards of 40 games a week at my disposal, it easily makes it worth it. Not to mention I read that last year mobile and tablet games weren't blacked out, and my roommate has an iPad and I am getting the iPhone 5. So that would be awesome if it was still like that, but even if not, I'd still be fine with it. Also, the league pass is coming to xbox/ps3 (google), it hasn't come out yet, but its going to. I am hoping it won't cost extra to use on the xbox because that would be awesome to have through my xbox on the big screen (not hd, no hdmi from laptop unfortunately). if anyone hasn't bought it here is a 15% off code. Not sure if it still works but it did last time I checked. NBAP15GTX354

Tiger may hit a hole in one on a par 4 once his hole career, doesn't mean he is instinctively going to do it again. Yeah, Riley raped the NBA (had more to do with LBJ and Wade than it did with Riley, but whatever I give credit where it is due)... but 2014 will be completely different. I don't know who will have cap, or if LeBron will leave, but he is 100% going to opt out. Whether or not he stays, well I guess only time will tell. I don't think a lot of people realize that the Clippers have a multitude of things going their way right now: LeBron's best friend, and only 16 million in committed salaries outside of Paul and Griffin (who they will surely extend), and one of the best duos in the league. You have to imagine that the Clippers could easily package Jordan and Crawford for a dump, or even just one of them. They could be serious players for LeBron through Paul, just like Miami was through Wade.

Obviously Bledsoe.

Players, owners, commissioner, this entire thing is just [expletive]ing ridiculous. It is just [expletive]ed since they know, and we know, that we are all going to come back anyways.

It would be worth it alone just to see all the Laker haters become stans overnight. They would be saying LBJ > Kobe by the time he was won his first ring in LA.