Nitro

He shot over 50% from the field last year, 48% from 3, and also grabbed over 6 boards and dished out 4 assists. He's not a star player, but he's just what the doctor ordered for the Lakers bench. He can do a little bit of everything, and can shoot the lights out (even though the lights are already out at Staples). Would be a perfect fit for the Lakers.

Hahaha Bosh is just eating this free agency up...

Fair enough. It's your thread, and I don't want to spend pages arguing things that we'll just end up agreeing to disagree on. For the most part you did a tremendous, VERY thorough job. I was just shocked with the Sonics grade primarily because of Durant and how much he has already done for the franchise, and how much he will continue to do in the future. But I see you did lighten up a bit on their grade, so nice job But the one thing I'll say about Green is his shooting from 3 last year is a bit misleading IMO. He shot 39% from 3 in 2008-2009, and in February/March last season shot 43% from downtown. The dude can shoot well enough to warrant playing SF.

W-O-W. He has some potential but he's been in the league for 5 seasons and played over 62 games only once, never played 18MPG and never averaged 7PPG or 5RPG. That's just ridiculous. I mean even Darko has produced and proven more at the NBA level, has potential, and will be making around $1.5M less per year on a shorter contract. Gooden is a proven NBA vet that can produce, even though his contract is also bloated. How Johnson and Gooden will be making more than Frye is kinda crazy too.

-I don't think the fact that Durant was an obvious pick at #2 should hinder their grading. There's plenty of drafts in NBA history where a player was a lock with a high draft pick that turned out to be a major bust. I mean, since 2005, there have only been 3 players in the NBA Draft that I believe to be of superstar quality...D-Will, CP3 and Durant (Rose is arguable, but I don't think he'll ever be on their level). The NBA is a league dominated by superstars, just take a look at MJ/Shaq/Kobe/Duncan/Hakeem dominating the championship scene the last 20 years. Durant has an oppertunity to be one of those players you could actually build a championship team around. -Davis is a nice player, but is getting grossly overrated because of some big performances in the playoffs. He's extremely inconsistent, way moreso than Green. And again, I just don't see Green as being an NBA PF, he just doesn't have that size. He has the body and athleticism of a SF. How does he not shoot well? He shot 39% from 3 in '08-'09, and shot about the same over the last 3 months of last season after a slow start. From the field he shot better than Davis each of the last 2 seasons, despite being about 70lbs less and similarly undersized. -I agree about the Landry thing, that was a bad move. But I really don't think the Allen trade was that bad. The Sonics wanted to rebuild and get rid of Allen's massive contract, and they did so. The Sonics/Thunder ended up saving a ton of money in that trade, and the youth movement has proven to be an amazing success.

It's a steep price, but honestly I don't think it's that bad of a move. He's a VERY good rebounder, can score/finish, and he will certainly give the Bucks depth. It's a tough contract to swallow, but as another member mentioned, teams like Milwaukee will never win over any star players in free agency. I do think they could have scooped Gooden up for less, but he's a very solid player.

I really don't think it'll happen. I'd say Miller certainly has a spot on the roster...the Lakers have nothing at the wing positions on the bench. They need a shooter and a player who's unselfish, and Miller fits that mold perfectly. I do agree that they still desperately need a backup PG, but the absolute worst case scenario is they make a deal toward the trade deadline. Vujacic will be an expiring contract I believe worth about $5M, and they will have a few draft picks to dangle out there as well. In the meantime, I guess Earl Watson wouldn't be a horrible, cheap backup.

I'm not really sure how you put the Sonics so low. I mean yeah, they gave up Landry, but Green is a better player than Davis IMO. He's a SF that has to play PF, so he's at a disadvantage there. But still, each of the last 2 seasons he's shot better from both the floor and free throw line than Davis, and in the last 3 months of last season he shot nearly 40% from 3. He's also a solid rebounder and defender. Not to mention he's averaged 80 games played in his career to Davis' 66. I agree that he's still raw, but he has a lot more upside than Davis and has been a better player his first 3 seasons. But more importantly, even though they lost Allen and didn't get much value back (well, they did get rid of his huge contract which is a plus), they got a legit SUPERSTAR in Kevin Durant, who is still only 21. There are only about 6-7 true superstars in the league, and he's one of them who isn't anywhere near his prime yet. He alone should give the Sonics at least a B IMO.

Verrrrrry interesting, although not a huge surprise. Amare loves attention, and he'll get more of that than he can imagine in NY. If true, Knicks fans should be thrilled. Not all that much better than David Lee, but Amare is still a tremendous player.

From Chris Bosh's Twitter... Read more: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/67722/20100702/bosh_impressed_with_nets_ability_to_sell_a_franchise/#ixzz0sUlxezIO \

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TX6o7R8LSg One of my favorite diss songs of all time. Not nearly the best, and it hurts that it wasn't against a rapper with actual talent. But this was a big beef back around 2004, and Eminem puts him out with this one (before this he dissed Benzino in Bully, Invasion Pt. I, II, III, and The Sauce). From 2:20 on is just awesome lol.

He is a power forward...he gets DOMINATED defensively at the 5. He's better offensively at Center because he is a mismatch in the PnR (seriously as good as any big man in the PnR), but defensively he provides no pressure against players in the post and lets players easily back him down. He is talented enough of a scorer to adjust at PF and still make a big impact.

Davis can't win or dominate a game by himself, he doesn't have that much talent. He can make an impact and score off the bench, but that's it. And the next few games he's a no-show, because if he isn't scoring, he's not doing much. Varejao is statistically a much better rebounder (by both TRB% and RP36min), much better defender, and he shoots far better than Davis (who has shot below 45% each of the last 2 seasons). People are REALLY overrating Davis and Robinson after the Finals, especially Davis. You have to look at the whole picture, not just select moments.

Miller would be terrific on the Lakers, but they need a backup PG extremely badly. Earl Watson doesn't look so bad now...

LeBron basically had the MVP locked up by January...

Varejao. Davis' game on both offense and defense comes and goes, Varejao will always give you very consistently great defense and finishes around the basket very well.

Didn't he have like 18 rebounds in a playoff game against the Kings back in like the 2001 or 2002 playoffs?

See, I think you guys are looking too much into his "athletic" prime rather than his actual playing prime. If we want to go by how fast he can run or how high he can jump, he was never really the same after '05-'06. But, the beauty of Kobe is that every year he adds to his game and improves a basketball skill. Remember, before the injuries last year he started the season out on fire. The stats took a hit because he had to retool his game to accomodate his injuries, which he did and which is why he had arguably the best post-season of his career.

The difference is that Pierce and Dirk are older and for the most part , their value is still very high. RJ is only 30 and his value has never been this low, and he's entering a FA class that is flooded with top talent. I'm sure if he played well next season he would get just as lucrative of a contract on top of the $15M he would be getting this year (which could be the kind of money he'll be making in 2.5-3 years if he signs a longer contract this offseason).

I don't think age should be a factor. Amare is like a year older and has only one more year of NBA experience. Injuries are a different story, but again I don't think it should be much of a factor. He's been healthy since 2006 except that freak eye injury, which he now wears goggles for. I'd pick Bosh, though. He's a much better rebounder, better in iso situations, has more moves, and he's also a considerably better defender.

Yes, Kobe is in his prime, although at the tail-end. Before Game 7 against the Celtics, he was having his best post-season ever despite a busted finger and hurting knee.

Meh...he hasn't shot 43% from the field or 29% from 3 either of the last 2 seasons. He's not a bad bench player, and will certainly be affordable, but I don't think it'd be a great fit.

I think he'll give Spoelstra a trial run and at the first sign of trouble he'll be back on the bench. Even though Riley is without a doubt the better coach, I like Spoelstra and want to see what he can do with actual talent.

I love Ron, but this is just plain stupid.

Very, very smart move from a financial standpoint. And not only will another year of of developing these young players help make Sacramento a mure lucrative destination, but seeing what Cousins can do on an NBA level will help them make a better informed decision on what future FA's will fit in best.