The NBA Thread

[MrWoolley]

Duly done! This is one exciting series, different players seem to be stepping up in different games.

It's real good to see. I loved game 4 with Big Baby and Robinson stepping up to the plate and really driving Boston on. Was really good to see.

Can't wait for game 6 :-D

 

[Coolpudge]

Duly done! This is one exciting series, different players seem to be stepping up in different games.

I think that has been the key to the series. Last night, in the 3rd quarter especially, Kobe went on a Kobe scoring run but because the rest of the Lakers didn't step up the Celtics extended there lead and won the game.

 

[Partizan]

Well there you go

The LA Lakers are the 2010 NBA champions!!

 

[Kendall]

That was such a poor 4th from the Celtics :-(

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

This week could see a huge shift in power within the NBA. The list of free agents is incredible and lots of teams have space under the salary cap. I'm kind of hoping LeBron will end up in New York, I think that would create a pretty huge buzz. New York squaring off directly against Boston in the East would be awesome.

Other free agents are Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitski, Amare Stoudamire, Carlos Boozer...

 

[RoyalFlush]

It seems a lot of teams are re-signing their stars to huge long term contracts. Nowitzki has re-signed with the Mavs on a 4-year, $80M deal, while Joe Johnson has signed a 6-year, $119M deal with the Hawks. And people say that footballers are overpaid!

There is some serious talk about Stoudemire venturing over to the Knicks however, and a decision is likely to be made this weekend: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ApZjUA9V63F0h.5fLAwqSqe8vLYF?slug=ys-stoudemireknicks070210 This could mean that the Knicks pull out of a possible deal for James now, as they are prepared to offer Stoudemire a max contract offer.

Also sounds like Bosh is on the move too, with Miami and Chicago his preferred destinations. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks!

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

It seems a lot of teams are re-signing their stars to huge long term contracts. Nowitzki has re-signed with the Mavs on a 4-year, $80M deal, while Joe Johnson has signed a 6-year, $119M deal with the Hawks. And people say that footballers are overpaid!

There is some serious talk about Stoudemire venturing over to the Knicks however, and a decision is likely to be made this weekend: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ApZjUA9V63F0h.5fLAwqSqe8vLYF?slug=ys-stoudemireknicks070210 This could mean that the Knicks pull out of a possible deal for James now, as they are prepared to offer Stoudemire a max contract offer.

Also sounds like Bosh is on the move too, with Miami and Chicago his preferred destinations. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks!

The Knicks won't pull out of a move for LeBron, but I don't seriously see him moving there. The Knicks have enough space within their budget to get two top level players in.

Bosh could move, Wade could move, LeBron could move. It will happen quickly I would guess. Likely within this week.

 

[RoyalFlush]

The Knicks won't pull out of a move for LeBron, but I don't seriously see him moving there. The Knicks have enough space within their budget to get two top level players in.

Bosh could move, Wade could move, LeBron could move. It will happen quickly I would guess. Likely within this week.

Yeah true. I read that Stoudemire is waiting to see if the Knicks pursue another top FA before deciding on moving to New York, so it sounds like they may have to sign a James or Wade to use as an incentive for Stoudemire to move. Cavs are apparantly the front-runners to sign James now so it wouldn't surprise me if he stayed put in Cleveland.

 

[kishman]

Yeah the Cavs are the front runners to re-sign James, nobody can officially sign a new deal unitl the 8th of July so that will be the big day.
Btw did people see the draft results, no surprises Wizards picked John Wall, 76ers picked Evan Turner. These two will be stars.

 

[RoyalFlush]

Yeah Wall looks a big talent, could post similar numbers to Evans in his rookie season. Must mean the Wizards are definately looking at life without Arenas then. For the best I think, start building around future talent like Wall. Look at OKC now, they are legit team in the West with Durant, Green and Westbrook where a few seasons ago they were the whipping boys of the league.

 

[tobi]

I would love for David Lee to somehow end up in Phoenix via a sign and trade perhaps.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

I would love for David Lee to somehow end up in Phoenix via a sign and trade perhaps.

Would they need to do a sign and trade? Would Phoenix not have cap space with Amare moving on?

 

[tobi]

I'm not sure, I don't think so otherwise we would have been mentioned along with the other teams that have cap space.

Amare is awesome but he doesn't commit to defense and is inconsistent with his rebounding, he isn't worth the max contract that he wants.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Well doing a bit of research, with Amare going they are getting rid of his $16m dollars from their salary which would give them a total yearly salary of about $45m. Salary cap is at around $56m, so they have approx. $11m. That is why they haven't been in the mix for any of the top free agents who all have max salary base of $16.6m (Amare is actually about $20m I believe).

I am sure I read however that David Lee had a max contract of $10.2m a year.

Anyway here is an explanation of Phoenix's cap situation and they seem to think Lee is a viable option too.

http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/2010-cap-space-phoenix/

 

[tobi]

Thanks for the link, it all makes sense now.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

OK, now things are starting to pick up. It looks like Bosh is almost certain to sign with Miami today to play alongside Wade. That makes them a contender straight away and now they have those two in place they can try and add some smaller pieces to make a decent roster as they still have a little space and some pieces they can move around.

LeBron has confirmed that he will announce his decision tomorrow. It looked as though it would be a straight choice between Cleveland and Chicago but it seems right now that New York are right back in the race. They have signed Amar'e and apparently there is some interest from Tony Parker to make a trade to New York. San Antonio would have to take Eddy Curry and Tony Douglas which sounds bad, but Douglas is a decent player and Curry's contract has only 12 months on it, which would give them some space to do something big next summer. They need to rebuild. So would it be tempting for LeBron to team up with Amar'e, Parker and Gallinari...you would have to think that those 4 alone in a D'Antoni system would be frightening. Some old heads on minimum contracts (to win a ring) and fill out the roster.

I hope the New York move happens like that because it would be a lot of fun to watch. A New York/Boston rivalry would be good for the East too. In fact the East would start to look really good then with 4 legitimate title chasing teams, Boston, New York, Orlando and Miami. Even Chicago could get maybe Boozer in to add to Deng, Rose and Noah and be a solid 5th team.

 

[Coyboy]

I am sure Eva would 'persuade' Parker to move to New York.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

I honestly don't think that LeBron can win staying in Cleveland if Miami put Wade and Bosh together plus other pieces. Theoretically they could take a little less money each and still get LeBron, but even if they don't Miami can add other players to Wade and Bosh. Cleveland can't add anyone really to what they have. I don't think that is going to be enough.

Joining Parker and Stoudemire would be a huge step up on what he is playing with. There are even rumblings of a trade for Chris Paul rather than Parker. They have to pull out all of the stops to get LeBron now.

 

[RoyalFlush]

The Southeast is gonna be a powerhouse division next year! Orlando are still legit title contenders, Miami are now a threat and Atlanta can make a run at the playoffs too I feel. The East is definately taking over as the more dominant conference. Will be interesting to see where Lebron lands.

 

[kishman]

The Bulls signed Carlos Boozer, good signing for them.
Chris Bosh has joined Dwayne Wade and signed for Miami Heat, they are going to be awesome next season especially if they can persuade Lebron to join them. We find out at 2am in the morning where he decides to sign.