What about the possibility of the scenario: Boston or some other was not buoyed by our offer? Just because we have a need or want (perceived or otherwise) does not mean that every team around the league should cater to our needs or do whatever deal we offer them. One thing we know - the Rox front office is working had to get something done - it takes at least 2 teams to get a deal done. So please focus on your day job.
Trouble making the playoffs? Wow. So I take it you don't see Bryant as a top 5 player? Mallas, Dempher, etc, certainly don't have a player of his caliber ... do they?
I could be way off, but I don't think Phoenix is gonna do too great. Marion and Amare are coming off the Olympics, and their defense isn't that great (especially with the addition of Nash).
If Kobe is the best player as Lakers fan claimed, Lakers should at least be on par with Wolves and Spurs next year. His supporting cast is even better than KG and TD's. Don't give me the chemistry excuses. Both the Spurs and Wolves had major facelift last year.
Freak, in my opinion there is a big difference of the overall impact of Tmac and Kobe, yes elite top 5 players, from the top three players--Duncan, KG and Shaq. Jordan has been the only non-big man to have the impact of those latter guys--AI or Kidd are probably the closets but they only did it in the East, and neither Kobe nor Tmac are Jordan. Kobe, in terms of team impact, is closer to a Cwebb a few years ago, an Iverson a few years ago, a Kidd a few years ago, a Dirk, a Tmac, etc. Great players yes, but they need more than role players around them to be title contenders. Just look at what Tmac has been able to do, nada in the playoffs and usually as a low seed when there. And that was in the East. I think we will see the same thing out of a Kobe centered team. The record of the Lakers w/o Shaq in there the last few years would appear to support this too. Again, I see the Lakers somewhere between the 6th and 9th place in the West. Kobe is NOT close to as influentional on team success as KG or TD, probably equal to Tmac (but Tmac also has Yao), and though he is better than Dirk or Finley or Cwebb or Peja or Bibby, those guys have far more supporting firepower making their teams better. I see the Lakers probably in the 6th or 7th seed and a not too difficult 1st round out. 5th seed at best--assuming Dallas collapses w/o Nash (I don't think they will, I think they will be good but not great). Phx is hard to predict, but I think they might just beat out Memphis or Denver for a low seed. And I do think they will be better than Utah. Utah is one of those paper teams with some OK players and guys coming off good years, but who really doesn't have a go to guy offensively. I also think there chemistry was great last year, and though they did add some talent this may more than be offset by chemistry and defense problems, rising expectations and other teams taking themseriously, and inflated egos due to contracts, with the additions. Utah, Indiana, Lal--I think those teams will not meet expectations. Mem or Denver are also reasonable candidates also with some surprises by a team like Phx. No one thinks Seattle will be anything, that is why I said they could be a surprise close to 500 team. Doutfull, but not without remote possibility, unlike our friedly Warriors and Clippers farther south.
Barring any more deals, Memphis. Visit any message board for any team right now, and everyone is upgrading on Pg's who can handle pressure, and PG's who can put on pressure. Memphis won't catch anyone by surprise anymore. They are a good bunch of players, but I think they'll slip out of the playoffs.
Don't get me wrong but I say Sacramento. They are still good, but they will not dominate the way the have, unless webber comes back rock solid and Peja simmers down. A for sure bust team is Dallas. What the hell is going on up there...Cuban needs to get Nelson out and Riles in. If old Pat can't fix it, all is lost.
You don't think teams in the NBA had PGs who could handle pressure last season? Memphis is slightly better than last year. We have no unknowns, hopefullys, and maybe wills. Houston on the other hand has a lot of that and since you guys are projected to land homecourt advantage, I predict Houston will struggle to squeak into the playoffs. Houston will be a true road draw this season and will have a bullseye on their back...championship expectations without the talent to back it up.
Gosh Memphisx, I usually think you are pretty on, but that is way over the top. Teams have already been gunning for Houston b/c of resentment of Yao's exposure, but with Tmac they have two guys extremely difficult to contend with. Houston will have no problem making the playoffs--and I am not a big time homer. Bottom line is Tmac, Howard, Lue, Sura and Ward is a huge improvement over Francis, Mobes & Cato. Adding Deke for Pike would make them even stronger. Minny showed an almost completely new, but stocked team, can get the best record in the West. The only teams I would be really surprised if the Rockets didn't overtake in the West are Minny and SA. Sac, Dallas and Houston are a little harder to predict in terms of pecking order. I think Memphis, LAL, & Denver will probably round out the last 3 seeds. I think Utah will not be as good as expected.
denver will disapoint. kmart will get exposed in the west. garnett, duncan, novitski, j howard, spoon (kidding, kidding). seriously, the next jump for denver will be harder. utah will be fine b/c of sloan. he will beat them into submission and performance. dallas is a potential trainwreck. still no center, offensive flow is worse with the loss of nash. terry is a round peg in square hole. j kidd, if obtained, is not healthy. regrettably, i think houston could easily be anywhere in the 3-8 seed.
Houston might have the 3rd best record but won't end up with the 3rd seed unless they beat out SA which isn't gonna happen. There are 3 divisions per conference now.
That slipped me, I had not realized that. SA, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, and New Orleans, best division in basketball. Of course it should not make much difference. It modestly impacts schedules of the WC teams and home court is still determined by record. But you are correct, 4th seed is a lot more probable than 3rd seed. I expect Minny, than SA, to have the best WC records. You know something weird could happen with this. For example, say in terms of record -Minny went 61-21 (div winner, #1 seed), -SA went 60-22 (div winner, #2 seed), -Sac 51-31 (div winner, #3 seed), -Dallas 54-28 (#4 seed), -Mem 53-29 (#5 seed), -Hou 52-30 (#6 seed), -LA 45-37 (#7 seed) and -Den 42-42 (#8 seed) In this scenario Memphis has a better record than Houston and thus is the 5th seed, but would have to play on the road in the playoffs at Dallas. Houston would be the 6th seed, but has a better record than Sac--the 3rd division winner, thus would have homecourt. Given most teams play other conference teams almost as much as any other conference teams, this is not that impluasible of a situation, but clearly unfair. I wonder if the NBA has a fix for this, they should probably just drop the top 3 seedings for division winners. It may seem farfetched, but don't be surprised if the Central division in the East produces 4 playoff teams, and the Southwest does for the West. One team from the Atlantic (Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors) has to advance--that team will be lucky to be 500. Likewise given say an injury to Webber or Bibby and rough adjustment for the Shaq-less Lakers,the Kings or Lakers might not be ahead of SA, Dallas, Houston and Memphis.
OH. MY. GOD. that is unbelievably bad. i didn't realize how mediocre every team in the atlantic was because i was blinded by the miami/orlando/washington/atlanta/charlotte division and thinking it would just be terrible, but with orlando looking to have upgraded and shaq going to miami, they've actually got 2 real teams (to go with possibly the 3 worst in basketball). the atlantic now has the rebuilding crappy celtics, the blown apart may be about to trade kidd nets, the "what the hell is isiah doing" knicks, the bad sixers, and the raptors who may or may not trade carter and suck anyway. you're right, they may be lucky to get a team over .500. maybe the knicks can scrounge enough wins from the rest of the division with their $98M payroll to make it over .500. damn the east sucks.
That divison is horrible. The Knicks are leading the Atlantic and have the 8th best record in the conference. In the west they would be an #11 seed. Just pathetic.
