Fucking sweet. Drafted Griffin in fantasy a couple hours before the trade. There's no way he doesn't benefit immensely from this.

12/15/2011 7:15:53 AM

Quote :

"What a fucking mistake the Bulls just made. Rip Hamilton is finished being even a marginal rotation player. They had a stud SG in Brewer and two decent options in Bogans and Korver. Rip is the 4th best option among those guys by a long shot."

LOL @ Brewer being called a stud. Pretty decent defensively (better than Hamilton for sure), and can score efficiently (when actually shooting-no 3s though). Dude only averaged like 6ish ppg on 22 mins played during the season.

This move was made to bring in "better" offense to surround Rose with, someone else to be a go to scorer. If you watched the Bulls in the playoffs last year, you should understand that teams would just shut down Rose defensively (Boozer, Deng, & Co. couldn't really bail him out frequently). Hamilton can do that, especially with his constant motor, running through screens off ball to get open. This should also help free up Boozer and Deng for easier baskets too. With all that said, I am disappointed they didn't get someone better/younger at SG (J-Rich, for example), but with limited resources, this was probably the wisest or safest move to make without damaging the current rotation.

12/15/2011 9:17:05 AM

Quote :

"There is no major pro sport (other than baseball) that is more than just pure rote statistics than NBA basketball. I want to encourage you guys to embrace that and stop pretending all these "unquantifiable" abilities exist."

the notion that basketball is the second of four major professional sports that's easiest to measure statistically doesn't seem all that significant a claim. its about as insightful as your previous post that NBA teams have to collect as many stars as possible. they also have to score more points than the other team. and, in the interest of team harmony, they'd be wise to ensure that all of the players shower after the games.

Quote :

"1) Brewer is one of the best SG's in the league period. He's insane at creating possessions and scoring efficiently."

Brewer is great defensively and worthless on offense. he's been fortunate to play his whole career with an elite PG and his teams have always had good players manning the post. this has ensured him easy, open looks from the mid-range that's he's typically been able to knock down and thus artificially inflate his FG%. but still, he can't create his own shot and he can't shoot from outside or the free throw line. Wade, Kobe, Eric Gordon, Manu, Joe Johnson, James Harden, Ray Allen, Aaron Afflalo, Jason Richardson, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin. those are all guys that most every team would take before Brewer.

Quote :

"2) CPIII is one of the elite (top 3 overall) players in the league easily. "

i don't disagree. i just thought your claim that this was universally accepted was clearly wrong.

Quote :

"a) Dirk is winding down and truthfully doesn't play at even close to an all star level in the regular season anymore. He's just on a stacked team so it covers up his deficiencies. He had some crazy playoff performances, but he also sucked in the Finals... No one noticed because his stacked team carried him."

madness. Dirk is still elite and probably the best singular offensive force in the league. when your second best player is Jason Terry (and i like Jason Terry) or Tyson Chandler its hard to characterize that team as a juggernaut. replace Dirk with any other power forward in the league and no way do the Mavs win the title.

Quote :

"b) Derrick Rose is easily the worst MVP of our lifetimes. He's a great young point guard, but he rode a stacked team to an undeserved MVP award. He sucked large ones in the playoffs if you've forgotten."

i didn't think Rose was the MVP, either. i thought both Lebron and Dwight Howard were more deserving. i think Karl Malone winning it over Jordan in 97 was less defensible, though. no matter, after Paul, i'd take Rose over any PG in the league (can't wait to see how John Wall improves this year, though).

Quote :

"c) Durant regressed a lot last year. He wasn't anywhere near MVP level last season if you've forgotten."

i haven't forgotten. i think Durant is the most overrated player in the league, and maybe the most overrated basketball player i've ever seen. but there's a ton of other people that think he ranks above Paul, which is the only reason i brought up him up, to refute your claim that Paul was universally regarded as top3.

re: Eric Gordon

Quote :

"A dime a dozen is a bit harsh, again.. he's an above average player for sure."

i don't know what his ceiling is, but he's a certain all-star. in two years, when he's only 25, he'll be the best shooting guard in all of basketball.

12/15/2011 12:59:42 PM

Gordon seems destined to be the kind of guy that will out up big numbers on bad teams. Even if his peak is a 25/5/5 guy, he's basically a shorter Joe Johnson, and if he makes anything close to Joe Johnson money, whoever signs him will probably regret it.

12/15/2011 1:10:16 PM

probably

he's not a guy who single-handedly will get his team 45 wins a year

12/15/2011 1:26:27 PM

how long til CP3 starts fucking Kim Kardashian

2 weeks?

12/15/2011 5:01:10 PM

yahoo homepage?

12/15/2011 6:48:17 PM

Some signings today.

Portland blows their load (2 and $10) on Jamal Crawford who really fell off last season and will turn 32 this season. He isn't going to be able to replace the production they've gotten from Fernandez the past few seasons. Would have liked to see Portland (who still has a really good team) use their money on a more productive free agent.

New Orleans signed Carl Landry (1 and $9). Landry is hard to read. He was amazing as a rookie in 2008, still a pretty great player in 2009, fell off sharply in 2010, and was completely unproductive in 2011. Does he continue the trend and become the worst player in the league in 2012 or reverse it back to being a productive player again? No one knows and I'm guessing thats why he couldnt find a multi-year deal. New Orleans will be worthless this season anyway so it doesn't really matter.

12/15/2011 11:18:08 PM

Paul's interviews about the signing show that he didn't practice his "I didn't come just for the money" speech in the mirror enough.

12/15/2011 11:47:29 PM

Dennis Horner is getting some pre-season burn with the Nets today

i would have never guessed that he'd get so much as a whiff of the NBA

12/17/2011 2:59:33 PM

just saw the blake griffen kia commercial. wtf.

12/17/2011 9:01:26 PM

lob city in full effect tonight at staples

12/20/2011 12:31:20 AM

Well it's official now, Dennis fucking Horner made the roster.

I say it's because of the flaming basketball tattoo

[Edited on December 23, 2011 at 3:00 PM. Reason : .]

12/23/2011 2:59:18 PM

they just wanted a Jersey native for the crowd

12/23/2011 3:07:13 PM

horner is in the nba, and hodge is not

what the fuck

[Edited on December 23, 2011 at 3:07 PM. Reason : good luck dennis. pretty unbelievable. ]

12/23/2011 3:07:34 PM

Off the top of my head I can't think of a worse college player that has ever made an nba roster.

I'm speechless

12/23/2011 5:37:17 PM

Lot of dumb going on in this thread...from Durant being the most overrated player in the league to Gordon being the best shooting guard in the league in a couple years. Wtf are you people smoking??

And...go Horner. Fuck the haters.

12/23/2011 5:44:33 PM

Dwyane Wade will be 30 in less than a month. name another shooting guard in his 20s who is better than Eric Gordon.

lots of people seriously discuss the possibility that Kevin Durant is the best basketball player in the world when anyone who watched him the playoffs last year should remember him catching the ball 30 ft away from the basket play after play repeatedly failing to create a solid shot for himself or any teammate. i think he's a great shooter/scorer, but i'm not convinced he's even the best player on his own team.

and i smoke weed. not as much as i used to, but enough.

12/23/2011 9:03:56 PM

12/23/2011 9:32:23 PM

Quote :

"i think he's a great shooter/scorer, but i'm not convinced he's even the best player on his own team."

durant is still only 23. he is constantly adding to his game. have you seen him do dirk's silly off foot fall back jumper yet this preseason?

i'm not a big nba fan, so i guess i'm just talking out of my ass, but come on. he's fucking awesome. not saying he's the best on the planet, but that's a silly distinction anyhow.

12/23/2011 10:01:35 PM

i'm not knocking the guy. i just think he gets overly slobbered by sportswriters (and thus the lay fan) because of his "personality" and "character." he's great and his ceiling is Sistine Chapel-esque, but as of last season his game has a few considerable holes.

12/23/2011 10:11:00 PM

it is stupid how good the thunder might be over the next few years. i really hope they get it done.

12/23/2011 10:17:30 PM

Durant is an absolute scoring machine and arguably the toughest defensive match-up in the league outside of Dirk. I also love/share his obsession with basketball.

He still needs to work on his defense and his ability to directly get teammates involved. There's no way in hell he's the most valuable player this year unless he makes another leap.

And yes, assuming they retain and develop their talent: the Thunder look poised to rule the west for a long time.

12/24/2011 7:15:04 PM

@DraftExpress Dennis Horner was cut by the worst team in Belgium, then was an average player on the worst team in Cyprus. Now he made the NJ Nets.

12/25/2011 12:37:38 AM

Kills me not to be able to bet huge on nba reg season win totals this year as they are typically the softest lines in all of Vegas. Just too many variables this year to find significant edges.

I took bobcats over 16.5 wins (Underrated team, just hope we don't play kemba and biyombo too much)

Knicks under 40.5. This line is slightly too high and there's a good likelihood that chandler and amare won't both stay healthy and the knicks have zero depth. Hoping for a sophomore slump out of Fields after his monster rookie season.

Nuggets over 37.5. They lost a few role players but they had ridiculous depth and could afford to. Should end up with one of the better records in basketball.

12/25/2011 12:18:15 PM

Apparently, Julianne Moore loves the D.

12/25/2011 2:26:52 PM

shumperts injury looked fucking awful

12/25/2011 2:37:28 PM

Knicks will probably be better off without him. What a terrible debut.

3-13 Fg and 2 to in only 22 mins my god

12/25/2011 3:46:19 PM

Heat taking the mavs behind the woodshed. 67-43, 10 mins to go in the 3rd.

12/25/2011 4:18:11 PM

First action for Metta World Peace.

12/25/2011 5:40:24 PM

For some reason I like Kobe more as he gets older. Not sure why as I hate the Lakers. I guess it's just respect.

12/25/2011 7:20:14 PM

Kobe gets blocked for the loss.

What a game.

D Rose

12/25/2011 7:59:49 PM

if rose keeps this up, he may work his way into a top 5 pg by the end of the season

12/25/2011 8:00:12 PM

what a joke of a choke. that was so wolfpack. up 6 foul twice (did kobe even touch deng?) then put fisher on the mvp 1 on 1 with 4 seconds to go?

12/25/2011 8:02:04 PM

In the OKC game one of the refs just tried to throw a behind the back pass to another ref and ended up chucking it into the 3rd row

12/25/2011 10:22:16 PM

So the Clippers 3rd string pg could start for the lakers. Never thought I'd see the day.

12/25/2011 11:28:45 PM

monta ellis "pout when i don't get the ball" count: 4

12/25/2011 11:38:37 PM

this hack-a-deandre game every time down the court is quite annoying. currently 4-12 from the line in 3rd.

12/26/2011 12:38:28 AM

Quote :

" what a joke of a choke. that was so wolfpack. up 6 foul twice (did kobe even touch deng?) then put fisher on the mvp 1 on 1 with 4 seconds to go?"

Well, the head coach IS Mike Brown.

12/26/2011 2:54:58 PM

big fan of Rubio already. gonna try to watch a lot of Timberwolves games this year, fun team to watch.

12/26/2011 10:32:39 PM

impressive no turnovers in his first NBA game as a 21 year old.

Still, the team is fatally flawed.

Just hope Kevin Love doesn't have to play his entire career in obscurity the guy is amazing.

12/26/2011 10:46:04 PM

its not impossible that the Timberwolves draft selection acquired by the Hornets won't be a lottery pick

Aldeman is a huge upgrade at coach

i loved who he was playing in crunch time, Rubio-Barea-Derrick Williams-Beasley-Love

them and the Pacers will probably be my two favorite non-championship contenders to watch this year

12/26/2011 11:25:28 PM

No way. Twolves are terrible.

As good as Love is he has absolutely no help.

If you replace Kevin Love with Garnett they'd win 12-15 games this season.

12/26/2011 11:40:48 PM

Lakers looking like the worst team in Ca. Will they get Howard? Deron? If not, Kobe might start getting cold feet.

12/27/2011 1:15:50 AM

Kings are going to be really good. Marcus Thornton might be the most underrated player in the NBA. He sometimes gets into this unstoppable mode where he can make shots from basically anywhere.

12/27/2011 9:24:29 AM

The Lakers will turn things around. They're playing without Bynum, Kobe is playing poorly due to his wrist injury, McRoberts/Murphy are working into the new system, and Matt Barnes will probably regain his 2008-2009 form at some point.

That being said, they weren't a great team anymore last year and they are weaker this year. They'll probably be a 5-6 seed in the West.

Too early to jump on the Kings bandwagon. Tyreke is a total wildcard after his disappointing year last year. Cousins projects to be good eventually but he was awful last year and this year he figures to get even more minutes. Beyond that they've got several unproductive players in their lineup like Salmons, Hickson, Fredette, and Thomas. They'll probably finish last in the West.


The Bulls as I said aren't better with Richard Hamilton. He is done. They are retarded for spending so much money on a guy who is bench fodder. The scary thing is that Boozer looks like he may be on his last legs already too. Luckily, they have Taj and Asik to keep them amongst the leaders but they are a much better regular season team than a playoff one. Rose has yet to make the leap to being a truly elite player so I don't see anyone in the East thwarting Miami.


East
1) Miami
2) Chicago
3) Orlando (obv not if they trade Howard)
4) New York
5) Boston
6) Philly
7) Atlanta
8) Milwaukee
9) Indy
10) NJN
11) Charlotte
12) Det
13) Cleve (although they have potential)
14) Wash
15) Toronto


West
1) OKC
2) LA Clippers
3) Denver
4) SAS
5) LAL
6) Portland
7) Memphis
8) Dallas
9) GS
10) Phoe
11) Hou
12) Minn
13) Utah
14) NO
15) Sac


Finals: Mia vs OKC is the clear favorite right now. Not only do they both project to be the #1 seeds, but their lineups are even stronger in the postseason than in the regular season when you shorten the bench.


I've added a small play on the Nuggets at 25:1 to win the west and a huge play on Spurs to win their division +150

[Edited on December 27, 2011 at 10:41 AM. Reason : a]

12/27/2011 10:21:57 AM

No way does Sacramento finish last. They went 9-9 in their last 18 last year. I expect them to be at worst a .500 team . And you proved my point my point about Marcus Thornton being underrated. You didn't even mention him and he might be the best player on the Kings. Once the kings acquired Thornton and Reke came back from injury, they were a much different team.

[Edited on December 27, 2011 at 11:49 AM. Reason : ]

12/27/2011 11:48:53 AM

You've got New York 4th. Is that some kind of Joke?

12/27/2011 11:54:35 AM

Orlando 3rd is the most ridiculous projection

Quote :

"Rose has yet to make the leap to being a truly elite player"

there's aren't three PGs in basketball better than Derrick Rose. there are probably less than five guys in the League that Bulls would even entertain the notion of trading Rose for. yet Rose isn't elite, and Ronnie Brewer is a stud. you live in an interesting world.

Quote :

"Matt Barnes will probably regain his 2008-2009 form at some point"

you think so? is there some stat i don't know about that shows players improve after appearing on shitty reality shows?

12/27/2011 12:12:24 PM

Anyone else think Portland is gonna suck hardcore? I see them beign a bottom 5 western conference team. Brandon Roy is retired.

THey are like 8 pt favorites over the kings tonight. I took the kings straight up. Free $. PUTTUN $ WHERE MY MOUTH IS.

12/27/2011 9:34:51 PM