Sunday, October 31, 2010

Games I will be seeing in person

Since I live in the Washington, DC area I go to a number of Wizard games a year.  So far this year I'll be going to:

vs New York on 12/10
vs Miami on 12/18
vs Utah on 1/17
vs Orlando on 2/4
vs Dallas on 2/26
vs Oklahoma City (aka the Stolen Franchise) on 3/14


I'm also hoping to visit a few other teams as well.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Getting Carmelo to NY

I honestly believe that for Carmelo Anthony to leave Denver and end up in New York a third team seeking low financial risk with high to moderate potential reward players back will have to be included. I've used New Orleans as an example of what I think an Anthony trade to the Knicks will look like.

Now keep in mind that I have intentionally not included draft picks. I think everyone can agree that if and when Anthony is traded picks will be included. That said, contracts matching and getting reasonable talent returns are more important right now.

In this mock transaction, the Knicks give up Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Anthony Randolph, and Eddy Curry to get Anthony. Their post trade depth chart:

Raymond Felton - Toney Douglas
Landry Fields - Roger Mason Jr. - Andy Rautins - Kelenna Azubuike (IR)
Anthony - Bill Walker - Shawne Williams
Amar'e Stoudemire
Timofey Mozgov - Ronny Turiaf

Not a championship contender but certainly a step in the right direction. Should leave just enough salary cap room for the Knicks to make a run at Tony Parker or Marc Gasol if they see fit.

Denver says goodbye to Carmelo Anthony and welcomes Randoplh and Gallinari from New York plus Peja Stojakovic from New Orleans. The post trade Nuggets:

Chauncey Billups - Ty Lawson - Anthony Carter
Arron Afflalo - J.R. Smith - Gary Forbes
Gallinari - Stojakovic - Renaldo Balkman
Kenyon Martin - Al Harrington - Randolph - Shelden Williams
NenĂª - Chris Andersen - Melvin Ely

Not as impressive but still a playoff team more than likely. Denver should also like that Gallinari and Randolph (to some people) both have mega potential but have a moderate deals that pay them each less $5 million per season for three seasons; while Stojakovic is an expiring contract which opens the team to be a major player in free agency when figured in with the expiring deals and player/team options already on the team.

New Orleans uses Stojakovic expiring deal to get the expring deal of Curry, and a young quality but relatively cheap player in Chandler. The new look Hornets:

Chris Paul - Jerryd Bayless
Marcus Thornton - Marco Belinelli - Willie Green - Quincy Pondexter
Trevor Ariza - Chandler - Joe Alexander
David West - Jason Smith - Pops Mensah-Bonsu
Emeka Okafor - Curry - Aaron Gray - Didier Ilunga-Mbenga

Not spectacular but nice additions for Hornets. Deal could be a great one for Hornets if they can get Curry to resemble his 2006-2007 form. If Curry doesn't then they let his deal expire, if he does they look for a sign and trade partner. Chandler gives them a quality backup at both SG and SF that can be re-signed to a reasonable deal in the summer of 2012.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Looking ahead - Denver Nuggets

In this look ahead we will head back to the western conference. The Denver Nuggets spent most of last season looking like one of the best teams in the league. Down the stretch they came unglued and finished 4th in the Western conference. The main cause of the late season stumble was inconsistency.

In spite of the consistency issue the team face a dilemma that may end in trading away the only two consistent players, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Anthony is a free agent at season's end and has decline to sign a contract extension. This has created a situation where the Nuggets may trade Anthony now rather than lose him for nothing later. Trading Anthony would likely start a rebuild process that would see Billups and others players also traded. So the answer to "will Carmelo stay in Denver?" will dictate the present and future of Denver.

If Anthony stays that means Denver is looking to contend for a title. That will not happen without finding an immediate answer to the question of, what will our "bigs" give us? Kenyon Martin and Nene Hilario (sorry but you are not "first name only" good) are quality players but both miss game regularly. Chris Andersen brings energy and hustle but his decision making is erratic at best, making his impact unpredictable from game to game.

The Nuggets will also have to question the consistency of the coaching staff. Is George Karl ready and able to be a full time NBA head coach after his fight with cancer? I have personally seen how much beating cancer can take out a person. Figuring out what Karl is able to do early will be vital to preventing another late season stumble.

Those three question will be key to the Nuggets season.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Byron Scott's Tie.... wtf???



Byron Scott has a swastika tie??? I have to believe that this is simply the camera making one part of the pattern stand out more than another.  Still this is just weird.

Oh, and I'm working on another "looking ahead" post.  It will be on Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Looking ahead - Washington Wizards

After a brief delay we will now look ahead with the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards will be a very young team coming into the season. Looking at what projects to be the top eight of their rotation, five of those players are 25 years old or younger. That youth is the center of the questions surrounding this season's Wizards club.

Coming into the season Washington has to wonder, who will lead this team? Andray Blatche and Gilbert Arenas are arguably the best players on the team; yet each has shown multiple instances of immaturity and bad decision making in the past. Will they take the reins of leadership or will it fall onto another player?

Another question in regards to that youth will be can Flip Saunders reach the team? Saunders years in NCAA and CBA hoops, along with his Timberwolves stint show he can connect with young players. That said, it has been a while since Saunders had those young Wolves teams and last season there were moments where the disconnect between the team and the coach was obvious.

The player that Saunders absolutely must connect with, not only for the sake of the team but Saunder's job security, is John Wall. As the first player taken in the draft this past June, Wall is clearly the team's centerpiece. So the question of how good is Wall will impact the team immediately and down the road.

The Wizards have decided to go with a youth movement in an attempt to rebuild. Answering the questions above will play a major part in figuring out how long the rebuild will take.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Looking ahead - Miami Heat

Now it is time to look ahead to the most talked about team of the offseason, the Miami Heat.

The Heat made a major splash this summer by signing LeBron James away from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chris Bosh from the Toronto Raptors while managing to retain their star in Dwyane Wade. It has been a very long time since three players of this level played together, let alone in the prime of their careers.

The obvious question when combining three offensive talents of this level, the trio all averaged over 24 points per game last season, is how will they share the ball? All three handled the ball quite a bit for their former teams. So seeing how they handle the shift from being the man to being one of the guys will be interesting.

Another question coming in will be how head coach Erik Spoelstra manages the pressure of coaching this group. Not only will there be pressure to be successful instantly but there will be the shadow of Pat Riley hanging over his shoulder. When Shaquille O'Neal came to Miami then head coach Stan Van Gundy resigned under what many viewed as pressure from an anxious to coach again Riley.When the signings of James and Bosh happened many people immediately thought "will Spoelstra get 'Van Gundied' out a job?"

Outside of the handling of "the Trio" the rest of the roster is a big question. The production you will get is a major unknown. There is literally no one outside the Trio that gives you any consistent production to count on. The Heat success could literally depend on it.

Tomorrow I'll actually go into the Washington Wizards since they will have a Midnight Madness open to the public.