Much Ado About Odom

I had originally wanted to post something on Vince Carter what with my upcoming preview on the Nets (yes, that's right, I just gave away what team I'm doing next), but given all the talk about Lamar Odom, how he wants to start, how they've tried put him into the starting lineup, and how he shouldn't (start), I figure I'd get in a little of the action as well. So what do we do about Lamar? I believe I've covered this extensively already, but let's take a look at some of his options and how that works out. What with the return of Andrew Bynum, the role of Lamar Odom becomes a big question mark, and since we don't have much to talk about with the Lakers, and everyone loves talking about the Lakers right? Well, not really, but there's not a whole lot else going on right now, unless we want to talk about how Patrick O'Bryant nabbed a starting position.

Anyways, like all my previous posts with my crazy rants about various players, let's start with what Odom brings to the table. The man is listed at 6-10 and 230 lbs. So, he's big. He's able to finish strong at the rim, is a good passer and ball handler, especially for someone his size. Is most noted for fading when there's any kind of pressure on him to perform, especially in light of having to defend Kevin Garnett in the 2008 NBA Finals. Ok, given that most people probably don't look forward to a matchup against such a prolific player as Garnett, Odom's disappearance was especially noted. That being said, for someone of his size, he's not a very significant post presence. He does rebound fairly well (10.00 rpg) but in terms of post offense and defense, that's not where his game is at.

If it weren't for his tendency to fade under pressure, I'm sure Lamar Odom would be receiving less flak than he is today. The fact is though, Odom is a man with All-Star talent but a role players mentality. So how is that a problem? He needs the ball in his hands to be productive, but he doesn't like the pressure having the ball all the time and being a go-to scorer would entail. So that means, 2nd or 3rd option. Odom would work if he were the third option behind Bryant and Gasol in the Lakers, but with Bynum returning, Odom, I believe, would be wasted at the 3, as Phil Jackson requires a shooter or defender at that position, and as we've covered before, Odom does neither.

There are a number of options that the Lakers can explore, I completely agree that should Odom remain on the Lakers he should be the 6th man, and the central focus of the offense of the second squad. However, I'm also all for trading Odom for someone that's a better fit at the position. Meaning again, someone that defends better than Radmanovic or shoots better than Ariza.

The most feasible solution I can think of at the moment would be going to trade for Ariza's former teammate Hedo Turkoglu. The reason I say Turkoglu is because Hedo has expressed interest in opting out of his contract, and is looking for something probably bigger than the Magic can pay for. To make things work the Magic would likely have to include JJ Redick and send Brian Cook back to LA. Turkoglu can shoot and his defense is a little underrated. He's not the best, but he's not bad. Odom on the other hand, gets to play with one of the most dominant low posts presence of Dwight Howard and an already established perimeter scorer of Rashard Lewis. There's no need for him to be a big performer and a goto scorer. His slashing ability enables him to play next to Howard well, and also his rebounding abilities will help a lot as Lewis slides back to a more comfortable SF position.

Hey who knows, maybe there's something else out there for him.

UPDATE: The Orlando blogger Ben Q at Third Quarter Collapse likes it too. Well maybe not this trade specifically, but the general Hedo for Odom idea. Yes! I'm a "well-informed NBA writer" now.

Season Preview: Denver Nuggets

As I mentioned yesterday, I don't know that AI will stay in Denver, if he's not dealt this season, it's likely he won't find any sort of extension coming up and will have to take a pay cut in the lucrative free agency. However, regardless of Iverson's playing possibilities the fact of the matter is, that now, he remains in Denver, and so he figures into how this squad is going to play.

Denver Nuggets

Starting 5:
PG- Anthony Carter
SG- Allen Iverson
SF- Carmelo Anthony
PF- Kenyon Martin
C- Nene Hilario

Off the bench
Guards: JR Smith, Chucky Atkins, Ruben Patterson, Smush Parker, Mateen Cleaves
Forwards: Linas Kleiza, Renaldo Balkman, Nick Fazekas
Centers: Steven Hunter, Chris Anderson

Wait, wait, wait... That's right, I did say Smush Parker and Ruben Patterson. Denver has once again said that its defense is a problem. They hope to once again focus again on improving their defense. Patterson and Parker are here on make-good contracts, meaning, they're not really signed yet. However, they are playing in training camp. Patterson, who was supposed to be a "Kobe-stopper" adds some defensive tenacity in the backcourt, something that Denver has always lacked. While many people believe that Denver's defense went out the door with the delivery of Marcus Camby into the laps of the Clippers, the Nuggets writer at Pickaxe and Roll tell us a different story. I'm a fan of Camby, but I don't really mind Nene either. Kenyon Martin has still proven he can be an effective defensive stopper as well, despite having slowed down with age and knee surguries. The more I think about it, hoping for Nene to be healthy isn't much different from hoping Camby would be healthy for more than 70 games in a season. What the loss of Camby and Najera has done though, is gutted any frontcourt depth that this team had before. Likely we'll be seeing Balkman and Anderson get a lot of playing time should either Martin or Nene become injured, and they likely will be the key reserves in terms of big men.

The concerted defensive effort though will have to begin with the face of the franchise, that is Carmelo Anthony. If Melo can motivate his teammates with the fire he had in the Olympics, then perhaps this club will have something going. Scoring wise, they haven't lost a whole lot as Melo and Allen Iverson are both still on the roster. George Karl has mentioned that should he develop, JR Smith could find a spot in the starting lineup sliding Iverson over to the PG position. While that's not ideal for Iverson, it's not an idea that I'd be completely against, especially since he's playing next to such an effective scorer like Melo. Linas Klieza, after his impressive play in the summer for Lithuania in the Olympics, also has to really step up. He'll be the key sixth man should Smith take over as a starter and likely a key reserve regardless. He's the spark plug off the bench and I think he still has a little to prove in that he's worth more than Ron Artest (as he was the deal-breaker in a possible Artest trade last season).

The reason Iverson starting as a PG works for me is because the alternatives, while serviceable, aren't really great. Currently they'll continue to start Anthony Carter, who while serviceable, has not been outstanding. Chucky Atkins just had surgery and is injury-plagued, and like won't return to playing for a while let alone back in game shape. Smush Parker is... well Smush Parker. He has a shot at cracking the rotation, but there was a reason that he was cut from 2 different teams in the last two seasons. There still is a shot however, though, that he might have cleaned up his act and gotten his game together. Conditioning I believe has always been an issue for him.

Update: Apparently Smush Parker is considered one of the top prospects for this year's D-League draft.

Finding an Answer for The Answer

So one thing has been banging through my head for a while, and that's the question of what's Denver going to do about its roster. Obviously they're in cost cutting mode, they've traded away Marcus Camby for a conditional 2nd round pick to the Clippers in essence for cap relief. The Nuggets expert(s) at Pickaxe and Roll beyond lauding the Nuggets for their trade of Marcus Camby, have also begun to ask whether or not the Nuggets should tank the season. Regardless of whether or not any of us think the Marcus Camby for cap relief trade was a good idea, it happened, and either way I can see it working out. Now, the issue at hand then, remains, can this team be a contender? The answer is, quite succinctly, no. At least not as it's currently constructed. So there needs to be some sort of major change in the game plans right? Perhaps. None that I know of at least, so as far as anything is concerned, this is pure speculation.

So where does the problem start? Well, the past seasons have indicated that Carmelo Anthony while great players don't play great together. Yet these two are the main pieces of this franchise. Over two years ago Iverson was shipped out of Philadelphia for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first round picks. He was brought over to Denver to be the missing piece next to Syracuse standout Carmelo Anthony. Not to say that they've taken away from each other. Both players played exceptionally well last season. Carmelo Anthony posted averages of 25.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on 49.2% shooting. Iverson also had a stellar year, posting 26.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 2.0 steals on 45.8% shooting. So if we take that combined, they had 51.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 10.5 assists, and 3.3 steals per game on 47.6% shooting, and a fairly respectable 36.3% long distance accuracy. That's pretty impressive right? Sure, no doubt about it, the problem is, "sticky hands". The two are phenomenal players, but their games don't complement one another very well. Both create on their own and therefore it's kind of what you see is what you get. The rest of the team doesn't get very involved at all. It's not a problem of them cannibalizing each others' contributions (like with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph), but with two score first options, there is not a lot of team cohesion. It's a case where the whole needs to be greater than the sum of the parts.

With that being said, one of them probably doesn't have much of a future left with Denver, and I'm going to bank that it's Iverson. He's in the final year of his contract, and I don't see much of a reason for Denver to extend him. Melo has been and I believe will remain the face of the franchise for a long while. I mean, he's been there 5 years as opposed to Iverson's one and a half, and he's only 24 to Iverson's 33 years of age. So that being said, Iverson is out the door. Therein lies a slight problem, which is, moving Iverson. He's a phenomenal player, but he doesn't just slide into a system that easily, I like what he brings to the table more so than Al Harrington, but that doesn't make him easy to trade. There's a reason he stayed with Philadelphia so long, the system was built completely around him. So we have to take a look at what AI brings to the table.

First, we know that AI is a small guy, at least for someone in the NBA. He's 6-0 weighing in at 165 lbs. Second, we know he's s a score first guy, coming into a year where he's turning 33, and playing next to such a pure scorer as Carmelo Anthony, Iverson ranked 3rd in the league in terms of scoring average (26.2) behind only LeBron James (30.0) and Kobe Bryant (28.3). In short, he can put the ball in the bucket. For a guard his size, his ability to cut into the lanes and create shots is phenomenal, and while he's getting older, it's not showing a whole lot. Finally, he cuts into lanes, AI is good at coming up with steals. He ranked 4th in the league (2.0) behind Chris Paul (2.7), Baron Davis (2.3), and former teammate Andre Iguodala (2.1).

So where does that bring us? We need a team where Iverson can be the end product. While Iverson is ranked 9th in the league for assists per game (behind Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Jose Calderon, Baron Davis Raymond Felton, and LeBron James) he creates his own offense, and again, those two words; score first. So in essence, he needs a pass first kind of teammate, additionally, someone that can run with him in the break, but also allow him to create and work off the ball. That being said, Iverson also needs to learn to work without the ball too, as he'll likely be a missing piece more than anything else to any other team. He's not a great spot up shooter, but with his speed, you might be able to catch him running the lanes, and penetrating.

You'll find that my answer will be my solution to a lot of these hard to move players. That solution, being, the Cleveland Cavaliers. So the long awaited answer for The Answer ends up being a trade of Allen Iverson and Steven Hunter for Wally Sczerbiak, Eric Snow, and Lance Allred. Here's my reasoning:

Ultimately it ends up being 1 big expiring contract for 3 smaller ones, I threw in Steven Hunter's 2 year $7m contract as a kind of sweetener to the pot so that Denver does get some cap relief. Maybe throw a couple of picks here and there too, depending on how you think it'd work out. While Sczerbiak will definitely not make up for the loss of scoring created by Iverson, immediately, he'll be a decent long-range threat next to Melo on the block. Additionally, a suitable replacement for oft injured Chucky Atkins and a reasonable reserve for Anthony Carter can be found in Eric Snow. Allred is a relative unknown but is a big body you can put behind Nene and Kenyon Martin, and next to Chris Anderson. So obviously in terms of talent Denver loses out on this trade. Is that such a bad thing? Well, again, that depends on the direction the team wants to go. As the Nuggets expert said, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing for the Nuggets to miss the playoffs this year in favor of perhaps doing better in the future, instead of having perpetual embarrassing first round exits. Additionally, the removal of Steven Hunter's salary creates an added amount that the Nuggets can hurl around, especially with the upcoming lucrative free agency.

I understand any reservation Cleveland may have with picking up fat contracts like Ben Wallace, and some would even argue Daniel Gibson. Regardless, Danny Ferry has been trying to fit the right team around LeBron so that they'll finally win something. They've gotten so close, but they've still been so far. The plan had been to find some star-caliber talent to put next to LeBron so it's not just a one man show. So far, the only consistently positive contributor has been veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas, he's not a star, and a pretty sad 2nd option. The first attempt was with Larry Hughes, who had a standout year with the Wizards. Cleveland threw a 5 year $60 million contract at Hughes, who in essence returned the favor with a year of mediocrity (14.9 ppg, 3.7 apg, 3.8 rpg, 1.3 spg on 40% shooting). Then Cleveland shipped out Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown for their next proposed solution; Ben Wallace, Wally Sczerbiak, Joe Smith, and Delonte West. The only thing that worked about that was Delonte West, but he's valued more as a defensive option, so the problem still remains, who to play next to LeBron? Their most recent rememdy was the acquisition of guard Mo Williams, by sending out Joe Smith and Damon Jones in another 3 team trade. Mo Williams played well last season, with averages of 17.2 ppg, 6.3 apg, and 3.5 rpg playing next to Bucks All-Star Michael Redd. However great of an acquisition that might be I think more scoring talent is needed in order for the Cavs to make it further. May I present; The Answer.

So how does this work? Well, the reason I mention that Cleveland will likely be my destination to a lot of "black hole" type players is because LeBron is a pass-first guy. Granted, he's won the scoring title this past year, but I believe that's more that he doesn't have a lot of people to pass to more so than he doesn't pass. If LeBron can work off the ball, and Mo Williams can specialize a little further as a 3pt shooter, then you have three points of origin from which Cleveland can originate its offense, where before you had only one. While all three (James, Iverson, and Williams) are ball handlers they've all shown that they can pass the ball fairly well (with 7.2, 7.2, and 6.3 assist averages respectively). As with the Big 3 in Boston, each player is going to have to defer a little, however, this being said, a Williams, Iverson, James backcourt is very dynamic and will I believe be fairly effective. Should this not work out, Iverson's $20M goes off the books at the end of the year. In essence, you replace Allred with Steven Hunter, a slight hit on the salary cap. Would it be enough to keep them from resigning LeBron? I'm not too sure about that, you are still getting rid of Iverson's $20M. Another reservation might be that Iverson and Williams constitute a fairly small backcourt, and might be something of a defensive liability, however, I believe if the Cavs can still rotate out well, they can still have an effective defense. Additionally, their backcourt reserve of Pavlovic and West are something of defensive specialists anyways. Who'll play behind LeBron? Well, I have high hopes for Tarence Kinsey, who during an injury plagued season at Memphis 2 years ago, averaged 17.2 points, 3.86 rebounds, 1.73 assists on 50% shooting in the last 15 games of the season. Seriously though, can you imagine it? LeBron and Iverson on the break off an outlet from Big Z or a steal? LeBron can go back to being a facilitator, which he's great at, and Iverson adds All-Star caliber scoring next to him.

That's my solution.

Season Preview: Atlanta Hawks

Considering that John Hollinger has done in a day what I've been doing for the past week, I'm almost tempted to ask why I even bother. Then, I remember that he gets paid to do this stuff, and I would add, that I respectfully disagree with a lot of his rankings, though his reasoning makes sense, I suppose. I'll let you decide whose commentary you like better, but again, remember, Hollinger is the expert, me, I just like to think I know what I'm talking about, maybe I do.

Atlanta Hawks

Starting 5:
PG- Mike Bibby
SG- Joe Johnson
SF- Marvin Williams
PF- Josh Smith
C- Al Horford

Off the Bench
Guards: Speedy Claxton, Maurice Evans, Acie Law, Ronald Murray, Thomas Gardener
Forwards: Othello Hunter
Centers: Zaza Pachulia, Randolph Morris, Solomon Jones

The platoon of guards to replace Tyronne Lue and Anthony Johnson is pretty impressive, that is, assuming Speedy Claxton gets healthy again and Maurice Evans is once again somewhat serviceable. I like Flip Murray and I haven't quite given up on Acie Law yet, he just needs to see some floor time, which he hasn't. As I mentioned in Greg Boome's proposal to send Carter to Atlanta, I would love to see some coach like Adleman, D'Antoni, or Nelson coach the talent on the Hawks. That being said, it's not going to happen. So with the team as it is, less one Josh Childress and plus one Ronald Murray, we have in essence the team that pushed Boston to 7 games in the playoffs.

That being said, the Hawks do boast one of the more dynamic starting 5s, and one that I like a lot, in the league. Bibby is an experienced PG that can run an offense, while he may be past his prime, he's still a perimeter threat. Joe Johnson is a big guard that can shoot and drive and has very good ball handling abilities. Al Horford was a pleasant surprise last season, posting good defensive and rebounding numbers. Additionally, he's able to produce off the block fairly well as well. Josh Smith, the man's a beast. He's only 22, he's a monstrous weak side shot blocker and he's got hops. Marvin Williams, well he can score. Many people I think have a shaded perspective of Marvin Williams, especially since he was drafted before and now stands in the shadows of PG standouts Chris Paul and Deron Williams. However, take into mind that during that draft year, Joe Johnson had declared he would play the point guard position, so front office went with Williams (Marvin) and the Joe Johnson experiment failed. Anyways, Marvin Williams isn't really as bad as people make him out to be, whether or not he's a talent worthy of the 2nd overall selection remains to be seen, of course in light of Paul and Williams (Deron) most people will say no. However, Williams is developing quite nicely and is a legitimate scoring option.

The depth on this team is something of an issue. The primary reserves I see being Zaza Pachulia and Speedy Claxton, who are serviceable at best. Flip Murray and Maurice Evans have shown that they can be fairly reliable given minutes, but Solomon Jones and Othello Hunter? Excuse me, who? This is not a bench I'd go to in crunch time. Injuries aside, you always need a strong bench to add to any squad. Hopefully they figure out a rotation that works.

I don't anticipate significant improvement from last season honestly, and with the Eastern Conference that much better, I see them going like 37-45 and sliding out of the playoffs.

Season Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

I'll likely throw in an interruption to this sometime soon. It'll likely be another rant and potential trade option. Just giving you the heads up.

Los Angeles Clippers

Starting 5:
PG- Baron Davis
SG- Cuttino Mobley
SF- Al Thornton
PF- Marcus Camby
C- Chris Kaman

Off the Bench
Guards: Eric Gordon, Jason Hart, Mike Taylor, Dontell Jefferson
Forwards: Tim Thomas, Ricky Davis, Steve Novak
Centers: Brian Skinner, Paul Davis, DeAndre Jordan

Oh yeah, the other LA team. Two things stand out to me when I take a first glance at this roster, they have a lot of rookies (5) and they have a lot of centers (also 5). Clippers were in the news a lot as they managed to swipe Baron Davis from upstate and bring him down from Oakland and the Golden State Warriors, then effectively have the 76ers swipe Elton Brand away from them. In a move of desperation, they managed to land Marcus Camby for cap relief and a conditional 2nd round pick (basically nothing), and also signed Heat castoffs Ricky Davis and Jason Williams (who subsequently retired). Oh yes, also as recent news, they signed Paul Davis. I have a hunch they did this just to get three Davises on the roster. Now they just need to trade for Dale Davis and Big Baby Glen and they'll have a complete set!

Ok, ok, all joking aside, the roster is another one of those, "looks great on paper" aka "I would play with it on my PlayStation (or XBox or whatever)" rosters. One major concern is firstly, will Baron Davis replicate another 82 game healthy season? Second is can Baron Davis play under a micromanager like Mike Dunleavy Sr.? Things are sort of pointing to no for me. Since Nelly allows his players free reign on the court in Golden State, Baron has been kind of allowed to just "do his thing" for a while. However, if we look back one team prior, Baron had problems with Byron Scott on the Hornets. He's something of a free spirit, and the fact that Elton Brand would no longer be on the team not bothering him has also showed that he only really wanted two things out of this deal: guaranteed money on a longer contract (5 years, $65 mil) and to be in LA (his hometown), hence the Clippers. Big picture wise, he doesn't care about winning. That being said, when he's on the floor, he'll likely contribute in a lot of the ways he normally does, exploding to the basket and chucking up hordes of horrendous shots. Given that you have a rebounding frontcourt of Marcus Camby (13.1 rpg last season, 2.9 offensive boards) and Chris Kaman (12.7 rpg last season, 3.1 offensive boards) that's not a horrible prospect. However, I expect for him and coach Dunleavy to butt heads and I don't really anticipate Davis to play with much fire now that he has what he wants (money and proximity to Hollywood).

While I anticipate a spike in the offensive rebounding and putback buckets that both Camby and Kaman will be getting, the offense likely won't run through them very frequently what with the blackhole tendencies of Al Thornton and Ricky Davis. Granted having proficient rebounders on the glass like Camby and Kaman will help, the strategy of chucking up bad shots from the perimeters and hoping that you get the putback only really works in pickup games at the park. Eric Gordon hurt himself before we could really get a look at how well he really plays, but looks to be something of a perimeter threat. Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas are the reigning vets now in the system, and while serviceable, aren't anything special. All in all it's not a bad looking team, but I really don't see them getting it together anytime soon, hopefully they do, but I could be wrong. I'm still not entirely sold on the Kaman/Camby frontcourt though theoretically it should work.

Best case maybe break even, so maybe 41 wins, which is an improvement, but not enough to get them out of the lottery and into the playoffs.

Season Preview: Milwaukee Bucks

Just in case you haven't seen it, OKC has jerseys now (they didn't tell me it was a v-neck version of the old Pistons' jerseys). I personally think they should've stuck with the Summer League ones.

On with the show.

Milwaukee Bucks

Starting 5:
PG- Luke Ridnour
SG- Michael Redd
SF- Richard Jefferson
PF- Charlie Villanueva
C- Andrew Bogut

Off the Bench
Guards: Tyronne Lue, Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, Damon Jones
Forwards: Adrian Griffin, Joe Alexander, Malik Allen, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Centers: Francisco Elson, Dan Gadzuric

Luke Ridnour goes from a team with 2 PGs it couldn't figure out how to use to a team with 4... something about that just seems wrong to me. Now that OKC has decided to go young with Russell Westbrook and decidedly prefer Earl Watson over Luke Ridnour he gets sent to Milwaukee, who incidentally also picked up Damon Jones from Cleveland and signed Tyronne Lue. Am I the only one that remembers that Ramon Sessions averaged 11.5 pts, 11.3 assts, 4.9 rbds, 1.5 stls on 46% shooting in about 39 minutes of play during the last 10 games of the season? We're talking about a guy with the potential to give you a 24:2 turnover to assist ratio on any given night so long as you play him. Ok, so it was garbage time, no one cared anymore because everyone knew who was in the playoffs already, so start the vet, start Luke Ridnour and play the sophomore behind him, but seriously, Tyronne Lue? My assessment; big mistake.

Sometimes this team confuses me, and because of that, I feel kind of bad for Michael Redd, I really do. I don't know if this team is in a win now mode, or if they're going for building for the later seasons. Landing Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, understandable, even applaudable of a move. In that context though, it makes the drafting of Joe Alexander something more of an enigma, since he has tons of upside but almost no immediate impact, but he speaks Chinese! Great, that might be useful, in... New Jersey, Houston, or Los Angeles, NOT Milwaukee. All reports show that Alexander has potential, a large amount of athleticism, but really isn't very basketball saavy. Mbah a Moute I don't know a whole lot about, and I don't know that he's much of a standout, except for his name. The only reason I've even heard of him is because his name is funky. He's one of those guys that won't see a lot of playing time but when he does, the commentators will have a field day.

With Scott Skiles at the helm, I think this team has a pretty good shot at doing decently, of course, in lieu of how the Eastern Conference has improved we'll have to see how well they actually do. Additionally, we'll have to see how Richard Jefferson adjusts to getting more shots, as he'll be the second scoring option behind Michael Redd. Also we have to see if Andrew Bogut continues to improve at the rate he has been improving at and if he really does become a standout center. They're moving to a more traditional lineup, but again, I'm not overly enamoured with their options in the reserve roles. Their weakness, especially at the forward positions (Adrian Griffin and Joe Alexander? Two big unknowns who I'm leaning more towards the scrub side) is something to be considered. Desmond Mason would've been a good backup, but getting rid of Mo Williams was a good choice, and Desmond Mason was the price that had to be paid.

Maybe 41 wins? Break even we'll say. Top of the bottom-feeders in the East. I see mediocrity at best, with a few flashes of brilliance. Seriously Skiles, play Ramon Sessions.

Season Preview: Dallas Mavericks

So I'm going to be more sparing with the pics, because frankly, they're kind of a pain in the butt to put in. Onwards!

Starting 5:
PG- Jason Kidd
SG- Jerry Stackhouse
SF- Josh Howard
PF- Dirk Nowitzki
C- Erick Dampier

Off the Bench
Guards: Jose Juan Barea, Jason Terry, Eddie Jones
Forwards: Devean George, Brandon Bass, Gerald Green, James Singleton, Antoine Wright
Centers: DeSagana Diop

The more I think about it the more Dallas looks like something of a Washington Wizards of the West. The exception being that their star players aren't hurt as often, which also means, what they have doesn't work. Talent-wise I think the Mavs are a decent regular season team, but they don't have any sustainability through hard fought playoff series. Dirk Nowitzki has shown that he doesn't have what it takes to carry his team and while Terry and Howard are decent, they're not going to carry the load either. It's like playing with 3 second-option scorers. Granted Nowtizki would be a crazy 2nd option, but still, I think you get the point. All-in-all the team looks to be about the same.

The more we reflect on what was in essence Jason Kidd for Devin Harris straight up, the less it looks that appealing. Kidd hasn't really proven himself yet to be the PG that the Mavs are looking for, but of course we can always argue that half a season for a PG to learn a new system and master it is really asking for a lot, even from someone like Jason Kidd. I don't know what Rick Carlisle is going to do, and I'm not sure if it's going to work. There's just a lot of baggage with this team. Let's hope that Jason Kidd looks marginally better than he did last season, in fact, let's hope he looks better than he did at the Olympics. Granted the man is 35, but still, it's a contract year, and he can only get better than last season right? I hope. Oh yes, we can't forget that Josh Howard is sorry, and therefore that will make him a better player. Right. So where does this put this team?

First, Dirk Nowtizki, in my book, is not, and never will be among the top 5 PFs in the league, unless he learns to play a post game going into his 30s. Dirk is a good player, all that size is just wasted though. He's like Lamar Odom with a jumpshot, but doesn't finish as well. Howard is a shooter/slasher, Terry is a shooter, Stackhouse; shooter, George; shooter, Jones; shooter, wait, wait, wait... Ok so all these people are supposed to do something else, but seriously, is there an inside threat in here? Erick Dampier? Wow. To me, if you're desperate enough for interior presence that you'd throw a full MLE at DeSagana Diop then your franchise has some issues. Dallas also remains among the only team still willing to give Gerald Green a chance. Bass and Barea look good, but aside from that, they're really just a middling team, above-average, by enough to get into the playoffs, that's about it.

48-50 win season again, because they're good enough to pull it off, sliding them into the playoffs, not an easy feat in the West. They however, are not good enough to ever get out of the first round.

Season Preview: Miami Heat

In continuation of everything that's been happening so far.

Miami Heat

Starting 5
PG- Marcus Banks
SG- Dwayne Wade
SF- Michael Beasley
PF- Shawn Marion
C- Mark Blount

Off the Bench
Guards: Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers, Daequan Cook
Forwards: Dorell Wright, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara
Centers: Jamaal Magloire, Joel Anthony

There could be a number of shifts in the starting 5, most people feel that Marion is not likely to be in the future of the Heat, though many would like it to be. A possible move would be a trade to Memphis for added depth. However, that's a side note, as things stand now, I see the lineup going something like this. I'm sure that most people are pretty disappointed that Udonis Haslem could not crack the starting rotation somehow, but with both Beasley and Marion, then there isn't much space for Haslem there thusfar. People, including head coach Eric Spolestra have speculated at the possibility of playing Haslem as an undersized center for a smaller lineup. The Rookie Transition Program indiscretion aside, Beasley and Chalmers look to become impact players. Beasley has the talent and hopefully a Riley-run system can discpline him to have the mindset to be a winner.

Chalmers from all appearances is ready to make an impact, however, if he isn't, look for Chris Quinn, who showed hints of being able to play last season. Marcus Banks the veteran of the PG crew with the departure, and subsequent retirement of Jason Williams, I think will step it up and retain the starting spot unless usurped by Chalmers who proves to be something of a rookie phenom. Should Chalmers ultimately prove to deserve the starting spot I would slide him there without hesitation. He lit it up at Orlando Summer League, which of course we have to take with a grain of salt, that grain being, that it was Orlando Summer League. Developing with players like Wade though, I see him becoming a very effective point guard in the future, at the very least. Beasley is something of an interesting phenom, he's got talent and no one doubts he will be something of an immediate impact player as soon as he gets the first couple weeks of adjustment to the league. One blogger (Graydon) likens Beasley to Lamar Odom, only fully realized. We'll see if that's the case, attitude will always be something of an issue, and one can only hope that he takes to heart the hard work ethic of someone like Udonis Haslem.

Blount wins a starting spot because he's better than Joel Anthony, however, with Wade returning healthy and the Heat actually trying to win this season, tacked on with the fruit of their last season's poor performance (Beasley), Blount won't be asked to do much other than rebound. Actually, I'd be pretty leery of holding onto him if that were all he were asked to do, but Jamall Magloire and Joel Anthony aren't really improvements either. Again, I can feasibly see Marion traded for better options or Haslem seeing time as the big man. Wade's explosiveness and rebirth during the Olympics have made believers of everyone, he'll again be asked to carry the onus of leadership on the team, but this team looks a lot better than the one he struggled with in his previous injury laden season.

There is still a period of feeling out each other since last season was so atrocious, but I say a good 43-44 wins, slipping into the playoffs. East is finally beginning to look semi-legit.