Wait... what?

Donnie Walsh is vehemently trying to dump his players for the 2010, you'll hear that year a lot, 2010, not really because it's anything special, well, except for the lotto free agency that happens then, namely; LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.  In the case of the Knicks, it's more just LeBron James.  In order to throw any reasonable kind of contract at him though, Donnie Walsh has to trim some fat.  The criteria then for trading with the Knicks, is simply; having a contract that expires on or before 2010.

Now, Zach Randolph has been producing, say what you will about him, how he's slow, apathetic on defense, and a black hole, he's been producing (20.5 pts, 12.5 rbds, 1.2 asst, 1.4 stls on 43.4% shooting).  He's showed that he can thrive in the D'Antoni system, and put up impressive numbers, which actually may have been all Donnie Walsh wanted him to do.  Now, he pulls this.  Honestly, the Clippers are the most trade-frenzied team I've ever seen.  First they lose Elton Brand and they pull Marcus Camby for a second round pick (a steal, granted), and there were questions about how well that's worked out (their 2-9 record states not so well), but seriously, Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley for Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins?  Ok, so Mardy Collins is a filler, so essentially, 2 old guys you don't want for Zach Randolph.  Wait... what?

So we all know why this works from a Knicks perspective, it's a salary dump, but why the heck would the Clippers do this?  I've been trying to wrap my brain around how the Clippers' lineup is going to work, and honestly, it's fairly mind-boggling.  It's almost like they're banking on Marcus Camby being hurt.  Not really sure how this will work out...  Do they start Z-Bo at SF?  That's a lot of body on the court sure, but that's also a lot of laziness for a guy you expect to be staying in front of LeBron and Paul Pierce.  Seriously...  The only thing I see making sense would be:

PG- Baron Davis, Jason Hart, Mike Taylor

SG- Ricky Davis, Eric Gordon

SF- Al Thornton, Steve Novak

PF- Zach Randolph

C- Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Brian Skinner, DeAndre Jordan

Unless again, you want a starting 5 of B-Diddy, Ricky Davis, Z-Bo, Camby, and Kaman, I shudder in fear as to the horrendous basketball that would be played because of it.  I do not envy Dunleavy Sr.'s job right now, unless the Clippers seriously trade Kaman for someone... (Jason Terry?)  I won't even go into how Al Thornton and Zach Randolph are two major black holes on offense.

For the Knicks, I mean, it doesn't make a lot of sense, they just traded away their two top scorers, but it doesn't actually hurt them that much.  I mean, essentially it's Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, and Mardy Collins for Al Harrington, Cuttino Mobley, and Tim Thomas:

PG- Chris Duhon, Anthony Roberson

SG- Cuttino Mobley, Nate Robinson

SF- Quentin Richardson, Tim Thomas

PF- Wilson Chandler, David Lee, Malik Rose

C- Al Harrington, Jerome James, Eddy Curry

It doesn't look pretty, but hey, remember, 2010.

Big News Trade Review

So I think that I've dealt with the Iverson-Billups trade previously, the next new blockbuster to occur is a Knicks-Warriors trade. There are various sources stating what exactly is going down, but all that is consistent is that Donnie Walsh wants Al Harrington, again. Some say there's a three way sending Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Clippers and Jamal Crawford to the Warriors for Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley, and Al Harrington. Another has Harrington being traded straight up for the expiring contract of Malik Rose. Finally, the one that I give the most credence to, would be a Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington straight up. So Donnie Walsh loves Al Harrington, yup.

How does this trade break down for the teams though? Does it make sense? Well, beyond the Knicks trying to cut payroll and Don Nelson and Al Harrington hating each other, there's still a lot of merit behind the trade. Let's look at this from a roster and talent perspective.

Jamal Crawford is by no means anything of a point guard but you can't deny that he definitely has ball handling abilities. He can take it off the dribble, and is able to find players for the assist. With Nellie's system of giving guards a larger degree of freedom, I can see him sharing the ball handling duties quite well with Stephen Jackson and his stint with D'Antoni's run-and-gun system can only help him with Don Nelson's wacky variant. Additionally, the removal of Harrington enables the Warriors to develop their promising young talent in Brandan Wrigth and Anthony Randolph. Crawford might not be the ultimate answer, but he's not a bad insurance policy until (if) Monta Ellis makes it back full speed. For now, given a healthy lineup, I see the Warriors depth chart looking like so:

PG- Jamal Crawford, CJ Watson, DeMarcus Nelson
SG- Stephen Jackson, Anthony Morrow, Marco Belinelli
SF- Corey Maggette, Kelenna Azubuike
PF- Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph
C- Andris Biedrins, Ronny Turiaf

Of course it's Don Nelson, so you're never really sure what he's going to do, he might start Morrow and slide Maggette and Jackson over to the PF and SF slots respectively. Of course, given that Nelson might also only play 9 deep, with likely Turiaf or Randolph being the 9th player, I highly doubt that Watson, Nelson, and especially Belinelli will ever see any playing time. It's really not a bad lineup for the Warriors, at the very least, Crawford is an entertaining player, so in that respect he fits the Warriors perfectly.

For the Knicks, firstly, it's cost cutting. Should Harrington not opt out next season (player option I believe) then he expires in 2010, fine, that's $9-10 million of cap space he's relieving. Brilliant. What that does for the Knicks is also give them a little flexibilty with their roster in their 2010 free agent run. Should they not get LeBron they could always make a run for Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade in D'Antoni's system = crazy. Harrington is to me, a slightly above average player, we all know that he can score, at the very least, he can score. He's got a decent 3 pt shot (career average of 35.8%) and he's actually pretty good at finishing. To me, all-in-all, he's like a poor man's Rashard Lewis, some have also likened him to being a poor man's Antawn Jamison (without the rebounding maybe). He would fit into D'Antoni's system pretty well, and in essence would be something of D'Antoni's replacement for Boris Diaw, minus the defense and plus a little offense. I personally think that Harrington should and will get a lot of touches, and with Wilson Chandler developing and Zach Randolph once again putting up the 20-10s that we're accustomed to seeing, the team will be both entertaining to watch, and very potent offensively. Unfortunately, Harrington hasn't ever really shown much inclination on the defensive end, but with the Knicks, that hasn't really been much of an issue, as no one else on the roster (except maybe Chandler) have. It does leave the Knicks a little thin on the 2 guard spot though I actually could imagine either Chandler or Richardson sliding over instead of starting Nate Robinson (I love the guy, but he's definitely a 6th man/bench/energy player). That leaves the lineup looking something like:

PG- Chris Duhon, Mardy Collins, Anthony Roberson
SG- Quentin Richardson, Nate Robinson
SF- Wilson Chandler
PF- Al Harrington, David Lee, Malik Rose
C- Zach Randolph, Jerome James, Eddy Curry

It's a thin lineup. I can see Richardson platooning time at SG and SF with Robinson coming in and out, and then Chandler sliding all over with from SG to PF and Harrington sliding around from SF to C getting you only as deep as Nate Robinson and David Lee (and maybe Mardy Collins?). D'Antoni is probably hoping that eventually Danilo Gallinari and Jared Jeffries make it back, soon.

All in all, it makes a lot of sense for both teams, I can understand why it went through.

USA vs International NBA

Ok, so this has been hashed out again and again, especially since the Olympics, and we've already discovered that the gap between US and the international scene in terms of basketball really isn't that big.  The number international players is greater, and honestly, the talent is there.  We still dominated the Olympics though, not because I think that the talent isn't there but it's spread out, US still has the highest concentration of raw talent, if we were to look at, however, best of US vs the best of international NBA players, I think the story would be quite different. I don't know, here's my take (assuming this is like an NBA basketball exhibition game, all players healthy and all that stupid "reitired from international" stuff aside, also, we'll say that Tim Duncan doesn't have a problem because he's not playing the Virgin Islands)

The US NBA Players:

PG- Chris Paul, Deron Williams

SG- Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson

SF- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony

PF- Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh

C- Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan

Res: Paul Pierce, Tracy McGrady

The International NBA Players:

PG- Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Jose Calderon

SG- Manu Ginobili, Leandro Barbosa

SF- Luol Deng, Hedo Turkoglu

PF- Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Nene Hilario

C- Yao Ming, Andris Biedrins

Res: Rudy Fernandez, Samuel Dalembert

I'm not sure, the USA players might have more marquee names, but I don't think the score differnential will be as big as some might expect.  I think it'd be a really close game, something of a tossup.  What do you think?

Best Draft Classes Represented in the NBA

As you've noticed I like these hypothetical situations.  So I took a look at all the drafts going back to 1995 and decided that if I were to do a 6 man tourney of today's NBA players, with 6 players from each draft class representing a team.  You end up getting 15 teams (I made a team of undrafted players).  In trying to determine the best draft class out there, granted some of the younger draft classes have more to prove than some of the older ones and you really can't expect much from the rookie or sophomore class, but hey, it's still fun to speculate.  It'd be like a mini-conference, and it's kinda fun throwing together these rosters.  Let's assume everyone is healthy (I only picked active NBA players, ie, not retired, we assume they play sometime this year), heck, I'll even say what team I think they'd be like this year.

1st.) Draft Class of 1996 (Boston Celtics: All star cast who might suprise you defensively)

PG- Steve Nash

SG- Allen Iverson

SF- Kobe Bryant

PF- Jermaine O'Neal

C- Marcus Camby

6th man- Ray Allen

There's just so much firepower on this squad I don't even know where to begin, first you have right now the best and arguably most refined player in the NBA; Kobe Bryant.  Then you add in one of the premier points in Steve Nash, who also is an elite shooter (50% FG, 40% 3pt, 90% FT), Allen Iverson, one of the best pure scorers ever, and two solid defensive minded big men in Jermaine and Camby, it's neigh unstoppable, add in one of the last premier pure shooters (one who can create nontheless) in Ray Allen as a reserve, and you can't get any more high powered than that.

2nd.) Draft Class of 2003 (LA Lakers: Sick looking roster on paper, might have some holes we didn't think of)

PG- LeBron James

SG- Dwayne Wade

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- David West

C- Chris Bosh

6th man- Josh Howard

This is a very explosive offensive squad and one that can play well together (note 2008 Olympics where Wade, James, Anthony, and Bosh were all teammates).  LeBron I think will easily become the best player in the league, and possibly the best player we've ever seen for a while, especially considering he, along with Melo and Bosh won't reach their primes until the 2012 Olympics.  Howard is a solid scorer off the bench and West is an aggresive player who quietly finds his shots and boards.  However, the biggest concern about this squad would be perimeter play, the next would be defense.  Unlike the '96 squad, Bosh and West won't cover up defensive mistakes like O'Neal and Camby would, additionally, as underrated as Wade and LeBron are on defense, I don't know that they have the stopping power that Kobe Bryant does either, that's why they slide to number 2.  These guys will get killed beyond the arc though, however, on the other hand, they likely would be able to run the other team to death.

3rd.) Draft Class of 1999 (Phoenix Suns: the effective running team)

PG- Baron Davis

SG- Manu Ginobili

SF- Ron Artest

PF- Shawn Marion

C- Elton Brand

6th man - Richard Hamilton

If I could get a coach to run with a team like this it would be Don Nelson.  First thing you probably notice is that yes, this is a really small team.  Elton Brand is undersized for a 4 and even Shawn Marion is a little short, but they are all aggressive and will run you to the ground.  This is a team that would run at you full kilter and just simply try to outscore you, I'd actually really like to see all these guys play together sometime, I bet you it'd be a lot of fun.  That being said, they'd also get outmuscled by any team with a semi-legitimate frontcourt.  Though, Marion and Brand are pretty efficient rebounding forwards.

4th.) Draft Class of 2001 (Toronto Raptors: inside-outside, works in theory)

PG- Gilbert Arenas

SG- Joe Johnson

SF- Jason Richardson

PF- Pau Gasol

C- Tyson Chandler

6th man - Tony Parker

The more I look at this, the more I realize this is a fairly potent inside-outside team.  With Joe Johnson and Jason Richardson spotting up at the wings and Gilbert Arenas taking it from the top of the key.  You get Pau Gasol to post in the high post and Tyson Chandler patrolling the middle and reading for the easy spin move/alley-oop or the quick offensive board and putback.  Run a quick high screen and Arenas breaks open for an open three or drives, should he drive then find Chandler for the quick bucket, or should the defense follow find Gasol for the open 15 footer on the roll, if the defense collapses find either Johnson or Richardson open for the three or drive.  Additionally both Richardson and Johnson can create their own shots as well, throw in Parker if you need a little extra push and aggresiveness around the rim or something, but all in all, I like how this team ends up being constructed.  Of course, it's a team that could all too easily fall in love with jumpshots too.

5th.) Draft Class of 2002 (Houston Rockets: you know what you're getting and it's pretty consistenly good)

PG- John Salmons

SG- Tayshaun Prince

SF- Caron Butler

PF- Amare Stoudemire

C- Yao Ming

6th man- Carlos Boozer

This would be a fairly solid team, both Amare and Yao are pretty versatile in both the low and high posts, so they could definitely give the frontcourts a major matchup problem.  Prince I believe can man the 2 slot well enough and would be a solid defensive stop.  I really couldn't find a good guard so I put in John Salmons who is a decent ball handler.  Caron Butler is a solid finisher and Boozer is just another big body off the bench should they need more inside presence.  That being said, it's a solid team but not a standout team.

6th.) Draft Class of 2004 (Philadelphia 76ers: maybe they're a little better at shooting, but they'll run you like crazy)

PG- Ben Gordon

SG- Kevin Martin

SF- Josh Smith

PF- Al Jefferson

C- Dwight Howard

6th man- Andre Iguodala

It was kind of a toss up for me between Iggy and Luol Deng, but I like Iggy's game a little better, and he's shown to be slightly more consistent.  An Al Jefferson/Dwight Howard frontcourt could be potentially monstrous should they coexist effectively, or disastrous should they only get in each other's way, I can see either one happening.  However, a Ben Gordon/Kevin Martin backcourt would be fast and explosive, especially with Josh Smith running with them.  They could also run small subbing out Jefferson and running Iggy at the 3 and Josh Smith at the 4, being a super fast, super athletic team.  Howard just crashboards and the 4 other players take off waiting for an outlet.  I mean, it's something of a waste of Howard's offensive talents, but I'm sure they'd throw him an alley-oop here and there as he trails in behind the offense.

7th.) Draft Class of 1997 (San Antonio Spurs: solid all around, no frills, down to business)

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- Anthony Parker

SF- Tracy McGrady

PF- Tim Thomas

C- Tim Duncan

6th man- Stephen Jackson

I can actually see this team doing potentially very well, they actually are a reasonably constructed team, and I can actually see a lineup like this happening in the NBA, like, as an actual team, not an All-Star team.  Obviously the focus of the offense will be around Billups, McGrady, and Duncan with Thomas and Parker playing more role positions and shooting a lot of 3s.  Stephen Jackson would be a solid player off the bench and contribute both in scoring and a little on the defense.  Definitely a solid, solid team.

8th.) Draft Class of 1998 (Golden State Warriors: live by the 3, die by the 3)

PG- Mike Bibby

SG- Vince Carter

SF- Paul Pierce

PF- Antawn Jamison

C- Dirk Nowitzki

6th man- Rashard Lewis

This will be an explosive high scoring team, I can see them averaging like 50 threes per game.  The problem, they'll be abused like no other down on the block.  They don't have a single legitimate low post presence.  However, that may not be a problem, as they have a legitimate 3 pt threat in every position, they can try to trade buckets, and hope to win out that way.

9th.) Draft Class of 2005 (Portland Trailblazers: young and should be good, but could possibly be overhyped)

PG- Chris Paul

SG- Deron Williams

SF- Danny Granger

PF- David Lee

C- Andrew Bynum

6th man- Monta Ellis

10th.) Draft Class of 2006 (Chicago Bulls: The team some ends up being less than the sum of its parts)

PG- Rajon Rondo

SG- Brandon Roy

SF- Rudy Gay

PF- Tyrus Thomas

C- LaMarcus Aldridge

6th man- Randy Foye

11th.) Draft Class of 1995 (Sacramento Kings: they're not bad, they're not good, they'll float in the middle and you kind of would forget about them)

PG- Brent Barry

SG- Jerry Stackhouse

SF- Kevin Garnett

PF- Antonio McDyess

C- Rasheed Wallace

6th man- Joe Smith

12th.) Draft Class of 2007 (Minnesota Timberwolves: a lot of young talent that will do well but get no where with it)

PG- Rodney Stuckey

SG- Kevin Durant

SF- Thaddeus Young

PF- Al Thornton

C- Al Horford

6th man- Nick Young

13th.) Draft Class of 2000 (Milwaukee Bucks: wait, who's on this team?)

PG- Jamal Crawford

SG- Michael Redd

SF- Mike Miller

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Joel Przybilla

6th man- Hedo Turkoglu

14th.) Best of the Undrafted (Memphis Grizzlies: nothing against these guys, but like the Grizzlies, no one would know why they're all on the same team)

PG- Jose Calderon

SG- Raja Bell

SF- Andres Nocioni

PF- Udonis Haslem

C- Brad Miller

6th man- Ben Wallace

15th.) Draft Class of 2008 (Oklahoma City Thunder: potential and upside, that's it)

PG- Derrick Rose

SG- OJ Mayo

SF- Michael Beasley

PF- Jason Thompson

C- Brook Lopez

6th man- Russell Westbrook

2012 Olympic Roster

Ok ok, I know it's still kind of early, but you know me, I like these kind of random speculations, so assuming we look forward to 2012 Olympics (London, right?) what kind of roster are we looking at?  Some of the players will have to go, Jason Kidd will be 39 and likely long retired, Kobe Bryant 34, Tayshaun Prince 32, and Carlos Boozer 31, which means, that the rest of the core is younger, significantly younger.  The solid core of the team, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams will be around the 27-28 mark, aka their prime, scary.  So who do we bring back?  Well here are my projected starters if I were making the team:

PG - Chris Paul

SG - Dwayne Wade

SF - LeBron James

PF - Chris Bosh

C - Dwight Howard

Dwayne Wade will be turning 30 during those Olympics but keeping him on as a sort of veteran leadership wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, additionally, this keeps a core of starters that have played together on the international scene before and know what it's like.  I personally liked Chris Bosh's contributions more than Carmelo Anthony's in the past Olympics so I'm inclined to start him over Melo, and I believe that Melo can be a more effective floor leader with the newer players in the second unit, which would be consisting of:

Guards: Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose

Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant

Center: Al Jefferson

So the new additions would be Roy, Aldridge, Durant, Rose, and Jefferson, with D-Will and Melo anchoring the whole team down.  It's a more traditional lineup that 2008 Olympics and creates a much more balanced team, of course, one item to note is that there is no real 3 pt specialist (like Michael Redd) so perimeter shooting might be an issue.  If he develops a consistent stroke considerations might include someone like JR Smith or someone of that ilk.  Not really sure though, but this is who I'd go with.

As a note, for the qualifiers, I would love to see an Amare Stoudemire/Dwight Howard frontcourt.  Please let that happen within the next two years in FIBA Americas.  A Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard starting 5 would be sick.

Tinkering with the Lakers, again...

Because we just can't get enough of it. Here's an idea I had a while ago, and while Odom has embraced his role as a 6th man, I think the Lakers can still improve at least in terms of players. Maybe. Maybe I'm crazy and just love tossing these ideas around. As you all probably know by now, I'm a fan for trading Lamar Odom, maybe throw in Luke Walton as well, but seriously, that guy makes enough to kind of wonder who you'd be trading for (that's like $19 million/year, no way I'm trading Odom and Walton for Marbury). So in conclusion, I would trade Lamar Odom for:

Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden from Chicago

This is an interesting one that has potential, at least to me. Chicago is moving towards their younger players and thus are looking to jettison some of their older players, two of them being Gooden and Nocioni. I believe that Nocioni is a somewhat underrated defender, and additionally, he's very, very proficient from long-range (like all his Argentinian teammates). While Odom isn't a pure post player, he does finish well at the rim and is a big body for rebounding, upgrade from Drew Gooden. Gooden on the other hand adds some legitimacy to the reserves on the frontcourt for the Lakers, playing behind Gasol, he's a solid post presence that won't take a lot away from the team. Not exactly the first guy you think of when you ask about PFs but we're not asking for premier caliber here. So Gooden will be more than sufficient, I think he'd be better than most backup PFs out there. The question once again becomes though ego, can Gooden settle with coming off the bench? Certainly though he's been a starter before, and I think would be a solid backup should either Gasol or Bynum get injured. The Lakers' depth chart ends up looking like:

PG - Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG - Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic
SF - Andres Nocioni, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF - Pau Gasol, Drew Gooden, Vladamir Radmanovic
C - Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm

Odom on the other hand would bring experience and a solid player next to Luol Deng, and another scoring option. I think with a player like Derrick Rose, Odom could really thrive. Of course that all depends on how well Tyrus Thomas and/or Joakim Noah can hold down the C spot. However, either way I can see it working out. It could possibly add another headache to the guard platoon that has been alleviated with the injury of Larry Hughes but I could see the Chicago depth chart looking like:

PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon
SF - Luol Deng, Thabo Sefalosha, Demetris Nichols
PF - Lamar Odom, Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons
C - Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray

Or something of the sort, the whole backcourt situation on Chicago is a little on the messy side. That's my take.

10 yr vets vs 5 yrs or younger

Do you think experience makes a difference?  Let's see how you like this then:

I have three rosters, one consisting of players in the NBA for 10 or more years (in their 10th year), one for players 5 or less (in their 5th year), and one for everyone in the middle.  Who'd win?

10 or more

PG: Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups

SG: Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter

SF: Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce

PF: Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Rasheed Wallace

C: Tim Duncan, Marcus Camby

Res: Rashard Lewis, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen

5-10

PG: Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas

SG: Joe Johnson, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili

SF: Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace

PF: Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand

C: Yao Ming, Tyson Chandler

Res: Richard Hamilton, Jason Richardson, Tony Parker

5 and under

PG: Chris Paul, Deron Williams

SG: Dwayne Wade, Brandon Roy

SF: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant

PF: Chris Bosh, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson

C: Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor

Res: Luol Deng, Danny Granger, David West

Ok so here are the lineups.  Who do you think will win this one?  Just something I thought I'd throw together.  Assuming right here right now playing, who wins, who loses, who would you swap out and why?  Take it away.