Revisiting NBA Jam: The Eastern Conference

Apparently they're making this again. I did this already before, but not for a couple of years, let's do this again...

If I recall correctly you have three players per team of which you have to choose a two player combination, on the list I will list the defaults then add the third player. 

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Atlanta Hawks:
Default: Joe Johnson, Josh Smith
Res: Al Horford
This isn't going to change unless the Hawks decide to trade Josh Smith or something.  As bad as the Joe Johnson contract is, NBA Jam is hardly a game that looks at the long-term prospects of players.  This would probably be one of my personal favorite teams to play with, I'd love bombing those alley-oops all day, with the crazy 3/4 shots from Johnson.  Horford is probably going to be the third player that no one ever uses, though maybe we could use Jamal Crawford instead.

Boston Celtics:
Default: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett
Res: Rajon Rondo
It's hard to leave Ray Allen off of this short list, but with the emergence of Rondo and the decline of the Big 3 it's hard to justify adding Allen at the expense of the 3rd best point guard in the league.  Pierce and Garnett still remain the face, though Rondo is slowly usurping them.  If only Garnett could still play like this in real life.  No love for the O'Neals, but that's really not surprising.

Charlotte Bobcats:
Default: Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace
Res: Boris Diaw
The third player here is pretty much just something of an afterthought.  You know he's there, but you only really look to see who he is, and you'll only ever play with him if you accidentally choose him to be on your team.  That being said, Jackson and Wallace would probably be something I'd enjoy playing too.  Especially since Jam players are indestructible, so if they don't give Gerald Wallace concussions in the game, I'm happy with it.

Chicago Bulls:
Default: Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer
Res: Luol Deng
Boozer was the big free agent addition this year, so this would be interesting.  Deng is probably one of the more interesting third options, despite his injuries, the whole invincible player thing would solve that problem.  So let's not worry about it.  Though a substitution thingy would be pretty nifty, I can see it being frustrating actually having injuries.

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Default: Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison
Res: Jamario Moon
Cleveland once again becomes the team that everyone avoids like the plague, it'll be kind of sad, probably more than kind of.  Moon, the former Globetrotter makes the cut because, well, he's a former Globetrotter.

Detroit Pistons:
Default: Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton
Res: Tayshaun Prince
There are going to be a number of these plague-like teams.  Honestly, just looking at the roster I had a hard time figuring out who I would actually enjoy playing with on this team...  As tempting as Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, and Kwame Brown would've been, I showed restraint.

Indiana Pacers:
Default: Danny Granger,Tyler Hansbrough
Res: Darren Collison
This is only marginally easier than Detroit to figure out due to the presence of Danny Granger on the roster.  I think Collison will be a big part of the Pacers offense.  Though I know that this is not an accurate portrayal of the ethnic demographic of the Pacers team, I could not in my right mind bring myself to make a team of Tyler Hansbrough, Jeff Foster, and Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Miami Heat:
Default: Dwayne Wade, LeBron James
Res: Chris Bosh
Gee... that was hard.  Insert joke about Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard.

Milwaukee Bucks:
Default: Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut
Res: John Salmons
I think Michael Redd is done, and I'm sure everyone hopes that Bogut makes a full recovery.  I wonder who they'd get to call the game (it was Steve Kerr if I remember the Live series correctly, but that was 2008).  It would be sweet to hear them saying Mbah a Moute, seriously.

New Jersey Nets:
Default: Devin Harris, Brook Lopez
Res: Troy Murphy
I kind of wanted to squeeze Travis Outlaw in there somehow, but hey, this is good.  Nets still seem like a sad team, but there are other teams that seem sadder.  Still, I suppose you can't get much worse than 18 wins.  Good thing this isn't real life.

New York Knicks:
Default: Amar'e Stoudemire, Anthony Randolph
Res: Danilo Gallinari
I hope the Knicks keep Randolph, and I hope he develops into a great player, he's got the potential.  I kind of feel bad for Wilson Chandler with the addition of Kelenna Azubuike and D'Antoni's propensity to move forward with Gallinari.  I think these are the only three players that are going to be here for the long haul.  Maybe this is the only opportunity for Eddy Curry to get some playing time.


Orlando Magic:
Default: Dwight Howard, Vince Carter
Res: Jameer Nelson
This is one way I can continue to convince myself that Vince Carter has still got game.  Hard leaving Rashard Lewis off, but he's fallen off so much, it's hard to justify putting him on.  Besides, who doesn't want to see Jameer Nelson dunk on and swat 7-footers?

Philadelphia 76ers:
Default: Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand
Res: Louis Williams
This was the first team I was tempted to put a rookie on, but Evan Turner was so disappointing in Summer League that Sixer fans would probably get angry at how good he is in the game.  I really can't figure out who is actually any good on this team, but that has never made a difference.

Toronto Raptors:
Default: Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa
Res: Jose Calderon
Until Calderon gets traded, we'll stick with this.  When Andrea Bargnani is your primary scoring option, your team is screwed.  If you beat someone else with this team though, you got bragging rights.  Can't you imagine running around screaming: "YOU JUST GOT POSTERIZED BY ANDREA BARGNANI!  YOU GOT DUNKED ON BY A GUY NAMED ANDREA!!!"

Washington Wizards:
Default: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas
Res: JaVale McGee
Eh... this was a pretty hard one too, throwing Yi Jianlian out was hard.  Oh well.  Wall is supposed to be good, so he goes in here.  Arenas... sure.  McGee... well... he almost made Team USA? or did he? What? Anyways, Epic Vale sure.

Seriously Cleveland? Suck it up

Sure, this probably feels a heck of a lot worse than the Carlos Boozer debacle in 2004.  Still, I'm sick and tired of reading about how LeBron James sucks for announcing on national television that he will sign with the Miami Heat.  Frankly, I don't know anybody outside of Miami that is happy.  Nobody.  Was getting on national TV and screwing over your hometown a poorly planned, narcissistic, inconsiderate, and frankly just plain bad move?  Probably.  Frankly, I think the only place that LeBron could have gone without getting all this flak would've been like to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where nobody knows what's going on, and that wasn't going to happen.  For the people that are upset in regards to the decision to have a fairly classless announcement of his decision via an ESPN interview on national television, I can't help you, it's bad press, it was a stupid PR stunt.  For those of you that are upset he didn't stay in Cleveland (ahem, Dan Gilbert), I have two words for you: shut up.  

Yes, James can probably dubbed an egotistical narcissist, I will neither deny nor endorse that statement.  From a purely basketball perspective though, let's consider what James has in store.  If Cleveland wants to blame anyone for LeBron leaving, blame the front office, seriously, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in all honesty (and my "expert" opinion) have never been championship contenders, that they even got this far is frankly (I think) a merit to how good LeBron James really is.  Seriously, since LeBron James was drafted in 2003 by the Cleveland Cavaliers the Cavs have never had anyone really any good outside of LeBron James.  In James's rookie year behind James you had Carlos Boozer, Ricky Davis, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all averaging about 15 points per game, fair enough, that seems like a pretty good team, right?  You still got Tony Battie and Darius Miles coming off the bench.  In 2003-2004 the Lakers lost in the Finals to a well balanced Detroit Pistons featuring a starting five of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace.  The Cavs?  Yeah, no playoffs.  LeBron was a rookie, fair enough.  In 2004-2005 season, no playoffs again for the Cavaliers.  Oh yeah, Spurs beat the Pistons in 7 that year.  Boozer and Davis are gone and the Cavs' second scoring option is Zydrunas Ilgauskas, behind him you now have Drew Gooden as your third offensive option and a huge curtail off behind that with minutes being sopped up by Robert Traylor, Ira Newble, and Jeff McInnis.  In the 2005-2006 season, Paul Silas gets canned as the head coach and replaced by Mike Brown.  The Cavs make the playoffs and lose in the second round to the Pistons.  Cavs front office got the brilliant idea to give a huge contract to Larry Hughes to play next to LeBron, we all know how well that worked... Hughes averaged a rough 15.5 points per game, kind of Ricky Davis-esque performance eh?  This year, the Mavericks collapse to the Heat after taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.  In 2006-2007 we're still featuring a "Big Three" of LeBron, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Larry Hughes/Drew Gooden.  The Cavs miraculously get to the finals only to get swept by the Spurs.  In 2007-2008 the Cavs revamp, Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are traded for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith.  Smith is later traded to the Sonics for Wally Sczerbiak and Delonte West.  Something along those lines.  Cavs lose to the new Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett in the conference semifinals.  In 2008-2009, we revamp again, the Cavs draft J.J. Hickson and manage to acquire Mo Williams from the Bucks.  Then they are subsequently destroyed by Orlando's pick-and-roll game in the conference finals.  Finally in 2009-2010, to remedy their problems, the Cavs add Shaq, who is notoriously one of the worst pick-and-roll defenders in the league.  Yeah... makes a ton of sense right?  They trade mid-season for Antawn Jamison and then are ousted in the second round once again by Boston.

Now that's a quick snapshot history of the Cavs with LeBron on the team, and quite frankly, Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry had done a horrendous job of putting any talent next to LeBron, any talent that would get them anywhere.  Some people might note that they've had the best record in the league before, so what?  The Mavericks had a 67-15 record going into the playoffs in 2006-2007, and they were beaten in the first round by Don Nelson's crazy ball Golden State Warriors.  Just because you're a good regular season team doesn't mean jack.  The only way it could mean anything would be if the NBA was formatted like the NCAA March Madness tournament, one and done.  It doesn't make a difference if Cleveland and LeBron had a 66-16 overall record for the 2008-2009 season, the fact that they couldn't guard a Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard pick-and-roll set means that they can't win in the playoffs.  Frankly Cleveland fans, if you're going to be angry, be angry at your FO, be angry at your team roster management, because frankly, they didn't get the job done.  Don't tell me they tried, because to be frank the Cavs were never that good.  

So LeBron is gone.  Yeah, he is.  He's gone, and it's too bad.  Don't blame him though, he's going where he can be successful.  Think about it logically, forget the money, we know he has enough.  If I'm LeBron, what are my choices?  The top were what? New Jersey, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, and Miami.  So think about this, who would I rather play with if I'm LeBron?  Who's going to give me the best shot at winning?  Should I go back to Cleveland where it's just Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison?  Where I haven't won anything in the past 7 years?  Should I go to New York where Amar'e is?  Play next to Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari?  Or New Jersey with Brook Lopez and Devin Harris, who almost broke the record for most losses in a season?  Chicago? With Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose?  Or with Miami, where we already knew that Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, two fellow 2008 Team USA teammates and good friends, and fellow All-Stars have committed to sign?  Sure, he was a jerk to do it on national TV but we're all suckers for watching him do it.  Seriously Cleveland, suck it up, don't blame LeBron, if you're going to blame anyone, blame your organization for not being able to keep him.  Seriously, why do you think Garnett didn't win a ring until he got to Boston?  Seriously.  

The Exit Poll: Chicago Bulls

Next team up is the Chicago Bulls, the once great dynasty from the 1990s, oh, how the great have fallen.

Coach: Vinny Del Negro
PG: Derrick Rose, Jannero Pargo
SG: Kirk Hinrich, Flip Murray
SF: Luol Deng, James Johnson
PF: Taj Gibson, Hakim Warrick
C: Joakim Noah, Brad Miller
Reserves: Acie Law, Devin Brown, Rob Kurz, Chris Richard, Joe Alexander

I don't know where to start with this team.  I know Kelly Dwyer from Yahoo! Sports has a soft spot for this team.  I personally was rooting for the Mailman during the Finals in 1997 and 1998.  Now... well, frankly, they only made the Playoffs because the Raptors really are that bad.  I don't know enough about Del Negro to say how he does as head coach, but I've heard enough stories to know that he's not really that good, and I suppose I'm putting it a little more nicely than some of them.  Derrick Rose has shown potential, but not a whole lot else.  Sure he can score, sure he's fast, sure he can get assists, but his shot selection isn't stellar and he takes probably the most inefficient shot in basketball at a very, very high clip.  Everyone else, well, everyone else is a plug piece.  Noah and Gibson are both energy guys in the mold of someone like Anderson Varejao, while Deng, one of the premier mid-range shooters in the league, is primarily a viable instant-offense second option.  Hinrich is a facilitator and defensive specialist, great piece but only in the right system (say Portland?).  This means Derrick Rose is the go-to guy, not a go-to guy I'd look for.

I think most of these guys are expiring contracts.  Word on the street is Vinny Del Negro is out, but in terms of players, it's hard to say.  The obvious answer is a more consistent scorer, optimally someone in the post.  However, if we like Taj Gibson.  Well, I don't know that they want to get rid of or give up on Derrick Rose yet, but maybe an offensive option in the 2 and defensive options off the bench, better than James Johnson, Jannero Pargo, and Flip Murray.  Maybe a fully healthy Luol Deng will make the difference, but I can't say how much so.  Nothing short of a major re-haul, but maybe I'm biased, I don't really like anyone on the team aside from Deng.

The Exit Roll: Charlotte Bobcats

I apologize for those people that are looking to read my witty exposition and my failure to write for you.  Anyways, so here is my next piece, or set of pieces.  I'm looking at the teams that got ousted from the first round of the playoffs and how I think they can change it.  Let's go:

The Charlotte Bobcats.  Well, they did a lot better than people thought they would.  I personally think that they got bad luck drawing the Magic for the first round.  I really think that they had a shot if they drew Boston, but instead, they had to face Dwight Howard and a rather embarrassing first round sweep as their franchise playoff debut.  So going into this post season, how can they get better?  Well, let's start at the logical place, what do they have now?

Head Coach: Larry Brown
PG: Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin
SG: Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes
SF: Gerald Wallace, Stephen Graham
PF: Boris Diaw, Tyrus Thomas
C: Theo Ratliff, Tyson Chandler
Reserves: Nazr Mohammed, DeSagana Diop, Gerald Henderson, Alexis Ajinca

My first reaction to this roster is simply that, I like it.  It's a good lineup full of good players.  However, a slew of "good" players don't make up for the glaring lack of excellent players.  Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are known for their above-average defense, and if Gerald Wallace weren't so injury prone then I would call him one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and Stephen Jackson, well, he's showing his age.  Boris Diaw, well, he's not consistent, but when he's on, he's a good defender and Tyson Chandler is one of the premier post defenders in the league, but Chandler is also known to be an injury liability.  While I think Jackson and Wallace are decent offensively, the Bobcats don't really have a go-to offensive option.  Most notably they don't have a presence in the post, while Jackson is decent, he's not great and not someone I'd consider go-to down low.  Then, neither are Diaw, Tyrus Thomas, Theo Ratliff, nor Tyson Chandler.  Nazr Mohammed is decent, but I understand the reservation Larry Brown has for giving Mohammed extended minutes, we saw how that worked out in every team Mohammed's been on except San Antonio, and of course, that might have something to do with a little someone named Tim Duncan.

I like the core of Jackson, Wallace, and Chandler, and Gerald Henderson looks to be a good prospect, but they need someone, someone that can put points on the board, and given their age and injury track record, they have to win NOW.  I don't think they can get rid of Diaw, and Larry Hughes is an expiring contract, but to be honest, I can't say they have very attractive tradeable assets.  You figure that with 5 different centers they'd figure out something of a big man rotation, but given who it is, DeSagana Diop, Alexis Ajinca, Nazr Mohammed, and Theo Ratliff, they're not really tradeable.  The obvious upgrades, at least positionally, are PG or PF.  Raymond Felton and Boris Diaw, serviceable, but only if you have some offensive options next to them.  Given Stephen Jackson's underrated passing ability, maybe a score-first point guard (Gilbert Arenas?) or something...  Otherwise, a solid post scorer at PF (Carlos Boozer?).  I don't know that free agency is really an option to be frank, I don't know that they have the cap-space, so it's gotta be a trade, but they have all these bloated contracts: Diaw, Diop, Mohammed, etc...  We'll see how it works.  Hopefully Michael Jordan doesn't call too many of the shots.

Trades in the shadow of the All-Star Game

Okay, so I didn't watch the All-Star Game this year, from all reports it was okay that I didn't. I heard it wasn't really that good. Anyways, I check the boards to find, this massive trade between Washington and Dallas. It's something to ponder. In summary, it's Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross.

Hm... how does this pan out? Not sure. We know that Washington is on firesale mode, and completely rebuilding, so it's not a bad deal for them, I think all the contracts are expiring, if not, Howard is a decent piece to build around. So the big question is how this works out for Dallas. I think Butler is an upgrade over Howard, but a marginal one, though many might disagree with me given Howard's recent slump. Though he doesn't bring the rebounding that Howard has, the presence of Shawn Marion mitigates the problem slightly. Additionally, Brendan Haywood I think is the clincher. He's somewhat underappreciated as a center since he played for Washington, he's not elite, but he certainly is an upgrade over Erick Dampier and Drew Gooden on the offensive and defensive ends respectively. I think DeShawn Stevenson is also a legitimate backup on the wings. All-in-all, way to capitalize Dallas. I anticipate Butler and Haywood will start immediately, so as soon as they get integrated into Rick Carlisle's system, Dallas becomes that much scarier. Singleton and Ross were pretty expendable so, Dallas gets an A for upgrading needs at starter and adding depth. Both Butler and Marion can shift between the 2 and 3 slots to the 3 and 4 slots, DeShawn Stevenson can play the same positions as Butler, and then adding in Terry and Dirk the wings are covered pretty well, then Dampier serves a suitable backup for Haywood. Score for Dallas.

The 5 Most Confusing Front Offices

Since the season has started, I'm going to do this quick piece on pretty much my overall offseason grades for various front offices. I'm a critical guy, so I'll just go with the five worst. I mean, these confused the heck out of me. These aren't in any particular order, just the order that I come up with in my brain.

1.) Minnesota Timberwolves

To say that this team boggles me is something of an understatement. The first move made was essentially trading Mike Miller and Randy Foye for Ricky Rubio, who, mind you, probably isn't even going to play this season. Even if he did, I don't see him being very spectacular, he's like... Steve Nash without a jumpshot. That was something understandable, as Foye was obviously not a point guard and Sebastian Telfair in a starting gig is just hurting. Great, so T'Wolves go and land one of the premier points in the draft, and then subsequently draft the next premier point in the draft in Johnny Flynn. Either Flynn is expensive Rubio-not-coming-to-America insurance, or something's up. Obviously we were all a little shocked when Sacramento opted for Tyreke Evans over Rubio, and we knew Rubio's stock was quickly dropping and therefore he no longer was super valuable as trade bait because the first 3 teams didn't need him. Then they draft Wayne Ellington, fine, project PG, probably our backup. Rebuilding looks good so far huh? Until we remember that T'Wolves now have no wing players whatsoever. Rashad McCants was traded to Sac, Foye and Miller gone to Washington. So to solve their problems, the T'Wolves decide to trade Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair, who do they get back? Jason Hart? Wait, they need another PG? I feel really bad for Al Jefferson at this point in time. Deciding to make a splash in free agency, the T'Wolves later decide to sign Ramon Sessions. We so far, have a roster of 4 PGs with one playing overseas. Please do not tell me Sessions is a combo guard. The wings currently are Ryan Gomes and Corey Brewer with no SG to speak of. Somehow then, they manage to pick up Sasha Pavlovic and Damien Wilkins, serviceable but nothing stellar. Essentially, I think they're eventually hoping for either Sessions or Flynn to really make a huge impact and become studs, I mean, if we take everything else away, T'Wolves essentially gave up Foye, Miller, Smith, and Telfair for Sessions, Wilkins, Pavlovic, and I suppose ultimately Flynn. Unless this Rubio gamble pays off and he manages to somehow play with two other starting caliber point guards, or gets traded for some stud on the wings, the PG love from the T'Wolves was confusing as heck, and honestly, doesn't make them better. It overaddresses one need, and doesn't address any others.

2.) Memphis Grizzlies

I'm starting to take this team as seriously as the Harlem Globetrotters. Okay, so first, they trade Darko for Quentin Richardson, understandable, sort of... Then they draft Hasheem Thabeet, which confused me to no end, but I guess that means Marc Gasol isn't good enough? That boggles my mind. The 2nd overall pick isn't something you spend on a simple defensive stopper, 7-feet or nothing, they have Gasol, so I'm not sure how that's going to work. Then they trade Q-Rich for Z-Bo (Zach Randolph). Great... While it solves the problem of interior scoring, the last thing the Grizzlies need is a ballhogging black hole (like OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay). There isn't a single player on the roster at the moment that can be effective not putting the ball in the bucket, and not a single player on the roster who can be effective without the ball in his hands. Then to top it all off the Grizzlies opt to sign the one player that needs the ball in his hands the most, Allen Iverson. I'm sorry, but all the carts from the 3pt shootout won't be enough balls to go around for this team. If you thought AI and Melo on Denver had sticky hands, what about a floor spread of Iverson, Mayo, Gay, and Randolph? Geez. Sure it's an offensive powerhouse, but that's what Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph were supposed to be three years ago, and we all saw how that turned out.

3.) Atlanta Hawks

I understand why the Warriors traded Jamal Crawford, they just wanted to get rid of him, it's kind of a Nellie thing. What I don't understand is why ultimately the Hawks traded for him. It's not that I don't like Crawford, but it's just that he doesn't really fit. The trade ultimately ended up being Speedy Claxton and Acie Law for Jamal Crawford. Claxton and Law probably will see little to no playing time in Nellie-ball, but Crawford apparently is supposed to fill the void of 6th man on the Hawks. While the idea of the shooting from a Jamal Crawford/Joe Johnson backcourt is intriguing, it's fairly redundant. From my perspective, Jamal Crawford is essentially a highly inefficient Joe Johnson, who in and of himself is already pretty inefficient. What this does mean though, is that perhaps the Hawks haven't yet given up on Josh Smith. While this provides a means of flexibility, possibly moving Joe Johnson on occasion to SF, having a backcourt of Bibby, Crawford, Johnson, the concept of Jamal Crawford being a Flip Murray upgrade is a little confusing to me. Why? Simply put, Murray knows his spot, Crawford needs the ball a lot to be effective. If Joe Johnson still gets his touches, Crawford's game is going to have to come at the expense of Williams, Smith, and Horford. I'm not entirely ecstatic about such a prospect. Of course, the Hawks could prove me wrong by having Crawford simply prove me wrong about him, or turn their forwards (Williams, Smith, Horford) into some monstrous offensive rebounding team.

4.) Charlotte Bobcats

I'm sorry, if this team wants me to start taking them seriously (and I bet they could care less if I'm taking them seriously) they have to start considering the implications of their moves. A year after Larry Brown takes over, the Bobcats opted to swap their center Emeka Okafor, for Tyson Chandler. On paper it looks like a wash, Okafor is slightly better offensively and Chandler is a legit 7-footer with stellar defense. What's the problem then? First, on a team that struggles with its offense, replacing an offensive cog with a defensive piece doesn't really make sense. While Chandler is active, a lot of his production came from playing with Chris Paul, production that neither Raymond Felton nor DJ Augustin can help replicate. While I respect the players, Larry Brown essentially has his three primary scoring options shifted to Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, and Raja Bell, not exactly what I'd call explosive. Of course, Larry Brown's recent success has shown that perhaps you don't need a scorer, as seen with the 2004 Detroit Squad. Yet something tells me that Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace are greater than Wallace, Diaw, and Bell, especially if you consider the support cast of Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and Antonio McDyess as compared to Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler, and DJ Augustin. I don't get it. I really don't. Maybe someone can clue me in.

5.) Milwaukee Bucks

The traded Richard Jefferson for essentially Kurt Thomas (they cut Bowen and Oberto), and then traded for Amir Johnson and then traded Amir Johnson again. Then signed Hakim Warrick and drafted Brandon Jennings. Though it's technically not this offseason, I'm still reeling from the whole extension of the Andrew Bogut. I mean I know he was first overall pick, but really? Is he that good? I know you overpay big men, but the same price tag as Deron Williams and Chris Paul? I'm still not convinced he's anything more than a younger Chris Kaman. With the retention of Kurt Thomas and the signing of Kurt Thomas I'm not entirely convinced that the Bucks are rebuilding, but then again, maybe they are with a core of Brandon Jennings, Luc-Richard Mbah-a-Moute, and Joe Alexander. Of course, that makes me feel bad for Michael Redd. I really don't know. It's like they want to try to covertly go young, so they move towards Mbah-a-Moute and Jennings, but not so you know, so they go keep Ridnour and Redd... Yeah, if that's as confusing to read as it was to write, I think I've done my job.

No more Captain Jack

Stephen Jackson want out of Golden State and will cause havoc unil he is able to be traded. He would of had a lot of trade value if he didn't sign a 3 year, $28 million dollar contract extension last year which leav 4 years and $35 million dollars left on his contract. No team would take on that contract, especially for a 31 year old with a somewhat troubled past and very prone to technical fouls.

In an exhibition gme against the Lakers, Jackson picked up 5 fouls in less than 10 minutes along with a technical. I know these replacement referees are pretty bad, but those 5 fouls didn't come from his aggressive defense on Kobe, but him wanting out of Golden State and causing any kind of trouble he can. He and coach Don Nelson aren't getting along anymore as Nellie suspended Jackson for 2 exhibition games and more will likely to come if Jackson doesn't get traded and continues to plague the Warriors. If the Warriors really want to make it tough on Jackson, they should suspend him for many games in which he will not get paid.

But maybe there is a small chance that somehow Jackson wants to play well along with Monta, Curry, Randolph and Biedrins and start winning games, all this this will easily be forgotten. Winning always cures everything. Will Warriors fans ever get a chance to see winning basketball in the Bay Area anytime soon?