Nba

If the Thunder win the next 12 out of 18 games, they will assure themselves of a playoff spot.  That's assuming Memphis wins every game here on out.  Memphis is in 9th place and has 16 games remaining. Should they win all 16, they would have 51 wins.  OKC may very well win 12 games.  But, either way it looks like they are going to make the playoffs.  Just where will they be is the question.  Right now they are in 5th place.  But, they are 1 1/2 games behind Utah for 4th!! They are also 2 games ahead of 8th.  So, they could finish anywhere.

Continue reading "Thunder playoff bound"

The Boston Celtics made a move that they hope gets them to the title.  They traded for Nate Robinson, a point guard that can score.  Here is how it breaks down:

Celtcis get ;   Nate Robinson, Marcus Landry

Continue reading "Cetlics Knicks make moves"

Utah is trying to stay within their financial means and stay competitive at the same time. They traded Ronnie Brewer to Memphis for a future pick.  They have depth at that position and can absorb the loss.  Brewer is a restricted free agent and Utah may not be able to match any offers.  So, they gain a pick for him now.  Not bad I guess.

Continue reading "Utah is making financial moves"

New York unloaded a lot more money on Thursday in hopes of landing LeBron.

Here is what transpired: 

New York gained:  Tracy McGrady and PG Sergio Rodriguez

New York lossed:  Jordan Hill, Jarred Jeffries and draft consideratoins in 2011 and 2012

Continue reading "McGrady to NY helping the way for LeBron"

Cleveland just got a lot better.   They traded Zydranus Ilgauskas and his 11million dollar expiring contract to Washington for Antwain Jamison who has the same salary.      This adds a power scorer to the lineup while giving up nothing.  Anderson Varejo has been the backup at both power forward and center. This will continue.  Hickson's minutes may decrease, but he is still developing so that is ok.  The first pick won't matter if they win the title.       Also acquired is Sebastian Telfair an up and down career since joining the NBA.  They have point guard injuries so that is an added bonus.

Continue reading "Cleveland set for title run"

The Thunder won their 7th straight win over the newly assembled Dallas Mavericks.  Durant lead the way with 25 points and 14 rebounds.  He was followed by 3 who scored 17 each in Westbrook, Green, and Harden.

Continue reading "Thunder win 7 straight!!!"

Dallas and Washington traded talent this week. 

First Dallas---they get Caron Butler an all star that is almost averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds.  He will replace Josh Powell which is a huge up grade.  Brendon Haywood also joins the Mavs.  This was a good move because Eric Dampier hasn't been effective since hurting his knee.  Haywood is averaging 10 rebounds a game.  The Mavs also get Deshaun Stevenson.  A decent backup.

Continue reading "Mavs A Wizards--gambling"

In the first big move of the tradeseason, Portland acquired Marcus Camby from the Los Angelos Clippers for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw.  This was a great move for the Trailblazers.  They have had a huge hole vacated by injuries to Joel Pryzbilla and Greg Oden.  Juwon Howard has filled in very well and Camby gives them the second best rebounder in the game inside.  Losing Blake will hurt some, but not as much as they gain from Camby.  Andre Miller has played very well at point guard and youngser Bayliss has shown he can be an effective backup.  They won't miss Outlaw.  He has been out since November with a broken foot and is to return soon.  Portland holds the 8th sot in the playoffs.  Camby is in his last year of his contract and will likely leave after this season since Oden and Pryzbilla will be back.

Continue reading "Portland makes the first move. Clippers--what ..."

It's the All-Star break and time to asses where the season is at.  There are roughly 30 games left and the trading deadline is looming.  Here is a look at the playoffs if they were today.

Continue reading "NBA Playoffs Eastern conference"

Houston has been shopping Tracy McGrady all year and something is a about to happen.  The leading candidate is the New York Knicks.  McGrady could be a 20pt scorer again with the up tempo style of play New York has. I think he would be a perfect fit for them. 

Continue reading "McGrady sweetstakes---Knicks?"

The Oklahoma CityThunder outscored the Portland Trailblazers 30 to 16 in the 4qtr last night to win it's 6th game in a row.  The win also moved OKC a half a game ahead of San Antonio for the 6th spot.  The Thunder is also 3 games ahead of the 9th place Houston Rockets.  Things are looking good.

Continue reading "Thunder 30 wins"

Last night, the Thunder beat the Pacers, keeping the 8th spot in the playoffs.  

OKC only trailed once 37-36. But, that lasted for less than a minute.  They built an 18 point lead in the third quarter.  Then, Troy Murphy went on a little run and cut it to 10 at quarter's end. Then, they managed to tie it in the 4th.  But, Durant couldn't be stopped and there were no second chances for the Pacers.

Continue reading "Thunder beat Pacers"

Winning on the road is tough.  Winning on the road in the second night of back to back games is tougher.  Doing that after playing the Lakers to the end the first night and beating the Suns the next is attention getting.  OKC did just that.  They beat a very very good Phoenix Suns team.

Continue reading "Huge win for the Thunder"

There is good news and bad news in last nights loss to the Lakers.  The bad news is that is put them at 13 and 14 and 2 1/2 games out of the playoffs.  And, with a back to back tonight at Phoenix, it's unlikely that will improve tonight.  

Continue reading "Thunder next 3 are big."

With the Knicks victory over Chicago last night, they pulled to a half game of the playoffs.

David Lee put fourth another solid performance in 18 points and 21 rebounds, along with 5 assists. 

Continue reading "Playoff Knicks???"

The Knicks win over Charlotte isn't the biggest news of the season.  But, there are some things I liked about it.

1) Danilo Gallinari played 36 minutes and had 21 points.  He is maturing by the day.

Continue reading "knicks win!!"

Today, after receiving a pair of free tickets to the Pistons/Nuggets game at the Palace, I had a few reactions. 

My first one was, “Hell Yeah! Free Pistons Tickets!” 

The second one was, “Have I seen Carmelo Anthony in person?” I had to think about it, but nope, I’ve never seen ‘Melo play. 

Continue reading "Three Year Bucket List"

Tim Donaghy, the referee who spent 15 months in a federal prison for his role in a betting scandal that rocked the NBA, is out of prison and looking to make a splash once again. 

The NBA did a phenomenal job sweeping the whole Donaghy scandal under the rug as best they could when the revelations were made public that he had ties to organized crime and that he may or may not have affected the outcomes of NBA games. 

Continue reading "An End to the Tim Donaghy Scandal (Hopefully)"

www.sporcle.com is awesome. It’s a great place to waste time.

If you’ve never heard of it, basically it is a website that gives you the topic to a list of people, places, or things, and you have a certain amount on time to guess all the answers in the list. 

Continue reading "Sporcle.com is awesome"

Officially, attendance was listed for the Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies game last night at 10,012.

The only way that number was over 10,000 is if you took every person in the arena, counted every person whose number was stored in their cell phone, and multiplied it by two.

Continue reading "The End of the Grizzlies? Let's Hope So."

Have you looked at the league leaders yet this season?

There are some familiar faces atop some of the big categories. Kobe leads the league in scoring. Nash leads the league in assists. Rondo leads the league in steals. 

Continue reading "New Era of NBA Bigs?"

I wrote a short blog last week about Allen Iverson being unhappy with his role in Memphis, and I predicted that by March 1st the Grizzlies would send him home.

I mean, it was obvious that it was a marriage that was doomed from the start.

Continue reading "Who is Allen Iverson?"

Last week in “Fun With Box Scores” I took a look at about ten different things that jumped out from the previous week’s box scores. 

It was the initial plan to roll out ten more fun little facts that I discovered while rummaging through the box scores this week, but I came across one box score that was so unique that I don’t feel like any other stat line from the week is worthy of being in the same post as this one. 

Continue reading "Fun With Box Scores"

LeBron James makes his only trip to Madison Square Garden tonight. 

For the past two seasons there has been plenty of talk about LeBron bolting his hometown of Cleveland for the bright lights of New York City. 

Continue reading "LeBron Makes His Only Trip to "The Garden" Tonight"

He fooled me yet again.

We’ve seen this act before. Andrew Bynum, through the first five games, is averaging over 20-10, yet again. 

It’s nothing new. For the third straight season, the young, potential stud, center for the Los Angeles Lakers has hit the ground running and has shown flashes of being an all-star caliber center in the NBA. 

Continue reading "Andrew Bynum: The Oldest 22-Year-Old in the NBA"

The NBA season is officially underway (unless you live in Chicago or Milwaukee). 

After several hours parked in front of the NBA League Pass for the past two days, it’s time for some first impressions. 

Continue reading "First Impressions"

Happy New Year!

With the new NBA season set to tip off with four games tonight, here are some of the things I’ll be watching for in tonight’s action.

Boston @ Cleveland, 7:30pm

I can’t wait to see LeBron again this season. Last year, coming off the Olympics, you could see that his focus was on improving defensively. Now, without a summer in the spotlight, I’m curious to see if he’s made any improvements to his already unreal game. Is this the year we finally see LeBron use his Karl Malone-like body to beast on people inside?

Continue reading "NBA Opening Night Quick Thoughts"

Disappointing news for NBA fans everywhere, courtesy of yahoo: 

"LOS ANGELES (AP)—Blake Griffin’s (notes) NBA debut has been pushed back indefinitely after the Los Angeles Clippers revealed late Monday night that their No. 1 overall draft pick has a broken left kneecap.

Continue reading "Disappointing First Impression of Blake Griffin"

Welcome to the Diary of an NBA Junkie.

My Name is Scott Shepherd, and I’m addicted to the NBA. 

After a few years of covering the NBA for a great website, www.sports-central.org, I’ve decided to branch out and start my own blog. 

Continue reading "Welcome to the Diary of an NBA Junkie"

The Heat are a long way from the title level that they were at a few years ago.  However, the team is reloading and rebuilding in the right direction.  The main pieces are there and need to develop---Dwayne Wade and Michael Beasley can potentially be one of the best 1-2 combos in the league.  Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem Are solid night in and night out guys.  Those 4 are the foundation of the Heat. 

Continue reading "Miami Heat preseason"

I have always enjoyed the Toronto Raptors. There is something about them that catches my eye.  They always have a knack for finding talent.  They just have a hard time keeping it.  This year they managed to bring one in: Hedo Turkoglu.

Continue reading "Toronto Raptors preseason"

So far it looks a lot like last year.  Who knows who is going to play and how well they will do.  Sounds a lot like a Dr. Seuss title. There is one thing that looks like it will be consistent and that is David Lee.  He looks like he will do a double double most every night.  Draft picks Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill have looked like rookies.  They don't look like they will add much fire power early on.  But, they are young and need time to develop.  Wilson Chandler looks like he will start and probably have the second most amount of  minutes this year.  Who will be the leading scorer?  Lee might score the most points at season's end without ever being the leading scorer in a game.  Nate Robinson has his moments as does Al Harrington and Larry Hughes.  But, they also can lay goose eggs the next night.

Continue reading "Knicks preseason so far...."

In their 4th preseason game, the Thunder played the big 3 more like a regular season game and came up with a win.  Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook all had over 30 minutes.  Etan Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha also started and had over 20 minutes of play.  This will probably be the look to start the season with. 

Continue reading "Durant scores big against Heat"

Last year the OKC Thunder won 23 games.  I'm curious to hear from all you fans on how many wins you think they will win this year.  I am guessing 32.    9 games in one year is a big jump.  The key addition is draft pick Harden, whom I think is a very solid addition and keeps the team moving in the right direction.  Another key addition is last year's first round pick DJWhite.  He missed most of last yaer and looked good late in the season when he saw his first action.  He provides some inside hustle and scoring.  This team really lacks inside presence on both ends of the floor.  Let's see how much progress can be made this year.  Reply to this post with how many wins you think they will get.

Continue reading "Thunder wins???"

The Thunder traded away Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins for Etan Thomas and two second round picks.  The move was an even swap money wise.  Wilkins and Atkins make nearly 7mil together and that is what Thomas will make this year.  The Thunder are well under the cap and Thomas' contract expires this year.  So, not only will they have freed up money next year, they will also have 5 draft picks.  2 in the first round and 3 in the second round. 

Continue reading "Thunder continue to make small moves ..."

If I had to put together a Boston Celtic Dream Team it would look like the following.  I am only going to use the players since I have been watching basketball.  They would dominate.

PG--Dennis Johnson--He could do everything. Defend, rebound, score, handle the ball.  He one a championship with Seattle prior to his days with the Celtics.  No nonsense type of guy.  He simply won games.

Continue reading "Boston Dream Team"

I have developed a system to determine how many wins a player earned for his team.  If an NBA team wins 40 games, the statistics can be broken down into individual wins.  I have taken current NBA rosters and totalled up last year's wins along with rookie's estimated wins.  * Note: Unrestricted free agents do not count toward's a team win total.  For Example, Lamar Odom does not count towards the Lakers.

Continue reading "Player wins and new NBA rankings"

Second round pick Chase Budinger lit it up!!! He led the team in scoring with 17.8 ppg in the Las Vegas summer league.  He shot 68% from the floor and 94% from the line. And, was 8 of 11 from 3 point range.  This is great news for a team that may not have McGrady until the halfway point and may not get Yao Ming back at all.  If they do get those 2 stars back, things will be different.  Until then, the youngsters are going to have to play.  They found one that can shoot.

Continue reading "Houston summer league"

Rebuilding has begun in Phoenix and it's youngsters are going to have to step up.  Keeping Steve Nash and Armarie Stoudamire tells everyone that they want to stay competetive and get back to the top soon.  And that means some young guys are going to have to develope quickly.  This summer in Las Vegas was a step in that process.

Continue reading "Suns hoping to gain experience in summer league."

The Golden State Warriors can score, and hey found some youngsters that will fit right in.  Summer in Vegas was hot.

Anthony Randolph had a nice year for the Warriors last year.  He exploded this summer averaging 27 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.  He dominated.  There will be a lot more playing time for him his year.

Continue reading "Warriors find firepower in summer league."

Times are a changin in Detroit.  Gone are Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace.  Enter in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.   They draft three youngsters to go along with the newly acquired in hopes of quickly getting back to the conference finals. 

Continue reading "Detroit Summer League"

Next summer is getting all the billing for the Knicks due to the LeBron James sweepstakes.  The Knicks currently have $71million in their payroll.  As of right now, only $27 mil will be on the books this time next year.  That means this summer the youngsters have to impress to stay on the team with their cheap salaries.

Continue reading "Knicks summer league"

With Chauncey Billups and JR Smith in the backcourt, things are looking fine in Denver. However, last year they did display some weakness coming off the bench.  They may have found some solutions.  Ty Lawson was very good during the Las Vegas summer league.  He lead the team in scoring with 17 points 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.  What was even more pleasing was that he only had 2 turnovers a game.  He may signal the end of Arron Afflalo.   The team has an option on him next year. And, if Lawson plays out like I think, Afflalo will be the odd man out.

Continue reading "Denver summer league"

Quentin Richardson has traveled from New York to Memphis to Los Angelos, and now to Minnesota.  He takes with him $9mil for one year.  Last season he earned 3 wins for the New York Knicks

Continue reading "Richardson traded again. This time to Minnesota"

Here is my take on the Hornets' summer league in Las Vegas.

Marcus Thornton was the team's leading scorer with 20ppg but only played in 3 games.  He doesn't have a guaranteed contract.  He did make a strong case to make the team.  Or at least, be activated when players get injured.

Continue reading "Hornets summer league"

The Thunder learned a few things in Las Vegas this summer.  One was the James Harden was a good pick.  Not only does he fit with the team image and chemistry they have established, but he can score, shoot, rebound, and handle the ball.  He averaged 14 points 3 rebounds 3 assist and 1 steal and 3 turn overs.  He also shot the ball well.  He will be starting by year's end if not sooner.  I don't think they will be able to keep him off the floor.

Continue reading "Thunder summer league."

Minnesota has a long way to go, but they made progress this summer in Vegas.

Johnny Flynn is the real deal and should be the starting point guard from day one.  He averaged 15 points and 7 assists.  And, shot lights out!  Over 50% from 3-point and 91% from the line. He had over 5 turnovers, but that is to be expected.  Scoring and dishing at that level in summer league shows that he is going to be a good player.

Continue reading "Minnesota summer league a success"

The Chicago Bulls had a nice summer in Vegas:

James Johnson was the leading scorer with 16 points a game, 7 rebounds and 3.6 assists.  His number one downfall was the 40% fg shooting.

Rookie Taj Gibson only played in 2 games. He grabbed 20 rebounds and 26 points in those 2 games. 

Continue reading "Bulls summer league"

Continue reading "Thunder release Watson signs with Pacers"

The Los Angelos Clippers sent Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies for Quentin Richardson.  A move that was needed after having a surplus of inside talent with newly drafted Blake Griffin.  Griffin has been sensastional in summer league and will likely start for the Clippers.  Using the Howard Sports winning system, Randolph earned 2 wins while Richardson earned 3.  So, it's a pretty even swap.  The Grizzlies acquired Richardson from the Knicks for Darko Milicic this summer.  So, Richardson never played a game for Memphis.

Continue reading "Clippers send Randolph to Memphis"

Orlando matched the Maverick's offer to Marcin Gortat.  He is to be paid $34 for the next 5 seasons.  He averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 minutes last season.  He earned 2 wins for his team using the Howard winning system.   He never played extended minutes in the playoffs.  He is a very expensive limited backup for Dwight Howard.  One thing he does give the Magic is trading value.  He is young and now has a higher salary which could work for the Magic when it comes trading time.  There will be veterans out there that may have a higher salary.  Those teams may want to take a chance at a younger player like Gortat.   Orlando is still going to be very good, but looking different:

Continue reading "Orlando resings Gortat--over paid"

I have done some research and tinkering with numbers and came up with a way to determine a player's value in wins.  As I discuss rosters, trades, draft picks, etc.., I will be talkng about a players wins.  LeBron James had the most wins with 15.  Kobe Bryant had 12 as did Chris Pual.  The system I have in place splits up the wins a team earns during the year based on the player's statistis.  Two players can have close to the same numbers but earn different win totals.  That is because they have one major number that is different, team wins.  There are players that score over 20, but can't win games.  Ricky Davis is an example of that.  Statistically, at one time, was very good.  But, he never won games. 

Continue reading "NBA and player wins"

Marc Cuban pulled off one of his best moves yesterday in obtaining Shawn Marion.  Hedo Turkoglu was already heading to Toronto, but Orlando did a sign and trade with Toronto.  They also managed to drag Memphis into the mix.  Here is how the trade breaks down with the number of wins the players earned statistically this past year.

Continue reading "Dallas got Marion"

The Thunder are in great cap shape.  They have a payroll of $42 million while the cap is somewhere near $57million.  They also have an option on Chucky Atkins at $3million.  I don't think they will sign any big names this year, but things are looking really good for next year.  The team has managed itself well.  Earl Watson has a 6mil salary and Damien Wilkins has a 3mil salary that both will expire after this year.  That frees up another 9.  This is a big year for Wilkins.  If he is to stay on the team and get a good contract, he has to show he is worth it this year. 

Continue reading "Thunder cap"

Dewayne Wade said recently that if the Heat aren't contending for a title, he isn't staying.  He wants to win another.  This is a big year for the Heat for that very reason.  If things aren't going well this year, expect a lot of movement.  You might see some before then.  Wade has a player option next year and could bolt.  Udonis Haslem, Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Quinn will all be free agents next year.  Instead of losing the whole lot, you could see some deals again.  Let's take a look at the current lineup.  Listed beside each player is how many wins they achieved statistically last year.

Continue reading "A big year for the Heat"

The Los Angelos Lakers have gotten better on paper.  When they let Trevor Ariza go last week via free agency, they lost 6 wins.  However, they gained 7 wins when they signed Ron Artest.  Here is a look at next year's squad and how many wins they achieved statistically this past season:

Continue reading "Lakers increase their win total"

Continue reading "Minnesota Timberwolves"

Here is the lineup based on how many wins each player got lost year:

PG-RAYMOND FELTON 6

SG-RAJA BELL 4

SF- GERALD WALLACE 5

PF-BORIS DIAW 6

C-EMEKA OKAFOR 5

BENCH:

DJ AUGUSTINE 3--V RADMANOVIC 3--J HOWARD 1--D DIOP 1--S MAY, N MOHAMMAD, A AJINCA.

Continue reading "Bobcats need to keep Felton to improve."

If you were to glance at headlines yesterday, you might thing that the Los Angelos Lakers and the Houston Rockets made a trade.  What is happening is that they are recruiting the other team's free agent.  Ron Artest sent out a text saying he is happy to be a Laker.  Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza is saying that he might be a Rocket.  So, they are basically swapping small forwards.  It is a good move for both teams.  The Lakers want to win another championship and to do that, you have to mix things up a bit.  Artest makes them better.  He can score and defend.  Ariza is still developing and getting better, Artest is already there. 

Continue reading "Lakers Rockets trade, sort of"

Continue reading "Portland working on Turkoglu"

Continue reading "Houston and Yao"

Here is a look at the current roster. 

 PG-Chris Duhon    Nate Robinson---Robinson is a restricted free agent.

SG-Larry Hughes

SF-Wilson Chandler  Danilo Gallinari  Joe Crawford

Continue reading "New York's current roster"

Continue reading "Sacramento draft Evans"

The Memphis Grizzlies had a huge draft, literally.  With the 2nd pick they selected 7-3 C from UConn, Hasheem Thabeet.  He will provide a lot of interior defense and rebounds.  He can alther shots and allow them to do things on defense that others can't. The draw back is that he is very limited on offense. That means defenses will get to do things to them when he is on the floor. At the 27th spot, they got DeMarre Carroll a 6-8 F from Missouri.  He is a high energy guy that can provide a spark off the bench. In the second round at 36, they got Sam Young from Pittsburgh.  This guy can play all over the floor and should have been a first round pick.  He is a 6-7 small forward who can really get at it. 

Continue reading "Grizzlies draft is HUGE"

The Thunder drafted James Harden Thursday night.  He is a 6-5 shooting guard from Arizona State.  The buzz word with Harden is "NBA ready".  He may start right away and fit right in.  He is compared most to Brandon Roy who torched OKC badly when Portland came to town.  Harden was only a sophomore this past season, so he has a lot of growing room.   Later in the draft, OKC moved up one spot by giving Dallas a future 2nd round pick.  Then, they selected 7-1 BJ Mullens from Ohio State.  He is pretty athletic for a big guy, but still seems like he is learning the game.  I don't think he will start, but he will give the Thunder some inside help.  In the second round the Thunder traded for SG Robert Vaden, a 6-5 player from UAB.  They got the player from Charlotte at number 54.

Continue reading "Welcome to OKC James Harden"

Continue reading "Portland sends 3 to Mavs to move up--bad move."

The Cleveland Cavaliers sent Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace to Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal.  The trade vastly improves the Cavs interior without losing anything.  The two combined for 41 minutes and 7 points a game.  And, neither played over 70 games.  Shaq averaged over 17 points and 8 rebounds.  With Ilgauskas averaging 27 minutes a game, it won't be that much different with Shaq there.  Both are older centers that have had a hard time staying healthy.  With the two together, it will help both of them out.  Signing Anderson Varejo is the next step. 

Continue reading "Shaq and LeBroan Cavs championship?"

The Hawks appear to be sending both backup point guards to Golden State for Jamal Crawford.  This brings makes signing Mike Bibby more imperative.  To do so, they may not match offers that Marvin Williams receives.  Acie Law and Speedy Claxton both are being shipped.  Neither really played much last year.  Joe Johnson lead the team in assist even though he isn't a point guard.  I doubt they will use him as one.  Andre Miller and Jason Kidd are both available on the market.  My bet is on Bibby returning. Crawford could play the point, but he would be better off as the 2 guard.  He did average 4.4 assist along wth 19.7 points.  

Continue reading "Jamal Crawford to Hawks"

Continue reading "San Antonio nba chapms in 2010? ..."

Washington traded away it's 6th pick in the draft along with Darius Songalia, Etan Thomas, and Oleksey Pecherov to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.  Two years ago the Wizards were an up and coming team.  That changed last year when Gilbert Arenas was injured and out all year.  Brendon Haywood was also out most of the year  With Arenas back, there will be ample fire power.  The roster all of the sudden looks really good.

Continue reading "Washington Wizards make a bold move--is ..."

First the Tiberwolves get rid of Kevin McHale. Then, they go crazy.  Minnesota traded away Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Daruis Songalia, and the 5th overall pick.  Minnesota now has the 5th, 6th, 18th, and 28th overall picks in this week's draft.  They are looking to ship the 5th pick with the 18th to move up to number 2.  Doing that would allow them to draft either Ricky Rubio or Hakeem Thabeet.  As of right now, the roster has huge holes in it and some overload as well.

Continue reading "Minnesota Timberwolves now own the draft"

Continue reading "Utah Jazz draft"

Continue reading "Atlanta Hawks draft"

There are a lot of decisions for the 76ers to make this offseaon. both point guards, Andre Miller and Royal Ivey, are free agents. The point guard spot needs to be settled. The shooting guard spot

Continue reading "Philadelphia 76ers draft"

Continue reading "Chicago Bulls draft"

Continue reading "Detroit Pistons draft"

The Phoenix Suns missed the playoffs by 2 games.  They had hopes of making a championship run instead. They tinkered with the team and had a new coach.  What is the direction now?  Grant Hill and Matt Barnes are both free agents.  And the big three will be next year--Nash, O'Neal, and Stoudamire.  So, it's very tempting to trade and start all over. Or, make another stab at it.  Joining those three in the lineup is Barbosa and Richardson.  So, there is no lack of scoring, but there is a huge lack of a bench.  Whether they are focused on this year or the future, let's take a look at what type of player they might get in the draft.  They have the 14, 48, and 57th picks.

Continue reading "Phoenix Suns draft"

Continue reading "Indiana Pacers draft"

1.  Julius Erving:  Dr. J

2.  Dominique Wilkins:  The Human Highlight Reel

3.  George Gervin:  The Iceman

4.  Ervin Johnson:  Magic

5.  Michael Jordan:  Air Jordan

Continue reading "The 50 Best NBA Nicknames Ever"

Continue reading "Charlotte Bobcats draft pick"

Continue reading "New Jersey Nets draft pick"

The Milwaukee Bucks had a dissappointing year.  After trading for Richard Jefferson and having Michael Redd, it looked as if a serious move was going to happen.  Andrew Bogut and Redd played for less than half the season.  And that made all the difference.  This is a crucial time for the Bucks.  Keith Bogans and Damon Jones are both free agents. Charlie Vllanueva had a break out year and is a restricted free agent.  And, to top things off, Jefferson and Redd both could opt out of their contracts next summer.  If things don't go well this year, that could happen. Also, Ramon Sessions was a nice surprise. He is also a restricted free agent.

Continue reading "Milwaukee Bucks"

The Raptors had a horrible season finishing third from the bottom in the East.  Anthony Parker, Shawn Marion, and Jake Voskhul are all free agents.  That is 2 starters and a top bench player.  That leaves a shaky starting lineup:

Continue reading "Toronto Raptors and the draft."

Continue reading "Washington Wizards and the draft"

The Sacramento Kings have a lot to gain in this week's NBA draft.  They have almost 3 first rounders (they have the first pick in the 2nd round). They have 3 unrestricted free agents, Bobby Jackson, Calvin Booth, and Cedric Simmons.  Only Bobby Jackson really played this year and he only started 10 games.  So, they aren't loosing anything.  The starting five consist of pg Beno Udrih, sg Kevin Martin, sf Anres Nocioni, pf Jason Thompson, and C Spencer Hawes. 

Continue reading "Sacramento Kings draft chances"

The Thunder made some improvement as the year went on and this week's draft will there will be more improvement.  Although there is a lot of speculation on who they will take at #3, let's take a look at how successful the third and 25th picks have been.

Continue reading "OKC Thunder draft chances"

The Memphis Grizzlies are looking forward to this year's draft.  They have no were to go but up.  The question is, how far can they rise.  They have the 2nd, 27th, and 36th overall picks in the draft.  More than half of the mock draft boards out there have Hasheem Thabeet going to them.  He would provide an inside defensive presence for sure.  A few boards have Ricky Rubio going that way.  And the next pick listed is James Harden. They will be happy with who they take this year.  But, let's look at how these positions have fared over the past 14 years.

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The San Antonio Spurs don't own a first round pick.  But they do have 3 second round picks at 37, 51, and 53.  Let's take a look at how each have done in the past 14 years to determine what the chances are that the Spurs will get someone who can help them.

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The Dallas Mavericks only have one pick this year in the NBA draft and they really need help to keep from falling any further.  If you look at draft boards, the list of players that could go to Dallas at the 22nd pick are too numerous to mention.   But, we can look at how the past 14 drafts have done at that position.

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Cleveland fell short of making the NBA finals and they have LeBron James for at least one more year until to make another run at it.   At least one piece will be added Tuesday with the NBA draft.  The Cavs have the 30th and 46th overall picks in the draft.  Predicting on who they will take is very difficult and looking at draft boards produces all kinds of possibilities.  We can look at what those past picks have been like:

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Continue reading "Clippers and stats of the first pick."

Who will New York take with the 8th pick?   I've seen many mock drafts and there is one consistency

oint guard.   Brandon Jennings, John Flynn, Jrue Holliday are all point guards that keep popping up.  I've looked at the last 20 drafts and have broken down the 8th pick as follows:

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As a math major, I'm always fascinated by numbers.  I took this years NBA stats and have started tinkering around with them.  One major stat stands out so far---offensive rebounds.  If you compare offensive rebounds to the wins a team has, you will find that it produces a slightly negative correlation.  Meaning, the MORE offensive rebounds a team has, the FEWER wins it will produce.  The reason is this: teams with lower field goal percrentages lose more games and have more opportunities for offensive rebounds.  When determining the value of a player through statisics, offensive rebounds can be very misleading. 

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Now that the season is over, who is the NBA's MVP?  There are two clear front runners:  Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.  The numbers put by Lebron this year were staggering.  Over

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The Clippers had a horrible year.  They were suppose to be more than just a playoff contender.  Fred Jones is a free agent and Ricky Davis has a players option.  I doubt he will leave.  The Clippers have the first overall pick and will take Blake Griffin.  A trade could happen and if it does it's likely to involve either Camby, Randolph, or Kaman who all have close to or over 10million on their contracts.

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The Hawks continue to improve and will continue to improve providing the resign Mike Bibby.  The most important move they can make this summer is to retain the 31 year old point guard.  Last year he made 14million and they will have to be close to that to keep him.  If someone manages to lure him away, there is no viable option on the team. They have the 19th pick in the draft.  However, that won't yield them a player that is ready to step in.  There are three other options:

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This year the Thunder made some good trades and lots of improvement the second half of the season.  The continued growth of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Jeff Green will be carried onto next year.  One player overlookd was DJ White.   He showed some promise at season's end.  The Thunder are in great position with the 3rd overall pick and another late first rounder.  But, what about free agency?

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1.  LeBron James:  Analysts and writers seem to be 50/50 on the LeBron/Kobe debate.  I pick LeBron.

2.  Kobe Bryant:  Probably one of the 10 greatest players ever.  And counting.

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