Doesn't look like there's an NBA thread on here so thought I'd start one seeing as the season is finally going ahead after all the messing around with salary caps and all the other complexities that go with the NBA under David Stern. Basically it'll be a shortened 66 game regular season instead of the usual 82, with the first games talking place on Christmas Day. I think it's hard to look past the Mavericks, Heat or Spurs for the title this year, although I'm hoping the Lakers can make it interesting and challenge
Woo Hoo. Another US Sports thread i can dip my toe into. Cant see the Spurs doing anything. Hard to look past the Heat but plenty of trade time left. Listening to DP show and all this talk of Chris Paul heading to the clippers would be amazing.Gordon,Griffin and Paul....nice.
The whole CP issue is strange. He was basically blocked from joining the Lakers by Stern but now the Clippers could sign him???? Madness.
Yeah its really odd.The Nba owns the Hornets but even still the deal was a very good one for the Hornets.
I'm glad the Lakers have kept hold of Gasol, they need to replace Odom now though. Dwight Howard is supposed to be on his way to LA, hopefully Gasol isn't part of that deal. I've been thinking about getting a new jersey this year, my choice was made up though when I saw Ron Artests new name. It's so loony that I just can't resist- http://www.examiner.com/los-angeles...ew-jersey-on-media-day-for-los-angeles-lakers WORLD PEACE FROM DOWNTOWN!!! Quality!
Is Howard not pushing for a move to the Nets? The lakers wanted CP badly but that would have made them much smaller as a team. Knicks looking better....Tyson Chandler is fcuking great pick up.
Hard to tell where Howard will end up, I've heard the Lakers want to trade Bynum plus 2 draft picks and the trade exceptions from the Odom deal for him. I agree, Chandler is a cracking pick for the Knicks. I like the look of them with Melo and Stoudemire... they won't ACTUALLY do something this year though will they??????
Its hard to know with them.Thats a savage trio,that suit each other so well if they stay healhty.Melo is the most clutch shooter in the league(eat that Kobe ) and i love Chandler. I think it could be another season but imagine if they got a paul/rondo pg in that mix....or how about go for Nash for 1 season and all out for it. Simmons was pushing the Celtics to go for Nash as many feel Rondo cant go back to the C's now after shopping him,lying to him and trying to shop him again. Who is your tream mate?I have a feeling its the Lakers....say it aint so
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Chandler too. Nash is the man, still. He would be class in Boston, it'd be short term but the guy's a winner. Yep, what gave me away????? (This site needs a purple smiley!) It's not my fault, I was seduced by Magic (not like that) as a child! So I'm guessing you're a Clippers or Celtics fan mate?
Haven't got a clue what's happening with Humphries. I don't really rate him to be honest, he'll probably re sign with NJ I'd imagine
The New York Knickerbockers Not as passionate about them as i am about My Jets mind but still.I love watching basketball as a fan of the sport.As pure athletes these lads are unreal. Lakers are an odd team this year.It really is hard to know what they will do. I love that Kobe is a killer,a pure Jordan,something LeBron doesnt have.He is clearly on the way down but has a run left in him,can they put enough talent around him though is the question.
Love Kobe, plenty of people hate him but you can't argue with 5 rings and 13 all star appearances. He's very unimpressed with the trade deals in pre season by the sounds of it. Carter signed with the Mavs last night. Shrewd move, I think people reckon he's finished but they're going to go close with that team.
That's fairly part time up the pool! Golden State have signed Kwame Brown on a one year $7 MILLION deal, a $5 million increase on his salary at Charlotte last season. Jesus wept.
Lakers upset with Chris Paul's trade to Clippers While General Manager Mitch Kupchak declines to comment, the team is said to be privately fuming over the move, which comes six days after the Lakers' trade for the New Orleans point guard was vetoed by the league. The Lakers were hit with a two-by-four of bad news Wednesday, Chris Paul heading to the Clippers and Dwight Howard heading nowhere. The Lakers were privately fuming Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of their front office, when Paul, the New Orleans point guard, ended up in Los Angeles six days after the NBA vetoed the Lakers' trade for him. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak declined to comment through a spokesman but earlier this week said the NBA's blockade was "completely unexpected." "We did the best we can to express our displeasure," Kupchak said Monday. PHOTOS: Clippers land All-Star Chris Paul In the highly publicized nixed three-team trade, forward Lamar Odom was headed to New Orleans and forward Pau Gasol to Houston. Odom was subsequently dealt to Dallas, an unpopular trade with Lakers players and fans. Putting Paul aside, Howard apparently won't be arriving in Los Angeles any time soon, as per a league official who said the Orlando Magic would no longer entertain offers for the All-Star center, who could become a free agent in July. "They don't feel like there's any decision they have to make right now," the official said. The Lakers were involved in trade talks with Orlando via Howard's agent for two weeks, but the price for Howard inevitably increased with Paul off the market. The trade deadline isn't until March 15, and plenty can happen between now and then, though the Lakers will not trade Gasol and center Andrew Bynum to get Howard, according to a person familiar with the team's thinking. Gasol wasn't so sure the Magic would stop taking offers for Howard. "You don't know if they're just saying that," Gasol said. "They're probably saying that to get a better offer and then pull the trigger." The Lakers and Howard ... to be continued later? For now, the Lakers welcomed a new power forward and put another on the shelf for quite a while. Derrick Caracter will miss at least four to six weeks after undergoing surgery Wednesday to remove torn cartilage from his left knee. Caracter, a reserve, sustained a non-contact injury Monday at practice. Josh McRoberts took part in his first Lakers practice Wednesday, arriving a day after his agent texted him with simple words: "You're a Laker." McRoberts was described by Gasol as scrappy and a hustler. He's also penciled in to start the season opener Dec. 25 against Chicago because Bynum must serve a five-game suspension and Gasol will slide over to center. McRoberts is cognizant that Lakers fans want him to fill the void left by Odom, but they're not the same type of player. Odom was an excellent ballhandler who preferred to drive to the basket. McRoberts is more of a screen-setter with a decent mid-range jumper. McRoberts, 24, averaged 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes for Indiana last season. The Lakers will look at two veterans to possibly add to their roster. Power forward Troy Murphy worked out at their facility Wednesday, though the Lakers could only offer him a veteran's-minimum contract of about $1.4 million if they liked him. Murphy, 31, averaged 3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds last season for New Jersey and Boston, a steep drop-off from a 2009-10 season in which the smooth shooter averaged 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds for Indiana. The Lakers will also monitor Baron Davis, who was waived Wednesday by Cleveland under the one-time "amnesty" provision. Teams that are under the salary cap have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit an offer to the NBA for Davis. If the 12-year veteran goes unclaimed, the Lakers could offer him the veteran's minimum. The Cavaliers still have to pay Davis, 32, the remaining two years and $28.7 million remaining on his contract but he will not count against Cleveland's salary cap. Davis was bothered by a bad back in recent years and did not take part in training camp with Cleveland because his back felt stiff. He averaged 13.1 points and 6.7 assists last season for the Clippers and Cleveland. -LA Times
Kobe got 40 against the Jazz last night in a 90-87 OT win, following on from his 48 points the night before against the Suns. Still got it.