Teams on the Rise

With a somewhat busy offseason so far, some teams are looking to move into the playoffs. The main hopefuls:

LA Clippers- Plagued by injured stars and bad chemistry last season(after changing 12 of the 14 roster players from the year before), the Clippers are ready to turn it around and announced it by Selecting Blake Griffin #1 Overall in the Draft.



#23 C #1 PG #32 PF #10 SG #12 SF
Marcus Camby Baron Davis Blake Griffin Eric Gordon Al Thornton

The 2010 Los Angeles Clippers

Are You Ready?


Memphis Grizzlies- By getting 2 post players in Hasheem Thabeast(new nickname- you heard it here first) and Zach Randolph, the Grizz have strengthened their frontcourt with Rudy Gay, O. J. Mayo, and Mike Conley, all young studs.

Oklahoma City Thunder- A team that is victim of an atroscious start to the season, on pace to the worst record in NBA history, the Thunder turned it around and finished the season with an impressive 41-point win on the road. They have some great young stars in Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, James Harden, and Jeff Green. Basically all they lack is a center.

Toronto Raptors- With a team as good as the Raptors, its hard to believe they were out of the playoffs last year. Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu, and Chris Bosh should be able to bring Canada to the postseason.

Washington Wizards- Injuries, injuries... Gilbert Arenas, a few years removed from being in contention to be the best PG in NBA history, missing the majority of the last few years, the team's future is in jeapordy. But if Arenas can come back strong, he may push the Wizards into the playoffs with the help of Caron Butler, Antawn Jaminson, and newly acquired backcourt mate Randy Foye.

Hornets, Bobcats Swap Centers

The Hornets traded Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for Emeka Okafor. While Tyson probably has more value, Emeka is the better player and younger and BEING PAYED LESS. Strictly a salary dump for New Orleans.

You want it, you got it!

Good thing technology has advanced over the past year! Now we have a video of how "bad" Lebron was posterized. But really, Lebron's confiscation just showed us how much of a baby he is. The dunk really wasn't that bad, but Lebron's attitude was. Enjoy!

TMZ

Second view
(Not as clean.)

Clearly the dunk wasn't as bad as it was thought to be. But in the end, Prince James went back to the bus and probably cried on the phone to his moma after the camp session. Job well done spectators!

Yao Ming to Have Surgery on Foot

All-Star C Yao Ming announced today that he wil undergo surgery on his broken left foot. This surgery will cause him to miss next season. Rockets Team Physician Dr. Tom Clanton will perform the surgery. The bigger question for the Rockets: How to salvage this year without putting years with Ming in the future in jeapordy? Well, they need another C, because Dikembe Motumbo retired, so they should look to clear out a somewhat crowded wing with Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Tracy McGrady, Von Wafer, Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza, Chase Buddinger, and Brent Barry, 8 capable player at the wings as opposed to 0 players that can play the Center position. The tallest active player on the Rocket's roster is 6-9(Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Brian Cook). The Rockets have an appropriate amount of talent, but they simply need to spread it out.

What hapens in Lebron's camp, stays in Lebron's camp.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

What happens in Lebron Jame’s camp stays at Lebron Jame’s camp also?

So apparently, on Wednesday morning, it was reported that King James was dunked on. James was dunked on by a college student from Xavier, Jordan Crawford. But don’t take my word for how badly James seemed to have gotten dunked on, take a look at the video. Oh wait, reports alleged that Lebron spoke to a Nike executive after the dunk to confiscate all the videos inside the training camp. Surprise, surprise. One thing that we should have learned from the NBA playoffs last season was that King James has yet to mature into a King. In the eyes of haters, he’s known as 1, Lebrick, 2, Prince James and 3, my personal favorite, Princess James. Oh what loving names for a 24 year old kid.

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our no videotaping policy at an after-hours pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent on Wednesday.

The fact that Lebron confiscated all the video cameras just shows how mature Lebron really is. As if not shaking the hands of your opponents wasn’t enough, Lebron goes on to wearing a “LBJ/ MVP” shirt to prove his dominance on the NBA. I’m glad that Lebron’s competitive, but a sore loser also? I’ve always been supportive of Lebron, but Lebron seems to always make the wrong choices.

Remember when Devon Hariss was beaten on a 1v1 and all he did was laugh?

In this case, I don’t believe that Lebron confiscated the videos because it wasn’t allowed within the camp; I believe that Lebron confiscated the video because how much of a fool Jordan Crawford made Lebron look like. Now we all have our imaginations of how bad the dunk really was, instead of how bad the dunk really is. In this case, Lebron could have been pasteurized, dunked on while Crawford was doing a 360, and all Lebron could do was stare and feel the embarrassment of the cameras. I like Lebron as a player, but Lebron needs to grow up and realize that losing is an everyday essential. Without losing (and looking embarrassed), we’d never be able to realize why we lost and would never fully appreciate each victory.

My List of Top 5 Greatest In All Time

One of the most debatable topics in NBA is who is the greatest. To make it even more controversial, who are the top 5 players in NBA history? I was led into this topic after getting off work one day and one Laker fan was quick to throw out Kobe Bryant at being #1 at the top of their list. I, myself, threw out Michael Jordan, as it seems that Michael Jordan has accomplished more in Michael Jordan’s career than Kobe ever will and has. But here is a thing I hate about debating with Lakers fan: Kobe is always #1, MJ is #2, and after that, they don’t know who’s #3, 4 or 5. The more experience fan might say Magic Johnson or Larry Bird, but it almost always starts with Kobe. So, without further a due, I want to throw out my top 5 in NBA history. Some will agree with my list, but most will probably disagree.
I was hoping to work from #5- #1, but I already gave away my #1, so I’ll just start from there.

At the best player in NBA history, this award easily goes to Michael Jordan.

I hate to get into this discussion, as MJ was probably (and could still possibly be) the biggest known athlete all time in any sports. Keep in mind that MJ averaged 31.1 ppg in his entire career (first all time) and 2,514 steals (second all time.) MJ was ROY, appeared in 14 all star games, which he was MVP in three of them, 10 first team ALL-NBA, 9 first team All-Defense, 5 MVP awards, and 6 finals MVP. Also, don’t forget that he won six championships. There is so many talks about Kobe playing in a more competitive league, but remember that Jordan had to play against greats such as Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, just to name a few. This is also just a limited list of who Jordan was playing against.

At #2, Wilt Chamberlin

At #2, choosing Wilt felt like a no-brainer. Keep in mind that the lat season of Wilts career, he shot over 70% from the floor, a record that still stands today. In his rookie season, he won both ROY and MVP. During one season, he scored 100 points in a game and was average 50.1 ppg and averaged 25.7 rebounds. Wilt’s personal achievements can never be overlooked, but his team efforts can. Wilt only won two championships total, as Bill Russell seems to be the clear winner. Still, with the way Wilt was playing, I’d give Wilt #2, and Russell #3.

Woops, I just stated my #3. Bill Russell.

Bill Russell doesn’t have a knack for big scoring numbers, but he does have a knack for grabbing rebounds. He is second all time in rebounds at 21, 620 boards per game. Russell won 5 MVP awards and those 11 rings on his fingers sure does make Russell an attractive option at #3. There’s no way you can put Russell past 5. Argue that he played under a spectacular coach in Red, but coaches don’t win games( or championships), players do.

At #4, I give my hats off Oscar Robertson.

That’s right, Big O. Some say that Robertson is underrated, as he is never talked about in any top 5’s. Well, I can easily say Robertson is one of the greatest of all time. Oscar was the only player to average a triple double in one season (30.8ppg, 12.5 rpg, 11.4 apg) and that was done during his second year in the NBA. He averaged 25.7 during his 14 year career. I can’t say much about Oscar as I have never seen him play before (same goes for Russel and Wilt), but with those stats alone, it’s safe to say that Lebron has a while to catch up with Oscar.

At #5, I found myself struggle to decide who to put here. I decided that Shaq was at probably at the best fit for #5.
(I was debating whether to put Bird, Magic, or Kareem on this list.) I’ve realized one thing, you either love this guy, or you hate him. I think 15 years in the All Star game is enough to prove he dominated the game. He’s tied with Chamberlin in leading the league in fg%, 1 MVP, 3 Finals MVP, 4 rings, and has an average of 25 and 12 in the playoffs. Some argue that Shaq was fat and lazy, but they simply can’t be judging their theories on the old Shaq who played for Orlando and Lakers. At 7’1, Shaq clearly dominated any center that tries to stop him. It was like watching a train vs. a hurricane, take a guess of who’s going to fall off the tracks first. Even in today’s game, Shaq can still push around players with his size.

So if you’ve bared with me and read my article, I just wanted to state that Kobe is #1,2,3,4 or 5. He might not even be 6,7,8,9, and so forth in that matter. Kobe is good, but Lakers fan clearly over estimate him to be the greatest. But hey, what’s one guy’s opinion? Somebody enlighten me with their list of 5 greatest NBA players.

Keep in mind that this is the opinion of me, Jackson. LJ's list could possibly disagree with mines as his love obsesion with Battier could be #1 (no just kidding.)

Sources: Slam Mag.

More Transactions: Wallace; Kidd

Maveicks re-sign Jason Kidd

The Mavs agreed to a 3-year, 25mil contract with the 36-year-old Jason Kidd. Now, While Jason Kidd is important for the mavericks, wouldn't they be better off with a younger player like Jarett Jack, Chris Quinn, or Nate Robinson? Jason Kidd will be 40 when his contract expires, these 3 guys would only be 28. Maybe Dallas kept Kidd with hopes that J.J. Berea can start in 3 years.

Celtics Secure Deal With Rasheed Wallace

The Boston Celtics have reached terms with Rasheed Wallace, who was lured there with hopes that a starting lineup of: Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Wallace, Garnett could win a title. You have to admit, thats one star-studded team. The terms were in the neighberhood of 2 years and 12 million dollars. Rasheed and Garnett can both guard Dwight Howard fairly well, and we all remember the battles between LeBron and Paul Pierce in the East Finals.

Houston we have a problem.

Did anybody know that there was a third twin tower? It towers over everybody that visits it, people continually take pictures of the massive structure, and it could possibly fly. Wait what? Did I just say that? A flying tower? Why not? At 7’6, Yao Ming is a skyscraper compared to the typical NBA players. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for the Houston Rockets either, after all, Rockets main purpose is flying.

But just like the twin towers, the third tower seems to have taken a hit. “Houston, we have a problem.” On July 1 2009, Yahoo first reported of Yao Ming’s injury. “Yao sustained a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone late in a May 8 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets said last week that the injury has not healed and he was out indefinitely.” Reports have stated that Yao could miss all of next season, and can even be career ending. Yao has decided to take a different path and seek different medical opinions. In recent reports, Yao will also wait a week before deciding surgery. Eric Zhang, Yao’s agent, has stated regarding of Yao’s injury, “We are still in the information gathering period.”

Chinese officials have responded by saying that they do not believe that Yao’s status is as serious as it seems. Keep in mind that this isn’t the first time Yao’s ever injured his foot. In 2006- 2007, Yao missed 32 games because of a leg injury. In 2007-2008, Yao sustained a stress fracture in his left foot in 2007-08, which caused him to miss 26 games.

But I wouldn’t exactly jump to conclusion that Yao Ming is finally done. While some reports say that Yao’s career is done, doctors have said the same regarding quite a few players. In 2005-06, Darius Miles severly injured his knee while playing with the Portland Trail Blazers. Doctors were stated to say that Miles would probably never play again. While Miles missed two seasons Miles sure enough made a comeback. In that same year, Amare Stoudemire discovered knee cartilage damage, which resulted in micro fracture surgery. People were fast to say that Amare would not be able to come back to the NBA, and if he was able to, he would never compete at the caliber as he had before. Sure enough, Amare proved critics wrong and has continually risen to become one of the leagues best power forward/ center positions today. But I think the best example would be Shaun Livingston. Scouts have said that Livingston could be the next Magic Johnson with his pass first mentality. All those dreams were postponed in 2007. “Shaun suffered tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral meniscus. Livingston also suffered a patella dislocation, in addition to the previously diagnosed tibia/femoral dislocation” (nba.com/clippers.) Some doctors said that he would never play again, let alone walk. With determination, Shaun now plays for Oklahoma Thunders.

Seems like Yao is in bad shape now right? Wrong. The Rockets are clearly in worse shape. Without Yao, Houston seems to be destine to miss the playoffs next year after a promising playoff run against the Lakers. Who knows how many games Tracy McGrady is destined to miss next season, Ron Artest is gone, and now Yao Ming is hurt. The certainty is that Rockets seem to be looking for anything to replace Yao. In the beginning, Houston took a desperate approach to try and sign big man Marcin Gortat. They even created an email address, rocketsfanslovegortat@gmail.com, to only find Gortat signing with Dallas. Within the unrestricted free agent range playing the 5, there really isn’t any real dept inside. Arguably Chris Wilcox, Zaza Pachulia, Leon Powe, and Mikii Moore could be one the better unrestricted free agents in the class.

The second approach the Rockets can take is doing a trade to a team that has an overhaul at the center position. Being a fan of the Clippers has made me interested in exploring a possible trade to the Rockets for Kaman. Looking deep into their rooster, however, there isn’t a great want in their team besides Shane Battier. The problem with that is Shane Battier’s contract does not entirely match with Chris Kaman, so unless Houston is willing to let go of a player such as Aaron Brooks, the deal is practically shot down. Also, once 2010 hits, the only center in the team (if Kaman is traded) would be Deandre Jordan, not an ideal player to start at the center position yet. So the problem is, the Clippers should try and explore a trade option with Camby, but Houston might not want an aging veteran for a glue guy who can score without the ball. Let’s face it, Shane Battier has more trade value than Marcus Camby after his performance with Kobe.

The second trade option could possibly be for Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas, also known as “Z.” Z’s upside is phenomenal, he is one of the taller NBA players, shoots the ball very well, and can also play the low post game. With the recent acquisition of Shaq, Z might possibly switch to PF, a move that has two 7 footers starting. While it’s unclear what the Cav’s starting lineup would look like, Houston could should possibly take an approach to try and acquire Z from Cleveland. I’m not really a trade guru, so it’s doubtful that any trade speculations would work out. The problem with trading for Z is that if Cleveland wants to. Remember that Cav’s want to do anything to hold on to Lebron’s contract, which coincidental expires the same time Z’s contract does. This gives Cleveland a huge salary relief of $10,841,615, or if you’re not good with numbers like me, roughly 10 million.

Seems to me that the third tower in Houston is pretty irreplaceable, and it’s true. Even if Houston were able to sign Gortat, Gortat probably wouldn’t be able to replace the numbers that the 7’6 giant would probably produce. Don’t forget that Yao can shoot jumpers, which Gortat can’t. Easily this year, we can say that Houston probably will miss the playoffs this year. Oh by the way, there isn't a ground zero in Houston though. Even if Yao is in a wheel chair, he'd still probably be taller than most of us... Just saying. (:

Celtics Extend Offer To Sheed

In a meeting in Detroit today, Celtic stars Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett joined GM Danny Ainge in an effort to recruit Pistons F Rasheed Wallace. Thats one famous recruiting team. Wallace's agent, Bill Strickland, told the Boston Globe Newspaper that contract terms were discussed, but no agreement was reached. Wallace will continue to meet with teams this week. I, personally, do not understand all the fuss over a 35-year-old averaging 12ppg in a starting role.

Verbal Agreements: the 2009 Free Agent Class

On tuesday night, the NBA Free Agent Negotiating period began. So far a number of... interesting moves have been made.

Lakers Reach Agreement With Artest

Today, Ron Artest and the Lakers reached an agreement somewhere near 3 years/18 mil, ESPN's Marc Stein reports. This move holes up the Lakers roster fairly well, as Artest is a better Ariza for 3/4 the cost. The Lakers now may be able to re-sign Lamar Odom, but an Ariza return is unlikely. The Lakers will only improve if this Artest deal goes through, but the acquiring of Ron poses a serious question: 2 Attitude Problems on a team? Can the Diva Kobe and the Angry Ron play alongside each other for 3 Years? We will see.

Pistons Reach Agreement With Gordon, Villinueva

The Pistons have reached verbal agreements with FA's Ben Gordon and Charlie Villinueva. The agreement with Ben Gordon strikes me as odd, if only because they now have 3 starting guards in Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, and Richard Hamilton. They also lack any size besides Charlie with Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace leaving. The only big man left standing is Jason Maxiell. Charlie Villinueva+Jason MaxiellAntonio McDyess+Rasheed Wallace+Jason Maxiell. I expect a guard to be traded for a big man.

Rockets Agree To Deal With Ariza

In what is essentially a player swap, the Rockets lost Ron Artest to the Lakers and agreed to a deal with Trevor Ariza. They basically payed more money for a worse player. The problem for the Rockets? When McGrady returns, they will have McGrady, Battier, and Ariza, all wanting to start, playing only 2 positions. A possible solution? The Clippers are reportedly interested in Battier. A Kaman-Battier swap would clear up the backcourt logjam for the Rockets.

Grizzlies Acquire Zach Randolph

By Jackson Kwong

Does anybody else remember the trade that was initialed by Dunleavy in a desperate move to cover up Elton Brand? Well, general manager and head coach Mike Dunleavy decides to trade Zach Randolph over to Memphis for ex Clipper Quentin Richardson. An interesting deal; nevertheless, a questionable one.

Well to begin, Zach Randolph was brought over to replace Elton Brand because Brand bolted in fear of playing in the West( who really knows Brands motives.) Regardless, it was a definite questionable deal. In return for Randolph, the Clippers sent two expiring contract deals in 2010, Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley. Afterwards, a physical showed that Mobley had a condition and should not be playing or else it could be life threatening.

Back to the point, clearly Dunleavy made a move on desperation. With the incoming trade for Zach Randolph, the Clippers were in no position to compete in the 2010 free agency (Lebron, Wade, Bosh.) Zach Randolphs contract was to expire in two years, 2011, with an overwhelming 17 million each yeah. Granted Zach Randolphs 20-10 production seems appealing, he also hides a strong defect in return.

One downside to Zach Randolph’s production is his locker room presence. His attitude was well known during the “Jail Blazer” era. Zach Randolphs behavior was probably at its best with the Clippers. During the 39 games that he played with LA, he gave a sucker punch to Louis Amundson and was caught on drunk driving (although his DUI was later rejected in court.) With the recent trade for Q, the Clippers seem to have decided to clean up some potential locker issues.

But one thing I couldn’t overlook on Zach Randolph was his defense. The guy just can’t play defense. Throughout his career, the guy only averaged 0.3 blocks. Arguably the embarassing point for me was when Zach Randolph was benched in Michigan State because of his lack of defense. You can argue that he scores 20-10 all you like, but easily that was a big flaw in Zach Randolph. Although offense is definitely important, defense can’t be taken too lightly either. If you count back to any championship teams, they have won with their solid defense. San Antonio had Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobli, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker (etc etc), Detroit had Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Billups, TayShaun Prince, and even the current championship team, Lakers, were able to contain Dwight Howard. Truth is, defense is more important than offense.

But this is where it gets a bit tricky. Clippers fans have openly praised a “glue guy” targeting players such as Shane Battier and TayShaun Prince. With the addition of Q, that would be a third SF playing the 3 for the Clippers (Thornton, Mardy Collins, Q). Clippers fan thought that overloading the center and power forward position as being bad, imagine overloading your team with small forwards?

Even though the Clippers needed to trade away one of their big man, I don’t think Zach Randolph was the right recipe. That’s right, I have just said that the Clippers might need Zach. Why? Well, for one, Clippers lacked offense last season. There was no lie to it. Zach’s offense might have been the one of the few gleaming light on those dark Clipper games. Now, I did say that defense won championship, but there is nothing wrong with having Randolph in the second unit. The media seems to have focused its attention more on the 6th man position anyways( Jason Terry, Manu Ginobli, Lamar Odom), so if the Clippers are winning, Zach can’t complain. As of now, the Clippers are going to rely on Chris Kaman, Deandre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and Marcus Camby to do the dirty work down low. Problem with that is Blake Griffin is just a rookie, Deandre Jordan’s game is defintiley not anywhere near Zach’s, Chris Kaman has the slipperiest hands I’ve ever seen, and Marcus Camby is definitely not a post up man. This deal possibly means the Clippers might not compete for the playoffs this year.

But this trade seems to benefit the Clippers in a few ways. One, the Clippers can now compete in the 2010 free agency, the team won’t be bothered by the extra baggage that Zach Randolph carries, and Blake Griffin will have more playing time to himself at power forward. All together, if the Clippers weren’t looking to compete this season, might as well rebuild, and the Clippers did just that.

Player Movement

The NBA Free Agency Period is soon to begin. Last night at 12:00ET the negotiating period began. Already, players like Marcin Gortat and Ben Gordon are in negotiations with teams. But, let's rewind a couple of days first, to the many options accepted and declined this year.

1) Carlos Boozer, Player Option, Accepted
2) Mehmet Okur, Player Option, Accepted
3) Kyle Korver, Player Option, Accepted
4) Anderson Varejao, Player Option, Declined
5) Louis Almundson, Team Option, Accepted
6) Bobby Brown, Player Option, Accepted
7) Micheal Finley, Player Option, Accepted
8) Devean George, Player Option, Accepted
9) Alex Acker, Team Option, Declined
10) Brian Skinner, Player Option, Declined
11) Kwame Brown, Player Option, Accepted
12) Jarvis Hayes, Team Option, Accepted
13) Marquis Daniels, Team Option, Declined
14) Chris Quinn, Player Option, Accepted
15) Kobe Bryant, Player Option, Accepted
16) Royal Ivey, Player Option, Declined
17) Hedo Turkoglu, Player Option, Declined
18) Kylyro Fesenko, Player Option, Accepted

Also, lets take a look at qualifying offer. A qualifying offer is simple. The team offers a free agent the minimum salary before the free agent period begins. Now, if another team then offers said player 10mil for next season, the player's original team can match that offer, even if it put them over the cap. Now, if no other team gives the player an offer, the original team MUST pay the qualifying offer.

1) Steve Novak, Recieved
2) Hakim Warrick, Recieved
3) Joey Graham, Not Recieved
4) Channing Frye, Not Recieved
5) Charlie Villenueva, Not Recieved
6) Ramon Sessions, Recieved
7) Paul Milsap, Recieved
8) Raymond Felton, Recieved
9) Sean May, Not Recieved
10) Joel Anthony, Recieved
11) Jamario Moon, Recieved

Now, there are many other free agents. Here is a list, including ones we went over before.

Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Maurice Ager, David Lee, Nate Robinson, Chris Wilcox, Eddy Curry, Al Harrington, Royal Ivey, Quentin Richardson, Donyell Marshall, Andre Miller, Theo Ratliff, Kareem Rush, Joey Graham, Shawn Marion, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Anthony Parker, Jake Voskuhl, Ben Gordon, Aaron Gray, Lindsay Hunter, Jerome James, Anthony Roberson, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, Lorenzzen Wright, Zydrunas Ilgauskus, Anderson Varejao, Walter Hermann, Allen Iverson, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Will Bynum, Maceo Baston, Stephen Graham, Rasho Nesterovic, Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts, Solomon Jones, Mario West, Marvin Williams, Marquis Daniels, Travis Deiner, Keith Bogans, Damon Jones, Ramon Sessions, Malik Allen, Francisco Elson, Charlie Villinueva, Mike Bibby, Flip Murrary, Zaza Pachulia, Thomas Gardener, Othello Hunter, Solomon Jones, Mario West, Marvin Williams, Juwan Howard, Raymond Felton, Cartier Martin, Sean May, Sean Singletary, Luther Head, Jamaal Magloire, Chris Quinn, Joel Anthony, Jamario Moon, Jermaine O'Neal, Diawara Yakhouba, Adonal Foyle, Marcin Gortat, Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson, Anthony Johnson, Hedo Turkoglu, Juan Dixon, Ron Artest, Dikembe Mutombo, Von Wafer, James White, Brian Cook, Chris Mihm, Darius Miles, Quinton Ross, Mike Wilks, Hakim Warrick, Ryan Bowen, Melvin Ely, Sean Marks, Devin Brown, Drew Gooden, Ime Udoka, Jacque Vaughn, Chris Andersen, Anthony Carter, Jason Hart, Dahntay Jones, Linas Kleiza, Johan Petro, Steven Hunter, Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Kevin Ollie, Sheldon Williams, Malik Rose, Desmond Mason, Robert Swift, Damien Wilkins, Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz, Shavlik Randolph, Michael Ruffin, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Price, Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight, Morris Almond, Kyrylo Fesenko, Jamal Crawford, Rob Kurz, C.J. Watson, Alex Acker, Fred Jones, Steve Novak, Brian Skinner, Trevor Ariza, Shannon Brown, Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, Stromile Swift, Calvin Booth, Ike Diogu, Bobby Jackson, Rashad McCants, and Cedric Simmons.

That's alot.

The First 5 Teams

Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, and Cleveland. Oddly enough, all Eastern Conference. I think they are all still up on the page, but just in case:
Team 1: Atlanta Hawks
http://lucasnbablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/atlanta-hawks-team-1.html
Team 2: Boston Celtics
http://lucasnbablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/team-2-boston-celtics.html
Team 3: Charlotte Bobcats
http://lucasnbablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/team-3-charlotte-bobcats.html
Team 4: Chicago Bulls
http://lucasnbablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/team-4-chicago-bulls.html
Team 5: Cleveland Cavaliers
http://lucasnbablog.blogspot.com/2009/06/team-5-cleveland-cavaliers.html

The teams so far. After 5 more articles, I will include a link here as well as to those 5. You can also read any posts by finding it in my archive at the left of the screen.

Team 5: The Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs were the best regular season team last year, winning 66 games. They went a 2009 Playoff-Best 8-0 through the first two rounds... to be upset by Orlando. Badly. Both of the Cleveland wins were caused directly by Lebron: one was a truly amazing buzzer-beater and the other was a legendary performance in which LeBron scored or assisted on, and no this is not a typo, Cleveland's last THIRTY-FREAKING-TWO(3freaking2) points and shook all doubts that LeBron is King of today's basketball era(unless you are an ignorant Kobe fan).

But the Cavs fell apart in 2 ways: The Guards and the big men. So basically everybody but 'Bron. The Cavs have a better chance of stopping Superman with the recent Shaquille O'Neal Trade(http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/shaq_trade_090625.html) and are considering signing Rasheed Wallace or trading for Zach Randolph. They also slightly need a guard who can still score even when his jumpshot isn't falling. I'm left thinking that a sign and trade for CryptoNate Robison would suit this team perfectly. If they had Robinson, West, James, Randolph, and O'Neal... look out. This lineup can easily challenge the Orland Magic's all-star studded lineup.

Team 4: The Chicago Bulls

They took the defending NBA Champs to 7 games with multiple OT. I feel like adding in James Johnson and Taj Gibson will put them over on Boston. Then you playThe Magic. Who guards Dwight Howard??? Nobody on roster can put up a fight against Dwight. Get out there and get a big man. I feel like with the combo of Joakim Noah, there a=is no post prescence on offense. KEEP BEN GORDON!!!!! He is your best player and go-to guy on offense.

The 2009 NBA Draft In Review

1-Blake Griffin, Future Rookie of The Year, No suprises
2- Hasheem Thabeet, the Grizz opt to go big with the 7-3 Tanzinian
3- James Harden, Thunder grab a backcourt mate for Westbrook early on
4- Tyreke Evans, Kings Pick up a point, suprised they did'nt take Rubio
5- Ricky Rubio, Minnisota's prayers are answered, Rubio slips to the end of the Top 5
6- Johnny Flynn, Another Point for Minni, will go small in the backcourt with two good PGs
7- Stephen Curry,GSW picks up a wing player who wanted NY. Great Shooting PG next to Ellis
8- Jordan Hill, NY almost gets Curry, settles for PF Hill. If they keep Hill, Lee won't be back
9- DeMar DeRozan, Good SG/SF for a dying Raptors team
10- Brandon Jennings, Went to Europe instead of College, not sure what to expect from him

Other Picks of Note:
37-DeJuan Blair, Projected top 20 pick, SA really stole him with a late pick, better the front line
48- Taylor Griffin, Brother of Blake, look for LAC to try to sign him to get them together.

Team 3: The Charlotte Bobcats

One of the newer franchises in the league, Charlotte has not had much success in the past couple of years. Their inconsistant roster includes one name even I admit to never having heard before: Alexis Ajinca. The Bobcats cannot seem to decide if they want to rebuild or win now. A starting lineup of D.J. Augistine, Raja Bell, Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, and Emeka Okafor is not particularly ugly, but its also not a playoff contender without solid bench prescence. Let it suffice to say that players like Nazr Mohammed, Juwan Howard, Sean Singletary, Vladmir Radmonovic, Desagana Diop, and Sean May do not make the cut on a contender's bench. The only unmentioned player so far is Raymond Felton, who is a solid PG for them with D.J. Augistine. However, in the long run, Charlotte will have to chose between Augistine and Felton. They are both young players(entering their 2nd and 3rd years, respectively), and will both reach starting caliber in the future.

The Bobcats need a starting C, a backup C, a backup SF, and a Backup SG. They are trying to develop the young French Center Alexis Ajinca(an NBA player I don't know? Let me fix that within 30 seconds), and will bet with him for a backup C. They recentley drafted Gerald Henderson, who will be backup/starting SG, and Derrick Brown, who can back up for Wallace at SF. So whats left? A Starting Center. This Bobcats team needs a big name here to draw some national attention. Options? Well there are only a few star bigs in the league, so they may have to wait for next year. These are players that will draw national media and such. LaMarcus Aldridge, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Andrew Bynum, Marcus Camby, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, David Lee, Shaq, Lamar Odom, Zach Randolph, Amar'e Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, and Yao Ming. When you figure the Bobcats need post scoring and defense, the list narrows from 18 to 14. Players that would actually sign on with Charlotte: from 14 right on down to 6. Who can the Bobcats get? Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Andrew Bynum, Al Horford, Chris Kaman, and David Lee. Cut out those too small to play center: Boozer, Brand, Bynum, Horford, and Kaman are left. Brand is on a new contract with the 76er's. Bynum and Horford are mid contract with the Hawks and the Lakers. So it's Boozer and Kaman. Boozer is a free agent, Kaman is on the trading block. One of these two players on the Bobcats=Playoff Contention.

Team 2: Boston Celtics

The 2008 NBA Championsfound themselves in a fix this year, missing Star PF Kevin Garnett to injury for their entire playoff run, which lasted two rounds and 14 games. They went from 32-0 to 32-1 in a series that starts with Boston having a 3-2 lead. The Celtics offered the Pistons a trade involving Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Rodney Stuckey, Richard 'Rip' Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince. This would not espescially help the Celtics, who would have a lineup that would be: Rodney Stuckey; PG, Richard Hamilton; SG, Paul Pierce; SF, Kevin Garnett; PF, Kendrick Perkins; C, with a 6th man in Tayshaun Price. But in this "Point-Guard driven league", Boston might need to make some moves for a star PG as opposed to a average one in Rodney Stuckey.

Atlanta Hawks: Team 1

I promised 30 teams in 30 days, so here goes:

After a first round victory over the Miami Heat in 7 games, the Hawks were the second team to be swept by Cleveland. The Hawks need to add a good defender at SF, like Ron Artest, who is a free agent this summer. They had no answer for LeBron in the second round. Also, if they get over the hump on Cleveland, the Hawks have good matchups in Orlando, with the smaller PF in Josh Smith. However, they also need a bigger C to defend Dwight Howard. A Horford may be able to hold his own, but Zaza? Please.

30 Teams, 30 Days

Over the next 30 days, I will be posting 30 articles about each of the NBA teams. I will review each team's season, analyze their roster, and predict how successful they might be next season.

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