Flash wrote: Haha, thanks Flash!

And glad that shirt is helping your game!

WallyWorld wrote: Apparently Tom Ziller is reporting that it wasn't the Orlando GM's move... says the Orlando president forced/made the trade. (www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/8/10/3232964/d...-lakers-rob-hennigan)

Wow. Just sad and absurd. The NBA sucks. Too bad I love the sport of basketball so much.

WallyWorld wrote:
Given the large number of horrible contracts the Magic have, getting rid of all them was never possible which in-turn could mean getting rid of any of them is a fools errand. By the time they are good those guys will be gone.

Still think they could have gotten ONE young interesting player from GS. Bynum would be more valuable than what they got just in re-trade value.

BUT.... you really have to consider the fact that there would have been little to no chance Dwight would have re-signed with Golden State so they probably never really made a big push.

The only GM dumb enough to make a fruitless ploy was Morey (who made a better offer...see Woj's recent tweets). I don't get why Orlando didn't pull an FU to Dwight and his agent and trade him to Houston. They made the move that was best for DWIGHT and not for the FRANCHISE which is super lame/twisted/ass backawardst.

The fact that Dwight indicated where he would re-sign long term is sort of important for any team giving up significant pieces for him. It is also HUGE leverage for LAL. And while the Lakers win (again), it's not like they gave up nothing. They gave up the #2/3 center in the league to get him. A no-brainer, still, but a factor.

PS...Denver is the one who really made out like bandits here. Christ.

Flash wrote:
As of today, I go:
1. Lakers
2. Thunder
3. Nuggets
4. Spurs
5. Grizz
6. Wolves
7. Clippers
8T. Mavericks
8T. Jazz

163. Houston

The west got a WHOLE LOT tougher last night. Wolves get the homer vote from me over LAC. I just see the Wolves depth and unilateral production similar to Denver, who has the coaching edge on player development over most everyone. Spurs' age will start to show this year, but I also said that 3 years ago.

This shiat is depressing. Ain't no way Orlando does this trade vs. others for purely basketball reasons. What is going on? This is so dumb.

We'll see how this plays out on the court, but I don't think the Thunder can beat this team in 7 games. Bynum or Howard, Nash is quite the facilitator and will make these players so much better. The mobility of Gasol with Howard is makes them better than with Bynum. Bynum is a better scorer but they can force OKC to stay big can't they? Who knows, I'll still be rooting for OKC over this team. Hell, I'll root for every team in the west over the Lakers with Howard. He is such an asshole.

WallyWorld wrote:
How bad is the East?

1. Miami (best team)
2. Boston (probably should be a 4 seed but none of the other teams will beat them)
3. Nyets (ehh)
4. Indiana (didn't get any better)
5. Knicks (ehhh)
6. Sixers (ehhh...potential, but not killing anyone this year)
7. Chicago???
8. Atlanta??? / Toronto

Maybe Washington ?

Wow...the east. Ha. What a joke. Wittman in the playoffs?! A real possibility. Laughable.

Ranking the west is a challenge. Man, if the Wolves get mired by injuries a playoff berth isn't going to be a shoe in. Utah/DAL/MEM/LAC/GS are the new must-beats.

Lakers - Fuck you
Thunder - Oddly, No improvements
Nuggets - MUCH better
Spurs - Zero moves. Age factor
Grizz - Lose Mayo. Will be at full health.
Wolves - MUCH better
Clippers - Slight improvements, but a bunch of oldies and inefficient dudes. Del Negro terrible.
Mavericks - Re-tooled nicely. Added Kaman, Mayo, Brand while losing Jet and Kidd.
Jazz - Added Foye...and Mo and Marv Williams. But lose Harris. Favors breakout year? Tough to read.

Warriors - Health a HUGE issue with them. Bogut and Curry miss time = season over
New Orleans - Don't write 'em off
Sacramento - Dysfunctional and mismatched still. Will never be a factor
Phoenix - No
Portland - No
Houston - Have fun McHale

I can't stand Dwight Howard. Now I'm going to have to see his face on TV all the time. Once again the Lakers make out like bandits. WTF is going on. I can't wait to read Simmons article, he's gotta be outraged.

1. Lakers. BUT far from a guaranteed Finals run.
2. Thunder.
3. Spurs
4. Clippers
5. Mavs
6. Nuggets
7. Wolves
8. Grizzle
9. Warriors
10. Jazz

Bottom. Kings, Rockets, Suns, Hornets, Blazers

It is hard to know what to expect from the Mavs. The fact that Dirk has lost so many of the guys from the championship AND they've lost out on Deron and Dwight could mean he'll be in one of his funks.

I'm really hoping GS is still a year away. They'll be annoying for sure.

daddyfatsax wrote: Word.

What a wishy-washy douchey little baby.

pants wrote: Mavs will be good. At least, a lot better than last year (imo.)

Kaman, Brand, JAE CROWDER, Mayo, Collison.

Much better than the guys they lost from last year's squad. I mean, 73 year old Jason Kidd? Odom, who didn't even play for them? Haywood??? Mahimini?!?!?

Hahahahahahahaha at the Rockets and Morey!

WHAT THE HELL were you doing?!? Good luck with the team you've got now. I rank it as the 8,051 best team in the Western Conference.

Flash wrote:
That looks pretty close to what I am thinking as well, except the Lakers are going to be the #1 seed (you can bank on that) and I think the Clippers are going to be a very strong team this year whereas the Grizzlies will fall off a bit.

1. Lakers
2. OKC
3. Spurs
4. Clippers
5. Nuggets
6. Wolves
7. Grizz
8. Mavs

So I pretty much agree that 4-7 for the wolves is about right.

Clips, Mavs, Nuggets, Grizzlies could leapfrog us. Of those teams though, with a healthy squad (including Ricky) I think the Wolves are the best by a stretch. That's a huge if, but the season hasn't started so we can make ish like that up.