NBA Season 2014-2015

[j959]

Not George :(

He'll still play in as many playoff games as his team-mates will  :-X

Pacers are flowered.

Ouch!!!!!  :o   :'(   :-\   :(

and I thought MMA/UFC was brutal!  :o   ;)
so does Love to Cleveland pretty much make them equal faves with Chicago (with a healthy D Rose) for the East??

Thadd Young to Phoenix for a 1st rder - think McDonough & Co. would take that in a heart-beat!  :o   ;)

[Holz]

Not George :(

He'll still play in as many playoff games as his team-mates will  :-X

Pacers are flowered.

Ouch!!!!!  :o   :'(   :-\   :(

and I thought MMA/UFC was brutal!  :o   ;)
so does Love to Cleveland pretty much make them equal faves with Chicago (with a healthy D Rose) for the East??

Thadd Young to Phoenix for a 1st rder - think McDonough & Co. would take that in a heart-beat!  :o   ;)

I have bulls over cavs at the moment but, have to go cavs favourite with love. Love is a beast. Lebron can move to his best postions SF or Point Forward with Irving able to play SG or PG. Love is just a much better bosh who can spread the floor even better and an absolute force on the boards which Lebron  never had at the heat. Irving is far more explosive and I would say a better player than wade.

So an upgrade on Wade and Bosh. Guys like Waiters Varejo and TT can play roles too.

Cant see the spurs stopping them as they struggle against high tempo athletic teams and as I said guys like riving over wade really help. Bulls do look strong though.

assuming cavs get love for me its Cavs than Bulls in the east. Thunder than Clippers in the west.

[valkorum]

I think you cant write off the current champions - Spurs.  Everyone writes them off at the start of each season but they have the same core players so why wouldnt they get to the playoffs again.

[Holz]

I think you cant write off the current champions - Spurs.  Everyone writes them off at the start of each season but they have the same core players so why wouldnt they get to the playoffs again.

Because at best I think they can repeat last year's level. Thunder I think could have taken them out last year with ibaka, plus given theiryouth they should keep improving. Likewise for the clippers. With love I rate the Cavs big 3 way higher than the old heat plus they have young support cast which should push the spurs more.

I rate the spurs but can't see them getting through 1 or 2 of clips thunder than Cavs bulls.

[Master Q]

Kawhi.

[Jay]

Without Love, no way are Cavs the favourites in the east which makes people wanting to keep Wiggins absolutely crazy. Love is a top 10 player in the association whereas Wiggins' value is all about potential. We're talking about one of the greatest players ever's prime years here, I'm not wasting any of that on a rookie. If I'm the Cavs give Minny whatever they want for Love.

If they do get Love though I still put them behind Chicago. Sure Cleveland will have the far superior offensive fire power but the Bulls team is much deeper and well balanced. We know how elite they are defensively and now adding Pau and a healthy D-Rose, their offense will be nothing to snooze at either. Last full season when D-Rose was healthy, Bulls had a top 5 offense while also boasting the league's best defense. Of course I'm presuming that Rose will be approximately 80% of MVP Rose, as without Rose playing at a high level the Bulls will face the same problem as last year - no scoring down the stretch.

LeBron last year was below average on defense, and if he repeats that this season I can't even see the Cavs advancing to the conference finals. Over the last 4 seasons they've finished 17th, 26th, 26th and 29th in defensive rating. And keep in mind they were 17th last year largely due to one of the premier wing defenders in the league, Luol Deng, who is now in Miami.

Cleveland gave up the most three pointers in the league last year and that was with Luol Deng. Sure, LeBron can help fix that but its going to involve him trying a lot harder on defense this year something he may or may not be willing to do. Cavs' opponents shot 61.3 percent within five feet of the basket last season, which tied for the fifth-highest percentage in the league. Kevin Love will make this number even worse as he ranked 74th out of 77 qualified players in FG% allowed at the rim. Tristan Thompson and Varejaro ranking 76th and 64th respectively.

Also taking into account that they have a rookie head coach who is mainly known for his offensive coaching - he is not someone I'd put faith in to fix this Cavs defense.

I think Irving is getting largely overrated as a "superstar" and I have my doubts whether he'll fit well next to LeBron. LeBron needs the ball in his hands to be effective, which is the same as Irving. Irving is not a good catch and shoot player which is critical when playing with LeBron. Last season, Irving shot 35.6 percent on catch-and-shoot shots, and just 32.1 percent from three on these opportunities. In spot-up shots, he was only slightly better: 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from three. Not exactly Ray Allen, Mike Miller, James Jones, Mario Chalmers, Chris Bosh numbers that LeBron was used to in Mimi.

Sure, a big 3 of Kyrie, LeBron and Love looks good on paper but between Kyrie's inability as an off-the-ball threat and Love's defensive deficiencies they certainly aren't a lock to beat a very well balanced Chicago team, let alone a contender out West.

Love it when people write the Spurs off, people did it last year and the year before. They will again be the best team in basketball next season - better than they were last season. Duncan and Manu showed no signs of slowing down and I expect Parker to be healthier this year. As shown in the finals, Kawhi has a huge ceiling and is only going to get better. People say that they can't beat an athletic team like OKC, but they did last year. And yes, Serge did play in that game 6 in which Spurs beat the Thunder and advanced to the finals.

I was high on the Clippers last year, seems I might have been one year too early. The addition of Spencer Hawes makes them a legit contender, that 3rd big spot was their weakness all season long and he should help stretch the floor next to BG and DJ. Whereas OKC didn't improve at all this off-season so I think a rematch between LAC and OKC would be awesome. Its just unfortunate for KD that the Thunder's ownership is too cheap to actually make moves that help on the court.

I think Phoenix should offer Monroe the max. Thoughts on that j959?

[j959]

you mean Bledsoe J-man??  ;)

[Jay]

you mean Bledsoe J-man??  ;)

Nah I mean they should offer Greg Monroe the max as well as keeping Bledsoe. :)

[JBs-Hawks]

Love to Cleveland
Young + Wiggins to Minnesota
Bennett to Philly

[Jay]

Love to Cleveland
Young + Wiggins to Minnesota
Bennett to Philly

Cant be confirmed until 30 days since Wiggins signed his rookie deal but it seems to be a handshake agreement. Good trade for all parties involved.

Cavs put a superstar next to Lebron.
Minnesota get the no.1 pick and a very good role player for a guy who was leaving at end of season anyway. Probably as good of a haul as they could hope for.
Philly continue their tank brigade by getting worse but acquire Bennett who has a pretty high upside.

Wont be too surprised though if GSW come swooping in with an offer of Klay, Lee and Barnes for Love while taking back the contract of Kevin Martin. Minnesota would have to consider that imo.

[j959]

you mean Bledsoe J-man??  ;)

Nah I mean they should offer Greg Monroe the max as well as keeping Bledsoe. :)

[Jay]

you mean Bledsoe J-man??  ;)

Nah I mean they should offer Greg Monroe the max as well as keeping Bledsoe. :)

They'll have enough cap space to offer Monroe the max and then they can go over the cap in matching an offer for Bledsoe should they receive one. It's not like their front court is stacked with talent. A core of Bledsoe/Dragic/Monroe with IT off the bench is starting to look really nice and seems very possible with the amount of cap space they have. And if Detroit match their offer then so be it.

[My Chumps]

Love to Cleveland
Young + Wiggins to Minnesota
Bennett to Philly

Stoopid Cavs. Love was going to walk next year anyway, wasn't he? Lost two #1 picks.

Maybe I'm just bitter about it.

[Jay]

Love to Cleveland
Young + Wiggins to Minnesota
Bennett to Philly

Stoopid Cavs. Love was going to walk next year anyway, wasn't he? Lost two #1 picks.

Maybe I'm just bitter about it.

The Cavs did what they had to. Couldn't afford to waste a year of Lebron's prime with insufficient talent around him. Bennett technically was the no.1 pick, but I certainly don't think he holds the market value of one :P
Think there's very little chance Love signs in Cleveland if he is not traded there.

[j959]

you mean Bledsoe J-man??  ;)

Nah I mean they should offer Greg Monroe the max as well as keeping Bledsoe. :)

They'll have enough cap space to offer Monroe the max and then they can go over the cap in matching an offer for Bledsoe should they receive one. It's not like their front court is stacked with talent. A core of Bledsoe/Dragic/Monroe with IT off the bench is starting to look really nice and seems very possible with the amount of cap space they have. And if Detroit match their offer then so be it.

Monroe is good but I don't think he's a franchise player - ie you don't give the max except for the/a franchise player.
So no, I very much hope that Phoenix don't give Monroe nor Bledsoe max - again see Ama're Stoudamire, he was not 'the man' so they didn't give him the max and that decision has been vindicated ...

would you give K-Love the max?? i'm not sure he's a corner-stone? will help LeBron for sure but you clearly know he's the no2 and even then with Kyrie there ... is he that??