NBA Free Agent Action is Hot!

Take a few days off to catch some fish at the cabin and you miss like, 1 million free agent signings in the NBA.  I'm going to hit a few of the highlights.  Or lowlights.

1.  Might as well start with your precious T-Wolves, who signed Kevin Martin and Chase Budinger in a move to try to surround the Ricky Rubio/Kevin Love nucleus with as many poorly defending shooters as possible.  You take those two, J.J. Barea, Rubio, Love, Luke Ridnour, and Derrick Williams and add Shabazz Muhammad to the mix and the Wolves might end up being the worst defensive team in the league next year, especially if Kirilenko isn't back.  Nikola Pekovic, who it sounds like they're going to do everything to keep, is a decent post defender but not a rim protector in the slightest, which taken all together means that Giorgui Dieng is the only true paint defensive presence on the entire team.  You know, the guy whose job it is to discourage guys like Lebron and Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook from driving past all those white guards over and over again.  Sounds like a recipe for success!

2.  Dwight Howard is going to Houston.  Howard turned down more years and more money to stay with the Lakers and play with two (possibly 3) other future Hall-of-Famers, which is a stunningly good decision given Howard's track record the last three years.

Apparently the Howard signing isn't loved by everyone, as incumbent starting center Omer Asik has said he doesn't want Howard there, doesn't want to back him up, and doesn't want to play next to him and might want out of Houston.  Well guess what Omer?  I got news for you: I'm pretty sure they were exploring trades for you already.  Outside of free throw shooting his entire skill set is Dwight Howard extra lite, he offers nothing complimentary to Howard's game, and he's good enough where they can get something nice back for him most likely.  Sorry Omer, but you're not Dwight.

And make no mistake - Dwight Howard is still really, really good and it seems like everyone is forgetting that.  Last year was horrible, yes, but

1.  He was returning from a back injury, which for a player like him who relies on his athleticism and specifically his ability to jump quickly that is a tough one to play through.
2. The system he was playing in last year sucked for him, and playing with Kobe Bryant made him miserable which, because he's an immature person, made him sulk and affected his play.
3. People around the country hated, or at least had a strong dislike for Howard and the way he got Orlando's coach fired, then pushed his way out,then got Mike Brown fired with the Lakers.  Dwight is an immature person, and being disliked made him extra miserable and see #2.

Basically Howard is an immature baby who is mentally weak and who is going to sulk and suck when he's not happy.  He still averaged 17 & 12 with nearly 3 blocks per game while being only half engaged.  You don't think he's going to be better next year with his co-super star as James Harden, who knows about deferring when it's time to defer? He's still just 28 years old.  What if he actually realizes he has an amazing opportunity to learn from two of the best big men in history (Hakeem and McHale) and embraces it?  He could be a monster.  Going to be a big year for Houston.  Big.

3.  Sticking with the Rockets, they also traded your best friend Royce White to the 76ers.  Clearly Philly succeeded so well with one troubled but talented young big man in Andrew Bynum that they were super excited to try it again. Since Royce is pretty much afraid of everything, he's started walking to Philly from Houston and expects to be there by time training camps begin. Also, I really think trading Jrue Holiday is going to end up being a mistake for Philly.

4.  In what was, to me, the most shocking development of this period Brad Stevens (formerly of Butler) has agreed to become coach of the Celtics.  I was up at the cabin with Snacks and news was on in the background because we only get one channel up there and when the banner "Stevens to Boston" came up we had to yell and shush everybody else up and do you know how hard it is to shush up three women and one old man who've been hammering wine since mid-day?  It ain't Ninja Gaiden hard, but it's hard.

I'm just totally blown away because I assumed Stevens was going to be at Butler until he was lured away by Indiana or Duke or Kentucky or one of the other big-time college programs - I never ever thought he'd be going to the NBA for some reason.  I think part of it is because I thought we were done poaching college coaches and trying to make them NBA coaches since basically everybody has been a failure (seriously who is the best coach to make the switch?  I think it's P.J. Carlesimo which is like whoa).  Also this surprises me because Stevens is only 36 and has zero NBA experience.  People threw enough of a fit over Rich Pitino getting hired to coach kids at 30, but now Stevens is going to handle grown ass millionaires at 36?  I know it's a young team after trading Garnett and Pierce, but their best player is a total head case in Rajon Rondo.  There's almost no way Rondo spaz out by midseason. I'm not saying Stevens won't work out for sure, I'm just saying he won't with Rondo around.  FACT.

5.  The Hawks and Bucks got into a big fight over Kyle Korver.  Looking at the teams involved, you'd probably guess that this was an idiotic fight to get in to, and as usual you're right.  There were no winners in this fight, except of course Korver who ended up with a 4-year, $26 million contract which, considering he's going to be 37 at the end of that deal and he has exactly one discernible skill seems like a bit of an overpay, but then again J.J. Redick got 4/$27 and Jose Calderon got 4/$28 apparently that's the running rate for a one dimensional player who is really good at that one dimension and terrible at everything else.  For some reason, this seems terribly unfair.

6.  The Warriors are getting interesting.  First, because Dawger will point it out anyway, despite all my misgivings Steph Curry has completely proven me wrong and is a very, very good NBA player.  He's not as good as Bill Simmons thought he was during the play-offs, but he's an all-star, I will admit, and there's no doubt that he and Klay Thompson are a pretty dynamic duo.   Next season Harrison Barnes will be a year older and a year better, and he started to show some pretty dramatic growth in the playoffs and he gives the Warriors three pretty good wing players who can score in bunches. 

Now, via free agency, they've added Andre Iguodala, who doesn't score in bunches the way the other three do but is still averages 15 ppg for his carrer, is an absolutely outstanding defender, and can handle the ball and create well enough the Curry will get more chances to run off the ball, which will only help.  The plan seems to be to go with all four in the lineup at a time quite often, which will work if Barnes can defend and rebound at the 4 (remains to be seen), but even if not that's a pretty potent lineup, and Andrew Bogut (if healthy) is a good enough interior defender to make up for some defensive mistakes.  Really though, having four players who can all dribble, create, and shoot is something few teams have, and any time all four of those guys are on the floor it should be fun to watch.  Possibly on both ends.

7.  Milwaukee, oh Milwaukee.  First they made a trade towards the end of last season to acquire J.J. Redick, giving Tobias Harris to Orlando.  Harris, who averaged less than 12 minutes per game with the Bucks, was given starter's minutes in Orlando and went on to average 17 pts and 9 rebounds per game.  The Bucks just traded Redick (in a sign and trade) and received two second-round picks in return.  Then Monta Ellis opted out of his deal, which might actually be a good thing, but also means the Bucks have to find a way to replace some production all while with the handicap of selling Milwaukee to free agents.

Their big moves so far have been to sign O.J. Mayo, Zaza Pachulia, and Carlos Delfino - essentially a sixth man and two back-ups.  Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis (he gone), and Mike Dunleavey (he gone) were the team's top 3 scorers last year and now all three may be gone depending on what Jennings ends up doing.  Essentially the team is a bunch of so-so big men (John Henson is probably the best or at least has the most potential depending on what you think of Larry Sanders whose name does not actually have to be capitalized nerds) and Ish Smith.  This is either completely pathetic, or a genius realization that they're never going to be able to build a contending team through free agency and are in full on tank mode.  Given that we're talking Wisconsin, they're probably just drunk.

8.  We all know that the Lakers are somehow going to end up with Andrew Wiggins in next year's draft, right?  That's just how it happens.  If their smart they'll amnesty Kobe (since he is taking up nearly half of their cap room) trade Nash to Dallas for the heart warming Dirk/Nash reunion, trade Gasol and World Peace for whatever they can get and completely bottom out and hope for Wiggins.  What they will do is continue trotting out a lineup completely mismatched to D'Antoni's system which will be mismatched because Kobe will rush himself back by the season opener and they'll end up missing the playoffs by just a couple games and then win the lottery anyway because the NBA is rigged and everybody knows it.  Fact.

Who could say no to this?

Week in Review - 1/21/2013

I really have no idea why I stopped doing these posts.  They're fairly easy, since I can write parts of them during the week, they cover all sports for an entire week period, and they give you, the idiot reader, something to depend on knowing this post will be here every Monday morning.  I'm going to do my best to get back on this and start having the Monday morning Week in Review's again.  Or your money back.  And I'm going to start with Lance Armstrong.

Ha ha just kidding.  I don't care. 

WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Joe Flacco.  As much as I hate to give credit when it's due, I'm going to have to in Flacco's case because he had a great game getting the Ravens to the Super Bowl and outplayed Tom Brady to do it.  He seems to have developed a couple interesting skills to go with one of the strongest arms in the league - he can pick apart a defense underneath using his backs and TEs, and he has that over the shoulder throw to Boldin in the end zone down cold.  Both of his touchdown throws to Boldin were on that same play, and more than half his completions were to backs or tight ends, and then he can cut loose with that big arm to Torrey Smith when needed.  It will be kind of interesting to see how he adjusts in the red zone when the 49ers inevitably put a safety on top of Boldin when they get close.  I also just realized this is going to be a Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh Super Bowl and we're going to have to hear that over and over and over again.  Oh god, and also Ray Lewis.  And I have a feeling Colin Kaepernick is going to get way too much press, too.  God I am suddenly remembering how much I hate the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.  Don't they have some kind of 2-week coma drug?  I know the wife and kids probably wouldn't be down for me going in that direction, but I'm not sure I have a choice.  Not my fault.

2.  Washington Nationals.  In a baseball hot stove league that's been characterized by teams "going for it in their window" more than any other I can remember (Baltimore Orioles exempted, for some reason) the Nats just made another move that put them in the Dodgers/Blue Jays tier for "going for it" signing closer Rafael Soriano to a two year, $28 million deal with an option that automatically vests if he finishes 120 combined games in the two years.  That now gives the Nationals a bullpen of Tyler Clippard in the 7th, Drew Storen in the 8th, and Soriano in the 9th, and that's in front of a rotation of Stephen Strasburg/Gio Gonzalez/Jordan Zimmermann/Dan Haren/Ross Detwiler.  Their also loaded with a young and talented lineup with only one bad contract (Jayson Werth), Wilson Ramos will be back at catcher, they traded for Denard Span to fill their only real lineup leak, and resigned Adam LaRoche to a reasonable contract which gives them an excellent trade chip (Michael Morse, now a back-up who was just traded to Seattle in a three-way deal that brought them a couple decent prospects because lord knows they don't have enough) all at the same time.  Yes, paying $14 million to a reliever is too much especially when you have to give up a first round pick to do it, but I'm a big fan of this "going for it" thing and I'd say they're in pretty decent shape.  At least until they shutdown Strasburg after 190 innings this year because, you know, you can never be too careful.

3.  Butler Bulldogs.  I don't know if it's Brad Stevens or what (NOTE: it's probably Brad Stevens) but Butler just keeps on going.  When they made those back-to-back NCAA Championship games you kind of figured like, ok he found a few diamonds in the rough in Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, and Matt Howard (really rough, in his case) and Stevens got them to perfectly come together for a magical run (or two) and then they'd go back to being Butler.  When they missed the NCAA Tournament (made the CBI) last season everything looked confirmed.  But now?  First Stevens gets Rotnei Clarke, and ultra-experienced deadeye shooter who fits Butler's system perfectly, to come to Indy, joining a couple of decent players, and you figure Butler would probably be decent.  Little did you know Clarke was going to play out of his mind and a couple promising youngsters would suddenly blossom into double-digit scorers.  Then Clarke gets hurt against Richmond and you'd think Butler would slide, but they had no issue finishing up Richmond, and then played a really, really good Gonzaga team and did this:

I hate teams that are always good because I'm so unfamiliar with it.  It's like an Amish who was dropped in Dubai.

4. Florida Gators.  For my money, there are six teams (seven if you count my super sleeper VCU) who could potentially win the NCAA Championship this year - Louisville, Syracuse, Michigan, Indiana, Duke, and the sixth is Florida.  For some reason they're only ranked 10th.  Why?  Because they have two losses, although those happen to be at Arizona (a one-loss team) in a game Florida controlled for 38 minutes before letting it slip away, and against a good Kansas State in Kansas City.  Look at their recent results.  After a week of dominating fools they've now won their four SEC games by 33 (vs. Georgia), 22 (@ LSU), 21 (@ Texas A&M), and 31 (vs. Missouri).  I know Mizzou is in kind of a tailspin right now with Bowers hurt and Dixon having been kicked off the team, but beating that team by 31 is still damn impressive.  Florida is one of the few teams in the country with a great offense and a great defense, with great players both on the perimeter and in the paint.  I feel pretty effing good having gotten down on them at 12-1 to win the whole thing.  Don't think, just do it.

5.  Syracuse Orangemen.  I've touted Louisville as my #1 team in the country so I need to give credit to the Orange for taking them down on the road, and actually this was the game that convinced me to put Cuse in that "could win the title" group because they played great in a tough environment.  I have no idea why Syracuse has kind of been under my radar, but I assume it's because I'm an idiot.  They're loaded at guard and play two point guards in Brandon Triche and Michael Carter-Williams, which they can get away with because they're 6-4 and 6-6, and an awesome front court that includes two great scorers (C.J. Fair and James Southerland) and a defensive superstar (Rakeem Christmas).  Their only loss was to Temple at MSG, and they now have probably the best win of anyone this season with that roadie vs. the #1 team to legitimize them.  They do have a big issue hanging over them with Southerland's indefinite suspension due to some kind of academic issue, but I would assume he'll be back soon enough given that Syracuse is a big time hoops school and so the administrators probably understand it's best to get him back on the court. 

Stupid Joel Maturi.

WHO SUCKED

1.   Gopher basketball.  I'm not giving up on the season, thinking they suck, or anything like that.  I mean they have three losses this season and they're all to teams that have been ranked in the top 3 this season, and only the Duke game was a double digit loss.  What sucks, and why I have to put the Gophers here, is that I'm having trouble imagining them as a Final Four team anymore, simply because there have been stretches in all three losses where they've been absolutely dominated, and the domination wasn't for a short period of time but a very long one.  Michigan outscored them 20-7 over a 7 minute period, Indiana had that entire first half, and Duke pretty much controlled the whole game.  For much of this year I had considered the Gophers to be a possible Final Four contending team and maybe the best Gopher team of my life.  That seems laughable now, as I'm fairly certain the '97 team would crush these guys.

That's not to say this can't be a very good year.  I'm picturing the team now as a top 5 finisher in the Big 10 with like a 5 seed and a decent shot to make the Sweet 16.  Wouldn't we all have taken that coming into the season?  Of course we would have.  By any measure (for the Gopher program) that's a successful season, it's just that it felt like the bar had been raised and that this might be a special team, rather than a very good one.  It's hard to feel that way anymore after watching Michigan completely outclass them on their own court.  Hopefully they can sweet these next four winnable games and I can feel a bit better, and even though I know this is a really good Gopher team it's hard not to feel a bit of a gut punch here.  It's not the losses, it's the way they lost.  Hopefully they learn and move on.  I'm also now extremely terrified of going to Northwestern. 

2. Los Angeles Lakers.  I know I'm not exactly breaking new ground here because I think everyone is aware of the Lakers' struggles, but holy crap you guys.  Anybody who ever watched sports new their might be an adjustment period bringing in Nash to play with a guy who dominates the ball like Kobe (similar to the LeBron/Wade pairing initially) but even if it took them a while to get it figured out with complimentary players like Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol you'd expect them, worst case, to end up being a very dangerous low seed in the playoffs as they finally figured it out.  One problem - they're not figuring it out, and at 17-23 are in severe danger of missing the playoffs after losing to Toronto on Sunday (TORONTO!!) thanks in part to Howard getting booted for picking up two technicals.  They've now lost eight of their last ten, and count losses to the Raptors, Cavs, Magic, and the Kings among their failures this year - those are some bad teams.  Normally I would be enjoying this immensely, but I just acquired Kobe for my Fantasy NBA team and so now I don't hate him as much.

3.  Jordan Hulls.  So let me get this straight, the Underpants Gnome plays out of his mind against the Gophers but then plays like a total asshole against Wisconsin?  And don't you dare credit Wisconsin for this either, because he was just total garbage who couldn't shoot, only bothered to take 1 three-pointer (seriously with that range he only attempted one?  First time all year), and turned the ball over like he was giving it away for Valentine's Day to some handsome man.  Plus he was outplayed by Ben Brust who sucks.  And what was with Indiana doubling down on Ryan freaking Evans on the block?  Just let him go to work, you'll be better off letting him shoot.  The only possible explanations for this game was that Indiana felt invincible after beating the Gophers and forgot to try or Jordan Hulls threw the game.  Also, why do I have so much trouble spelling invincible?  Everything about this has my brain scrambled like Kevin Burleson trying to break a press.

4.  Matt Ryan.  I thought Ryan was getting a little too much heat for never having won a playoff game (probably because the Matty Ice nickname is so annoying) but it's hard to find a way to not blame that game on Ryan (with a major assist to the defense).  I'll even forgive him the pick because Roddy White fell down, but there were plenty of unforgivable mistakes.  The fumbled shot gun snap that San Fran recovered which hit him perfectly in the hands and not picking up a single first down after recovering the Crabtree fumble (giving the Niners great field position after a shitty punt) were both pretty awful, but Ryan saved his worst for the biggest play of the game.  On that fourth down inside the 10 he forced the ball to a non-open White, never bothering to look at any other receive and thus missing an absolutely wide open Tony Gonzalez who had slipped behind the linebackers and there wasn't a safety over the top - easy TD.  I should feel good about this loss because the Falcons screwed over the Vikings in '98, but I hate Jim Harbaugh, Ray Lewis, and the Patriots so Atlanta was my only chance to enjoy the Super Bowl.  Hopefully they'll be good food.

5.  Seattle Mariners. If I'm going to praise the Nationals for making a good move, I gotta point out that the Mariners apparently are assembling a softball team or something.  After acquiring Michael Morse in the above mentioned trade, they now have all these guys: Morse, Raul Ibanez, Jason Bay, Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak, and Jesus Montero.  Which means that even if they plan to give Montero another shot to be a catcher (LOL) they've still got five mostly immobile types to try to shoehorn into a lineup.  That means something like Montero at C, Ibanez in LF, Morse in RF, Morales at 1b, and either Smoak or Bay at DH with the other coming off the bench?  Ibanez and Morse as two of your 3 outfielders?  Franklin Gutierrez is very good, but he's not that good.  I guess the real point is why even trade for Morse?  Even if they've given up on Smoak (and if they have they should trade him to the Twins because I STILL BELIEVE DAMMIT) acquiring Morse brings nothing to you that you don't already have, and by trading John Jaso to do it you've severely downgraded your defense going to Montero, but they don't really have another choice because, again, they have way to many slow RF/DH/1b types to fit Montero's bat in any other way.  Seattle has the potential for a pretty kick-ass future (seriously their minor league pitchers are top shelf) but if they keep fucking up the present like this it's not going to matter.  Those Nintendo guys haven't done anything baseball-related right since Baseball Stars.  Remember Baseball Stars 2?  What were they thinking?


You'll notice I had the prudence to not write about this whole Manti Te'o thing because let's be honest, it's pretty played out at this point.  Was a pretty good day on twitter, though.  I also didn't write about hockey because it's a sport for cretins.  See you soon with a preview of the Northwestern game.  Or maybe just a link to the one I wrote like a week ago.  Jesus aren't they supposed to space these games out? 

NBA Southeast Division Preview

Johnson was replaced
with Korver, Lou and Morrow
T.I. and Drake weep

Guest Haiku from @Frothygopher:
Oh boring Hawks team
Y U no more exciting?
I'll skip all your games


The Hawks off-season seems to me like they are treading water at best.  Joe Johnson, who was overpaid is out, but a glut of shooters come in to replace him.  Lou Williams is a quality player, especially as an igniter off the bench, but the team will lean really heavily on Josh Smith and Al Horford.  For me, Smith is the only reason to watch this team as he's one of the more exciting on both ends of the floor.

Starting Unit:
PG Jeff Teague/Devin Harris
SG Anthony Morrow/Lou Williams
SF Kyle Korver
PF Josh Smith
C  Al Horford

O/U is 43.5, I'll take the under.

One for that guys and the gals!

Lebron James gets ring
D-Howard is new league clown
Ray Allen's mom, hi!

From Frothygopher:
Erik Spoelstra
It does rhyme with olestra
Both make me poop grease

Starting Unit:
PG Mario Chalmers
SG Dwayne Wade
SF Shane Battier
PF Lebron James
C Chris Bosh

This is basically the same team that won it all plus Ray Allen.  I mean, wtf?  Chalmers and Norris Cole are a both going to be better this year.  Mike Miller, Rashard Lewis and James Jones are ready on the bench for 3 chucking duties.  Plus, they still have the best player in the game and another in the top 5.  What's underrated about the Heat is how well they play team defense.  They're not exactly loaded with bigs as Bosh is undersized at center as are Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem, but the hustle of James and Wade and the rest of the wings help to cover this weakness.

The o/u is 60.5 and if I have to take something, it's the over.  This is a 60 win team easy unless major injuries strike.

Lady Cats!

Best way to get fans
for these poor, crappy Bobcats
is nude cheerleaders

22, 24, 19, 23, 20.  No, it's not the combination to my safe.  I'm broke, guys.  Rather, these are the ages of the starting lineup for your Charlotte Bobcats.  Kemba Walker was better than I expected in his rookie year and I think has a bit of room to grow in his effort to develop into a true PG.  Gerald Henderson is an ok scorer at SG, but to date has done much else.  On a good team he'd be a rotation guy off of the bench, but here he has opportunity to improve.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is the #2 overall pick.  He's extremely athletic and already a pretty good defender, his offensive game beyond dunking and slashing to the hoop could use some work, but he's 19.  Byron Mullens showed some signs of becoming a bit of a stretch 4 last season and even more so in the pre-season.  He'll chuck it a bunch if they let him.  Bismack Biyombo is the ultimate project at center.  He's constantly in foul trouble, but is powerful, physical and has a wingspan like a jumbo jet despite only being 6'9". Ben Gordon, Ramon Sessions and Brendan Haywood add some quality veteran depth. 

The Cats only won 7 measly games last season and their o/u is 18.5 for this year.  Betting on some growth for the young folk and an improved veteran presence I'll go over.

One of these things is not like the others.

I'm leaving, no wait
Staying; nope, time to move on
I'm back, no I'm gone

Orlando continued it's role as the minor league big man system for the Lakers this off-season by trading Dwight Howard to the Lake Show.  It's not their fault though as Howard held the team hostage for what feels like two years.  I'm too lazy to look it up.  Orlando got a crazy cluster of stuff in the deal, none of it great, but much of it useful.  Aaron Afflalo came from Denver and is a quality player on both ends of the floor.  Nikola Vucevic is a young center out of USC that came from Philly in the deal and will get a chance to start.  They received the #15 pick from this year's draft, Moe Harkless.  He's a young player that I like, but has a lot of growing to do before he can earn minutes.  They also received 5 future picks, a second in '13, a conditional first in '14, a first (conditional) and second in '15 and finally a conditional first in '17.  They also have a $17.8MM exception that they can use to take on contract in a trade if they can swing one.

Starting Unit:
PG Jameer Nelson
SG Aaron Afflalo
SF Hedo Turkeyglue
PF Glen Davis
C  Nikola Vucevic

O/U 23.5, I'm going for the tank under here.

S&M Wizards girls?

Wizards' name is suck
The team kind of blows as well
Wish you were Bullets

Remember when Jan Vesely was picked and then made out with his hot girlfriend and then never did a damn thing last year?  Hopefully, #3 pick Bradley Beal can do better than that this year as they need some help beyond John Wall.  Poor John is also dealing with an injury and could be out until late November, early December.  Beal is just 19, but has a pretty high upside at shooting guard.  The Wiz need him to be a star.  Okafor and Nene are two solid bigs that are overpaid, but useful.  They make $27MM this year between them. 

Starting Unit:
PG John Wall +
SG Jordan Crawford
SF Trevor Ariza
PF Trevor Booker
C  Emeka Okafor

The Wizards o/u is 27.5 wins.  I'll take the under and another roll of the dice in the lottery.

NBA Moves in Review

I'm changing up the Week in Review a bit here, and rather than looking sportswide at everything that's happened in the NBA so far with the crazy free agent period that's upon us and, as per usual, pointing out the five goods and the five bads.  Make sense?  I certainly hope so because it's pretty simple.  What are you, some kind of idiot?


WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to the Miami Heat. The Heat won the championship in case you hadn't heard yet so there wasn't really a huge need to upgrade and with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh there they didn't have a whole lot of of flexibility, but they managed to upgrade in a big-time way and made the prohibitive favorite for next year even more prohibitiveable. Now instead of Shane Battier and Mike Miller taking all the open threes that are created by their offense, it's going to be Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. For reference, Battier was a career 38% shooter going into last season (and shot 38% this year) and Miller was at 40% and hit 45% this season. Allen is a career 40% who has been 44% or better the past two years, and Lewis is a career 39%. Looking strictly at those numbers it looks like a push, but Allen is peaking as a shooter as he ages, Miller can't stay healthy and hasn't played in more than 53 games the last three years, Battier is toast as a defender, and both Allen and Lewis are defensive upgrades - for a team that's biggest asset as an overall squad was defense. Make no mistake - barring injury or an ugly "disease of more" situation there's no way Miami doesn't win the title. None. I know, I hate it too.

2.  Jason Terry to the Boston Celtics.  The main reason the Celtics should stay competitive next season is KG suddenly showing some resurgence and Rajon Rondo remains the most confounding and interesting and one of the most unstoppable point guards in the league.  But grabbing Jason Terry to replace the newly departed Ray Allen is a pretty big reason as well.  Terry doesn't shoot as well as Allen but he's not far off, and he's a better defender, scorer, and passer and, assuming they keep him in that same sixth man role he played in Dallas he brings more energy to the game when he enters than the more subdued Allen, as well as more athleticism as well - something the super old Celtics can use.  The C's weren't without some questionable moves this offseason - the 3 years to KG and the holy shit huge contract they gave to Jeff Green for some reason - but Boston will be in the thick of the East when it all comes down to it.  I look forward to 20 annoyingly homerrific articles on them from Bill Simmons next year.

3.  Dallas Mavericks sign Elton Brand and Chris Kaman and trade for Darren Collison. The funny thing about Dallas is I'm pretty sure they didn't really expect to be rebuilt into a contender again unless they managed to sign Deron Williams, so after he re-signed with the Nets give Mark Cuban credit for making an effort rather than giving up, because it's working out. The trade for Collison might be the most important part after losing Jason Kidd to New York and not getting Williams, because although he's no great superstar Collison gives them an excellent starting point guard and they got him for basically nothing (see below). They then signed Chris Kaman to a super cheap 1-year/$8 million deal and won an amnesty bid on Elton Brand for just $2.1 million and suddenly they've remade the team without crippling themselves for the future. Given the strength of the league they aren't a serious contender most likely, but a lineup of Collison/Delonte West or Jones/Shawn Marion/Nowitzki/Kaman with Brand coming off the bench is absolutely a play-off team and probably a 4-5 seed, and then they'll have a whole mess of cap room next year to take a run at Howard or whoever. Bravo.

4.  Lakers trade draft picks for Steve Nash. Yes, the problems with a Nash/Kobe pairing are apparent, but if things work out and they figure out how to make it work the Lakers become instant contenders to win the West, even if they stand pat and don't end up with Dwight Howard. And I don't see how it's not worth the gamble considering all it cost them was a few pretty worthless draft picks. No matter what you think of Kobe, and I hate him, he is a pretty savvy basketball mind and he should be able to figure out how to play off Nash. As long as his ego will allow him to become a spot-up shooter more often and let Nash work the offense it will benefit him (he can be more fresh later in the season and/or for his when he inevitably breaks out hero ball in fourth quarters), as well as Gasol and Bynum working off pick-and-rolls and post-ups. Of course this all relies on one of the most selfish players I've even seen (I'd put as more selfish than Iverson based on Iverson needing to play that way to win where Kobe could easily let Gasol and Bynum get more involved and probably make the team significantly better) realizing he needs to change if the teams going to win so it's pretty much a toss-up if it'll work, but again, it pretty much cost the Lakers nothing to make this gamble and if they win they're a good bet to end up losing in the Finals to the Heat.

5.  Washington Wizards trade for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. It was a minor move in the big scheme of things, but picking up Okafor and Ariza for the bloated contract of Rashard Lewis (who was then bought out), along with last year's late trade where they picked up Nene for Javale McGee and the drafting of Bradly Beal gives them a starting five of John Wall/Beal/Ariza/Nene/Okafor, which is a definite playoff contender in the East and for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in five years and has only won a single playoff series since 1983 and hasn't won more than 26 games since 2007 it's a big step forward. Not to mention that Okafor, Ariza, and I think Nene will be dropping off the payroll in two years, which should be enough time to figure out exactly what they have in Beal and Wall and rebuild their team around those two. I don't know exactly how we ended up here, but the Wizards are doing a really great job all of a sudden. Now, they'll probably end up trading a couple of guys for Hedo Turkoglu or Spencer Hawes and then we'll be all like, "I knew it" but for now? Curiouser and curiouser.


WHO SUCKED

1.   Charlotte Bobcats trade Corey Maggette to Detroit Pistons for Ben Gordon.  There are a million good reasons to trade Corey Maggette.  He really does nothing but score, he blocks Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's playing time, he makes too much money, and if you're trying to rebuild there's really zero reason to have him around because he's got a bit of a cancer to him as well.  Thing is though, I don't know that trading him for Gordon and his $25.6 million he's still got coming his way is what makes sense.  I guess he gives you shooting, which the Bobcats need and doesn't duplicate Gilchrist's skillset, and by all accounts is a good dude, and you're getting rid of Corey Maggette who is someone teams should always strive to get rid of, so maybe the Pistons made the bad end of the deal here.  Actually I think they both lost.

2.   Houston Rockets go all in to try to get Dwight Howard.  I understand Houston trying to lure Howard there, even if its more for a rental, and then hoping he'd end up staying, but I kind of feel like once they started they didn't know how to just stop because although they've compiled a lot of assets they're all just kind of like, lame assets.  A bunch of middle first round picks and a bunch of guys who drafted in middle rounds I'm not so sure do them much good.  Their best asset, a Raptors first round pick, is probably going to be lottery but to get it they gave up Kyle Lowry, who might have been worth more.  They've traded off pretty much the entire roster and even amnestied Luis Scola, who is no great shakes but did average 16 & 7 last season.  And it looks like the upside is trading away all these assets for Howard and a whole bunch of crap like Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson and the way too much money they're owed. If this works and they get Howard and can somehow convince Chris Paul to sign then this has all been a genius move. Anything else and it's been just a cluster of WTF.

3.   Similarly, Orlando Magic have no clue what to do.  Is the big plan now to go through a second straight season of circus?  I get that it's tough to trade a guy of Howard's magnitude and that makes sense, but at some point you bite the bullet and figure it out - and don't think Howard doesn't deserve an equal portion of the blame for this crazytown as well, especially for signing his option for this year instead of just becoming a free agent.  Not to mention that the places Howard seems best suited for (Lakers, Hawks) he seems to have no interest in and the places he wants to go are Brooklyn (which can't make it work) and Cleveland (wait what?) while the place that is busting there ass for him (Houston) he doesn't really want to go nor can they figure out a way to put enough players around him to both trade for him and field a competitive team.  All that does is pretty much guarantee another year of same old-same old, because Brooklyn's signing of Brook Lopez kills that trade so it's either L.A., Houston, or it's another year of pussying around and figuring this shit out.  But hey, the Magic resigned Jameer Nelson while letting their second best player (Ryan Anderson) walk, so sounds like a huge ole win for Magic fans.  HAVE A GREAT SEASON!

4.   Indiana Pacers go kind of crazy for unathletic big men.  You'd think when Portland offered Roy Hibbert a max deal the Pacers would be all like, "Take 'em" and then giggle under their breath like when Dawger inevitably drafts someone like Roy Helu and then holds onto him for like six years in our keeper league just waiting for that breakout season.  But instead they matched so they can pay like $1 million per blocked shot this year.  Not only that, but they also drafted Miles or Mason Plumlee (I don't feel like looking it up) when Perry Jones and well, let's face it anybody other than a poor man's Cherokee Parks was available - and this is a team that already has Tyler Hansbrough.  Then they traded Collison so they could get Ian Mahinmi and paid him way too much money and, in case you haven't heard of him like me, he's another center.  Overall just a bizarre turn of events, especially for a team that has generally seemed to make pretty smart decisions. So maybe it'll turn out I'm wrong here, I suppose there's a first time for almost everything.

5.   Phoenix Suns assemble a 20-win team.  I can't figure out Phoneix's angle.  They traded Nash for very little, seemingly opening up playing time for their first round pick Kendall Marshall, but then went out and signed Goran Dragic for 4 years and $36 million, apparently blocking Marshall for the length of his rookie contract.  Not only will Dragic be a career back-up making starter money, but he's not a true distributor and the Suns traded him just a couple of seasons ago (along with a first round pick) for Aaron Brooks who they're now letting go in free agency.  So they paid a first round pick to accomplish nothing.  They then signed Michael Beasley for three years and won an amnesty bid on Luis Scola, then found out the Hornets matched their max offer to Eric Gordon and vowed to match any offer extended to Robin Lopez, he of the career averages of six points and three boards per game.  I'm not suggesting I could have done better, although it wouldn't have surprised me either, but all these moves just reek of a 16-year kid playing franchise mode on NBA Live with no real concise or clear plan for rebuilding post-Nash.  I suppose that shouldn't be surprising from a management group that gave huge money to both Josh Childress and Hakim Warrick and routinely sells it's first round picks for cash, but it seems like they're in on every player just because why not that's why.  Now they're the leaders for OJ Mayo as well.  This team makes zero sense the way it's constructed.

There's also plenty of Wolves' stuff to discuss as well, including this semi-bizarre Nic Batum showdown, but we'll get to that down the road when everything is finalized.  And probably TRE will do it not me because he's way more crazy about the T-Wolves than normal people.



Finally, for those of you who believe in prayer send them this way (and if you don't, send good thoughts), I will forward them on.  I don't want to say too much since it isn't my place, but someone who all regulars to the blog know well could use them right now.

Monday Musings

-  I was actually intending to make this a report on the Gopher hoops recruiting so far for 2013, but it turns out there's pretty much nothing to report.  There are still zero commitments, which I knew, but the list of names is really underwhelming, if you believe the recruiting services.  According to ESPN the Gophers have nine offers out, but the highest ranking ESPN gives any of the players who they say have received one is an 79.  To put that in perspective, 2012 signee Wally Ellenson is a 90, and Oto Osenieks was an 87 as was Justin Cobbs.  Which means that according to ESPN Tubby is currently looking to get guys who are at the same level of Dan Monson type recruits.  Now, these recruiting gurus aren't always right because they had both Al Nolen and Devoe Joseph ranked in the 70s and they turned into contributors at the very least, but still it's not exactly an exciting list.

Rivals has it a bit different with the Gophers having extended 18 offers, and there are two players of interest who they give a rank of 4 stars who remained uncommitted:  G Juwan Parker (#94 overall) and G Xavier Rathan-Mayes (#66).  Of course, Parker has already narrowed his list to Memphis, Georgia, or Stanford and Mayes has teams like Kansas, Texas, Arizona, Memphis, and NC State after him so the odds on the Gophers are pretty negligible.  I'll stay more in the loop when things pick up, but man there's is just nothing to report right now.  A couple of names of interest are G Martez Walker and F Nick Fuller who are both lefties and shooters (Walker is a guard, Fuller a small foward) who ESPN lists as "considering" the Gophers, however neither site lists the Gophers as having made an offer to either of them so I don't know.  In short, there's nothing happening and that's super uplifting and makes me really, really happy for the future of the team.

-  So the NBA Draft happened without the Wolves involvement.  I actually watched the entire first round and was typing up a live blog type of deal but then I got behind and then I realized I was writing a paragraph for each pick and that was way too many words to read or type and also I got bored so I quit.  A few quick NBA thoughts, however:

• Outside of the top 3 picks, who were the right guys and right situations I thought, the pick of the draft was pretty clearly Perry Jones to the Thunder at #28.  Once again, OKC proves their front office is better than most.  Let's see, Jones was a top-3 pick if he came out last year, had a so-so sophomore season at Baylor where he shrunk from the pressure in big games, but was still expected in the late lottery and then slides to the end of the first due to a knee injury?  When nobody really knows how serious it is?  I get that if you had a lottery pick you'd rather not roll the dice here, but Fab Melo?  John Jenkins?  Miles fucking Plumlee?  It's ludicrous to me that someone would rather have those guys with almost zero upside than a guy like Jones.  Plus, Jones probably needed one of two things out of the team drafting him to succeed - either an athletic team that likes to get up and down where he can use his athleticism to be a big-time asset in transition or a team with one or two established alpha stars so he wouldn't have to face the pressure of being a savior.  And guess what?  He got both.  And bless the Thunder for not being as dumb as everyone else and realizing it makes infinitely more sense to roll the dice that a big-time talent like Jones will be healthy than burning the pick on Festus Ezeli or Jae Crowder.  I mean seriously.
• Speaking of Jones, even though the Wolves would have had their pick of him, Jared Sullinger, or Terrence Jones if they had kept #18 I still think the trade for Budinger was the right call.  First, you probably couldn't have guessing any of those three would have been there at 18.  Second, they all have serious question marks where you know you're getting a decent scorer who can shoot in Budinger, and thirdly, they all play PF and Kevin Love is probably going to be pretty good for the next 3.5 years before he demands a trade and says he'd never sign another contract with Minnesota after the slapped him in the face by offering him a 4-year deal instead of a five.  So yeah, I like the pick-up.
• Hopefully the Wolves can get Batum as well.  He's a restricted free agent so Portland may match the 4 years and $50ish million the Wolves have offered, but the Blazers have also, ridiculously, offered a max contract to Roy Hibbert which I can't imagine the Pacers matching (especially since they just drafted his replacement in the awesome Miles Plumlee).  Batum, Love, and Rubio are a pretty solid foundation (Batum's only 23) for the next few years.  And Derrick Williams, if he ends up figuring it out.  And speaking of....
• I'm really not sure what to think of this Pau Gasol heat we're hearing.  I can see why the Wolves might want him.  Skilled big man who can play next to Love, excellent high post passer whose unselfish game will translate well with the kind of culture Rubio breeds just by playing with him, him and Ricky can get tacos together or watch bullfighting on tv or whatever, which will only make Rubio more comfortable, which can only be a good thing.  I'm not really sure why they're so hot to move on from Derrick Williams already but if Rick Adelman is done with him that's good enough for me.  I have gotten a distinct whiff of "loses the necessary weight to play the 3 but turns himself into nothing but a 3-point specialist" at the same time.  It's either that or he figures out how to be an undersized 4, and I'm just not seeing it.  I guess I'm in favor of trading Williams and getting Gasol back.  I just think Gasol, Rubio, Batum, Love, Pekovic, Ridnour, Barea, and Budinger make this a really fun team, and now that I type that out I look like a racist.  Great.
• So since I'm on board with getting Gasol and trading Williams, and Dwight Howard has managed to completely destroy his own image in Orlando, and the Nets just traded for Joe Johnson and his ridiculous contract, resigned Gerald Wallace, and want to resign Deron Williams so they're probably not in the Howard discussion anymore, tell me how much this makes sense:
• Wolves trade Derrick Williams, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Brad Miller, and Wes Johnson and receive Pau Gasol and Jason Richardson
• Lakers trade Gasol and Andrew Bynum and get Dwight Howard, Martell Webster, and Luke Ridnour
• Magic trade Howard and Richardson and receive Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson, Brad Miller, and Andrew Bynum
• It works under the salary rules, and everybody gets what they want.  The Wolves get Gasol and a veteran shooting guard they could certainly use in Richardson.  He isn't the athlete he once was but he still averaged 12 points per game and shot 37% from three last year and could take over for Wes Johnson's minutes, especially with Barea playing more point with Ridnour gone.  The Lakers get Howard, who they covet, but also pick up Ridnour to play the point - a major weakness for them this past season.  They also get Webster, who can give them some bench scoring which is another issue for them.  And the Magic get two great pieces to build around in Williams and Bynum, as well as a young guard in Johnson and cap relief in Miller.  It's not perfect - Richardson's contract sucks for the Wolves and the Lakers are maybe giving up a tad too much in both Bynum and Gasol, but I really think this trade makes good sense for all three parties (if you're on the Gasol train).  Really, it's pretty much a genius idea by me.  
• Back to the draft quick, I thought their were two really poor moves - one in the lottery and one late.  The Meyers Leonard pick baffles me because I never thought he'd be a first round pick let alone a top 10 guy, or at least not after last season.  He's athletic for a 7-footer and can shoot free throws, but Tyler Zeller is a rich man's version of Leonard and John Henson is basically guaranteed to be a rotation player at worst because of his defense.  Both were available, and either would have been a better pick than Leonard.  The other move was the Heat trading Arnett Moultrie.  A defensive and rebounding specialist who led the SEC in rebounding last year and was 9th in the country, and despite averaging a double-double last year he wasn't remotely an offensive player.  He could patrol the paint for the Heat and grab rebounds and block a few shots and score off put-backs every once in a while.  He was perfect for that team, yet they traded him to Philly for Justin Hamilton, a poor man's Arnett Moultrie.  They got a future first as well, but dude was a perfect fit.  Reminds me a lot of when the Wolves traded Mario Chalmers even though they desperately needed a PG.  Buncha clown shoes running' teams these days.
• I should also mention Tony Wroten to the Grizz is a really nice pick that late in the draft (at #25).  Odds are he flames out, as most late firsts do, but he has a whole lot of potential and is a sick athlete.  He had some troubling numbers in college, namely 58% free-throw shooting, 16% 3-point shooting, and 3.8 turnovers per game, but if you watched him play at all it was clear he had an NBA body with NBA athleticism and just couldn't harness himself within the college game (which is why Circus Ball U was a perfect fit for him).  That certainly doesn't guarantee NBA success as Corey Benjamin, DerMarr Johnson, and Jerome Moiso could tell you, but it's better than taking Miles fucking Plumlee.
• Keep an eye on the Hawks right now.  They just dumped Joe Johnson's contract to the Nets and then followed that up by sending Marvin Williams and his awful contract to Utah for Devin Harris.  Johnson is owed something like $100 million over the next four years (I'm not exaggerating) while Marvin is owed $16 million over the next two.  Atlanta suddenly has a ton of cap space, is Dwight Howard's home town, still have Josh Smith (good friend of Howard's) and just acquired Anthony Morrow (another Howard buddy) in the Johnson deal.  So they'll have tons of cap space plus retained some tradeable assets (Al Horford, Jeff Teague), two interesting rookies (John Jenkins, Mike Scott), and picked up a future first rounder (protected) in the Johnson trade.  Suddenly a Howard and Chris Paul pairing is a realistic possibility.  If Howard can wait it out and he and Paul sign you're looking at Paul/Morrow/Smith/Horford/Howard.  That's pretty whoa.

- That was certainly a lot of words about NBA things.  I certainly didn't see that coming.

6 Very Important Things from Last Night - 04.19.2011

1.  The Twins got rolled 11-0 by the hapless Orioles.  I only watched half of this one because it was apparent very early that the Twins had no shot, but from what I saw Pavano was all over the place.  That's bad for anybody unless you're a guy like Carlos Marmol who throws 99mph and has no idea where it's going but nobody can hit it anyway, but for Pavano to miss his spots means it's going to be a rough night.  Not only by falling behind in counts and walking guys (3 walks and just 60% strikes) but because when he misses by a little bit his 89mph fastball goes from a well placed tough to hit pitch to an easy to drive pitch, and Pavano was run after four and two-thirds after allowing 8 hits and 7 runs.  Naturally, the Twins were unable to score, a consistent problem not helped by the absence of Mauer, Morneau, and Delmoney from the lineup.

Maybe the most discouraging part of last night's festivities, however, was Joe Nathan getting rocked again, giving up a couple of hits and a 3-run home run to Vlad Guerrero in his inning of work, which means he's now given up 7 runs in his last three times out, with at least two runs coming in each game.  It's pretty clear he's not all the way back from injury, and his fastball is clocked consistently 2-3 miles per hour slower than it was in his prime, making him essentially Nick Blackburn but who doesn't know how to pitch like he has a noodle arm.  I don't know what you do with him - could he do a minor league assignment? - but he's not good right now, and he just needs more time.  I guess we'll have to rely on Cappsy.  Get ready for some brutal emotional swings, fans.

2.  Carmelo Anthony could almost do it himself but Jared Jeffries and Bill Walker fucked it all up.  Chauncey Billups is out with an injury and Amare Stoudamire was only able to play a half before getting knocked out due to back spasms, and the Knicks opponent was the Celtics one of the best defensive teams in the league.  The stage was set for Melo to channel Bernard King and elevate the Knicks to victory and he damn near pulled it off, scoring 42 points and grabbing 17 rebounds (and dishing 6 assists).  Unfortunately Bill Walker couldn't hit a shot all game, going 0-11 from the floor, and eventually Boston realized Carmelo had no help and they started double-teaming him before he even had the ball.  Remarkable.  This defensive strategy resulted in Jared Jeffries having to make a play on the two biggest possessions of the game for the Knicks, and you can imagine how that went.  If you're imagining it was like watching Gardy try to figure out a Rubik's Cube, you're not far off. 


3.  Sticking with the NBA, I thought ESPN said Atlanta had the guys to stop Dwight Howard?  In fact, I know they did because in my preview on here I said Atlanta couldn't deal with Howard and Snacks emailed me to say that ESPN said that the Hawks' Jason Collins and Zaza Pachulia would be able to handle him.  Wrong, idiots.  33 points and 19 rebounds last night in the Magic's Game 2 win following up his 46-19 in game 1 - a Magic loss.  It's actually interesting because it's become clear that Atlanta is simply going to single cover Howard - and let him destroy them - and concentrate all their defensive efforts on shutting down Orlando's jumpshooters, which is basically the entire rest of the team. 

That strategy worked brilliantly in Game 1, the Hawks big win, with Jameer Nelson the only non-Howard player to have a good shooting game with Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, Ryan Anderson, and Jason Richardson shooting a combined 2-14 from three.  In Game 2 it almost worked again with Orlando shooting 5-23 from three as a team but this time the Magic played good enough defense to get the win.  What seemed to be a boring series in the beginning has suddenly become interesting based on the Hawks' strategy.  Or at least as interesting as any series involving the boring as hell Hawks could ever be.

4.  Josh Johnson is unhittable.  Maybe it's because he's in the NL, or maybe it's because he's on a small market team, or maybe it's simply because nobody cares about the Marlins, but Josh Johnson is one of the best pitchers in baseball and I'm not sure how many people know it.  Last night he tossed seven scoreless innings against Pittsburgh, allowing just two hits and striking out nine, and the only notable thing about it was how un-notable it really was - this is the norm for this nerd.  His season stats are now at 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA, a WHIP of 0.59, and a strikeout per inning.  Looking at his career arc it reads like a big-time pitcher - good rookie year (5th in ROY), two injury plagued seasons, then a comeback year where he was an all-star, followed last year by his 2.30 ERA and fifth place finish in the Cy Young balloting.  The guy may look like a slightly less nerdy Davis Love III, but he's an absolute super star.  I wonder if he'll end up on the Yankees or the Red Sox.

5.  Penn State is going to be even worse than you thought.  Not that there was a whole lot of optimistic feelings towards Penn State's 2011-2012 basketball season with Talor Battle, Jeff Brooks, Andrew Jones, and David Jackson all graduating (that's four of their top five scorers and top four rebounders), but one of the few rays of hope has now been crushed with the news that Taran Buie is transferring/has been kicked out.  It's not a surprise given that Buie was suspended from the team twice for various violations, but it's still a kick in the junk since he was one of the highest rated recruits in many, many years at Penn State.  Not to mention this leaves them with Tim Frazier and a bunch of guys who never played, and it's not like either Jones or Jackson should have been hard to beat out for playing time since they are severely flawed players, so those guys coming back are probably even worse than Colton Iverson (for reals).  Should be fun to watch a team whose only good player's #1 skill is distributing the basketball play with a bunch of teammates who couldn't score on a date with your sister.

6.  The Vikings schedule (if there's a season) was announced last night.  But let's be honest, if you get excited about this you are a retard, and you're probably a big fan of mayo sandwiches, think Nickelback and Hinder "fuckin' rock", consider Borat to be quality cinema, and name Olive Garden as your favorite "fancy" restaurant.