2014-2015 NBA Ramblings

[Kingdom]

well, he's in china, and he's bat shit crazy, so..... Jolly good, Ronny!

[Hammer]

ron artest is the greatest human ever.

[LJMets1989]

Was hoping for Panda World Peace, but okay.

[Hammer]

also, his name is 'the pandas friend', not 'panda friend'. put me in the group that feels 'panda friend' is undoubtedly better.

[Hammer]

the rockets are bringing over kostas papanikolaou this season. 4.8 mil this year, with a 4.6 mil team option next year. that seems like a lot. paul pierce only got 5.5 mil this year. paul pierce is paul pierce, and not kostas papanikolaou, i dont care how old paul pierce is.

and the cavs have offered a 1st round pick to the nuggets, for timofey mozgov. total rumor right now though. in any case, former knick foreigners all over the news today.

[Kingdom]

4.8 worth it if his jersey just says "Papa"

[Hammer]

im sure you all saw the video showing kobe doing exact plays/mannerisms as mike did back in the day, that came out a couple days ago. well, now theres another video comparing someone equally great to mike, showing that he also perfected mikes style, and has some plays over his career that look remarkably similar...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Vq...ature=youtu.be

[HollywoodLeo]

[Kingdom]

I actually clicked on hammer's link hoping to be rick rolled. Because no one would ever expect hammer to do that.

[Hammer]

indiana offered hibbert and copeland to phoenix for goran dragic. i assume the suns laughed heartily before hanging up. the report only says that they declined though.

[Epic Dean]

The Raptors have supposedly been fined $25,000 for comments Drake made about KD at a concert that were seen as tampering

[Kingdom]

Los Angeles Clippers

Jordan - Griffin - Barnes - Redick - Paul
Hawes/Big Baby/Dudley/Wilcox/Bullock/Crawford/Farmer

Jordan and Griffin keep getting better. Jordan finally started realizing his potential as the 7 foot version of Ben Wallace while Griffin continues to expand his offensive game. In fact, he's now to the point that he can carry the team for long stretches in the season. Redick excelled in this offense. Interestingly enough, they spent their 1st rounder on another shooting guard. They did the same thing the season before. And they still have Dudley and Crawford, mostly Crawford, off the bench. They finally added a legit big to come off the bench in Hawes but he's the only one they have right now. They also added a true backup point in Farmar. Their bench has some identity, with those two and Crawford. Their next step is making it to the finals, but in order to do that, Chris Paul can't be on again off again in the playoffs. Should be a pretty good team, I'd say top four again, they are well-coached, they have the star power and there's shooters everywhere- even the backup center can hit a three. They're running out of excuses.

[Kingdom]

Boston Celtics

Olynyk - Sullinger - Green - Bradley - Rondo
T.Zeller/Bass/G.Wallace/J.Young/Thornton/Pressey/Smart

There's a lot of players on this team. There isn't really any stars. And I would fully expect this team to continue to change, there's very little reason to keep Bass, Joel Anthony, or Rondo around. I doubt anyone will take Wallace with his 10 mill tag. And if you can sell high on Jeff Green, you do it. I have no idea what their starting lineup will be, but I like the idea of starting Olynyk and Sully and keeping Green at small forward to maximize offensive capabilities. Zeller has a strong chance to start given he's more of an actual center than Olynyk. The backup backcourt could very well outscore the starting backcourt. What's this all mean? Another lottery year. The Celtics aren't to the point of completely overhauling everything and Danny Ainge is slick, I have a feeling we're in store for a move or two that really has us "wow'ing". Last season was dreadful but it was largely dreadful because of a lack of talent. They still kept games very close, and had they had more offense/talent, they might have snuck into the playoffs. But, they are still far away from having the necessary guns to matter again. As much as I like Bradley on defense, I think all of us are more interested in seeing Young and Smart in the this lineup. Expect a lottery season, and this is a team that Jahlil Okafor is destined to play on.

[Kingdom]

Cleveland Cavaliers* (assuming that the 3 team trade does indeed become official later this month, if something falls through, we will revisit this)

Varajao - Love - LeBron - Mike Miller - Irving
Haywood/Thompson/Powell/M.Thomas/J.Jones/J.Harris/Waiters/Dellavedova/Lucas III

Let's immediately address three things, because I like to pick at even the littlest of things and there's too many people crowning them champs when it's only August. 1) I strongly believe, that for as long as he's healthy, Mike Miller should be and needs to be the starting 2 guard. He's a perfect glue guy, terrific shooter, and useful ball handler. I know he's old but he doesn't have to log 30 plus nightly on this team, he's just able to do more than Waiters, who, if everyone suddenly forgot, apparently has a Crips vs. Bloods rivalry with Irving. It's amazing he hasn't been traded. LeBron is the best player in the world, but he does not work miracles, including making two guys that apparently hate each other, suddenly mesh. It's a risky move. But it's also why I start Miller. And since they're front runners for Allen, that probably digs into Waiter's minutes as well. There's also Joe Harris, who was a really good shooter in college with a non-stop motor (aka he's got Redick-vibes) Resolution? Trade Waiters for a big or a real backup PG. 2) At least with Miami, there was Anderson and Haslem. Here, maybe Tristan Thompson off the bench but he's not a rim protector. Beyond him, you have the immortal Brendan Haywood, who has barely even been a rotation player since 2009. While Dwight Powell has some of the Josh McBob skill sets, he again, not a rim protector and is kinda soft. Varajao will inevitably miss time. Kevin Love will inevitably miss time. See where I'm going? And finally, 3. I love saying Matthew Dellevedova's name as much as the next person but is that who you're counting on to spell Irving? Who, oh by the way, will inevitably miss time. Cleveland is a rather injury prone team, aside from LeBron. Perhaps more than any weakness this team may or may not have, it's the fact that aside from James and Thompson, the nucleus of this team with more than a few years of experience, tends to have a fairly significant injury or two on a yearly basis. And that can be dicey. If they stay healthy, just on sheer talent alone, they should be the top seed in the East, or #2 seed (a healthy Derek Rose combined with one of the top coaches in the league = NOT SO FAST, CLEVELAND).

[Kingdom]

Houston Rockets

Howard - T.Jones - Ariza - Harden - Beverley
Capela/Adrien/Motiejunas/Papa/Hopson/Gee/N.Johnson/Daniels/Canaan/Ish Smith

I've only listed Capela because I remembered seeing him tweet about coming over, but I don't know if that ends up happening and even if he does, he probably gets sent to the D League. Which, is not a bad idea. Also wouldn't be a bad idea if he was in the rotation as a backup to Howard either since, well, all they have are undersized power fowards and the soft stretch 4 type in Motiejunas. Their bench is kinda mess to be honest. Jeff Adrien was solid last season (11/8 as starter with the Bucks). Troy Daniels showed off his range in the playoffs, which oh by the way, was the first time he logged serious minutes in the bigs. I stand by my claim the Nick Johnson will turn out to be one of the biggest steals in the draft and Houston has a lot of luck with second rounders (Budinger, Parsons). They will need these young guys to step up because they don't have much else working for them. It was a pretty disparaging offseason for Houston, as they lost out on Bosh, lost Parsons, and traded their 6th and 7th men for future stuff and cap space. Which was all to make room for Chris Bosh and Chandler Parsons. Instead, you get year 3 of Terrance Jones and Trevor Ariza's return. Jones is a good, solid player. His problem is, that he won't be able to stop a big like Aldridge because he's not that big (modestly listed as 6'9). Ariza will improve the defense but is very streaky as a shooter and lacks the all-around game Parsons possessed. Beverley is the unquestioned starting PG and he is a beast. By beast, I mean, he makes life hell for any guard he..guards. Which is nice, since James Harden is easily one of the worst defensive players in the league. He has the size and skill to be at least an OK defender, if he ever gave a damn. I think a lot of people started to drink some Kool-Aid to convince themselves that they'll be OK but this team will tumble a few notches unless Harden plays more D, Ariza can be somewhat of a consistent third option, and the bench provides production. 6-8 seed at best.