[46-36]History in the Making ※ Playoffs Preview!

[Valor]

Celtics, Thunder Exchange Perkins For Green



The Celtics have agreed to send Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder in exchange
for a package built around Jeff Green.

Green and Perkins will both be free agents this offseason, while the former will be
restricted.

Nenad Krstic and Nate Robinson will also be included in the deal

Gerald Wallace Traded To Blazers



Charlotte's Gerald Wallace has been traded to Portland, according
to sources.

The Blazers had strongly been coveting an upgrade at the deadline.

Portland will send Joel Przybilla and Dante Cunningham to the Bobcats in
exchange for Wallace.

Aaron Brooks Traded To Phoenix For Dragic



The Rockets have traded Aaron Brooks to the Suns for Goran Dragic.

Brooks will be a restricted free agent this summer and lost his starting job
to Kyle Lowry.

Thunder trade for Nazr Mohammed


Looking to get stronger on the boards, the Thunder add more
size and experience to their frontline with Mohammed, who's on an
expiring deal.

The Bobcats continue to look toward the future by adding D.J. White,
a former first-round pick who's never had much of an opportunity to
prove himself.

Mo Peterson will also be included in the deal.

[Martti.]

Glad you're doing the real life deals, I can't wait to see how the deals work out for the Blazers, Celtics and Thunder.

[Valor]

Glad you're doing the real life deals, I can't wait to see how the deals work out for the Blazers, Celtics and Thunder.

Me too, especially in real life I hate Perkins a tiny bit less now that he's not wearing green

[Valor]

Grading the Deal: Panthers Acquire Battier in Three Way Trade
October 26th, 2010


Battier's reputation as the Kobe Stopper is exactly what the Kiwi team needs

In the first ever deal in franchise history, the replacement team of the now defunct Memphis Grizzlies - the New Zealand Panthers, have acquired former Grizzlies forward Shane Battier from the Houston Rockets in a three way trade that also includes the Philadelphia 76ers.

The deal sends Battier to New Zealand, Luke Walton of the Panthers and Hasheem Thabeet of the Sixers to Houston, and Ish Smith of the Rockets to Philadelphia.

“We are thrilled to have acquired a player of Shane’s caliber" Panthers owner and president of basketball operations Leo Lai stated in the press conference "Shane is the exact kind of guy we have been looking for. Hard working, gritty player that does all the things that you need to do to win."

"We expect that his combination of shooting, defense and leadership will be key ingredients in helping us reach our goals of ultimately winning a championship" Lai added

The first-ever draft pick in the Memphis era (No. 6 overall in 2001), Battier starred for five seasons in the Bluff City (2001-06), averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.28 steals in 32.3 minutes in 396 games (279 starts). The franchise’s all-time leader in steals (507), Battier also ranks in the top 10 in team history in points (4,160, 6th), rebounds (1,908, 7th), blocks (418, 3rd), three-point field goals made (389, 4th), free throws made (765, 7th), games played (3rd) and games started (5th).

The 6-8, 220-pound forward holds career averages of 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.10 steals on .444 shooting (.386 3FG) in 744 games (619 starts) over 10 NBA seasons with the Grizzlies and Rockets. After winning the NCAA Championship, the NCAA Final Four MVP, the Naismith College Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award in 2001 in his senior season with the Duke Blue Devils, Battier was named to the 2001-02 NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in his rookie season for the Grizzlies.

Battier is famously an overachiever who delivers high quality defense and can hit open perimeter jumpers when called upon. He will fit in and keep things afloat until the Panthers could acquire a real star, then do whatever coach Pero Cameron needs him to do.

For the Rockets, Thabeet's contract is problematic, but that is the price on taking a gamble on the second overall pick from a draft that was held not long ago. The Rockets have long been searching for a center and now they have one of the biggest projects in the game in Thabeet. He has barely passed the 1,000 minute mark for his NBA career and minutes is what he needs more than anything; especially now that Yao Ming is out again for the rest of the season.

The addition of Luke Walton will also help the Rockets with their hopes of reaching the postseason, as Walton's veteran experiences during his time with the Lakers, as well as his passing ability and basketball IQ will benefit the young talents of the Rockets greatly.

Morey's ability to turn Battier, who had dubious trade value to begin with, into a shotblocking project, a veteran championship presence and minutes for young players at the same position is a triple-win.

The Sixers on the other hand, reaped the benefits of this deal by offloading Thabeet, whom they selected in the Memphis Grizzlies dispersal draft due to the lack of choices at that time, for a very promising young point guard in Ish Smith. Smith should provide good competition for the two other young points in Philly and boaster their backcourt depth.

Side Note: Darko Milicic will switch to his national team number 11 in order to allow Battier to continue wearing his #31 jersey.

Grade for Panthers: B+
Grade for Rockets: B+
Grade for Sixers: A-

[hova-]

Good deal to acquire Battier. The pic says it all, he's one tough defender although the stats won't tell.

Don't know bout the Sixers though, who is Ish Smith?

[Valor]

Good deal to acquire Battier. The pic says it all, he's one tough defender although the stats won't tell.

Don't know bout the Sixers though, who is Ish Smith?

Ish Smith - undrafted rookie point guard

[kibaxx7]

Loving the Shane deal.

[Martti.]

Swapping Walton for Battier is a great deal for you.

[Houndy]

Like the deal for Shane

[Lamrock]

Glad you're incorporating real life events. Shane Battier is a good guy to have leading an expansion team.

[Valor]

Loving the Shane deal.

Swapping Walton for Battier is a great deal for you.

Like the deal for Shane

Glad you're incorporating real life events. Shane Battier is a good guy to have leading an expansion team.

Cheers guys, I really like Shane Battier and it just so happens he got traded to Memphis, so yeah why not bring him over to NZL in my virtual world?

[The X]

Sixers got a little ripped in deal, probably deserved a 2nd Round draft pick too

[Kubik]

Nice addition with Battier. I will definitely follow this one

[megarover]

Adding+a+guy+like+Battier+can+never+hurt.

[Justine.]

Liking the deal

[Valor]

Sixers got a little ripped in deal, probably deserved a 2nd Round draft pick too

I guess a little, but Ish Smith > Hasheem Thabeet

Nice addition with Battier. I will definitely follow this one

Cheers man, glad you are onboard

Adding+a+guy+like+Battier+can+never+hurt.

Definitely

Liking the deal

Cheers man, and thx again for the header

[Axel The Great]

Make sure to stop Kobe with Battier.

[Valor]

Make sure to stop Kobe with Battier.

"Stopping" Kobe would be hard for anybody, but I will definitely try to slow him down with Battier

(God knows I don't want him to drop 81 on me...even though my team is probably worse than the Craptors that season)

[Valor]

Panthers Fall to Hawks in NBA Debut
Game Story | Box Score | Team Stats | Player of the Game


Shane Battier scores the first points in Panthers history

Auckland, NZ - For the first 30 minutes, it looks as though the expansion team New Zealand Panthers was going to have their way in their NBA debut.

Unfortunately for them, the Eastern Conference Playoff contending Atlanta Hawks had different plans.

Trailing for most of the first half of the game, Joe Johnson and the Hawks turned it on midway through the third quarter and went on a 15-0 run that was only halted by a three at the buzzer from local favorite Kirk Penney of the hometown Panthers. They would not look back as they held off the NBA's newest team for a 107-96 victory to spoil their debut.

"They played really hard and have a lot of key components - it was kind of hard to call them an expansion team," said Jamal Crawford, who led all scorers with 28 points "They've got some talented guys ... they will get a lot of upsets."

Too bad for the Panthers, it didn't happen in their franchise debut game, which marked the NBA's first official expansion outside North America and into New Zealand.

The Hawks improved to 2-0, as they look to make another run in the depths of the postseason after last year's second round exit at the hands of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

"We want to go even further this season" said Joe Johnson "We are not satisfied with what we have done, our goal is to win it all"

Defeating weaker teams and getting one of the top seeds is certainly one of the things they have to do to reach that goal.

Johnson had 26 points and 5 assists for the Hawks while fellow All Star Al Horford notched a double double with 19 points and a game high 13 rebounds. Recently acquired guard Kirk Hinrich had an all round contribution as he racked up 6 points, 7 rebounds and led the game with 11 assists.

However, the Kiwi team certainly gave them a good scare, as their tenacious defense held the Hawks to just 4 for 19 from beyond the arc. The Hawks were also outrebounded, 40 to 47 and allowed the Panthers to shoot 40% from deep on the night (6/15).

Yi Jianlian led the way for New Zealand with 26 points and 8 rebounds, Darko Milicic added 20 points while Shane Battier notched 11 points and 9 boards and for the most part, bothered the Hawks' star Joe Johnson with his defensive prowess.

Local favorite Kirk Penney scored 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench, including a 3 pointer at the buzzer to end the 3rd quarter.

"If it wasn't for that halting the Hawks' momentum, who knows how ugly the final score would be like" fellow Kiwi Sean Marks said following the game "That was just a big shot by Kirk, he makes those kinda plays"

Marcus Thornton added 11 points and 7 assists, but turned the ball over 4 times in what was a common trend for the Panthers.

"I think it's kind of expected, as these guys barely had a few practices together" stated coach Pero Cameron "I am sure as time passes and they get to know each other more the chemistry will develop and the offense will have lesser mistakes"

They also would be wise to work on their free throws.

As a team the Panthers shot just 23 for 34 from the charity stripe (67%), which could have been the difference in the ball game. Yi Jianlian was just 6 for 12 from the free throw line while Darko Milicic went 8 for 12.

"If we made them, the result would probably be in our favor" said Yi "It was just one of those nights"

Notes: It was a sellout crowd of 15,528 at the Panthers Arena in downtown Auckland, New Zealand....Kirk Penney received a prolonged standing ovation when he checked into the game midway through the first quarter....Former Hawk Mike Bibby is said to be agreeing on a buyout with the Washington Wizards and will be waived in a few days....Shane Battier scored the first basket in franchise history one minute into the game on a mid range jumper....



Game Highlights

[dare]

Yi would be your Allstar man

[hova-]

What a game by your frontcourt combining for 46 points and going to the line 24 times together. The Hawks are a handful with their shooters. JC and JJ pretty much did it. But your team's looking good.

You plan to sign Bibby?

[Justine.]

Darko scoring 20

[Valor]

Yi would be your Allstar man

Looks to be like it, I just hope he can keep up this kind of production (and hit some damn free throws...)

What a game by your frontcourt combining for 46 points and going to the line 24 times together. The Hawks are a handful with their shooters. JC and JJ pretty much did it. But your team's looking good.

You plan to sign Bibby?

My frontcourt is probably my best offensive options at this point

As for Bibby, nope, I'm keeping it realistic in two ways..
1. Bibby brought out with the Wizards 'cause he doesn't want to be on a lottery team. Would be soooo not realistic if he signs with an expansion team
2. He's going to the Heat like IRL,

Darko scoring 20

I would be happier if he grabbed more rebounds though, maybe im just nitpicking

[kibaxx7]

As Hova said huge game by your frontcourt. Also nice contribution by Penney.

[Valor]

As Hova said huge game by your frontcourt. Also nice contribution by Penney.

Penney made some big shots for me