18/8/13
Prokhorov shows championship ambition by making big changes at Nets
New Jersey's billionaire Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov has decided to take drastic action in his bid to turn his team into serious contenders.
He has been ruthless with his roster overhaul this off-season and has pulled off some big coups in his attempt to surround his two stars with talent.
After reaching the conference finals in 2011, they surprisingly lost to Milwaukee in the semis this season. Which was the trigger for these changes.
Those on their way out include Nick Collison, Damion James, DeShawn Stevenson, Daniel Orton, Darrell Arthur, Ryan Gomes and James Singleton.
Forward Ryan Anderson signed with Milwaukee, Kyle Korver left for Oklahoma City and Mike Bibby decided to retire after fifteen seasons.
The list of free agents they signed afterwards reads like a video game roster. Bryant, Duncan, Nowitzki, Nash, Odom, Prince and Allen.
This group has more trophies than they can count. Championships, MVP awards and scoring titles. Their achievements are very impressive.
But even though it appears to have the look of a dream-team on paper, it is worth noting that these new recruits have an average age of 35.
With 7 MVP titles amongst them, it is expected that some pressure will be taken off Deron Williams to be the teams on-court leader.
Another deal that happened during the off-season was Andre Iguodala being sent to Minnesota in a sign-and-trade deal for Nene.
The deal was apparently green-lit by Prokhorov after Kobe announced during negotiations that he wouldn't sign unless he was a starter.
This meant that Iguodala would lose his spot and likely leave as a free agent. They then hastily arranged a deal with Minnesota for Nene.
A deal which actually gives them an imposing front court duo of Howard and Nene. Two powerful players with a strong defensive presence.
This news coupled with two consecutive 52-win seasons shows that the Nets are one of the top teams in the league at this point in time.
The eastern conference is becoming evermore competitive with the Knicks, Nets, Pistons and Bucks all closing the gap to the Heat.
They'll be hoping that these veterans will put them over the top and give them the depth and experience to goal the way in the playoffs.
It's likely that the Nets will line up with Howard, Nene, Odom, Bryant and Williams as starters. Odom gets the nod because of his versatility.
His ability to play big but also to handle the ball gives the Nets the advantage of having 3 near-seven footers on the court at once.
It's a safe bet that Howard and Nene should be able to dominate against almost any team in the league when it comes to rebounding.
They also now have a mouth-watering second unit of Duncan, Nowitzki, Prince, Allen and Nash to take over when the starters need a rest.
Being able to insert Prince and Allen into games with their defensive pressure is a handy option to have and should help them close out games.
The only complication they now have is one that Miami and Oklahoma City also had to deal with; who gets the ball at the end of close games?
It's safe to say that this is Deron Williams' team, but having clutch performers like Kobe and Dirk on the roster gives them more options.
Andrew wrote:The Nets sure stocked up on veteran stars. Your offseason was kind of quiet but those were some solid moves in addition to the draft day deal.
.dan wrote:The Nets lineup dropped my jaw when I saw it It would be amazing if you could meet them in the Finals, which would be pathetic for them if they don't get there. I like Arenas on the Heat too. Pau and Marc together in NO 4 out of their 5 starters are Spaniards. Never would imagine a team with Dirk and Timmy coming off the bench though That is truly remarkable if the Nets did that all without you intervening via trade or something like that.
Houndy wrote:Damn those Nets...
The list of free agents they signed afterwards reads like a video game roster.
1/10/13
Off-Season transactionsThunder and Pacers swap big men
Indiana receive
Brook Lopez - 25 - C - $37.29m - 3 years (87)
Thunder's 2013 2nd round pick
Projected line-up:
Brook Lopez - Marreese Speights - Paul George - Jamal Crawford - Darren Collison
Bench options:
Jesus Carlos, Jason Smith, Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones, Fredrik Price, Hasheem Thabeet
Oklahoma City receive
Roy Hibbert - 26 - C - $22.38m - 2 years (86)
Projected line-up:
Roy Hibbert - Blake Griffin - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Derrick Rose
Bench options:
Michael Beasley, Eric Maynor, Rolf Young, Crawford Mayer, Kyle Korver, Howie Jeffries
It wouldn't be an off-season without the Thunder making some kind of changes. GM Sam Presti has done it again this year.
This time he's sent his three-time championship winning center Brook Lopez to Indiana in exchange for 7 ft 2 Roy Hibbert.
The Thunder's rebounding woes were exposed during their latest playoff run and Hibbert is the latest recruit to fix that problem.
Maybe the fact that Hibbert is the equal tallest player in the league had some bearing on Presti's decision to pull the trigger.
Indiana also received pick 60 in this deal, which they subsequently used to select Iowa point guard Dale Fenwick.
The Pacers lost star player Danny Granger to the Lakers through free agency and were perhaps looking for a new face of their franchise.
He was afterall the starting center in three consecutive championship teams. Another plus is that he is a year younger than Hibbert.
With Granger and Stephen Jackson moved on, it's time for Paul George to finally fulfil his potential and be the star of this team.
Pacers management will be hoping Lopez, George and Collison will form a solid core for their team for many years to come.Bucks bring in Ellis to aid championship push
Golden State receive
Anthony Morrow - 28 - SG - $35.57m - 3 years (92)
Bucks' 2014 1st round pick
Projected line-up:
Andris Biedrins - David Lee - Matthew O'Donnell - Anthony Morrow - Stephen Curry
Bench options:
Al-Farouq Aminu, Ekpe Udoh, Shannon Brown, Daniel Gibson, Ian Zimmermann, Kwame Brown
Milwaukee receive
Monta Ellis - 28 - SG - $60.94m - 4 years (94)
Projected line-up:
Andrew Bogut - Andrea Bargnani - Jeff Green - Monta Ellis - Russell Westbrook
Bench options:
Jose Calderon, Ryan Anderson, Daequan Cook, Ian Mahinmi, Kosta Koufos
Golden State faced a dilemma with Monta Ellis this off-season. They were willing to pay him to stay but he wanted to move on.
He apparently requested to be traded to a title challenger. Luckily for the Warriors though there weren't any such teams that could afford him.
So instead of losing him for nothing they shopped him around to several teams and ended up getting a good replacement and a draft pick.
They agreed a sign-and-trade deal with Milwaukee which will see them receive guard Anthony Morrow and the Bucks' 2014 first round pick.
Morrow returns to the Warriors after spells in New Jersey and Milwaukee. He's been in good scoring form and should compensate for Ellis' departure.
Milwaukee have just come off of their best season since 2001 as they reached the conference finals, only to be beaten by the Heat.
With star center Andrew Bogut signed on for a further two years, the Bucks decided to go into full 'win now' mode and acquired Ellis.
Now they have two super athletic guards that can get to the rim and create their own shots. Bargnani and Green can both score heavily too.
They lost Marvin Williams to Cleveland, but signed floor-spreading forward Ryan Anderson to replace him as a bench scorer.
They also lost Ray Allen to retirement. But they went out and got a like-for-like replacement in former Thunder guard Daequan Cook.
It seems that Miami will have to watch their backs with the likes of New Jersey and Milwaukee building up their squads to challenge them.Nets make room for Kobe and improve front court
Minnesota receive
Andre Iguodala - 29 - SG - $68.45m - 4 years (89)
Projected line-up:
DeJuan Blair - Ronny Turiaf - Bert Baker - Andre Iguodala - DJ Augustin
Bench options:
Brandon Rush, Wayne Ellington, Nenad Krstic, Luke Ridnour, Wesley Johnson
New Jersey receive
Nene - 31 - C - $60.76m - 4 years (85)
Projected line-up:
Dwight Howard - Nene - Lamar Odom - Kobe Bryant - Deron Williams
Bench options:
Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince
Part of Mikhail Prokhorov's revolution in New Jersey was sending Andre Iguodala to the Timberwolves in exchange for Nene.
Minnesota get a sorely needed wing scorer and the Nets add another defensive beast to play alongside Howard in their front court.
Allegedly the main condition of Kobe Bryant signing with the Nets was that he had to be guaranteed a starting spot on the team.
What this meant was that Iguodala would lose his spot and likely leave through free agency. That's where Minnesota came in.
They already had Blair and Turiaf and didn't particularly need Nene, but they didn't have enough cap space to sign anyone else.
So this deal works out really well for both teams really. A double sign-and-trade deal which balances out both teams' rosters nicely.Rockets and Lakers balance out rosters with trade
Houston receive
Jrue Holiday - 23 - PG - $10.60m - 1 year (82)
Projected line-up:
DeAndre Jordan - Chuck Hayes - Gerald Wallace - Jan Richards - Jrue Holiday
Bench options:
DeMarcus Nelson, Roko Ukic, Jesse Stearn, Lucian Hill
LA Lakers receive
Nick Young - 28 - SG - $9.46m - 1 year (80)
Projected line-up:
Andrew Bynum - DeMarcus Cousins - Danny Granger - Nick Young - Brandon Jennings
Bench options:
Derrick Brown, Mardy Collins, John Salmons, Nate Robinson, Luther Head, Anthony Randolph
Houston had a bit of a problem when Kyle Lowry signed for San Antonio. They didn't want to play rookie Jan Richards out of position.
So they looked around for a replacement point guard. They eventually got into talks with the Lakers and agreed a deal for Jrue Holiday.
Richards was the first overall pick in the 2012 draft and enjoyed a decent first season. The Rockets have high hopes for his future.
They also managed to sign veteran swingman Gerald Wallace from Dallas. They will be aiming to challenge for the eight seed out west.
The Lakers are entering a new era following the recent departures of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Guys Fischer and Odom are long gone too.
Andrew Bynum is the only remaining member of their 2009 championship team and is now having to take over the team as it's leader.
With Kobe gone they had to find a replacement shooting guard. It seemed like they might opt to play both Jennings and Holiday.
But they decided to trade Holiday for a more naturally suited player. It will be interesting to see how Granger and Young fit in.Hornets acquire another Spaniard in Calderon
Milwaukee receive
TJ Ford - 30 - PG - $13.71m - 1 year (82)
Projected line-up:
Andrew Bogut - Andrea Bargnani - Jeff Green - Monta Ellis - Russell Westbrook
Bench options:
TJ Ford, Ryan Anderson, Daequan Cook, Ian Mahinmi, Kosta Koufos
New Orleans receive
Jose Calderon - 32 - PG - $48.27m - 4 years (83)
Projected line-up:
Marc Gasol - Pau Gasol - Ersan Ilyasova - Rudy Fernandez - Jose Calderon
Bench options:
Lee Alsten, Rashad McCants, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Luke Babbitt, Quincy Pondexter
Even though Milwaukee are in championship mode, they still couldn't afford to have a big contract like Calderon sitting on their bench.
After hearing that Hornets' star Rudy Fernandez had persuaded them to trade for the Gasol brothers last season, they made a proposal.
They get the expiring contract of TJ Ford in exchange for sending their own Spaniard to the Hornets. A deal was quickly agreed upon.
New Orleans have a European flavour about their team these days with four Spaniards and a Turk making up their starting line-up.
Calderon had been stuck behind Russell Westbrook at the Bucks, but will now assume a more familiar starting role with the Hornets.
They will be hoping their chemistry from the national team translates and that Calderon can feed the twin tower Gasol brothers all season.
Phil89 wrote:Well I've had Lopez for 3 seasons and he has been good. But his rebounding has never been what I wanted it to be.
Hibbert is the tallest guy on the game (besides 2 generated players) and I like him. It's kind of like when I traded for OJ Mayo and Andrea Bargnani or signed Al Horford. He's just a guy I've wanted to have on my team at some point.
Houndy wrote:Nice nice. Just out of curiosity, how did you do the Nets signings?
1/10/13
Is this the season that Dan Gilbert finally makes good on his title promise?
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is finally looking like following through with his promise of delivering a championship to his fans.
In a letter he pledged to them that he'd win them a title before their former idol LeBron James won one with his new Miami team.
He has given the Heat a decent head start though as they've made four consecutive finals appearances since LeBron joined them.
Things are looking more positive in Cleveland though in recent seasons with several high draft picks and solid free agent spending.
Last season Gilbert took a big step in the right direction by signing superstar guard Chris Paul and former Sacramento guard Kevin Martin.
Although they were only signed to one year deals, he showed his intention to re-sign them by making deadline deals to free up cap space.
The new back court duo, along with second-year rookie Vincenzo Carlos, guided the Cavs to an improved 10th place with a 38-44 record.
Paul and Martin combined for a staggering 55 points per game, but they narrowly missed the playoffs, finishing 3 games behind Boston in 8th.
This off-season they consolidated their progress by re-signing both Paul and Martin long term. A good foundation for a push for the playoffs.
Next they added some bench depth in Marvin Williams, Chase Budinger, CJ Miles and also brought forward Hakim Warrick back for two years.
The silver lining of their recent on-court struggles is their collection of high draft picks, such as 2011 top pick Vincenzo Carlos.
Even though the mature age draftee is now 27, he is still in his prime and interestingly drawing comparisons to LeBron himself.
One player that will need to step up this season is 7 ft 2 giant Howie Murphy. He needs to live up to his fourth pick in the 2010 draft.
His development has been much slower than Cavs' fans would have liked. He will seemingly be the team's starting center though.
Another recent draftee looking to impress will be Scottish-born shooting guard Brodie Bailey, the second pick from last season.
Although he was used sparingly during his rookie season, he showed fans glimpses of why he's been compared to Manu Ginobili.
29/10/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [0-0] vs Dallas Mavericks [0-0]
Thunder fall just short of comeback win in season opener
OKC - 30 27 33 33 123
DAL - 41 30 33 20 124
Player of the Game: Derrick Rose
(33pts, 5ast, 4reb, 3stl)
OKC _______ DAL
49-90 - FGM/A - 56-99
2-7 - 3PTM/A - 2-10
23-26 - FTM/A - 10-13
26 - Rebounds - 41
18 - Assists - 30
6 - Blocks - 11
11 - Steals - 3
19 - Turnovers - 20
11 - Fouls - 16
Top Scorers
Derrick Rose - 33
Jason Richardson - 29
Craig Smith - 27
Kevin Durant - 27
Michael Beasley - 18
Antoine Wright - 18
Irwin Currie - 16
Jose Barea - 12
Roy Hibbert - 12
Blake Griffin - 10
Assists
Jose Barea - 9
Antoine Wright - 7
Derrick Rose - 5
Rebounds
Blake Griffin - 8
Taj Gibson - 8
Craig Smith - 8
Irwin Currie - 8
Roy Hibbert - 7
Antoine Wright - 6
Video Highlights
Hibbert finds Rose in the paint.
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Started the last quarter on a 14-2 run to get back into the game. Couldn't get any stops after that though.
Drove to the basket with Durant on the last play but didn't get a foul call.
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