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NBA Off-Season News Thread: Roy extends 80/5, AI to Grizz, Chandler/Okafor swap, Marquis to C's.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by japanair21,
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Originally Posted by Blazers21NTNP
Clippers decided to pass on Madsen, waiving him yesterday...
what a mistake...the clippers dont know a champion when they see one
do it mitch!
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Rachel Nichols conducted an ESPN Sunday Conversation with LeBron James (see some clips of the interview above).
James answered questions on a variety of subjects, including this comment when Nichols asked James about his loyalty to Cleveland.
"My loyalty is to Akron. I'm looking forward to this upcoming season, but I'm looking forward to the summer of 2010, too, to see what may happen. No matter what happens that summer, you know, I'm still here. I've got a nice big house here that I'm always coming back to. You know, I love this city and I'll always give back to this city no matter what my profession; if it takes me somewhere else."
Bron's viral way of making the city hate him, so he won't feel as bad when he leaves.
Is he flip flopping? One minute he professes his love for Cleveland, and then spins it as if Akron is his only concern...
mateen cleaves
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dudes leaving. end of story.
jpzx
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Come back to Minny
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LeBron's Farewell Tour begins opening night.
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Is he flip flopping? One minute he professes his love for Cleveland, and then spins it as if Akron is his only concern...
does this mean the OCM's lovefest for Lebron are numbered
mateen cleaves
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Yes. Arenas is healthy and they got Foye and Money Mike
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nvm
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Last year Kobe Bryant made $16 million in endorsements in Los Angeles.
In the same year, LeBron made $28 million in endorsements playing in CLEVELAND.
(Source: SI.com Fortune 50 of highest earning athletes in 200
LBJ would be a fool to leave a Championship caliber team. More money, better team and the ability to bring business to HIM.
Tiger Woods is the world's richest athlete. Is he identified by the city he lives in? No.
Wins and charm gets him paid.
In the same year, LeBron made $28 million in endorsements playing in CLEVELAND.
(Source: SI.com Fortune 50 of highest earning athletes in 200
LBJ would be a fool to leave a Championship caliber team. More money, better team and the ability to bring business to HIM.
Tiger Woods is the world's richest athlete. Is he identified by the city he lives in? No.
Wins and charm gets him paid.
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He has a #3 in the East team, not a Championship caliber team.
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QFT
mateen cleaves
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Cavs suck
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not only that the cavs only have a 1 year window with the way the roster is
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Want to know who's heating up for a big season on the hardwood? Insider is tapping into John Hollinger's projected player efficiency ratings to see who's trending up and down across the NBA. Ric Bucher rounds out the report by examining a pivotal player you'll want to watch as the season approaches. The series begins with the champs, the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers avenged their 2008 NBA Finals face-plant against the Boston Celtics, Kobe got his ring sans Shaq and Phil Jackson broke his tie for championships with Red Auerbach. So what's their motivation this time around?
"Proving that Ron Artest isn't title-prohibiting crazy" probably won't be on the cover of the media guide, but it's hard to find a more compelling answer at the moment. It's easy to forget now, but the one question looming over the Lakers last season was whether they had the necessary killer instinct and mental toughness to win a championship. Now the question is, did they forge some permanent inner steel by overcoming Houston, Denver and, finally, Orlando, or will the removal of so many monkeys from so many backs cause them to lose that grit?
Oh, and what happens if Kobe's production begins to decline after his super season?
To see which player is taking off, who is crashing to earth and which name you'll need to know for the 2009-10 season, you must be an ESPN Insider.
[h3]Trending Up: Jordan Farmar[/h3]
Last season: 9.93 PER
2009-10 projection: 12.68 PER
Farmar finished 59th in pure point rating, which was an inexcusable performance for a small, quick guard on a team with this many weapons around him. Even as a scoring guard he was lacking. He made only 39.1 percent of his shots from the floor, and his foul shooting (58.4 percent) has become absolutely indefensible. Overall, he ranked 62nd out of the league's 69 point guards in true shooting percentage and finished with a PER in single digits. For a healthy 22-year-old who posted a 15.29 PER a season earlier, it was an epic crash -- narrowly missing out on the league's largest decline:
[h4]Biggest PER drop, 2008-09[/h4]
Jordan Farmar took a big step back last season, particularly considering his age relative to the other names on this list. (Minimum 500 minutes in both seasons)
[table][tr][th=""]Player[/th] [th=""]Team[/th] [th=""]2007-08 PER[/th] [th=""]2008-09 PER[/th] [th=""]Difference[/th] [/tr][tr][td]Baron Davis[/td] [td]LAC[/td] [td]19.85[/td] [td]14.54[/td] [td]-5.41[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Jordan Farmar[/td] [td]LAL[/td] [td]15.29[/td] [td]9.93[/td] [td]-5.36[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Allen Iverson[/td] [td]DEN/DET[/td] [td]21.06[/td] [td]15.89[/td] [td]-5.17[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Earl Watson[/td] [td]OKC[/td] [td]14.57[/td] [td]9.55[/td] [td]-5.02[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Chauncey Billups[/td] [td]DET/DEN[/td] [td]23.48[/td] [td]18.85[/td] [td]-4.63[/td] [/tr][/table]
On paper, Farmar enters the season as a quasi-backup who will split minutes with Shannon Brown behind Derek Fisher. In reality, much depends on which Farmar shows up. The guy from 2008-09 is unlikely to play much, but he has the talent to perform much, much better and showed it in the 2007-08 campaign. If he plays like that again, he'll blow past Brown and Fisher into the starting job by midseason, because he's clearly the most gifted of the three. He just hasn't determined how to translate his gifts into consistent offensive success yet. -- Hollinger
[h3]Trending Down: Kobe Bryant[/h3]
Last season: 24.46 PER
2009-10 projection: 22.65 PER
First, the bad news: A declining free throw rate is a fairly ominous canary in the coal mine, and Bryant is 31 years old with a lot of mileage on his legs. For that reason, I don't think he'll match last season's numbers.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect a precipitous decline, either. Bryant keeps himself in fantastic shape, has had few knee problems and has already shown he has the smarts to adjust his game to whatever new realities his body deals him. Additionally, the Lakers should be able to manage his minutes carefully and reduce the regular-season wear and tear. That, in fact, may be a bigger drain on his numbers than age -- if he plays, say, 34 minutes a game, his averages will drop no matter how well he performs. -- Hollinger
[h3]Bucher's Name to Know: Andrew Bynum[/h3]
You were expecting Artest, right? Well, it's already out there that Ron-Ron was nuttier in Houston last season than anyone realized and that he no longer has the athleticism to guard quick small forwards the way the departed Trevor Ariza did. Artest can be safely quarantined, though, if Bynum is once more the double-double machine he was right before he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. In case anyone forgot, he was on a streak of five straight double-doubles for a total of 16 in the first 48 games.
Bynum never came close to that form upon his return, failing to get double-digit rebounds in a single playoff game. Concerns about his commitment to getting fit arose during his absence and he still looked to be favoring his right leg. Then issues bubbled up concerning Bynum's focus; rather than blocking shots and cleaning the glass, he seemed preoccupied with scoring, a far less vital ingredient. Nine times he scored in double figures but not once did he get more than nine rebounds. His blocked-shot production was sliced in half.
So if you want to be entertained -- or appalled -- follow Artest's antics. But if you want to know whether the Lakers can repeat or not, keep your eye on Bynum. -- Bucher
John Hollinger writes for ESPN Insider. Ric Bucher is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Insider
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those power moves better prevail
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WIZ 4TH IN THE EAST
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Your insight is amazing, please continue to contribute to this thread with your "Insert non-Pistons teams here" suck posts.
Really...
Don't bother,
Mavs suck
I know.
mjshoefanatic
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Originally Posted by I NaSmatic I
.
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Originally Posted by JapanAir21
Your insight is amazing, please continue to contribute to this thread with your "Insert non-Pistons teams here" suck posts.
Really...
Don't bother,
Mavs suck
I know.
right...the same way you contributed in saying the Lakers had a good run when we had our troubles against the nuggets in game freakin 2
Chester McFloppy wrote:
outacontrol music wrote:
LBJ would be a fool to leave a Championship caliber team.
He has a #3 in the East team, not a Championship caliber team.
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A playoff run where you have one opponent that gives you problems, and you win the title?
I'd consider that a relatively good run, but maybe that's just me.
And if I'm interpreting that wrong, the Nuggets did control most of those games, but the Lakers closed them out in the fourth quarter, no denying that.
I'd consider that a relatively good run, but maybe that's just me.
And if I'm interpreting that wrong, the Nuggets did control most of those games, but the Lakers closed them out in the fourth quarter, no denying that.
