THE 2015 NBA PRE SEASON THREAD: BEST WISHES TO LAMAR ODOM

Who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals?

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  • Clippers

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  • Spurs

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  • Mavs

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  • Grizzlies

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  • Rockets

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  • Kings

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  • Warriors

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  • Pelicans

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8PM at MSG said:
Prok doing everything he can to get a return on his investment :lol:

If some Nets pop up missing during the season y'all know why :nerd:
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I have no idea why they didn't bottom out and go the philly route. With young talent...it'll be a lot easier for them to go and get free agents. They're in the top media market. Guys will want to play there. They just gotta get rid of billy King and then do a full rebuild.
 
Would have been wild if Magic stayed for another season and got to play with Shaq and Kobe
 
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I kinda' like this honest Derrick Rose. Makes for better headlines.

He’s a great MVP when healthy but yo, he can’t stay on the floor. The dude got hurt in the off season. The off season when you not even playing regular season competition ball. Freaking practice. Dude, get the most out of him with a trade. For real, for real.

If I were a GM, I'd shop him on the low and try to get as many assets for him as possible. Derrick is only 26, so his value is prime.
 
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http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/13782831/lebron-james-friends-seeing-success-too

There have been plenty of "pinch me" moments for LeBron James and his buddies-turned-business partners as they've gone from kids growing up in poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Northeast Ohio to living the good life.

They've spent time with President Obama, developed a television series loosely based on their lives, and they've been recognized for being young leaders in their field.

James has brought childhood friends Maverick Carter, Randy Mims and Rich Paul along for the ride as he has crossed over from basketball phenom to renaissance man, experiencing success in everything from acting to investing.

And now his pals are starting to experience acclaim of their own.

Carter was a guest speaker at the Harvard Business School on Tuesday to share the story behind LRMR, the firm that James established with his friends in 2005 to manage all the marketing and business opportunities that came his way.

Illustrating how James' crew supports one another to this day, after Carter posted a photo speaking to the Harvard students on his Twitter account, Mims and James posted a collage of photos depicting Carter playing professor to their respective Instagram accounts.

"I think it's pretty cool the professors there would even allow Maverick and allow us to use our case study for their students," James said Wednesday, alluding to the case study that Harvard professors Anita Elberse and Jeff McCall published in 2009 about James and his friends' business venture. "To be at Harvard and to be very respected there, it's a true definition of continuing to learn over the years, continue to push the envelope, push the boundaries of what we can do not only on the floor but off the floor."

When James fired agent Aaron Goodwin in 2005 and subsequently established LRMR, there were plenty of naysayers. James heard the same criticism in 2012 when he parted ways with agent Leon Rose and put Paul in place as his primary representative.

Meanwhile, James has nothing but praise for the way his friends, and Carter in particular, have managed his career.

"I think he's handled it the best way he could handle a situation like this," James said. "It's a rare case of me being the person I am both basketball player and off the floor. We've all learned, we've had bumps and bruises along the way, but it has only made us stronger and made us who we are today.

"About 12 years ago when I decided to part ways with my agent, there were 150 million articles about how I was making a mistake to hire the people around me that I trusted -- Maverick, Rich and Randy -- and start LRMR and how everything would fall to pieces. Those pieces have made a beautiful portrait at this point."

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HOUSTON – Before Ty Lawson texted James Harden with a plea – “Man, get me over there” – he had studied the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in the Western Conference Finals and come to a conclusion: Half the time, Steph Curry was coasting.

“Steph Curry needed someone to go back at him,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports. “I thought Steph was just chillin’ on defense – and then going crazy on offense. He looked like he was just putting shots up and not working so much on the defensive end. He would just come down and hit three or four 3s. He can shoot when he’s got his legs under him.”
Now, Ty Lawson is sitting at a table in a room in the Toyota Center. He’s wearing a Houston Rockets practice top and a smile that keeps coming, and feeling so, so sure of himself again. “I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to stop Steph,' but just make him work harder at the other end. I saw that in the Cavs series too.
“He wasn’t really working at the other end.”

Lawson wanted out of Denver, and ultimately Denver wanted out of Lawson, too. He wanted a contender to compete for a championship, and the team wanted a point guard whom it could trust with the franchise.

Lawson is so gifted – his strength, his playmaking, his defense. Lawson gives James Harden a running mate and Patrick Beverley a perfect complement, and in his mind, he gives the NBA champions and the MVP a problem. Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul and Tony Parker have to guard him. In a point-guard-driven Western Conference, Ty Lawson gives the Houston Rockets a chance to go the distance.

Before the Rockets can turn themselves over to Lawson, they must believe he’s turned himself over to them. They must believe they can count upon him, that two DUI arrests in the past year and a 30-day mandatory stay at a California rehabilitation facility in the summer have been an impetus to take seriously the changes that need to come in his life.

For 30 days at Cliffside Malibu, Lawson had the chance to explore his issues with alcohol and learn to find solutions deeper than calling for a car and driver on a night he’s been drinking. Lawson spent a month with people who had lost everything, who had bottomed out. “It was eye-opening to me,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports. “I didn’t think alcoholism got that bad. But it does.

“There were people who were pushed into [the rehab facility] by family, and then me, who was court ordered. Just to see that it can get that bad, that you can die. You may not see that as a person until you’re already there.”

Lawson learned “what triggers are” and “what forces someone to drink,” but says this on his public and private problems with alcohol: “I still honestly don’t think I would’ve had to go in there if it wasn’t court ordered. I just made two dumb mistakes. But I did take things from the [rehabilitation facility].”

The Rockets organization connected Lawson with respected counselor John Lucas in Houston, and that’s a relationship that Lawson expects to grow. All in all, can the Rockets count on Lawson? “I don’t think anyone on that team or in the organization worries about that,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports.

From general manager Daryl Morey to the coaching staff, they’ve loved what they’ve witnessed out of Lawson in their brief time together. He’s been to the playoffs in Denver, chased a Western Conference title and a high seeding, and Lawson sees something else here: a chance to be a champion.

For the Rockets, so much of that will move through the partnership of Lawson and Harden. They’re old friends, and Lawson believes he’ll make Harden’s life so much easier. This is the golden age of NBA point guards, and Lawson knows that position is measured the way it is in the NFL with quarterbacks: winning.

“I don’t think you’ve ever seen so many good point guards in one conference at one time in the league ever,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports. “But you’ve got to win. If you want to be an elite PG in this league, you’ve got to win. You’ve got to be in the conference finals, the NBA Finals. If you’re not winning, you’ll always be a second-tier, or third-tier point guard.”

When those Western Conference Finals were over in the spring, Lawson reached out to Harden and told him to get his general manager working on a trade. Morey had been on the case and finally pushed a deal in late July. Great teams and great playmakers are everywhere in the Western Conference, and the climb back deep into the playoffs promises to be prodigious.

And yet, Lawson is still thinking about Steph Curry and those defending champion Golden State Warriors. He wants to make the MVP work in June. Ty Lawson wants to be in the middle of everything again, and this is his opportunity in Houston, his burden. In so many ways now, there’s never been so much on Ty Lawson.

Woj
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