Arena The NBA Thread

Shawn Kemp could almost get all of his kids onto that bed.

 

16 days to go until Opening Night, and I'm almost at record levels of anticipation... feels like waiting for Christmas to arrive back when I was kid. The purple & gold held their first preseason game at Staples Center last night, which I only cared to notice (via highlights & photos after the game*) because of this:







It's a new court for the Lakers this season at Staples! I very much like it, particularly the stars (representing each year they've won a title ) , the new script logo along each basket (the old block script was hideous), and the 'L' secondary logo's along each key. Well done.

*http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/06/sports/la-sp-plaschke-lakers-tv-20121007- Now, this really doesn't matter now. I never watch any preseason games in full (only for a minute or 2), so I'm not upset yet. I do believe a deal will be reached before the season starts... no chance in hell they're going to shut out so many Laker fans in their ability to watch on television. It better not happen.

 

Can't see the Bulls finishing 2nd with Rose missing most if not all the season.

 

they played well in the regular season without rose last year. and the real question is what other team is going to finish ahead of them. after miami the eastern conference looks really weak this year.

 

It'll depend on how healthy Boston can stay, how quickly the Nets can gel, and I wouldn't sleep on the 6ers being a surprise team this year and taking a top-three seed in the East.

 

i really don't think adding joe johnson is going to put the nets over the top. i agree with you about the sixers though.

 

Over the top? No. Good enough to win more regular season games than any Eastern Conference team that doesn't feature Lebron James? Maybe.

 

doubtful. the hawks had a better supporting cast around johnson than the nets do. i wouldn't be at all surprised if they miss the playoffs.

 

Really? I mean, the Hawks have Josh Smith. And then who?

The Nets have Deron Williams and Brooks Lopez, in addition to some pretty decent cog/role player guys. They seem like the superior team to me.

 

i like deron williams, but i would take al horford over brook lopez any day, a 7' center who in his last full season couldn't even average 6 rebounds per game. the nets are ridiculously thin in the front court.

 

I think it might be a Brooklyn/Miami 2nd round match up in the playoffs, maybe even in the first.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8478267/who-nba-top-title-contenders-season-trailing-pack

Zach Lowe is a new NBA writer for Grantland.com, and this was his first article for the site (and it's rather good).


http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...-becomes-nba-player-becomes-kobe-bryant-enemy

Smush Parker isn't breaking any new ground... who the hell hasn't known that Kobe is a *****/not the easiest teammate ever? Please. And those Laker teams from 2004-2007 were filled with terrible players, so who can really begrudge a superstar from looking back on that with disdain?

 

So there's talk of building a NBA Stadium in my neck of the woods in the hopes of luring an NBA team there. A recent study apparently shows that the site would bring $503 million if built.

 

That just doesn't make sense to me...I really can't see an NBA team, even the Kings, moving to Virginia Beach.

 

Hey! There's lots of things to do in Virginia Beach. (though admittedly, Pat Robertson is a pretty good deterrent against coming anywhere near the area)

David Stern to step down Feb. 1, 2014; Adam Silver to replace him.

 

But, realistically, there are a lot stronger markets for an NBA team to come to than Virginia Beach. Take Seattle or Kansas City, for example

 

seattle first, please.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8555451/lebron-quest-immortality

http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/13330/the-uni-watch-2012-13-nba-season-preview

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...back-to-seattle-would-be-perfect-final-farewe

Only 3 days until the season starts!

 

So, uh. Yeah.

James Harden traded to Houston. Who saw that one coming?

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8486795/the-harden-dilemma


Simmons forecasted this dilemma some weeks ago... I'm in shock that OKC would trade him. What a dumb, dumb move.

 

i'm not that shocked. they offered as much as they felt they could and he turned it down. better to turn him into two first round picks and kevin martin than let him walk.

 

Eh, maybe, but shouldn't OKC have wanted to keep that nucleus together for at least one more season? Sure Harden had a crappy Finals, but I've got no doubt he'll rebound from that this season.

 

Well I did not see that trade coming at all. I thought that OKC would have found a way to work out a contract extension with him.

 

I'm more surprised that Houston makes that trade than OKC. Harden is a nice piece. But he's not a main guy that you win a championship around. Houston acquired assets and then set themselves up for a chance to bottom-out, win the lottery and potentially get that cornerstone type player. And now - they've got James Harden, lost a bunch of draft picks, and probably won't be bad enough to get a true cornerstone player.

For OKC, it's a no-brainer. You avoid serious luxury tax penalties. You pick up some very good assets. And, you send the message "if you're name isn't Kevin or Russel, I make the rules not you".