Arena The NBA Thread

Man, I hope the Grizz can close this thing out on Friday.

 

I think it might come off spoiled, PRENN, when it's like "I don't want LeBron to win us championships, I want other great stars to win us championships!" When there are several franchises out there who have never won a title.

It's like if I said I don't want a fire truck for Christmas cause it doesn't mesh with my Hotweels. Maybe that's kinda true, but there are lots of kids not getting Christmas presents at all.

That analogy is off of course, given that LeBron is not a fire truck, he's an *** hole. So I get it.

 

yeah prenn, you're basically saying that you wish the lakers were built like the spurs or those great bulls teams when that's really never been the case. it might be time to pick a different team if you really feel that way. might i suggest the warriors?

but i don't think lebron will leave the heat. why would he? the heat are likely to be coming off three straight titles in the summer of 2014. lebron and wade are best friends. they agreed to play together when they hadn't won anything and didn't know for sure that it work. now they're going to split up when they're in the middle of building one of the great dynasties in the history of the game? if anything i could see them restructuring their contracts and taking even less money so they can fit under the more restrictive cap rules and continue to lure great players like ray allen who will come play there for cheap so they can get some rings.

 

I agree with Inty & tom here. All of this talk on LeBron won't matter much at the end, because he's staying in Miami... it simply makes too much sense basketball wise & for his brand. Concerning my beloved Lakers, all that matters to me is that they continue to have seasons here & there in which they are in contention for a title (because it's unrealistic to expect that every year, regardless of what some Laker fans may think), regardless of how certain players get on the team, and that the Laker franchise as a whole remains strong.

 

The reasons he would leave the Heat is that in two years D. Wade's going to be either retiring or going to retire, so that's the best chance for the Lakers to get him. What is Miami going to do once D. Wade is gone; they need someone to give LeBron the ball, so unless they pick up some really good free agents or select the next Kobe in the draft then LeBron needs to look around and figure out which team suits him and I think that given that he would probably eventually wants to become "Hollywood" anyway, what better way than with the Lakers.

I think that LeBron heads west to start his "future" in Hollywood in 2014. He get even more endorsements and that is what will make him set for life once he is done playing basketball.

 

that's some amazing insider info you have there. dwyane wade to retire at age 33! you should probably get that scoop to the major media outlets.

 

considering i pretty much said this about a month ago... isn... i pretty solidly agree with that.

and IF wade retires at 33, which would be kinda insane given how long it seems people can play at a high level now, were lebron to go west i could see him joining the clippers because of chris paul being there. paul was the fourth person that they wanted to snag, but knew it wouldn't be possible. he's good friends with paul, and i could see him doing that. should he actually want to go "hollywood". but i fully expect the heat to stick together through one more contract, and quite possibly get more than a three-peat.

 

considering how often the "not four... not five..." thing gets thrown back in lebron's face, i'm sure he would love to actually make good on that promise.

 

no kidding. and wade and bosh are kinda tied into that too, i'd imagine they'd probably like to do that as well, even if it isn't really aimed at them as much. but they were right there with him, smiling like a bunch of nerds who just got their hands on a mint comic or something.

EDIT

you know... thinking about that, it does seem like he was making some kind of thing about where he was going to be for the rest of his career. i mean, if he wasn't planning on sticking around there in miami for the long haul, i don't think he'd have said anything like that. because that's a year per championship, and he isn't stupid. he knows what that means.

 

I didn't say D. Wade would be retiring at 33, I said he will be going to retire soon and he will be pretty close to doing so and his best days will definitely be behind him by then, so really what is LeBron going to do when he sees his next best player nearing retirement. This of course all depends on who the Lakers get as well to replace Kobe. He also probably has just a few years left now so they need to find someone younger as well. Believe me, D. Howard is not the answer for the Lakers; they will live to regret his re-signing for however many years he resigns. I would let Howard walk to the Nets or whoever he wants to play with and I think that is truly what Howard is going to do.

Therefore, the Lakers need to clear every "bum" out and get as much cap space to make a run for LeBron in 2014. It's really the fastest and quickest way towards not only challenging for championships but in ensuring that the Lakers have a successful replacement for Kobe. LeBron is the only one out there who is better than Kobe right now. Unless someone else really shines in the college game, the choices are pretty dim for the Lakers to ever challenge for championships given that the Thunder right now have the best group of talent in the West with the Spurs pretty close as well.

That is the main issue for the West teams right now, you've got more than one good team there, while in the East it's just Miami currently.

 

i think kevin durant may have something to say about who's currently better than kobe. just sayin'.

 

lol, such a homer post. wade is 31. bryant will be 35 at the start of the next season, has wayyyy more miles on him and a torn achilles but they both probably only "have a few years left". and lebron is the only player better than kobe right now? have you never heard of kevin durant?

 

actually, depending on the effects of the torn achilles, bryant may not even be a top fifty player anymore. or even be worth having on a team. seriously doubt he comes back as the third best player in the league though.

 

i think you could make a solid case that he was barely top ten this year. his team's record would be the most compelling evidence, but his shooting numbers and player efficiency rating would support that too.

 

There's no way that Durant is even close to LeBron; to suggest otherwise shows your complete incompetence.

 

I want the Cavs - and every team I support, really- to do what they can to field the best team with the best chance to win a championship.

So, yes. I want LeBron back on the Cavs. Because, without a doubt, adding the best player on the planet increases your chances of winning a title.

Would I selfishly prefer they win a ring without him, highlighted by Kyrie embarrassing LeBron? You betcha. But that doesn't mean I want them to avoid signing LeBron.

But ... Not gonna happen. If he leaves Miami, its to go to LA and be a Laker, or to Charlotte.

 

lol yeah, because i said that. talk about incompetence.

 

charlotte...? and why would he go to the bobcats of all places?

and yea, no one said durant was as good as lebron. just that he's better than kobe, and arguably the second best player in the league. but that doesn't mean he could take lebron at this point. he's too skinny for one thing.

 

Big surprise, Damian Lillard was named the unanimous Rookie of the Year today! He's had that award locked up since the season began.

 

everyone has a bad night shooting. just kinda goes with being human, even if a superhumanly talented one.

 

It would be much fun if this series went to a 7th game.

 

I already have my tickets for Friday at the Garden. Lets go Celtics.

 

I wonder if those who are fans of both the Yankees and Knicks are having really bad flashbacks to the 3-0 lead in 2004 ...

 

Well, huh.

This was a bizarre time warp. Carry on with the actual current discussion.