Should the NBA Eastern Conference even bother?

And I think Chicago, Washington, and Cleveland are going to be very interesting developmental projects to watch -- it wouldn't shock me if Chicago made a push for home-court.

I usually stick to ilm, but started fishing over here to pass the time. More NBA talk!

Maybe if Jay Williams were playing this year, but without him, I dunno.. Though Jamal Crawford, in the last month, was playing fantastic basketball. Averaging 20+ ppg and 50% shooting. Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Scottie Pippen, Tyson Chandler, and Eddy Curry [who led the NBA in FG%] should be pretty damn good. Add veterans Donyell Marshall and Kendall Gill, with Marcus Fizer and Kirk Hinrich, and maybe... Too bad they have Eddie Robinson eating so much cap space.

1. San Antonio
2. Los Angeles
2. Minnesota
4. Sacramento
5. Phoenix
6. Houston
7. Seattle
8. Denver (!)

The East looks like this:

1. Detroit
2. New Jersey
3. Indiana
4. Miami (!)
5. Boston
6. New York
7. Toronto
8. Washington

What home-court will the Baby Bulls be pushing for? The NBA summer league???

And the NBA Finals will be... a rematch of last year, with Duncan and the emerging Nesterovich leading the way (that was a great pickup).

I don't see that. They got bigger and better at SF with Jamison, and there's always that off chance that Raef LaFrentz won't suck donkey balls.

I don't think there's any chance of them even winning the conference, but they aren't going to drop out of the playoffs, barring injury to the big three.

Is he a world-beater? No. Is he an improvement, yes.

I'm disappointed in all of you. WARRIORS IN '04-'05. MULLIN MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO COURT.

West--
1. Mavericks
2. Lakers
3. Spurs
4. Wolves
5. Kings
6. Suns
7. Rockets
8. Blazers
9. Grizzlies!

East--

1. Nets
2. Pistons
3. Pacers
4. Magic
5. Hornets
6. 76ers
7. Bulls
8. Celtics

Okay -- I jumped the gun on the Bulls -- that's a best-case scenario, but I think Curry/Chandler has a chance to be great starting now and I think Hinrich will be a better fit than Bootleg (as some Griz fans took to taunting the poor guy - i.e. "the fake J-Will") was last year.

I'm very intrigued by the Odom/Butler/Wade trifecta in Miami, but they're a year away.

Training camp opens here Monday -- woo-hoo!

I don't like the NBA Live series, the NBA 2k games have been better the last couple of years. The college ones are actually more fun than the NBA anyway.

ah, one of them german sports channels, dsf, must show something, hopefully. they usually do.

Making the coaching change and signing Kenny Anderson really solidified the Pacers in my mind. I don't think the Miller for Pollard swap will hurt them too much -- Pollard is probably a better defender and they'll probably go small with a O'Neal/Harrington/Artest frontline when they can get away with it.

No matter what, though, I will always support the Spurs.

I'm not holding my breath for the "d" word to happen, though, not yet anyway. I won't even know about the possibilities of a repeat this coming season until the playoffs begin, and even then I don't think I'd jinx it by stating they would "definitely" repeat. Oh, but God, that would be such a dream!

I am down on the Hornets. Mashburn's not suddenly gonna get more durable, nor will Baron Davis. Floyd is an AWFUL coach--I still have no idea how he gets work. Yes, Magloire's a stud in the making, but they look like a 30-win team to me (which, admittedly, might be enough to make the playoffs).

I'm high on the Nuggets for several reasons:

1) Andre Miller
2) Carmelo Carmelo Carmelo
3) That team played very hard last year, and now with something to play for, they'll play even harder

The reason why 'Twoine won't help the Mavs is cuz he's not quite big enough to play D down low, and I'm still not convinced of his rebounding prowess. They need a big scrapper, not a shooter. And unless they can dip Najera in some mutation-inducing toxic waste, they don't have it.

The Twolves look very tantalizing: Sprewell, Olowakandi and Cassell are fantastic additions. They're now six or seven deep, and look poisewd for a run. Garnett's gonna play his ass off.

And I think the Spurs repeat for three reasons:

1) Duncan's solid, and has never had any injury problems to speak of
2) Ginobli and Parker should be much improved
3) Nesterovich is an improvement over David Robinson in a big way

Wolves are my second favorite team and I'm really curious (and cautiously optimistic) to see how KG plays with all those scorers around him. Maybe he'll average a triple-double!

I say Kenny Anderson is playing the bulk of the minutes at point for Indiana by mid-season. Jamal Tinsley: that kid ain't right.

"Paul Pierce" is best case scenario for Melo, Chris? I'd take that! I still think Pierce hasn't peaked, but sadly it's going to happen before the Celts can shrug off the Curse of Vin Baker and get more talent around him.

The Wolves are going to be scary. Is there a chance that they compile the best reg season record? That team is deeeep. I don't buy the KG-is-God stuff, but he and Hudson were pretty dangerous late last season, and they made great (the best?) off-season moves.

Leadership, yall!

-Minnesota still finds a way to not be that great (my guess: injuries)
-C-Webb goes down in second week of season and Sac realizes they've already done this before and throws in towel
-Suns play well but then remember their best two players are 1) a guy who is not yet Gary Payton and even if he was, what has Gary Payton ever won? and 2) not old enough to drink - a few more years to go there
-Dallas will be exactly as good as they were last year - will lose in 2nd or 3rd round (assuming injuries don't force them out sooner)-
-LA and Spurs will battle each other for Western crown, thereby boring everyone who was tired of this matchup for the last few years to tears. I love Duncan as a player, but can someone tell me why I would want to watch him?

how are the West also-rans going to finish? My guess is:

Rockets
Blazers
Grizzlies
Sonics
Nuggets
Warriors
Clippers
Jazz

I can't fucking wait for the season to start. Pistons cleared out a lot of vets (Cliff Robinson, Michael "3 ppg but in the starting lineup" Curry, and Jon Barry) to give more playing time to the youngsters, notably Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur. The player on the Pistons who's going to have the breakout year is Okur (nickname Memo). He's got a Gilbert Arenas-type contract where, since as a second rounder he was only signed for two years, the team doesn't have Bird Rights on him (which means that if a team has a player for three or more years they can go above the salary cap to resign him). That's a big reason that Joe Dumars cleared out a lot of contracts. I'm really curious to see how fast the team hits their stride with Larry Brown at the helm. Oh, and I predict that Darko will be in and out of the rotation all season, show a lot of promise, but not get a ton of playing time due to mistakes and all the vets ahead of him on the depth chart. He's still VERY raw, and it'll be a couple years before he truly contributes. Everyone will be railing against the 'Stones for not taking Carmelo when (I agree) he wins Rook of the Year, but in the long term the Pistons made the right decision. As they say, you can't learn being 7 foot. Anyway, I'm debating going to the open practice next weekend. Prolly will go. Should be fun.

Oh, and I don't think the Bulls make the top 4 in the East yet. Still WAY too raw... they'll be in the hunt for the 7-8 seeds though.

But anyway, the West will be really interesting and competitive this season. Can't wait to see Carmelo and Lebron. What's gonna happen with Kobe?? Will the T-Wolves and the Lakers mesh? Mullin did a great job of tearing apart a really good team. Etc., etc. I'm so ready for the season to start.

Thus says you and a great many others.

Yes, he is a fundamentals guy. He doesn't have the flash of a Shaquille O'Neal or a Michael Jordan. Yet, he is a very strong player and a huge asset to the Spurs organization.

I'm totally looking forward to seeing what Nesterovich will do to the team now, btw, because of what Yanc3y stated. It would rock if he proved to be a better player than David Robinson. I'll still adore David Robinson, though. His work with the Carver Academy alone is -- well, wow. In fact, I think he and Steve Kerr will go down in history as being the two most popular Spurs players in the city.

Oh yeah, and do you think it was a good idea for Steve Kerr to retire? I'm kinda conflicted about that. Wishful thinking?

Anyhoo, I forgot the coaching swaps in the Eastern Conf. Indiana will be VERY interesting watch. I guess the biggest thing you can guarantee is that Austin Croshere will be a starter.

Oh, and the best quote about Darko was at the press conference when they announced he had finally signed. Larry Brown said, "He thinks he's Toni Kukoc. I want him to be Bill Russell. I told him, Bill Russell got all the rebounds and made all the blocks."

My fearless prediction for the 03-04 regular season:

West:
San Antonio
Dallas
Lakers
Minnesota
Sacramento
Phoenix
Houston
Portland

East:
Detroit
New Jersey
Indiana
Orlando
Boston
Chicago
Philly
New Orleans
Washington on the bubble

Jamison = overrated scorer, no defence.
Arenas = departure all but inevitable.
Mills/Fortson = no playing time here anyway.

Letting go of Boykins is going to hurt though.

Though of course, that one game where he decided not to take any shots in the second half... take that for what you will.

Anyway, can't wait for the season to start. First pre-season game is against Lebron and the Cavs on Tuesday, but most of the Pistons vets won't play since they just showed up to training camp due to that stupid rule.

What's the stat? Robert Horry or Steve Kerr have been on something like eight or nine of the last championship teams? Since Kerr retired, I think Horry makes the Spurs a lock to repeat. I doubt he'll even get off the bench during the regular season.

Anyhoo, new thread started... ILX Yahoo Fantasy NBA League

Steve Kerr says the Pacers finish second! But Steve Kerr is a dweeb. I'm feeling conflicted.

Of course, Dumars traded practically his entire bench and draft picks next year for a player who might not even re-sign in the off-season

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#84

(I am such a dork)

So, back to Sheed, Dumars wanted to move Atkins (since he has another year on his contract) in order to be far enough under the cap in the offseason to sign Mehmet Okur (who the Pistons can match offers for but can't go over the cap, like Golden State and Arenas last summer).

He basically gave up a bunch of bench players with expiring contracts, plus Atkins, plus two low draft picks (their own plus Milwaukee's) for the services of Rasheed and a ton of cap space in the off-season.

Danny Ainge is an idiot though. He basically traded equivalent backup PGs -- Atkins for Mike James -- while giving up a 6 mil expiring contract and getting only a low draft pick and cash.

which means he's still an idiot.

Oh, I forgot, Ainge also got Lindsey "Waiting to Collection His Pension" Hunter.

By Chad Ford

Joe Dumars, you are my hero.

Armed with a bunch of middling expiring contracts and two mid-to-late first-round picks, the Pistons found a way to turn that into Rasheed Wallace on Wednesday.

The deal, first reported by Insider, sent Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca , Lindsey Hunter, Chucky Atkins and the Pistons' two first-round picks to Boston and Atlanta and Rasheed and Mike James to Detroit. The Pistons also sent cash to Boston.

We'll wait while you pick yourself up off the floor.

We all know what Detroit was thinking. The Pistons added one of the better low-post scorers in the league in Wallace, a point guard in James who has actually outperformed the guy they shipped out (Atkins), and they cleared nearly nine million in cap room earmarked for restricted free agent Mehmet Okur.

The ability to re-sign Okur is the ultimate prize for Detroit. A Pistons source told Insider that the team gave no assurances to Wallace that it would re-sign him this summer. Instead, the Pistons are protecting the extra $4.5 million in cap room they just cleared to make sure that other teams under the cap like Utah, Phoenix or Denver can't steal Mehmet away.

We have now idea what Atlanta or Boston are thinking.

"They're morons," one league executive told Insider. "I can't believe they just did that."

The Hawks keep all of their cap room (which should be around $20 million this summer) but only pick up an extra mid-first-round pick via Milwaukee in the deal.

It's even worse for Boston. The Celtics traded away $6.6 million in cap room and their starting point guard, James, for a guy who is was a backup in Detroit and has two more years left on his deal. I know Danny Ainge likes this draft, but . . . is a late-first-round pick worth that?

Mark this down as the deal of the season.

$10 says that was Mark Cuban.

eastern conference is back back back.

Wow this thread is so weird to read - Darko v Carmelo! Scottie Pippen! The Suns as too *young*! ANOTHER ERA

Eddy Curry will be an all-star next season.

Hey Leee -- Is Arenas really a nut job? I've heard that there's something not right with him.

Everyone will be railing against the 'Stones for not taking Carmelo when (I agree) he wins Rook of the Year, but in the long term the Pistons made the right decision.

eastern conference is wack wack wack.