NBA Offseason News and Moves

[Human Fly 0]

Knicks have reached a sign and trade deal with GS for Dampier. The Knicks will send Othella Harrinton and Nazr Mohammed if Dampier agrees to the new contract. I think the new contract is 63 mil. over 7 years, I will have to go check again though. Dampier's choice is down to the Knicks and the Hawks.

 

Edit - The deal is 54 mil. over 6 years but the Knicks would be willing to extend if they need to.

[razazteca 0]

So the Knicks take over the Nets spot as the overrated playoff jobber next season?

[Human Fly 0]

If the Knicks do end up getting Dampier I figure their starting lineup to be:

C Dampier

PF K. Thomas

SF T. Thomas

SG Houston

PG Marbury

 

And a bench of Mutombo, Anfernee Hardaway with Vin Baker and Dermarr Johnson (if the latter 2 are resigned).

 

I still think they are going to have to blow the team up and rebuild if they want to get past the second round of the playoffs (if they even make it that far).

[Guest Vitamin X]

So the Knicks take over the Nets spot as the overrated playoff jobber next season?

No that would be the Pacers.

[Guest Unwritten Religion]

Small note on the Bobcats

 

Today they announced Nelly has become part owner of the team.

You got to be shitting me.

[razazteca 0]

So the Knicks take over the Nets spot as the overrated playoff jobber next season?

No that would be the Pacers.

Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, and the rest of the high school players are better than the Knicks. And with the pickup of Stephen Jackson the Pacers will be a real contender to the Pistons. I bet the second Reggie Miller retires he will become a championship head coach in the NBA.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

The Pacers will be equally as good as last year. No better, no worse.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

On the Knicks lineupe, the trade of Big Z from Cleveland for Kurt Thomas is apparently still alive. I dunno, if I'm the Knicks, I sit on what I got, although Dampier and Ilgauskas( I win a dollar if I spelled that right ) as a twin tower combo is interesting.

 

So is everyone else still in shock that Kenyon friggin Martin just got paid what he did?

[razazteca 0]

Why is there interest in Ilgauskas, does Allen Houston need a friend to play cards with or what? The Knicks don't need anymore injury risk players with big contracts do they?

[The Electrifyer 0]

They don't need anymore big contracts, period.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Alot of people are underrating the Nets of last year.

 

Remember we took the NBA Champions to the limit and ALMOST beat them.

Richard Jefferson's block on Billups in Game 5 with like 1 second left will forever be in my mind.

 

I know we lost Kenyon Martin, but it was basically Martin or Jefferson. And watching the way Jefferson played the final part of the season and into the playoffs, he will be a better player then Martin.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

I think it's more Cleveland being interested in Thomas than the Knicks being into Ilgauskas. And to be fair, I think Z has gotten through the last 2 seasons with little injury.

 

I'd personally hold on to Z if I'm Cleveland, he's size in a conference with no size and on top of that, he's a decent player. I also think Cleveland should trade for Brian Cardinal so that he and Z can do balding white guy with face mask skits.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Small note on the Bobcats

 

Today they announced Nelly has become part owner of the team.

I think we all know what this means...

 

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...34&hl=tip+drill

[The Electrifyer 0]

NJ should try to get Stromile Swift now that they've lost Kenyon. Who else can Kidd lob alley-oops too?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

NJ should try to get Stromile Swift now that they've lost Kenyon. Who else can Kidd lob alley-oops too?

Swift would be good, and his stats would increase alot with Kidd.

 

There are rumors of the Shareef Abdur Rahim trade going down, but I don't want Shareef here. Guys a badluck charm.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Stromile has flashes of being really talented. Then he completely blows an open dunk because he tries to get too cute with it and I forget all of his upsides.

 

I'm still sticking with K-Mart looking lost in Denver with out Kidd there to hold his hand on 60% of his baskets.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I dunno, Kenyon Martin offense may go down, but he was ALWAYS a great defender. With Kidd or not, guy is one of the best foward defenders in the leauge. Has been a great defender since his college days. Way better Defender then offensive player, thats for sure.

 

Kidd basically developed Martin's offensive game.

[Precious Roy 0]

K-Mart will be fine. Denver RUNS and that's all K-Mart needs for easy baskets, Dre Miller and Boykins will look for him the same way Kidd did, and I can see Martin and Melo developing some nice chemistry in the halfcourt. Martin isn't just a guy who catches lob passes, he runs through the offense really well and has a three tool game from 15 feet in. Plus his defense, as stated, is the real reason Denver got him anyway. They've got a scary rotation, run and gun w/ great D to back it up, should be fun to watch.

 

As for the Warriors, I was a huge fan of Chris Mullin the player, but someone needs to put Chris Mullin the GM out of his misery. Cardinal, Foyle and Fisher!?!? Those are three role players I'd want on a contending team, but for minimal contracts. The type of money Mullin dished out to those three is obscene, and they don't even NEED D-Fish, who will end up being the biggest bust of the FA market. He doesn't fit their team and Claxton has more upside, what a boneheaded move.

 

I'm a Knicks fan, happy about possibly getting Dampier, and hoping we can swing something for Vince Carter, though that deal will undoubtedy involve several teams should it materialize. The Jamal Crawford deal seems to have fallen through, which IMO is fine. We're stuck with Houston for good or bad and Marbury gets 40 minutes a night, there's no room for a PG/SG who deserves as many minutes and touches as Crawford. Nice player, I'm sure Isiah loves his game, but he doesn't fit.

 

Oh, and Kobe + Odom = Jordan + Pippen, mark it down.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The Pacers will be equally as good as last year. No better, no worse.

Considering they had the NBA's best record last year and reached the Eastern Conference finals, I don't think they could do much better except for winning a championship.

 

Unless you're predicting they'll become the Philadelphia Eagles of basketball.

 

Oh, and Kobe + Odom = Jordan + Pippen, mark it down.

 

It's a little too early for that, I think. While Kobe has (deservingly) drawn the Jordan comparisons, him and Odom haven't shown they can work together as fluidly as MJ and Pippen did. And we can't just draw conclusions from the ONE good year Odom had, though I would love this all to be true.

[Precious Roy 0]

Hey, Odom's first two seasons in Clipper-land were great, it was just his last two with the wrist and ankle injuries and weed busts that got him off track. The player we saw last year is the REAL Lamar Odom and based off interviews I've seen with him I think the guy has his head on straight and is ready to put up 20-9-5 every year for the next 10 years.

 

Pair him with Kobe and the potential is scary. Sure, we don't know what kind of chemistry they'll have, but Odom is a great team player with some of the best basketball instincts you'll ever see and IMO him and Kobe will go together like bread and butter.

[nogoodnick 0]

I dont know about Kobe and Odom being the next Jordan and Pippen. Pippen was the ultimate team player and Jordan was too. I dont know how well Kobe and Odom are gonna mesh. They could be very good and exciting if it all works out.

 

But...wouldn't Kobe and Shaq have been a better, more dominant duo? Oh they were together? Too bad they couldn't get over themselves and play together.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

2004 Utah Jazz lineup:

 

Center- Mehmet Okur/Greg Ostertag/Tom Gugliotta

 

 

Forward- Carlos Boozer/Josh Humphries

 

 

Forward- Andre Kirilenko/Jarron Collins

 

 

Guard- Matt Harpring/Kirk Snyder/Raja Bell

 

 

Guard- Carlos Arroyo/Gordon Giricek/Raul Lopez

 

 

Huge steps in rebuilding process are still ahead of them, but with the Boozer, Okur, and Humphries acquisitions to help the post position along with a plentiful corps of perimeter players, the Jazz are definately a playoff team this year. Especially with the return of Harpring to the lineup.

[alfdogg 0]

hoping we can swing something for Vince Carter

...why?

[Precious Roy 0]

hoping we can swing something for Vince Carter

...why?

Why not? The Knicks are mired in the NBA midcard anyway, Vince Carter is the biggest impact player they'll have a chance to get until Houston's contract expires. Isiah Thomas has already proven that he's not a "build to win" guy, he's a "build for the now" guy. He's not capable of putting together a team that can develop 2-3 years down the line and the NY contract situation (plus the moves he's already made) handcuffs him from doing it even if he had the foresight to pull it off.

 

The best thing for the franchise at this point in time is adding another impact player beside Marbury, by any means necessary. Marbury + Carter = boxoffice and excitement, and since a championship is out of the question anytime soon that's better than a mediocre/boring team that they city can't get behind.

 

Plus, I don't know about you, but I think Carter has some great years ahead of him if he can play to his skill based strengths and stop trying to jump out of the arena. The only reason he's had knee injuries is because he tries to jump over the entire D 20 times a game, when he uses his jumper as his first weapon he's one of the best players in the L.

[alfdogg 0]

The best thing for the franchise at this point in time is adding another impact player beside Marbury, by any means necessary. Marbury + Carter = boxoffice and excitement, and since a championship is out of the question anytime soon that's better than a mediocre/boring team that they city can't get behind.

Fair enough.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

On K-Mart, I'm still not sure he'll be nearly as effective, yes, The Nuggets do run but Boykins and Anthony will be looking for their shots. Miller on the other hand will be very good for him. Martin is also a respectable face up and power towards the basket guy but his jump shot is pretty awful. Which maybe is for the best, he won't fall in love with it and instead will hopefully continue to go as hard as he can at the front of the rim. I still just think he's a somewhat limited offensive threat overall.

 

Gotta disagree on Odom and Bryant being Jordan and Pippen all over again. I just don't think Kobe is anywhere near the level Jordan was at any point in his career with the Bulls (namely because Jordan made a guy like Luc Longley a double digit scorer where as Kobe just doesn't improve his teammates game enough) and Pippen at his peak would eat Odom alive(and I'm an Odom fanboy), especially on the defensive end where Odom is sporadic at best. Although don't get me wrong, I do think that's still a damn fine combo that will get into the playoffs and cause some waves, just not championship waves.

 

The Pacers are the least scary 60 game winning team ever. I dunno why, but they just don't have that certain something. Think they need another solid veteran personally.

 

Utah in the playoffs? Oof. Dunno about that, they have improved a lot though and that is one loaded frontcourt. Maybe, if Arroyo can get any type of consistency to his game.

[Precious Roy 0]

Kobe is what, 25? Jordan didn't win his first ring until he was 28 or 29. Odom is about the same age as Kobe. I'm not saying that they'll instantly be Jordan/Pippen circa 96, but they're going to have at least the next 6 years contracted to play together and develop as teammates. The potential is there......

 

You're right about Odom not being the 1-1 defender that Pippen was though, he's not even close, and Kobe hasn't shown the defensive intensity that Jordan had either. But, Odom has the size and quickness to switch between guarding 3's and 4's, rotate on screens, play the passing lanes with his length and play off-ball help D. He's not Scottie Pippen the lockdown defender that you throw on the other team's ballhandler, but he is a valuable contributer on D who will make an impact in the right system.

 

And you know what, he doesn't have to be Pippen on D, because that will be Caron Butler's job.......

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I think Caron Butler's job will be holding Odom's Gatorade.

[Steviekick 0]

Utah in the playoffs? Oof. Dunno about that, they have improved a lot though and that is one loaded frontcourt. Maybe, if Arroyo can get any type of consistency to his game.

They will definitely be in, somewhere between the 6-8 seed. They barely missed the playoffs this last season with Harpring being out with injury and no legitimate PF. This year Harp's healthy, they picked up Boozer and Okur to drasitcally improve their frontcourt, and their rookies Humphries and Snyder show a lot of potential. They'll definitely be in.

[alfdogg 0]

Small note on the Bobcats

 

Today they announced Nelly has become part owner of the team.

You got to be shitting me.

Nope, he's not.

 

I read it in the paper this morning.