NBA Thread

[Guest deleted_19765]

Just read this great article on Marc Gasol:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8950838/memphis-grizzlies-center-marc-gasol-most-overlooked-big-man-nba-maybe-best

I'm a big fan of NBA basketball, despite what many people around me say. There's more interest in college ball around here. Let's talk NBA!

[izzygirl]

Big fan of NBA too!!!

Marc is underrated cos he is compared to Pau all the time but he deserves all the best.

[Forsaken]

Big fan of NBA too!!!

Marc is underrated cos he is compared to Pau all the time but he deserves all the best.

Marc is more of a banger and I like that, one of the few true centers left in the league. Pau is more of a finesse player.

Although I have lost interest with the NBA the past few years, I still keep up with it but not as much. Hard to watch blatant fuckery from officiating in playoff games. Watching foul calls on Lebron are sickening.

[Randy Lahey]

I used to be a massive fan, but I don't really watch basketball anymore.

[Demesne]

I really enjoy reading http://bleacherreport.com/nba . As for the NBA itself, I hope San Antonio gets the ring this season.

[batman007]

I used to be a massive fan, but I don't really watch basketball anymore.

Same, still love it though. I only watch the playoffs. When Reggie Miller left the game, I lost my passion for waching the game.

[T.wa.T]

I used to be a massive fan, but I don't really watch basketball anymore.

Same, still love it though. I only watch the playoffs. When Reggie Miller left the game, I lost my passion for waching the game.

Watching Reggie Miller kill the Knicks back in the 90s was amazing. Remember the choke game with Spike Lee and all that bs.

The NBA kicked ass back then. There was less one on one and more ball movement. Loved watching the teams that played great team defense like the Bulls, Knicks, Pacers, Heat and the Pistons.

Also now the league doesn't have any good centers like Ewing,Robinson,Shaq,Hakeem and Mourning

[arnold layne]

I actually prefer the style of play in the NBA over college basketball, but I prefer the college atmosphere.

[Randy Lahey]

I kind of quit following it altogether after Allen Iverson was traded from the Sixers. Honestly though, the league has never been as good since as it was back in the Jordan era. I used to watch this show every weekend when I was a kid.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[Coma16]

Reffing has been horrible this year. Go Raps!

[Apollo]

People on this forum killed Orlando for their take in the Dwight Howard trade! Still think that way?

Remember, Howard forced the trade to happen by saying he wouldn't resign, so Orlando had to trade the big guy.

Do you still feel they got burned?

Would you rather have gotten Andrew Bynum?????

Dwight is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds a game.

THe players Orlando got:

27 year old shooting guard Afflalo.17 points, 4 rebs and 3 assists

22 year old center Vucevic...12.5 points and 11.5 rebounds

19 year old forward Harkless - yes 19 years old - only playing 20 minutes a game...5 points, 4 rebounds

McRoberts is a bench player, but still young at 25 and is 6-foot-10, playing 15 minutes a game, 4 points, 3 boards

Plus Orlando received 3 first round draft picks and 2 second round picks.

I'd say that trade is looking pretty darn good for them about now.

Clippers

I really did used to root for them. But everytime they play on TV now it's the same thing. Love CP3 and Blake Griffin is awesome.......but those two guys whine and cry constantly. About every third play they look to the ref and cry about a non-call. Heck, Griffin was even crying in the All Star game about non-calls. And it's hard to root for Matt Barnes after watching his off-season arrest, where he called the officer a "f*ggot" and a "p*ssy" and his gf/wife's behavior was extremely arrogant and embarrassing.......plus he was also arrested once for smacking her around.

Celtics need to blow it up.

Rondo is overrated. Pierce and Garnett are old..........trade them for valuable pieces while you can. What good does keeping those two guys do for the next two seasons?

Reffing.........funny, you can now take THREE full steps on a drive to the hoop. I've seen Kobe, Lebron and DWade take a full three steps on drives to the hoop. Not 2.5 steps. But three full steps and not get called for traveling.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Groghan

[T.wa.T]

Traveling, carrying/palming rarely get called. Thank God they got rid of flopping, Vlade Divac was the king of flopping.

Also the dunk contest isn't as good. Back when Jordan and Dominique Wilkins went at it, it was fun to watch.

[Coma16]

People on this forum killed Orlando for their take in the Dwight Howard trade! Still think that way?

Remember, Howard forced the trade to happen by saying he wouldn't resign, so Orlando had to trade the big guy.

Do you still feel they got burned?

Would you rather have gotten Andrew Bynum?????

Dwight is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds a game.

THe players Orlando got:

27 year old shooting guard Afflalo.17 points, 4 rebs and 3 assists

22 year old center Vucevic...12.5 points and 11.5 rebounds

19 year old forward Harkless - yes 19 years old - only playing 20 minutes a game...5 points, 4 rebounds

McRoberts is a bench player, but still young at 25 and is 6-foot-10, playing 15 minutes a game, 4 points, 3 boards

Plus Orlando received 3 first round draft picks and 2 second round picks.

I'd say that trade is looking pretty darn good for them about now.

Well they are still horrible but in the long run getting rid of Dwight was the best thing for everyone. At least they got something for him. If they kept him he would have walked away at the end of the season guaranteed. Too bad SVG lost his job over it...

[Apollo]

Traveling, carrying/palming rarely get called. Thank God they got rid of flopping, Vlade Divac was the king of flopping.

Also the dunk contest isn't as good. Back when Jordan and Dominique Wilkins went at it, it was fun to watch.

Kids can't even dribble now days. Palming is the norm. Annoying to try and coach kids the fundamentals, when they watch the NBA and see every player palm and travel.

The dunk contest was good because of the format, I think.

In the old days you didn't get 90 seconds to try 10 dunks in one turn............talk about taking ALL the drama out of the contest. Watching a guy miss the same dunk 7 times in a row just kills any momentum and really takes away all the drama and excitement from a dunk. Michael Jordan didn't miss his free throw line dunk six times before nailing it.

The only real cool one this year would have been when the guy took the net off the rim and the tried to dunk the same ball twice..........but after he missed it a couple times, then I was fastforwarding to the final attempt.

[T.wa.T]

GT

Traveling, carrying/palming rarely get called. Thank God they got rid of flopping, Vlade Divac was the king of flopping.

Also the dunk contest isn't as good. Back when Jordan and Dominique Wilkins went at it, it was fun to watch.

Kids can't even dribble now days. Palming is the norm. Annoying to try and coach kids the fundamentals, when they watch the NBA and see every player palm and travel.

The dunk contest was good because of the format, I think.

In the old days you didn't get 90 seconds to try 10 dunks in one turn............talk about taking ALL the drama out of the contest. Watching a guy miss the same dunk 7 times in a row just kills any momentum and really takes away all the drama and excitement from a dunk. Michael Jordan didn't miss his free throw line dunk six times before nailing ouy.

The only real cool one this year would have been when the guy took the net off the rim and the tried to dunk the same ball twice..........but after he missed it a couple times, then I was fastforwarding to the final attempt.

Lol. Exactly, I read there were over 30 dunks MISSED!! in this years competition, what a joke. I stopped watching them when Dwight Howard did it. Like we really need to see a 7 footer wearing a Superman cape acting like what he is doing is something unique.

[LightningBolt]

Orlando clearly had to get rid of Dwight. It was the argument about whether or not the deal they took was as good as the deal that Brooklyn offered. If I recall correctly, Brooklyn was offering Brook Lopez, who is having an amazing season. I will admit Vucevic's production surprises me because he was fucking awful in Philly last year (even though Orlando actually scores less with him on the court). They received decent supporting cast players in the trade, though. They still clearly need at least one star on that roster. Lopez is better than anyone they got in that trade (and I believe that Humphries, who has an expiring contract and is actually fairly productive, and MarShon Brooks were included in that proposed package).

The reason why the trade looks so good for Orlando right now is because it worked out so freaking poorly for everyone else involved. Bynum hasn't played, Dwight is like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole in LA, and Iggy doesn't fit at all in Denver. But yeah, the trade looks much better in hindsight, but they still don't really have a good piece or pieces to build around. They have guys who can contribute to a winning team, but they don't have the guys who are going to make them win.

I'm a Sixers fan, so I'm very disappointed with how that move worked out, but I don't regret it. In the NBA, you either stick with mediocrity and sit in that 5-8 seed purgatory, or you take a chance (either through blowing up the roster and hoping for a super star in the draft or free agency, or you trade established players for that guy who will actually take you places). Sixers were stuck in 5-8 seed purgatory with Iguodala leading the team, and Bynum is a guy who is possibly one of the fifteen best players in the league when healthy and probably could have averaged 20/10 here. A starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Jason Richardson, Evan Turner, Thad Young, and Andrew Bynum would have been a very good team, with contributors like Nick Young, Dorell Wright, Spencer Hawes, and Lavoy Allen coming off the bench. But Bynum was the most important piece of the puzzle, and the team is in shambles without him (Thad is also out for a while with ankle issues and J-Rich is out for the year). So the year didn't go as planned, obviously, but I don't think it was the wrong move to make.

I want them to re-sign Bynum. It may sound strange, but there's no better alternative. If we let Bynum go, it better be with the intention of tanking next season for a guy like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker. Otherwise we're just another mediocre team that's not even close to achieving anything. If the Sixers feel that Bynum can come back healthy for these knees, I want them to re-sign him. He's a great basketball player, and Philadelphia is not a hot spot for free agents. These kinds of opportunities are rare. We won't have much cap space if he leaves anyways, and we won't be doing much good with that cap space.

But yeah this season sucks. If Bynum doesn't come back, I just want us to keep losing for a better draft pick. If this were any other sport, I'd root for the 8 seed. This is basketball. We'd get wrecked by the Heat barring injuries to Wade and LeBron.

[Apollo]

Orlando clearly had to get rid of Dwight. It was the argument about whether or not the deal they took was as good as the deal that Brooklyn offered. If I recall correctly, Brooklyn was offering Brook Lopez, who is having an amazing season. I will admit Vucevic's production surprises me because he was fucking awful in Philly last year (even though Orlando actually scores less with him on the court). They received decent supporting cast players in the trade, though. They still clearly need at least one star on that roster. Lopez is better than anyone they got in that trade (and I believe that Humphries, who has an expiring contract and is actually fairly productive, and MarShon Brooks were included in that proposed package).

The reason why the trade looks so good for Orlando right now is because it worked out so freaking poorly for everyone else involved. Bynum hasn't played, Dwight is like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole in LA, and Iggy doesn't fit at all in Denver. But yeah, the trade looks much better in hindsight, but they still don't really have a good piece or pieces to build around. They have guys who can contribute to a winning team, but they don't have the guys who are going to make them win.

I'm a Sixers fan, so I'm very disappointed with how that move worked out, but I don't regret it. In the NBA, you either stick with mediocrity and sit in that 5-8 seed purgatory, or you take a chance (either through blowing up the roster and hoping for a super star in the draft or free agency, or you trade established players for that guy who will actually take you places). Sixers were stuck in 5-8 seed purgatory with Iguodala leading the team, and Bynum is a guy who is possibly one of the fifteen best players in the league when healthy and probably could have averaged 20/10 here. A starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Jason Richardson, Evan Turner, Thad Young, and Andrew Bynum would have been a very good team, with contributors like Nick Young, Dorell Wright, Spencer Hawes, and Lavoy Allen coming off the bench. But Bynum was the most important piece of the puzzle, and the team is in shambles without him (Thad is also out for a while with ankle issues and J-Rich is out for the year). So the year didn't go as planned, obviously, but I don't think it was the wrong move to make.

I want them to re-sign Bynum. It may sound strange, but there's no better alternative. If we let Bynum go, it better be with the intention of tanking next season for a guy like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker. Otherwise we're just another mediocre team that's not even close to achieving anything. If the Sixers feel that Bynum can come back healthy for these knees, I want them to re-sign him. He's a great basketball player, and Philadelphia is not a hot spot for free agents. These kinds of opportunities are rare. We won't have much cap space if he leaves anyways, and we won't be doing much good with that cap space.

But yeah this season sucks. If Bynum doesn't come back, I just want us to keep losing for a better draft pick. If this were any other sport, I'd root for the 8 seed. This is basketball. We'd get wrecked by the Heat barring injuries to Wade and LeBron.

I know we debated this a lot last year. I respect your opinion, but I still don't get your view on this one.

Humphries sucks - 6 points and 6 rebounds this year...........with a 12 million dollar contract this year and next. You can't pay 12 million dollars for 6 points, 6 rebounds a game.

Brooks hasn't hit his stride yet either. Guy is averaging 5 points and 1 rebound per game.

Lopez is a stud - 17 points and 7 rebounds per game....and is paid well for it. Basically getting 15 million per year for the next four years.

You would seriously take those three guys, with all that salary over what Orlando got?

Afflalo is probably a better value than Lopez. They both average the same. Lopez gives you 7.5 boards a game, Afflalo gives you 4 boards and 3 assists. Big difference? Lopez is costing you 15 million per year, Afflalo 7.75 million. Is Lopez worth double? No. Aff and 3 first round picks, 2 second round picks vs Lopez...........that's a no brainer.

Vuk vs Humprhies.

Vuk might have not looked great last year, but he was a 20 year old rookie!!!!!

This year he is killing Humprhies stats wise.

12 points, 11.5 boards compared to 6 points, 6 boards. Again, salary is huge: Vuc is making 1.7 million the next two years. Humpries 12 million per.

Which of the two would you take in a straight up deal? No brainer, not even close.

You bring up Humphries deal expiring, but who cares. You'd rather have a free roster spot than an almost 7 foot, 22 year old kid who is averaging a double-double, who is set to make under 1.7 mill the next two years and then 2.7 three years from now?

Brooks vs Harkless

Again, Orlando wins this match-up pretty easily.

Harkless is four years younger!!!!

Brooks is scoring less than 50% of what he did last year. Only playing 10 minutes per game.

Hark 4.5 points, 4 rebounds......Brooks 5 points, 1 rebound. Which is better?

Salary is basically the same.

hark has a way higher ceiling and brighter future. Easy pick.

This just seems like such a no-brainer, I don't know how you can argue it!!!!

Just using an overall comparison, the Orlando 3 is averaing more points, rebounds and assists than the 3 new jersey guys.....for 16 million dollars cheaper. So how exactly would that have been a better deal?

And I told you that Bynum sucked!!!!

[LightningBolt]

Bynum doesn't suck. That's just ridiculous.

It's difficult to just compare the stats on these guys considering the teams they're on and the very different situations they're in. Orlando is a bad team. It's much easier for less talented players to get significant playing time on a bad team. Last year, Humphries was averaging 13.8 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game. This year, his playing time is significantly lower because the Nets added much more talent. Vucevic wouldn't be averaging his statistics on a good team. Same thing goes for Brooks. Moe Harkless wouldn't have even seen the floor for Brooklyn this year. He's on a terrible team so he's actually had playing time, however. Brooks isn't getting much playing time so he hasn't been able to do much. It happens on every good team. The younger guys aren't able to get their foot in the door and do anything. Humphries isn't younger, but he's a pretty average role player, and since Brooklyn got much better, there's been less need for him. I think he'd probably be averaging a double-double again if he played for a bad team like Orlando.

I'm not even trying to argue that Humphries is good. He's not, really. But his contract is expiring soon. His LARGE contract. That's a very valuable thing in the NBA. Successful NBA teams are rarely homegrown through the draft and developing young guys. They're built through free agency and sometimes luckily obtaining that super star when your team sucks through the draft. The one exception currently in the league I can think of is OKC. Miami obviously has Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Ray Allen from free agency. The Clippers picked up Chris Paul. Boston traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen once upon a time. The Lakers traded for Shaq many moons ago. It's how teams are built in the NBA. A bad team doesn't care about getting their money's worth out of a player. Humphries would be very valuable for a team like Orlando. After this season or next, whenever his contract runs out, they could let him walk in free agency and clear up a lot of cap space. Teams trade for expiring contracts all the time. They're considered valuable. Having his large contract off the books would set them up for the opportunity to target a big free agent when the time comes.

Here's what you're getting with the trade they took: A decent starting-caliber SG in Afflalo. He could be the 3rd or 4th option on a good team. A young center who's playing well, but I'm personally wondering how productive he'd be on a more talented team (seriously, in the NBA it's easier to fill up the stat sheet on a less talented team). A rookie who's only played in 13 games, but has played reasonably well in them. Draft picks.

Here's what you're getting with Brooklyn: A good starting-caliber center who is young and has good upside. Could become Top 5 at his position. Kris Humphries who isn't very good, but he can be productive and he has a large contract that will be coming off the books soon. MarShon Brooks who has played well in the past but hasn't gotten much of an opportunity this season to play. Draft picks.

It's a much closer decision in hindsight, but I still think Brooklyn's is better. Brooklyn gives you a young center with Top 5 potential, a role player, and cap relief in a few years. The one they got gave them a rookie who looks decent, a decent center, and a pretty good SG. I just think that the Brooklyn offer made more sense for a rebuilding team in the NBA. If this were the NFL, I'd probably agree with you. Draft picks are worth much more in the NFL. Three guys who can contribute are worth quite a bit in the NFL. But in the NBA it's all about landing the three or four guys on your roster who are going to carry you to the playoffs. You need more depth to win the championship, but the superstars are the hardest part to obtain. Lopez would have been one of those three or four guys, in my opinion. Humphries' expiring contract within the next year or so would have given them cap room to go after another one of those three or four guys. I just think the mentality of a rebuilding team is MUCH different in the NBA than it is in any other sport, and the Brooklyn offer makes more sense in the NBA.

[izzygirl]

Almost 3 am on a friday night and still up to watch Oklahoma vs. Minnesota Timberwolves. Mainly because of Ricky Rubio.

[Apollo]

"Bynum doesn't suck. That's just ridiculous."

Injury prone, attitude and his practice habits and motivation have always been questioned. There was a quote awhile back from a player or coach that said that they had never met anybody who disliked playing basketball more than Bynum did.

Career averages? 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds. That is who you want to get max money to?

You know how many times in his 7 year career he has played more than 65 games in a season? Once.

In the last six years: 35 games, 50 games, 65 games, 54 games, 60 games, 0 games.

That is the player you are counting on to lead your team to greatness?????? Good luck with that.

You want to pay Bynum max money for 4-5 years.............you want to take Humphries for 24 million for two years...........but you think that Vuc is not worth 2 million a year? Wow.

Yes, it is easier for younger players to get more PT on poor teams. But your downgrading stats solely because of that reason is not exactly giving the full story. Often it is harder to put up numbers on a bad team. If I'm the third option on a good team guess what happens? The opposing team's two top defenders are NOT guarding me. Is your team's best defensive player going to guard Kobe or Luke Walton? Lebron or Chalmers? And, another benefit of playing with great players is they make your job easier. An all star point guard makes everybody around him better, by helping his teammates get better shots. So there are advantages and disadvantages in terms of stats by playing on a good team or bad team. Often you have to work HARDER to get stats when you play for a crappy team.

I'm also a little shocked at your money and salary cap considerations.

Humphries still has a year left. So that's 24 million dollars........compared to Vuc at basically 2 million for the next year four years. You say taking Humphries is better for your salary cap. Why? That makes literally no sense at all.

I don't get why you'd rather take Humphries just to spend 24 million and then have his spot open, over a younger, better and more productive player, who is earning 2 million a year? You do realize that by NOT taking Humphries, you also aren't taking on his 24 million dollar contract, right? Wouldn't it be better to NOT pay 24 million than to pay 24 million and have it expire in two years? You basically get his "expiring" contract the day you DONT trade for him!!!! Orlando doesn't need his expiring contract, because they didn't have to pay 24 million dollars for him!!!!!!!!!!!! And they get their center for the next four years (who is better than Humphries at 15% of the cost). Orlando didn't have to spend 24 million dollars for a starting center. They paid 3.5 million. No NBA manager in the history (except maybe Elgin) would trade Vuc for Humprhies, especially where their salaries are for the next two years.Your suggestion actually hamstrings Orlando instead of helping them.

Brooks and Hark are similar, but in every aspect, Hark has more potential. From age to production. One guy has seen his stock fall from last year, the other is a top 10 draft pick who is what, 19 years old? Who do you think most teams would take? We don't know if Harks stock will drop...........but we do know that Brooks did!!!!

Finally..........yes, Lopez is the better player than Afflalo. But their stats are pretty darn similar, and Lopez is being paid more than double what Afflalo is. So is Lopez worth Afflalo (and his much cheaper salary) plus 3 first round picks and 2 second round picks? Not even close. If you were one player away from winning the NBA championship, you would probably take Lopez. But for a bad team? Under your trade Orlando still doesn't make the playoffs. Their payroll is about 18 million dollars a year higher for the next several years. And they don't get the 5 draft picks. Just to finish with a 32-50 record instead of a 22-60 record this year?

All your way does is lead Orlando to 3-4 consectutive 30 win seasons. They blew it up, got younger, more athletic and are building a team that could content for several years.

[classicrawker]

I am a lifelong Laker fan and Bynum is very talented but he is dog and a Diva.......He is going to frustrate the hell out of the 76ers if they resign him for big money........

[LightningBolt]

Injury prone, attitude and his practice habits and motivation have always been questioned. There was a quote awhile back from a player or coach that said that they had never met anybody who disliked playing basketball more than Bynum did.

Career averages? 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds. That is who you want to get max money to?

You know how many times in his 7 year career he has played more than 65 games in a season? Once.

In the last six years: 35 games, 50 games, 65 games, 54 games, 60 games, 0 games.

That is the player you are counting on to lead your team to greatness?????? Good luck with that.

Okay... he doesn't suck. I agree he's injury-prone, but I've already explained why you need to take risks in the NBA. I'll take the risk on Bynum, who was largely considered the second-best center in the NBA before this season, rather than sitting around with Jrue Holiday, Thad Young, and Evan Turner just barely squeaking into the playoffs year after year, or missing it all together. Bynum has problems but the Sixers have no better alternatives.

You want to pay Bynum max money for 4-5 years.............you want to take Humphries for 24 million for two years...........but you think that Vuc is not worth 2 million a year? Wow.

Completely putting words in my mouth. I never said Vucevic isn't worth whatever he's making. He is. And I've never said Humphries is worth what he's making. He's not. What I was explaining is that Humphries contract is going to expire soon, and that clears up a ton of cap space that you could potentially sign a super star with. The value with Humphries is not Humphries himself, but the space he'll make in your cap space once he's gone.

And Bynum is going to get a max contract from somebody. If the Sixers let him get away, it would be a huge mistake. Who is going to come to Philadelphia that's going to make our team great? Nobody. A starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Andrew Bynum, and Jason Richardson is a damned good one and would be much closer to competing for a title than anything we've had since Allen Iverson single handedly dragged a team to the Finals.

Yes, it is easier for younger players to get more PT on poor teams. But your downgrading stats solely because of that reason is not exactly giving the full story. Often it is harder to put up numbers on a bad team. If I'm the third option on a good team guess what happens? The opposing team's two top defenders are NOT guarding me. Is your team's best defensive player going to guard Kobe or Luke Walton? Lebron or Chalmers? And, another benefit of playing with great players is they make your job easier. An all star point guard makes everybody around him better, by helping his teammates get better shots. So there are advantages and disadvantages in terms of stats by playing on a good team or bad team. Often you have to work HARDER to get stats when you play for a crappy team.

I just want to point out that you were trying to make the point that it's sometimes easier to put up stats on a good team, and then listed Luke Walton and Mario Chalmers who have never put up good stats in their lives.

Look at Chris Bosh's averages since going to Miami. They're still good, but he's not putting up nearly the same kind of numbers he did in Toronto. Look at how Derrick Williams on the Timberwolves has played the past few games with Kevin Love and Kirilenko both out. He's been putting up huge stats. It's pretty widely known in basketball that even the worst teams in the league are going to put up like 90 points a game and grab however many rebounds every game. Those stats have to go to somebody. You could easily make the argument that this is exactly what's going on in Orlando. They're an awful team, but somebody has to score and grab those rebounds. Vucevic is playing very well, I won't deny that. But his double-double average doesn't necessarily mean he's great. And as I pointed out, his team actually scores less with him on the court compared to when he's on the bench.

I'm also a little shocked at your money and salary cap considerations.

Humphries still has a year left. So that's 24 million dollars........compared to Vuc at basically 2 million for the next year four years. You say taking Humphries is better for your salary cap. Why? That makes literally no sense at all.

I don't get why you'd rather take Humphries just to spend 24 million and then have his spot open, over a younger, better and more productive player, who is earning 2 million a year? You do realize that by NOT taking Humphries, you also aren't taking on his 24 million dollar contract, right? Wouldn't it be better to NOT pay 24 million than to pay 24 million and have it expire in two years? You basically get his "expiring" contract the day you DONT trade for him!!!! Orlando doesn't need his expiring contract, because they didn't have to pay 24 million dollars for him!!!!!!!!!!!! And they get their center for the next four years (who is better than Humphries at 15% of the cost). Orlando didn't have to spend 24 million dollars for a starting center. They paid 3.5 million. No NBA manager in the history (except maybe Elgin) would trade Vuc for Humprhies, especially where their salaries are for the next two years.Your suggestion actually hamstrings Orlando instead of helping them.

Vucevic is better than Humphries, but you also have to consider that Brook Lopez was a part of that deal, who is much much better than Vuvevic is.

I still don't think you really get my logic with the expiring contract thing. The point is that it will expire and they'll free up enough cap space to potentially sign a legitimate star. Vucevic isn't that. If you take Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, and MarShon Brooks, and you combine them with the guys already on your roster, you'll probably look like you have potential going forward. Lopez looks like he could legitimately be a star. Once Humphries is gone, you could potentially entice a star free agent to go there. With the trade they took, it just seems like they're trying to rebuild in an NFL kind of way. It's so damned hard to build through the draft in the NBA. OKC did it. I can't think of any others.

Finally..........yes, Lopez is the better player than Afflalo. But their stats are pretty darn similar, and Lopez is being paid more than double what Afflalo is. So is Lopez worth Afflalo (and his much cheaper salary) plus 3 first round picks and 2 second round picks? Not even close. If you were one player away from winning the NBA championship, you would probably take Lopez. But for a bad team? Under your trade Orlando still doesn't make the playoffs. Their payroll is about 18 million dollars a year higher for the next several years. And they don't get the 5 draft picks. Just to finish with a 32-50 record instead of a 22-60 record this year?

All your way does is lead Orlando to 3-4 consectutive 30 win seasons. They blew it up, got younger, more athletic and are building a team that could content for several years.

You care entirely too much about performance per dollar. Makes sense in the NFL. It's not as relevant in the NBA. Yeah, they're getting Vucevic for $2 mil a year. Guess what. They won't be contending within that time frame. Then Vucevic will probably get a big contract and all he helped the Magic do was be mediocre for the years he was there. He's not going to shift a franchise. Same with Afflalo. He'll get paid whenever his current contract is up, and it will be before Orlando is contending for anything. Neither of those guys are going to be the cornerstones of a championship team.

My thing with the Brooklyn team is that Brook Lopez IS one of those potential cornerstones, the things that matter most in the NBA on winning teams. OKC could have the smartest contracts in the league. It means jack shit if they don't have superstars like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

And I'm pretty sure there WERE draft picks involved in the Brooklyn deal.

And your final line is just some lame-ass rhetoric. YOUR way ensures that they stay in mediocrity. No one on that roster is going to make them great. They lack that superstar, the very hardest thing to get. They don't even have anyone that could potentially be a superstar.

My way has a Top 5 center involved, and also frees up cap space in the future to at least try to land a great player. The cap space now is irrelevant to them. No one is going to sign with that current Orlando team. They blow. And when they maybe do turn it around, that cap space that they saved from not taking Humphries does them no good when they have to overpay to keep Afflalo and Vucevic.

I don't think the trade they took is nearly as bad as when it first happened. I don't even know if I'd say it's bad. But the fact of the matter is that they are a bad team and you're overrating their potential. If they have potential, every team in the NBA has potential. They have a second-year center who's putting up stats on a terrible team and a pretty good SG. That does not equate to championship potential in a few years. And I personally see no reason to have faith in Orlando's front office to get the pieces that do put them in contention. The Brooklyn deal doesn't make them a superpower by any means. They'd probably still suck. Orlando had no leverage in that Dwight Howard trade because his contract was running out after this season and he made it clear as day he didn't want to be there. Orlando lost their chance to get anything truly significant out of that trade. So neither trade offer was amazing. I just preferred the Brooklyn offer.

[bran]

I am a lifelong Laker fan and Bynum is very talented but he is dog and a Diva.......He is going to frustrate the hell out of the 76ers if they resign him for big money........

this.

he has all the talent in the world, but his attitude keeps him from being great.

[Crazyman]

The Magic screwed the Bucks in that deadline trade. Tobias Haris will be a better player than JJ Redick (within a season or two).

So at least they're rebuilding the right way....

[classicrawker]

I am a lifelong Laker fan and Bynum is very talented but he is dog and a Diva.......He is going to frustrate the hell out of the 76ers if they resign him for big money........

this.

he has all the talent in the world, but his attitude keeps him from being great.

So he had a setback in practice a may not play a minute for the 76ers this year...if I was their GM I would not resign that dog........