Svosen and Cowboy22's NBA Draft/Offseason Thread (others welcome!)

[Cowboy22]

Yeah, good for him, I hope everything works out okay. He's a class act and a nice player to have around, but he's got more important things than basketball to worry about right now. And the team is deep enough that they'll be fine without him.

[Cowboy22]

I just got back from Vegas where my dad and I caught some summer league games over the weekend. I got to see a lot of the big name rookies and stuff, it was pretty cool (and cheap, 25 bucks lets you see every game being played that day. The days we were there, that was four, but it can be up to six). Durant looked really good, he has a turn-around jumper from the baseline that's absolutely unstoppable. He still seems waaaay too skinny Oden was kinda meh. He was too amped up on defense and trying to block everything, and consequently he got a ton of fouls (luckily, fouls are unlimited in sumer league so he couldn't foul out). He looked on okay on offense when they actually went to him, but that was kind of rare for some reason. He and Aldridge hooked up for some nice plays though, Oden's a better passer than I thought, and those two seem to have the makings of a nice little two man game going. Yi and the Chinese national team provided some of highlights of the week by committing an absurd number of fouls and getting dunked on constantly (Alexander Johnson of the Grizzles threw down a mosterous dunk on him on the very first play of the game, and Rudy Gay was basically going out of his way to embarrass poor Yi whenever possible). He had some flashes of offensive skill, but he's a HUGE defensive liability and doesn't seem even close to NBA ready. The guy who had the best game I saw, by far, was Marco Belinelli of the Warriors. He had some nice passes and absolutely could not miss from outside. He drilled one three from about three steps passed half court. If he can shoot like that all the time, he's going to be scary in that Don Nelson system.

[svosen]

Sounds like a pretty good time. You do that often, or was this a one-time thing for you?

[Cowboy22]

We went two years ago when it was in the Twin Cities, and talked about going last year, but couldn't because we both had work stuff. I have no idea if we'll do it again next year. The level of play isn't exactly the greatest, but it is a really good time. You get to see a nice mix of up and coming young players, and college stars of the last few years who couldn't quite make it in the NBA (including quite a few Iowa guys this year). And it's tough to beat the price.

I almost forgot the best story of the whole weekend. At the end of the second day, we called a cab (it's really hard to find one outside the arena) and when it showed up, a guy who had been standing there waiting with us asked if we would mind splitting it. We said sure, and he hopped in. We talked to the guy for a bit, and it turns out that he's an agent. He was there because of Julian Wright, but he also represents some really big names including Carlos Boozer and Kobe Bryant. I got a chance to talk basketball (including his college career at Michigan where he played with the Fab Five) with him for the whole 20 min ride, he was a really cool guy. After he found out that I was a big Jazz fan, he even tipped me off to the fact that he was going to Utah the next day to possibly negotiate a deal for Morris Peterson (which I already sorta knew, but it was still cool to hear it from him). Somehow I totally choked and didn't ask him about the Kobe situation, (seriously, I can't believe I blew that, I'm still pissed at myself. How do you meet Kobe Bryant's agent and NOT ask that? Stupid) but it was still pretty awesome. And he paid for the whole cab ride.

[svosen]

That's really cool. Those are the types of "celebrity" encounters one would like to have - where you actually get to interact on a personal level. I wouldn't really be too hyped to meet, say, Michael Jordon, for 5 seconds, get his autograph, and have him blow by. It'd be much neater to meet one of the assistant coaches for, say, the Bucks, and actually get to talk to him about real stuff for an hour or so.

I'm sure the celebrities probably prefer the occasional one-on-one meetings like that to the mob-meetings. Or at least I would...

Good story, though. And I agree - it's too bad you choked. That's okay, though. You probably would have recorded it on your cell phone and caused another week-long media frenzy

[svosen]

So it sounds like Fisher is coming home again. Interesting...

What do you make of Stevie Franchise? I think he'll have a respectable season (below career averages, which are still pretty impressive, really) wherever he goes. Unless he ends up back in Houston. I just can't imagine him willingly choosing that scenario. Truthfully, I wouldn't have minded seeing him in La La. But that's pretty darn remote, now that Fisher's back on board.

I wonder if Webber will end up in Dallas. Seems like a bad fit to me. They need someone there who's a closer, and Webber's like Ewing, Malone, et al. He's a really good player who just can't seem to put in that killer-type performance when it's really needed.

I also heard that Cleveland is chasing Bibby again. Not sure who they'd give up, but that might be an interesting move.

[Cowboy22]

Fisher to LA has pretty much been a lock ever since he left. Although if he's really looking for the place with the best hospital for his kid, I think there are NBA cities with better ones than LA.

I think Francis will be okay wherever he ends up. Maybe not what he once was, but he's not a bad guy to have around as far as providing some scoring. I wouldn't be totally stunned to see him back in Houston. They don't really have a point guard, and he loved playing there. I think one of the biggest reasons that he fell apart like he did was because he was so bummed out about leaving there. The Clippers seem like the best fit though. No one knows if or how Cassell will bounce back from the injury and it would get him back together with his good friend and/or gay lover, Mobley.

Webber seems like he's way too banged up to play in an up-tempo system like Dallas. He wouldn't really be able to keep up. I'm not sure where he'll end up, but I don't think he has a whole lot left in the tank.

Cleveland doesn't really have a whole ton to trade, but he would be a decent addittion to that team if they can get him. He's gone way downhill in the last few years, but he's still a much better point guard than anyone on that roster. At the very least he's still good enough that he'd be able to take some of the load off of LeBron. As the team stands now, he basically has to bring the ball up the court everytime and play point for them. He's a great passer, but I think he'd be better off if he didn't have to deal with that on top of everything else he has to do for the team. I dunno, that team is a mess, I kinda hope LeBron gets out of there when he gets the chance.

[svosen]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Bibby put together a come-back-type year somewhere else. I think it would be very depressing to have been stuck in SAC the last three or so years. They suck, and they're not even in a good market (Like LA or NY). Maybe he'll come out of a funk if he's got something good to play for...

Did you mean nobody knows how Livingston will recover from his injury (Not Cassell)?? I didn't remember Cassell getting any particular injury. Also, who in their right mind would go to the Clips as a free agent who doesn't stand a chance of getting anything more than a mid-level exception? If you're getting paid comparatively low, you'd at least try to go somewhere with a solid team that you could contribute to. (And yeah, I know he got a nice buyout, so money's not a big deal - hypothetically, but money's still money, all other factors being the same).

[Cowboy22]

Yeah, I meant Livingston, I was really tired when I wrote that. And Francis isn't going to get anything more than the MLE at this point. He's a bit of head case and hasn't played particularly well the last couple years (some of that is because he was in a terrible situation with the Knicks, but it's still going to keep GMs from spending much on him) I mean, Portland just paid him a lot of money to NOT play for them next year.

[Cowboy22]

Looks like he's headed back to Houston. Not to surprising from his point of view since he really enjoyed playing there and had the best years of his career with that team, but I'm not sure I understand it from the Rockets perspective. It seems like half their team now consists of shoot-first point guards.

The Lakers resigned Mihm, which I would guess that you're happy about? I seem to recall that you liked him for whatever reason.