The Perpetual NBA Thread

[RMean]

It has mainly to do with their roster being healthy unlike last season e.g. sina boozer, kirilenko, deron williams naman stepping up. Utah has the talent no doubt to finish with a better record this season if they keep this up.

On TMAC naman; grabe he plans on retiring once his contract with the rockets is up! He told TNT kanina in a short interview. It was shown during the bulls-rockets game on star sports. Presently, he has 3 years remaining in his contract and will only be 30 yrs old by then. He cited that the "wear and tear" in his body is starting to take a toll on him and being with his wife and 2 kids is all that matters to him. Baseball is a possibility daw afterwards; sounds familiar ain't it [michael jordan]? but he did mention that he was also a baseball star back in the day

naglalaro talaga siya ng baseball.. every off season nga naghohold siya ng charity game sa houston

[tsupermario]

Webber wants trade, report says.

The Sixers forward isn't happy with his role and told the Sacramento Bee, "I'm not going to keep playing like this."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/16032490.htm

sino kaya papatol? knicks?

[RMean]

yep, gulat nga ako eh...retire na agad after 3 seasons...bata pa. parang wala nga gana mga galaw nya these past games.

pitcher role daw sya nun baseball player pa sya. yung arms naman nya bubugbugin nya after nba. hehe

The mound can wait
McGrady says he might pursue baseball career after basketball

HOUSTON -- Rockets forward Tracy McGrady claims that he has a devastating knuckle ball that he might eventually unleash on big league hitters.

He's just not planning on doing it anytime in the near future.

The Rockets' six-time All-Star said after Thursday night's win over the Chicago Bulls that he doesn't plan on pursuing a baseball career until he's satisfied that his basketball playing days are over.

"I'm going to play baseball at the end of my (basketball) career," McGrady said. "I guess (TNT) took that to mean the end of my contract. But who knows what I'm going to do in four years?"

The questions about McGrady's future surfaced after he mentioned his desire to play baseball during an interview with TNT. The segment aired during the first half of Thursday's game.

McGrady, 27, said he would probably pursue a pitching career after he is done playing basketball.

"I think I'll be done with this game in my early 30's," McGrady said. "I would be a pitcher. I got a knuckleball, slider, changeup, curve and whatever."

[empy]

http://<br /> Webber wants trade, r...s/16032490.htm

sino kaya papatol? knicks?

back to Sactown? hehe

well, that's not going to happen, but that system was ideal for his high-post, big-man passing skills. maybe he could learn the Lakers' triangle, which has similarities, but they definitely don't want an old, high contract player. besides, they already have Odom.

[RMean]

talo bulls sa spurs.. three straight sila sa team ng texas.. una sa dallas,kahapon sa houston tapos kanina naman sa sprus.. mahirap talaga magkaroon ng road games sa texas triangle.. mahirap ma-sweep mga teams dun

[BoEinG_747]

talo na naman uli ang Sixers..kaasar

[RMean]

SPECIAL WEEKEND EDITION
It's time to trade Kevin Garnett


By Marc Stein, ESPN.com


Editor's note: ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein supplies each item for this around-the-league notebook edition of the Daily Dime. It's the story every NBA fan outside of Minnesota wants to read someday. It might even be the story frustrated Wolves fans are ready to read now.
Kevin Garnett is officially, legitimately on the trading block.
Numerous NBA front-office sources reiterated to me this week that we're still not there yet, and not especially close to being there. But personally? I've changed my stance on this one.
After years of resisting the natural NBA writer's instinct to demand that the Wolves trade Garnett and start over, I've given in. Not even 10 games into the new season, I don't see enough hope for Minnesota to continue down this path … assuming you can call it a path.
I simply struggle to see -- with the Wolves possessing such limited trade assets beyond KG himself -- how they can improve the cast around him to avoid slipping farther and farther away in a deeper-than-ever West.
Let's be realistic.
Even if Garnett opts out of his contract in the summer of 2008 as expected and walks away from an '08-09 salary of $23 million, he still will have banked more than $200 million by then. He'll be 32 that summer and, maybe more than any other player in history, could comfortably afford signing wherever he wants for the mid-level exception.
It's not like he needs another max deal. Chicago? Lakers? Maybe KG's willing to take a pay cut, in the tradition of Karl Malone and Gary Payton, to go to Phoenix and play with Steve Nash. Or, say, New Jersey with Jason Kidd.
Which would leave the Wolves with nothing.
I know it's difficult for Wolves diehards to envision such a catastrophe, knowing that: A) Garnett hasn't and probably won't ever tell the Wolves that he wants out, and that B) Garnett is so loyal to the frozen tundra he calls 'Sota that it seems highly unlikely he'd bolt without compensation.
Fine.
But organizations have to protect themselves against worst-case scenarios. Organizations typically prosper when they're proactive. It seems awfully risky for the Wolves to go through another season (or more) of misery, not knowing how that might eat into Garnett's resolve or affect his determination to relocate.
The Wolves have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons. If that drought stretches to three or four -- not hard to envision given Minnesota's lack of depth, rebounding and dependable size apart from KG -- then what?
The longer the Wolves wait, if they're eventually going to have to trade him anyway, can only hurt them leverage-wise. Trading him this season, as opposed to delaying the inevitable until the February '08 trading deadline or scrambling to concoct a sign-and-trade in July '08, is more likely to net Minnesota the package of quality youth, size and draft picks it would naturally want in return.
The Bulls are the most natural trading partner because they're in a different conference and stocked with trade pieces: Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng or Ben Gordon, P.J. Brown's expiring contract and the Knicks' first-round pick, for starters.
Contenders in the West, if the Wolves could stomach that, would be lining up as well: Phoenix, Dallas and certainly others. The Lakers' interest, furthermore, is no secret, with Kobe Bryant and Garnett seemingly an ideal tag team given KG's well-chronicled unselfishness … and Garnett maintaining an offseason residence in Malibu … and two tantalizing big men (Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum) for the Wolves to go after.
Not that I'm expecting my pleas to rouse the Wolves into action. Folks who've observed Garnett more closely and longer than I have insist that he yearns to be the Twin Cities' hoops answer to Kirby Puckett -- from a one team-only standpoint -- and finish his career there at all costs. Which only makes it tougher for the Wolves to contemplate moving him.
Will Garnett move off that stance if it puts his legacy at risk? If it means that one trip to the West finals and a scant playoff résumé beyond that is the extent of what we get from one of the most gifted 7-footers this game has ever seen?
We'll see.
In the interim? Doubts about Wolves coach Dwane Casey surviving the season have been in circulation for some time, but the Wolves' next big move, according to team insiders, is to transfer control of the front office at season's end from the under-fire Kevin McHale to Fred Hoiberg, one of KG's all-time favorite teammates. Perhaps that will brighten Garnett's outlook after an increasing frostiness in his relationship with McHale, who drafted him No. 5 overall out of high school in 1995.
Yet no matter who's running the personnel department, it's pretty safe to say that only one man can decide if we'll ever be reading about a tangible Garnett trade. The theory I'm borrowing from one Eastern Conference executive is that it'll take Wolves owner Glen Taylor coming out and telling all of 'Sota that it was his call … that it was in the Wolves' and Garnett's best interests to start anew.
I can't imagine McHale wants to make trading KG his farewell move after absorbing much of the blame locally for the Wolves' recent demise. Nor would trading Garnett be a very appetizing intro to GM-ing for Hoiberg.
Until Taylor is ready to move on -- and he recently told Minneapolis' weekly City Pages newspaper that he could only reach that point through mutual consent with Garnett -- the trade talk that tantalizes armchair GMs everywhere isn't much more than that.

[empy]

^KG to Miami!!!! :jump:

teka, may midlevel exception pa ba kami?

[empy]

hindi ako nakatiis kahapon, i had to experience for myself what the big fuss was about this...

i spent a lot more than i thought it would be

[RMean]

^ bumaba ba shooting %tage nio?

[empy]

^ bumaba ba shooting %tage nio?

medyo. from 15% naging 10% :bwahaha:

mas makapit siya sa kamay, so mas masarap i-dribble. pero iba nga ang bitaw galing sa kamay mo so you have to get used to it. tapos para siyang may glue na kumakapit sa rim :hihihi: may mga tira ako na sapul na sapul yung back iron...but instead of bouncing far up in the air, it died on the rim and dropped into the hoop

[theveed]

I really feel bad for hard-working superstars that can't get any support... AI, KG and Pierce should have better endings to their stellar individual accomplishments.

Ibang usapan yung kagaya ni Nash, Kidd, Dirk etc that has the supporting cast but falls short vs. Lone Ranger type of scenario...

[mazdamazda]

I really feel for KG at this point. Mikes James & Ricky Davis are ok but they are still lacking even for a playoffs run. They should play Foye more than Hassell IMO.

[chain]

may mga tira ako na sapul na sapul yung back iron...but instead of bouncing far up in the air, it died on the rim and dropped into the hoop

reminds me of the three-point shot ni VC.

[empy]

I really feel for KG at this point.

agree, but like the article said, at least his future is in his own hands. it would not be a bad idea for him to opt out, put his $200M in the bank, and sign with the Lakers for peanuts, Karl Malone style. Pierce is a different story, since he's locked up long term. pero sa kanya for his loyalty to his city and his organization. the guy is treated like a god in Boston, btw.

They should play Foye more than Hassell IMO.

[tsupermario]

I really feel bad for hard-working superstars that can't get any support... AI, KG and Pierce should have better endings to their stellar individual accomplishments.

Ibang usapan yung kagaya ni Nash, Kidd, Dirk etc that has the supporting cast but falls short vs. Lone Ranger type of scenario...

as for KG, he also has a part in it. his huge salary is a major hindrance in getting better pieces around him. and who could forget the joe smith fiasco? to mchale.

[theveed]

Tsuper: Of course not. All superstars have huge contracts, how in the world did the Bulls pay Scottie and Mike, Lakers with Kobe and Shaq, Dallas right now with Dirk, Terry, Damp all with huge contracts.

Bulok lang GMs nila for not spending the right money and getting into the stupid Joe Smith deal.

Money is never the main reason for a team not getting good players, almost all teams have a max-deal player at some point.

If Minnesota's management found a way to keep Cassell in Minnesota or controlled Marbury's undeveloped brain before, it'll be another story. What was their excuse with Cassell? He's old? After leaving the Wolves, Cassell blasted the perennial door-mat Clippers to the playoffs.

Even that team has highly paid athletes and a tightwad owner.

A KG should and will not be worth any less that what he's getting.

[tsupermario]

i take it that when you said "better endings to their stellar individual accomplishments" you mean a championship ring.

i agree that money is never the main reason for a team not getting good players but the team owner has to deal also with the luxury tax. dallas afaik is second or third to the knicks in terms of payroll. as for kobe and shaq, correct me if im wrong but i think kobe wasn't paid top dollar at the time of their championship run. with respect to scottie and mike.. well mike is mike and scottie is arguably the second best player during their time.

i would think that a team with a more flexible salary cap can afford to get better supporting players because players in general are greedy. kg is an excellent player and so is tim duncan. but duncan is not paid as much as kg is getting.

even with cassell i believe they still need better players to surround kg to compete deep in the playoffs.

[spiff]

i could be wrong here...

kg's contract does really hinder the growth of the team. its just way to big for a team like twolves to afford his contract plus another serviceable superstar. he has a contract larger than any other player in the league, since he signed it right before the collective bargaining agreement came into play. so once the salary cap scheme started in 2000 the twolves could not afford to pay another "superstar" since it would bring them way too much over the cap. they did it for a while with spree and cassell.. that obviously wasnt enough. what more can you get?

same thing goes with shaq's contract... heat made sure it wasn't a long term contract like what kg has.. otherwise you think they'l be able to afford dwade + a player marginally better than m doleac?

and no way i think kg is worth the money he's getting. you can get two second tier superstars for that amount. its probably 70 % of the whole detroit starting 5 that won the championship couple of years ago.

only new york and kg can make it work. maybe LA

[RMean]

i could be wrong here...

same thing goes with shaq's contract... heat made sure it wasn't a long term contract like what kg has.. otherwise you think they'l be able to afford dwade + a player marginally better than m doleac?

contract ni shaq sa heat is $100M for 5 years.. last year lang siya nag sign ng contract niya.. kahit matanda (34?) na siya at mejo nagdedecline na ang game niya nakapagsign pa sya ng ganyang kalaking kontrata at 5 years pa..

maliit p nga yan eh, may paycut na yan kasi gusto ni shaq na gamitin ung binawas sa salary niya para makakuha ng decent player para makatulong sa campaign nila.. kaya nakuha si walker