The guy is like 7 feet 330 weight and banged on a point guard.

You guys seen Steven Adams play yet? The guy is the real deal. Presti scores again, and this will definitely take a lot of the sting out of the Harden trade.

Lamb is looking pretty good too.

Watched them opening night against the Blazers...that wasn't fun to watch. I was surprised how well Plumlee played. Their guards Dragic and Bledsoe are solid. So far your over is looking pretty good.

He is better than I thought he'd be though honestly I only saw him play a little in the summer league. Leads the league in contested rebound % by a long ways.

The Pacers definitely have a championship caliber defense. Monday against the Grizzlies should be a good one.

The Knicks were embarrassed by the Spurs today. The only positive was it was a 12 noon start on a football day so virtually no one watched. Thrilled that they gave Denver their number 1 draft pick in the most loaded draft in a decade in the Carmelo trade that my turn into a lottery selection.

I like the big dude from Pitt. He can play.
But Harden is a superstar. A legit top 4 player in the entire league. And he is only like 24 or 25. And you can argue that with Harden still OKC gets to the finals last year. They at the very least get through Memphis.

While you can debate the timing of the trade the fact remains that they simply could not afford the salary tax implications of keeping Harden if he wasnt willing to take a discount which he wasn't.

I believe they have still have another 1st round pick coming also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEKK3GVd150


:D

But, he would never be that in OKC. It would be silly to pay a guy max money along with all the luxury tax implications for a 3rd wheel, no matter how good that wheel is.

The Thunder got Adams, Lamb (who also is looking pretty good), another 1st round pick coming from Dallas, and a very promising Euro-stash in Alex Abrines. Obviously the first round pick from Dallas won't be a great one, and Abrines is a bit of gamble, but Presti has a great track record so I'll trust he'll get good players.

Another thing, Harden plays zero defense. You can't be a top 4 player in the league without trying on both ends. Maybe he'll get better, but he'll never be better than average on that end of the floor.

Outside of Brooklyn, teams are going to have to start being more responsible. The new CBA is extremely harsh on repeat offenders of luxury tax threshold. The Thunder took a small step back, but I think it will pay big dividends in the future.

The Dallas pick could be ok. If Dirk were to go down they would be pretty helpless though I dont know if the pick is protected.

NBA trades are insanely tough to do because of salary cap and talent for talent is almost impossible. Unlike baseball where you get free agent compensation if you lose a player in the NBA you get nothing. They have even tweaked the sign and trades that teams used to do.

Irony in that Cleveland gets Miami's #1 in 2015 (from the sign and trade that Cleveland did when james left-people forget that wasnt a straight free agent signing, it wound up a sign and trade) which could be the year James leaves Miami and goes back to Cleveland. Considering the supporting cast in Miami is already aging that could easily be a lottery pick.

I believe that all teams with the exception of Brooklyn and the Knicks are operating with the goal of staying under the tax especially the harsh repeater tax. Supposedly Brooklyn's payroll with taxes this year is somewhere in the 180 million neighborhood. At least they don't suck like the Knicks who get to ive away their 1st rounder this year to Denver as part of the ridiculous carmelo trade.

The Dallas pick is protected, not sure for how long though.

I looked it up and it is protected 1-20 through 2017 and unprotected in 2018

Fantastic news for the Knicks as they have no picks this year at all except for a 2nd round pick of Sacramento's that doesnt sound too bad except it is protected 31-55 and NY loses it after this year. What cahnce is there that Sac finishes in the top 6 this year? lol

They also have given up their 2016 1st rounder to toronto.

No draft picks included but try to make a trade

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine

Haren's Defense:

http://nba.si.com/2013/11/11/james-h...uston-rockets/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOYSzVLQyc#t=11

This stuff isn't going to help Harden either. He's already been fined this year, and he'll get less and less calls the more he gets caught. Referees don't like being embarrassed.

Yeah he flopped really bad against the Blazers for the first one when Wes Matthews was guarding him on a jump shot.

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/or...nba/index.html

Is DeMarcus Cousins the new Benoit Benjamin? The guy has all the skill and talent in the world but has nothing upstairs and is lazy beyond belief on the court...yet still puts up impressive individual numbers.

If he actually put some effort into his game and tried to help those around him get better, he would absolutely dominate on both ends of the floor and the Kings might actually win a few games...the guy is practically unstoppable when he's engaged. Seems like he has no desire whatsoever to play defense and only cares about getting his points on the offensive end. What's your impressions of him?