NBA discussion thread

43 Days 17 hrs 42 min and 15 sec at the time of this posting.

Damn, still a long ways away! But the way time flies these days it will probably be here before we know it. Haven't posted here in a while so gotta get a bit caught up.

On the KG trade...

It's amazing how fortunes can turn. Here was Ainge and Rivers shaking their heads on draft day. A look of major disappointment in both their faces and distraught trying to figure out where they would go from here. Then a draft day trade and things started to change. Now with Ray Allen on the squad things started to look up for them. Then they trade almost their whole team for KG and with that they jumped from another horrible season and possibly finishing close to last in their division to Division winners and quite possibly Eastern conference champs. No championship yet however but they're not too far away. How far they go this season will depend mostly on their point guard play and how well they gel together as a team. They'll have to keep adding some key pieces to their bench to compete with the deeper teams in the league. It will be nice to see what Rivers can do now that he has some real talent to work with.

And now with Oden down for the season, I bet they're not regretting their draft day misfortunes too much. On Oden, I have to echo the same sentiments already expressed, what a shame, especially with all the hype very reminiscent of Lebron's 1st yr in the league. Hopefully he can come back just as strong but at least for now it's looking like perhaps Durant was the better choice. Either way that Blazer team still has a bright future with a lot of young talent.

I'm equally as excited for the season to start as everyone else, can't wait to see how all the changes this season will play out and hopefully there will still be more to come for some teams.

Got a question. Since he is not going to play a single second in the NBA this year, can Oden still win rookie of the year next season? Or does this upcoming season still count as his rookie year?

Good question, I have no idea.

If its like baseball or hockey than yeah, but if its like NFL, then no.

Originally posted by Lord Evolution
Got a question. Since he is not going to play a single second in the NBA this year, can Oden still win rookie of the year next season? Or does this upcoming season still count as his rookie year?

Sorry Lord Evo, but this upcoming season will count as his rookie year. Next season providing he is able to play will be his second season as an NBA star, but his first full season.

I think it counts because he is under contract. Though I'm not positive.

To answer your questions re: Oden winning ROY or being considered a rookie by the NBA-- Yes, he will be considered a rookie next year despite being signed and part of Portland's roster this season. If I remember correctly, Nick Collison who was on the Seattle roster but never played a minute was considered a rookie the following year he played...

This really isn't the end of the world for Oden. Amare seems to have recovered pretty well. Same with Zach Randolph. Do people even remember that John Stockton had microfracture surgery?

Most of the guys who have not recovered well(Houston, Brandon, Mashburn, Webber, Kidd, Hardaway, Grant) had it pretty late in their careers. Antonio McDyess was 26 or 27 when he had his, so he wasn't all that young as well.

I think the odds look very good for Oden recovering well and becoming a great player.

However, it is a disaster nonetheless for Portland and Oden considering that:

1) He's got a rookie contract that they're paying him for and they lose the first year of that. They pay for 3 years, and he only plays for 2, before they have to give him a new contract. If he has a 10 year career, this shortens it to 9. If he has 6 years with Portland, he will only play for 5 of them.

2) He loses 1 year of development. He goes BACKWARDS in fact, as he spends a year where he doesn't run or play any basketball.

3) That's before you consider he might have permanent impairment of the leg after the microfacture surgery.

I dont think the financial ramifications are that big an issue to the Blazers, they have a very rich owner and are under the cap now Francis is gone. Plus LeFrentz comes off the books next year so they should be able to attract some solid vets through free agency.
The big worry for the Blazers is how Oden will recover, from everything i've read it was a pretty small operation (even though microfracture is risky) and with age being a factor they seem confident that he will be the same player when he gets back on the floor. You never know with this surgery though only Amare has come back as strong as before (meaning that explosion needed for dominant bigmen) and that was after he looked like a shell of himself for the start of last season.
I hope Oden comes back fully, the league needs to have some great centers again. None of this 6'10 - face up hybrid PF/center, true back to the basket legit 7 footers. The league has gotten soft with jumpshooting centers and the touch fouls called on the perimeter, if watching the USA team playing by FIBA rules showed me anything its how soft the NBA has got with all these crazy rules to outlaw good physical defense.

I think the reason why Amare was able to bounce back so strongly is because he took the whole year off, and rehabed more carefully than the other players. Unless I'm mistaken, players like Houston, Webber, Mcdysse, ect. didn't take as much time off because either the players were forced through rehab too fast by management, or rushed through rehab on there own. Either way my point is they came back too fast which is the last thing you want to do with an injury.

The NBA season officially starts October 2nd when NBA 2k8 is released.

What? Is that just in your mind or did you just get confused?

Originally posted by wuTa
I think the reason why Amare was able to bounce back so strongly is because he took the whole year off, and rehabed more carefully than the other players. Unless I'm mistaken, players like Houston, Webber, Mcdysse, ect. didn't take as much time off because either the players were forced through rehab too fast by management, or rushed through rehab on there own. Either way my point is they came back too fast which is the last thing you want to do with an injury.

probably...

Originally posted by Myth
What? Is that just in your mind or did you just get confused?

😆 In my mind.

Just making sure you didn't get the actual season start date confused.

I'm with Zeke. All hail 2k. Live is da sux!

Originally posted by Warmonger
I'm with Zeke. All hail 2k. Live is da sux!

I've always prefered NBA Live over the 2k series.

Live use to be better, but the past 3 years or so 2K has surpassed them imo.

yeah same feeling here. used to love live but got into 2k's and cant go back.

vandalwors is my gamertag if you're interested in having a game on 2k7, i've only played it a couple of times though due to other games and outside happenings.... so good if you're looking for an easy win

I used to play Live all the time, but last year was the first time I played 2k, and it was a million times better.