Bear Down Wildcats

West
1. Spurs (-3)
2. Clippers (+1/-1)
3. Warriors (+1/-1)
4. Thunder (+2/-1)
5. Blazers (+1/-2)
6. Dallas (+2/-2)
7. Grizzlies (-2)
8. Suns (+2/-1)
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9. Rockets (+2/-1)
10. Pelicans (+2/-1)
--------------------------
11. Lakers
12. Nuggets
13. Kings
14. Jazz
15. TimberPups


East
1. Bulls (-1)
2. Cavs (+1/-1)
3. Wizards (+1/-2)
4. Raptors (+1/-1)
5. Heat (+3)
6. Nets (-2)
7. Hawks (+1/-2)
8. Hornets (+2/-1)
--------------------------
9. Pacers (+2/-1)
10. Knicks (+2/-1)
11. Pistons (+3)
-----------------------
12. Celtics
13. Bucks
14. Magic
15. 76ers

The West this year is quite simple to me:

1. San Antonio Spurs: have depth, experience
2. Los Angeles Clippers: solid frontcourt additions; need health
3. Golden State Warriors: with health, very balanced and deep
4. Oklahoma City Thunder: with healthy Durant, likely my favorite
5. Portland Trail Blazers: depth, but youth; need efficiency
6. Dallas Mavericks: better depth, experience, balance on offense
7. Memphis Grizzlies: strong depth, slightly better offense
8. Phoenix Suns: young, but deep, dynamic, and efficient
9. Houston Rockets: loses efficiency and depth, poorly coached
10. New Orleans Pelicans: a few years away, but better
11. Los Angeles Lakers: aged, but hold advantages at value positions
12. Denver Nuggets: lack quality depth and no dominant star
13. Sacramento Kings: same ol', same new... Cousins, though...
14. Utah Jazz: accumulating some nice wing pieces
15. Minnesota Timberwolves: they'll dunk and get dunked on, a lot

The big questions:

Injury & Health... Will Westbrook hold up after multiple procedures when carrying load for Thunder? Will Spurs find health balance? Will teams with stars but no depth survive the inevitable injury? Will Paul and Bogut seasonal injury sink respective teams contentions?

Development & Coaching... Will Hornacek and Co build upon last year? Will Markieff step up and become poor-mans Aldridge? Will Aldridge maintain growth? Will Griffin continue expansive skill acquisition? Will Kerr's system bring out best in Curry, Thompson, Bogut? How will McHale coach with no PG on offense and no depth up front or on the wings?

Age & Attrition... Has Dallas created the balanced roster to max out aging stars on offense (Dirk) and defense (Tyson). Has Memphis added the necessary experience to take next step, or did they just get old?

I thought Houston played like crap last year, and that was with better depth and offensive balance. I see them slipping far. I see Suns making a sizable jump, passing 50 wins, and giving Spurs fits in round 1. I see Dallas as my sleeper. Similar balanced makeup to Title team.

So Nick johnson is not on the roster today? Does this mean he is already in the d league?

3goggles wrote:So Nick johnson is not on the roster today? Does this mean he is already in the d league?

Randle broke his leg last night. Top 5 pick here we come!

MrBug708 wrote:Randle broke his leg last night. Top 5 pick here we come!

The announcers last night on the TNT broadcast were atrocious in regards to the injury. They were all too busy telling a Kobe story to notice that the Lakers were playing with 4 on defense because Randle was laying underneath the opposite basket. Then they were telling everyone it was an ankle even though the replays showed no twisting or turning or rolling of said ankle. Then Reggie chimed in that in his opinion it was for sure an achilles (which I kind of thought also). Nope, wrong again. Then they kept going to Rachel Nichols who was close to the action and she of course offered nothing other than to say that Kobe was fulling supporting Randle by putting his hand on him. Just shut it!

Top 5 pick here the Lakers come for another UK guy or maybe Stanley.

This could be one of the worst endings to a career in recent memory of a former superstar. Kobe has pretty much earned it though, good for him.

Suns fans want the Lakers to get the 6th pick (will be ours unless 1-5).

MrBug708 wrote:Randle broke his leg last night. Top 5 pick here we come!

I still don't see you as worse than Utah or Minnesota in west, and you're definitely better than Philly, Orlando. So that's 5th, but doesn't count other failures like Milwaukee, Boston, or Sacramento.

Truth is Randle was a backup and not a big part of Lakers this season.

I still expect 25+ wins, which will likely be more than everyone I've named, save for maybe Sacramento. No guarantee you suck enough without another Kobe injury.

The Jazz have more talent than LA, wouldn't surprise me. It's gonna be really close to see if we get that pick this year

The Lakers are going to be bad. Trading Nash to LA was a steal for the Suns. Is the Lakers 2015 first-round pick lottery protected? I can't find anything that says so.

Irish27 wrote:The Lakers are going to be bad. Trading Nash to LA was a steal for the Suns. Is the Lakers 2015 first-round pick lottery protected? I can't find anything that says so.

It's been posted in this thread that it's protected 1-5.

UAEebs86 wrote:

Irish27 wrote:The Lakers are going to be bad. Trading Nash to LA was a steal for the Suns. Is the Lakers 2015 first-round pick lottery protected? I can't find anything that says so.

It's been posted in this thread that it's protected 1-5.

Thanks. Kobe will get hurt and the Lakers will tank the season.

Kobe might not play in the fourth quarter all year.

Sportscenter is live in Cleveland this morning? Ok, we get it!!

I almost feel like we are going to need a separate "Lakers Getting Rolled" thread this season. Suns put it on them last night.

Travis Wear shutting down Lebron in the first half.

NYCat wrote:Travis Wear shutting down Lebron in the first half.

It's like he's playing Arizona

Lots of $$ for a Klay. He is a $17.5 mil/yr player?

Eric Bledsoe gets spooked by a dinosaur like we all would lol

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2251 ... e-dinosaur

Wait. Is Dallas beating Philadelphia by 50 points right now?

The Sixers might just be the worst team I've ever seen.

Break up the Sixers!

UAEebs86 wrote:

Is it just me or did Stanley do the same thing in the game vs Michigan?

thenewazcats wrote:

UAEebs86 wrote:

Is it just me or did Stanley do the same thing in the game vs Michigan?

Stanley took a "gathered" stutter and one extra step, so in total about 3 steps, which the'll typically allow (same with crab step or jump stop, all technically travels), but Brewer took a minimum of 5 steps, maybe 6.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/12/16/ ... doll-sale/

Thats amazing lol, 6 steps?

Stanley did the nba "extra" step. Dribble and step at the same time plus 2 more

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 8m8 minutes ago
Minnesota has agreed to trade Corey Brewer to Houston, league source tells Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 3m3 minutes ago
Houston will send Troy Daniels to Minnesota as part of the Brewer deal, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 1m1 minute ago
Minnesota sends Ronny Turiaf to Houston w/ Brewer, but Turiaf could be shuttled to third team, source says. Turiaf is injured, out for year.

that was at least 8 or 9 steps

the real dill wrote:Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 8m8 minutes ago
Minnesota has agreed to trade Corey Brewer to Houston, league source tells Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 3m3 minutes ago
Houston will send Troy Daniels to Minnesota as part of the Brewer deal, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 1m1 minute ago
Minnesota sends Ronny Turiaf to Houston w/ Brewer, but Turiaf could be shuttled to third team, source says. Turiaf is injured, out for year.

Rocket fans aren't loving the trade. Could open up PT for Johnson, or could signal a deal is imminent for one of Phoenix's guards now that they lost out on Rondo.

JMarkJohns wrote:

the real dill wrote:Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 8m8 minutes ago
Minnesota has agreed to trade Corey Brewer to Houston, league source tells Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 3m3 minutes ago
Houston will send Troy Daniels to Minnesota as part of the Brewer deal, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 1m1 minute ago
Minnesota sends Ronny Turiaf to Houston w/ Brewer, but Turiaf could be shuttled to third team, source says. Turiaf is injured, out for year.

Rocket fans aren't loving the trade. Could open up PT for Johnson, or could signal a deal is imminent for one of Phoenix's guards now that they lost out on Rondo.

Everyone is convinced Phoenix wanted Brewer as part of the Dragic deal. Brewer will only be a Rocket for 60 days.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 9m9 minutes ago
Houston's sending a 2015 second-round pick via Kings, and a future second, source says. That could be fluid if third-team found for Turiaf.

Golden State or Houston, my guess.

JMarkJohns wrote:Golden State or Houston, my guess.

Golden State might be best fit, but sounding like Rockets with bi-annual exception to spend, history of interest, and friend, Dwight Howard, will likely be the destination. OK fit, redundant skillset to Howard, but with perimeter defense versatility. Warriors with history of big man injuries, spaced floor and motion offense, transition game could elevate his stagnant half court skills back to near all-star level.

Oh well.

Lakers with the most unlikely beatdown of the year

KaibabKat wrote:Kobe might not play in the fourth quarter all year.

He probably shouldn't.

That's something to behold.

Longhorned wrote:That's something to behold.

Sure was, $5,000 worth. But Hairston makes $1.2M per year and averages 15 minutes a game, so not sure if he broke even or not.

I was told there would be no math.

It's time.

Klay Thompson just dropped 37 in a quarter. 50 points through 3

Klay made every shot in that quarter. Here they are. Amazing.
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/1/2 ... nt-quarter

The Suns can't stop the bleeding...they suck.