Alright, New York Knicks fans. It looks like you are going to get what you asked for. You are going to have your chance at Carmelo Anthony, even if it means selling your souls to do it.

It was just last week that the video above was released. In it, New Yorkers, a questionable bunch of New Yorkers might I add, told an ESPN reporter that the Knicks needed to get Anthony no matter what.

Well, “no matter what” appears to be the Knicks stance. Over NBA All-star Weekend, the Knicks offered the Denver Nuggets the whole kitten-caboodle. After months and months of drawing a line in the sand stating that they were not going to give up both Wilson Chandler and Danillo Gallinari, the Knicks have offered both of their promising young wings to the Nuggets in return for Anthony. In addition, the Knicks will also ship a first round pick and Eddy Curry to the Nuggets. Not to mention, the Nuggets are currently asking for Timofey Mozgov. And as part of secondary trade, the Nuggets have offered Chauncey Billups for Raymond Felton, which would help the Nuggets get under the salary cap for the year.

So to reiterate, the Knicks would get:

Chauncey Billups
Carmelo Anthony
Bench players to make the trade cap-friendly

The Nuggets would get:

Wilson Chandler
Danillo Gallinari
Raymond Felton
Eddy Curry
First-round Pick
Timofey Mozgov (maybe)

That my friend is called highway robbery!

Don’t’ get me wrong, Carmelo Anthony is a better offensive player than all of those guys. But even if I were to agree with the notion that he’s worth all of these players in a relatively normal situation, he certainly isn’t worth that much talent when the team trading him is afraid of losing him for nothing the second that season is over.

In fairness to the Knicks though, they did get screwed by the Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets. The Nuggets, in all likelihood, reached out to New Jersey and told the Nets that they should get back in the trade talks unless they wanted to see their cross-river rivals land Carmelo Anthony in the off-season for nothing. It was a great tactical move on the part of the Nets to jump back in this thing, especially since the two franchises have been taking jabs at one another since Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the team last summer.

Of course, the real masterminds here were the Nuggets. By bringing New Jersey back into the fold and reportedly allowing Anthony to talk with the Nets, they made it seem as if Anthony was willing to go to New Jersey. The Knicks, having seen videos like the one at the start of this post, know that they can’t afford to see Anthony playing in Brooklyn a year-and-a-half from now. So the Knicks upped their offer and will be left with what amounts to two all-stars and an aging point guard when it’s all said and done.

On the flip side, the Knicks are unlikely to maintain all of their talent even if Anthony waits until the off-season to join the team. The Knicks have no intention of keeping Eddy Curry around. Moreover, to sign Anthony, the Knicks probably would have to release Wilson Chandler. While they possibly could do a sign-and-trade with the Nuggets to keep Chandler, that would mean giving up somebody. That likely somebody, however, would have to be a player of remote interest to the Nuggets; i.e. Wilson Chandler.

So, one way to look at this is to say that the Knicks are giving up Gallinari, Felton, possibly Mozgov and a first round pick for Anthony and Billups given that they would lose Chandler anyway. That’s the argument some people are making to back this trade, but I still have one point of contention with that.

Carmelo Anthony should want to keep as much talent on the Knicks as possible. After all, it’s he who is going to get a lot of blame for the Knicks downfalls when they are incapable of beating the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and possibly the aging Boston Celtics, during Anthony’s first couple of years in the Eastern Conference. Having players like Gallinari and Chandler on the Knicks roster are beneficial to Anthony and his soon-to-be teammate, Amare Stoudemire, since neither of these so-called forwards can rebound worth a damn.

However, money is a funny thing. And there are so many variables that could mess with Anthony’s money. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement could insert hard caps, salary limitations and the elimination of many player benefits. These possible insertions into the CBA could subtract as much as $20 million from the Anthony’s salary over the next three years. Now, forgive me from sitting here with less than $20 million in my pocket and making a comment about Anthony’s money, but I would think that he’s willing to sacrifice that to play with a contender, which is what the Knicks could possibly be with him, Amare, Chandler, Gallinari, Mozgov and Felton. Even if the Knicks can’t compete with that rotation, they could turn those pieces into other pieces. But no matter what they do, giving up the kitchen sink for one guy won’t get them on the Heat or the Bulls level anytime soon.

But there is one more caveat, and it has nothing to do with money. Carmelo may not even care about the money, if what his real concern is that he may not be able to leave Denver this off-season. If Anthony truly wants to go to New York and is forced to wait until this off-season to do it, it’s quite possible that he may not have the option. Once the new CBA is all said and done, there may be a new clause that introduces the franchise tag to the NBA. If that’s the case, the Nuggets could then tag Anthony and keep him Denver until somebody offers them what they want. Of course, the franchise tag is only something that has been brought up, and given the uneven value of a player in basketball, as opposed to in the NFL, it would be hard to come up with “fair compensation” for a franchise player (e.g. two first round picks for a franchise player in the NFL) in the NBA.

The risk of having to stay in Denver for another year would probably do considerable damage to Anthony’s psyche. If that’s what he’s afraid of, then I can understand why he might want to force the Knicks to trade for him now.

However, the Knicks have more insider information that either Carmelo Anthony or myself. As the NBA’s most valuable team, they have a pretty good feel (if not influence) as to what the future CBA will look like. If they couldn’t convince Anthony to get on board with them given the information they have available, it’s their own poor negotiating skills they have to blame. That is ultimately why I have to deem this trade proposal by the Knicks an absolute failure on the part of their front office. Sure, in the long run, the Knicks win, because they can only get better with Carmelo and Stoudemire on the same team.

However, if they can’t get the right pieces around those two guys before their respective primes evaporate, Knicks fans will look back at this trade and wonder what would have happened had they waited to get Anthony in the summer. While waiting means possibly losing out on Carmelo, a wise person once told me something very valuable the day after I got rejected by a girl for the first time: “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” And while Carmelo may be in a special category, but he’s not alone in that category, and I don’t think anything is worth giving up everything. Unless your name is Michael Jeffrey Jordan or Tim Duncan in their primes, no one player has been that solely responsible for a team’s ability to win championships.

The post "Carmelo Anthony Trade Talks: Knicks are offering too much" was originally published at TSW.

The New York Knicks are in the midst of a big road trip, and it is a road trip that is going to tell the entire NBA a lot about what this team is capable of doing in the post-season.

As it stands now, the New York Knicks basketball team is your quintessential 1-and-done team in the NBA playoffs. They are at best a fifth seed, and no one would expect them to beat the Orlando Magic (the likely fourth seed) in a series in which the Magic had the home court advantage. That being said, should the Knicks first-round matchup be against the Chicago Bulls, a team the Knicks have beaten on two occasions this season, then perhaps they would stand a chance. But even then, they become the next rendition of the Atlanta Hawks, a team that can squeak by in the first round and will be pummeled by real contenders in the second round.

Of course, that’s just where the Knicks stand now. Between now and April, the Knicks could play better, make a trade or one of those top teams could suffer a devastating injury. Who knows? However, the most efficient way for the Knicks to be more than a playoff-reaching team, they need to get better—or at least play better. And we are going to find out just how much better they need to get on this crucial road-game stretch.

The Knicks just pummeled the Phoenix Suns as part of their 4-game road trip, but the Suns don’t really count, and playing in Phoenix was like a home game for Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks next three games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trailblazers and Utah Jazz are much more difficult, and will really show us how far the Knicks have to go if they are going to be a threat to any of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

To put it simply, the Knicks have to win 2 out of these 3 games. Call it a de-facto playoff series, a rite of passage, or whatever else you want to call it, but if the Knicks are close enough to being a playoff threat, then they have to demonstrate that by winning 2 of these 3 games. Now, I know what you’re saying, the San Antonio Spurs could very well drop 2 of 3 to these high-caliber teams and they are the best basketball team in the NBA. However, the Spurs don’t have anything to prove. The Knicks do. And given how hungry they should be, and need to be in order to make up for a severe lack of talent, the Knicks cannot afford to lose two of these games against the Western Conferences more talented basketball squads.

Are we setting high expectations? Are we spoiled by a road record that is slightly inflated from having played inferior competition? Yes and yes. But in sports, that what happens. Fans of good teams get spoiled by the results of their good teams. It’s only natural; just think about your own life. If your oldest child is a constant A student, and he comes home with a B- because he started hanging out with his new girlfriend too much, you’re going to be disappointed with him. However, if your youngest child comes home with a B-, but is a typical C- student, you’re probably going to be a tad bit proud of the success he has made.

The New York Knicks have turned into that typical A-student. They have played much better than we thought they would, and our expectations have been raised. Sure, back in the day, winning 2 out of 4 on a West coast road trip would have been more than enough to get New Yorkers to celebrate. However, success brings expectations, and now a .500 road trip would only speak to New York’s inability to move past being an average NBA team. So Knicks fans, just hope that when it’s all said and done, the Knicks come out of these three games against the Lakers, Trailblazers and Jazz with a winning record. If they don’t, that just may be the foreshadowing for poor things to come this April.

The post "Knicks Need Winning Road Trip" was originally published at TSW.

The NFL regular season is over, and those who had a vote for MVP are sure to have cast it already. Clearly, that vote came down to Michael Vick and Tom Brady, with the latter being the choice of TheSportsWatchers.

However, it’s basketball season, and it’s time to move on. This year’s NBA MVP is about as open as it has ever been. Over the past three years, the choice has obviously been LeBron James, even though he only won it in two of those years. This year, with LeBron deferring to his all-star teammates a little bit more, and with so many other players playing for new teams and in new roles, the race for the MVP is about as varied as it has ever been.

So, what leading men are in contention for the 2011 NBA MVP award? Here are the cases for a few of the best players at this point in the NBA’s regular season.

LeBron James – Miami Heat

Like a lot of people, we root against the Miami Heat, but only because we like the underdog. We certainly don’t fault LeBron James for deciding to go to Miami, and “The Decision,” while tacky in all regard, was the exact kind of pompous, train wreck kind of stuff that we love to see in entertainment. So, kudos to LeBron! And kudos to his talent. LeBron’s numbers aren’t what they were in Miami, and they probably never will be. While we are disappointed that he’s not averaging anything close to a triple double this season, at 25 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, it’s going to be hard to find someone who is playing better than he is. Quite frankly, that player may not exist, and LeBron appears to be getting better with each and every game that passes.

Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls

A lot of people are on the Derrick Rose bandwagon, and rightfully so. Rose is averaging 24 points per game, 8 assists and 1 steal. He’s shooting a lot better from 3-point land this season too, making 39.4% of his shots from behind the arc. More importantly, he’s the point guard for a team that is 3rd in the Eastern Conference right now. Could Rose afford to be a little more efficient than 45% from the field when he’s taking over 24% of the Chicago Bulls shots? Of course. But if he can keep chucking it up well-enough for the Bulls to stay near the top of the East, we may have one of the youngest players in the history of the NBA to win the MVP award.

Chris Paul – New Orleans Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets cooled down after one heck of a start to the 2010-2011 NBA season. However, don’t blame too much of that on Chris Paul, who remains the NBA’s leader in player efficiency. Of course, Paul drops 17 points and 10 dimes a game on teams too, so he’s more than just an efficient player, he’s prolific. He’s probably never going to get the credit he deserves this season while his team flounders around as the 6th or 7th seed in the Western Conference. But if the Hornets can go back to their winning ways, he very well could be put into serious contention for this year’s MVP award.

Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder

We are opposed to putting two people from the same team on the list, which is why you won’t find Dwyane Wade on our list of MVP contenders. Same goes for Kevin Durant, who is having just about as good a season as his starting point guard, but at the end of the day, we like Russell Westbrook’s play a little bit better than the NBA’s runner up from a season ago. Westbrook has been absolutely dominant this season, rendering Durant to a lesser role as a scorer and making so many players on Oklahoma City look a lot better than what they have looked like in years past. Westbrook averages 22 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds per game. Only Derrick Rose and LeBron James are putting up those kinds of numbers across the board; thus, in our estimation, Westbrook belongs in the same conversation they do.

Dirk Nowitzki – Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki has won this award before, and I’ll be damned if he can’t win it again. Before Dirk went down with an injury, his team was playing better basketball than anybody in the NBA. They have “struggled” a little bit without him, losing to teams they probably would have otherwise beaten, but when Dirk comes back, rest assure, he’ll have the Dallas Mavericks back on top of the West. Dirk is 4th in the league in efficiency, and he probably scores the least noticeable 24 points of anyone in the league because of how smoothly he does it. Caron Butler is out for the season, meaning Dirk will have an even bigger role upon returning to the squad. Expect his numbers to be even better for the rest of the season, and if they are, he might be the NBA’s next MVP—again!

Amare Stoudemire – New York Knicks

The New York Knicks sure are glad that signing Amare Stoudemire did not blow up in their faces. A lot of people (including us) weren’t sure that Amare gave the Knicks a lot more than David Lee did at the same position, and Amare costs almost twice as much. Boy, were those people wrong! David Lee is about as far away as one can be from leading the NBA in scoring 4th quarter points or ranking second in points per game. Sure, Amare can’t rebound worth a damn, but his defense (when he’s not in foul trouble) is much better than one would have expected it to be this year, and there’s no doubt that the Knicks are a sub-.500 team without him. However, while Amare should be in contention for the MVP award, there’s really no reason to believe that a power forward that doesn’t average 10 rebounds and finishes 6th in East is going to realistically win the award. Sorry, New York. Believe it or not, it hurts us New Yorkers to say that.

The post "This Year’s NBA MVP Candidates" was originally published at TSW.

The New York Knicks suck.

Perhaps this is a bad time to write this given that they finally got their fourth win 12 games into the season—over the Sacramento Kings. Then again, a win over Sacramento doesn’t make up for a decade of irrelevance, and a promising offseason that many thought would inspire a turnaround at Madison Square Garden.

With the Knicks sitting at 4-12, much has to be questioned. Lucky for them, I have several of the answers.

Should Mike D’Antoni be fired?

I have written about this extensively, which is why I have no problem answering this question.

Of course D’Antoni should be fired…if the Knicks don’t make the playoffs. I’m not one that usually hesitates to get rid of someone once they have proven themselves inefficient, but in D’Antoni’s lone defense, he hasn’t had much talent to work with. Quite frankly, he still doesn’t have much talent to work with, but this is the bed he and his General Manager have made for themselves.

Speaking of which, if these Knicks don’t make the playoffs, forget about Donnie Walsh retiring from his position as leader of the Knicks; he needs to be rushed out the door at season’s end. It was his idea to make the Knicks wait for 2 seasons, and it was his failure to bring another top player to New York City along with Amare Stoudemire. So as much as I am willing to push D’Antoni out the door if his system does not work on the basketball court, Donnie Walsh has to be the first guy sent packing if the Knicks are a complete failure this season.

Was getting Amare Stoudemire the right move?

As a New York Knicks fan, I am just about as fed up with Amare Stoudemire as the rest of you are. But as an ardent fan of the game of basketball, I understand what Stoudemire means to this team. If the Knicks went with David Lee instead of Stoudemire, I know that would have saved the team money and our record may not be any worse than it is right now. However, if David Lee were the power forward here, we wouldn’t be talking about the prospects of Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul teaming up with David Lee to come to New York. It just wouldn’t happen.

Say what you will, but people in the NBA respect what Stoudemire has done on the court as a winner. This is a guy who has had big games in the playoffs, and was the second-best player on a Phoenix Suns team that was hard to beat for a number of years out there in the desert.

So while the fact that in a two-point loss to the Denver Nuggets, Amare had just 24 points, 6 rebounds and a minus-12 plus/minus differential in 32 minutes of play makes me want to tear my eyeballs out of my sockets, I understand that in this new NBA, stars like stars. And it takes a star to get a star, and if the Knicks are ever going to be any good, we need to start with one star…any start…even if it’s a non-rebounding power forward.

Will the Knicks make the playoffs

And of course, this is the only question that matters. Knicks fans would love to go to the Garden in late April for a chance. The last time we got that opportunity it was in 2004, when they got swept by Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets. Obviously, that was a very forgettable moment in the time. Thus, it feels as if the Knicks haven’t really been a playoff contender in a decade, and to be honest, it feels even longer than that to people who never saw those late 90’s Knicks teams as a threat to win the title—even though they played in the NBA Finals in 1999.

The Knicks, as of Thursday morning, are 4-8 and in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. They are 1.5 games back of 8th place, and a mere 5 games out of first. Thus, making the playoffs is very much an achievable goal.

However, when looking at this team, it’s hard to see that. It’s hard to envision a team paying somebody $100 million to score 24 points and grab 7 rebounds a night making the postseason. Not to put this all on Amare, because the coach needs a better rotation, Danillo Gallinari needs to man up, and the team as a whole needs to play better defense. All of those goals are possible though. And if the Knicks can just be a little more consistent and get a little bit more out of their $100 million investment, they will be a better team than the New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Bobcats at the end of the season. Passing those teams would put them in the playoffs, which I fully expect to happen. And if it doesn’t, well, you already know who has to go.

The post "A New York Knicks Debacle: D’Antoni, Amare and Playoffs?" was originally published at TSW.

Amare Stoudemire is now a member of the New York Knicks—at least in principle.

The New York Knicks and Stoudemire agreed to a deal worth a reported $99.74 million over the next five years. That gives Amare a ton of money, but also makes him the most important basketball player in all of New York City.

As for the Knicks and their fans, this isn’t exactly signing LeBron James, but it is a step in the right direction. The Knicks now have the ability to pitch other NBA free agents on the fact that they have a star big man who can finish down low and even win them games in the clutch. That pitch is a lot better than the “pie-in-the-sky” stuff the Knicks were selling to other free agents, and it should make them more competitive in the race for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Of course, this opens the door to a lot of different options. The New York Knicks are in a position where they could use Amare’s star power and build a playoff team around him for the 2010-2011 NBA season. With Amare as their best player, these Knicks probably wouldn’t go to far. But if reported interests in players like Brendan Haywood and Luke Ridnor come to fruition, then the Knicks would at least have a respectable team to field every night, one New York Knicks fans could be proud of.

Knicks fans won’t be happy with the lone acquisition of Stoudemire. However, that’s where signing Stoudemire is to their benefit. Amare has had no problem telling everyone that he plans on getting some of his friends to join him in New York City.

Stoudemire has spoken outwardly about recruiting Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker to the Knicks, which would give the Knick a strong trio of players that could contend for a championship in 2012. If Amare can hold the fort down for one year, and Knicks General Manager Donnie Walsh can sell the public on the fact that the city has a playoff team and two stars coming the following summer, then the Knicks may be able to avoid the public scrutiny that, in some ways, has already begun.

No matter what the Knicks sell the fans or themselves on, there are risks involved with acquiring Stoudemire. He has had microfracture knee surgery. He does have a history of a playing little defense. And nobody is sure just how much of Stoudemire’s success hinges on the play of a Hall of Fame point guard feeding him the basketball.

But if anyone can make this work, at least offensively, it is the creative mind of Mike D’Antoni. Defense be damned, if Stoudemire can play without a point guard D’Antoni will find a way to do it. That being said, the Knicks don’t think they’re done with free agency thus yet, and with a few days left until signing can officially begin, I’m sure they are in heavy pursuit of a perimeter player than can make both Stoudemire and the New York Knicks big winners in the 2010 NBA Free Agent race.

The post "Amare Stoudemire Is a New York Knick" was originally published at TSW.

To my surprise, no one on the “Inside the NBA” post-game program discussed the real issue with the final play of Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns. During that final play, the Lakers won the game on a lay-up by Ron Artest that put the Lakers up 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals.

Sure, it’s hard for a defense to account for an airball, and Ron Artest made a heck of catch-and-shoot play to win the game. However, the fact that the Suns didn’t have one bona-fide rebounder in the game left the Suns vulnerable to that play and ultimately cost the Suns the game, and perhaps the lead in this series.

So who did the Suns have on the court for that final play?

Steve Nash, Jared Dudley, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson and Channing Frye were deemed the defensive stoppers for the final play of the game. No disrespect to any of those guys, but if I had to possibly get a crucial rebound, I wouldn’t want any of those guys to be the person I needed to depend on.

The best defensive rebounder in the Suns rotation is Louis Amundson. I can understand the hesitation to have him on the court at such a crucial junction in the game, especially if he got switched on to a guard, so I have no problem with him not being on the floor. But why was Amare Stoudemire on the bench?

Stoudemire is clearly the Suns next best defensive rebounder, and yet he was on the pine while Channing Frye was in the game. One could make the argument that Suns coach Alvin Gentry wanted the height of Frye out there to bother a potential shot from Pau Gasol. Also, Frye did have 10 rebounds on the night versus Stoudemire’s 4. However, the Suns lose athleticism by having Frye on the court instead of Stoudemire, not to mention Stoudemire is a much more “aggressive” player, and perhaps an even a better defender than the notably “softer” Frye. That athleticism and aggressiveness could have come in handy not only in the case of the ensuing airball, but also in the pursuit of one, single, do-or-die rebound.

Maybe I’m just splitting hairs though. After all, the Lakers had just one big man on the court, and with height being somewhat of a concern, you would not want to give Gasol a turnaround jumper against Stoudemire in that situation. Also, Channing Frye, as soft as he appears, just happens to be the third best defensive rebounder for the Suns, so it’s not as if he was the last guy you wanted on the court.

Still, the fact remains that there was a loose ball to be had and the Lakers had better rebounders on the floor to get that loose ball. Again, I will admit that an airball could have went to the Lakers no matter who was on the floor for the Suns, but having some longer arms on the floor, and perhaps a more aggressive big man than Frye, could have prevented giving up the go-ahead lay-up to Ron Artest, who may be considered a better rebounder than anyone the Suns had on the court during the final play of the game.

The post "Substitutions Cost Suns a Loss in Game 5" was originally published at TSW.

Amare Stoudemire

Hey, I won’t run from it. I was quick to call this series after the Los Angeles Lakers went up two games to zero over the Phoenix Suns. I could have curbed my enthusiasm, tempered my reactions and brought attention to the fact that the Lakers had simply defended their home court like they were supposed to. But I took the low road and went purely with my emotions.

Was I wrong?

Not in the least.

So here we are, two games later, with the series all tied up. While there isn’t a bone in my body that believes the Suns will win the Western Conference Finals and advanced the NBA’s final round, I certainly will no longer be surprised if that happens. The Suns have proven that they can play basketball with the Lakers, in the paint and outside of it, and that zone defense seems to have made its mark on the defensive end.

But the Phoenix Suns have failed to prove one thing that the Lakers don’t have to prove this series: an ability to win on the road.

Say what you will about the Lakers heart, determination and hustle, but they went seven games with Houston Rockets in part because of an inability to play their best basketball in hostile territory, but that didn’t prevent Kobe Bryant the Lake-show from winning the ultimate prize in the NBA Finals. So two poor showings in Phoenix, and even another poor showing in Game 6, would do not to knock the Lakers off the road to a second straight championship—it would merely make the road a little bit longer.

Phoenix on the other hand has no room for such road folly. Failure to win a game in Los Angeles this series would mean failure to win this series. So while two home-wins for the Suns are nice, it’s a far cry and 373 miles from what they have to in La-La land in order to advance.

I know what you’re saying: “Now he wants to be rational.” I understand your point. I wasn’t as rational when I claimed this series to be over and done a few days ago. But what I pointed to then still stands true now: the Suns seem to have difficulty winning in Los Angeles. So no matter what has transpired over the last two games, if the Suns bench, Amare Stoudemire’s rebounding and that zone defense don’t fly to Los Angeles for Game 5 or (maybe) Game 7, then this series will be over. The only question then will be, “how long will it take to end it?”

After four games, with the series tied, I will admit that the Suns have proven themselves to be a much worthier opponent than I had given them credit for. However, if you’re asking me to reassess my prediction, the answer is still the same. The Lakers will win this series and advanced to the NBA Finals. Using history as my guide, I don’t see the Suns traveling to LA all that well. But I will admit this, if the Suns do win Game 5 on the road, Phoenix will win this series. Of course, I don’t see Game 5 going to Steve Nash and crew, but then again, I didn’t see both Games 3 and 4 going their way either.

The post "Can the Phoenix Suns Really Win this Thing?" was originally published at TSW.

Amare Stoudemire had a lot to say about Lamar Odom’s performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, Amare failed to back up his talk with an equally bombastic performance in Game 2 of their 2010 NBA Playoff series. Certainly, Uzo Ometu and TheSportsWatchers have something to say about that.

Check out the podcast on iTunes or watch below…

The post "TSW Podcast: Amare Stoudemire, NBA Playoffs & Point Guards" was originally published at TSW.

For whatever reason, Steve Nash thinks the upcoming series between his Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs does not hold the same significance it has held in the past.

Quite frankly, Nash’s sentiment could not be any further from the truth.

Nash’s reasoning is that many of the basketball players that have been involved in this rivalry over the years are no longer on the Suns or on the Spurs for the current 2010 NBA Playoffs. While both teams have seen considerable turnover since they last met up in 2008, both squads still have the 5 most essential players that made this postseason rivalry what it was, and what it will be once it resumes this weekend.

Amare Stoudemire is still here, and he still has something to prove. Despite scoring a ton of points, going to All-Star games and making Sportscenter’s Top 10 on a regular basis, Stoudemire is still considered a huge underachiever. And that sentiment is not just about his inability to take the Suns to the next level in the postseason, because understandably, that doesn’t always happen for every player.

The bigger part of the criticism stems from the fact that Stoudemire has been looked at as a very soft defensive player, who doesn’t rebound like a man with his strength and size should. Well, Stoudemire has somewhat answered his critics with two months of absolute beast-like play on both sides of the ball. If Stoudemire can bring that defensive effort to his series against the Spurs and Tim Duncan, he can get that label as a soft defensive player dismissed and garner the maximum dollars he’s seeking in free agency this summer.

Speaking of Tim Duncan, he’s old.

He’s really old.

But even though he’s old, the man just keeps on winning. Throughout his entire career, he has only missed the “second round” on just one occasion during his 12 seasons in the NBA. To put that in perspective, Grant Hill, of the Phoenix Suns, is making his first appearance in the second round of the NBA Playoffs in 15 seasons as an NBA player.

But I digress.

While Duncan is old, he’s also accomplished. He doesn’t need to prove anything. He doesn’t have to show that he can still play with Stoudemire. He doesn’t have to prove that the franchise he built is still better than the one Steve Nash has built in Phoenix.

But he’s out to prove it anyway.

This is a guy who got absolutely shut down for two games last series, but in the closing game against the Dallas Mavericks, he churned out just another playoff double-double. Sure, he’s not what he used to be, and those playoff double-doubles used to look a lot more like 30 and 15, instead of 17 and 10, but he’s still got something in the tank—if not physically, then mentally anyway.

Another old guy whose age is beginning to show is Manu Ginobili. This guy is more beat up than a used car. In fact they should name a car after him. The Ginobili Roadster–or something like that. The man can handle any type of terrain. Bum ankle? He’s playing. Sore back? He’s good to go. Broken nose? Who cares! And not only is he playing though all of these problems, he’s doing it with awe-inspiring efficiency. There’s no one who doubts that this is now Manu Ginobili’s team. Sure, Tim Duncan has to play well for the Spurs to win, but Ginobili has to play extraordinarily well for the Spurs to win. Fortunately for the people of San Antonio, Ginoboli has been doing just that for the last month.

Sticking with the Spurs, how about that Tony Parker guy?

He’s coming off the bench (or at least he did last series) and people are wondering if he’s completely healthy. Well, in looking at him, there’s little reason to believe he isn’t. His lack of minutes last series had more to do with George Hill’s advantage over the Mavericks than it had to do with Parker’s injury problems. In fact, I expect to see a lot more of Parker against Steve Nash.

Historically, Nash hasn’t been able to contain Parker to save his life. And last time I checked, Nash isn’t getting any younger. The last time these two teams met in the postseason, it was Parker, not Duncan or Ginoboli, who propelled the Spurs to victory. Parker’s speed and newly developed jumper were too much for Nash to handle two years ago. So while Nash is busy harping over the fact that neither the Spurs nor the Suns look or play like they did two seasons ago, he better start praying to God that Parker’s game has changed, or else he’s in for a familiar offensive lashing.

Of course, defense is not where Steve Nash earns his paychecks. As old has he is, Nash may have had his second best season ever. He led the league in assists again this season, and he managed to lead the Phoenix Suns to yet another huge regular season in terms of wins. While I know everyone is well aware of the fact that Steve Nash is a great shooter, people still underestimate just how good he is at putting the ball in the rim.

The man just may be the best shooter in the history of the NBA. Before I even get to the stats on it, when you watch him, do you ever even doubt that he’s going to make his shots? Whenever I look at a box score of a Suns game, it’s hard for me to imagine that he only made 50% of his shots, and yet, 50% for a guy taking a boat load of three-pointers is staggeringly impressive. As for the stats, you can check those out in Hollinger’s analysis of the best shooters ever, in which Nash comes out on top.

That being said, as much as the Suns-Spurs rivalry is about all five of these guys, it’s more about Steve Nash than anybody else. All three of the Spurs have at least three rings, and could care less about any vendetta against a team that has never beaten them. As for Stoudemire, he still has another five strong years in his career, and he will probably be doing most of that without Nash.

But for Nash, this may be it. With Stoudemire likely leaving, Grant Hill approaching 40, and Leandro Barbosa on the market, this Suns team probably won’t be in this position next season. Even if they are, how much longer does Nash have? If he decreases his minutes any more next season, he’ll be in sixth man of the year consideration.

For Nash, of all people, to downplay the significance of this series, he has to be totally missing the point—or is he? Perhaps he knows just how important this series is, and doesn’t want to put that pressure on himself. Sure, in the grand scheme, a championship is all that can validate everything Nash has done during his reign as one of the best point guards in basketball. However, a victory, a long awaited victory, over the Spurs, in the postseason, would be a nice consolation prize–as far as consolation prizes go anyway.

Besides, it just so happens that he needs to go through the Spurs to get that allusive championship ring anyway, so he mine as well approach the situation with the vitriol, passion and historical significance this series warrants—whether or not Nash believes that significance still exists.

The post "NBA Playoffs, 2010: Spurs vs. Suns is Significant" was originally published at TSW.

The brackets are set, and while my 2010 NBA Playoff Predictions aren’t as crazy as my March Madness brackets were, I promise you that they will be 100 times more accurate.

The Western Conference is an absolute mess. Not a mess in a bad way, just in a “lack of a strong figure” kind of way. Basically, it’s like the mafia without its head man.

The Los Angeles Lakers just aren’t doing it for me right now. And the Denver Nuggets, the team that was supposed to be the second best team in the West all season, is now the 4th seed in the Western Conference.

Anyway, I’ll stop opining about generalizations and go on to opine about the specifics. Here are our 2010 NBA Playoff Predictions for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Oklahoma City Thunder
Like I said, the Lakers have lost me. I don’t see how anyone can possibly trust them to do anything. That being said, I don’t see how anyone can envision the Thunder beating the Lakers four times. I do think a couple of 40-point games from Kevin Durant can give the Thunder a couple of wins. So I do expect this to be a much closer series than it ought to be. However, there is no reason in the world why Kobe Bryant shouldn’t show his dominance in this first round matchup. There is no one on the Thunder that can check Kobe, and Bryant has to be thinking about not getting outshined by Durant. So in what should be one of the most electrifying head to head matchups of the NBA Playoffs, I expect a healthy dose of Kobe vs. Durant promos all throughout the first round of the NBA Playoffs. However, I’ll only be seeing Kobe promos in the second round.
Lakers win, 4-2

#4 Denver Nuggets vs. #5 Utah Jazz
Boy did the Utah Jazz mess up by falling to the 5th seed. Oh well, they probably deserved to be a 5th seed after the refs gave them a win against the Thunder last week. But I digress. The Jazz enter the playoffs quite wounded. Andrei Kirilenko probably isn’t going to be 100%, and Carlos Boozer isn’t going to be 100% for the first game either—no matter what else he tells the media. The Jazz’s typical advantage at point guard is diminished by the presence of Chauncey Billups playing opposite of him. Plus, when Deron Williams isn’t playing, Denver clearly wins the backup point guard battle. At the end of the day though, this series comes down to Carmelo Anthony. Melo will be checked by a hobbled Kirilenko, and if that doesn’t equate to a couple of 40-point games, I would be unbelievably surprised.
Nuggets win, 4-3

#2 Dallas Mavericks vs. #7 San Antonio Spurs
The Mavericks have been playing some great basketball over the past couple of months. And no matter what John Hollinger tells you, they will continue to show just how they are in the postseason. Dirk Nowitzki finally has a cast and crew around him that doesn’t rely on him to be the “man in charge.” Now I know, you don’t win a whole lot of basketball games without having a fearless leader, but that’s not who Dirk is. And now he doesn’t have to pretend to be. With Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson on the squad, this Dallas Mavericks team is as tough as nails. However, they are going up against championship experience in the form of the San Antonio Spurs. And let’s not act as if this is your typical 2-7 matchup. The Spurs finished only 4 or 5 games behind Dallas in the standings, despite not having much of their big 3 throughout the entire regular season. And even with the additional toughness on the Mavericks, they still don’t have an answer for Tony Parker, who is probably going to run circles around Jason Kidd on the offensive end. But with this new Mavs squad, Parker might find himself running into a few walls—one of which goes by the name of Haywood.
Mavs wins, 4-3

#3 Phoenix Suns vs. #6 Portland Trailblazers
I don’t even know how to address this series. The Suns may be playing better basketball than anybody in the NBA right now, while the Trailblazers don’t even have anyone left on their roster, do they? The Suns just have too many weapons for the Blazers in this one. Without Brandon Roy, Greg Oden and who knows who else, the Blazers offense is going to be non-existent against one of the less impressive defenses in the league. Key Amare Stoudemire, who should finally dominate the paint in the postseason. With nobody but old-man Marcus Camby to get in his way, Stoudemire should score about 40 points a game in this series. Seriously. He should.
Suns win, 4-1

For the latest NBA Playoff Predictions, click here.

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions, 2010: Western Conference, 1st Round" was originally published at TSW.

The Miami Heat may have lost superstar Dwyane Wade, and no I am not talking about the injury he incurred in Wednesday’s game against the New Jersey Nets.

By failing to acquire Amare Stoudemire during the trade deadline, the Heat have essentially lost a very important cog in their efforts to keep Wade in South Beach following this season.

With no other superstars on the Heat’s roster, Wade is more than likely to opt for free agency and see what else is out there for the taking. Sure, Miami will do it’s best to secure Stoudemire this off-season, but what if Stoudemire doesn’t come to the Heat? He could go to another team. He might not even be available. For all we know, the Suns might offer him the max deal he wants, and then what are the Heat to do?

By not making a deal, and in effect deciding to keep Michael Beasley over attaining another dominant low-post presence, the Heat may have lost their ability to retain the services of Dwyane Wade. Yes, there are other options outside of Stoudemire, and of course, Miami may be Stoudemire’s most likely destination. Still, the Heat have forced Wade’s hand, and he will ultimately consider going elsewhere if the Heat can’t make things happen in Miami.

So I hope retaining Beasley was worth it. Keeping Beasley and signing Stoudemire or a Carlos Boozer this summer would make the Heat even better than a trade would have, but they put themselves at risk by opting to wait for this summer. And if they lose Wade because of GM Pat Riley’s propensity to gamble, I hope it was worth it.

The post "The Miami Heat May Have Lost Dwayne Wade" was originally published at TSW.

With Antawn Jamison now in Cleveland, the question is, just how much better did the Cleveland Cavaliers get? And was this really a better acquisition than bringing Amare Stoudemire to Cleveland. Let’s break it down.

First, let’s just eliminate any talk about whether this was a better deal than brining Stoudemire to the Cavs. Jamison is just a flat out better fit for the Cavs than Stoudemire. Yes, Stoudemire is the better overall player. He is younger, faster, stronger and more explosive in terms of both leaping ability and scoring output.

However, Jamison does a lot of things that Stoudemire does not. First and foremost, Jamison stretches the floor, which is what the Cavs need from the power forward position right now. With Shaquille O’Neal, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson and most likely Zydrunas Ilgauskas later, the Cavs are a team full of big men that that either can’t shoot or are very immobile; thus, the addition of Jamison to the front court is simply a better fit when paired with anyone of the Cavs other big men.

Also, the last thing a defensive team like the Cavs need is a guy who turns the ball over. Stoudemire turns the ball over at an alarming rate for a guy who is really nothing more than the recipient of passes in the paint. Stoudemire has a turnover rate that is twice that of Jamison’s, and is the highest turnover rate among the top 20 rated players at the power forward position. And Stoudemire doesn’t make up any of those turnovers with his passing ability, as he is just a horrible passer. Jamison isn’t much better, but there’s no doubt that Jamison is the better ball handler and probably can produce more assists if he has somebody to pass the ball to.

Jamison also has no existing knee issues (Stoudemire has had operation on both knees), shoot the three-pointer better, cost less money, isn’t a contractual issue this summer, and can score without dominating the basketball, which is more than I can say about Stoudemire.

Other than ALL OF THAT, I don’t know how else to say Jamison is a better fit for the Cavs, even though he may not be the better player.

As for the Cavs new title chances, I would say that they are tremendously improved. And that’s saying a lot when you’re talking about the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference that has already beaten the defending world champions on two different occasions.

So how has Jamison improved their chances?

The addition of Jamison puts them in the driver’s seat to win the Eastern Conference. I know what you’re saying, “They were already leading the East.” However, the Orlando Magic are still a lot like they were last year, if not better. I know the Vince Carter experiment is under scrutiny, but in the playoffs, Carter will still demand a double team, and really no one other than LeBron himself can check Carter for the Cavs. Not to mention, Jameer Nelson didn’t play in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and the Magic still managed to beat Cleveland without him.

The addition of Jamison will match the Magic on the perimeter, something the Cavs couldn’t do in last year’s playoffs when Rashard Lewis was raining threes upon threes on them to win the series. Jamison, can exert equal damage from the 3-point line against the Magic, not to mention, he is much better suited to guard Rashard Lewis on the perimeter than J.J. Hickson, Anderson Varejao or Amare Stoudemire would have been. Also, Jamison’s ability to come off screens and hit perimeter shots will be an added dimension to the Cavs game that will be hard for Rashard Lewis or any other Magic player to guard this postseason.

As for the Cavs chances against the projected Western Conference Champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, those chances have definitely improved.

Adding Jamison gives the Cavs a chance to take the Lakers big men out of their comfort zone. Either Bynum or Gasol will have to step out and defend Jamison on the perimeter, not to mention, they will have to chase him around on screens. Of course, Jamison will have trouble guarding either one of them on the other end, but at least Jamison causes the Lakers problems, whereas a guy like J.J. Hickson or Varejao would allow the Lakers big men to bully the Cavs both offensively and defensively.

So at the end of the day, this deal gives the Cavs another scoring threat is more versatile, offensively and defensively, than Amare Stoudemire or any other Cavs forward on the roster (excluding James, of course). With that, the Cavs are poised to defeat the Orlando Magic, win the East, and matchup with the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The post "Antawn Jamison Makes Cavs Much Better" was originally published at TSW.

ESPN is reporting that the Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly landed Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards.

The deal is a part of a 3-team transaction that has Jamison and Sebastian Telfair going to Cleveland, the Wizards landing Al Thornton, Brian Skinner, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Cleveland’s 1st round pick, and the Clippers get Drew Gooden, who was on the Dallas Mavericks less than a week ago.

This trade, in my opinion, is much better than anything that would have brought Amare Stoudemire to Cleveland. Jamison is a better fit than Stoudemire in this offense, and Jamison came with much less of a risk contractually, and he was cheaper. Had the Cavs sought after Stoudemire, they would have had to give up J.J. Hickson, but now Hickson remains a Cavalier, as part of a new frontline for Cleveland that could be devastatingly good.

Also of note, Ilgauskas will likely be released from the Wizards and will probably re-sign with the Cavs 30 days later, as per league rules.

This trade means the Miami Heat are the most likely winners of the Amare Stoudemire Sweepstakes.

The post "ESPN.com: Antawn Jamison Traded to Cleveland" was originally published at TSW.

Who needs Amare?

After all that hard work, I’d prefer a glass of Jamison instead!

That’s Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison of course, and he’s what the Cleveland Cavaliers need if they are going to advance to the NBA Finals and challenge the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA throne. Acquiring Phoenix Sun Amare Stoudemire won’t get that done.

Earlier, I detailed why I don’t think acquiring Amare Stoudemire will give the Cleveland Cavaliers the added boost they need to win an NBA championship. Most notably, bringing Stoudemire into the fold would affect the way the Cavs play defense, and that ultimately would affect how they defend Dwight Howard in the playoffs. I don’t like the idea of the Cavs having to change their rotation and sacrifice defense for offense just to justify having Stoudemire on the floor. Stoudemire can’t guard Howard, and he can’t defend perimeter forwards, ultimately making him a huge liability in a potential NBA playoffs rematch between the Cavs and the Orlando Magic.

On the other hand, Antawn Jamison, while not the greatest defensive player there is, is used to defending players in space, and he is, in my opinion, a much better rebounder than Stoudemire. So theoretically, a Jamison and Shaq lineup would defend the 4-perimeter lineup of the Magic much better than the Stoudemire & Shaq lineup would. Thus, Jamison is a much better match defensively for the Cavs.

More to the point, Jamison is a much better fit offensively. While Stoudemire is renowned for his dunking, pick-n-roll game, and his moderate range jumper, he does not create his own offense. However, Jamison has a great shot from outside and doesn’t need much help to get that shot off. The stats will lie to you and tell you that Jamison’s shots come off assists more often than Stoudemire’s, but you have to realize that 70% of Jamison’s shots are jumpers, where the pass he is getting hasn’t actually created his shot. Conversely, 46% of Stoudemire’s shots (nearly half) come from inside, and he is assisted on 60% of those shots. Jamison takes only 30% of his shots from inside, of which 55% of them are assisted (5% less than Stoudemire). More importantly, because Jamison’s points are coming from the outside, it clears the paint for Shaq and LeBron James.

So basically, I think Jamison is the better fit for 3 reasons:

1. He is a better fit defensively to play alongside Shaquille O’Neal.
2. He is a better fit offensively, because he takes few inside shots.
3. He is a better complement to LeBron, because he creates his own shot.

Now you tell me, do you think Stoudemire is still the right trade for the Cavaliers, or is the more versatile, perimeter play of Jamison a better fit for what the Cavs are doing as a team?

The post "Forget Amare, Cavs Need Jamison’s Outside Game" was originally published at TSW.

Right now, there appears to be a good chance that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to acquire Amare Stoudemire via trade. Whether the acquisition of Amare Stoudemire comes via a direct deal with the Suns or a three-way deal with the Sixers is something none of us can possibly know right now. But there is one thing I do know: this is not a very good trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The prospect of acquiring Stoudemire sounds like a very good idea. Stoudemire would clearly be the second best basketball player on the Cavs roster, as he is one of the league’s best 15 or 20 players. However, as enticing as it sounds to acquire that kind of a talent, he brings such a specific set of skills to the game of basketball that his arrival in Cleveland would only bring harm to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Okay, Stoudemire wouldn’t necessarily destroy the team with the best record in the NBA, but he would hurt their playoff chances, and there are 3 specific reasons why:

1. Amare Doesn’t Play Defense
Amare would be a great fit for the Cavs if he played defense, but he doesn’t. The great thing about the Cavs roster is that they don’t have to sacrifice defense for anybody on their team. The only player on the squad that is close to being a defensive liability is Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and as long as other teams have big men that do not leave the paint, Ilgauskas will remain serviceable. Amare, however, is too small to be put on a true center, and he’s to defensively impaired to defend any forward with decent offensive ability. That means come playoff time, the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that prides itself on defense, will have to, at times, make conscious decisions to sacrifice defense for offense in a way they never have before. That will ultimately hurt the team, and will destroy any defensive consistency the Cavs would have had going into the postseason.

2. Amare Cannot Score on His Own
As much as I like Stoudemire, he has never been the best player on his own team, and he has always relied on a point guard to get him the ball. If he were truly going to be an addition to the Cavs, he would be able to create scoring opportunities on his own, thereby allowing LeBron James to rest and not always feel the pressure to create each and every possession. But Stoudemire doesn’t create all that often. Amare still needs pick-n-rolls, ball screens and set plays to produce his 20-25 points a game. Thus, come playoff time, LeBron is still going to have to put all of the pressure on his shoulders in the 4th quarter, while the best Amare can offer is a ball screen that would still require James to do all of the creating for the offense.

3. Acquiring Amare Defeats the Purpose of Having Shaq
This isn’t to say that Amare and Shaquille O’Neal can’t play on the same team, because unlike those who came to that conclusion in Phoenix, I think they can play together. However, having both of them comes with a price—especially on a team that had trouble with Dwight Howard in last year’s postseason. Shaq can’t really get out and defend the pick-n-roll that well, while Amare can’t defend scoring big men in the post. The entire motivation behind the Cavs acquiring Shaq was for The Diesel to defend Howard in the post. The belief was that even if the Orlando Magic tried to get Shaq out in pick-n-roll situations, the Cavs defense was too good for the Magic to run that all day and have success. Now if they bring Stoudemire into the mix, there are going to be times where, like last season, Howard is going to be defended by Stoudemire (or Anderson Varejo) and is going to have a lot of success around the rim. In my estimation, there’s no reason for the Cavs to revert back to allowing that to happen, especially when they have Shaq on the roster. Therefore, bringing Stoudemire to the Cavs hurts Cleveland postseason chances, and such a trade actually puts Orlando back in the driver seat for the Eastern Conference title.

The post "Will Amare Trade Help the Cavs?" was originally published at TSW.

Amare Stoudemire wants out of Phoenix. He also wants to play for a winning team. Should he be traded to the Miami Heat within the next week, before the NBA’s trade deadline, not only will he be playing for an ensuing winning team, but he will also be out of Phoenix and back in his home state.

Dwyane Wade has complained and complained about his situation in Miami. Most recently, he voiced his displeasure with both the coach and the franchise as a whole, basically saying that Coach Spolestra doesn’t know how to run the offense and that the organization hasn’t surrounded him with enough talent.

Of course, Wade is saying all of this despite the fact that he denied extending his contract with the team, which would have afforded Miami the security they needed to pursue some additional talent. Also, Wade himself appears to have entered the season in not the best of shape, and his numbers are down significantly from a season ago.

But all can be fixed. Wade can have the winning team he wants, and Amare Stoudemire can have the winning team he wants. All that has to happen is Miami has to sell Phoenix on a trade that sends Michael Beasley to the Suns and brings Amare Stoudemire to the Heat. Such a deal should work for both sides, especially since the Suns motive always appears to be getting rid of cash. Not to mention, the Suns aren’t going to do a whole lot better than Beasley, who could potentially be a star on that team for the next 10 years.

But bringing Stoudemire to the Heat isn’t the end of it. Even though, in my opinion, the Heat are contenders for the Eastern Conference championship with Stoudemire and Wade alone, the salary cap situation in Miami would allow them to get even better this summer so that they could become contenders to win the whole damn thing!

How so?

First of all, if the Heat can get Stoudemire on the squad before the trade deadline, they need to get him to agree to opt out of his player option at the end of the season, and allow them to sign him to a long-term deal that would keep Stoudemire under contract for the long-haul. If that happens, the Heat can then pay Stoudemire a mere $12 or $13 million in the first year, leaving the Heat with the ability and ensuing cap space to sign yet another player to a max-deal, all while Stoudemire and Wade are already on the roster.

Yes! That’s right! The Heat have the potential to acquire Stoudemire, Wade and anyone of the high-profile players on the market during the free agent summer of 2010.

Anyone!

That includes Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, and even LeBron James! And why wouldn’t those players want to come join Stoudemire and Wade on South Beach. Obviously, adding a third star to this squad would almost make the team invincible, but don’t forget about the fact that Florida has no state income tax, and that they play in SOUTH BEACH!

Somewhere out there, I hope there is a guy by the name of Pat Riley who understands the implications of bringing Stoudemire to the Miami Heat within the next few days. Bringing Stoudemire to this team, will not only help them, at the very least, hold on to Dwyane Wade, but it will set them up to have the most powerful trio in basketball since Jordan, Pippen & Rodman, and I say that without the least bit of hyperbole.

Can you imagine James, Wade & Stoudemire?

I’m not the biggest fan of Stoudemire’s game, but as the third option, he’s as good as it gets. And the Miami Heat could be as good as it gets, too, as long as they are willing to give up Beasley and make the trade that alters the very course of their franchise for the next decade.

The post "Miami Must Trade for Amare Stoudemire" was originally published at TSW.

If you thought this past NBA offseason was interesting, wait until you get a look at the 2010 class!

Check out some of the most interesting stories entering next summer’s offseason.

Will LeBron James stay in Cleveland?
This is the question people have been asking for over a year now, but the fact is, we still don’t have an answer. Certainly, it would appear that LeBron is likely to stay in Cleveland, but if something goes terribly wrong this season (like a 1st round exit), who’s to say he won’t bolt for greener pastures? And for those who think the only other option is New York City (myself included), think again! LeBron could very well end up in LA or some other major market with a better roster.

Dwyane Wade Leaving Miami?
Dwyane Wade could be leaving his current team as well. In fact, the prospect of him leaving seems very likely if the Heat can’t get Carlos Boozer to come to town. And even if Boozer does come, what cost does he come at? The Heat wouldn’t have much room to get anybody else on the squad, and Boozer and Michael Beasley essentially play the same position, making the acquisition of Carlos not all that valuable to the Heat. So if you ask me, it is very likely that Wade skips out on the beach and heads elsewhere, because I don’t see the Heat getting past the first round this year, which would seem to be reason enough for Wade to opt for free agency.

Chris Bosh Crossing the Border
The thing about Bosh is that it’s pretty clear that he will be going after a max deal come the 2010 NBA offseason, but will he get it? With a shrinking economy and diminished salary cap, is there a team out there that is ready to proclaim Chris Bosh as the savior of the franchise? In a lot of ways, Bosh reminds me of Kevin Garnett—he has a lot of talent and can make a bad team good, but he can’t put them over the top as the go to guy. And to add to that, Bosh is no Kevin Garnett! So while I like his game, the only way I foresee him getting a max deal is if he can go to a team that can sign two max players. If that can’t happen, I don’t really see Bosh playing basketball for max dollars.

Amare Stoudemire Headed East?
Unless the Phoenix Suns can climb up the 2010 NBA Power Rankings, it’s unlikely that Amare Stoudemire will want to stick around. So assuming he doesn’t sign an extension, he will be available next year, and he could turn around a team in the Eastern Conference—particularly the New York Knicks, where his former coach is leading the squad. If that reunion happens, that gives the Knicks a lot of options (especially if Jordan Hill becomes a commodity). The Knicks could very well build a solid team around Stoudemire if they don’t land LeBron.

Michael Redd Leaving the Bucks
If Redd leaves the Bucks, he could be a very vital addition to a team in the hunt. Which team will that be a year from now? I’m not sure, but certainly he can help put a contending team over the top. In many ways, he’s very much like Ray Allen, and I could see a team looking for a 3rd scorer in 2011 (perhaps the Houston Rockets) trying to convince Redd to sign with them. And Redd should be able to be had at a fairly decent price, given the market and the fact that even Allen Iverson is considering playing overseas. So expect Redd to be a huge difference-maker during next year’s offseason as team’s try to bring him on to complete their championship puzzles.

Unlikely People to Hit the Market
Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming all have the option of hitting the free agent market in 2010, but it’s unlikely that any of them will. Certainly, Kobe signed the extension, and given that he didn’t give the Lakers even a remote discount demonstrates that he won’t try to opt out for something better. Yao is too injured to hit the free agent market. Pierce is a Celtic for life. And Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban would sell the team before he let Dirk go elsewhere.

Can Tracy McGrady Revive His Career?
T-Mac will be a free agent next summer, and who knows what his status will be then. If he can even get on the floor in 2010, what kind of player will he be? There are a lot of miles on those legs, and a lot of surgeries on his body as whole. Some team will want to take a chance on him, but at what cost? It’s hard to even guess what kind of money T-Mac might demand next year, because if he doesn’t play at all in 2010, is he even worth the mid-level exception? And what an ego-hit McGrady will suffer if he can’t even get a $5 million deal. Oh, it’s going to be an interesting summer for McGrady next year.

The post "2010 NBA Offseason Developing Storylines" was originally published at TSW.

Is Blake Griffin the next Amare Stoudemire?

I don’t see why not.

Blake Griffin was unquestionably the best player in college basketball. And he is definitely going #1 overall in this year’s NBA Draft. One question that can’t be answered is still being floated around: whose style of play will Griffin’s game resemble the most?

I have heard the way-off comparisons to Tim Duncan. Listen, that would be nice and all, but I don’t see it. While he was a great rebounder in college (14.4 RPG), and was a very efficient scorer (65.4%), Griffin doesn’t have the versatility, ball skills, or basketball I.Q. of a Tim Duncan—not even a 20-year old Tim Duncan.

What about the comparisons to Duncan’s predecessor, David Robinson? Now we are getting closer. But once again, there is one big flaw in that comparison: defense. The Admiral was one of the best defenders to ever man the paint, and Griffin just isn’t. I understand that he is young and that he can become a much better defender, but to become the type of all-time defender that both Robinson and Duncan are, you don’t acquire it, you’re born with it and then you get better at it. Besides, David had a nice little jumper, even at a young age, that Griffin just doesn’t possess—at least not yet anyway.

Some people have mentioned Blake Griffin in the same sentence as a young Shawn Kemp. Now this isn’t a bad comparison at all. They both could jump out of the gym. Both Kemp and Griffin could rebound the hell out of the ball. They both destroy the rim with absolute rim-rockers. And they both, more or less, lacked the same ball and defensive skills. Nevertheless, there is one minor difference, which is that Shawn Kemp took his game outside a lot more often by shooting the long-range jumper. However, Griffin has plenty of time to add that to his game. And it’s not as if Kemp was a deadly outside shooter, just good enough to open up the lane for his driving ability.

However, I think Griffin’s NBA career will most resemble Amare Stoudemires. Both he and Amare lack a consistent outside shot (at least upon entering the NBA). They both aren’t too good at putting the ball on the floor, not even playing with their backs to the basket. And besides having tremendous athleticism and strength, neither one of them truly asserts themselves on the defensive end—especially in the paint. While Griffin was averaging 1.2 BPG in college, his peers like Hasheem Thabeet and Jarvis Varnado were averaging 5 blocks per game; and the same goes for Amare in the NBA. The one difference between the two players seems to be that Griffin is a much better rebounder. However, Amare has averaged 10.0 rebounds per 36 minutes over his last 2 full seasons, so he has begun to show his rebounding prowess as well.

While it is hard to project anybody’s career, Griffin’s set of skills certainly resembles that of Kemp’s and Stoudemire’s to a high-degree. I think it’s safe to say that if he can make the best of those talents, and maintain a high level of play for an extended period of time, he will certainly earn his worth as the #1 pick of the 2009 NBA Draft.

The post "Griffin’s Future is Bright, But How Bright is it?" was originally published at TSW.

With all of the hype surrounding the NBA Playoffs, it’s time to give those NBA players watching from home some love. Let’s examine the players that aren’t in the playoffs, who will be the most valuable players over the next 5 years.

5. Al Jefferson, Minnesota Timberwolves – Jefferson is a beast down low. He is virtually unstoppable when he has the ball in the post, as he uses his 6’10”, 265-pound frame to perfection. In 50 games this season, Jefferson averaged 23.1 PPG and 11.0 RPG. Those are Tim Duncan kind of numbers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are comparing him to the Big Fundamental 5 years from now. He’s that good, and 5 years from now, we will be talking about him dominating both in the regular season and the playoffs!

4. Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors – With his contract year approaching, it’s unlikely that 5 years from now, Bosh will still be on the Raptors. But he has already made his mark on this upstart franchise. During his 6 seasons with the Raptors, Bosh has averaged 19.6 PPG and 9.1 RPG. This past season, he had the best numbers of his career, with 22.7 PPG and 10.0 RPG. But what separates Bosh from other big men is his touch from outside. He has a great 15-18 ft. game, which makes him virtually unguardable. He also passes the ball very well, averaging 2.5 assists this past season. So for a guy standing at 6’10”, he has a lot of guard-like skills that will make him very valuable in free agency and over the next 5 years of his NBA reign.

3. Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns – Amare has had 2 knee surgeries, scratched corneias, and 1 big bruised ego, yet he remains one of the most dominant forces in the NBA. It’s hard to believe that he is only 25 years old as he has experienced just about everything an NBA veteran 30 years of age has gone through, yet he has not reached his prime basketball playing days. While Stoudemire definitely benefits from great point guard play, he still has improved his game immensely. And since the arrival of Steve Nash in Phoenix, Amare has averaged well over 20 points and 8 rebounds. In fact, in 2007-2008, Amare averaged 25.2 PPG and 9.1 RPG, by far his best season. With his contract year looming, Amare is looking at a big pay day in 2010. Expect him to make some team very happy over the next 5 years.

2. Devin Harris, New Jersey Nets – One of the NBA’s top point guards right now, Harris is a big-man away from leading his team deep into the 2010 NBA Playoffs. That being said, Harris has done a great job leading the Nets all by his lonesome. In his first full-season as the man in New Jersey, Harris averaged a career high 21.3 PPG and 6.9 APG. His ability to get into the lane and finish, along with his superb mid-range game, make him one of the most dangerous point guards in the NBA. And on the defensive side of the ball, Harris can stay in front of just about any point-guard in the league, which is why he made the All-Star game this past season and is a likely NBA All-Defensive Team selection.

1. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder – The pride of Oklahoma heads my list of non-playoffers to lead the NBA over the next 5 years. Durant averaged 20.3 PPG as a rookie, and yet he managed to show significant improvement in his sophomore season, where he averaged 25.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG. He also improved his shooting percentage to 47.6% this season, and he shot 42% from the 3-point line. Durant is clearly a big part of Oklahoma and the NBA’s future over the next 5 years. With his continual improvement, his inside-outside game, and his ability to make big shots, you can rest assure that Kevin Durant will be one of the most heralded NBA basketball players 5 years from now, when he’ll be the ripe old age of 25!

The post "Top 5 NBA Players of Future That Aren’t In the Playoffs" was originally published at TSW.

According to the Arizona Republic, the people running the Phoenix Suns are doing something that many general managers often refuse to do…

Admit they were wrong.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that Phoenix Suns head coach Terry Porter will be fired later on today (Monday). They are also reporting that Alvin Gentry will replace him at the position.

The Suns are 29-23, and they are in 9th place in the Western Conference. That certainly is a long way from being in contention for the NBA Championship as they have been for the past 4 seasons. Now they might not even make the playoffs, and they are considering moving Amare Stoudemire before this year’s NBA trade deadline.

However, the real surprise here is the admission of fault by Suns officials. By firing Porter in his first season as the coach of the team, they are admitting that they never should have brought his style of coaching to this electrifying Phoenix Suns roster.

Worse yet, removing Porter from the head coaching spot is also a sign that they were amiss in letting their former coach, Mike D’Antoni, go to the New York Knicks. And by naming the lone holdover from the D’Antoni era (Alvin Gentry) the interim head coach, they’re admitting that they wouldn’t remind a return to the style of basketball they played when D’Antoni was running the show.

Therefore, after an off-season where the Suns were too stubborn to keep D’Antoni, they have now “wizened up” and learned to admit when they are wrong. Unfortunately for them, their newfound humility won’t get D’Antoni back, but maybe they can be more open in their search for their next head coach.

The post "Report: Phoenix Suns to Fire Terry Porter" was originally published at TSW.

Most of the starting lineup for the NBA’s All-Star game has been correctly selected. However, as per usual, there are a few players in the starting lineup who just don’t belong there. Which players don’t belong?

Let’s get to the Western Conference…

Just like the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference got all but one selection right. Obviously, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and Chris Paul deserved the honor of starting in the NBA All-Star game. Only PF Amare Stoudemire did not deserve to start in this year’s game, and I’ll tell you why.

Let’s just start with the fact that Stoudemire is not having a good year. His points are down. His rebounds are down, despite his minutes being up. Now of course some might blame that on the fewer number of possessions the Suns have in comparison to last year when they were coached by Mike D’antoni. I would except that notion, except when you break Stoudemire’s performance down by possessions, the numbers still translate to him performing with less productivity per possession than last year. For example, his player efficiency rating is at 20.8, down from a 27.6 PER last year. His true rebounding percentage, which measures the number of rebounds he collects against the number of rebounds available, is also down 3%. And his shooting percentage has dropped off as well.

With a decline like that, and the fact that Amare ranks behind Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Paul Millsap in terms of PER, I don’t see how he deserves to start.

Who’s my choice?

As much as I hate to say it (because I hate the Dallas Mavericks), I’ll be objective and say that Dirk Nowtizki deserves to start this season. He has a PER of 23.82, which is the 2nd best of any qualifying power forward in the West. He has also stepped up his scoring average by 3 points to 26.0 per game.

I could mention his rebounds, shooting percentage and assists, but those numbers are all right around his good numbers from last year. Besides, the important issue is whether or not he’s performing better than the other forwards in the Western Conference, and he is. Well, he’s playing better than anyone except Tim Duncan, but he’s already on the team.

So in my opinion, in order to get it right, the fans needed to vote Dirk into the starting lineup and leave Amare Stoudemire off of it. But just like the Eastern Conference, they got this one slightly wrong. Better luck next year.

The post "NBA All-Star Gripes: Western Conference" was originally published at TSW.