2010 NBA offseason draft, FA, etc etc...

The book on Stoudemire is that he's the best offensive 4 or 5 in the game right now, and that the rebounding light went on late last season. I think that people think he has a much higher upside than Lee, although Lee keeps getting better and better.

 

Umm, no. In 06, Stoudamire missed the season with injury and Nash responded by having the best season of his career, winning a second MVP and carrying the team to a far better than expected season. Nash has proven he can win without Stoudamire, but Amare has never won squat without Nash.

 

LeBatard today said he'd stake his reputation on LeBron to Miami.

First real chuckle I've gotten out of this whole thing.

 

Whoever wrote that book has been smoking too much weed. Did Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan suddenly retire? Amare is ONE OF the best offensive big men (and one of the worst defensively), but no way he's THE best.

 

Nash had one less assist per game that season and more than 30 extra turnovers.

2004-05: 3.5-1 assists-to-turnovers
2005-06: 2.99-1 assists-to-turnovers

The Suns went from 62 wins to 54 wins. Keep in mind that Stoudemire was just 21 or 22 then.

 

That's funny. I wonder be shocked if a paycheck to Gray comes from an organization titled " The King James' Group."

 

Pete Rose says, "NOW he blows athletes..."

 

Chris Bosh is no slouch, either.

 

Great column, considering that everyone is writing about the same thing. Here's my favorite part:

13. I think it's a cop-out. Any super-competitive person would rather beat Dwyane Wade than play with him. Don't you want to find the Ali to your Frazier and have that rival pull the greatness out of you? That's why I'm holding out hope that LeBron signs with New York or Chicago (or stays in Cleveland), because he'd be saying, "Fine. Kobe, Dwight and Melo all have their teams. Wade and Bosh have their team. The Celtics are still there. Durant's team is coming. I'm gonna go out and build MY team, and I'm kicking all their asses." That's what Jordan would have done. Hell, that's what Kobe would have done.

In May, after the Cavs were ousted in the conference semifinals, I wrote that LeBron was facing one of the greatest sports decisions ever: "winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York)."

I never thought he would pick "HELP!"

14. LeBron joining Wade after his 2010 playoffs flameout, in my opinion, is like Conan O'Brien getting kicked in the teeth by NBC, then overreacting and forming a late-night version of "The View" with Chris Rock, Adam Carolla and Jeffrey Ross over trying to create his own show somewhere else. (Note to Carolla and Ross: Don't get excited, it's only a hypothetical.) Total cop-out. The move of someone who, deep down, doesn't totally trust his own talents any more. And maybe he doesn't.

 

Yes and he also scored about 250 more points in 06 while also improving his field goal percentage, his free throw percentage, his rebounding average, his scoring averages and somehow carried a team that had lost it's best big man and was starting fricking 6'8" Boris Diaw at CENTER because it didn't have anything resembling a real big man to a 54-28 regular season record and all the way to the 7th game of the Conference Finals. And, oh yeah, he also won the league MVP award that season.

Sorry, but using the Suns 06 season to support a (ridiculous) claim that it was Amare that carried Nash is simply idiotic. Nash has never looked better than he did the year without Amare.

 

I haven't followed him closely, but when did Lee start playing defense?

 

Yeah, and then there's that.

6-foot-9 and high of 29 blocked shots in a season.

If it is idiotic to say that Stoudemire carries Nash, then it is equally so to say that Stoudemire is a "way worse defensive player" than David freaking Lee.