2013-14 NBA Thread part 1

Bob,
Last time Pacers seemed to be in this position...looking like a title contender...everything coming together -- nine years ago, right? Before a certain game in Detroit.

I think they can definitely knock off the Heat, primarily because getting to four straight Finals is so tough. I don't think the Heat will go out in embarrassing fashion like the 2011 Lakers but it's just so difficult. Last team was the '87 Celtics and they only got there after two 7-game series and a season that left their stars battered and broken.

That said...I still probably couldn't bet against LeBron in a series.

Lakers face Howard tonight. Thrilling.

 

Lakers catching 13 points tonight, too.

 

Believe me, every time I see the Pacers are playing at Auburn Hills, I think of that night.

 

Speaking of brawls, Larry Sanders will apparently not face criminal charges after a bar fight in which he allegedly was breaking champagne bottles over people's heads:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/larry-sanders-under-investigation-role-bar-fight-misses-014328134--nba.html

He's talented, but he really, really needs to grow up already.

 

Steve Blake!!

 

Sure they'll finish 41-41 but that game was fun. The missed Dwight free throws, him chewing a teammate out for a defensive assignment...good times.

Also, I sort of don't like watching James Harden play basketball (and that has nothing to do with his atrocious defense, which makes Kobe of the past few years look like Michael Cooper from 1987). Any drive he takes, the whole point is looking for contact. And that contact is sticking his elbow out in a genius way that creates the contact or, even if there is no contact looks like there is, and getting a foul.

 

The Lakers sign Kobe Bryant to a two-year contract extension.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/releases/131125kobebryant_extension

 

$24 million a year. Laughably bad business. What other semi-contending team was going to give him anything above $15 million a year? And they're entering into this BEFORE he's back playing? What if he's not the same guy after the injury?

They wouldn't have been risking anything by doing a wait-and-see on the extension. No rational team that Kobe would actually play for is going to pay him anything close to what the Lakers gave him.

 

Some people value loyalty. Kobe has brought the city 5 championships, and you want them to nickle and dime him to finish off his career?

If I was another player and saw this, I'd want to play in LA.

 

I mean, as a Lakers fan, I'm glad that he's going to be around a couple more years, but man. Are they going to have any money left for other players?

 

Then you'd need to sign with the Clippers. The Lakers wouldn't be able to afford you, because a significant portion of their payroll for the next two years - the same period in which almost every star player in the NBA hits free agency - is tied up in a 35-year-old shooting guard coming off a major injury.

 

If Chris Paul or Blake Griffin is coming back from a major injury prior to their next contract and the Clippers try to low ball the shit out of them, let me know what worthwhile FA's would sign with them.

The answer is none. There's a reason why some teams will have to overpay to get a star player in free agency, and a reason why teams like LA can get them for market value or sometimes less. Giving Kobe a nice farewell contract is one of those reasons.

Also, you need more NBA business sense before you call business moves laughable. Look up the lakers (and maybe the Clippers) cap situation.