All purpose NBA thread 07/08

That's a not-insignificant point. My estimate of the life expectancy of the Kobe-Skiles relationship would be about 20 calendar days (10 games and 5 practices). And Kobe is much less mature than Jordan was, so being fucked around by Reinsdorf and his minions would get into his head much faster.

Of course, if it comes down to a choice whether you want a player like Kobe Bryant or a coach like Scott Skiles, you pick Kobe in about a quarter of a second. Gritty, gutty, hard-ass coaches grow on trees. Kobe Bryants don't.

And I think the phenomenon of players entering the NBA as full-time players out of high school (or after 1-2 years of college) will skew the traditional wisdom of players reaching their physical peak at age 27-28. A player going into the NBA full-time has about 200 more high-impact basketball games on his odometer at age 28 than the guy who plays 4 years in college. I think for guys who come straight out of HS, the career peaks will be about age 26-27, rather than 27-28.

Kobe has a lot of mileage for his age. So does Garnett. Eventually, so will LeBron.

 

I don't want to hijack this into a who cares thread so I won't, but behavior like Sheed's makes it really hard to love the Pistons.

And just think, this team was so good the past couple of years. You have to wonder if it will implode this season if Sheed does. That's a shame.

 

When has loving the Pistons ever been easy?

 

Garnett's got a lot of miles and I think he fades as the season goes along. Ray Alle is reaching that point where jumpshooters fall off the deep end in their career and he's also injury-prone.
That's two big question marks for this big 3 and the rest of the team is horrid. The Celts might start hot, but I can't see it sticking through the second half and postseason.

 

If I were the Bulls, I wouldn't trade Deng and Gordon for Kobe. But since he's gotten his knee "problems", he's had the best 2 years of his career(35 ppg, 31 ppg).

P.S. He didn't show any signs of slowing down for the US bball team. Not only was his offense there, but his defense was a lot better than the past 2 years.

 

If the Bulls get Kobe, they don't need Gordon, so really they'd only be giving up Deng in that deal. I think Kobe has enough years left at or near his current level that I would pull the trigger on that trade. Now if the Lakers wanted significantly more than Gordon and Deng, like Heinrich or Thomas, the answer would probably be no.

 

The Good Doctor was right about the Bulls having Deng be off limits in trade negotiations. The actual talk was Kobe for Gordon, Nocioni, another player, and a pick (I believe). The big parts were Gordon and Nocioni.

 

I've heard Deng and Gordon. Since the Bulls just signed Nocioni, he can't be traded right now. Plus he'd be a Base Year Compensation player anyway.

 

Correct. He Nocioni is ineligible for a trade until Dec. 15, IIRC.

 

Man, NBA on TNT(Inside the NBA) is the best pregame show on television ;D

 

Reggie Miller just called Matt Bonner the heir to Robert Horry.

 

This is, of course, the same Reggie Miller that said a Derek Fisher fading 3-pointer from 35-feet during last year's Playoffs was an easy shot.