Deron sticking with Brooklyn (Uh oh...)

Now all they need is the Lopez, Humph, Brooks + 3 Picks deal to go through... and they might already have assembled the best team in the league. Brooklyn vs. Miami will bring the biggest ratings the NBA has ever seen.

If Rose was healthy they'd still be the 4th or 5th best team in the East with Howard.

You're insane. Chicago, while having a better record, was still questionable if they were "better" than Miami. Brooklyn with a starting 4 of Dwight, Deron, Crash & J.J.... that's a sick team that could be the best in the conference, maybe the league. I wouldn't anoint them anything... but the potential for them to be that good is there. Plus add in the fact that like Miami, they'd be a top destination for better players to take less money to have a shot at winning it all.

You haven't told me why they would be better Miami, Boston, or a healthy Chicago..

I just don't think I'm as high on Joe Johnson as apparently you are.

I agree with about half of what you're saying. They'd be incredibly formidable, but will have given away so many draft picks they will have to rely on players coming to them like Miami, to get a ring. I don't love the team as much as you do, it seems.

That said, it might bring FAs flocking. No one really wants to go to OKC, so even though the Nets would not be favorites and would be in a tough East, they should get some discount players as they're a winning team in NYC. That said, Dwight is not coming, so it's all moot.

The NBA fucking sucks if you're not a fan of a big market team (minus the 76ers). LA has two "super-teams", NY has two "super-teams", Chi & Boston are loaded, Miami has a "super-team" & everyone else is fucked (except OKC). If you think the 76ers have a shot (as currently constructed) then you're a dope. Every team David Stern needs to be good is stacked. What a fucking joke.

I'll take the NHL every day of the week and twice on Sunday - a league where the top 2 free agents go to Minnesota over NY, LA, Pit, Philly, Chicago, and Detroit. Also 75% of NHL players aren't broke 2 years after their career is over.

I kinda agree. There is no way for a smaller market team to get better without being very very bad and even then the NBA's "lottery" doesn't allow that. The league is extreamly flawed and it is getting worse. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

You could say the same thing about baseball you know...

Football's the only sport with pure parity. NHL's close... but I think it's more due to the nature of the sport than the league itself.

I'm not talking simply championships. I'm talking about turnover from being a sub-500 team one year, to a competitive one the next.

MLB playoff format is to thank for the mass amount of diff World Series winners. How many times have the Orioles, Royals, Blue Jays, Pirates, Cubs, etc made the post-season in recent memory? Some "super-teams" exist in MLB already and have dominated their divisions as long as most of us can remember.

The NFL is a league where 1 draft can change everything.

Because in the last 10 years every single NFL team not named the Bills has been in the playoffs. Parity isn't about wining the title in baseball or football it is about having a shot to win one or getting into the postseason where lower seeds actually have a chance at a title. I didn't mention the NBA because damn near everyone gets in their playoffs and lower seeds have virtually no shot.

The AL in the MLB murders the leagues parity. Only 9 differant teams have made the playoffs in the last 10 years.

Is the other 25% the players that went crazy from all the concussions they accumulated?

I'm still trying to figure out what Cleveland would be trading in the 3-way. At first I thought Tristan Thompson, as he was mostly a letdown in his first season there. Maybe sell while he still had stock... but if it's true that Humphries would only be signed and dealt on a 1-yr deal... then it's tougher to call. Maybe Alonzo Gee or Omri Casspi? No idea what would be so entertaining a get from Cleveland to get Orlando any more interested.

I was wondering what Cleveland was offering too. Unless they have some expiring contracts that interest Orlando.

I think Cleveland can take on Humphries contract without having to deal anything of equal value (As they have none really)... but what would be the new icing on the cake for Orlando? The Brooklyn deal sucked compared to some others rumored, Cleveland wants one of BKL's 1sts to take on Humphries money, so that's even less for Orlando. They'd get Brooks, Lopez & 2 1st's?

Unless Cleveland's offering Thompson, which is doubtful, or some combination of Alonzo Gee/Omri Casspi and another player that Orlando likes, IDK how it's coming together.

Apparently they are looking for a 4th team now. I'd guess that means that Cleveland didn't have enough pieces of interest for Orlando.

New Rumored Deal via ESPN.com

According to sources:
- The Nets would receive Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark in the proposed deal.

- The Magic would get Brook Lopez, Luke Walton, Damion James, Shelden Williams, Armon Johnson and three first-round picks -- two from the Nets and a lottery protected first from the Clippers.

- The Cavs would get Kris Humphries, Quentin Richardson, Sundiata Gaines, a first round pick from the Nets and three million in cash.

- The Clippers would receive MarShon Brooks.


If this goes down, the Magic fans should surround the corporate complex and string up their new GM by his ankles and beat him with sticks.

I don't know... Lopez, Armon, 3 1st rd picks, and a shit ton of salary relief. I think I'd rather have Brooks than a Clippers pick though. With no leverage, I don't think that is so bad.

I think you could get a better deal from teams only on the premise that he'd stay for 1 season.

The 3 picks are totally useless, likely mid-20's picks. Armon Johnson, really man? Really? Brook Lopez is the only nice piece in the deal, and he's not in Dwight's league.

There has to be a better deal out there. Trade him straight up for Pau Gasol. That's better than the current load of garbage.

Haha, you call the Nets deal garbage then you say something absurd like that. Did you watch Gasol last year? The guy looked absolutely terrible. 32 going on 50. The Nets deal around young talent and picks is by far a better deal. You don't rebuild by building your team around an overpaid guy that is past his prime.

You like to make Bynum sound like this god and lopez like a bum when the gap between the two isn't that large. Lopez is very good young center.

I dont think the picks are totally useless when you rebuild correctly... which they'd be doing. Gut the roster and clear the books.

What would Pau Gasol get them? Hurt their lottery position and then NOT fetch them Lopez and 3 picks in a flip scenario.

Armon is the throw in obviously & probably has no future with Orlando or otherwise. He has minimal value, but he is a somewhat intriguing young point who might actually get the burn if they wised up to how to propely rebuild and send Jameer Nelson on his way as well.

Everyone bitched about David Stern, but the fact of the matter is that he was a waaay better owner/GM than most in the NBA. NO was rebuilt correctly and they have a bright future now. Any of you dummies still think Scola-Martin-Odom would have been a good haul? Gimme a break. Oh and by the way... how abundantly average for the forseeable future is Denever? They acquired an expring Felton & Chandler, a backup C, and a poor mans Carmelo.

The best way to do it, given the lack of leverage, is get Brook and picks. Dump all the high priced 'talent'. Commitment towards rebuilding.

They aren't getting more than Lopez, salary relief, and 3 picks for a rental Dwight. If they could, they would. Our focus should be on the Dwight bashing and not Orlando's current management who were dealt a shitty hand.

I generally agree with the posters arguing Orlando needs to go into full rebuild. They've got several veteran contracts that are useless to them, and the proposed deal unloads all but the worst (Hedo's). Since they already used their amnesty, they may just have to swallow another year or two of him.

As for the return: Gasol would be pointless- I'm a fan, but they'd be years away from contending with him and he's not getting younger. Bynum was the best player on offer to them at any point, but you can hardly blame them for not wanting a guy who seemed inclined to walk after a year. Besides, the Lakers already traded about 20 future draft picks to get Nash. I'm not that enamored of the package of late 1st-round picks and spare parts the Magic are getting with Lopez, but it's hard to see how they were gonna do better unless they got Bynum to agree to an extension.

The only part I really don't get is why they preferred another mid-late 1st rounder over MarShon Brooks, who was one and has shown he's got reasonable value. The Clippers are pretty deep at the guard spots, but more power to them if they can utilize him.

Bit scary (and I understand the irony of my saying this as a Lakers fan) how much the top talent is consolidating to a few teams. Brooklyn's added 2 legitimate stars if this goes through, and they already had one. The Heat, Thunder, Lakers, Spurs and Clippers all kept their star pairs and trios.

How do you feel about the Lakers going forward (not this season, but the season after)? I liked them as of this season, but suddenly they're looking uniformly old to me outside of Bynum. I don't think Gasol's got great trade value at this point if adding young quality or draft picks, Kobe will retire a Laker, and otherwise it's just an uninspiring roster with a lot of traded draft picks. Obviously, the Lakers will always be a good FA landing zone, but with the Clippers suddenly actually viable and the solidification of about five teams in desirable locations with good cores, are you worried going forward?

If reports are accurate, Orlando's roster would resemble something like the following...

Primary Pieces:
Brook Lopez
Andrew Nicholson
Protections aside... 6 1st rd picks next 3 years w/ 3 nearly certain high lottery picks.
Financial Flexibility to spend on inexpensive, upside talent

Trade Assets:
Hedo Turkoglu (Big expiring next summer)
Jameer Nelson (Pretty sure he resigned, he could easily be dealt by deadline.)
JJ Redick (Decent player who also has an expiring contract.)
Glen Davis (Movable)

Secondary Pieces:
Armon Johnson (Wouldn't be the worst thing to give the kid a shot at backup PG or even in a 5th guard role. He once had a little draft buzz as possibly sneaking into late 1st rd. Never really got a shot. Good size and athleticism combo for a PG.)
Gustavo Ayon
Kyle O'Quinn (Priority 2nd rder)
Justin Harper (Priority 2nd rder)
Damion James (Recent 1st rder. Not huge fan, but didn't even notice him at first. When I first glanced over the potential deal I read it as 'Damon Jones" and thought someone still had his rights and he was just like an expiring deal.)

Potential Buyouts (or no possible future w/ team):
Luke Walton (expiring)
Shelden Williams (I can't even find where he'd be coming from or any contractual information. I thought he was in NJ.)

Overview:
Not great obviously, but if they can build inside out with Lopez & Nicholson while turning Nelson, Davis, and/or Redick into somewhat formidable assets they could really load up on draft picks and build through the draft. Maybe they can get lucky and hit on someone like a Harper or O'Quinn, if not it won't exactly set them back... I still think Marshon Brooks wouldn't look too bad here though, but what are ya gonna do. Say what you will, but I'd rather rebuild that roster than be stuck in NBA purgatory with Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Lamar Odom.

That roster would be without a doubt, the worst in the NBA. #1 pick, here Orlando comes!

That's what the Bobcats thought. Gotta think with Brook Lopez, Jameer Nelson, Nicholson and Turk....thye would be better than what the Bobcats were this past season....but yea, they will suck for a while.