Jared Dubin

Gidal Kaiser wrote:


A. Yes, and he has a great recruiting class coming in next season.
B. My brother goes to IU; that fan base is NOT dormant right now. They still go absolutely bonkers in Assembly Hall.
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Can't say I agree at all on Miami as a good landing spot for Crawford, even if LeBron was recruiting him on Twitter the other day. That would give the Heat 4 players with usage rates above 23 (with LeBron and Wade both over 30), which is unsustainable. Just not enough balls to go around on offense. Add in the fact that D-Wade takes up about 80-90% of the Heat's minutes at the 2-guard spot and there's just not much playing time available for Crawford unless you play him at the point, where he'll get destroyed off the dribble by guys like Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo. Crawford needs to go to a team where he can just be a scorer off the bench and not have to worry about playing defense or point guard.
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Elliot Solop wrote:


At what time? And who is KH13?
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Dwight is already scoring on par with those guys at the same age. He just doesn't do it with as much variety to his offensive game. Check out this comparison of Dwight, Ewing, Hakeem, and Robinson in their age 25 seasons. He's just as good as all of them, if not better, at age 25. www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/...obinda01&y4=1991

Agree on Rose, and you'll see in my upcoming email column with Elliot how I feel about the notion that Rose is the best PG in the NBA. Long story short; he's not as good as Chris Paul, and it's not all that close.

For the "who would you start a franchise with" argument, we already had a thread about it over the summer and I took Kevin Durant. I'll stand by that now. You have to take things other than just pure talent into consideration for this, and KD tops the list. Dwight Howard would be next, followed by LeBron. I've got John Wall high on my list for sure. Fastest guy in the league with the ball in his hands, hard nosed defense, great court vision and a willing passer. And by all accounts he's cleaned up his jumper over the summer, so teams won't be able to just play off him to cut off the drive to the basket. He has the most untapped potential in the league right now, even more than Griffin. Although Rose is the better player right now, I'm taking Wall on potential, intangibles and mentality (I like my PGs pass-first). This is the type of list where you can (and should) have Blake Griffin in the top 10.


My top 10:

1. Kevin Durant
2. Dwight Howard
3. LeBron James
4. Chris Paul
5. Dwyane Wade
6. John Wall
7. Derrick Rose
8. Blake Griffin
9. Carmelo Anthony
10. Deron Williams
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Surprised nobody has mentioned Andre Drummond yet. He's going to kill it at UConn. That team will be better this year than last (remember they were just .500 in Big East play last year they just went on a run at the right time to win the National Championship).
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Reid,

Anything to back up that assertion? Tangible evidence not rooted in being a "winner" (which is all about past accomplishments)?
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Free agent. Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, etc. would all be free agents along with the class of 2011 guys if the full season was canceled.
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Wow. I wrote a really long response to this and somehow it disappeared into thin air. Really don't feel like writing it again right so I'll just put up my list to generate more discussion and will get back to the response later on.

10. Amare Stoudemire
9. Derrick Rose
8. Carmelo Anthony
7. Dirk Nowitzki
6. Kobe Bryant
5. Dwyane Wade
4. Kevin Durant
3. Chris Paul
2. Dwight Howard
1. LeBron James
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Crawford has the perfect situation for his skill set in Atlanta: 6th man on a good team. Goin to a NJ team that is no guarantee to make the playoffs is a lateral move at best, and its more likely a move backwards. He fits in Chicago pretty nicely now though, they could use another perimeter scorer to stop teams from collapsing on Derrick Rose.
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I'm pretty sure this post was sarcastic, but I'm going to respond as if it wasn't so we can further the discussion.

I wouldn't say the shortened season helps teams like the Spurs. It's a common refrain that they are helped the most because there will be less games and therefore less wear and tear on their bodies. But a shortened season likely means a condensed season; more games in less nights. That undoubtedly hurts older, slower, more injury prone teams.
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North Carolina is probably the deepest team in the country. Seven or eight deep of NBA talent on that roster. And they play such a fun system so they're always a treat to watch.
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I don't know if anyone in the Big 10 can hang with Ohio State this year. Wisconsin and Michigan State will always finish in the top 4 in the conference because they're solid year in and year out. Illinois will be interesting to watch without Demetri McCamey.
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I think you can take out the "in all likelihood." Going to this mediator means absolutely nothing. He has no authority to do anything. This reeks of public relations ploy from both sides and I would be shocked if they came out of this mediation any closer to a deal than they are today. The only way this thing is going to get done is if David Stern, Adam Silver, Peter Holt, Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter all get in a closed room somewhere by themselves and hammer out a deal, and then work as hard as they possibly can to sell it to their respective sides.
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I meant from a value perspective. Rather Westbrook in the 3rd round than Rose in the 1st.
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admin wrote:


Actually, the so-called "Carmelo Rule" would not even have applied to Carmelo. It would only apply to players in the last year of their contract. Carmelo had an ETO, but was technically under contract for the next season should he not choose to exercise that option. Thus continues the tradition of naming lockout rules after Knicks who they don't even apply to.
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You'd think that since both sides want a deal and don't want to risk losing any part of the season (which is what they've publicly claimed) and that there's "always something to discuss" as Derek Fisher said, that they'd be meeting all day every day to work out a deal, right? Right? Of course not, because neither side actually wants that. The owners want to break the players, period. And they'll wait as long as they have to in order to do so. Very, very discouraging.
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I still think the season starts some time around January or February despite optimism from guys like Chris Sheridan. The players seem really dug in on their stance and there's no way David Stern leaves what will likely be his last CBA negotiation with anything but a clear win for the owners.
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