Official NBA Truth & Rumors Thread

If the knicks do anything it better be for young players who have cheap contracts or for expirings.

 

If it was Isiah, he'd try to sign another big fat boy or me-first PG.

 

The knicks already rejected Kleiza for Lee and rightfully so. Lee is a very valuable asset and they can probably attach a bad contract to.

According to Newsday, the Knicks recently turned down a trade offer from the Nuggets, who wanted to swap Linas Kleiza for David Lee.
Lee has been the Knicks best rebounder and his trade value has increased since Zach Randolph was traded. If the Knicks do make a trade it will probably be after the league rules on whether Cuttino Mobley's retirement qualifies them for a 'disabled player exemption'. Dec. 15 - 11:33 am et
Source: Newsday

 

Writing was on the wall for Theus after the Lakers loss. Really he's done all he could for that team which is now without Artest and Bibby.

 

Do that trade Cavs! I like Wally, but Varejao is trash. Marion would give us a player who we could put at PF that would not be such a liability on offense.

Down here in Houston, they were trying to get a rumor going about Wally for McGrady, lol. They are sick of Tracy down here, because he is always hurt.

 

lol, a former versatile All-Star for role players? Are the Heat really that bad?

 

McGrady for Marion and Banks...do it...do it....

 

Oft-injured talented 2nd round virgin for a complementary star and oft-benched PG. I guess that's better than role players.

 

T-Mac is at a position in his career where he is a better comp. player. He will prob. never be the number one again for a good team. Houston has become Yao's team.

 

I thought it was more like T-Mac is at a position in his career where he'll likely be on IR than on the floor. But oh well. He can still be a #1 guy when he's healthy. Yao, is eh...

 

The Lakers could offer Odom extras for McGrady but I see him as a Cavalier. The Cavaliers have PGs available that could work for the Rockets, expiring contracts, plus a couple of picks or Hickson. Stuff like that could be enough to land McGrady.

PG- Williams/West
SG- McGrady
SF- LeBron
PF- Wallace
C- Ilgauskas

Could be enough to carry them.

 

Someone on a Lakers forum proposed that trade. We'd probably have to give up Vlad as well to make salaries work. Still, I like Odom's versatility as a SF/PF and he's been relatively injury-free.

ESPN.com - NBA - Trade Machine Results

 

As far as the Lakers go there have been a couple of trade possibilities the last week or so:

- A combined deal of Odom, Radmanovich, and Farmar to Chicago and Houston for Hinrich, Battier and Tyrus Thomas.
- A deal of Radmanovic to Chicago for struggling long-term Nocioni.
- A deal of Odom to Detroit for Prince if Detroit decides to clean house soon in addition to a trade for Joe Smith to restore front court depth.
- A trade of Odom straight-up for Rasheed Wallace.

Odom has no versatility. That's a myth. He's played PF this year and only PF because he can't play SF in the triangle.

 

It's not a myth. He has the versatility just not utilized very well. I've seen him in the SF role on occasion when they go up-tempo so it's still there.

Rad for Nocioni or Odom for Wallace or for Prince/Smith I might be interested in. I would not however, trade Farmar under any circumstances.

 

No they haven't. He's been the defensive PF in those situations. Your role in the triangle is irrelevant, it's your defensive role that defines you. Go check 82games. com if you want further proof.

Also there's a Marbury rumor which I may be in support of as getting and releasing Marbury is very easy. Bare with me here please. He causes problems, buh-bye.

Pluses:

- Can shoot better than Farmar can at least this year.
- Can penetrate.
- Fantastic size that could help against Deron Williams etc...
- Quickness that Fisher does not possess.
- Gets along very well with Kobe.
- Healthy.
- Apparently in shape.
- Lead the fast break with the second unit.
- Is friends with the guys on the second unit in Lamar and Ariza.
- Phil needs to make his money's worth and he needs a new reclamation project.
- Can lead the half court set.
- Gives the team a second guy other than Kobe who can penetrate which is something they missed having against the Celtics.
- At least as good of a defender as Fisher and Farmar.
- May be willing to accept a lower role to clear his name.

Cons:

- Starbury
- Triangle picking up may come slowly.

Statistically there's really nothing that prevents the Marbury addition from working. Player's three-point percentages go up in the triangle, way up. Just look at Smush Parker and Derek Fisher's careers. Marbury would be just fine there.

The fit you worry about with him is not so much his shooting too much or what not. Farmar and Fisher take plenty of shots. It's his ability to quickly move around and adjust to the triangle sets, etc..

The one benefit you have is that the triangle is not inherently super difficult for the 1 position. It's essentially bring up the ball pass, move, shoot, or drive. He'd bring another element that the offense has been missing.

Our point guard play has been poor this season. He could jump start things.

 

it will take more than odom to get prince i can guarantee that. he is now the center piece for that franchise.

 

I can guarantee you one thing aside from death and taxes and that is Stephon Marbury never changes. Its unbelievable the ego this cat has.

In case you forgot:
-Called himself the best PG in the game and then got lit up for a triple double by Kidd that night. Kidd made a habit of it thereafter.
- Hes never made it past the first round of the playoffs for a reason. Hes a me first player.
- Everywhere he goes, the team that gets him gets worse and the team that gets him gone gets better. It happened that way in Minny, NJ, Phoenix; so why again is this going to be any different?

The dude wouldnt defer to Amare and marion, he wouldnt defer to KG so why is he going to defer to Kobe, Pau and Bynum? Hes not logical like that.

No one ever questions his talent, its his brains and dedication to team. How often do you hear a player call out a teammate and say stuff like "I dont even consider him a teammate"? Q-Rich never has bad things to say about anyone even during the Brown year and the isiah years. Last night when Steph was at the game, not one teammate went over to say whats up. That should be all anyone needs to know about the guy.

And oh, in case your wondering, last year at this time the knicks were something like 10 games under 500 already. This year their in 9th in the east and may actually squeak in to the playoffs. Its not a coincidence that Benchbury hasnt played a single game all year and their doing better. Just keep all that in mind. The dude is a lightning rod and hes not going to help your defense which is the real problem.

 

Lets not forget the whole "I'm getting paid to do nothing" line..

 

Roles in the triangle irrelevant in defining a player? Please. It's just as important as defense especially with Phil.

The guy's a horrible defender. Horrible is an understatement. Will never yield. Is forever Starbury. No thank you. I'd rather take Farmar.

Agree with you on all points there.

I thought one did but it was just a fat guy wearing a Knicks Eddy Curry jersey. Or was it?

 

That's hardly true. You're believing the BS. Go look up his defensive numbers compared to Farmar and consider the fact that Farmar has had decent shot-blocking the last few years while the Knicks have had utter ****. He's no defensive presence I'll give you that much, but Fisher and Farmar are ughhh(Farmar more so).

Also triangle positions are irrelevant outside of the facilitator which for all intensive purposes has been split amongst Kobe, Fisher, and when he's in the game Walton this year. The PF can line up at the perimeter, Kobe in the 5, it's interchangeable. The only thing that defines your spot in the triangle is where you play on defense.

What you might see the Lakers seriously consider however is a trade for Hinrich soon. It all depends on that Christmas match up. Kupchak will look at that as a test for his team to see what they still need. If Rondo burns it up he'll go and get a PG. If it's Pierce again they'll try to make a move for Shane Battier. That type of thing. If they win by just a bit they might tweak here and there. If they win by a lot no changes.

 

Hardly BS. He shows absolutely no motivation in playing defense. I look at things beyond statistics and frankly, Marbury is never in the right position, never sticks to his man, barely tries to shed screens. Ask Boik, he's seen exactly what I saw.

Odom has acted as facilitator especially when the bench is on the floor. Kobe, Fisher, and Walton have not been with the bench as much. Defensive assignments are interchangeable to a degree as well. I've seen Odom on guys like Prince.

 

Odom facilitates the second unit along with Farmar. Kobe is in there quite often though. Even Sasha does it at times. There is no Scottie Pippen to this team however.

One of main things that was never covered in last year's loss to the Celtics was that not only was the defense poor quite often, rebounding slipshod (not anymore for the most part), but we had no penetration of the Celtic defense because no one outside of Kobe had any dribble drive as well as shot capability. When we played Radmanovic out there he could never put the Celtics in foul trouble. Vujajic could not do it. Farmar was over matched but was effective at times because of this ability. They sagged off Odom and he could not produce that jump shot.

All of this left way too much on Kobe's shoulders. You need to have a second guy who can get into the lane when you play the Celtics. We still need that.

 

True, there is no Scottie Pippen. No one can be a true Scottie Pippen. But some of the chores that are being shared includes Odom.

We had no penetration because of that and the refs were letting the Celtics hammer the Lakers with no call. Ariza can slash if you let him. Key missing ingredient there. Still, not worth signing a cancer like Marbury who won't contribute defensively either.

 

Not Scottie Pippen in the sense of how great he was. In the sense of a player who purely facilitates from the SF spot, brings it up and can slash. I can think of a couple guys who can do it fairly well. Mike Miller can't slash that well but he does everything else. The ultimate players at that type of position would be LeBron and McGrady although there are other great ones.

That last one actually didn't have to do all that much with Marbury. Had more to do with my near obsession of adding Tayshaun Prince to the roster as he can do basically everything the triangle asks him to do.

That Richard Jefferson trade would have been fantastic over the off-season.

 

Well, Odom does facilitate, bring it up, and slash for that matter. Just not as consistently and not always as a SF.

Ah, yes, well, just figured we were still talking about Marbury. While I would love to add Prince, key is to add more slashers rather than just swap em. With little PF depth if Odom leaves, his value to us increases. Prince will likely cost Odom and possibly Rad/other middle salary guy at the very least.

 

Fisher and Farmar may be eh but at least they arent pains in the butt that kill team chemistry and hog the ball on offense.

I have thought about teams that need a PG and Hinrich would be a great fit for LAL. He is a defensive presence that knows how to stop the ball. Plus my fantasy team says its a go so Hinrich can get consistent playing time.

 

Don't be mistaken in no way did I mean I prefer Marbury over Hinrich. Hinrich is the quintessential triangle PG. How the Lakers can get him? I'm not so sure.

There really isn't a perfect deal. If Radmanovic's contract were a year shorter than yes I'd say that would be the ticket to a deal. After all that's what the Warriors were looking for from Al Harrington. Sure now there's a the possibility that the Lakers tell Radmanovic to cancel that annoying player option for his last year and then trade him to Chicago promising to bring him back, but that's basically illegal and the Lakers tend to avoid situations like that.

By the way here's a player I could see thriving in the triangle:

Marco Jaric

Could we see a Luke Walton deal for him? Possibly.

 

Just keep in mind that this is the player you want:

Stephon Marbury's Knicks "teammates" reportedly gave the exiled point guard the cold shoulder during his much-publicized court side appearance at their game against the Lakers.
The Knicks players are doing less and less to hide their contempt for Marbury, whose daily soap opera has overshadowed what has proven to be a surprisingly competitive Knicks team. "You can tell with the way everything is, even though it's a game we lost, it's not the same attitude as the last few years," Quentin Richardson said.
Source: New York Post

 

Some interesting news out of Charlotte:

The Warriors and Bobcats have discussed a trade that would send Raymond Felton to Golden State, possibly for Anthony Randolph or Brandan Wright.
Bobcats GM Rod Higgins wouldn't comment but it's well known that Charlotte is looking to clear room in the backcourt for the emergence of rookie D.J. Augustin. Felton's value should improve if he does get traded to the Warriors, given their fast-paced offense and need for a starting PG. The arrival of an athletic forward could also make Gerald Wallace expendable...check back soon for an update.
Source: Charlotte Observer
Related: Gerald Wallace, Brandan Wright, D.J. Augustin, Anthony Randolph

 

Ahhh, good old Boozer always about the money.

 

Kaman to the Bulls makes great sense. The Bulls should be all over that. Put him next to Gooden and boom you have a tough interior team with good perimeter play from Rose, Gordon and Deng. The rebounding inside would be solid with Gooden and Kaman two guys capable of really controlling the glass and on offense theyre different and compliment each other well with Kaman being a post player and Gooden being a mid range jump shooter/board crasher type. The Clips should look for a perimeter player back like Nocioni and a young player like Noah who might learn some stuff behind Camby and Randolph.

In the article youre citing Kobe's quotes from Kobe had some very nice things to say about the Knicks in particular Nate Robinson. Nate's established quite a fan club it seems including myself! Dude is all hustle all the time and everyone from Lebron to Kobe loves the dude it seems. Kobe praises D'Antoni's impact on Knicks -- Newsday.com

 

If anything, I think they may be the opposite. Still, Fisher tends to jack up some unnecessary shots from time to time.

If Paxson would like to give a gift to a former coach the way McFail did for his former teammate, there'd be a shot. Other than that, I don't think we'd have any choice but to include Odom in a deal, which unless they include someone else at PF/SF, is not ideal.

Grizzlies waived Walker already and I'm wondering if they'll do the same for the seldom used Jaric. We may not even have to give up anything for him.

Farmar's not happy but I think he has a legit gripe. The team philosophy towards the bench has changed in the past few weeks and according to his text anyways, it was the reason they did well the first 10 games of the season.

I think teams will be a bit more cautious in terms of dealing with Boozer and verbal agreements....

 

IMO, Marbury is a solid pickup on a GOOD team full of players that can keep him in check. Winning causes friendships, losing causes enemies, just ask Romo, he knows all about that now. Starbury might end up like Spree though if he's not careful, unemployed before he really should be. And no one really remembers Spree for the dominating slasher he was, but more for the dominating choker of coaches and can't buy his kid a happy meal for 5.6 mil. a yr guy.

Kaman is a solid, not spectacular center, that is consistent and while will never dominate the paint or turn games around for you, will always be a hard worker and solid contributor. Bulls need a guy like him to show the Rooks what work ethic is, unfortunately they also need a solid vet with leadership skills, he doesn't have that.

Farmar is not going to start over Fisher, Fisher puts up questionable shots at times, but is still a good point man for the triangle. Farmar is not ready to start yet, not for a championship squad. I do like his potential though.

 

Gotta disagree on Kaman enforcer. hes a solid 15-10 guy who takes smart shots and shoots a good percentage from the floor and the line. Defensively hes a guy who can block 2-3 shots a game and make opponents think twice before coming in the lane. He adds an element of toughness that only a guy named "caveman" could earn

 

just got home from the blazer game. who saw broy torch the suns tonight? i was at that game. 52 points 6 assists no turnovers. the most someone has scored in 4 quarters this year. HELL YEAAAAAAAAAAA

hey maj, how did randy foye do tonight? LOL