NBA season opening night, what can we expect?

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Opening night in the NBA is finally here. It's been a very interesting offseason with a lot of changes across the NBA, from Lebron James returning to Cleveland, to the return of Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant, there will be a lot of excitement over the next few days. Tonight's three games will feature a lot of story lines to keep an eye on.
The San Antonio Spurs open up their tittle defense against the only team to really give them a scare in last year's playoffs in the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs will once again lead the league in wins while holding their core players to less than 35 minutes a game. Not much to be said about the defending champions, they will steamroll through the regular season with little excitement for anybody but the most passionate pure basketball fan.
 The Mavericks took the Spurs to 7 games in last year's first round but return a very different team. On paper, this seems like a much better team from a year ago, they upgraded at the Center and Small Forward position in Parsons and Chandlers as well as bring in Jameer Nelson from Orlando. However, we are skeptical on if its really going to make a difference in the ultra competitive Western Conference. The Mavericks are hoping Chandler can return to his Defensive Player of the year playing after a subpar 2013-2014 injury plagued season. After playing only 31 games and averaging 8.7 PPG and 9.6 RPG he looks to bounce back in a major way. The Mavericks only need him to be that shot blocking presence that anchors the defense, anything he does on the offensive end is a bonus but we don't believe it will happen.
Chandler has never played a full season and the highlight of his career so far has been his contributions in that 2011 title team, and his defensive player of the award that was overshadowed by a horrendous performance in the second round agains the Pacer's Roy Hibbert a year ago. We are skeptical as if his addition to the team will really translate into meaningful jump in the standings.
At point Guard, the Mavericks certainly upgraded over Calderon, while Calderon is a steady floor general that will make good decisions and take good shots, he is not the offensive threat that Nelson is. In addition to that, the ball will spend most of the time in Ellis' and Nowitzki's hands, so Nelson will be the beneficiary of a lot open jump shots something he was good at in Orlando in the Howard Turkoglu days. Finally, the most intriguing story about the Mavericks is all about Parsons, he spent all summer talking about how he felt he was ready to be that third star in Houston, and now he will get the chance to back that talk up.
On the other hand, the game we are most intrigued about is the one with the least TV advertisement, the Orlando Magic vs the New Orleans Pelicans. Why? one name: Anthony Davis, after a wonderful summer with team USA it is clear that Davis is truly the NBA's next superstar, he is a stat stuffer who doesn't need touches (although he should be getting plenty of touches). His continued development makes the most sense, and he should benefit from a full season with Jrue Holiday running the point. Should they put it all together, we see the Pelicans as the dark house to maybe sneak in as the #8 seed in the Western Conference, Davis will be an All-Star and a first team All NBA player by season's end.
The final game of the night will be all about the return of Kobe Bryant, and what a better way to start the season than to go against what many consider the best shooting guard in the league right now in James Harden? Houston should easily win this game, but a lot of people will keep their eyes out on them after they missed out on Chris Bosh and let Parsons walk.

Harden debuts with a bang for the Rockets

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The Oklahoma City Thunder fans will have nightmares with James Harden for a while. Harden debuted yesterday with his new team and had perhaps his best game as a pro, dropping 37 points and 12 assists. A small sample to those skeptical about Harden's ability to take the role of being the man of a team. Now do not expect Harden to drop eye popping numbers like this every night, but its the perfect way to remind the world that James Harden is a star and is only 23 years old. Yes they played the Detroit Pistons, but so what? When Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors nobody said anything about it being against the raptors, 37 is 37 no matter which team you play. Harden and his new backcourt buddy Jeremy Lin looked great today, finding each other, highlighted by a backdoor cut by Harden which Lin found for an open dunk
Consider this, only three players in the last 25 years have put up the same numbers or better, than Harden put up yesterday, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Dwyane Wade. Three hall of famers, and people want to say that this was a bad trade by Houston? Kevin Martin is a very good player, but he is not James Harden. Coach Kevin Mchale believed it was a challenge for Harden to figure out what the team is doing, after all he just got there. So what will happen when Harden does know what he's doing within the context of the offense? Harden is coming signing his 5 year 80 million extension, and he's determine to show everybody that he's worth every cent.

There rockets are still players away from even making the playoffs, but its a very good start. Should OKC not make it back to the finals this year, they'll look back to this trade and how things could have been different. After all, they could have just waited it out and see how far OKC got this year before making such a hasty decision. Meanwhile Harden will continue to show night in an out that OKC made a mistake and it started last night, in the tune of 37 and 12.

The Dwight drama continues, nothing new here

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The latest statement coming from Howard's camp about not signing an extension no matter where he's traded should not be a surprise. Dwight Howard's drama continues on just like Carmelo's drama back in his twilight days in Denver. While the Brooklyn trade talks have died out temporarily, the rumor mill continues. This drama has some people tired, and others just itching with excitement about the possibilities.
The Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers have been at the top of the rumor mill in the Howard sweepstakes ever since. The Rockets have recently signed Harvard graduate sensation Jeremy Lin. The move obviously gives Howard business reasons as to why he would like to play for Houston. It would give Howard a chance to expand his brand just like Tracy Mcgrady did in his days playing with Yao Ming. Houston is also interested in acquiring Andrew Bynum should they fail to get Howard.
That leads us to the always involved Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are not worried about Howard not wanting to sign an extension, they believe that once he sees the Los Angeles life and the Lakers franchise he will want to stay.
The Lakers are looking for a trade that will land Howard in Los Angeles and Bynum being in the center of the trade. The problem of course is Bynum's willingness to leave LA and agree to sign an extension wherever he goes. The Lakers need a third team that will provide Orlando with the draft picks and salary relief that the Magic are looking for. Cleveland is one of the names that have came up ( Kyrie Irving and Andrew Bynum is a scary thought).
But we believe the drama will continue on at least until training camp if not longer for a couple of reasons. First, the Magic are in no rush and will look to make the best deal possible whether it takes a day or all the way until the trading deadline. Second, no team has spoken to Bynum directly (the Lakers have given no team permission to speak to Bynum or his representatives) and would be foolish to trade for him without first speaking if he has interest in playing long term there. Finally, the Magic can always wait until january where the Nets would once again be available once Brook Lopez is available for trade.
That being said, Our Committee of one find its ironic, that after the Heat were under such scrutiny for forming a "super team" now the Lakers are trying so hard to form another "super team". After all, the Lakers are intent on keeping Gasol and still acquiring Howard. Its specially intriguing, considering that one of the reasons for the lockout was to try to prevent teams from being able to do what the Lakers are so desperately trying. All in all, expect the Howard drama to continue, and leave us with plenty more rumors to contemplate.
News around the league
-Courtney Lee is officially part of the Boston Celtics
-Suns Resign Shannon Brown for 2 more years
-The NBA has decided to extend the use of instant replay
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With Felton now heading back to the Knicks, you can say goodbye to Lin, and why not?

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Jeremy Lin the New York Knicks starting point guard. What was believed as a sure statement has now become a long shot. Last night the Knicks agreed to acquire point guard Raymond Felton and center Kurt Thomas in a sign and trade deal that will send Portland Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric. Raymond Felton is a very good starting point guard, he was a key component of the Knicks success back in Stoudemire's first season with the Knicks, before the Carmelo trade. He averaged 17.1 ppg in that short stint with the Knicks and had stated that he wanted to return to New York. In addition, they also have Jason Kidd so where would that leave Jeremy Lin?

The main issue with bringing Lin back is the way the Rockets have structured their offer sheet to Lin. the first year Lin would receive 5 Million, the second 5.225 Million, but the problem lies in the third year and 14.8 Million he would receive. By that year the new collective bargaining agreement will kick in, and with those 14 million in the books, the Knicks would be over the cap, and would have to pay luxury tax for every cent they go over. That means the Knicks would pay about 1.75 in taxes for EVERY dollar of Lin's 14 million that year. If you do the math, that means that Lin that year would cost the Knicks almost 30 million dollars.

Now, Lin will obviously make them a lot more money off the court, but regardless of how much money he makes them because of his appeal off the floor, 30 million in one year is 30 million. Jeremy Lin is not worth all that money in one year, specially when you have a point guard in Felton who has produced over a 8 year period and not just for 32 games. After all, we are talking about production on the court, Felton knows how to play with Stoudemire. Don't forget, that in order for the Knicks to become a championship team they need their 2 stars to play like stars. Stoudemire cant have another year like his 2011-12. Felton knows how to play with Amar'e and will definitely easy his burden of having to play with Melo a bit.

Now, lets look at a situation in which they do sign Lin back. The Knicks would have 3 point guards who could all be starters. How do you distribute the minutes? Kidd is the veteran future hall of famer, he obviously needs to see playing time. Kidd signed to help the Knicks get deep into the playoffs not to sit on the bench. He is a great three point shooter, the better of the 3 and quite frankly this is an area that the Knicks need help in. Outside of Steve Novak last year, the Knicks struggled shooting the 3. Felton and Lin will obviously need to play and both are starting quality point guards. So one way or another, if you have all three point guards the knicks would be spending money on an asset and not using it to its full potential. Depth is never a problem, specially at a time where the league is being dominated by good point guards. But you need to use your depth one way or another. 

The Rockets meanwhile need a point guard, they lost both their point guards in Lowry and Dragic who were both very good. Lin will immediately start, and in addition will have a much better chance to develop in Houston. So Lin to Houston is the best move for everybody, the Knicks, Houston, and Lin himself. After all Did you really expect Lin to continue his development playing alongside Carmelo Anthony for a full season?

News around the league
-The Hornets have matched the Suns offer sheet for Gordon, despite Gordon stating publicly that he hoped they wouldn't

-The Bulls once had a deep bench, and now have lost Watson, Korver, Brewer, and possibly Asik and Hamilton

-Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving broke his hand in practice yesterday

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Jason Kidd to the Knicks? makes no sense. While the Clippers improve and Heat make their move

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Steve Nash has stolen the spotlight of this hectic but fun free agency for the moment. 24 hours after his move to Los Angeles, and the buzz is still going on. Will Nash be a good fit or not for the lakers? That question will be heavily debated until the season starts and we spoke on it in yesterday's entry.  Yet, the Clippers just keep giving us reasons to believe that they are a legitimate western conference championship contenders.
The Clippers have been in the Ray Allen hunt alongside the defending champions since day 1. Today they gave up on that hunt and instead signed Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups. Crawford has been coming off the bench for most of his career and is a former six man of the year. However, look for him to start alongside Chris Paul to form a devastating backcourt. Crawford is a traditional shooting guard and a downright scorer, he can spot up, create by himself and can score against any defense (interesting fact, he is the all time leader in 4 point plays in the history of the league). Billups, who started at shooting guard last season, was injured after only 20 games but he was having a terrific season. He will play the point when CP3 is out and will play alongside him.
Whether they decide to bring Billups or Crawford off the bench, you are now looking at a bench that will feature Lamar Odom, Billups or Crawford, and potentially Nick Young and Kenyon Martin (who are both free agents). The Clippers will have size, depth from the bench, shooting, and will add something they desperately needed last year: Free Throw shooting. Paul was the only consistent free throw shooter after Billups went down, now with Billups and Crawford back expect that problem to be ancient history.
Now Ray Allen, has a very difficult choice to make. We laugh at those who say that there is no way that Allen would choose hated Rival Heat over the Celtics. The reality of the matter is that it is a very difficult choice to make. On one side Allen would only be making half as much money if he goes to Miami and would essentially be betraying Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. On the flip side, realistically speaking Miami will be the favorites next season, they are the defending champions and the Celtics are only getting older. In addition, Allen knows that returning to Boston would mean coming off the bench for Avery Bradley, something that Allen feels disrespected about. So why come off the bench for a team that you helped win a championship? and who's starting spot he (Allen) is giving to a player that will never be as good as he is (Bradley). Instead of coming off the bench for the defending champion who have 2 superstar players in their prime, and will definitely give him a better shot at a tittle. So, ultimately it comes down to Money VS winning opportunities.
Finally, the Knicks have agreed to sign Jason Kidd in a move that we believe will change nothing. The Knicks tried and failed to sign Steve Nash and now must focus on resigning pg Jeremy Linn, who was offered a 4 year 30 million by Houston. Linn has verbally agreed to sign the offer sheet. The Rockets have placed the Knicks in a tough spot, the Knicks can only offer Linn a 24.5 Million 4 year contract. Therefore, if the Knicks decide to match the rockets offer, they will be paying Luxury taxes once the new collective bargaining agreement kicks. Despite this, we expect the Knicks to resign Linn because of all the money he makes them off the court,  So why bring in Jason Kidd? The word around is that he will be serve as a mentor for Linn, but will he start or come off the bench? When Linn Exploded last year in the absence of Melo, it raised national concerns about whether Melo and Linn can play together. Whether they can or not, the New York Knicks will not be a championship team this year and Jason Kidd will not change that. Contrast to popular believe, there is just no way that Stoudemire and Melo can work together, and those 2 (not Jeremy Linn) are the key for the Knick's success.
Yes, the Knicks have one If not the best scorer in the league in Melo, but when the ball gets to him, it doesn't continue its movement. For all his offensive bringings, Melo is also a defensive Liability. Their best defensive player is Iman Shumpert a second year player who is coming off a torn ACL. Jason Kidd will provide steady leadership and a great mentor for Linn (if they sign him back) but it wont catapult the Knicks into the Easter Conference Elite. Kidd has not been as good as Nash now for quite some years, and as such the Knicks will be no better than a 4th seed at most.
-In other news, Eric Gordon stated that he feels the Suns are more committed and does not wish the Hornets to match the offer that the Suns have provided
-Kyle Lowry of the Rockets was traded to Toronto, he had voiced his displeasure with Rockets Coach Kevin McHale and did not wish to return to Houston
-Hasheem Thabeet has signed a 2 year contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thabeet was the second pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, and has failed to meet expectations so far
-Jameer Nelson stated that he will be returning to the Orlando Magic next season

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