Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLIX"Reg. Season"Ed.)

[BrettC03]

I like the deal where we get B.Roy for two reasons. Inactive player exception, and he's an expiring next year. That means more cap space for 2014. It's really a shame that Roy has had such an injury-riddled career. I remember a few years ago when he hit that game winner and people were calling him the next Kobe...

[Def Swami]

Alex Kennedy ‏@AlexKennedyNBA
Source says that the Memphis Grizzlies may keep Rudy Gay, and instead trade Zach Randolph to the Houston Rockets. Houston loves Randolph.

[Cigamodnalro]

Lindsey Hunter, once a finalist for the Magic's head coaching vacancy, has been promoted to Interim Head Coach by the Phoenix Suns.

[Cigamodnalro]

Been playing around on vorped.com (statistic site). So far this season, the Magic as a team shoot 51.1% from strongside corner, but only 37% from the weak. Afflalo, however, shoots 62.5% weakside corner, but only 35.7 from the strong.

[BrettC03]

Alex Kennedy ‏@AlexKennedyNBA
Source says that the Memphis Grizzlies may keep Rudy Gay, and instead trade Zach Randolph to the Houston Rockets. Houston loves Randolph.

Both bad and good move for them. Randolph is older than Gay, but Randolph and Marc Gasol play so well off each-other.

[Bensational]

Alex Kennedy ‏@AlexKennedyNBA
Source says that the Memphis Grizzlies may keep Rudy Gay, and instead trade Zach Randolph to the Houston Rockets. Houston loves Randolph.

Both bad and good move for them. Randolph is older than Gay, but Randolph and Marc Gasol play so well off each-other.

well enough to win a 'ship? i don't think so.

wouldn't be a bad move for Houston. there aren't many PFs who can dominate the paint like ZBo.

Asik
ZBo
Parsons
Harden
Lin

that's a solid lineup. so much versatility and everything. give Parsons another year of seasoning, and they could be battling OKC in the WCFs. (although, i'd still tip OKC over them).

[MagicStarwipe]

They'd need a lot better PG than Lin to contend.

[glennathan]

Sorry if this is not the correct thread for this question, but I want to see what you all think about this trade for Fantasy Basketball. I was offered this deal.

I trade James Harden
I receive Rajon Rondo

I do need assists and steals. My other SG's are Eric Gordon, Bradley Beal, & Andre Iguodala

[BrettC03]

well enough to win a 'ship? i don't think so.

wouldn't be a bad move for Houston. there aren't many PFs who can dominate the paint like ZBo.

Asik
ZBo
Parsons
Harden
Lin

that's a solid lineup. so much versatility and everything. give Parsons another year of seasoning, and they could be battling OKC in the WCFs. (although, i'd still tip OKC over them).

Add a solid bench and a better offensive coach, then maybe. ZBo's rebounds would drop on the Rockets, but if he becomes their no. 2 option, we could see the Zbo of a couple years ago.

[Bensational]

Sorry if this is not the correct thread for this question, but I want to see what you all think about this trade for Fantasy Basketball. I was offered this deal.

I trade James Harden
I receive Rajon Rondo

I do need assists and steals. My other SG's are Eric Gordon, Bradley Beal, & Andre Iguodala

if you need assists then keep Harden and trade Gordon/Beal/Iggy for Calderon/Vasquez/Dragic or someone along those lines. no need giving up someone like Harden who covers you across many categories for +4apg and +1spg, or whatever the difference is.

[BaunceyChillups]

Lawl at the MKG trade speculation the last few pages, you guys are idiots if you think Charlotte is giving him up. Even funnier that one guy said that he wasn't producing up to the standards of a #2 pick. Guess the Thunder should've moved Harden as a rookie since he only had a PER of 14 and shot 40% from the field that year.

the Bobcats have had exactly one winning record since their inception. One. And to say they now have a future, when does it arrive? Because it wasn't this year. Also worth noting: after their worst in the league record, lo and behold, no number one pick and can't miss draft of Anthony Davis.

Teams that are perennially counting on a high lottery pick are destined to be perennially in the lottery. It's not a logical strategy for sustained success.

One winning record because until Rich Cho took over they had no direction, now with Kemba and MKG they've got pieces to build around. They were also able to get a first round pick for Corey Maggette, the old Bobcats would never have been able to do that.

[BadMofoPimp]

PER is the most overrated Stat to rate players in the history of professional sports. I absolutely refuse to acknowledge PER as a legitimate stat. I mean, do people know that rookies and bench players usually play against other bench players. Thus, how can their stats against Bench players rate them as good as All-Stars and Starters????

[magicman123]

Yea gilchrist is fine, he turned 19 like 3 months ago, he's rebounding very well for his position, shooting well at 47%, he's not taking a lot of shots yet, too early to give up on him

[RickB-Orlando]

Lawl at the MKG trade speculation the last few pages, you guys are idiots if you think Charlotte is giving him up. Even funnier that one guy said that he wasn't producing up to the standards of a #2 pick. Guess the Thunder should've moved Harden as a rookie since he only had a PER of 14 and shot 40% from the field that year.

Just to be clear (and avoid getting tossed into the group that was walking along these lines) at no point was I discussing Charlotte trading away MKG. He's destined to be a starter, possibly an impact player, for years to come.

the Bobcats have had exactly one winning record since their inception. One. And to say they now have a future, when does it arrive? Because it wasn't this year. Also worth noting: after their worst in the league record, lo and behold, no number one pick and can't miss draft of Anthony Davis.

Teams that are perennially counting on a high lottery pick are destined to be perennially in the lottery. It's not a logical strategy for sustained success.

One winning record because until Rich Cho took over they had no direction, now with Kemba and MKG they've got pieces to build around. They were also able to get a first round pick for Corey Maggette, the old Bobcats would never have been able to do that.

My comments were meant less as a knock on Charlotte specifically, and more on the general tenor of many on this board that tanking and planning to win the lottery is a recipe for success. It's been proven time and again that unless you both get very lucky and make the smart pick, it means teams will continue to be bottom feeders.

Charlotte hasn't proven anything yet. Sure, they have what appears to be a fine foundation of youth in place in Walker and MKG, but they're still mired in the basement. Stockpiling first round picks does not make you a contender. Doing something with them - great picks, using them to make trades, picking players and trading them for improvement.

I haven't seen Charlotte improve yet, so you'll have to excuse me if I want to wait and see what happens there before I get on the "Charlotte is doing it right!" bandwagon.

[BaunceyChillups]

My comments were meant less as a knock on Charlotte specifically, and more on the general tenor of many on this board that tanking and planning to win the lottery is a recipe for success. It's been proven time and again that unless you both get very lucky and make the smart pick, it means teams will continue to be bottom feeders.

Charlotte hasn't proven anything yet. Sure, they have what appears to be a fine foundation of youth in place in Walker and MKG, but they're still mired in the basement. Stockpiling first round picks does not make you a contender. Doing something with them - great picks, using them to make trades, picking players and trading them for improvement.

I haven't seen Charlotte improve yet, so you'll have to excuse me if I want to wait and see what happens there before I get on the "Charlotte is doing it right!" bandwagon.

But Charlotte is doing it right. Prior to Cho's arrival they were a 33-36 win team without any blue chips whatsoever, picking guys like Gerald Henderson and Brandan Wright year in and year out is awful when you've got no true centerpiece. When Cho got there he made a good pick in Kemba and completely bottomed out by getting rid of Wallace and Jackson which allowed them to get a someone with huge upside in MKG. They'll probably have another Top 3 pick this year and caproom to spend in 2014 too.

The meme that the Bobcats are a joke needs to stop because they have a plan.

[mhectorgato]

My comments were meant less as a knock on Charlotte specifically, and more on the general tenor of many on this board that tanking and planning to win the lottery is a recipe for success. It's been proven time and again that unless you both get very lucky and make the smart pick, it means teams will continue to be bottom feeders.

Charlotte hasn't proven anything yet. Sure, they have what appears to be a fine foundation of youth in place in Walker and MKG, but they're still mired in the basement. Stockpiling first round picks does not make you a contender. Doing something with them - great picks, using them to make trades, picking players and trading them for improvement.

I haven't seen Charlotte improve yet, so you'll have to excuse me if I want to wait and see what happens there before I get on the "Charlotte is doing it right!" bandwagon.

But Charlotte is doing it right. Prior to Cho's arrival they were a 33-36 win team without any blue chips whatsoever, picking guys like Gerald Henderson and Brandan Wright year in and year out is awful when you've got no true centerpiece. When Cho got there he made a good pick in Kemba and completely bottomed out by getting rid of Wallace and Jackson which allowed them to get a someone with huge upside in MKG. They'll probably have another Top 3 pick this year and caproom to spend in 2014 too.

The meme that the Bobcats are a joke needs to stop because they have a plan.

It will only stop when if/when that plan comes to fruition.

Until then, they will be an example of just having top picks, in of itself, means nothing to bring back or to relevance. Just like Cleveland thus far.

[Bensational]

Lawl at the MKG trade speculation the last few pages, you guys are idiots if you think Charlotte is giving him up. Even funnier that one guy said that he wasn't producing up to the standards of a #2 pick. Guess the Thunder should've moved Harden as a rookie since he only had a PER of 14 and shot 40% from the field that year.

it's called speculation for a reason. not everything is driven by the agenda of GMs and coaches. sometimes, owners just want to start winning some games and turning some profits on their investments - hence, the idea of sending MKG out to get Gay. they get an immediate impact player the help with their playoff push.

MKG isn't looking like a sureshot superstar just yet. IMO, he will be prime Shawn Marion at his peak (which is still very, very good). i'm not convinced MKG can expand his game and become elite in as many areas as Harden. he doesn't have the finesse. that's just my opinion - who knows what the Bobcats staff think, considering they've had many more opportunities to scrutinize the guy? but yeah, i'd assume they value a 19 year old #2 pick fairly highly. (no sarcasm)

[Bensational]

just randomly, i can't help but feel like if we go into the lottery in this position, that we'll somehow land a top 3 pick. it's just a 'feeling', but the lottery has consistently shown that the bottom 3 rarely get all 3 top picks, and i'm fairly sure teams from 4 - 7 have the highest odds of stealing high picks, too.

[Cigamodnalro]

just randomly, i can't help but feel like if we go into the lottery in this position, that we'll somehow land a top 3 pick. it's just a 'feeling', but the lottery has consistently shown that the bottom 3 rarely get all 3 top picks, and i'm fairly sure teams from 4 - 7 have the highest odds of stealing high picks, too.

Agree. I also have a gut feeling that if we end up with a bottom-3 pick, we'd end up picking 4th or 5th because of some other team moving up.

I think we're most likely to fall in the 4-9 range, by the end of the year. Our last two months are absolutely brutal, but by that point a few of other "bad" teams will presumably be tanking and matching us record-wise.

[BrettC03]

Agree. I also have a gut feeling that if we end up with a bottom-3 pick, we'd end up picking 4th or 5th because of some other team moving up.

I think we're most likely to fall in the 4-9 range, by the end of the year. Our last two months are absolutely brutal, but by that point a few of other "bad" teams will presumably be tanking and matching us record-wise.

A brutal late schedule combined with the possible trades of solid players like JJ could mean us getting into the top 3. Honestly, I think I'd take Noel to pair with Vuc. I think wing scorers are easier to come by. No matter how much I like Bazz/McLemore/Goodwin.