Poll: How Many Games Will Lakers Win This Year?
The Lakers made a series of offseason moves with hopes of improving upon their performance during the 2011/12 season. With key additions including Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison, the Lakers' roster appears loaded with the start of the upcoming season less than three months away. The question becomes how many games will Los Angeles win during the 2012/13 regular season after winning 41 out of 66 contests last year.
How Many Games Will The Lakers Win Next Season?
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61-65 36% (723)
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56-60 26% (509)
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66 or more 24% (472)
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51-55 9% (175)
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45 or less 3% (63)
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46-50 2% (40)
Total votes: 1,982
Trade Notes: Howard, Sixers, Picks, Iguodala
The four-team Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum trade continues to have reverberations around the league, as teams and players begin to figure out what happens next. Though it's no surprise, Howard remains unwilling to commit to an extension with the Lakers, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein says Howard wants to see how it goes with L.A. first, and says the Mavericks and Hawks would be fallbacks if Howard doesn't warm to the purple and gold. Here's more on the players and teams involved in the wake of the mega-deal:
- Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops analyzes the Sixers' offseason as the team made a series of moves and signings this summer beyond acquiring Bynum from the Lakers.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has more on the conditions of the draft picks going from the Lakers and Sixers to the Magic, and our post rounding up the deal has been updated to reflect the latest details.
- Robbins adds, via Twitter, that the Nets were offering three first-round picks in their offer to the Magic last month, instead of four as we heard previously. The picks would likely have been in the high to mid-20s, Robbins says.
Earlier updates:
- Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post asked Andre Iguodala if he was pleased about joining the Nuggets, and Kiszla didn't sense much enthusiasm from Iguodala's remarks. "I'm happy to play basketball," the Team USA swingman said. "I don't care if I was playing in Alaska." Iguodala has an early termination option for 2013/14.
- Bynum's agent David Lee says his client is excited to be close to his native New Jersey, though no talks about an extension with the Sixers have begun, as Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld writes. Koutroupis identifies the Hawks, Mavericks and Rockets as teams that could have the cap space and interest to sign Bynum if he tests free agency next summer.
- Magic officials never filed charges with the league stemming from their suspicion that the Nets had illegal contact with Howard this past December, but the hard feelings proved an obstacle in trade negotiations between the teams, a source told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Kyler On 2013 Draft Prospects
It's never too early to look ahead to the next NBA draft, as Magic fans would surely attest after this week's Dwight Howard trade. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld has been keeping up with the top prospects, and shared some of his thoughts via Twitter this afternoon. We'll round up the highlights here:
- Center Nerlens Noel sits atop the latest DraftExpress.com 2013 mock, but Kyler believes he has plenty of work to do at the University of Kentucky this year. He thinks UCLA shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad, No. 2 on the DraftExpress list, and perhaps center Isaiah Austin, going No. 6 in the mock, have made more progress in their development. Noel must get stronger and put in more time on the court to refine his raw talent, Kyler says (Twitter links).
- Kyler is a fan of Indiana center Cody Zeller, but Muhammad has an "it" factor reminscent of other NBA stars, and is Kyler's current top choice (Twitter links).
- The general consensus is that it will be a weak draft this year, and Kyler joins the chorus, tweeting that the 2013 draft class, like the one coming in behind it for 2014, offers no true star and plenty of projects.
NBA To Continue Push For Olympic Age Limit
4:40pm: FIBA unveiled a few proposals it will take to the International Olympic Committee, and one of them is designed to address concerns NBA teams have had about the wear and tear of the Olympic competition by shortening its length, Zillgitt writes (via the Detroit Free Press). FIBA wants to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 and reduce the number of games in pool play from five to three.
"It's certainly wear and tear – 19 days of London, plus the preparation time," said Baumann, the FIBA secretary general. "When you finish the (NBA) season on 20 of June, the beginning of July you are in Las Vegas, by the end of July you are here and by the time you get home and put your things down in a cupboard, that's a pretty long time."
2:45pm: FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann today told reporters, including USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, that he feels his organization will not propose an age limit for the 2016 Olympic games (Twitter link). Ian Thomsen of SI.com reported earlier this week that a 23-and-under restriction was unlikely for 2016, but Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears the NBA will keep pushing for an age limit. A source tells Stein "this will eventually happen" despite FIBA's resistance.
Part of FIBA's unwillingness to restrict older players from the Olympics is the feeling that doing so would make Team USA even more dominant, Stein writes, adding that many from overseas feel American players generally develop faster.
Team USA chairman Jerry Colangelo has expressed a desire to know soon whether or not the age limit will be in place for 2016. Colangelo said that he will make multiple rosters for each contingency, Stein reports. Colangelo is not sure that Mike Krzyzewski can be persuaded to return as coach for 2016, despite lobbying from players, but is more optimistic that LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony will be back (All Twitter links).
Baumann said he would like to move basketball's World Cup, formerly known as the World Championships, back a year to avoid conflict with soccer's World Cup, Zillgitt tweets, meaning the 2018 competition might not take place until 2019. NBA commissioner David Stern has spoken about making the World Cup of Basketball the marquee international basketball competition instead of the Olympics.
Central Rumors: Cavs, Williams, Ridnour, Varejao
The four-team trade that sent Andrew Bynum to the Sixers ensures he won't wind up with the Cavs this year, as one of last month's rumors suggested he might. We passed along word from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Cleveland was asked to give up much more for Bynum than the Sixers, who sent out Andre Iguodala, Maurice Harkless, Nikola Vucevic and a protected first-round pick to snag the ex-Lakers center. We've got more on the Cavs and their Central Division rivals here:
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer says she's seen rumors indicating the Timberwolves are offering Derrick Williams, Luke Ridnour and draft picks for Anderson Varejao, but she isn't sure if there's any merit to them, despite the Cavs' affinity for stockpiling picks. Such a move would give the Cavs the top two selections from the 2011 draft, with Williams and No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving.
- Former Pacers guard Leandro Barbosa appears out of the picture for the Cavs, with the team having signed C.J. Miles and zeroing in on Alonzo Gee, Boyer writes in the same piece. We heard before that Barbosa, who's seeking a multiyear deal, had interest in Cleveland, but it was unclear whether the feeling was mutual.
- Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf insists the team will not rush Derrick Rose back from knee surgery, Scott Powers of ESPNChicago reports.
Craig Smith Signs In Israel
Craig Smith has signed with Hapoel Jersualem of the Israeli league, according to Sportando.net. The power forward spent last season with the Trail Blazers, where he averaged 3.3 PPG in 47 appearances, a career low.
In late July, it was reported that Smith was in dicussion with the Pacers on coming to Indiana, but it appears their likely one-year, veteran's minimum offer was less than he can make playing overseas. the 6'7" Boston College graduate has proven to be a useful contributor in the past, posting a .556 FG% and 16.4 PER in 356 games from 2006/07 to 2010/11.
Odds & Ends: CBA, Olympics, Sixers, Heat
As Team USA gets ready for their gold medal match against Spain on Sunday, we take a look around the league to see the latest on what's going on.
- In a string of tweets, ESPN.com's Marc Stein has quotes from Kevin Durant, on the status of Team USA's longtime coach Mike Krzyzewski (Twitter link)—who has confirmed his intention of stepping down—and Jerry Colangelo, on the probability that LeBron James plays in the 2016 Olympics. (Twitter link)
- On the New York Times' NBA Blog, Off the Dribble, Rob Mahoney takes a look at the league's new CBA, and how it's effected large and small market teams.
- CSNPhilly.com's John Finger details how Sixers management landed Andrew Bynum in yesterday's four-team mega deal.
- The Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro says Deron Williams felt all along that the Magic wouldn't trade Dwight Howard to the Nets.
- In a mailbag feature, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman discusses whether or not the Heat would have offered Chris Bosh in a Howard trade.
- Did the Magic receive a fair haul in their exchange for Howard? SI.com's Chris Mannix does not think so.
Poll: Who Wins The Atlantic Division?
Despite losing Andre Iguodala this week, Philadelphia appears to have improved its basketball team by adding the league's second best center, Andrew Bynum. In an offseason filled with player movement, the Atlantic Division most represents an arms race, with nearly all five teams making a push to win it all. Which team has positioned itself best to win the Atlantic?
Who Wins The Atlantic Division?
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Boston 37% (518)
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Philadelphia 24% (335)
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New York 19% (273)
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Brooklyn 15% (216)
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Toronto 4% (62)
Total votes: 1,404
Hoops Links: Howard, Batum, Celtics, Lakers
On this week in 1920, legendary Knicks coach Red Holzman was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the tail end of his playing career, Holzman took the role of player-coach with the Milwaukee Hawks before transitioning to the club's head coach. Following that, he returned to his native New York to join the Knicks' assistant coaching staff for a ten year stretch before taking over as head coach in the 1967 season. Of course, Holzman would go on to coach the team to their only two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973.
If you have a great blog piece that you think we should feature in Hoops Links, then send it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..
- Hardwood Paroxysm compares the Dwight Howard saga to classic theater.
- Blazer's Edge broke down Nicolas Batum's last Olympic outing.
- CelticsBlog wonders where the C's rank in the East.
- SLC Dunk looks at the Howard trade from all angles.
- The Basketball Post looks at Regal FC Barcelona.
- Bright Side Of The Sun doesn't see Steve Nash and Howard as a perfect fit.
- A Wolf Among Wolves mourns the passing of Tim Allen.
- Project Spurs wonders if San Antonio can hang with the new look Lakers.
- Fear The Sword laments the Howard deal passing the Cavs by.
- RealGM knows that this is the last go 'round for this generation of Olympic stars.
- NIU BBall sees the silver lining in China missing out on London.
- Red94 has a plan of attack for the Rockets going forward.
- Magic Basketball sees Jacque Vaughn as a low-risk, high-reward hire.
- Basketbawful brings us a special Olympic edition of the worst of the best.
- Brew Hoop examines Monta Ellis' best game in Milwaukee.
- Queen City Hoops wants the Bobcats to improve their frontcourt.
- Nets Are Scorching goes 3-on-3 to look at the fallout of the Howard deal.
- Cowbell Kingdom caught up with Isaiah Thomas.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.
Odds & Ends: Kobe, Thibodeau, Suns, Sixers
With every NBA reporter alive seemingly grabbing each player, coach or executive they can get their hands on and asking them about the Dwight Howard trade, Kobe Bryant actually offered some helpful and interesting insight. Bryant, soon to be 34, said that he will probably play "two, three more years" with the Lakers and once he is done "the team is his," undoubtedly referring to Howard (via Sean Deveney on Twitter). While hardly definitive, it's notable that Bryant has a retirement time in mind. As the reactions, analysis and quotes regarding the big trade pour in, lets look at them as well as some of the other stuff going on in the NBA:
- Per ESPN Chicago, Doc Rivers said today that he is pulling for his former assistant and now successful Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to receive a lucrative contract extension from the team. Although "Thibs" has been relatively quiet regarding the contract situation, Rivers said he knows from experience that coaching on a one-year deal can be tough.
- Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic takes a look at what options the Suns have for their final roster spot, which will likely go to a center. While Coro puts together a sizeable list, the pickings are pretty slim.
- Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com takes an inside look at how the Andrew Bynum deal came to fruition for the 76ers, who got involved in the talks with a phone call to Orlando about the availability of Howard. Moore also clarifies, via Twitter, that Philadelphia owes the Heat a first round pick from a draft day trade before they can send one to Orlando. Both future picks are lottery protected.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel says that Magic fans shouldn't be piling on new general manager Rob Hennigan for the final outcome of the Howard situation. Schmitz says the ire of the Magic faithful should be rightfully pointed towards Howard for creating the situation in the first place.
- Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets gives his take on where the Rockets went wrong in their D12 pursuit, and where the franchise should go from here.