It was discussed so what happened? Phoenix thought Amare Stoudemire would be sent packing to Golden State with other players and considerations and in return Golden State would ship back Stephen Curry with other players and considerations. You know how that stuff works.

The secret part of the deal that may not have been discussed from Golden State’s point of view was that Golden State was sure Curry would be off the board by pick number 7. When he was there, they did not want to part with him.

Amare Stoudemire will be a reach for the Warriors without Curry in the deal

So is the Stoudemire trade off the board?

The teams will continue talking about how a trade involving Stoudemire could be worked out but it is now just among several conversations the Suns are having. Such a deal is far less likely without Curry and Golden State’s unwillingness to part with forward Anthony Randolph.
source

Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

The Detroit Pistons face the ultimate test of the Joe Dumars regime. How about we get rid of every big guy around and then go find a friend for Tayshaun Prince?

Draft day came around and Blake Griffin went to the Clippers and will never be heard from again. He almost made the NBA, too bad. That is a joke, but then, so are the Clippers.

Anyway, back to that friend for Tay. When the 15th pick rolled around the Pistons picked 6′ 11″ and 191 pound Austin Daye. That’s right, 191 pounds. Arnie Kander will have to put some beef on that guy, because right now he looks like Tayshaun’s little brother.

Austin Daye better not be late for dinner

AP writer Larry Lage writes that Joe Dumars remarked that Austin Daye is skinnier that Tay, but that he likes his skill set.
Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Look out Lakers.
Look out Celtics.
Look out Cavaliers.
Can we say Look out Nuggets? We are saying it. Look out Nuggets.
The Spurs are coming back with a vengeance.

First they picked up Richard Jefferson. They gave up Bruce Bowen, among others, but may get him back.
Jefferson will give them more scoring from the forward position.

Tim Duncan will be back with new friends

Now there are rumors of talks with Rasheed Wallace to increase the front line size and Rasheed still has plenty of game left.

The draft may present them with the possibility of getting Taj Gibson, the super junior big man from USC. Even with USC’s tall guards, the offense and defense still ran through Taj Gibson.

This could give the Spurs another NBA title.

If Wallace were to sign with the Spurs, San Antonio would have one of the best starting fives in the NBA with Duncan, Jefferson, Ginobili and Parker, catapulting the team into the upper-echelon of the league.
Should Wallace sign elsewhere or decide to walk away from the game altogether there are a few available options on the free agent market that could benefit the Spurs on the cheap… at least, compared to the money Wallace is expecting.

Former Denver Nugget Chris Andersen averaged over six rebounds and 2.4 blocks (second in the NBA to Dwight Howard) despite playing just 20 minutes per game could be available for a relative bargain and 13-year veteran Antonio McDyess, who is chasing an NBA title, is a possibility as well.

source

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Ok, forget the five players involved in the trade. Randy Foye, so what. Mike Miller, likes to shoot. Etan Thomas, can rebound a little. Think more on the picks. Minnesota now has both the 5th and 6th pick in the upcoming NBA draft 2009. Think about the possibilities.

For the Timberwolves, they now own both the fifth and sixth picks in Thursday’s draft. With Foye now on his way to D.C., it’s safe to assume Minnesota will likely draft a point guard with at least one of those two selections.

Multiple sources have indicated that Wolves are very high on combo guard Tyreke Evans. However, there have been questions as to whether or not Evans will be a true point guard in the NBA. With the fifth pick now in their back pocket, the Wolves could now potentially draft Evans along with another “true” point guard should they so desire. The Wolves could also package the fifth and sixth picks in an attempt to try and move up in the draft, possibly as high as #2 if the Grizzlies are willing to pull the trigger.
source

Will Ricky Rubio be a Timberwolf?

Timberwolf fans have to be loving the new GM David Kahn. He has put the team in position to land two great rookies or even trade up and get a possible franchise player like Rubio or Thabeet. This was an excellent trade.
Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Ok, the word is not supposed to be heck. It is really a place where bad people go and it is really hot. Actually in Dante’s version it was really cold. Anyway, Blake Griffin is going there.

Yes, the San Diego, er Los Angeles Clippers, one of the most confused franchises run by an often cheap owner have the number one pick and they plan on taking Blake Griffin. You swear this team could pick up Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and still find a way to screw it up.

Blake Griffin to the Clippers

As you may have guessed there is no love lost for the Clippers right here.

“The pick’s not going anywhere,” assistant general manager Neil Olshey said Monday.
source

Hopefully they are not discussing Blake’s career with the Clippers as being a failure before it starts!

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

It is draft time speculation time or something like that and the Memphis Grizzlies, a perennial loser in the NBA, have the second pick and no clue as to what to do with it.

Hasheem Thabeet towers over everybody

The most persistent rumor has the Griz taking Hasheem Thabeet, but Hasheem wouldn’t even work out for them. Hey, would you want to spend your career on a perennial loser? Ok, Hasheem said he has some shoulder problems right now, but you wonder what his response would have been if the Lakers had called?

Who would the Grizzlies pick if the draft was held today?

Truth is, no one really knows at this point. No one. Agendas are flying all over the place.

Reports that Heisley has settled on taking Thabeet are erroneous and grossly overblown, as is speculation that coach Lionel Hollins operates with a Thabeet-or-bust mind-set.

Depending on the day, Heisley, Hollins and Wallace are as excited about a potential trade as they are about possibly drafting Thabeet or Rubio. Even guards Curry and DeRozan have become prominent in discussions among decision makers in the organization.

In other words, the Grizzlies are all over the draft map as it relates to the No. 2, 27th and 36th picks.

That doesn’t necessarily mean trouble given the Griz didn’t consummate a deal for O.J. Mayo until draft night last year, and the deal turned out just fine.
source

With a solid plan like deciding on draft day who to take, does this explain why the Grizzlies are always such a rotten team?

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

It is the consensus of the experts that Blake Griffith will be the number one pick in the draft, because he has it all, size, speed, talent, and strength. After Blake, the draft in the NBA for 2009 will get a little dicier.

Blake Griffin will fall to the top of the NBA draft

There’s no consensus. Some are pining for Spanish guard Ricky Rubio [above], who has a huge buyout from his Spanish team, Jovenut, to work out before he can come across the Atlantic . Others seek Connecticut’s 7-foot-3 junior center, Hasheem Thabeet, who has not yet formally decided whether he’ll skip his senior season and enter the draft. If Rubio and Thabeet are in the Draft, they’ll probably go No. 2 and No. 3.

But which one goes two or three depends on who’s picking. And, seven weeks before the Draft, the rest of the top half of the first round is equally unknowable. The difference between this year and previous years is we still may not know the complete top five well into June — perhaps into the final week before the draft.

source

The NBA draft is so different from the NFL draft in that there are only 2 rounds in the NBA draft and the first rounder’s are guaranteed 3 year contracts. The players drafted in the second round usually don’t even make a roster.

One big surprise in the draft might be from Ohio State. Their freshman center, B. J. Mullins, has declared for the draft. He played against my MSU Spartans and was quite impressive for a freshman. Excellent footwork and great size. Is he NBA ready? Probably not, but there is a dearth of 7′ centers, so look for him to go high in the draft.

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Hasheem Thabeet was showing off his big game in the NCAA tournament. As Tom Izzo said, “Until you are on the court and have to face him, you cannot believe how tall he is”.

Special Tom Izzo timeout: A big shout out to my MSU Spartans in the final game of the NCAA facing everyone’s favorite the North Carolina powder blue. May my Spartans rule!

Thabeet behind Kalin Lucas of MSU. It looks like he is playing with a bunch of 8th graders.

7′ 3″ tall and with a build that says he is strong, instead of tall. If you were in the stands watching him play, you might think he was a shorter player playing on a shorter rim, in other words he is not some bean pole.

And Thabeet has skills.

Now, less than three years removed from his days at Cypress Christian, Thabeet has plenty of reasons to smile. A junior who is still considered a raw talent by N.B.A. standards, he has developed into the Big East’s co-player of the year and the league’s back-to-back defensive player of the year. He is expected to be a top-five pick in the N.B.A. draft in June.

His shot-blocking and rebounding have been instrumental in the run that Connecticut (31-4) made to Saturday’s national semifinal against Michigan State (30-6) in Detroit.

This season, Thabeet is averaging 13.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.28 blocks. Not bad for a player who had to be prodded by his high school coaches to dunk in layup lines.
source

Hasheem is raw talent in a very tall body and the NBA needs him now.

Why? Will he begin to dominate the NBA?

No, Hasheem is not skilled enough to dominate, but he can begin to bring back the athletic big man to the NBA. It is a league that has oddly grown shorter at the center position and opted instead for speed. Hasheem can bring speed with tall, an odd mix of words, but you get it.

With Shaq on the way out, there are few big physical centers in the league left, maybe Oden or Howard. The NBA has always had big physical centers. We love to watch them play and smash against each other underneath the basket.

Yes, Hasheem wants the NBA and the NBA needs Hasheem.

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed