You have Chris Bosh. He is an excellent player and almost nobody in the USA realizes it. Chris will be a free agent next year and may want to belong to a different NBA team. Is he that good? What do you do?

He played on the Olympic team, you know.

During the tournament itself, Bosh operated as the main backup to center Dwight Howard as Team USA went unbeaten in all eight games en route to the gold medal, defeating Spain in the final.[54] He averaged 9.1 points per game, and led the team in rebounds with 6.1 a game.[55]
source

Now Toronto is trying to build a team to put around him, because next year Chris is a free agent and may want to leave. The biggest off season move was to land Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo is a definite mismatch player that becomes so valuable if you make the playoffs. He not only has the outside shot, but also stands 6′ 10″ tall. Hedo averaged over 16 a game this year.

Will Hedo Turkoglu convince Chris Bosh to stay?

Toronto also made some other smart moves in order to convince Bosh that the Raptors will remain competitive.

“Everything kind of falls into place,” explained Triano. “We have (Hedo) Turkoglu for five years, Bargnani for five, Calderon for the next four, (DeMar) DeRozan’s going to be in that mix giving us athleticism that maybe some of those players don’t have. We’ve got this year to figure out what Chris Bosh is going to do. That’s a great nucleus moving forward for the next five years and one that might not be super successful next year but we’re definitely going to be a better basketball team. As these guys get to spend more time playing with each other I think the ceiling is very, very high for this group.”
source

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Hey, the Heat can forget about Amare Stoudemire.

Miami finally took that option Friday, taking the Heat out of the chase for Marion’s ex-Phoenix Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire.

In a deal first reported by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher, the Heat agreed to trade Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Raptors for O’Neal and swingman Jamario Moon.

source

All Shawn Marion did was lay down a dunk to beat the Bulls and then get shipped out of town.

Is this deal a big deal?
well, no, maybe, yes, depends.

O’Neal gives Miami a center. That makes Pat Riley happy, but O’Neal’s contract of 23 million can come off the books next year when Dwyane Wade has to be signed.

Marion gives the Raptors some scoring, but many think that Bosh will be heading out of town.
Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Jose Calderon imitating my grandfather with no biceps and black socks

That guy can shoot. That is what they say about unknown Toronto Raptor Jose Calderon. He can pass too.

Jose Calderon is averaging over 13 points and 8 assists for the Raptors. Why doesn’t anybody know about this guy?

Now he has a shot at the consecutive free throw record.

Even after missing six consecutive games with a hamstring injury, Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon hasn’t cooled off from the foul line.

Since returning to the lineup Friday, he has made seven free throws in a row, extending his streak to 86. That’s 11 shy of tying Michael Williams’ NBA record set in 1993.

“It’s just concentration,” Calderon says. “Of course, it gets tougher now because people are starting to talk about the streak. I just try not to think about it.”

source

And to think, Jose Calderon is only in his third NBA season!
Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Paul Pierce takes turns scoring lots of points with Ray Allen

Maybe Boston is just bored, but they just went through a period where losses came more often than wins and that has been rare the last two years.

Boston 115 Toronto 109 OT

Now they turn to Paul Pierce for 39 points to beat a Toronto team missing both Calderon and O’Neal. Sunday they needed 36 from Ray Allen to be Toronto. The big 3 has turned into the big one at a time. Now it is Garnett’s turn to beat Toronto one would assume.

“Ya’ll need to start playing some of that ‘Superman’ theme music in the building when he’s going like that,” Garnett said of Pierce’s 39-point, 49-minute performance, all of it on a sore right knee that nearly kept him out.

“This is Clark Kent right here, ladies and gentlemen,” Garnett said. “He was 13-for-26 tonight with 39 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Superman.”

Not bad for a player who, prior to yesterday’s shootaround, was a 50-50 shot in the mind of Doc Rivers to even play.

source

Digging a little deeper one sees that Kevin Garnett held Chris Bosh to 1 – 4 shooting in the 4th quarter and 0 for 0 in the OT. Garnett proving why he is so valuable to the Celtics once again.
Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Man, today there was this crazy thought rolling through my head. What if the Pistons had kept Chauncey Billups and Iverson had stayed on the Nuggets?

Nowhere to go with that thought, so how about taking a look at how some of this player movement and coaching movement is working out?

Chauncey Billups from Detroit to Denver
Denver is 7 – 3 in their last 10 games and in 1st place

Allen Iverson from Denver to Detroit
Detroit is 4 – 6 and in second place.

Ron Artest from everywhere to Houston
Houston is 7 – 3 and in 1st place

Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana to Toronto
Toronto is 3 – 7 and dead last in the Atlantic Division

Rick Carlisle to coach Dallas
Dallas is 8 – 2 but only in 4th place in the Southwest

Terry Porter to coach Phoenix
Phoenix is 5 -5 and in second place behind the Lakers

Mike D’Antoni to coach the Knicks
3 – 7 and 4th place in the same division as the Celtics

Mo Williams to Cleveland
9 – 1 in the last 10 and first place over the Pistons

This is a fun one
Elton Brand from L.A. Clippers to Philadelphia
Baron Davis from Golden State to L.A. Clippers
Corey Maggette from L.A. Clippers to Golden State

76er’s 4 -6 3rd place
Clip’s 2 – 8 5th place
Warriors 1 – 9 but still in 3rd place

Which just begs the question, what if Chauncey Billups had never left the Pistons?
Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

LeBron James must be crying in his orange juice. Once again the Cleveland Cavaliers have failed to help him out. It is very hard to believe that LeBron will spend his whole career in Cleveland.

Don’t get me wrong, Jermaine O’Neal is not the best player in the league, but he is a mobile scoring front line player that could have changed the whole complexion of the Cavaliers.

The Pacers were looking for a starter-quality center in return for O’Neal, which made it tough to make a deal work for the Cavs. They are not permitted to trade Anderson Varejao until at least Dec. 5 due to collective bargaining rules because they matched an offer sheet he signed on that date last year. They were not interested in parting with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
source

Was that a collective groan from Cav’s fans? We missed out on Jermaine O’Neal because we wanted to keep Zydrunas? Zydrunas? You have got to be kidding me.

After 6 All Star years and now his 30th birthday, Jermaine is once again healthy and hungry.

“The fact is, I played on one leg for two years,” says O’Neal, whose averages shrank to 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 42 games last season after he reinjured his knee in 2006-07. “You hear people say that you slowed down, that you don’t have it anymore — but you know that you still have it. All the naysayers who are saying that I lost a step, they’ll get a full dosage of me next year.”

source

Unfortunately for Cav’s fans, Jermaine will be a Toronto Raptor to join forces with Chris Bosh.

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Jermaine O’Neal is the one on the left. He is now a Toronto Raptor.

Image details: Indiana Pacers v Miami Heat served by picapp.com

This draft is full of so many equal players that trades may abound. As teams shore up their foundations before the draft.

Check out this latest one.

Pacers to Raptors

After on-and-off again negotiations, the Indiana Pacers have agreed in principle to send six-time All-Star Jermaine O’Neal to the Toronto Raptors for point guard T.J. Ford and the 17th pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, a league executive said Wednesday.
source

How about this rumor?

Detroit and the Baron

A team source said that Davis has told teammates he will not exercise the opt-out provision in his contract before its June 30 expiration date, meaning that he will play out the final year of the deal at a salary of $17.8 million.
…
the source said Detroit is willing to divest itself of longtime stars Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups.

Wallace, like Davis an unrestricted free agent after ’08-09, would give the Warriors their best true power forward since Chris Webber’s first stint in 1993-94 and has 3-point range that coach Don Nelson would love.

And the inclusion of Billups, who has been made more expendable by the emergence of rookie Rodney Stuckey last season, would ease any concerns from Nelson about the point guard position.
source

Golden State would have to include another player to balance out salaries. Al Harrington has been mentioned.

Can’t figure this one out. If your faith is in Stuckey, then what is Baron Davis for? Why give up Rasheed Wallace when he only has one year on his contract left and he is your only legit big guy? What is missing here?

Cleveland is Redd -y?

How about Michael Redd going to the Cleveland LeBron’s? Wow!

As always, trade rumors are rampant in the hours leading into the draft. The biggest one surrounding Cleveland involves Milwaukee shooting star Michael Redd, a player the Cavaliers pursued but couldn’t sign as a free agent a few seasons back.

Redd, who this week was named to the U.S. Olympic team along with Cavs All-Star LeBron James, could be had for the right price. He has three years and $51 million left on his contract, and Ferry would need to give up some key parts _ perhaps Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao _ along with some top picks to bring Redd to Cleveland.

source

This would bring scoring to the Cav’s and don’t think the Bucks would get ripped. John Hammond is running that place now and he only wants toughness. The Bucks are trying to build a long term foundation.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

LeBron James career scoring leader for the Cav’s at the tender age of 23

LeBron did it in 168 less games than Brad Daugherty.

LeBron James now has 10,414 points.

Oh, and his team won, too.

Cleveland 90 Toronto 83

Coach Mike Brown pointed out LeBron is only 23.

The sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena immediately rose to give James a thundering ovation and when Brown called a timeout, the All-Star forward first walked to the bench to receive high-fives and hugs from his teammates.

Then, he walked to the center of the court to acknowledge Cleveland’s fans, who serenaded him with “MVP” chants throughout the evening.

“These fans have watched me go from zero points to 10,000” he said. “They’ve seen me go from a young man to a man now. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had. To be the all-time leader is something that I never dreamed of. But now that it’s here, it’s an unbelievable feeling.” source

Perhaps Joe Smith said it best.

“It took me 13 years to get 10,000 points,” Cavs forward Joe Smith said. “It goes to show what kind of talent he is. I know he has at least 30,000 more in him.”

Long live the King, LeBron James.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will LeBron someday get to 30,000 points?

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed