Free Agent Time!

The biggest time of the year in the NBA world other than playoff time is when free agency starts, and what a better way to enter the free agency times than some A+ grade point guards, the biggest man in the league and the most dominate big man in the league wanting to call it quits with the team he just signed an option with last season.  All of these free agents have a good chance to go to many different teams, some of which would be MUCH more beneficial to them than other teams, and this will be one hell of an offseason...

Deron Williams
Best Choices:
Dallas: If D-Will goes to Dallas, he will be surrounded with great role players that have age, but also have the experience to go out there and win a title, especially if they are led by a young point guard who is arguably the #1 free agent in this off season, not to mention that he would also have a weapon to pass the ball to in the freak of nature, sharpshooting 7 foot monster in Dirk Nowitzki.  Deron would obviously fit here in Dallas, and especially more if Jason Kidd (who will turn 40 in March) decides to call it quits after a sensational career with the New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks.  Plus he has a solid back-up to play behind him in the speedy, youthful Frenchman in Rodrigue Beaubois, who averaged 8.9 PPG and 2.9 APG in 53 games last season, and also playing possibly with the new member of the Mavs, Jared Cunningham, who was drafted 24th overall by Cleveland and traded to Dallas, who is a fiery young off guard from Oregon State that could shake up the back court on this team.

Brooklyn: However, if D-Will decides to sign with Brooklyn again, he will have many more weapons and a strong base for a team that in the future could be a threatening force in the Eastern conference and in the league, with swing man Gerald Wallace having signed a 4-yr $40 million deal back with Brooklyn and big man Dwight Howard stating he wants to be traded to Brooklyn, Deron could be looking at a young and potential filled big three form with Wallace and Howard, with role players who will keep progressing even more in Marshon Brooks and Anthony Morrow, and I guess you can even call Kris Humphries an important role player as well, no matter how big an asshole he is.  Brooklyn has its great benefits to playing here if he decides to go back, and may be more beneficial to him and the team than going to Dallas, who in a couple years may be at an unstoppable decline because of age.

Steve Nash
Best Choices:
Toronto: I mention the Raptors first because they were the first ones to strike a proposed deal to Nash yesterday, for 3 years and $36 million.  Nash playing here wouldn't be that bad of a decision, but I don't see the Raptors winning any titles before Nash retires with the lack of star power that they do not have (unless you count Andrea Bargnani, which I don't) and that's Nash's main goal at this stage of his career.  He would make this team rise in standings and record percentage by a good margin, but I don't know if Toronto has the caliber of players that they need yet to even make the playoffs, even with Nash making them all play better.

Dallas: This would also be a good home for Steve Nash, since he is a great point guard as is D-Will, though has had a much greater career and is much older than Williams, turning 39 in February.  Nash along with DIrk Nowitzki may even be more threatening than with Williams, because Nash is such a great passer, arguably the best (10.7 career APG), and can make space for himself and Dirk, who is not a very physical player (actually, he hates contact) and both are deadly from the field and in the paint.  Nash also played here from 1998-2004, so he knows this team well and has played with Dirk before, giving them chemistry and more fluidity on the court and makes this duo more formidable.

Brooklyn: Nash going to Brooklyn may be a longshot, since if D-Will signs back, they both would be at a fight for ball control and the playmaker, but if he does and Williams is willing to move to the 2 spot and can play there consistently, look out. Nash added in with the thought of the big three of Williams, Wallace, and Howard or even without Williams is frightening.  Matching one of the league's best passers with the league's best big man and swing man can be VERY fun to watch for Brooklyn fans, and add D-Will to the mix here and this team starts looking like the Dream Team from back in the day (but not quite that caliber)

New York: Yes, I said it..I had the boldness to mention New York in the mix of the hunt for Steve Nash, mostly because of their huge need for a point guard with Jeremy Lin not giving them good signs about coming back next season and their need for someone to run the plays other than Carmelo Anthony and his "one man team" philosophy.  Here he would have many great role players and defensive presence, and another reason that New York (in my eyes) is a great home for Nash other than fitting in as the point guard they have been looking for is that he would be playing with a dismal Amare Stoudemire again.  Who better to help Amare get out of this slump and revitalize his career than the man who helped him begin it?

Ray Allen
Best Choices:
Miami: The point of the Miami Heat's creation two seasons ago was to make a team around three superstars and surround them with shooters and great role players, such as Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier, to beat every team in the league and get to the top, which they achieved this year after a great year to help them forget the heartbreak against Dallas in last season's finals.  With this in mind, what better of a shooter to pursue in the offseason than the best three point shooter the league has ever seen and the holder of the most three pointers made in history?  If Ray wants another ring in his days before he retires after a legendary season, Miami is one of his best bets to go, but I don't know if his heart is totally set on Miami or not.

Memphis: The Grizzlies are also reported to be pursuing Ray as a new member of their fiery youthful team, centered around the big three of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay, and the addition of Allen would just make their role players and bench even more dangerous to other teams, since the roster already consists of Mike Conley, Tony Allen, and OJ Mayo in the back court, where all of them are deadly shooters (Tony Allen actually played with Ray in Boston for the 2008 title).  The only question for Ray before he decides if he will go to Memphis would be, "Are they ready yet for a real title run?" and "Can they compete with teams like Miami and Oklahoma City over time?"

Boston: Ray's almost home, the team that he has been with since 2008, after a season where most of it was with the Seattle Supersonics, who made one title run during the 1996 season where they lost in the finals, he had never even come close to a title other than that in Seattle, but when they brought him to Boston, he won one with Garnett and Pierce in the first year of the original Big Three.  And now Garnett is returning to the Celtics to most likely finish out his career and with two good picks in the NBA Draft in getting Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo consecutively, does Ray have enough to leave, or is his heart going to be in Boston until he retires?  He may have one last shot at a title run with the big three and these youthful role players that make up the rest of the Celtics, and he may know this.

Roy Hibbert
Best Choices;
Portland: The Trailblazers have offered Roy Hibbert a max deal, 4-yr, $58 million contract and if he agrees, Indiana would have 3 days to match the offer if they want to keep him.  Portland is desperate for a big man down low to be a one-two punch with star LaMarcus Aldridge, since their hopes in Greg Oden turned out to be empty with Oden's trouble with injuries.  If Roy goes to Portland, he would be a dominate force down low with Aldridge, who is 6'10" and Hibbert being 7'3", but the role players in Portland are not what they used to be.  Raymond Felton did not have the most sensational year for the Blazers, and Marcus Camby did not turn out to be the defensive presence down low they expected him to be.  The best role players are Jamal Crawford off the bench and Nicholas Batum, who stepped up very nicely with the loss of Gerald Wallace in the trade to New Jersey (now Brooklyn).  If Hibbert wants titles, he needs to look towards if he has enough talent surrounding him to win one here.

Indiana: Hibbert's home in the NBA since the Pacers traded to get him after the Raptors drafted him 17th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft.  He has grown here as a dominant big man and a great shot blocker and post player, and he has learned to play around this great atmosphere of role players and sharpshooters, including Danny Granger, Darren Collison, George Hill, and has formed almost a big three with David West and Danny Granger.  Last season, the Pacers were third in the Eastern conference standings when the playoffs started, and they made a great run through the playoffs, even turning some heads and doubting Miami and making themselves known after the Game 3 blowout they had over the Heat, though they lost the series in 6, Hibbert led the way for them in this playoff run, and next season they will only grow more from last season.  If Hibbert stays in Indiana, he knows he is already surrounded by a lot of talent and can still be considered one of the best big men in the league and one of the stars on this team.

ORL vs. PHI

SVG and Dwight Howard both have agreed to focus solely on the game and not on anything else brewing up in the locker room.  This contraversy they describe as trying to ignore is most likely a big reason why Dwight Howard played very poorly on defense and struggled shooting, going 4/8 with 8 points and 8 rebounds in the Knicks rout of the Magic 96-80 on Thursday night.  Dwight, SVG and the Orlando Magic now have to take on the task of the Philadelphia 76ers, in Philadelphia, and need to step it up today, especially with the playoffs looming and their recent drop in standings and playing.  The Orlando Magic played the Knicks game in the Amway Center without star power forward Ryan Anderson, who is a huge part of their offense and rebounding game, and had a dismal and embarrassing game out of Dwight Howard as well, who averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds before that performance.  Anderson is questionable yet hopeful for his return tonight against the Sixers, but the Magic must deal with another loss.  Hedo Turkoglu, who was elbowed in the face as Carmelo Anthony came down with a rebound Thursday night, will undergo surgery on a facial fracture and will miss the final three weeks of the season.  This is huge for the Magic, even though Turkoglu has had a sub-par season, averaging only 10.7 PPG and 4.5 APG, much lower than last season or the standout season that he and Howard led the Magic to the NBA Finals, but this also means one of their starters is out, changing their game plan and making a huge impact out on the court, though Glen "Big Baby" Davis is playing superb basketball in place of the injured Anderson and may play much more from that and the new Turkoglu injury.  Not only injury woes, the Magic are not very good at playing against good defensive teams, the most recent was their blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, where they only scored 59 points, and the Sixers are the number one team in defensive points allowed (88.2 PPG).  On the other side of the argument though, the Sixers went from leading the Atlantic division to now being one game behind the Boston Celtics for the division lead, and also have dropped from fourth in standings in the conference to seventh, behind the Magic by 3 1/2 games.  Both teams have something to play for, especially with playoffs looming right around the corner, and I think both teams will step up tonight, and tonight could be a turning point for one or both of these teams.

Prediction: Magic by 4

NYK vs. ORL

Tonight's match up between the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks in the Amway Center in Orlando will be a good one, especially with the fact of Dwight Howard being a game time decision tonight.  These two teams have met twice earlier this season, where in the first meeting in Orlando the Magic came out on top 102-93, behind a career best 30 points out of Ryan Anderson (who is lso listed as questionable for tonight's game) and the other match up being in New York, where the Knicks held the Magic starters to 42 points, 12 for Howard and 3 for Anderson, in a greatly defensively played game by the Knicks, where they came away with the win with no trouble at all, 108-86.  Big problems for both teams?  The Knick are 9-17 on the road, yet they hold onto the 8th spot in the playoffs over the Milwaukee Bucks by one game.  Not only the dismal win percentage on the road, but they also are without stars Amare Stoudemire, out for a bulging disk in his back for a couple more weeks, and Jeremy Lin, who had surgery on a torn meniscus, who is out for the rest of the season and possibly the playoffs as well.  Forward Jared Jeffries is also out for tonight, meaning that J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony will have to work much harder as they have been without those three for the past couple weeks.  Without Lin and Stoudemire, the Knicks are 3-2.  Also, that might give them trouble tonight against the league's best big man in the game, Dwight Howard, leaving Chandler one on one down low without help from Amare or Jeffries tonight.  The Knicks held Dwight to 12 points 5 rebounds last time they played in New York, but they were not a depleted as they are tonight in the Amway Center.  On the other side of the ball, the Magic are on a four game losing streak, trying to avoid their first five game losing streak in five years, and have been without Dwight Howard (back spasms) for the last two, and without point guard Jameer Nelson and Anderson last game against the Detroit Pistons, where they allowed 56 points in the paint, 19.1 more than their average when Dwight was on the court.  The Magic also have more drama stirring up in their management, when earlier today coach Stan van Gundy commented saying Dwight wanted him fired.  Howard defended himself, saying he said nothing and wants no part in the futures of anyone working on the team and that he only wants a ring this season with the organization and that's what he cares about right now.  If Dwight does play tonight, we will see how things stir up between coach and player throughout the course of the game.  Both teams have not played well at points in the season, where the Knicks now are coming off the loss of their coach Mike D'Antoni and with new interim head coach Mike Woodson they began his reign over the team by winning 6 straight games, and now they are trying to bounce back from a disappointing loss to the Indiana Pacers, which they lost a late third quarter 17 point lead to lose 112-104.  The Magic are on a 4 game losing streak, two without Dwight Howard, dropping from the third spot in the East to the fifth, but at times this season have played better ball than any other team, going on a hot streak in which they beat the team with the league's best record, the Chicago Bulls, at home and they also have split the season series with the Miami Heat, winning two games over them, the most recent in which was in overtime, where Howard had 24 points and 26 rebounds, where he announced he would stay with the Magic until the end of the season, signing with them the day after for next season as well.  Tonight's match up will be physical, especially down low between Howard and Chandler if he plays, and both teams are looking to gain momentum heading towards the playoffs in order to make a championship run.

Prediction: 91-89 Knicks

NBA Finals??

The marquee match up of the night and most likely the rest of the season?  Oklahoma City going into Miami for a rematch that is continuing on after the Thunder blew out the Heat by 16 in OKC a couple weeks ago, and Miami set for revenge at home, but could this be the match up we will be seeing in the NBA Finals?  With Kevin Durant leading the way for the Thunder with Russell Westbrook and James Harden behind him, and LeBron James leading the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh behind him, these two teams in the NBA fina;s for a 7 game series is quite a likely case.  Tonight's biggest question about this game is who will play better and who will lead their team to victory, Durant or LeBron?  They are both star players and best in the league and in a pretty much two man race for the MVP title, and they will be matching up against one another, both playing the 3 spot on the court mainly.  In the last two games, Durant has scored more points, dished more assists, and grabbed more rebounds than LeBron and outplayed him by far.  The results?  Oklahoma City won both of those games, last game being an embarrassing blowout for a team who averages 100.7 PPG as a team and only lets in 93.5 PPG on the defensive side, where against the Thunder, who average 103..2 PPG and let in 96.7 PPG, and the final score was OKC 103 Miami 87...Shows a difference between the teams, huh?  One stat not shown here though is that Miami is 22-2 at home, on a 16 game winning streak here in the American Airlines Center, and that might be a tough match for Oklahoma City, though they have only lost 8 games on the road.  Also, though Oklahoma City was streaking, led by Durant to a 6 game winning streak, blowing out teams such as the Clippers, Heat, and Chicago Bulls, the streak was snapped at home by the Memphis Grizzlies, so they are looking to bounce back in Miami after that heartbreaking loss at home.  Going back to the Durant-James match up, James averages 25.2 PPG at home, while Durant averages 27.7 PPG on the road, showing that Durant is no slack on the road, whether it be in Miami or whether it is in Sacramento.  Tonight's match up will be a great game, setting foundations in the playoffs for both teams, and it will be a great game to watch.

Prediction: 95-93 Heat

The chaos of the MVP race

I'm always hearing about, "Who is going to win the MVP race in the NBA?" so I decided to put my own input into the subject at hand.  There are many players in the race for the coveted title, but only one can have it.  In the end, it SHOULD really come down to two people in specific as runaways for contenders (Kevin Durant and LeBron James), and possibly a third and fourth if you think about recent momentum (Kevin Love) or average statistics such as points per game (Kobe Bryant).  Even one player in general that I myself have opinionated in the mix because I enjoy watching him is Dwight Howard, though in reality his chances are very slim to get in because of his own created soap opera he dragged out for over three months on whether or not he wanted to stay in Orlando or whether he wanted to join an up and coming team in the New Jersey Nets.  But I'm dragging off-topic, so let's get back to business shall we?

5. Dwight Howard
There's not really much to talk about with Dwight other than his recent three month changing-every-week decision on staying with Orlando, mainly because he is having a pretty normal year for him, averaging 20.9 PPG, 58% FG, 14.5 RPG, 2.13 BPG, and of course he still has that dismal 49% FT percentage that he has struggled with throughout his career, as many great big men have (Shaq, Ewing, etc.).  He has 42 double-doubles this season, 2nd in the league to Kevin Love, and will most likely be in the running to win a fourth consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award, unless Serge Ibaka's unreal block average (3.4 BPG) and defensive playing puts him out in front if it already hasn't.  Dwight's playing is great, yes, and he leads his team in 4 different categories, being points, rebounds, blocks, and STEALS (yes, their center is leading the team in steals), but he is not playing much better than he normally plays or than he usually has throughout his career other than maybe getting worse (if possible) with his free throws.  The negative side for Dwight is that whole requesting a trade and then being all "wishy-washy" for three months about it and changing his mind every week about whether he wanted to stay or not will most likely hurt him in the run for MVP if he is even considered as a worthy candidate for his play.  Bottom line: don't bet on Dwight Howard winning the MVP award this season, but maybe on another Defensive Player of the Year Award.

4. Kevin Love
This kid was just flat out put on this earth to play basketball.  He originally was drafted 5th overall in the 2008 NBA draft to the Memphis Grizzlies who then traded him to the Minnesota Timber wolves for O.J. Mayo, and has been steadily rising in skill level, beginning to be noticed around the 2010-2011 season when he averaged 15.2 RPG and led the league, to reach at this point the best power forward in the league, and in my eyes is definitely a standout to win the Most Improved Player Award at the end of the season.  He is having the best season of his career by a huge margin this season, averaging 26.5 PPG (tied with LeBron James for 3rd in the NBA), 13.6 RPG (second to Howard), and as a power forward averaging 39% from 3-Point Range.  He is the only player in NBA history, if these numbers stay the same, that would average ~27 PPG and 13 RPG in the same single season.  His numbers that he is putting up are above average by far, and he is gaining momentum as we grow closer to the playoffs, whether his team is in or not, when in the month of March he averaged-ready for this?-31 PPG and 15 RPG...WTF?!  Anyways, the point is he is playing the best basketball at his position and of his career by far, but in the MVP race, it needs to be more than just rebounding and shooting threes, which are his specialties to add along with a great post game as  all big men develop, but it is about being an all-around player.  Derrick Rose did not win the MVP last season by just scoring and shooting threes.  He drove and penetrated, found open teammates, made impossible looking layups, and being the play maker on the court for his team, leading them, along with their defense, to the best record in the NBA.  I don't see Kevin Love leading his team to the playoffs this season, though he did bring them much closer than years past, only 4 1/2 games out of the 8th spot in the conference, but if he is young as is his team, which could potentially be almost as the Oklahoma City Thunder were early on in Durant's career-young, talented, inexperienced-but now that they have a couple years under them and have other key players than just Durant, they are top of the league.  So in my opinion, next year or in years to come, look out for Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timber wolves!

3. Kobe Bryant
First off, I'm not a great big fan of Kobe.  But I do respect him as a player and he is by far one of the greatest of all times.  He shows it this season, at 34 years old, and he is leading the league in scoring, averaging 28.1 PPG and 42% FG.  He has 5 games where he has scored at least 40 points and is keeping the aged Lakers in the drive for another championship opportunity.  His clutch factor is as huge as ever, and his team still gives him of all people the ball just as they have the past 10 years. What does he lack?  He isn't the all around player he used to be, and yes he may have a good chance of winning the MVP race and be the surprise in the voting to come out with the prize.  he has only won the award one time in his illustrious career, but he still could be a very possible factor for the prize if he continues to play this caliber of basketball throughout the rest of the season.

2. LeBron James
Where to begin?  Drafted straight out of high school in 2003, first pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers, led the team for eight seasons, one Finals appearance and a sensational eight years in this league.  In Miami, his game has gotten even better than when he was in Cleveland, having Wade and Bosh as supporting cast to his game.  He this season is having by far the best of his career so far, averaging 26.7 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 6.4 APG, and he is probably the most athletic player in the league.  His one lack he has had throughout his career is his clutch factor, which has been pretty much completely lacking or not there at all.  Other than that, though, this season he could win another MVP title, since to most people it is a two man race to the finish between him and Kevin Durant.  He also knows how to lead his team when they are depleted, averaging 30.7 PPG when Wade does not play and last night, with Wade on the bench with a knee injury, had 41 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, helping his team clinch a playoff spot as a shoe-in for the number 2 seed in the East.  MVP caliber?  I think yes, he is a great all-around player with or without a clutch factor, but he is going to have to push a lot and keep up his sensational play of this season if he wants to fully pull away from a very momentous Kevin Durant.

1. Kevin Durant
My favorite to win the MVP award this season.  In his fourth season in the league, all with the Seattle Super Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, he this season is averaging 27.5 PPG, 2nd in the league, 8.2 RPG, and shooting 50% FG with a 38% 3 Point percentage, along with a clutch factor that sometimes looks as if to rival Kobe's (yes I went there) and he is the centerpiece or ringleader of the big three with Westbrook and Harden in Oklahoma City, leading them to the top team in the West and 2nd best team in the league.  He has a great clutch along with blinding quickness, a phenomenal post game he developed by watching film of Dirk Nowitzki, and always having a size advantage by a few inches over others at his position.  The difference to me for why he deserves the title of MVP over LeBron?  The fact that the one game so far where the Thunder beat the Heat, Durant outplayed James by far, having 28 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists while being played defensively by James, a near triple double, while James had a respectable 17 points and 7 assists, but was outmatched by the young Thunder forward.  Yes, James may be a more all around player and better than Durant in the whole all around game of basketball, but when it comes down to it, the last two games against each other, Durant has outplayed James both times, and his scoring titles as young as he is and his leadership of his team shows why he deserves the MVP award this season, even by a close margin over LeBron James.