Divacs to Lakers, COOOOL!!

[Cheesebeef]

Yes it is because being 6'8 at SG means he can become a threat in the post and play multiple positions something that Wade won't be able to add to his game.
Wade at 6'4 is limited to less and has to worry about other SGs posting him up.

I can see where that's really hurt Iverson or guys Like Joe D over the course of his career. Besides - you make it sound like Wade is gonna be playing SG and can play NOTHING else - the guy has PG skills as well Slin and you know it.

And maybe JJ can become a threat in the post, but we sure as hell haven't seen anything like that. And as far as mutliple positions - please don't tell me that JJ can run the point for a successful team - that's a fallacy perpetuated by Frank Johnson and the people on this board.

 

[Cheesebeef]

And Barbosa was a 21yr old, foreign rookie PG who couldn't speak and hardly understand english.

How come Butler still posted sorry statistics in the playoffs if his numbers were only down cause of injuries? It's funny Amare's numbers certainly were not down because he missed some games. It is not like Butler played games on one leg that caused his stats to drop.

38% shooting in the season and 38.6% in the playoffs....

Jeez - now you're comparing Butler to Amare? What the hell does that have to do with anything? Obviously Butler ain't half the player Amare is or ever will be - but nice way to throw a red herring in there. I mean - when he got back and was fully healthy that team had already gotten into it's groove - can't you see how it would be difficult for him to get back in the swing under those circumstances?

And should we just completely throw out that as a rookie he average double what Barbosa did? Funny you don't mention that - it would kill your argument - or lack thereof.

 

[Cheesebeef]

It's not a problem for me as there are only a handful of franchise players out there, e.g., Shaq, Kobe, Garnett and Duncan.

The Lakers having Kobe surrounded by some talent of course makes them a force in the West. Perhaps they will be better than the Suns but the primary reason will be Kobe. We'll see how high or low Kobe will fly this season as the only franchise player on the Laker team.

But the Lakers no longer have the big bad wolf... Shaq.

Certainly I'm not questioning anyone's loyalty. I was just giving you my take on how the thread was unfolding. Peace.

sorry if I took it wrong. It will be interesting to see just how great or not great Kobe will be without the Daddy in the middle. Everything about this season is gonna be wild IMO - I've never seen SOOO much activity with talent going across time zones in my life.

 

[sly fly]

Comparing Wade and JJ is like comparing...

... Angelina Jolie and Laetitia Costa.

I wouldn't turn either of them away.

 

[Yuma]

I for one thought the Lakers had a shot at the playoffs, BEFORE getting Vlade. Now I think they have a better shot and Sac Town has a worse shot. In essence, parity is starting to loom large in the Western Conference. The Mavs got worse so far, imo. I think San Antonio is the new bad boy on the block. I also think Houston got a lot better. They passed off two guys who could score but also didn't defend. They lost a power forward who wasn't dominant, but was a hustle guy for them. In return they got one of the premier players in the league to match up with Yao.

Where do I think the Suns are? They are going to lose Q. That being said, we will be forced to bolster our squad with one to two big men, like we should have done anyway. I love that we didn't trade our parts away. We may not make the playoffs this year, but the upside on this team is better than the aging Sac Town, Lakers, or even the oddly assembled Mavs. The present may be San Antonio. However, the Suns could be the future in the Western Conference.

 

[George O'Brien]

This seems pretty heated for no particular reason.

Will the Lakers be any good this season? I think they will have good chance of making the playoffs.

Will the Lakers be a threat to win the championship? Not really.

Will the Suns be any good? Yes

How good? I don't know. Ask me after the summer is over and I know who's on the team.

 

[Joe Mama]

Here are my thoughts on many of these issues...

Lamar Odom is a better player than Shawn Marion. Before last season this was debatable. Last season there was no question.

Caron Butler and Barbosa are completely different players. I don't think you can compare them although most objective fans would probably say that Butler is a more valuable player off the bench. If the Clippers match on Richardson I think the Lakers have better bench.

The way it looks right now I would say the Lakers are a better team than the Phoenix Suns going into next season. However it would not surprise me if the Phoenix Suns look very good. This is regardless of whether the Clippers match on Richardson's offer.

Divac going to the Lakers can't possibly be a good thing. Without him the Lakers are a borderline playoff team. With him they are an almost certain lock, even if they don't have very good shot blocking frontcourt.

Joe Mama

 

[HookemCards]

I for one thought the Lakers had a shot at the playoffs, BEFORE getting Vlade. Now I think they have a better shot and Sac Town has a worse shot. In essence, parity is starting to loom large in the Western Conference. The Mavs got worse so far, imo. I think San Antonio is the new bad boy on the block. I also think Houston got a lot better. They passed off two guys who could score but also didn't defend. They lost a power forward who wasn't dominant, but was a hustle guy for them. In return they got one of the premier players in the league to match up with Yao.

Where do I think the Suns are? They are going to lose Q. That being said, we will be forced to bolster our squad with one to two big men, like we should have done anyway. I love that we didn't trade our parts away. We may not make the playoffs this year, but the upside on this team is better than the aging Sac Town, Lakers, or even the oddly assembled Mavs. The present may be San Antonio. However, the Suns could be the future in the Western Conference.

I actually think the Nuggets will be good in a few years. I also think that the Spurs may have a longer run that you think. Ginobli, Parker, Duncan and Nesterovic are all fairly young. Minnesota will probably be a very good to great team for the next year or so, but Cassell can't play forever.