NBA Draft

Wow! That pretty much sums up how I felt about this draft.

Heat front office, THANK YOU! I can't think of any (realistic) outcome that I could have possibly preferred more. We got (in my opinion) the best player in the draft (and he can play either forward position) and a the perfect PG (and a guy who most thought should go in the first round) to play next to Dwyane Wade. And we started off with the #2 and #52 picks. This leaves me incredibly excited about the Heat's future, starting with this upcoming season. I truly believe we can win it all. And don't be surprised to see us make some more moves, probably great ones.

Anyways, I'll say more later, but I've got to go for now.

Peace

Sports Video of the Week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88zWUKEHx0w

Just incredible. Another great video set to great music.

Sports Video of the Week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otl9BQdjzo4

Unbelievable. Best hit I've ever seen.

R.I.P. Sean Taylor

Well, that's it

131-92

Talk about anticlimactic.

After such an exciting regular season in the Western Conference, the playoffs left me wanting more. It kind of says something when the best playoff game was the first Suns-Spurs game in the opening round. Although there were a couple of close Finals games, none of them seemed to really come down to the wire. If my memory is correct, you could tell with about 95% certainty who was going to win each game with 20 seconds to go. In the Finals, I don't like that. I want at least 1 or 2 games to be decided on last second shots (make or miss).

Oh well. At least the Heat have the number 2 pick in the draft. There is no reason this team shouldn't be a contender next season. I see a lot of people on Miami Heat message boards saying things like, "With Beasley, we should be able to get the 7 or 8 seed next year."

What???!!! First of all, we don't know for sure that the Heat will get Beasley, although it looks pretty likely. And second of all, the 7 or 8 seed? Seriously? I think Miami will be legitimate championship contenders. Yes, I know Miami only won 15 games this year. But look at the 2005-06 roster, when we won it all. Can you honestly tell me that team was MUCH better than the Heat should be this year? Look at it this way, the Heat are probably going to have either a potentially (depending on how Beasley turns out) incredible trio (something like Wade-Marion-Beasley or Wade-Marion-Brand) or a ridiculous duo, which would mean Marion AND Beasley were traded for someone. Based on star power alone, this Heat squad should be superior to the won that won it all. Now, I do think it's unlikely that we'll have as good role players as we had then, but, in the NBA, it all starts with superstars. As long as the Heat stay healthy, I'd be very disappointed with anything but another championship.

Trade Ideas

With the NBA Offseason approaching, I thought I'd head to ESPN's Trade Machine and try out some summer deals. None of these involve my favorite NBA team (the Miami Heat), but they're interesting, nonetheless.


Trade #1:

Here's a crazy trade idea (and, yes, I know this isn't going to happen, but I think it's actually fair):


New York gives: Zach Randolph, Wilson Chandler, Malik Rose, Mardy Collins, David Lee, #6 Pick
New York gets: Carmelo Anthony, Ben Wallace

Cleveland gives: Ben Wallace, 2009 First Round Pick (Lottery Protected)
Cleveland gets: Zach Randolph

Denver gives: Carmelo Anthony, Linas Kleiza
Denver gets: Mike Miller, David Lee, #6 Pick, #28 Pick, 2009 First Round Pick (Cleveland; Lottery Protected)

Memphis gives: Mike Miller, #28 Pick
Memphis gets: Wilson Chandler, Malik Rose, Mardy Collins, Linas Kleiza

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=3194~2997~2772~1017~739~885~1975~2770~558&teams=29~29~7~5~29~18~18~29~7&te=&cash=

That is followed up by this:

Denver gives: Marcus Camby, #20 Pick
Denver gets: T.J. Ford, Jorge Garbajosa, #17 Pick

Toronto gives: T.J. Ford, Jorge Garbajosa, #17 Pick
Toronto gets: Marcus Camby, #20 Pick

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=1979~3049~125&teams=7~7~28&te=&cash=

Here are possible lineups for every team involved:

New York:
Stephon Marbury/Nate Robinson/Anthony Carter/Earl Boykins
Jamal Crawford/Quentin Richardson
Carmelo Anthony/Renaldo Balkman/Jared Jeffries
Ben Wallace/Eduardo Najera/Austin Croshere
Eddy Curry/Randolph Morris/Jerome James

Cleveland:
Delonte West/Daniel Gibson/Damon Jones/Eric Snow
Wally Szczerbiak/Bonzi Wells/Sasha Pavlovic
LeBron James/Devin Brown
Zach Randolph/Anderson Varejao/Joe Smith
Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Kosta Koufos/Dwayne Jones

Denver:
T.J. Ford/Chucky Atkins/Taurean Green
Allen Iverson/J.R. Smith
Mike Miller/Danilo Gallinari/Bill Walker
Kenyon Martin/David Lee/Nene/Jorge Garbajosa
Marreese Speights/Kwame Brown/Steven Hunter

Memphis:
Mike Conley/Kyle Lowry/Javaris Crittenton
Juan Carlos Navarro/Eddie House/Mardy Collins
Rudy Gay/Linas Kleiza/Wilson Chandler/Malik Rose
Kevin Love/Hakim Warrick/Brian Cardinal
Darko Milicic/Jason Collins

Toronto:
Jose Calderon/Chris Duhon/Mario Chalmers
Anthony Parker/Carlos Delfino/Shannon Brown
Jamario Moon/Jason Kapono/Joey Graham
Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani/Maceo Baston
Marcus Camby/Rasho Nesterovic/Primoz Brezec

Thoughts?



Trade #2:

Bulls give: Kirk Hinrich, Thabo Sefolosha
Bulls get: Cuttino Mobley, #7 Draft Pick

Grizzlies give: #28 Draft Pick
Grizzlies get: Thabo Sefolosha

Clippers give: Cuttino Mobley, Josh Powell, #7 Draft Pick
Clippers get: Kirk Hinrich, #28 Draft Pick, #38 Draft Pick

Bobcats give: #38 Draft Pick
Bobcats get: Josh Powell

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=1981~3028~566~2197&teams=12~29~4~30&te=&cash=

The Clippers (trying to contend) follow that up by a sign-and-trade of Corey Maggette, Tim Thomas, and the #38 Draft Pick to the Bucks for Michael Redd.

The Grizzlies and Bobcats lineups should be pretty easy to figure out, but here's how the Bulls, Clippers, and Bucks might look after this trade (and the draft and free agency):

Bulls:
Derrick Rose/Chris Duhon
Larry Hughes/Ben Gordon/Cuttino Mobley
Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni/Matt Barnes
Drew Gooden/Tyrus Thomas/D.J. White/Cedric Simmons
Joakim Noah/Brook Lopez/Aaron Gray

Clippers:
Kirk Hinrich/Brevin Knight/Shaun Livingston
Michael Redd/Gary Forbes/Bobby Jones
Al Thornton/Bill Walker/Ira Newble/Casey Jacobsen
Elton Brand/Eduardo Najera
Chris Kaman/Nick Fazekas/Paul Davis

Bucks:
Mo Williams/Ramon Sessions/Royal Ivey
Eric Gordon/Charlie Bell/Courtney Lee
Corey Maggette/Desmond Mason/Bobby Simmons
Charlie Villanueva/Yi Jianlian/Tim Thomas
Andrew Bogut/Dan Gadzuric/Omer Asik

The Bucks might trade one of their PFs before the trade deadline.

Thoughts?



Trade #3:

People have been talking for awhile about how LeBron needs a better number 2 option. Michael Redd seems to be the most popular name out there, but here's another idea:

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=362~406~1979~3049~2010&teams=28~28~5~5~5&te=&cash=

Cleveland trades: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Damon Jones
Cleveland receives: Jorge Garbajosa, Jason Kapono, T.J. Ford

Toronto trades: Jorge Garbajosa, Jason Kapono, T.J. Ford
Toronto receives: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Damon Jones

Picks can be added to the deal, if need be.

Why Cleveland does it: They don't acquire a great #2 scorer, but they do get a good, young point guard. Ford can definitely give double digit points and about seven assists, which would be huge for this Cavs team. He gives the defense another player to worry about, and he can take some of the ball-handling pressure off of LeBron, who can now focus more on moving without the ball.
Yes, LeBron would still bring the ball up the floor a lot, especially at the end of games, but not nearly as much as he does now, where Cleveland's offense is basically "Watch LeBron."

Kapono doesn't have a great contract, but he is certainly one of (if not the best) the best three-point shooters in the league, which would be huge for Cleveland. When LeBron penetrates, the defense would either have to sag off Kapono (which most likely means a 3), or provide less help on LeBron (which probably means a layup or a foul).

Garbajosa can give some minutes at PF.

Cleveland's lineup might look something like this (after the draft and free agency):

T.J. Ford/Delonte West/Daniel Gibson/Eric Snow
Wally Szczerbiak/Bonzi Wells/Sasha Pavlovic
LeBron James/Jason Kapono
Anderson Varejao/Joe Smith/Jorge Garbajosa
Ben Wallace/JaVale McGee/Dwayne Jones

They could then trade one of their PGs, if need be.



Why Toronto does it: They gain a quality starting center without even giving up a starter (you could argue Ford over Calderon, but most would say that Calderon is slightly better).

Yes, Ilgauskas is getting older, but he's still got a few more mores of good production. In the East, he's still one of the top centers. He would give Toronto one of the best front lines in the NBA. Not many teams would have the depth to guard both Bosh and Ilgauskas, and, even without Kapono, the Raptors would still have some good 3-point shooters to turn to when the defense focuses on the paint.

Additionally, while Ford is a good player, it's clear that he could use a change of scenery, and the Raptors' point guard controversy would be solved.

Damon Jones can play the point in stretches, and he's still a good shooter.

Their lineup might look like this:

Jose Calderon/Chris Duhon/Damon Jones
Anthony Parker/Carlos Delfino/Brandon Rush
Jamario Moon/Joey Graham
Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani/Kris Humphries/Maceo Baston
Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Rasho Nesterovic/Primoz Brezec






I'll think of some more trades later.

Fantasy Answers

I'm not sure yet whether I'll make a separate post for each question, or if I'll put them all here, but I'll figure that out later. For now, I'll answer the first question:



65mustangs: I've been riding Alexi Ramirez but the Sox benched him for Uribe 2 nights in row. I can pick up Polanco for average and he is hot. Does anyone think Johnson or Kaz will be better over the long haul. I like Kaz but he seems awfuly streaky.

Good question. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to give you that ever-so-common answer: It all depends on the rest of your team.

Assuming your team is average in every category, I'd give the edge to Kazuo Matsui. He's owned in just about every league, and rightfully so. While he's not going to give you much in the HR/RBI departments, he'll score some runs, probably raise your team's batting average, and definitely will improve your team's stolen bases.

Polanco will probably give you a better average, but not by much. Their other stats will be fairly similar, with the exception of steals, in which Matsui will be a huge help.

Unless your team is dead last in average, I'd probably pick up Kaz.




finsandcanes: B.J. Upton or Grady Sizemore?

Surprisingly, I'm going to go with Upton.

Most rankings (such as Yahoo! and ESPN) have Sizemore slightly ahead of Upton (if I recall correctly). This is understandable, as Sizemore is one of the best HR/SB combos in the league.

Now, let's compare their 5x5 stats.

Sizemore has 1 more run and 1 more RBI. Very even there. His big edge has been HRs, of which he's hit 11 more than Upton thus far. That's a big difference.

Upton has 5 more steals and is batting 27 points higher.

Based solely off of this, most would say Sizemore is the better choice. But Upton hit 24 HRs last season (the same amount of Sizemore) and his hit a couple in the past few days. His power should soon return. Additionally, his batting averages this season and last season are both higher than Sizemore's career high. In fact, last year, Upton led in 2 categories, Sizemore led in 2, and they tied 1. But Sizemore had many more at-bats.

From here on out (meaning the rest of the season), I would slightly favor Upton. However, that really just depends on what you need. I expect runs and RBI to be about even, Upton to steal a few more bases and bat for a better average, and Sizemore to hit about 8 more home runs than Upton. If they were both only eligible at OF, I'd say they were exactly even, maybe even give Sizemore a tiny lead.

Upton is eligible at 2B, as well as OF, however so I'd give him an ever so slight edge over Sizemore (unless you're looking for HRs).

Fantasy Help

I may not be an expert, but I usually do pretty well when it comes to fantasy sports, so I'd like to offer some assistance to anyone in need of fantasy advice. Please only ask about fantasy baseball, basketball, and/or football, because I haven't participated in any other fantasy sports leagues.

Simply leave a comment, and I'll be sure to respond ASAP!