Tag: Kevin Durant (Page 11 of 13)

      The NBA’s Top 10 Franchise Players

      April 23, 2009 /

      Every so often, I’ll be sitting at a bar, throwing back a few adult beverages with a buddy or two and I’ll pose the following question:

      If you could have one current NBA player to build your franchise around, with the goal of winning a NBA title in the next five years – who would it be?

      Since the 2009 NBA Playoffs are in their infancy, it seems to be as good of a time as any to kick around this question. My criteria are simple – a franchise player has to be able to carry his team, while being reasonably young and injury-free.

      We’ll count down from #10 to #1. My top nine guys were pretty easy to list, but #10 was a bitch. Maybe you can help me decide. Feel free to provide your own top 10.

      HONORABLE MENTION

      Yao Ming, Rockets (28 years-old)
      I love Yao’s post up game, and he is a skilled passer, but the chances are only 60/40 that he’ll be healthy for any given playoffs and those odds are only going to decrease as time wears on. He’s like Robert Downey, Jr. — he’s great at what he does, but you just don’t know if he’s going to be there when you need him.

      Chauncey Billups, Nuggets (32)
      He seems to be more responsible than ‘Melo for the Nuggets’ great play this season, but he’s 32 years old. Still, his effectiveness depends more on strength, steady play and good shooting than it does his (somewhat limited) athleticism, so he should be able to play into his late thirties.

      Al Jefferson, Timberwolves (24)
      Jefferson is one of the few young, back-to-the-basket post players in the league. He averaged 23/11 on a bad team, which leads me to believe he could post 19/10 on a playoff team, and should only get better with age.

      Amare Stoudemire, Suns (26)
      He’s four years younger than our next guy, but he’s already had two serious injuries in his career so one wonders if this is a trend. He also seems to be a little bit on the selfish side and has a rep for being a bad defensive player.

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      NBA

      How much better off would the Blazers be had they drafted Durant instead of Oden?

      March 12, 2009 /

      No one can fault the job that Portland GM Kevin Pritchard has done so far. In 2005, when he was the Blazers’ interim coach, he reportedly advised then-GM John Nash and Steve Patterson to draft Chris Paul at #3, but the duo instead decided to trade the pick and ended up with Martell Webster at #6. He was promoted to assistant GM in 2006, and was involved in a series of deals that resulted in the acquisition of the draft rights of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. In 2007, he was promoted to general manager. That summer, in addition to drafting Greg Oden, he turned Zach Randolph into a trade exception that he used to steal Rudy Fernandez from the Phoenix Suns.

      Other than an ill-advised threat to sue anyone that tried to sign Darius Miles, it’s tough to second-guess anything that Pritchard has done in Portland.

      But what if he had drafted Kevin Durant instead of Greg Oden? How much better off would the franchise be with Durant on the roster?

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football, NBA, NBA Draft, Rumors & Gossip

      Westbrook pushing Rose for ROY?

      March 5, 2009 /

      Don’t look now, but Russell Westbrook is on fire. He’s still not shooting the ball particularly well (40% on the season), but check out his February averages:

      20.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 5.9 apg and 1.2 spg

      He even had his first triple-double the other night when he posted 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks.

      Here are Rose’s February numbers:

      15.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.8 apg and 0.9 spg

      Rose is shooting 47% on the season, so he’s a much more efficient scorer.

      Still, Rose jumped out to a quick start this season in the ROY race, so it’s interesting to see someone close the gap. I suspect Thunder fans are feeling pretty good about the possibility of having two straight ROY winners. That’s a good way to build a franchise.

      Westbrook needs to work on his jumper, but other than that, he looks like the real deal.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      What kind of rookie season is Michael Beasley having?

      February 24, 2009 /

      One thing that struck me about Bill Simmons’ trade value column was his unabashed hatred for Michael Beasley’s game. He made three separate references to the rookie:

      Jason Thompson: I mocked him on draft day and he shoved it in my face like a cream pie. Top-notch energy guy, good defender, lots to like. You know, if Michael Beasley wasn’t such a colossal disappointment and semi-fraud, the 2008 draft could have ranked among the best ever (and certainly superior to the more ballyhooed ’07 class).

      Colossal disappointment? Semi-fraud? Ouch.

      Jeff Green: Great teammate, tough as nails, gives a crap, does whatever you need. He’s the anti-Beasley.

      So Simmons is saying that Beasley is not a good teammate, isn’t tough, doesn’t give a crap and won’t do whatever you need? Ouch.

      You have to love a country where Love’s best rookie card (Upper Deck’s ’09 SPX set, the signed autographed jersey card) goes for one-eighth the money of Beasley’s card … and yet, Miami could offer Beasley for Love right now and Minnesota would make a face and hang up. Whatever.

      Ouch.

      All right, so how is Beasley faring this season? Here are his numbers:

      24.2 mpg, 13.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, 45% FG%, 39% 3PT

      All of that combines for a PER of 15.34, which is #36 amongst power fowards. Not great, but since 15.00 is average, at least he’s above average.

      Simmons looooooooooves Durant, and for good reason. The guy is playing great in his second season. But how did he fare in his rookie season?

      34.6 mpg, 20.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 43% FG%, 29% 3PT

      Hmm. That adds up to a PER of 15.87.

      All right, so I think it’s fairly clear that statistically speaking, Beasley’s rookie year, on a per-minute basis, is comparable with Durant’s. It’s unfair to write him off as a “colossal disappointment” — he still projects to be a very good player. Had he been thrown to the wolves (like Durant was) and allowed to take 17.1 shots per game (instead of his current average of 11.6), I really think Beasley would be able to score 20+ a game too.

      Since he can’t be speaking in quantitative terms, Simmons hatred must be qualitative. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen enough of Beasley in the NBA to say that he isn’t tough, is a poor teammate and doesn’t care. Are there any Heat fans out there who want to chime in about how they feel about their rookie right now?

      Humor, NBA, NBA Draft

      Tyson Chandler headed to Oklahoma City?

      February 17, 2009 /

      The answer is yes, according to Marc Stein’s sources.

      Sources with knowledge of the trade parameters told ESPN.com that the deal was approved by the league office Tuesday afternoon, with the Hornets receiving forwards Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox in exchange for their best interior defender.

      ESPN.com reported early Monday that the Hornets — who have been looking to move Chandler mostly for financial reasons — were in talks with the Thunder on a trade that would net the expiring contracts of Smith and Wilcox. Thunder general manager Sam Presti is a long-time admirer of Chandler dating to his time with the San Antonio Spurs.

      The Thunder also possess numerous draft picks to sweeten trade packages — including five first-round picks in the next two drafts — but Presti was able to land an accomplished center to complement his promising young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green without surrendering any major draft considerations.

      With a payroll at nearly $67 million this season and scheduled to reach almost $77 million next season, New Orleans felt it had to part with Chandler before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline regardless, even though dealing away the 26-year-old almost certainly takes the Hornets out of serious playoff contention in the West.

      “…even though dealing away the 26-year-old almost certainly takes the Hornets out of serious playoff contention in the West.”

      This is the first time that I can remember (though I’m sure there have been other cases) that a serious title contender traded away one of its best players for financial reasons. The Hornets are on the hook for almost $77 million next season and they needed to cut salary to stay under the luxury tax threshold. In the process, they are sacrificing a legitimate shot at an NBA championship. This move just goes to show how the bad economy is having a direct effect on NBA personnel decisions.

      The Hornets do get Chris Wilcox as part of this deal, and he is having an off year after having three very productive seasons. There’s a chance — albeit a slim one — that the Hornets could still keep their darkhorse status headed into the playoffs if Wilcox gets back to his 14-point/8-rebound days. He isn’t in the same league as Chandler on the defensive end of the court.

      I like this trade for the Thunder. They’re getting one of the league’s best defensive centers at a fairly reasonable price. Along with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, the Thunder have a nice core to build around.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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