OT: For those who don't watch the NBA, as well as those who do..

[LennX6]

Do you think Adam Silver wakes up in a cold sweat at night thinking about a Memphis/Toronto Finals?

For people who appreciate great basketball it would be a terrific series, but a TV ratings apocalypse.

I live for OKc/Cleveland, Memphis/Toronto even Sacramento/Milwaukee. That was what the NBA was built on : Rochester/Providence, Ft. Wayne/Syracuse. I hate NY-LA series.

 

[Alsacs]

You could argue Millsap/Teague as well from the Hawks.

Chris Bosh is absolutely an all-star this year. Wade likely as well. Carmelo will also be on the team. Records aside, I could also make arguments for guys like Al Jefferson/ Nikola Vucevic.

The West will be much more challenging as the guard talent is insane.

Bosh will likely make it and I am sure the fans will elect Melo and Wade. Teague is having a good year so maybe he gets on the team. The East is just not the same quality as the West which is why I would love to see the Lebron/Durant drafting teams idea.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I live for OKc/Cleveland, Memphis/Toronto even Sacramento/Milwaukee. That was what the NBA was built on : Rochester/Providence, Ft. Wayne/Syracuse. I hate NY-LA series.

Memphis Toronto would be excellent. Defense would be very solid with a bunch of underrated NBA players.

 

[LennX6]

I can't see Danny just giving Green away. The Celtics have a 12.9 million dollar trade exemption now. They will flip Green/Wright and will likely try to trade one of them and if they package it correctly I can't see a team that is a contender not giving up a pick in the 20's.

The Celtics have so many future picks it is hilarious.
Boston has Philly's 2015 2nd round pick(going to be 31st from last yr's Joel Anthony trade),
Los Angeles Clippers 2015 unprotected 1st round pick(Doc Rivers trade),
Dallas 2015 1st round pick(protected 1-3, 15-30) or 2016 Dallas first round pick(protected 1-7), or unprotected in 2017.
Brooklyn's 2016 first round pick unprotected(Thanks Billy King)
Cleveland's 2016 first round pick which is top 10 protected thru 2018 and unprotected in 2019.
Boston can flip first round spots with Brooklyn in 2017.
Brooklyn's 2018 first round pick unprotected.

What we learned Billy King is really a moron and got fleeced by Danny Ainge as all of Brooklyn's bad contracts are thru 2018.

Boston is back on top in 2018 based on this.

 

[LennX6]

Memphis Toronto would be excellent. Defense would be very solid with a bunch of underrated NBA players.

Toronto is playing well even without arguably their best player, DeRozan being out. I still think Cleveland will be there at the end. They seem to be following the same growing pains timeline Miami did when they got Lebron. Think is though, Cleveland has more pure talent than that Miami team. That team was the 3 Amigos and a bunch of cubs.

 

[Alsacs]

Honestly looking at the West the Clippers are the worst of the big 8 IMO. I like Memphis, Golden State, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Portland, Oklahoma City(healthy now) more than LA Clippers. That Boston pick could be in the early 20s.

 

[LennX6]

the competition among the top 20 or so teams is outstanding. the rivalries are not the same ones that old timers talk about - Lakers/Celtics are both down, Knicks/Sixers are both down - but there are new rivalries all the time. The Texas Trio, plus OKC, is probably the greatest regional rivalry with the biggest collection of talent ever: Durant, Westbrook, Nowitzki, Harden, Duncan . . .

If Boston / LA are good there are a lot of rivalries. Gotta have a villian for a rivalry. I breathed hockey in the 70's. When Montreal got "average", not so much. Football to me wasn't nearly as intense when Dallas is in a soft period. That is why the ACC is palatable for me, when others really miss the BE. To me, prior to joining Duke and NC were public enemies 1 and 1a. UConn and GTown 1b a d 1c. So to me we traded one set of enemies for another.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Bosh will likely make it and I am sure the fans will elect Melo and Wade. Teague is having a good year so maybe he gets on the team. The East is just not the same quality as the West which is why I would love to see the Lebron/Durant drafting teams idea.

The west will be crazy.

How can any of these guards not make it?
Curry
Thompson
Conley
Paul
Lillard
Harden
Westbrook
Ellis


Also, Jimmy Butler from the Bulls is having an all-star type season.

 

[moqui]

Toronto is playing well even without arguably their best player, DeRozan being out. I still think Cleveland will be there at the end. They seem to be following the same growing pains timeline Miami did when they got Lebron. Think is though, Cleveland has more pure talent than that Miami team. That team was the 3 Amigos and a bunch of cubs.

but they don't defend like Miami did, not even close, and Lebron is still a luxury vehicle but he has a lot of miles on him this time around, and it shows

 

[NineOneSeven]

Toronto is playing well even without arguably their best player, DeRozan being out. I still think Cleveland will be there at the end. They seem to be following the same growing pains timeline Miami did when they got Lebron. Think is though, Cleveland has more pure talent than that Miami team. That team was the 3 Amigos and a bunch of cubs.

Cleveland will finish at least top 2, imo.

 

[LennX6]

The west will be crazy.

How can any of these guards not make it?
Curry
Thompson
Conley
Paul
Lillard
Harden
Westbrook
Ellis


Also, Jimmy Butler from the Bulls is having an all-star type season.

That is a crazy talented list. Note on Curry, he seems to never have an off night, At least when I am looking.
Butler at least is in the East, but he is playing fantastic. Would he be this good if Rose was not injured last year. Just saying?

 

[Alsacs]

The west will be crazy.

How can any of these guards not make it?
Curry
Thompson
Conley
Paul
Lillard
Harden
Westbrook
Ellis


Also, Jimmy Butler from the Bulls is having an all-star type season.

Hopefully the coaches vote for Harden as a SF or somebody has to get snubbed I would keep Westbrook out.

 

[Full_Rebar]

The Celtics have to pray that the Nets collapse or else they have a bunch of picks outside of the lottery, which aren't like the NFL where you can package multiple picks and move up spots. It's a gamble, but Ainge should have started tanking earlier to make sure the Celtics stayed in the lottery.

As far as Rondo goes, he only seemed to play in big games so it's worth the risk for Dallas, but the fact that most of the good teams have PG's left the market thin.

 

[Melancer46]

Anyone else think all-star rosters should be 15 instead of 12?

Personally, I think 15 is perfect. A lot of these guys don't care how much they play, if at all, in these games, so more players on a roster has little impact.

There are (at least) 15 deserving players in each conference, whether it be due to individual talent/stats or contribution to overall team record.

In the West, 15 would be perfect, but in the East, you're starting to get down to guys like Joe Johnson last year or Jeff Green and Brandon Knight this year.

 

[LennX6]

The west will be crazy.

How can any of these guards not make it?
Curry
Thompson
Conley
Paul
Lillard
Harden
Westbrook
Ellis


Also, Jimmy Butler from the Bulls is having an all-star type season.

And interesting to look at the pedigree of these guys,
Davidson. Wazzou, Ohio St, Wake, Weber St, Arizona St, UCLA, and Ellis skipped college I believe
Outside of UCLA and Ohio St (with disclaimers) there are no powerhouse team sending these guys.
Either the NBA is a different game (which it is) or the Recruiting/Rating systems is more bust than on.