Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Best Free Agent That No One Is Talking About

NBA execs are lining up to throw money at LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. This makes perfect sense but only a few teams are going to be fortunate enough to land these players. Teams with cap room should take a shot at Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Rudy Gay. Gay is a restricted free agent and on the verge of being a NBA superstar. He averaged nearly 20 points per game last season and played well for an up and coming Grizzlies team. If some team made a creative offer to Gay (such as front loading his contract), it would be difficult for the Grizzlies to match. The team that gets Gay would lock up a budding superstar who is still a few years away from reaching his peak as a NBA player.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Lakers Win Another Championship

The Los Angeles Lakers won their second consecutive NBA championship by defeating the Celtics in a grueling seven game series. The championship is the Lakers 5th in the past 10 years. Kobe Bryant has now tied Magic Johnson for the most rings in Lakers history. This Lakers team may be on the verge of being another dynasty.

Kobe Bryant may not be the player he was a year or two ago but he is still in his prime. Andrew Bynum is nowhere near peaking and has the potential to be an NBA All Star. Ron Artest is still playing quality basketball on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Pau Gasol still has another 3 to 4 years of All Star level basketball left in him. The only spot that needs tightening up is the point guard position. Derrick Fisher is still a quality player but is no longer a starting point guard on a championship level team. L.A. needs to add a starter like Raymond Felton to make their entire lineup solid.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Lakers And The Celtics Tied 2-2

This series looks like it is going to come down to tomorrow night's game. L.A. missed a great chance to take a commanding lead Thursday night. Let's not forget the Lakers have done their job by stealing Game 3 in Boston. The Celtics now have to go back to L.A. I love the Lakers chances even if the Celtics can somehow steal Game 5. If you want to know who will win Game 5, look for the following signs early.

1. Lamar Odom - Odom is the barometer for how the Lakers are playing. If he is aggressively forcing the action with his playmaking abilities L.A. will roll. If he is the passive Odom of Games 2 and 4, the Lakers will struggle.

2. Andrew Bynum - The Lakers need a healthy Andrew Bynum. Game 4 showed just how much the Lakers miss Bynum. It was a layup fest. Bynum controls the middle by blocking and altering shots.

3. Paul Pierce - Pierce had an absolutely miserable first 3 games of the series. He got on track in Game 4 and helped the Celtics early. The Lakers need to contain Pierce if they want to steal 2 out of 3 at the Garden.

Prediction: L.A. in 7