danny23

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1736150 Hawks should try this as a one year experiment. They'll get more national press than ever, and they have the players to do it too. They could also pick up a couple of players that suit this style at rock bottom rates -- like Dajuan Wagner.

Orlando should have grabbed him when they had the chance. A Carter for Francis trade was discussed but Orlando backed out. They could have got Carter and kept Mobley or moved him for a big. Nobody expected Carter to play this well...

guys like Ray Allen or Kyle Korver... Kobe must have enjoyed that one.

Don't want to go into it in detail 'cos one thing is clear we agree on -- they're both damned good. I also picked Duncan because I was looking at entire careers, not just last year. Today, its apples and oranges. I picked Duncan over KG (my favourite player in the NBA, by the way) because he does Big Man things better. Its my preference. Thats all.

Good point. I forgot about Wade though he has played almost as much at SG as PG. He does deserve the spot ahead of Bibby.

The best player post made me think of this one. My All NBA First Team for this season: C - Shaquille O'Neal PF - Tim Duncan SF - Kevin Garnett SG - Lebron James PG - Steve Nash Second Team C - Amare Stoudemire PF - Dirk Nowitzki SF - Shawn Marion SG - Ray Allen PG - Mike Bibby No Kobe, No T-Mac, No Yao Ming, No Chris Webber, No Vince Carter. The two teams above would actually play well together and be bloody good.

Hey Cyman, You make some good points but I'll tell you why Duncan is (or was) better than Garnett. I said 'was' because comparing them you have to look at what they've done the past few years. And even last year, Garnett may not have beaten out Duncan for MVP if Duncan had not missed some games to injury. Anyway, here goes: 1. Duncan is the better post player with more reliable moves. Garnett is improving in that area but up to two years ago, he did not have reliable offensive moves and actually deferred to other players at crunch time. At the rate he is improving and with his range and versatility, he could be even better than Duncan soon but not yet, and definitely not in the past. 2. Duncan is the better post defender and shot blocker. Garnett again is more versatile and can defend more positions but Duncan gets the edge down low. 3. Duncan is the smarter player, more mature. Just look at what he's done since he's been in the league. Its hard to believe that Garnett is actually the more experienced player with more years in the league than Duncan. 4. Duncan makes his teammates better. This is largely because his better post moves create more need for a double team than Garnett. This year's MVP race is going to be really tight and I hope the two of the them square off in the West Conf. Finals to settle the issue once and for all. I'll take that series winner over the voted MVP any day, barring injuries to them or their teammates. Cheers, Danny

Duncan is the best player in the league right now. Switch Duncan and Garnett to each other's teams and is there any doubt the Wolves would become favourites over the Spurs? Garnett is the more visible presence but Duncan does all the little things that make Parker and Ginobli more effective than Cassell and Spreewell. The rest of the Wolves' cast is better than SAs too but SA is still the better TEAM. Lebron is getting there but is still a rung below, on par with McGrady and Bryant. Shaq is the hardest guy to rate 'cos he doesn't bring it every night. And that's reason enough for him not to be ranked No 1. He also has the most weakness to go with the most dominant offensive skills -- he can be beaten down the floor, his free throw shooting, his inability to defend the pick and roll etc. So Duncan over Garnett by a hair though Garnett is still improving while Duncan seems to have peaked.

I don't think any one team would take the double risk of both those players getting injured. They are much more likely to end up in different teams. Kidd could land up in Dallas or LA while Mourning could go to Minnesota or any other contender.

If all you need is blocks, Foyle and Gadzuric could be sleepers worth keeping an eye. Both won't get you 10 boards or 10 points but are capable of 3-4 blocks a night and will see more minutes this year. LaFrentz is taken, right?

Grab Haywood for blocks. You can safely drop D. Anderson. He's terrible in fantasy 'cos his FG% is really bad and he doesn't shoot that many 3s. Plus NVE should take some minutes from him this year. Haywood's nos could go up 'cos Etan Thomas is hurt and he's playing for a contract -- that last fact can be very significant... Stromile Swift is in a similar situation and provides plenty of blocks. Minutes are a concern though.

Could you post the Insider article on John Stockton? I'm a big fan of his and really believe he is one dude who doesn't get his due... Can you imagine him on the last Olympic team? Pass first and knocking down open shots -- they'd have come back with gold.

Terry Brown just fell below Chad Ford in my ranking sports writers. This has got to be the stupidest ranking/evaluation I have ever seen.

Ray Allen will re-sign for about 80-85 mil. If its more than that, Seattle will look to guarantee only a portion of the last year of the deal a la Nash and Phoenix. The Celtics should move Payton to the Clippers. That way his family doesn't move, Gary gets to show up the Lakers every home game and the Clippers would have a pretty good PG till Livingston is ready. Jaric and Zhizhi to Boston should get it done, with Jaric providing potential and both with minor contracts. The Kings don't want to trade Peja (smart -- he's great value) which means they could be looking to move Webber. Probably the only team that could pick him would be the Knicks. The only asset they have that anybody is really interested in is Jamal Crawford. Their real talent is absorbing bad contracts -- like Webbers. The way I see it: The Knicks get Webber ($17.5) and ship Crawford ($5.8) and Kurt Thomas ($5.8) to Portland and Jerome Williams ($5.6) to the Kings. The Blazers get Crawford and Thomas from the Knicks and X (approx $3) from Sacramento while sending Rahim ($14.6) to the Kings. The Kings get Rahim and Jerome Williams, lose Webber and would have to throw in a filler to Portland (Songaila?). Why the Knicks do this is obvious. The Blazers may not be thrilled about taking on long contracts but Crawford solves their backcourt problems as he can play both guard positions. Kurt Thomas would be useful backing up both Randolph and Ratliff and adds some toughness. The Kings get some flexibility again while still staying competitive. They could insist on Sweetney coming over from the Knicks too so they aren't left empty-handed if Rahim walks after a year. A pretty far-fetched trade with the number of people and the size of the contracts involved but I think it really makes sense for all teams concerned.