A couple of thoughts on the new Chad Ford article

[Admin]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...radeTalk-081015

First this:

A fired-up Joe Dumars promised to make some moves in Detroit after the Pistons lost in the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight year. But, so far, Dumars has found that his collection of team-oriented players can't bring him back the impact player he hungers for (e.g., a young star like Carmelo Anthony).

Why is it that the paragraph doesn't end with a snide remark like (e.g., a young star like Carmelo Anthony ~ the player the team passed on in the draft to take Darko Milicic)? Surely if there was a bit about the Hawks wanting an impact player it would say something about us passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams, don't you think?

Second:

The Blazers head into the next summer with the potential to have major cap space, with seven players hitting the free-agent market. But there's a catch.

First, Darius Miles, with Boston this preseason, could mess up Portland's plan. If he plays in 10 games this season, his $9 million salary goes right back on the Blazers' books.

That's something to think about for those that would prefer for Speedy to retire because it would seem that if he does retire and we get his salary off the books he could look to come back later down the line and we'd be on the hook for his salary, much like Portland might be. It seems to me that we are probably better off just getting it out of the way now.

[capstone21]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...radeTalk-081015

First this:

Why is it that the paragraph doesn't end with a snide remark like (e.g., a young star like Carmelo Anthony ~ the player the team passed on in the draft to take Darko Milicic)? Surely if there was a bit about the Hawks wanting an impact player it would say something about us passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams, don't you think?

Second:

That's something to think about for those that would prefer for Speedy to retire because it would seem that if he does retire and we get his salary off the books he could look to come back later down the line and we'd be on the hook for his salary, much like Portland might be. It seems to me that we are probably better off just getting it out of the way now.

They passed on Anthony, Wade and Bosh...for Darko (plus a bunch of other talented players in that draft). Its because Ford hates the Hawks. Hates them.

I still think Speedy will play this year (and its a nice option for us to have). He is supposed to be ready to go next week.

[Packfill]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...radeTalk-081015

First this:

Why is it that the paragraph doesn't end with a snide remark like (e.g., a young star like Carmelo Anthony ~ the player the team passed on in the draft to take Darko Milicic)? Surely if there was a bit about the Hawks wanting an impact player it would say something about us passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams, don't you think?

Second:

That's something to think about for those that would prefer for Speedy to retire because it would seem that if he does retire and we get his salary off the books he could look to come back later down the line and we'd be on the hook for his salary, much like Portland might be. It seems to me that we are probably better off just getting it out of the way now.

It may have something to do with the fact that the Pistons have (a) actually won an NBA title recently despite the obvious draft blunder and (b) remained one of the top teams in the east despite the draft blunder.

[thesheedera]

It may have something to do with the fact that the Pistons have (a) actually won an NBA title recently despite the obvious draft blunder and (b) remained one of the top teams in the east despite the draft blunder.

It's called respect. They've earned it, over and over and over again.

Our franchise keeps giving people reasons to NOT respect it.

[DrReality]

Speedy will probably play in 11 games this year?????

[Admin]

They passed on Anthony, Wade and Bosh...for Darko (plus a bunch of other talented players in that draft). Its because Ford hates the Hawks. Hates them.

That's the way that I see it as well. I guarantee that even when we win the championship he'll still give us crap about passing on Paul and Deron. Even if Acie were to somehow become as good or better than either of those guys, we'd still catch hell.

I still think Speedy will play this year (and its a nice option for us to have). He is supposed to be ready to go next week.

Let's hope so. He can make us a much more well rounded team and would give us a capable defender at the PG spot when we need it.

[Vol4ever]

It's called respect. They've earned it, over and over and over again.

Our franchise keeps giving people reasons to NOT respect it.

Amen. You hit the nail on the head!!!

[macdaddy]

I agree. respect or not Dumars deserves some criticism not for the draft blunder but for arrongantly annoucing that he'd shake up the team (plus saying he was only interested in other teams best players) and then failing to be able to do anything.

[AHF]

You guys are missing out on something else here. Ford likes to call Knight an idiot for passing on Paul and atleast can argue that while he said Marvin Williams was the best player in the draft that he also said Atlanta needed a PG.

In constrast, Ford was Darko's biggest supporter. He argued that you could credibly take Darko over Lebron James. If he treats Dumars like Knight and implies he is a moron for passing on Bosh, Carmelo, Wade, etc. then he is also calling himself an idiot because he was right there with Dumars.

- - - -

Dolfan - when you say we are better off getting Speedy's salary out of the way, what does that mean?

[Cwell]

You guys are missing out on something else here. Ford likes to call Knight an idiot for passing on Paul and atleast can argue that while he said Marvin Williams was the best player in the draft that he also said Atlanta needed a PG.

In constrast, Ford was Darko's biggest supporter. He argued that you could credibly take Darko over Lebron James. If he treats Dumars like Knight and implies he is a moron for passing on Bosh, Carmelo, Wade, etc. then he is also calling himself an idiot because he was right there with Dumars.

- - - -

Dolfan - when you say we are better off getting Speedy's salary out of the way, what does that mean?

he's saying we're better off letting him sit on the bench the next two years hurt and get him off the books than for him to retire,come back to another team and play 10 games and put his cap hit back on the books,like Miles might do to Portland.

[Admin]

he's saying we're better off letting him sit on the bench the next two years hurt and get him off the books than for him to retire,come back to another team and play 10 games and put his cap hit back on the books,like Miles might do to Portland.

Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. I could see him costing us a valuable player in the future if something like that happened.

[Admin]

You guys are missing out on something else here. Ford likes to call Knight an idiot for passing on Paul and atleast can argue that while he said Marvin Williams was the best player in the draft that he also said Atlanta needed a PG.

In constrast, Ford was Darko's biggest supporter. He argued that you could credibly take Darko over Lebron James. If he treats Dumars like Knight and implies he is a moron for passing on Bosh, Carmelo, Wade, etc. then he is also calling himself an idiot because he was right there with Dumars.

- - - -

Dolfan - when you say we are better off getting Speedy's salary out of the way, what does that mean?

Yeah that's true and of course he'd never admit it that he was wrong about Darko.

[AHF]

Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. I could see him costing us a valuable player in the future if something like that happened.

I would still rather have him retire than rot on the bench. If he comes back we take the cap hit, if he doesn't we save $$. If he rots on the bench, we take the cap hit either way.

Ideally, he will come back strong and render this whole discussion moot but I am very skeptical of him moving beyong Mike Hampton status.