2/22/2017 Paul George Considering Signing with the Lakers in 2018... If He Doesn't Get Traded to the Lakers FirstRead NowBy DjackThe Magic effect is already taking place and he's only been president of the Lakers for a little over 24 hours. Paul George, superstar small forward for the Indiana Pacers, is considering signing with his hometown Lakers when he hits the free agency market in 2018, 'The Vertical' reported. It has also been reported that the Lakers are in trade discussions with the Pacers right now for Paul George. Here's a little fun fact, Magic Johnson is discussing trade oppurtunities with Larry Bird, who is the president of the Pacers, isn't that hilarious. These two battled on the court in some of the most historic series ever for years, now they're competing in the managerial role, guess they just can't get enough of trying to one up each other.
Magic Johnson, please hang up that phone right now. Don't trade for Paul George when we can get him in a year and half and give up nothing to get him. Right now the Lakers need to focus on one thing, TANKING. If the Lakers lost every game for the rest of the season I'd be a very happy man. Trading for Paul George will ruin all hopes of that because he'd single-handily make us a way better team. Lakers need to lose, lose, and then lose some more because if the Lakers don't have a top 3 pick in the draft this year they lose their pick, and that would be devastating in a draft loaded with amazing talent. I'm trying to see Lonzo Ball stay in LA, only way that happens is if the Lakers have a top 3 pick. Plus, in order to get Paul George we'd have to give up a lot, and the Lakers don't have a lot, so that'd mean losing half our young players. If that turns out to be the case I might just cry, please don't mortgage our future in order to bring a superstar a year and half earlier just to sell tickets. I love where your head is at Magic just please be patient, focus on tanking, keep all the young guys, and the rise to glory will be much shorter than expected.
0 Comments
2/22/2017 Can DeMarcus Cousins Change the Negative Narrative that Surrounds Him with His Move to New OrleansRead NowBy DjackSunday night following the NBA all-star game DeMarcus Cousins, who has spent his entire career with the Sacramento Kings, was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans(details of the trade can be found here). Cousins has built quite the reputation in 6 1/2 seasons with the Kings, a reputation filled with both good and bad. The good, Cousins has solidified himself as the most talented center in the league. He contains a unique skill set that sets him apart from you classic back to the basket big man. Cousins has no problem facing up defenders and taking them to the hoop, or just shooting from the outside, along with, of course having a dominant post game as well. That's all nice and dandy, if he's such a good player though why has he never made the playoff, or even less been apart of a winning season? Well, he can't be the only one to blame for that since the Kings failed to put talent around him, but DeMarcus certainly didn't help at times. Which leads us to the bad of DeMarcus Cousins.
The bad being that DeMarcus Cousins has been a total head case throughout his tenure in Sacramento, which was probably a leading factor in why the Kings dealt him for next to nothing. DeMarcus Cousins has led the league in technical fouls 5 times in 6 full seasons, and he's on his way to leading the league in techs once again this year. He has also led the league in disqualifications 4 times, meaning he's either been kicked out of games or couldn't attend games for whatever reason unrelated to injury. 109 career technical fouls, 46 career disqualifications, and 11 career ejections, yet he continues to maintain such a high value as a player for what he's capable of on the court. That speaks volumes to his ability. DeMarcus Cousins certainly needs to control his actions on the court because it does effect his team's chances of winning. However, I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of making him out to be a locker room cancer, as I just don't see any tangible evidence that this is true. NBA media just makes him out to be that guy because of the way he acts on the court, which is a cute assumption and all, but I just don't see it as true since multiple former teammates have denied that assumption. Regardless, there's a negative narrative surrounding DeMarcus Cousins, and now is his opportunity to change that. How can DeMarcus do that, well there's actually a few ways. First, he can learn to control his emotions better on the court. I won't lie though, I saw a lot of star players high on those technical foul lists, but the difference is they don't lead the league year after year, so it kinda just slips under the rug. Also, the difference between the stars high up on that list and DeMarcus Cousins is that those stars are on winning teams, and as you all know winning cures all. That brings me to my next point, if DeMarcus can start winning with the Pelicans now that he'll have another star beside him, this will all slowly but surely start disappearing. Like I said before winning cures all, the fans aren't going to care if you have a "bad attitude" if you're winning games and making the playoffs. It's pretty simple what DeMarcus has to do, win basketball games like you're supposed, try to keep his cool on the court, and stay out of the headlines for anything unrelated to playing basketball. If he can do those three simple things, DeMarcus Cousins will have a very successful part 2 of his career. Sometimes a change of scenery is all a player like this needs. By DjackNot even 12 hours into his tenure as Lakers president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, has made a trade to build towards a successful future for the Los Angeles Lakers. Now that's what I call efficiency. According to Woj of 'The Vertical', the Lakers traded Lou Williams to the Rockets, and in return the Lakers acquired Corey Brewer and a first round draft pick. This is a steal for the Lakers, don't get me wrong Lou Will' is a hell of a player and will probably be the 6th man of the year, but he was a meaningless piece for the Lakers, so getting a first round pick in return is huge. Now, the pick is coming from the Rockets which means it'll probably be anywhere from the 25th-28th pick in the first round. Regardless, a first rounder is still going to be a good young role player at the very least, barring that the Lakers don't draft hot garbage, and who knows the Lakers got Jordan Clarkson and Ivica Zubac in the 2nd round, so they've proven they certainly know how to find solid talent late in drafts. A successful first trade by the new president of basketball operations for the Lakers, Magic Johnson.
Rockets should be more than satisfied with this trade as well. Scorers like Lou Will' are rare, especially when they come off your bench to be a spark, it takes a very unique player to do that. Rockets already have the #2 scoring bench in the NBA, with the addition of Lou Will' they'll be taking over the #1 spot in that statistic very soon. Rockets may have just punched their ticket to the western conference finals with this deal. Obviously anything can happen, but Lou Will' is definitley a great player to have come playoff time. The acquisition of Lou Will' won't push the Rockets over the hill and help them get by Golden State, it might make the series a little bit more interesting though. A win win trade for both team involved, a more immediate return for the Rockets, however if the Lakers can somehow get a special player with that draft pick this could be a trade we look back on and say that was an essential move to the Lakers current success. We'll just have to wait and see, for now though, hats off to Magic Johnson for being very aggressive in his role with the Lakers so early into his tenure. By DjackIf I hear one more sports personality or basketball fan in general complain about the NBA all-star game my head will explode. Ever since Sunday's all-star game all I've heard is bitching about how bad the NBA all-star game was, what do you expect the players to actually try. No, that's not what they're there for, obviously the best players in the world aren't going to risk injury in a meaningless game so close to the end of the season. The all-star game is just there so the star players can put on a show for the fans. If you don't consider the most physically gifted players in the world showcasing their incredible athletic ability an entertaining show, then I don't know what to tell you. Of course the basketball purist are going to whine and bitch that it's not real basketball, well assholes, it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be players taking trick shots from just before half court and throwing alley-oops on almost every possession. If you didn't think Giannis Antetokounmpo dunking on Steph Curry, KD throwing Russel Westbrook an alley-oop, Lebron hitting shots from half court, and Anthony Davis throwing down ridiculous alley-oops was entertaining, you clearly don't know what entertainment is. Talk about being over-critical, if I wanted to watch a normal basketball game with stars I'd tune into a regular season game, but no one does that because the NBA regular season is trash. Maybe you basketball purists should worry more about fixing the actual NBA games before you start worrying about fixing the all-star game.
2/20/2017 Knicks Not Trading Derrick Rose Would Be the Dumbest Move to Date By Phil JacksonRead NowBy DjackSeveral reports have come out saying the Knicks are in trade talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves regarding Derrick Rose. For the Knicks this is a no-brainer, Derrick Rose was brought in to help the Knicks contend for a playoff spot,and that ship has clearly sailed. Now, it's time to deal him to whatever team is willing to give something up for him, and I mean literally give the Knicks anything for him. The biggest travesty of all would be for the Knicks to keep him, them not make the playoffs, and then he leaves for a new team in free agency, or even worse the Knicks resign him to the ridiculous max contract that he wants. If Phil Jackson wants to start salvaging his reputation as President of the Knicks, now is the time to start doing it, and dealing Rose would be the beginning of that long process. I don't care what they get for him, anything would be a win for them at this point because Rose clearly has no future with this team. Not really sure why the Timberwolves would want him, there's no doubt he'd improve the team, but is adding Rose for not even half a season to try to sneak into the playoffs as an 8th seed really worth it? I'm hoping for the sake of their young up and coming franchise they wouldn't be dumb enough to bring him back at the end of the season if he were to get traded to Minnesota. In addition to losing whatever they'd have to give up for him just to get swept by the Warriors in the first round doesn't seem very logical.
Phil Jackson, please make this trade, I don't care if you get back three pennies and a ball of lint it's better than losing this guy for nothing. Who knows, maybe the T-Wolves will be dumb enough to offer up a first round pick, or a young player like Tyus Jones or Kris Dunn, might seem a little far-fetched, although when a franchise hasn't made the playoffs in 13 years they tend to get a little desperate. If Phil could land a deal where the Knicks actually get real value in return for Rose, not only will he start looking like the zen-master genius again, he'll start to change the narrative around the organization. All he'd have to do after that is fix the Melo situation, which is going to be mission impossible essentially, however if Phil cares about his image half as much as we all think he does, we'll start seeing some major changes. Too proud, too self-absorbed, too obsessed with success to roll over and continue to let the New York media tear him to shreds. Phil it's time to turn this ship around, and trading Derrick Rose is a small step in the right direction. By DjackFinally, the New Orleans Pelicans made a blockbuster deal to bring in a star player to complement Anthony Davis in New Orleans. There's no question that Anthony Davis is a transcendent player in the NBA, however in a league filled with a ridiculous amount of talent it's been impossible for him to consistently win with him being the only player of any value, or extraordinary talent on the Pelicans roster. Well, Sunday night that all changed when the Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings losing nearly nothing of value in the deal. The Kings received Buddy Heild, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a second round pick in 2019, and the Pelicans first round pick in the 2017 draft. That's all they got in return for one of if not the best center in the league, and that sums up why the Kings have been one of the worst franchises in basketball for the last 10 years.
The Kings in seven years with DeMarcus Cousins have failed to put any talent around him whatsoever, years and years of lottery picks and they couldn't draft anyone to help elevate this team to playoff caliber. The Kings were obviously ready to move on from the nonsense Cousins brings to team with his ridiculous actions that have landed him the most technical fouls in the league. To not get anything of value besides a first round pick for him is ridiculous, head scratching, and the GM of the Kings should be fired immediately. Sacramento King fans lost the only star player they've had in years, now they'll probably lose every game the rest of the way since their roster is horrible, and lacking any star talent. On the bright side, though, the Kings will probably end up with a top 5 pick along with the Pelicans first round pick, so who knows maybe they'll be able to draft some future stars, and begin building a new foundation for the future. Just trying to be optimistic for the depressed Kings fans out there. As for the Pelicans, what a weekend it was for this young franchise. Anthony Davis puts on a show in the all-star game breaking a scoring record set by Wilt Chamberlain like 50 years ago, and then almost immediately after the game you find out that your team essentially stole DeMarcus Cousins from the Kings, not a bad Sunday in New Orleans, not a bad Sunday at all, unless you're a Kings fan of course. The Pelicans now have what seems to be the best front court in basketball with Anthony Davis, the best power forward in the league and DeMarcus Cousins, one of the best centers in the league. The push for the playoffs has begun and the Pelicans may have just made the move that'll help them sneak into the coveted 8th and final playoff spot. As for the people saying the Pelicans can now contend in the West, let's get real, they still aren't a very good team. Besides for Jrue Holiday and their two star big men, the rest of their roster is putrid. To be honest, I'm not completely sold on the Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins combination either. Having two star big men that have very similar games worries me a bit, they'll probably figure out a way to make it work, but it's something to keep an eye on. Let's see how these two star big's complement eachother before we just start declaring them the best front court in the league. Once we see them play a few games together then we can start making inferences on how this experiment will work out. Until then, let the outrageous assumptions keep rolling in because isn't that what the NBA regular season is all about. In a league where there hasn't been much to talk about this certainly has spiced things up quite a bit. By DjackThe biggest trade of the always entertaining trade-deadline period of the NBA happened today, when the Orlando Magic traded power forward Serge Ibaka to the Raptors for a minimal return. The Raptors acquired Serge Ibaka, a rim protecting big man that can rebound and score, while the Magic acquired Terrence Ross, a shooting guard that never quite reached his potential, along with a 2017 first round draft pick. It's pretty obvious who the winner of this trade is, I really shouldn't even have to say. The Raptors got away with highway robbery here. Now, that's not to say the Magic didn't do the right thing trading Ibaka since they have an abundance of big man and they weren't going to re-sign him after the season anyways, although the return wasn't anything sexy to say the least.
Terrence Ross is a mediocre shooting guard that has been a backup to Demar Derozan his entire tenure in Toronto, he's definitley good for a couple emphatic dunks along with some decent perimeter shooting, however he's not someone that's going to help turn your franchise around. The Magic also acquired the Raptors 1st round pick with this deal, which is the real reason this deal went through. Some uneducated fans might say, well they got a first round pick in return so it's gotta be a pretty good trade, right? Well not necessarily. There's only 2 rounds in the NBA draft for a reason, there just isn't that much NBA talent in the draft. If you don't have a lottery pick the odds of you getting a player to be a major contributor to your franchise are very slim. The Raptors are a shoe-in for the playoffs this year in an extremely weak eastern conference, and odds are they'll probably be a top 4 seed that makes a deep run into the eastern conference playoffs. So the Magic got a mediocre player and a late first round pick for Serge Ibaka, not necessarily something to be thrilled about if you're a Magic fan. The Magic are clearly still trying to rebuild since the Dwight Howard departure, this will now be their second attempt at the rebuilding process as they are moving pieces and acquiring picks to start fresh from scratch. The first time they attempted this it seemed to be a slow, yet promising process with the likes of Tobias Harris, Maurice Harkless, and Victor Oladipo all becoming solid players. For some reason the Magic decided to give up on all them far too quickly, and traded them all away for essentially nothing. Tough time to be an Orlando Magic fan because it's looking like it could be another 3-5 years before they even sniff the playoffs with the way their roster looks now. As for the Raptors, they might've just secured their spot back in the eastern conference finals with this trade. Raptors haven't been nearly as good as they were last year, with teams like the Celtics and Wizards improving, the Raptors were becoming an afterthought in the east. Ibaka definitley isn't a player that's going to push them over the hill, and help the Raptors achieve the impossible in taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it might just get them back to where they were last year. With Ibaka coming in as a rim protector that rebound at a high clip, along with adding another scoring option for this offense. Ibaka will join Raptors current center Jonas Valanciunas, in the Raptors front court, giving the other competitors in the east something to worry about. Raptors are clearly still very hungry to be the second best team in the east, and they may have just accomplished that with this trade. By DjackAlways a tragedy in sports when a young stud player's career is derailed by injuries. It's something we see far too often in sports, yet it's just the nature of the game. When you're playing a game in which you push your body to limit no matter what sport or level you're playing at it's just something that's bound to happen occasionally. When it happens to anyone it's a shame, when it happens to a player that has the potential of being one of the game's greats, it's just an absolute travesty, and a travesty we see far too often. Jabari Parker is latest name to join that list. Sure we've seen great players bounce back from major injuries to return to their former peak performance level, Adrian Peterson might be the greatest example of that, yet it's a rare occurrence to say the least. Most players rehab for what must feel like forever to get back to a level in which they can compete, although they usually just become a shell of their former self. When a player re-injure's them-self the odds of them returning to their peak level of performance becomes nearly impossible. Derrick Rose is the perfect example of that, and now it seems Jabari Parker is inevitably headed for the same destiny. Jabari Parker never quite reached the elite rank Derrick Rose was once at but that's only because he tore his ACL his rookie season. Just as Jabari was finally becoming the player the Bucks expected him to be when they drafted him, tragedy struck again.
Jabari Parker torn his ACL early into his rookie season, his sophomore season was a year in which Jabari had to regain his conditioning and feel for the game, so his stats weren't quite what they should've been for a player of his caliber. This season all of that was finally behind him, and Jabari Parker was beginning to progress into a young star on the Milwaukee Bucks. Parker had been averaging 20 PPG, 6 RPG, almost 3 APG, and was making his shots at 53% clip. Bucks fans finally had a ton to be excited about with Jabari finally reaching his 2nd overall pick expectations, the Greek Freak being an absolute monster, and a young roster that seemed to have an extremely high ceiling. February 8th, 2017 those high hopes for the future took a big shot to the chin, and Bucks organization continues their recent misfortune. Jabari Parker re-tore his ACL and is now out of basketball for at least 12 months. Missing one of your best players for the rest of this year and the majority of next year is hard enough to swallow as a fan, the reality of the situation is going to be even harder for a fan to swallow. Jabari Parker isn't just going to miss another full-season of basketball, he's probably never going to reach the paramount of his potential with this recent turn of events. When your body takes on a devastating injury like this not once but twice it's almost impossible to return to peak form. Jabari Parker was proving to be just as good as Andrew Wiggins, the only player picked before him in the 2014 NBA draft, now he'll probably never be put in the same conversation as him when it's all said and done. As a sports fans it's a sad day when you realize a player with such great potential will never get to reach it, and that's exactly what has happened with Jabari Parker. Maybe he'll overcome all the odds and still reach his superstar potential carrying the Bucks franchise for years to come, although I don't think anyone truly believes that at this point. Fairy-Tales in sports rarely happen, who knows though, maybe this will make for a great comeback story one day. That would be an overly optimistic approach to this catastrophe. Bucks fans I feel for you I really do, all you can do now is pray to God this isn't a Brandon Roy situation. Say your prays because Jabari will certainly need them. By DjackThe NBA, where headlines are dominated by drama within the sport rather than the sport itself. NBA regular season continues to make a push for the best reality show of television, and last night we were given another gem of a moment. In the early minutes of last night's Knicks game, Charles Oakley, a former Knicks player, had to be escorted out of the arena, and was arrested by the NYPD. At first my initial reaction was damn have some self control Charles, but Charles Oakley has been disrespected by Knicks owner James Dolan for years. Ever since Dolan took over the reigns from his father as owner of the Knicks in 1999, Dolan has refused to speak/meet with Oakley whatsoever. Oakley has gone to great lengths to try to make a civilized attempt to bury the hatchet with Dolan, a hatchet that Oakley has no idea why it's even there. Oakley has no idea why Dolan refuses to meet with him, apparently it's because Oakley made comments 15 years ago that didn't sit well with him, even though he has no idea what those comments were. Talk about holding a grudge. Last night was the tipping point for Oakley and he just let loose.
Oakley was probably making an attempt to approach Dolan in the stands to try to shake his hand, maybe try to squash the beef, whatever the reason Oakley tried to approach Dolan. Oakley was then met by MSG security to prevent him from getting to Dolan, and he just went off. Oakley was shoving people off him, and went completely balistic. Probably not the smartest approach, but when nothing else has worked in the past I guess he was just fed up. Oakley was in the wrong for letting his emotions get the better of him, although it's not hard to understand why. Dolan is a billionaire, if he wants to hold a grudge and avoid conflict with somebody he's easily able to do it, and that's how he's approached Oakley for years. Oakley has every right to feel disrespected since he gave his blood, sweat, and tears for the Knicks in the 90's, but sometimes you just gotta take the high road. Who gives a shit what Dolan thinks about you, the people that matter, the fans, absolutely love and respect everything about this guy, and that should be more than enough. Is James Dolan a dick? 1000%, we all knew that already, but what Oakley did last night isn't acceptable. When your in the public eye like that you can't lose your cool and not expect severe consequences, especially when the guy you're going after owns the building. Both guys are in the wrong here, but fuck James Dolan. #TeamOakley By DjackMan oh man, Phil Jackson just doesn't give a single fuck anymore. He's a ruthless savage, he clearly wants Melo gone, and now he will do anything to run him out of town. This tweet can be a little confusing for anyone that doesn't know what he means by this, so let me break it down for y'all. Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding, wrote an article about how Phil Jackson thought Carmelo Anthony could be just like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in terms of what he's capable of doing on the basketball court. He knew Melo didn't have the same fire and desire those two did, he still thought he could get it to work though. Melo needed some fine tuning coming into this situation, but Phil thought he'd be able to work his Zen magic with the triangle offense making Melo into a different type of player, obviously that didn't happen. Now, Phil responds by saying he learned you can't change the spots on a leopard, ultimately meaning you can't change the way a player plays the game of basketball. The last part about the daze, I'm not exactly sure what that's all about, I'm pretty sure it's Phil admitting he was high as a kite when he made the decision to take over the Knicks, but who knows. I don't even think Phil knows what he's saying half the time anymore. Old age and Cannabis will do that to a man. Him agreeing with what Ding is confirming that Melo isn't the guy he thought he was, which is awfully insulting.
If I'm Melo, I march into Phil's office tomorrow, say trade me immediately because I'm not playing another game for you, and then spit in Phil's face. Melo won't do that for obvious reasons, although that's really what he should do after Phil has treated him like shit for the past year. Phil has continually took shots at the way Melo plays, saying he holds the ball to long stalling the offense, which is definitely true, but you can't just say those things to the media putting your best player on blast. This relationship between Phil Jackson and Melo is toxic, cancerous, and horrible for the Knicks organization. One of them clearly has to go, and I doubt Phil will be the one to leave since he's got an ego the size Empire State building. As a Laker fan I have nothing but love and respect for Phil Jackson. As a sports fan, I have zero respect for Phil Jackson as an executive for the Knicks, anyone that could cause so much turmoil within their own organization is probably not fit for the job. Jim Dolan, I know you said you wouldn't step in, but there's a dumpster fire that is growing by the second within Madison Square Garden, and you need to put it out before it burns down the building. |
Details
AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
March 2018
Categories |