Gamebreaker

They better win this game tonight. Orlando is a nobody in this league.

Well Phil only played with future HOFers so he didn't need to call TOs to get his team's head back in the game, his HOFers did it for him.

I can't wait for this season to start.

We talked so much about him joining the wizards the curse thought he was already on the team.

I certainly hope so. We'll definitely know what we have in him now. Kinda glad we gained so much depth this offseason.

So who is going to be starting SG until Beal returns?

I kind of figured that when Grunfield put this roster together, the only thing that would stop us would be injuries. I'm hoping the recent rash of injuries are the last we have to deal with. I'd hate for this season to be derailed because we couldn't stay healthy.

If OKC doesn't win a championship, and we put together two more solid playoff appearances, I think it's a done deal he's coming back home. At that point he'd really need to start thinking about his legacy, and whether he could ever win a championship with the Thunder. Why not come back home AND be a part of a younger team with an easier road to the finals?

I disagree slightly, when you take into account the massive changes that a large number of the other East teams have undergone we may have an easier time of it than others.

Irving is not better than Wall because he had a good tournament playing with the best team in the planet. Wall is better in every aspect of the game except shooting. Irving isn't better simply because he wins one category. This really isn't that difficult to understand.

Davis is my wife's cousin. He's a good kid. I hope he has a good year this year. His brother is going to join the team next year.

It's wrong, but I understand it. The Lakers and Knicks fanbases dwarf those of the Spurs and Grizzles. Although us basketball fans want to watch good basketball, the ratings for those games wouldn't be as high without those popular teams being present to stink up the joint.

Cowherd says a lot of things just to rile people up. He's not actually dumb enough to think his comments about Wall one day after his first professional game any way validate him being cut from the most elite basketball team in the world. Cowherd likes to do whatever it takes to keep his name in people's mouths. He waits until he can find anything negative to say about Wall (lately those opportunities are very few) only because he knows legions of basketball fans and wizards fans send him a ton of hate mail. The same way they did when he made the incredibly inappropriate comments about Wall's upbringing and his leadership abilities based off him doing a dance. How espn justifies suspending Stephen A for his comments but consistently let Cowherd continue his race baiting is beyond me. The best thing anyone can do about Cowherd is just to ignore him.

I'd wear an Under Armour onesie for that kind of money.

Oh well...fresher legs for the regular season.

To say "this is the wizards" as if some hocus pocus curse is guaranteed to ruin this just means you really can't think of a legit reason why they can't be a top 3 seeded team this season. Just admit it. The flip side to your negative view of their 44 wins last season, is that if Nene wasn't injured for a significant portion of the season they would've been a 50-win team LAST YEAR. This is why adding legit front court players like Humphries and Blair really improve this team. Nene is going to miss games, everyone knows that, and now we have two guys that can provide productive minutes at that spot. In regards to losing Ariza. offensively we are better with Pierce and slightly worst defensively. Ariza can't dribble, can't create his own shot, and he had his best 3pt shooting season of his career. Pierce is just as good at what he brings offensively, and he can create his own shot, bringing our offense more versatility. He can't guard the best opposing perimeter like Ariza, but he also won't be playing the same amount of minutes and Otto will be better at that.

WHY would they finish 40-42? Barring injury, there is no possible reason why that would happen.

That really sucks. Cassel has been a great coach for us.

Wall's scrimmage performance was disappointing and weird. He didn't his game at all. He came in with the second unit, and basically deferred to limited players who can't create their own shot or have any passing ability. When he did start trying to drive and dish he was mostly out of control. He played better in the second half, but Lillard outplayed him, as well as Rose, Kyrie, and Curry. I don't think he makes the team, but Beal still has a shot. I also thought Parsons was awful, but he'll likely make the team now that George is done.

I've been reading on twitter that FIBA has their stanchions two feet closer to the court than the NBA. In a NBA game, that wouldn't have happened.

That's what I meant by not having an age limit, but still allow HS players to be drafted and be placed in the D-League. Under those parameters, a NBA team can call up a Lebron at any time.

Developing physically in college just isn't enough. Players need to learn the skills to be a productive NBA player, not a productive NCAA player. Granted, the NCAA coaches have no obligation to help the NBA, and neither should the NBA feel obligated by not developing and paying the talent pool if the NCAA isn't going to. The older players can stay in league longer than they are right now when players from this year's draft aren't taking their roster spot to just sit on the end of the bench and not learn anything. Could Kwame Brown had benefited from being on a developmental team while an actual better player filled his roster spot? Plenty of MLB teams have benefited from the system they have today. To say no one would want it developed today is more your subjective opinion than fact. If what you're saying today was true, MLB teams wouldn't be using the minor league teams so often. Teams trading prospects and not allowing their young talent to be overwhelmed right after their drafted proves that. Also, whether they own those teams are not isn't important. They can call up or send down a player at will, it doesn't matter. We'll have to agree to disagree on this part. If this were true, we would've never seen the Pistons defeat the Lakers to win a title. With a roster full of role players and the Lakers starting Kobe, Shaq, Malone and Payton.

If all they cared about was getting talent for free, then what is the big deal about age limits? Because the drafted players aren't living up to expectations. They need to, and seems like they are finally coming around to this, temper their expectations because the development of even the best talent can't happen quickly. And furthermore, the college game doesn't develop their players to play pro ball, they just run what will help them win right now. Jay Williams recently spoke on his college career, and he said he wasted his last year staying in college because he didn't learn anything he didn't already know how to do. A player who dominates in college isn't going to get better dominating weak competition, he'll need to consistently play against stronger competition in order to be better. Basically if you want quality you're going to have to invest in it. What's wrong with having a D-League with 30 teams? MLB seems to make it work, why not the NBA? And on developing your own players, it gives you more value in trades, and as far as the non-big market teams, it levels the playing field a little to allow them to be more competitive. Right now, the only shot Milwaukee or Minnesota has at winning a NBA championship is if they tank a season and a once-in-a-lifetime prospect is available, and even in that case they may be the worst team in the league and still not get the top pick to draft this player. The NBA has the worst parity among all the major sports leagues. Allowing a team to develop their own developmental team allows them to develop their drafted players, give more time to raw talent, and potentially have a team with great chemistry and talent that isn't cap strapped. Drafting players and putting them in your own D-League team also frees up cap room, as you don't have to pay them a NBA salary until you call them up. Those reasons are essentially will small market MLB teams can compete with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox, who can outbid anybody, and win championships. This is true, but what I'm suggesting is revamping the D-League into something better, not as it's currently utilized.

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/08/01/nba-nbpa-age-eligibility The NBA and NBPA are considering raising the age limit for players to 21, but allowing high school players to be drafted straight out of high school. They would then be in the D-League until their eligible to join the league. I mentioned something similar to this in a post a month ago, and I think what they're proposing is a step in the right direction. I don't think there needs to be an age limit at all though. Just allow players to be drafted straight out of high school, they go into the D-League, and they can be called up their teams when they've proven their ready. A player like Lebron and Garnett wouldn't need to wait to be ready. I think they should also develop a system more akin to MLB's farm system. Where each team has their own D-League team to manage, and this could also help develop a more competitive D-League. Imagine older vets who aren't capable of playing in the NBA anymore, being able to continue their careers a little longer in the D-League? They could help mentor the young players and possibly ease them into retirement a little better than the abrupt end to their careers so many have.

I can see that happening. The OKC media already insulted him during the playoffs last year.