NBA Chat With Bill Ingram 10/17/11

Catch up on the latest news, rumors and predictions with HOOPSWORLD’s Bill Ingram every Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern.

Bill covers the entire NBA and is based in Dallas, Texas, home of the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. He has been an NBA analyst since 1998, when he and Steve Kyler founded HOOPSWORLD. He can be heard on radio stations across the country and his work has also appeared in USA Today.

You can follow Bill on Twitter by linking here: @TheRocketGuy.

  1. tony

    Do u think I Celtic are gonna do something that is gonna surprise everybody..because that has been Danny ainge specialty in the past couple years

    • Bill Ingram

      Good Morning and welcome to the chat! Ainge definitely has a lot of work to do as soon as free agency starts. Right now he has only seven players on the roster, and that includes likely restricted free agent Jeff Green and the ever-older Jermaine O’Neal. The bad news is they’re already well over the anticipated cap with just those guys. This could prove to be Ainge’s biggest challenge yet.

  2. dyrese

    THE KNICKS have jerome jordan coming from overseas.Him and iman shumpert are gonna are gonna shock alot of people i remember when jerome played in the summe league last season he was rebounding and dunking on dudes and iman is like a westbrook type guard.what do you think about the prospects

    • Bill Ingram

      I think there is definitely reason for Knicks fans to be excited about both of those guys, though be careful how much stock you put in summer league play. Marcus Banks is one of the all-time great summer league players, but all he’s done in the NBA is bounce from team to team like a hot potato. But yes, the Knicks have a couple of very nice pieces for the future there.

  3. Hurricane Game

    Good Morning!!! i just wanted to like state my belief on this lockout issue. i would much rather have no season at all than have a 50 game or a 30 game season, i mean when would it start? April? what about training camp?

    • Bill Ingram

      Good Morning! I don’t mind a 50-game season like we had in 1998, but I don’t think the NBA would actually stage a 30-game season. If we get into February and the owners and players are still at odds, I think the whole thing gets cancelled. Probably before that, actually.

  4. Matt

    Looks like things are getting serious, even Stern is pessimistic. What’s gonna happen in your opinion?

    • Bill Ingram

      Well, we’ll know more on Tuesday, but I suspect the news won’t be good. The two sides are just too far apart, and until the players get their last checks on November 15th there really isn’t as much incentive to make a deal as there will be. I think we’re going to miss a lot more games, sadly. And after the 16th of December the players will have screwed themselves, as it will take six years for them to recoup the lost revenue . . .and a lot of today’s players won’t still be in the NBA in six years.

  5. cj

    is it a good shot to assume that jerryd bayless and jeff teague will start this year?

    • Bill Ingram

      I think Teague is a safe bet after the way he played in the playoffs, though Hinrich is still the better player. You may be a bit early with Bayless, though. Unless the Raptors can move Calderon, which seems unlikely, I think he still starts. Not that Bayless and Barbosa wouldn’t make an interesting backcourt.

  6. cj

    whats a probable stat line for players gerald henderson, omri casspi, and ed davis

    • Bill Ingram

      Henderson really came into his own last season, and I think he will be even better this year. I’d say he can probably average 12-15ppg. Hopefully Casspi can get back on track, perhaps giving the Cavs 10 and 5. Davis was basically a 7 and 7 guy last year, so it would seem safe to say he’ll be a consistent double-double threat this season.

  7. Tim in CT

    Hello Bill. Your thoughts on JaVale McGee’s comment? I think the NBPA needs to tell their players to stick to their script when talking to the media, just like Stern and the owners are doing.

    • Bill Ingram

      Trying to keep all of the players on point when they all have Twitter and other social media outlets is like trying to herd cats. McGee is right – some players want to take the deal and get back to playing basketball, but that’s not the message Fisher wants out there. Fisher wants the players to stay unified, but I PROMISE you they will start to break ranks when the money runs out. They can’t get paid millions to do anything else . . .

  8. simon

    Magic get: josh smith (12.4m), chis anderson (4.3m), and ty lawson (1.7m)

    Hawks get: ryan anderson (2.2m), danillo gallinari (4.2m), and quentin richardson (2.4m)

    Nuggets get: jameer nelson (8.6m), zaza pachulia (4.2m), and chris duhon (3.3m)

    how do you like it? (worked on trade maachine)

    • Bill Ingram

      The biggest problems I see with those deals is that the Nuggets are absolutely NOT shopping Lawson or Gallo. They traded Ray Felton because he wanted to start and they preferred Ty. I don’t see them taking Jameer over Ty, either, since Ty is young and a foundational piece for them. The Nuggets really get screwed in that scenario. The Magic, of course, make out like bandits. That would be FABULOUS for Orlando.

  9. Alec

    I been a celtics fan since moving from nc to boston when i was 10..now I’m 25…i remember how pierce and walker was a great 1 2 punch…then walker started jumping ships..atl then we traded back for him..then dallas I think then miami..how would you rank him professionally? I mean hes not top 10 or nothing like that, but whats your take on antoine? Now a Idaho Stampede…sad sad way closing out your professional career wouldn’t you say?

    • Bill Ingram

      Sadly, being a great basketball player doesn’t necessarily make you a great pro. Walker had plenty of talent, but he allowed distractions to take away from his commitment to being the best player he could be. Yes, it’s sad that he’s now playing in the D-League, and the odds are strongly against him making a comeback at this point. But he’s not the first or last to allow life to interfere with his game.

  10. CJ

    If Zach Randolph keeps up for maybe another 2 or 3 years at his current pace in terms of contribution to his team, should Memphis retire his jersey?

    • Bill Ingram

      He needs to play for them for more than 2-3 seasons to get his number retired, but your point is well taken. He’s led them to places no one has ever led them before . . .not even Pau Gasol, whom many would call a better player. If Z-Bo can stick in Memphis and lead them to a string of playoff successes, perhaps his jersey number will hang in the rafters one day.

  11. CJ

    In terms of the lockout, are all contracts put on hold and if the year were to be lost (hypothetically), will next years free agents also become free agents despite not phyically playing out their contracts?

    • Bill Ingram

      Contracts aren’t put on hold . . .if the season is lost, every player loses a year off of their contracts. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams, for example, would all become free agents.

  12. CJ

    Any word on Hasheem Thabeet lately? And I know alot of people are tlaking about Eddy Curry’s weight but as of yet his ducked all of his appearences and prove doubters right in believeing he hasn;t lost any weight at all, got any news on him?

    • Bill Ingram

      I can tell you that Thabeet has been working very hard over the offseason with a well-respected NBA trainer. I’ve also been told not to hold my breath. The best case for Hasheem is that he could log 10 minutes without fouling out or costing the team a lead. But who knows? He has an extended offseason now to keep working . . .maybe he can work his way into being a decent backup center. The Rockets are dead without a starting center taller than 6’5″.

  13. Brady T.

    Does it bother you that at least 75% of “basketball people” (espn, sporting news, si, ap, former players/coaches, hoopsworld) say that LeBron James is the best in the world?

    ESPN has its top 10 rankings coming out this week, why doesn’t Hoopsworld do something similar? What would yours look like? I’d go

    • Bill Ingram

      Not at all . . .and I think you’ll find that number is more like 30% after LeBron let the HEAT down in a big way in the Finals. Everyone has an opinion . . .mine is that you shouldn’t label someone the best and compare them to Michael Jordan until they have at least one championship to their credit. Right now Kobe Bryant (5) and Tim Duncan (4) are ahead of LeBron in terms of the modern NBA. Wake me up when he has 4 rings and can get into that level of a discussion. Until then, opinions are easily come by and sometimes hard to justify. Your second question must have been too long – it got cut off. Eric Pincus will resume his Power Rankings as soon as the lockout lifts.

  14. Jhayee

    ben gordon,charlie villanueva for kyle corver,carlos boozer

    tnx..

    • Bill Ingram

      I like Charlie, but think about that for a second. Would you seriously trade Boozer for Charlie? Gordon would obviously be a huge upgrade, but Villanueva would be more of a backwards move than Gordon would be a forward step. He doesn’t defend well enough to play for Coach T, and he would not respond well to being told he’s not playing hard enough, which he would no doubt hear consistently in Chicago. Hard to see the Bulls making that deal.

  15. Alec

    This is harsh but do you think mj will be as disappointed as patrick ewing is with his son just not cutting it in the big leagues? I mean every parent is proud of their kid, its just that their fathers are the backbone to the nba we know now, and you figure coming from a family that accomplished so much they would be expected to be the next new mj jr.I’m not sure what to say about ewing jr, even while being drafted…they questioned his ability to even play ball.

    • Bill Ingram

      It would be interesting to see how the dynamic between MJ and his son works. Is he the supportive parent, encouraging his son to just be the best he can be while being proud of him no matter what? Or is he the MJ who was a ferocious teammate and constantly rode anyone in the Bulls’ locker room who wasn’t playing up to his standards? It would be awfully hard for anyone to live up to the MJ standard, and there’s no way his son could do it. That kind of athlete comes along once in a generation.

  16. dyrese

    when free agency begins the knicks most likely resign shawn williams and let jeffries sheldon A.c derrick brown mason go if the get the amnesty Rule their gnna cut balkman ithink if they can make this happen they could sign a max guy like nene to 3yr deal under new cba is this possible ??

    • Bill Ingram

      Williams absolutely expects to be back in NY, that’s true. Sheldon Williams and Jared Jeffries, I’m not so sure. It depends on who they can find to play center. I do think Balkman would be an amnesty player. I’m fairly convinced that the Nuggets will get Nene back, as the Rockets didn’t get far in discussions about him. Even if he leaves, the Knicks are over what the projected cap would be under the new CBA, but we’re so far from actually knowing what that will be that’s kind of silly to even guess. I don’t think Nene lands in NY, though.

  17. tony

    Hey any reason to hope it could end this week? Thanks

    • Bill Ingram

      Hope, sure. I think every time the two sides meet we can hope for progress. I don’t have MUCH hope, but I am an eternal optimist. :)

  18. vince

    What’s up Bill, big time Kings fan here. I love Cousins potential but hate his attitude, and think he will hold other players on the team back from getting to their potential. Especially with a joke coaching staff, what do you think about this trade; Cuz and salmons for Lowry, Pat P. And C lee and a 1st? Or would the kings be better off holding onto him

    • Bill Ingram

      You certainly have Cousins pegged. I spent 10 years teaching in a special ed. behavior unit while we were building HW and I can tell you he’s a textbook case. He needs strict limits with stiff penalties, which the current coaching staff is unlikely to impose. That said, with the shortage of quality big men the Kings are better off putting a better support system around him than trading him to become an all-star for some other team. A serious coaching staff would be nice.

  19. Billy M

    what power does the mediator have if any? Will this person be at the meeting tomorrow? I know mediation helped the nfl but you don’t seem optimistic

    • Bill Ingram

      Well, the same mediator was trying to get a deal done last Spring, with no results to show. Of course, now games and revenue have been lost, so there is more of a sense of urgency, but I don’t think any mediator – not even master mediator Bill Clinton – could get these guys together. The players will run out of money and cave….and that seems to be what owners are waiting for.

  20. Ben

    Hello Bill,
    D-Will, Keith Bogans, Iggy, Love and Bogut vs. D-Rose, Wayne Ellington, LBJ, Haslem and Perkins. which squad would win? thanks

    • Bill Ingram

      LeBron and Rose would be awesome together, but you stacked the other team a little too well. Love and Bogut would dominate.

  21. Saulo

    Since the new CBA is likely to drastically lower the mle, do you think guys will be more likely to sign the minimum with Miami? Also have to factor in the less taxes you would pay in the state of Florida

    • Bill Ingram

      Well, clearly if signing in Miami is financially similar to signing elsewhere players are going to think long and hard about Miami – especially vets who want a ring. Young players are more likely to take the better financial package, wherever that is.

  22. Saulo

    Baron Davis-DWade-LBJ-Bosh-Dalembert… Is this team the favorite to win it all?

    • Bill Ingram

      Who else is on the team, and what has Chicago added? Put Rip Hamilton or Vince Carter in Chicago and they’re the favorites. How did the HEAT get Davis without giving anything up? The Cavs won’t amnesty him….

  23. Saulo

    Book it!! Baron Davis will be the 3rd guy amnestied. Why wouldn’t they?

    • Bill Ingram

      He can be a free agent at the end of the season and they’re already saving money on him with cancelled games. He has trade value with teams looking for a veteran point guard . . .why pay him to play somewhere else when you don’t even get cap relief? Makes no sense.

  24. Billy M

    you’re probably right but why still have meetings at this point in the year? there’s nothing to discuss right now if even one side feels that way.

  25. alex

    If a team cuts a player via amnesty and this player signs with other team for any money, will that amt. affect on a buyout?
    thanks.

    • Bill Ingram

      The player still gets paid the full amount owed by his original team minus whatever his new team signs him for – probably league minimum.