NBA Chat With Bill Ingram 10/22/12

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. 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. Peter

    Hey Bill! I’ve been watching a few Spurs games on NBATV lately and I’m impressed with what i’ve seen from Eddy Curry and De Colo! I think Curry has the size and strength to match up against bigger Centers in the league, which can help out Duncan and Splitter. Also, De Colo can provide more scoring for the second unit. Your thoughts on these 2 players?

    • Bill Ingram

      Good Morning, everyone, and welcome to that chat!I’ve definitely been pleasantly surprised by Eddy Curry, who I didn’t think would ever play in the NBA again. If he can make it in San Antonio that will be a major accomplishment. The Spurs don’t pay bodies, only real players. I think De Colo has his work cut out for him, given than Patty Mills is a more experienced veteran backing up TP. De Colo has only had two good preseason games, and I don’t see that as a passport to a Spurs roster spot on opening night.

  2. Nathan

    Why out of all the Rockets rookies people were down playing T Jones. I think he has a chance to be the best out of all of them.

    • Bill Ingram

      Not sure people are downplaying him. He’s been one of the better young players in preseason, getting basically 25 minutes a game and averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds per game. I think the issue is that there are so many promising young players and only so many minutes to go around . . .it’s unclear how McHale will carve out his rotation. Jones is caught in a mess of a players in his same position.

  3. paprika

    Im putting my magic fan on and say ansrew nich is a wow player, he impressed me against the spurs,he got alot of hidden moves,now to the dark spot, big baby before the lockout look like a boxer,built like a rock,i guess it was contract season for him,but right now rodman or rasheed looks fit compared to him,any buyers remorse for orl? Can he be moved?

    • Bill Ingram

      Andrew Nicholson has been good . . .and not just against the Spurs. He’s a double-double waiting to happen. Not sure what you mean by buyer’s remorse . . .why would they want to move him, if he can play that well when the games count? The Magic are all about developing young players now, and he looks like someone they can definitely develop.

  4. paprika

    If your a gm, your drafting and see the names m.ginobli and james harden available. Who would u draft and why? Lets say your a lottery team.

    • Bill Ingram

      Not really a fair comparison, as Ginobili has his rings and James is just getting started. Still, if I have that choice with hindsight as my ally I’ll take Manu every single time. He has that flair for the dramatic, one of the best clutch players in the NBA, especially come playoff time. Harden choked in the Finals and now wants a max deal . . .not ready to go there with James just yet.

  5. Devonte

    Carmelo and amare will play well at times but they are not the type of players to mesh together consistently. They need to be built like the heat which is having three GREAT players at corresponding positions like they both have great sf’s and pf’s but the heat have Dwayne wade the Knicks don’t have a great shooting guard that could take pressure off of ca7 and amare by making the defense collapse off the dribble and scoring or dishing it to wide out players and racking up assist and points even rebounding the ball so my question is with tyreke Evans who is accumulating some trade buzz and is a shooting guard that can bring the things I mentioned to the team and can be considered a glue guy that can bring this team together do you think he can do that? Also this would be the trade proposal iman shumpert, j.r smith and Kurt Thomas

    • Bill Ingram

      I don’t think Tyreke Evans is anywhere close to a Dwyane Wade type of player. He’s still trying to find his place in the league, honestly, and would hardly command the respect of Melo, Amar’e and the rest of the veteran Knicks. They’re hoping Kidd will be the glue guy, though Kidd won’t be logging too many minutes this season, I wouldn’t imagine. I’m sure the Kings would love to have Shumpert, but why would NY give him up for a struggling tweener?

  6. AJ in Hawaii but from Cali

    can the lakers get rid of blake and or duhon for future draft considerations maybe? or cash? i’d do it for a crisp 100 dollar bill.

    secondly, which of these 3 are the most likely replacements and are they good enough to even be worth the trouble? Johnny Flynn, patty mills, or Rodrigue Beaubois? thanks for the love

    • Bill Ingram

      Flynn and Mills have potential. Beaubois is A) not a point guard and B) not available. The Mavs are talking like he will finally be a part of the rotation this season. Roddy is really a scoring guard, not something the Lakers need, even if they could get him. Duhon has very little trade value, but I can see a team giving up a pick for Blake if they lose a primary PG to injury and are desperate for a replacement.

  7. Devonte

    If the Knicks have a losing record when all star break rolls around p, do you think the Knicks will have to trade Carmelo and/or amare because they can’t win together?

    • Bill Ingram

      Easier said than done . . .that’s why I have a hard time picking the Knicks do do much more than make the playoffs. They have high-dollar talent, but it’s not complementary talent. Trading Amar’e's contract seems unlikely. Not impossible (see: Joe Johnson), but with his health history and his big deal, tough combination to sell. We’ll see if Coach Kidd can get them on the same page.

  8. papaitan

    Yo bill can u give the word to lang greene on how sweet his words will taste? He said dcousins is no where near cwebb on one chat when i comented that i wish he could developed his mid range and dribble. He said aint happening ,cwebb is a different level guy. But as i saw the game last night,cousin now got mid range,slimmed down and controlled his temper.,he destroyed the new look lakers,and some of the greats in the game in nba tv said he can be the best big.i even think he is a betterbplayer than blake griffin. I just love it when im right. Your take?

    • Bill Ingram

      Well, Keith Smart is a good friend, and he has nothing but great things to say about Cousins and his offseason development. I can understand why Lang says he’s no C-Webb, Webber had a great career, but Cousins has an enormous amount of talent. With the right coach, which he has now, the sky really is the limit. As for last night, I wouldn’t get too carried away. He had 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 24 minutes and the Kings were -4 with him on the court. He was guarding Dwight Howard, who had 19 and 12 in his first game back from months of rehab. I don’t think Lang needs to warm up the oven just yet. ;)

  9. Cain

    Chances Orlando Johnson surpasses Stephenson as Pacers back-up SG this season?

    • Bill Ingram

      He’s shooting 15% from the field in preseason . . .I wouldn’t buy my Indy Johnson jersey just yet.

  10. Jim in Cyber Space

    It’s Pre Season, three questions.

    Who’s the Cocky-”est” player in the NBA..Kobe?

    Who’s the current King of in-game trash talkers that backs it up. KG?

    What about the all-time NBA trash talkers team that backs it up, MJ, Bird…has to be there, do that line-up 1 to 5.

    • Bill Ingram

      There’s a fine line between cocky and confident. Kobe is extremely confident . . .people who hate the Lakers can say he’s cocky. LeBron was cocky until the Mavs dropped the Heat in the Finals. He came back a very different player, thankfully. KG is definitely the King. MJ, Bird, Gary Payton, Moses Malone, maybe Barkley.

  11. Chris

    Hi Bill, just a fun question for you. 50 years ago only big men could dunk except some real athletes. Nowadays even 5 foot 9 guys can do a 360 slam.
    Going forward, what do you think the increasing athleticism will bring us one day? Do you think the league will one day raise the rim some feet because a newphew of Gerald Green is able to dunk a ball by pushing it through the net with his forehead?

    Thanks!

    • Bill Ingram

      I like the old commercial . . .forget what it was for . . .the 12-foot moving basket! If players are as far ahead 20 years from now as current players are from those who played 20 years ago, the game will be completely off the hook. Of course, I think injuries will force the NBA to play 20-game seasons.

  12. Aristotle

    Heya Bill,

    Firstly…was Lin brought in for his skills or for Linsanity considering the influence Yao globally brought to the table for Houston? Would you have paid that money for his services (and Asik’s too) if you were GM? Secondly… did Houston actually draft the players it wanted or did they choose with looking at the bigger picture of hopefully landing Dwight? Thirdly…who do you end up keeping, who do you send out, and who would be a good fit to obtain looking at this current Rockets team?

    • Bill Ingram

      It’s important to understand that Yao Ming is from China, played there for years, and was a superstar in China before he became one in the NBA. Lin is American, for all intents and purposes. He’s not a Chinese cultural icon, so his impact in terms of China will likely be limited. The Rockets passed on Lin, remember, and see this as a way of correcting a mistake. Lin was hoping to stay in NY, but when his camp played games with the Knicks they let him go. If you’re waiting for him to be Linsanity in Houston, I’m afraid you’re going to have a long wait. No, I wouldn’t have paid either of those guys like that if I were a GM. As for the draft, Houston chose quality players, but they were clearly hoping to cash them in on a bigger deal for either Howard or Bynum. Instead, they have a bunch of unproven, redundant talent. I was talking with Jonathan Feigen recently, playing the “who gets cut” game. We thought Smith, Johnson and Machado should probably stay packed.

  13. mario

    Morning bill couple questions for you do you think that the bulls bench players are going to be better than the previous guys and why. And one more if you don’t mind when will mirotic get to Chicago and what do you expect the bulls team to look like by then thanks bill.

    • Bill Ingram

      Joel Brigham and I were talking about this over the weekend, as he was on his way to a Bulls game. Some of the new guys are struggling, like Radman and Marco. The previous group had been together and knew what was expected, this group is basically new to each other and the team and there will be some growing pains. I think the Bulls are better at PG, but the bench as a whole is probably a step back.

  14. Bryan

    Do you see Jae Crowder as a future starter in this league? And also do you see any chance the Mavs sign Kenyon Martin

    • Bill Ingram

      I’ll say this for Jae – he’s looked better and been more consistent than OJ Mayo, Elton Brand, Darren Collison, and Delonte West, who are expected to be in the rotation. Of course, preseason is different . . .he’s not going against real NBA rotations and he’s not been thoroughly scouted yet, but he’s been a delight to watch in preseason. Cuban told me he thinks Brand and Marion can make up for Dirk’s absence . . .no additional help needed . . .but if I were Kenyon I’d send flowers and an engraved apology to Cuban for the playoff thing a couple of years ago when he was in Denver.

  15. Tim

    Morning bill! Which players injury do you think hurts their team more? Kevin Love or Dirk? Which team is better suited to stay afloat till their best player returns to the lineup.

    • Bill Ingram

      Yannis Koutroupis and I will be talking about that very subject on HOOPSWORLD TV this week. Watch for that! I think Love is a bigger blow because the Wolves are already missing Rubio and can’t afford to lose their leading scorer and rebounder, as well. Dirk hurts Dallas, but they do have a lot of players to use in that spot. Honestly, I expect to both teams to be well out of the playoff picture when their respective stars return.

  16. Charlie

    With the injury to John Wall to start the season, seems some are now underestimating the Washington Wizards. The additions of veterans Emeka Okafor, Nene Hilario and Trevor Ariza, combined with the loss of knuckheads/me-first players Nick Young, Andrey Blatche, and Javale McGee has to be signs to improvement. The Wizards are pegged at 27.5 wins for next year. If you were a betting man – higher or lower than this number?

    • Bill Ingram

      Given that Wall and Nene are both injured, I have to say I think the Wizards are going to have a rough start. Nene may be back soon, but still . . .Wall is the key. 27 might be a low number, though. Once Wall returns I think they can put some wins on the board. I’ll go higher . . .but I’m not a betting man. :)

  17. matt

    Big raps fan. Haven’t been this excited for my team in a long time. They’re going to be exciting to watch again. There is some depth on the team and a PG who can defend. Bargs/JonasV/ED/Amir/Gray is a decent group of bigs. There hasn’t been this much depth at SG in a long time too. If raps get 8th place it would be huge (even 9th would be big).

    • Bill Ingram

      I can’t argue anything you’re saying . . .I think the Raptors are the one team not currently projected to be in the playoffs in the East who could knock somebody out.

  18. Frank

    Doomsday scenario, rank these teams in terms of their ability to succeed without their star player this year: Philadelphia minus Andrew Bynum, Dallas Mavericks minus Disco, or Minnesota without Kevin Love.

    • Bill Ingram

      They’re all lottery teams . . .Dallas is the best of the three due to depth, then Philly, as Bynum won’t be out very long, I don’t think, and then Minny, because they’re missing Rubio, too.

  19. Dennis

    Does the injury to Kevin Love open the door to teams projected to be slightly behind them in the standings this year: Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, possibly Portland Trailblazers. Can you see each of these teams winning more games as a result (as someone has to take the 8th seed). Or does this have little to no impact on the surrounding teams in the standings?

    • Bill Ingram

      I think the Warriors could benefit, and possibly Utah. Portland isn’t a playoff team regardless.

  20. matt

    Would a Granger for Bargnani deal make sense for the raps and pacers? Raps have been dying for a SF for a long time. Bargs would be a monster beside Hibbert, plus then West could be dealt for a complimentary wing for George (George could finally play SF if he wanted to).

    • Bill Ingram

      I know the previous front office regime was absolutely opposed to the idea of trading Danny, and it sounds like KP is on the same page. He would help the Raptors, but so would Rudy Gay, who is more likely to be traded than Granger.

  21. dennis

    Do you think the bobcats will set the record for the longest losing streak?

    • Bill Ingram

      It’s a possibility, for sure. They have to win one of their first four games to avoid it . . .Indy, Dallas, Phx and New Orleans. The Hornets may save them . . .

  22. Kristen W.

    Hi, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

    Wanted to get your opinion on a fairly obscure player – Mavs’ PF Brandan Wright. I think he’s a pretty good #4-on-the-depth-chart-big-man and has eye-popping athleticism for a big guy, but is his ceiling limited to being nothing more than a backup-quality guy? What does he need to work on in your opinion? Thanks.