NBA Chat With Bill Ingram – 1/2/2012

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. Jason

    If nets keep going this way up until march and orlando keep staying competitive do you see d-will demanding a trade to orlando?

    • Bill Ingram

      Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to the chat! Considering the Magic would have nothing left for Deron to want to play for after making such a deal, I find if highly unlikely. Far more likely he walks away to Dallas next summer. Mark Cuban believes he can land both Deron and Dwight and have 3-Ds in Big D.

  2. Peter

    Happy New Year! Just wanna say thanks for answering All my questions in 2011 =) My top 3 2012 predictions: HEAT will win the title, Rubio will win Rookie of the Year and his Wolves will make the playoffs!!

    • Bill Ingram

      You’re welcome! I can see Miami winning it this year. Haslem is healthy, Battier is a great addition and Cole has been good early. My pick is Chicago, but it’s easy to see Miami getting there, too. I can definitely see Rubio being R.O.Y., but I think they’re a year or two away from making the playoffs. They’re going to lose a lot of close games this season.

  3. Shad

    Al jefferson for antwan jamison who says no?

    • Bill Ingram

      That seems like a lateral move to me, though Jamison is more of a winning piece than Jefferson. I don’t see how the Jazz, who are nowhere close to a playoff team, are better with Jamison. The only advantage is that Jamison is an expiring contract, where Jefferson has another year on his. That makes the Cavs the team that would likely say no . . .

  4. Dennis

    I think the Atlanta Hawks will emerge as a frontrunner for Dwight Howard when the trade deadline approaches. If the Hawks GM caved and offered a Al Horford / Joe Johnson or Al Horford / Josh Smith package, it would have to be seriously considered by the Magic. High risk – reward move for Atlanta. Orlando gets the young, healthy center they need to replace Dwight. Your thoughts.

    • Bill Ingram

      If they could somehow get Dwight for Horford and Joe Johnson that would be HUGE for Atlanta. Orlando took Gil’s contract, so why not Joe, right? At least Joe is a good player (not great). Dwight and Josh together . . .wow!

  5. Sweet Dee

    From a business standpoint, I’m surprised the Toronto Raptors didn’t sign Yi Jianlian to a contract. Toronto is a great multicultural city (which may appeal to Yi), the Raptors aren’t in the playoff hunt so oncourt performance is not as important. And just by having Yi play a few minutes a night may boost jersey sales and TV popularity from the very large Asian market. Agree or Disagree?

    • Bill Ingram

      I’m not a big fan of that approach . . .signing a guy because he might sell jerseys. He wasn’t nearly as big for the Wizards as Yao was for Houston. Yao was a dominant player, Ti most certainly is not. I’m not even sure he can be a good player in the NBA, though the Mavs are willing to take a flyer on him for some reason.

  6. dyrese

    bill josh harrelson is lookin like a poor mans ryan anderson is he gonna become more ofa key cog off the bench?

    • Bill Ingram

      Better rebounder than Ryan, perhaps, though it’s hard to tell after 4 games. Nice game against the Kings!

  7. dyrese

    should the knicks waive biddy and lin to sign arenas ?

    • Bill Ingram

      I like Lin a lot . . .would rather have him than Arenas . . .not to mention Bibby. Arenas is too much of an unstable presence in the locker room. You never know what you’re going to get.

  8. Rockets94

    Vinny Del Negro coaching the Clips is like putting low grade gas in in your souped up sports car. Who gets fired first Del Negro or Morey? Who do you think would be the best replacements for each with candidates available today?

    • Bill Ingram

      While I think there are worse coaches than Vinny, I have always wondered how in the world he got the Chicago job. That made no sense. Morey has made so many mistakes in the way he operates behind the scenes . . .I’d replace him immediately with any number of guys – Jeff Bower, Kevin Pritchard, David Morway, to name a few.

  9. Focuslja

    Although Charlotte is in a rebuilding year, do you think that after such horrible losses, they should make some personnel changes? And how do you feel about them going after Cousins, Speights, Blatche or Beasley?

    • Bill Ingram

      The Bobcats signed up for this, unfortunately. Jordan has put together a team that has a very real chance of losing 55-60 games. Bring on Harrison Barnes, right?

  10. Chrissss

    Did Kobe lead the Lakers to a loss last night?

    • Bill Ingram

      Kobe has been ridiculously good this season, but you’re right – last night was awful. 6-for-28 with 6 turnovers . . .ouch! But hey – Nuggets are a very good team. They’ll have home court in the West, I bet.

  11. a

    aldkjf

  12. keeweekid@aol.com

    Do you think the stacked and packed schedule with all the back to backs will hurt the competitive nature of the games? Seems like one team in a game being played is playing a back to back. So many blowouts in the 1st few games.

    • Bill Ingram

      I think the only thing that will matter for playoff teams this season is surviving the schedule without major injuries. We’re going to see bizarre things like the Rockets blowing out the Spurs when Houston had 2 days’ rest and the Spurs were back-to-back-to-back. Those games won’t mean much in the grand scheme.

  13. John

    Do you think DeMarcus Cousins would be a good fit for the lakers he could back up Pau and Bynum, also what would it take to get him for the lakers would their first round pick be enough or what do you think the kings would want/get for him if they did trade him?

    • Bill Ingram

      The Kings need a head coach who is equipped to deal with a personality like Cousins. They were foolish to draft him know he would clash with Westphal sooner or later. Cousins’ agent is saying there has been no trade demand and the Maloofs are saying they won’t trade him, but if they do they will absolutely get more than some team’s first round draft pick. We’re talking about a starting center with loads of potential. If he were playing for someone like Rick Adelman, George Karl or maybe Kevin McHale he would be fine. He needs a firm but understanding hand . . .someone who will help him work through his maturity issues.

  14. Jimmy

    Hey Bill,

    Do you think the Cavs will look to trade or realease Antawn Jamison at some stage so he can chase a ring? Who do you think would target him?
    He deserves a lot of credit being his age, and stuck on such a bad team, he hasnt once complained or demanded a trade. Class act

    • Bill Ingram

      “Class” is a word I often associate with Antawn. He absolutely deserves a shot at the playoffs, and it seems like the Cavaliers would give him that shot at some point. I doubt they would release him, but before the deadline they will have offers from teams in need of front court help . . .especially with that expiring contract. He pretty much fits the definition of a 2011-12 Dallas Maverick, doesn’t he?

  15. usher

    How come the mavs showed no interest in resigning their own free agents. odom sucks during the lakers palyoffs last season he wasnt the same, haywood sucks at replacing chandler. he cant finish dunks doesnt play defense, never seen him box out or move around like chandler.
    delonte west sucks. he had two straight games with four points. vince carter is washup up and can barely make one three a game and disappears. it even shows by the mavs record. the wolves are a horrible team and they lost to them on new years.

    • Bill Ingram

      I’ll take issue with your assertion that the Wolves are a “horrible” team. They were a bucket away from beating the HEAT and the Thunder before they beat Dallas. But you’re absolutely right – this Mavs team is a long way from being good. They let all their free agents go in favor of shot-term contracts with over-the-hill players. The goal is to grab both Deron Williams and Dwight Howard next summer, but it’s a little like trading a bird in the hand for two in the bush. The Mavs were a title team and are gambling that they can get two key free agents next summer to compete again. They should ask the NJ Nets how that worked out for them.

  16. rodney

    i asked Alex with the rising efforts of Ryan anderson if he thought that if dwight were to leave if the magic would build around Rhyno and he didnt think so i suggested if Anderson kept his numbers up if he could see Rhyno emerging as a star and he didnt agree. but look at rhyno now 5 games into the season he is the top scorer on the magic, and his rebounding is impressive at just shy 7 a game, and he is still 23 years old. are we seeing the Rashard Lewis 2 for this Magic team?

    And secondly Dwight has already said last night that this team is starting to resemble the championship team from 09, if the Magic continue on this effort and string in these wins like they have been do you think that will increase the players stock and trade value to acquire a b list star to be traded to the magic like a Ellis, Iguodala ect. or should the magic stand pact and not mess up chemistry to appease Howard

    • Bill Ingram

      I love Dwight’s enthusiasm. It shows how much he really wants to stay. If only Orlando could keep playing non-playoff teams like NJ, Houston, Charlotte and Toronto they should be just fine. I’ll be more interested to see how they fare against Chicago on Friday. But to your question about Ryan, that’s just insane. He’s only as good as he is because he’s feeding off of Dwight, who regularly draws Anderson’s defender away. Take Dwight away and Ryan is Hedo Turkoglu. Good role player . . .nothing more.

  17. adrian

    was it a mistake that the nuggets resigned Nene. he is a caqncer to his team. I never seen him move around on defense or rebound. 7 rebounds is pathetic for someone with that size, he never bangs in the paint, when was the last time you saw him hustle or run . not ot mention bynum destroyed him the last two games they palyed. and if it werent for galinari the nuggets wouldve lost because of nene.

    • Bill Ingram

      Keep in mind that Nene had no training camp due to the contract situation. They signed him to play power forward, primarily, preferring to let Mozgov and Andersen do the banging. Karl is easing him back, playing him just 27.6 minutes per game, yet he is nearly matching last season’s averages. He’ll be back to midseason form in a couple of weeks.

  18. lion mitchel

    Is blake griffin overrated?
    Does he know he is playing nba ganes instead of dunk contests.
    His defense is embarasenent. Never seen him move around or guard anyone. seen lots of pf shoot jumpers in his face.
    His free throw shooting sucks. If they r free points how cone he dont take advantage of them.
    His Free-throws are awful and his dunk over the kia was the hood and not very good McGee had way better dunks so did ibaka .He gets way to much credit for his dunks which is the only way he gets points

    • Bill Ingram

      Can a guy who averages 26 and 10 be overrated? He did make 8 of 10 from the line last night, though it’s not a typical performance. He needs to keep working on that. As much as Vinny D preaches defense, you can count on his defense continuing to improve, as well. Blake can play on my team any day.

  19. damian

    how come the spurs did not use the amnesty on richarl jefferson. he is a cancer to his team. he averaged less points last year than he ever did. he is playing nothing like how he palyed in new jersey. for his six points that he averages he s not worth the 10 million he makes. he looks lost on offense, defense. dont say he needs ot learn the system because this is his third year and he is still making excuses for not fitting in with his team.

    • Bill Ingram

      Jefferson still has a lot to offer, and with Duncan taking a lesser role with each passing season there is a very real hope that RJ will step up like he did in the Clippers game – 19 points. He’s anything but a cancer. He’s a consummate professional. He just needs to find his groove in San Antonio, though he really should have found it by now.

  20. Aron

    are the mavs done?

    • Bill Ingram

      I think they will improve once everyone gets on the same page, but there’s no way they repeat as champs. How about Yi Jianlian!!

  21. Wil

    What numbers can Rubio post when giving the starters job

    • Bill Ingram

      He looks great, doesn’t he? I understand Adelman wanting to bring him along slowly, but he’s too good to keep on the bench for long. He could be a 20-point 10-assist guy, it looks like.

  22. Wil

    What pieces are the t wolves missing yet till they are taken seriously

    • Bill Ingram

      Legit shooting guard . . .they need to trade one of their forwards. But if they keep taking the top teams down to the wire like they have been they will be taken more seriously very soon.

  23. Chris H

    Has your perception of the rockets changed at all since the season tip off? Do you think Lowry will continue at or around his current pace?

    • Bill Ingram

      Not at all. I have always loved Kyle’s game, and he is certainly the right starter for Houston. My concern is at center, where Dalembert is a second-tier center and Hill is a marginal back-up. The Rockets look like a 10-12 seed to me. Lots of toughness and great backcourt play, but without a better defensive presence in the middle they will lose more nights than not.

  24. Perry from Michigan

    Longtime suffering Wolves fan here. I think the Wolves are a shooting guard away from being a playoff team with Rubio now in the fold. Are there any SGs available by trade?

    • Bill Ingram

      Looks like your suffering is near an end! :) They are very interested in Mayo, as are the Pacers, but Memphis keeps changing their minds about trading him or keeping him. I’m sure as we get closer to the deadline we’ll see some interesting names available.

  25. ian

    should thibs play jbutler more?
    do you see bulls making a trade for someone like hinrich,jamison or another veteran on an expiring cintract?

    • Bill Ingram

      You’re not going to see too many rookies logging big minutes on a championship caliber team. Norris Cole is the exception to the rule. Too early for the Bulls to think trade . . .they have looked incredibly good at times, and will be even better once Rip settles in.

  26. mojster

    There is always talk about offensive closers, clutch players. Who are in you opinion the best defensive closers? On last possesion who would you choose to guard Lebron, Rose and Kobe for example?

    • Bill Ingram

      DeShawn Stevenson was great on Kobe in the playoffs last season. Very underrated defender. I’d take Chris Paul guarding just about anyone, including Rose. I was actually very impressed with Kevin Love’s defense on Dirk last night . . .he may be ready for this list soon!

  27. Derrick

    Hey Bill what r the rockets plans do u see something in the future?

    • Bill Ingram

      I see another 14th pick in the draft. They’re chasing Cousins now, so we’ll see how that plays out.

  28. Justin

    Next player you think will be moved not named Dwight Howard?