NBA Chat With Joel Brigham, 2/23/12

1. Deven

   Hello again Mr. Brigham. For the second half of the season, which teams do you think will make a playoff push and fight for those final playoff spots in the east and west respectively? Who are they and why?

   • Joel Brigham

     Good afternoon, HOOPSWORLD Citizens, and welcome to another edition of my weekly chat! Everybody who’s involved with All-Star Weekend should already be in Orlando at this point, which means I’m ready to start having some serious conversations (okay, as serious as All-Star weekend can be) about what will go down the next few days. But that’s obviously not the extent of what we’ve got to chat about. There are plenty of great story lines to test today, and I’ll get to as many of them as I can. Give me your best questions, and I’ll give you my best answers.

     All that said, let’s get down to business, shall we?

     In the East, I think we can pretty much assume that Miami, Chicago, Indiana, Philly, Orlando, and probably New York are all shoe-ins for the post season. Right? I mean, we can assume that much. That leaves Boston, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and probably even Cleveland in the mix for two spots. I think Boston, whatever their faults and whatever their collective ages, is good enough to at least get into the postseason as a 7 or 8 seed. When they’re healthy, I like Atlanta well enough, too. Milwaukee doesn’t strike me as having any particular shot at the postseason, and Cleveland just doesn’t seem ready.

     As for the West, things are a LOT more wide open. Phoenix, Golden State, Utah, Minnesota, and Denver all are within 4 games of the eight seed, and there are plenty of scrappy groups in that batch. Houston, Memphis, and Portland, who are holding on tenuously to their own 6-7-8 positions don’t strike me as being sure things. Of those eight, I like Memphis, Portland, and Denver to get in to the postseason. Minny should be right there, too.

2. Omar El-Khodary

   Do you think the Indiana Pacers are third best team in the east?

   • Joel Brigham

     I sure do. Right now, at least. The really amazing thing is that they’ve got one of the lowest payrolls in the entire league, which means they’re doing so well with quite a bit of youth on the roster. I’ve always been a big Paul George fan, and in general I think that’s a locker room with a lot of class and a lot of serious talent. Frank Vogel’s an interesting dude, too. They’ve got such a good young mix, that I think they’ll host a playoff series this May. Anxious to get to a few more Pacers games… I’ve got a couple coming up in March, including one against the Knicks, which should make for an interesting evening of basketball. Bring it on!

3. David Hoang

   I think I’ve personally made the best trade that should happen. Keep in mind that Jerry West has helped the Lakers before and he would and probably will again. Look into Pau Gasol trade.

   http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6werb7r

   This trade is a win win for each team.

   For Golden State, they can finally let Monta Ellis take control and make the Warriors his team. Klay Thompson can start at sg and develop even quicker than he is now. Brandon Rush should start at sf. With that and David Lee and Andrew Bynum as the frontcourt is explosive. GS goes UP!

   For Lakers, They get an tremendous upgrade at pg in Stephen Curry. A slight upgrade with Dorell Wright. But a downgrade with center. Pau Gasol could easily slide over center with Mcbob and Murphy rotating their position at PF. We don’t necessarily lose out on our size but we certainly do get an upgrade at many positions.

   What do you think?

   • Joel Brigham

     i don’t see L.A. taking on that Biedrins deal, and I also don’t see them shipping out Bynum until they’re positive there’s no hope in trading for Dwight Howard. Even then, I don’t know if they’d let him go. It’d be a nice shake-up and would get them an exciting young point guard, but I think they can get more out of Bynum. Hey, keeping him might even be the best thing for the future of the franchise short of moving him for Dwight. Kobe and Pau are getting up there… Bynum could be the future of the franchise…

4. Derek

   Is there anyone at all who will take MWP off the Lakers books? Throw in Dallas’ pick & cash, would it work?

   • Joel Brigham

     Don’t count on it. He’s one of the less attractive salaries in the league right now, and a lot of that has to do with his decreasing abilities as a player. He’s just not worth the price of admission anymore, and I don’t think many teams are going to nibble on that salary. L.A. seems stuck with him, for now.

5. jay

   Whats going on Joel..in case the Pacers have to trade someone between Paul George and Danny Granger,it seems like Granger is the odd man out in Indy right??so to your opinion,which players would be the perfect trade for Granger??a trade that would benifit both Indy and the other team..tnx boss..

   • Joel Brigham

     I’m open to suggestions for trades, as it’s hard to think of something like that on the spot, but in general if the Pacers are going to make a deal that requires they move one of their swingmen, Danny Granger would be the guy to leave. Indy has a rising star in Paul George, and Granger makes enough money to return a pretty decent piece. To be honest with you, I’d guess that the Pacers are looking at deals that won’t require they trade anybody at all. They’ve still got $14 in space for this year, so they can make trades that acquire players for straight up cap relief. I would think that there’s a possibility of some team biting on that, but I don’t know how sweet a player they’d get back. Moving Granger’s salary only moves them farther away from that minimum money spent line, so I don’t think it’s happening. They’re playing well, and my guess is Larry Legend and David Morway want to see what they can do in a postseason series.

6. phil.star

   who will win the dunk contest? I put my money on paul george.
   By the way love your chat

   • Joel Brigham

     I saw a YouTube video today trying to push Jeremy Evans, who almost no casual fan has ever heard of, but I wasn’t overly impressed. The kid is freaky long and has serious hops, but I’m not sold… Anybody who bets on Chase Budinger is a crazy person. I’m already bored by him and the contest is still two full days away. I’ll put my money with yours, on PG24. Kids has hops on top of hops, and I’m hoping he taps into some of the theatrics that have become requisite in the competition these days. If not him, Derrick Williams. I have a feeling he’s going to beat everybody else on creativity. Pulling for George, though. Big time.

7. rubs93

   JB,

   Could the Bulls end up keeping Mike James for the season and waving John Lucas instead? Please weigh in on pros and cons to this move

   • Joel Brigham

     Only serious Bulls fans care about this, but count me among the serious Bulls fans. Hence, me answering the question, right?

     While James isn’t anywhere near as explosive as JL3, he’s definitely a better point guard. That said, Lucas’s reckless offense sort of fits better in the offense that Chicago runs with Derrick and C.J., so he fits. Plus, I believe is contract is guaranteed and Mike James’s isn’t. That will likely play into it, too.

     All that said, I’d rather have Mike James, but Lucas has been part of the culture the last couple of years and may serve better for morale. I’m not sure. For now, they’ll keep both. James deserves the be kept on the rest of the season, and with Derrick’s shaky injury issues this year, I think that would be a good idea.

8. john

   hi joel,
   I know we can not trade for eric gordon now but in summer. would the hornets consider a sign and trade for asik or gibson,charlotte pick and korver or brewer? or di I have my bulls-glases on?

   • Joel Brigham

     There’s nothing wrong with Bulls-colored classes. We’ve watched a lot of excellent basketball through those glasses… The deal you’re offering isn’t going to make things easy for Chicago from a financial standpoint, and that’s an important thing to remember. Rose, Deng, Boozer, and Noah all are on pretty significant contracts at the moment, and there’s zero possibility the team takes on another one. Zilch. They just can’t afford it and put together any semblance of the rest of a team. If they could move one of those four, perhaps they’d have a shot, but they aren’t moving Rose, and nobody’s biting on Boozer’s deal. They’re also very committed to Luol, so I doubt he’s shipped out either… so unless they can move Noah, they aren’t getting Eric Gordon. Honestly, they aren’t getting Eric Gordon, anyway. I still think he’ll end up back in New Orleans or with the Pacers.

9. Flute

   Whats goin on with iverson is he goin to the d league or what?there isnt much time before the trade deadline.is the deadline for signing free agents mar 15 as well

   • Joel Brigham

     There hasn’t been a lot of interest in him, and he’s not taking that D League trip without some sort of indication from a team that they’d look at him. My guess, he hasn’t gotten that indication.

10. Judy

    I have been having a heated debate about Hawks.This guy wants the Hawks to trade for OJ Mayo to be the PG. He says that he is being misused in Memphis and that he can be a great P-n-R PG for the Hawks. He actually said OJ will make us contenders, Am I missing something about OJ mayo because I do not see what this guy is talking about? Help me please!!!

    • Joel Brigham

      He can play some point guard, but he’s not a point guard. There are plenty of guys like this in the league. Players can handle the ball and score, no problem. It’s not a rare thing. Mayo fits into that, but he’s not an elite point guard, and I really don’t think he does much in that Atlanta offense to make them markedly better. Too many scorers already. That’s not what they need. They need a more prototypical point guard in their system to make any sort of difference. Mayo isn’t the answer for the Hawks.

11. mike

    why not trade barbosa to the pacers, kings or cavs for a couple second rounders (or just one) since they can absorb his contract outright. that would leave 11.9M in cap space to offer chandler, hoping that the Nuggets wont match. Im sure BC can find out the max Denver will offer as Ujiri and BC are close. Thoughts?

    • Joel Brigham

      That’s got to be the route they’re looking to take. He’s an expiring deal worth a decent amount of cash, and he really could help the right team. Indiana, for example, could actually use a guy like that to bolster up the guard rotation. We’ve seen how thin things got when George Hill went down with the ankle injury. Barbosa fits well into that, and I think he’d fit well into the culture of the team, as well. Cleveland really wants to get into the postseason, too, and Barbosa for essentially peanuts would help. I think the deal’s there to make, but they better hurry up and make it. March 1 is coming very quickly. All-Star weekend is a time for a lot of NBA suits to talk trade, so if something along those lines is going to get done, it’ll probably be immediately following this weekend.

      Along those lines, the Raptors reeeeeeeally want Wilson Chandler. If offloading a salary like that is all that’s standing in the way of getting a guy of Chandler’s quality, they should be pulling out all the stops to make it work.

12. Sven

    Hi Joel. Would it make sense for LA to get Marion from Dallas for the trade exception ? I know it is a short term solution but as the team is constructed now so is their window.

    • Joel Brigham

      Agreed. It would certainly be an interesting deal were that the case. Essentially turns the Lamar Odom trade into a Odom for Marion trade, which I suppose in some ways helps both teams. In theory, anyway.

13. Jazzfan

    Who player would you say drives you the most crazy with his inconsistency? Like he shows flashes of being a potential superstar but more often looks just average

    • Joel Brigham

      That was Ben Gordon when he was here in Chicago. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted him to transform into a star, but it never happened. He’d drop 30 one night, and 7 points the next. It was the worst. Brook Lopez has been like that up to this point in his career, too.

14. Hurricane Game

    Trade idea: Boston gets: Nash,Gortat, Suns get Rondo,O’neal and 2 2012 draft picks, currently #17 and #27 i believe

    who says no?

    boston frees up more 2012 cap space, gets to make 1 last run at a title, and suns get to rebuild with 3 2012 picks

    • Joel Brigham

      Feels fair on both ends, and Nash’s age matches up well the rest of the aging superstars on the Boston roster. Gortat gives them a little something for the future, and Phoenix gets Rondo, as well as a couple of decent picks in a deep draft. I wouldn’t mind that swap for either team, honestly.

15. Scott

    Do you think the Clippers will trade for an actual shooting guard with size and is Mo Williams enough to get them one? Mo for Wes Matthews?

    • Joel Brigham

      No way Portland pulls the trigger on that deal. Honestly, the Clippers gave away all their assets to get Chris Paul into town, so I wouldn’t expect much in the trade market for L.A. J.R. Smith was their shot at upgrading at shooting guard, and that just didn’t happen for them. They’ll probably have to roll with what they’ve got, which, honestly, isn’t really all that bad. How much more talent do they need? Don’t get greedy, Scott!

16. Sweet Dee

    As a general principle, size always gets drafted before skill – as teams are desperate for quality seven-footers. Question: how did Nikola Pekovic fall to the second round (2008) in the age of pro teams spending millions on worldwide scouting.

    • Joel Brigham

      Because in 2008, teams were (as they are now) very wary of international prospects. There will always be the two or three can’t-miss international studs, but beyond that everybody else is a crapshoot. Pekovic wasn’t labeled one of those sure things, so he dropped. We can thank Nikoloz Tskitishvili and (ironically) Darko Milicic for that, I suppose.

17. Charlie

    Jeremy Lin’s numbers are clearly inflated due to the fact he plays in a Mike D’Antoni offense and the ball stopper Melo was out. If you were a betting man, does Jeremy start over/under 41 games next year or will reality hit with whatever team he signs with next season (whether it be NYK or elsewhere).

    • Joel Brigham

      New York is actually in pretty good shape to re-sign Lin, by the way. He’ll only make about $5 million next season, no matter what he does, and that’s something New York will likely be able to afford. That said, I’ll take the over on those starts (assuming he’s healthy) for one obvious reason: the Knicks don’t have any point guard on that roster I can see pushing him out of the starting lineup. Baron Davis? Mike Bibby? Toney Douglas? Nah, not a chance. This kid is big money in New York and he can actually play. So what if his numbers are inflated? So were Steve Nash’s, and he got two MVP’s out of it. The fit in D’Antoni’s system is half the magic here. He’s a great fit for the offense. That’s the reality. He’ll stick, and he’ll be solid, but I’d guess he’s more in the 12 ppg/ 8 apg range long-term.

18. Tezz

    Thoughts on the superteam fad going on at the moment? Will kill the NBA? Or good for the NBA? Why no franchise tag like the NFL?

    • Joel Brigham

      The league is very wide open right now, and to me, that’s a good thing. Miami, Chicago, Oklahoma City, LAC, and even LAL and Boston and tons of teams in between, could make the Finals. Despite the superteam thing, there’s still no clear cut championship favorite. The teams that suck, really suck. But everybody else is sort of in it. If I was a Miami fan, I’d love it. I hate on them all the team because they’re not my team, but I know full well if Chicago ever got Dwight Howard, I’d be ecstatic. So I can’t complain. Teams are playing within the rules of the league, so it’s technically fair. Not much else to really say about it, I suppose.

19. Cricket

    Who would you rather start a team with: Jeremy Lin, Brandon Knight, Darren Collison, or DJ Augustine.

    • Joel Brigham

      It’s between Lin and Knight. Augustin’s too short, and Collison hasn’t lived up to expectations, so the other two are the best options. Knight really has a future, but Lin’s proving he can do it right now. I guess I’d take Knight’s height and athleticism for the long-term. Tough call, though, and a good question.

20. Lateak

    Do u think dallas can get dwill

    • Joel Brigham

      I think they can, and I think, ultimately, they will. D-Will is from Dallas, and they’re gearing up to have enough space to sign him. Seems like a match made in heaven to me, though if the Nets can get their paws on Dwight Howard, that changes things significantly. Those two would rather play together than rot separately in other markets. Seems like a pretty solid chance that the Mavs could end up with him.

      And that’s my hour, folks. Enjoy All-Star Weekend (and the Oscars, if you’re into that sort of thing), and we’ll catch you back here next week for more of the same. Until then, have a great weekend, and go Bulls!