NBA Chat With Stephen Brotherston 9/10/12

Join HOOPSWORLD’s Stephen Brotherston for his weekly NBA Chat covering the Toronto Raptors and all things NBA every Monday at 3pm ET.

Remember chats fill up quickly so get your comments and questions in now.

You can follow Stephen on Twitter @stevesraptors or subscribe on Facebook

  1. Steve

    Do you think the bulls could miss the playoffs this year? They do have a great coach but they dont seem to have the talent without rose

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Welcome to this afternoon’s chat

      That’s a great question to kick things off.
      There are more than a few teams in the East who are labelled as sure-fire playoff teams, but have issues, question-marks, or just need everything to go right for a trip back to the post season to become a reality.

      The Bulls are one of those teams. Yes, the Bulls could easily finish 2nd in the Central, Rose could be back at the All-Star break and take the Bulls back to the Eastern Conference finals battling Miami – BUT – it’s just as easy to see Rose miss the whole season, Hinrich is a bust, Deng’s wrist never really healed properly, Noah has a bad foot, the Bench Mob is badly missed and the Bulls are a lottery team.

      We’ll find all this out after they play the games. Can’t wait to see!!!

  2. Steve

    Who is jonas v most comparable to in the nba?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      When Jonas Valanciunas introduced himself to the media a year ago, he described himself as a young Chris Bosh. I believe he meant the rookie Bosh, not the vet we see today.

      Maurizio Gherandini, who has seen JV play more than anyone in North America, described JV as Tyson Chandler with “good feet” and if you watched him play for his National team, that’s a fair description – especially if you were to picture a fleet-footed young Bosh with Chandler’s desire to play in the paint.

      Other description’s could include a grown up version of JaVale McGee – long, athletic, runs the floor, blocks shots, rebounds but JV takes instruction, knows his place, does as he’s told.

  3. LA in LA

    Which duo (that has never played together) would you rather have in their prime: Kobe and Duncan or Dwade and KG?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I’d build a team around either pair with no hesitation – instant contender. I don’t think there should be any doubt that Kobe & Duncan would have been as dominate as Kobe/Shaq was (except maybe Shaq would doubt it)

  4. Wil

    Hi Stephen, enjoy your work and I appreciated your recent piece regarding how the Raptors have improved this offseason, but I still think they are on the outside of the playoff race. Given that Miami, Boston, and Indiana are ‘in’, and that NY/Brooklyn are likely to follow, that team does Toronto surpass to make the offseason, as ATL, PHIL, and CHI still seem to be locks?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The only true lock is Miami – You can take out 2 of their Big 3 and still have a playoff team.

      The risks, not that they will happen….
      Boston minus Rondo = ?
      Indy minus Hill?
      NY – should be good but still haven’t stopped the rollercoaster effect & The really old guys they picked are are actually needed to be a playoff team
      Brooklyn – Brand new roster – talented but never played together – take out Joe Johnson and are they even a playoff team? Should work but there are chemistry issues to work thru
      Bulls – can Hinrich still run a team? he couldn’t last year
      76ers – were top 3 defensive team before the trades/ free agents – Can Coach Collins adapt to a team of offensive minded players or is this going to be a culture crash?
      Hawks – they might have gotten better moving out Joe Johnson? but what does that say for Brooklyn?

      If every team is as good as some people are projecting – We got 8 – 50 win teams in the East – And you know that’s not going to happen.

      Based on reasonable expectations – at least 1 team in the East is getting in with 41 wins and Toronto can win 41

      It’s going to be an interesting season…

  5. T.J. Wilson

    Who do you think are the sleeper teams in both the east and the west? Also, who is currently the most slept-on player(s) in the NBA?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      East – noisy sleepers – Raptors, Bucks. quiet sleeper Wizards – Its John Wall time.

      West – noisy sleeper – Timberwolves – Rubio is going to roll, quiet sleeper GSW

  6. The Train MAN DrOsE

    what about dis, trade carlos bozzer and marco for josh smith and lou will!?.. and your starting five will be Drose, Lou Will, Deng, Smith, Noah

    • Bill Ingram

      Zero chance Atlanta does that. You amnesty Boozer next summer and make the pitch to Josh as a free agent.

  7. PeP

    Can the Raptors make the playoffs this season? I guess no bc is a very very weak conference this year.

    Sixer to be a top 3 in the East?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The Raptors can make the playoffs, but its going to be a battle – East got tougher during the summer.

      Sixers – if absolutely everything goes right – Bynum & Nick Young buy into Coach Collins defense, the whole defense doesn’t collapse without Iggy (it could), Collins can adapt to a more offensive minded team and get more scoring without losing his methodology. If everything goes right – Wow, Sixers will be very good.

      I have trouble seeing everything going right in Philly – it took a few months for Collins to get the attention of his guys when he first arrived, it could happen again. The move to get Bynum was the right move, it just isn’t fair to expect instant success.

  8. Brad

    What’s your take on the Dominic McGuire signing? Will he be a regular in the rotation for his defense, or is he just filling out the roster?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Since Dominic will be behind Fields, Kleiza, Anderson, DeRozan & Ross on the depth chart, his odds of seeing the court in a regular season game aren’t good. McGuire can give you some defense (good for a practice player) but he’s got no shot – no 3-pt shot at all (which Casey demands from the wing)
      We’ll know in while if he has a guaranteed deal or is just a training camp invite, not really a big deal either way – McGuire can contribute quite a bit to camp.

  9. Brad

    Going off of your article about why the Raptors can make the playoffs, what do you think is the best case scenario for them this season, as far as playoff seeding and record. I would say 40-42, as a 7th or 8th seed.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      It wouldn’t be fair to place expectations above .500 for the Raptors this season – they could be better, but it wouldn’t be fair to expect it. I forecast the Raptors as an 8th seed in my Eastern conference predictions.

  10. Brad

    Any word on who the starting 5 man will be for the Raptors? Will Casey continue to go with Johnson/Gray and have JV off the bench? Or is JV ready to be the full time starter?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Coach Casey is being very careful to NOT say jobs are won before training camp.

      My starting five: Lowry, DeRozan, Fields, Bargnani, Valanciunas
      (That doesn’t mean JV plays more than 24 minutes a game – We’ll see lots of Gray and Amir at center)

  11. Bhagdeep

    Hey Stephen,

    What do you think about a trade closer to the deadline between Toronto and Memphis where raptors send Jose Calderon, Landry Fields, and Ed Davis to the Grizzlies for Rudy Gay? We give Memphis an expiring deal for cap relief, a decent replacement, and a young big while raptors acquire the SF they have been looking for.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I’m interested, but I don’t believe the Grizz will move Gay unless they don’t believe they are going to make the playoffs.

      I’m still hoping for Jose as the long term backup in Toronto – he’s been a really good backup in the past – and Finally, the Raptors wouldn’t have an injury concern when a PG went down (again)

  12. Blake Upham

    Any word on how Bargnani or Derozens summers are going? Anything in particular each of them has been working on for the upcoming season?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Nothing new for a while – Casey said DD had added some muscle (I’ll believe when I see it). I should check out some Italian papers for some new news on Bargnani again.

  13. Filip Dimitrov

    Will Jose Calderon truly be comfortable coming off the bench and backing up newcomer Kyle Lowry?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Jose has played a role for his National team for a while – splitting minutes – Lull finished games at the Olympics because his defense is better. Rubio was in process of taking his starter’s job several years ago.

      When Calderon played behind Ford & Jack, he put up great numbers in 20 minutes – almost starter worthy stats for a weak team. As long as Lowry plays better than Calderon, I can see this working. Calderon has always been a team first guy. He is very competitive, but he wants to win more than he wants to start – which is a very good reason to want him to stay in Toronto.

  14. bulalo

    Hi stephen. Whats your top 3 favorite jerseys? And top 3 least favorites? And i can see lowry as an iverson. Can he and calderon start together? Dd as the sf?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Not really a jersey guy, but I do like the Toronto Huskies alternate jersey. I dislike most other alternate jerseys on most teams. Simple, clean lines, not too busy for me.

      I can see Lowry & Calderon playing together to break a pressure defense, when the team needs 3-pt shooting to break down a zone or in the last few minutes of a close, tightly defended contest. It would only be situational starts – this is a specialty lineup.

  15. Dee

    Raps are talking wing players again. We got those now! Why are they not talking guards? Why do we reward guys looking for contracts? KL had to produce in order to show value to get something back. Lucas? Get real!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      We know the Raptors have 14 players under contract – We know there will be some camp invites. We don’t know (yet) if any of the guys being talked about as joining the team will get a guaranteed deal – but these are end of the bench jobs (min salary) and not really worth getting overly concerned about.

      John Lucas was a great pickup. Lucas was the 3rd string PG on the Bulls – he sat on the bench, stayed ready and when injuries hit, he performed well and then he went back to bench when players returned without a peep. Teams need guys like him – every team has injuries – and Toronto has looked especially bad over the past few seasons because they had no one who could cover off a PG injury.

  16. dub

    I will make a statement, feel free to correct me as its just my opinion. I think that how young players develop relies heavily on the coach at the helm when they arrive. I also think that the raps are a prime example of this. When Derozan, bargnani, even ed davis came to raps they didnt have “great” coaches, and I feel that is why they didnt develope as quickyly. I also think had dwayne casey been head coach at the time we’d see at better bargs and derozan now because he just sets the bar and demands more. A good example of this is Popovich, no matter who the spurs get the players always develope nicely because pop has them from day 1. What do you think?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Agreed.
      Coaching is HUGE when it comes to the development of players AND when it comes to getting veterans (who don’t have to listen) to do as they are told and be part of the team.

      Casey got his team’s respect last season and it showed.

  17. Mac

    The Toronto Raptors will be fighting for that last playoff spot in the East. Attempting to be unbiased, who would you personally put your money on this year and why: Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks or Washington Wizards

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Raptors with Lowry, backed up by Calderon, and Bargnani will be a lot better than last year. Casey’s defense will give the Raptors a chance every night.

      Bucks are who they were last season – Good, but sort like the Rockets have been – at risk of finishing 9th or 10th every season.

      Washington make the right moves to move forward and develop their young talent in a positive environment. Maybe Wall takes over and surprises everyone, but more likely they just finally start taking steps in the right direction.

  18. steven Chao

    The Bulls had high hopes for Carlos Boozer when they brought him on board but he has never lived up to his expectations. Why do you think he hasn’t? Is it the system? Or his age? Or something else?

    Thanks for your time!

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Boozer needs a distributing PG – like Williams – to be successful. He’s out-of-place in Chicago’s system and playing with a scoring PG. Put him on the Celtics and you’d see a totally different player.

  19. dub

    Hypothetically if jose sticks around and resigns next summer for a much lower price, will the raps have much spending money next summer?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Basically – the Raps have no real room to do much next summer – resigning Jose at $4-5m would take up most of it.

  20. ALEX

    Great chats.Will BC fill pressure even if RAPS.will be on a bubble and will he be force to make a big trade?
    thanks.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I hope he feels the pressure if they are close, but it takes another team willing to do a deal too.

      Colangelo has been trying to make deals happen – but he wants to “win” the trade, not just help out someone else.

  21. Adam

    Pacers fan here. Love the chats and the site. Can’t wait til the season starts. Love our team this year and I see us as #2 seed in the East. Agree/disagree? Pretty deep at every position. Think the 3 guys we just signed make the final roster? Really like the Sam Young signing, good defensive 3. We need a bounce back year from Psycho T.

  22. Mark from san juan capistrano

    If Artest has been practicing his 3-pt. shooting, I feel The Lakers should run away with the title. With the other 4 players, I would leave Artest wide open.
    Why didn’t R. Allen sign with the Lakers?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      MWP will not be the deciding factor if the Lakers do win it all – he is what he is and does what he does. And yes, he will likely see more open looks this year and you’ll still cringe when he launches another one.

      Ray could only sign with one team…..

  23. raven2121

    Who do you think will stand up the most this coming season for the Raps?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Lowry will have a huge impact, but this is Bargnani’s year to prove he is a worthy no. 1 pick and franchise guy.

  24. thetruth

    What happened to arenas? Will drose suffer the same faith? Rubio?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Every time a player has a serious injury – one should be concerned.
      But there are no evidence to suggest Rose will lose his explosiveness yet
      Rubio is a little different player, might be at less risk

  25. celtic bouncer

    Why cant be bird be the greatest ever? He beat jordan magic and isiah?

  26. Will in Cincy

    Hello, Hope all is well with you. I wanted new weapons the lakers have how are people still talking OKC? I mean barring a few better plays down the strech in the playoffs the lakers could have won that series. But now the lakers bring in steve nash (leader in assist and top 3 shooter in nba) dwight howard ( best center in nba) antwan jamison ( 17.2 ppg last year) Jodie meeks ( great shooter and young) chris duhon( steady back up pg). I mean come on I know its all on paper , but thats a hell of a sheet of paper!. Okc are going to get swept by the lakers. How are people now seeing the only real advantage they have is at sf with durant. What is your take sir?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Classic matchup – Young up & comers vs the old vets with some gas in the tank – it’ll be great to watch.

      We’ll know by the All-Star break if the “old guys” will be too much for the “young pups” – it’s 50/50.

  27. swoooooosh

    If the grizz struggles can toronto offer bargani derozan for gay?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      They could – but they wouldn’t. Basically a bad trade because of their contracts. Bargs is relatively cheap.

  28. Tony Romo for MVP

    I noticed some of the raptors players mentioned on twitter that they are either on their way to toronto or arrived recently on the weekend. Do you know what’s happening? Is training camp starting early?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      The players do not have to show for a few weeks yet – but you will find a lot of players get together early to workout – without or without the coaches – it’s become normal and it does help with team building.

  29. Paul

    do you see derozan in another jersey next season?

  30. eagle

    Can lou williams take the next step and be the captain of atlanta? Would u agree that letting josh smith go would be the best thing for the hawks?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      If Josh is on board, he is a guy they can build around, not kick out of town. A great 6th man doesn’t usually become team captain, but it won’t be for a lack of confidence.

  31. Gerald sensabaugh

    What will be your reaction to a bigger badder Bargnani who averages 25 points 8 boards next season? I’m praying for this…

    • Stephen Brotherston

      23 & 6 would be fine by me…. Raptors have rebounders, will be relying on defense. 25 & 8 = All-star consideration

  32. Christian

    Thoughts on Dominic McGuire?

  33. SatBchMagicer

    Steve, you have obviously seen Calderone a lot in covering TOR, at this point 12/13 pre-season do you see him or Lowry as starting PG?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Lowry no question… better defender, equal shooter, more aggressive going to the hole.

  34. Josh

    Is this the best raptors team since the VC Days?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Those were some good teams – by Toronto standards. Best team since Colangelo got here maybe….

  35. Charlie

    Which contract is worst? Amir Johnson or Drew Gooden. Both mediocre big men with semi-star contracts.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Since when was $6.5m for a big man a big deal in the NBA? It’s not like these guys can’t play and contribute.
      I wouldn’t call a contract “semi-star” until it got over $10m per

  36. RoB

    better end of the d12 deal: Sixers or Nuggets? in terms of overall impact.

    Thanks

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Lakers….
      I do like what this deal did for the Nuggets. I think it will take until after the All-Star break to know the real impact in Philly.

  37. SatBchMagicer

    Given that 12/13 pre-season player movement is basically done, do you see West as still strongest top-to-bottom conference?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Over time, the Conferences are a lot more equal than we are led to believe.

  38. Chumpalump

    I made my son take down a Kobe Bryant poster as I believe it is important to have a role model you can respect both on and off the court.. Much rather have a Timmy D, Steve Nash, or Kevin Durant poster than an Iverson (alcoholic), Keon Clark (busted for drug dealing), or Kobe poster (accused rapist). If you are a parent, would you simply be happy your kids embrace the sport you love or are you concerned about the type of rolemodel these people are “off the court.” Many fans turn a blind eye to this behaviour, but it may influence a young person’s mindset/outlook on life = win/succeed and it doesn’t matter the type of person you are. Your thoughts.

    • Stephen Brotherston

      I hope your son just admires NBA players for what they do on the court – they are just people. They get divorced, make good and bad decisions, don’t always do the right thing.

      Ideally the parent is the role model and watching sports is the entertainment. If an athlete is doing something you disprove or approve of, you should be letting your child know that and making the point in the best way that you believe will be good for your child. Parenting is not a spectator sport.

  39. Ray

    Hey how long do you think bulls have an actual shot at a title. Also is it a bad idea for the bulls to somewhat throw this season and maybe get themselves in the lottery?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      As long as the Bulls have a healthy Rose to build around, they can have a shot at a title.

      I thought this year was the ideal time to throw the season, clean house and build for next year.

  40. bballs

    I find your Eastern rankings very bias. How is is team’s like Philly are considered low cause the have to take time to figure it out, and Toronto with a new Starting PG and a Rookie Starting center whos really a pf will gel of the Bat? Don’t you see the Raps taking time to gel too?

    • Stephen Brotherston

      Everyone has bias – bias is created by what you’ve seen first hand and what you read that you believe is accurate.

      I’m not sold that Coach Collins can change his stripes from a top defensive system – 3rd best – to an offensive system that fits the talent he has been given. He might, but that is not going to be easy.

      In Toronto Coach Casey doesn’t have to change anything he is doing – Lowry & Fields were acquired because they fit defensively. Ross & Valanciunas were drafted ahead of other talents because of their defense.
      It will still take time to gel, but the job should be much easier.

      The reason a lot of people believe Collins can handle the change because he is a very good coach – but this is going to be a big test and it is not a failure if it takes a few months to pull it off.

      That’s all for today. Thanks for all the great comments and questions