Wow...that happened quickly.

[moe_shuttlesworth]

Depressing Raptors will stay at the bottom, Utah teaching us how to ditch an All-Star

Nets get d-will, knicks get melo. celtics stay winning. sixers are an inch better

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!! IF ONLY WE COULDVE BEEN LIKE UTAH.
YOU SHIPPED YOUR ALL STAR PG FOR 2 FIRST ROUND PICKS MOST LIKELY LOTTERY
AND YOU GET FAVORS AND HARRIS.

I BET YOU BC FEELS STUPID. HE HELD ON TO THE HOPE OF BOSH STAYING WITH A NON PLAYOFF TEAM, WHEN UTAH SHIPPED THERE BEST PLAYER WHILE IN THE PLAYOFFS.

WE NEED A CULTURE CHANGE ASAP

[heinz57]

uhm... the deathstar was blown up.... TWICE... and had the fatal flaw of having an exterior hole that could be shot into by an xw-ing fighter and destroy it... and then the second time around, the hole was even more MASSIVE.. massive enough to fly the millenium falcon into

it took a friggin glacier to take down the titanic

[Apollo]

The Celtics biological clock is ticking loud but they will find away to reboot quicker than the others.

How?

[sillydebate]

The Celtics biological clock is ticking loud but they will find away to reboot quicker than the others.
NYK has names but no depth and they'll likely float around 48-52 wins a season.
Philadelphia is progressing this year but can they keep building on that? This year's Milwaukee could easily be next year's Milwaukee too.
NJ still has a ways to go and may have trouble attracting talent and keeping it.
Patience people, patience.

[Apollo]

Yes Boston is getting old, but stars will continue to want to play there (bc it's boston)...they'll just recycle allstar bodies to replace the old ones.

How can you say that as a matter of fact? When has Ainge ever proven he can do that? That team was in turmoil for years during a failed rebuild. He almost got canned. People seem to forget the Danny Ainge of pre- KG & Ray. He can't replicate that again unless a star demands a trade and another team wants to give away a star to cut cap... And the Celtics just happen to have like five years worth of prospects just lying around. Not to mention we're probably entering a hard cap system and that makes things more difficult to pull off.

[mattscottnelson]

Half the owners embrace the new paradigm of clustering allstars and paying over the tax and to some extent the NBA loves it because lets face it, Andrew Bogut and Kevin Love jersey's don't exactly pay the bills and networks aren't shelling out Billions for epic Sacramento vs. TO tilts. I don't think it's a lock for the new CBA to usher in parity. There are is the Gilbert camp and the Kupchack camp.

Yes Boston is getting old, but stars will continue to want to play there (bc it's boston)...they'll just recycle allstar bodies to replace the old ones.

Yes Williams doesn't put NJ anywhere close, but it's way easier to build a bench than build an allstar...they are trending in the right direction.

NYK has the cap space for Paul...he will end up in New York.

Philly is miles ahead of TO...nice mix of young, developing talent and productive vets...

[Apollo]

BOS - say what you will about the impending age-related demise of the c**ts, but they're still bringing it...and as long as they have rondo, they have someone to at least build around. and hey, if the need arises, ainge can always pilfer an all-NBA calibre player from the wolves...

Maybe your memory is cloudy, I don't know but the Celtics stunk for years while they rebuilt the team while stockpiling young prospects. Ainge almost lost his job before he pulled off a miracle trade by being in the right place at the right time. That team is old. Look at the big picture. Look at the age when bigs and guards fall off. It's about to happen unless they're special and defy the odds. Not likely. When it happens then Ainge has done nothing to suggest that he can rebuild a team through the draft. He failed at that and managed to take advantage of a team who's star demanded a trade and another team who was trying to cut cap to make way for a rising star. KG wasn't willing to play there unless Ray Allen was on board. The chances of that going down again are slim, no? Also consider Perkins is a FA and there will be lots of teams looking to pay him. He may be hard to keep.

NY - sure, it'll take a bit of time to integrate the new bodies, and there won't be a parade in manhattan this year, but they're certainly on the rise. just have to add some NBA quality depth & figure out how to get amare & melo to defend at a halfway respectable level...

Melo and Amare are great offensive weapons but all the dominate teams in the league are excellent on defense. Neither of these guys are good on defense and their coach can't coach defense. I expect a Suns type product. Exciting ball games that ends in a 1st or 2nd round exit more years than not. That's something to respect but not fear.

PHI - one of the hottest teams in the L over the last couple months...could mean something big, might be a blip, but they have young talent & vets that know how to play...and a coach who seems to be making a difference. are they a serious title contender? of course not...but they're a possible playoff team THIS YEAR which, all things considered, is a fairly impressive turnaround.

Contrary to what some people are saying Brand is not back. They're still trying to move Iggy. Both these guys aren't in the long term plans. Turner has been a complete let down so far. Their future position doesn't look as good as the Raptors'. The 76ers need to shed two big contracts before they can move forward where as the Raptors can move forward now with the youth and not have to worry about cap crushing contracts in what's probably going to be a hard cap system next season.

NJ - ah, the nyets...so long to laughingstock status. if the DWill trade goes down (and all the pieces have yet to be sorted out), does that not put them into a position to rebuild quickly? i guess much depends on who they can put around him, and whether they can keep him...but you can't argue that that with him, their future just didn't become a whole lot brighter. super-duper-rich owner who seems like he knows what he's doing, new arena & move to brooklyn on the horizon...not to mention hump & smitch!

In a hard cap system it doesn't matter if you have a billionaire owner or a ownership group of thousands. It doesn't matter. Spending doesn't decide success in such a system and so the Owner card means nothing. Williams couldn't get a long with Coach Sloan... What does that tell you about the prospect of him leading that team to greatness? It's not a vote of confidence at least. Williams is still a huge boost but they gave up Favors in the process and they don't have a first rounder this year and gave up another the following year? How do they continue to build? Not through the draft unless teams want to sell them picks and they're buying. In a hardcap system good draft picks have increased value because you can get impact players, like Ed Davis, at a discount. Also keep in mind that D-Will rises the projected cap number for next season by over $4M and if the cap shrinks then they have little to spend to grow via free agency. Also Humphries is going to be looking for a pay raise. If they want to keep him then suddenly their cap space shrinks to virtually nothing.

[mcHAPPY]

first off, i wasn't trying to imply that the raptors had changed, but rather that every other team in the division has either changed or is in the process of changing for the better. the raptors are right back where they started when BC took over, but the rest of the atlantic is looking quite a bit stronger. something of a different outlook than before as we start THIS rebuild, no?

BOS - say what you will about the impending age-related demise of the c**ts, but they're still bringing it...and as long as they have rondo, they have someone to at least build around. and hey, if the need arises, ainge can always pilfer an all-NBA calibre player from the wolves...

NY - sure, it'll take a bit of time to integrate the new bodies, and there won't be a parade in manhattan this year, but they're certainly on the rise. just have to add some NBA quality depth & figure out how to get amare & melo to defend at a halfway respectable level...

PHI - one of the hottest teams in the L over the last couple months...could mean something big, might be a blip, but they have young talent & vets that know how to play...and a coach who seems to be making a difference. are they a serious title contender? of course not...but they're a possible playoff team THIS YEAR which, all things considered, is a fairly impressive turnaround.

NJ - ah, the nyets...so long to laughingstock status. if the DWill trade goes down (and all the pieces have yet to be sorted out), does that not put them into a position to rebuild quickly? i guess much depends on who they can put around him, and whether they can keep him...but you can't argue that that with him, their future just didn't become a whole lot brighter. super-duper-rich owner who seems like he knows what he's doing, new arena & move to brooklyn on the horizon...not to mention hump & smitch!

If you are talking about today, I agree. A couple of seasons down the road, I disagree.

No one knows what the new CBA will bring so it is all speculation until that time.

BOS are done in 2 seasons.
PHI have reached potential, IMO, as team currently is. Also, Collins has a pretty good history of quick improvements followed by flat-lining thereafter.
NJ no doubt have a great PG. Lopez is a finese C. Draft picks are gone now as is Favors.
NYK have 2 great players, an aging Billups who will reportedly be getting his $14M next season, and no depth/little draft picks for next 3 seasons.

The Raps are nearly 8 months in to a rebuild with a high draft pick coming (fingers crossed on who it is).

While it might make the next 2 months very difficult to endure, I hope Barbosa or Calderon are traded. Time for the young players to play to find out who should be here in teh future and who should be sent packing.

[yertu damkule]

first off, i wasn't trying to imply that the raptors had changed, but rather that every other team in the division has either changed or is in the process of changing for the better. the raptors are right back where they started when BC took over, but the rest of the atlantic is looking quite a bit stronger. something of a different outlook than before as we start THIS rebuild, no?

BOS - say what you will about the impending age-related demise of the c**ts, but they're still bringing it...and as long as they have rondo, they have someone to at least build around. and hey, if the need arises, ainge can always pilfer an all-NBA calibre player from the wolves...

NY - sure, it'll take a bit of time to integrate the new bodies, and there won't be a parade in manhattan this year, but they're certainly on the rise. just have to add some NBA quality depth & figure out how to get amare & melo to defend at a halfway respectable level...

PHI - one of the hottest teams in the L over the last couple months...could mean something big, might be a blip, but they have young talent & vets that know how to play...and a coach who seems to be making a difference. are they a serious title contender? of course not...but they're a possible playoff team THIS YEAR which, all things considered, is a fairly impressive turnaround.

NJ - ah, the nyets...so long to laughingstock status. if the DWill trade goes down (and all the pieces have yet to be sorted out), does that not put them into a position to rebuild quickly? i guess much depends on who they can put around him, and whether they can keep him...but you can't argue that that with him, their future just didn't become a whole lot brighter. super-duper-rich owner who seems like he knows what he's doing, new arena & move to brooklyn on the horizon...not to mention hump & smitch!

[ceez]

Boston: Window is closing. Fast.
NYK: Gonna be a solid regular season team and lose in the second round year after year. They have virtually zero cap to sign anyone and no center. Good luck with that.
Nets: Deron was a great trade but it's gonna take a couple years to get the right pieces.
Atlanta: see NYK
Magic: Dwight will be gone soon.

Like mango said, lets ride it out and see where we are in a couple years. I like our chances.

[Apollo]

How I see it

Boston: "Grumpy Old Men". One year, maybe two before it's over.
NYC: Bare bones. Dolan is stepping in again, this time vetoing Walsh's efforts to not overpay for Melo, a guy they might have been able to sign as an FA in the summer. Rumors of Zeke being in Dolan's ear again is cause for concern. Last time Dolan and Zeke ran MSG it led to a decade of pathetic basketball due to huge miscalculations and poor judgment. Hard to guess their future but it is anything but a forgone conclusion that they're going to be dominate.
Philly: No further ahead than the Raptors besides in the standings. They're probably going to have to get worse before they get better.
NJ: Deron Williams makes them instantly better but what do they have around him? The days of buying your way to a championship seem to be almost over as the Owners continue to push for a hard cap and are willing to dominate the players in a lockout if need be. Billionaire owners have no edge over small time owners in a hard cap system. Just ask the World Champion Green Bay Packers about that one.

The Raptors will lose a lot this season. The Raptors may lose a lot next season but not as much as this season. The season after that one though, if they stay the course, they should be back to a .500 team with one of the youngest rosters in the league.

[MangoKid]

I have no problem with this team being in the basement for the next year or two in order to stockpile assets. You build this team right, not half-assed.

[mattscottnelson]

From Titanic to Deathstar

In 4-5 short years, our division has gone from Titanic laughing stalk of the league to an eminent deathstar.

Boston: Big 4
NYK: Amare, Melo Paul next year?
NJ: Russian Marc Cuban, Deron Williams (things are looking up)
Philly: Playing great ball with Iggy, Brand, Turner and Holiday
Toronto: Just landed James Johnson

Is it just my math, or does that all add up to a ton of losses over the next five or so years for our Atlantic division Raps?

[Apollo]

Apollo, you hit the nail on the head, Toronto hasn't changed. We need a GM that will change things and his name ain't Bryan Colangelo. He got 5 years to do it. Now, it's someone else's to do so.

I have no problem with that if that someone is qualified, competent, intelligent, and has connections around the league. If not then it's counter productive.

[Joey]

Jones?

Ya we just got James Jones as well. Didn't you hear ... oh no wait...