Is It Safe For Washington To Count On Arenas?

Gilbert Arenas is for sure coming back this week in the NBA after an injury that took him out of the court for almost the whole season. Arenas is a great players but has been injured for the past three seasons. His injury enabled some other players of the team, lile Blount or Jamison to reveal their talent.

But Arenas remain the core piece of this team, and one of the best player of this league. Nevertheless, his injury issues is a real problem for the organisation. As the most paid player of the roster, it is difficult for the Wizzard to be competitive. That reminds me of Grant Hill when he was at Orlando. What should have been the most promising team in the league with McGrady, Ewing, Hill and a bunch of other player, has never been able to recover from the different injuries Hill got.

I wish the best Arenas, one of my favorite player thanks to his impressive shooting skills. But I wonder about his chances to compete in a near future.
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Atlanta To Become NBA Contender

We are talking a lot in the Eastern conference about the Celtics, the Cavs and the Magics, but we are occulting the Hawks.

However, the Hawks own one of the most promising team in the NBA. They've frightened the Celtics last year, while they were one game close to upset the future NBA champion. They are this year also in the race to get the home court advantage for the first round of the playoff. I think people forget that last year they ere at the 8th spot, which shows how much they improved this year. They've been way more consistent this year during the regular season, which Hawks have been struggling with for years (even during Dikembe Mutumbo's era they had problems).

Now the team is young, and have some players getting fully mature. I am thinking about Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby that are approaching the 30s, and are leading a bunch of great young players.

They have great inside presence with soon to become All Star Al Hortford, shooting skills with Bibby and Johnson, and athletic skills with Smith.

Now what do they miss to become a true potential NBA champion? Of course, the center position is week, especially in a conference where Dwight Howard is ruling, but we all know how difficult it is to get a great center in this league. Moreover, Hortford can become a dominating PF that could secure the paint both offensively and defensively.

I believe they might lack of a veteran that could help the team during the money time in the playoff, and probably someone able top defend at the PG position, as we all know Mike Bibby is some kind of short in this field. A kind of Dereck Fisher would be great for example.

Now I am eager to see how far in the playoffs this team can go. If they get the 4th or the 5th spot, which more likely to happen, I believe they'll face Miami. I think they have some great possibilities to beat such a team. I am sure Wade will make great performances to lead his team, but Miami's roster isn't deep enough to face the Hawks balanced offense.

That will be interesting to follow anyways.
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Pistons Fans Pray For Iverson Not To Come Back

Iverson finally practices the morning of the Pistons game against the Clippers. It seems he's recovering from a back injury that pushed him out of the competition for weeks. Nevertheless, the Pistons seemed to perform pretty well without the all star. Moreover, as Rip Hamilton got back his starting role, he's been amazing. Also young PG Will Bynum had the very same day against the Clippers a great night, scoring 22 points.

Since Iverson joined Detroit the team seemed to go in limbo, never able to recover from their playmaker Billups departure nor to find a way to get Iverson to suit in the roster.

What is going to happen when Iverson is going to play back? This is very dangerous for a team that is still struggling and found the resources to play without him.
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Sam Mitchell Should Go to the Wolves

Sam mitchell is probably one of the best coach currently unactive, and some rumors would send him to the Wolves. He answered the questions telling he isn't thinking about it because Kevin McHale is currently holding the position.

Let's not forget Mchale took the spot during the season because the former coach has been fired. Mc Hale has been for years the general manager of Minnesota and had great success with themM
. He's responsible of the arrival of Kevin Garnett, Marbury, Cassel and turned the Wolves from one of the worst team in the league into an NBA contender not so long ago.
I believe he's more efficient in this role and should let the coaching position to a most experienced person. And Mitchell would be a perfect fit. He knows the franchise as he's been paying there many years. Also his team-first and defensive philosophy would suit perfectly. Mitchell, has shown he was a great coach and able to make a team play well on both end of the court.

I wish the Wolves are considering him for next season
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Not So Easy To Plan for 2010

2010 will probably be one of the most important free agency of the history of the NBA. Hence a lot of teams which are struggling right now are looking forward to this date to get an all star in order to become an NBA championship contender.

Among the best, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash will be free in less than 2 years.

What also participate to this big buzz is that big cities are struggling right now. We all know big towns like New York, Chicago, Detroit or New Jersey could offer great exposure and raise the merchant value of players.

Nevertheless, one of the key factor these players will consider prior to making a decision is the team's competitiveness to win a NBA titles. A lot of teams, especially the Knicks and the Pistons, are making a bunch of deals to get some salary cap space. They are also checking out players that would be a good fit if Lebron is coming in town.

Though, it is difficult to put all your eggs in the same basket: if you can't get James, and that your team has been set up for his arrival, how are you going to compose your roster?

What makes it difficult is that the best players available are all playing at a different position: PG(steve Nash), SG (Dwayne Wade), SF (james) PF (Bosh) and center (Stoudemire). If you get your team ready for Lebron, meaning you get a great point guard and peoplz that are good down the paint, that would be difficult to get Bosh in the best conditions to get a NBA title. That is all the problems GMs have to face.
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Is Greg Oden A Deception

When Greg Oden was drafted as the first pick of last year draft a lot of people was considering that his athleticism would turn him soon as one of the biggest star in the Nba. But instead Oden started with a deceiving summerc camp that led to a big injury that prevent him from playing the whole year. This new season people expected a lot of the center, thinking he would finally shine with a surprising Blazers team.



Instead, Greg Oden is struggling on the offensive side, because of the speed of the game. Nevertheless I am not really surprised about what is happening. Hence, Oden might have the best body in the league, he remains very young, and hasn't been able during his NCAA career to show some technical moves. The NCAA lacks big time of great center because most of the most gifted tall players go right to the NBA nowadays (Garnett, Howard, Kwame Brown among others). The level is biased, and Oden probably took advantage of it while playing in college.



Moreover, let's not forget he experienced a big injury, that it is difficult to come back from. He might be lucky to be young and having been able to fully recovered from it, but he still lacks of competition for a year.



I am not really concerned about Oden's future. I believe he could still become a great player. But I remain sceptic about his offensive skills and expect him to take his time before becoming an all star. Centers are always at their best around their 30s, and Oden has still long way to go through.

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Financial Crisis To Fasten Franchises Moves

For the first time ever the sport business has to go through a financial crisis. And for the first time in the NBA we can see the impact. First, it forced some NBA teams to make deals in order to lower their salary expenses. But now, franchises that were struggling on an economical point of view seems to need fresh air.

The first franchises to break the news was the Pacers, one of the finest franchise, which is settling in basketball land, the state of Indidana. Then we learnt this week the Kings were considering moving out of Sacramento, probably down to Anaheim. Also, new rumors emerged, that the Nets would indeed go to Brooklyn pretty soon.

I believe this crisis and these decisions are correlated. Clubs that don't have an healthy financial situation are the first one to seek for new opportunities. I have actually noticed that these past few years a lot of teams changed their hometown: Vancouver, New Orleans, and Seattle. We haven't been accustomed to that in the 90s nor 80s. I believe the NBA franchises are struggling being profitable, which appears now during this crisis.
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Drew Gooden To The Spurs

Former Cavs Drew Gooden has recently signed with the Spurs. This is a great news for San Antonio that lights up a little bit more their chances to win the title this year.



What I particularly appreciate in that move is that Drew Gooden brings something inside that the Spurs didn't reallu get since David Robinson retired: scoring skills down the paint.



Oberto and Thomas are great defenders and able to take advantage of the space created by Ginobili Parker and Duncan, but didn't have the skills to play one on one and be a constant offensive threat.



That will probably help Duncan to get more space for his one on one game. Now the Spurs own one of the deepest roster at the center/pf position. Great news for the playoffs.

Steve Nash To The New York Knicks?

We all know how great Steve Nash played under Mike D'Antoni's era in Phoenix. The difficulties that Phoenix is experiencing, which could cause them to not participate to the playoff, might help the Knicks to get the Canadian.

Steve Nash's contract might be terminated in order to save salary cap space and to rebuild the team for the next seasons. The Suns have loaded their roster with big salaries of veteran stars like Nash, O'Neal or Stoudemire and don't get the result expected. The short term plan to win a title this year has been a failure, and Nash might end up looking for a new team.

Newspapers have determined two main options for the MVP. The first, and actually the most probable one, is he'll try to play for the Raptors. He's alwas been considering playing back in his home country, and the raptors have a collective kind of play he will suit perfectly in. Also, I think it will turn this team into a real NBA contender.

The second possibility would be him joining the Knicks. The Knicks are coached by Mike D'Antony and we all know these two ones highly appreciate each other. Also, the Knicks have an ambitious plan for 2010. One of the Knicks weakness has been at the PG position where Duhon has shown unconsistency and Robinson isn't a true playmaker. That could convince Nash to make some salary concession, especially because he remains one of the cheapest star in the NBA (I believe his salary is around 10 millions).

We'll have further information within the next few weeks.
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The Jamaal Crawford And Don Nelson Affair

Former New York Knicks star Jamaal Crawford has been traded for Al Harrington couple of months ago to the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors have been deceiving all year long, and have never been able to heal Baron Davis' departure nor the injury of Monta Ellis who was supposed to become the star of the franchise. As the team is questioning itself about what kind of directions they'll take for next year, Don Nelson seems to not count on Crawford.

According to multiple sources Nelson would have told Crawford he should opt out at the end of the season or he'd be traded and this, after he hasn't played last week for the team as Nelson decided to rest some of his starters to I've a chance to youngster.

The fact Crawford is not part of Golden State future plan does make sens. The teams have plenty of shooters able to run the floor, and probably have other kind of issues, especially their defense and frontcourt. I still didn't really understand the move, especially because the Warriors already owned an all star caliber person at the SG position (Ellis).

But I still find Nelson's unproper. Crawford has never been willing to leave New York, nor to play for Nelson, and is still getting pretty good figures with his new team. He is not responsible of Warriors management mistake. I believe asking a player to opt out is really out of place especially while the season isn't over. Instead of putting pressure on Crawford Nelson should accept its mistake and try to make the best out of the team he has.

I have always liked Crawford. Not because I think he's among the best at his position, but he's always been consistent at what he knows the best: scoring and shooting. The only good news is that he might be interested in coming back to New York next season, for a lower salary, if he actually opt out. That would be a great news as Crawford has been for years the best scorer of the Knicks prior to his departure, and that the shooting guard position is the weakest of the Knicks roster. Moreover, he would suit well for the plan of getting Lebron James as he's a great scorer which could taker advantage of the space created by James and put pressure out of the star offensivelly.

I wish the best for Crawford, and strongly condemned Nelson's behavior, which is unethical and unprofessional.
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Welcome on the NBA News Blog

Welcome on the NBA News Blog. I have been a fan of NBA since my early age, and already owned a previous blog speaking about the NBA (in French) in the past. I gave it up because of my lack of time. I also own another successful blog, about marketing, retailing and customer relationship management. Now, I own a Blackberry handheld, and I thought it was the perfect occasion to catch up with my passions of discussing about the NBA. Feel free to be part of the discussion, I'll be delighted to chat with you.

Once more welcome, I hope you'll enjoy your reading.
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