NBA team previews Southwest Division

Wow the southwest. I think this is the deepest and by far the fiercest battle ground in the NBA. You look at the five teams and these are tough, tough teams. Now I'll try again to impart what positives and negatives I see in these teams. Shall we?

The Houston Rockets

2012-13 Record: 45-37
Key Additions: Marcus Camby and Dwight Howard
Key Losses: Carlos Delfino

Houston's wheeling and dealing that started 2 years ago finally paid off. The haggling for Harden? That hit the jackpot. It's the one that actually enticed Dwight to come (of course some of Chandler Parsons "friendly prodding" did help).

Houston created the almost perfect atmosphere to land Dwight Howard. in one hand an "In-his-prime" All-Star caliber player in James Harden, 2nd the familial atmosphere that the jovial giant missed (Kobe and the Lakers gave him the hard line do your job thing in LA and the fans just didn't gave the guy a chance), 3rd a solid cast around him to actually be able to contend and lastly coaches that can literally look Dwight and the eye and say we know your position very well.

Houston grabbed the biggest free agent this summer and thus allowing themselves a window of four years to do something about it. I don't think the Rockets are a finished product but they have heavily upgraded just by adding Howard up front.

The Dallas Mavericks

2012-13 Record: 41-41
Key Additions: DeJuan Blair, Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, Monta Ellis and Devin Harris
Key Losses: Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo

Losers for the second big free agency since breaking up their championship team, the Mavericks actually got intriguing pieces this summer.

The big target was Dwight Howard, they bombed. Dwight didn't even blink at them, Houston was the only Dwight ever looked, the only Texan team he ever looked. Chris Paul said no team need to bother him anymore.

Gone is prolific center Kaman and Dallas get offensively deficient, Samuel Dalembert. They also got undersized Dajuan Blair. Blair is actually the better of the 2 but at 6-8, 6-9 he's just too puny for the center position. Maybe a replacement for Elton Brand? That's just doing a downgrade. I mean Blair is young but can he get better with Rick Carlisle on the sidelines?

They also got Monta Ellis, a more high profile player who is actually is almost an OJ Mayo prototype so you're actually ridding yourself this lower paid player and getting a more luxurious one for the same type of game. Doesn't make sense.

The only real steal Dallas got is Jose Calderon, since losing Jason Kidd to New York Dallas sort of lost a quality point guard who could run an offense properly. For all the talk of him when he was a Hornet (now the Pelicans) seem to have left him as soon as he was shipped to Indiana. With Calderon they got a very good point guard almost in the same caliber of Jason Kidd (in his dog years) at least they got someone to help.

I am thinking for these Mavs to fly, they need more Dirk Nowitzki doing his thing and keeping him healthy all season is a must.

The Memphis Grizzlies

2012-13 Record: 56-26
Key Additions: Kosta Koufos and Mike Miller
Key Losses: Darrell Arthur

Runner-ups in the WCF, the Grizzlies actually did little to shake their roster up, but the big thing that they did let go is not a player but their coach Lionel Hollins. Easily their most successful coach to date with a record of 196-155 win-loss regular season slate, Hollins saw these young lads steady rise to Western Conference power.

While not taking anything away from new coach David Joerger, it is interesting to see how the Grizzlies react to a more analytical kind of coaching. Personally I believe the game is about instincts and breaks that you exploit as the games go on and what makes the game this exciting. It is interesting to watch if indeed this kind of new NBA thing will work just fine for the franchise or just make it worse.

The New Orleans Pelicans (formerly the Hornets)


012-13 Record: 27-55
Key Additions: Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and Greg Stiemsma
Key Losses: Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez

New Orleans team decided to rename their franchise to something more endemic to their landscape and chose the Pelicans as their new franchise name.

To kick start the freshness the Pelicans acquired 2 important guards to their roster, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday. These 2 guys are insurance in case Eric Gordon doesn't find his groove still as a member of the Pelicans. It also makes Gordon happy, both because of playing with former AAU friends and actually being surrounded by talent. Personally I think the Pelicans did a smart job with their roster keeping them young yet adding valuable athletic pieces to work on with Anthony Davis, last year's top Rook.

And based on their preseason games even if it don't mean a thing? Their coming and the NBA be better ready, and under coach Monty Williams watch they will be better definitely.

The San Antonio Spurs

2012-13 Record: 58-24
Key Additions: Marco Belinelli and Deshaun Thomas
Key Losses: Gary Neal

Fresh from losing a heart breaking NBA finals, The key moves for the San Antonio Spurs weren't additions or losses. Instead, they involved re-signing crucial players (Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter).

After that nada, they have no more money to pay Neal to stay so they got bargain Marco Belinelli who the thrifty (just being kind here) Bulls let go. Marco fits in perfectly with the Spurs by playing system defense and draining corner three-pointers.

The additional year for Tim Duncan and crew does not spell good for the Spurs, always their main concern and father time continues to creep in into this amazingly defiant Spurs I don't know how much time is still left though before it closes it's doors for the old guys of this team.

Well this is all for now, 'til next time continue reading. :)

Best advice to Carmelo: Stay put

It has been reported that Carmelo have shown up in their team's media day. After the circus he generated coming to this training camp, Carmelo did the wisest thing, play basketball and be mum. With trade talks taking a slight pause, he could use the silence to ponder what he wants.

Turning down the extension offer from Denver swirled numerous rumors about Anthony's unhappiness with the way things are going for his squad. It's really frustrating when you have been that close (2 more games win could have catapulted Denver to the 2009 Finals), and not being able to duplicate it the very next season when you are expected to do better things. But in the NBA it's not an isolated case. Dallas is one big example (2006 finalist, NBA top seed in 2007 only to be upset by no.8 Golden State). Yet it's also true that with the way the Lakers have put up their team they'd be in contention way beyond after Kobe Bryant retires from the game. And that is the reason why in my opinion throngs of former Western Conference superstars have bolted out of the conference and found the East enticing.

Which brings us to the present situation, Melo seemingly wanting to go Eastside, with the alibi of wanting to play close to the Manhattan area. Anthony is a Brooklyn native. Wanting the big stage that his friend LeBron James shied away, seems a valid reason for moving. Great scenario. But that's until he swings another great city into the mud... Chicago. The New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls are known superstar makers not named LA. Those who have played in the MSG were showered with big love from New Yorkers, even if their teams were not so great (remember the Marbury era?), and what about Chicago? The city ranked as one of the highest in gate attendance even in their troubled years in 1999-2005. And from Chicago rose the universally recognized best player ever (Now what's his name? I guess you know). Both teams have the tradition of winning and creating stars. So why is he not traded there yet?

For the Knicks, their lack of tradeable pieces hurt them even draft picks are a scarcity for the club for Chicago, them not wanting to include Noah in the mix (good for them). This resulted for a search for a new trade partner. Enter New Jersey, Utah and Charlotte. New Jersey and Denver are the principal teams in the proposed trade with Utah and Charlotte as secondary trade partners. Denver gets draft picks, Andrei Kirilenko, and Derrick Favors, Charlotte gets Devin Harris and Jarvis Hayes, Utah getting Boris Diaw and Quinton Ross and New Jersey getting Carmelo and DJ Agustin.

What halted the negotiation? Carmelo. New Jersey felt (and rightfully so) that unless they get a commitment from Anthony long-term then the negotiation is a waste. True. But if I was Carmelo why would I like to be there? Because of Brook Lopez? Lopez have yet to prove he can play high level basketball with a winning NBA club. If New Jersey trades Devin Harris, Melo would be stuck with secondary level players like Farmar, Hassell, Morrow and the likes. With the East continuing to upgrade I don't think New Jersy could compete right away and might need for Chris Paul. But there is no guarantee also that Paul might wind up there, even if they relocate to Brooklyn. It's wise that Carmelo thinks the only way to win is to partner right away with another all-star something the Knicks and Bulls can offer right away.

So if I was Carmelo I'd stay put for now, wait 'til the contract is over then move on. I don't think any other team can trade for him mid-season if he doesn't commit long-term anyways. It would be disastrous.