NBA Offseason Thread.

[MrSaigon]

Does anyone else take issue with all this star alignment? Reports (I don't know how accurate) are that LeBron's team is guiding Chris Paul's exit from NO. Bundisliga NBA would make the playoffs a joke. Even if my team was one of the very few fortunate ones, I wouldn't like it. Maybe LeBron can just get all the talented guys on one or two teams and then play the Generals 82 times a year, and then for 4 months in the playoffs.

Come to think of it, why doesn't LeBron just go to the Globetrotters?

[thrill]

It's ridiculous. Hopefully next year's CBA will do something about it.

[MrCrowesGarden]

Four-team deal today. Hornets get Trevor Ariza, Pacers get Darren Collison and James Posey, Rockets get Courteney Lee and Nets get Troy Murphy.

I'm cool with it. Collison was a good young player but Ariza is the starting swingman this team's needed for so long. Getting rid of Posey makes me happy as well. Trading Julian Wright for Marco Belinelli in a separate deal was icing. The only thing is they're now putting all their eggs in the CP3 basket.

[vinsanity]

Four-team deal today. Hornets get Trevor Ariza, Pacers get Darren Collison and James Posey, Rockets get Courteney Lee and Nets get Troy Murphy.

I'm cool with it. Collison was a good young player but Ariza is the starting swingman this team's needed for so long. Getting rid of Posey makes me happy as well. Trading Julian Wright for Marco Belinelli in a separate deal was icing. The only thing is they're now putting all their eggs in the CP3 basket.

So are Collison and Posey are good pickups for Indy? I live there and I follow college basketball (well Purdue), and had no real rooting interest in the NBA (used to want the Cavs to get a title). I'd like for the Pacers to return to relevance.

[MrCrowesGarden]

Collison is a good pickup. Talented offensive player, but can be prone to turnovers. Has some work to do on the defensive end. I wouldn't be shocked if he made some all-star games in his career.

Posey... well, he never lived up to the contract he got (part of that is the Hornets fault, though). I wasn't expecting a starting player, but he's supposed to be a lockdown defender and never came close to that. Wasn't as good of a shooter as advertised. Maybe he can get hot for a few games, but I think he's end of the bench material.

[MrCrowesGarden]

And just as another point of reference:

Perhaps most importantly, the Hornets get their new perimeter stopper. According to Basketball Prospectus, Ariza limited opposing players to 87.8% of their average game-to-game production last year over 1067 defensive possessions. As a point of comparison, James Posey allowed opponents 22.3% more production than average, over 666 defensive possessions. Ariza will certainly be guarding the other team's best player every night.

[TGantz]

Collison- Good shooter, talented play maker, but as someone just pointed out he turns it over with that flashy passing. I'd say he's Mario Chalmers without the good defense. But he can definitely fix that.

Posey- Too streaky of a shooter to be reliable off the bench, but not good enough on defense to start. When he's on though, he can put some major points on the board.

Ariza- Great defense mixed with decent ball handling and good shooting. He can carry a team if he's shooting well, but he's also very unselfish.

Courtney Lee- Could do well with Brooks and Scola taking off a lot of pressure. Lee is a good guard, but was probably asked to do too much with the Nets.

Troy Murphy- 6'10 white dude with great shooting from the perimeter. But defense isn't terrific down low.

Overall, I'm not sure what direction the Nets are going with this. I guess Douglas Roberts allowed them to deal Lee, but I think they should have found a younger player than Murphy. The Pacers get a much needed PG. Ariza is a perfect fit for the Hornets. The Rockets get a good offensive player to compliment Brooks and Scola.

[MrCrowesGarden]

Murphy's an expiring contract. This will give them a little more wiggle room to go after Carmelo in the next offseason.

[MrSaigon]

Four-team deal today. Hornets get Trevor Ariza, Pacers get Darren Collison and James Posey, Rockets get Courteney Lee and Nets get Troy Murphy.

I'm cool with it. Collison was a good young player but Ariza is the starting swingman this team's needed for so long. Getting rid of Posey makes me happy as well. Trading Julian Wright for Marco Belinelli in a separate deal was icing. The only thing is they're now putting all their eggs in the CP3 basket.

That seems really dangerous. They have him for one year and then the lockout. The way he follows around LeBron like a puppy and has already been trying to find a way out don't speak well for his staying there. I guess what you think of the deal just depends what level you think Collison can play at in the future. Some people are really high on him, he certainly was an impressive rookie, but I don't know much about him. There are a lot of good PGs in the league, but the great ones make such a huge difference. He'd be nice to have to step right in for Paul. But I like Ariza a lot. I think the Hornets are definitely a better team for this season.