...The last season I go without NBA league pass.

Too many story lines, too many young teams developing potential superstars, and all I care about is basketball come November.  Screw network sports schedules.

Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas in Chi town

B Diddy in La La land

Boston 3 party goes for 70 wins

Shobe goes for 70 wins and 100 points

Superman

DWade, BEASTLEY, Matrix (Division rival getting as much airtime as Wiz??? on MY television?  Nahhh)

Is CP3 the funnest guy to watch in the NBA?  Just might be

Nash passing to old guys

too bad Lebron doesnt have anyone to pass to (or to pass to him)...

and I'd like to see the experiment in Toronto every now and then

ohh did I forget anyone... Portland anyone???  Greg Oden...  What a rookie watch

Just a few squads I'm dying to see next year, and I also think Kidd isn't done in Dallas.  They have a squad and Kidd can still pass.  They'll get it back next year.

Oh yea, and I almost forgot home court advantage for the Wiz finally!  set the Over/Under at ... 50 wins

Besides the Wiz, anyone have a burning desire to watch any team in particular next year?

I've been waiting for the day Joe Dumars would make some moves with all those chips he has in Detroit...  Damn he's a good GM

“I’ll make a significant trade,” Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, declared. “… "We have a core group of guys here that for the first time in six years I’m letting teams in the league know I’ll do a deal. … I’m open for business.”

Melo is untouchable right?  Thats what I thought.  I knew those rumors about him and Richard Jefferson were ridiculous:

Tayshaun Prince

Rasheed Wallace

for

Carmelo Anthony

Marcus Camby

Both Tayshaun and Melo have 3 years left on their contracts.  It seems like both duos of players would be going to better situations/roles on their teams.

I see Tayshaun stepping it up to 17-18 ppg in an increased offensive role, while giving the Nuggets the defensive stopper they greatly need at SF in the west.   Iverson and Prince would be sick together... but Sheed is the deal maker because he's the low post presence that could push the Nuggets over the top in the west.

Melo joins a team with the defensive intensity that could cover up his liability on that end of the floor (and hey, he might even step it up, too).  It's needless to go into the creativity Melo brings to the Pistons offensive game, but if they had him in this year's conference finals...

Big 3 of Iverson, Prince, and Sheed > Big 2 of A.I. and Melo

Big 3 of Chauncey, Rip, and Melo > Big 3 of Chauncey, Prince, and Sheed

Gotta love the community you all have going here.  I’m glad I finally got around to signing up.  Anyone have Ernie Grunfeld’s email?

FIRST step to the off-season will be to re-sign BOTH Gilbert and Antawn.

I’m not hearing any part of the argument against Gil.  He is a top-10 player in the NBA when healthy.  When someone on the court is that good, the role players simply don’t have to work as hard to get open shots and can focus on more important things like DEFENSE instead of the rare numb-face.

Now for the trade…

WIZARDS OUT

Brendan Haywood (5 mil/yr @ 2 years)

Andray Blatche (3 mil/yr @ 4 years)

Deshawn Stevenson (3.5 mil/yr @ 3 years)

18th pick in the draft

WIZARDS IN

Elton Brand (he would have to opt-out and then Sign and trade)

10 mil with 10% yearly increases thru 4-5 years

Brevin Knight (1.7 mil @ 1 year)

This deal would only work because it’s with the Clippers.  Why wouldn’t the Clips want to exchange a 29 year old forward fresh off knee surgery for a chance to get younger with players who have very favorable contracts?  This is the type of thing they’re known for.

They will be getting Shaun Livingston back, who also suffered a heartbreaking leg injury, but who is still just 23.  With Livingston showing the promise that he did before his injury, it would be cool to see him running the break with Maggette and Thornton on the wings and Mobley and Stevenson spotting up for 3’s.  They could have a great mix with that backcourt.  They’d also have 2 centers coming off incredibly strong seasons in Kaman and Haywood, and young Blatche with the opportunity to prove himself alongside a much younger roster with more minutes to go around.

Mix in their 2 draft picks at 7th and 18th, which they could draft someone like Kevin Love or Darrell Arthur to anchor their PF position, and another young PG like Ty Lawson or DJ Augustin to go behind Livingston and they would have a very potent group of young talent.

CLIPPERS depth chart:

Shaun Livingston / Ty Lawson / Quinton Ross

Corey Maggette / Cuttino Mobley / Deshawn Stevenson

Al Thornton / Tim Thomas / Nick Fazekas

Kevin Love / Andray Blatche / Paul Davis

Chris Kaman / Brendan Haywood

This is an extremely risky deal for the Wizards, and I doubt Ernie would make it with the good job security he seems to have right now.  But me on the other hand… “I’m so nice that I’ll bet my life (I guess I got a gamblin’ problem).”

The Wiz immediately become a contender in the East.  Elton Brand has a broad range of moves on the block as well as a sweet 15 ft jumper.  He's solid on defense, and he gives us that post presence that any team needs in order to win a championship.  Thats the goal with this trade...

And then you know what happens when you make that big of an improvement in one season: it attracts free agents who wouldn’t otherwise sign on.  After this blockbuster deal goes down on draft night, it will catch the eyes of guys like Mickael Pietrus, Desegana Diop, Chris Duhon, Devin Brown, or Eduardo Najera.

Personally, I think Pietrus and especially Diop would be the best fits as free agent additions.  Pietrus replaces the 3-point shooting that we lost in Deshawn, and has solid defense.  Diop is the one piece that we would absolutely need.  With the dynamic scoring of Gil, Caron, Brand, and Jamison (COMING OFF THE BENCH), Diop would be the rugged rebounder/shot blocker that could be the intangible aspect of the half-court that doesn’t show up in the box score.  It would then be important to re-sign Roger Mason.  His poise and 3-point shooting late in the season was a bright spot and I only see him improving his game.

Though our bench was much deeper this year than it was the past, one thing it lacked was a consistent 6th man/scorer that could come into the game to either keep the offense moving or give us a spark.  Jamison has proven in the past to be a great 6th man, and as captain, I see him relishing that role to make the team take the next step.  It would also be a cohesive second unit coming in, with AD, Jamison, and Songaila who all work well together and with Nick Young being the offensive threat that replaces Gilbert’s shooting.  That is a second unit that can straight up shoot the ball, and again you have your muscle in the middle in Etan.  Anyone have Ernie’s email??

WIZARDS depth chart:

Gilbert / AD / Brevin Knight

Roger Mason / Nick Young

Caron / Mickael Pietrus / DMG

Elton Brand / Antawn Jamison / Darius Songaila

Desegana Diop / Etan Thomas / O-pech