* Brandon Roy!  Wow.  BTW, I'll agree with Jeremy that Portland's defense isn't that great, but I honestly think that's going to change over the season.  They're still feeling out Oden.  If you look at their team, there's not one "bad" defender in the starting lineup.  Oden is a good defender.  Blake, Roy and Aldridge are average.  Batum is going to be a stud defender eventually IMO and right now is above average.  The only "bad" defenders in their rotation right now are Sergio Rodriguez (who just looks painful on defense -- bend your knees, not your waist!) and Rudy Fernandez.  And I wouldnt' even put them in the horrible category (see: Kleiza, Linas) because they're trying out there at least.

* Orlando.  Many laughed at me when I said they were a dark horse and should challenge for the Eastern Conference title, but if Jameer Nelson keeps playing like that, they're going to make some teams very miserable in the playoffs. 

Then again, I also predicted that the Nets and Indiana Pacers would be two of the worst teams in the NBA, so I shouldn't get too smug.

* It appears I was wrong about Jason Richardson with the Suns too.  He looked good last night.  Curious to see if it lasts or if Amare starts throwing a fit.

* Carlos Boozer is opting out of his contract this off-season.  Shocking.  Great news though.

* Another reason why CP3 is an MVP candidate and one of my favorite players to watch.

First off, one of the best blogs out there is Third Quarter Collapse, an Orlando Magic blog.  If you're not reading it, do. 

Now on their site, there's a post about the rumor sending Chucky Atkins to Orlando.  There are a few different versions of this rumor, and you can read them all there.  Basically, it's either:

* Atkins for Brian Cook

* Atkins for Keith Bogans

* Atkins for a $3 mil trade exemption

This rumor has been around for a few weeks, and my immediate thought was "let's do the Cook rumor" because he would give us size which we desperately need.  Then I carefully watched Cook in a few games.  You know how I was wrong about Birdman this year?  I was even more wrong about Cook being competent.  He looked horrible.  So let's scratch that one off.  While I like Bogans, I ultimately think the best thing we could do would be to dump Atkins for the exemption.  It gets us under the luxury tax (huge plus for Stan) and frees up a roster spot so we can get Juwan back.  We NEED size up front.  I have been bitching about it for weeks.  If we're going to keep Kleiza (shoot me now), we need to do something else that allows us to get another big up front.  I love Balkman, but he's a three who can play spot minutes at the four.  We're getting killed when he's our primary backup 4.  And the lineup with LK at the four is even worse.

Thoughts?

What are everyone's thoughts on the NBA so far?  If I can pat myself on the back, my Hawks sleeper pick is looking damn good right now.  I love that team.  I tried to watch the game last night but I just physically get angry at Boston so I had to limit it.  It's gonna be an uphill battle this season for Atlanta, but they might be better than the 7 seed I thought they would be.

On the other hand, I was really wrong about the Spurs.  Really wrong.  In my defense though, they've had a brutal stretch of injuries.  The problem for the rest of the NBA is that if Parker & Ginobili get healthy, and the team can sneak in as a 6 or 7 seed, they are immediately the most dangerous 6 or 7 seed in NBA history.  Could you imagine a NO-SA playoff series in round 1?  Good lord.

I know they haven't looked great, but I still like my Hornets pick.  They've had a tough schedule.  They'll come together.  On the other hand, the Lakers look damn scary.  Trevor Ariza has been a beast for them.  I enjoyed watching him in NY, but he's a completely different player now.  The Lakers reserves could probably beat the OKC Thunder in a game of 5-on-5.

Gotta support my boy Chaunce.

Buffaloes, Buffaloes, Go C-U!

And this still needs 75 words.  I don't know what to put here.  I was just hoping to see if any other Pickaxe & Roll readers would be at the game.  But now I have to be long winded.  I'm not good at being long winded.  Well, I am, but not on the internet.  I'm lazy.  This has to be 75 words, right?

I'm not going to endorse a candidate, an ammendment, a refferendum or anything else here because I think it's great that this site is politics free (especially considering the last 2 years have been anything but), but I just wanted to remind everyone to go vote today!  No matter who or what you vote for (Chauncey for Prez!), it's your civic duty.  So go do it.

Go America!

And let's go Nuggets

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/11/pistons_to_trade_billups_mcdye.html

I love AI, and I will always be grateful to him for his hard work, but this deal makes the Nuggets TONS better.  Our offense bogs down without a PG, and this solves that problem.

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow.

Awesome.

I HAVE to go to Friday's game now and welcome Chaunce back to where he belongs.  I will have a Billups shirt.  What number is he gonna wear?

No Camby.  I'm stunned.  STUNNED I tell you.

ESPN's projections have us winning the game 104-99.  Stupid?  Yes, but interesting to look at if nothing else.  Critical game for the Nugs.  If they can win, they'll put themselves in a good position.  They'll be 1-2 heading into next Wednesday's game against Golden State.  At that point, our next four games are @GS, Dallas, Memphis and Charlotte.  Watching Dallas last night, I wasn't that impressed (although I did like that they ran, now get ready for the traditional media to complain about their "lack of defense"), and we could be 5-2 heading into the back to back from hell (@Cle, @Bos). 

I'm going to watch our PG's tonight.  And by that, I mean Anthony Carter.  I love AC, but he shouldn't be playing 35 minutes a game.  He had three really bad possessions in a row late in the fourth against Utah and we can't afford that.  I'd love for us to get a PG to right the ship (and clean up our rotation), but I'm not sure who's available.  Hinrich might be, and I'd love to send LK & the exception for him and either a pick or filler, but I'm not sure Chicago would do the deal (in fact, I'm almost positive they wouldn't).  Who else is available though?  Tinsley's out there, but I don't see him as an answer.  I'd love to get Lowry from Memphis, but he's not a "present tense" answer.  I just don't know what to do, which is why I don't work for the team.  I'd love to see the rotation cleaned up though.

4 years, $25 million. 

I'm hardly the biggest LK fan, but for $6 mil a year you get a top level bench player.  If he can cut down on thinking he's a superstar and play within a system (provided we have one), he can be a great attribute.  Gets him a little financial stability and gives the Nugs a cheap(-ish) bench player.  Also, if need be, that $6 mil price tag isn't high so he can be moved in a trade.

Now we just need to see if we're picking up Balkman's option before Friday.  I hope we do, especially at $2.1 mil, but it wouldn't surprise me for the front office to let it go to keep our potential flexibility in check.

Apparently my first copy disappeared. 

Anyone willing to go out on a limb?  I'm going with Hornets over Magic in 6.  I'll fully admit that this is partly a dream scenario as I LOVE watching these two teams and would be in heaven with this matchup.  Everyone knows how great CP3 & Superman are, but it'd be nice to see David West, Tyson Chandler, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis get some (deserved) attention.  Everyone knows about the Hornets, but I think people are sleeping on the Magic.  Peitrus is one of the more underrated signings of the off-season and I have faith in Jameer Nelson to pull his head out of his ass long enough to not screw up the PG position too badly.

I agree with Mark Kizla.  I feel dirty.

Article.  I hate agreeing with Kizla, because he's a tool, but he's dead on on this one.  Camby is overrated.  Wildly.  KMart was our best defender last year, and he'll be fine.  I'm nervous about Nene actually, you know, playing but this will work out fine.

And I still haven't written 75 words, and it's early and I missed the bus this morning, so I'm just going to ramble for a moment so I can reach 75 words.