I really like the T-Wolves this season. I am so impressed by this team and would love to see them make the playoffs. They should be gunning for that eighth seed. Their first rounder is with the Hornets so they have no reason not to be trying to win. Minnesota has clearly turned the corner and I don't ever see this team go back into the lottery again with the core they have barring any injuries to star players. There is of course a glaring hole at both wing spots. The Wolves have excelled despite this and by shoring up both wing spots, they could be in for a deep playoff run. There are options out there and they should pursue them. Below is one that I really like:

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=8a4nvy5

The Wolves are getting rid of one of maybe the worst starter in the league. They are replacing him with two versatile wings, who are both very good long range shooters and defenders. Minnesota is dropping an amnesty canidate in Johnson and swapping him with Jared Dudley. The Wolves would lose Utah's pick, but they also are getting one of the best deals in basketball with an in prime Jared Dudley. Dudley fills the Wolves' need for defense and shooting at the wing and is a great teammate. Likewise I think they could steal Carlos Delfino from the Bucks for a couple future second round picks.The Bucks are out of the playoff chase and Delfino is an expiring contract. They'll want to get something for him instead of having him just leave. The Bucks also lose the contract of Wayne Ellington who isn't needed on this team. Minnesota becomes much deeper and gains many more scoring threats. They keep Beasely as well to give shooting and scoring off the bench.

Rubio/Ridinour/Barea

Dudley

Delfino/Beasley/ Webster

Love/Derrick Williams/ Tolliver

Pek/Darko

I think this trade really makes the Wolves a lot better and also gives them more cap space this offseason to look for even more ways to improve the team.

Right now I think Mark Cuban has done an admirable job making moves after Tyson Chandler left to keep Dallas competitive however having Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi playing center or having to play small is going to hurt the Mavs. I love the Odom trade, Cuban got him for pretty much nothing. He is not big enough though to play center. The Mavs have a plethora of wings though that could be appealing in a trade for a big.

My favorite center option is Anderson Varejao of the Cavs. He would be a fantastic fit for Dallas. He is very underrated and one of the very best defenders in the NBA. Varejao is such a good defender that he elevates the defense of those around him. He provides comparable value to Tyson Chandler at half the price. Varejao is injury prone and would cost the most, but I think he's worth it. He together with the other recent additions would make the Mavericks even better than last season.

Possible trade: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cvk46lz

The only real player of value the Mavs give up here is Roddy B who does still have a lot of potential. He can be replaced though by resigning JJ Barea. All the other players really don't hold much value for Dallas and would only serve minor roles. The Cavs though are getting younger and adding depth at the wings with some potential while clearing the log jam at point guard a little.

Other center options for the Mavericks are Nikola Pekovic Timofey Mozgov, Samuel Dalembert, andKyrylo Fesenko .

J-Kidd

Vince Carter

Marion

Dirk

Varejao

with a bench of Odom, Terry, Haywood, Rudy Fernandez, and JJ Barea

The rest of the roster can be filled with minimum players. I think this trade along with the previous moves made make Dallas the best team in the West and the favorites for another title run.

Ben Swanson, who runs the Bobcat's Rufus on Fire blog is in the running for a ten thousand dollar scholarship. He's in fourth place currently, but I think he still has a real chance. Voting ends November 30 and you can vote once a day. This only takes a second to do and would be a very cool gesture and thing to do to help about a fellow sports blogger. 

See Original Post at: http://www.rufusonfire.com/2011/11/16/2565824/i-need-your-help#comments

And Vote next to Ben Swanson at http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

Ben Swanson, who runs the Bobcat's Rufus on Fire blog is in the running for a ten thousand dollar scholarship. He's in fourth place currently, but I think he still has a real chance. Voting ends November 30 and you can vote once a day. This only takes a second to do and would be a very cool gesture and thing to do to help about a fellow sports blogger. 

See Original Post at: http://www.rufusonfire.com/2011/11/16/2565824/i-need-your-help#comments

And Vote next to Ben Swanson at http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

Ben Swanson, who runs the Bobcat's Rufus on Fire blog is in the running for a ten thousand dollar scholarship. He's in fourth place currently, but I think he still has a real chance. Voting ends November 30 and you can vote once a day. This only takes a second to do and would be a very cool gesture and thing to do to help about a fellow sports blogger. 

See Original Post at: http://www.rufusonfire.com/2011/11/16/2565824/i-need-your-help#comments

And Vote next to Ben Swanson at http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

[Ed. note: front page'd]

Ben Swanson, who runs the Bobcat's Rufus on Fire blog is in the running for a ten thousand dollar scholarship. He's in fourth place currently, but I think he still has a real chance. Voting ends November 30 and you can vote once a day. This only takes a second to do and would be a very cool gesture and thing to do to help about a fellow sports blogger. 

See Original Post at: http://www.rufusonfire.com/2011/11/16/2565824/i-need-your-help#comments

And Vote next to Ben Swanson at http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

Ben Swanson, who runs the Bobcat's Rufus on Fire blog is in the running for a ten thousand dollar scholarship. He's in fourth place currently, but I think he still has a real chance. Voting ends November 30 and you can vote once a day. This only takes a second to do and would be a very cool gesture and thing to do to help about a fellow sports blogger. 

See Original Post at: http://www.rufusonfire.com/2011/11/16/2565824/i-need-your-help#comments

And Vote next to Ben Swanson at http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

The Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers are perfect trade partners. The Suns are an aging Western conference team team whose gaping holes at SG and PF are keeping them out of the playoffs. The Sixers are a young Eastern conference team who have tried to trade Iguodala and have been unable to trade Elton Brand.  

        Currently the Suns' roster is stacked with bench players besides Nash, Hill, Gortat, Brooks, and Dudley. They aren't rebuilding yet, but also aren't near contending. They look to only get worse as the years go on and will be stuck paying almost 1/4 of the entire payroll on Josh Chilldress, Hakim Warrick, and Channing Frye for at least the next 3 years. Once Nash and Hill retires, the Suns will really be a bad team, without direction, and young talent and stuck in a long rebuild. I don't see a reason why they should not start making deals. Right now they are just in waiting mode, doing nothing and wasting Steve Nash and Grant Hill's last few years. They do have a major asset in Vince Carter's expiring contract and a nice center prospect in Robin Lopez. Warrick is also a moveable piece who can score off the bench, but is a putrid defender and below average rebounder.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=3me8rr2

        Philadelphia does this trade because as currently constructed, they are a bottom half playoff team in a weak-ish Eastern Conference. There is a couple spots for teams to leap with the Celtics, Magic, and Hawks declining and the time is now for the Sixers or some other team to take them.  Philadelphia already has a good young core. By trading away Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, the Sixers not only clear a ton of cap, but they are opening opportunities for Evan Turner and Thad Young to shine. . Evan Turner would be taking over the role Iguodala had and with the ball in his hands where he could thrive and Young would have the starting role at the 4. I think by giving them the playing time, they will really get better as players and reach their potential. Also trading away Philadelphia's 2 best players, solidifies a top 10 draft position in a historically good one where the Sixers could definitely add at least add another building block.  With the money the Sixers would clear with this trade, they could resign Thad Young to a front-loaded contract this offseason and have their core locked up longterm. With all their cap space and a strong young core signed long term, Philadelphia would be one of the most attractive teams to play for with maybe the most to offer.

        The Suns do this trade to go for a title one last time. Yes Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala are seriously overpaid but as fans, do you really trust the Suns's management to spend the money they would have wisely or get  better with it? They've already shown that given the chance they will make bad decisions last offseason. Robert Sarver is going to try to save money and he is an idiot.  After all, the Suns are in no position to be picky. I say this because they have to act fast with team cornerstones Nash and Hill aging.  Neither Nash and Hill have anything left to prove and both could retire and be first ballot HOFers, but of course they want another chance at winning and winning a title to end their career. It's very possible that Grant Hill could leave for a contender and no one would blame him. He resigned with the Suns last year and they failed to resign Amare' and the team was worse because of it. He wasn't making a ton of money either, he was  very underpaid for all he brought to the team.He's near the end of his career though he's still an incredibly valuable player and of course wants to go to a contender and the opportunities are there. In order to keep both him and Nash in Phoenix, the Suns have to show they can win  and provide both players with a real chance at titles. Without Hill the Suns become even bleaker and maybe the Suns finally decide to go into full rebuild mode. At least with this trade the Suns are locked in to contend for at least the next few years. 

         The Suns are trading four mediocre players and getting back maybe the 76ers two best players last year too. I understand Elton Brand has been injured previous years, but he didn't miss a single game to injury last season and played great in both the regular season and playoffs. Without him, there would be no playoffs for Philadelphia. I think he's already regained some athleticism and explosiveness and is still coming back from his injury. He's proved he cana still be a big positive difference maker on both ends and I believe he can keep it up for the duration of his contract.

         The starting lineup would be very strong defensively with two all defensive team members in Grant Hill and Iguodala. Plus they could hide Nash's weaknesses as a defender  and would have rebounding and protection up front with two shot blockers and good defenders in Brand and Gortat. With Nash. Of course the offense is going to be stellar either way and he would have a terrific slasher/ rim attacker and one of the best ball handling wing in Iguodala. Add a low post scorer/pick and pop player in Elton Brand and the offense is  a lot better. The Sun's bench also would be strong spearheaded by one of the league's best role players in Jared Dudley and Aaron Brooks who will get to the line and score the ball. Channing Frye also is the first big off the bench and is very valuable in his own right.I still think Josh Childress will have a comeback year too. He rebounds, defends, and handles the ball well and can score with cuts to the basket. I think with this trade the Suns are a top five team with experience that could make some noise in the playoffs.

 This trade really works out great for both teams which is the idea of any trade.

After the Beasely post bombed, I understand the consensus opinion is basically We don't need an offensive player who is a below average rebounder and defender. I've decided to make another which feels a little silly. It seems like every post somehow is connected to the SF hole so why not make one designated to it?

Now there are a lot of potential SF's for the Kings:

1. Carlos Delfino

Gettable because he has been injury prone and consistently inconsistent. Would be an upgrade over current SF because he is a better defender and playmaker.Would cost Omri Casspi

2. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

Gettable because he is restricted free agent.Would be an upgrade because he is one of the best defenders in the league. Capable of guarding any position well. Would cost 3-4 million, but the Bucks will probably do everything to resign him because he is a Scott Skiles favorite and is the best defender on a top 3 defensive team. 

3.Marvin WIlliams

Gettable given his contract and lack of improvement. Would be an upgrade because of defense, athleticism, mid range shooting. Would cost second round pick, but ATL would have to send 2-3 million. 

4. Josh Smith

Gettable because ATL needs to move Al Horford to PF and we can provide a center in Samuel Dalembert.  Would be an improvement because of shot blocking, size, athleticism, playmaking, ball handling, and rebounding. Would cost Dalemebert, Casspi, and JT.

5. Jeff Green

Gettable because he is a restricted free agent and Boston doesn't have money to resign him. Would be an improvement because of his size, defense, scoring ability, and versatility.

6. Tayshaun Prince

Gettable because he is an unrestrictive free agent. Would be an improvement because of excellent defense, size, length, athleticism, and passing. Would cost 6-7 million.

7. Danny Granger 

Not available because he is the Pacers best player on a team friendly contract. The Kings don't have any deal they can provide unless Tyreke or DeMarcus are on the table.

8. Paul George

Not available because he is a young building block, excellent defense on Rose, room for improvement. Plus the Kings don't have a lot they can offer the Pacers.

9. Josh Childress

Gettable given his contract and very disappointing season. Would be an improvement because of his size, rebounding, energy, effort, defense, and length. Would cost second round pick with PHX paying 3 million.

10. Andre Iguodala 

Not available because of his importance to present and future of the 76ers, Evan Turner's largely disappointing season, and Kings have nothing to offer unless they get a top 2 pick in the draft. 

11. Wilson Chandler

Unavailable. The Knicks want Chandler back. Chandler wants back in. The Knicks can offer Landry Fields in a sign in trade or sign whom the Nuggets were originally interested in anyways. Chandler wants to win and the Kings would really have to show him the money to sign him. 

12.Shane Battier 

Maybe. The Kings could get him in a sign and trade for JT, but he likely does not want to be in a rebuilding situation and would most definitely prefer to be on a contender. I see him resigning with Memphis, but let's do this for the hell of it. Would be an improvement because of DEFENSE, size, experience, smarts, passing, and teamwork. Would cost JT. I think Memphis could be interested given that they almost traded Mayo to the Pacers for Josh McRoberts. 

13. Trevor Ariza

Leaning towards unavailable. He is one of the Hornet's most important players. He's come up big in the playoffs. He is New Orleans best defender and one of their only scoring threats. I say no because if they are attempting to convince CP3 to stay, it looks a helluva lot better with Ariza on than JT or Omri or even both. 

14. Jared Dudley

Unavailable. Dudley is signed to a team friendly contract and has been huge for PHX. Currently, he is basically their only option at SG. The Kings don't have another guard to offer and so I'd say PHX isn't interested.

15. Andre Kirilenko

Unavailable. Kirilenko is a free agent, but there is 0 incentive for him to come to Sacramento. He has suitors that will guarantee him job security and a prominent role on a competitive team. 

There's been a lot of trade talk recently which has brought up some great discussions. I've been thinking a lot about possible SF's to acquire and I was looking for a really high potential guy on a bad team. I came to Beasely on the T-Wolves. I started to research him and learned that he is a much better player at power forward. The Kings have a hole at PF and are looking to find someone to pair with Cousins. I think they would make an excellent frontcourt. If the Kings don't get one of the top 2 picks, I propose that they should trade it to the Wolves for Beasely. 

Why the Wolves do it:

The Timberwolves are a rebuilding team. They have a fantastic building block in Kevin Love who is already an all star power forward. They are trying to build a team around him and the one they have obviously is not working out or close to it. They made a steal of a trade for Beasely. He became their starting SF and scored 20 pts a game for them. He was one of the few bright spots of the season. Unfortunately though, Beasely is not a good fit for the team because of several reasons. First of all, he is blocking Wesely Johnson whom they picked fifth overall in last year's draft. Johnson is most effective at SF, his natural position. He is forced into SG because of Beasely. Beasely too is playing at the wrong position. He should be at PF. Of course he can't because of Love.Also, the T-Wolves recently acquired Anthony Randolph from the Knicks. Because of his flashes of dominance he'll command a lot of minutes as well. WIth more playing time, which would be there if Beasely is traded,  he could prove to be a building block for Minnesota. I believe this trade is possible because every year David Khan blows the team, hoping for the best. This offseason is no different. The Wolves have the best chance at landing the top pick in this year's draft. There they will fill their biggest need, PG, in Kyle Irving who could turn the losing around and form a dynamic duo with Kevin Love. The Wolves also are very high on Bismack Biyombo. There is a great chance he'd be around at the fifth pick. He'd pair up with Love in the frontcourt. He'd provide big time shot blocking, shoring up another big need of the Wolves. He also can build on the team's one legitimate strength, rebounding. The Timberwolves can score the basket, there's no denying that. Their main problems are limiting turnovers, defense, and lack of leadership. They fill all of those holes completing this trade.

Why the Kings do this:

DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans are obviously the team's best players, but there is little legitimate talent behind them. Making this trade adds another big building block in Michael Beasely. I believe in the right situation Michael Beasely can be a top 10 scorer in the entire league. On the Kings,he'd be next to one of the best passing bigs in the league in DeMarcus Cousins and he'd be playing with a bunch of scoring threats so he wouldn't be able to be double teamed or pressured as much. Like I said before, Michael Beasely's natural position is PF, but he was able to produce almost 20 pts a game at SF. He rebounded well for the position too. His great stats are a testament to the type of player Beasely can be. The reason he should be at PF is that he is a big defensive liability at SF. He is not fast enough to guard most players there. He'd be much more effective at the PF position where he could use his height, length, and athleticism to be at least average defensively. The only worry there is a lack of strength, but he is definitely capable of putting on 5-10 pounds of muscle. Offensively, he will be able to utilize his quickness, explosiveness, and skill to become the beast people projected him to be when he was drafted 2nd overall. We've seen flashes of the player Michael Beasely can be and I think he can put it all together and reach his potential in Sacramento. 

I know there is a lot of hype over Bismack Biyombo and I can understand that, but I feel like he's very far from a sure thing. I think it'd be better to acquire Beasley who can already step in and contribute at a high level. 

There's so much to praise of Roy, who is both loved and criticized. Instead of being so critical of him at his lowest, lets build him back up!

"The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy."

-Martin Luther King Jr. (my hero)

This has to be the toughest patch of Brandon's career, having everything he loves put in danger: his career, his ability to provide for his family, his greatest joy potentially taken away from him. He's not even reached his prime and he may never be the same player he was or even close to it. The team he once led, is fast moving on, and doing so without him. He is relegated to a bench role, limited to 20 minutes, unable to make an impact when it counts most. He has seen the fans, his coaches, and even himself, question him. Now all of these things can make or break a man. I sure as hell think he'll fight through the adversities and be a better man for it. 

He cares so much that he was almost on the verge of tears of not being out there to produce. This team, fans, and basketball itself means so much to him. For one second, the doubts, pressure, and frustrations proved too much for him and he let it out on his teammates. I believe though that this is maybe was a blessing in disguise. It gave Roy a wakeup call and I don't think he'll ever let those doubts and frustrations overcome him again. Also, the cat’s out of the bag, he's not carrying those feelings around anymore. I also think it was a wakeup call for us fans to realize what the man is going through and to understand him, not criticize him. I'm going to go and say something that hasn't been said yet; we should love Roy even more after hearing his outburst. We should love him for still caring so much after everything's been thrown at him instead of just being quiet and lose complete confidence and hide. That'd be the easy thing to do. Nobody would blame him. The poor guy's been broken down mentally and physically and he's not the same player. He's not ready; maybe he'll never be again. But no, instead he still has that fire and competitive spirit inside him. That should give us fans hope. He still wants it, he wants to provide for the team, and win. His mind is still where it should be and that alone is half the battle. 

All of this is in response to his performance off the bench in game 3. With his teams back against the wall and his confidence at an all time low, Brandon Roy responded better than anyone could have predicted. He was huge and was essential to the win. Without his production off the bench it's highly unlikely the team would have won that game. He still has it and I believe he won't fall in the same paths of T-Mac and Gilbert Arenas. No matter what's thrown at him, Brandon Roy has the resiliency to not only survive, but also thrive. 

I am a frequent commenter on the site, but don't make fan posts that often. I am by heart a Warriors fan, but I have recently fallen in love with the fan base and the development of the team. I don't want to appear as a bandwagon fan as that is not my intention, but after hearing about Here We Stay and all the other fan's ventures, I have become very passionate about this team. 

Things have looked pretty desperate for awhile, but now hope has arrived. We've heard about C-Webb's efforts and also about new beacon of hope, Ron Burkle. From what I've read, it seems like the rest of the league is very against the move. Lakers lose 10% of this huge 5 Billion dollar televison deal. The Clippers potentially lose fans and become even less relevant. The Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets were reported by Marc Spears to be against the move as well. I know that's not enough, but I have faith that more teams are against it too. 

Another thing going in Sacramento's favor is the huge debts the Maloofs must pay if they do move. That alone will make the Maloofs think twice about moving. There's a 30M relocation fee and a 70M loan to repay the city. All that to move to an 18 year old building with no legitimate practice facility.

If the Maloofs lose the vote, I can't imagine them coming back to Sacramento. they've alienated the fan base that's stuck by them so long. I mean of course everyone would be happy that the team is back, but they have broken the fan's trust. The damage is done and I don't see how they can come back and have things even be the same as before. They've put all their eggs in the LA basket, the ultimate insult to the city of Sacramento. They've practically sold their souls to the devil. If I was them, I'd have no choice, but to sell. 

Despite the stadium, Sacramento has a lot to offer: great market, young and up and coming team that'll be in the playoffs within 3 years, loyal and dedicated fan base,and more cap space than any team in the league. 

This would be the best case scenario. The Maloofs get a ton of money to invest in future business ventures.  Ron Burkle owns a quickly rising young team in the declining and aging western conference. Burke also inherits the excellent fan base. A fan base, which will love him unconditionally for saving the team. A fan base that has rekindled the fire and passion. The city gets their team back and an owner that wants to keep the team there. In addition, the city and fans get an owner who wants to update the outdated arena which'll be a big attraction for concerts, and other events.Now the Kings are cooking with gas!

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...

After seeing Jon Jones completely demolish Rua, I felt really depressed all of a sudden. The lust of Johnny "Bones" Jones is gone for me. He's without a doubt the best talent the UFC has ever had. Dana and the rest of management made a huge mistake in his match making. I am not saying he didn't deserve the opportunity because obviously he did. but now what else can the light heavyweight division do to showcase him. They should have given him a lot of known fighters to build his enigma. They did that once with the Stephen Bonnar fight. After that he was just given a bunch of nobody's. Maybe not nobody's, but guys I don't even remember or care about since. Has anyone else heard from Jake O'Brien, Matt Hamil, Brandon Vera, or Vladimir Matyushenko. Why didn't the UFC give him a well known quantity like Randy Couture and Forrest Griffin. 

Now that he has absolutely dominated Shogun. Who else can they throw at him. I don't see how they can find more than 3 matches at the light heavyweight position for him.  Soon he'll have completely wiped the floor with the LV division. 

After Carmelo and Chauncey were traded to the NY Knicks, the Warriors chances of making the playoffs skyrocketed. The Denver Nuggets even before trading Carmelo were in for a tough second half. Now without him, its fair to say that basically they are out.

Denver has 24 games remaining on their schedule.

Among those 24 games, they have a good chance of losing 18 games.

Tonight they play the Memphis Grizzlies who even without Rudy Gay have a much better team than them right now. They are without their new players, Ray Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and Timothy Mozgov. They are going without any real small forward out there, no backup pg, and very little depth. 

The next 3 games after that, they play Boston, Atlanta, and Portland in no particular order. All of which they are likely to lose.In March Denver plays a tough assortment of teams. The teams they are likely to lose against are: Charlotte, Utah, Phoenix, New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston, Orlando, Miami, and San Antonio.

Then to close out the year Denver faces the Lakers, Thunder, Mavs, Thunder again,the Warriors, and the Jazz.

Memphis tied for 8th seed really also is out of it too. Rudy Gay is going to be out at least 1 month, likely could miss entire season. Memphis is screwed without him. He is their best player by far and no other sf or guard on that team is half the player he is. In addition, they already had little depth before the injury, now much less. 

The Jazz are going through a rough patch, but they are still the 8th seed. They also have a 4 game lead over us with 2 less games to play. The Jazz will probably be able to overcome their problems and come through. There is a chance though that the turmoil could continue and they could slip. 

The Warriors are competing with only Phoenix for that 8th seed. The Suns have a one and a half game advantage over us, but have to play an extra game. Out of their 27 remaining games, they are likely to lose 14 of those games. They play Atlanta Wednesday which they probably will lose. In March, they play Boston, OKC, Orlando, New Orleans, The Lakers, New Orleans again, then Dallas, and OKC again. To close out the season, The Suns play the Spurs, Mavs, Bulls, Hornets, and San Antonio again.

We are realistically only competing with PHX, but honestly they do have a big advantage. We still have a chance though, a good chance to make the playoffs. The race will be tight, but if we can stay healthy we can maybe get to .500 and make that 8th seed.

This season has been full of ups and downs. The Warriors have been fun to watch, but definitely frustrating to watch us lose games after we were ahead. Our biggest need is a strong bench that we can rely on. Really we have needs at every position. We don't have any productive backup pg, backup sf, or big who can score. 

Unfortunately it seems like we aren't going to have a first round draft pick to fill one of our many needs. NJ likely will have ours.  The Warriors will however have a little under 8 million this offseason to fill some of those needs. 

Some sexy names that the Warriors could potentially use to fill out the bench are Leandro Barbosa and Carl Landry or Troy Murphy. All of those players are proven commodities and improve our bench by leaps and bounds. 

Less sexy, but still improvements are Anthony Parker, Sebastian Telfair, and  Willie Greene

Best case scenario would be to get Barbosa and either Murphy or Landry. I would still be satisfied if the Warriors signed one of those bigs and 2 of the less sexy names. 

Our starting lineup alone will win us games, but is our bench that will I believe decide whether we are a 30 win team or a 40-45 win team. 

Our bench was actually recently rated 6th worst in the whole NBA by John Hollinger of ESPN.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-110107&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dhollinger_john%26page%3dPERDiem-110107

I understand that this is a touchy subject. No one wants to see him go and I get that. He is an excellent sf and means so much to the team. I do think though that a Crash trade may be inevitable 

First trade

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2e4vm77

Why CHA does trade: 

They gain a young all star caliber pg in Devin Harris who fits Coach Silas' plan for a run and gun team. Harris also has a team friendly contract. The Bobcats also acquire Troy Murphy who can spread the floor with excellent shooting and rebound the ball extremely well. Murphy also is a big expiring contract. Lastly Charlotte gets rid of Diop's terrible contract and also dumps Najera. In this trade I see the Bobcats also getting a few picks from New Jersey

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=23d3a9f

Why CHA does this trade:

Instead of trading for Andre Miller and Marcus Camby, the Bobcats can acquire Devin Harris and Camby. Harris is younger and a superior player.

I really do enjoy reading these stories of Giants fans. This is the first time the Giants have been relevant in a long time. I see all this coming together and bonding of fans. I love seeing this. When I hear your stories and maybe this is just me, but I feel like I respect you more, I admire you. We all have are hardships, but this is one thing we can all celebrate. After reading some of these posts, I really would want to hear more. This is a really rare oppurtunity and I do not want to let it pass. Please post your story as a Giants fan. Maybe tell about where you live, how you became a Giants fan, your experiences, basic stuff.

My name is MIke. I am a freshman in high school and from SF. It has been a sucky and disappointing year. I have not been able to be myself or feel comfortable around people. At McCovey Chronicles, I can. This is a tremendous blog. You guys are very intelligent, full of wit, and and I feel I can relate. I love the Giants and its a breath of fresh air. Come home and be able to talk about something you love with such a diverse group of personalities and characters. I am a die hard fan. I have always loved the Giants, but I feel like I know the Giants a lot better after being around this blog for awhile.  The Giants have always frustrated me, but I never stopped cheering for them or watching their games. No matter how bad they were to me, I couldn't stop being loyal to them. Last year was very exciting. The Giants had a breakthrough year. Pablo Sandoval came up and totally delivered and immediately became a fan favorite. Our pitching staff always gave us a chance to win, even when our offense failed to provide runs. I was very hopeful we could remain contenders, but I admit, I was intimidated by the other teams in out division. The Rockies, Dodgers, and even Arizona looked like they would pose as threats. As the season went on I never took San Diego seriously, until probably the last month. I expected the Giants to come so close and then fall just short of a postseason birth. The last series was very close and we just managed to win. That was really exciting. The playoffs have been a thrill. Our offense has not scored a ton of runs, but has provided us with consistent 2-3 runs a night efforts. The games have been extremely suspenseful and exciting and I have loved every minute of it. I am a little threatened by the Rangers,  but I believe in this team. We have come so far, the Rangers are just another bump in the road to our title.

Its Magic Inside!