The 2011 Green Bay Packers have to be considered the front-runners to win the Super Bowl. The sheer amount of talent that Green Bay possesses (on both sides of the ball) has been simply dominant thus far. However, the Packers didn't just luck into the talented players they have. Rather, they devised a methodical plan for constructing their team that is probably the smartest I've ever seen.

First, let's look at the origin of this talent...

Continue reading this post »

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=26pzo22

Indiana receives:

1st Round Selection (From Golden State VIA New Jersey)

Kenyon Martin (PF)
Derrick Favors (PF)
Devin Harris (PG)

Denver Receives:

Danny Granger (SF)

Jeff Foster (C)

New Jersey receives:

Carmelo Anthony (SF)
T.J. Ford (PG)

I know Carmelo isn't approving a trade to anyone but the Knicks, but man, would this be nice. In this scenario, the Nets get to keep their presumptive lottery pick from this year and switch their PG for a better fit in the new system while acquiring the franchise player they so desperately need, the Pacers ship Granger to get younger, cheaper, even more athletic (scary) AND grab another lottery pick, and the Nuggets get a scorer to fill their gap at SF. I'm not entirely sure Indiana is interested in punting the season just yet, but Granger isn't getting any younger and the east is a crap shoot - better to get a young horse in Favors and a likely lottery pick now than to waste 4 years of his talent like KG in Minnesota. I'm not sure if Indiana expects to realistically contend with the Bostons and Miami's of the world, and they might be the perfect facilitator for an Anthony trade. Heck, if they threw the towel in right now, they could get a realistic chance at Harrison Barnes or Terrence Jones, plus another big (Trey Tompkins or Tristan Thompson) later in the round and be Oklahoma City-stacked in two years.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Let me know.