I will admit, Gerald Green's dunk was unreal. I think it's the dunk-of-the-year without question. When I first saw it, I immediately thought to myself, I may have just seen the best dunk of my lifetime. I quickly shouted to my wife, get over here, I think I just saw a dunk that topped any of VC's dunks. My wife was shocked because if anyone knows me, VC is my all-time favorite player (first son is named Carter). I watched it at least 20 times, and since it happened, maybe a total of 40 to 50 times. Clearly, what stands out more than anything else, was how high he got.

Now with all of that said, I have since re-watched VC's windmill dunks, and I have to say, no one has ever matched any of his top 5 windmill dunks, even Gerald Green's from last night. I attached a link to the best VC windmill alley-oop dunk in my opinion, and you have to look at his full extension of the windmill. Gerald kind of keeps it closer to his chest, while Vince let's it fly. I'm not trying to take anything away from Gerald, just wanted to point out how ridiculous VC's windmill dunks really were.

Regardless, I'm just glad the Nets have Green and I hope he can be a part of the team for the future.

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From Ken Berger of CBS Sports: "Two sides have agreed to meet again Thursday and possibly Friday. 'I think there is' time to get a deal, union chief Billy Hunter said."

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By Chris Sheridan

NEW YORK — Here’s the dirty little secret about the NBA lockout, despite what both sides — the owners and the players — would have you believe:

They are a lot closer to a settlement than most people realize.

I know this because I talk regularly with a bunch of important people who tell me important things, and I am going to explain why I believe a settlement will be reached that will not only save the season, but also enable the NBA to have an “all is forgiven” honeymoon period (similar to what the NFL just experienced following its labor settlement) in which the frenzy of free agents signings, trades, training camps and exhibition games will make everyone forget all of the doomsday talk they’ve been hearing all summer.

First, some background. If you only listened to union director Billy Hunter, as NBA players were doing in late August while Hunter was touring the country giving status updates to his locked-out membership, you’d think the sides are currently $8 billion apart in their stagnant negotiations. That is the party line from the union.

But it is not entirely true.

Yes, under the 10-year collective bargaining agreement the owners have proposed, the gap is indeed somewhere in the area of $7-8 billion range.

But if you look at the six-year deal the players have proposed, which includes $500 million less in annual revenue (than what they would have received under the old deal) over the six upcoming seasons, the simple math tells a different story:

Over those six years, the difference in proposed revenues that would go to the players adds up to $2.97 billion.

That is still a significant amount of money, but it is nowhere near as significant as what is being put out there publicly.

Moreover, if you look at years 1, 2 and 3 of the proposals, the sides are a total of $870 million apart. (The players are asking for $2.17 billion in salaries and benefits in 2011-12, $2.33 billion in ’12-13, and $2.42 billion in ’13-14. The owners are offering a flat $2 billion per year.)

Or to put it another way, in a business that brought in $4.2 billion in revenues last season, the sides are only $170 million apart for next season.

Does that seem like an insurmountable difference that would justify the cancellation of the season? No — especially given the fact that neither side has said it has put its “last and best” offer on the table.

The gap in what each side is seeking financially in Years 4, 5 and 6 is more significant, and what the owners are asking for in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 is not completely germane to the equation right now because the players have not indicated they would be willing to do a deal for longer than six years, and history shows the sides traditionally have negotiated six-year labor agreements.

Owners and players are scheduled to reconvene Wednesday or Thursday to set in motion a series of meetings that will determine whether the lockout is settled in time to save a full 82-game season. If the owners come to the table with an offer that promises more money than the flatlined $2 billion in Years 1-7 that they have been proposing, they’ll be getting somewhere. So that’s the first thing to watch for.

Another major sticking point, for now, is the owner’s desire to transition from the current soft cap system to a hard cap system in Year 3 of the new CBA, which would necessitate an unprecedented giveback, perhaps through an unlimited escrow tax, perhaps from an across-the-board salary cut for every NBA player, that the players would simply not accept. (If Hunter put that proposal forward to his membership for a vote, it would be rejected, he would be out of a job, and the sides would go back to square one.)

Also, a transition to a hard team cap in Year 3 would almost certainly necessitate the breakup of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. You think the NBA really wants that?

So the Year 3 transition that the league is seeking is actually a red herring. But if there were to be a transition to a hard cap (or a harderteam cap through a more punitive luxury tax system) in Year 5 or Year 6, it would allow teams a half-decade of long-term financial planning to get ready for the new harder-cap system. This is one of the areas where it seems the owners have no choice but to soften their current stance.

But here is the key thing, the two most important words to keep in mind as this lockout plays itself out: Aggregate dollars.

Right now, the owners have offered the players slightly more than $12 billion in total compensation over the next six seasons. The players are seeking just under $15 billion.

Somewhere in between $12 and $15 billion lies the settlement number, and they’ll get there one way or another. Once that happens, it’ll take only a few days to tweak other aspects of the CBA – pensions, the anti-drug policy, the draft, the age limit, group licensing — that have barely even been touched upon in negotiating sessions thus far. It would then take approximately two weeks to put the agreement into writing, and then the business would reopen.

So what does that mean in terms of a deadline to save the current 82-game schedule?

Here is a projected timeline that pushes things about as far as you can push them:

Oct. 1: An agreement is reached on aggregate dollars.

Oct. 4: All remaining issues are settled.

Oct. 5-19: The agreement is put into writing.

Oct. 20: Free agency opens and players already under contract are allowed to report to their teams.

Oct. 21-31: Training camps are held, and each team plays two exhibition games.

Nov. 1: The season opens on time, with three games: Bulls-Mavericks and Thunder-Lakers in a TNT doubleheader, along with Rockets-Jazz. 

I have been saying all along that there is too much to be lost by having a work stoppage that extends into the fall and forces the cancellation of games. And with the NBA coming off a fantastic season in which attendance, ratings and merchandise sales all skyrocketed, there is took much risk of punishing the product to go too far down the bumpy road the owners have chosen to take.

At the end of the day, they have too much to gain by making a deal that gives them a significantly larger share of the pie that what they were getting under the old deal. And lastly, all of the principle players in the negotiations are reasonable and rational men. They are not interested in destroying what they’ve built up over the past several seasons, especially in 2010-11.

So a settlement is coming, and I am here to tell you that it’ll likely come a lot sooner than most everyone else has been predicting. It’ll take a lot of back-and-forth over the remainder of September, but it can certainly get done when both sides can identify the middle ground and move there simultaneously.

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League website: http://community.2ksports.com/community/league/index.cfm?l=983625

league: netsdaily

password: prokhorov

This is a 16 team league.  Sign up soon if you want in.  Draft will be one night this week.  If you cannot make draft when it is set, you can auto set your picks.

20 game season.  All 16 make playoffs, seeding based record.  Flex schedule so you can play out of order and not get held up when someone can't play for couple of days.  All playoff series are best of 5.  Games are 7 minute quarters. 

First 16 to join are in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YsIyQlUePo&feature=related

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David Thorpe
ESPN

2. Damion James, Nets
Summer-league stats: 18.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1 apg

James started off just OK in Orlando and then took off from there. His great energy combined with a solid outside stroke and lots of confidence makes him a scoring machine who just keeps coming at his opponent. It's fair to expect rotation minutes for him at the start of the season

11. Derrick Favors, Nets
Summer-league stats: 10.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.2 apg

In most cases, teams draft players because of what they'll be able to do in a year or two. Guys like Cousins and Wall, who can have an immediate impact, are exceptions, whereas Favors is more of the rule. He showed plenty of upside during summer league, both as an athlete and with his skills (specifically his face-up game). Did he get lost some, lose physical battles and generally zone out during games? Of course. He was the youngest guy on the court almost every time out. But the Nets have a lot to look forward to.

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Lee could be nice bargain this summer

"In his first three seasons in New York, Lee developed a reputation as a cleanup artist on the block without a complementary midrange game. That all changed this past season, when he shot nearly 400 jumpers between 16 and 23 feet -- more than his first three seasons combined -- and ranked among the league leaders with a 43.4 percent conversion rate, according to Hoopdata.com. Lee unlocked his scoring potential just in time for free agency, which should allow teams with elite point guards to target him as a versatile screen counterpart and not just a glorified rebounder. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Lee is already one of the best pick-and-roll big men in the business, averaging 1.31 points after receiving the ball on a pick-and-roll, better than any of his counterparts in free agency. (That efficiency rate helps refute arguments that his stats are inflated by Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni's system.) ... Up to this point, Lee sounds as though he's worth a max contract. However, as is the case with Boozer and Stoudemire, Lee's defensive liabilities eclipse much of his offensive firepower. %u2026 After considering the splash premium that Stoudemire likely will receive, Lee could be a real bargain this summer. By many measures, including John Hollinger's player efficiency rating, Lee even ranks as the better player of the two. And that's before one considers Lee's spotless injury record."

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chadfordinsider    LeBron & Bosh want to play together. Bron would prefer Cleveland. Bosh prefers Chi, Mia or NJ. Who persuades who? 26 minutes ago via web

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Part of me thinks that if Wade leaves Miami,  LeBron would have an easier time leaving Cleveland.  LeBron wouldn't be the only real superstar ditching his current team.  Also, as it has been previously posted by other fans, I don't think LeBron would join Wade with Rose (two dominant ball handlers).  This leaves the Nets with a solid chance to get LeBron.  I will also go out on a limb and assume if Bosh had to choose a pairing mate, he chooses LeBron. Chicago, sign Wade!

 

"There are two teams that I believe might take on Beasley in what would be a lopsided, cap-clearing trade for the Heat that could be agreed to by June 30, but could not be announced until the new cap is set July 8: Minnesota and New Jersey. Both are going to have loads of cap room, and neither is a particularly attractive destination for free agents. The solution: Acquire players via trade into their cap space. Example A: Miami offers Beasley, Daequan Cook, James Jones, $3 million and a future No. 1 to Minnesota for basically nothing. The Heat thereby clear all their contracts and get their payroll down to zero (besides Wade), and the Wolves get the No. 2 pick of the '08 draft and a future No. 1. Example B: Miami offers the same package to the Nets, who need to restock and won't find many players eager for two years of purgatory in Newark."

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