|
Post by plax on Feb 26, 2014 15:41:45 GMT -5
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS DYNASTY ASSOCIATION pt2
|
|
|
Post by plax on Feb 26, 2014 19:30:12 GMT -5
June 2014
With the 2013 NBA Season being finished in its entirety, let us take a look back at some of the most notable news and notes over the past 8 months of basketball and what to expect going forward. 1. Due to the new CBA, this upcoming offseason will be a very important one. The luxury tax will force a lot of teams to change the way they look at the way they used to build their rosters. The days of the Los Angeles Lakers spending 80 million dollars in salaries yearly are over. Teams will have to think much harder into how they want to construct their roster with what they have. 2. Not only will teams have to watch what they spend this offseason, but with the possibility of the next three years being gold mines for Free Agency, it will be interesting to see how teams approach this FA period. We can be seeing Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and other high profile names this offseason. And that is not even the big FA. The summer of 2015 has the chance to be one of the most important ever with names like Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, Lamarcus Aldridge, and others with the possibility of hitting the open market. 3. The league is changing. Guys who led this generation of basketball in Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, and many others are on the closing side of their respective careers. Not only are the prominent players changing, but the way the game is played is also being altered. Gone are the days of smashmouth basketball and winning with technique. We see a lot of teams today with the mindset of running down the floor and scoring quickly. Many will say that the league has changed from a game based on technique to a game now based on athleticism. 4. For only the second time in a six year span, a player not-named Lebron James has won the MVP award. Derrick Rose won the award a few years back, in which many people did not even feel the point guard deserved the award. Regardless, now we have Kevin Durant, the SF for the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking home the coveted award. This award was very well-deserved, as the star player put up some insane statistics, averaging 29.3 points per game to go along with 8.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists while hitting a remarkable 41% clip from downtown. With teammate and star point guard Russell Westbrook hammered by injuries for most of the year, it was Durant who kept his team afloat. The future is not far ahead, but expect Kevin Durant and Lebron James to be going at it for years to come. 5. The MVP award was not the only thing that Kevin Durant topped Lebron James in this season. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat found themselves playing in the NBA Finals for the second time in a three year span. The outcome was not the same though. The Miami Heat won the 2012 NBA Finals in a 6 game series against the Thunder, but it was the Thunder returning the favor, winning the 2014 NBA Finals in a 6 game series. Kevin Durant ends his remarkable season being the winner of the regular season MVP, winning his first NBA Championship, and his first NBA Finals MVP. 6. The first selection's in the 2011 draft and the 2012 draft, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, might be ready to take over the league as soon as next year. Kyrie Irving, the star point guard of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has lit up the league with his uncanny ball handling skills. In his short three year stint in the NBA, the young phenomenon has taken home the Footlocker Three Point Contest Award and the 2014 All-Star Game Award. He is entering the last year of his rookie deal in 2014 and it will be interesting to see if his team can take the next step. Anthony Davis, the star power forward of the New Orleans Pelicans, might even have higher aspirations. Called the next Tim Duncan to people in NBA circles and the next Kevin Garnett in others, there is no denying the talent of this young man. Before even playing his first regulation game on an NBA floor, he was selected to be a part of Team USA in the 2012 Olympic games. The former Kentucky Wildcat has already been selected to All-Star games and has recently taken home the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 2013-2014 NBA Season. These two players will be tracked closely for years to come. 7. Speaking of future, we have upon us possibly one of the best draft classes in a long time. Led by Duke forward Jabari Parker and the Kansas Jayhawk-duo of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the upcoming class has received some high praise from executives around the league. Many teams are refusing to part with their pick, which is telling of what this draft class can become. The talent can be had in the latter picks of the first round can be compared to the talent of a player selected in the teens of previous drafts. 8. In relation to the draft, the big winner of the 2014 NBA Lottery is the Los Angeles Lakers. They had the 4th best chance to win the lottery and ended up coming on top as they will hold the #1 overall selection in the draft that will take place in a week's time. Laker fans have to be feeling good. They have been a top team for years, and the one year they struggle they get the 1st pick in a historic draft. The big loser is the Philadelphia 76ers, however, who had the best chance to hold the coveted #1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. To their amazement and dismay, they will not even be picking in the top 3 as they hold the 4th overall selection in the draft. They will still have a chance to land one of the top guys, but not having that 1st pick has to hurt. The entire 1st round draft order can be found HERE!9. As what happens every year, fans have to see some of their favorite NBA players retire from the league. This year, we are seeing Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen hanging up their jerseys, among other players. Fans had the luxury of seeing Steve Nash for 19 NBA Seasons for three great franchises. Nash was a part of the new style of offense that fans are accustomed to today. With Mike D'Antonie coaching, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire led a Phoenix team that captivated NBA fans everywhere for years. Nash leaves us while accumulating 8 All-Star Game appearances and leading the entire league in assists 5 times. Fans also got to witness the 20 year career of a player who will go down as one of the best power forwards of all time in Kevin Garnett. KG played 12 years in Minnesota until he got traded to Boston in what started an era in which had star players trying to align themselves with other stars. Garnett was just as good in Boston under Doc Rivers, where he won his first and only NBA Championship; one that was well-deserved. Garnett ends his career being a 15-time All-Star while also winning an MVP, DPOY, and rebound-championships along the way. And lastly we have Ray Allen, who leaves the game with the most 3-point field goals made of all-time. Ray Allen was the other player to join Kevin Garnett in heading to Boston to join Paul Pierce, where the trio won an NBA Championship together. It can be said that there would not be a Big Three in Miami if not for the Big Three in Boston. Allen, like Nash, played 19 NBA Seasons. Allen ends his career with 10 All-Star Game appearances as well as 2 NBA Championships, one with Boston and one with Miami. All three of these players end their careers with multiple accolades and achievements. The marks set by these three will not be forgotten.
|
|
|
Post by plax on Mar 5, 2014 19:32:19 GMT -5
all i can say so far (i have to type everything out where you guys can see everything) is that this Cleveland team is very different (and better).
|
|
|
Post by plax on Mar 5, 2014 19:33:29 GMT -5
and while i get everything typed up, to those keeping track of me doing this ( MarchingOn, Morkim, Jindred, nflfootball11, awesomeace, 101mitch), give me some things that you would like to see me do, whether it is telling you guys certain things happening around the league, etc.
|
|
|
Post by awesomeace on Mar 5, 2014 20:14:51 GMT -5
I'd like you to draft Wiggins, sign Nash, draft Stauskas and be the 1st all-Canadian team to win a NBA championship
|
|
|
Post by plax on Mar 5, 2014 20:20:47 GMT -5
I'd like you to draft Wiggins, sign Nash, draft Stauskas and be the 1st all-Canadian team to win a NBA championship i will say this. i could have drafted Wiggins in the draft. that should give some of you an idea on how the lottery thing went... Nash usually retires after the first year in association, so impossible to get him.
|
|
|
Post by awesomeace on Mar 5, 2014 21:18:15 GMT -5
I better see Tristan Thompson stay on the team then!
|
|
|
Post by plax on Mar 5, 2014 22:35:53 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by plax on Mar 5, 2014 22:40:04 GMT -5
MVP AWARD
Kevin Durant, OKC
Rookie of the Year AWARD
Michael Carter-Williams, PHI
Defensive Player of the Year AWARD
Deandre Jordan, LAC
|
|
|
Post by 101mitch on Mar 5, 2014 22:43:28 GMT -5
MVP!! MVP!!
|
|