Post by Player Agent on Feb 14, 2013 22:14:37 GMT -5
David Stern faces an early retirement after Heat fans chased him into Mexico in rage because the Heat didn't win a championship, causing the lockout
New York, New York--- One day, David Stern is there, the next day he isn't. There is no one with knowledge of Stern's where abouts, even the fans that chased him have no idea where he went. The last they saw of him was in front of a house before a very bright light flashed and blinded them for the next couple of hours. Rumors are swirling about Mark Cuban being the cause of it after his Dallas Mavericks finally won a championship last season, Cuban denied all of the rumors though saying he wouldn't be able to cause such a thing even with all of his money and he certainly wouldn't go down to Mexico to do it.
Whatever rumors or conspiracies are out there aren't going to bring Stern back, so the league appointed next in line, Adam Silver to be the head of the NBA and will be running it unless Stern comes back. He is the favorite over Stern for most fans of the NBA and many hope that Silver does some things to clean up the league (such as showing the draft loto live, not go overseas etc). Stern does leave behind a pretty nice record before the 21st century with the emergence of basketball in the 80's and then the Jordan years that gave the league some great highlights and dominance until 1998.
We aren't going to go too deep into what happened with Stern or Silvers future, instead this article will feature how certain players feel about their agents (when they get them) and the team they are currently with. We hope we can give you the best inside details we can possibly give as we go deeper into the league.
We first talked to LeBron James who still seemed disappointed about the Heat loss to the Mavs in the finals this past year. LeBron of course isn't going to ask for a trade after 1 year with the Heat, however that doesn't mean he is exactly happy with the roster. "We lost in the finals, so obviously there's room for improvement, I think we're missing pieces in the puzzle and once when we find those pieces, we'll definitely win it this year." So would he be ok with the Heat trading Bosh and/or Wade to get those pieces "I don't want them to go, they're my brothers and we have shared a great bound since the Olympic team. But if management feels that's the best way to get a ring then I can't do anything about it, but if it takes us out of contention, I wouldn't have much faith in management." Wade and Bosh both feel the same way.
After our meeting we got to talk to Dwight Howard, he actually said he was bored of Disney World but then when we had ask him if he has ever been to Disney World he replied "um.... no......". There is one thing he is sure of, that if the Magic don't improve their roster this season he will likely test the market. "We have only been to the finals once since I have been here, and I want to go back, if there's a better team out there that can contend better then the Magic then I will join them this offseason, but that has yet to be seen". He then followed up with "but you know, Disney World is kind of fun." So there's no way to tell what the hell Dwight is talking about. We do know this though, if Orlando offers the full max this year, it's hard for Dwight to say no. Then again, there is a Disney Land.
The Knicks were next on our map and we talked to Carmelo and Amare, they're both excited to have Tyson Chandler on the roster and are hoping for a good season. Both have said they would be happy to get out of the first round this season as a step closer to a championship. When asked about their chances against Miami Melo replied "How good did they do against Tyson Chandler in the finals last year?" Good point, but many experts still feel their chances against Miami are slim to none because of the lack of defense. Look for the Knicks to address that issue with newly acquired Iman Shumpert helping the Knicks out.
Oklahoma City was our first western conference team so far on our trip and both Durant and Westbrook are excited to have Blake Griffin as long as many other Oklahoma fans. They hated seeing Harden and Ibaka go, but both wish the two well in Minnesota. Both Durant and Westbrook along with Blake want to prove their a threat in the West this year and they feel the sky is the limit for them. But with the veteran teams in the West, many feel the Thunder's chances of advancing past the conference finals are slim. But even losing in the conference finals is good experience for all 3 guys.
We're skipping the Lakers for now and want to get Paul's take on the moves the Clippers have made. "I would have preferred Harden and Ibaka over Love as great of a player as Love is, having those two would have been fun to start fastbreaks and finish them" he went onto say "But Love has shown some improvement in Minnesota over the years and I think he will be even better in the familiar surroundings of LA". Love feels that an upgrade at the wings is what the team needs right now "Both Beasley and Billups are great players, but with the West the way it is we're going to need some better defensive stoppers at those position". When asked about his defense he replied "I'm trying to improve it as much as I can and both Paul and Jordan have helped me along the way, I will put alot of effort at that end of the floor this season."
Portland have made a controversial move to get Rudy Gay, but Lamarcus Aldridge likes the deal "Nic is young and Wallace is a great defensive stopper, but since Roy left we needed a outside scorer that can get it done in the clutch, Rudy Gay is definitely a player that can help us. He did express concern about the Blazers depth after the deal "I can't play 48 minutes a game every night and same goes for alot of other guys in the NBA, given our recent injury history as a team, I wouldn't want that history continuing." One thing that does work out for Portland though is that Gay and Aldridge both expire in the same year and if the Blazers save up, they will be in for a huge splash that FA.
That is all we have to report on this Thursday night, we hope you enjoy the read and we'll give you another report during free agency.
