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Originally Posted by lazycash
At 32, Wallace is consistently one of the most in shape players in the league. Many have said that he's the type of player that could play to 40, although I don't see that happening. The reason teams including Detroit only wanted to offer him 4 years is because after 36 a player's salary counts dollar for dollar against the cap.
Its not about "the starting 5", its about the team and the Bulls now will have one of the top 3 deepest teams in the league. They will play a rotation of 10-11 players. Actually, they do matchup very well with the contenders and with Tyrus Thomas and Wallace in the middle they will probably lead the league in blocked shots.
I'd like to think the title has a chance in Phoenix, but I'm not real happy with what they've done this offseason. Being a long time season ticket holder and having worked for the Suns as a scout for a couple of years, I was hoping they'd continue to move forward from last year. They just lost Tim Thomas, Eddie House and didn't get anything in the draft. Looks like all their going to be able to pick up in free agency is Eric Piatkowski and Lindsey Hunter. The only saving grace will be if Stoudemire can return and play at his previous level.
Dallas and San Antonio will be strong again, but neither of them has gotten much better so far this offseason. The team on the rise in the west is the Clippers, expect them to win around 55 games next year. I'll be in Vegas for the summer league starting in a week, www.vegassummerleague.com so I'll let you know if Detroit finds anyone to take Big Ben's spot. |
Yea I just forgot that they lost Tim Thomas. How the hell did that happen, I thought Thomas was a lock, why would he switch teams knowing they are a legitimate title contender with Stoudamire back. And while Dallas and San Antonio didn't do anything special, I still feel they are the two favorites to win the title next year, San Antonio more than Dallas seeing as Dallas has no clutch players to step up on the grandest stage, including Dirk. I'd put all of my money on San Antonio, seeing as how they usually win every other year, and they're going to come back healthy and hungry this year. The Bulls are pretty much the East's Phoenix Suns, and while Ben Wallace is still pretty damn good, I think Stoudamire would destroy him inside, as he did with Duncan a year ago. I don't know why anyone would think the Heat are going to repeat, since I feel this year was a fluke. So you have Dallas, San Antonio, and Phoenix in the West, and Chicago, Miami, Detroit, and MAYBE Cleveland in the east. Maybe basketball will get back to the early 90s style of having 5 great teams in each division. I still haven't seen a REALLY exciting NBA Finals since Bulls vs. Jazz..