On the verge of an NBA season to be opening on Christmas day, fans will enter a familiar place where curiosity sets in for their beloved teams and how far they can go this year. However, with the exception of the summer’s draft picks, teams have remained relatively the same since the end of last season due to the lockout prohibiting trading and free agency. Therefore, expectations should be the same.

With free agency set to begin on December 9^th, just sixteen days before the season tips off, several general managers will make significant roster moves that can have a huge impact on the playoff picture at season’s end.

The 2011 class doesn’t contain any stars the way that the 2010 list did with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but it does possess some interesting talent that can really shake up the final standings in comparison to last year. So out of the dozens of players available which ones should fans hope that their teams go after exactly? Let’s break it down categorically beginning with restricted free agents.

Some of the top restricted free agents include names like Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler and Grizzlies center Marc Gasol. Chandler brings the ability to score from anywhere on the floor, which is why he was a major piece of the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York. Meanwhile, the much improved Gasol brings incredible size with the ability to also shoot at 7’1, 265 pounds.

Other restricted free agents that will spark interest include Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo, Celtics forward Jeff Green, Heat guard Mario Chalmers, and Clippers center DeAndre Jordan for his remarkable athleticism. Although there aren’t any restricted names that jump out as great scorers, there are a few unrestricted ones that could help a team put up points down the stretch to complement their primary threats.

This includes Mavs forward Caron Butler and Magic guard Jason Richardson. Richardson has averaged 18 points per game over his career since coming into the league in 2001, while Butler has averaged 16.6 since beginning a year later in 2002. While Butler did not contribute to the Mavericks title run in 2011 due to injury, three key components on that team will also be available on the 9^th.

Guard J.J. Barea, who brings great energy and a consistent jumper, will be on the market along with teammate forward Tyson Chandler, who adds ferocious defensive intensity and strong rebounding.

Guard Peja Stojakovic, an extremely lethal shooter, helped spread the floor for the offense as well, while hitting a number of big shots throughout his career going all the way back to his early 2000’s days with the Kings.

Every team needs at least one pure three-point threat similar to Stojakovic. The Nuggets’ J.R. Smith, the Hawks’ Jamal Crawford, and the Heat’s James Jones provide excellent shooting for any team that lacks it. Jones won last year’s three point shootout and shot almost 43% from behind the arc, while Crawford and Smith can also score off the dribble as well.

But shooters and scorers won’t be enough to win championships. That can only be done by obtaining size to clog up the paint and rebound, along with lockdown defenders to shut down perimeter scorers in the big moments of a game. Players such as Boston’s Glen Davis, Denver’s Nene and Kenyon Martin, and New Orleans’ David West make the best available big men.

Memphis’ Leon Powe and Shane Battier, Phoenix’s Grant Hill, and Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince are the main desired defenders. Although there are several more players who will become free agents in a matter of days, these seem the vital pawns for a team’s playoff run, and even perhaps to win a championship.

Fans should hope that their teams can acquire any of these players, especially those that played for them last year. While there are other players who seem interesting on paper such as Mavs forward DeShawn Stevenson, Lakers guard Shannon Brown, and Wizards guard Josh Howard – their character issues make them distractions that fans should hope their teams stay far away from.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccho/

The article Top NBA Free Agents to Sign appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

A host of NBA stars converged upon Oklahoma City Sunday night for the US Tracking Fleet Basketball Invitational hosted by hometown hero Kevin Durant. They did not disappoint, putting on quite a show for the energetic crowd.

With a final score of 176-171, players like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and several others made sure the fans stayed entertained until the final whistle.a

Surprisingly, the high-scorer was Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley, who finished with a Maravich-esque 56 points on 25-of-35 shooting from the field. Behind him, not-so-surprisingly, was Melo, who poured in a cool 43. King James finished with 40, and Westbrook added 34, but it would be the host himself, Kevin Durant, who put on the biggest show of all.

KD finished with a triple double, putting up 42 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists, leaving the crowd enraptured throughout the scintillating performance. Other players invited to the affair included LaMarcus Aldridge, Johnny Flynn, Jamal Crawford, Jeff Green (once a Thunder player before his 2010-11 mid-season trade to Boston), Rudy Gay, Amar’e Stoudemire and John Wall.

Of course, Melo, Stoudemire, and Paul were all on the Blue Team, giving Big Apple fans a taste of what it could be like to have their own Big Three (Paul will be a free agent after the 2012-13 season). The exhibition match ran like a Golden State Warriors vs. New York Knicks game—strictly offense with a small smattering of defense sprinkled in.

Players joked and dilly-dallied around for the first three quarters, but buckled down in the closing minutes when victory and subsequent bragging rights were on the line. After being sent into overtime, it would be James and Durant that would pull the White team away for the win.

With the players exhibiting so much energy in what was a glorified All-Star game, it’s clear that they’re ready to get back to business and play NBA basketball. But if the lockout drags on, we’ll be sure to see more invitationals in the near future.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/nba

The article NBA Stars Put on Exciting Show for OKC Fans During Exhibition Match appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

After yet another futile attempt by both the owners and players unions to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, the remainder of the NBA Preseason has been canceled, and, barring any miraculous agreement on Monday, the first two weeks of the regular season are next in line.

Following a four-hour meeting between the players and owners on Tuesday, commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver took the stand to announce the bad news to the press.

“The formal position of the parties was the players at 53 [percent], us at 47,” said commissioner Stern in a televised press conference. “We asked the question of the players, ‘would each side entertain the notion of a 50-50 deal?’… While we were in the process of doing that [discussing] with our owners, we were asked to step out and we were advised by the players that that would not be acceptable to them; that they were at a higher number.”

“Today we’ll be announcing the cancellation of the rest of the exhibition season, and by Monday, we will have no choice but to cancel the first two weeks of the season.”

For those of you who don’t know the formalities of the ongoing NBA Lockout, the owners and players are waging war over who receives more of all basketball related income, as well as other minor issues. The players, who were once at a whopping 57 percent, came down to 53 percent, but refused to split the pot in half with the owners.

“We’re continuing to be open-minded about what a final deal will look like, but today was not the day to try and continue to close that type of gap,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the NBA player’s union. “It’s just not a place we feel we can go, but that doesn’t mean we’re not willing to negotiate. We’re not saying that negotiations are over, but in the forseeable future, obviously until another meeting is possibly canceled, we’re just not sure at this point.”

With the 2011-2012 NBA season looking more indefinite than ever, players are in a frenzy to head overseas and make money while staying in shape by playing basketball for foreign teams.

“The biggest thing is that I didn’t know how the lockout was going to turn out,” said Nuggets’ Forward Wilson Chandler, who recently signed a contract to play in China. “I just wanted to play so I can get a better game shape, a better game rhythm.”

And the list goes on and on, with players like Deron Williams, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Andrei Kirilenko, to name a few, heading overseas as well. There are even talks of the Black Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant, possibly entertaining a 10-game/$3 million contract from an unspecified Italian team.

The NBA is quickly losing its talent—the one thing that puts it a single notch over the increasingly convalescent international teams. With many players signing contracts without opt-out clauses, returning to the NBA won’t even be an option until they play their agreed amount of games overseas.

Commissioner Stern alluded to the fact that the owners had already lost $200 million in revenue by canceling preseason games. Unless the owners want to continue losing egregious amounts of money, an agreement in the very near future is imminent.

 
Domenic Gareri / Shutterstock.com

The article NBA Season Hangs in the Balance, Owners and Players Butt Heads appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.