New York, New York! Bringing a championship home

[Myles Nelson]

I'd buy that trade. If Sterling gets on the GMs case about keeping a star in LA if CP3 is on his way out, then I'd buy that from his end. From a basketball perspective, Clippers would be screwing themselves over, but from a marketing standpoint, I get it.

Not digging the Gerald Wallace trade though. Then again I'm slightly biased because I never liked Wallace.

[zike_42]

I'd buy that trade. If Sterling gets on the GMs case about keeping a star in LA if CP3 is on his way out, then I'd buy that from his end. From a basketball perspective, Clippers would be screwing themselves over, but from a marketing standpoint, I get it.

Not digging the Gerald Wallace trade though. Then again I'm slightly biased because I never liked Wallace.

I realised after I wrote that report that CP3 is on his last year of his contract so I really see LAC trying to get something for him like OKC/Harden so it is reasonable. The Gerald Wallace trade was a little of a Plan B idea because I really wanted a defensive minded SF and Andrei Kirilenko was my main man. When I couldn't get him I thought I had to get something and Wallace's name came up. He is doing pretty good so far keeping opposing SFs at bay so I'm content with him so far.

[Myles Nelson]

I think the main reason I don't like him is I hate having perimeter players who don't have range. I would have gone for Batum personally, that guy is my favorite SF.

[zike_42]

I tried to get Batum but with the assets I was willing to trade Portland wasn't having a bar of it. I think with Wallace's age and contract the Nets were more receptive to trade him.

EDIT - I got home and fired up PB3 and saw that Batum has torn his ACL and will be out for a full calendar year which sucks for them but a good miss by us.

[zike_42]

December Player of the Month – Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder – 37.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.4 blocks per game.

December Rookie of the Month – Anthony Davis, New Orleans Hornets – 14.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 3.1 blocks per game.

Crazy number by Durant last month, he had seven 40+ games in a single month! He’s only 23 years old as well, I would love to have him suiting up next to Chris Paul in New York but that is just a pipe dream.

Another trade –

Chicago trade:
PF Taj Gibson

Toronto trade:
C Aaron Gray
2013 2nd round pick

Winner – Toronto. Gray is stuck behind three other centres while Gibson slots into the Raptors’ sixth man position, pretty obvious.

@ Charlotte – 110-87 W (18-12) Knicks best – Tyson Chandler – 24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks
Vs Indiana – 131-90 W (19-12) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 33 points, 9 rebounds
Vs Boston – 119-92 (Yay!) W (20-12) Knicks best – 30 points, 6 assists
@ Oklahoma City – 86-95 L (20-13) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 23 points, 5 steals

After the loss to the Thunder Marcus Camby had another go to the press about playing time and I have had enough. Sure he is a valuable member of the bench but he can’t keep flying off the handle all the time so I hit the phones.

But no one wants him. He is too old and is owed too much money to be of any use to anyone. Great. I’ll just stick him on the trading block to see who bites and what the heck I’ll put JR Smith there as well. I want Iman Shumpert to get a good crack at being a starting SG sooner rather than later.

@ Dallas – 112-126 L (20-14) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 31 points
@ Houston – 105-73 W (21-14) Knicks best – Gerald Wallace – 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
@ New Orleans – 87-102 L (21-15) Knicks best – JR Smith – 23 points, 8 rebounds
Vs Washington – 114-111 W (22-15) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 27 points, 10 assists
@ Washington – 97-83 W (23-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 18 points, 11 rebounds
Vs Philadelphia – 121-97 W (24-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 32 points
Vs Chicago – 101-88 W (25-15) Knicks best – Gerald Wallace – 20 points, 8 rebounds
Vs Phoenix – 100-90 W (26-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 29 points, 8 rebounds
Vs Memphis – 97-78 W (27-15) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 20 points, 18 assists, 10 rebounds
@ Philadelphia – 110-98 W (28-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 33 points, 12 rebounds

Great. Just as we were on a roll with seven wins in a row Rasheed Wallace mouthes off, again. I’ve had enough and cut him straight away. No chat, no warnings, this team is in a groove and I won’t let anything get in the way. I sign rookie Furkan Aldemir and ancient Ben Wallace to fill in those final roster spots.

Vs Houston – 119-86 W (29-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 32 points, 9 rebounds
Vs Atlanta – 127-80 W (30-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 25 points, 6 rebounds

At the end of January we are on a nine game winning streak. Sure seven of those games were at home but I’m really excited with this team so far. Even better is Iman Shumpert who is becoming a great spark off the bench. We have moved up to fifth in the East but it is a bit unnerving that we are 22-1 at home and only 8-14 away from NYC. The Heat have taken the top spot with 35-9 record with Boston trailing at 35-12. Charlotte is just above their last season with a 5-41 record. Only just above. In the West Denver is leading at 36-10 with the Lakers, Spurs and Thunder breathing down their neck.

New York Top Points
Amare Stoudemire – 23.2
Chris Paul – 20.1
Tyson Chandler – 12.9

New York Top Assists
Chris Paul – 9.7
JR Smith – 2.1
Jason Kidd – 2.0

New York Top Rebounds
Tyson Chandler – 9.0
Amare Stoudemire – 7.8
Marcus Camby – 6.3

New York Top Efficiency
Chris Paul – 26.9
Amare Stoudemire – 20.6
Tyson Chandler – 18.5

League Top Points
Kevin Durant (OKC) – 34.7
Lebron James (MIA) – 31.0
Kevin Love (MIN) – 28.2

League Top Assists
Chris Paul (NYK) – 9.7
Russell Westbrook (OKC) – 9.4
Kyle Lowry (TOR) – 9.0

League Top Rebounds
Kevin Love (MIN) – 12.0
Kris Humphries (BKL) – 11.3
Anderson Varejao (CLE) – 10.8

League Top Efficiency
Kevin Durant (OKC) – 30.8
Lebron James (MIA) – 29.4
Kevin Love (MIN) – 28.6

Rookie Top Efficiency
Anthony Davis (NOH) – 19.6
Damian Lillard (POR) – 15.9
Jonas Valanciunas (TOR) – 13.1

Second round of Future Prospects
1. C Demond Lewis (Maryland) – 6’10” 258lbs Freshman
2. PF Thomas Cooper (Australia) – 6’10” 222lbs 21 years old
3. SF Gabe White (USC) – 6’10” 212lbs Sophomore
4. PF Lynn McMillian (Pittsburgh) – 6’11” 219lbs Freshman
5. PF Chris Drexler (Louisville) – 6’8” 224lbs Freshman

[Myles Nelson]

Man I sure hope you get rid of Camby because I know how bad toxic personalities can be for a team. Especially one that's rolling like yours. Great winning streak

[zike_42]

January Player of the Month – Lebron James, Miami Heat – 32.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.7 steals, 0.3 blocks per game.

January Rookie of the Month – Anthony Davis, New Orleans Hornets – 11.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 4.1 blocks per game.

@ Indiana – 114-86 W (31-15) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 24 points (only 2 assists though)
Vs LA Lakers – 109-86 W (32-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 32 points, 6 rebounds
Vs Cleveland – 108-91 W (33-15) Knicks best – Amare Stoudmire – 20 points, 8 rebounds

Marcus Camby seems to have simmered down now we are winning and he is getting good minutes. A reporter asks me if Camby is still on the trading block and I tell him that he still is, but for now he isn’t going to be traded for the sake of getting him of the team.

Vs Boston – 119-131 L (33-16) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 42 points, 11 rebounds
@ Portland – 119-109 W (34-16) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 23 points, 10 rebounds

San Antonio trade:
SG Danny Green
C Matt Bonner

Toronto trade:
PG Jose Calderon
2013 2nd round pick

Winner – San Antonio. Slotting into the seventh man position, Calderon is a massive upgrade at PG. He is also a massive expiring contract with over $10 million coming off the books next season. Thirdly, Bonner was unhappy with his playing time and wanted out, releasing the Spurs of a potential chemistry killing problem. RC Buford strikes again.

Hmm, strange ploy from the Grizzlies. They call me up to see if they want to trade JR Smith for Darrell Arthur (which I wouldn’t do), then they pulled the offer and traded him to Indiana. I learnt later on that the Pacers really wanted Arthur but didn’t want to give up anything important so Memphis gave them some competition and the Pacers caved. Very clever by Memphis’ front office.

Indiana trade:
SF Gerald Green

Memphis trade:
PF Darrell Arthur

Winner – Memphis. The Pacers were drooling over Arthur (for some reason) and the Grizzlies made them sweat. Green should be great for Memphis off the bench for a scoring kick.

I go shopping around the league for nothing in particular and I see that Anderson Varejao has requested a trade. If I didn’t have so much money tied up in Amare and Tyson I would give it a go but Sideshow Bob is making too much money to be a bench big.

What’s this? LaMarcus Aldridge wants out from Portland? Time to go to work. And nothing. I don’t blame them as Aldridge is a franchise player, they won’t even listen when I try Chris Paul and Amare together, even if the salaries matched.

I also try and snatch the disgruntled Danny Granger from Indiana but they won’t bite. Having such an old squad makes trading hard as many teams don’t want old guys no matter how good they are.

@ Golden State – 121-108 W (35-16) Knicks best – Tyson Chandler – 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks

Ronnie Brewer, Iman Shumpert, Amare Stoudemire and Furkan Aldemir (who has been a nice surprise) were all injured in the game but luckily we only have one more game until the All Star break to recoup some wounds.

@ LA Clippers – 114-102 W (36-16) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 26 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds
(Gerald Wallace fouls out in nine minutes trying to guard Carmelo Anthony. Ouch).

It’s All Star time! Gerald Henderson from Charlotte wins the dunk contest, narrowly edging out Victor Claver from Portland 58-54. Ray Allen from Miami adds another 3 point contest trophy to his vast list, beating Boston’s Courtney Lee and Memphis’ Jerryd Bayless.

In the Rookie game it’s the Sophomores who take the crown, beating the first years 122-114 being a superb performance from Kyrie Irving who poured in 33 points and dished out 11 assists. We didn’t have any participants.

The East won the All Star game 121-104 behind Lebron James’ 27 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists as the Knicks had one player, starter Chris Paul who played 14 minutes for 8 points and 5 assists.

Eastern Conference Starting Line-up
PG – Chris Paul, New York
SG – Dwayne Wade, Miami
SF – Lebron James, Miami
PF – Josh Smith, Atlanta
C – Andrew Bynum, Philadelphia

Western Conference Starting Line-up
PG – Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
SG – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
SF – Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
PF – Kevin Love, Minnesota
C – Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers

I put my trading trigger finger away as this team is gelling nicely.

Vs San Antonio – 106-103 W (37-16) Knicks best – 25 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds

It’s a trade bonanza!

Charlotte trade:
PG Ramon Sessions

Los Angeles Lakers trade:
PF Jordan Hill
PF Antawn Jamison

Winner – Lakers. The Bobcats best bench point guard is now Ben Gordon (yuck) while Sessions will give Steve Nash plenty of rest from the bench.

Detroit trade:
SF Tayshaun Prince
2013 2nd round pick

Minnesota trade:
PG Jose Juan Barea

Winner – Detroit. Prince had a terrible contract while Barea will be a dynamo off the bench.

Miami trade:
SG Ray Allen
PF Rashard Lewis

Detroit trade:
PF Jason Maxiell
2013 2nd round pick

Winner – Detroit. What is Miami thinking?!? Maxiell is an expiring, probably the only good thing while Detroit gets a starting SF and a good bench big. This really hurts Miami’s repeat chances.

Indiana trade:
PG George Hill

Oklahoma City trade:
2013 1st round pick

Winner – Oklahoma City. The pick will be low (the Thunder are currently 36-18) while George Hill is starting in an all-PG guard rotation with Russell Westbrook.

Washington trade:
C Emeka Okafor
2013 2nd round pick

Milwaukee trade:
SF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
SF Mike Dunleavy
SG Marquis Daniels

Winner – Washington. With Kevin Seraphin’s ongoing progress Okafor was redundant. Milwaukee now pays Okafor $13 million a year to be their eighth man. Not the best trade for the Bucks.

Charlotte trade:
SF Reggie Williams
2013 2nd round pick

Lakers trade:
SG Jodie Meeks
SF Earl Clark

Winner – Lakers. Another CHA/LAL trade and the Lakers win again. Williams slots into the seventh spot while Meeks and Clark are training fodder.

Atlanta trade:
SF Josh Howard

Miami trade:
SG Terrel Harris
C Dexter Pittman

Winner – Miami. They may have won this trade but it seems like a desperation move. Ray Allen/Rashard Lewis is a better combo than Josh Howard/Jason Maxiell.

What an awful, awful trade by the Heat which makes me and the rest of New York very happy.

Vs Toronto – 130-99 W (38-16) Knicks best – Tyson Chandler – 31 points, 8 rebounds
@ Toronto – 121-93 W (39-16) Knicks best – Amare Stoudemire – 41 points, 9 rebounds (Chris Paul had 21 points and 26 assists as well!)
Vs Indiana – 96-86 W (40-16) Knicks best – Tyson Chandler – 25 points, 15 rebounds
Vs Orlando – 114-83 W (41-16) Knicks best – Chris Paul – 22 points, 14 assists, 5 rebounds

After an astounding 20-1 record that dates back to January 15th (that only lost was against Boston on Feb 9th going down 131-119) we are now second in the East, only 3.5 games behind Miami who are 44-12. Charlotte are still on the bottom at 8-50 but it seems like they won’t be the worst team in history again. In the West San Antonio and Denver are tied for first place on 40 wins with the Lkaers right behind them, while Houston are at least beating Charlotte but no-one else with a 11-46 record.

New York Top Points
Amare Stoudemire – 23.1
Chris Paul – 19.9
Tyson Chandler – 14.0

New York Top Assists
Chris Paul – 9.9
JR Smith – 2.3
Iman Shumpert – 2.2

New York Top Rebounds
Tyson Chandler – 8.7
Amare Stoudemire – 7.8
Marcus Camby – 6.7

League Top Points
Kevin Durant (OKC) – 33.9
Lebron James (MIA) – 31.3
Kevin Love (MIN) – 27.9

League Top Assists
Chris Paul (NYK) – 9.9
Russell Westbrook (OKC) – 9.0
Kyle Lowry (TOR) – 8.8

League Top Rebounds
Kevin Love (MIN) – 12.3
Kris Humphries (BKL) – 11.3
Anderson Varejao (CLE) – 11.2

League Top Efficiency
Lebron James (MIA) – 30.1
Kevin Durant (OKC) – 29.8
Kevin Love (MIN) – 28.4

Rookie Top Efficiency
Anthony Davis (NOH) – 20.7 (13.0 points, 1.6 assists, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 3.1 blocks)
Damian Lillard (POR) – 16.1 (11.8 points, 8.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 0.6 steals, 0.0 blocks)
Dion Waiters (CLE) – 13.2 (11.1 points, 4.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 0.2 blocks)

Third round of Future Prospects
1. C Demond Lewis (Maryland) – 6’10” 258lbs Freshman
2. SF Mike Bailey (Ohio State) – 6’7” 219lbs Junior
3. PF Dennis Freymond (Creighton) – 6’9” 241lbs Senior
4. PG Lewis Vines (Georgetown) – 6’1” 186lbs Sophomore
5. SF Gabe White (USC) – 6’10” 212lbs Sophomore

[Myles Nelson]

LOL Lakers bring back Sessions what a joke. Also, while I'm not a huge fan of Maxiell, I'm even a lesser fan of Lewis, so I think the Heat actually got better down low. Allen vs. Howard though... lol thats a joke.

[LightningStrike5]

You would have done Paul and Amare for LaMarcus?

[Cleasby]

LaMarcus and Paul would have made you a contender for the finals over the next few years