The NBA Stock Report: Part One

This is the first annual NBA Stock Report.

Basically it's rating the stock of NBA teams and how their immediate (next season) future looks.

Every team is evaluated with four categories: Good things about the team, bad things about the team, areas to improve, and ability to improve. Then I give my prediction on how the team will fare in the upcoming season.

Obviously free agency and the draft haven't happened yet, but the point is to break down each team's potential before those happen with many assumptions being made about those events. It should be interesting to look back on after those events actually are completed.

This is a reverse order countdown, so it begins with 29 (you will see why later on) and ends with 21 for part one.

So without further ado, here is Part One of the first Annual NBA Stock Report.



29. Detroit Pistons: Down


The Good: Rodney Stuckey is okay. I guess.

The Bad: This is a team of overpaid, under performing veterans who will never be superstars. It's going to take a while to build a winner in Detroit again.

What they need to improve: Overpaying mediocrity. They have given way, WAY too much money to the likes of Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon, and Rip Hamilton. Paying those three guys a combined 27 million is not a recipe for success in the NBA (Not to mention Tayshaun Prince makes 10 million).

Ability to improve team: No cap space, won't be able to get an elite guy (unless Cousins somehow drops because of character concerns) in the draft. Not good.

2010-2011 Prediction: The Lions might not be the worst team in Detroit next year. Somewhere Matthew Stafford is smiling (and Joe Dumars is not).



28. Minnesota Timberwolves: Static


The Good: Kevin Love and Al Jefferson should be one of the best C-PF tandems in the league, except that they are both natural power forwards and can't play with each other. (I know, that "good" turned into a "bad" really quickly. Why do you think they are number 29?)

The Bad: They're in Minnesota, so unless they get lucky in the draft, they're never going to get better.

What they need to improve: Backcourt scoring. Johnny Flynn and Corey Brewer aren't lighting the world on fire, or even lighting South America on fire. They need a guard to take some pressure off of KLove and Jefferson.

Ability to improve team: The T'Wolves picked a bad draft for their ping pong ball to get picked fourth. If they had the number one or two picks it would be an easy choice of Wall or Turner, but with their best two players being Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, drafting another big man wouldn't make much sense.

2010-2011 Prediction: "Basketball and Minnesota don't go very well together"- Ricky Rubio (Okay, I made that up, but it's not crazy to think he would say that.)



27. Indiana Pacers: Static


The Good: Danny Granger recently signed a contract extension and is a potential super star. How long can the Pacers expect to keep him happy though?

The Bad: No supporting cast for Granger. Troy Murphy? Roy Hibbert? Blah.

What they need to improve: Reliance on Granger. Everything comes down to Granger not having enough help and there is a good reason, because he has none. C'mon Larry, go get some help for your young star.

Ability to improve: The Pacers will always be mediocre, never being bad enough to get a super high draft pick. It actually might be better to just tank one season to get a top 3 pick and have a shot at the playoffs. That's not happening, and neither are the playoffs any time soon.

2010-2011 Prediction: Granger has no help, and he's not on the "superstar" level right now. The long suffering Pacers fans get to long suffer some more.



26. Philadelphia 76ers: Up

The Good: They have the number two pick in the draft, which means they will be able to pick Evan Turner, or get rid of Elton Brand's horrendous contract for decent talent. The odds are on the former, but it's really a win-win situation, although the latter is less of a win.

The Bad: They don't have any players close to being elite players. Andre Iguodala is a good player and I like Iguodala, but as a okay number two, or an extremely good number three, not a number one.

What they need to improve: Frontcourt everything. When Sam Dalembert and the corpse of Elton Brand are manning the front lines for your NBA team, things aren't going to turn out great.

Ability to improve: Who knows how good Evan Turner will be, but everybody seems to think that he can be a big contributor right away. Hopefully, for Philadelphia's sake, he is.

2010-2011 Prediction: Evan Turner provides a tiny ray of sunshine in a dark, cloudy sky. He needs another good player to make that ray shine brighter.



25. Toronto Raptors: Down

The Good: Toronto should get something for Chris Bosh in a sign-and-trade. Woo hoo!

The Bad: Chris Bosh is most likely headed south of the border onto greener pastures. In case nobody noticed, he was by far Toronto's best player last year (and the seasons before that).

What they need to improve: Defense. When Andrea Bargnani is patrolling the middle, that's not a good sign for a team's post defense. And their guards aren't exactly All-NBA defenders either.

Ability to improve: When a team's best player, and perennial All-Star power forward, leaves, then that team isn't improving. That team is the Toronto Raptors.

2010-2011 Prediction: Torontonians (I looked it up) will be looking forward to the Maple Leafs season, and that's not a good thing (To NBA fans not familiar with hockey: the Maple Leafs are in a state of awfulness right now).



24. Sacramento Kings: Static

The Good: Tyreke Evans had one of the best rookie seasons of the past 20 years and should be around for a while. He's the real deal.

The Bad: Tyreke Evans is all they got. There's a reason a rookie who was the fourth pick puts up 20-5-5 besides the fact that he is good- he had to.

What they need to improve: Like Danny Granger, Tyreke Evans is running a one man show. The Kings need help everywhere.

Ability to improve: Sacramento is young, so everybody should be improving. Picking at number five, they could get lucky and snatch a guy like Cousins and hope he ends up fulfilling his potential.

2010-2011 Prediction: The Kings are stockpiling decent young talent. Eventually they could break through, but not next season.



23. Golden State Warriors: Up

The Good: Stephen Curry looked like a perfect fit for the Warriors last year, and had a torrid second half. He was definitely the steal of the draft and is the building block for Golden State's future.

The Bad: There are bad defensive teams, and then there is Golden State. They gave up almost five more points per game that the second worst NBA team. How is Don Nelson considered one of the best coaches ever after that embarrassing display?

What they need to improve: Get rid of some of their "chuckers" and get some guys who actually try/know to play defense. Get something for Monta Ellis while he's putting up numbers. Defense really does win championships in today's NBA.

Ability to improve: The pieces are there. Golden State has plenty of young talent and trade pieces in Steph Curry, Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph, Anthony Morrow. They could have somebody who fits the team perfectly fall into their laps in the draft as well. But will they improve? It's impossible to tell with the Warriors.

2010-2011 Prediction: It all comes back to defensive woes for Golden State. Warriors games should be very fun to watch, but maybe not for Warriors fans.



22. Washington Wizards: Up

The Good: John Wall is all but headed for the nation's capital and brings Washington their most bankable player since Wes Unseld.

The Bad: Gilbert Arenas might stall Wall's development and possibly threaten to shoot him. To make matters worse, Gilbert is practically untradeable with his cringe worthy contract and off court antics. Arenas could take some pressure off Wall and be a good scoring option still, but it's more likely that he will stall Wall's development slightly.

What they need to improve: Team chemistry. The Wizards clearly weren't the closest nit team last year. Whether it was the whole Arenas-Crittenton gun thing, or the fact that their two best players were traded mid season, the team was not a real team last year. That doesn't change over night either.

Ability to improve: John Wall is coming to town, and Gilbert Arenas will be able to play again. That should give them at least 7-8 more wins than last season.

2010-2011 Prediction: John Wall gives some hope for the franchise and they will also have hope that they can land the number one pick for next season too. Washington is still a year or two away from turning things around (at least they're doing better than their next door neighbors over in the Capital building and White House).



21. New Jersey Nets: Up


The Good: At the very least, new super-rich owner Mikhail Prokhorov will spice things up a bit. They might not land a marquee free agent like they want to, but there's no way the Nets will win fewer games than last season.

The Bad: This is still a team that won only 12 games last year. Teams that win 12 games just don't become suddenly good the next season. That is, unless Jay-Z convinces his boy LeBron to come over to Jersey (In the words of Steven Tyler: "Dream on").

What they need to improve: The losing atmosphere. The Lions went 0-16 in the NFL and it was clear that they weren't suddenly going to go 10-6 the following season. It doesn't get much closer to 0-16 than 12-70 in NBA terms, so New Jersey is going to have to mentally tough it out next year. If they land a big name free agent this is a moot point, but I don't see it happening.

Ability to improve: Any team that wins 12 games is going to improve, especially a team with Devin Harris, Brook Lopez (might be the second best center in the league now), the number 3 pick in the draft, and tons of cap space.

2010-2011 Prediction: The Nets will be substantially better than last season, but that could mean a variety of things. The offseason is a big wild card for New Jersey and I don't see any big name free agents going there. If I am wrong, and somebody does, they could very well be a playoff team. I don't think I'm wrong (C'mon, who does?).



Part Two: Coming Soon

Kobe vs. LeBron has become the new Brady vs. Manning.

In the early part of the '00's, Brady had the rings, but Manning had that stats. Then Manning won a ring, and the consensus seemed to be that Manning was the better of the two. Enter Randy Moss into the equation, and Tom Brady sets the NFL record for touchdown passes (passing Manning's mark) while leading the Patriots to 16-0 regular season. Unfortunately Brady's knee got torn up during the first game of the next season and Manning won his third MVP award. The next season Manning won his second consecutive MVP and led the Colts to a 14-0 start, and a Super Bowl appearance. Manning was again the victor in the Brady-Manning duel.

We overreact to bad games by great players. Manning threw the game losing pick right into Tracy Porter's hands, and kick started the "Manning is a choker" arguments up again. LeBron put up a 15 point stinker at home in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics, and initiated the same the thing for himself.

Meanwhile, Kobe's Lakers were on their way to the Western Conference Finals after sweeping the banged up Utah Jazz, and then behind a great Kobe performance, finished off the Suns to make their third NBA Finals in three seasons.

This seemed to validate the argument that Kobe Bryant was better than LeBron James. But again, sports fans are some of the most short sighted, irrational people in the world sometimes. Can we really totally disregard the past two regular seasons that were owned by LeBron, and the past two landslide MVP award races?

At the same time, Kobe has had great regular seasons the past two years as well, along with winning a title, and his first Finals MVP.

In short, Kobe has been the playoff MVP of the past two season, and LeBron has been the regular season MVP. But which one is the better individual player?

Let's break it down

 

Post Game

Edge: Kobe

Kobe has one of the best post games of any guard to ever play the game, at this point in his career. He worked with post move master Hakeem Olajuwon this offseason, and frequently adds new moves. If LeBron learned how to play in the post, he should be unstoppable because of his mix of strength, size, and quickness; but Kobe is a much better post player right now.

 

Shooting

Edge: Kobe

LeBron gets criticized a little too much for his "poor" shooting, but in reality he's really not a bad jump shooter. He's a better jump shooter than Allen Iverson was, and people weren't always complaining about Iverson's lack of a reliable jump shot.

The fact is when LeBron gets in the zone, he can make four threes in a row. However, Kobe is a better jump shooter, and free throw shooter. Shooting is more a part of Kobe's game that LeBron's right now, since Kobe's body isn't quite what it used to be, and that's to Kobe's credit for working on his shot so much. Consistency is the key to shooting, and Kobe is a more consistent shooter than James.

 

Slashing

Edge: LeBron

With the possible exception of Dwyane Wade, there is no other player in the NBA that attacks the basket with the same effectiveness as LeBron. Nobody wants to get in the way of a 6'8" monster built like a linebacker. And nobody does.

At one time Kobe was a great slasher in his own right, but his body isn't what it used to be. However, he was never as good as LeBron in this category anyway.

Passing

Edge: LeBron

James is easily the best passing non-point guard in the game today. It's not even close. He always knows where his teammates are and finds wide open teammates for easy layups and open jumpers all the time. His constant driving to the hoop draws the defense to him and allows LeBron to find teammates open on the perimeter. 

Kobe is by no means a bad passer, but he's not a special passer like LeBron. LeBron has the passing gene only a few have ever possessed in NBA history. This is a huge part of LeBron's game that is sometimes overlooked when comparing him to other players.

Defense

Edge: Even

Both players have made the All-Defense team the past couple of years, so this one is extremely difficult to judge. One on one, Kobe might be a better defender than LeBron, but that's not the only part of defense. LeBron is a better help defender, and blocks shots regularly. LeBron can also guard a larger variety of players, and is a better rebounder. Both are great defenders in their own areas of expertise.

 

Leadership

Edge: Even

LeBron interacts with his teammates better than Kobe, and never fights with his teammates. Kobe, of course, had the long feud with Shaq, and has been called out by teammate Pau Gasol for not giving him the ball enough. Throughout his career, Kobe has been spotted rolling his eyes at his teammates, and being harsh on them. LeBron is always patting his teammates on the back, and goofing off with them.

However, LeBron's leadership style isn't necessarily the best type. Michael Jordan was never Mr. Nice Guy, but his teammates revered him, and that's the same type of leadership Kobe is trying to emulate. He doesn't lead as well as Jordan, but as the leader of his team, he equals James.

 

Clutch Ability

Edge: Kobe

This is one area where Kobe just keeps getting better, and better. Ironically, Kobe's buzzer beaters have been the only part of his game that is missing in the playoffs. Twice have his bricked/air balled game winners been rebounded, and put in at the buzzer by teammates.

LeBron is one of the best players at the end of the game as well, but Kobe is simply the best in the NBA in the final twenty seconds (The All Time Clutch Power Trio: MJ, Kobe, Bird), and it's really not even close.

Supporting Cast

Edge: Kobe

This is Kobe's biggest advantage over LeBron (along with being in the league twice as long). LeBron has only played with two All-Stars (meaning they were an All-Star the year that he played with them) during his entire Cavaliers tenure (Mo Williams, Ilgauskas), and those were both questionable selections. The Cavs acquisition of Antawn Jamison was supposed to be a big help for LeBron, but he proved to not be clutch and choke in the deciding Game 6 (five points, and five rebounds in 30 minutes counts as choking right?).

Kobe has one of the best offensive post players in the NBA, and one of the leagues top defenders on the wing. When Bynum is healthy, he gives them an extra dimension down low as well. Lamar Odom might be better than anybody on Cleveland besides LeBron, and he's the Lakers fourth option. Kobe won a title last season, but if LeBron had switched places with him he would probably have done the same.

 

The Final Verdict

This is really too close to call. There isn't a definitive answer either way. If LeBron was still in the playoffs, and the Cavs were dominating, LeBron would be the choice, but he's not. Personally I still believe LeBron is the best player in the world, but I can accept people who say Kobe is (as long as they aren't obnoxious about it).

Basketball is a team sport, and Kobe has a better team. If we could clone the Lakers and put LeBron one Lakers A and Kobe on Lakers B which team would win? We'll never know. And we might never know if LeBron or Kobe is better.

That is until LeBron wins five titles in a row in Chicago with Derrick Rose. (Just kidding....maybe)

For now, let's just stop hating and enjoy Kobe, and LeBron for the great players that they are, and reevaluate this when both of their careers are finished.

LeBron still has plenty of time to win some titles and pile up the stats, and Kobe isn't going away any time soon.

Here's to hoping we'll get a Lakers-whoever LeBron plays for Finals before 2015.

LeBron? Kobe? Why Not Both?

Kobe vs. LeBron has become the new Brady vs. Manning. 

In the early part of the '00's, Brady had the rings, but Manning had that stats. Then Manning won a ring, and the consensus seemed to be that Manning was the better of the two. Enter Randy Moss into the equation and Tom Brady sets the NFL record for touchdown passes (passing Manning's mark) while leading the Patriots to 16-0 regular season. Unfortunately Brady's knee got torn up during the first game of the next season and Manning won his third MVP award. The next season Manning won his second consecutive MVP and led the Colts to a 14-0 start and a Super Bowl appearance. Manning was again the victor in the Brady-Manning duel.

We overreact to bad games by great players. Manning threw the game losing pick six right into Tracy Porter's hands and kick started the "Manning is a choker" arguments up again. LeBron put up a 15 point stinker at home in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics and initiated the same the thing for him. 

Meanwhile Kobe's Lakers were on their way to the Western Conference Finals after sweeping the banged up Utah Jazz and then behind a great Kobe performance finished off the Suns to make their third NBA Finals in the same amount of seasons.

This seemed to validate the argument that Kobe Bryant was better than LeBron James. But again, sports fans are some of the most short sighted, irrational people in the world sometimes. Can we really totally disregard the past two regular seasons that were owned by LeBron and the past two landslide MVP award races? 

At the same time, Kobe has had great regular seasons the past two years as well, along with winning a title and his first Finals MVP. 

In short, Kobe has been the playoff MVP of the past two season and LeBron has been the regular season MVP. But which one is the better individual player? 

Let's break it down

Post Game

Edge: Kobe

Kobe has one of the best post games of any guard, ever at this point in his career. He worked with post move master Hakeem Olajuwon this offseason and adds new moves frequently. If LeBron learned how to play in the post, he should be unstoppable because of his mix of strength, size, and quickness; but Kobe is a much better post player right now.

Shooting

Edge: Kobe

LeBron gets criticized a little too much for his "poor" shooting, but in reality he's really not a bad jump shooter. He's  a better jump shooter than Allan Iverson was, and people weren't always complaining about Iverson's lack of a reliable jump shot. The fact is when LeBron gets in the zone, he can make four threes in a row. However, Kobe is a better jump shooter and free throw shooter. Shooting is more a part of Kobe's game that LeBron's right now, since Kobe's body isn't quite what it used to be, and that's to Kobe's credit for working on his shot so much. Consistency is the key to shooting, and Kobe is a more consistently good shooter than James.

Slashing

Edge: LeBron

With the possible exception of Dwyane Wade, there is no other player in the NBA that attacks the basket with the same effectiveness as LeBron. Nobody wants to get in the way of a 6'8" monster built like a linebacker. And nobody does.

At one time Kobe was a great slasher in his own right, but his body isn't what it used to be. However, he was never as good as LeBron in this category.

Defense

Edge: Even

Both players have made the All-Defense team the past couple of years, so this one is extremely difficult to judge. One on one, Kobe might be a better defender than LeBron, but that's not the only part of defense. LeBron is a better help defender and blocks shots regularly. LeBron can also guard a larger variety of players and is a better rebounder. Both are great defenders in their own areas of expertise.

Leadership

Edge: Even

LeBron interacts with his teammates better than Kobe and never fights with his teammates. Kobe, of course, had the long feud with Shaq, and has been called out by teammate Pau Gasol for not giving him the ball enough. Throughout his career, Kobe has been spotted rolling his eyes at his teammates and being harsh on them. LeBron is always patting his teammates on the back and goofing off with them. 

However, LeBron's leadership style isn't necessarily the best type. Michael Jordan was never Mr. Nice Guy, but his teammates revered him, and that's the same type of leadership Kobe is trying to emulate. He doesn't lead as well as Jordan, but as the leader of his team, he equals James.

Clutch Ability

Edge: Kobe

This is one area where Kobe just keeps getting better and better. Ironically, Kobe's buzzer beaters have been the only part of his game that is missing in the playoffs. Twice have his bricked/air balled game winners been rebounded and put in at the buzzer by teammates. 

LeBron is one of the best players at the end of the game as well, but Kobe is simply the best in the NBA in the final twenty seconds (The All Time Clutch Power Trio: MJ, Kobe, Bird) , and it's really not even close.

Supporting Cast

Edge: Kobe

This is Kobe's biggest advantage over LeBron (along with being in the league twice as long). LeBron has only played with two All-Stars (meaning they were an All-Star the year that he played with them) his entire Cavaliers tenure (Mo Williams, Ilgauskas) and those were both questionable selections. The Cavs acquisition of Antawn Jamison was supposed to be a big help for LeBron, but he proved the not be clutch and choked in the deciding Game 6 (5 points and 5 rebounds in 30 minutes counts as choking right?). 

Kobe has one of the best offensive post players in the NBA and a one of the leagues top defenders on the wing. When Bynum is healthy, he gives them an extra dimension down low as well. Lamar Odom might be better than anybody on Cleveland besides LeBron and he's the Lakers fourth option. Kobe won a title last season, but if LeBron had switched places with him he would probably have done the same.

The Final Verdict

This is really too close to call. There isn't a definitive answer either way. If LeBron was still in the playoffs and the Cavs were dominating, LeBron would be the choice, but he's not. Personally I still believe LeBron is the best player in the world, but I can accept people who say Kobe is (as long as they aren't obnoxious about it).

Basketball is a team sport and Kobe has a better team. If we could clone the Lakers and put LeBron one Lakers A and Kobe on Lakers B which team would win? We'll never know. And we might never know which one of LeBron or Kobe is better.

That is until LeBron wins five titles in a row in Chicago with Derrick Rose. (Just kidding....maybe)

For now, let's just stop hating and enjoy Kobe and LeBron for the great players that they are and reevaluate this when both of their careers are finished.

LeBron still has plenty of time to win some titles and pile up the stats, and Kobe isn't going away any time soon.  

Here's to hoping we'll get a Lakers-whoever LeBron plays for Finals before 2015.