2011 NBA Draft and Offseason Blog

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
All other e-mail, including advertising and link proposals, send to: [email protected]




2011 NBA Offseason Losers – Dec. 23


Los Angeles Lakers
Not only did their proposed deal for Chris Paul get vetoed by the league (or whatever David Stern wants to call it), the Lakers then panicked when Lamar Odom became unhappy and pretty much gave him away to the defending champion Mavericks for nothing. If you are going to give away one of your best players, at least trade him to a crappy team or send him to the Eastern Conference; not to one of your biggest challengers for in West. So now the Lakers will rely on free agent additions Josh McRoberts, Troy Murphy and Jason Kapono to possibly play significant roles off the bench this season. This team definitely took a step back this offseason.



New Jersey Nets
With all of their cap space, the Nets struck out on their attempt to land one of the top free agents and were also unable to acquire Dwight Howard via trade. So their biggest offseason acquisitions: DeShawn Stevenson, Shawne Williams and Shelden Williams. Ish. I will give them credit for learning from their mistakes of last offseason when they gave multi-year deals to guys like Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar and Travis Outlaw (who coincidentally enough was amnestied), and instead signing guys like Williams and Kris Humphries to short deals, so that they still have a good amount of cap space next offseason in hopes of re-signing Deron Williams and bringing in a free agent like Howard. That is, if they don’t make a trade for Howard during the season.

Kris Humphries
First the disaster relationship/wedding/divorce/TV show with Kim Kardashian, then he is unable to find a team willing to give him a long-term deal, so he was forced to ink a 1-year contract with the Nets. I think his rep may have taken a worse hit than LeBron’s did last offseason with that whole “Decision” debacle.



Boston Celtics
While some of the top teams in the East added key role players, the Celtics’ depth actually got worse this offseason. The situation with Jeff Green needing open heart surgery is simply unfortunate, but now Boston has a bench comprised of guys like Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox, Avery Bradley, Marquis Daniels, Sasha Pavlovic and Keyon Dooling. A shortened regular season will help their aging stars, but the Celtics will have a difficult time competing with teams like the Bulls, Heat and Knicks.

Washington Wizards
They make this list simply because they did not amnesty Rashard Lewis. Really? You are OK with paying Lewis almost $46 million the next two seasons rather than freeing yourselves of his contract? I don’t get that decision. At. All.



Recent NBA Draft and Offseason Blog Entries:

2012 NBA Draft Outstanding Trades - 12/25
2011 NBA Offseason Winners - 12/23
2011 NBA Offseason Losers - 12/23
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/22
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/20
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/16
Chris Paul Trade Analysis - 12/15
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/14
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/10
2011 NBA Free Agency Signings Analysis - 12/9
Five Players Likely to Be Traded After NBA Lockout - 7/7
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Southwest Division - 7/6
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Northwest Division - 7/5
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Pacific Division - 7/3
Cavaliers-Kings Trade Recap - 7/1
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Atlantic Division - 6/30
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Central Division - 6/30
2011 NBA Free Agency: Allan Houston Rule - Southeast Division - 6/29
2011 NBA Draft Trade Recaps - 6/25
2011 NBA Draft: Bobcats-Kings-Bucks Three-Way Trade - 6/24
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: How Kyrie Irving Compares to John Wall and Derrick Rose - 6/23
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Is Kyrie Irving Ready to be a Franchise Point Guard - 6/23
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Kemba Walker is the Most Undervalued Player in the Draft - 6/23
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Is Derrick Williams a Power Forward or Small Forward? - 6/22
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Wait, Kansas' Marcus and Markieff Morris are Twins??? - 6/21
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Jordan Hamilton Using Yoga to Help His NBA Draft Stock - 6/18
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Tristan Thompson Benefits from Weak Draft Class - 6/17
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Kawhi Leonard's Versatility is His Biggest Asset - 6/14
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Chris Singleton is a Lottery Sleeper - 6/13
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Where Does JaJuan Johnson Fit in the NBA? - 6/11
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Kentucky's DeAndre Liggins Made Right Decision in Entering NBA Draft - 6/10
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Should a Marijuana Arrest Affect NBA Draft Stock? - 6/9
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Nolan Smith Has Different Identity On and Off Court - 6/7
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: John Wall Mentoring Darius Morris - 6/5
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Brandon Knight Worth Third Overall Pick? - 6/2
Rumor: Cavs, T-Wolves, Pistons Discussing 3-Way Trade - 5/29
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Josh Selby Putting Kansas Behind Him - 5/28
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Marshon Brooks Rising Up Draft Boards - 5/26
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Alec Burks Connected to Bobcats - 5/24
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Combine Measurements - 5/21
Thunder Really Likes Kyle Singler? - 5/21
2011 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Day 1 - 5/20
2011 NBA Draft Lottery Odds Breakdown - 5/16
2011 NBA Free Agents - 5/3
NBA Offseason and Draft Blog - Home







2015 NBA Mock Draft

2016 NBA Mock Draft

2014 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings: C | PF | COMBO-F | SF | COMBO-G | SG | PG





2024 NFL Mock Draft - March 26


NFL Power Rankings - Feb. 22


Fantasy Football Rankings - Feb. 19


NFL Picks - Feb. 12