Catwhoshatinthehat

This is what Chris Mortensen said on ESPN this morning. The quote from the Patriots said they knew it was an ongoing investigation and at that point he wasn't guilty but they decided already if he were to be arrested he would be cut.

Sounds like he should have been a bit more afraid of snakes.

So then who is that better center? Really just curious what centers are available for trade who you envision the Clippers getting.

Possibly and knowing he's a Clipper fan that's why I asked. The one time mentioned deal of Bledsoe & Griffin for Howard seems like the Lakers should make that before the Clippers can change their minds. Even if it's just Griffin I'd love to see the Lakers do that and hope Griffin develops into a more complete player. Regardless I'm curious how Clipper fans feel about getting someone like Howard at the expense of one or two of their younger players.

They'll do enough to get some hopes up only to dash them as the season winds down. Kind of like hitting it off with some girl you just met only to have her friend come up and drag her out of the bar.

What trade for a better center is coming? Are you considering acquiring Garnett and moving him to C that trade or something else? Curious because C isn't the strongest position in the NBA and can't imagine some of the top guys are available or that they would be cheap.

DR talked about his wingman in some of his posts when going out with one of his friends. You're trying way too hard. Edit - might have been him being referred to as a wingman regardless it's nothing meant to direspect DR nor is it getting personal. Everyone gets a kick out of his posts and references them on the board.

Pretty sure he's DR's wingman. As far as Arte goes the guy is trying to put a winner on the field. If you want to criticize him for who has been signed so be it but at least he's being criticized for trying to do something rather than running out a low payroll team while making money. I think guaranteed contracts are horrible but that's the name of the game in MLB. I'm not going to fault the owner, GM or management when stars/superstars don't perform after signing FA contracts. This team had holes going into the season but no one thought they would be struggling this much.

Hope he's alright.

Guys like Trout, Trumbo, Bourjous, etc are who the team should be keeping and trying to build around. If you want to move anyone and try to get anything of value start with Kendrick and Aybar. If you can get rid of salary by moving bigger contracts by all means do it. This team needs the big guys to produce and if that doesn't happen you don't trade the cheap guys producing hoping you get prospects who can contribute in the next 1-3 years. Also any trades should not be bringing on more salary this team needs to stop piling it on.

Yes it was. However they bought the rights to the book and aside from zombies that looks to be where the similarities end. The book is about a guy traveling around the world interviewing people years after the fact who tell him what they were doing when it started, how they survived and how it changed them. They're using the name of the book and attaching Brad Pitt to it to appeal to the masses when the book itself could have been made into a damn fine movie. Not spending a dime on this nor do I ever intend on watching it.

Not as smart as they portray themselves to be? If the internet has taught us all anything it's that there's a lot more experts than we ever thought possible and every guy dates super models.

Interesting topic and it's something that's been discussed a bit before as far as Howie and Aybar being probably the most tradeable players given their age and club friendly contracts. I definitely think it would be worthwhile to see what teams are willing to offer but if you start trading guys like that I don't think the team should turn around and spend 10M+ a year on any FA's or extensions like Vargas.

Right but signing someone like Vargas at possibly 10M or more per year for multiple years is still a pretty big move. From what I can find they have 135M committed next year to 11 players (includes what they're paying Vernon) which is before addressing players in arbitration. Putting out a high payroll team that doesn't quite compete year after year just delays the inevitable which is that at some point all teams have to rebuild.

Except if the team really is multiple pieces away because of the current roster which includes high priced players struggling how do you compete? Do they keep signing a big FA every year keeping the payroll in a certain range? Because if that doesn't work out you're possibly worse off as high priced FA's age. You can't keep throwing money around trying to buy a winner and at some point you do have to mostly go with what you have, restock and bring in vets on 1-2 year deals to fill needs.

Don't disagree but your last sentence points out what others have been discussing - if the team is so many pieces away then they need to restock and possibly rebuild and you don't do that by signing high priced free agents every year. That means you sign someone you can get on one or two year deals ala Jermoe and not a guy who will command 10M or more per year for 3+ years.

Obviously the Angels need pitching but I agree that they don't appear to be just a few pieces away. As we've been saying all along if Pujols and Hamilton play like the Pujols and Hamilton of old even accounting for a decline as they age the team would be in a much better position. Pujols' projected numbers for 2013 don't look bad but they aren't Pujols like and definitely not what the team thought they'd be getting at this point of the contract. As far as Vargas liking it here I don't doubt it (CA native, played at CSULB) but if he continues to pitch like he has I think he can get quite a bit more on the market than a 3/30 deal. Trading him for prospects would hopefully help the farm and the team going forward as they build around Trout and other young guys.

They could have called a foul on Bosh but Ginobli was in the process of losing the ball during what was his third step. Regardless the Spurs gave that game away - 2/4 from the FT line in the last ~30 seconds of regulation and Ginobli driving in OT while they're down by 1 when they had Parker on the bench and a timeout to use. When they were up by 5 that game should have been sealed in the 4th quarter but they couldn't rebound and gave Miami second chances on both the Lebron and Allen 3's. For a team that's generally one of the best when it comes to fundamentals that was a massive choke job.

Spurs choked that game away in epic fashion. I don't see Miami losing game 7.

I agree that he's overrated but he's also still only 24 and has only played 3 NBA seasons. He isn't the first young big buy to get by on his athleticism early on in his career and he needs to develop more of a game around the basket. If he's able to do that though he would be the guy you build teams around.

I think the Clippers would be mental to trade even just Griffin for Dwight. When I read that the Clippers were talking about getting Howard, Garnett and Rivers at the expense of Griffin, Bledsoe, Jordan and picks I almost didn't believe it but this is the Clipper franchise we're talking about. The Lakers would be even crazier not to want to trade Dwight to the Clippers because it's the Clippers. Anyways I'm guessing this has little or no chance of happening but for an aging Laker team it's a fun what if.

She definitely deserves some spit in the face.

That's one of the weakest arguements during this whole discussion and its like saying violent movies or video games are the reason why some unhinged kid shoots up a school. Teenagers are going to have sex and the availability of this pill isn't to blame for them having unprotected sex. Punishing horny teenagers shouldn't involve making them go through with a pregnancy because no matter how much you teach them just like tin said some will still make poor choices.

The original knock on Miami was a lack of depth when they signed Bosh and James but they went out and added bench and role players to address their needs. Paul, Harden and Howard could do the same thing for Houston and attract aging vets and young role players to fill needs.

They can legally make some decisions. They can die for their country but they still can't legally buy a beer. How do those types of decisions about ages, rights and so on change? Based on court decisions and legislation. In this case so far the court has decided that being 18 isn't a requirement so until this fight begins (if it hasn't already) and it's overturned the courts have decided this isn't something that requires parental consent. A child being afraid of telling a parent isn't a reason for removing that "right" the parent has to you but to me it's no more fair to tell a minor who is capable of having a child that they have no say if they run the risk of becoming pregnant or become pregnant. As far as I can tell parental consent regarding abortions is a states right issue as the feds haven't required it. The entire thing seems pretty arbitrary given that in Arkansas the age of consent is 16 yet a 16 or 17 year old needs parental consent to get an abortion. Some states are saying it's okay to legally have sex but you don't ultimately control what happens next even if you take precautions. The feds haven't said minors can consent but now a ruling is saying they can get this pill. Seems like the states and this country are all over the place on this one.