I still think Boston will win it this year.

Lakers V Heat Final. Age and injuries will catch up with Boston this year and IMO will be knocked out in the play offs by Orlando or Miami

Chris Paul to Orlando wouldn't be too bad

Nah, CP3 and Melo will hook up with Amar'e in New York.

Interesting conversation starter Oden08.

If the Hornets somehow did pull that off, they'd be a decent team, but they'd have no shot against the Heat over the next few years. There's no-one who is going to remotely bother Wade or Lebron, who will score as they please on that Hornets lineup.

You'd need a dominant big to really hurt the Heat. Someone who is too big for Bosh to cope with and can quarterback a good defence to make it difficult to score at the rim.

Dare I say it but... our own Andrew Bogut fits that bill nicely! Assuming he puts his horrific arm injury behind him, he should be able to get back to what he did last season.

Problem is, he's stuck on the Bucks, which aren't likely to get dynastic aspitrations anytime soon. So where could we shift Bogut to make a contender? OKC pops into my head straight away. Don't know how they'd nick him from the Bucks, but this says title challenger to me:

C Bogut

SF Durant

PG Westbrook

If they play as a team defensively (see last years Bucks and Celtics) they could limit the damage the Heat's big 3 could do in the paint. Westbrook is athletic enough to keep Wade honest if he improves his defence and as long as their PF is solid he will slow Bosh down enough with some help from Bogut.

Lebron would be a tough cover for Durant (so whats new) but the good thing is, he will return the favour down the other end.

The final difference maker is that the Thunder could go to Bogut on the block and the Heat would be relying on guys like Joel Anthony/ Jamaal Magloire to stop him. LOL!

So there you go: OKC, your next NBA dynasty. All you gotta do is get Bogut to Oklahoma! ;-)

D'oh I placed left and right arrows around my PF and SG positions above and for some reason that blotted out the text.

Basically, just insert a good 3pt shooter/ defender and a big who can defend, block out and hit the mid-range jumper when he's open in theses positions. Bogut, Durant and Westbrook will do the rest ;-)

It's a bit early for this talk isn't it. I'm not convinced MIA will be such a dominant dynasty just yet and I'm biased but I don't think the Lakers will decline quite as soon as you're suggesting either.

Regardless, I agree that OKC could be scary if they got a 16/12 type guy in the paint, whether it's Bogut or someone else. A NYK superfriends team should be interesting too.

Lakers are the only team that can really matchup well against the Heat.

Gasol = Bosh (maybe Bosh might have a small advantage due to his superior athleticism)

Artest = Lebron (Artest is easily the best defender in the game; Im pretty confident Artest can d him up, maybe not stop him from getting his 20-25 a night, but Artest will make him work/take alot of shots to get that)

Kobe < Wade (Kobe is the best player in the game. Wade is the next generation, he is unbelievable. Both are prolific scorers but Kobe takes this one because of his ability to score in the clutch)

So in essence really, the 3 big stars cancel each other out and the Lakers bench is far superior IMO.
I wouldn't go talking about a MIA dynasty just yet, Gasol, Kobe and Artest can spoil that for the next 3-4 years

Lakers are the only team that can really matchup well against the Heat.

Gasol = Bosh (maybe Bosh might have a small advantage due to his superior athleticism)

Artest = Lebron (Artest is easily the best defender in the game; Im pretty confident Artest can d him up, maybe not stop him from getting his 20-25 a night, but Artest will make him work/take alot of shots to get that)

Kobe < Wade (Kobe is the best player in the game. Wade is the next generation, he is unbelievable. Both are prolific scorers but Kobe takes this one because of his ability to score in the clutch)

So in essence really, the 3 big stars cancel each other out and the Lakers bench is far superior IMO.
I wouldn't go talking about a MIA dynasty just yet, Gasol, Kobe and Artest can spoil that for the next 3-4 years

Apologies for the double post, and I got the sign around the wrong way. Supposed to be > instead of <

If OKC (Seattle back then) had drafted Noah instead of Green then they would be looking pretty awesome!

Oh and MACDUB, I think you got the sign right the first time. If you replaced Kobe with Wade on the Lakers last year no one would have come close to them.

Sorry MACDUB, did you just say that Ron Artest is equal to the reigning 2 time league MVP coming off the most dominant individual season the NBA has seen since Shaq's hey day?

I think they are equal yes. One in prehaps the best offensive player in the game, the other the best defender in the game.
If you read my post properly, I said that LBJ will still get his 20-25ppg, but if Artest forces him to take alot of shots to get those points, which he will, then that isn't exactly a win for Lebron.

Im not saying that Artest and LBJ are equal in offensive ability. What im saying is that they are equal in terms of what they provide their team.
LBJ is an amazing player, but we have to take into account that he is in a new environment.

Shocking call by Juror just quietly.

Macdub, completely ignorant and ridiculous of you to say Ron Artest and Lebron James cancel each other out. Watch the two games Cleveland played LA last year in the regular season. Lebron tore Ron a new one. Your post lost credibility as soon as you said that. And to make it worse you actually believe the crap you're writing

@MACDUB you keep harping on about Ron forcing Lebron to take heaps of shots. In their 2 meetings Lebron averaged 22 shots a game against Ron. His averages were 31.5 pts 9 ast 4.5 rbd. I think ill take 32 points for 22 shots. Lebron owns Ron. That is why Ron talks it up that Lebron isnt as good as everyone says. Fact is, Ron fears Lebron. if you dont believe me or the stats: watch last years games. you will change your mind. Oh and for the Kobe lovers, you dont wanna know how many shots Kobe took to get his points (vs Anthony Parker) LOL (11 from 33 in one of the games)

Clippers.

Stop laughing.

Griffin is awesome.

Gordan and Kaman are fantastic at their spots.

Davis is the x-factor.

Thanks for that Bill