Random Thoughts (November 5, 2008)

Congratulations, Mr. President... With the Nuggets expected to buyout recently acquired forward Antonio McDyess, I hope the Celtics can find a way to acquire the veteran forward. The Pistons are considered the favorites to sign McDyess, who they traded to the Nuggets along with Chauncey Billups in exchange for Allen Iverson. McDyess was added to the deal to make the salaries even and is not in the plans of the Nuggets. If you think back to last spring's playoffs, the contributions of P.J. Brown helped put the C's over the top and was instrumental in the team winning the NBA championship. Acquiring McDyess, who played very good basketball against the C's in the Eastern Finals, would give them the veteran big man they need to complete their bench... The Raiders are expected to release talented but troubled cornerback DeAngelo Hall in an effort to cut salary and change their image. The Patriots have to at least look into picking up Hall. He is very talented and if he is brought in for the minimum salary with no room to cause headaches, he could make the Pats secondary very good... Here are my abbreviated capsules for the NBA's Northwest, Southwest, Central, Southeast, and Atlantic divisions: Northwest Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder All-Division Team: Deron Williams, Jazz; Brandon Roy, Trailblazers; Kevin Durant, Thunder; Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets; Carlos Boozer, Jazz... Southwest New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies All-Division Team: Chris Paul, Hornets; Tracy McGrady, Rockets; Ron Artest, Rockets; Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks; Tim Duncan, Spurs... Central Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers All-Division Team: Allen Iverson, Pistons; Michael Redd, Bucks; LeBron James, Cavaliers; Richard Hamilton, Pistons; Rasheed Wallace, Pistons... Southeast Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats All-Division Team: Gilbert Arenas, Wizards; Dwayne Wade, Heat; Caron Butler, Wizards; Josh Smith, Hawks; Dwight Howard, Magic... Atlantic Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks All-Division Team: Rajon Rondo, Celtics; Vince Carter, Nets; Paul Pierce, Celtics; Chris Bosh, Raptors; Kevin Garnett, Celtics... As for my overall NBA predictions: LeBron James will take home his first MVP trophy ... Greg Oden will get healthy and lead the Blazers into the playoffs ... Dallas and San Antonio will labor through the regular season but will be the two best teams in the West come May because the Mavs will adjust to Jason Kidd and Manu Ginobili will return to full health ... the 76ers and Hawks, two teams on the rise in the East, will not be as good as expected ... the Cavs will use Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract to add an impact player before February ... the Knicks will be more competitive than people think ... Michael Jordan will step back from some of his basketball related decisions with the Bobcats in deference to Larry Brown ... Chauncey billups will make the Nuggets a better team than Allen Iverson did ... the Lakers will grossly underperform ... the Celtics will defeat the Spurs to become the first repeat NBA champions since the 2000 - 2002 Lakers ... If Jason Varitek and Scott Boras are truly looking to ink a deal close to what Jorge Posada signed for a year ago (4-years/$52 million) than it is time for Red Sox Nation to make their peace with the Captain... Enjoy Ball State tonight...