Some posts I’ve enjoyed in the last few days:
• The estimable Eddy Rivera of Third Quarter Collapse gets together some of the NBA’s best bloggers/thinkers/writers to discuss the NBA Finals, including Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus and Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily. Must-read for anyone prepping for Finals viewing.
• John Krolik of Cavs the Blog, who has captured the end of Cleveland’s season beautifully, responds to some fairly personal criticism from David Friedman of the NBA-themed blog 20 second timeout. Everyone loves a blog spot, but this one brings up some interesting questions about what crosses a line and what’s fair game.
• Blazer’s Edge with a typically thorough and entertaining discussion of lopsided trades in the NBA that looks forward and backward.
• Over at Hoopinion, Bret LaGree has a nice discussion of what he calls Zaza Pachulia’s unique skill set. Good read for Celtics fans who want to get an idea of what a serious Hawks fan thinks of Zaza–a free agent–and for general fans who want to get an idea of the Hawks salary cap situation. Bret likes the idea of re-signing Zaza, Mike Bibby and Flip Murray, provided the Hawks can re-sign them all for less than what they made combined last season, and, ideally, to short-term contracts.
• At The Painted Area, M. Haubs doesn’t mince words in countering Bill James‘ (yes, that Bill James) theory, presented in 2007, that the NBA is simply too predictable.