The New Jersey Nets have decided to end the Carmelo Anthony saga as trade talks have never got to the point where a trade could actually be made. Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov made a very smart move for his team. Carmelo Anthony did not seem very receptive to going to New Jersey, so why try to sign in. The Nets have a young team and honestly, Melo would have not made that much of a difference.
Carmelo Anthony wants to go to the New York Knicks and in reality the Nets were just waiting their time. Why trade away their top talent just to get one player who does not want to be their anyway. Backing out on the trade talks was very smart. The Nets can continue to rebuild and eventually get to where they want to me. Melo is just not in the plans anymore and in reality the Nets are probably the real winners in all of this.
The Orlando Magic were struggling early in the season and they knew changes needed to be made. Orlando brought in Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas, and Hedo Turkoglu and the experiment so far has been a success. The Magic as a team are playing much better and now they have more playmakers. This has helped Dwight Howard become even more dominate then he has been ever. Howard knows that he now will see more one-on-one defense and he is taking advantage of it.
Hedo Turkoglu could be the biggest key to the trade that the Magic made. Turkoglu can do so many things and he is in a system that he knows very well. As he gets use to his new teammates he will continue to improve. Many people are wondering if the Magic have enough for a championship run. It will depend on them getting someone to give Howard a rest. It could be someone on their team or in another trade. Until they get a consistent back-up for Howard I think it will be hard for them to win a championship.
For the longest time when you talked about the Los Angeles Lakers playing the Los Angeles Clippers you knew it would be a blow out. These are not the same old Clippers though and the Lakers have taken notice. Blake Griffin has been play at an All-Star level and has made the Clippers a much better team right now. In fact the Los Angeles Clippers how won eight of their last 12 contests including a win over Lebron James and the Miami Heat.
The Lakers understand that they must not let the Clippers get any life especially right now. The Clippers have been playing well and the Lakers must end any notion that they are as good as the Lakers. I look for this to be an interesting game and the Lakers will have their hands full. Blake Griffin and company will not back down now or anytime soon.
