A Word From Ryan #6

Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow Ryan on Twitter

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Lakers top Thunder to win four straight

Heading into the NBA All-Star break, there were a lot of questions surrounding the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and their chances of being able to pull off a three-peat. Not only had the Lakers just lost three straight to the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Bobcats and most notably to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, but it was uncertain whether or not these losses would lead Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak to making a trade and shaking up this roster.

Fortunately, Kupchak neglected to make a deal as he felt the team could bounce back after the All-Star break and start playing at a championship caliber once again. This was a gamble to say the least as the defending champs have been under the microscope throughout the majority of the season with many people questioning the team's need to get younger, but as Kobe Bryant and company always seem to do, they bounced back with three impressive wins in a row over the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Even though these wins were obviously a step in the right direction as the team showed signs of getting back to form, the real test was this past Sunday against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the Thunder giving the Lakers a run for their money in the first round of the playoffs last year, they have become a new threat to the defending champs as they match up quite well with this team.

The Lakers have had a size advantage whenever these two teams go head-to-head, but the Thunder has the speed that always seems to get the best of Phil Jackson's squad. The one player the drives them crazy more than any other is All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. With his lightening quick speed and ability to score the basketball at will, the Lakers backcourt players always have trouble staying in front of the former UCLA guard as he causes major matchup problems.

This game in Oklahoma City was no different as Westbrook led all scorers with 22 points. Veteran point guard Derek Fisher was basically getting taken off the dribble every time down court by Westbrook, but even though the Lakers just couldn't stop the young All-Star they were able to use their size to their advantage once again.

With a solid performance by Andrew Bynum (16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Pau Gasol (18 points, 12 rebounds) leading the way in the scoring department for the defending champs, the Lakers were able to ultimately come out on top, but it was Kobe Bryant's (finished with 17 points) late game heroics that gave them the win as hit the go-ahead just over Russell Westbrook to give the Lakers the lead.

The Thunder still had some time on the clock to hit a game-tying 3-pointer in order to take the game into overtime, but both Kevin Durant and James Harden couldn't convert with pretty good looks as time expired. With both Durant and Harden missing, the Lakers went on to win their fourth straight 90-87.

A Word From Ryan #5

Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow Ryan on Twitter

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NBA Trade: Carmelo Anthony finally gets dealt to the New York Knicks

The NBA trade rumors involving superstar forward Carmelo Anthony have been swirling around the league for most of the season as it became clear that the All-Star wasn’t going to sign the $65 million dollar three-year contract extension offered by the Denver Nuggets. Even though Melo was almost certainly headed out of the Mile High City, seemingly countless trade proposals were shot down from the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks.

Fortunately for the Knicks, their last attempt to land the superstar was successful. New York may have been reluctant to trade young players like Danilo Gallinari and recent free acquisition Raymond Felton, but when with the trade deadline looming and the Nuggets dedicated to making a deal before Feb. 24, the Knicks were forced to pull the trigger.

On Tuesday morning, the deal was officially announced as the Denver Nuggets finally agreed to a trade that would send Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter to the New York Knicks. In exchange, New York has agreed to send Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to Denver.

So despite being reluctant to parts ways with some of their promising young players, the New York Knicks may have greatly increased their chances of becoming a title contender in the near future. The immediate future will be much harder to determine as it is uncertain whether or not All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony can co-exist.

In my opinion, this move was made by the New York Knicks not only to improve their team immediately, but to secure their future as one of the best teams in the league and a perennial NBA title contender. With the addition of Melo alongside Stoudemire, big-name free agents will almost certainly take notice as All-Star point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams might be the next superstar to head to the Big Apple.

Whether or not the New York Knicks can land another big-name this summer remains to be seen, but in the meantime it will be interesting to see what this new one-two punch can do in the Big Apple. Another thing that will make this squad better after this trade will be veteran point guard Chauncey Billups in the backcourt. Even though Melo was most likely on cloud nine after this deal was finalized, Billups wasn’t all that happy about yet another move as Denver was his hometown and he loved playing for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets.

Although Billups is probably not in the Knicks long term plans, the veteran point guard will give New York some stability at the point with Raymond Felton heading into the Mile High City. Along with solid outside shooting and ability to hit the big shot, Billups also brings the kind of veteran leadership that this team will need moving forward.

On Wednesday night, the New York Knicks will play host to the Milwaukee Bucks in what will most likely be the first game that Carmelo Anthony suits up for his new team.

A Word From Ryan #4

Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow Ryan on Twitter

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The MELO-drama continues

Ever since All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony declined to sign the three-year $65 million dollar contract extension with the Denver Nuggets, the trade rumors surrounding the superstar have been circulating around the entire league. Even though almost every team in the league would love to get their hands on arguably one of the best scorers in the NBA, only three teams have surfaced as possible destinations for the rising star.

Once the news of the contract extension being declined by Carmelo Anthony came out, the one team that seemed to be the frontrunner for Melo was the New York Knicks. Considering that Melo’s wife Lala Vasquez works in the Big Apple and the superstar forward played his college ball with Syracuse, New York was the perfect fit for Melo, but trade talks between the Nuggets and the Knicks have come up short as the two teams are finding it hard to agree upon a deal.

Unlike in years past, the New York Knicks are finally a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern
Conference once again. With the addition of All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire and point guard
Raymond Felton, this storied franchise is starting to get back on track as they seem to be playoff bound.
If the Knicks were able to bring Melo to the Big Apple they would get what many people believe as the final piece to the puzzle. With Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton, the New York Knicks might be able to contend with the likes of the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat in the East.

Unfortunately, the Knicks and the Nuggets just can’t seem to agree on a deal as Denver is asking too much and New York is unwilling to part with their promising young talent. With the Knicks failing to get a deal done with the Nuggets with the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, the New Jersey Nets have gotten back into the running for the All-Star forward as reportedly talks between the two teams have started up once again.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the New Jersey Nets new owner and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokorov called off trade talks with the Denver Nuggets as he believed a deal just couldn’t be done. Not only were the Nuggets asking too much of the Nets, but the trade talks and rumors had become a big distraction for the team.

Ironically enough, the Nets are seemingly back in the mix for Carmelo Anthony as the two teams have begun talking once again. If a deal does get done between Denver and New Jersey, a third team like the Detroit Pistons might have to get involved. Otherwise, a deal including rookie Derrick Favors, Troy Murphy and draft picks for Carmelo Anthony would be the most likely proposal by the Nets.

Even though the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets are the frontrunners in the Melo
sweepstakes, the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers may be the dark horse as they can offer players like Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown.

Despite still being in the Mile High City after months of trade rumors, Carmelo Anthony could ultimately end up staying with the Denver Nuggets, but my best guess is that he is headed to the Eastern Conference before the NBA trade deadline on Thurs. Feb. 24, 2011.

A Word From Ryan #3

Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow Ryan on Twitter

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NBA Trade Rumor: Is Carmelo Anthony headed to Los Angeles?

Every single year around this time in the NBA regular season, trade rumors start swirling around the league as teams consider wheeling and dealing before the NBA trade deadline. Usually during this time the best teams in the league stay away from making deals as they are normally content with their squads and don’t want to mess with the team chemistry at the halfway point in the season.

When the best teams in the league do make moves it usually is to pick up a veteran before the playoffs as an insurance policy, but heading towards the Feb. 24 NBA trade deadline, the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers seem like the one team in the league that are destined make a deal.

The one big-name that has been circulating around the NBA as a player that wants out of his current situation is the Denver Nuggets superstar forward Carmelo Anthony. At just 26 years old, Carmelo is a bright young star in this league with a promising future if he can get on the right team.

A few years ago, the Denver Nuggets were arguably one of the best teams in the league after they made a trade before the deadline to acquire Chauncey Billups in exchange for former NBA MVP Allen Iverson. When the deal went down a lot of people wondered why they would get rid of Iverson for Billups, but the trade completely turned the franchise as they finally had a solid floor general at the point guard position.

With Billups running the point and Melo shouldering the offense, the Nuggets made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the eventual NBA champion Lakers. Since then, the Nuggets haven’t really been able to repeat their success in the playoffs and have gotten progressively worse over time.

This season the Denver Nuggets will most likely be playoff bound once again as they currently would have the seventh seed in the West and still have a shot to win the Northwest division title, but it is highly unlikely that Carmelo Anthony will be on the team as he will almost certainly be traded before the deadline.

The one team that has been mentioned as Melo’s likely destination is with the New York Knicks, but he has also been linked to the New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. Even though Melo could still be headed to the Big Apple, the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten in the mix as they have started talking with the Denver Nuggets about a deal involving their superstar.

The deal would send Lakers center Andrew Bynum and possibly some other players to the Nuggets in exchange for Carmelo Anthony. With Bynum being just 23 years old and a two-time champ, the Nuggets feel they can build around this young kid, but the Lakers seem ready to ship him out of town as they are tired of dealing with his injury problems.

At first glance, this seems to be too good to be true for the Los Angeles Lakers as their starting lineup would be extremely talented to say the least. With Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Carmelo Anthony, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol this team would be close to unstoppable. They would definitely have to strike some team chemistry like the Miami Heat had to with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, but if they can do just that, a three-peat might be around the corner.

Whether or not this blockbuster trade goes down remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see what happens if Melo and Kobe end up teaming up in Los Angeles.

A Word from Ryan #2

Ryan Ward is a passionate and opinionated sports writer that has dedicated himself to his craft over the past five years writing about all the sports he loves from the US and overseas, from International soccer to NFL football, but with an especially passionate interest in NBA basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Follow Ryan on Twitter


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Are the Lakers going to make a trade before the deadline?

This past Sunday the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers defended their home floor at the Staples Center in a NBA Finals rematch with the Boston Celtics. Even though the consensus was this would be a hard fought battle between two of the best teams in the league, the Celtics turned out to be the all around better team as they dominated the defending champs late in the game and came out with the convincing 109-96 victory.

Throughout the first half of this NBA Finals rematch, the Lakers and Celtics were going back and forth with neither team really taking control. Kobe Bryant started catch fire in the first two quarters as he led all scorers with 22 points heading into halftime, but the second half was another story altogether.

The Black Mamba did finish the game with his best scoring performance of the season with 41 points, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Boston Celtics who turned it on in the third quarter with Paul Pierce lighting up Ron Artest for a team-high 32 points. Along with Pierce dominating offensively, the Celtics were playing some of the best team basketball I have seen all season long.

The Lakers may have kept it close for most of the game, but the Celtics ball movement and inside presence was just too much for Kobe Bryant and company to handle. With arguably the best point guard in the league in Rajon Rondo getting everyone and finishing with a game-high 16 assists, the defending champs had no answer and were ultimately went down with a convincing win for their arch rivals.

One of the main reasons for the Lakers lackluster performance in a game they should have been extremely motivated to win was the disappointing performances of both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. With a combined 23 points and 13 rebounds, the Lakers’ bigs failed to show up in game where their clear advantage is with their size and length.

As a result of yet another disappointing loss by Los Angeles, Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak has started to consider making a trade before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 25. Ever since the blockbuster deal that brought Pau Gasol to L.A. from Memphis, Kupchak has stayed relatively quiet during the NBA regular season as there has been no reason to make any deals with the Lakers being arguably the best team in the league over the past two years or so.

Unfortunately though, a team that has an average age of 30 is not going to stay fresh and dominant for long in a league filled with young superstars like Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers). With that being said, the possibility of a trade to get this team back on track seems like it could be in the cards within the next few weeks.

There are a few names swirling around in NBA trade rumors right now like Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Richard Hamilton (Detroit Pistons), Chris Kaman (Los Angeles Clippers), Andre Igoudala (Philadelphia 76ers), Monte Ellis (Golden State Warriors), O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) and Samuel Dalembert (Sacramento Kings).

Out of all these names I’m not sure many of them really fit mold for the Los Angeles Lakers, but one or possibly two of these guys could be in a Lakers’ uniform before the deadline if Mitch Kupchak pulls the trigger on a deal.