Free Agency and Trades Starting to Shake Up Teams for NBA 2K13

by pastapadre
Posted July 5th, 2012 at 3:45 pm

Though the new NBA league year seemed to get off to somewhat of a whimper it wasn’t long before significant moves starting being made.

Steve Nash was part of a sign-and-trade deal to land with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hawks were able to dispose of Joe Johnson’s huge contract by sending him to the Brooklyn Nets to join Deron Williams who signed a long term deal, the Clippers are bringing back Chauncey Billups and bringing in Jamal Crawford, Kyle Lowry has been moved to the Raptors, and the Mavericks have lost Jason Terry to the Celtics and Jason Kidd to the Knicks.

Of course Dwight Howard remains the big chip to fall – whether that be in Brooklyn, LA, Houston, or a surprise destination – while Ray Allen may soon sign with the Heat or return to Boston, and Jeremy Lin is getting an offer from the Rockets that the Knicks may or may not match.

Coming off the draft and the early days of free agency which teams have really improved themselves for NBA 2K13 and which ones are looking weaker (barring any moves still to come of course)? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Tags: latest news

http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

and yes… before the comments make note of it I do realize #13 for the Lakers is retired.
- clubsteve
  
  way to nip it in the bud, pasta……
- http://www.facebook.com/adam.parker.39589 Adam Parker
  
  Yes, #13 for the Lakers is retired. As is #5 for the Suns — belonging to the “Original Sun” Dick Van Arsdale. Sorry, as a Suns fan, I couldn’t resist!
  - CSaintSwag
    
    dang a double wammy -_-…. So mad that the Rockets didnt resign Dragic…
http://twitter.com/OMGitsNOYO King Noyo

can’t imagine they would let Nash wear Wilt’s jersey…
abb40

the lakers are an iso team so Nash is going to take the ball away from Kobe? i like the rockets trying to get Lin make them a fun young team to start association with
- 49ersfan1
  
  lakers are fun so at first u develop johnson-odom and trade for norris cole. and once gasol, nash, and kobe retire. ur squad will be DJO, cole, and bynum
http://www.facebook.com/philsites Philip Sites

Don’t forget Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to the Wiz
Dymez

Nash will most likely be wearing his old Broncos number, 11. I think it’s pretty obvious, in game and in reality, what team will see the biggest boost. The Brooklyn Nets, of course. So, for second place, the move that will be the biggest in game is Nash to L.A. His shooting ratings will be off the charts and double-teams will be draw by Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum, leaving Nash wide-open to knock down everything from anywhere on the court. In reality, the Lakers will get scorched as they are now even weaker defensively and athletic and quick guards like Westbrook and Parker will have their way with Nash on both ends, leaving me to say Jason Kidd’s leadership and basketball IQ will boost the Knicks to 1st round homecourt advantage in 4th or possibly 3rd seed (depending on Rose’s injury) in the Eastern Conference next season.
- eric
  
  Overblown. Star players are star players and get theirs regardless. They all scorch each other. The sad part is that Nash is a defensive upgrade over Fisher and Sessions, but he’s a massive upgrade on offense. If he can make guys like Diaw, Frye, gortat, Dudley, barbosa etc look good, imagine what he can do.with gasol, bynum, and Kobe. Lets not forget LAL was 2 possessions away from being up 3-1 on OKC with zero production from Sessions. They now have top tier players at 4 starting positions. How many teams can say that?
  - eric
    
    Also, people point out that Nash is the best point guard the Lakers have had in a long time, but Kobe/gasoline/bynum are easily the 3 best players he has ever played with
    - Dymez
      
      Please, tell me that “Nash is a defensive upgrade over Fisher and Sessions” comment was a typo or a joke or… or something. Steve Nash is literally the worst defender at PG in the league! He is an upgrade, offensively, I’ve stated that. Massive upgrade, however? No. You know the difference between the players Nash played with on the Suns and the players he’ll play with next season on the Lakers? On the Suns, they’re all spot-up shooters. Kobe and Bynum need the ball to be effective. Nash will mesh best with Gasol, they’ll run the pick and roll to death together. They will get collapsed upon and the Lakers aren’t a great 3pt shooting team, their only spot-up shooter is Steve Blake, and he’s not getting minutes alongside Steve Nash, or else that’s just food for teams like OKC, Clippers, Spurs, and Memphis.
      
      And marketing is far from “overblown” when it comes to this league and its players. Deron Williams made it clear, he’s happy with the
      marketing advantages he’s capable of getting in New York, which led to his decision to stay there. Chris Bosh was a 5x All-Star in Toronto and didn’t have a single endorsement deal; moved to Miami, now he has Nike, ‘Got Milk?’, Phiten, and more. Kevin Love puts up Moses Malone numbers more than a few times, he’s complaining about not getting enough endorsement opportunities while Blake Griffin’s face is all over every KIA, SubWay and RedBull commercial. The shit definitely matters.
      - http://profile.yahoo.com/PRNYYXZW5CPECODQZM2VGFZKI4 Jwaan
        
        What’s crazy is that (and this is sort of off topic) Chris Bosh’s talent and production warranted endorsements. He was probably one of those All-Stars you constantly never heard of. That’s why it frustrates me a little when guys call Miami a Big 2 and a hlaf. People don’t know Bosh was a legit 20-10 guy and even though he wasn’t the best defender, he gives effort which a lot of guys dont.
Ron Mexico

My Bobcats have improved enough where I might be able to win a game or two with them. Still wont be easy though. MKG should be respectable on offense but great on D, and Ben Gordon will provide the 3 point presence we have been lacking.
- 49ersfan1
  
  hahaha 7-59 oh it never gets old hahaha
http://twitter.com/JustinCDavis Justin C. Davis

Celtics are clear winners if Ray returns. Their bench was a joke last year and they needed scoring. Here is there potential bench possibly with Ray. Terry, Allen, J. Green, Sullinger, C. Wilcox/Melo/ Kristic. The one worry is the 3 yr deal for terry would have preferred 2 yr deal max.
Gee

My Mavericks are taking a Crap kicking! Why doesnt anybody want to go to the Dallas Mavericks, anymore? they still have Dirk, Vince, Marion! Could this be a sign of the end of Dallas’ and there playoff streak? stay tuned to; “As the NBA World Turns”.
cheers
- Dymez
  
  Mainly because those 3 guys you mentioned are old and 2 of them are over the hill, with Dirk being the odd man out, yet he’s probably starting to creep down that hill, too. Also, Dallas isn’t really an attractive city for these NBA players who want endorsement deals and all that (big reason why Deron Williams chose Brooklyn over his hometown). Cuban put all his eggs into the D-Will/D12 basket – disrespected the players he already had in doing so, now he lost his second best player and starting Point Guard in the process.
CSaintSwag

Hopefully the Rockets can make a bigger move then Jeremy Lin this offseason. I was hopeing they would resign Dragic, They traded Kyle Lowrey to get a 1st round pick from the Raptors which will most definitely be a high draft pick, and also Gary Forbes. I am pretty sure we can trade and get that star that we are really craving for, I heard that the Rockets are trying to get Pau Gasol, once again, which would be a really good addition. But as of now all we have at the Point Gaurd position heading into next year is Earl Boykins, If we do not aquire Jeremy Lin IDK WHAT WE’LL DO.
CLEfan4LIFE

My Cavaliers will be greatly improved with another scoring option along side Kyrie Irving in Dion Waiters. Should be a fun back court to play with and build around in association. Zeller backing up Varejao helps the bench production and Thompson starting in his second year at PF should be exciting. Kyrie will be in the running for MVP mark my words. With the East being very weak and the Cavs always giving the Knicks a hard time,usually beat them, we will be right around the 4 or 5 seed. I’m hoping we can land a starting SF so Gee can come of the bench. Jamison might even start at SF which wouldn’t be too bad. (PG: Irving SG: Waiters SF: Jamison PF: Thompson C: Varejao 6th Man: Gee Big Sub: Zeller) Watch out for the Cavaliers people. Yes, Kyrie is that good. He will be the best PG in the league in 2 years.
- eric
  
  No disrespect, but that is a bad lineup. Cavs aren’t going anywhere near .500 for a long long time.
  - @godhatesohio
    
    Seeing as how they were a .500 team before Varejao got hurt, I don’t see your argument. Let’s let Free Agency end and see them play on the court before making any “THIS TEAM WILL BE AWFUL/THIS TEAM WILL BE GREAT” predictions.
    - CLEfan4LIFE
      
      exactly Andy is a lot better than ppl think. Does a ton of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet and he gets his entire teams energy up. Ppl just don’t understand winning basketball, all they wan’t is a fucking guy who can jump outta the gym and dunk on everybody, meanwhile he can’t do shit other than that. Fuck that I’d take Andy at C over 90% of all the other Centers in the League hands down. Also, don’t underestimate Gee. He’s improved every single season since he got into the league, and this year he just might have a breakout season putting up 15ppg, 6rbs, 3asts, and 3stls a game. If everyone stays healthy watch out for the Cavaliers. Last year we were in position for a 7 or 8 seed before Varejao went down. Can’t forget, Kyrie is also an entire year better. I swear some ppl just don’t know talent.
      - Skopin
        
        I would like to see the Cavs go after Dwight Howard. We need a legitimate center. Varejao is a PF. At this point, we have 3-4 PFs, 1 SF, too many SGs, and a solid PG. Don’t get me wrong, I love Varejao, but he is not a true center in the NBA.
      - CLEfan4LIFE
        
        yeah I would love to see Cleveland get Howard but realistically it will never happen because we don’t have the trade assets to make it happen. I also don’t think Dwight would want to come here because he’s somewhat of a pre-modana. It is some good wishful thinking tho lol.
      - Guest
        
        4 or 5 seed? no. playoffs? maybe.
        1. Heat 2. Pacers 3. Celtics 4. Knicks 5. Nets 6. 76ers 7. Bulls 8. Bucks/Pistons/Cavs 1 of those 3
      - 49ersfan1
        
        8. bucks
        bucks have 2 greats guards. now all they need is to bring back ilyasova
        GO LAKERS & WARRIORS!!!!!
      - 49ersfan1
        
        West:
        1. Thunder 2. Lakers 3. Clippers 4. Spurs 5. Grizzlies 6. Nuggets 7. Jazz/Rockets 8. Warriors
        any other ideas?
        not sure about lakers at no. 2, maybe 3.. we might have to wait on grizzlies
      - CLEfan4LIFE
        
        1. Heat 2. Pacers 3. Nets 4. Bulls 5. Cavs 6. Celtics 7. Knicks 8. 76ers how the fuck you gunna crown the Knicks a 4 seed. They’re fucking awful plus the Cavs beat them 3 times last year and we were tyring to lose games lol. Melo is a cancer to that team. They will have the same results as last year and earn the 7 spot. And don’t gimmie that JKidd bullshit. As for the celtics they lost Ray and I love A Bradley but c’mon now they are on the downswing and KG and The Truth just can’t play heavy minutes anymore. Cavs will be a 5 seed, because of Kyrie. He’s getting good very fast, and after the years said and done he’ll be considered the 2nd best PG in the League. He only played 30min per game. Once he gets around 35 36 his numbers are gunna be nice. Watch this video and tell me what other PG can do this, and he’s only 20
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69bc_OOLIMM
  - CLEfan4LIFE
    
    I’d like for you to explain to me who is going to contend in the East. I wan’t to see if you actually know something about the NBA. The East is going to be very weak this upcoming season and the Cavs have a great shot to be a 5 seed this year if that line up right there stays primarily healthy. You need a PG in the NBA to win and the Cavs have a Top 5 PG in Kyrie. And yes the Heats PG was LeBron, don’t tell me he plays SF cuz in the Finals it was LeBron who brought the ball up every time. To me that’s a PG. He did the same thing when he was here in CLE and I considered him a PG.
- abc
  
  Man, the Cavs had a bad draft and that’s coming from a Cavs fan. If they had gotten Beal, I’d consider this offseason a success but alas… Dion would not have been taken in the first ten had the Cavs not taken him.
  - CLEfan4LIFE
    
    How can you say waiters is not a top 5 talent. You must be fucking blind. His only weaknesses are that he came off the bench in college which doesn’t mean shit, and that he has to improve his jumper (statistically for this season he shot better than Beal). He played important minutes and was his teams best player. Dwyane Wade was considered wayyyy to high of a draft pick for the Heat. Last time I checked that pick turned out pretty good for the Heat. Also, IMO I’d rather have Waiters over Beal. Fuck Beal, when I watch him play nothing really stands out to me. They keep saying he’s a great shooter, well he shot 32% from 3 and his weakness is that he can’t create his own shot because his handles are shaky. Yeah I’d rather take Waiters, at least he can create his own shot. Please, explain to me why Beal is soooo much better than Waiters. I’ve watched tons of college basketball and tons of highlight tapes and I would gladly, any second, draft Waiters over Beal. The Cavs got it right, just wait till the season starts.
    - http://twitter.com/DJtheDos Michelangelo
      
      Judging by what you have said so far about the Cavs if the they would have taken Beal you would be saying the exact opposite…
      - CLEfan4LIFE
        
        Yes, If we would have drafted Beal, I would be saying the exact opposite. Beal’s an overrated player,
      - Jonah Douglas
        
        You are a moron.even the cavs wanted beal over waiters. beal is obivouusly better because his game has no weakness. Waiters game obviously has a weakness or he would be starting. I kno your a fan but sometimes you just have to except the truth. this will be another painful cavs season post Lebron.
      - CLEfan4LIFE
        
        No, you’re a fucking idiot. Just watching Kyrie play the game will make this season wonderful. Then add in Waiters brilliance and were set. I will bet without a doubt that Waiters has the wayyyy better year. Remember this post because you will be eating your words come next year. You still never explained to me why Beal is supposedly better. Also, watching the summer leagues so far Beal looks absolutely atrocious. No hustle, lack of creativity with the ball. Useless in my opinion for a number three pick. Also, have you ever heard of a smokescreen in the draft? It’s when a team states that they are really interested in a certain player so a team ahead will think they have to take that player before the other team might be able to trade up. That’s exactly what the cavs did this draft. It was either trade up and get MKG or hype up Beal so Wash wouldn’t take Waiters. They did a great job. Just wait and see once the season starts, you’ll be looking like a dumbass along with a lot of these so called “experts”.
      - CLEfan4LIFE
        
        you’ve also failed to answer my question and explain to me how Beal is better than Waiters.
poopsandwich

so you morons are quick to jump on the fact that nash cant wear 13 but no one notices that pasta put eric gordon in a suns uni in the background? #fags
- Jonathan Glapion
  
  Are you sure pasta put him on the suns or did he grab that screenshot from somewhere… Fuckin idiot!
http://profile.yahoo.com/PRNYYXZW5CPECODQZM2VGFZKI4 Jwaan

If Ray Allen goes to the Heat, I’ll refuse to play anyone who uses them online. Seriously, even now it’s irritating when guys refuse to matchup with you and try to pick the best team just for a win. There isn’t even a functional Leaderboard to track your W/L!
- 49ersfan1
  
  so ur gonna refuse to play for them…. i used the warriors when curry and bogut were injured against the heat and won 102-89… so i dont see anything wrong with it. if ur good then u win. its not really lebron james playing, its a game so it doesnt matter
  - 49ersfan1
    
    btw the guy using the heat was good. he played smart.
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/PRNYYXZW5CPECODQZM2VGFZKI4 Jwaan
    
    It’s not the fact that I don’t think I can’t win – trust, playing against most Heat users is not hard at all. It’s just, at some point you get tired of guys picking the Heat and either cheesing with Wade, or (most of the time) cheesing with LeBron. LeBron has godlike ratings in that game. And now you mean to tell me I can’t force a Heat user to beat me with his role players because he’ll have Ray Allen (and possibly Rashard Lewis) in addition to Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers, that’s too much frustration for me. Plus, sometimes I wish someone would pick someone different. I once had 4-5 guys pick the Heat in a row. Got fed up and played him (and won) but every time it’s frustrating. I’m just not gonna put up with that next year.
    
    Seriously, can you imagine guys could put out a lineup of Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, LeBron James, Rashard Lewis, and Chris Bosh?
Mr GoldSk3et XBL

I ran with the T’Wolves in 2K12. If my Kings get Ryan Anderson I’ll be going with them in ’13.
waltpaw

If Eric Gordon is forced to stay in NOLA, the Hornets become a great Association team to build. Austin Rivers plays point, Gordon to score, and Anthony Davis the defensive stopper.
#GetALife

“…to shake up teams for NBA 2K13.” hahaha… No. It is shaking things up for the NBA Season. My goodness everyone takes this video game shit so seriously
- lasagnapadre
  
  Yeah, this is a video game blog though, go to espn for sports analysis.
JERRRANOMO

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