1.    Trade Progress Report:    The recent trades of Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal, and Jason Kidd have all been pretty well examined and re-examined to date but I thought we could take a look a little closer and see what else the trades have yielded to date and beyond:  -Pau Gasol:  This trade was obviously was a no-brainer for the Lakers.  They were willing to spend the cash and they got a huge asset, without giving up anything.  Since the deal, the Lakers are 14-3.  Even more impressive, the … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1.    Star  Power:  The state of the Western Conference is pretty astounding.  The top nine teams are separated by only a few games in the standing.  In fact, it seems almost certain that the eight seed in the West will break the wins record for an eight seed (currently held by the 2000-01 Minnesota Timberwolves at 47-35).  The concentration of great teams and great players, particularly after Paul Gasol came to the Lakers, has some harkening back to the 1980s and those Celtic and Lakers squads … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts