NBA Weekly: Mo Cheeks & Reggie Theus Fired, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, & Memphis Grizzlies

Head Coaches: There have been a rash of firings this season in the NBA already. Eddie Jordan, Sam Mitchell, Randy Wittman, and P.J. Carlesimo have all been axed already and the past week saw two more firings with the 76ers firing the classy Maurice Cheeks and Kings' coach Reggie Theus getting the boot as well. I thought Theus did a good job with the Kings last season coaching them to a respectable 38-44 record. They do have just a 7-19 record this season but this team has been hit with some injuries early on and is still very young. I'm not sure what the owners expected from Theus with such a young team. Makes me wonder if something else was going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. As for Cheeks, well the 76ers needed to shake things up after their slow 9-14 start. It doesn't look like Elton Brand is meshing well with the 76ers style of play and I guess they felt a change was needed. There still is plenty of time for the 76ers to turn it around this season and with New Jersey, Miami, and Chicago currently in the last 3 playoff spots in the East, I fully expect the 76ers to make the playoffs this season when all is said an done. What they won't be doing this season is contending in the East as it looks like they are not as strong as Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando and if they have a lower seed in the playoffs it would make it even that much harder for them to advance.

Shawn Marion: Word on the street is that the Cavs were going to trade for Shawn Marion giving up Anderson Varejao and Wally Szczerbiak. The rumor is not true but I'm not sure it would have helped the Cavs all that much, because Shawn Marion is in the decline of his career. Marion currently ranks 100th in player effeciency rating with a PER of 15.92, which is by far the lowest of his career. His previous low was the 17.1 he put up in his rookie season, which would rank 69th this season. His career PER is 20.7 which would rank 27th overall this season. Basically Marion has fallen from a top 30 player to one who barely cracks the top 100 players in the league. At his peak efficiency with a PER of 23.66, he was probably even as high as a top 15 player in the league. So where has Marion seen a decline in his game? Pretty much across the board with his 12.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals, 46.3% FG, & 21.4% 3FG all being lower than his career averages. Drop offs like this can't just be because he misses Steve Nash or that Dwyane Wade is dominating the ball. I think Marion is in decline and any team that pays big money for him next season as a free agent will probably be sorry they did.

Amare Stoudemire: Ed The Sports Fan believes that Amare Stoudemire will not be with the Suns next season, because he wants to the alpha dog in Phoenix and does not like his secondary role. On first thought, I'd have to agree that Amare will either ask to be traded or bolt the Suns whenever he has the first opportunity to do so. However, a quick peek at the Suns current salary commitments has changed my mind. Shaq comes off the books after next season and the team has an option on Steve Nash next season as well that they most likely will pick up. That means that both Shaq and Nash will probably be gone from the Suns for the 2010-2011 season, which also happens to be the same year that Amare has a player option. My guess is that Amare will decline that option and try to sign a max contract with the Suns, unless Phoenix trades him before that season, in which case it better get some high quality young talent in return. That also happens to be the same year that Lebron, Bosh, D-Wade and others will be on the free agent market. If the Suns don't bring Amare back then we could be looking at a completely revamped Suns team that is going to have a boat load of money to spend in 2010.

Memphis Grizzlies: The Memphis Grizzlies are showing signs of life having won 5 of their last 7 games in their attempt to shed their label as NBA doormats. O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay have been leading the way for the up and coming Grizzlies. Mayo has been showing a veteran presence in his rookie season, which could be a sign of good things to come for Memphis. Hell, even Darko Milicic is showing signs of life averaging 8.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks a game in just 25.4 minutes a night over his last 5 games. Now if only Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry would decide which one of them wants to bring it consistently every night to lock down the starting PG position then we might be looking at a quality team for real. Look for the Grizz to remain competitive for the remainder of the season.

Other NBA News:

- Elton Brand dislocated his shoulder last night and if he is out for any extended period of time I'm betting that the 76ers go on a winning streak. Rookie Marreese Speights will see more playing time if Brand is out, which is funny because I was looking at the player efficiency ratings yesterday and noticed that his is ranked 41st overall with a PER of 18.96, which also happens to be first among rookies. Of course he has put up those numbers in a limited role, but this reminds me of the past few years when Thaddeous Young and Carl Landry were putting up strong efficiency ratings in limited roles and continued to do so when they got more minutes. Keep an eye on Speights, who may have earned more minutes even if Brand isn't out for an extended timeframe.

- Marcus Camby grabbed a ridiculous 27 rebounds last night, which is a career high for him. Just thought I would show Camby some love for being such a beast on the boards.

- The Celtics won their 16th straight game and now are a ridiculous 24-2. The best record to start a season is 26-2 by the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics next three games are against the Bulls, Knicks, and 76ers and are all at home. I think the Celtics are going to break that record. Then the next game they have after that is Christmas against the Lakers.

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