Posted by HoopsAvenue on August 30, 2008 under Fantasy Basketball, Free Agency, General NBA | 
With the Olympics ending and the major free agent signing period over with, it’s a boring time of year for NBA fans as we await training camp, but there were a few stories that caught my eye this week:
- Ginobili To Have Surgery – The Spurs did not want Manu to play in the Olympics. He played. He hurt himself. He’s going to be out six weeks after getting surgery done. So should Manu have sat? I don’t think so. If you consider he got hurt on such minimal contact, he was bound to get hurt in the pre-season or early in the regular season so the timing actually works in the Spurs favor. Manu’s not going to miss much game action and the Spurs don’t seem to mind that Tim Duncan doesn’t wake up until March anyways so Manu should be no different. Don’t be surprised to see the Spurs hovering around .500 for a while though.
- Monta Ellis Out 3 Months – Sorry, Warriors, fans. Not a good summer for you. First, Baron Davis bolts for the Clippers of all teams and now your most exciting player is out. At least you got Corey Maggette, though. If he can carry the load for a while and you get some guys to step up, you could still be in playoff contention when Ellis returns.
- Grizzlies Sign Hamed Haddadi – Haddadi will be the first Iranian player in the NBA. He did well in Beijing, but some scouts don’t think he’s ready. The competition in the Iranian league is, well, softer than a marshmallow so we’ll take a wait-and-see approach on this guy. Just don’t expect the next Yao Ming.
Don’t hold your breath, September won’t be much more exciting.
By the way, it’s never to early to sign up for fantasy basketball. Click here to sign up.
Posted by HoopsAvenue on August 6, 2008 under Free Agency, General NBA |
When I first heard the rumors that the Greek team Olympiakos was going to make a run at Lebron in 2010, I didn’t take it seriously at all. I figured they had no chance at luring James away who makes enough money to feed even Latrell Sprewell’s family here in the USA, but now I’m having second thoughts. ESPN is reporting Lebron would seriously consider leaving if he were offered $50 million per year! He couldn’t even make $20 million a year here (poor soul) given the NBA salary cap so maybe Lebron is thinking about it? I have to admit it’s hard to turn down $50 million…and the opportunity to make history.
According to “sources close to Lebron,” he’d view it as an opportunity to popularize himself overseas and become rich enough to build a statue of himself so large that it can be seen from anywhere on the planet, or even from space. Lebron also would like to see David Stern down on his knees begging him to come back while Jay-Z raps his new hit “The League is Mine.” Ok, I’m getting carried away…
But, seriously, can the Greek team pay that much and would Lebron accept? I don’t know if we have the answer right now (any Euro basketball experts out there?). The fact that this is even a possibility should be a bit troubling to the NBA. We’ve already seen numerous players leave for foreign leagues this year so its clear the NBA is no longer the only business in town. The NBA sees these players as replaceable, and they are right now, but you can only lose so many players before your product begins to decline. A lot of people would claim the league is already watered down and it’s not going to get any better if you’re losing players to other leagues on a regular basis.
The only problem for the NBA here is there ain’t much they can do about it. You either let the free market rule and scrap the salary cap, letting Lebron make $50 million here. But, that’d turn the NBA into MLB and the Knicks would actually be good, meeting the Lakers in the Finals every year. Or, you work with the foreign leagues and add some of their teams to the NBA, creating a logistical nightmare. Neither of those options are any good so the NBA needs to find a middle ground and at least do something. Either that or they can sit on their hands like they did with the referee crisis and risk going the way of the ABA.
So, where will Lebron be in 2010? Cleveland? Brooklyn? Greece?
Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 29, 2008 under Detroit Pistons, Free Agency, General NBA |
Seven years ago, he was drafted #1 overall straight out of high school. Three teams later, he’s the butt of many NBA jokes, especially in the Washington area. Make no mistake about it, Kwame Brown is not half-bad as far as NBA centers go, but he’s certainly never met even the most modest expectations. Although his scenery has changed several times, it’s always been the same story with Kwame. Just like pre-2004 Red Sox fans, Kwame apologists keep on saying, “just wait, this is gonna be the year.”
After arriving in DC, Wizards fans couldn’t wait to see this athletic 6’11″ big man paired with MJ. It didn’t take long, though, before Kwame was driven out of town by the pressure and his own lack of effort. If you think his stock had hit rock bottom after failing in DC, the Lakers proved that theory wrong by offering up Caron Butler for Brown. It was hoped that playing alongside Kobe, Kwame could flourish in an A-list city where he could just as well be anonymous. But, it didn’t work out in L.A. either. His time there was plagued by injuries and, then, the emergence of Andrew Bynum dimmed any chance he had at the limelight in a Lakers jersey. So, now he’s been in the league over 6 years and done hardly anything…he’s worthless right? Well, not to the Grizzlies who were willing to part with all-star Pau Gasol for Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and some draft picks.
Now, after just half a season in a Grizzlies uniform, Brown is leaving for Detroit. He could have signed with a lot of teams and not raised an eyebrow, but Detroit doesn’t just sign anybody. They try to sign pieces to their championship puzzle. And, when you consider that the Pistons haven’t been able to replace Ben Wallace, maybe they are looking at Kwame to fulfill this role? Like Brown, Wallace struggled early in his career in Washington, and was uncoveted when he arrived in Detroit. The two have similar physiques (although Kwame is a bit taller) as well. Kwame’s strength’s are his defense and rebounding, which is all they are going to ask him to do in Detroit. He won’t need to touch the ball on offense and he’s surrounded by veterans with a ring on their fingers who lead by example rather than words. Kwame’s not going to have anybody screaming at him in the Motor City. They’d just bury him at the end of the bench if he doesn’t want to play. At 26 years old, Kwame still has time to become a high caliber player, and maybe, just maybe, he’s finally landed in the right situation.
Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 2, 2008 under Free Agency, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers |
Yesterday was the first day of the NBA free agency period and here’s what you need to know:
- Baron Davis has reportedly reached an agreement to sign with the Clippers. This is a bit surprising considering the professional e-mail he had previously sent to ESPN: “”Clipps r possible. G State is where I wanna b”. Now the Clippers have to worry about re-signing Elton Brand. They’re going to have to let Corey Maggette go to pull that off and Brand will have to take a paycut, but it looks like he is willing to do so.
- Gilbert Arenas received a max offer from the Warriors. So, Gil’s old team is going after him again now that they’ve lost their point guard. The Warriors are young and fun, which fits Arenas’ style, but it’s hard to see him choosing them over Washington.
Where do you think Davis, Arenas, Brand, and Maggette will wind up?
Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 1, 2008 under Free Agency, NBA Rumors |
Today is the first day teams can begin negotiations with their players and the word is that the Wizards are set to offer Gilbert Arenas $100 million over 6 years. Sounds like a lot of money (and, duh, it is), but Agent Zero had indicated he was looking for the max, which would be $124 million over that same period. No word yet on what Arenas plans to do, but considering he’s coming off an injury, it’s doubtful he’ll get a much better offer from another team.
Re-signing with Washington would be the easy thing to do. Arenas has said he wants to stay in DC and just wanted to “test the market”, but plenty a player have “tested the market” and found a better contract elsewhere. Arenas has stated repeatedly he will only come back if the Wizards also re-sign Antawn Jamison this off-season and they just did re-sign Jamison for four more years so the odds look good for Washington. “He said he’d take less money if they got me, and they got me,” Jamison said. “So I think everything will get worked out with Gilbert.”
The Lakers and Clippers have also been reportedly interested in Arenas at one time or another, but both situations don’t seem likely anymore. The Lakers would have to make some pretty big changes to make the money available for Arenas which they are unlikely to want to do considering they are coming off a Finals appearance. The Clippers, on the other hand, would want to work a sign-and-trade most likely involving Elton Brand, but now that the Wizards have re-signed Jamison, Washington is in a much better position to win in Gilbert’s eyes. Don’t hold your breath, LA fans.
Where do you think Agent Zero will wind up?
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