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Thursday, February 23, 2006 

early fireworks fizzle out on D-Day movement

What started off with a bang on Wednesday with the "Franchise" changing hands leading into Thursday's trading deadline, ended like a wet soggy cracker (Pfffffftt...) , as no big names got moved.

There was a mammoth of a deal involving 4 teams and 9 players but the "stars" of the trade are Watson and Patterson...(chorus of boos followed by sighs of disappointment). Most of the rest of the players are salary gap fillers, alas no starters.

The four way trade implicating Denver, Seattle and Portland and Sacramento took place on Thursday morning.

The players involved are:

Denver gets: SF Ruben Patterson, PF Reggie Evans & SG Charles Smith
  • picking up specialists for the stretch run
Seattle gets: PG Earl Watson & SG/SF Byron Russell
  • get the backup PG they let get away
Portland gets: SG Voshon Lenard & C/PF Brian Skinner
  • get $6 million dollars in expiring contracts
Sacramento gets: C Vitaly Potapenko & SG Sergei Monia
  • size in the middle off the bench and a shooter

In other trades:

Cavaliers pick up SF Lee Nailon and 2006 2nd round pick from 76ers for cond. 2nd round pick
also in a separate trade they get PG/SG Ronald "Flip" Murray from Seattle for PG Mike Wilks and cash ($500,000)
  • finally getting a versatile scoring PG suited to their style and a player who already knows their system

NJ Nets send C/PF Marc Jackson & SF Linton Johnson to the NOK Hornets for PF/SF Bostjan Nachbar
  • move made as a band-aid/quick fix with Vroman going out for the season with broken wrist

Miami Heat acquire SG/SF Derek Anderson from the Houston Rockets for rookie PG Gerald Fitch
  • finally getting a true SG that will allow Wade to play some PG when needed to take advantage of mismatches

2/23/2006 05:53:00 PM | |

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 

Francis to the Knicks for Ariza and Penny's knees (jeez!)

Well, at least he's consistent...

Who you ask?... Francis?...no Thomas.

Isiah Thomas continues to spend big dollars in the hopes of finding a quick fix and the right mix as his New York Knicks have acquired Steve Francis from the Orlando Magic in exchange for Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway. Thomas keeps us all baffled by strange personnel moves and acquisitions and just can't stop taking chances on has-beens, rejects and headcases.

The 29 year old Francis is expected to team up with Marbury in the backcourt leaving Jamal Crawford in limbo yet again. Yet another shooting guard trapped in a point guard's body the Knicks now have a backcourt of Marbury, Francis, Crawford, Robinson,

Ariza, who according to rumors, has spent the season feuding with head coach Larry Brown can now step out of the shadows of Rose, Lee, Richardson and Woods into sunny Orlando where he will continue to hone his already superior defensive talent in anticipation of possibly hitting the free agent market this coming offseason, while playing behind Turkoglu (out with sprained ankle) or the on again off again Grant Hill (whose contract expires at season's end).

Penny Hardaway returns to his roots in Orlando looking nothing like the player the Magic once acquired in exchange for Chris Webber from the Golden State Warriors back in 1993. Hardaway has appeared in only 4 games this year, his last being December 9th where he showed up for a whole 7 minutes and has been plagued with knee problems but his contract expires at the end of the season and will give the Magic payroll flexibility heading into the offseason.

But who wins the deal you ask, strangely as it may sound if you look at the numbers one must answer that the Knicks do. Hardaway may never play again, Ariza is a free agent to be but Francis (although a perennial locker room distraction) is averaging:

16.2 ppg 1.1 spg 5.7 apg 4.8 rpg

"Stevie Franchise" should benefit the most from this trade as he looks to fit into the NY puzzle, will they make him the Pg so Marbury can stay healthy as they push to make up the 11 games they trail the Sixers by in the eastern conference for the eighth playoff spot.

There is some serious talent now in town for the Knicks, the only question is will it click?

A guy that was bothered by trade rumors in Disneyland is headed into the New York media factory.

This move by Isiah, barring another trade of course, only solidifies Jamal Crawford's place on the bench while Orlando's point guard tribulations are relieved yet unresolved, with Jameer Nelson (injured), Keeyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo and Travis Diener all vying for playing time.

So Isiah what's next...Crawford and James to Utah for Boozer???

Magic sending Grant Hill away for retirement to...?

2/22/2006 05:09:00 PM | |

Saturday, February 18, 2006 

other top lists for the season so far

  • Yahoo! has their ranking system (don't ask) but here is their (*ahem*cough*) questionable top 16 list for the season to date as we head into all-star weekend :
  1. Marion
  2. James
  3. Garnett
  4. Brand
  5. Allen
  6. Bryant
  7. Kidd
  8. Wallace R.
  9. Nowitzki
  10. Lewis
  11. Wallace B.
  12. Wade
  13. Arenas
  14. Iverson
  15. Pierce
  16. Nash





Another thing I stumbled on at YaY!Sports as they look to initiate a blogfight with their own top 16 list which they go on to match them in subsequent games of one on one:

and you'll never guess who they claim as the winner

and you know it just might work,

you know... put the NBA ALL-STAR game back on the map...imagine...the SHOWDOWN once a year ....a one on one that the players might take seriously.

Now that would be an ALL-STAR weekend to be proud of...





...meanwhile over at NBASource they propose a real life NBA Draft:

  • thirty players drafted starting with:

#30 Bogut
#29 Redd
#28 Nash

read on for the rest here.







But i would argue that a draft or a 1 v1 would not determine anything because of the differences between most players (power forward versus a point guard...?)

but a
2 v 2

now that woud be cool and would be one hell of a show.

2/18/2006 01:30:00 AM | |

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 

Detroit frees Darko and sends him to Orlando

Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo are headed to Orlando for Kelvin Cato's expiring contract and a protected first round draft pick in 2007.

What a draft it was that year as Joe Dumars took heavy criticism for not having selected any of those that followed Darko. The Pistons organization cannot be faulted for not having played Darko on a team that has four All-Stars and that has continuously been to the finals since his arrival. He was to be a spectator in Detroit and if he could learn a little something while watching then all the better.

It is still too early to label the 20 year old Serbian as a bust he was simply not given a chance to show his game in Detroit. Going to the Magic however he is expected to step in immediately and to play alongside "He-Man" and fellow 20 year old Dwight Howard.

2003 NBA draft

1. Cleveland Cavaliers-LeBron James
2. Detroit Pistons-Darko Milicic
3. Denver Nuggets-Carmelo Anthony
4. Toronto Raptors-Chris Bosh
5. Miami Heat-Dwyane Wade
6. Los Angeles Clippers-Chris Kaman
7. Chicago Bulls-Kirk Hinrich
8. Milwaukee Bucks-T.J. Ford
9. New York Knicks-Mike Sweetney
10. Washington Wizards-Jarvis Hayes

The following are a series of quotes on the Darko Milicic experiment with the Detroit Pistons and a team that is so close to repeatedly competing for the title cannot afford the turnovers that come with the schooling required to form and mold a young player :


"The Pistons made the deal mostly for salary-cap
purposes. Cato is making $8.6 million this season,
the final year of his contract. Milicic is making $4.1 million
this season and $5.2 million and $6.8 million
in the next two seasons. Arroyo has a contract for
$4 million annually for two more years."

" Despite his struggles with the Pistons,
Milicic was a fan favorite during his first two seasons and was
embarrassed when they chanted: "We want Dar-ko!" This season, the
fans seemed to give up on trying to get him into games and the
team ran out of patience with a player it knew would be a project"

"Darko was not going to make a difference this season.
Dumars saw that. New coach Flip Saunders
hasn't been able to milk anything more out of
the 7-foot Serbian than Larry Brown did.
And once this year is over, the Pistons have
money issues with Ben Wallace as a free agen
and Chauncey Billups likely to seek a contract extension."


Of course no post about Darko would be complete without a link to the fantasy allusions of FreeDarko.blogspot.com


2/15/2006 10:08:00 PM | |

 

Clips get Vlad for Wilcox

Could the Sonics be on the way to becoming the Clippers north?

After acquiring Rick Brunson and Mikki Moore from LA's other team, the Seattle Supersonics have traded PF/SF Vladimir Radmanovic to the Los Angeles Clippers for PF/C Chris Wilcox, both players are 6'10 and are slated to be unrestricted free agents at season's end.

At first glance it appears to be a trade that will help both teams. Going to the western conference contending Clippers is Radmanovic who will help spread the floor with his size and his three point shooting. Wilcox heads to Seattle and will provide some size up front for the Sonics who are in desperate need of some toughness and will be sharing duties with Robert Swift, Johan Petro and the recently benched PF Reggie Evans.

This could be the start of a major shakeup for this Seattle team as they are 12 games below .500 and find themselves in the second to last place of the western conference.

2/15/2006 09:09:00 PM | |

Thursday, February 09, 2006 

Thursday's loose balls

  • the Steven Hunter trade from Philadelphia to New Orleans has been rescinded, meaning that two 2 round picks are not worth a gimpy PF/C
  • Antonio Davis played like a man beaten up by the media over a period of two weeks running out of energy as the Raptors came back to force the Duncan-less Spurs to overtime in Toronto
  • after sending Mark Blount to Minnesota, the Boston Celtics said they expected big things from Jefferson and Perkins, well now they're both injured as Perkins dislocated his shoulder at the end of practice Wednesday and is now day-to-day joining Jefferson who is sidelined with a sprained ankle forcing the team to recall the rookie St John's product Dwayne Jones
  • the 3pt shootout at the All-Star game will showcase Terry, Nowitzki, QRich, Ray Allen, Chauncey Billups, and Raja Bell

Players who seem to have turned it around after slumping somewhat:
  • Antawn Jamison
  • Ben Gordon
  • Bobby Simmons
  • Rafer Alston
  • Tyson Chandler
  • Mike Dunleavy
  • Robert Swift
  • Luke Ridnour



top 3 scorers from a busy Wednesday night of an NBA action:
  1. Gilbert Arenas; 45 pts
  2. Mike James; 36 pts
  3. Lebron James; 35 pts
top rebounders
  1. Jamal Magloire; 18 reb
  2. Kevin Garnett; 18 reb
  3. Shawn Marion; 16 reb
  4. Jeff Foster; 16 reb
assist leaders
  1. Brevin Knight 14 ast
  2. Tony Parker 13 ast
  3. Baron Davis 13 ast
  4. Kirk Snyder 12 ast
  5. Shaun Livingston 12 ast
steals leaders
  1. Kobe Bryant 6 st
  2. Bernard Robinson 5 st
  3. Charlie Bell 4 st
  4. Ben Gordon 4 st
Blocks leaders
  1. Marcus Camby 7 blk
  2. Samuel Dalembert 5 blk
  3. Shawn Marion 4 blk
  4. James Jones 4 blk
Free throw leaders
  1. Gilbert Arenas 23-25 ft
  2. Zach Randolph 13-16 ft
  3. Lebron James 12-17 ft

2/09/2006 09:45:00 AM | |

Wednesday, February 08, 2006 

Justifying a top 25 list

Justifying a top 25 list


To truly get the state of the game in the NBA, and any league for that matter, one must look at the number of positions and players in the game. In a game that has five positions, an appropriate list would comprise of five teams of five players for a total of 25

So here are the top five at five diffferent positions:

Pg:
  • Iverson
  • Arenas
  • Davis
  • Nash
  • Parker

Sg:
  • Kobe
  • Wade
  • Redd
  • JRich
  • Joe Johnson
Sf:
  • Lebron
  • T-Mac
  • Pierce
  • Melo
  • Vinsanity
Pf:
  • Brand
  • Dirk
  • Garnett
  • Matrix
  • Webber
C:
  • Bosh
  • Duncan
  • J. O'Neal
  • Yao
  • Shaq

But what makes the NBA so interesting is that there's a little more to it than that.

Which is why we have a top 5 teams list of:

  1. Pistons
  2. Spurs
  3. Mavericks
  4. Phoenix
  5. Clippers


and the MVP so far:

King James

2/08/2006 09:46:00 PM | |

Friday, February 03, 2006 

Rose and a pick dumped on the Knicks in exchange for the Davises

In a move that many view as a salary dump by the Toronto Raptors, the first move of Wayne Embry as interim GM was to unload Jalen Rose and his upcoming guaranteed $16.9 million next year onto the Knicks in exchange for Antonio Davis and his expiring $13.9 million. This (strategic?) move makes at the same time the hiring of the next incoming GM that much easier as the franchise heads into an off-season in which they absolutely must retain their team's superstar, Chris Bosh with $10 million in cap relief.

Whether Antonio Davis will report to the Raptors for his second tour of duty is another story (as head of the player's union one would expect him to), if anything this season he has proven that he still can contribute and is averaging 20.8 mpg with 5.0ppg and 4.8rpg. He will be expected to mentor the young Bosh and Sow/Araujo but he could be on the other hand anticipating a buyout much like the Vince Carter/ Mourning and package trade of a season ago for which the former Raptor GM Rob Babcock is now infamous.

Jalen Rose on his experience in T.O.:

"Obviously, with my age and my salary
I didn't fit long term," the 33-year-old Rose
said of playing in Toronto"

"It was a different kind of learning process for me,
I got to mentor a lot of young guys,
be a leader and be a captain.
I got to do and say a lot of things that media,
fans and friends and family don't hear
that I know the players appreciate"


"Jalen was a pro,” Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said.
“In my year and a half, Jalen was great to me.
It was great working with him. . . .
New York is getting a good guy, a guy who can score.
We’re going to miss his scoring. But that’s life in the NBA"

2/03/2006 05:21:00 PM | |

Thursday, February 02, 2006 

Hornets replace Andersen with Hunter and Williams

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets have found a replacement to the suspended Chris Andersen by acquiring first, Aaron Williams from the Toronto Raptors, and secondly Steven Hunter from the Philadelphia 76ers.

Andersen who was suspended by the league for violating terms of the anti-drug campaign agreed to by the league and player's association cannot apply for reinstatement for at least two years.

Coach of the Hornets, Byron Scott, had this to say about Williams who they got in exchange for two 2nd round picks (2006 & 2009) going to Toronto for the little used PF/C:

Steven Hunter, who they acquired the next day from Philadelphia for two 2nd round draft picks (2006 & 2007), is described by Hornet's GM Jeff Bower as:

2/02/2006 09:37:00 PM | |

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