i cant believe theres a team in OKLAHOMA CITY. how could u seriously relocate a team from seattle to that f'in dust bowl.
Today's Headlines Deng Working On Deal/Rejects Europe As Loul Deng continues to work on a long term deal that would keep him in Chicago, other offers come through. Those others being European clubs. The latest is the Olympiacos. The team is rumored to have been offered 3 years, $20 million to Deng. Deng declined the offer, saying he wants to stay in the NBA. (Link) Bobcats Not Pursuing Trade The Charlotte Bobcats are not pursuing a trade of Emeka Okafor. Okafor has stated that he wants to be signed-and-traded. The team are offering close to ten million a year opposed to Okafor's wish of $12 million. (Link)
Smart man. He can get a lot more in the NBA with his potential. If that's what they're offering, I'd have told them to f off.
Speaking of Bulls, just heard on AM570 here, Joe McDonnell is reporting that Mitch Kupchak is in negotiations with John Paxson possibly to acquire Kirk Hinrich and possibly including Tyrus Thomas or Cedric Simmons. McDonnell also said Thomas had been sitting out summer leagues and was mentioned in possible trades with other teams. Bulls are also sending feelers for Drew Gooden's expiring contract.
Good catch, thanks. Hinrich's name has been thrown around this off-season a lot. The Warriors are out of his running now. I wonder what LA sends back to Chicago.
Expiring contracts is what I've heard. Something that'll let the Bulls be a player in next year's FA.
Mihm was expected to fill the departure of Turiaf but Tyrus Thomas can do that now, assuming the trade was to go down. Vlad is ehhh. I am not a fan of him. Looks like someone from outer space.
Tyrus is a better replacement for Turiaf than Mihm. He's more energetic and like-wise a solid shotblocker and rebounder. He may trail a bit offensively and in strength though. Right now it's still a rumor and still being negotiated, no official word other than a source the announcer gave as the same one who announced the Gasol trade. Yea, there's a reason Vlad got the name Space Cadet.
If the Bulls are looking to dump Hinrich for cap room, I'm not sure the Lakers make sense. The only way the Lakers have enough expiring contracts to trade for Hinrich and Thomas is to give up Lamar Odom. Radmanovic is signed for two more years plus a player option, so that's no good. Capwise, Radmanovic, Mihm and Ariza would (I think) get it done, but that doesn't help a huge amount. Certainly not enough for giving up the talent the Bulls would be giving up. For the Lakers, I don't think they'd part with Odom for that package unless they really think Hinrich is going to turn it around from last year. Though to be fair, his numbers were skewed downward by a TERRIBLE start. If they're getting the 2006-7 Hinrich, it's a fair deal. Otherwise, I think they're getting shorted. Anyway, if Hinrich and Thomas are headed to LA, it's almost certainly for Odom, unless John Paxson is even dumber than anyone's suspected.
NBA Tidbits Timberwolves News The Timberwolves have reached an official agreement to keep restricted free agents Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes and Craig Smith. Telfair was signed to a 3 year deal worth $7.5 million and Craig Smith signed a two year deal worth $4.8 million. The terms of Ryan Gomes deal are not known. T-wolves GM Kevin McHale says he is expecting Chris Richard to return as well. (Link) Mavs Unlikely To Re-Sign George The Mavericks are unlikely to re-sign Devean George because of the talks being far apart. George has received interest from numerous teams including Suns, Spurs, Timberwolves, Pistons, Cavs and Hornets. (Link) Heat Re-Sign Anthony The Miami Heat have re-signed Center Joel Anthony. Anthony will make $711,517 for the upcoming season. (link) Hawks Weighing Two Sign-and-Trade Offers for Smith Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that there are two sign and trade offers from unknown teams for restricted FA Josh Smith. One is in the Eastern Conference and one is in the Western Conference, both are contenders. (Link) Finley Pondering Offers Michael Finley is considering re-signing with the Spurs but is considering offers from the Lakers, Celtics and Mavericks. (Link) Jazz Match Miles Offer Sheet Earlier this month, the OKC Thunder made an offer sheet of 4 years, $15.8 million to Jazz guard C.J. Miles. Today, the Utah Jazz matched OKC's offer sheet, keeping Miles in Utah. It comes as a surprise since Miles is on Sloan's bad side. Miles decided to skip Summer League play. (Link) Hawks Sign Randolph Morris and Mo Evans The Hawks have signed former Knick Randolph Morris and Maurice Evans. Evans is expected to fill the void left by Josh Childress. Childress left the team for overseas, signing a deal with the Olympiacos. (Link) I want to add to the Josh Smith/Sign&Trade offer that the Pistons were often rumored this off-season to be after Smith. They could be that East team. Also, the Hawks have now ten players total under contract so I would expect a three for one deal in the Josh Smith trade (if it was to go down).
That may be true. And Paxson's a real fan of P-Jax too. Honestly, I don't expect much out of this rumor. I'm not that sold on Hinrich and certainly not for Odom. If we were to replace Odom, I would require a 3 who can shoot the 3 and defend the 3.
I'd consider looking at Finley though we have a glut of SG/SF's right now. But he does bring 3 point marksmanship and decent D so he'd be an improvement over Vlad.
NBA News: Bobcats Not Entertaining Deals For Star Player According to the associated press, the Bobcats remain confident that they will keep starter Emeka Okafor. GM Rod Higgins squashed the speculation that they were looking at offers for their star player. (Link) Finley Turned Down Europe Offer According to his agent, Michael Finley turned down an offer from an unknown European club. Finley told them that he was not interested in going overseas, especially at this point in his career. (Link) Cavs West Going To Russia? Cavaliers PG Delonte West is discussing a deal with Russian powerhouse Dynamo Moscow. The deal is believed to be worth ten million over two years. (Link) Greek's Olympiacos Targeted Azubuike Two weeks ago, the Olympiacos had their sights set on Warriors Kelenna Azubuike. They offered him a deal worth $15 million over 3 years. Azubuike declined the offer and signed with the Warriors for 3 years and $9 million. (Link)
Where is all this Euro league stuff coming from. I like Delonte West I dont want him to go away. Actully I could buy his jeresy whenhe is on the Ero team. But if he wants to go back to the Celtics that would be great too. Always great infomation Alen thanks
I'm surprised Delonte West can tie his shoes. He sounds like he has never had an English class in his whole life.
It's coming from two prime factors: 1. the ever-increasing globalization of the NBA. 2. the Euro's huge value vis-a-vis the dollar right now. Throw in the general rule that European teams pay the taxes and cost-of-living issues for most players, and a 3 year, $24M contract over there is cheap for the club to offer, and a better deal for American players since they can keep every penny. Many of the players they are targeting are good fits for the Euro game. You won't see these clubs throwing big money at someone like Emeka Okafor. Josh Childress, for example, should be an excellent Euro player, with his balanced game and strong fundamentals. Throw in the fact that he's a bright guy, and the cultural transition should be fairly easy for him. Delonte West is another who I think would be a good Euro player.
NBA News: Celtics Remain Interested In Miles Sources from the NBA say that the Boston Celtics are still interested in former Blazer Darius Miles. Miles is coming off a two year absence in which he suffered a career injury that was labeled 'career ending'. (Link) The Heat To Keep Marion Because of Beasley? According to an NBA scout, the Heat are likely to keep Shawn Marion because of Michael Beasley. Beasley has had trouble defensively in the Summer League and would have trouble guarding the 3 spot. Beasley is expected to play the 4 this season. Marion will play the 3 spot for now. The team is still listening to trade offers. (Link)
The only reason to sign Darius Miles is if you have a free agent next year and are terrified that the Blazers will poach him. The idea of the Heat keeping Marion to cover Beasley's defensive deficiencies is a pretty sound one, actually, and one I hadn't considered.
Headlines Boozer Comments On Heat Rumors Utah's Carlos Boozer has been linked to the Miami Heat for some time now. Today, he responded to the speculation. Boozer stated that the rumors are flying around because he lives in Miami and that the Heat have a "huge hole at Power Forward". He said he doesn't "concern himself with rumors". (Link) Melo Doesn't Understand Camby Trade Nuggets Forward Carmelo Anthony kept receiving phone calls from numerous team members and friends. Anthony, whose name has been mentioned in trade talks, thought he was going to be moved and didn't want to answer the phone. Eventually, he answered a phone call, only to find out that his teammate was traded and not him. Carmelo says he doesn't understand the move because they moved their "defensive player of the year for nothing". (Link) Nuggets Sign Former Memphis Guard The Nuggets have signed guard Dahntay Jones. The deal is worth $1 million over one year.(Link) Six Teams Interested In Devin Brown Cavaliers Guard Devin Brown has drawn interest from a reported six teams this off-season. Those teams are believed to be Dallas, Hornets, Hawks, Heat, Wizards and Nuggets. Brown averaged 7.5 points per game for the Cavs in 78 total games and 20 starts. (Link) Warriors, Biedrins Agree To Deal The GS Warriors have re-signed Center Andis Biedrins to a six year deal worth $63 million. The deal includes a player option in 2013. Many teams from Europe showed interest. (Link)
As per Newsday, the knicks and nuggets are discussing a deal that would send Renaldo balkman to Denver for Taureen Green and Bobby Jones. Green would compete for a roster spot at PG but would trim the knicks down to 15 guaranteed contracts though they would have 17 players on the roster. http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-spknix285780524jul28,0,7410321.story
Value wise it sucks. A lot of people, myself included love Balkmans hustle. Problem is he has zero offense except as a finisher. The other reason for it is the knicks have 16 guaranteed contracts on their roster and this would bring it down to 15. Ill tell you what else it does though: Makes Isiah look like an even bigger idiot, previously thought to be impossible. He claimed his reason for selecting Balkman in round 1 in the 2006 draft was that Phoenix was going to take him a pick later. Well here is Mike D'Antoni as NYK head coach, not preventing the trading of Balkman.
Yeah, I know about the contracts but Balkman is a nice bench guy. Couldn't they have gotten something better? It didn't have to be a guaranteed contract lol. For God's sake, they could have taken Chucky Atkins off of Denver. You guys already have two young PG's in Robinson and newly acquired Roberson. I didn't know that was his reasoning for taking it. I thought the pick was very dumb at the time and still do but that's a terrible reason like Cameron's for taking Ginn. "Its his family" or whatever lol.
eh, Nate is definitely NOT a PG. Hes a poor version of allen iverson. Hes a scorer first. People think of him as a PG because of his size but hes an explosive little bugger with the ability to make the difficult things look easy and the ability to make the easy look difficult. Nate Robinson is an ideal 6th man off the bench. The problem is you have to pair him with a tall guard who can defend because Robinson can defend the perimeter but too small in the post. As far as Roberson, you really dont know what you have there but it would be interesting to see 2 gators fight it out with him and Green.
NBA Headlines: Bobcats Still Not Offering What Okafor Wants The Charlotte Bobcats and center Emeka Okafor are still at an impasse in negotiations. The team continues to offer their star center $10 million a year opposed to the $12 million they offered last off-season. (Link) Smith's Price Too High For Detroit Sources say the Pistons approached the Atlanta Hawks a few weeks ago about a sign and trade deal involving Hawks forward Josh Smith. The Pistons said that the Hawks are asking for too much and the teams haven't spoke in weeks. It was reported late last week that the Hawks were talking to two teams about a sign and trade deal and one of the teams being an unspecified Eastern powerhouse. Could that powerhouse be Detroit? (Link)
Pistons signed Kwame Brown for 2 years at $4M per. I fail to see the logic to this move, unless the Pistons are prepping to trade one of their bigs and need depth.
NBA Headlines Knicks-Nuggets Deal Complete The New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets have agreed on a deal that sends Renaldo Balkman and cash considerations in exchange for a 2010 second rounder, guard Taurean Green and G/F Bobby Jones. (Link) Clippers Sign Heat's Davis The Clippers have signed Heat forward Ricky Davis. The terms of the deal have not be revealed but it is believed to be a multi-year conract. Davis averaged 14 points in 82 games for the Heat last season. (Link) Knicks To Make More Moves Newsday is reporting that Knicks Donnie Walsh is working on several additions to the roster. (Link) Kwame Goes To The Motor City ESPN is reporting that the Pistons have signed Kwame Brown to a two year deal worth $8 million. A player option is included in the contract. (Link) OKC Interested In Nuggets Smith Newly moved Oklahoma City Thunder are showing interest in acquiring Nuggets J.R. Smith. The team has shown interest also in Celtics Tony Allen but Allen resigned with the Celtics. The Nuggets have stated they will match offers made to Smith. They offered a 3 year deal worth $10 million to Smith but he declined it. (Link)
