They say it’s not really free agent season until somebody gets at least $50 million richer — meaning we’re officially underway now that Ben Gordon cashed in with the Pistons for 50 mil over five years. Detroit also reached an agreement with Charlie Villanueva for $35M over five years, giving the team almost an entirely different core from the one that played in the conference finals just 13 months ago. This isn’t going to be the defense-first, everybody-gets-equal-shots squad we’ve gotten used to … Two questions that popped up as soon as the Gordon news broke: Read More »
What started out as a rumor Monday morning was confirmed by the Rockets’ team doctor by the afternoon, then immediately became the dominant story of the year for Houston: Yao Ming’s broken left foot could not only take him out for all of next season, but also put his career in jeopardy. “At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing the next season and could be career threatening,” physician Tom Clanton told the Houston Chronicle. “One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery.” Read More »
Apologies to Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Corey Brewer and anyone else who planned to get a serving of easy buckets in Minnesota, but with each passing day it’s looking more and more like Ricky Rubiowon’t be suiting up for your squad. (Forgive Jonny Flynn and Sebastian Telfair if they’re not as upset about it.) Rubio skipping the Wolves’ rookie introduction press conference was the first bad omen, and this weekend was flooded with talk of the Knicks putting on the full-court press to get Minnesota to give up Rubio since he’s not exactly eager to play there. And yesterday, more reports surfaced that Rubio is getting offers from other pro teams in Turkey and Spain. Read More »
If you were running the Grizzlies, what would it have taken for you to give up the #2 pick in last Thursday’s draft? In other words, just how valuable is Hasheem Thabeet? According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the team fielded a ton of offers on draft night, some of them involving All-Star and borderline Hall of Fame talent. Phoenix proposed a deal that would have sent Amar’e Stoudemire to Memphis for the #2 pick and Rudy Gay; Read More »
Has anyone bothered to find out what Al Jefferson thinks of all this? Friday’s NBA Draft aftermath still focused primarily on the Timberwolves, specifically on them picking Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn back-to-back. It’s to the point where Minnesota GM David Kahn wrote an open letter to Wolves fans explaining his actions, a classic example of a guy who still feels the need to prove himself. Could you ever see Larry Bird, Michael Jordan or even Rod Thorn doing that? Anytime Bird hears criticism for his player moves, we can imagine him thinking, “Why did I do that? Because I f***in’ felt like it. I’m LARRY BIRD, dammit!” … Read More »
Say this much for new Timberwolves GM David Kahn: He might be the worst comedian in the NBA (his jokes last night bombed like Kramer on “Comicview”), but in the few weeks he’s been on the job, he’s made the Wolves relevant for the first time since they had KG. In almost every media outlet’s recap of last night’s NBA Draft, the Wolves were one of the lead stories, with half the experts thinking they killed it and deserved an A+, and the other half wondering if Kahn is smoking that same stuff Prince had when he made Graffiti Bridge … The Wolves used the 5th pick on Ricky Rubio, then took Jonny Flynn with the 6th pick. Read More »
So much for that leisurely victory lap for the Lakers. While the LAPD was still kicking stragglers out of the Coliseum from the championship parade, two of the biggest threats to a Lakers’ repeat just got a lot more threatening. First the Spurs bought Richard Jefferson from the discount bin on Tuesday, and then last night, the Cavs went and got Shaq … Total money move for the Suns, who got Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic out of the deal. They’re probably gonna buy out Wallace, and Sasha is a practice player for them. But you have to assume now that Amar’e Stoudemire’s place on the team is safe, since they don’t have to unload his salary and he’s the only legit inside threat on the roster … Read More »
Enough of the rumors; Tuesday saw one actual, real-life NBA trade go down (or at least be agreed to in principle) that seriously impacts the 2010 championship race, and another that great impacts the top of tomorrow’s Draft. The Spurs basically stole Richard Jeffferson from the Bucks, sending them Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto. And since Milwaukee will most likely buy out Bowen and he’ll re-sign with San Antonio for the minimum, the Spurs really didn’t lose much here … Jefferson fell off the map playing for the sorry, never-on-TV Bucks last year (19.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg), but he’s still the guy you remember from New Jersey, only a year removed from being heavy in the All-Star discussion. Read More »
The first part of this week is shaping up just like those slow days between the end of the conference finals and the start of the NBA Finals. You’re literally waiting for something to happen before the main event — in this case, the NBA Draft on Thursday — and every media outlet jumps on even the smallest story/rumor just to have something to talk about. But the headline story that broke yesterday was anything but small, and had nothing to do with the soon-to-be draftees … According to the infamous “league sources” and Yahoo! Sports, the Celtics proposed a trade to the Pistons: Read More »
