Even if you’re one of those who believes Allen Iverson is washed up at 34 years old and has nothing left, you have to admit the Grizzlies made a smart move by bringing him in for a one-year rental. The weeks of rumors finally became (almost) official yesterday, as both Iverson and Memphis management confirmed an agreement had been reached, with a contract signing and press conference soon to follow. And really, what’s the worst that can happen here? Memphis was headed for the Lottery anyway in a tough Southwest Division (Spurs, Mavs, Hornets, Rockets), and it’s not like O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay need somebody to show them how to be ball-hogs. Read More »
Between Stephen Jackson’s trade request, Anthony Randolph’s summer league breakout, and C.J. Watson’s incredibly over-covered free agent situation (all this for a guy who’s like two steps above the minimum salary?), we’ve been talking about the Warriors a lot this offseason. Things have been such a mess in the Bay lately that it’s been assumed Golden State will stink again, but in reality, they could be better than you think. Monta Ellis will be healthy from Day One, everyone in the organization is convinced Randolph is about to blow up, Andris Biedrins will get his nightly double-double, and Kelenna Azubuike is one of the better sneaky-good players in the NBA. Read More »
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the incredible hype surrounding C.J. Watson, and appears that the young man is still caught up in it. Despite being offered a three-year, $5.4 million contract to stay with the Warriors (up from their $4.5 million offer a few weeks ago), word out of The Bay is that Watson is re-upping for a one-year qualifying offer of just more than $1 million. Read More »
Around the Dime office, I’m known as the guy who always gives players the benefit of the doubt (see: Gerald Green). While I would beg to differ, there is one guy right now that I think is out of his mind, and that player is C.J. Watson. Read More »
Thank Oscar that the program directors at NBA TV decided to start showing some of the best games from the ‘08-09 season in neat little one-hour increments this week, otherwise the general inactivity these days would draw a basketball fan stir crazy … The NBA free agent landscape is like combing through the used CD rack at a store that’s already been raided by the broke college students: There’s still some interesting, slightly attractive product, but nothing too great. Case in point: The most intense “bidding war” lately has been over C.J. Watson — a second or third-string PG on most teams — and that just ended since the Magic pulled out of negotiations and it’s looking like C.J. is headed back to the Warriors … Meanwhile, David Lee is the biggest name left on the board that anybody seems to want (sorry, A.I.). Read More »
While I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, I have to say that today could be the slowest day of the basketball year. Summer League is over, as is the USA Basketball mini-camp, so what is everybody doing? I have NBA TV on in the office right now, and they literally have nothing to talk about. Read More »
Three things happened with Chicago’s win over the Bobcats last night: Derrick Rose locked up Rookie of the Year (QB’ing his team to a .500 record and a playoff berth as an everyday starter is good enough for us; it’s also why Mario Chalmers deserves more credit than he’s getting); Ben Gordon ensured himself a hefty pay raise this summer (and made the Luol Deng contract look even worse); and the Bulls kept themselves in position to go as high as the 5th seed in the East … Read More »
How ironic and ultimately frustrating was it that, on the same weekend when the Iverson-to-Detroit project officially failed, Will Bynum gave the Pistons exactly what A.I. could have given them all along?
After Rip Hamilton got ejected in the third quarter of yesterday’s game against the Bobcats, the Pistons offense was set to tank before Bynum stepped in. Read More »
