This whole “Win a championship before LeBron” thing isn’t going so well for the Cavs. Even when Cleveland has guys that want to sign, they’re losing them. Yesterday restricted free agent Kyle Lowry inked a four-year, $24 million offer sheet with the Cavs, but before the day was out, Houston matched it. That was right after Cleveland fell out of the running for Al Jefferson and missed out on free agent Josh Childress. From last year’s 61-win squad they’ve already lost LeBron and Big Z, Shaq isn’t coming back, and Delonte West might be wearing all-orange and cheap flip-flops before he’ll wear a Cavs jersey again … So how good can Cleveland be next season? Read More »
The Commish has spoken, and the Cavs felt it in their pockets. While the NBA’s owners met in Las Vegas yesterday — with one reported topic being the accusations of collusion among LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat — Stern was interviewed about the LeBron decision and fallout. Though he defended LeBron’s right to pick whichever team he wanted, “ill-conceived” was Stern’s word for LeBron’s big TV announcement. Stern also fined Dan Gilbert and the Cavs $100,000 for Gilbert’s attack on LeBron. “He was completely correct in expressing his disappointment,” Stern said, but also called Gilbert’s reaction “a little bit extreme,” “ill-advised” and “imprudent” … Read More »
The Phoenix Suns seem destined to make the desert a family affair. With NBA agent Lon Babby getting some looks as a candidate to be their future GM, the Suns went out and acquired two players that he’s involved with: Hedo Turkoglu (with Babby as his agent) and Josh Childress (whose agent James Tanner comes from the same law firm, Williams & Connolly, that Babby works out of). Oh yeah, and Babby also represents the Suns’ Grant Hill. Read More »
Crazy how perception can change so quickly. Even in the aftermath of LeBron‘s 2010 playoff exit, most people would still have considered him no lower than the 2nd-best basketball player in the world. When we did a “Who’s Better?” comparison between LBJ and D-Wade during the season, the heavy majority swung toward LeBron. But now? After LeBron joined the Miami Heat, our latest DimeMag.com poll asked “Who’s the better player?” — and results showed Wade with a 3-to-2 advantage. Looks like LeBron is gonna have to wait until they actually get on the court to get his crown back … In the meantime, we’re starting to get an idea what the Heat roster may look like: Read More »
Nothing against LeBron and Josh Childress, but the unique selling point of last night’s Cavs/Olympiakos (Greece) game was Shaq vs. “Baby Shaq.” If you don’t remember, Baby Shaq is Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the big (6-9, 300-something) Tractor Traylor-looking dude who once upon a time gave Team USA problems but has since turned into the Blazers-era Shawn Kemp of the Euroleague, as his weight is a constant issue and sometimes gets in the way of his considerable skills … Big Shaq got the best of this one, putting up 12 points and five boards next to Baby Shaq’s four and five. Read More »
The latest rumors out of the Euro-basketball world is that the Greek basketball club Olympiakos is set to offer Allen Iverson a 2-year deal worth an estimated $10 milllion. That deal would be the same proposed offer that Nate Robinson recently turned down and would be about equal to the NBA’s mid-level exception that NBA teams are offering him. Read More »
After testing the free agent waters like a college player trying to assess his draft stock, it appears Josh Childress is happier making euros than dollars. The restricted free agent and former Hawks swingman said this morning he is returning to Olympiakos for the 2009-10 season, not opting out of his contract and trying to return to the NBA. Read More »
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