UPDATE: Chad Ford is reporting that Rodney Stuckey is “balking at the Pistons’ 5-year, $40-$45 million offer.”
As a guard and then a Pistons executive, Joe Dumars is experienced at building Detroit into a winner and what parts such a run require. Not all of those parts are always easy to work with, and Dumars understands that playing with Isiah Thomas. But he’s proven his savvy as a GM in that same regard, turning Chauncey Billups from a journeyman to a building block after his arrival in 2002.
If he wants to turn Detroit, 30-52 during a contentious 2010-11 season, into a contender again for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, he knows a first step would be keeping Rodney Stuckey as his premier guard. But at what cost? Read More »
We aren’t sure how much more we can take of this. Something needs to happen. Something. Perhaps FIBA took the first step in announcing that NBA players will indeed be allowed to play in FIBA-affiliated leagues during the lockout. As Deron Williams may or may not be fist pumping in his home’s office (he may or may not really care depending on who you talk to), the deal comes with a few regulations. The biggest one is that when the lockout ends, an NBA player MUST return to his team. Okay, that’s great news for NBA fans, knowing guys like Williams will be able to play somewhere else, but definitely won’t miss any time here. Read More »
Would you pay to get Kobe to play? It seems like Besiktas is willing to take anything at this point. The club is on the verge of making the biggest international signing ever, but don’t quite have to funds to pull Bryant from the States. Depending on who you talk to, Kobe is interested or had his managers contact the team or is waiting on an offer that might not be worth it unless a sponsorship steps up to front the loot. However, the New York Times is reporting that the Turkish club has indeed made an offer to the Laker and is only waiting on a response from his agent … Read More »
File this under “NO F’ing Way This Will Happen”: According to Draft Express, the Golden State Warriors have reportedly offered a package of Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Andris Biedrins to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard. It is a general rule that unless it’s a total steal, you almost never deal big for small in the NBA. It hardly, if ever, works. We would say that when you’re talking about the best big in the NBA, that rule is extra airtight. Monta Ellis is nice and all, but he’s not one of the A-List NBA guards that would be required to get the Magic to even think twice about a deal for Dwight. On top of that, Read More »
The Blazers organization has been one of the most stable over the last few NBA seasons. They had young building blocks in place (LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy), a great GM (Kevin Pritchard) and stability at the head coaching position (Nate McMillan). But now chaos is starting to reign supreme in Portland.
During the season, the Blazers fired Tom Penn who was Pritchard’s right hand man in the front office, and now word is that Pritchard may also be on his way out of town. In addition to the front office troubles, the Blazers’ coaching staff is also in a bit of turmoil. Monty Williams recently left to take the Hornets head coaching job, rumors are flying that Dean Demopoulos may be on his way out, and according to Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger, Joe Prunty appears on his way to New Jersey to join Avery Johnson. Read More »
While it was obvious that Kiki Vandeweghe wasn’t returning as head coach for the Nets next year, in his opening press conference today Mikhail Prokhorov made it obvious Kiki won’t be the GM either. When asked about Vandeweghe this is what Prokhorov had to say: “With Kiki, he’s a very talented guy, he did his job in a very tough season for the team, and his agreement expires in summer and I wish him well.” Basically Prokhorov is saying, ‘Thanks for holding the fort down last year, but we don’t need you anymore.’ Read More »
This is amazing! When former Nets coachLawrence Frank appeared on ESPN’s First Take yesterday morning, Frank gave his opinion of LeBron‘s Game 2 performance against the Bulls. Only thing was, he didn’t realized that the cameras were rolling as he referred to LeBron as “that f****r” and his former Nets as “shit.”
There’s this clip of an interview from sometime in the ’70s where Howard Cosell goes on a rant about the growing number of ex-pro athletes getting TV broadcasting jobs. Cosell’s big gripe was that kids coming out of college with journalism and broadcasting degrees eventually wouldn’t be able to get jobs because they were being taken by unqualified athletes who got work simply based on their name. Who knew how correct he would be? Read More »
The scene inside NBA locker rooms after games is absolute chaotic. Especially when you are in Madison Square Garden, the media capital of the world. Not even fifteen minutes after the Magic defeated the Knicks 114-102 last night, reporters by the dozens packed inside the Magic’s compact dressing room to fire away questions to a bunch of half-naked players. While Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter attracted the largest crowds, second-year sensation Ryan Anderson somehow escaped the hoopla. Anderson was practically alone, looking relaxed near the back of the locker room with his feet dipped inside a large Gatorade cooler full of ice. Read More »
In the NBA, coaching jobs have the same turnover rate as your local Chili’s. With several franchises off to disappointing starts, it is just a matter of time before the firing coaches talk starts to make headlines. It took just two weeks into the season for the Hornets to hand Byron Scott his walking papers. We listed five underachieving coaches who might join Scott in the unemployment line soon. Read More »
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