NBA Offseason News and Moves

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Darko is going to replace Okur.

 

Really, Okur isn't anything special. I think the Pistons enjoy having their speedy, somewhat under-sized line-up than just some tall and girthy proto-typical Center.

[alfdogg 0]

According to NJ.com, The Nets are likely to match any offer sheet for K-Mart. NJ and Denver were said to be far apart on a sign-and-trade, as The Nuggets are unwilling to include Nene as part of a deal.

[Steviekick 0]

Darko is going to replace Okur.

 

Really, Okur isn't anything special. I think the Pistons enjoy having their speedy, somewhat under-sized line-up than just some tall and girthy proto-typical Center.

Okur isn't really anything special, but he'll fit in very well with the Jazz this season. With him, Boozer, and AK47, they will have the most underrated front court in the league.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

If Dice can stay healthy and it's official that Sheed signs, its going to be fun to watch the Pistons next season. Ben, Sheed, Dice and Tay.

Now they just need Darko to step it up to relive Ben when he takes a rest.

If not, back to old man Elden...or a newly signed center.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Breaking news!

 

The Denver Nuggets have cut Master P from their summer league.

 

Discuss how the Denver Nuggets can hope to compete this year without him.

[Human Fly 0]

Darko is not going to do anything next year but sit on the bench. I know he is raw and all, but he has shown nothing at all.

 

He runs like his shoes are filled with cement, he is 7'4 but still could not get a 6 foot jumper over the front of the rim in the finals, he shoots free throws worse than Shaq ever did, he broke his hand in the 5 minutes of PT he had in the finals and will not be able to play in the summer leagues.

 

Even with summer league play he still would not have a hope of being ready next year. Anything above minimal improvement will be shocking to me.

[razazteca 0]

Karl Malone says he is "serious" about playing for the Spurs.

[Guest Vitamin X]

And I seriously hope he does. The worst thing rather than the best thing that probably happened to the Lakers last season was having those grumpy old men sign and not even compete for the starting spot. With Rudy T, half the Miami Heat, and possibly Kobe re-signing, all they need is good defense and the Lakers just might be back. Payton wants to leave too? Fine. Fuck him. Fisher is three times the PG he is, though it's questionable whether that was a product of the triangle offense that GP was so bad or Fish was so much better. Interesting thing is now though, that the once-huge Lakers are now becoming one of the smaller, more athletic teams in the West. Guess they might have learned their lesson the hard way from the Finals.

 

Oh, and Fuck Karl Malone.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Malone needs to face facts and hang 'em up.

[Steviekick 0]

Karl Malone says he is "serious" about playing for the Spurs.

If Karl winds up joining the Spurs, I guess that means I'll have to take back every nasty thing I've said or thought about Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.

[razazteca 0]

I don't think I want to see Karl Malone play for the Spurs unless he is 100% healthy. Now if he signs for the league minium again then it's a risk worth taking but anything more than that is crazy. Especially for a player who lost the finals for the team by not playing at all.

[Steviekick 0]

The last I heard is that Karl could have a 100% recovery by the end of August/September. He'd work best in their system if they were able to sign another healthy, semi-talented PF.

 

I'm sure he'd be willing to take the miniumum. Hell he wants a ring so bad he'd propably play for $5k.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I wish Tim Duncan would go to the Bulls.

[The Czech Republic 0]

All...................right.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Oops. Wrong thread. That was directed towards Scooter.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Czech... I wish the same thing!

 

And about Karl: RETIRE ALREADY FUCK!

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

and..its after midnight..

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Damn, any shot of Kobe going to the Clippers has hit a snag.

 

The salary cap only went up 30,000. Meaning the Clips cannot offer Kobe a max deal unless they trade one or two players. They only have $11.65 million in cap space while a max offer to Kobe would be about $14.175 million(105% of Kobe's salary from last year).

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Isiah Thomas is on some kind of drugs. Evidently he wants to play musical players as he's trying to get Vince Carter, Antwoin Walker, and Jamal Crawford and one of the players he's going to use is Tim Thomas.

 

If he ends up with Marbury, Walker, Carter, Crawford, and Allen Houston then they're going to need to play with about 3 balls per game for each ball hog to get his shots.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Update on Clippers chase of Kobe. A Trade has been set up to free up money if Kobe agrees to sign.

 

"the Charlotte Observer reported for Wednesday's editions that the Clippers would trade forward Melvin Ely and guard Eddie House to the expansion Bobcats for future second-round draft picks.

 

The end of the moratorium came just two hours after the league released the new salary cap of $43.87 million for the 2004-05 season — an increase of just $30,000 from last season's figure.

 

Bryant is eligible to receive a starting salary equal to 105 percent of his 2003-04 salary of $13.5 million, but the Clippers have only $11.65 million of cap room — unless they indeed trade Ely ($1.7 million) and House ($825,000) to the Bobcats.

 

Clippers vice president Joe Safety said he had "no comment at this time" on the reported deal with Charlotte."

[Dangerous A 0]

With Rudy T, half the Miami Heat, and possibly Kobe re-signing, all they need is good defense and the Lakers just might be back. Payton wants to leave too? Fine. Fuck him. Fisher is three times the PG he is, though it's questionable whether that was a product of the triangle offense that GP was so bad or Fish was so much better. Interesting thing is now though, that the once-huge Lakers are now becoming one of the smaller, more athletic teams in the West. Guess they might have learned their lesson the hard way from the Finals.

Back to what exactly?

 

The playoffs? Sure. Any team with Kobe and some help around him will do that. If you think that the Lakers, minus Shaq, and with what they have now will win a championship, you are surely mistaken. They will be athletic. They will be fun to watch. They will NOT be an elite West squad anymore. Even though the trade brought them 3 decent guys from Miami, those guys have ZERO All Star appearances between them. Butler is a fine player, but also injury prone. Grant has 2 bad knees and hasn't been effective in years and Odom is one bong hit away from being banned from the league permanently. That trade was not fair for either team, but LA got the shorter end of the deal. What else does LA have? Devean George? Waste of a huge contract from 2 years ago and a player who reaped the benefits of the triangle i.e. he got open shots when Shaq got doubled. Fox is going to either retire or have his contract bought out and rightly so. Walton should turn out OK, but isn't a guy I see being Scottie Pippen to Kobe's Jordan.

 

About Fisher. They SHOULD let him go. The guy is a glorified spot up shooter. He will hit some tough shots when he's wide open, but the man cannot create off the dribble and has very, very suspect ball handling skills. As much as Payton got burned in the Finals by Billups, Fish was looking just as lead footed. Fisher would be best suited to head to Houston so he can spot up for T-Mac and Yao because if he's asked to do things on his own in LA, his overrated game will be exposed.

[MrRant 0]

Isiah Thomas is on some kind of drugs. Evidently he wants to play musical players as he's trying to get Vince Carter, Antwoin Walker, and Jamal Crawford and one of the players he's going to use is Tim Thomas.

 

If he ends up with Marbury, Walker, Carter, Crawford, and Allen Houston then they're going to need to play with about 3 balls per game for each ball hog to get his shots.

Either that or they won't work the clock and will just through up a shot 4 seconds after crossing mid court.

[MrRant 0]

Kurt Thomas returned to New York late Sunday to have the cast removed from his surgically repaired right hand. He's now wondering if his visit to the doctor's office will represent his last official act as a member of the Knicks.

 

The trade rumors that have shadowed Thomas throughout his six seasons with the Knicks are hotter than ever. One scenario would have Thomas heading to Cleveland for center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

 

A more complicated deal would have Thomas as part of a four-team trade that would center around Vince Carter moving from Toronto to Dallas.

 

The Knicks' side of the deal would include multiple players, with Thomas ending up in Dallas or Golden State and Shandon Anderson going to Toronto. The Knicks would be getting Antoine Walker from Dallas and Erick Dampier from Golden State.

 

"You hear a lot of rumors so maybe something is going to happen," Thomas said yesterday. "I have no idea if I'm going to be here. I just know that when training camp starts, wherever I am, I'm going to be in great shape."

 

Knicks president Isiah Thomas is working on several deals, all of which seem to include trading away veteran players who either did not like working for Thomas or playing with Stephon Marbury or both. Those players include Kurt Thomas, Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo and Othella Harrington.

 

Toronto and Dallas are recruiting several teams in an effort to deal Carter to the Mavs. The Knicks can only get involved if the trade for Chicago's Jamal Crawford falls through, which is entirely possible.

 

The Knicks are offering a package of Anderson, Harrington, Frank Williams, Cezary Trybanski and Moochie Norris for Crawford, Eddie Robinson and Jerome Williams.

 

Chicago is insisting on Dikembe Mutombo instead of Norris and the stalemate is threatening to kill the deal. The Knicks may attempt to sign Crawford to an offer sheet but there are several factors working against them. Crawford is a restricted free agent and the Bulls have the right to match any offer.

 

The Knicks are over the salary cap, so the maximum they can offer Crawford is $40 million over six years. In the proposed sign-and-trade deal involving the Knicks and Bulls, Crawford would receive $60 million over six years. In other words, Crawford essentially would be agreeing to a $20 million pay cut.

 

Isiah Thomas, though, is committed to adding more scorers to his roster, as evidenced by his interest in Crawford and Walker. Kurt Thomas, who had surgery on his right pinkie last month, is obvious trade bait because he has a reasonable contract and has been a consistent performer the last three years.

 

"My finger feels great," he said. "I've never been better."

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

More Shaq and Kobe news

 

By Chad Ford

ESPN Insider

 

Kobe a Clipper?

 

Neither the Lakers or the Clippers announced the signing of Kobe Bryant. However a small, seemingly meaningless trade raised more than a few eyebrows among folks searching for signs of which way Kobe might be leaning.

 

The Clippers quietly agreed to trade forward Melvin Ely and guard Eddie House to the Bobcats for future second-round draft picks.

 

Insider reported earlier Tuesday that, given the lower than expected salary cap, the Clippers would have to move Ely and House's salaries to get far enough under the cap to offer Bryant a six-year, $106.3 million deal -- the most any team (other than the Lakers) can offer.

 

The fact they did it so quickly has to make you wonder -- do they know something? Neither Ely or House were essential players for the Clippers, meaning the team could be moving them just as a precaution. What's the real loss? But look at it this way: Ely is a former lottery pick who stands 6-foot-11 and can play center; you have to believe he could bring a lot more on the open market than a second-round pick.

 

Did the Clippers need to unload Ely and House in a hurry? There is only one free agent who could command more than the $11.6 million in cap room the team already had.

 

There were other signs early Wednesday that the Clippers could be closer to landing Kobe. Two league sources, one affiliated with the Clips, claimed to be confident, after Monday night's meeting with Kobe, that the team was the favorite to land him.

 

Meanwhile, another league source was confident the Clippers weren't going to match the Suns' offer sheet to Quentin Richardson. Given the smaller-than-expected salary cap, the Suns aren't going to be able to offer much more than the mid-level to Richardson. Why wouldn't the Clippers match? Perhaps, Kobe would be taking up L.A.'s cap room?

 

Unfortunately, all we have now are signs and speculation. Kobe is not talking, and his agent declined comment Tuesday night. The Clippers aren't talking, nor are the Lakers, who also are privately confident Kobe will pick them.

 

And despite all those signs, you've got to believe that all the Lakers' maneuverings and contortions to keep Kobe have them in the lead. There's also the little issue of money -- the Lakers can offer an additional year and $30 million more in guaranteed money than can their Staples Center rival.

 

What happened to the Shaq trade

 

Did the Shaquille O'Neal-to-Miami deal really hit a snag?

 

According to sources, concerns about Lamar Odom's trade kicker are trivial. He's due $7.5 million in a lump sum once he's traded. Every NBA team has access to every NBA player's contract details, and given how common trade kickers are these days, it's just not a show-stopper. The Heat can kick in $3 million to cover some of the cost. They'll sell that in season tickets in the first five minutes the minute Shaq comes aboard, if they haven't already.

 

Both teams were progressing toward making an announcement on the trade as early as today. However, there is an interesting conspiracy theory floating around the league.

Did the Lakers leak information about the Odom trade kicker in an effort to stall the deal long enough to see what Bryant plans to do? Obviously the O'Neal trade makes much less sense if Bryant leaves the Lakers.

 

It's been speculated that it was Bryant, wearing his GM hat, who lobbied for, and approved, the O'Neal trade to Miami. But with owner Jerry Buss claiming he didn't consult Bryant on the trade, was the speculation off target? Buss would have to be crazy not to talk to Bryant first.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

Shaq on Lakers, Kobe on Clippers. That would be the greatest fued ever.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Well, it's official... Shaq's in Miami, Odom, Grant and Butler are in Miami:

 

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/odom_shaq_trade_040714.html

 

Lakers Acquire Odom, Butler, Grants and Future First Rounders for Shaq

 

 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif, July 14 -- The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired forward Lamar Odom, forward Caron Butler, forward Brian Grant and a future first round draft pick from the Miami Heat in exchange for center Shaquille O’Neal, it was announced today.

Odom, the fourth overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, averaged 17.1 points, a career-high 9.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 80 games for the Heat last season. A member of the 2004 US Men’s Olympic Team that will be competing in Athens later this summer, the 6’10” Odom left the University of Rhode Island after a sophomore season in which he was named AP Honorable Mention All-America and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. After tallying 30 points and 12 rebounds in his NBA debut, Odom went on to be selected to the 1999-2000 NBA All-Rookie First team and in five NBA seasons, has career averages of 16.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 310 games.

 

Butler, the 10th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, averaged 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds this year. In the 2004 Playoffs, Butler averaged 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.15 steals and 39.3 minutes in 13 games. As a rookie, Butler led all first year players in scoring, steals and minutes, earning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors on four occasions while being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Butler played two seasons at the University of Connecticut where he earned AP Honorable Mention All-America honors after his sophomore season in addition to being named a John Wooden All-American. The 6’7” Wisconsin native has posted career averages of 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.45 steals in 146 games.

 

Grant, the eighth overall selection in the 1994 NBA Draft, averaged 8.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 30.3 minutes in 76 games last season with Miami. Joining Odom and Butler as a fellow NBA All-Rookie First Team member, Grant boasts a .491 career field goal percentage along with career averages of 11.4 points and 8.0 rebounds. In addition, the 6’9” Grant was named the winner of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for the 1998-99 season in recognition of his outstanding community service and charitable work.

 

O’Neal leaves the Lakers after eight seasons as the franchise’s sixth leading scorer (13,895), third best from the field (.575), fifth leading rebounder (6,090) and second leading shot blocker (1,278). During his career in Los Angeles, O’Neal was named NBA Most Valuable Player once (2000), Finals Most Valuable Player three times (2000, 2001, 2002) and All-NBA First Team on six occasions (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004). A 14-time Player of the Week, 8-time Player of the Month and 7-time All-Star as a Laker, O’Neal posted averages of 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.49 blocked shots while winning three NBA Championships (2000, 2001, 2002) in Los Angeles.

[nogoodnick 0]

I think Malone should try to sign with the heat. Hes friends with Shaq, and they need a power forward bad.

[Guest Vitamin X]

With Rudy T, half the Miami Heat, and possibly Kobe re-signing, all they need is good defense and the Lakers just might be back. Payton wants to leave too? Fine. Fuck him. Fisher is three times the PG he is, though it's questionable whether that was a product of the triangle offense that GP was so bad or Fish was so much better. Interesting thing is now though, that the once-huge Lakers are now becoming one of the smaller, more athletic teams in the West. Guess they might have learned their lesson the hard way from the Finals.

Back to what exactly?

 

The playoffs? Sure. Any team with Kobe and some help around him will do that. If you think that the Lakers, minus Shaq, and with what they have now will win a championship, you are surely mistaken. They will be athletic. They will be fun to watch. They will NOT be an elite West squad anymore. Even though the trade brought them 3 decent guys from Miami, those guys have ZERO All Star appearances between them. Butler is a fine player, but also injury prone. Grant has 2 bad knees and hasn't been effective in years and Odom is one bong hit away from being banned from the league permanently. That trade was not fair for either team, but LA got the shorter end of the deal. What else does LA have? Devean George? Waste of a huge contract from 2 years ago and a player who reaped the benefits of the triangle i.e. he got open shots when Shaq got doubled. Fox is going to either retire or have his contract bought out and rightly so.

Sorry for not being more clear. I meant they'd be back to contention. I mean, the West is tough with T-Mac in Houston, a possibly underrated Jazz squad, and a possible healthy Timberwolves coming back. Not to mention of course the ever-present threat of the Spurs and even a sleeper in the Suns. BUT- Many people thought that this past Finals would be signaling the end of the dynasty regardless of who won, and in many ways it was. Jackson's gone, and now Shaq is gone (in the same year I leave LA for Miami too), and Malone and Payton and possibly Kobe could be gone. That's pretty much all their starters, everyone who helped get them there. I know Odom, Butler, and Grant may have zero all-star appearances between them, but that doesn't negate their POTENTIAL. What's important in building a franchise, and this applies in just about any sport, is to go off of what a player is capable of doing instead of what they've achieved. Potential > credentials.

 

About Fisher. They SHOULD let him go. The guy is a glorified spot up shooter. He will hit some tough shots when he's wide open, but the man cannot create off the dribble and has very, very suspect ball handling skills. As much as Payton got burned in the Finals by Billups, Fish was looking just as lead footed. Fisher would be best suited to head to Houston so he can spot up for T-Mac and Yao because if he's asked to do things on his own in LA, his overrated game will be exposed.

What LA's got right now, especially counting if Bryant re-signs, is an overage of forwards and not even centers or guards. This is why resigning Fisher is important. Anytime he came off the bench for Payton last year, he gave the backcourt a nice boost, and it's clear he was the better player especially as the season wore on. Again, that might all be a product of the coaching system in which Fisher has three rings under and Payton was lost in. And actually, it wasn't really just Payton or Fisher that Billups was burning, it was EVERYBODY, and he especially excelled in taking outside shots or driving into traffic and drawing fouls, which is where a good chunk of his points came from. Hell that's where most of Detroit's points came from in the Finals if you take out Games 3 and 5.

 

Who else can LA obtain at guard or center that would make a good replacement?

Walton should turn out OK, but isn't a guy I see being Scottie Pippen to Kobe's Jordan.

Walton plays forward, Pippen plays center and they're two very different types of players so it's definitely not much of a comparison. I think Shaq was as close one could say was to Pippen to Kobe's Jordan, except that Shaq hit his prime while Kobe still hasn't hit his yet. Oh, and the fact that Pippen and Jordan actually got along.

 

 

I'm going to laugh so hard if Kobe ends up resigning with the Lakers after all the Clippers have done to try to get to land him.

[Dangerous A 0]

Well Odom and Butler have potential. Grant is too old and banged up to be anything potentially good.

 

I think you'll find out that Fisher was more a product of the triangle than an excellent player deserving of a big contract. Before Phil, Fisher wasn't anything special at all and he was a rookie when Kobe was.

 

About Pippen. Pippen was a small forward, same as Walton. Pippen was never a center. The Lakers would sometimes try to steal minutes with Walton playing PF, but he is a small forward. My issue was I don't see anyone on the Lakers that can be serious optional threat after Kobe. Butler can't shoot and is more of a slasher and finisher on the break and Odom needs the ball to be effective. Something he'll have to learn to adapt to since it will be the Kobe show. (provided he re-signs with the Lakers)

 

And yes, it would be very typical of the Clippers to jump through hoops to try to get Kobe, only to fall short. Actually, if we were to be going by Clipper Karma, the Clippers would sign Kobe, then he would turn around and get convicted in September.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I think it's fair to say the Lakers are the one's jumping through hoops. Unless you think the Clips will be crippled by the loss of first ballot Hall of Famer Melvin Ely.