NBA Offseason Thread

[alfdogg 0]

What the fuck are you waiting on, Bird and Walsh. A DRAFT PICK. A FUCKING FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICK. THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO GIVE AWAY.

[alfdogg 0]

Chris Wilcox will re-sign with the Sonics for 3 yrs/$24 million.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

In light of what Wilcox and Gooden got, makes that Nene deal look even worse.

[Precious Roy 0]

Knicks star Stephon Marbury is putting his name behind a pair of $15 basketball shoes that he's hoping will give underprivileged kids the chance to wear sneaks fit for the pros.

 

The black high tops drew rave reviews yesterday from the critics who matter most - young hoopsters.

 

"They're comfortable," said Mylique Owens, 13, a seventh-grader from midtown, after he tried on a pair of the sleek kicks at the famed basketball court on W. Fourth St. yesterday.

 

Owens couldn't believe his ears when told the price of the lightweight sneakers.

 

"Fifteen? Not 5-0? 1-5?" he asked, incredulously. "This shoe could easily go for $70 to a $100."

 

The groundbreaking sneaker, the Starbury One, is Marbury's attempt at combating the trend toward astonishingly high-priced basketball shoes.

 

Air Jordans, the sneakers that revolutionized the industry, now go for as much as $180.

 

The Starbury Ones are far less expensive than even the second-tier Jordans.

 

"I paid $130 for these Air Jordans that I bought four months ago," said Lenart Williams, a 20-year-old from Harlem. "To get them for $15 from Marbury, I think these shoes are fly."

 

The sneakers, which will be sold only at Steve & Barry's sports apparel stores, will go on sale tomorrow.

 

Produced in China, the shoes are constructed using the same materials as the other top-end basketball sneakers on the market, said Howard Schacter, chief partnership officer for Steve & Barry's.

 

"[Marbury] had a vision. We had an expertise. And together it became a match made in heaven," Schacter said.

 

Marbury has vowed to wear the shoes he's hoping will enable disadvantaged kids to feel like stars.

 

The mercurial guard's benevolent intentions were not lost on the young players assembled at the W. Fourth St. court yesterday.

 

"I feel him for doing something like this," said Mamadou Harvey, 18, of the lower East Side. "Not everyone can afford $80 or $90 shoes."

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketba...8p-373823c.html

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Nice gesture, but the shoes are ugly. I believe Shaq does the same thing, but doesn't actually wear them in game situations.

[alfdogg 0]

Artest's punishment for the brawl: $250 fine, one year probation, 50 hours community service.

[alfdogg 0]

Chris Webber, still hampered by the aftermath of microfracture knee surgery at 33, is due more than $42 million over the next two seasons -- a perfect fit for the Knicks' seemingly infinite budget.

 

The five-time All-Star could also fit the win-or-else mandate president/coach Isiah Thomas faces this season, but initial discussions haven't produced a fit to send Webber to New York.

 

 

Still, the 76ers have approached the Knicks (and anyone else willing to listen) about Webber, league sources say, but weren't offered enough to make the kind of deal they've sought to shake up things this summer after several Allen Iverson scenarios fell through.

 

The package offered by Thomas, who is on vacation this week and could not be reached Tuesday, starts with Quentin Richardson (with his back issues and $33.8 million over four seasons left on his contract) and Maurice Taylor (whose $9.75 million contract expires after this season).

 

For the necessary salary-cap match, the Knicks would have to send more to Philadelphia to take on the $20 million Webber makes next season. So they'd likely try to include another albatross salary, such as the two years and $13.7 million owed to Philadelphia native Malik Rose or the four years and $24 million still due to Jerome James.

 

Webber-to-the-Knicks talk, however, is nothing new as he's been on their radar screen since before he re-signed as a free agent with Sacramento five years ago.

 

Last season, he averaged 20.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in 75 games as the Sixers failed to make the playoffs in his and Iverson's first full season together. Thus, team president Billy King has vowed to change the Sixers' culture.

 

He couldn't complete deals that would have sent Iverson to Boston, Denver or Atlanta, so now he's looking to move Webber, who turns 34 in March. And although Webber's knee severely limits his mobility, in New York he would join Eddy Curry and Channing Frye in a three-man rotation at power forward and center.

 

If the Sixers and Knicks can make a match, that is, or King can't find a better offer elsewhere.

[Ripper 0]

if they could get out of Malik Rose's Q,s AND Jerome James contract, I say go for it. Webber on one leg still would outproduce both of them.

 

But sadly, KG hinting that he would want out of Minny if they don't do something RIGHT NOW is going to make the Knicks hold on to all these talented, yet overpaid guys to get a trade package out to the Timberwolves.

[alfdogg 0]

No doubt. I've said some bad things about Webber recently (which I stand by), but if you can get the Sixers to take on MRose or James in that deal, that should be a no-brainer.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Nothing like swapping your shit for someone else's shit.

 

In all honesty, it sort of works for both teams. New York has the chance to get out from a few bad contracts and a player who can do a few things. Philly can take the Sacramento route and use the pieces acquired for other potential deals.

[naiwf 0]

You know the Knicks roster sucks when we're desperately hoping for another Allan Houston in terms of the injury & contract package just to shed some of our deadweight.

[alfdogg 0]

I don't know why KG doesn't just be real about this. It's obvious he's pissed at the situation, why doesn't he just tell McHale "get me the fuck out of here, now." Loyalty to the franchise is one thing, but said franchise has made no effort in putting pieces around him in two years (I'm sorry, but Mike James isn't going to get it done).

 

And I'm still not sure about Wilcox. I want to say his play in Seattle was for real, but after the Jerome James debacle, I just don't know what to say about anyone, at least from this class aside from Wallace and Harrington. At least this is only a three-year deal, and if it doesn't work out, he'll be fairly easy to trade.

[Guest]

Wilcox is for real, he was held down by the Clippers.

[alfdogg 0]

All I really know about him is that he played behind Elton Brand, then got traded to Seattle and was suddenly putting up big numbers in his contract year. I'm not ripping him, but I obviously wasn't the only one who had this concern, judging by the deal he ended up with. Or perhaps more importlantly, the deal Nene ended up with. Or maybe the Sonics are just tightwads, who knows.

 

However, you being out west, you've obviously seen him a lot more than I have, so I'll trust your word on it.

 

While we're on the Sonics, I'm interested to see what happens with Rashard Lewis. He can opt out after this season, and at one point, had ripped the organization and said he would definitely do so. But he had apparently changed his tune over time. The Sonics are currently dangling a 2 yr/$25 million extension for him.

[alfdogg 0]

I did just find some interesting stuff on Wilcox's deal:

 

The deal is actually for $19.5 million guaranteed, and $24 million including incentives, which include being an All-Star, making an All-NBA Team, and averaging 10 rebounds a game.

[Brett Favre 0]

Chris Webber only has 2 years left on his contract, so if a deal is available, you gotta make it. They actually almost had a deal, but Billy King wanted a 1st rounder, and Isiah said no. It would have been Malik Rose, Mo Taylor, and the 1st rounder. I'd give them the first rounder if they take Jerome James as well. Since Webber makes 20 a year, I think it matches.

[Ripper 0]

Call webber shit all you would like, he still put up 20-10. And only missed 7 games. While playing....GODDAMN. 38.6 minutes a game? WHat the fuck? Why in the fucking hell is Chris Webber playing that many minutes a game?

 

Well...anyway, that isn't a shit player. Jerome James, Malik Rose...that is shit.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Wilcox is for real, he was held down by the Clippers.

 

That is somewhat true.

 

Dunleavy has a thing for defense which is why Wilcox was in the doghouse and is also the reason Dunleavy had no problem putting Maggette on the bench and starting Quentin Ross.

 

Wilcox is the perfect player for a run and gun team like Seattle.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Nothing like swapping your shit for someone else's shit.

 

In all honesty, it sort of works for both teams. New York has the chance to get out from a few bad contracts and a player who can do a few things. Philly can take the Sacramento route and use the pieces acquired for other potential deals.

As a long-time Kings fan, I'd just like to say... fuck you for that comment.

 

Potential deals my ass. Do you know what we have to show for the Webber trade? Vitaly fucking Potapenko, that's what. The three guys we got for him haven't contributed as much combined as Webber has done in Phila on one fucking leg.

 

Petrie's been stuck with this dead weight for two years: what the fuck "potential deal" is he waiting on?

[alfdogg 0]

bob barron will be happy to know that Alonzo Mourning re-signed with the Heat today.

 

Also, the Cavs signed Scot Pollard, and traded Martynas Andriuskevicius to the Bulls for Eddie Basden.

[alfdogg 0]

And the Harrington deal is dead.

 

Al Harrington has been working all summer concentrating on the positives.

 

That's why he was unfazed by Friday's news that the Hawks' proposed sign-and-trade deal sending him to the Indiana Pacers had died after weeks of negotiations.

 

"I'm just ready to know where I'm going to be playing next year," Harrington said by phone. "The Indiana deal was something that I really wanted to do. I was looking forward to it since it's a place I'm so familiar with. But it didn't happen, and you just have to move on."

 

The Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, all teams that have been in the Harrington mix from the start, have picked up their pursuit of the last high-profile player left on the free agent market.

 

"I want to be somewhere I'm wanted, and these other teams are really interested," said Harrington, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound combo forward who averaged 18.7 points and 6.9 rebounds last season while serving as one of the Hawks' co-captains. "I feel like I can make an impact with any of those teams, whichever uniform I end up wearing. But ultimately, you have to go where you are wanted."

 

Friday's developments ended a month-long saga that would have returned Harrington to the Pacers franchise that drafted him with the 25th pick of the 1998 draft, the team he spent the first six NBA seasons playing for and the city his mother and father now call home.

 

The proposed deal was struck its fatal blow when the Pacers declined to agree to the terms — Harrington was to be signed by the Hawks to a six-year, $57 million deal and then sent, along with John Edwards, to the Pacers for a future first round draft pick.

 

After agreeing to negotiate the deal in that form, the Pacers came back this week seeking a shorter deal, four years, and for far less money, $36 million, than initially discussed. They also balked at taking back Edwards, a third-year center with a guaranteed $1 million contract for the upcoming season. The Hawks also had sought to add $3 million in cash to the deal at one point, yet another sticking point for the Pacers, but later agreed to do the deal without that as part of the package they would get for Harrington.

 

Atlanta Spirit CEO Bernie Mullin confirmed Friday night that the Hawks don't have a deal in place with the Pacers or "any other team." He said that Hawks general manager Billy Knight and Harrington's Los Angeles-based agent, Arn Tellem, are working on new possibilities. "We're looking for a deal that's in the best interest of the Atlanta Hawks and Al Harrington," Mullin said.

 

Those new deals also could be shorter than the six-year deal Harrington was seeking at the start of the NBA's free agent negotiating period, which began July 1. At least two of the teams, Golden State and Denver, are believed to be willing to discuss six-year deals in the $60 million-to-$65 million range, which would net Harrington $10 million or more per season.

 

But even if they were interested in doing four years instead of six, they'd still be willing to pay Harrington a salary in the $10 million per season range. The Pacers, armed only with a $7.5 million trade exception, could offer Harrington a starting salary of only $7.6 million.

Credit: Atlanta-Journal Constitution

 

Fuck you, Herb Simon.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Oh good, so the Lakers are back in the mix for Harrington.

 

And his agent is LA-based? Hmm...

[Guest]

I was thinking the same exact thing. Tellem is Kobe's agent, yes?

[Guest Vitamin X]

No, Kobe's agent is Rob Pelinka.

 

Tellem is McGrady's agent.

[alfdogg 0]

Rumored four-team deal:

 

Harrington to GS

 

Mike Dunleavy to LAC

 

Corey Maggette to Den

 

Joe Smith to Atl

 

Not sure where this deal makes sense for the Clippers, unless they're getting a draft pick or something, but other than that it should work out well for everyone, if it happens. The Hawks would have to take on a player, which they don't want to do, but he's an expiring contract. Maybe the Nuggets are bringing in Maggette to scare K-Mart out of Denver.

 

EDIT: This is from the SF Chronicle, btw

[alfdogg 0]

IT'S BACK ON~

 

The Indiana Pacers, after a seemingly interminable wait, appear to be closing in on a deal that formally secures the return of swingman Al Harrington.

 

Arn Tellem, Harrington's new agent, told ESPN.com on Monday night that the Pacers are "very close" to finalizing a sign-and-trade arrangement with the Atlanta Hawks that's been weeks in the making.

 

Harrington, according to NBA front-office sources, is expected to sign a four-year contract worth $35.3 million with the Hawks, who will then deal him to Indiana. It's believed that the Pacers will complete the swap without making a cash payment to the Hawks, who originally sought the maximum $3 million that teams can add to trades.

 

Atlanta would receive a future first-round pick in exchange for Harrington. It was not immediately known if Indiana will also acquire third-year center John Edwards, whose departure would remove an extra $1.1 million from the Hawks' payroll.

 

The most Harrington could have received from the Pacers is a six-year contract worth $57 million. But the fourth season of Harrington's new contract, sources say, will be at his option, meaning that the 26-year-old will have the opportunity to return to the free-agent market in the summer of 2009 if he chooses.

 

On the Pacers' team Web site, club CEO Donnie Walsh was quoted Monday as saying that the framework for the trade is in place, with the final details of Harrington's contract still "in negotiation."

 

"I think we're coming down to it," Walsh said, "and we'll either get it or we won't."

 

Harrington's return to the team that drafted him 25th overall in 1998 was considered inevitable in front offices leaguewide for much of July, prompting interested teams to gradually drop out of the bidding. As negotiations dragged on, Harrington severed ties with agent Andy Miller and hired the high-powered Tellem to re-start the process. Yet reports over the weekend that the Pacers had squandered their chance to re-acquire Harrington proved unfounded because of Indiana's $7.5 million trade exception.

 

That exception -- created in July when Indiana convinced the New Orleans Hornets to participate in a sign-and-trade for Peja Stojakovic instead of simply signing Stojakovic away outright -- has established the Pacers as the only Harrington suitor that could complete a sign-and-trade without forcing Atlanta to take back significant salary. Other interested teams include Golden State, Denver, New York and the Los Angeles Lakers.

 

NBA front-office sources say that Atlanta's teetering ownership group, in the midst of a legal battle with former partner Steve Belkin to keep control of the franchise, has insisted from the start on taking back draft picks and/or cash as opposed to a player or two from Indiana's roster (such as center Jeff Foster) or a more expensive veteran. The Warriors, for example, offered power forward Troy Murphy to the Hawks last month as part of a sign-and-trade that would have netted Harrington something closer to the six-year, $66 million contract he was originally seeking. But Murphy, who averaged a double-double in his past three full seasons, has nearly $51 million left on his contract over the next five years.

 

The Hawks eventually backed off their cash demands and told the Pacers they'd make the trade so long as Indiana sent them a first-round pick and agreed to absorb Edwards' salary. Atlanta's reluctance to deal with the other teams chasing Harrington maintained Indiana's position as the favorite to land the versatile forward, with the Pacers now hoping that the increasingly fast pace in today's NBA will permit Harrington -- at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds -- to play plenty of power forward in an athletic frontcourt setup alongside Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger.

 

Acquiring Harrington is doubly crucial because he'd ease the burden on Granger when it comes to replacing Ron Artest. The Pacers' $7.5 million trade exception thus looms as one of the most valuable assets of the NBA offseason.

 

When Stojakovic gave the Hornets a verbal commitment to sign with them mere hours into free agency on July 1, Indiana faced the very real threat of having nothing to show for January's trade of Artest to Sacramento. But a payment to the Hornets believed to be in the $250,000 range -- coupled with the Hornets' knowledge that they'd likely be keeping Harrington away from a fellow West playoff hopeful like Golden State or the Lakers -- turned the Stojakovic deal from an outright free-agent signing into a sign-and-trade, thereby creating the trade exception that set up Harrington's return.

 

It's believed that the Pacers did also explore the idea of making a sign-and-trade run at Indiana native Bonzi Wells earlier this summer, but Harrington was always their first choice. Wells, looking for a new team after Sacramento signed John Salmons in late July, would supplant Harrington as the best player left on the NBA's open market once Harrington-to-Indiana is consummated.

 

"Obviously, Indiana, I'm more comfortable there because I've been there, I've been in the East," Harrington told ESPN.com during last month's Vegas Summer League, making it clear then that he expected to wind up with either the Pacers or the Warriors.

 

"Going into free agency, obviously you think, 'I'm going to be at the bottom of the screen [on ESPN's Bottom Line ticker] like Ben Wallace and the rest of the guys.' But everyone's telling me to be patient, so that's what I'm trying to do."

[Guest Vitamin X]

Dammit!

 

Let's just have it so he ends up on any other team but the Pacers, so we can upset alf again.

[Guest Felonies!]

Will the Golden State Warriors EVER do ANYTHING? This is like the most inconsequential team in the NBA, and now that the Clippers don't mind making the playoffs for once, they're probably the league's new Instant Punchline. Or has that been passed to the Hawks? See? They're not even good at being awful!

[alfdogg 0]

No, the Knicks have got that title locked down for at least the next three years.

 

My problem with the Harrington issue, and the team in general, is that we wasted no time dumping AJ for a bunch of scrubs and letting Fred Jones walk for nothing, but it's taking weeks to agree to this deal for a draft pick. There's been so much talk about changing the attitude of the team, and all we've done is dump the guys who actually busted ass and played hard all year (AJ, AC, Jones, Pollard), and keeping around the whiners (Jackson) and injury-prone guys (Tinsley).

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

The Harrington deal finally done. Goes to Pacers for a first round pick

 

 

Another Dunleavy Jr. to Clippers rumor I see **YAWN**