D-Day

Well, July 9th is the day. The day that all of the NBA 'agreed' deals can officially be signed. There have been several deals that made me think a little, and still some that haven't been quite consummated yet. We'll take a look at all of the 'agreed' deals and look fat some of the possible ones coming down the line.

Baron Davis to the Clippers for 5 years $65M - Talk about hitting a home run. This deal gives the Baron the stability that he wants from a long term deal and more money than the Warriors were willing to shell out. The Clippers definitely get an A on this one because they finally get a point guard that they can depend on (we hope Baron's injuries are a thing of the past, the Clips have enough of those at the PG spot), and a talent that will keep Elton (we think) in La La Land. This is a great deal, but in my mind only moves the Clips to the middle of the pack in the West. Better than where they were, but not a championship team. So kudos for at least making the move.

Chris Paul to the Hornets for 4 years $68M - Ray Charles could have seen this coming. Paul is the engine for this team and not tying him up is like rebuilding the levees in NO with tissue paper. Now the team just needs to keep Pargo and find a backup scorer for West since they'll probably lose Bonzi Wells.

Gilbert Arenas to the Wizards for 6 years $111M - Talk about the the compassion of a guy to leave $16M on the table and then being the first to openly defend the move. Gilbert, sometimes things are better left no being said. Yes, he left money on the table, but I'm sure that the extra $3M or so won't hurt him. Someone please muzzle this cat though. Please.

Antawn Jamison to the Wizards for 4 years $50M - A palatable deal at best. Guy gets you points and boards, and show up most nights. He wanted to come back and it made sense for the team, With the signing of Antawn and Gilbert I still don't see much going on in DC. They'll have the same team they had last year and I'm not sold on how much better Gilbert makes them. Not saying that it was a bad deal, it's just like the deal with the Clippers, you may be thismuch better, but that's it.

Beno Udrih to the Kings for 5 years $33.5M - Hey he's a starter for the Kings. I can't honestly say that I have watched them play since they got rid of Webber, Bibby, Vlade, etc. I know they have Kevin Martin, Ron Artest, Brad Miller, and some others that really won't win much in the West. This pans out to be about $1.2M more per year than the mid level exception.

DeSagana Diop and Gerald Green to Dallas for 5 years $27.5M (full mid level exception) and 1 year minimum (around $900K) - Diop is someone they needed last year. Erika Dampier just doesn't do it for me. Diop may be an offensive liability, but with the chuckers on this team, he just needs to rebound and block shots. Any points out of him are extra. Gerald Green gets an opportunity to show us that he's more than just a former Slam Dunk champion with no skills. He's a live body and he's young. Not a bad gamble on the Mavs side. IF he can play, he may add some youth to a old bench in Dallas.

Chris Duhon to the Knicks for 2 years (undisclosed, approximately $7M) - I think this is a great pick up for the Knicks. I've always thought that Duhon was the best point guard on the Bulls squad the past few years, but they paid Hinrich and you gotta play him. Duhon knows how to run a team, it's just his shot has gone awry or something. But for the Knicks in a up tempo system with some of the weapons that they have, Duhon is a great fit. At worst he can back up the starter, but I think that he'll definitely be in line to be a starter. Marbury, please have your $15 sneakers and your bags packed.

Jose Calderon to the Raptors (undisclosed) - Another 'they had to do it' deal. They just traded their starter and now Calderon was the next deal that had to get done. We'll see if his production can stay the same or increase with more minutes now. It should because he definitely has a lot of help in Bosh and O'Neal. This will probably be close to a full mid level deal, so I'd assume somewhere in the 5 year $30M range, maybe something similar to
Beno Udrih's contract.

Now those are the ones that have already been 'agreed' to. The rest are mixed in with the 'have to make a deal' category or the 'deal is imminent' category.

Elton Brand to the Clippers - Since they gave the Baron his money, it's up to Elton to keep his word and take less money to stay in LA. This deal will probably be announced on Wednesday since the offer (if there truly is one) from the Warriors is only $10M more, not worth the losing he'll go through there. Deal is imminent.

Corey Maggette to the ??? - Well, this is probably the most intriguing one. Since they paid the Baron and we assume they pay Elton, they'll have to renounce Maggette's rights and he's a unrestricted free agent. Right now, it looks as though San Antonio is the destination for him and that would definitely make the Spurs a power again. Maggette has quietly been a scorer for most of his career and he gets to the line at an amazing pace. Imagine him and Ginobli just shooting free throws all game long. Another intriguing offer is from the Celtics. This would definitely add some scoring punch to a bench that needs it, and in the East, almost guarantee that we'll see the guys in green standing on top. Of course, the Celtics can only do this if they let go or lose out on....... (Deal is imminent)

James Posey to the ??? - He's shown that he is an integral part of a championship team and he wants to get paid for that too. So, does he come back and do it again for the Celtics, or does he maybe join the Lakers and try and team up (ala Scottie Pippen) with Kobe? I think Posey does what he did last year and waits this out a little. He wants to see where the dust settles before he makes his move. We'll see what happens. (Deal is imminent)

Kirk Hinrich or Ben Gordon to the ??? - One of them HAS to go. But which one? A bad rumor out Chicago is trade Gordon and make Hinrich into a 2 guard. My question is, did anyone watch the Bulls play last year? Hinrich started each game with 3 fouls trying to guard two guards. Hinrich can be sent to Golden State (they need a point guard) or to a few other spots. You can even package up one of the bigs and get Derrrick Rose some players. Deal HAS to be done.

Golden State's money to ??? - They lost out on Baron (weren't planning on resigning him anyway), they lost out on Brand, they lost out on Gilbert, so what do you do with all of that money and holes all around? Well, you might go after Josh Smith in Atlanta, Corey Maggette, Luol Deng in Chicago, or possibly Andre Iguodala in Philly (most of these guys are restricted FA, so their teams have the option of matching, with the exception of Maggette). Of course, Golden State MUST sign Biedrins and Ellis or they can just implode the franchise. They might want to revisit signing Mickael Pietrus too. A deal has to be done.

Atlanta Hawk's money to ??? - We all know the first name on the check that they write will be 'Josh'. Hawks fans are probably hoping that the last name is Smith as opposed to Childress. That's not a knock on him, but J Smoove is a talent that the Hawks can't let go. Childress will be a little harder because there's only one pot to pull the money from. The Hawks may lose one of these guys, my gut says it's the one with the longer last name. A deal is imminent.

Stay tuned on Wednesday to see what happens. I doubt they'll be any big surprises.