Well, with James Posey deciding to keep his ring from Boston and head to NO, most of the summer of 2008 is done. All of the big names have already been locked in and although there may be a few more moves, most of them will be for role players. We'll take a look at some of the deals:
James Posey to the Hornets for 4 years $25M - All I can say is great pickup. He brings that veteran leadership and know how when it comes to winning time. Posey can step in and play a little 2 and 3 and provide some much needed 'D'. I can already see him harassing Kobe, Dirk, T Mac, Ginobli, etc. He said he wanted a 4 year deal instead of a 3 and I guess he went for the money. I can blame him a little, because he's losing (in my estimation) a better chance at winning the title again in Boston. This really weakens the champs and somehow I think they lose (or don't choose to sign) Eddie House (he's represented by the same agent that Posey is). The champs will be looking for some help,......
Marcus Camby to the Clippers (trade) - Wow!!! All it took was a 2nd round pick in 2010? There are some other teams that would have gladly taken that deal, even with the opportunity to pay the Cambyman $20M over the next two years. Everyone is saying how they did a decent job of replacing Brand with this deal, but c'mon. Camby playing the 4, or worse yet, Kaman playing the 4. Nothing good happens when you think about that. Somehow if they could have pulled this off before Brand left, I think that maybe Brand stays. Nevertheless, the Clips are still not deep (only about 8 deep) and they play in the West. So this will make the Clips better on D, but they are still a long way away. The other side of this is that it takes away the opportunity to try and get a Josh Smith or Luol Deng or even Andre Iguodola. Take gun, shoot one's self in foot.
Anthony Johnson to the Magic - As a backup to Nelson, I don't think you go wrong here. Johnson gives them a big body who can score but can also run the team. Not as good as Dooling, but I bet you that the price was right. Dooling wore out his welcome in Orlando and may be on the verge of a Latrell Sprewell moment after being offered only a slight raise during contract negotiations (and responding saying that it was an insult for them to offer him $4M+ a year). $4M just isn't what it used to be.
Eduardo Najera and Jarvis Hayes to the Nets - Not sure why this deal was made. Now the Nets have about 20 forwards on their team. Najera plays a little bigger than his height and he runs the floor well and Hayes can shoot and slash to the basket. The Nets get some scorers, but The Nets are already trying to get one of the BIG BOYS (LeBron, Wade, etc.) in 2010.
Daniel Gibson to the Cavs for 5 years (undisclosed) - Hey, it pays to have friends in high places (Lebron). But the kid did play pretty well last year and was in the top 10 in 3 point shooting which is what the Cavs lack. So, you gotta pay the man. As long as this isn't in the $40M range, this is a good deal. Anything over that and Gibson has doomed the Cavs even more with a bad deal.
The Denver Nuggets - Talk about the plan that went awry? The sound you just heard was the lane opening up in Denver. If these guys thought it was tough playing D last year,....just imagine what it's going to be like this year. Camby allowed them to get away with playing terrible D at times, but it looks more and more like the Nuggets are going to have to win games like in the old ABA, 140 - 142. I think I can get 20 on the Nuggets right now (as I start stretching). I think they have officially mailed it in and I wouldn't be surprised to see Melo moved at some point, or Iverson and his expiring $20M+ contract. I thought this team would be winning with Melo and AI, how wrong I was.
The New York Knicks - Well, with the imminent signing of Anthony Roberson, the Knicks seem to be pointing all of the signs to the door for Marbury. I liked the fact that he did so much with his shoes by providing a low cost alternative to the Nike and Adidas brands, but after Stephon supposedly tattooed the Starbury insignia on his head/temple,....I'd cut him too. This is reminiscent of the tattoo that Iron Mike Tyson has, and we all know he's crazy. This too is sad. I mean coming out of Georgia Tech with so much promise but too much ego when he was in Minny,....just imagine KG and Starbury, with Googs (before he got hurt). That could have been a Big 3.
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