2011 NBA Free Agency Deals

Well, after this long drawn out labor agreement deal, the NBA is now back in business and we'll start taking a look at the deals that are going down across the league.  Surprisingly, not too many head scratchers so far.  Let's take a look:

Shane Battier (Heat) - $9M for 3 years - I think this is a great deal for any Heat fan.  Battier can play the 3, hit knock down 3's from the corners and he can play some defense.  He's not as young as he once was, but I can see him, LBJ, and Wade locking down 3/5s of your squad during crunch time.  For $3M a year, you get a bargain.

Mike Dunleavy (Bucks) - $7.5M for 2 years - The Bucks need scoring and Dunleavy can do that at times.  He's a 6'10" shooting guard/small forward that has limitations on the defensive side of the ball, but he's one of those glue guys.  Hit a high percentage of his 3's last year and should be able to space the floor for Jennings and Bogut.  Again, a little north of $3M ain't gonna hurt nobody. 

Eddy Curry (Heat) - League Min for 1 year - If Riley can get this kid motivated, that would be a feat.  Curry was a young star in the league but then his penchant for late night Burger King drive thrus got in the way.  He ballooned and then it seemed the injury bug just attached itself to him.  He has a big body and is a decent rebounder (things the Heat need) so he'll be given opportunities to make good in Miami.  If it doesn't work here, he's done. I can honestly say that I think this will actually work out well because he won't have to be the star, like he was in Chicago, and he can work in obscurity.

Shannon Brown (Suns) - $3.5M for 1 year - This is the one guy I feel bad for.  It's like he had a breakout in the playoffs a few years back and since then, nothing.  Almost like his time was taken away from him.  He's young, athletic, and has a decent jump shot, but really wasn't a fit in the triangle offense.  Thought he'd be a good cheap fit for the Bulls, or at least an option, but now he gets to play along side Steve Nash (for as long he's a Sun).  I guess we'll watch Brown put up some gaudy numbers and he'll get some looks next season in free agency. 

Caron Butler (Clippers) - $24M for 3 years - Almost one that makes you hold your breath, but actually not a bad deal IF Butler comes back to his pre-injury form.  Toughjuice is a scorer who loves the ball on the wing and he can shoot or put the ball on the floor.  Butler is also adept at (Note to LeBron) posting up and using his size to get buckets.  He provides scoring punch and should enjoy the LA limelight.  If the Clips snag Paul (as rumored), this looks like an even better deal.

Greg Oden (Blazers) - $8.9M for 1 year - This is the qualifying offer from the Blazers to keep their rights on Oden.  He's had injuries (as everyone knows), but I think all of us are wishing to see him healthy and playing at least 1 full season to see how good he can be.  I don't think we expect him to put up 20 a night, but we just don't want to see the Sportscenter splash with the next Greg Oden injury. 

Tayshaun Prince (Pistons) - $27M for 4 years - This is a head scratcher because I'm still wondering why Prince would go back to Detroit.  I guess he likes it there and feels as though no one else would pay him that type of money?  How many games did they win last year?  And they lose Rip (buyout)?  Does that make this team better anytime soon?

Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) - $16M for 4 years - Maybe this is the reason Prince resigned?  I mean really, Jerebko may help on the boards and may provide a bucket or two, but what about this team makes anyone want to stay there?  Is Dumars asleep at the wheel? 

Tyson Chandler (Knicks) - $58M for 4 years - Well, talk about a bonus for winning a championship.  I guess Chandler thought it'd come from Cuban but the Knicks ended up making this deal come to fruition.  I like this deal because the Knicks can now have a frontline with Amare, Melo, and Chandler.  Neither of the first two are good at defense, but it always helps to have a defensive force behind you to make up for any lapses.  Who would have thunk that the two players the Bulls acquired (Chandler and Curry), 1 would have a ring and the other would be barely hanging on?   

David West (Pacers) - $20M for 2 years - Great deal for the Pacers.  West's game hasn't been about his athletic ability so hopefully his return from a terrible knee injury doesn't impact his game as much.  The Pacers get a guy that rebounds well, can put up 20 a game and he's a 'thug' from Xavier (hopefully you get the joke).  All in all, West is a good guy that can play and the only issue is no one knows just how he's going to rebound from his injury.  If he comes out like the old David West, this may be the steal of the FA period. 

JJ Barea (Timberwolves) - $19M for 4 years - Someone in Minny signed a point guard?  Where have we heard that before?  JJ Barea takes his hurt feelings and his championship ring to the frozen tundra of Minnesota.  Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn, and Luke Ridnour are the other PGs on this team.  I think they might try to make this 'small ball' thing take on a new definition.   

Mike Bibby (Knicks) - ????? - Mike Bibby leaves the beaches of Miami for the city life in New Yawk City.  Bibby has always been a heady player with the knack for hitting timely 3 pointers, however he wasn't hitting those 3 pointers for Miami.  In this uptempo system with a legit big man, I expect that Bibby finds his rhythm again and makes for a decent backup PG for this team. 

Rasual Butler (Raptors) - ????? - Butler barely played for the Bulls last year after they picked him up and I'm not sure how he'll fare with the Raptors.  He might find the stroke that made him deadly a few years ago or he might be out of the game soon.  We'll all get to see what happens. 

Brian Cardinal (Mavericks) - Veterans min - You always need guys that can play defense, dole out some tough fouls and be a glue guy.  Mavs did just that. 

Daequan Cook (Thunder) - $6.5M for 2 years - Cook has been a 3 point shooter for the Thunder and they wanted to keep him in that role.  He can get hot from time to time, but his job is to hit those shots when Durant is team teamed.  Not too bad for the price.

Trades:

Lamar Odom traded to Dallas Mavericks for pieces - Odom cried when he was initially traded for CP3, but then he was just traded outright to the Mavericks.  Was this punishment for not showing up at practice after the CP3 deal fell through?  Did Khloe want to move to the big state of Texas so that they can start a new reality show there?  Either way, Odom is out of LaLa Land and I'm not sure if his fragile persona will be able to take it, but he should be able to go to Dallas and pick up that $9M he'll make this year. 

Glen Davis and Von Wafer traded to Orlando for Brandon Bass - I'm not totally upset with this deal for a few reasons.  Big Baby wanted more from the Celtics (money and clout) and he just wasn't going to get it.  He has had his moments for the Celtics as he has provided a spark for that aging team but I doubt that the Celtics playbook had several plays for Big Baby.  Brandon Bass is probably a slight upgrade over Big Baby at least in one area, rebounding.  Bass is a beast in the box as far as hustling and banging.  But at the end of the day, these guys are very similar to each other with the difference being age and a few pounds (maybe more than a few pounds).  Von Wafer was the throw in for this deal and he'll be missed as the Celtics are already light with back court bodies.  Wafer can be a spark plug off the bench and he is more scorer than anything else.   

Retirements:

Brandon Roy - I am still tearing up about this.  Roy was by far one of the best 2 guards in the league and I still wish the Bulls (I'm pretty sure they do too) would have drafted Roy instead of that buster Tyrus Thomas.  Nevertheless, Roy, it's been fun while it lasted.  Good luck on the next part of your journey. 

More to come,.......

Let's Hear it for New York!!!!

The deed is finally done and the Knicks have pulled the blockbuster to get the slightly disgruntled Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets.  The Minnesota Timberwolves were pulled into the deal at the last moment to facilitate. Here are the particulars:

New York Knicks
Get: Carmelo Anthony, Renaldo Balkman, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Corey Brewer

Denver Nuggets
Get: Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks 1st round pick (2014), the Warriors 2nd round pick (2012 and 2013), and $3M in cash.


Minnesota Timberwolves
Get: Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry

My take on the Knicks:  On the surface, this was a lot to give up.  I'm with Charles Barkley on this one, Melo ain't Jordan, why would you give that many players up?  We know that the Knicks HAD to do this deal to get Melo because if it would have gone down that the Knicks lost out on this because they didn't want to part with Mozgov (a piece the Nuggets wanted) they would have revolted in the streets.They finally got their guy, but it also seems as though they'll lose Walsh and gain Zeke (once again).  I'm not sure that everyone should be excited about that end of the deal.  Billups and Anthony make this team a little dangerous right now.  They are going to have to gel, but until the wheels fall off or they're able to convince a PG to come to New York, the Knicks will be alright.  

My take on the Nuggets:  Well, I have to admit that the Nets deal was a better deal, but with the uncertainty that Melo would have signed an extension with the Nets, they had to do this.  Chandler is a restricted free agent and may end up being a fall back if the Nuggets chose not to re-sign the mercurial J.R. Smith.  Raymond Felton makes George Karl a collector of former UNC point guards, and Felton can be 'the guy'.  He's a bigger version of Ty Lawson.  Gallinari can step in and provide some scoring, but I'm not sure how much of a 'player' he'll ever be.  I actually like Mozgov and when given time in D'Antoni's system he's actually played well.  You can't teach height.

My take on the Timberwolves:  They were the facilitator and got a good talent in Anthony Randolph and they got Eddy Curry's expiring contract.  Randolph has not yet been put in a position to succeed in the NBA, but maybe the Timberwolves can find a way.  Plus the cap relief for the Timberwolves will be big since they are going to have to overpay for someone to actually want to come there and play. 


Who got the best of this trade?  Is Carmelo worth it?  Can they win if they aren't able to get anyone else because of the new collective bargaining agreement?  Why did this thing drag out like this? 

NBA Wrap 11-1-10

Al Horford – The Atlanta Hawks re-up the young PF with a 5 year $60M deal.  After paying Joe Johnson his $119M, this is probably a great deal.  He’s getting Joakim Noah money and that’s not bad for a guy that is a stud for the Hawks.  Great move!!!

Miami Heat – Rumored to be looking for a point guard that can hit a jumper and possibly signing oft-injured, oft-bloated Eddy Curry once the Knicks waive him after the trade deadline.  On looking for a point guard, the Heat may need to give Mario Chalmers a chance to be that guy.  Arroyo has had ups and downs playing point, but if things aren’t going the right way, the Heat can be movers at the trade deadline.  On signing Eddy Curry, unless he’s battling Joey Chestnut or Kobayashi in an eating contest, this move would be worthless. 

LeBron James – Saying that if he could do it all over again he’d do some things differently with ‘The Decision’.  It took this long to come to this conclusion?  I mean c’mon man, yes they are ‘your friends’ but sometimes they are too close to you to give you the feedback that you need.  He is 25 and yes, he’s not going to do everything right, but LBJ, call me next time before you make a decision like that.  I’ll definitely give you some good advice (scrap the show, write a check to the B&G Club, and announce you’re taking your talents to South Beach AFTER you call the Cavs and let them know you’re out). 

The Celtics – Delonte West and Von Wafer fought in the Celtics locker room after a heated 3-on-3 game.  Supposedly, Wafer walked away and West followed him into the locker room.  But as of today, they are buddies according to West - "I'm competitive, he's competitive, as long as it's for the betterment of the team, there's nothing wrong with healthy competition and pushing each other to get better," West told ESPNBoston.com. "Things went a little far, but at the same time, we were able to move past that. We're professionals."  Asked if he felt the two had patched things up, West added: "Oh yeah, no question. We laughed about it [Sunday]."  Let’s just make sure Delonte is on his meds. 

Luck of the Hoosier?

Well, it’s happened again. Isiah Thomas has been hired by the New York Knicks. Take a moment, and yes we haven’t Hot Tub Time Machined back a few years. Thomas, who is presently the head coach at FIU, has been hired as a consultant for the Knicks by his former boss James Dolan. This story has so many angles, I’m not sure where to start. Maybe right here:

- The last time Zeke worked for the Knicks it cost them $11.6M for Anucha Browne Sanders. No she doesn’t play for the Liberty, she just happened to be someone that Zeke sexually harassed.

- Zeke gave out several terrible cap limiting deals that further hurt the organization: Eddy Curry, Jerome James, and Jared Jeffries come to mind.

- As a coach for the Knicks they ended up firing him because the team was terrible under him and at one point they told him to not even speak with Knicks players.

I guess my biggest question is how does this happen? Zeke has only been able to do one thing and that is find talent. So how does he go from being lambasted out of NY and then right back into NY on a cushy deal? Some people say that Zeke was instrumental behind the scenes with getting A’mare Stoudamire to come to NY in the off season ($100M would have done that) even though his pitch to LBJ didn’t work. Maybe he found a way to look good to Dolan again and thus this signing. With the present GM, Donnie Walsh, possibly heading off into the sunset in 2 years, has Zeke been promised the GM position again? For New York fans, I hope not.

The next biggest thing is where is the NCAA? With this position Zeke is allowed to recruit for FIU and the Knicks, all in one fell swoop? Who is he representing when he walks in the door? This could mean higher recruits might find their way to FIU knowing that Zeke has a pipeline, that all of us can see, directly to the NBA. This reeks of something unfair and I’m waiting for David Stern or the NCAA to nix this whole thing. If this passes the muster, I imagine that the Lakers will be reaching out to (insert your favorite college basketball coach) Coach K for a similar kind of engagement. The possibilities would be endless.

What’s your take on this move? Does it make sense? How did HE get a job with the Knicks again?

NBA Round Up 11-14-08

Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard is managing a knee problem that he insists he has had since breaking that knee when he was 15 years old. At times during the year, the knee swells a little and then the Magic just give him some time off. After his 30 point, 19 boards, 10 blk performance the other night, I don't have a problem with this going forward. I hope he can stay healthy.

Chicago Bulls - What happened? First Larry Hughes' shoulder, then Kirk Hinrich's thumb (out 3 months), and now Derrick Rose's back. The Bulls are already thin, figuratively, and they can't win with (or without) the injury bug that seems to be rampant in the locker room. Someone call Orkin and get them to the United Center, fast!!! Rose may not miss too much time with his back, but as we've seen with Danilo Gallinari, things could get worse.


New York Knicks - The end is near for Stephon Marbury. It looks as though he will be out of New York within days. Maybe he can get a deal for starring in the remake of the old 'Escape from New York' movie? Where will he go next? Read below.


San Antonio Spurs - Besides Marbury opining about how lovely it would be to play in San Antonio, the Spurs haven't had this much good news in a while. Manu is back with the team, albeit still trying to get somewhere close to 100%. The Spurs need Manu badly with Parker out and Tim Duncan isn't a spring chicken. We'll see how soon this triumvirate gets back on the court together. Spurs fans are hoping that time is soon.

State Warriors - Monta Ellis is having the screws removed from his ankle and he should be up and running soon. That's good news for a Warriors team that has gone through a lot of turmoil in the front office and not that many wins on the court.

New Jersey Nets - There was a story floating that the Nets was demoting Sean Williams because of nothing else except he's in the dog house, but now stories are coming out that the Nets are looking to trade the enigmatic forward. Williams would definitely be able to help someone's bench. He's an athletic big who can run the floor and block shots. That alone will have him working for another employer soon.

New York Knicks - Might another Knick enjoy some time in San Antonio? There is interest in Eddy Curry from the Spurs and the Heat since he was demoted from D'Antoni's lineup at the beginning of the season. With the Knicks winning games as of late without Curry (and Marbury), the Knicks may be more apt to moving him sooner rather than later.

Charlotte Bobcats - Since being benched until his weight drops, Sean May has figured out a way to trim down. He has been working on getting his 274 lbs down to a respectable 266 lbs and he's been told that he needs to include grains in his diet. He also was told to stay away from sugar and white flower. If that's all it takes, I think I might even try this. Larry Brown has Baron Davis and Jenny Craig on line 1 if this doesn't work.

NBA Round Up 10-31-08

Detroit Pistons - Finally!!! Jason Maxiell and the Pistons agree to a 4 year $20M deal to keep the young stud in Detroit. Had to happen, period.

Los Angeles Lakers - This is what height is worth. Andrew Bynum and the Lakers agree to a 4 year $58M deal. This is for a guy that took the majority of last season off (yeah it was an injury, but I'm saying). For all of you single people out there, if you're tall, get with a tall woman and make a baby, you can get paid some day. All joking aside, Bynum will be the reason the Lakers win the title this year, mark my words.

New York Knicks - What are they going to do with Starbury? Everyone knows the Knicks want to get rid of him, but at what cost? Marbury would only be bought out for what he's owed this year from the Knicks (and do the Knicks want to do another buyout), and the trade market is looking terrible right now since the Knicks are trying to unload Eddy Curry, Malik Rose, Starbury, James Dolan's mother, and anyone else on the roster so that they can try to lure LBJ to NYC. This isn't looking good right now for Marbury, but he and Jamal Tinsley are the two big name point guards on the market right, although the biggest difference is the money they make.