Cleveland added Shaq and Anthony Parker and retained Varejao.
Orlando added Vince Carter and now Brandon Bass (if NBA.com is dealing the real goods)
Boston has added Rasheed Wallace to an already dangerous core.
Out west, same deal...Lakers, Mavericks, and Spurs have all made significant moves to compete for the title.
The Lakers have substituted Artest in for Ariza.
The Mavericks have added Shawn Marion and will likely get Marcin Gortat to man the middle (a definite upgrade over Dampier)
The Spurs have added Jefferson and now Antonio McDyess to the mix.
With the 2 Texas teams though - their window of opportunity is the next 2-3 years and that's it. The Mavericks starting lineup is very good - but also very old. Kidd, Marion, Howard, Terry, and Dirty Dirk are all OVER 30 years old. The Spurs lineup, aside from Parker, is the same...older than most...so they need to go for it right now.
My Blazers were shunned by Turkoglu last week when he bolted for Toronto. No big deal in my mind as paying him 50 million over 5 years does seem a bit much. Currently, there are a couple rumours out there. One is that they will sign Millsap to an offer sheet. I love Millsap - but doesn't he play the same position as LA12? How does that work? The second rumour has the Bulls/Blazers/Jazz working on a 3-way deal that lands Kirk Hinrich in Rip City. I like Hinrich, but I don't think he's the piece that puts them over the top. With the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavs all loading up for the short term - isn't the best move to continue to grow as a team and get better? Sign Roy and LA to their extensions. See if Oden is the real deal. Let Bayless, Batum, Rudy, and the others grow and then challenge in 2-3 years. But can Paul Allen afford to wait?
The biggest FA's out there are Millsap, Lee, Iverson, Andre Miller, and Nate Robinson.
Lee and Nate could sign the one year pact to go play in NY and then be an unrestricted FA in 2010. But do they want to fight for dollars against the likes of Lebron, Bosh, and Wade (and others) when the salary cap is rumored to be going down significantly in 2010??? I don't think they do - so they should hope for the pay day now.
Iverson is apparently talking to Memphis? Really? Why? Because they could pay him the most. I have no idea why the Grizzlies would want him. Don't they already have Mayo? Can AI really come off the bench?
Where will Andre Miller land?? If he's holding his 10 million a year stance then he's going to be waiting awhile.
The best PG options left are Miller and Ramon Sessions. So who could use their services? Well, it's safe to assume that Milwaukee will do everything in their power to re-sign Sessions. So where does that leave Andre? Back in Philly for less money? What about Minnesota? They are likely going to have to start Sebastian Telfair or the rookie Jonny Flynn. Yikes. Sacramento could use a better PG but I can't see a young rebuilding team bringing in a 30+ guy like Andre. If I had to make a guess - Miller will be back in Philly.
I was very excited to see a recent JBL message come from Brussels - encouraging teams to clean up their rosters. I like it, July 9th and I got the guys thinking JBL. I love it.
I had a brief email discussion with Tricky Rick in Bangkok about D-Wade. I told him I was interested in Westbrook and Lee/Scola. He was intrigued but is concerned about Wade's injury history. Can't say I blame him. That being said, Wade is entering his contract year - and we all know what happens then - big time motivation to put up big numbers. Granted, Wade could play 10 games and he's still getting a max deal - but I really think he'll be motivated to show he's as good (if not better) than all the other big name FA's.
So...if Wade is going to have a monster season...why am I so willing to move him? There are numerous things that are running thru my head on this topic.
- his injury history
- do I want to spend $69 dollars on a stud
- is that a bargain?
- who would be the best 2 guys to get for him
- if I am keeping Gordon and Nelson - does Elton Brand for $28 bucks make sense? If Brand returns to form (a big if after the last 2 years) - he could be 20 and 10 and he'd be worth more than 28 bucks. Is that a risk I'm willing to take?
Protecting players in the JBL should be about value first and foremost. But it could also be about keeping guys you like to root for. I have always found it easier to cheer for guys on my team that I like. That's why I've never had Iverson, Mcgrady, or Zach Randolph on my team.
So...thinking value...if Eric Gordon came up on draft night...would I be willing to pay more than $10 bucks for him? Hmmm. This is an easy one. Let's see what he did after the All-Star break. He averaged 19.6ppg while shooting 47.7% from FG and 42.8% from 3PT. His tendex was 17.5. That, to me, is definitely worth $10 bucks. Zach is gone and Blake Griffin will be playing PF - so I think Gordon can be an offensive factor next season.
Just saw the 1st box score from the Vegas summer league....Golden State's Anthony Randolph put up 20 and 10. He will go for big bucks on potential alone in the upcoming JBL draft - just you wait and see.
The JBL isn't that far away...Summer leagues have started...I'm getting excited.
No comments:
Post a Comment