NBA's Fight Night

KG appears to hit Channing Fyre in the crown jewels when he goes up with the shot.  It didn't seem like much on the replays, but as all males know, one little hit is can be brutal.

Marvin Williams is a punk.  Who hits the guy from behind, and why do you mess with Shawne Williams?  Have you seen his rap sheet?  Dude is crazy.  The commentator is wondering why they would fight... I tell you why thanks to my friend Simmons... Women or Gambling.  

-Charlie.

2010-2011 NBA Season Openers

2010-2011 NBA Top 16 Power Ranking (Part 3)

2010 Free Agency Update: Day 2

Well its finally here, the 2010 Free Agency period started on Thursday and already we have big news. The Boston Celtics started this free agency period not sure of the future of there superstar Paul Pierce because he stated he was going to opt out the last year of his contract really because he was sure what his head coach Doc Rivers was doing. Now that Doc said he will because next year the Celtics and Pierce have come to an agreement on a contract worth $61 million over the next 4 years. Now there is rumor that Rasheed Wallace will not retire and will even return to the Celtics next year for one more run are a title. Now the question is what will Ray Allen do? To me Doc returning will bring the whole team back even Allen and even if he has to take a pay cut. I think Allen will still explore the free agency market but at the end of the day will be a Boston Celtic at the start of the 2010-2011 season.

The winner of the first day of the 2010 Free Agency period was by far Rudy Gay who is going to be with the Memphis Grizzlies for the next 5 years and making over $80 million. Now i been reading a lot of people say why would the Grizzlies sign him for all that money, he hasn't done anything for them. Look Rudy is a young player that gets better every year and with talent like that the Grizzlies had to sign him back. If the Grizzlies let him go i promise you 3 years from now they would really be kicking themselves in the butt for not resigning him when they had the chance. Rudy Gay has the talent to be a superstar in this league and remember he's just 23 (will be 24 August 17th) and he's already this good. The money is well worth it they have a young team that will only get better. The Grizzlies did what they should have done offered him big money right up front and didn't wait to see what other offers he would be receiving this summer. That shows the Grizzlies want and need him on that team.

In other news the Phoenix Suns have come to an agreement with forward Hakim Warrick worth $18 million over the next 4 years. This is a good pick for the Suns because they need bigs that can rebound block shots and give them energy. Also because they don't know what Amar'e Stoudemir is going to do. The Suns did offer Amar'e a max deal for 5 years, 3 year guaranteed with the other 2 guaranteed based on his play, worth $96 million. To me I think its to late, Amar'e was looking for this deal before the free agency period even started and now they lose him because they waited to long to put this max deal on the table.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have hired Byron Scott for their coaching job. This is a good pick up even if LeBron James doesn't come back because Scott has showed how good of a coach he is and can be. Before the free agency period James said he wanted a coach that has been successful in the NBA, that's played in the NBA and has won championships as a player. At the time it was only two coaches out there like that and that was Avery Johnson and Byron Scott but Johnson looked like he was going to take the Nets job. It was a must for the Cavs to sign Scott because now they can say they have the coach LeBron wanted to play for. Right now I think the Cavs have the upper hand in getting LeBron just because of this move to hired Byron Scott.

Thanks for reading once again and please check back soon for other post. Also make sure to follow me on Twitter if your not already @Agent_EJohnson

*

As Barry Bonds approaches the all-time home run record many people have argued that his exploits are invalid due to the steroid speculation swirling around him, and as such his exploits should have an asterisk affixed to them.

Sadly, the news of the past few days has revealed that there is an even greater need for an asterisk in the world of sports;

2007 NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs*

Don't get me wrong, the Spurs had no control over the actions of rogue ref Tim Donaghy. Their entire playoff run is however, tainted by the fact that Donaghy was one of the officials in the notoriously poorly officiated Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns series. For those of you that would like to believe that Donaghy did not have an effect on the game, suit yourselves. At least watch the video at the end of this post though, and see if you still hold the same opinion. The video evidence clearly shows Donaghy standing directly in front of a number of obvious Spurs fouls and blatantly ignoring them. The video also shows this foul mentioned by Bill Simmons in his excellent column on the Donaghy situation;

Other than the latest call in NBA history (a shooting foul for Manu Ginobili whistled three seconds after the play, when everyone was already running in the other direction)...

I'll save you the suspense; it was indeed Donaghy that made that particular call.

When the news about Donaghy first broke the initial thought that ran through my mind was "Please, please, please don't let it be a playoff game". As important as the NBA regular season is, there is a sort of insulated illegitimacy involved with a random game in the middle of February. Theoretically the outcome of that game being altered by a crooked ref could have some ultimate bearing on playoff seedings and by extension the path of the playoffs, but such ripples are far offset from the epicenter of the incident in question.

A playoff game though? In a tied series? Between arguably the two best teams remaining in the playoffs at that point? Other than a pivotal Finals game, the fact that Donaghy was involved with Game 3 of the Spurs-Suns series is as big of a nightmare as could have come out of this mess. The saddest part is that the Spurs have no fault in the fact that some hack ref gave them a helping hand in Game 3. (Again, if you still don't believe it just watch the video) The dark legacy of this scandal will always come back to that Game 3 though, along with two words; "What if?" What if the Spurs hadn't shot 9 more free throws than the Suns in a 7 point game? What if Amare Stoudemire had been able to play more than 21 minutes due to foul trouble? What if the Suns had been up 2-1 after Game 3 instead of down 2-1? Would the Amare suspension have mattered after Game 4 if the Suns were up 3-1 instead of tied 2-2? The questions are endless, but the root always comes back to the fact that the Donaghy scandal has forever tainted the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Who knows, had the Suns been given a fair shake in Game 3 maybe they would have gone on to win the title. Or maybe they would have failed to match up well against Carlos Boozer and the Jazz, and the Jazz may have gone on to win the title. Or perhaps the Cavs would have defeated a weary Phoenix squad. Or maybe it wouldn't have mattered at all, and the Spurs would have still won the title. The sad truth is that the Suns, the NBA, and basketball fans everywhere will never get the chance to truly know what would have happened. All we do know is one thing;

2007 NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs*


(And here is the video I kept referencing)

A Move Most Odd Part II

I thought that the most lopsided trade of the NBA off-season occurred last week when the San Antonio Spurs gave Jackie Butler and Luis Scola (A starting caliber PF) to the Rockets for a 2nd round draft pick and a player (Vassilis Spanoulis) that is never going to play in the NBA again.

Well, I was wrong.

The Phoenix Suns found a way to be even more charitable than the Spurs, as they executed the following trade with the Sonics:

"The Seattle SuperSonics acquired veteran forward Kurt Thomas and the Phoenix Suns' first-round draft choices in 2008 and 2010 on Friday in exchange for a conditional second-round draft choice.

Seattle also sent Phoenix its $8 million trade exception to complete the deal."

The reasoning of course, is that the Suns are trying to clear room so that they can keep the trio of Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire intact. That is a fine and good rationale in all reality. The way that the Suns are going about doing it however, is absolutely asinine. Lets start by looking at this trade. The Suns shipped two first rounders and an $8 million expiring contract for a conditional second round pick and an $8 million trade exception. The logic would be that getting rid of the first round picks gets rid of two guaranteed contracts down the line. The rest of the deal makes no sense however, as why on earth would a team that is looking to cut cap ever use an $8 million trade exception? The Suns won't use it, so the deal essentially breaks down as two first rounders and Kurt Thomas for a conditional second round pick.

Now, combine this with the fact that the Suns have sold two first round picks in the past two years for a combined $6 million in cash, and now we have a problem. That is four first round picks gone with only one on-court asset coming back to the Suns. Well, one asset if the conditional second round pick from the latest trade is ever triggered. What the Suns are doing right now is sacrificing their future to avoid the luxury tax. Look at it this way; could the Suns have traded each of those four first round picks for a second rounder and a little cash instead of the deals they made? If they had employed that strategy they could have at least had four players to stash in the D-League or Europe, and if Steve Kerr can evaluate talent at all at least one or two of those picks would likely pan out in time.

Here is the truth; these moves are setting the Suns up for disaster as soon as Steve Nash exits the stage. There will be no smooth transition, no minor dip in performance. The team will shatter. Do you really think Shawn Marion will stick around once Nash is gone? No way. Then the Suns will be left with a core of Leandro Barbosa, Stoudemire, and Boris Diaw (whose nearly $10 million a year contract is what is causing all this trouble in the first place). Too bad they won't have any young talent left to ease the transition. It'll all be playing in Seattle.

Blazers Going For Marion?

I am going to preface this by noting that this entire situation is very fluid right now. There are a number of rumors circulating at present about the Portland Trailblazers and a possible move they might be making for a small forward. Over at True Hoop Henry Abbott has posted this rather cryptic blurb:

Pritchard's "cap expert," assistant GM Tom Penn, adds that "we have to formally complete the New York trade before we can finish another trade that we hope will happen." Penn estimates that will take a week to ten days for all this to be announced.

Later in the same press conference, someone asks about the teams's decision to draft Rudy Fernandez, and Pritchard says "that's part of the thing I'm not supposed to talk about, so I apologize for maybe letting it out a little bit."

I'm no expert on the collective bargaining agreement, but I'm guessing that this means something has to happen with Channing Frye (moving on?) or Steve Francis (being bought out?) before Rudy Fernandez can be shipped (with Frye, Pryzbilla, Jack, Koponen ... who knows?) somewhere for a small forward.

This actually makes a lot of sense. The Blazers made a ton of moves last night, and it seems like they have about 20 players on their roster right now. It would be logical that they are hording all these players in an attempt to swing a big trade. It also makes sense that such a trade would be aimed at a small forward, since that position is a glaring hole in the Blazers lineup right now. (They started Ime Udoka all last season and Darius Miles is essentially done) So who is the mystery small forward the Blazers are looking to get? None other than Shawn Marion according to Blazers Edge:

New York had agreed to a buyout with Francis. The buyout has Francis giving up his player option and taking about 10-15 million. Francis keeps the money, becomes a free agent, and may sign with another team. The buyout is transferable to Portland, meaning that if Francis signs with another team for the mid-level exception (5 million), the Blazers would only have 7.5 - 12.5 million count against the cap for this year, and nothing for next year. Letting Freddie and Dan expire this year would only have saved us 6.1 million. This way we eat the buyout and dump Zach's ridiculous contract. Francis will never wear a Blazer uni...

... the Blazers are targeting Shawn Marion. In this case, Francis is traded, with the exception, cash, and probably another cheap piece such as Webster or Jack, for Marion. By gaining the Francis buyout and dumping Marion, the Suns gain a ton of cap space, and Francis is a Blazer for about 10 days.

All I can say is, the Blazers would be completely nasty if this were to go down. Think about it, you would be talking about a starting lineup of Jack, Roy, Marion, Aldridge, and Oden. Good grief. If Kevin Pritchard pulls this off he will officially replace Bryan Colangelo as my favorite GM.

What Happens To Zach?

Leading up to the NBA Draft there are All-Star caliber players whose futures will be signifigantly altered depending upon who their teams select. If the draft goes according to plan and Portland takes Greg Oden and Seattle takes Kevin Durant, than both Rashard Lewis and Zach Randolph will likely leave their respective teams. In Lewis' case he will just merely choose not to sign with the Sonics, but Randolph is in a much more complicated situation. There is no way that the Blazers can afford to keep Randolph and his $13+ million salary if they draft a center with a top two pick for the second consecutive year. (Portland picked LaMarcus Aldridge #2 overall last year) With both Oden and Aldridge, along with Raef LaFrentz and Joel Pryzbilla as well, Randolph will need to be moved to a different team. The question then is, where? And for who?

The "who" aspect of the equation is fairly simple. The Blazers are in desperate need of a SF. They started journeyman Ime Udoka last year, and Darius Miles is likely a non-factor after missing all of last season with microfracture surgery. Therefore the obvious move would be to ship Randolph to a team that 1.) Needs a scorer in the low post and 2.) has a dispensable SF. The following scenarios would fit those criteria:

Scenario #1
Portland Receives: Ron Artest and John Salmons
Sacramento Receives: Zach Randolph

In this scenario the Blazers would essentially be taking a one year loan out on Artest, as he has a player option he would likely decline after next season. Salmons however, would be the real catch of the deal. Salmons is signed through the next four seasons at base salaries ranging from $4.7 million to $5.8 million which would make him a very affordable starter while Portland's young core of Roy, Aldridge, and Durant developed. On Sacramento's end the Kings would rid themselves of Artest while gaining some sorely needed rebounding and inside scoring. The Kings ranked 30th in rebounding this past season, and Randolph would certainly go a long way in improving that ranking.

Scenario #2
Portland Receives: Andrei Kirilenko
Utah Receives: Vince Carter (sign and trade)
New Jersey Receives: Zach Randolph and Gordan Giricek

This three way deal would fill large voids for all of the teams involved. Utah has not had a solid SG in ages, and Carter would give them an elite scorer that could generate offense when the Utah offense stalls. Paul Milsap would then likely move into Kirilenko's former starting position. For New Jersey it would provide them the inside scoring threat they have been missing since Kenyon Martin left town and would also allow them to go after a SG prospect such as Rodney Stuckey or Morris Almond in the draft. From the Blazer's perspective Kirilenko would be the perfect SF for them, a player that does not need to score in order to make a big impact on the game. The trio of Oden, Aldridge, and Kirilenko would automatically become the best defensive frontcourt in the NBA.

Scenario #3
Portland Receives: Shawn Marion
Phoenix Receives: Vince Carter (sign and trade)
New Jersey Receives: Zach Randolph and Dan Dickau

The logic here would be the same for the Nets, and for the Suns this deal would alleviate the locker room tension between Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire while still being able to bring in equal value in return. Carter could slide to the 3 for the Suns with Boris Diaw then starting at the 4 spot. For Portland, Marion would give them the best chance at making an early splash in the West while Roy, Aldridge, and Oden are still on their rookie contracts.