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

Introducing...The Yi Meter

When you think about Yi Jianlian's characteristics, a couple of things jump out at you. He is really tall, athletic, and has a very good perimeter shot for his size. When I first heard that description of Yi, three names popped into my head; Dirk Nowitzki, Toni Kukoc, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. All three of those players fit that same description, yet fall all across the spectrum in how that skill set ended up serving them. Will Yi be an MVP like Dirk? A solid pro like Toni? Or a bust like Nik? From time to time we'll check in on the Yi Meter to see where Yi stands. It will likely be reactionary, and it will unlikely be fair. Enjoy.

For the first installment of the Yi Meter we found Yi somewhere between Toni and Nik territory. Why? Yi did show some scoring skill when he put up 23 points against Memphis in the Summer League, so that points to the hype perhaps being correct on Yi's skills. On the other hand though, this happened:

Getting posterized in a Summer League game, and then getting taunted afterward by the guy? That is a Tskitishvili move if I ever saw one. Therefore, in spite of the 23 points Yi is going halfway between Nik and Toni for this installment of the Yi Meter.