2005 NBA Offseason Topic

[Mofoticon]

Reports say the Cavs have signed SG Larry Hughes to a 5 year contract for 12 mil per year, if so, this is a great signing for the Cavs.

[Jester of Death]

No contracts can be signed until July 22, so all reports are just verbal agreements.

Way to break it HBK

Deal believed to be worth $65M to $70M

By Chad Ford

ESPN Insider

Larry Hughes has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a five-year deal, his agent, Jeff Wechsler, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

"Larry intends to sign a contract with the Cavs when the moritorium ends," Wechsler said.

Wechsler wouldn't comment on the actual numbers of the deal, but it's believed to be a five-year deal between $65 million and $70 million.

Wechsler told Insider that he informed Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on Thursday that Hughes is going in a different direction.

The news comes as major blow to the Wizards, who were confident they could re-sign Hughes. However, the Wizards took a risk that Hughes would allow them to match any offer. Instead, Hughes began negotiating with the Cavs early in the week and worked out a deal on Thursday evening.

For the Cavs, Hughes gives them a great scorer and defender to put at the two alongside LeBron James. He isn't a great shooter (something the Cavs desperately need), but he's a fantastic ball handler and rebounder making him -- like LeBron -- a very versatile piece in the puzzle.

With Hughes on board, the Cavs will now focus their atttention on bringing back free agent Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They're also in hot pursuit of Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely regarded as the best international player not playing in the NBA.

The Wizards now have to start over from scratch. The team now has a gaping hole at the two to fill and must also deal with the likely departure of Kwame Brown. The Wizards can get about $9 million below the cap if they don't re-sign Brown. However, the market for two guards is getting thin.

The last major two guard on the market is Joe Johnson. However, Johnson is a restricted free agent and most teams believe that the Suns will match any offer. There's also talk from multiple league sources that Johnson is in serious negotiations with the Atlanta Hawks about signing a max offer sheet.

That leaves Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Latrell Sprewell as the top two guards left on the board. The Wizards could also, at this point, try to work out a sign-and-trade with Brown that brings them back a top-flight shooting guard.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

Edited July 8, 2005 by Jester of Death

[Green Demon]

I wasnt postitve if the reports were true about Hughes since it was being reported by a NBA Draft site but now I am guessing this is going to happen since Espn is reporting it. Hughes may not be the shooter that we needed but he he is pretty good all around compared to Redd at least. He is a good defender and that should help our terrible D from last year. We could still go after a PG shooter such as Jones from the Heat or a guy to come of the bench like Korver if we could pry him away from Phili.

[jonnycomelately]

Yeah Hughes has agreed to terms which is basically signing without the signature. And I thought nobody this off-season would sign on to be LeBron's second fiddle but to my surprise the Cavs got a defensive/scoring dynamo in Hughes and just made the Cavaliers a lot better and the Wizards a bit worse as I don't think that Washington was expected to make a big investment in the market this offseason outside of Hughes. At least they have Jamison and Arenas locked up.

[Green Demon]

Espn.com

Former Clippers swingman Bobby Simmons agreed to a five year, $47 million deal with the Bucks on Friday, his agent Mark Bartelstein said.

"Bobby intends to sign with the Bucks when the moratorium ends," Bartelstein told ESPN.com. "He was very appreciative of the opportunity that the Clippers gave him but felt like this was the best opportunity for him."

The move is the clearest signal yet that the Bucks are serious about competiting for a championship this year. In the past week, they signed the No. 1 pick in the draft, Andrew Bogut, agreed to a six-year, $90 million dollar deal with Michael Redd and began the on the court rehab for point guard T.J. Ford.

The Bucks have two more significant free agents, Dan Gadzuric and Zaza Pachulia, that they are also trying to re-sign.

Simmons will join Desmond Mason, Jiri Welsch and Redd to form a pretty potent combination at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Mo Williams and hopefully Ford will take care of the point. Their only area of weakness now is at the four where Joe Smith is the only big guy holding down the fort.

The loss of Simmons, coming on the heels of the rejection by free agent Ray Allen, is yet another blow to the Clippers. Simmons had a breakout year for them and was a key to their success this season. However, head coach Mike Dunleavy was uncomfortable paying Simmons, who has played well for just one season, that type of money.

The Clippers could also lose free agent Marko Jaric this summer, putting into serious question their hopes of making the playoffs next season.

This is kinds surprising since I didnt know they had enough/were going after Simmions since they got Redd but I guess they got him. To me it doesnt seems like the best move for them since they already have two pretty high paid guys at those postions anyways. I am just wondering if he is coming off the bench or what? I also think that they had bigger problems at the PF postions then the SG.

[Big Red Fury]

As a pretty big Bucks fan, I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say...Wha???

[jonnycomelately]

Wow that much cash for Bobby Simmons when you already have a player like that on your roster (Desmond Mason) is pretty steep. All the power to them trying to try to show some effort in bringing in talent after last season's abysmal showing but I can't speak for Bucks fans but I'm sure they realize that last season's poor showing was primarily to be blamed on a rash of injuries. All this spending is going a tad overboard for a team like Milwaukee. Should be a fun team to watch though.

[Big Red Fury]

Yea you're telling me. Now we have Redd, Mason, Welsch, and Simmons to battle over two spots. The first thing that initially popped into my head is that one of them will be traded(likely Mason because Redd and Simmons were just signed) for an additional power forward.

[jonnycomelately]

Why do such a thing? You have a former #1 overall pick patrolling at the 4. Wait a minute, it's Joe Smith...my bad.

[EWRFan]

I read somewhere that Z will be back with the Cavs for 55-60 million. I dont think it is a good move, I mean, if he stays healthy he is good, but I have a feeling he wont last 50 games next season.

[Green Demon]

Z has been extremely healthy in the past 3 seasons and has not had problems with his feet other then the obvious slow down get down the floor. The only games he has missed have been due to suspesion so as of now I dont think he has any durability problems down the road that may be different but now I think he will be ok. I think it is a good move he is one of the top offensive centers in the east and hopefully will help Lebron and company by sucking guys in so that they can hit mid-long range shots.

[Blitz]

Roger Powell is playing on the Mavericks Summer League team. Hopefully we can get him, if only for his defense. He isn't averaging many points in the summer league, but we could always use a hard-nosed defender on the court. I, for one, hope he makes the team.

[jonnycomelately]

Things just keep getting stranger and worse for Phillip in Hollywood. Now he's going to have another person on his team who's a project in Kwame Brown. He will also be losing a solid 3 in Caron Butler and either the team's starting PG in Chucky Atkins or one of the most reliable sixth men in the league in Devean George. This move will move Odom to the 3 after primarily playing the 4 last year but I still don't understand it. Kwame Brown? And why give up two players, productive ones nonetheless, for a guy who was told to stay home during the Wizards' playoff run last year. Whatever, the California heat makes people do strange things. Like draft Andrew Bynum. (even though he seems to be doing well in the summer leagues)

[Jester of Death]

I thought the Lakers were screwed to begin with, now they trade away two players that can score for Kwame Brown.

With all due respect, I don't think Kwame Brown was ever an NBA player, and never will be.

The Moratorium is over on the 22nd, can't wait to see what Joe Johnson and Raja Bell do.

[Trey]

It is being reported on ESPNRadio that Larry Brown's contract is being bought out by the Pistons. It's unknown whether he'll take a year off for health or otherwise.

Also, former T'Wolves coach Flip Saunders is reportedly going to be contacting the Pistons about the job; looking to be the favorite for the job.

[dadivaluver]

I wouldn't be suprised if Terry Porter got the job. I can see two things happening here: (Assuming Larry Brown goes to the Knicks, like we all know he will, no matter how many times he says he won't.)

The thing I'm wondering though, is if Riley takes over the Heat, and Brown takes over the Knicks, where does that leave Saunders (or Porter) and Stan Van Gundy? Don't be suprised if a team releases their current coach to get one. If not that then you can count on something happening during the middle of the season when the first coach gets fired.

[Typical Phenom]

I thought the Lakers were screwed to begin with, now they trade away two players that can score for Kwame Brown.

With all due respect, I don't think Kwame Brown was ever an NBA player, and never will be.

←

Edited July 19, 2005 by Typical Phenom

[Enter Blue Guy]

Donyell Marshall signed with the Cavs. It was no secret the Raps wouldn't resign him, but damn, he was my favorite player last year and was slowly becoming a fan favorite in Toronto. It doesn't help that I despise Cleveland either.

[Green Demon]

Cleveland has been countiuing to get better this offseason with the moves that they made. They may not have been able to adress the 3 point problems they have with Hughes but now that we got Marshall it should help a bit, I also think that Marshall is an upgrade on the defensive side since Gooden was almost non exsistent. I am guessing that Cleveland is not looking to send Gooden somewhere since he had a career year last year so he might get more then usual for him. If they were to make a deal they would probaly do it in exchange for draft picks to get more cap room or trade for an average/long range point guard.

[jonnycomelately]

The NBA Free Agent Moratorium ends at noon ET today. HOORAY The Knicks signed...oh its only Jerome James. Hooray to Knicks management though for thinking about getting rid of Allan Houston. Kudos.