2009/2010 NBA Thread

[jrtdot]

realgm

Boozer Staying With Jazz

Jun 30, 2009 5:40 PM EST

Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer announced on Tuesday that he is exercising his player option for 2009-10. Boozer will make $12.657 million this season and join the famed 2010 class a free agent next summer. “We are excited that Carlos has decided to remain with the Jazz,” said Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. “We are hopeful he can continue to play at an All-Star level and will have an injury-free season.”

Boozer had been widely expected to become a free agent, but the economic climate of the NBA made delaying his free agency by one season a prudent decision.

Varejao Opts For Free Agency

Jun 30, 2009 3:21 PM EST

Anderson Varejao has elected not to exercise his player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as expected.

"Anderson Varejao has officially informed the Cavs that he will be a free agent at midnight," writes Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer.

And a thumbs up for the Detroit Management, Curry was definitely a bad decision but still wasn't as bad as trading a Chauncey for "Mr. Me" Iverson

[Blitz]

Anyone else think that Allen Iverson to the Dallas Mavericks for the mid level exception would make them a contender again?

Erick Dampier/Dirk Nowitzki/Josh Howard/Allen Iverson/Jason Kidd with potentially Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright and JJ Barea seems to be a very solid team. AI would give the Mavericks another solid scoring option since Terry seems to have hit his ceiling and on the decline now.

[naiwf]

Anyone else think that Allen Iverson to the Dallas Mavericks for the mid level exception would make them a contender again?

Erick Dampier/Dirk Nowitzki/Josh Howard/Allen Iverson/Jason Kidd with potentially Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright and JJ Barea seems to be a very solid team. AI would give the Mavericks another solid scoring option since Terry seems to have hit his ceiling and on the decline now.

AI would kill that team because he hasn't yet realized that he's no longer a franchise player. Dirk needs to be the leader going forward and if they were to sign him they would have a pair of undersized 2 guards with him and Terry which would not be good when they need to play defense. Dallas probably needs to blow it up and start over because they've only got about 3-5 more years of peak Dirk left.

[naiwf]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/15844497

The Pistons remain busy as they've reached agreements with Ben Gordon & Charlie Villanueva already.

[VerbalPuke]

I like these moves, this more than likely spells the end of Rip Hamilton in Detroit, and as much as I like him, Gordon is younger and probably a better answer for the long term.

Charlie V adds some much needed size to the team and also adds a bit more youth to the team. It's interesting to consider that we've essentially replaced Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace with these two. Most would take Chauncey and Rasheed, but one has to consider that Sheed and Chauncey are also getting up there in age and the Pistons needed to get some young blood. These moves will not make us champions again, but I think they at least position us to be competitive again as long as Joe can somehow parlay Richard Hamilton (or Tayshaun Prince) into a good center.

I'm hoping they sign Avery Johnson to be the head coach. Doug Collins is a terrible idea given that he's already been in Detroit and didn't have a ton of success. Bill Laimbeer is another option, an intriguing one at that. The players would surely respect him, and he would demand that they play hard nosed defense every night, it just begs the question if he can translate his success from the WNBA to the NBA.

Edit - And apparently the Pistons want to re-sign Antonio McDyess. I'd be happy to have him back, but wont be surprised or disappointed if he opts to play for a true contender.

Edited July 2, 2009 by VerbalPuke

[livid]

I don't think that Laimbeer would necessarily fit with a team consisting of these two as they're not exactly hard-nosed defensive guys.

Though, after I saw the signing, Avery Johnson is who immediately came to mind. Wouldn't be a bad choice, at all.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Livid Soprano

[VerbalPuke]

Laimbeer's the sentimental choice for obvious reasons. And granted Charlie and Ben don't play defense, we can still add more guys through trades that can potentially mask their deficiencies, but our defense was bad last year, so at least we can be entertaining to watch.

[Blitz]

Anyone else think that Allen Iverson to the Dallas Mavericks for the mid level exception would make them a contender again?

Erick Dampier/Dirk Nowitzki/Josh Howard/Allen Iverson/Jason Kidd with potentially Jason Terry, Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright and JJ Barea seems to be a very solid team. AI would give the Mavericks another solid scoring option since Terry seems to have hit his ceiling and on the decline now.

AI would kill that team because he hasn't yet realized that he's no longer a franchise player. Dirk needs to be the leader going forward and if they were to sign him they would have a pair of undersized 2 guards with him and Terry which would not be good when they need to play defense. Dallas probably needs to blow it up and start over because they've only got about 3-5 more years of peak Dirk left.

That's the thing though, the Mavericks showed their affection for a three guard lineup last season and I would say that a Terry-Kidd-Iverson combination would be much more efficient than a Terry-Kidd-Barea combo. As a Mavericks fan, I'd love to see another consistent scorer such as Iverson put on a Mavericks jersey. I don't remember the last legit scoring option we have had other than Dirk in the past few years.

I also heard some rumors flying around that Charlotte was shopping Emeka Okafor. Anyone else heard this?

[jrtdot]

So its down to the wire right now for Hedo's services: either it is the Blazers or the Raptors at this point. Though the Star is reporting that it would not be good for the Raptors to sign him as it would be putting too much money into one player while not being able to sign Delfino, Marion, etc.

Another Raptors option or known as the Hedo alternative for either the Blazers or the Raptors is actually Trevor Ariza, who is looking for $8-9 Million

[Mr Evil Guy]

I think a starting 5 like this for the Raptors would be fantastic:

C: Bargani

PF: Bosh

SF: Turkoglu

SG: Parker

PG: Calderon

I would rather have that than the money to get Marion. Carlos Delfino would be great to come off the bench, but our bench is fairly decent and with Hedo with the Raps would be craaazy.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Mr Evil Guy

[jrtdot]

yeah personally, I'd say it would be a good pickup if not a great one! Here's a guy who can make his own plays and be a very effective offensive threat. But that'd mean Parker also would probably not come back as well. And if they pick up Delfino, they'd still prob need another SG and another SF to back up Turk and Derozan

[JStarr]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-clippe...,0,238192.story

The Clippers are apparently sending Zach Randolph to Memphis for Q-Rich. This might actually be one of those deals that works for both teams. Having Randolph there alongside Marc Gasol means they don't have to rely too heavily on Thabeet to do more than block shots and rebound, preferably off the bench.

The Clippers avoid any of Randolph's bitching about losing minutes to Blake Griffin. I would say they may have done something right...but with their luck, Richardson will tear something getting off the plane and Randolph will keep putting up 20+ per night.

[Blaze09]

Charlie V adds some much needed size to the team and also adds a bit more youth to the team. It's interesting to consider that we've essentially replaced Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace with these two. Most would take Chauncey and Rasheed, but one has to consider that Sheed and Chauncey are also getting up there in age and the Pistons needed to get some young blood. These moves will not make us champions again, but I think they at least position us to be competitive again as long as Joe can somehow parlay Richard Hamilton (or Tayshaun Prince) into a good center.

No, just no. This was a bad deal all-around. I would rather pay for Chauncey than Ben Gordon, who is a undersized bench SG who can't do nothing but shoot. Granted, Rip comes from the same mold, but Rip plays better defense, and his scoring output isn't going to be equaled out by whoever he is guarding every single night. Charlie V and Sheed is almost the same as well, but you could have just signed Sheed for 2 years for the same amount, and Charlie V is unproven at that. If we would have signed Ben for 7 and Charlie for the MLE, then I'm happy, but for the prices they got, no. We are not better off than what we were before the turn of the month, and that is all that matters.

[alldaws1]

Artest says he's heading to the Lakers. Rockets in talks with Ariza. Swapsies?

Gortat makes verbal commitment to join Dallas

[naiwf]

The Magic have been dismantled in a few weeks. That's sad.

Artest to the Lakers - 3 yrs/$18 million

Edited July 3, 2009 by naiwf

[Trey]

The problem with Gordon is that he has to guard someone and he doesn't pass the ball well at all. You need to have a PG that can guard SG's if you plan on playing Gordon in crunch time.

[livid]

Stuckey has the body to be able to do that. I haven't seen a lot of him though so I'm unsure of how good he is defensively. But he seems like a guy who would be able to do that.

And yeah, looking at the team, I don't understand how it can't not be Johnson coaching. He ran a high tempo, score first team in Dallas and this team seems to be shaping up like that moreso than any other Piston team in the past.

And the Artest to Lakers deal is intriguing. I guess they were able to sign him at the price they offered Ariza so it all works out. Ariza's good and can get better but Artest brings even more toughness to the team.

[Mr Evil Guy]

Washington Post is saying that Ariza and Rockets have a deal

EDIT: ESPN says its a 5 year thing 33 point 5 *illion sorry *y keys are fucked

Edited July 3, 2009 by Mr Evil Guy

[gunnar hendershow]

So basically the Rockets get younger with Ariza and the Lakers get a defensive vet with Artest. Works out well for both sides. This Lakers team has the chance for another three-peat, so they might as well go all-out.

[El Presidente]

I'm not a fan of the Artest deal at all. I don't want to see some punk like Artest on my team. What's gonna happen when he starts bitching about something or doesn't get along with Kobe? Why mess up the chemistry of the team when you could've easily just re-signed Ariza? He was putting up pretty much the same numbers as Artest, and he was a KEY to the Lakers getting the finals last year, especially because of his steals. I just don't see a need for the Lakers to get any better, especially when they got OLDER because of it. Ariza's still very young and could've been in his prime as Kobe and Gasol got older. Now, you just add another guy that's going to age right along with them. I don't really like it for either team, considering Ariza and Aaron Brooks are now the Rockets best players? Houston's doomed, they might end up with one of the worst records in the league next year..