2010/2011 NBA Thread

[naiwf]

Penny Hardaway wants to try and make the Heat's bench. In honor of this huge announcement, enjoy my favorite Lil Penny commercial.

[gunnar hendershow]

Warriors sold for record $450 million

By JOSH DUBOW, AP Sports Writer 25 minutes ago

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Golden State Warriors owner Chris Cohan reached an agreement Thursday to sell the franchise for a record $450 million to Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber. . . . . Their offer broke the record for the largest sale in league history, topping the $401 million Robert Sarver paid to buy the Phoenix Suns in 2004.

So a guy named Goober spent $450 million for the least valuable basketball franchise in the state of California and broke a record to do so. What more really needs to be said?

Good news for Warriors fans is that this is an actual Warriors fan buying the team. Supposedly he's had season tickets for 10 years.

He is someone who will also spend the money to get smart people in his organization and possibly be fine with the luxury tax. It's a good day for Warriors fans. The second best day this year, the first being when they revealed their new uniforms which are easily the best in basketball.

[naiwf]

Chris Paul has changed his mind, and has now made it clear that he wants out of Nawlins. His main choices would be to go play for the Knicks, Lakers or Magic. If the Knicks can get CP3, I'd take back just about every bad thing I've said about the Dolans

[JStarr]

Broussard claims Knicks, Magic, Blazers, Mavs.

I like Portland as a fit, honestly. Paul with Roy and Aldridge? The money would work if the Blazers dealt Camby, Batum, and Bayless, and all three could be contributors with the Hornets.

The Knicks would end up with a highly expensive backup point guard, but hell, if the Rockets can throw $7M per year at Kyle Lowry, Ray Felton's a friggin' bargain.

If Jeff Bower was still running the Hornets, I'd expect him to basically stonewall the demands as a guy who wouldn't know if he would still have a job once the ownership changes. Dell Demps is the new GM, though, and he may not want his first act to be one that keeps a pissed-off franchise guy on the roster.

[Trey]

Roy is a lot better with the ball in his hands then without in the few Portland games I've seen but they are both more then talented enough to make it work. I'm just surprised that Paul waited this long to make his demand when a bunch of other teams could've been in the hunt with exceptions and such just a week or two ago.

Also, this is from LeBron's twitter which he just started July 6th. I don't think he could've picked a worse time to join the social networking community but it's kind of funny his twitter has gotten so flooded with tweets about the decision he had to ask people to stop.

The biggest mistake you can make in life is fearing that you will make one! STOP! Everyone makes mistakes! Just live & learn!

[naiwf]

Roy is a lot better with the ball in his hands then without in the few Portland games I've seen but they are both more then talented enough to make it work. I'm just surprised that Paul waited this long to make his demand when a bunch of other teams could've been in the hunt with exceptions and such just a week or two ago.

I think he made the smartest choice possible considering that New Orleans didn't do anything this offseason other than re-signing Aaron Gray and trading Mo Pete and Cole Aldrich for Quincy Pondexter and Craig Brackins. The Hornets are now a dead end team with no intention of getting any better, he knows it and they can either keep him for two years and let him walk, or they can get something for him, move Collison up to permanent starter status and try to paint CP3 as the bad guy.

[gunnar hendershow]

Word is Allan Houston is to be the next GM of the Knicks. I won't make fun of this until I see it in action, but it could be his destiny to revive the franchise he killed a decade ago. I wouldn't be shocked if that turnaround now starts with CP3.

[Meacon Keaton]

Maybe I missed it, has David Lee signed with anyone else? Or is it possible he may sign with the Knicks again? Because Paul, Lee, and Amare would get me to the Garden.

[jrtdot]

Theo Ratliff and Matt Barnes look to be joining the Lakers.

Ratliff was reported already and the Matt Barnes thing has been reported on NBA.com

Barnes roulette wheel ends on Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers won the battle for one of the last fussed-over free agents on Thursday, agreeing to terms with Orlando Magic free agent forward Matt Barnes on a two-year, $3.6 million deal. Barnes turned down more money from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had offered a multi-year deal worth more than $3 million annually. The Celtics and Heat also had pursued Barnes, who finally found a team after a proposed sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Raptors fell apart earlier in the week.

Barnes averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in his one season in Orlando. (The Lakers will be Barnes's eighth NBA team.) But both Miami and Boston could only offer the veteran's minimum of $1.146 mllion for Barnes; the Heat used its remaining cap room to sign forward Mike Miller, and the Celtics used their mid-level exception on Jermaine O'Neal.

Meanwhile, the Lakers had about $1.8 million remaining after signing guard Steve Blake to a four-year, $16 million free agent deal. Blake replaced Jordan Farmar, who took a three-year deal in New Jersey. Barnes will likely back up Ron Artest next season, though league sources say Lakers Coach Phil Jackson wants less drama next season and could be looking to quiet things down in the locker room after Los Angeles' ride to a second straight championship.

Barnes drew attention with his confrontation with Kobe Bryant in a game last March and his subsequent accusation that Bryant threw numerous elbows without punishment and that he would not back down from challenging Bryant in the future. That assertion may have impressed Bryant -- who, a source says, pressed hard for the Lakers to get Barnes just as he had pushed them to sign former nemesis Raja Bell. Bell opted to return to the Utah Jazz with a three-year, $10 million deal earlier this month.

Barnes announced on his Twitter page Monday that he was going to the Raptors, and league sources said it was a two-year, $9 million deal. But either the league shot down the proposed mechanism for making the sign-and-trade work, the Magic or Raptors didn't interpret a cap rule correctly or Barnes simply jumped the gun. Whatever the reason, the deal fell apart Tuesday and Barnes was left with no place to make the money he supposedly was getting in Toronto, with his agent unable to find a suitable landing place.

All Orlando could offer Barnes, even to facilitate a sign-and-trade, was $1.92 million next year, due to his "non-Bird" status; he had only played one season with the Magic.

Yahoo! Sports first reported the deal between Barnes and the Lakers.

[naiwf]

Maybe I missed it, has David Lee signed with anyone else? Or is it possible he may sign with the Knicks again? Because Paul, Lee, and Amare would get me to the Garden.

Right after LeScum's announcement he completed a S&T with the Warriors (6 yrs/$80 million) for three guys. I think he messed up a finger recently and will miss the World Championships as a result.

Edited July 23, 2010 by naiwf

[naiwf]

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded troubled guard Delonte West and point guard Sebastian Telfair to the Minnesota Timberwolves for point guard Ramon Sessions, 7-footer Ryan Hollins and a future second-round pick.

The T'Wolves are going to cut West and plan to also get rid of Telfair (trade or buy out) so they basically gave up Sessions, Hollins and a pick for nothing. The NBA is awesome.

[Colossus]

KAHN!!!!!!!

KKKKKAAAAAHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, this guy botches everything and he has one of my dream jobs

[rocksta]

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=5423084

This is my favorite headline of the summer. 'Stoudemire to explore his 'Hebrew roots''

The fact that it made the front page of ESPN makes it even better.

Edited July 31, 2010 by rocksta

[naiwf]

Nets, Hornets, Rockets, Pacers talking trade

Edited on: August 11, 2010 2:39 pm

Posted by Royce Young

Update: Our own Ken Berger of CBSSpors.com confirms that the deal is done, pending league approval.

I guess new Hornets general manager Dell Demps was serious about upgrading the talent and putting together a plan in New Orleans to keep Chris Paul. And he's not wasting any time doing it, sacrificing Darren Collison in a trade in order to move James Posey's hefty chain of a contract.

Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports that the Hornets, Nets, Rockets and Pacers are talking a four-team trade that would send Trevor Ariza to NOLA, Courtney Lee to Houston, Collison and Posey to Indiana and Troy Murphy to New Jersey.

Goodness. Let's all let that one soak in for a minute.

At first glance, I'm having trouble finding anything all that appalling about it. It makes sense for Indiana who desperately needs a point guard and is willing to take on Posey's ugly contract to get a potentially excellent point man in Collison. The Nets don't really need Murphy long-term because they just drafted Derrick Favors, but with Yi Jianlian moving to Washington, the Nets could use some more scoring punch and honestly, unloading Lee is not that much of a price to pay for a double-double machine like Murphy. Plus having Murphy in front of Favors and pairing those two with Brook Lopez would be darn fine frontcourt.

The Rockets would get Lee, who is a good shooter and scorer to spell Kevin Martin and also clear room for Shane Battier who now can get the minutes he deserves. Not to mention they'd ship Ariza's $5.8 million off the books in exchange for Lee's $1.2. Houston clearly is looking to clear some money off the books, because a straight swap of Lee for Ariza really isn't equal in terms of a talent trade. For instance, as Ford points out, before the trade, the team was bracing for a $10 million-plus luxury tax hit. This trade would save them $28 million on the life of the contracts and $10 million this season, including luxury tax considerations. That's a good chunk of change.

And of course the Hornets, who are the most important part of this proposed trade. Demps promised CP3 he would improve the roster and here's his first stab at it. Ariza replaces Posey in the proposed trade and this would also gives Demps the flexibility to move Peja Stojakovic, who he surely would love to.

Though he has faults (like shooting way too much, shooting too many 3s and shooting too low a percentage) Ariza is a quality scorer and someone that Paul can be encouraged in having. Plus, the kicker: Demps is already starting to try and clear some of the dust off the shelves by moving contracts like Posey's off the books. Though if there is a question mark here, it's that one would think the Hornets could get more than Ariza in a trade that sends Collison somewhere.

Obviously New Orleans wouldn't trade Collison if it weren't certain that Paul were staying. So if there's anything to take from all this, it's that CP3 will likely be with the Hornets for at least two more years. That is, if it all goes through in the end.

That is some seriously dumb shit by Nawlins. You just gave up your one chip if CP3 leaves and all you got in exchange was dumping a contract and Trevor Ariza. They should have just traded Paul and Posey's contract for something much better, since he's leaving in 2 years anyway. The guys running teams in the NBA are almost all morons. No wonder Miami, LA, Boston and a few others routinely rape and pillage other teams.

[livid]

Yeah but they have to make moves to try and convince Paul that they're serious about putting pieces around him. It'd be different if the outcome of that meeting a couple weeks ago came out with Paul still wanting to leave but the fact that he didn't push the issue then would lead me to believe that he basically gave them a Kobe ultimatum to go get talent or he will leave. If they made no moves, it was pretty much guaranteeing that Paul would leave because they wouldn't have even tried to put the pieces around him but by going out and getting Ariza and dumping salary (not to mention by shipping out their safety net should Paul leave), it's showing that they are committed to building the team around Paul and not just phoning it in.

[JStarr]

All that said, speaking as a Pacer fan, I have only two words.

1) Fuck.

2) Yeah.

I'd like to hope that Hansbrough will actually get to a point where he can at least be a placeholder at PF, but if not, the Pacers are going to end up being Phoenix East, just out of necessity.

[naiwf]

Yeah but they have to make moves to try and convince Paul that they're serious about putting pieces around him. It'd be different if the outcome of that meeting a couple weeks ago came out with Paul still wanting to leave but the fact that he didn't push the issue then would lead me to believe that he basically gave them a Kobe ultimatum to go get talent or he will leave. If they made no moves, it was pretty much guaranteeing that Paul would leave because they wouldn't have even tried to put the pieces around him but by going out and getting Ariza and dumping salary (not to mention by shipping out their safety net should Paul leave), it's showing that they are committed to building the team around Paul and not just phoning it in.

I get all that, but how is trading Collison and Posey's contract for Ariza an upgrade? Who's going to go to New Orleans next year as a FA when they know there's a good chance CP3 walks the following year? Keeping Collison made sense on two levels since he could be insurance in case CP3 left, but also gave them a more than capable back up PG which they no longer have now. If Paul gets hurt, who runs the point? Clearing cap space when you have no one willing to fill it doesn't work. Ask the Clippers/Nets/Knicks etc.

[livid]

Well, Ariza is certainly an upgrade over Posey at this point and is a solid 3rd option (behind Paul and West and/or Thornton) and while trading Collison certainly does open up a hole behind Paul, they can go out and sign a solid option (Earl Watson is still available) to be the backup in the short term and if they really feel like Paul's going to be leaving, they can address the long term impact in the draft next year. But standing pat and doing nothing would certainly guarantee that Paul would leave and be more moronic than making this move.

[JStarr]

It's activity for the sake of activity, kind of similar to all the moves that Danny Ferry was making the last four years to show LeBron that the Cavs were really trying.

It'll probably end the same way, sure, but the Hornets aren't a good enough team to simply sit on their hands and get by, anyway. If you're forced to make moves, why not make the ones that will save money in the short term?

[livid]

I'll admit that this isn't like the Lakers adding Gasol but it's not really activity for the sake of activity. It does makes them better. He's a clear upgrade over Posey and at this point of his career, Peja too. It sucks that Collison was the asking price but if you're committed to building a team around Paul, you can live with dealing his backup so that you can get quality guys to put around Paul that will actually be on the floor with him. And then being able to slash a bit of salary is just an added bonus.