You can forget about the Bulls going after Kevin Garnett – any deal for the Minnesota superstar would have no doubt included Tyson Chandler and the 5-years/$55 M remaining on his contract. Now that the Bulls and Hornets have agreed to swap Chandler for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith, any deal including KG would be difficult to picture, unless the team wants to give up newly-acquired Ben Wallace. Smith is a prospect, but this is basically a salary dump to give the Bulls cap room next summer, when Kirk Hinrich will be a free agent…The Mavericks have agreed to send Marquis Daniels to the Pacers for Austin Croshere. The Pacers are getting the better end of this talent-wise, as the Mavs just wanted to get rid of Daniels’ contract. It’s clear that he wasn’t going to play much for Avery Johnson…The Jazz acquired Derek Fisher from the Warriors for Keith McLeod and Andre Owens. Fisher is a point guard, so it’s not clear how he’s going to fit in with Deron Williams and draft pick Ronnie Brewer…The Sonics’ negotiations with Chris Wilcox have not gone well, and the team is exploring sign-and-trade options. As many as nine teams are interested in the young power forward…Mike James appears to be close to signing with the Houston Rockets. This would be a great move and it’s likely that Houston is getting a hometown discount (as I covered in my offseason blueprint for the Rockets).
Month: July 2006 (Page 8 of 10)
It has been a long offseason for the Denver Broncos and their disgruntled wide receiver Ashley Lelie. Lelie has been unhappy about his playing time and production in Denver and has been demanding a trade since the Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs last January.
Now the wide receiver is not even showing up to work.
ESPN.com is reporting that Lelie has decided to skip the Broncos mandatory minicamp session on Thursday and is expected to miss the entire three-day camp as well.
On top of his role in Denver’s offense, Lelie has also been irked by the team’s trading for former Packers wide receiver Javon Walker. But with Lelie’s trade demands and his production last year, the Broncos had no choice but to trade for Walker on draft day.
A longstrider and deep threat, Lelie has 53 catches for 20 yards or more and 18 receptions of 40-plus yards in his career, but is prone to lapses in concentration and to bouts of inconsistency. Although the Broncos have attempted to deal him during the offseason, they have found no one willing to meet their asking price.
It is rumored that Lelie wants to be a number one wide receiver for a team, but who would want to make this kid their No. 1? Honestly, he has nice speed and can create separation, but what team would want to take someone who is ‘prone to lapses in concentration and to bouts of inconsistency’? And to only have one touchdown being the second WR on a team that went to the AFC Championship is behind unthinkable.
Don’t get me wrong, some team is going to trade for him if Denver’s asking price comes down, but not going to minicamp on top of an offseason of griping is just making matters worse for Lelie.
Shut your mouth, play out the rest of your contract and hope some team decides to pay you even half of what you think your worth.
ESPN writer John Clayton offers his 10 truths about the upcoming NFL season, including Big Ben growing up after his motorcycle accident and becoming a Pro-Bowler, Randy Moss having a successful second season with the Raiders, and the Panthers being the most talented team in the NFC. Some truths, however, I have a difficult time believing in.
Peyton Manning will have his best postseason thanks to the league’s recent rule change that allows quarterbacks to handle the balls prior to games. This is huge. Quarterbacks won’t be able to practice with them, but they’ll be given game balls early enough during the week that they’ll be able to rub them down and make them easier to grip. The process will continue through the conference championship games.
Slick footballs? One minor rule change will not put Manning and the Colts over the hump in the playoffs. They lost one of their stars in Edgerrin James, who has also proven to be a good pass-catcher out of the backfield. The Colts’ best shot at the Super Bowl came last season and they blew it. No matter what type of football Peyton uses, it’s hard to say he’ll automatically have his best postseason ever.
Brian Billick is on the hot seat, but his Ravens won’t fail this year. They should make the playoffs. The addition of Steve McNair gives Billick the quarterback credibility he’s needed for years. The Ravens have talent. McNair can throw to Todd Heap, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton. Jamal Lewis is perhaps the league’s most talented big back, and he’s had a healthy, calm offseason. The defense is one of the best in the conference. The only question facing the Ravens is the play of the offensive line, and that’s where Billick will step up. He’ll introduce better offensive plays to protect the line and to protect McNair.
I’m having trouble buying into this Ravens hype. In my opinion, the addition of McNair doesn’t make them a shoe-in for the playoffs. McNair is definitely an upgrade over Boller (although who isn’t?) but he isn’t getting any younger and has had an iffy couple of years since his 2003 campaign. Add that to his injury history and the Ravens’ poor offensive line and you get question marks. It doesn’t matter how good their defense is if McNair goes down at some point in the season. They may very well push for a wild card spot in the AFC, but it’ll be tough with the Chiefs, Jags, Bengals, and Dolphins most likely fighting for the same thing.
ESPN.com is reporting that Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez will skip next Tuesday’s All-Star Game due to a sore knee.
There is a little bit of mystery behind the report, however, as it was Red Sox manager Terry Francona who broke the news to the media, not Major League Baseball.
“Just not sure why it hasn’t been [announced],” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said, according to the Boston Globe. “I know there’s been some red tape. It’s getting bogged down a little bit.”
This won’t be the first time that Ramirez has decided not to participate in the Midsummer Classic. The 13-year veteran skipped the 2003 All-Star game due to a sore hamstring and also sat out in 2000 while he was a member of the Cleveland Indians, because of a similar hamstring injury.
In the same article, Buster Olney of ESPN.com has an interesting opinion on the future of Ramirez in relation to the All-Star Game:
Manny Ramirez shouldn’t be on the ballot in 2007, or 2008, or any year going forward, until he informs Major League Baseball that he wants to participate in the All-Star Game. If and when he wants back in, his name can be restored to the ballot.
I think this is a decent proposal considering that this is the third time that Ramirez has decided not to play. And with the All-Star game holding significant meaning to the World Series teams (at least for the moment), you’d think that Ramirez would like to play considering the Red Sox might be playing for a title in late Fall.
Not too mention that he was the leading vote-getter by the fans and if he was healthy enough to play in 77 out of Boston’s 81 games, he’d be fine to play a couple of innings for the American League and his supporters.
Free agent centers are falling like dominoes after the Ben Wallace signing…Joel Przybilla and the Trail Blazers agreed to a 5-year/$32 M deal…One of the teams interested in Przybilla was Detroit, and after he turned them down, they signed Nazr Mohammed to a 5-year/$30 M deal. If they offered Pryzbilla the same deal, one wonders why he’d turn down the chance to play for the Pistons. Maybe he didn’t want to be the guy to replace Wallace…Speaking of the Pistons, how nice would it be to have Darko Milicic on the roster right now? He was supposedly moved so that they had the salary flexibility to re-sign Wallace; so much for that…Matt Harpring agreed to stay with the Jazz for 4-years/$25 M, though the terms were undisclosed. That’s a pretty good deal for a guy who couldn’t play two games in a row this season due to his bum knee…Even with the Wallace signing, the Bulls are still rumored to be making a run at Kevin Garnett. Would Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Tyson Chandler be enough? If I were the Wolves, I’d be hesitant to take on Chandler’s contract, so I’d ask for a first round pick as well…Chandler is also rumored to be heading to the Hornets for P.J. Brown (and his one-year/$8 M salary) along with J.R. Smith.
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