Month: June 2009 (Page 29 of 58)

      Stallworth to plead guilty in DUI manslaughter case

      June 16, 2009 /

      Browns’ receiver Donte’ Stallworth has agreed to a plead guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge stemming from an incident in Miami in which he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car.

      Stallworth, 28, is scheduled to appear Tuesday in a Miami courtroom to enter the plea. If accepted by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy, Stallworth would serve a short jail sentence for the March 14 crash, followed by lengthy probation and numerous conditions, Terry Chavez, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, told The Associated Press.

      Miami Beach police said Stallworth was drinking at a bar in the swank Fountainebleu hotel. He left to go to a nearby home — he owns three properties in the Miami area — and then headed out in his black 2005 Bentley on MacArthur Causeway, which links the beach to downtown Miami.

      Prosecutors say Stallworth hit 59-year-old Mario Reyes, a construction crane operator who was rushing to catch a bus after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m. Stallworth told police he flashed his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck.
      “He’s shown remorse and taken responsibility from day one,” Chavez said.

      Stallworth stopped after the crash and immediately told officers he had hit Reyes. Police estimated Stallworth was driving about 50 mph in a 40 mph zone.

      This is a sad situation and one of those moments that could have been avoided had one thing went differently. If Stallworth hadn’t been drinking, maybe his reaction time would have been better and he could have slammed on his breaks. If Reyes hadn’t been rushing to get on the bus, maybe he would have used the crosswalk instead of running across a busy street.

      Either way, it’s a tragedy. But at least the court process doesn’t look like it will be dragged out, which is good for everyone involved.

      Update: Stallworth will serve 30 days in jail for pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter. It’s assumed that he will be able to continue his football career by reaching this plea agreement.

      NFL

      Is Josh Smith on the block?

      June 15, 2009 /

      According to Chad Ford, the answer is yes, he is.

      The big trade rumor flying around (if you’re already tired of the Shaq-to-Cleveland talk) centers on the Hawks’ Josh Smith. Several league sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks have been working hard the past few weeks to see whether they can find a taker for Smith.

      The Hawks have some financial issues coming into the summer. Two key players, Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams, are free agents. So are a few others on the roster — Josh Childress, Zaza Pachulia and Ronald Murray. Although the Hawks would like to keep those players, they can’t afford to pay all of them. That has opened the door to the possibility of trading Smith, who, although talented, has a reputation as a difficult player to coach.

      The Hawks have had no problem finding teams interested in Smith. The issue is the whopping $6 million trade kicker attached to his contract. The trade kicker essentially would require the team that trades for Smith to pay him the $6 million immediately. In this economic climate, many owners will balk at the payment.

      It seems shortsighted (or maybe blind is the better word) for the Hawks to trade away their second best player so they can re-sign their middle-of-the-road point guard and their middle-of-the-road small forward. I think Marvin Williams has some yet untapped upside, but Smith is a key cog to what the Hawks have built over the last few years, and he’s locked into a fairly reasonable contract given his production. He’s just 23, and he’s already a 16/8 type of a guy. He did a much better job this season of taking better shots (though he’s still not there yet), upping his FG% from 46% to 49%.

      Maybe he’s a tough guy to coach, but he’s still one of the best young players in the NBA. If the Hawks can find someone that can get through to him, he has the skills to be a perennial All-Star for years to come.

      NBA, NBA Draft, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Report: Marshall wants out of Denver

      June 15, 2009 /

      Or so says NFL Insider Adam Schefter (via Rotoworld):

      NFL insider Adam Schefter reported on 850 KOA in Denver that Brandon Marshall asked Broncos owner Pat Bowlen for a trade during their meeting Friday.

      Per Schefter, Bowlen asked Marshall to take some time to reconsider his stance. Marshall is not expected to back down, however, which means the Broncos are right back where they were with Jay Cutler. Though it’s possible that a new contract could assuage Marshall, it’s more likely that the receiver will continue to push for a trade. Perhaps the Bears will be interested.

      This is what I wrote over the weekend when Marshall left the Broncos’ facilities with packed boxes after his meeting with Bowlen (I feel it’s appropriate given this latest news):

      Marshall is extremely underpaid considering his on-field production. But he’ll have to excuse the Broncos for not wanting to dole out a big second contract to someone who can’t keep his act together off the field. It’s hardly a savvy business decision to guarantee a truckload of money to a player that might just wind up being suspended again in the future. Marshall has already had at least seven reported incidents since being drafted, so he’s hardly a reliable investment for Denver.

      That said, if the Broncos don’t want to lose another gigantic piece of their offense, they’re going to have to pony up. Denver doesn’t want another mess on its hands like it had with Jay Cutler, so Bowlen and company need to make a decision regarding whether or not they want to take a risk by paying Marshall to keep him happy.

      The Broncos will ultimately have to decide whether or not they want to completely bulldoze what they’ve built and start over with Josh McDaniels. If they trade Marshall, they can acquire draft picks and group them with what they got in the Cutler trade. They might lose in the short term, but win in the long run assuming they can put together some decent drafts (including the one they just had in April). Either way, Bowlen and McDaniels have their work cut out for them.

      NFL

      Five MLB trades that don’t need to happen

      June 15, 2009 /

      I get it – baseball trades are fun. They’re fun to speculate about, they’re fun to debate and they’re fun to analyze. But just because a club needs a bat, an arm or is just looking to shrink salary, doesn’t mean that a trade needs to happen.

      I’ve compiled a list of five trade rumors and where they originated. I then discuss why each of them makes sense, but why they also don’t necessarily need to happen.

      Rumor #1: The Red Sox will trade for Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
      Why it makes sense: Boston is growing impatient waiting for Jed Lowrie to recover from a wrist injury that has held him out since mid-April. They’re also tired of watching Julio Lugo (who is equally bad offensively as he is defensively) make a mockery of the game whenever he trots onto the field. While Nick Green has done well filling in for Lowrie while he’s been hurt and for Lugo while he continues to work on being the most overpaid player in professional sports, the Sox feel they could do better with Wilson. (There’s also a rumor making the rounds that Boston wouldn’t have to give up any top prospects in order to acquire Wilson – they just would need to take on the rest of his salary.)
      Why it doesn’t need to happen: Wilson is excellent defensively, but he brings very little to the table in terms of offense. He’s also overpaid himself, as he’ll make $7.25 million this year and $8.4 million in 2010 despite being limited at the dish. While waiting for Lowrie to return to the field has been a slow death for the Sox, he’s cheaper than Wilson and gives the team a better overall player at the position (when he’s healthy, of course). Plus, Green has played well and Boston might be better served holding onto prospects in order to make a more productive move around the trade deadline (i.e. adding another bat in case David Oritz plans on hitting south of .200 all season) than one involving Wilson.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      Oklahoma City explores its options

      June 15, 2009 /

      Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman had this to say about the current trade winds in the NBA…

      With just 10 days remaining until the June 25 NBA Draft, one league source said there has been an unusual silence around the league regarding substantial trade talks. The source said the economy is likely the culprit, with the majority of teams primarily interested in shedding high-dollar contracts.

      “Dumping contracts is going to be the principal thing in this draft as far as trades go,” the source said. “You’re not going to see pick-for-pick (trades). You’re going to see pick and bad contract for pick.”

      Outside of the run of the mill free agents, I think there might be a few big names changing teams this summer, but my bet is that they’ll mostly be the second-tier stars with bloated salaries. The playoff teams that are willing to spend won’t shy away from adding the salary given that the player may be the missing piece to the championship puzzle.

      In another column, Mayberry discusses the importance of different positions in the NBA…

      Nine of the 10 teams that finished the season ranked in the top 10 in opponent scoring made the playoffs. The common denominator: all had an interior defender or shot-blocker at the center position. (Nine of the 10 teams that finished at the bottom 10 in opponent scoring missed the playoffs. All but two — Chicago and Phoenix — lacked a difference-maker defensively at center.)

      But on the flip side, with its roster under construction, the Thunder isn’t in a position to draft for need. Many observers around the league think the Thunder should select the best player available, regardless of position and in spite of Oklahoma City’s gaping hole in the middle.

      “A lot of teams feel it’s way more important to have a Brandon Roy than a center,” said the scout. “A guy who can run the high pick-and-roll, get to the free throw line, make plays for others. It’s not even close. You’re dead in the water if you don’t have that guy.”

      The Thunder pick third, so they’re likely looking at Ricky Rubio, Hasheem Thabeet and James Harden. The Rubio/Harden decision comes down to what the team has planned for Russell Westbrook. Is he the point guard of the future (as Chad Ford keeps reporting)? If so, it doesn’t make sense to draft Rubio. If they feel that Westbrook is better suited for off guard, then a Rubio/Westbrook backcourt could also be formidable. I’m guessing that the Grizzlies are going to go with Thabeet at #2, so OKC may very well have to make this decision later this month.

      NBA Draft

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