Chauncey Billups hit 9-13 from long range en route to a 39-4-8 night against the Lakers. The win is mightily impressive, especially considering the Nuggets were without Carmelo Anthony.
Oh, and Ron Artest almost punched Joey Graham. Almost. Take a look…
In his latest Trade Buzz, Chad Ford writes that things on the trade front have been a little quiet lately. Here’s why:
One factor appears to be the looming battle over the next collective bargaining agreement, with negotiations expected to start soon. In front offices around the league, the feeling is that owners will fight for major concessions from the players in the next CBA, perhaps even a hard salary cap. With the uncertainty over the new CBA and the economy, some GMs are taking a cautious tack.
In addition to cap considerations, there is another perennial issue: Teams ask for a lot in early trade talks and often don’t feel a sense of urgency until the final hours before the deadline. As one GM told me: “There aren’t many teams that are willing to give teams cap relief this year. And the teams that are willing to do so are asking for a lot in return. I’m not willing to give up an All-Star to save money. But that’s what they want.”
There are some very big names that are available (Amare Stoudemire, Antawn Jamison, Carlos Boozer, Caron Butler, Ray Allen, Andre Iguodala and Devin Harris, just to name a few), and as non-playoff teams try to save money, it’s going to be interesting to see if cap space trumps talent over the next couple of weeks.
Somewhere, Bill Simmons is dancing in celebration because Mike Dunleavy is one step closer to leaving the Los Angeles Clippers. (ESPN)
Although Dunleavy has been under pressure at various points during the past few months despite the season-long absence of No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin (ESPN.com reported in November that Clippers owner Donald Sterling contemplated making a change after an 0-4 start), one source close to the situation insisted that it was Dunleavy’s “decision to step down.”
Said Dunleavy in a team statement: “I’ve had several conversations with our owner [Sterling] concerning what we think is best for the team overall. We have discussed the possibility of my concentrating only on basketball operations. That option has always been available to me.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the ideal time for me to direct my efforts toward the many personnel opportunities that lie before us, such as the trade market, the draft and the free-agent process. We fully expect to be active and productive on all those fronts.”
J.A. Adande writes that the only reason Dunleavy is still with the team is that Sterling doesn’t want to pay coaches that don’t work for him.
The funny thing is, given the injuries to Chris Paul and Greg Oden, the Clippers would have had a legitimate shot at the playoffs had Blake Griffin been healthy. But the injury bug doesn’t discriminate.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
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