Author: John Paulsen (Page 680 of 937)

      Cavs acquire Mo Williams via trade

      August 13, 2008 /

      The Cleveland Cavaliers may have found LeBron’s sidekick… Mo Williams.

      Mo Williams, the high-scoring point guard from Milwaukee, will go to Cleveland in the deal, which should be announced later Wednesday.

      The 6-foot-1 Williams averaged 17.2 points and a team-high 6.3 assists for the Bucks last season.

      Cleveland will send shooting guard Damon Jones to Milwaukee and forward Joe Smith to Oklahoma City.

      Milwaukee also will get point guard Luke Ridnour and forward Adrian Griffin from Oklahoma City.

      Oklahoma City, formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics, also gets Desmond Mason, the athletic small forward, from the Bucks.

      I know there are many Bucks fans celebrating this move. A lot of people don’t like Mo’s game since he’s not a pass-first point guard. But he was 16th in the league in assists (6.3), and he’s a terrific scorer (17.2 ppg) and a pretty good rebounder (3.5 rpg) for a point guard. He’s sort of a poor man’s Gilbert Arenas. He’s not a terribly good defender, but since leaving the Jazz a few years ago, he hasn’t been around a defensive-minded coach. If Mike Brown can get some defense out of him, he could turn Williams into an All-Star caliber player. I love this trade for the Cavs.

      And, as a Bucks fan, I hate this trade for Milwaukee. Luke Ridnour? Really? That’s the best you can do for a guy who averaged 17 points and six assists last season? Bucks GM John Hammond made some nice moves this offseason, but I don’t like this trade one bit.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Sixers/Iguodala reportedly agree to six-years, $80 million

      August 12, 2008 /

      I estimated that Andre Iguodala’s value was $12-$13 million per season. Sources are saying that the Philadelphia 76ers locked Iggy up to a deal worth $13.3 million per season.

      The athletic and exciting 6-6 forward/guard has improved his scoring average in each of his first four seasons, and promises to be a mainstay on a Sixers team that recently signed former Clipper big man Elton Brand to an estimated $82 million free agent contract.

      If the Sixers had not been able to sign Iguodala, the 24-year-old could have played this season for them after signing a qualifying offer, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. In that scenario, the Sixers could have lost their most exciting young star without any compensation.

      Iguodala and the team had an opportunity to work out a contract extension last summer but could not come to an agreement. Talks this offseason moved slowly until the last 24 hours, when, sources say, the team significantly increased their offer.

      Maybe the Sixers saw my estimate and decided to up their offer. A guy can dream, can’t he?

      Good signing for the Sixers. Iggy is a talented player, but he’s probably a better fit as a sidekick than being “The Man.” Now that Elton Brand is in Philly to be “The Man,” Iguodala should thrive alongside him.

      Last year at this time, who would have thought that the Sixers would be coming off a solid playoff performance and a ballsy signing like the Brand acquisition? Very nice job thus far by new GM Ed Stefanski.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Defensive Team By Committee: Home Sweet Home

      August 12, 2008 /

      I just posted a DTBC article that named the Seahawks/Bills as my favorite DT combination for 2008. But what about those fantasy owners that utilize a week-to-week DTBC approach? (Each week, they pick up a mediocre defense that has a great matchup instead of carrying the same defense all year.) Back in January, just as the playoffs were in full swing, I explored the effect of home vs. away for mediocre fantasy defenses.

      So what’s the bottom line? Well, if you’re going to pick up a new defense each week to take advantage of a great matchup, go for one that is playing at home. A defense playing at home is going to post, on average (at least for 2007), 54% more fantasy points against the worst 10 offenses than a similar defense playing on the road. Intuitively, this makes sense. Mediocre defenses are likely to play better in front of their home fans and bad offenses are likely to play worse on the road. And the numbers back it up.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Redeem Team rolls over Angola

      August 12, 2008 /

      It isn’t going to be this easy. The U.S. men’s basketball team beat Angola, 97-76, in preliminary pool play.

      Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, James dominated the game with his size and strength on both ends, and the U.S. Olympic team wrapped up the easy portion of its schedule with a 97-76 victory Tuesday night.

      Dwight Howard added 14 points and James finished with 12 for the Americans, who had another rough night from 3-point range but don’t appear to be stoppable in the open court. Wade was perfect from the field in Beijing until missing in the third quarter.

      The Americans (2-0) moved on to face Greece, the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship. Two days later comes a matchup with Spain, the team that won that tournament and is also 2-0 in this one after rallying to beat China in overtime behind 29 points from Pau Gasol.

      Look for Team USA’s game against Greece on Thursday (early) morning on the USA Network.

      NBA, The Olympics

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