Author: John Paulsen (Page 689 of 937)

      Cavs ink Gibson, Hickson looking good

      July 16, 2008 /

      The Cleveland Cavaliers can check off their biggest item on their offseason “to do” list. They signed Daniel Gibson to a five-year deal, but terms were undisclosed.

      As an aside, I always feel like a team is hiding something when they elect not to disclose the terms of a contract. The Bulls still haven’t told us the total value of Andres Nocioni’s contract. Shouldn’t NBA rules stipulate that all contracts need to be fully disclosed?

      Anyway, Gibson is a nice player, but on an efficiency basis (11.77 PER), he’s below average. He can knock down shots, but doesn’t really do much else. However, the Cavs need good shooters to spread the court for LeBron, so the signing makes sense, assuming they got a decent deal. I’d put Gibson’s value at about $3-$4 million per season, so it will be interesting to see just what he got from the Cavs.

      Meanwhile, ESPN’s David Thorpe had this to say about the play of Cavs’ first round draft pick J.J. Hickson…

      Wow. He did everything that can be asked of him, within a flow that resembles what he’ll face during the regular season (unlike Anthony Randolph, who played point forward in his 30-point game). Hickson has a monster body, good activity and a mature face-up game — pretty special for a soon-to-be 20-year-old.

      Next up on the Cavs’ “to do” list is whether or not to re-sign Delonte West. He’s a valuable asset and is good enough to be a solid starting point guard when he’s healthy.

      NBA

      Nuggets trade Marcus Camby for… what?!?

      July 16, 2008 /

      Let’s see, how much is a seven-footer worth? Not much, you say? What if that seven-footer is a still-productive center and a former Defensive Player of the Year? What if he averaged at least 3.0 blocks per game in each of the last four seasons? How about a minimum of 11.6 rebounds per game over the last three? Did I mention his amazingly affordable contract (two years, $15.7 million)?

      So, how much is he worth?

      Well, the Nuggets have decided that Marcus Camby is worth the right to swap future second round picks.

      WHAT?!?

      That’s right, the Nuggets have traded Camby to the Clippers, and that’s all they got. There are trades that are head-scratchers and there are trades that are simply mind-boggling. Like the Pau Gasol trade earlier this season, this particular trade is the latter.

      Camby is 34 and has a history of injury, but he only missed 15 games in the last two seasons and his last five seasons (all in Denver) have been the best of his career. The Clippers get terrific interior defense and rebounding, two areas that were hurt by Elton Brand’s debacle of a departure. They were flirting with the idea of using their newfound cap space on Josh Smith and Andre Iguodala (hoping they could make an offer that the Hawks or the Sixers would be reluctant to match), but instead they used that money on Camby.

      The team says it plans to play Camby alongside up-and-comer Chris Kaman, and it’s going to be interesting to see just how that works. Camby does have a little range on his jumper, but he’s not a power forward type that’s going to be able to space the floor. One positive is that Camby’s contract runs out before the vaunted free agent class of 2010 hits the market, so the Clippers should be in position to spend some money in two years. Regardless, Camby’s arrival should make the Clippers competitive in the West, but they’re still not in any danger of playing deep into the playoffs. Brand’s departure ensures that.

      As for the Nuggets, this is a straight salary dump that virtually guarantees that the team will be less competitive in the short term. It seems like Denver’s management finally realized that the ‘Melo/AI marriage wasn’t going to get them anywhere, so now they’re trying to trim salary in an effort to rebuild around their youngsters (‘Melo, J.R. Smith, Linas Kleiza, and maybe Nene). They should have garnered more for Camby, but they didn’t want to take on any salary, so this might have been the best that they could do.

      When asked to comment, head coach George Karl said the following…

      “I’m not going to talk philosophically about what’s going on and why we did it,” Karl said. “I think all of us, Marcus and all the coaches, we’re going to have to think about it a little bit. It was a situation where I know that Marcus was a big part of our success. Any time you lose a player like Marcus, you’re going to have a tough time filling that void.”

      I think if I were coaching the Nuggets and I just lost one of the few guys on the roster that had any real interest in playing defense, I’d be pretty ticked too. Karl sees the writing on the wall just like we do. His time in Denver looks like it’s winding down.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Ron Artest wants out, should have opted out

      July 15, 2008 /

      I hate to say I told you so, but I told Ron Artest to opt out.

      Of course, I was thinking that Artest would have his pick of five-year, mid-level offers and he’d be able to play deep into the postseason for the rest of his career. But he decided to play out his contract because he thought he was in the Kings’ long-term plans. Now that he knows that he’s not, he wants to be traded.

      There is the ongoing rumor of the Lakers giving up Lamar Odom, but lately the rumblings are that the Lakers aren’t so sure they want to give up Odom for Artest. The Heat have come up as a possibility (with Shawn Marion as trade bait), and Miami would probably be a good fit.

      The good news is that Artest has decided to act as his own agent, much to the surprise of his actual agent, so at the very least this should be entertaining. The downside is that the crazier he acts, the less interest he’ll draw. It’s a double-edged sword, I’m afraid.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Billy Packer dismissed by CBS

      July 14, 2008 /

      Does the sun seem to be shining a little brighter today? Do the flowers smell a little sweeter? Is the summer breeze just a little more refreshing?

      If so, you have CBS to thank. They finally replaced Billy Packer.

      Packer, a color commentator, will be replaced in CBS’ coverage by analyst Clark Kellogg.

      Speculation of Packer’s exit was fueled amid widespread criticism during this year’s tournament.

      Early in the 2008 semifinal between Kansas and North Carolina, with the Jayhawks up 38-12, Packer declared, “The game is over.”

      North Carolina cut the lead to 54-50 with 11 minutes left before Kansas pulled away, winning 84-66.

      Packer, who began his Final Four run at NBC, later defended the comment to USA Today.

      “My job is to say what I see, not have some kind of subconscious feelings about offending anybody. … It probably annoyed some people, but I don’t concern myself with having some agenda that’s contrary to what I’m seeing,” he said.

      Well, Billy, it’s not your job anymore. You won’t have to defend yourself when you prematurely (and incorrectly) declare a game to be over.

      Regular readers know that I have been calling for Packer’s removal for about two years now. Here’s an excerpt from a 2007 column.

      Does anyone really like listening to Billy Packer? In his recent column in ESPN The Magazine, Bill Simmons writes about the fact that Packer has called every Final Four game and every title game since 1975. Simmons goes on to call him “humorless,” “inflexible” and “condescending.” But my favorite quote is, “In Packer’s world, he’s always right, and everyone else is always wrong. Unless they agree with him.” When I bring Packer’s name up to my friends, a few will defend him, but none will admit that they actually look forward to him calling a big game.

      During the Wisconsin/UNLV game, Curtis Terry hits a three-pointer with 1:26 to play to give the Runnin’ Rebels a 69-61 lead. Immediately after the shot, Packer quipped, “Ballgame!” declaring the contest over. Eleven seconds later, Kammron Taylor hit a three to cut the lead to five with 1:15 to play. Packer’s partner/whipping boy, Jim Nantz, exclaims, “It’s not over yet, Billy.” Packer’s response? Dead silence.

      What’s my point? Terry’s shot certainly helped the Rebels’ chances, but despite Packer’s declaration, the game wasn’t even close to being over. His premature statement and his refusal to acknowledge his error is a perfect example of the man’s ego.

      Packer certainly knows the game of basketball and there are few color commentators better equipped to breakdown the X’s and O’s of a game. But as a former player who was forced to watch hours and hours of tape, that doesn’t really appeal to me anymore. Besides, guys like Bill Raftery, Len Elmore and Jay Bilas are able to sprinkle in enough strategy while using their self-deprecating sense of humor to make the game entertaining. This is the side of college hoops that is completely lost on Packer. Those guys also treat their play-by-play colleagues as equals, which is a far cry from Packer and Nantz’s master/servant relationship.

      The guy has been calling every Final Four game since I was two years old. It’s time for a change.

      Honestly, I get a little misty eyed when I read that.

      Oh, by the way, Clark Kellogg will replace Packer. Jim Nantz will keep his play-by-play duties.

      College Basketball, Television

      Shedding some light on this whole Favre situation

      July 12, 2008 /

      It seems that there has been one burning question that has haunted me ever since this whole Brett Favre business started…

      Why are the Packers so against the idea of Favre coming back?

      Mentally, it’s clear that they want to move on with Aaron Rodgers, but they have a Hall of Fame quarterback who wants to come back and play. Why the resistance?

      Well, it might have something to do with a late-March meeting between Favre, head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson. In that meeting, Favre wanted to talk about coming back to the team and McCarthy and Thompson were both open to the idea.

      Thompson confirmed he and McCarthy were prepared to meet with Favre, who said he was interested in rescinding his retirement, in late March. Favre cancelled the meeting, telling Thompson and McCarthy that he had changed his mind and wanted to stay retired. Thompson said he and McCarthy were ready to accept Favre’s return to the NFL at that time.

      “Yes, we were going to leave the owners’ meeting [in West Palm Bech, Fla.] a day early and fly to Hattiesburg with the idea of sitting down and talking to him about coming back to the team,” Thompson said.

      So they were open to the idea, but Favre changed his mind… again. No wonder they are trying to be cautious here.

      But it seems that Favre is 100% committed to playing football this season. He said as much in a conference call this week with the Packer brass. He even went so far as to ask for his release, if the Packers weren’t going to welcome him back.

      The Packers have now said that he is welcome to come back, but he isn’t guaranteed his starting job. Thompson and McCarthy are trying to sort through the details.

      “We don’t know where everything is going to go,” Thompson said. “It’s been a distraction. It’s been a distraction for our fans. I’m trying to stay steady and do the right things for the Packers and do the right thing for Brett Favre. I care about the legacy of Brett Favre. I care about the legacy of the Green Bay Packers.”

      “Quite frankly, it’s a little gut-wrenching as an organization to go through it, and certainly for Mike and myself,” Thompson said. “This stuff hurts a lot of people. I mean, it hurts. I’m not talking about physically hurting, but the sensitivity. We understand where the fans are coming from. This is a hot-button issue that surpasses anything I’ve ever gone through.”

      I just wish this Favre could go back in time and tell the about-to-retire Favre to hang tight. Things would be so much simpler.

      Still, the choice is (relatively) easy. Let him come back to the active roster and give him his job back. It’s what the fans want.

      Fantasy Football, NFL, Rumors & Gossip

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