Category: NBA (Page 153 of 595)

      What about Patrick Patterson?

      June 22, 2010 /

      John Hollinger revisited his Draft Rater, and put together his personal, “totally subjective” draft board for Thursday’s draft.

      There are several big names missing — Ed Davis, Ekpe Udoh — but the one I’m interested in is Patrick Patterson.

      Reader “jfountain1523” said the following about Patterson’s absence from Hollinger’s list: “I assume its the poor rebounding and being a bit short for his position that ruled him out in Hollinger’s rater.”

      Let’s take the last part first. Is he “a bit short for his position”? He’s 6-9.25 in shoes and has a 7-1.25 wingspan. Looking at last year’s measurements, he’s three-quarters of an inch shorter than Blake Griffin, but his wingspan and standing reach are two inches wider/higher. Was anyone worried about Griffin’s size this time last year?

      Now, regarding the rebounding. This is a funny criticism to make and it’s based on his rpg this season (7.4). Yeah, that’s not great for a power forward in college, but digging a little deeper and things don’t look so bad. In his sophomore year, he averaged 9.3 rebounds per game, which is just 0.5 rebounds less than rebound monster DeMarcus Cousins averaged this season. And speaking of Cousins, wouldn’t playing alongside a great rebounder like that only serve to reduce the number of boards available for Patterson? Of course his rebounding numbers were going to dip this season.

      In the end, I think Patterson will make some late lottery team in need of a power forward very happy. I don’t think he’ll be a star, but he could certainly average 15-8 in a starter’s role.

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      Stoudemire headed for free agency?

      June 22, 2010 /

      Even with the Suns’ surprising post-All-Star run, it appears that Amare Stoudemire is headed for free agency.

      Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver and coach Alvin Gentry are planning to meet with Amar’e Stoudemire next week and offer him a contract extension, but a source called it “pretty bleak” that the Suns will be able to convince the All-Star forward to agree to a deal.

      The Suns are expected to visit Stoudemire in Chicago at his summer basketball camp, if not wait for him to return to his home in Phoenix, Yahoo! Sports has learned. After rejecting what’s expected to be another counteroffer below the maximum, Stoudemire will opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent July 1.

      This isn’t a big shock; the writing was on the wall when Steve Kerr left the organization. Stoudemire isn’t really a ‘max’ player, but he sure thinks he is, and that’s a bad combination. No offense to Amare, he’s a great player, but his injury history and inability (or unwillingness) to control the defensive glass keeps him out of ‘max’ territory, at least in my mind.

      But that doesn’t mean that he’s not going to get a maximum contract this summer. Like any market, free agency is about supply and demand, and with all the cap space floating around, there will be a big demand for his services.

      It’s funny — the ‘Bird rights’ are supposed to favor a player’s home team, but for near-max players it can work against the home team. The Suns are trying to be pragmatic and don’t want to overpay, but Amare takes any less-than-max offer as an insult even though he’ll eventually sign for less than the true maximum when he goes on to another team. (Other teams can only offer five-year deals with a lower annual raise.) But Stoudemire will see the other team offering as much as they can and he’ll take that as a compliment, even though the total contract may be less than what the Suns originally offered. (I hope this makes sense.)

      I have a feeling he’ll end up in Miami with Dwyane Wade or possibly Chicago, where he’d be a nice fit alongside Derrick Rose.

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      The Heat’s pitch to LeBron

      June 22, 2010 /

      Chad Ford has been outlining the ways that the different teams around the league can make their pitch to LeBron. As he tackles the Heat, he outlines Miami’s dream scenario:

      The Heat could engage in a sign-and-trade for LeBron or Bosh, most likely Bosh. Sign-and-trades are notoriously difficult to pull off. But they aren’t impossible.

      If Bosh and the Raptors would cooperate, for instance, the Heat could send Michael Beasley and Daequan Cook and return Toronto’s No. 1 pick (owned by Miami) to the Raptors and slide Bosh in under the cap at a starting salary of around $13.5 million.

      Of course, we know Bosh is unlikely to agree to a deal that starts at $13.5 million, especially if Wade and James are getting $16.5 million. But what if all three players — close friends from Team USA — decide to take a small pay cut to play together? If James and Wade both were to agree to a starting salary of $15.5 million, the Heat could offer Bosh $15.5 million as well.

      It’s a nice thought, and if winning was really the most important thing to these players then this is the type of situation they should look for.

      But as much as they like to say that winning is the most important thing — it’s not. While Wade is pragmatic enough to welcome LeBron and Bosh to Miami with open arms, I don’t think either free agent would want to join Wade’s team. Don’t get me wrong — they’d gladly play with Wade in New York or New Jersey or Chicago, but actually joining the franchise that already has a recent championship because of Wade? That is a tough pill to swallow, legacy-wise.

      Chris Bosh has said that he doesn’t want to be seen as an addition to a team and that he wants to be ‘the man.’ That doesn’t jibe with a Wade-LeBron-Bosh trio in Miami. For his part, LeBron is keeping his options open, but would he really want people thinking that he joined forces with Wade in Miami because he couldn’t win a ring on his own?

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      Where do the Celtics go from here?

      June 21, 2010 /

      With just five players — Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Glenn Davis, Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace — under contract, their best player, Paul Pierce, with an early termination option (ETO), and their head coach considering a hiatus, the Celtics are certainly in a state of flux heading into the summer.

      Pierce has said that he’d like to retire a Celtic, so chances are he plays out his contract or the two sides work out a deal. Pierce might lower his annual salary if it means he can sign a long-term contract prior to the new collective bargaining agreement which is likely to be unfavorable to the players, at least in terms of overall salary.

      But he’ll be 33 heading into next season. Is he really a franchise player anymore?

      Continue reading »

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      Chris Bosh wants to be ‘the man’

      June 21, 2010 /

      Last week, Bosh informed us that he wasn’t about to wait for LeBron James to make up his mind, and now he’s reiterating his wish to be ‘the man’ for whatever team he plays for next season.

      Chris Bosh isn’t waiting for some summit to determine his landing spot next season. The soon-to-be Toronto Raptors free agent is determined to chart his own course and forge his own identity apart from the star-studded field of peers also entering the open market.

      “I don’t want to be mentioned as an addition to a team,” Bosh said prior to the season . “I want to be mentioned as the guy that people want to center their team around.”

      “I’m not an addition. I’m a centerpiece,” he said. “I have to have that confidence in myself, and I want people to know that, because I’m not somebody that helps out. I’m the guy you get like, ‘Yo, we’re going to win a championship, you’re gonna take us there.’

      “I want to hold onto that because I think every kid when they dream about playing basketball, they don’t dream about being a role player. They dream about being the man. I have that position in Toronto and to give that up and go somewhere else to be an addition would kinda defeat the purpose of my dreams.”

      That’s still pretty nebulous, but we can read the tea leaves a little bit.

      The fact that he doesn’t want to be mentioned as an addition to a team leads me to believe that he won’t join Dwyane Wade in Miami or LeBron in Cleveland. If he does end up playing with one of those two, it would probably be in New York or New Jersey, where the franchises are basically starting over and can build around him (and LeBron/Wade).

      It would also seem to eliminate the Thunder and Lakers from contention, since he’d be seen as an “addition” to teams that already had established stars (Kevin Durant, Kobe). We could also potentially cross off the Bulls, since they already have a budding star in Derrick Rose (though Bosh would be an ideal fit there).

      Perhaps the Knicks or Nets could persuade both Joe Johnson and Bosh to sign, since Bosh wants to be ‘the man,’ while Johnson doesn’t seem to crave that title.

      Is it July 1 yet?


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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