Category: NBA (Page 253 of 595)

      Butler to the Bulls?

      January 4, 2010 /

      That’s the rumor, according to the Chicago Sun-Times…

      Rumors were circulating Sunday that the Washington Wizards, in an attempt to shake things up, are shopping swingman Caron Butler, with the Bulls and the Miami Heat being the likely trading partners.

      From the Bulls, the Wizards reportedly would seek guard Kirk Hinrich to provide some stability. The rumors also had the expiring contracts of Jerome James and Mike James being included, although the contracts of Butler ($9.78 million) and Hinrich ($9.5 million) are close enough to do the deal straight up.

      Once thought untouchable due to his skill level and affordable contract, the Wizards are actually thinking about trading the 29-year-old Butler away. Next season, he is set to make $10.6 million in the final year of his contract. That’s not bad for a guy who has proven that he can score like Butler has. (He posted back-to-back 20+ point seasons with Gilbert Arenas sidelined.)

      While I like Kirk Hinrich’s defensive mentality and willingness to share the ball, a straight up trade would be a coup for the Bulls if they can retain enough cap space to sign a big-name free agent (Dwyane Wade?) next summer. Butler’s salary next season is $1.6 million more than Hinrich’s, so assuming a cap of $50 million in 2010-2011, that would trim the Bulls’ cap space from around $12.5 million to less than $11 million. Of course, these figures assume that John Salmons does not terminate the final year of his deal (~$5.8 million).

      With a core of Rose, Butler, Deng and Noah, the Bulls would be a very attractive place for Wade to land. The post mentioned that the Heat are also interested in Butler, which is interesting considering the Butler-to-Chicago rumors.

      NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Kobe hits buzzer-beater against Kings [video]

      January 2, 2010 /

      The young Kings (without Tyreke Evans) were poised to get a win in Los Angeles (over the Lakers, not the Clippers), but with a two-point lead and four seconds to play, Ime Udoka bricked two free throws setting up this shot by Kobe Bryant…

      Kobe finished with 39-5-5. For the Kings, Spencer Hawes posted 30-11-5 and (rookie) Omri Casspi chipped in with 23-6-3.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Video

      NBA investigating Arenas’ locker room dispute

      January 1, 2010 /

      Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports….

      An NBA investigation into Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas’ possession of guns inside the team’s locker room has been linked to a confrontation with teammate Javaris Crittenton, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.

      The league’s ongoing probe hopes to determine whether Arenas had accessed any of his unloaded firearms while engaged in the dispute prior to a team practice at the Verizon Center on Dec. 21 in Washington. Tensions between Arenas and Crittenton escalated because of a festering disagreement between the two players, sources said.

      Peter Vescey of the NY Post reports that the dispute was over a gambling debt.

      NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team’s locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The Post has learned.

      It was the three- time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, draw ing on the 22-year-old Crittenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well.

      The duel in DC — unprecedented in sports history — was sparked when Crittenton became enraged at the veteran guard for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, a source said.

      “I’m not your punk!” Crittenton shouted at Arenas, according to a league source close to the Wizards.

      That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun, league security sources said.

      A playground pal of Crittenton’s from Atlanta, Kendrick “Bookie Ball” Long, confirmed the locker-room standoff and said he learned of it directly from the third-year player out of Georgia Tech.

      “He [Arenas] was f- – -ing with him; he [Crittenton] was just defending himself!” declared Long, who said the dispute was over money but would not elaborate.

      Arenas has a reputation of being funny crazy, but this just sounds like crazy crazy.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      The Decade in Sports

      December 31, 2009 /

      It’s the last day of the decade!

      In case you missed any of our Decade Debate series, here’s a link to each individual post (i.e. we put a lot of work into these, so you better take a look!)

      10 Biggest Betrayals
      Saddest Franchises
      10 Biggest Upsets
      8 Greatest Comebacks
      6 Greatest Rivalries
      5 Biggest Quarterback Busts
      10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires
      10 Worst NFL Free Agent Signings
      Greatest Fantasy Football Players
      15 Best College Football Players
      10 Best Second Round NBA Picks
      10 Best Late-First Round NBA Picks
      10 Biggest NBA Draft Blunders
      10 Pivotal MLB Trades

      College Basketball, College Football, Fantasy Football, Humor, MLB, NBA, NBA Draft, NFL, NFL Draft, NHL, Soccer, Super Bowl, Tennis, The Olympics

      Why can’t Tyreke Evans play small forward?

      December 31, 2009 /

      Much has been made of the emergence of Tyreke Evans (22-5-5 in December) and how things are going to work once Kevin Martin comes back from injury. The Kings have three options: 1) try to play Evans at point guard when that’s not his natural position, 2) play Evans at off guard, even though he’s not a pure shooter, or 3) play Evans at small forward, even though he’s undersized.

      Evans is great at creating for himself, but he’s not a natural playmaker at the point guard position. Kevin Martin is an underrated scorer and should not be dismissed at off guard. He’s 40%+ from long range and can get to the line at will. He’d be great as a court-spacer/sidekick if the Kings can find a way to play him alongside Evans.

      What about small forward? Is Evans really undersized? Looking at the draft measurables, Evans is a tad short for SF (6’5″ in shoes), but his wingspan (6’11”) and standing reach (8’8″) are longer/taller than DeMar DeRozan, Chase Budinger, Gerald Henderson and Terrence Williams, and no one has a problem with the idea of playing any of those guys at small forward. He’s not a prototypical small forward, but the league is getting smaller and he definitely has a swingman-type game.

      The downside? Evans won’t have a strength advantage over most small forwards, which is one of the reasons he’s currently so effective getting to the rim. However, he will have a quickness advantage over most taller SFs, so that should help. Another issue is defensively with Evans and Martin, the Kings wouldn’t really have a stopper on the wing.

      Oddly enough, the solution would be at point guard. To complement Evans and Martin on the wing, the Kings would need to find a defensive-minded, pass-first point guard who is tall and strong enough to cover the other team’s best perimeter player. And it would help if he was a 40%+ shooter from long range. Think 2006-07 era Kirk Hinrich. He doesn’t need to handle the ball a lot, just get it up the court, initiate the offense, and share the ball on the perimeter.

      It could work, right?


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NBA

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