“It is with great pride and humility that I announce my return to the Golden State Warriors, the place where it all started,” Webber said in a statement. “This organization and city has always had a special place in my heart because it is where my dream of being an NBA player first came true.”
Although there is widespread skepticism regarding Webber’s ability to keep up with Nelson’s run-and-gunners — given the mobility issues that have hampered the 34-year-old since a serious knee injury in the 2003 playoffs and subsequent microfracture surgery — Nelson insists that the Warriors need Webber’s passing and midrange game to get them unstuck when the game slows down or their countless three-pointers aren’t dropping.
Webber initially left the Warriors during Nelson’s last stint with the team after the two had a falling out, so it’s a little surprising that both parties agreed to reunite. Webber can still pass and shoot, but he has very little lift and speed left in those legs, so count me among those that are skeptical about the chances of him fitting in well with Golden State. Nelson has a point that Webber can help in the half court game, but I wonder if that will be at the expense of the up-tempo attack.
That attack is the Warriors’ identity, so let’s hope Webber doesn’t mess it up.
Who is the best shooter in the NBA? That’s a loaded question, but if you’re asking who the most efficient shooter is, I can give you an answer by utilizing the Points Per Shot statistic. PPS also tells us who the league’s worst shooters are.
He’s been playing innocent for the last few weeks, but Jason Kidd has finally confirmed that he does indeed want to be traded.
The rumor mill says the Lakers, Mavs, Nuggets and Cavs are interested. In the video, Tim Legler is talking about a deal where the Mavs would send DeSagana Diop, Devean George and Jerry Stackhouse/Jason Terry, but that only adds up to salaries in the $11.1 to $12.8 million range, which doesn’t approach Kidd’s salary of $19.7 million. In most NBA trades, the salaries need to be within 20% in order for it to work under the rules of the salary cap. That deal is also rumored to include another Western Conference team, so the Nets may be getting more than those three. If the Mavs are able to acquire Kidd and only give up Diop, George and Stackhouse, it would be a coup.
If I’m running the Nets, I would try to pry Devin Harris away from the Mavs, or at the very least, Terry. The deal is rumored to include picks, but if we’re talking non-lottery teams, those late picks in the first round aren’t worth that much.
The Lakers were considering a deal for Kidd last season, but weren’t willing to give up Bynum when most “pundits” (including myself) thought they should. Now Bynum is a budding star, so the Lakers will certainly balk at any deal including their young center. They could offer up Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown, which would allow the Nets to shed some salary after this season. The Nets should try to get Jordan Farmar if possible. He has been extremely productive this season and should develop into a good starting point guard in the next couple of years.
The Cavs always come up when a star demands a trade because the thinking is that they are a very good player away from seriously contending. Kidd would give the Cavs a true point guard, but LeBron handles the ball so much, I wonder if Kidd’s talents would be wasted. Mike Brown would have to drastically alter the offense to utilize Kidd’s skills, but he (Brown) hasn’t proven to be very adept at making offensive adjustments. And whom would the Cavs give up? Does anyone want Larry Hughes and his $12 million salary? Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao are possibilities up front, as is Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Daniel Gibson is their primary young bargaining chip in the backcourt.
The Nuggets are an interesting possibility because Kidd’s arrival would allow Allen Iverson to play exclusively at shooting guard. He’s another guy who has to have the ball to maximize his talents, but with Kidd running the show, the Nuggets would be pretty scary offensively. The problem is what the Nets would accept in return. Kenyon Martin? Doubtful. The injured Nene? Maybe. Marcus Camby is a distinct possibility, but does Denver want to trade away the reigning Defensive Player of the Year? Camby has a very affordable contract, which makes him that much more valuable.
Kidd wants to be traded to a contender, which means whatever draft picks the Nets can acquire are probably going to be late in the first round. However, it sounds as if getting out of New Jersey is his #1 priority.
The New York Post says that the Nets are going to have a tough time finding a suitable trade partner.
“They’re in a no-win situation,” said another GM. “No one out there is going to give them a piece to grow with. Maybe expiring contracts and draft picks, but the teams that will bid – say Dallas, Cleveland – don’t necessarily have that.”
It seems the best the Nets can hope for is a good, young prospect and/or a first round draft pick. They will also want to shed salary as quickly as possible so they can go about the business of rebuilding.
There were 10 NBA games on Sunday, and they were all pretty competitive. In fact, eight were decided by five points or less.
The Boston/Orlando game went down to the wire. The Celtics were without KG, but they kept it close behind some clutch shooting by Ray Allen and terrific defense by Rajon Rondo (who looks like he’s going to be a player). With the game tied, the Magic had the ball, and whom did they go to for the final shot? Dwight Howard? No. Rashard Lewis? Nope.
They isolated Hedo Turkoglu, who is playing some great ball this season. He went off a ball screen and hit the game winner as time expired. Check out the highlights here.
Meanwhile, in L.A., it was Kobe vs. LeBron. The Lakers had a nine-point lead with 8:09 to play, but a 15-2 Cavs run was capped by a Larry Hughes jump shot with 4:27 to play. Kobe missed a good bit of the fourth quarter because he got into some ill advised one-on-one with LeBron. Phil Jackson tried to send his superstar a message and it looked like it got through. With 0:09 to play, Kobe passed on a game-tying three-point attempt, throwing the ball to Luke Walton, who failed to get a shot off. Walton elected to pass the ball back to Kobe as time expired. The announcers were lauding Walton’s “high basketball IQ” in the fourth quarter, but he looked pretty dumb on that play. LeBron had 41 while Kobe had 33. (See the fourth quarter highlights here.)
Lastly, my beloved, yet Michael Redd-less Bucks had an 11-point lead against the Wizards with 1:40 to play in the fourth quarter and the game went to overtime. Yes, you read that right. The Wizards went on a 11-0 run in the final 1:40, jumpstarted by back-to-back three-pointers by Deshawn Stevenson. In overtime, the Wizards led by four with 2:18 to play, but this time it was Mo Williams who hit back-to-back shots from long range to give the Bucks the win. Caron Butler scored a career-high 40 points, grabbed eight boards and had five steals, cementing him as my fifth All-Star starter in the East. Mo Williams had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. (See the mislabeled highlights here.)
G – Jason Kidd G – Dwyane Wade F – LeBron James F – Kevin Garnett C – Dwight Howard
WEST
G – Allen Iverson G – Kobe Bryant F – Carmelo Anthony F – Tim Duncan C – Yao Ming
All in all, I don’t think the fans did such a bad job this season. I made my picks in a recent column, and all ten starters earned spots on my rosters. It would have been nice to see Caron Butler get the starting nod over Dwyane Wade, but knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening. In the West, I didn’t have either Nugget starting, and I had Duncan starting at center. In my opinion, Chris Paul and Steve Nash deserve to start more than Iverson and ‘Melo.
Still, the fans didn’t make the mistake of putting T-Mac in the lineup and it makes me wonder if the coaches will vote him onto the roster. He already said that he didn’t really want to play in the All-Star Game, so hopefully the coaches will give the spot to someone more deserving.
The reserves will be announced next Thursday (1/31) on TNT.
