Category: Rumors & Gossip (Page 101 of 225)

      Five blockbuster deals that should happen (but probably won’t)

      February 11, 2010 /

      The trade deadline is just a week away, so I thought it would be fun to play puppet master and propose a few blockbuster trades that should happen, but probably won’t. Let’s start with the least likely and work our way to the most credible. (Honestly, I had this idea before I hit the ESPN NBA page this morning and saw Chad Ford’s similar piece. Don’t worry, we don’t suggest any of the same trades.) Click on the link to see each trade in the ESPN Trade Machine.

      1. Amare Stoudemire for David Lee
      To make the salaries work, the Knicks would also include Jared Jeffries and Chris Duhon in the deal.
      Why the Knicks should do it: Stoudemire had his best years under Mike D’Antoni and would welcome a reunion. He’s also a big name that would encourage another superstar to join the franchise this summer, and he’s more likely to re-sign with the Knicks because New York is the media capital of the world. They’d also benefit from clearing Jeffries’ salary from the books, leaving around $13 million in cap space to sign a big name (assuming Stoudemire does NOT opt out of the final year of his deal).
      Why the Suns should do it: David Lee is a great fit for the Suns’ up-tempo system and he’s almost as good as Stoudemire (PER: 22.1 vs. Amare’s 20.2) at about 60% of the cost. Phoenix would pay a little more this season and have to take on Jeffries’ contract, but they’d have a young All-Star caliber power forward to build around. If they stand pat and Amare opts out, they stand to lose him with nothing to show for it, as they only would have around $4 million in cap space if Amare bolts.
      Why it won’t happen: Phoenix won’t want to take on Jeffries’ contract for next season without a commitment from Lee to re-sign for a reasonable salary. He was asking for $10 million per season last summer, but his price is probably going up after making a push for the All-Star Game in 2010.

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      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Knicks to acquire T-Mac?

      February 10, 2010 /

      Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports writes that the Knicks are discussing a deal that would bring Tracy McGrady to the Big Apple.

      The centerpieces of the trade would include the Washington Wizards shipping forward Caron Butler and center Brendan Haywood to the Rockets. The Knicks would send Al Harrington to the Wizards. For the Wizards’ part, they would still need another player, as well as a draft pick and cash to make this a workable scenario, sources said.

      Let’s look at this proposed trade from the perspective of all three teams.

      The Houston Rockets would be the big winner because they’d get Caron Butler and possibly Brendan Haywood. Haywood’s deal is expiring while Butler has one more affordable year ($10.6 million) on his contract. They’d essentially get an All-Star caliber player and a good defensive center for the price of a player that they’ve banished from their team (McGrady).

      The New York Knicks would acquire T-Mac, who is a mystery at this point in his career. Can he still play? No one really knows. Since his contract is worth $22 million, just giving up Al Harrington ($10.0 M) isn’t going to be enough. They have a number of players with expiring contracts that they could include (Larry Hughes, Darko Milicic, Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson), but they would really like to unload Jared Jeffries, who has another year remaining on his deal. John Hollinger puts the Knicks’ playoff chances at 0.5%, so they don’t have much to play for this season. They probably weren’t going to re-sign Harrington anyway, so with this trade, they’d roll the dice on T-Mac and see if he has anything left. If they like what they see, they’d try to re-sign him this summer. If they can include Jeffries in the deal, it would be pretty much a no-brainer for the Knicks, which makes me wonder what Washington is thinking.

      Ah, the Wizards. They’d essentially be giving up Butler and Haywood for Al Harrington and whomever else the Knicks sent them. It’s possible that the Rockets could send over a young piece like Kyle Lowry. Something like that would have to be in the works because it makes no sense to trade Butler for Harrington. They’re the same age and Butler is simply the better player. Unless they’re looking to completely blow the team up, the Wizards should focus on getting a young piece for Jamison, who is 33 and has a bigger contract.


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      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Will the Saints look to trade Bush this offseason?

      February 9, 2010 /

      One of the main questions that the Super Bowl champion Saints will need to answer this offseason is whether or not they will retain Reggie Bush for 2010. He’s still under contract for another year, but he’s due $8 million, which is hefty price tag for a part-time player.

      Bush has never shown the ability to consistently run between the tackles and his durability is always a concern, but he will still be a hot commodity if the Saints decide to move him this offseason. He’s a threat to score with the ball in his hands, is a dangerous punt returner and is also the very definition of a playmaker. Some team would want him if he were to become available, especially if New Orleans agrees to pay part of his salary (or even if they don’t).

      I can’t help making the obvious connection between Bush and the Seattle Seahawks, who recently hired former USC head coach Pete Carroll and who are in desperate need of offensive playmakers. If anyone knew how to best utilize Bush’s talent, it would be Carroll and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates.

      But let’s get back to the original question: Will the Saints look to move Bush this offseason? An outright release seems unlikely given that he’s only 24 and still adds value to their offense and on special teams. He proved his worth in the playoffs and even at $8 million, he’s worth 10 touchdowns a year in some capacity.

      The problem is that the Saints have 18 restricted free agents, including Bush’s fellow backfield mate Pierre Thomas, All-Pro guard Jahri Evans, safety Roman Harper and offensive tackles Jermon Bushrod and Jammal Brown. Even in an uncapped year, $8 million would go a long way for a team that needs new deals for the aforementioned starters, not to mention unrestricted free agents like Darren Sharper and Scott Fujita.

      The Saints have an interesting dilemma on their hands this offseason when it comes to whether or not to retain Bush. Considering they just won the Super Bowl, now isn’t the best time to start ripping their team apart but $8 million is a lot of dough to give one player when a team has 21 pending free agents to worry about.


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      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      NFL Network pursuing Chris Berman…why?

      February 9, 2010 /

      According to the Big Lead, the NFL Network is heavily pursuing ESPN talking head Chris Berman, whose contract expires at the “World Wide Leader” in three months.

      If Berman were to move to the NFL Network, it would reunite him with longtime ESPN associate Steve Bornstein, who rose in the ranks alongside Berman in the 80s. A separate source says that Berman and Bornstein – currently President of the NFL Network – are very close, having known each other for almost 30 year.

      The question for Berman is simple: Will the lure of more money for less work trump Berman’s love for baseball and the significantly broader audience at ESPN? In addition to Berman’s NFL duties at ESPN, he’s been calling the Home Run Derby for over 20 years and occasionally calls baseball games for the network as well as hosts Baseball Tonight from time-to-time. Two years ago, ESPN VP of production Norby Williamson said of Berman, “He is our most important person, he is the face of ESPN.”

      Berman stopped being funny in the late 90s and his shtick is old. He’s a shell of his former self and I don’t know why any network would fork over tons of dough in order to woo him into their broadcasting chair. But hey, that’s just me.

      The kicker is that DirecTV is also rumored to be hot and heavy for Berman, too. Apparently neither network has watched ESPN since 1998. That’s the only reason I can think of as to why both the NFL Network and DirecTV would fight (if you can even call it that) over Chris Berman.


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      News, Rumors & Gossip, Television

      Caron Butler to Texas?

      February 8, 2010 /

      NBA.com’s David Aldridge does not like to write trade columns, but fans love them, so he relented. Here are a few of the more interesting tidbits:

      …by this time next week, it’s almost a certainty that Caron Butler will be gone from Washington, and highly likely that Tyrus Thomas will no longer be a Bull. By the 18th, Indiana’s Troy Murphy and Philly’s Andre Iguodala are certain to have new addresses as well, though those teams may well go right up until the 3 p.m. deadline to max out their suitors’ offers.

      Not a bad start. Aldridge predicts at least two stars (Butler, Iguodala) and two starter-quality players (Murphy, Thomas) will be on the move. Here’s what he says about Butler:

      The Wizards’ desire to move Butler has only increased in recent days, since they found out they will indeed get some cap relief from the NBA this season after losing Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton to suspension for the rest of the season. Washington’s cap number will be reduced almost $4 million, according to sources — pro-rated amounts of the remainder of Arenas’s $16.1 million and Crittenton’s $1.47 million salaries — taking its cap number to a little more than $74 million. The cap threshhold is $69.9 million, meaning Washington could avoid paying tax if it can pare another $4 to $5 million in salaries off its books.

      That means Butler, though I suspect the Wizards will ask inquiring teams to remove Mike James and/or DeShawn Stevenson from their payroll as well.

      Butler winding up somewhere in Texas is most likely, with Washington probably deciding between Dallas’ and Houston’s competing offers before next week’s All-Star Game. The Wizards are determined to get a young player back, though, and the Mavericks’ only non-geezer is rookie guard Rod Beaubois — while Houston has a young guard like Kyle Lowry and an expiring big man contract in forward Luis Scola to pair with McGrady’s $22 million expiring deal.

      With the way Antawn Jamison has been playing (22-10-2 in February), some consider him to be the Wizards’ most valuable trade asset. But at 33 years old and with a tough contract to swallow (two more years at the tune of $28.4 million), I believe Caron Butler is the better acquisition. Butler is four years younger and has just one year remaining ($10.6 million). Butler has had his ups and downs this season, but he’s a swingman in his prime and he proved he still has it in a brilliant 31-point, nine-rebound effort against the Magic the other night.

      From a pure personnel standpoint, the acquisition of Butler makes more sense for the Mavericks, who would like to upgrade from Josh Howard. A small-ball lineup of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki would be pretty scary.

      The Rockets already have Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier at small forward, so Houston’s interest seems to be more of the “buy low” variety, and that’s not a bad way to go about things. Daryl Morey has T-Mac’s $22 million expiring deal and several young assets — Lowry, Carl Landry and Chase Budinger — to dangle.


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      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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