Category: Rumors & Gossip (Page 103 of 225)

      To trade David West or not to trade David West?

      January 21, 2010 /

      That is the question. Hornets blogger (writing for ESPN’s Daily Dime) Niall Doherty thinks the team should move David West before it’s too late.

      So what is New Orleans to do? Do they stand pat and suffer mediocrity for now, bumbling along until they can unload some crippling contracts (e.g. Morris Peterson and Peja Stojakovic) this summer or next? Or would they be better served blowing up the core (e.g. David West and Emeka Okafor) and hoping they can rebuild fast enough to keep Chris Paul in town beyond 2012?

      My best guess is that GM/coach Jeff Bower will opt for the former, since he’s known to carefully weigh his options and refrain from doing anything drastic. But in the long run, I think that’s the wrong move. The Hornets aren’t going anywhere with West as Paul’s primary sidekick. Sad but true. D-West’s All-Star days are behind him, and the Hornets would be wise to move him before everyone else realizes it. Swap him out for some young, athletic talent, go after a legit second banana when Peja comes off the books, and Paul will be more likely to call New Orleans home beyond 2012.

      The Hornets are 22-19, but have won eight of their last 11 games. They’re currently sitting in the #10 spot in the crowded Western Conference, but seem like a team destined to sneak into the playoffs and exit early. Doherty suggests that now is the time to move West, since his All-Star days are behind him and argues that he’s just not good enough to be Chris Paul’s primary sidekick.

      However, West is playing very well of late (19-8 with 52% shooting in December and January), and while he’s not likely to make the All-Star Game this season, if the team were a little better, he has the statistical resume to get his third consecutive nod. Moreover, his contract is reasonable ($8.3 million next season, $7.5 million an an option to terminate in 2011), so it’s not like his salary is killing the Hornets financially.

      So should New Orleans trade him? Well, it depends on who they could get. West is 29 and his pop-and-shoot game should age well (think Karl Malone). Without making any big moves, the Hornets won’t have any significant cap space until the 2012 season, which is the summer that Chris Paul can opt out. Depending on what kind of contract West will be looking for next summer (2011), it would make sense to hold onto him. Really, he’s the perfect complement for Paul’s drive-and-dish game, and I have a feeling that if they do move him, they’ll soon be wishing they had a power forward who could knock down an open jumper. Trading West now isn’t going to do much for Paul’s morale, so unless the Hornets can get a good young piece (that looks very capable of being Paul’s sidekick), it’s probably just better to keep the Paul-West core intact.

      The funny thing is that if the Hornets hadn’t made the Tyson Chandler-for-Emeka Okafor swap, they would have had plenty of cap space in 2011 (~$25 million or more) to both re-sign West and add a big-time free agent. If Okafor is still on the roster that summer, the Hornets will have to decide whether to bring back West or use the cap space on another player.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Kings in no rush to evaluate Evans/Martin backcourt

      January 21, 2010 /

      John Hollinger writes that vulturous general managers shouldn’t get too excited about the possibility of prying Kevin Martin away from the Kings.

      For starters, the Kings lack a great incentive to rush into anything before the trade deadline. Martin and Evans have played only nine games as a tandem, and the Kings would like to get a much longer look at the duo before rushing into any landscape-shifting moves. Second, Sacramento is enjoying its first small taste of success after an awful 2008-09 campaign and is hesitant to make any moves that would upset its momentum.

      But mostly, the Kings don’t seem anxious to do anything because both the players and the organization think the pairing can work.

      “Kevin isn’t himself yet,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said. “He just needs his timing to get a little better and get some of the rust off, and it’s going to be a really tough backcourt to deal with.”

      Both players recognize that they’re going to have to make changes in their games to make the partnership flourish.

      “I don’t have a mind frame to go out there and score 30 anymore,” said Martin, who seemed notably more active defensively after basically being a one-man offense last season. “[I’m] just trying to do other things, have more assists and get other teammates involved. While I was out, guys developed, and they’re good players. I show my respect by getting them involved, and [I’ll] attack when it’s there.”

      Less than a month ago, I wondered aloud about the possibility of Evans playing small forward, and I still think that’s a viable idea. Evans’ length makes up for his relative lack of height and there’s no reason that the Kings should stick with the mindset that their best penetrator also has to bring the ball up and initiate the offense. Think a smaller LeBron.

      So, maybe the Kings should try a lineup of Beno Udrih-Martin-Evans-Omri Casspi and Spencer Hawes or Jon Brockman and see how it goes. With Evans, Martin and Casspi, the Kings have a nice (albeit perimeter) core to build around. If they could find a true back-to-the-basket center (like Chris Kaman, Pau Gasol or Al Jefferson) and a bigger point guard who can hit the three and take on some of the perimeter defensive duties (like Kirk Hinrich or Rodney Stuckey), they’d really be in business.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Bill Simmons on watching LeBron in person

      January 20, 2010 /

      The Cavs visited the Clippers recently, and Bill Simmons was in attendance. Here’s what he thinks of LeBron up close.

      To say the least. He’s the most charismatic athlete of his generation, only you wouldn’t fully know it until you studied him in person. Command of the room. He might dunk in the layup lines. He might try to make a one-handed half-court shot. He might call for an alley-oop and soar above his incredulous teammates just for the hell of it. Simply saying “bursting with energy” wouldn’t do him justice. It’s like watching a super-coordinated, mutant 4-year-old dealing with a severe sugar rush.

      I’m gonna go block Delonte’s shot from behind! HAH! He didn’t see me coming! Wait, I’m in the mood for an alley-oop. I need me some oop. Mo, throw me an oop. Ah, yes … it’s in the air … I’m jumping … DUNK! What now? I want to try a one-handed shot from the corner. Jamario, come play with me. Hold on, I just saw Baron Davis! Hey Baron! What up, dog! Watch this, I’m gonna make a half-court shot with my eyes closed … DAMN! Just missed it. You know what I really feel like doing? Jumping on Shaq’s back. Look out, Big Fella, eeeeeeeeeeee-yah!!!!!!!

      Jordan saved his legs before games, using that time to stretch, practice specific shots and butter up referees. LeBron can’t pace himself. Even when he walks from Point A to Point B, there’s no loping or strolling. He prances. He hops up and down. And if all these people are staring at him anyway, why not rile them up with a couple ridiculous dunks?

      On the chances of him leaving Cleveland at the end of the season…

      Continue reading »

      NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      Great Quotes: Andrei Kirilenko

      January 19, 2010 /

      “I don’t think the money is going to be an issue. I understand that I look at the world realistically. I understand my value is going to be a little lower than it is right now. I’m not worried about that. Money has never been an issue. It’s good to have a good contract and money. But my priority is basketball.”

      — Andrei Kirilenko, via FanHouse.com

      I don’t want to get on the guy too much here, because he probably doesn’t want to devalue his game, but he says his value is going to be “a little lower”?

      Kirilenko’s contract is one of the more interesting deals in the game. He signed a six-year contract worth $86 million at the start of the 2004-05 season after averaging 17-8-4 with 1.8 steals and 2.8 blocks per game in 2003-04. But that was before Carlos Boozer arrived and Matt Harpring was the team’s second leading scorer. Since the addition of Boozer and, later, Deron Williams, Kirilenko has taken a back seat offensively and he has become one of the most overpaid players in the league.

      But it’s not his fault that the Jazz paid him that much. In 2004, with the dearth of talent in post-Stockton/Malone Utah, he was just 23 and looked like a superstar in the making. His PER in 2003-04 was 22.79 and it even jumped to 24.44 the following season. Over the last three seasons, he has averaged in the 16-17 range, so he’s still an above average forward in terms of stats. He’s due to make $17.8 million next season and will become a free agent in 2011, at the age of 30. My guess is that the next deal he signs will be around the mid-level (~$6 million per season). So, yeah, his value will drop off a little bit.

      The bigger thing to take from this story is that Kirilenko isn’t looking for a payday. He wants to stay with the Jazz — and that’s admirable.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Report: Wizards haven’t decided to void Arenas’s contract

      January 19, 2010 /

      Mike Jones (former Wizards beat writer for the “now defunct Washington Times sports department”) reports that the team hasn’t decided what to do with regard to Gilbert Arenas.

      It was believed that the Wizards would exercise their right to void the remaining four years and $80 million left on Arenas’ deal because of the felony conviction. This belief was further fueled by multiple media outlets outlining the Wizards’ options, and seemed to be further backed up by the TMZ report that Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld told Arenas he had the right to void the deal in a text message.

      But according to a source speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Wizards have not had any discussions or communications with Arenas in regards to voiding the deal, and haven’t decided what their course of action is in the situation because the legal process must play out, and then David Stern, who already has suspended Arenas indefinitely, must decide what – if any – additional punishment the player will receive before being reinstated into the league.

      If Arenas is able to avoid jail time, and is re-instate to the league by Stern, the Wizards are hopeful that they can mend what Arenas’ perceives as broken fences, and move forward with him as their franchise point guard.

      “The Wizards did give him that $111 million contract when everyone thought they shouldn’t, and this still is a player who was averaging 22 points and almost seven assists in his first season back from a two-year layoff,” the source said. “They know that, and would like this thing to work, but just have to see.”

      He’s also shooting a paltry 41% from the field and isn’t much of a defender. He wasn’t worth the contract even when he signed it, and he certainly isn’t worth it now. If the Wizards want to turn this thing around, hitching their wagon to an overpaid volume shooter with a long injury history and a tendency to bring guns into work isn’t the best way to do it.

      Jones’s source uses the pronoun “they” to describe the Wizards, so it doesn’t sound like he/she is actually with the team. It will be interesting to see how the team proceeds; this could just be a ruse (by the source or team) to lead the media to think that Arenas’s fate hasn’t already been sealed. We shall see.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

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