Here’s the latest episode of Kenny Mayne’s “Mayne Street”…
For some reason, I didn’t find this one to be very funny. What did you think?
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Chad Ford is reporting that the Bucks and Spurs have agreed to a swap that would include star swingman Richard Jefferson.
The Milwaukee Bucks agreed to trade Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto a Bucks source told ESPN.com.
The two teams have agreed to the deal in principle. A trade call to make the deal official is coming later Tuesday.
The move gives the Spurs a dynamic wing scorer to play alongside Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs had promised to make their team better this summer and adding Jefferson for role players should give them a huge shot in the arm.
The Bucks incentive to make the trade is largely financial. Bowen, Oberto and Thomas are all in the last year of their contracts. The deal will clear $15 million off the books for the Bucks next season and give Milwaukee more flexibility for next year. It also saves them roughly $3 million this year. That may give the Bucks the wiggle room to sign one of their restricted free agents — either Charlie Villanueva or Ramon Sessions — next year.
Largely financial? How about purely financial, Chad?
For the Bucks, this is a straight salary dump. Jefferson has two years and $29 million remaining on his deal, and the Bucks are dangerously close to the luxury tax threshold. They have two pretty good free agents in Villanueva and Sessions that need to be addressed. It looks like they’ll have an extra $3 million this season to sign one or both to long-term deals.
The funny thing is that I just saw an interview with Bucks GM John Hammond where he said that the franchise wasn’t in a position where they had to dump salary just to dump salary. Yeah, right. Talent-wise, the Bucks just lost a big piece in this trade, but if they’re able to retain Sessions and Villanueva, they might be able to recover some of that talent. The move may be a sign that the team is ready to give Villanueva starter’s minutes at one of the forward spots while playing defensive specialist Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at the other forward position.
For the Spurs, if this trade does indeed go down, it will go a long way to getting the franchise back into serious contention in the West. Jefferson is an energetic defender who can hit the three and score on the break. He is just a good all-around player. The Spurs know that their championship window is closing, and if the do acquire Jefferson, they will prove they are willing to pony up to put a championship-caliber supporting cast around Tim Duncan.
Some scoffed at the rumors that the Boston Celtics would consider trading Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, but apparently the C’s approached the Pistons with an offer that included both players.
I think it’s time to quit dismissing all those Rajon Rondo trade rumors. A source in Detroit says the Pistons were approached by a lower-level Celtics executive who offered Ray Allen and Rondo for Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey.
The Pistons, of course, said no to the deal — Rondo’s great, but he’s not worth the entire core of the Pistons. But that’s not the news. It’s becoming harder and harder for the Celtics to deny that they are looking to move Rondo. His name has come up in rumors with the Suns and Kings. I know Danny Ainge has brushed them off and says the Celtics probably will do nothing, but where there’s smoke …
The Pistons declined. Rondo is good, but he’s not worth the core of the Detroit roster. Rondo’s problems seem to revolve around one thing — his attitude. Still, I’m surprised that GM Danny Ainge would consider breaking up the core that won a championship two seasons ago. If not for Kevin Garnett’s knee injury, they would have had a good shot at repeating.
By the way, I love that there is a “lower-level” executive in the Celtics organization in charge of offering blockbuster trades to conference rivals.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler made some comments recently at a football camp about his former Bronco teammate Brandon Marshall and now several media outlets are trying to drum up the idea that Cutler is campaigning for Chicago to trade for the wideout.
“I played with Brandon for three years and I think he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL. I think he can be one of the greatest ever to play.
“He’s big and fast, and can do everything you want him to do, on the field and in the meeting room. I don’t know what we’re going to do. That’s up to the guys upstairs. If we make a run at him, we make a run at him.”
Cutler also made it clear that he has a lot of faith in current Chicago receiver Devin Hester:
“I’ve watched every game from last year and seen him in action quite a bit,” Cutler said. “It’s a tough transition from (defensive back) to receiver. He’s still learning, but overall I can’t be happier with how we’re working together and his progression.
“I think he’s definitely a legitimate No. 1 receiver in the NFL.”
That’s it – that’s what Jay said. To me, that’s not Cutler campaigning for Chicago to make a play for Marshall – that’s Cutler stating that Marshall is a great receiver and if the Bears do make a move for him, then so be it.
But even if Cutler were making a case for his new team to trade for his old teammate, it wouldn’t matter because Marshall isn’t going to Chicago. The Bears simply don’t have enough trade pieces to send to Denver because they already traded away two first round picks to acquire Cutler. So unless the Bears would be willing to give up linebacker Brian Urlacher or another veteran of his ilk, then Marshall is headed for another destination other than the “Windy City.”
Furthermore, Chicago GM Jerry Angelo has already stated that the Bears won’t go after Marshall. Sure, he could change his mind. But it would seem at this point that Plaxico Burress is more of an option for the Bears than Marshall is given that Burress would require no compensation to acquire and the team could simply dump him at the end of ’09 assuming they sign him to only a one-year deal. (Theoretically, the Bears could do the same for Marshall because he’ll be a free agent after 2009 too, but why trade for him if you’re not going to sign him to a long-term deal?)
The media is trying hard to make story here, but there isn’t one at this point. There are no signs that Marshall is going to Chicago.
Donald Fehr has been the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association since 1986. In that time, Fehr led the players union through the 1994 strike and the subsequent cancellation of the World Series. He’ll also forever be known as one of the significant behind-the-scenes pieces of baseball’s steroid era.
On Monday, ESPN reported that Fehr will be stepping down from his position as the MLBPA executive director.
Here’s what sports columnists are saying across the nation on the topic:
– The Chicago Tribune wonders aloud if Fehr’s retirement is tied to the media leaking the news that Sammy Sosa tested positive for PEDs in 2003.
– Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Fehr’s legacy was more about making money for the players and less about overall ethics.
– ESPN’s Buster Onley writes that Fehr fulfilled his responsibility as union head, which was to serve as an advocate to the players.
– Hal Bodley of MLB.com details Fehr’s ups and downs as MLBPA executive director.
– Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com writes that if not for steroids issue, Fehr might “rightly be hailed as one of the greatest leaders in the history of American labor. He certainly presided over the wealthiest union.”
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