Tag: 2009-10 NBA season (Page 32 of 61)

      Who deserves to represent the West in the All-Star Game?

      January 20, 2010 /

      Yesterday, I tackled the Eastern Conference, and today I’ll look at the West.

      THE NO-BRAINERS

      1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
      28-5-5 plus the best record in basketball. It’s a two horse race right now for MVP and Kobe might be the frontrunner.

      2. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs
      He’s averaging 26-8-3 for the resurgent Mavs.

      3. Kevin Durant, Thunder
      He’s posting 29-7-3 for a very dangerous OKC squad. How scary is it that he’s only 21 years-old?

      4. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
      ‘Melo is scoring better than ever (30-6-3) thanks to increased efficiency from the field (48%) and the charity stripe (87%)

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      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      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

      Who deserves to represent the East in the All-Star Game?

      January 19, 2010 /

      By the end of this month, the NBA will announce the rosters for the 2010 All-Star Game. Between the fans (who vote for the starters) and the coaches (who pick the reserves), we usually end up with a pretty representative list of the who’s who of the 2009-10 NBA season, even though there are usually one or two minor headscratchers.

      With that in mind, here are my picks (for now), which are based on some ambiguous combination of the player’s individual performance and his team’s overall record. (Check back tomorrow for the West All-Stars.)

      THE NO-BRAINERS

      1. LeBron James, Cavs
      He’s averaging 30-7-8 with 51% shooting, 1.5 steals and almost a block per game. Moreover, his team currently holds the #1 seed in the East.

      2. Dwight Howard, Magic
      He’s averaging 17-13 with 60% shooting and 2.5 blocks. Pencil him in for the next 10 years, assuming he stays healthy.

      3. Dwyane Wade, Heat
      The Heat are just above .500, and Wade’s numbers (46% shooting) aren’t as good as in years past, but he’s averaging 27-5-6 and his team is sitting in the #6 spot right now.

      4. Paul Pierce, Celtics
      The C’s have been without Kevin Garnett for 10 games and are still holding on to the #2 seed in the East. Pierce is averaging 18-5-4 and his hitting almost 47% from long range.

      5. Chris Bosh, Raptors
      The Raptors are a .500 team and Bosh is averaging 24-11 while shooting 52% from the field.

      6. Joe Johnson, Hawks
      The Hawks are sitting at #3 and JJ is posting 21-5-5, while shooting a respectable 45% from the field.

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      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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