Tag: Jeff Green (Page 2 of 2)

Tyson Chandler headed to Oklahoma City?

February 17, 2009 /

The answer is yes, according to Marc Stein’s sources.

Sources with knowledge of the trade parameters told ESPN.com that the deal was approved by the league office Tuesday afternoon, with the Hornets receiving forwards Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox in exchange for their best interior defender.

ESPN.com reported early Monday that the Hornets — who have been looking to move Chandler mostly for financial reasons — were in talks with the Thunder on a trade that would net the expiring contracts of Smith and Wilcox. Thunder general manager Sam Presti is a long-time admirer of Chandler dating to his time with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder also possess numerous draft picks to sweeten trade packages — including five first-round picks in the next two drafts — but Presti was able to land an accomplished center to complement his promising young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green without surrendering any major draft considerations.

With a payroll at nearly $67 million this season and scheduled to reach almost $77 million next season, New Orleans felt it had to part with Chandler before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trading deadline regardless, even though dealing away the 26-year-old almost certainly takes the Hornets out of serious playoff contention in the West.

“…even though dealing away the 26-year-old almost certainly takes the Hornets out of serious playoff contention in the West.”

This is the first time that I can remember (though I’m sure there have been other cases) that a serious title contender traded away one of its best players for financial reasons. The Hornets are on the hook for almost $77 million next season and they needed to cut salary to stay under the luxury tax threshold. In the process, they are sacrificing a legitimate shot at an NBA championship. This move just goes to show how the bad economy is having a direct effect on NBA personnel decisions.

The Hornets do get Chris Wilcox as part of this deal, and he is having an off year after having three very productive seasons. There’s a chance — albeit a slim one — that the Hornets could still keep their darkhorse status headed into the playoffs if Wilcox gets back to his 14-point/8-rebound days. He isn’t in the same league as Chandler on the defensive end of the court.

I like this trade for the Thunder. They’re getting one of the league’s best defensive centers at a fairly reasonable price. Along with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, the Thunder have a nice core to build around.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

No Love?

January 29, 2009 /

The rosters for the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge have been announced and there are a few surprises.

The rookie roster consists of Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon, Rudy Fernandez, Michael Beasley, Brook Lopez, Greg Oden and Marc Gasol.

The sophomore roster includes Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Brooks, Kevin Durant, Wilson Chandler, Jeff Green, Al Thornton, Luis Scola, Al Horford and Thaddeus Young.

Kevin Love isn’t on the nine-man roster for the Rookie Challenge, and it’s a big, glaring snub. ESPN’s John Hollinger agrees.

For starters, the decision to select Eric Gordon ahead of Kevin Love for the rookies was completely inexcusable.

Don’t get me wrong; Gordon is going to have a fine career, it seems, and in almost any other year he’d be a shoo-in for the team. But he made this squad mainly because the forlorn Clippers have no choice but to play him extensive minutes.

As good as he’s looked, Gordon is the only rookie team member with a Player Efficiency Rating below the league average, while Love has a better PER than every player on the rookie team except Greg Oden. Love leads the league in offensive rebound rate, as I mentioned the other day, but his prodigious work on the boards has gone largely unnoticed because he plays only 23.2 minutes a game, far less than Gordon’s 32.2.

Love’s absence is especially surprising considering how the rookie roster is loaded with four guards (Rose, Westbrook, Mayo, Gordon), one G/F (Fernandez) and only one true forward (Beasley). You’d think that if it were a tossup between Gordon and Love (which it isn’t) that they’d at least want to get another true forward on the roster to balance things out.

Hollinger goes on to rail against the sophomore roster snubs, which included Wilson Chandler over Jamario Moon, Al Thornton over Carl Landry and the worst of all (he says) — Aaron Brooks over Ramon Sessions.

Interestingly, seven of the top 11 picks of the 2007 draft — Mike Conley, Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Joakim Noah, Spencer Hawes and Acie Law — did NOT make the sophomore roster. (I counted Greg Oden amongst the four since he made the rookie roster.) Conversely, six of the top 11 picks in the 2008 draft did make the rookie team.

NBA

The NBA’s Top 10 Young Small Forwards

December 15, 2008 /

Here’s a quick list of the top 10 small forwards under the age of 26, ranked in the order of a combination of current performance and trade value (regardless of salary).

I’ll also list the player’s age and his Player Efficiency Rating.

1. LeBron James, Cavs
Age: 23
PER: 33.28
27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists on a 20-4 team – can you spell M-V-P?

2. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
Age: 24
PER: 18.50
The Nuggets are sitting atop the Northwest with a 16-7 record and with the arrival of Chauncey Billups, ‘Melo is starting to play defense, as evidenced by his career-high 8.2 rebounds.

3. Danny Granger, Pacers
Age: 25
PER: 18.67
His boards are down, but his points and assists are up. I bet that the six teams that drafted other guys ahead of him – Magic (Fran Vasquez), Clippers (Yaroslav Korolev), Bobcats (Sean May), T-Wolves (Rashad McCants), Nets (Antoine Wright) and the Raptors (Joey Graham) – are all wishing they could have that draft back.

4. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies
Age: 22
PER: 16.54
I’d like to see better assist numbers (1.7), but he’s still scoring at a terrific clip even though ROY candidate O.J. Mayo is in town. But what’s up with that three-point percentage (29%)?

5. Luol Deng, Bulls
Age: 23
PER: 13.41
It’s not good to see your FG% take a dive (to 43%) the season after you sign a fat contract. Even though his minutes are about the same, Deng’s production is down across the board.

6. Thaddeus Young, Sixers
Age: 20
PER: 13.32
Philly is asking a lot more of Young this season, which is why his run has taken a 12-minute jump. Predictably, his numbers are all up, but he’s not as productive on a per-minute basis, which has a lot to do with the dip in his FG% (-6.6%).

7. Trevor Ariza, Lakers
Age: 23
PER: 19.45
It’s not clear why the Knicks and Magic let him go – well, Isiah is to blame in one case – but their inability to see Ariza’s promise worked to the Lakers’ advantage. Defensively, he’s a terror. If he could only shoot the long ball, he’d be the answer to the team’s problem at small forward.

8. Al Thornton, Clippers
Age: 25
PER: 13.37
Thornton’s numbers are up across the boards thanks to increased minutes (+10.4) and better accuracy from the field (+2.6%).

9. Brandan Wright, Warriors
Age: 21
PER: 20.80
Wright is wildly productive in the 17 minutes of playing time he gets each night, but one wonders why Nellie is barely playing him? It’s not like the Warriors have a ton of great players; they’re 7-17 for Pete’s sake.

10. Jeff Green, Thunder
Age: 22
PER: 14.47
Green has made a big jump from his rookie season. His points (15.6), rebounds (5.5) and assists (2.4) are all up, but more importantly, he’s shooting with increased accuracy from the field (+3.2%) and long range (+13.7%). After looking like a bit of a bust last season, he now looks like he’s capable of being Kevin Durant’s sidekick for the long haul.

Who am I missing? Before you jump all over me for leaving someone off, be sure to check the player’s age – all these guys are 25 or younger.

Other lists:

Top 10 Young Point Guards
Top 10 Young Shooting Guards

Fantasy Basketball, NBA

2008 NBA Preview: #30 Oklahoma City Thunder

October 14, 2008 /

Offseason Movement: The team acquired forwards Desmond Mason and Joe Smith as part of the three-way trade that sent Luke Ridnour to the Bucks. Basically, it was a salary dump, as Mason and Smith are both in the final years of their contracts. They’ll back up Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox, respectively.
Keep Your Eye On: Russell Westbrook, G
Westbrook is a terrific athlete who saw his stock rise before the draft. He’s lightning quick and is a decent scorer, but he didn’t play much point in college, so the idea is for him to play behind Earl Watson for a while until he gets the hang of it.
The Big Question: How long will this rebuilding job take?
It will probably take a while. Kevin Durant is the franchise centerpiece, and while he won Rookie of the Year last season, he still has a ways to go before he’s ready to carry the team. The franchise has done a nice job of acquiring draft picks and cutting salary, and they project to have a ton of cap space next summer with just six players currently under contract for the 2009-10 season. It’s going to be interesting to see if the team will be able to land a dominant big man in the next two years. If so, that will certainly accelerate the turnaround.
Outlook: For this season? Dire. For the future? Reasonably bright. Durant looks like a future franchise player, and while Jeff Green struggled in his rookie season, the team has all the ingredients for a turnaround in the next 2-3 years. They have a young core, a ton of draft picks, and oodles of cap space to work with. The upside is that they’ll be playing in front of the patient Oklahoma City fans who will be grateful to have a NBA team in town, even if the horribly-named Thunder don’t win very many games.

Check out our NBA Preview page for a look at every team. We’ll be posting three previews per business day, which will take us up to the start of the season on Tuesday, October 28th.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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