Basketball blog with takes on basketball and anything related to basketball . . . as well as a haven for jingoists everywhere - in America.

 
Thomas out with one year left on contract

Jermaine O'Neal is pissed off about this, but should he be? By all accounts Isaiah Thomas wasn't a great coach. He took over a team that had been to the finals not long before he took over. Granted a lot of names have changed, but there was a fair amount of talent there and Zeke couldn't figure out what to do with it. There's a lot of speculation that Larry Bird waited til now in order to screw Zeke so he wouldn't get a job. The reality is, Isaiah can sit home and twiddle his thumbs for the whole season and the Pacers still gotta pay his ass 5M. So does it really matter? No, but it is definitely interesting.

--posted by Tim at 1:55 PM | | Permalink

 
Warriors at it again

Warriors get: "Uncle Cliffy" Robinson and Pepe Sanchez
Pistons get: Bob Sura

The first reaction I've heard from the media is from Rod Brooks on KNBR 1050. He likes this trade because "Robinson will give the Warriors some defensive presence and rebounding." I like Brooks, but he is obviously delusional. Uncle Cliffy providing defense and rebounding? Granted they only gave up Sura, but Brooks is still so wrong. Lemme break it down one time for you. Robinson is 6-10 and has averaged 4.9 boards/game for his career. When you're 6-10 you should grab 6 board a game by accident. Looks at this list of guys who rebound better than Uncle Cliffy. Yikes.

--posted by Tim at 12:22 PM | | Permalink

 
Trade helps Mavs' front court, Warriors' guard spot

Here's the trade: Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones, Antoine Rigadeau and Avery Johnson for Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Chris Mills, and Jiri Welsh.

Personally I think that the Warriors came out on top here. Granted they had to give up Jamison, but the reality is that his play would never be worth his contract. On top of that they rid themselves of Danny Fortson, whose suspect attitude and bad contract had him growing roots on the bench. Chris Mills, he of blcking the Blazers team bus is now gone as well. Jiri Welsh . . . well, the reality is that I dunno about him cause he never played.

From the Dallas side, they give up Van Exel who was a key in their playoff run last season and don't really help any of their weaknesses. Jamison scores and rebounds well and Fortson rebounds well, but they aren't great defenders. this move may help Michael Finley some since it makes him a big 2 instead of a somewhat small 3. But the Warriors get their legitimate point guard and the Mavs get some more scoring, which they didn't really need. Another problem for the Mavs is that they just dealt two of their three PGs and only got Jiri Welsh back in terms of ballhandlers. Who knows if Welsh can actually be relied on over a long tsretch to be the main guy handling the ball.

In the end, I'm not sure that Dallas really helped themselves that much both now and down the road. On the other hand, the Warriors clearly helped down the road and also don't have to have Speedy Claxton starting at the point.

--posted by Tim at 10:54 AM | | Permalink

 
Odom hopes Clippers won't match offer

Not sure why the Heat thought this was a good idea. Lamar Odom has great potential, but hasn't come close to realizing it yet. The guys has played 78 games over the last two seasons. He's had troubles with both injuries and "extracurricular activites" (read as "weed"). But despite all this, the Heat want to give him 67M over 6 years. The fact that Pat Riley wants to throw a big contract at him should be a sign to most. Brian Grant or Eddie Jones anyone? I like Odom, but I'm afraid that if the Clips don't match, Lamar could be the new Eddie Jones for the Heat.

--posted by Tim at 11:57 PM | | Permalink

 
Deal may also include Mutombo and Patterson

Kenyon Martin thinks he deserves the max for a contract extension. The Nets don't (and rightly so). Kenyon now wants to be traded.

"The Portland Trail Blazers have been talking about trading Rasheed Wallace and Ruben Patterson to the New Jersey Nets for Dikembe Mutombo and Kenyon Martin, according to a newspaper report."

Why are the Blazers even considering this? Mainly to try and revamp their off court image would be my guess, because this is a terrible basketball move for them. Martin is a good player and is improving, but there is no way he is worth the max at this point. Does anyone really think he is a top fivepower forward out west? You give the max to the guy who is gonna be the franchise. I don't think Kenyon Martin is that guy.

This would be great for Rasheed Wallace though. In NJ Sheed wouldn't be expected to be the man. He would be able to be the #2 guy, which is what he's been trying to be his whole career anyway.

However, the thing that makes this trade so horrible (if it happens) is Dikembe Mutumbo. Let's be honest. Mutumbo is a shell of his former self. He was never the same after Shaq bullied him in the Finals when Mutumbo was still a Sixer. Hell, Van Horn is gone and McCulloch can't play and I still think it was a good trade because of Mutumbo's contract. Can you say albatross? I know the people are pissed that the team has the off court problems. They'll still be pissed if the Blazers can't sign a free agent because Deke is making 18M per. For the sake of Ben, don't make this trade Portland.

--posted by Tim at 11:50 PM | | Permalink

 
Links Shake Up!!!!

The NBA is slow, so you get a post about the changes I've made to my links section. I was looking at my referrer logs and noticed a lot of new sites. I was also looking at my link list and noticed there were some that didn't really belong there anymore. So I decided it was time for a passing of the proverbial torch. Before I go into the changes, some notes on how I do my links. Mainly, I only link stuff I think is good. If I don't want to go to a site, why should you? Anyway, on to the changes.

On the Way Out
Sports-Central - I cannot tell a lie. I only really linked them to get site of the week. I'm an award whore and I'm sorry.

Alley-Oop.com - This is more a commentary on the state of the site and not the man behind it. Hollinger does great stuff, but when you haven't posted anything in a month and a half and haven't posted anything original(read: non-SI.com) in months you lose your link. You'll get it back when you start posting again John.

RealGM - This site is good for the salary cap FAQ and the trade checker, but I haven't looked at it in weeks. Like I said, if I don't check it, why should you?

The New Guys
BullsBlog - Normally I don't like team devoted sites. They tend to go into more detail about the particular team than I really care about. However, this one is different. The posts are good. The design is good. And how could you not like that subtitle for the site, "There's plenty of room on the bandwagon."

The NBA as Seen By Me - The baby of the bunch, this site is in its infancy. The design is very basic, but the posts are well though out and that's what counts to me. Hopefully Matt will be able to keep it going.

HoopsJunkie.net - Been slow over the last 2 weeks or so, but so has the NBA. Solid posts and a good design. Check it out.

All Things NBA - This is like the RealGM headline watcher except with out most of the articles getting excerpted, so you read what you want to. Seems to link a lot more stories from across the country. Check it out to scan the NBA related headlines from around the country.

So there it is. Hope it made a dreary offseason a little better.

--posted by Tim at 10:13 PM | | Permalink

 
Kerr leaves as NBA's most accurate 3-point shooter

Steve Kerr is retiring and going to do some TV work. I think he'll be great as a TV guy. He's always been good for a quote in the papers, so why wouldn't he be on TV. I'll watch him. Especially since he'll be on TNT.

--posted by Tim at 8:51 PM | | Permalink

 
Luxury item: Kings trade Keon Clark to Jazz

Kings had one too many centers and someone had to go. Clark instantly becomes the third best player Utah has. That's not good for Utah.

--posted by Tim at 10:20 PM | | Permalink

 
I'm still alive, but the basketball offseason isn't really

The lack of posts is a result of a) my being very very busy the last two weeks or so and b) the lack of anything really suprising or of consequence happening. Hell, the last several days of The Links have been spent debating how one would conduct and determine the winner of a fighting tournament of animals including seeding and fair fight locations. Yeah, it's been a little slow in the NBA. When something actually happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

--posted by Tim at 9:12 AM | | Permalink