Offseason Moves

We are in the midst of a very busy offseason in the NBA. With the seemingly overnight success of the Celtics, it has prompted teams to make more rash moves to accumulate all-stars while other teams hope to free up cap space to pursue the free agents of 2010.

Baron Davis: I wrote a piece on here a few months ago about B Diddy. It seems Golden State has chosen to let Baron walk and they must be ecstatic because he opted out of 17.8 guarenteed this year. Now the Warriors have the cash to lock down the future of their high powered offense, Monta Ellis and perhaps pursue another big name. Baron has been offered a 5 year deal worth in the neighborhood of 65 mil (roughly 13 mil a season) from the Los Angeles Clippers. With Corey Magette and Elton Brand likely on the move, I’m starting to wonder who Baron is gonna be drop dimes to. Sup Chris Kaman. This could also prove to be a huge asset to 2008-2009 fantasy owners in regards to Al Thornton (ya heard me).

Elton Brand: The Warriors, fresh off their ‘loss’ of Baron have offered a big contract to Elton Brand. A team that has had a laughable post presence in recent years, needs a body to band down low now more than ever. Missing the playoffs has prompted Chris Mullin to revamp the squad and take a new approach to the Western Conference. If Monta returns next year, Elton could provide a perfect second scoring option, while taking a lot of pressure of Andris Biedrins in the rebounding department. If Elton does sign with the Warriors, I expect ya boy Al Harrington to be shipped out promptly. With Baron coming to the Clips, will Brand take less money to have a serious point god runnin the show behind him?

Richard Jefferson: Having been with the Nets for the entire tenure of his career, I think RJ is pretty indifferent about going from one sub par East team to another. The Milwaukee Bucks traded Yi and Bobby Simmons (Rated #3 on my worst contracts list) for Richard, which fills their need for scoring at the 3. On paper the Bucks should be a playoff team and with this move, perhaps they are actually thinking of keeping Michael Redd. As it stands the starting lineup is Mo Williams, Redd, RJ, Bogut and a 4 to be named later haha. Good luck duking it out for 8th Rich!

Gilbert Arenas: Boy isn’t he happy. Gilbert came out smelling like a rose. Agent Zero became the model citizen when he claimed he would take less money so the Wizards could resign Antawn Jameson and they could keep their core together. Never the less, Washington offered Gilbert a max contract in the range of 125 million. I’m interested to see how the big 3 respond if they play an entire season together. The Warriors apparently had interest in bringing this fellow blogger back to his early NBA days, but it appears Gil will stay true to his word. Like most high profile players coming back from injury; Gilbert is one more major injury away from being the worst investment since Ben Wallace (who one of my friends recently called out as the worst player in the league..any argument? 0/10 offense and maybe a 5/10 defense at the moment…oh yeah and he makes more than Bron)..Are we still looking at a 4th straight L to the Cavs in the playoffs??

Ron Artest: Honestly dude, come on. Ron Ron decided not to opt out of his measley 7.8 mil contract this year. A dumb decision for several reasons; he could easily command more money, there is a need for big time stoppers on the league’s elite teams, he’s coming off a career year scoring wise, he should be looking for every single possible out from Sacramento and in lieu of multiple opt-outs by the league’s big names, the market was prime for some big bucks. This however makes Ron Ron a serious commodity in the early part of the season, up to the trade deadline and even July 9th when the dead period is over. If some of the leagues big teams get off to a shaky start to the season defensivley, they may try to stir things up by taking a chance on the Rotweiler. Word has it that Phil Jackson thinks he could get through to Artest, and we have seem him handle head cases before. With Ron at the Lakers 3, Lamar Slodom would be outtie and I don’t think they would get torched by a James Posey type again. It probably won’t take too much to pry Ron away from the Kings, so it is just a matter of time in my mind. The only question that remains - where will he end up? 1000000:1 odds on the Pacers..perhaps less.

New York Knicks: Ok fellas, let’s try this again. You’re re-inventing yourself with Mike D’Antoni and a new offense, while trying to forget every contract and subsequent loss that Mr. Thomas is responsible for. You gambled (yeah picking a European player 6th overall is risky, with an average ratio of 10: 1, Bargs to Dirks) on Gallinari and are still trying to figure out your point guard position. Jamal Crawford seems as though he could fit into the system, but the rest of the squad is sketchy. No one wants Eddy and Zach (and his 3 years at 48 mil), so good luck getting that high powered offense poppin. They may decide to buy Stephon out and skip the embarassment of an inevitable meltdown. Players the Knicks need to court asap; Monta Ellis and if that falls through, Leandro Barbosa, who seems to be out of the Suns‘ future plans. David Lee is perhaps their most tradeable asset, so they should pull the trigger on any deal conductive to more offense. I’m interested to see what their plan is, because as of now this team is going to miss the playoffs again. Steve Francis, comeback player of the year 2008-2009. LOL

Corey Maggette: With almost zero chance of returning to the Clippers, Corey can try his hand at the free agent market. He had a great season last year (around 22 ppg I believe) and there is a need for his quickness and length at the 3 around the league. Possible suitors are rumoured to be the Spurs (who could only offer the mid level exception for starters) and the Celts (who will repeat if he takes the pay cut). My surprise pick is the Philadelphia 76ers, who have money and tried hard to get Antawn Jameson from the Wizards to no avail. Maggette would be a nice fit on a lot of teams and he just needs the right environment to thrive. He scores without being selfish and rarely disappears in games, kudos to however scoops him.