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| English: Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks during a game against the Detroit Pistons (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
http://www.hoopsworld.com/jennings-hoping-for-deal-with-dallas-mavs/
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
NBA News 2013: Jennings Hoping for Deal with Dallas Mavs?
http://www.hoopsworld.com/jennings-hoping-for-deal-with-dallas-mavs/
Monday, February 25, 2013
NBA News 2013: Magic already gave away Howard’s number
Well, that didn’t take long.
The Orlando Magic waited all of half a season to give away Dwight Howard’s No. 12 jersey. Tobias Harris, a second-year small forward acquired in the J.J. Redick trade from the Milwaukee Bucks, has donned the jersey of the greatest player in franchise history.
Wait, what?
Howard is the Magic’s career leader in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes and, if you like advanced stats, win shares. He was the best player on the team for eight seasons. But then he whined until he was traded in the offseason to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harris, 20, has scored 358 points in his NBA career, almost 11,200 fewer than Howard scored with the Magic. He has some potential as a scoring combo forward, sort of a poor man’s Carmelo Anthony, which he showed in his one season at Tennessee.
He wore No. 15 for the Bucks. That number is taken in Orlando by suspended forward Hedo Turkoglu, so he needed to make a switch. He chose as high-pressure a number as was available.
“I’ve heard a lot about that because it’s Dwight Howard’s number,” Harris told the Orlando Sentinel in an excellent feature.
Orlando hasn’t retired any former players’ numbers, and there’s no reason to expect the Magic to hang Howard’s number from the rafters until a few years after he retires. It may be time, though, to get up spots for Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson, the core of the 1995 Eastern Conference champions.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/magic-already-have-given-away-dwight-howards-number/
Saturday, February 23, 2013
NBA News 2013: Thomas Robinson Traded To Rockets
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| English: Patrick Patterson following a game against Clarion University (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Reuniting the Morris twins marked an unusual starting shot to the trade deadline and was immediately followed by a much bigger deal also involving the Rockets. Considering the fact that the trades were done concurrently (and likely will become a three-way when it hits the league office) I will evaluate it as such.
The Rockets' Perspective
I had been critical of Daryl Morey and the Rockets brass since the Draft because they had a stockpile of not that special power forward and not enough time to play them all. Well, that just got emphatically clarified. Losing Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich makes them slightly shallower at those spots for this season, but means nearly nothing to the team moving forward. As such, it becomes a simpler trade for the future.
Effectively moving Patrick Patterson for Thomas Robinson (and some pieces) absolutely makes a ton of sense for a team that has had plenty of time to evaluate Patterson and his fit with what they have. Robinson has a ton of potential and possesses the additional benefit of two extra years of team control (Patterson hits restricted free agency in 2014 and Robinson in 2016). Losing Marcus Morris for a 2013 second round pick may make people balk but the net moves save the team about $1.5 million for next season, marking a necessary sacrifice for a team in the free agency sweepstakes this summer.
On top of that, I am intrigued to see what Houston does with Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt, who could absolutely contribute to a team set at the starting perimeter spots but lacking somewhat when it comes to swingman depth.
All in all, Houston made a smart trade of Patrick Patterson for Thomas Robinson while picking up some interesting assets and some valuable salary space for the 2013-14 season in the process. Well done.
Grade for Houston: A-
The Kings' Perspective
I like Patrick Patterson but worry that the difference in years under rookie deals could end up hurting Sacramento relatively soon. After all, having a player closer to his peak makes remarkably little sense for a team who should not be looking to win the rest of this season and likely cannot make much noise next year. He could help try [emphasis on try] to stabilize former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, but that is not enough of a benefit to outweigh the other costs. Now is far too early to give up on Thomas Robinson, especially when doing so for a guy who helps them more at a less valuable time in the team’s progression.
The other issue I have with the deal is that Cole Aldrich will be an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer by virtue of his option year being declined, while Toney Douglas will be Restricted but is not that good and plays a position where the Kings actually do not need help from a rotation player. Trading a swingman like Garcia who can actually shoot could be a problem as well though it’s not too big a deal.
Grade for Sacramento: D+
The Suns' Perspective
Trading a solid second round pick for a talented enough guy like Marcus Morris is fine. I personally love early seconds (since they are so cheap), but Morris has enough time on his deal and fit with Phoenix to make it a reasonable choice.
Grade for Phoenix: B
http://basketball.realgm.com/article/226251/Grading-The-Deal-Thomas-Robinson-Traded-To-Rockets
Friday, February 22, 2013
NBA News 2013: Bucks Acquire J.J. Redick
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| JJ Redick (Photo credit: Keith Allison) |
The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired J.J. Redick from the Orlando Magic, according to a source.
The Bucks had also been pursuing a trade for Josh Smith, but are out of those talks.
The Bucks will send Doron Lamb, Tobias Harris and Beno Udrih to the Magic.
Orlando will send Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith, along with Redick, to Milwaukee.
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/226281/Bucks-Acquire-JJ-Redick-From-Magic
Thursday, February 21, 2013
NBA News 2013: How the Grizzlies Cleared Over $16 Million
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| Memphis Grizzlies logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Memphis Grizzlies have cleared in the neighborhood of $16 million in a pair of deals that unloaded the contracts of Rudy Gay and Marreese Speights.
On Wednesday, Gay and Hamed Haddadi were sent to the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors in turn sent Ed Davis, a 2013 second-round pick and cash to Memphis. The Detroit Pistons also sent Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to the Grizzlies, in return for Jose Calderon from Toronto.
Just over a week earlier, the Grizzlies sent Josh Selby, Wayne Ellington, Speights and a first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jon Leuer.
The Speights’ deal set up the Gay trade, which was structured as three transactions.
- When Speights was traded to Memphis, the Grizzlies attained a $4.3 million trade exception. The Grizzlies used that exception to acquire Daye, who makes $2,958,077 this season. Memphis is left with $1,241,923 remaining in the Speights exception.
- The Grizzlies traded Gay, who makes $16,460,538 this season, for Prince ($6,764,045) and Davis ($2,207,040). With the two making a combined $8,971,085, Memphis also received a trade exception for the difference ($7,489,453).
- Haddadi was traded to the Raptors without any salary coming back in return, generating another Memphis trade exception ($1.3 million).
http://www.hoopsworld.com/how-the-grizzlies-cleared-16-million/
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
NBA News 2013: Andre Drummond believes he ‘could be great’
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| Detroit Pistons logo 2001–2005. The return of the traditional colors. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Detroit Pistons rookie center Andre Drummond wasn’t able to participate on Friday night in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge with a back injury. Selected by Shaquille O’Neal as part of Team Shaq, Drummond was on hand to talk about his rookie campaign.
“It’s great that the coaches really named me to be here and Shaq actually chose me as well with his third pick,” said Drummond, disappointed that he wasn’t able to play. “It’s great being out here and great being noticed but I’m going to stick to being an assistant coach and stick alongside Shaq.”
Drummond is sidelined another three to five weeks with a stress fracture of the left lumbar vertebra.
Through 50 games, Drummond averaged 7.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game. The Pistons may have a special combination with forward/center Greg Monroe and Drummond, once the two fully develop.
Right now Drummond is just trying to heal and learn how he can impact the NBA game.
“I think from the first game, I think [Coach Lawrence Frank] can vouch for me too, I think from my first game up until now I’ve gotten better on a daily basis,” he said. “I just work hard, that’s really what it comes down to – giving 100 percent every single day.”
Drummond was improving dramatically, prior to his injury. In a recent one-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, he pulled down 11 boards and blocked four shot, while scoring nine points. Drummond he’s just scratching the surface.
“I’m getting a glimpse of what I could be,” Drummond said. “I’m not really going to get big-headed at all. I just know that it’s all effort and energy and hard work that it’s going to take for me to be good.”
Drummond doesn’t want to settle on being just “good.”
“I think I could be great one day,” he said.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/andre-drummond-believes-he-could-be-great/
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
NBA News 2013: Michael Jordan Celebrates 50th Birthday
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| Michael Jordan (Photo credit: iccsports) |
Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday falls on Sunday, the day of the 62nd N.B.A. All-Star Game.
It is fitting, given that Jordan always seemed to shine during the sport’s annual weekend showcase. He was selected to 14 All-Star teams, was named the game’s most valuable player three times and, in breathtaking fashion, won the 1988 dunk contest with an iconic slam in which he leapt from the free-throw line.
There has been no shortage of birthday homages to Jordan leading to his big day. Sports Illustrated put him on the cover (his 50th, incidentally) last week, “SportsCenter” will count down his 50 greatest moments, and Antawn Jamison declared that Jordan, even at 50, could still play in the N.B.A.
“No one would be talking about it if they didn’t know it would drive clicks and page views and attention,” said Melissa Isaacson, who covered the Bulls for The Chicago Tribune from 1990 through Jordan’s second retirement. “I don’t remember any of this for Magic Johnson or Larry Bird’s 50th birthday, but that’s the power of Michael Jordan.”
http://www.hoopsworld.com/michael-jordan-celebrates-50th-birthday/
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