The NBA season might be over, but things have been just as busy, if not busier, around the league. There have been plenty of rumors to go along with some player movement already. The NBA doesn’t take a day off … neither do we.
Via NBA.com, for a list of all the free agents and what they’ve been up to, click here.
From July 4 – July 8, the Metta Chronicles team had an e-mail thread discussing some of these moves/rumors. It’s a bit of a long read, but it’s definitely more entertaining than anything you’re doing right now. Especially if you’re a big fan of the NBA.
Check it …
July 4th
Pirozzi:
I don’t want to get too into the Dwightmare (I already wrote an article on it). He’s being too indecisive, and that might be the least likable characteristic in a person. Make up your mind and stick to it.
Colin brought up the Jason Terry Boston signing to me earlier, saying he doesn’t like it because of Terry’s age. I’ve got to agree, but I do like him next to Rondo. Shooters don’t need to be young to be effective. And most important, I’m really starting to like that Boston lineup for NBA 2K13. Same goes for Brooklyn, Deron and Iso Joe is going to be so damn fun to play with.
Btw, how is Derek Fisher getting so much attention from other teams? It must have been part of the CBA he negotiated.
Jeez, this is so much more fun than a year ago, when the only thing to talk about was lockout issues.
Pirozzi:
Adrian Wojnarowski: NY package would include Iman Shumpert, Toney Douglas and likely 3 low money players to get Nash salary needed to close gap on Toronto offer Twitter
Bacardi:
Not a huge fan of bringing in the jet. It’s not that I don’t like his game, I just don’t like his age. We should be tryin to get younger, not adding someone with senior nba citizenship. However, if we keep Ray “Jesus shuttlesworth” Allen then we could have great depth at guard with Bradley and terry off the bench.
I’m intrigued with this Nash to NYK for Shumpert and contracts. Why would he want to go to that mess, especially since they fired D’Antoni. Who starts at SG for them? Maybe they make a play for Jesus.
Pirozzi:
Can they maybe hire D’antoni as their offensive coordinator?Jesus would be nice, but J.R. would work too. Amare’s effectiveness is about to skyrocket though, and Chandler gets to play with another horrible defender.
Bacardi:
So how does Carmelo fit into this? I worry about that, NYK should just trade him at this point. The NYK without Carmelo are better than with him, it was painfully obvious last year when they went on that run with Lin. At this point, is there any chance they retain Lin? I heard there’s a chance they could resign him, but I don’t see how. Both G-State and Houston are going after Lin, which is ironic since both of those teams previously had him. I heard he might be getting north of 8 Mill a year, that’s insane.
Lin is going to get signed to an offer sheet by Houston – something along the lines of Asik’s deal, I believe. So we’re talking three years and north of $20 M (not sure if it’s backloaded like Asik’s is). I think he’s meeting with the organization today actually.
New York is going to match any deal on Lin, though, and going after Nash doesn’t change their stance on that. They think it’d be a good 1-2 PG punch, and if Shump is gone, they could end up being on the floor together a lot, too. Something like Lawson and Miller in Denver. I think it might work out for NY and like Ro said, having Nash would make Amare so much better. But to Colin’s point, I think it just further isolates Melo from the rest of the team. You’d think a great PG would make your star player better, right? Not in Iso Melo’s case (stealing from Iso Joe). He’s damn near being excommunicated from that team.
Also think getting a chance to be Nash’s teammate for a few years would be a huge boost in Lin’s development. It ccould really help him cement his position as an average or potentially above average player in this league.
You know what would be funniest outcome of this whole scenario, though? If the Raptors end up getting Fields for that ridiculous contract and then don’t get Nash. Sooooooo much LOL there. Poor Raptors.
Pirozzi:
All they did was handshake on that Fields deal, right? They should cancel that shit. Fields should want to play with Nash anyway.
Btw, Lmao at what Suns are trying to get- be easy mike beasley, and raymond “buffet all day” felton.
Archie Summers:
Yeah I mean obviously nothing is official until the 11th, but it’s just funny in the hypothetical. Like, getting screwed over that badly would be legendary.
And Landry doesn’t care about Nash man – this is the most he’ll EVER get paid. Ever.
How many good years you guys think Stevie has left? He says he has 3, and he really didn’t lose a beat last year, but the dude is 38. I don’t know when exactly his birthday is, but presumably dude would turn 41 in the last year of this deal. We all know that’s ANCIENT in NBA years. Like, straight fossilized. And giving up a good young player like Shump, especially when they already have Lin? Y’all think this is the right move for them? And what else are they giving up? I’m too lazy to look it up myself.
Archie Summers:
I should have said “that would be the most he’d ever get paid,” because he’s not actually going to get it. POOR LANDRY! At least he gets to stay with his boo, J Lin.
Pirozzi:
Haha I feel like whatever money Fields gets ($2 million or $20 million) is more than he should ever get.
I’m not that high on Shump as others are. I think you can find talent like that every couple years. They’ll him up, Toney Douglas, and bunch of other no-name players that have cap-friendly contracts. I think Nash can play 2 more years at this level, and plus, East is easier (top through bottom). You know he stays in shape, but NY should really think about improving their training staff, or just bringing the PHX one over. Btw, I heard Grant Hill might sign with NY too if all this goes down?
If Toronto loses hunt for Nash, they should go after Lowry. In the long run, that’s a better option anyway. I wrote about a homecoming for Nash in a BR piece, but now I realize Nash is from Vancouver which is across the country from Toronto. Wouldn’t be much of a homecoming huhh?
Dragic asked PHX for $10 million/year? PHX said they don’t think they can do that. Man, he must be on some good stuff if he thinks he’s worth that 10 per.
What do you guys think about Ilyasova?
Pirozzi:
In case any of you guys didn’t hear, Nash to LA. Yiiiipiiiii!
http://mettachronicles.com/?p=2339
Lakers will probably move Bynum or Pau now, Nash needs more space on the floor to work his pick & roll magic, tough to do that with two big bodies like that.
Lakers also become older, but who cares!? I’m thinking Grant Hill will follow Nash over here too.
July 5th
AB:
That will help the offense a lot, but the problem will once again be defending speedy/athletic PG.
Bacardi:
I can’t believe the Lakers got Nash. Why did Nash all of the sudden go with the Lakers, they seemed completely out of it. The Nash Drama actually reminded me of a mini-Peyton sweepstakes, you heard something different every few hours and where they’re going. Why would the Suns improve their division rival as well? Did Nash Reallyhave to go to Los Angeles, did he feel a strong pull because Vancouver is also on the West Coast?So the suns nabbed Beasely… with this lineup, anyway he averages 25 ppg? Spencer Hawes got a 2 year 13 million deal, that aint bad for both sides. Philly needs to have a rotation of big men, and he doesn’t have bad averages. Supposedly Dragic will go back to the Suns…. IF Beasely becomes a star, I see interesting things for this team. Really deep, they’d start Dragic, Dudley, Beasely, Channing Frye and Gortat with Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Markieff Morris off the bench. Watch out.
Archie Summers:
Good call on the Nash to Peyton FA comparison. Just shows you that we really don’t know very much about what’s going on until a final decision is made by the player. We can only go off what reporters tell us, and unfortunately they aren’t mind readers. Still, LA seemed COMPLETELY out of left field. Dallas would have been one thing, but LA was just so unexpected that I think we were all in a state of shock when we first heard the news.
And I’m still here murmurs of a potential Bynum-Dwight deal. At least that Kupchak and Baby Buss are interested in pursuing it (and why the hell wouldn’t they be?). Brooklyn is officially out of the Dwight sweepstakes now that they have Iso Joe’s Worst-Contract-in-the-League on their books, right? If Dwight goes to LA, I guess we’d finally get to see that LBJ-Kobe finals match up we were all yearning for 4 years ago. Oh, and I’d hate the Lakers even more and consider un-friending Ro and starting my own sports site.
In other news, Jesus Shuttlesworth is meeting with Miami today. Could be a huge signing for them if Miller and Jones leave. They’d need a long range marksman, and I think we all know there’s no one better in the business than the man with the most 3 point FGs of all time. Oh, and J Lin getting offered a $35 M poison pill contract by Morey? Knicks could have had Lin for $23 M but decided to let him test the free agency waters…now look where they are. With the long-term contracts of Melo, STAT, and Chandler on their books, the last two years of this Lin deal (around $10 M each), would put them in a luxury tax hell. Earlier in this thread I was talking about a 1-2 Nash and Lin PG punch. Could it turn out that the Knicks end up with neither?
Pirozzi:
I hear Clips and Heat are in lead for Jesus. CP3 vs Bron … who ends up being the better recruiter? I’m still hoping he returns to Boston, would hate to see him on either the Clippers or the Heat.
Archie Summers:
Ray Ray belongs in Boston now, so I hope he re-signs. I really wanna see those guys take another shot at it with the Jet. Plus a healthy Avery Bradley next year? They still won’t beat the Heat, but they’d give ‘em another run for it, and I’m super down to watch that.
Pirozzi:
They took those assholes to game 7, they get some big man depth with Sullinger and get Bradley and Jet. Please Ray, don’t leave.
Bacardi:
Hold up, Dwight can still go to New Jersey. It would be difficult, but the Nets would have to sign and trade Brook Lopez, Humphries and Marshon Brooks. I was thinking Gerald Wallace, but Lopez’ and Humphrie’s salaries should match up with Dwight’s, I also doubt the Magic would want a 4 year 40mill deal for Wallace.
Bacardi:
Also, this just in, Chauncey Billups resigned with the Clips for a contract that could hit 4.3 mill with bonuses. They also added Jamal Crawford for 3 years/15.7 mill. Not bad additions, although I think they really need some depth at the 4/5 since they signed-and-traded Reggie Evans.
AB:
Breaking news: Animesh “Air India” Basu signed to Life Tech Ops Volleyball team for upcoming inter-company volleyball tournament. The first year employee brings relentless hustle and unrivaled competitiveness to the team.
Archie Summers:
Yeah, nice to have Chauncey back for them, as well as the dude who inspired my first Metta article (J Cross).
You’re right, though; Clippers have guards on guards on guards on guards again, just like last year. CP3, Billups, Crawford, Bledsoe, Swaggy P. They did get Odom to help a bit in the front court, but he’s obviously not at all the down-low banger that Evans was. We’ll see if he can crash the boards for them at all this year to help out in that area. One more big would definitely help, and make them look like a pretty complete roster up and down.
Pirozzi:
I hate it when the Clippers get better. I’m excited for Toronto though, getting Lowry is a big pick-up for them. I might have to get my Toronto hat out of my closet before next season.
Archie Summers:
Welp…Kidd to Knicks. This a reaction to being hesitant about matching Rockets’ offer on Lin?
This offseason is just going crazy right now. All the PGs are trolling us. Wouldn’t be surprised if Lin ends up signing with the Pacers or some shit at this point.
Man who needs Chris Broussard and espn when we got Metta? This email chain has been my personal RSS feed on NBA free agency.
Dude how fucked are “small market” teams during this free agency? I mean superstars have always gravitated to the more glamorous cities but it seems like the parity in the league is getting worse and worse. I want to hear about Oakland and Sac as possible destinations.
Also - Nash, Kobe and Dwight on the same team? Or Deron, Joe Johnson and Dwight?
Feels like some NBA GMs are unnecessarily getting hard-ons for this “Big 3″ fad. Call me stupid, but wasn’t it just a year ago that Dirk and his band of beyond-their-prime vets schooled the whole league to capture the crown? I know Skip saw it differently, but that Mavs run definitely made me think that keeping a winning core together has it’s virtues.
Pretty sure OKC is still head of the pack in the west especially given the BREAKING NEWS that they signed the 2012 prize free agent – Hasheem Thabeet. No but really unless the Dubs land LeBron, the Thunder are still the favorites right?
Pirozzi:
Was Hasheem Thabeet in “Coming to America” ?
Mesh, Clips are not winning shit. And I can’t wait until CP3 leaves in a year. Why would anyone ever want to be tied down as a Clipper? Ew.
OKC & MIA stay favorites unless LA adds Dwight. And no, Mesh, Clips are not winning the Pacific. They couldn’t even get a better record than LAL this year. Updated today, Vegas has the odds of MIA repeating at 2:1, they were previously tied with OKC at 3:1. The Nash signing makes Vegas think OKC might not get out West.
Btw, is anyone still really high on the Spurs? I had a conversation with a black guy today regarding the NBA (had to state his race to make the conversation more credible), and he still thinks the Spurs might be best team in West after OKC. I was more on the side of saying the Lakers are better than Spurs, even though I completely understand what makes the Spurs good. I just think their run, year after year, has to end at some point, but maybe I’m underrating that system/coaching.
Lakers do need to add some depth now though.
AB:
OKC still clear favorites from the west. If Durant /Westbrook figure how to play off one another in the half court the way wade/bron kinda did this past year theyll be the front runners to take the whole thing.
Easiest way to rile up Pirozzi is with LAC talk…
Pirozzi:
Well, I’m riled up!
AB:
I read an article comparing the Heat to the 90s Bulls. The more I think about it, right now is eerily similar to the late 90s. Back then you had the Bulls as clear favorites with no competition in the east, just like Miami today. In the west you had the older veteran teams Jazz / Rockets similar to the Lakers / Spurs now, and you had the up and coming Lakers just like you have the Thunder today. Weird huh?
Pirozzi:
Agree, somewhat. There were no up and coming teams back then though. Now there’s plenty of teams with young talent on the rise. Bulls were playing another “old” team in the Jazz. Knicks weren’t too young. Rockets were old. Lakers were too young (96-98).
I think, competition wise, that comparison might work, but I think teams are going to find a way with their youth. Miami isn’t going on any sort of run similar to that of the Bulls.
Panda:
So in Mesh’s analogy, the early 90s pistons are like today’s Celtics with the championship cred but aging stars. The 90s heat are like the magic maybe with Alonzo then/Dwight now as stars but not much around them (or even 90s magic w/ Shaq but I can’t compare penny and Jameer Nelson). The 90s pacers with Reggie could maybe even be compared to last year’s pacers with promise but not enough of a clutch factor. Might be a stretch though.
Pirozzi:
Any 90s comparison to the Nets? [deron, iso joe, gerald wallace, hump, lopez, marshon]
90s hornets?
Pirozzi:
Reports are saying Brandon Roy is with Minny now. 2 years, 10.4 million – thoughts? Can he make a comeback?
Archie Summers:
Three words: “BONE ON BONE.” As in, no cartilage…in his knees. I don’t think that bodes well for walking, let alone playing basketball in the NBA.
Okay, on a serious note, he’s obviously worked out for teams and looks good enough to offer $10M (although some of it is probably based off his old ability, Kahn hoping he’ll magically become the player he once was), regardless of the cartilage situation.
Man, I really, really hope he can be an effective player. I loved the old B Roy. His game was so smooth; he was probably one of my top 5 favorite players in the league before his injuries. And of course, it’d just be an awesome story. Being forced to retire at 27, in your prime, must be heartbreaking for an athlete. He won’t be the old B Roy, but hopefully he can be a solid rotation guy for the Wolves. I’m really hoping this works out for him.
Pirozzi:
Rubio’s magical eyes will cure any and all ailments in Roy’s knees.
Archie Summers:
Puppy breath and cinnamon. No German doctors needed.
Bacardi:
I actually like the Roy signing, in the long run he won’t be worth 10.4 mill, but I’ve read that they plan on limiting him to 10-15 minutes a night. If he knee holds up under that time limit, he could be a 4th quarter game changer and be a productive member of that team. I was hoping the C’s would get in on the action, but that proved to not be the case.
Archie Summers:
The Green contract is probably the most ridiculous of all so far (and that’s saying a lot for this free agency). And yeah, if Lakers get Dwight, FUCK YOU GUYS. Haha. Jerks.
Bacardi:
The Blazers have made it clear that they will match any offer made to him, which is pissing Batum off. He REALLY wants to play in Minnesota with Ricky “Mickey F’ing Mouse” Rubio and of course Pekovic.
Bacardi:
If these RFA were smart and really wanted to leave their teams (Batum, E Gordon), then they should just sign their tender, play the year out, then become UFA. Why don’t they get that, if they REALLY want to leave then don’t give their team an opportunity to match. That or sign a huge 1 year deal with another team and force their own team to match. Couldn’t they then negotiate an extension during the season?
Also, this point has yet to be brought up. How did Jason Kidd get the same money as Steve Nash? Both players will be remembered for historic careers, but Kidd’s play has clearly fallen off in the past 2 seasons while Nash has still maintained a high level of performance. Both players, I believe, got 3 year $27 Mill.So at this point, who’s the best available free agent that has not agreed to a deal (discounting RFA who have agreed but may be matched by the original team): Lou Williams? Mayo? Javale McGee? Illysova? Ryan Anderson?
Archie Summers:
I think Kidd got 3 yrs/ 9M bro. You probably thought it was 9/yr, but it’s 9 total. I think.
Bacardi:
If it was for only 9m, then that’s definitely fair market value, I musthave read it wrong, there’s no way a GM would do that. Not even KAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNNN (btw, Batum just agreed to a offer sheet with Minny, 4/45)Just read a ESPN article where they compare the signing of Nash to when the Lakers signed the Glove and the Mailman. I’m gonna take this further:
- Both teams went to three straight finals. Early 2000′s Lakers won three, late 2000′s lost in 2008 and then won the next two.
- Both teams failed to make the Western Conference finals after their magic runs.
- If the Lakers sign Grant Hill, then it would be the same as signing over the hill GP and Karl Malone.
- Now… imagine Grant Hill breaking down with injuries, and maybe Bynum gets hurt… They could limp their way to the finals, only to get their ass kicked by the Heat.
I’m calling this is if Grant Hill signs with LAL.
AB:
If the Lakers get Dwight, I will hate the Lakers. If the Lakers don’t get Dwight I will hate the Lakers.
July 6th
Pirozzi:
According to Woj, Philly has amnestied Elton Brand.
AB:
It just seems like Philly signed someone just to say they did something this off-season. Or maybe they’re over Meeks and want a new look at their 2.
Pirozzi:
Man, Evan Turner frickin sucks.
AB:
Your boy Kobe thought Turner was the most complete player in that years draft
Pirozzi:
Kobe also threatened to take Slava Medvedenko with him in 03.
Pirozzi:
Damn, Kobe looks old. Slightly out of shape too? He’s got that “I’m about to rape somebody look”.
July 7th
Archie Summers:
Good piece that Woj wrote on Ray leaving Boston:
I want to watch some replays of Celtics playoff games from this past season to watch the interaction between Ray and Rondo. I guess people have known about their disconnect for a while, but I never really knew much about it until now. Pretty fascinating that they could still mesh on the court, while being so distanced from each other off it.
Pirozzi:
Shaq & Kobe hated each other for years, still played well on court together. I know its different and not the same situation, but people can play on-court while not getting along, personality wise.
_____
End of thread
