There wasn't a lot of activity on the first day that free agents could officially sign, but there were a few signings and a bit of speculation going on around the league.
ESPN reports that Andrew Bogut came to an agreement with the Bucks and will sign a five-year, $72.5 million extension later this week. Big men are at a premium and when you think about it, the Celtics got a real bargain when they signed Perk for just over $4 million a year.
Elton Brand made it official on Wednesday when he signed with the Sixers to a five-year deal worth a reported $82 million. The Warriors has offered $90 million but he felt that the Sixers were a better fit. This immediately elevates the Sixers to contender status. First, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry was revived and it looks as though this season we could see the Celtics-Sixers rivalry revived. Who could forget the classic games between the Bird led Celtics and the Dr J led Sixers.
We could see some great battles between KG and Brand or Pierce and Iguodala. Now all we need is for the Knicks to get it together. The Clippers now turn to Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor. The LA Times reports that Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy had dinner with Smith and that they have also contacted Okafor.
The Pacers and Raptors completed the trade that sent center Rasho Nesterovic, point guard TJ Ford, forward Maceo Baston and the draft rights to center Roy Hibbert to the Pacers for O'Neal and the draft rights to forward Nathan Jawai. I think this is a good trade for both teams. Also Wednesday, the Raptors officially announced the re-signing of restricted free agent guard Jose Calderon. The Atlantic Division is going to have to be reckoned with this season. They definitely aren't the Titanic division any more. The Pacers also completed another trade That sent the draft rights to guard Jarryd Bayless and Ike Diogu to Portland for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and the draft rights to Brandon Rush along with some cash.
After sending Pau Gasol to the Lakers in one of the most lopsided trades in league history, the Grizzlies are at least trying to reclaim some small level of respectability by signing Pau's younger brother, Marc Gasol, to a contract on Wednesday so that they can at least say they got something from the trade.
I guess the Nets were having trouble getting fans to watch so they traded for Yi hoping to draw Chinese fans to the team. According to ESPN:
"We do have a tremendous Chinese-American market in the New York and New Jersey area," Ratner said. "If we have success on the court, we can tap into that market in a huge way."
The acquisition of Yi, 20, has already drawn considerable attention from the Chinese community, both in the United States and China. Wednesday's news conference to introduce the players brought the largest turnout of Chinese print and broadcast media the team has seen in recent years.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that they are still in the mix for James Posey. They also report that Posey's agent, Mark Bartlestein, said that Powey is likely to sign a multi-year deal in a day or two. Teams vying for Posey's services include the Celtics, Lakers, Hornets, Wizards, Cavsm, Spurs and Rockets. Posey has said that he would like to return to Boston and reports are that Danny has offered him a 4 year MLE contract. But, Cleveland is is home stomping grounds and he would be playing along side LeBron. He lives in Texas in the off season and that may give the Spurs or Rockets a boost. But with the Spurs signing Roger Mason Jr to a 2 year, $7.5 million contract, that will probably take them out of the running. Also, if any team is offering 5 years at the MLE, that may be enough to get him to leave Boston. We should know in a day or two.
TrueHoop has an interesting article about Darius Miles and the 10 day suspension for violating the league's drug policy. It would appear that the suspension was for performance enhancing drugs and there may be some shenanigans going on with the release of the information about the suspension and the suspension itself. The Blazers have a lot to gain if Miles isn't signed by a team as if he plays in 10 games this season, they are on the hook for the remainder of his $27 million salary. Pretty interesting stuff.
The Kings re-signed Beno Udrih to a multi-year contract along with their second round picks Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing, Jr. The Heat signed their second round pick, Mario Chalmers. Teams are all signing second round picks now and the Celtics haven't even been able to sign their first round pick. But, that could have something to do with the fact that Marc Bartlestein represents Giddens, Posey, House and Pollard and the Celtics are waiting to see what happens with Posey before making any other moves.
The Mavs have re-signed Jose Juan Barea for 3 years at 1.5 million per year with 2 years guaranteed. They also re-signed DeSagana Diop. Diop is a nice young player and I wouldn't have minded seeing him in Celtics green. The Mavs were smart to get him re-signed early. The Nets have signed their second round pick, Chris Douglas-Robertsm, a player that many Celtics fans wanted their team to take with the 30th pick on draft night.
Another player the Celtics were looking at signing, Tyronn Lue, is close to signing with the Suns according to the Arizona Republic. Maybe the Suns have finally found their back up point guard. Marcus Banks clearly wasn't the answer as they had hoped when they traded the rights to Rajon Rondo to Boston. Think they'd like to take that trade back? Brent Barry is off the Sun's wish list but they are still in the market for a wing and Darius Miles and Devon Brown are possibilities. The Suns' medical staff examined forward Darius Miles on Wednesday.
The Wizards signed Utah Jazz restricted free agent point guard Dee Brown to an offer sheet for a two-year, partially guaranteed deal. Utah has one week to match the offer.
According to the SacBee, the Lakers already have contacted the Kings regarding Artest and are believed to be offering forward Lamar Odom. Sources say that the Kings may insist on forward Kenny Thomas and his $18 million of remaining salary (over two seasons) being included in that potential trade.
ESPN reports that Andrew Bogut came to an agreement with the Bucks and will sign a five-year, $72.5 million extension later this week. Big men are at a premium and when you think about it, the Celtics got a real bargain when they signed Perk for just over $4 million a year.
Elton Brand made it official on Wednesday when he signed with the Sixers to a five-year deal worth a reported $82 million. The Warriors has offered $90 million but he felt that the Sixers were a better fit. This immediately elevates the Sixers to contender status. First, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry was revived and it looks as though this season we could see the Celtics-Sixers rivalry revived. Who could forget the classic games between the Bird led Celtics and the Dr J led Sixers.
We could see some great battles between KG and Brand or Pierce and Iguodala. Now all we need is for the Knicks to get it together. The Clippers now turn to Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor. The LA Times reports that Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy had dinner with Smith and that they have also contacted Okafor.
The Pacers and Raptors completed the trade that sent center Rasho Nesterovic, point guard TJ Ford, forward Maceo Baston and the draft rights to center Roy Hibbert to the Pacers for O'Neal and the draft rights to forward Nathan Jawai. I think this is a good trade for both teams. Also Wednesday, the Raptors officially announced the re-signing of restricted free agent guard Jose Calderon. The Atlantic Division is going to have to be reckoned with this season. They definitely aren't the Titanic division any more. The Pacers also completed another trade That sent the draft rights to guard Jarryd Bayless and Ike Diogu to Portland for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and the draft rights to Brandon Rush along with some cash.
After sending Pau Gasol to the Lakers in one of the most lopsided trades in league history, the Grizzlies are at least trying to reclaim some small level of respectability by signing Pau's younger brother, Marc Gasol, to a contract on Wednesday so that they can at least say they got something from the trade.
I guess the Nets were having trouble getting fans to watch so they traded for Yi hoping to draw Chinese fans to the team. According to ESPN:
"We do have a tremendous Chinese-American market in the New York and New Jersey area," Ratner said. "If we have success on the court, we can tap into that market in a huge way."
The acquisition of Yi, 20, has already drawn considerable attention from the Chinese community, both in the United States and China. Wednesday's news conference to introduce the players brought the largest turnout of Chinese print and broadcast media the team has seen in recent years.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that they are still in the mix for James Posey. They also report that Posey's agent, Mark Bartlestein, said that Powey is likely to sign a multi-year deal in a day or two. Teams vying for Posey's services include the Celtics, Lakers, Hornets, Wizards, Cavsm, Spurs and Rockets. Posey has said that he would like to return to Boston and reports are that Danny has offered him a 4 year MLE contract. But, Cleveland is is home stomping grounds and he would be playing along side LeBron. He lives in Texas in the off season and that may give the Spurs or Rockets a boost. But with the Spurs signing Roger Mason Jr to a 2 year, $7.5 million contract, that will probably take them out of the running. Also, if any team is offering 5 years at the MLE, that may be enough to get him to leave Boston. We should know in a day or two.
TrueHoop has an interesting article about Darius Miles and the 10 day suspension for violating the league's drug policy. It would appear that the suspension was for performance enhancing drugs and there may be some shenanigans going on with the release of the information about the suspension and the suspension itself. The Blazers have a lot to gain if Miles isn't signed by a team as if he plays in 10 games this season, they are on the hook for the remainder of his $27 million salary. Pretty interesting stuff.
The Kings re-signed Beno Udrih to a multi-year contract along with their second round picks Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing, Jr. The Heat signed their second round pick, Mario Chalmers. Teams are all signing second round picks now and the Celtics haven't even been able to sign their first round pick. But, that could have something to do with the fact that Marc Bartlestein represents Giddens, Posey, House and Pollard and the Celtics are waiting to see what happens with Posey before making any other moves.
The Mavs have re-signed Jose Juan Barea for 3 years at 1.5 million per year with 2 years guaranteed. They also re-signed DeSagana Diop. Diop is a nice young player and I wouldn't have minded seeing him in Celtics green. The Mavs were smart to get him re-signed early. The Nets have signed their second round pick, Chris Douglas-Robertsm, a player that many Celtics fans wanted their team to take with the 30th pick on draft night.
Another player the Celtics were looking at signing, Tyronn Lue, is close to signing with the Suns according to the Arizona Republic. Maybe the Suns have finally found their back up point guard. Marcus Banks clearly wasn't the answer as they had hoped when they traded the rights to Rajon Rondo to Boston. Think they'd like to take that trade back? Brent Barry is off the Sun's wish list but they are still in the market for a wing and Darius Miles and Devon Brown are possibilities. The Suns' medical staff examined forward Darius Miles on Wednesday.
The Wizards signed Utah Jazz restricted free agent point guard Dee Brown to an offer sheet for a two-year, partially guaranteed deal. Utah has one week to match the offer.
According to the SacBee, the Lakers already have contacted the Kings regarding Artest and are believed to be offering forward Lamar Odom. Sources say that the Kings may insist on forward Kenny Thomas and his $18 million of remaining salary (over two seasons) being included in that potential trade.
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