http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4348 Recent articles about Marcus Banks en-us It took me 45 days instead of 30, but I just finished writing NBA Fantasy Team Previews for all 30 teams. Last but not least is the Miami Heat. Just click on the link. There's a poll asking where you'll draft Shawn Marion, some trivia questions, and of course, my top sleeper pick. I hope some people enjoyed these! Stay tuned for RotoEvil's NBA Fantasy Draft Guide, which is going to be far superior than anything else you'll find. Don't believe me? Just wait... Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:20:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332809 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332809 Much speculation has been going around about Monta Ellis' injury that apparently happened outdoors and not on a basketball court. Here's one for the freak accident file. The Timberwolves new center, Jason Collins,injured a triceps tendon in his elbow when his golf cart skidded on wet ground and tipped over. You can't make stuff like that up. The Delonte West Saga is finally over in Cleveland. The restricted free agent has agreed to a 3 year contract that will play him around $12 million. The third year is at the option of the team. Details are coming out that they team wanted to limit him to 2 guaranteed years because like many other teams, they are trying to keep as much money as possible free for the 2010 free agent bonanza. It is being reported that only $500,000 is guaranteed for the 2010-11 season if they decide to let him go. I have been watching Delonte, Ryan Gomes and Big Al because I really like those 3 players and was hoping that maybe the Celtics could get them back but with all three signing multi-year contracts with their teams, that won't happen for awhile anyway. Chris Quinn is another restricted free agent who finally came to terms with his team. The Heat have re-signed guard Chris who was one of the few bright spots last season for the team, averaging 14.4 points and 5.9 assists in their final 17 games. Quinn will have a chance to compete for the starting PG job with the team against Marcus Banks and Mario Chalmers. He should have a good shot at it because Banks has been a disappointment with every team who have seen his potential and taken a chance on him and Chalmers is a rookie who is already off to a rocky start in the league. Magic forward Pat Garrity has decided to hang up his sneakers and retire. Garrity had been with the Magic longer than any current player on the roster. Garrity is 32, the same age as the Celtics star players, but his playing time has dwindled in recent years and even though there are teams with some interest in him, is ready to get on with his life beyond basketball. On the other hand, the Magic signed much traveled veteran PG Mike Wilks who will be insurance behind Jameer Nelson and Anthony Johnson. Former Celtic Raef LaFrentz will have shoulder surgery later this month. Gosh, I thought he had retired but I guess he is still hanging in there. I think he has spent more time on the injured list in his career than he has playing. It was a masterful stroke for Danny to trade Raef, whose bloated contract is still going for Theo Ratliff, whose expiring contract was instrumental in bringing KG to Boston. Raef is finally in the last year of his contract so may finally be useful as an expiring contract. The Blazers may need it, too, if Darius Miles is able to play 10 games this season and put them back on the hook for the $18 million the team still owes him. Another former Celtic with a bloated contract is finally at the expiring contract stage of his career and that is Wally Szczerbiak. Wally, one of the best pure shooters in his prime, has spent more time on the injured list than playing between his fragile ankles and bone on bone knees. He is being rumored as a prime candidate to be traded by the Cavs this season because his 13 million expiring contract finally will make him attractive to another team. Larry Bird is still trying to dump Jamaal Tinsley on some unsuspecting team. Pacers fans don't need to worry that they will be stuck with him because Bird has told the Pacer's NBA blog that Tinsley will not be with the team this season. So, either he has a trade brewing that he is certain he can pull off or he will finally relent and buy him out but he is pretty adamant that Tinsley will be gone before the season starts. One deal that has been rumored has the Heat offering Marcus Banks for Tinsley. He is also firm on the fact that they will keep Granger for the future, even though they haven't extended his contract yet. The Pacers wisely took Granger over Gerald Green in the draft allowing the Celtics to grab Green, who still hasn't gotten his potential anywhere near matching his production. Shaun Livingston is still looking for a team willing to take a chance on signing him. He worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the past week. The Miami Heat are also very interested in signing the 6'7" point guard who is fighting his way back from a devastating injury. There have also been rumors that Danny Ainge is interested in Livingston, but I take those rather skeptically at this point with the admission from Ainge that he plans to bring Sam Cassell back. The Celtics will have plenty of point guards. He might consider a non guaranteed training camp contract like he gave Miles, but word is that Livingston is looking for a guaranteed contract and with 3 other teams interested, he will probably get it. The Blazers are the frontrunners at this point but the Wolves are also sold on him after the workout so it will depend on who is willing to give the most. The Lakers have signed yet another player, bringing their total number of players to 20. That gives them 5 more than the league maximum going into camp. This time, they signed C.J. Giles, a forward out of Oregon State. This comes one day after signing Brandon Heath. Of all the players the Lakers have signed this summer — Dwayne Mitchell, Josh Powell, Sun Yue, Joe Crawford, Heath and Giles, only Powell's and Sun's contracts are guaranteed. Sun Yue will wear #9 with the Lakers should he be lucky enough to make the final cut. I wonder if that is in honor of Rajon Rondo who outplayed all the Lakers' point guards in the finals last year. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:41:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332405 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332405 The big news today is actually no news. After his big announcement that he was going to make an anouncement about when he was going to have surgery on his pinkie, Kobe Bryant finally said that he isn't going to have surgery on the pinkie finger. He is going to bear the pain and put off the surgery so he won't miss any of training camp. While on the one hand this is admirable that he doesn't want to win time, this guy is such a prima donna. Why didn't he just say I am not going to have surgery instead of making an announcement that he was going to make an announcement. Talk about a media hog. Coaches are getting rewarded for their successful seasons. It doesn't get any more successful than winning a championship and Doc Rivers was given a 2 year extension through the 2010-2011 season. Maurice Cheeks was also rewarded for the Sixers' success last season with his second contract extension in seven months. Details were not released, but it is believed that the extension will keep Cheeks on the Sixers' sideline through 2010. The Sixers will have an even better roster this season and have been picked by some to unseat the Celtics as Atlantic Division champions. In good news for the players, the NBA has canceled development of their new composite ball and will be sticking with leather for at least the foreseeable future. The NBA introduced a composite ball at the start of the 2006-07 season but the players complained that the ball was slippery when it got wet from perspiration and some players, particularly point guards were complaining of tiny cuts left on their fingertips from the balls which forced the league to return to the old leather balls in January of the 2007. The plan now is to develop a two-paneled ball, rather than the current eight-panel model. They will introduce the two paneled ball in the D-League next season. Mario Chalmers won't be suspended for the incident that got him kicked out of rookie orientation last week. Chalmers' penalty will be a $20,000 fine, as well as the requirement that he repeat the program next year. Chalmers and Darrell Walker were caught with women along with evidence of marijuana use in their room at the rookie transition program, both of which were against the rules and got them kicked out of the program. Both Chalmers and Walker have denied using marijuana, but they now have that reputation to live down. Chalmers is back in South Florida and working out with the Miami coaching staff. The Orlando Magic are close to signing a point guard. They are looking for a third point guard to back up Jameer Nelson and and Anthony Johnson. Free agents Eddie Gill and Mike Wilks are said to be in the mix to fill the spot. The team is also likely to bring in another wing player and another big man for training camp. Amare Stoudamire is fired up for this season. He is in the best shape of his career and has been working hard in the offseason to make a difference for the Suns this coming season. He is talking about and working on his defense and has declared his passion for the game to be at an all-time high. He plans to be a ferocious defender this season, one that guys fear when they see him guarding them. The Suns could really use this type of defensive presence. They have had one of the top offenses in the league with their run and gun style, but could never get the stops when needed. With new coach Terry Porter, they may just be able to put it all together with a defense to match their offense. Look out for the Toronto Raptors this season. They already have one of my favorite non-Celtic players in Chris Bosh, and they traded for Jermaine O'Neal this summer. Their GM is talking about moving Andrea Bargnani to small forward and putting out one of the tallest front lines in the league. Bosh, Bargnani and O'Neal would form a triple towers that would force some matchup nightmares for other teams. The Knicks are still pondering the deal with the Grizzlies that would allow them to finally dump Zach Randolph and move one more step away from the Isiah Thomas era in New York. The hold up is that the Grizzlies want a first round draft pick along to take Randolph off their hands and send Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric to New York. The Clippers would have taken Randolph off their hands earlier but wanted a first round pick to do so and the Knicks nixed the deal moving the Clippers to bring in Marcus Camby instead. Still, it seems as though the deal is going to get done as Darko was quoted on a Serbian website saying it was 99% certain that he was going to be a Knick. Mike D'Antoni has a way of filling his rosters with European players one way or the other. The summer injuries and surgeries continue as the Trailblazers have announced that forward Channing Frye will be out of action until at least November after surgery on Monday to remove bone spurs from his left ankle. Frye was expected to enter training camp as the backup power forward to LaMarcus Aldridge but that plan will have to wait awhile now. The Blazers have quietly gone about building a very talented young team, partly with help from Danny Ainge's desire to dump his lottery picks. They are going to be a dangerous team. Danny seems to be getting them back though with the signing of Darius Miles who could not only possibly help the Celtics if he is healthy, but eat up a good portion of the Blazers' cap space if he plays in 10 games this season. Heat guard Jason Richards is going to miss the season with a torn ACL. Richards was signed as an undrafted rookie who was expected to Marcus Banks and rookie Mario Chalmers at the point. Seems like the Heat may be in for some point guard trouble. Marcus Banks has been a bust at every stop so far and Mario Chalmers is off to a rocky start by getting thrown out of the rookie transition program. Dwyane Wade is high on Chalmers and would like to see him start. Seeing that Banks is their only other option at this point, that might not be a bad idea. The Heat have made 2 offers to restricted free agent point guard Chris Quinn and he is expected to be signed by the team and could challenge for the back up spot. With 16 days left until training camp starts, there are 17 Nets players at their training facility working on conditioning, chemistry, and skill development since no supervised scrimmages are allowed as yet. Eduardo Najera who is running his basketball camp in Mexico and Stromile Swift who is aiding hurricane relief efforts in Louisiana are the only players not already working out for the team. This team may be young and there are a lot of questions surrounding them, but they have the hunger that the Celtics had last season and that could make them dangerous. One of the questions facing the Nets will be how Yi will fare after a grueling summer playing on the Chinese National team. He seemed tired last season and seemed to run out of steam and it remains to be seen how he will fare in a season after playing in the Olympics. Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:39:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330927 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330927 Wow! It sure is quiet around the NBA. The biggest news I found today is that Celtic Hall of Famer, Robert Parish, turns 55 today. Parish still works with the Celtics behind the scenes and works with Clifford Ray summers in their big man camp in Florida. With Clifford Ray and Robert Parish working with new Celtic Patrick O'Bryant on a regular basis, you have to wonder if maybe another center traded to the Celtics from the Warriors may surprise people. When the Celtics got Parish from the Warriors he was considered an underachiever and a trouble maker. While O'Bryant was never a trouble maker, he certainly has been an underachiever. I'd love to get some of that old Robert Parish magic in the Celtics newest center. Shaun Livingston is getting a lot of attention. He's a very intriguing prospect. If he is healthy, he could be one of the top point guards in the league with his size and ability. But the question is going to be if he can bounce back from that devastating injury. Chris Mullen visited one of his workouts last week. Now there is word that the Heat are interested in the 22 year old point guard to back up Marcus Banks and rookie Mario Chalmers. If healthy, Livingston could beat both out for the starting job. But, Dwyane Wade has been very impressed with Chalmers and is pushing for him to start. The Cavs are still in the market for a big man after trading Joe Smith to Milwaukee and are considering Lorenzen Wright. Wright had also worked out for the Heat but lost that job to Jamaal Magloire. In his career, he has averaged 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. They are also considering Juwan Howard Juwan Howard, who played only 7.1 minutes per game for the Mavericks last season. Word out of New York is that Marbury has dropped to 200 lbs. I don't think I ever heard that weight was an issure with him but he is doing his best to insure the Knicks that he is serious about playing. His future with the Knicks is still very much in doubt. I have a feeling that Donnie Walsh is trying to exorcise as many remembrances of Isiah that he possibly can and Marbury and Isiah will forever be linked. There had been some pretty good rumors that the Celtics were interested in reuniting Marbury and KG in Boston but with 15 on the roster right now and Danny expecting big things from Pruitt this season and Eddie House back in the fold, I just don't see it. There are lots of questions surrounding Monta Ellis' injury. There was a report on Saturday that they had sent their trainer, Tom Abdenour, to Mississippi to check out the injury. In fact, Abdenour is in Johannesburg, South Africa getting ready for the Basketball without Borders camp that begins Wednesday. The Warriors are questioning the injury because it was so severe and they may have sent someone to check on it, but it wasn't Abdenour. See #22 there on the right in that photo. That's the new Republican VP candidate, Sarah Palin. I don't like to get into politics on a basketball blog but this is all about basketball. Sarah Palin was the point guard on her high school team and led them to the state championship. She was nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda" for her tenacious defense and play. I heard that she even played in the championship game with a stress fracture in her foot. All politics aside, I had never heard of her before Friday, but the more I hear about her, the more I like her. She is quite a woman! Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:18:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/316120 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/316120 We start todays update with some very sad news. Former Portland Trailblazer Kevin Duckworth,44, has passed away. Duckworth was in Lincoln City to host a free basketball clinic for kids and was found unresponsive in his room. Duckworth was a two-time All-Star who starred on Western Conference Championship teams in Portland in 1990 and 1992 and was one of the most popular and most recognizable players to ever wear a Blazers uniform. There will be an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Our prayers and condolences go out to the Duckworth family and to the Blazers' organization and fans. Former NBA player, Wayman Tisdale. also 44, had part of his right leg amputated Monday because of bone cancer. Tisdale played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. Tisdale is now an award-winning jazz musician and has been battling the cancer for over a year now. He is hoping that by removing the part of his leg with the cancer that he will be able to beat it and be able to resume touring soon. Thoughts and prayers also go out to Wayman Tisdale. Word is that PJ Brown might not be ready to retire just yet. He is leaving the door open for a late season return just as he did last year. As of right now, the Celtics have 15 players but by midseason it may be clear that one or more aren't going to live up to expectations and PJ could find himself recruited once again for the stretch run. Of course it is all conjecture right now but something to think about during the slow times. The Grizzlies gave Josh Smith an offer sheet that the Hawks quickly matched and they have been linked in talks to the Iranian center, Hamed Ehadadi, who is now available to talk to teams. Now there is word that they are in talks with the Knicks concerning Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies are willing to part with Darko Milicic who was their big free agent signing last year, in a package that wouldn't involve any of their core players. The Grizzlies seem to be debating whether Randolph would fit the team's style on and off the court but they definitely could use an inside player like Randolph. The Grizzlies have also been in talks with Portland. The Blazers need a point guard and the Grizzlies are loaded with them. The Blazers are willing to part with Travis Outlaw in return for a point guard. The Blazers would probably want Conley because he is the purest point guard that the Grizzlies have and Portland would love to reunite Conley with former teammate and best friend, Greg Oden. The Celtics made it official by signing JR Giddens to a contract. Giddens, whose defense and athleticsm are considered NBA-caliber right now, will be expected to fill in the void left by James Posey's departure to New Orleans. Hopefully he will live up to expectations and contribute this season. Dwyane Wade would like to see Mario Chalmers as Miami's starting point guard this season. The Heat will give him a chance to compete against Marcus Banks for the position. Miami also expects Chris Quinn back and may add a veteran. My money is on Chalmers beating out Banks, who hasn't come anywhere near reaching the expectations that Boston had when they drafted him. The Heat are also still considering big men with Jamaal Magloire, Lorenzen Wright, and DJ Mbenga all waiting for word from them. Mbenga has a minimum level contract to consider from the Lakers, but was hoping to get a little more from the Heat. Kobe Bryant is expected to decide when he will have surgery to repair the ligament damage in his right pinky finger by the end of this week. Bryant had hoped to be recovered from his surgery for the start of training camp but with camp starting on September 30 and his recovery will probably take longer than 4 weeks, he might not be 100% in time to start camp. Phil Jackson has coached Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Fisher, Karl Malone, Rick Fox, Steve Kerr, Bill Cartwright, and other stars. But after receiving an honorary doctor of letters degree from his alma mater, University of North Dakota, Phil talked about the greatest athlete he ever coached and it wasn't any of the above. The player Jackson called the greatest that he has coached is that none other than Detroit Bad Boy, Dennis Rodman. That one leaves you scratching your head. That kind of analysis proves that all those championships he won wasn't because of his intelligence and coaching. After all, he did get way out coached by Doc Rivers this season and his best strategy was whining about the officiating. Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:04:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313663 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313663 At the beginning of the off season, Sam Cassell was planning to return to the Celtics this season as a player/ assistant coach in training and then join Doc's staff next season. With the resigning of House and Allen and Danny's expectations that Pruitt will contribute more this season, it seems that Sam will need to find employment elsewhere. After signing Giddens, the team has 2 spots left. Hopefully one goes to Bill Walker and the other would go to either a veteran back up small forward or center and not to a back up point guard. Rumor is that Sam will sign with Denver and fullfil his plans to play one more year as a player at the veteran's minimum and get some coaching training under his former Milwaukee coach George Karl. In spite of being mentioned in rumors tied to several teams, Shaun Livingston still hasn't been picked up by a team. He is still working hard on rehab, but in spite of 18 months of hard work, he is still unable to play five-on-five despite extensive rehabilitation. Teams are going to wait until they know for sure that he will be able to play. Livingston has a ton of potential as a 6'7" point guard, but injuries have derailed his career and teams are going to wait to see if he can play again before offering a contract. Delonte West has proved that he can play in the league but he has also been plagued with assorted injuries in his career. I mean, how many players get sidelined with a toe infection? Much of what fuels his injuries is his way of playing all out all the time as he throws his body into bigger players. He is a tough player and deserves better than what teams have done with him. He was key to getting Ray Allen in Boston, but the Sonics didn't give Delonte a chance. Then he finally got a chance to play in Cleveland and did so admirably, but they have pretty much thrown him by the wayside, giving their back up point guard a bigger contract than they offered him. Delonte should take the qualifying offer and see what he can get next season on the open market. I would love to see the Celtics bring him back. Another former Celtic (although very briefly), Luke Jackson has been working out for the Blazers and reports are that he will sign with them and become the 15th player on their roster going into training camp. Jackson can score and is good from beyond the arc, but he is a defensive liability. Still he would be good for a team that needs instant offense off the bench. With Alonzo Mourning still rehabbing and his situation uncertain and Mark Blount as their main option at center (better them than us), the Heat are looking for some help at the center position. Jamaal Magloire is scheduled for a Wednesday visit in Miami. Magloire has averaged 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in his career but played in just 31 games last season, joining Dallas after New Jersey cut him in February. But if you're Miami, anyone has to look better than Skippy (I'll get the rebound if I don't have to work for it) Blount. The Knicks' first round draft pick, Danilo Gallinari, is still hurting. Gallinari played in just one summer-league game, injuring his back in his only outing. He has now withdrawn from the Italian National Team, which begins its Eurobasket Qualifier tournament vs. Serbia today. The Knicks are hopeful that Gallinari will be healthy and ready to play by their training camp, but questions still remain as to whether he will be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of playing in the NBA. Yesterday, the Nets had 14 players in their practice facility working out and preparing for the upcoming season. They are getting an early start at building chemistry with so many new faces on the roster. As reported previously, the Wolves have 9 players working out on a regular basis. Last season it was the Celtics all in Boston early and working out together. But this season, Paul Pierce is still celebrating. KG hasn't been heard from but is probably workout out somewhere and Ray Allen is getting married. Only a few of the young players have been in Boston working on their game. Other teams are working hard to try to jump past Boston and if the Celtics think in the least that they can rest on their laurels, they are going to be very much surprised by these other teams who have the hunger that we saw in the Celtics last season. Team USA was back in action this morning in a rather chippy game against Australia that got pretty rough at times. Although the Australians stayed with the Americans early, Team USA pulled ahead for an easy 116-85 win to pull within 2 wins of their goal of winning the gold. Kobe lead 6 players in double figures with 25 points. They will face the winner of the game between Argentina and Greece in the semi-finals. Beating either team would give the American team some degree of satisfaction and revenge. Croatian guard Gordan Giricek, who has averaged nearly 10 points per game since joining the NBA in 2002, has become the latest player to leave the league for a bigger payday. Giricek finished last season as a member of the Phoenix Suns. On Tuesday, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard signed a two-year contract -- with an option to return to the NBA next summer -- with Turkey's premier club, Fenerbahce. He passed on an offer from the Spurs that was much less than he will earn with the Turkish club. Goran Dragic is another step closer to signing a contract with the Suns as he passed his physical Tuesday, but has to go back home without signing a contract because he still needs to work out the formal details of his buyout and obtains a work visa to return to the USA. The Suns offered Dragic a contract that is usually reserved for lottery picks instead of second-rounders but most of the money he'll make this year (about $1.4 million) is going toward securing his release from his Spanish club. His goal this season is not to become rich, but to prove that he can play in the NBA. The Suns certainly are keeping their fingers crossed that he can. Their last attempt at finding Steve Nash's back up and eventual successor didn't work out so well as Marcus Banks ended up a bust. But then again, the Celtics could have told them that and saved them the trouble. And they must still be kicking themselves for passing Rondo on to the Celtics. Dragic will get plenty of opportunity to prove he belongs as he will be Nash's main backup and will get plenty of minutes as they try to keep Nash fresh for the playoffs. With the sudden departure of Dragic, Tau Ceramica is looking at former Knicks guard Fred Jones as a replacement. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:50:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/309554 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/309554 Fantasy Football isn't the only sport that has potential sleepers. And as Screaming Sports' Zach Powell explains, there are several budding NBA stars that could make the leap from average to great in 2008-2009. Who will be the next great fantasy contributors? Click to find out. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:47:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/308742 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/308742 The Phoenix Suns are still in the hunt for a point guard to back up Steve Nash. Since passing Rajon Rondo on to the Celtics, they haven't been very successful in their search for Nash's backup. Marcus Banks obviously didn't work out. They were hoping that Slovenian guard Goran Dragic would be the answer and have been holding out hope that he would agree to play for them this season. But, word is that Dragic is planning to stay in Europe and finish out his contract there. In order to entice him to the NBA this season, they would have to give him a contract much higher than the minimum in order to pay for his $1.5 million buyout and that would put the Suns over the luxury tax level which they are trying to avoid. There are a few point guards left on the free agent market including Sam Cassell, Flip Murray, Dan Dickau, Darrell Armstrong, Jannero Pargo, Shaun Livingston, and Damon Stoudamire. How they must be wishing they had never let Rondo go to the Celtics. The Detroit Pistons re-signed 6'9" forward Walter Herrmann on Monday. Herrmann played six seasons in his native Argentina and four seasons in Spain before being signed as an undrafted free agent by Charlotte. He played in 28 games for the Pistons last season averaging 3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game. Oklahoma City (formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics and soon to be named the Thunder) traded New Jersey's 2009 second round pick to the Charlotte Bobcats for 6'6" rookie guard Kyle Weaver out of Washington State. With Josh Smith safely back in the fold, the Hawks are making moves to fill out their roster and have signed Othello Hunter and Thomas Gardner. Both Hunter and Gardner played on Atlanta's summer league team at the Rocky Mountain Revue and made an impression that earned them another look with the team. Hunter is a rookie power forward out of Ohio State who played in the national title game with Greg Oden and Mike Conley. Gardner is a 6'5" guard Gardner out of Missouri, and has a reputation as a scorer. We reported last week that the Lakers have signed the Sun Yue, known as "The Chinese Magic Johnson," to a contract. It would appear that his height of 6'9" has more to do with this nickname than his play. a veteran NBA executive, who has scouted hundreds of players both internationally and in the United States has this to say about him: "He has a nice feel for the game (and) he's a decent passer, with good size. However, he lacks quickness and toughness and doesn't shoot the ball well, with range. He is a below-average athlete." According to this NBA source, Sun is not a NBA-caliber player at this juncture and would not figure to be much of a factor with the Lakers this season, if he were to make the team. The Lakers plan to move him from point guard to shooting guard where he will compete with Coby Karl, Dwayne Mitchell and Joe Crawford for minutes off the bench at that position. The speculation has begun as to how the Jazz can resign both Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur and still keep Andrei Kirilenko and still stay below the luxury tax threshold as they seem determined to do. The answer appears to be that they can't and Kirilenko appears to be the odd man out. AK47 may be hard to trade though because he has three years and $49.35 million remaining on his contract with the Jazz. Next season, not many teams will want to take a contract that will put them on the hook for $17.82 million in 2010-11 as everyone seems to want to clear cap space for the big free agent class that off season. Boozer and Okur can both opt out of their contracts next year and may do so, not necessarily to leave the Jazz but to get a bigger payday. I don't like Kirilenko for the Celtics. He has complained a lot about his role in the offense and I don't see him as a candidate for ubuntu. Speaking of Kirilenko, he scored a team-high 18 points to lead four in double figures for Russia, but his team dropped its first Olympics pool game Tuesday to undefeated Croatia, 85-78. Russia, now 1-1, next faces Australia on Thursday. Spain with its many NBA stars topped Yao and the Spanish team in an 85-75 overtime thriller. This morning, Team USA played Angola and after allowing them to stay fairly close in the first half, they pulled away to win 97-76 to go 2-0 in group play. Next for Team USA: A grudge match with Greece on Thursday morning. Alan Houston is still working on his comeback and would like to return to the Knicks but I am sure he would take a contract with any other team that offers him one if the Knicks don't. Isn't he Danny's kind of player? Retired and looking for a comeback? Houston played in the Nike Pro City league at Hunter and apparently held his own. He put up 25 points in a loss to Ron Artest's squad and showed some flashes of his previous form, according to the report. Speaking of Ron Artest, in 3 days the Rockets will be free to make the deal that will bring Ron Ron to Houston for better or worse. You have to love this one from the Washington Post. I quote it here because rephrasing wouldn't do it justice: The Olympics are just four days old, but the best quote of the Games has already been uttered, and there is a 0.000000 chance that it will be topped. This from colleague Michael Abramowitz's Style Section story about the Bush Fam this morning. Meeting Team USA with Bush 43 before the game, Bush 41 gave a warm hug to Lakers star Kobe Bryant and received an affectionate greeting from Cavaliers hero LeBron James: "What's up, pops?" the massive James asked. One way for a 23-year old pro basketball player to greet a former President might be "Hello, Mr. President." Another might be "What's up, pops." I'm done making fun of LeBron for the crying and the scowling and the wide-eyed disbelief. Anyone who breaks out the "What's up pops?" line is ok by me. The Cavs' puzzling unwillingness to sign Delonte West to a new deal continues. He is their starting point guard and is looking for a multi-year deal that would be better than the five-year $21 million deal that their back up point guard got. It seems reasonable that the starter should get more than the back up, but apparently not to the Cavs. There have been rumors that the Cavs are looking to do a sign and trade with the Bucks for Mo Williams and this makes sense for the Cavs because it would give them an established point rather than one still developing. But, it doesn't make much sense for the Bucks are are obviously in win now mode with the trade for Richard Jefferson as they try to add stars around their star, Michael Redd, to try to find some of the luck the Celtics had with this strategy. Delonte is leaning toward taking the one-year, $2.8 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. If he does, the Cavs could not trade him without his consent and he'd have a year to establish his value and make himself more valuable on the free agent market next off season. I really wouldn't mind having Delonte back in Boston. He is a tough gritty player who leaves it all on the court. Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:13:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/304451 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/304451 Back from a few much needed days off. While I was gone, Paul Pierce hit the news for his non-DUI stop in Vegas. I'd say that he's had enough celebrating and should get down to getting ready to defend the title. After every season, win or lose, Larry Bird would be training the very next week. It will be very hard to repeat if Pierce is still celebrating his ring up until training camp. He's had his fun and run at celebrity and being the best player in the world. Time to get to work. #17 was great, but #18 would be even better. Time to get serious and work on conditioning and your game Paul. The schedule was also released and the Celtics will raise banner #17 to the rafters along with getting their rings on October 28 with LeBron James looking on. Talk about giving LeBron incentive. He has to stand there and watch the Celtics getting their rings while he knows that with a little help he could be getting a ring as well. The Cavs have until 2010 to improve and give LeBron that shot at a ring or he could be going elsewhere. We all have watched with interest the teams such as the Knicks and Nets clearing cap space for the summer of 2010 to make a run at the LeBron sweepstakes. The Cavs have let it be known that they won't let him go without a fight as well. Now, it may all be for nothing as a couple of European teams have contacted James with possible offers of $50 million a year or more. And, LeBron has said that he would consider going to Europe for that kind of money. He could play a year or two and then come back to the US and sign with a contender since money won't be an issue any longer. Something interesting to watch, for sure. Whatever LeBron decides to do, there will be several teams with a lot of cap room to make a splash on the free agent market. Not only is LeBron talking Europe but now, Kobe Bryant has said that he would probably leave the NBA to play in Italy if they offered him in the area of $50 million a year. Kobe spent a large part of his childhood growing up in Italy while his father played professional basketball there and speaks fluent Italian. In 1999, he also acquired a 50 percent ownership of the Olimpia Milano of the Italian Professional Basketball League. Does that mean that he could offer himself a contract? Anyway, he would love to play in Italy and no NBA team could match that kind of money. Kobe has the rings and so it may be about the money and a new challenge at that point. He proved last off season that he doesn't have much loyalty to the Lakers organization so if he gets an offer from an Italian team he may just go. Besides the basketball, there is a whole new country of women for him to go after who may not have heard about his sordid past in the US. The signings have slowed down, but the Clippers are still at it as they acquired Steve Novak, a forward who will give them some perimeter scoring, in a deal with the Houston Rockets. In return, the Rockets will have the option to exchange second-round picks with the Clippers in the 2011 NBA draft. Don't you love all these teams getting players for next to nothing? Must be nice to have all that cap space. The Clippers also signed free agent point guard Jason Williams on Thursday. He joins former Heat teammate, Ricky Davis, on the team. There had been some rumors that the Celtics were looking at Williams before House was re-signed. The Clippers had been looking to re-sign Shaun Livingston but the Williams signing closes the door on that. Livingston is an intriguing point guard at 6'7" but still hasn't been cleared for basketball after the knee injury he suffered last season. This gives the Clippers 10 new players for the upcoming season and 14 total under contract. The Celtics started last season with 9 new players and they didn't have any chemistry problems, but then again, they had Kevin Garnett and just the right mix of players. The question for the Clippers may be which Ricky Davis shows up. You also have to question how much 2 players from a roster that produced 15 wins will help. At a time where head coaches often don't last more than one season, it is simply amazing that Jerry Sloan is about to celebrate 20 years as head coach of the Utah Jazz. The Dec. 9 anniversary game for the longest-tenured coach in American pro sport will be played against the Timberwolves in Minnesota. Sloan will begin the season with 995 victories as the Jazz head coach. No coach in NBA history has won 1,000 games with one team and Sloan can make history as he will definitely eclipse that mark early in this season. The NBA's Web site all but confirmed Thunder would be the nickname of Oklahoma City's NBA team when they released the schedule on Wednesday morning. At first, NBA.com linked to a page that listed the "Oklahoma City Thunder schedule" but by Wednesday afternoon, all mentions of Thunder were removed. Now that the cat's out of the bag, it's about time they make the announcement and make it official. Allan Houston is planning to make another comeback attempt and it is possible that he could get a second try with the Knicks. The 37-year-old Houston told Newsday Tuesday that his agent has been in touch with a few teams and is in preliminary discussions about a training camp tryout. Houston tried to make a comeback last pre-season when he showed at Knicks training camp, but lasted only a week. Houston played 6 minutes of garbage time in a preseason game against the Celtics but put an end to his comeback shortly thereafter. The Heat signed Denver Nuggets' free agent Yakhouba Diawara. He will give them some experience and scoring from the wing. The Cavs have signed former Grizzlies' guard Terrance Kinsey to give them backcourt depth. They still haven't come to terms with Delonte West. It may come down to Delonte accepting the qualifying offer and becoming an unrestricted free agent next year. I'd really love to have him back with the Celtics for both his toughness and play and his sense of humor. Who can forget the Wire Hanger or the Valentine's Day bits? I miss Delonte. The Lakers and Chinese point guard Sun Yue have agreed to terms on a two-season contract, the team confirmed Thursday. Sun is known as the Chinese Magic Johnson because of his eye-catching playmaking ability and will face his future teammate Kobe Bryant when China plays the United States on Sunday in Team USA's opening game. Sun will compete with starting point guard Derek Fisher and backup PG Jordan Farmar for playing time and can also play some shooting guard. Both Fisher and Farmar were ineffective against the Celtics in the playoffs. The Lakers are hoping that Sun Yue's size will give them an advantage. Reports are that the Bucks have reached a verbal agreement with former Spurs and Sonics' free agent center, Francisco Elson. If they do sign him, he will give the Bucks good depth behind Andrew Bogut at the center position. Some early reports had him headed for Boston, but you wonder how that would work out after Elson called KG gay when he was a rookie with the Nuggets. Word is that the Spurs are one of three teams believed to have offered Pargo a deal that would start at $2 million next season. The other teams in the Pargo sweepstakes remain unclear, though it is presumed the Denver Nuggets might be one of them. The Hornets appear willing to let him go and aren't reported to be in the mix for Pargo's services. He is instant offense off the bench and a very good 3 point shooter and would replace what they lost in Brent Barry when he went to the Rockets. I would say that the Heat desperately need help at the point guard spot since after Jason Williams signed with the Clippers, Marcus Banks is their only PG. The Suns thought that he would be the answer to back up Steve Nash and passed on Rajon Rondo because of it. They soon found out that his speed isn't everything. If he would ever get the right attitude, he would be a decent point guard, but so far, he still hasn't gotten his head straight. With Williams gone and Banks as the only PG, it could open the door for a return by restricted free agent Chris Quinn, who finished last season as the Heat's starting point guard. Of course, much of the buzz these next couple of weeks will be about the Olympics as Team USA finally has the chance to redeem themselves and bring home the gold. Games start on Sunday when they face China. The game will be televised at 10:15 am on NBC tv. The women tip off on Saturday as they face the Czech republic. Go USA!!! Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:14:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302972 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302972 It's the dog days of summer for Celtics fans. Too early to think about training camp and nothing is going on with the team. There were no new basketball articles in the Globe and the Herald just had one about Deng's new contract and Artest's trade. I still think Danny has something up his sleeve. We get little tidbits like Boston offered a sign and trade for Delonte but nothing definite. Makes you wonder who Danny was including in the trade from the Celtics. Personally I think the Cavs need a glue guy like Scal. It seems like a long time till training camp. The schedule is due out next week and that may give us something to talk about for awhile. There will be the Olympics and speaking of the Olympics, the Celtics 2nd round draft pick didn't look too bad on the Turkish national team against team USA. We can look forward to seeing him with the Celtics in a year or two. Another observation: D Wade is one of those players who just doesn't look right bald. NBA front-office sources are reporting that the Lakers were very disappointed not to land Artest. But, L.A. was reluctant to part with Lamar Odom and were even more reluctant to take Kenny Thomas along with Artest. Sacramento ultimately relented on its insistence that any team acquiring Artest take Kenny Thomas, as well, dropping that condition and agreeing to Houston's offer because the Kings are essentially coming away with two first-round picks for Artest. Artest for his part is thrilled to be rejoining Rick Adelman who was his coach when he first arriced in Sacramento. Yao is a bit concerned about the Rockets' new acquisition and had this to say about it: "We worry about the new attitude to the team. We are adding talent to the team and we need that, but building team chemistry is important. This is not bad. I don't mean he is not welcome to Houston. But a new player always needs some time. "Also, he was the biggest part of a team in Sacramento. He was a star player. We need more chemistry and more communication." "There's worry. Obviously, yes," said Yao. "We will think about it, of course. Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands. I'd say that Yao has good reason to be concerned. Artest has caused problems everywhere he has gone, both on and off the court. He has been charged with domestic abuse and animal cruelty. He has charged into the stands and attacked a fan. He has decided to take time off from playing to promote his rap CD. And, he has caused chemistry problems in both Indiana and Sacramento. However, he did seem to behave when he was playing for Rick Adelman so maybe Yao can relax a little, hopeful of his coach's ability to control the loose cannon that is Ron Artest. The Bulls finalized a six-year, $71 million contract with Luol Deng on Wednesday and the new deal includes incentives that could increase the total value to $80 million. With new contract in hand, Deng is scheduled to leave for the European Championships, where he will play for the British team. The Bulls remain far apart in negotiations with Ben Gordon. Gordon's agent has told the Bulls that Gordon should be the highest-paid player on the team because he has led the team in scoring each of the last three seasons. Deng got the big contract in spite of his declining from 18.8 points per game to 17 in an injury plagued season last year. The Bulls aren't expected to guarantee up to $80 million over a maximum six years for Gordon, so if negotiations continue to stall, the sides might pursue a sign-and-trade deal. Gordon would have to approve such a move. Gordon also has strongly considered signing the team's qualifying offer of $6.4 million for next season, after which he would be an unrestricted free agent. Along with signing Deng and negotiating with Gordon, the Bulls have been busy pursuing trades as well. They were very interested in trying to acquire Nenad Krstic before he decided to go to Europe. They have also had discussions with Sacramento about center Brad Miller according to a league source. Reportedly, the Bulls are offering Nocioni as trade bait. The Bulls also had some interest from teams wanting guard Larry Hughes, as long as they're willing to take a big contract back in return. Since the Bulls need to thin out their backcourt rumors are that the possibilities include Joel Przybilla, Jared Jeffries, Erick Dampier or Kenyon Martin. The Denver Nuggets announced on Wednesday that they have signed Dahntay Jones to a contract. Jones was a former first-round pick by the Boston Celtics in 2003. He was sent to the Grizzlies in the trade that brought Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins to the Celtics and he played his first three seasons in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers have been making news by signing players and losing players and now they have waived one. On Wednesday, the Clippers announced that they had waived 6'9" forward Josh Powell. Powell averaged 5.5 PPG, 5.20 RPG and 0.7 APG in 19 mpg last season. The Clippers got a real deal when they signed Ricky Davis for $2.3 million a year. I really like Ricky and hope he can finally shake off all the negativity that has in most cases followed him. The Clippers are also trying to re-sign free agent point guard Shaun Livingston. He is an intriguing prospect. If he can stay healthy he could be something very special. Former Cavs guard J.R. Bremer is the latest NBA player to jump to Europe. Bremer has signed a two-year, $5 million deal with Moscow Dynamo Triumph. He will join former New Jersey center Nenad Krstic on the Triumph roster. Krstic signed a two-year deal worth $3 million euros (about $9 million U.S., when figuring in taxes). There have been rumors from the Suns that both Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa are on the trading block. The Cavs have been rumored to be interested in Barbosa but now, an NBA source said the Suns may not be making him available after all. However, the source said that Boris Diaw might be available to be traded. The Suns are still looking for a point guard to back up Steve Nash. They have to keep going back to the 2007 draft and kicking themselves for giving away Rajon Rondo to the Celtics. The Lakers have confirmed that they have invited Robert "Tractor" Traylor in for a private workout to be conducted Thursday. Traylor has not played in the NBA since the 2004-2005 season, when he averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 74 games with the Cavs. If the workout goes well, Traylor likely would be signed to a non-guaranteed contract and invited to training camp. Traylor was the 6th pick in the 1998 draft and has never come close to fulfilling the expectations for him. He has the distinction of having been picked before both Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce and we all know how both of those players worked out. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:05:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298612 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298612 I couldn't help but chuckle upon reading this blurb from a Miami Heat blog: (http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_basketball_heat/2008/07/ricky-do-lose-t.html) Among the emails to pass this way in the recent dog days of free agency are those wondering, just wondering, about the potential virtues of a Ricky Davis reunion. Yes, he can score. Yes, there might be something to be said about Davis as a sixth man. But there's no way you distance yourself from 15-67 by bringing back too much of the 15-67. With Mark Blount and Marcus Banks, there is little choice. They're under contract. But with Davis a free agent, the Heat would actively have to pursue a reunion. With all due respect to Heat fans, ...aaaaaaaaaahhhahahahahahah! Hooooo! Glad that's not us anymore. That is all I have to say about that. Thank you. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:31:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295583 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/295583 I saved some of my favorites for last, and Rondo is certainly one of my favorites. Anyone who has read this blog for long knows that I have a great affinity for pass-first point guards that can play defense. Once upon a time I had great hope for Orien Greene and before that I really wanted to believe Marcus Banks was going to be the answer. Those are just two examples of a long line of points that didn't pan out in Boston. Then along came Rajon Rondo. From his first summer league game, he was clearly better than Sebastian Telfair and had all the makings of a late first round steal. He's been slashing through the lane and setting up our shooters for open looks ever since. Every few months you can see real progress in his game, to the point where he has established himself as the 4th best player on the team, and one of the most important when it comes to determining the outcome of each game. When Rajon is on his game, there's simply no stopping this team. He has lightning quick speed that he uses in short bursts that keep the defenders on their heels. He is so important because when he's... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:20:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294770 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294770 With Dwayne Wade now done for the season, Miami has fully turned it's attention to landing the #1 pick in this June's draft. We take a look at some of the players who will benefit from Wade's absence and can help your fantasy basketball team down the stretch. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:38:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/190183 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/190183 Multiple sources (1, 2, 3) this morning have confirmed the inevitable: the Heat's franchise player Dwayne Wade will be shut down for the rest of the season to undergo treatment on his left knee. The next question for fantasy owners is who should one pick up on the Heat? I like Ricky Davis a lot because he can do just about everything. In addition to that, he has been playing 40+ minutes recently because of the all the injuries Miami has sustained. Here's a look at his numbers the last couple of games, tell me he doesn't look like a good pickup with Wade out: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:57:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/189939 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/189939 March is upon us and in the NBA that means teams are flipping into tank mode in order to secure better odds in the draft lottery. Over the next few weeks you can expect bad teams to make key players disappear from the starting lineup while giving bench warmers bigger minutes in the pursuit of landing the #1 pick. In the first of a five part series, we take a look at the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves to determine what players may be shutdown before season's end and who stands to benefit. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:38:38 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/185052 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/185052