Yardbarker: Bobby Jones

Tiger Woods Wins The Buick Open, But Does He Have You Convinced?

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:00:35 -0500

He’s 35-1 when holding sole possession of the 54-hole lead. Did you really think the likes of Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers, Matt Bettencourt or Michel Letzig were going to go out and take down Tiger Woods this afternoon? The large, rowdy galleries, the millions watching on television, Tiger Woods, and most importantly, the rest of the field all knew how this day would turn out long before the first tee shot was struck. Woods had a firm grasp on the 2009 Buick Open when he arrived at W...

Seatowning 7/11/09, Pirates and Mariners are Trade Flirting

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:00:00 -0500

Mariners
+Mariners and Pirates have something going on....[Pro Ball NW]
+Exploring Mariner bullpen options [USS Mariner]
+Ichiro declines another offer to compete in this year's Home Run Derby :( [Seattle pi]

UW
+Reasons to be optimistic if you are a UW football fan [ESPN]
+UW football cornerbacks preview [UW Dawg Pound]
+Top 5 reasons the Seahawks will win the NFC West in 2009 [My NW]

Local
+Patrick Kerney season retrospective [Field Gulls]
+Top 10 Seahawks who need to step it up in 2009 [NSS]
+Josh Smith and Tony Wroten crack the Top 50 rankings [High School Hoop]
+Smith will make his decision in early August after he makes trips to the schools he's interested in [husky digest]
+Bobby Jones will be playing with the Blazer summer squad, hopefully he can make the team [Seattle Times]

The Nuggets offseason: Dahntay Jones...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:55:00 -0500

Before jumping into whether or not the Nuggets should re-sign Dahntay Jones, the news just broke tonight that the NBA's salary cap for 2009-10 will be lowered to $57.7 million and, of more importance to Nuggets fans, the luxury tax threshold - the number which teams are forced to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax if they exceed it - has been lowered to $69.92 million. For those keeping score at home, this is about $1.5 million less than Denver Stiffs and alleged NBA "experts" had forecast since the season ended.

Lost in the shuffle between the supposed re-signing of Chris Andersen, possibly signing Grant Hill or Channing Frye (or other free agents) and the acquisition of Ty Lawson is the re-signing of Dahntay Jones, one of the best surprises of the 2008-09 Nuggets season. Even I was dubious about Dahntay early in the season when, just a handful of games into Dahtnay's first Nuggets season, I added him to the list of Nuggets "shooting" guards who can't make a shot. A full season and postseason later, Dahntay still couldn't hit an outside jump shot with consistency but he proved to be a valuable member of the team. And when you factor in his $1.3 million contract, Jones was an absolute steal.

The problem going forward, of course, is that Dahntay can't be had for $1.3 million again. What price will he command? Will the Nuggets be willing to pay it? Should they? Let's discuss...

The Good: To the credit of George Karl and his coaching staff, the Nuggets were able to convert Dahntay from a dunk-only slasher with no jump shot to a physically tough, solid defensive two-guard who still threw down jaw-dropping dunks. The reason I mention Karl and his staff here is because I know for certain they spent a lot of time with Dahntay so he wouldn't end up in the obscure dustbin of Nuggets shooting guard history with names like Yakhouba Diawara, Von Wafer, Bobby Jones, DerMarr Johnson, Julius Hodge and countless others.

Simply put, Dahntay was the closest things the Nuggets have ever had to a Bruce Bowen-type defender and he played the part well. In only 18 minutes of playing time a night, the Nuggets could count on Dahntay to make his six allotted fouls mean something, while pestering his opposing shooting guards into tough shots and finishing fast breaks with authority. And even though myself and many other fans demanded that J.R. Smith start in place of Dahntay early in the season, the rotation of having Dahntay play about eight to ten first quarter minutes and then have J.R. enter as a spark off the bench seemed to work more than it didn't. (It should be noted that as reported on this blog by Chris Tomasson, J.R. will likely be replacing Dahntay as the starting two-guard next season whether Dahntay returns or not.)

And beyond his performance on the floor, Dahntay's enthusiasm from the sidelines was unparalleled on the Nuggets this year. Having been all but kicked out of the league for poor play in his first five seasons, you could tell that Dahntay appreciated every second he had with the Nuggets in 2008-09. Frankly, I think Dahntay was a better cheerleader for the Nuggets than their actual cheerleaders.

The Bad: Entering your sixth NBA season, you don't find yourself scrambling to make a roster during the NBA Summer League without a good reason. In Dahntay's case, his inability to make an open jump shot and a suspect defensive effort got him cast off by the lowly Sacramento Kings in 2008, making him available for the Nuggets to poach him for next-to-nothing (by NBA standards) last summer. But that should be old news at this point.

The current knock on Dahntay remains that wretched jump shot, which to be fair improved from the corner (even from three) as the season went on but needs a great deal more work. Another negative levied at Dahntay would be his sometimes careless defensive play. He's prone to picking up easy fouls that don't deter the opposition from scoring while getting the Nuggets into early foul trouble. And we're well aware of his propensity to play dirty, as well. Look, I hate Kobe Bryant as much as the next non-Lakers fan (well, probably more) but tripping and pushing Kobe in the back does the Nuggets no good. In fact, it only gets a player like Kobe more fired up (see Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals).

The final "bad" on Dahntay isn't actually Dahntay's fault, but rather Karl's. For some bizarre reason - and with very few rare exceptions - whenever Karl pulled Dahntay from the game and substituted in J.R., we'd never see Dahntay again. I joked in the playoffs that Karl treated Dahntay like a pitcher in a baseball game. Once he was out, he was out permanently. I have no problem with J.R. being subbed in for Dahntay, clearly an upgrade. But then Karl would bring in the six-foot Anthony Carter for J.R., leaving Dahntay on the bench while A.C. played side-by-side with Chauncey Billups. If the Nuggets decide to re-sign Dahntay, one can only hope that Karl realizes he's allowed to sub Dahntay back into the game when J.R. is having an off night.

Possible Replacement(s): Unfortunately for Mr. Jones, he picked the wrong summer to come off the best season of his career. And with the news breaking of the NBA's luxury tax number being lowered to $69.92 million, not only will it be virtually impossible for the Nuggets to pay Dahntay the $3 million or so he'll command in the open market, but the replacements for Dahntay - if any - has just become a very short list.

In order to re-sign Dahntay or any other player, the Nuggets will first need to get Chris Andersen to sign a backloaded deal. (On a side note, I need to author a correction to my last post on free agency. Chris Tomasson informed me that Andersen cannot make $2 million in year one of a new deal, and then $3 million in year two and so on as I reported. According to Tomasson, Andersen - since he's an unrestricted free agent and has no "Bird Rights" - can only be increased by 8% per year. Which means if he were to make, say, $20 million over five years, he'd probably start at $3.5 million in year one.) Assuming Andersen takes a backloaded deal that pays him $3.5 million in his first year, about $2.4 million would be available to re-sign Dahntay or another player as part of the Nuggets mid-level exception money.

In the $2 to $2.4 million range that the Nuggets have to spend, there are a handful of players who, arguably, are an upgrade over Dahntay. These names include Hill, Matt Barnes, Steve Novak, Von Wafer and Channing Frye. But a lot of those potential acquisitions depends greatly on what happens with Linas Kleiza and if the Nuggets are able to make a deal for a true center. For example, if Kleiza were to be signed by the Raptors and the Nuggets don't match, then signing Barnes, Wafer or Novak would come into play because the Nuggets would need three-point shooting. But if the Nuggets were to keep Kleiza and not obtain a true center, Frye would be the guy we'd need. Hill is versatile enough to contribute at two-guard or small forward, but he'll likely gravy train with the Celtics (a good thing considering they weren't old and injury prone enough already).

It should be noted that with the lowering of the cap, other attractive free agents who won't be too pricey to some are now unavailable to the Nuggets. This list includes Hakim Warrick, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Marquis Daniels, Rashad McCants and for those of you pining away for the Nuggets to sign Shawn Marion outright let me be very clear: FORGET IT!!

The Verdict: Assuming Dantay commands $3-plus million per season, his days as a Nugget are over. The question then becomes, what do you do with the $2 million of mid-level exception money that should be leftover from the Andersen deal? I'll give you two scenarios...

If Kleiza departs but the Nuggets secure a center via trade, you have to consider Barnes or Novak over Dahntay to spread the floor on offense.

If Kleiza stays but the Nuggets don't acquire a center via trade, Frye's the guy whom the Nuggets should allocate their $2 million mid-level exception to.

This isn't to say that I don't want Dahntay back in a Nuggets uniform, because I very much do. It was evident that Dahntay is a hard worker and I like how his game improved as the season went on. But between Andersen, Carter, Kleiza and Dahntay, it appears as though Dahntay is most likely to be a salary cap casualty.

On a final note, I'll sign off tonight with a quick Dahntay-related story. Courtesy of my friend's great seats, I sat right behind Dahntay's mom and his adorable son for every playoff game. During one of the games, my friend said something to Ms. Jones like "I hope Dahntay comes back next year." In a nice way, her reply was: "tell the team that."

Renaldo Balkman to the Nuggets?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:18:31 -0500

The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets have had serious talks discussing swapping former-first round pick Renaldo Balkman for point guard Taurean Green and small forward Bobby Jones. If the trade happens, the Knicks could cut Green and Jones, which would get them to 15 players, as well as saving $1.32 million dollars in cap space. Balkman has a team option for the 2009-2010 season which likely would not be renewed. Currently, the Knicks have 16 players on the roster with the signing of Anthony Roberson, and need to get down to 15. Currently, Green and Jones do not have guaranteed contracts. However, Green's contract becomes guaranteed this Thursday and Jones's on August 15th. After the Nuggets signed Chris Andersen and Dahntay Jones, both Green and Jones became expendable. Balkman, is not a good fit in Head Coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system. He shoots under 20% from downtown and less than 50% from the line. With Danilo Gallinari, Quentin Richardson, David Lee, and Wilson Chandler on the roster, there is little room for Balkman. D'Antoni favors forwards who are versatile on offense and who can shoot from outside. The third year player has not yet found a consistent role for the franchise and has only averaged 4.2 points for his career. He could seemingly be a good fit in Denver, because he is known for his defense, hustle and energy. The Nuggets allowed the second most points per game at 106.95. Former team president Isiah Thomas reached for Balkman at No. 20 in the 2006 NBA Draft. Thomas claimed that the Suns (27th pick) were interested in the South Carolina product. That is ironic because former Mike D'Antoni was the Suns coach at the time and seems ready to ship him of New York. Isiah passed on Rajon Rondo, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Kyle Lowry, and Jordan Farmar. The 21-26 selections have had greater impacts in the league in their short time than Balkman has had. If the Knicks decide to keep Green, he could add more competition at point guard. The 23 year-old was the starting point guard for the Florida Gators who won national titles in 2006 and 2007. The Florida native ranks second in career free throw percentage (.856), seventh in assists (400) and tied for eighth in three-point field goals made (186) in school history. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2nd round in the 2007 NBA Draft. Green only appeared in 17 games last season and was traded to the Nuggets for Von Wafer. Yes, the same Von Wafer that was on the Knicks' Summer league team in Las Vegas. His father Sidney Green played two seasons for the Knicks in the late 1980's. Bobby Jones has been in the league for only two years but has played with five different teams. He seems destined to be a career backup, but, like Balkman, is known as a defensive stopper. If this trade goes down, it makes fiscal sense for the Knicks and Donnie Walsh can focus his efforts on moving Zach Randolph.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Teams are Overpaying Edition

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:15:52 -0500

Marc Spears reports in the Globe that the Celtics are still interested in Darius Miles. Miles hasn't played for 2 years after suffering what was diagnosed as a career ending injury. Unlike when the Celtics requested cap relief when Reggie Lewis died, the league granted the Blazers relief from Miles' salary. The fun part of this is that if Miles signs with a team and plays 10 games, the Blazers are on the hook for the remainder of the 18 million they owed him for the 2 years that were...

Live Game 41 Blog: Washington Wizards vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:47:36 -0500

Check out what's going on between the Wizards and the Grizzlies right here, right now.

Day 81 of 170: Bobby Jones? Didn't You Use to Play Golf or Something?

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:24:41 -0500

Line of the Night: Ok, that quote above was fake. But I like to imagine that Baron Davis (6.0) has an alien from Mars inside his head too. Davis led the Warriors past the Bulls with 40 points off 13-23 shooting. He also had 6 threes, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Surprising fact of the day: Davis' career high in points scored is only 40, which he tied yesterday. For some reason, I thought that number would be higher.

Power Drinkings

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:07:00 -0500

Why on Earth would we at 120 do an NBA Power Rankings article? Seriously. It's not as if we consider ourselves legit or anything. But seriously, this NBA Summer can only be described as a Jerry Springer episode. Kevin Garnett switched conferences, Kobe failed (so far) in his attempt to flee Lakerland, followed by the knock-down-drag out saga of MSG vs. Anucha Browne-Sanders, the tragic death of Eddie Griffin, and finally, the apparent return to prominence of the USA national team. Now...