Yardbarker: Sebastian Telfair

Telfair Sentenced!

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:29:50 -0500

As the Minnesota Timberwolves enter the 2008-2009 NBA regular season, it looks as if they will be without their backup point guard Sebastian Telfair (at least for the first two games)...

VIDEO - Adidas the RUN

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:10:41 -0500

KG + Chauncey + Dwight + TMac + Josh Smith + Tim Duncan + Jordan Farmar + Sebastian Telfair = just watch the video. yidiggg!

KP what are you thinking?

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:15:56 -0500

Well of course a rumor around Blazer Town right now is that the Blazers are in the front running for Shawn Livingston. What is the Blazers facisination with knee injuries or injuries period? Greg Oden, Darius Miles now we may have Shawn Livingston. Let's examine some facts first. He's 18 months removed from the devastating injury he suffered. Anyone see the footage of that freak accident? If not go to youtube. Anways, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus. He also dislocated his patella. That sounds about as bad as Darius's Knee injury but he somehow tricked the Celtics to sign him. I wonder if it had something to do with Ainge trying to get back at KP someway for that Brandon Roy-Sebastian Telfair trade. But, I digress Livingston says he's at 75-85%. Penn, McMillan and Pritchard probably thought enough of what Livingston's Agent had to say to go see him workout in Arizona. Then, the talk was that they came away impressed enough to have talk about signing him to our last roster spot. He is just 23, and could come back to have the same explosiveness that he once had in the league. Plus with him being a 6'7" point gaurd, he has great court vision something the blazers really need and have lacked at that position in recent years. The Blazers are loaded at the back court position. But If I'm KP, I'm not completely sold on our point gaurds. Blake is very good distributing point gaurd but at times he gets overpowered by bigger point gaurds and isn't much of a scoring threat besides the occasional three. That said I really like Blake and I hope we keep him (he is a cheap backup option.) Then, we have Bayless the rookie. Who looks like an absolute speedy crossover scoring machine. Reminds me of A.I. or Monta Ellis but there are doubts about how he can run the team, which he will learn with time. Then we have Sergio "the Spanish Laxative" Rodriguez blah get the hell out of the league you mooch. We already have Rudy Fernandez over here, we don't need you anymore. All I'm saying is that if he doesn't improve ALOT by this year you need to go back to Europe muchacho no hard feelings. When you look at the big picture signing Shawn Livingston doesn't seem all that bad. So with the Blazers 15th roster spot I pick Shawn Livingston your a genius KP.

Team Preview #27: Minnesota Timberwolves

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:08:02 -0500

Can Big Al & Kev-Love both average double-doubles? LAST SEASON The Timberwolves went 22-60, missing the Playoffs for the 4th year in a row. Randy Foye missed over half the season, but Minnesota simply wasn't a very good team. They ranked 6th in field goals attempted, but just 25th in threes made, 26th in scoring, 26th in assists, 29th in blocks, and 29th in free throws attempted. OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: Mike Miller, Kevin Love, Jason Collins, Brian Cardinal, Rodney Carney, Booth, Pekovic Key Losses: Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner, Kirk Snyder The T-Wolves definitely improved over the summer, trading away their top pick (OJ Mayo), a washed-up former All-Star (Antoine Walker), and two bad contracts (Jaric + Buckner) for Mike Miller, Kevin Love, Jason Collins, and Brian Cardinal. Cardinal still has 2 years and $13 million remaining on his contract, but Minnesota got the prospect that they wanted, an excellent offensive player in Miller, and a veteran big man. In a separate trade, they also picked up the athletic swingman Rodney Carney, the 7-footer Booth, and a future 1st rounder from Philly for just a 2nd round pick and a trade exemption. Carney will likely replace Kirk Snyder, who played a key role off the bench for Minnesota last season. In the draft, they also chose the Serbian Nikola Pekovic at #31, who is 6-foot-11 and put up excellent stats in the Euroleague (16.4 points on 58.4% FG). The Wolves also managed to re-sign Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith, and Sebastian Telfair, 3 key players from last season. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME Point guard is the biggest question mark for Minnesota. Randy Foye has flashed some potential, but he missed a big chunk of last season due to a kneecap injury (31 starts, 32.3 mpg) and has yet to really prove himself in the NBA (unlike Brandon Roy, the man he was traded for on draft night). They need Foye to step up, because Telfair (51 starts, 32.2 mpg) has improved, but he's clearly a backup and nothing more. If both are healthy, I'll project 32-34 minutes for Foye and 16-18 minutes for Telfair. Rashad McCants (75 starts, 27.0 mpg) played surprisingly well last season, but he's headed back to the bench with Mike Miller now in town. I'm projecting 34-36 minutes for Miller and just 16-18 minutes for McCants, while Carney is limited to garbage time. At small forward, there's a battle for minutes between Ryan Gomes (26 years old, 29.7 mpg) and Corey Brewer (22 years old, 22.8 mpg). Gomes is a much better offensive player and more reliable to boot, but Brewer is the better defender. Since Minnesota could use some defense in their lineup, I'm predicting Brewer to start and get 24-26 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Gomes would be an excellent 6th man who can play 30+ minutes backing up both forward spots. Kevin Love should immediately step into the starting lineup and get 28-30 minutes off the bat, and possibly more as the season progresses. Al Jefferson is a lock for 36 minutes at center, while Craig Smith will get around 18 minutes as the first big man off the bench. The veteran crew of Jason Collins, Calvin Booth, Mark Madsen (yes, he's still around!), and Brian Cardinal will fight for the remaining minutes. DON'T SLEEP ON: Kevin Love Two months ago, I called out Rotoworld for naming Craig Smith the starter and underestimating Kevin Love's fantasy potential. The former Bruin is going to flirt with double-doubles on a nightly basis, is an excellent passer, and should post solid shooting %'s. Here's what I said about Love's free throw shooting in particular: 25 NBA players averaged 9+ boards last season (Love pulled down 10.6 in college), but only 9 of those 25 shot 75% or better from the line (Love shot 76.7% FT). Now of those 9, only 5 averaged 4.5 or more free throw attempts per game (Love averaged 6.6 FTA at UCLA and had 11 games with 10+ attempts). Their names? Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming, Chris Kaman, and Antawn Jamison. Clearly, Love has a very good chance of joining a select group of big men who can provide you with lots of rebounds while also helping out (or at least not hurting) your overall FT%. That makes the rookie very valuable in my mind. BE CAREFUL OF: Al Jefferson I'm high on Love, but I'm down on Big Al. Jefferson was the ONLY player to average 21+ points and 11+ rebounds in '07-08, but he'll have trouble duplicating those stats with the addition of Love. Last season, only 3 other players averaged 4+ boards for Minnesota: Gomes (5.8), Craig Smith (4.6), and Kirk Snyder (4.2). Gomes played a lot of power forward, but now he's going to slide over to SF to accomodate Love, who is a vastly superior rebounder. At shooting guard, Mike Miller (career 5.3 boards per 36 mpg) is also a superior rebounder compared to McCants (career 3.6 boards per 36 mpg). Now consider Telfair's career average of 11.9 points per 36 minutes vs. Randy Foye's career average of 15.4 points per 36. A healthy Foye is capable of scoring in bunches and Miller is also an excellent offensive player, which means fewer shot attempts for Jefferson in '08-09. The 20 & 10 club is still pretty exclusive, but it's not the same as 21 & 11. Big Al is still one of the top fantasy centers, but I don't suggest using a Top 30 pick on him. ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) Click on the link to find out!

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Injuries and Rookie Signings Edition

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:57:08 -0500

The Warriors got some bad news as they learned that their point guard Monta Ellis will be out at least 3 months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn deltoid ligament in his left ankle. Ellis injured his ankle last Thursday playing pick-up ball in his native Mississippi and had the surgery on Wednesday. The Warriors have had a rough start to the off season, losing Baron Davis to the Clippers and it appears that they are having an even rougher end to the offseason with the injury to Monta Ellis . The Warriors are very interested in former Clipper point guard Shaun Livingston with Chris Mullin scheduled to fly to Chicago on Thursday to watch Livingston in a private workout. The Blazers signed former Celtic (albeit briefly) Luke Jackson, rookie center Steven Hill and rookie guard Jamaal Tatum. The Oklahoma City team, formerly known as the Sonics, will unveil its name and team colors in a ceremony set for September 3. It has been pretty much certain that the name will be the Thunder but the team refuses to comment on the rumors. I still prefer the old timey way of giving teams plural names like Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, etc. Even without a name, the franchise continues to make moves. On Wednesday they signed guard Kyle Weaver to a multiyear contract. Weaver was the 38th pick by Charlotte but traded to Oklahoma in August. The Timberwolves young players are apparently very serious about the upcoming season. Ryan Gomes, Al Jefferson,Rashad McCants, Randy Foye, Rodney Carney, Corey Brewer, Chris Richard, Mike Miller, and Sebastian Telfair have been working out on a regular basis in preparation for the upcoming season. Though not actual practices, the players have been going through many of the same drills the team runs during the regular season, including some full court 5-on-5 action. I still miss Ryan Gomes and Big Al. In the meantime, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are hanging out at Blush inside Wynn Las Vegas. Pierce supplied several bottles of Dom Perignon Rose for a party that featured members of Team USA Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony complete with their gold medals. Ray Allen wasn't done there and turned up again at Pure inside Caesars Palace, bringing with him Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley, Antoine Walker, Charles Oakley, Chris Humphries, Tyrone Lue and Jermaine O'Neal. Hey guys, isn't it about time to get back to working out for next season? Training camp is only a month away and it appears Pierce and Allen are still celebrating. Here is the daily defection to Europe report. German champion Alba Berlin has signed free agent guard Casey Jacobsen, who played for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies last season. Jacobsen averaged two points per game last season with the Grizzlies. The Los Angeles Lakers have signed their second round draft pick, guard Joe Crawford. He was selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft after playing 4 seasons at the University of Kentucky. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games for the Wildcats. Crawford started all 6 games for the Lakers Summer League team in Las Vegas this summer and averaged 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.7 minutes. This gives the Lakers 16 players under contract. They plan to go into training camp with 18 and will be looking to bring in a couple more players on minimum contracts. One player they have considered is Shaun Livingston but the Warriors are also considering signing him now that Monta Ellis will be out for at least 3 months. Former Pistons' coach Chuck Daily said that he gets a kick out of the fact that people still remember the Bad Boys days of the Detroit Pistons. He also felt that the image of the Bad Boys is what has kept Laimbeer out of the NBA as a head coach. Laimbeer has been successfully coaching the WNBA Shock but hasn't been considered for any NBA coaching positions. Laimbeer is one of the players I just can't stand. He was such a dirty player and he always had that smirk on his face. I would cringe every time I saw him on the sidelines if he was ever to become the Celtics coach. I can see where Chuck Daily has a point but, it has more to do with Laimbeer's dirty play and smugness and not any Bad Boys image the team had. With Ben Gordon definitely on the outs in Chicago, Utah is being discussed as a destination for him. The Bulls and Gordon would have to agree to a contract and sign-and-trade arrangement. The Jazz would also have to decide he was worth a long-term investment. Andrei Kirilenko a[[ears to be Utah's most logical bargaining chip but Chicago might feel that he duplicates what they already have in Nocioni and Deng. If Gordon can't find any takers for his services, he may need to take the qualifying offer in Chicago and let the season play out, becoming a free agent next off season.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Wolves Get New Duds Edition

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:47:30 -0500

After watching Team USA dismantle the Spanish team today, I had this thought that while everyone will be going after LeBron in 2010, the player I would go after is Dwyane Wade. He was amazing as he seemed to be doing a bit of everything on the court. He finished with 16 points on 8-12 shooting with 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. He can opt out after the 2009-2010 season but he would have to leave 17 million on the table and so I am not sure if he will opt out or finish out his contract and become a free agent in 2011. But, he would be the one I would go after if he does opt out. My second choice would be Chris Bosh. Ray Allen's contract is up after the 2010 season as is Scal's (finally!) and I have to believe that Danny will make some kind of move in that very rich free agent class. Hoopsworld is reporting that for the past 3 weeks Patrick O'Bryant has been working with Clifford Ray at his summer program, the Clifford Ray and Robert Parish Big Man Camp in Bradenton, Florida. So, O'Bryant is learning from 2 of the best. HOOPSWORLD's Steve Kyler reported that Ray has been preaching the importance of hustle, energy, and conditioning to O'Bryant. He lacks the post moves of a traditional big man but his offensive repertoire does include a nice shooting touch and sky hook. O'Bryant's style is best suited for a fast pace system, so if he wants to stick in Boston he will have to maximize his physical tools with commitment and a sense of urgency. Scott Souza reports that Big Baby has stayed in Boston this off season and instead of celebrating like many of his teammates, he has been maturing and working and trimming down. I mentioned the other day that we have seen him doing a lot of PR around town and I guess it is because he is the only one still hanging around. Besides, he has a lot of personality for public appearances. We may see some good things from Big Baby this season as hopefully all this hard work will pay off. Another thing we know is that somewhere, Leon Powe is working very hard. The kid doesn't know how to take it easy. The Boston Globe reports that Stephon Marbury's days as a Knick are over according to a league source. This has been expected for some time. The question now is when are they going to release him. There were rumors that the Celtics might be interested but now that they have signed both Eddie House and Tony Allen, I don't see where he would fit. The Celtics need a back up small forward the most and after that, possibly a veteran center. If they sign Bill Walker, which I really hope they do, they will have just one spot left and I just don't see it going to a troubled point guard, no matter how well he gets along with KG. Marbury may end up in Europe quicker than he thought. Delonte West could have trouble finding a spot in Cleveland now that they have traded for Mo Williams. Without a doubt, he is no longer the Cavs' starting point guard. There was talk about moving him to shooting guard but he will have to beat out another former Celtic, Wally Szczerbiak and Sasha Pavlovic for the spot and that won't be easy. Delonte's best bet right now is to sign the qualifying offer and play his best this season wherever they play him, and then go on the market as an unrestricted free agent next off season. I'd love to see him come back to the Celtics. Can you imagine the Delonte-Big Baby comedy hour? The Timberwolves will unveil their new uniforms, their first new ones since 1996, Monday over the lunch hour at the IDS Crystal Court. If find thatyou just have to run out and buy the new Sebastian Telfair jerseyso you'll be ready for the Sebastian Telfair night at the Target Center, The Wolves also on Monday are launching an online store to allow you to be first on the block to own one, at www.ShopWolves.com. Here's a preview of what the new unis will look like. Personally I am not impressed. Michael Finley has decided to re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs in spite of receiving interest from other teams including the Boston Celtics. Sources say Finley's decision came down to a choice between staying with the Spurs or joining the Boston Celtics as the reigning champs' replacement for James Posey. He also had strong interest from the Hornets and Cavs. Now we know that Danny is still looking for a back up small forward. Sean Kemp has been trying to relaunch his career with several NBA teams over the last couple of years and word is this week that the 39 year old former Sonic legend has signed a contract with the Italian team of Premiata Montegranaro. Even the old players are going to Europe. And finally, Michael Phelps did it. He won 8 golds in Beijing. And if you read my report from yesterday, you know that he is not only a great athlete, but a team player. And, his teammates came through for him in the 2 relays he needed to break Mark Spitz's record. In particular, Jason Lezak, one of the older swimmers on the team, pulled out the final leg of both of the relays. Exciting stuff out of the Olympics. USA Basketball, both men and women, seem to be steam rolling everyone along with the record breaking action in the pool. Next up for the men's team is Dirk Nowitski and Germany, who lost to Yao and China in their last game. The women are just getting ready to play New Zealand. If you watched USA vs Spain, you saw Kobe knock Pau Gasol on his backside with an elbow to the head. He was not so subtly telling his Laker teammate that they aren't teammates now and that this is war. Now that was fun to watch! Even Kobe knows that Gasol is soft.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Point Guards on the Move Edition

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:16:24 -0500

The rumored trade that would send Mo Williams to Cleveland is now reality. In a 3 team trade, Cleveland will send shooting guard Damon Jones to Milwaukee and forward Joe Smith to Oklahoma City. Milwaukee also will get point guard Luke Ridnour and forward Adrian Griffin from Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City also gets Desmond Mason, the athletic small forward, from the Bucks and the Cavs get point guard Mo Williams. The trade was basically a salary dump for the Bucks to avoid having to play the luxury tax. The 6-foot-1 Williams averaged 17.2 points and a team-high 6.3 assists for the Bucks last season. This should take some of the scoring pressure off of LeBron James. Williams will likely be the starting point guard and Daniel Gibson, who they signed to a 5 year contract will likely be the back up. This leaves Delonte West hanging. Sources said the Cavs still want to bring West back and feel that he could be their starting shooting guard and play next to Williams. Delonte could take the qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he can't get what he feels he deserves in a contract from the Cavs now. Mo Williams wasn't the only point guard on the move on Wednesday. The Atlanta Hawks signed Flip Murray, a 6 year veteran who can play both guard spots. Murray has averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 assists and 2.0 rebounds in his career with Milwaukee, Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit and Indiana. He is expected to back up both Mike Bibby at point guard and Joe Johnson at the shooting guard spot. The USA Women's team absolutely crushed Mali on Wednesday with a 97-41 win to move to a perfect 3-0 in Olympic play. They got off to a slow start as Mali actually led at 8-7 but they sure made up for it once they got going. Lisa Leslie led all scorers with 16 points, to go along with four boards and three blocks, on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field. The USA women's team has now won its three games in Beijing by an average of 47.0 points. Simply amazing. In spite of the controversy over their inappropriate team photo, the Spanish men's team keeps playing good basketball. Thursday, Spain defeated Germany 72-59. Team members have apologized for the photo, saying it was meant to be funny and in no way did they mean it to be offensive. Unfortunately for them, almost no one saw the humor in it. The USA got the monkey off their back and beat Greece 92-69. Greece was the team that defeated them in the world championships two years ago. Next up for the United States will be a clash with Spain, who should provide one of the toughest matchups for Team USA in their quest for the Gold. The Spanish team has more NBA players than any team other than Team USA. Spain and the United States are both undefeated and this will be a big test for both teams. The game will be televised live on NBA at 10:15 eastern time on Saturday. The on again, off again deal between the Sixers and Andre Iguodala is apparently on again. Philly Daily News reports that the deal for six seasons and $80 million, including an additional $5 million in incentive clauses and an opt-out clause after the fifth season was agreed to yesterday and should be signed and finalized next week. There are thoughts around the league are that the Sixers overpaid to keep Iguodala. But, with Elton Brand, Iguodala, Dalembert, Miller, and the team that they have built this off season, the Sixers are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. With the injury to Jason Smith, the Sixers are looking for another big man to fill out their roster and it has been reported that they have offered a contract for the veteran's minimum to former Celtic Theo Ratliff, better known for his contract than his play with the Celtics. He played only 2 games but his contract was instrumental in bringing KG to Boston. Ratliff reportedly has other offers for more than the minimum, but is interested in returning to Philadelphia where he played from 1997 through 2001. The Portland Trailblazers announced Wednesday that guard Brandon Roy will have arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The tear was found in an MRI on Tuesday. He is expected to be healed and ready for training camp. This is another of those what might have been players. The Celtics traded the draft pick that became Brandon Roy to the Blazers for Telfair and Ratliff. While Roy is a very, very good player and would have been a difference maker for the Celtics, Telfair and Ratliff were instrumental in bringing KG to Boston so it worked out ok in the end. It seems sad that former Celtic and current Cavalier, Wally Szczerbiak has been reduced to being talked about as an expiring contract. In spite of his scoring ability, knee and ankle injuries have severely limited him over the past several years and now, his value is mostly what his expiring contract can bring them at the deadline. The latest in the Phoenix Suns' point guard search is that a Slovenian court has settled a dispute between two European teams over how much of Goran Dragic's potential buyout agreement each would receive. In spite of the fact that Dragic has said on several occasions that he will stay in Europe, the Suns are still hoping that he will negotiate a buyout and play for the Suns this season. But the Suns are ready to use a portion of their mid-level expectation to sign Dragic to a multi-year contract that will allow him to negotiate a buyout a year early and become the full-time backup to Steve Nash this season. Dwyane Wade is playing at a very high level in the Olympics and this gives hope to Heat fans. With Wade back 100% and Shawn Marion on the team along with a very impressive rookie in Michael Beasley, Heat fans have to be excited for this season. Alonzo Mourning has said that he hopes to be back at 100% by December if not before. Mourning sees Wade as an MVP candidate next season and also feels that Pat Riley isn't finished yet. The Heat is yet another team that has improved itself this off season and will provide a challenge to the Celtics in their quest to repeat as champions. We reported that Chris Kaman has gotten some flak from both the Clippers and his dad for playing on Germany's Olympic team. Now, it appears Kobe Bryant has joined in those giving him a hard time. When Kobe heard that Chris was playing for the German team he went up to him and asked Kaman to give him just one word in German and he couldn't do it. But Kaman isn't the only one playing for a team that he has very loose ties with. The Georgian beach volleyball team is composed of Brazilian ringers awarded Georgian citizenship in anticipation of the Olympics. After the Georgian team beat the team from Russia, there were some hard feelings from the Russians. On her way out of the arena, Russia's Natalya Uryadova doubted that either opponent could name the Georgia president. Now, she bitterly pointed out the absurdity their triumph. "If they were Georgian, they would certainly be an influence," she said. "But in fact, they are not." Offended and mostly embarrassed, Saka promptly tried to diffuse the situation, giving much credit to the Russians. And then this actually came out of her mouth: "I don't want this to be a war between us." The Georgian team even have assumed names for the Olympics. Then there is Becky Hammon, who grew up in South Dakota, and is playing for the Russian team. Pittsburgh native and former Bucknell star J.R. Holden is playing for the Russian team. It is safe to say that the Olympics aren't what they used to be. They have a certain mercenary feel to them these days. This picture has nothing to do with anything, but after seeing it on Perkisabeast, I just thought it strangely fascinating. Might explain a lot about the Lakers, though.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Ricky D Finds a Home Edition

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:59:07 -0500

The Clippers continued to make changes in their team as they signed former Celtic Ricky Davis to a multiyear contract for two years, $4.7 million with an opt out clause for Davis after his first year. Ricky was one of my favorite players when he was with the Celtics. He always seems to have fun when he is playing and always gave his best out on the court. He has had questions following him his entire career concerning his attitude, but I think he has often gotten a bad rap unfairly. He is athletic and in his prime and can bring instant offense off the bench. I think the Clippers got a very good deal in signing Ricky. The Clippers also have had talks with free-agent center Francisco Elson and they are in talks to retain rehabilitating point guard Shaun Livingston and forward Paul Davis, both unrestricted free agents. . The exodus overseas continues with Nenad Krstic being the latest be considering signing with a Russian team. The Nets have been saying that they intended to resign Krstic at a reasonable amount but he has a two-year deal in place with a Russian team if the Nets are unable to do a sign and trade by midnight tonight. He will have an opt out clause in his contract so that he can return to the NBA after one year if he wants. If he does return next season, he would still be a restricted free agent for the Nets. Kwame Brown was the number 1 pick in the 2001 draft but so far, he has not lived up to that billing. He was sent from the Lakers to the Grizzlies last season in the trade that sent Pau Gasol to LA. After the trade, he played in just 15 games and averaged 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in under 14 minutes per game. There is always a spot for big men, no matter how much they underachieve. He has now come to an agreement with the Detroit Pistions on a two-year deal worth $8 million with a player option on the second season. Personally, I think they are overpaying him at $4 million a year. He hasn't proved anything yet in his career. What was rumor yesterday is now a done deal as the Denver Nuggets have acquired forward Renaldo Balkman from the New York Knicks in exchange for guard Taurean Green, forward Bobby Jones and a second-round draft pick in 2010. It has been rumored that this is a cost cutting move to clear some roster space and that both Green and Jones will be cut as their contracts are not guaranteed. I like Balkman and I think Denver has gotten a good player in the deal. He always plays hard and will give them an energy player off the bench. The Toronto Raptors continued their makeover on Monday as they announced that they have signed free-agent guard Will Solomon. Solomon who is 30 years old has played the past two seasons in Istanbul, Turkey where he averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 13 regular season games last season. While Ben Gordon has said that he would prefer to remain in the USA and sign with an NBA team, he said on Monday that going overseas is definitely a possibility with the euro being so strong. Gordon turned a down five-year extension worth more than $50 million right before the start of last season. Negotiations have been slow going this season. He can accept the Bulls' qualifying offer and then become an unrestricted free agent next season if he decides to stay here but doesn't get the contract he wants from the Bulls. Former referee Tim Donaghy will be sentenced today for his part in the gambling scandal that rocked the NBA. There were two articles on Donaghy and his sentencing today in the Herald. Although a link has been proved between Donaghy and another referee, Scott Foster, who certainly was involved in the scandal because big money won every in every single game he officiated after talking with Donaghy. , nothing more has come out about it. I personally think David Stern should be investigated too since Donaghy said that the directives to influence games came down from above. Just a funny side note on this, in the Herald, they gave 3 related links at the bottom of the stories on Donaghy. Two of the links were other stories on Donaghy but the third in each case was a story about Sebastian Telfair signing a new contract with the Wolves. Hmmmm I wonder how that relates to the gambling scandal. Delonte West wants to return to the Cavaliers, but negotiations between the former Celtic and the team are still far apart at this point. There were reports that West was considering an offer to play in Russia but those rumors have since been said to be false. West wants a five-year contract. The Cavs have offered several options, including a four-year deal with the final year a team option. The Cavs signed their back up point guard, Daniel Gibson, to a five-year, $20.8 million. So far, the Cavs are offering their starting PG less than they gave their back up. If things break down, Delonte's agent has said that he will play for the qualifying offer of $2.7 million and become an unrestricted free agent after the 2008-09 season. A league source reports that Boston and Miami have both approached the Cavs with sign-and-trade offers for Delonte but were turned down by the Cavs. I would love to have Delonte back with the Celtics and if he is an unrestricted free agent next season, they may be able to bring him back. According to a league source, the Cavs have talked to Philadelphia 76ers guard Louis Williams, another restricted free agent. Williams reportedly turned down a $3.9 million contract with the Sixers. When Sasha Vujacic signed his contract with LA, he insisted that the Lakers keep a haircut clause out of the contract. After being blackmailed with a threat to jump to Eupope, the Lakers gave in with a 3 year 15 million dollar contract without a haircut clause. On his part, Vujacic wants to be the best shooter in the NBA next season. In that case, he will have to cut back on his whining about everything in order to be able to shoot more. The Nuggets roster is shaping up. With the trade for Renaldo Balkman, they now have 11 players under contract and are expected to keep restricted free agent JR Smith, who has gotten some interest from other teams lately. They will probably fill out their roster with vets who will sign for the league minimum. I can see Balkman blossoming on the Nuggets. He is a great defender and plays with a lot of energy. I have always liked him as a player and think the Knicks may regret giving him away. The new leadership of the Knicks are clearly distancing itself from the Isiah Thomas regime. Balkman was one of Isiah's first draft picks and they basically gave him to Denver for two players who are expected to be cut and a second round draft pick. The club also is expected to release Stephon Marbury. A Knicks source says that any transaction involving Marbury won't take place until late September or early October. The Blazers are really hoping that Darius Miles won't sign with a team and Blazers' GM has been doing all he can to dissuade teams from signing him. They have leaked confidential information and now a comment by Pritchard is being scrutinized as being over the line. Pritchard set off alarm bells throughout the league when he was asked if he thought there was a chance that Miles' injury would be declared "career ending," and he responded that he was "optimistic" that it would. I am pulling for Miles to catch on with a team even if it is just long enough to hang the Blazers out for his whole 18 million in salary. I may still be a bit bitter about the league not giving the Celtics any cap relief after Reggie Lewis died. It doesn't get any more career ending than that and they really hung the Celtics out. The 76ers have reached an agreement with free-agent shooting guard Kareem Rush. . Last season, the Sixers were last in the league in three-point shooting and they hope to shore that up with the Rush signing. Chauncey Billups is hoping to keep the core group of Pistons together in spite of statements by GM Joe Dumars that he was looking to break up the group and shake up the club this off season. both Billups and Tayshaun Prince have been dangled in trade rumors. Recently, Billups spent about 30 minutes sitting in a car with Pistons president Joe Dumars and reports are that the Pistons will give their veteran group another chance to win together this season. The thoughts are that the coaching change from Flip Saunders to a tougher Michael Curry, will make a difference with the group they have now. The Bobcats have reached an agreement with their franchise center, Emeka Okafor. The two sides have agreed in principle on a six-year contract worth at least $72 million. Negotiations moved slowly between the two camps with teams inquiring about sign and trade offers but the Bobcats made it clear that they weren't interested in any of the sign and trade offers. Okafor could have opted to take the qualifying offer of $7.1 million and become an unrestricted free agent, but they came to an agreement before it came to that. Yesterday I commented that the Warriors were overpaying for Andris Biedrins, but ESPN reports that the deal is for less than originally reported. The Warriors officially re-signed center Andris Biedrins to a six-year contract Monday worth a guaranteed $54 million and potentially topping $62 million with incentives. Biedrins' deal will pay $9 million annually for each of the next six seasons, with a player option included for Biedrins to return to free agency in the summer of 2013 after the fifth year.

One Lincoln High Point Guard Too Many

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:53:13 -0500

A Daily Babble Production The Celtics have already had one point guard from Coney Island this decade. And he was more than enough. Sebastian Telfair gave the green faithful more than his share of headaches in his brief stint in town. Poor play combined with legal troubles plus a 58-loss team and the draft pick it cost the Celts to get him made Bassy quite a pariah in Beantown over the course of the 2006-07 season. There is no doubt that his greatest value to the team came in serving as an asset towards acquiring a certain power forward roughly a year ago at this time. Beyond that, the only concern for his departure seemed to be voiced by the compassionate few who didn't want to see the door hit him on the way out. Rumor has been circulating now for some time that the Celts could consider acquiring another point guard who not only shares a high school allegiance with Bassy (Lincoln High in Brooklyn) but a family as well: cousin Stephon Marbury. Chalk up yours truly for spending the rest of the off-season hoping against hope that this guy doesn't end up in green anytime soon. Read More.. (index.php?option=com_content...

Gomes Stays With TWolves

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:39:37 -0500

ESPN Reports: (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3505709 campaign=rss source=NBAHeadlines) The Minnesota Timberwolves' post-Kevin Garnett frontcourt continued to take shape Friday when they reached terms on a new contract with restricted free agent Ryan Gomes. Gomes' agent, Bob Myers, told ESPN.com that the sides have agreed in principal on a multiyear deal that is expected to be formally signed next week. Terms were not immediately available, but Gomes will soon join forward Craig Smith and guard Sebastian Telfair as players re-signed by the Wolves this month to join a new-look Minnesota core featuring Al Jefferson, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Corey Brewer and draft-night acquisiton Kevin Love. Also, a quick scan of HoopsHype (http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm) tells me that The Machine is staying in LA, Maurice Evans is going to Atlanta, and CJ Miles is staying in Utah.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Lots of Signings Edition

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:16:08 -0500

Former Celtic Sebastian Telfair isn't the only player who plays with guns. Hornets' guard Rasual Butler was arrested June 23 after witnesses told Miami Beach police a man holding a firearm had made threats. Based on the arrest report, when police arrived at the scene, Butler was seated in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle. When officers asked Butler if he had any weapons, he told them he didn't, but that his gun was in the car. The police found an automatic weapon that was cocked and had a bullet in the chamber on the floor of the car. Butler was scheduled to enter a plea on Wednesday, but the hearing was reset for Aug. 4. First, the Clippers signed Baron Davis away from the Warriors. Then, the Warriors signed Corey Maggette away from the Clippers. But the Warriors were not about to let the Clippers get another of their players if they could help it. They have matched the offer that the Clippers made last week to Kelenna Azubuike. The Warriors also signed Ronny Turiaf away from the Lakers, who chose not to match the offer, and they signed their second round draft pick, forward Richard Hendrix. The Warriors then completed a very busy day by re-signing their free agent guard Monta Ellis to a six-year, $67 million contract. Ellis got quite a raise in that as the 40th player selected in the 2005 draft, Ellis was paid just $770,610 last season. He will earn $11 million in 2008-2009. Ellis was the Warriors' shooting guard last season, playing next to Baron Davis, but with Davis' departure, he is expected to move to point guard this season. By keeping Azubuike, the Warriors will no longer pursue free agent swingman Maurice Evans who was reported to have signed with the Warriors. But, a Warriors source told Bay Area News Group that Evans spurned their three-year, $6.4 million looking for more money, and so the Warriors changed direction and matched the Azubuike offer. There have been rumors that the Celtics have contacted Evans and it seems that he would be a nice fit for the Celtics who could use an athletic swingman like Evans who's known as a solid defender and good three-point shooter (sound like anyone the Celtics just lost?). The Warriors still have unfinished business though as they haven't re-signed free agent Andris Biedrins. Biedrins' top choice is to stay with the Warriors. He is looking for a salary somewhere in the ballpark of the five-year, $50-plus million. With the other signings for the Warriors, it looks like that kind of a deal is out for Biedrins, however. He could reject any Warriors' offer and accept the $3.6 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason or he could accept any of several lucrative contracts being offered by European teams. Just hours after bringing former Nugget Chris Anderson back to the team, the Denver Nuggets agreed to a one-year deal with free agent guard Dahntay Jones. Jones was drafted by Boston in 2003 but sent to Memphis in the trade that brought Kendrick Perkins and Marcus Banks to Botson. Jones was also given a look by the Celtics last season in training camp. After a good showing in Summer League, the Nuggets gave Jones a one-year fully guaranteed deal for the NBA minimum of $926,678. Some money details are coming out on a couple of big deals. The Express News reports that The deal that the Spurs gave Kurt Thomas was for a total of $8 million — $4.2 million next season and $3.8 in 2009-10. The Spurs have also signed Anthony Tolliver, who impressed on the Spurs' summer league squad, to a partially guaranteed contract. This is similar to the contract the Celtics signed Brandon Wallace to after his impressive summer league last season. Details on Josh Childress' contract with Olympiakos have emerged. His contract is worth $32.5- million over 3 years. The Hawks had offered five years at $33 million but it wasn't enough to keep Childress from jumping the NBA ship for Europe. After landing the big free agent of the offseason in luring James Posey away from Boston, the Hornets are trying to re-sign their own free agents. They are hoping to resign Jannero Pargo who wants a three-year deal but they lost Chris Andersen to the Nuggets. Word is that they are going to let Bonzi Wells walk but may make an offer to try to keep Ryan Bowen. With the official signing of Anthony Roberson on Wednesday, the Knicks now officially have 16 contracts which is one more than the NBA max and their league high payroll is once again over $100 million at $100,161,287. They need to do something and odds are that with a crowded backcourt, Marbury and his $21.9 million contract may be the one to go. other options may be Malik Rose, or one of the other smaller contracts like Balkman or Collins who have a team option for the 2009-2010 season. Sebastian Telfair's three-year deal with the Wolves is worth $7.5 million with $2.3 million this coming season and an option to stick with the Wolves in 2010-2011 for $2.7 million. Reports are that the Wolves appear to be getting closer to re-signing Ryan Gomes. Their offer will probably be in the $3 million a year range. There aren't many teams who can offer much more than that left in the hunt for free agents. After losing one of their free agents, the Lakers are still trying to come to an agreement with their other free agent, Sasha Vujacic. Vujacic is seeking a multiyear deal from the Lakers averaging about $5 million a year. Vujacic was hoping for a six-year deal, but anticipated it could be a shorter contract. However, word from Vujacic is that he is prepared to leave the team and accept an offer from a European team in the next few days if the Lakers don't make him an offer he considers to be fair. East Valley Tribune suggests that the flexibility that Matt Barnes will give the Suns makes Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa expendable and might open the door for them to go after Kirk Hinrich who they have been interested for some time. I still think that Barnes would have been a great pick up for the Celtics, especially since he signed for a minimum contract. It seems as though the Blazers will spare nothing to try to dissuade teams from signing Darius Miles and thus put his $9 million in salary back on their club. First there was the leaking of the details of his suspension to the median. Now, Blazers GM is giving out details of Miles' injury that could land him in hot water. From the Sports Tribune: "Two doctors said Darius had the worst microfracture injury they had ever seen," Pritchard said on an Oregonlive.com blog this week. "They would never have him play basketball and the odds of having knee replacement surgery is high. I hear that, and as a general manager, I didn't want it on my conscience – that I had a kid have to go through a knee replacement surgery. That's a pretty major surgery. They saw (two bones) and replace (the knee). It's a bad deal." In a story posted April 14 on the Portland Tribune's Web site, Pritchard said, "The doctors had actually said, 'If you were my son, I'd never have you pick up a basketball again.' I'm the kind of GM (that) I wouldn't want that on my head that he ever had to have knee replacement." By revealing the specific details of Miles' injury, Prichard is in violation of the privacy provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Availability Act of 1996. All of the underhanded activity by the Warriors in trying to prevent teams from giving Miles a chance make me really hoping the kid gets his comeback. Besides, I still am angry over the league not giving the Celtics any relief when Reggie Lewis died. I really hope Miles comes back and sticks it to the Warriors. Josh Childress has opened the flood gates for NBA players considering jumping to Europe for lucrative deals when they can't get what they feel they are worth in the NBA. The latest to consider the jump is former Celtic Delonte West. Russian basketball team Dynamo Moscow is discussing a two-year, $10 million offer with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West, according to source close to West. Delonte is a restricted free agent and he could sign a $2.76 million qualifying offer for the 2008-09 season and become an unrestricted free agent next year if he chooses to stay in the NBA and doesn't feel that the Cavs are offering enough. Delonte has been plagued with various injuries throughout his career so far and so taking the qualifying offer is risky if he is unable to stay healthy and earn a bigger payday next season.

Daily Links 7/23

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:47:07 -0500

Herald Sebastian Telfair gets multiyear deal from T’wolves (http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1108584 format=text) Full plate for Glen Davis (http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_07_23_Full_plate_for_Glen/srvc=sports position=recent) CelticsBlog Runnin' Fives: Toronto Raptors (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=3652 Itemid=189) Zebraphobia part II (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=3658 Itemid=203) LOY's Place Brawl breaks out in WNBA game (http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/07/brawl-breaks-out-in-wnba-game.html) Rumors and free agent updates - options are dwindling edition (http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/07/san-antonio-spurs-re-signed-36-year-old.html) More Links After the Jump

Tuesday Evening NBA Headlines

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:35:38 -0500

After acquiring Keyon Dooling, the Nets have traded PG Marcus Williams to the Golden State Warriors for a future first round pick. The Spurs have re-signed F/C Kurt Thomas. Nets SF Bostjan Nachbar has decided to sign with Russia's Dynamo Moscow team for a reported $14.3 million over three years. Emeka Okafor may be an ex-Bobcat by the end of 2009. The Timberwolves have agreed to a multiyear deal with PG Sebastian Telfair. Atlanta Hawks free agent SF Josh Childress is strongly considering an offer to play for the Greek Olympiakos team after receiving a three-year, $20 million offer.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Mind Blowing Artest Rumor Edition

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:45:06 -0500

In the Zzone reports that the Nets' free agent Bostjan Nachbar will be heading to Europe. According to legaue sources, Nachbar will sign with Dynamo Moscow in Russia. Another of the Nets' free agents, Nenad Krstic has also received offers to play overseas but would prefer to remain in the NBA. The Nets may be looking for a sign and trade with him. Not everyone is chomping at the bit for a big payday overseas. Will Bynum left lucrative offers overseas for a shot at making it to an NBA team. He played with the Pistons summer league team hoping to stick with the team as their No. 3 point guard. Bynum's gamble paid off and has agreed to a multi-year deal with Detroit. Bynum was signed by the Celtics in 2005 after he played with their summer league team. It was Bynum's signing that he and Tony Allen were celebrating when Tony was charged with assault in that night club shooting. The first of the Pistons' three second-round picks in last month's NBA draft, Walter Sharpe, is expected to sign a two-year deal as well. The Nuggets are looking to continue their cost cutting spree. After giving away Marcus Camby for a second round draft pick, word is that the Nuggets would trade Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin or Nene, if anybody wanted them. Iverson has the most trade value with an expiring $20.84 million contract, he would be valuable to a team looking to clear salary-cap room for next summer. If the Nuggets, like every other team in the league, want to try to clear cap space for the summer of 2010, when LeBron and several other key stars will be free agents, then it might make sense for them to give away Iverson for nothing, as they did with Camby. The Knicks are have a new GM and a new coach. Isiah Thomas has been banished to NBA Siberia or something like that, but the Knicks still are struggling. They had the 6th pick in the draft and chose 19-year-old Danilo Gallinari. In his lone Summer League game for the Knicks, Gallinari went scoreless in the first 2½ quarters and then had an impressive seven minutes in the second half when he scored 14 points. After suffering a back injury in their game against Cleveland, he missed the final 4 games. The NY Post raises the issue that Gallinari's summer league makes the Knicks question whether he'll be durable enough to withstand the NBA's physical pounding for 82 games. A European source said Gallinari had various hamstring and knee problems in Italy, but a Knicks source said that was "growing pains." Ok, if they say so. Mark Bartlestein, who was instrumental in getting James Posey a big payday in New Orleans, is also Eddie House's agent and coincidentally, he is also the agent for Devean George, who has been linked to the Celtics in rumors lately. After the Celtics re-signed his client Eddie House, Bartelstein said the Celtics are interested in another of his free-agent clients: forward Devean George. Eric Pincus, a contributor to Hoopsworld for the Lakers and Clippers had this to say about George on the CelticStuff list: I know George well – he's athletic – can shoot – and is a better than average defender. He's not a particularly bright basketball player though – doesn't have a great handle – and can't do much more than spot up. He also gets hurt a lot – and doesn't play through pain well – especially because the core of his game is athleticism – when that's hampered he can be quite useless. I am not a big fan of signing him. He proved what kind of a team player he is when he almost blocked the trade for Jason Kidd. I would have much rather had Matt Barnes. I am sure that Danny knows what he is doing though and we'll have to see what he has up his sleeve. The Star Tribune is reporting that the Timberwolves have agreed to a multi-year contract with Sebastian Telfair. Telfair is another one of those players with potential and when he finally gets his head right will be a player. The Wolves now have 2 point guards on the roster in Randy Foye and Telfair. Still unsigned is Ryan Gomes who reportedly is seeking the full MLE. It seems that either he will have to go elsewhere or settle for less. It sure would be nice if he would agree to half the MLE in order to come back to Boston. He would be a great fit for the Celtics. Some have speculated that Josh Childress is waving the offer in Greece in front of the Hawks as a bargaining chip. However, Childress and his advisory team, including his agents are in Greece meeting with officials from Olympiakos. It's doubtful that the entire group would have gone all the way to Greece simply to dupe the Hawks. He is seriously considering signing there. The Pacers had a couple of decisions after making a big splash with the Jermaine O'Neal trade. They need help in the frontcourt, it won't be from 7'0" center David Harrison. Team officials said last week they are going in a different direction and have no interest in re-signing Harrison. Shawne Williams has had some problems off the court in the past year and the Pacers would like to rid themselves of Williams and his problems, but Pacers president Larry Bird says that he doesn't believe in buying out contracts, an issue that has arisen in regard to Williams and Jamaal Tinsley. So, if they want to rid themselves of yet another player with baggage, it will have to be via a trade. Seems that Larry should have tacked Williams on to O'Neal and shipped him off to Canada. If nothing comes up in the physical that Matt Barnes is completing today, he will be signing a veteran's minimum one year contract with the Suns today. I still say he would have been a nice fit with the Celtics. Finally, this rumor is pretty mind blowing. The SacBee is reporting that Detroit may be putting together a package for Ron Artest. Now wouldn't the Detroit fans just love having Billy Ron Ron there? After that brawl, Artest has been pretty much a villain in the Palace. This is one I'll have to see to believe.

The System Makes a Difference

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:50:35 -0500

We have seen many instances of this over the years. Robert Parish was considered a troublemaker in Golden State they felt that he would never be a good center and couldn't wait to trade him so that they could draft Joe Barry Carroll, and yet became a Hall of Fame player in Boston. Dennis Johnson was considered a malcontent who couldn't run a team and became the glue that held the team together in Boston. Jermaine O'Neal was seen as a bust in Portland and became a dominant player in Indiana. Darko Milicic was a non-entity in Detroit only to become a player in Orlando. Steve Nash languished in Phoenix before breaking out in Dallas. And on and on. There are instances throughout the NBA. A player seems washed up, a troublemaker, a mistake, etc. only to become an All Star on the team they are traded to. Chauncey Billips was a player seen by Rick Pitino as not developing quickly enough. But yet he went to Detroit and developed very quickly. The same can be said of Jermaine O'Neal after he went to Indiana. In most cases, the difference is in the system or the coaching. Some come from a system that doesn't fit their playing style. Or the coach and the player don't get along and so the player is not given playing time or is given a reputation as a malcontent or lazy. Or, sometimes it is just the player maturing and breaking out that coincides with the trade. Sometimes it is the teammates that make a difference in that the chemistry is just right among a group of player or the chemistry doesn't work with others. Sometimes, it is the player and not the system that is the problem. I had hoped that Telfair was one of those players who would blossom when given a fresh chance with a new team, but it didn't work out that way. Telfair may still break out and find a system where he can shine, but it didn't happen in Boston. Rondo came out of a system that didn't play to his strengths at Kentucky. Because of that, he had some adjustments to make when he came to the NBA. In spite of seeming to struggle in the Kentucky system., he came into the NBA and has become a very impressive point guard already with just 2 seasons in the NBA and led the Celtics to their first championship in 22 years. There are also many cases where a coach is fired and the team does a turn around because the coach was not getting through to the players or the coach's system didn't fit his players. This is why we see so many coaching changes in the league. As there are trades and personnel changes on teams many times the coach's system no longer fits the the new players and a change has to be made. After spending a fortune to bring in highly paid players, it is usually the coach who goes and not the players. The Celtics made wholesale changes last season and the system and players fit together surprisingly quickly. The Celtics will have the same starting 5 next season to bring some continuity but the bench will be dramatically different. Their key reserve, James Posey is gone along with PJ Brown, Sam Cassell, Scot Pollard, and possibly Tony Allen and Eddie House. Patrick O'Bryant will be a new face and as the off season wears on, Danny will be adding other new faces to fill the gaps on the bench. Danny needs to carefully select the players who he feels will fit into the system and chemistry of the team. Any player not willing to buy into ubuntu should not be considered. Patrick O'Bryant is another player who may have been the victim of being in the wrong system and with the wrong coach. Don Nelson is notorious for playing his veterans and not liking to play rookies or young players. His system is a run and gun type system and not one very well suited to a back to the basket type defensive player. In his 2 seasons with the Warriors, he played in 40 games and averages 1.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and .4 blocks per game. But, he also spent some time in the D-League and there he started to show some flashes of the promise that the Warriors saw when they made him the 9th pick in the draft. In '06-07 he played in 25 games for the Bakersfield Jam and averaged 12.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks in 29.5 minutes per game. In the '07-08 season, he played in 8 games for the Jam and averaged 16.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in 36 minutes per game. Those are encouraging statistics. It is possible, with the proper coaching (Clifford Ray) and the right system (the Celtics) and the right teammates to help him develop his work ethic (KG, Perk, Leon Powe), he might just surprise a lot of people this season. There have also been reports of Stephon Marbury possibly coming to the Celtics. He has been called a cancer and a malcontent and has been blamed for a lot of the troubles the Knicks have been through in recent times. But, then again, he was playing in Isiah Thomas' system. It is possible that a change of system, a change of coaches, and a change of teammates may make all the difference in the world to make him a team player. A lot of teams are making big changes this season with both players and coaches, but just because they make coaching changes or bring in a star or several new players, it doesn't mean that they will be greatly improved. It all depends on how the new players fit into the system and how they mesh as a team. The Celtics had perfect chemistry last season and it will remain to be seen how well the new players will mesh with the old and how much they will miss the players who are gone.