NBA Free Agency

[Unknownn]

Asked if the Bulls would be his No. 1 destination should he leave Miami next year, Wade replied, "If I disclose that kind of information, the articles this season aren't as exciting anymore. Speculation is not the same. You guys ain't going to have nothing to talk about me." Then asked what would keep him Miami, Wade provided this answer: "Well, first of all I love the organization. I love what it stands for, from the owner Mickey Arison on down. It's a first class organization. We've had some good times in Miami. I love the weather. It's become home for me for the past six years. Hey, it's not my fault Miami drafted me at No. 5 (in 2003) and Chicago did not move up (from No. 7)."

 

[Unknownn]

Warriors will add Scott Roth as asst. coach. He was W's D-League coach at Bakersfield last year

 

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Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said he will not sign a contract extension with the Hawks and will play out the final year of his contract this season. Johnson will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Hawks extended a four-year, $60-plus million contract offer to Johnson this summer. But Johnson said he decided not to sign the extension after mulling it over during the offseason.

 

[Unknownn]

Rafer Alston denied the story that he wants to play for Miami or New York. It’s true he probably would put up better numbers, in a contract year, with the Knicks, but the Nets need him here, especially since Dooling may not return until after the regular season starts. “You didn't hear a quote come from me,” Alston said. “It was a weird story. For somebody to put that out there right before camp, I immediately called in and told them that story didn’t come from me. First of all, I've never been that type of guy to one, demand to be moved or even want out of anything. I think I'm one of the most grateful guys even to have a job and to have played this long in this league.”

 

[Unknownn]

The Nets have three roster invites: guard Will Blalock, who played for the Pistons a few years back, forward Bennet Davis, who was with the D-League’s Utah Flash last year, and Brian Hamilton, also a former member of the Flash. With 15 guys with guaranteed deals they're likely showcasing themselves for other teams.

 

[Unknownn]

The Golden State Warriors suspended disgruntled forward Stephen Jackson on Saturday for two games after he cursed at coach Don Nelson during a preseason game the previous night, two NBA sources said. The Warriors announced the suspension prior to Saturday’s preseason game against the Phoenix Suns in Indian Wells, Calif., and said in a statement that Jackson was being punished for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Jackson’s confrontation with Nelson came after he committed five fouls and a technical in less than 10 minutes of the Warriors’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. In addition to yelling at an official, Jackson also became agitated after exchanging words with Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, a source said. After Jackson left the game with 2:40 left in the first quarter, his meltdown culminated on the sideline when he barked at Nelson, a scene one source described as “very ugly.” Nelson responded by sending Jackson to the locker room for the remainder of the game.

 

[Unknownn]

Cleveland is where Jackson wants to go, and interestingly, his new agent, Mark Stevens, is closely aligned with Shaq in a major business effort. Together, Shaq and Stevens launched an entertainment company, Deja 34 Enterprises. (website: javascript:newwind('http://www.deja34.com/about.htm.) Probably not a coincidence.

The Warriors have received some interest for Jackson, but nothing they consider fair value, the source said. One reported proposal had Golden State talking with the Cleveland Cavaliers about center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but the source downplayed the chances of the deal actually happening now, calling it “remote.”

 

[Unknownn]

Derrick Rose showed up at Saturday's preseason game in Green Bay wearing a walking boot, which he acquired after arriving home from London a couple days ago. He's not playing against the Bucks, but it's starting to seem likely that Rose's sore right ankle will take at least another week or two to heal. "It's going to take a while, but I'm being patient with it and just hoping and praying I can do something to make it better," Rose said before Saturday's contest. "It's a tendon that runs behind the bone in my ankle. There's fluid in my ankle, so I'm just waiting for that to leave."

 

[Unknownn]

Warriors :


Biedrins has heard his name in packages that would bring Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire to the Warriors, but the 23-year-old center is still here. Still, stoically producing. "It doesn't bug me at all," Biedrins said. "It will always be like that. You're always going to hear rumors about trades, but you can't think about it every time that your name is mentioned. "You can't get mad."

 

[Unknownn]

The Lakers cut Michael Fey (UCLA), Mickael Gelabale and David Monds today, trimming their roster to 15 players.

 

[Unknownn]

Jason Williams wanted to pick up where he left off; the Heat didn't. So, instead, Williams went home to Orlando and signed with the Magic. Argue the merits of the Heat's current tenuous situation at point guard, if you will, but then consider that Williams is more than content to open the season as the Magic's third-string point guard. In other words, he wasn't asking for much this summer.

 

[Unknownn]

Second-round pick Pat Beverley, who was sent to Greece for seasoning with the Heat retaining his rights, has made the cut with European powerhouse Olympiakos. The option for Beverley or Olympiakos to terminate the deal recently passed without a move by either party. Beverley finds himself flanked on the roster by NBA veterans Josh Childress, Linas Kleiza and Von Wafer.

 

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Clippers Cut Jerel McNeal

Cavs cut Luke Nevill

TWolves Cut Mustafa Shakur

Hawks Cut Juan Dixon

 

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Bobby Jackson Retired

 

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Melvin Ely cut by Spurs

 

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November Transactions

Wednesday, November 11
Washington signed guard Earl Boykins and waived forward Paul Davis.

Thursday, November 5
Memphis waived forward Trey Gilder.
Sacramento waived forward Desmond Mason.
Minnesota named Darrick Martin assistant director of player development.

Wednesday, November 4
Sacramento signed forward Ime Udoka.

Monday, November 2
Minnesota exercised the contract option on forward Corey Brewer and center Kevin Love through 2010-11.

 

[DubbC415]

glad earl boykins was able to play tonite.



Earl Watson played 35 minutes after T.J. Ford left with back spasms and finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three 3-pointers Wednesday.



real cool. and dont forget the 3 at the buzzer at the end of the 1st quarter. :ermm:

 

[Unknownn]

Atlanta Hawks

Status: Buyer, if they can
Team Weakness(es): Interior depth
Projected 2010 cap room: $5.5 million (without Joe Johnson)
Untouchables: Josh Smith, Al Horford
Potentially on the block: Maurice Evans ($2.5 million this year, player option for 2010/11)
Expiring Contracts: Joe Johnson ($15 million)
Prospects: Jeff Teague
Good trade partners: Charlotte, Milwaukee, Washington
Possible targets: Brendan Haywood, Kurt Thomas, DeSagana Diop

Atlanta has a definite need for another big man to handle Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal, but they literally have nothing to trade, so I strongly doubt anything happens. Sorry, Hawks fans.
Milwaukee Bucks

Status: Seller
Team Weaknesses: Perimeter offense, outside shooting, slashing
Projected 2010 cap room: $6 million
Untouchables: Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut
Potentially on the block: Charlie Bell ($3.6 million this year, two more years left, last year a player option)
Expiring Contracts: Luke Ridnour ($6.5 million), Kurt Thomas ($3.8 million), Hakim Warrick ($3 million), Joe Alexander ($2.6 million)
Prospects: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova, Jodie Meeks
Good trade partners: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, LA Lakers, New York, Washingto
Possible targets: Caron Butler

Another team likely to be quiet during the deadline. The Bucks have some valuable pieces to contending teams, but they're all expiring contracts. Besides, the Bucks still have fleeting playoff hopes (gotta believe!). Had he been healthy, Michael Redd would certainly have been a trade chip, but he's not healthy.

Caron Butler in theory makes sense here, but the Bucks don't have a ton they can give the Wizards back. Boston could also look here to upgrade their bench, but it'd just be swapping expiring contracts with each other, which doesn't appeal to Milwaukee. So, don't expect much.
New Orleans Hornets

Status: Closed for business
Team Weaknesses: Perimeter scoring, interior defense,
Projected 2010 cap room: $-19 million ($5 million over the luxury tax)
Untouchables: Chris Paul
Potentially on the block: None
Expiring Contracts: None
Prospects: Darren Collison, Marcus Thornton, Julian Wright
Good trade partners: None
Possible targets: None

New Orleans already accomplished their goal of penny pinching getting under the luxury tax with the Devin Brown and Bobby Brown trades, so they're probably done. That's too bad for other teams, who I'm sure were hoping the Hornets got desperate enough to do a fire sale on David West just to get under the tax line, but the Clippers screwed things up by trading for Bobby Brown. As usual, the lesson is, blame the Clippers for everything.

 

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Toronto Raptors

Status: Buyer, if they can be
Team Weaknesses: Interior defense, defensive rebounding, perimeter defense ... defense in general
Projected 2010 cap room: $6 million (without Bosh)
Untouchables: Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani
Potentially on the block: Jose Calderon ($8.2 million this year, three more years left)
Expiring Contracts: Amir Johnson ($3.9 million), Rasho Nesterovic ($1.9 million), Antoine Wright ($1.8 million)
Prospects: DeMar DeRozan, Marco Belinelli, Sonny Weems
Good trade partners: Golden State, Houston, LA Lakers, Milwaukee
Possible targets: Raja Bell, Charlie Bell

It looks like the Raptors won't trade Chris Bosh yet, because they're cheap they want the revenue that comes from a first-round playoff appearance and Bosh's presence ensures that. That means they probably won't do anything. SB Nation's Raptors HQ e-mails to say they could use a veteran shooting guard, but they don't really have the assets to make it happen. They could try to move Jose Calderon, who's now coming off the bench, but his contract is pretty big and teams don't seem interested. In the end, they've played well recently and probably don't want to mess up the chemistry they've developed.
DIPPING THEIR TOES IN THE WATER



Denver Nuggets

Status: Buyer
Team Weaknesses: Interior depth, bench scoring
Projected 2010 cap room: $-21 million ($7 million OVER luxury tax)
Untouchables: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene, Ty Lawson
Potentially on the block: J.R. Smith ($6.1 million this year, one more year)
Expiring Contracts: None
Prospects: Renaldo Balkman, Arron Afflalo
Good trade partners: Charlotte, Golden State, Indiana, Milwaukee, Washington
Possible targets: Jeff Foster (before his injury), DeSagana Diop, Nazr Mohammad, Kurt Thomas, Brendan Haywood

Denver has a very, very good team with very few trade assets, but GM Mark Warkentien has been on a tear lately with underrated moves and could pull a trick up his sleeve. Denver could use another big man to match up against the Lakers and were hot after Indiana's Jeff Foster before Foster's back injury. They could now turn to someone like Brendan Haywood, Kurt Thomas or someone cheaper.

In other words, they seem to want to do something, but are hindered by their lack of assets. However, if there's any GM right now that I'd trust to be creative, it's Warkentien.



Los Angeles Clippers

Status: Seller
Team Weaknesses: Outside shooting, athleticism, small forward position
Projected 2010 cap room: $17 million
Untouchables: Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan
Potentially on the block: Nobody
Expiring Contracts: Marcus Camby ($9.1 million), Rasual Butler ($4 million), Ricky Davis ($2.4 million), Craig Smith ($2.3 million)
Prospects: Al Thornton
Good trade partners: Boston, Memphis, Miami, New York, Portland, San Antonio
Possible targets: Unclear

 

[Unknownn]

Los Angeles Lakers

Status: Buyer
Team Weaknesses: Point guard defense
Projected 2010 cap room: $-29 million ($16 million OVER luxury tax)
Untouchables: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Potentially on the block: Sasha Vujacic ($5 million this year, one more year)
Expiring Contracts: Adam Morrison ($5.2 million), Derek Fisher ($5 million)
Prospects: Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Josh Powel
Good trade partners: Chicago, Detroit, Golden State, Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota
Possible targets: Kirk Hinrich

The Lakers tend to be reluctant to make big mid-season moves because of the learning curve of the Triangle offense. However, they know they need better point guard play, and have some assets (over $15 million in expiring contracts, Jordan Farmar) to make it happen. Kirk Hinrich seems like an ideal fit for the them, though his contract isn't cheap. Otherwise, it's tough to find a point guard that makes sense, due to the unique nature of the Triangle.

There's also this: they might be good enough to win anyway, so why risk it? They're already paying a huge luxury tax bill, so why pay more to make a marginal improvement? They won it last year with this mix, after all.