When I returned from my three-day hiatus from the Internet this morning, I waded through a boatload of e-mail about the Miller for Duhon rumor, caught up with Toronto's continued spending spree, Millsap's offer sheet and the Summer League. After the jump I'll try to battle through this jet lag and give some thoughts on all of the above.
Bullets are all I have the mental capacity to handle at this point.
- 0--5 in Orlando, just a disgrace, and hopefully a lesson learned by the organization. The worst part of their plans for the Summer League this season was the fact that I was in Vegas over the weekend and could've caught a Sixers game if they hadn't punted the league.
- Agent speak, turned to rumor, turned to denials between Friday and Sunday. Apparently, Chris Duhon's agent floated the idea of a Miller for Duhon sign-and-trade with the Knicks. My take is pretty simple, I'd be fine with bringing Duhon and his expiring deal in, but there's no way in hell the Knicks are going to sign Miller for more than one season. I just don't see it happening, which seems to be the consensus.
- The Raptors apparently signed Jarret Jack to a 4 year/$20M offer sheet. To me, that seems like an awful lot of money to pay your backup PG. Maybe the plan is to start Calderon and Jack in the back court together. Is Toronto a legit team in the East this season? Could they leapfrog the Sixers with a lineup of Bargnani, Bosh, Hedo, Jack and Calderon? My gut says no. Still no rebounding and very little defense. We'll have to wait and see, though.
- Speaking of head-scratchers, I'm having a hard time figuring out how Paul Millsap is anything more than a "we have all this cap space, so we have to spend it on someone" acquisition for the Blazers. They have reportedly signed him to a 4-year, $32M offer sheet. Millsap is a very, very good player, and I don't doubt that he'll add toughness to their frontcourt, but Portland had this cap space and a glaring need on the wing and at the point. Instead, they bolstered an area of strength (assuming Utah doesn't match). Maybe this means some time at the three or five for Aldridge, I'm not sure. Seems like a square peg to me.
Catch me up on anything else I missed in the comments. Happy Monday.
So you didn't see any summer league games?
The rumors are that Milsap will agree to be a bck up in Portland and bring toughness...or that the blazers are trying to force the Jazz into action on the boozer movement.
Nope, not a one. It was a hectic weekend.
I like the Millsap signing a lot.
Does it fit? No, not really, but he is another piece for them.
Maybe Pritchard now starts listening to offers for Aldridge or Oden or Joel Pryzbilla now.
It keeps them flexible and Millsap obviously is well underpaid with that deal.
If pritchard starts listening to to offers for Aldridge or Oden then he's not as good a GM as people think.
The more I think about it the more I think it's calculated to force the jazz into action and I expect it to back fire.
It's a front loaded deal, so it won't hamstring them, but I'm just not sure how much it really helps them. They had glaring needs, now they're still glaring and their cap space is gone.
This is a much better move for them than David Lee would've been. I still think it was a move to make move because you can make a move, though. I liked the 3-way trade better for them, with POR landing Hinrich.
Yeah, I'll tell ya... a sign and trade of Andre Miller for Joel Pryzbilla sounds pretty good right now.
Portland isn't trading Pryzbilla just because they get milsap - he's Oden insurance and they don't have faith in Oden yet, plus he was awful foul prone last year
Yeah, I'm certainly not banking on it... though Portland's stockpiling of quality big men at the expense of other positions is pretty weird... and it seems like the contracts would (probably) match up well enough and the needs are there on both teams... so it would make for a nice, timely trade IMHO.
But it doesn't make sense on the court yet if Oden isn't mature yet, and he's not.
I think Pritchard fell guilty to the 'i have cap room i have to spend it '- disease.
great story about Przybilla: when he was a rookie he was on Inside the NBA with Ahmad Rashad and Ahmad was giving him NBA trivia. It was real softball stuff (all time leading scorer, stuff like that) and eventually Ahmad gets to a question about the 80s Lake Show.
AR: "Which member of the 1980s Showtime Lakers was nicknamed 'Big Game James'?"
The answer, obviously, is James Worthy, but JP didn't get that right away.
JP: "Uh, Magic Johnson?"
After about 5 full seconds of silence Ahmad shakes his heads and replies with more bitter sarcasm than you've ever heard from AR "No Joel, that was James Worthy's nickname. Magic Johnson's nickname was 'Magic.' "
Here's a good link on the TOR signings, thanks to John for the link via Twitter.
Brian 3 days without a post is a record I think. I was starting to get worried for you, LOL
I would love to get Duhon and yes, the Millsap offer and the Jack signings left me pretty surprised, to say the least. But then again, this is a league were 36 y/o PGs get three year deals...
I also think the Bass signing would turn out very good for the Magic, I like the kid. What's your take on him? few seems to care about this move, kinda underrated, while I am pretty high on the guy
Guys like Bass, Gortat and Jack are all good role players to have on a team. As long as they are paid role-player money.
A real lack of impact players on the market this summer. I guess if there was going to be a summer to do nothing, this would be it.
Some conversation among Pacers fans about the merits of signing Miller and what it would take...
http://www.pacersdigest.com/apache2-default/showthread.php?t=48146
They posit a sign-and-trade for Miller where we get T. J. Ford. Interested?
I've always been pro TJ Ford - but does Andre Miller fit the o'brien shoot the 3 a lot system :)
I hear that. Right now, they have T.J. Ford, Jamaal Tinsley, Travis Diener, and A.J. Price (their rookie from UConn). I think some Pacers fans are really bummin' that they lost Jarrett Jack. I doubt Miller would want to go to a franchise like the Pacers, but frankly his options are getting more and more limited by the day. If the deal is offered, all parties involved would really have to consider it.
At worst, Indiana gets a proven veteran in there for a year or two, despite his shortcomings in the three-point shooting department. Heck, at the very least they can view him as a suitable role model for A.J. Price as he learns the NBA ropes. But, all in all, it comes down to the Pacers and what their management is expecting from the team this year. If they want to win some games, they could do a lot worse than Miller at this point in the game.
Personally, if it's already clear we aren't going to get Miller, I'd really like to see someone like T.J. Ford in a Sixers uniform. Lou and Jrue just ain't cuttin' it for me.
Ford would move them over the luxury tax threshold, unless they could send someone else in the deal.
Damn. Well, that makes it a bit tougher than I was hoping. *sigh*
Man...if we care enough about the 2009-2010 season to pick up guys like Duhon or Ford for a one-year rental until Jrue is ready, then how about we roll the bones and sign AI to a one-year MLE deal?
That'll wake people up...and put a few fannies in the seats as well.
Oh man... a return visit to the City of Brotherly Love for A.I. If I turned on ESPN and read that bit of news scrolling across the bottom, I think I'd walk straight to the liquor cabinet.
Frankly, I really like Ford. As Brian pointed out, that $8.5 mil he's gonna make next year will make it tough to acquire him in a sign-and-trade for Miller. But he's a smart player who I'd give the reigns to next season with the expectation that he'll do a good job for us. Plus, he'll pass the ball when it needs to be passed, which is not something A.I. will do... I feel pretty safe making that statement. ;)
Make that 2 shots bartender.
Good lord no.
If the sixers re-sign Iverson I wouldn't give my many to league pass next year - be no point - though it would probably pop the sixers higher up in the lottery
Magic match on Gortat
Whoda thunk it
Maybe now Cuban wants the Haitian?
for what? Dampier?
Would have to be. Mavs are no longer the big winners this offseason, I guess I go with the Spurs at this point.
If they have any sense, their starting lineup will be:
Nelson, Carter, Lewis, Howard, Gortat.
Though the NBA maximum for player rosters is 15, the Sixers maintained a 14-man team last season. Stefanski said he expected that to be the case again. The team has 10 players under contract. "We need a guard, a swingman, and two bigs," said Stefanski, who has consistently declined to talk about specific players.
Two bigs? You mean side from Smith, Dalembert, Speights, Brand - Stefanski feels he needs two more bigs? Interesting
That is odd... since I'd expect Thad to play a few minutes at PF most games as well.
In all, I'd rather he go after one decent big than two pieces of garbage who'll never play.
Signing Jack was about keeping Bosh. Those two were roommates at GT.
Well hopefully they think he can help them win, cause you gotta build a winner to keep Bosh wasting his time in Canada.
He should probably start for them, I don't see a better option at the two than Jack on that roster.
Still can't believe the extension they gave Bargnani.