Around the NBA For July 18
Added on Jul 19, 2009 by sbworld in
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1. Jazz match Blazers offer sheet to Paul Millsap. That will make Millsap the starter for the Jazz who now have to find a new home for Boozer. Not a bad position to be in. First off Boozer only has one year on his deal making it very attractive to anyone who plans to make a run on the free agent market next offseason. Not only that but lets say the Heat are able to trade for Boozer and sign Odom… All of the sudden they are players in the eastern conference this year and for years to come. Speaking of which…
2. Heat have offered a 5 year deal to Lamar Odom for around 35 million. What a disaster for Odom and the Lakers but a great thing for the Heat. Any body remember a guy named Stephen Jackson? There was a really stellar article in Sports Illustrated around 5 years ago about how Stephen Jackson cost himself around 10 million by not playing ball with the Spurs the year after he got a ring as a swing man for them. He ended up in Atlanta for peanuts after that before signing a garbage contract with Indiana and getting traded to Golden State. Odom is perilously looking at Jackson territory. He will still get paid but what did he just leave on the table? 3 years for 30 mill? Haha under the Miami contract he would play an extra year, I should say be under contract for an extra year, for a million less than the 4 year 36 million alternative that the lakers offered.
To make matters worse the LA Times are reporting Odom is now reaching out to Jerry Buss to get back into negotiations.
Embarrassing and hilarious.
3. Wilcox to the Pistons. You have to give Detroit credit they are doing a great job going to a mediocre eastern conference team to a mediocre eastern conference team. Mean while Dumars still cries himself to sleep as he goes to sleep in his Chauncy Billups jersey.
4. Marquis Daniels to the Celtics. This is a scary move, might be one of the more intriguing quiet moves to happen all off season. He is cheap (1.9 mill), he is young (28) and he is coming off of his best season scoring EVER (13.6 per).. Celtics are easily the favorite to win the east next year and they just got better for next to nothing by using their Bi-Annual exception.
Real quick a little description of the Bi-Annual exception.
The NBA’s salary cap is soft, meaning their are methods to exceed the cap albeit at a penalty (the Luxury tax). These methods are called exceptions.
The Bi-Annual exception is an exception that can be used once every two years for a predetermined amount. This year it happens to be around 1.9 mill. It can be used on more than one player but rarely is. This was most famously utilized by the Lakers to obtain Karl Malone.
5. I saved the best for last. Seriously, in my opinion the best free agent on the market this year has to be David Lee. This guy is a beast… 16 points and 12 boards a game last year. He has played 81 games a year for two straight years. I am not sure anyone gets more done by working hard than David Lee. He has played himself into the 8-10 million dollar range and he may be one of a few guys that actually deserve it. Why anyone would want Odom over Lee blows my mind but they do. Knicks have an offer on the table to Lee which I don’t know the particulars of but it has to be in the 7 million dollar range because he wants nothing to do with it. If the Blazers come through with another Millsap type of offer I think Lee is going to Portland. If that happens they become a top 4 team in the west.
But what about Oden? Seriously if you take Lee for 10 mill per and then you have to give Aldridge and Roy big money you can’t afford Oden but more importantly you don’t need him. How bizarre would that be.
Very interesting to see how the economic slow down is affecting this years market while still making it one of the most interesting ever.
Stay tuned…
