Part 3 of 6 Summer Plans - Because GMs don't like going to baseball games

Golden State Warriors 36-46 (I just feel this team should rename themselves the Golden State Small Forwards/Shooting Guards)

Notable Free Agents - Vladamir Radmanovic's $6 mil contract
Core players still on contract - Monta Ellis, David Lee, Stephen Curry, Andris Biedrins, Dorrel Wright, Ekpe Udoh

Recap: Don Nelson was fired by the Warriors before the season started and was replaced by assistant coach Keith Smart. They signed Acie Law in the first part of the season to a small 1 year deal. They traded for Troy Murphy and quickly bought him out in a money saving move. And they worked with new guy David Lee who didn't really play up to his "hey he's a max deal player!" hype he received in New York-but a solid year nonetheless.

Dorrel Wright had a break out season and became a go to guy with his lethal 3 point shot. A small bright spot in the Warriors' season.

Expect them to: 1. Find a new coach. 2. Play in free agency. 3. Try and trade either Stephen Curry or Monta Ellis.

Hopefully they get Rick Adelman or someone who can command a lot of respect and gives a crap about defense because for the past, oh I don't know, 10 years or so, this Warriors team has been a run-n-gun offense that was highlighted when Baron Davis and company took out number 1 seed Mavericks a few years ago.

They shed a lot a lot a lot of money, about 20 million worth and can sign a few good guys to fill out the roster. Unfortunately, this summer's free agent class isn't as great as last year's, but if they try and work a trade into the mix as well with either Stephen Curry or Monta Ellis, they can really shake up this roster and move away from the run-n-gun that has never worked in the history of the NBA as far as championships are concerned. It's fun. It sells tickets. It doesn't win championships.

Indiana Pacers 37-45 (Oh yeahhh they made the playoffs with that atrocious record (AW YEAAA!!!!)

Notable free agents - Mike Dunleavy, TJ Ford, Jeff Foster
Core players still on contract - Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, Darren Collison, James Posey, Paul George, Brandon Rush

Recap: They traded for Darren Collison after he had a great rookie campaign filling in for the injured Chris Paul on the Hornets last year. They continue to push Granger as their franchise player. Tyler Hansbrough continued to prove naysayers wrong and had a productive sophomore season and Roy Hibbert, had his ups and downs but looks like a legitimate center. It may not be the best looking roster but apparently 37 wins gets you an 8th seed in the east. And they won a game against the Bulls! ALL UNDER AN INTERIM COACH FRANK VOGEL!

Look for them to: 1. Make a decision as to whether or not to keep Frank Vogel. 2. Play in free agency as over $25 million dollars is coming off the books. 3. Try and trade James Posey's $6 million expiring contract. 4. Continue to build with a pretty young and talented nucleus.

Frank Vogel has recently was interviewed by the Houston Rockets this week, so he might be on the way out. It's a toss up as to whether or not it's a good idea to re-sign him, although the players have come out and said they want him back.

Aside from the coach though, a LOT of money is coming off the books and the young core is under contract for more than two years. I see a big signing in the form of a small forward to fill out the roster. Maybe a shooting guard and put Paul George on the bench or a power forward and put Hansbrough on the bench. Who knows, but this team has the money to either sign a big name or a couple solid role players.

As for James Posey, he just straight up doesn't play for them anymore. Lot of inactive games and wasn't even a part of the playoff roster. He'll be in the last year of his contract and could be a trade piece for a team trying to shed salary. He isn't a part of the Pacers' future at all. The future will look to build around Granger, Hibbert and Collison. It may not be anything special now, but it is building blocks they can work with. Could be an exciting season next year depending on who they sign.

Utah Jazz 39-43 (Oh how the somewhat mighty have fallen)

Notable free agents - ANDREI KIRILENKO, Kyrylo Fesenko
Core players still on contract - Al Jefferson, Mehmet Okur, Devin Harris, Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors, CJ Miles, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward

Recap: In the beginning, they traded for Al Jefferson for future draft picks, based on Deron Williams request of the list of big men they could get and DWill said "I'm gonna make you an allstar." Then some ish went down and the team stopped responding to the coach which lead to THE GREAT JERRY SLOAN QUITTING. THEN Deron Williams was TRADED for Devin Harris and Derrick Favors! WHAT?! Wasn't Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer supposed to be the second coming of John Stockton and Karl Malone? Whatever. The team floundered during and after that trade and didn't make the playoffs and now could have an entire new look by next season.

Look for them to: 1. Find a new coach. 2. Re-sign Andrei Kirilenko. 3. Get their players healthy again. 4. Build around their new core.

It'll be tough, but the Jazz do need to find a new coach that can get this team back to the playoffs. I haven't really heard much about who they'd want to replace him with, which could mean they'll roll with Tyrone Corbin who replaced Sloan when he left. As for Kirilenko, both sides have expressed their desire to re-sign, and at a discounted rate! AK said he doesn't want to chase a championship by being a "bit" player (Like Iverson). Although he has said he would listen to the Nets' Russian owner about playing there.

This team just needs to get healthy though. Andrei, Mehmet Okur, Fesenko, Ronnie Price and CJ Miles all had injuries and missed time. Next season will be a fresh start and hopefully everyone will be healthy again. Mehmet Okur can really add some dynamics to this team as another big who can shoot the 3 pointer. They can cause matchup problems with him and Al Jefferson subbing for each other.

For a team that lost it's two best players in Boozer and DWill, they got some great pieces to move forward with, including one of the fastest point guards in the league Devin Harris, and the #3 pick in last years draft Derrick Favors, along with their own draft pick Gordon Hayward and two great bigs- Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. If they can get Andrei Kirilenko back and Mehmet Okur back from injury, they'd have all the pieces to make a run at the playoffs again.

Phoenix Suns 40-42 (So I guess that Amare Stoudemire wasn't just a great player cuz of Steve Nash then eh?)

Notable free agents - Vince Carter (team option that they better not pick up-$18 mil), Grant Hill, Mikael Pietrus (player option ($5 mil)
Core players still on contract - Steve Nash, Marcin Gortat, Channing Frye, Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick, Jared Dudley (fun names!)

Recap: This team went through a lot of changes this season - At one point they had Jason Richardson, Goran Dragic and Hedo Turkoglu and that changed to Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat and Aaron Brooks. Everyone knows it-put anyone on the same team as Steve Nash and they'll have a great statistical year. But the talent this team used to have got them to the playoffs. This year, they didn't even win half their games. And Steve Nash being the best teammate never demands a trade and just keeps playing, passing and shooting 3 points with crazy accuracy.

Ultimately, Vince Carter became a bench player and played about 20-25 minutes for the last two weeks of the season in a downward spiral to his career.

Look for them to: 1. Not re-sign Vince Carter. 2. Look to replace his spot in the starting lineup by signing a shooting guard, Michael Redd? 3. Re-sign Grant Hill. 4. Re-sign Aaron Brooks. 5. Do everything in their power to please Steve Nash.

Vince Carter is self explanatory. He's not good. Nowhere near worth 18 million. Bye bye Carter. There are rumors that the Suns would be able to get Michael Redd for cheap given his injurious past. I wouldn't do it BECAUSE of his injurious past but they do risk signing a long term deal with someone else and then watching Steve Nash peace out next summer.

Regarding Grant Hill, he is playing great given his age at 38. He finished 7th in defensive player of the year voting! He's a great leader and veteran and if it weren't for the sorry role players the Suns have (Hakim Warrick was supposed to replace Stoudemire, and then Childress and Robin Lopez just didn't play well).

As for Aaron Brooks, they will probably give him his qualifying option of about 2.5 million in case something drastic does happen with Steve Nash. Aaron Brooks fell off a little bit after winning the most improved player award (an award I have major beef with), but he is still one of the fastest dudes in the league and can start and score.

Philadelphia 41-41 (Our first 500 team! And it's our 15th team! Right on track)

Notable free agents - Jason Kapono's $6.6 million contract, Darius Songalia's $4 million contract
Core players still on contract - Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Louis Williams, Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday

Recap: 500 team makes the playoffs and wins 1 game against the Heat after a season where Elton Brand came alive again and Jrue Holiday took a big step forward in his young career. They barely got to see what #2 draft pick Evan Turner could do. But in the end, they lost in the playoffs and Andre Iguodala, the face of the franchise, skipped his exit interviews, which leads us to what you should

Look for them to: TRADE ANDRE IGUODALA. Yes. I said it. And from what I've been reading around the internet is that it could be for another SF or for a big man. I'm not going to speculate who but they need to open some playing time for young Evan Turner so that he and Jrue Holiday can start getting this already playoff team (yet only 500 team) in the right direction. Other than that, they need to fill out their bench. It's not that impressive and they won't have a good draft pick to do so, but they can dabble in free agency and sign some bench guys. But that will all depend on who they can get for Andre Iguodala.

Breakdown of Magic/Suns/Wizards Trade

What happened?

• Magic traded away Rashard Lewis to the Wizards and received Gilbert Arenas.
• Magic traded away Vince Carter, Mikael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, 2011 first round pick, $3 million to the Suns and received Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, Earl Clark.
  

Magic just had a fire sale and completely reshaped their lineup. Traded away two starters in Lewis and Carter, and an overpaid backup center, Gortat for three probable starters in Arenas, Turk and Richardson, and another back up center in Earl Clark.

First things first, I feel really happy for Marcin Gortat. He was stuck in bench purgatory behind Dwight Howard and may actually get some meaningful minutes in Phoenix behind or maybe starting in place of Robin Lopez.

Let's deal with what the Suns were trying to do with this trade:

Hedo Turkoglu for the most part this season was the Suns' starting power forward. Turk is a natural SF/SG and going against the top PFs in the league wasn't getting it done. He also has a horrible horrible contract, paying him $10-12 million per year for the next four years (He'll be turning 32 in March). Jason Richardson is currently in the last year of his deal that pays about $15 million. He was having a solid career in Phoenix. Why didn't the Suns want to re-sign him? Because the Suns are officially in rebuild mode after Amare Stoudemire left this summer for New York. With no scoring all star quality big man, and a replacement of Hedo Turkoglu, the Suns said forget this, let's start over.

So they unloaded Hedo's horrible contract and Vince Carter's expiring contract ($17 million this year and a TEAM option of $18 million next year, which more than likely they will not use, making Vince a free agent). They also got Mikael Pietrus who is getting paid $5 million and has a player option of $5 million next year, which if he takes up, is still better than paying Hedo $11 million. And Marcin Gortat who is getting paid $6 to $7 million for the next four years.

Numbers aside and in plain English, they saved themselves millions of dollars for the next 4 years. They can now start rebuilding a team that may or may not include Steve Nash who is on contract for this season and next season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

What were the Wizards trying to do in their trade with the Magic:

Well this summer, they drafted John Wall with the number 1 pick AND traded for PG/SG Kirk Hinrich when they already had gun slinger PG Gilbert Arenas. Their current forward situation wasn't anything to brag about either. They were starting Al Thornton and Andray Blatche. So simply enough, they got rid of a Gilbert who had worn out his welcome and had a horrible contract that he never even close to lived up to for a power forward who can shoot the three, but also has a horrible over paid contract. Now John Wall can fully take over this Wizards team and have a power forward who can stretch the floor on offense.

And just FYI, Rashard Lewis is getting paid $20, $22, $23 million for this and the next two seasons. Gilbert Arenas is getting paid $17, $20, player option $20, $22 million for this and the next three seasons. This is a good trade for the Wizards. And here's to a safer locker room, cheers!

Finally, the Magic:

I've written a lot about the Magic and their bad decisions, and this is no different. They got rid of Rashard Lewis who had a bad contract, yes, but in exchange they get Gilbert Arenas who has an even worse contract for longer years. when they already have an all star (granted it was an injury fill in all star) quality point guard in Jameer Nelson!? If Gil comes off the bench, that's gotta be a record of highest paid bench player in the history of sports. And if he starts over Jameer Nelson, well that's gonna be one disgruntled bench player. So I guess they'll start them both, since Vince Carter was playing the shooting guard position.

But will Jason Richardson then come off the bench? Jason Richardson can play the small forward spot. But what about Brandon Bass and Hedo Turkoglu? Who is this team's power forward? If they play Hedo at the 4 spot, Dwight Howard is gonna have a lot of help defense on his shoulders. Hedo got torched in Phoenix by PFs, let's see if the trend continues in Orlando.

Possible lineup?

PG - Jameer Nelson / Chris Duhon
SG - Gilbert Arenas / JJ Reddick
SF - Jason Richardson / Hedo Turkoglu
PF - Brandon Bass / Ryan Anderson
C - Dwight Howard / Earl Clark

Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of offensive power right there. But it's undersized defensively and quite frankly, NOT GOOD defensively, outside of Dwight Howard. We'll definitely see if this is enough to keep Dwight Howard happy. I will say this though. I think the addition of Hedo Turkoglu will help. He's another option who can run the point position on some plays to maybe take advantage of some other small forwards around the league. That is my bold position. He's played in this system before, he can pick it up where he left off.

Playoffs baby, playoffs (part 2)

(Photo from Yahoo)
The second round of the playoffs is over as THE CAVALIERS (as a team) were beaten by the Boston Celtics in 6 games. LeBron James didn't lose the series, the Cavaliers did. Boston was the better team. You know what's crazy though? Somewhere in Boston, some hardcore Celtic fan who was probably screaming "NEW YORK KNICKS!" as LeBron was shooting free throws has possibly the last headband LeBron will ever wear as a Cavalier when he flinged it into the crowd as he was leaving the Boston Garden. EBAY!?!?! How much would that go for? I say thousands.

By the way, doesn't this series kind of prove that the NBA isn't fixed?
Playoff Performance of the Ages: Rondo in game 4. 29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists. Game changing plays. Twice he was on a fast break for a layup with LeBron trailing him to do one of his patented volleyball spike blocks against the backboard. Rondo goes up for the layup, LeBron follows, Rondo passes behind his back to a trailing Tony Allen for a dunk.



I'm pretty sure this happened twice but this was the only clip I could find. Either way, it was amazing. He was also hitting his open jump shots for the most part.

But hey, at least LeBron clapped hands with the Celtics. All I know is LeBron is going to enter the world of Kobe. Not the championship world, but the summer of constant questions, media and drama that Kobe faced when he was taken out of the playoffs by the Suns in 2007. Not a happy time for Laker fans, will not be a happy time for Cleveland fans... unless he re-signs.
But here's the thing. LeBron, if he re-signs with the Cavs, will the Cavs be that much better? Look at this: LeBron was $15 million this year. He's going to command 28-30$ million dollars with his new contract he will sign. Shaq's $20 million comes off the books this summer. Everyone else except some third stringers barely making any money at all is on contract for next year. Therefore, if he signs with the Cavs, they'll use Shaq's money to get LeBron that gigantic 30$ million dollar contract.... AND THE TEAM WILL REMAIN THE SAME (except for possibilities of a trade) (no picks in the draft this summer).

So the Cavs will be what we saw this year minus Shaq. They'll have Antawn Jamison for two more years (who should be getting a lot more grief than LeBron right now- DIDN'T SHOW UP), Mo Williams two, maybe 3 more years (player option 3rd year), Anderson Varejao until 2014, Daniel Gibson for 3 more years, Delonte West for another year... you get the picture.

But hey, I'm not going to speculate where he goes. Your guess is as good as mine. But I do know that the places with the most cap space to sign him to that 30ish$ million dollar contract are: New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Sacaramento Kings, and the Chicago Bulls. Any other team he wants to go to would have to be done through a sign-and-trade so teams wouldn't kill their profits with luxury taxes. So I'm not going to speculate, your guess is as good as mine, and as good as ESPN's... think about that.

In other series that have been over for awhile -

(Photo from Yahoo)
Lakers vs Utah - Well I expected a little more out of Kirilenko's return in game 3, but he played 17 minutes, and then 12 minutes in game 4.

Carlos Boozer put up some decent numbers but he also had some critical turnovers right underneath the basket in crunch time of both games 3 and 4. Either way, he'll get a nice pay day from a team desperate for a change. My guess is the Golden State Warriors.

Ego alert - I was correct in my prediction for the series:

The Lakers will now take on Utah who will be a much easier opponent than the Thunder for the simple question of, who's going to guard Kobe? Rookie, Wesley Matthews? Ronnie Price? Andrei Kirilenko says he hopes to be back by game 3, and he can play defense on Kobe but we'll see what kind of defensive stopper shows up after that calf injury.

And Kobe did have a much better shooting performance than in the first series. Wesley Matthews had some nice plays on Kobe, but ultimately couldn't stop him. In the 6 games against the Thunder, Kobe shot respectively: 31%, 43%, 34%, 50%, 44%, 48%. In four games against the Suns, he shot respectively: 63%, 45%, 54%, 48% all while topping 30 points every game.

Oh and they had no post offensive or defensive game. Pau Gasol dominated as he should have. What's funny is that he won't face a decent post defender for the third straight series against the Suns-- I'm looking for him to put up great numbers again. The Jazz will get Okur back next season, and hopefully they start Millsap in place of Boozer. Oh, they could also win the NBA draft lottery as they have the Knicks' pick, no matter where that pick falls. That would be interesting. By the way, the lottery is on May 18th. Good luck to your team.

Ron Artest's twitter account got into it with Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson, picking his fights wisely brushed it off and didn't start any drama. Ron Artest shot 4-7 from 3 point range the next night. Moving on...

Game 3 Funny Moment, Derek Fisher steals the ball and is on his way to a fast break layup, only CJ Miles swats it out of bounds to make the crowd go crazy. That's not the funny part, listen to Marv Albert:



"OH MILES, WITH THE TAYSHAUN BLOCK!"

Of course he's referring to Tayshaun Prince's block on...



Reggie Miller! Marv Albert's commentating partner! Oh way to remind Reggie Miller of a game saving block in the second round of the 2004 playoffs! Quick history: the Pistons were up by 2 points and with 15 seconds left, Reggie could have tied it, but Tayshaun blocked it away, taking a 2-0 lead to Detroit. Ahhh, Marv.

Regarding Fisher being a traitor to the Utah Jazz - Uhh Jazz fans, do you really think Fisher coming off the bench is going to make you a championship team? At the time, the Jazz were better than the Lakers. This is the summer when the Jazz made the Western Conference Finals, and the Lakers were beat in 5 games to the Suns. Bynum sucked. Kwame Brown was the 3rd option behind Lamar Odom, Fisher was but a light upgrade from Smush Parker. He didn't do it to be on a better team. Fisher cut $8 million dollars to sign with the Lakers. He didn't do it for money. If Fisher was on the Jazz. Jazz fans would complain about Fisher the way LA fans complain about Fisher. The Jazz fans just needed someone to boo.

(Photo from Yahoo)
Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs - I expected MUCH more from the Spurs. I even expected them to beat the Suns! Instead the complete opposite happened and they were swept. Game 4 featured a one eyed Nash still dismantling the Spurs defense... I'm pretty sure the better team won.

Here's something to take note of, the scores for each of the four games: All Suns wins- 111-102, 110-102, 110-96, 107-101. The Suns were consistent. They say they've worked on their defense, but the Spurs averaged 101 points this entire season.

Some questions the Spurs have, what to do with Tony Parker and George Hill? What to do with Richard Jefferson? Both Parker and Jefferson have one more season on contract at $15 and $13.5 million respectively. Those are expiring contracts they could trade away to a team looking for cap space for... 2011? Oh yeah, it was this summer that was the big off season sweepstakes. George Hill was starting quality in the first round against the Mavs. But so is Tony Parker, if he didn't get injured.

One issue they don't have to worry about anymore is Manu Ginobili- he was extended through the 2013 season. But the Spurs know how to draft so I'm sure they'll get some talent next month with the 20th and 49th pick (Tony Parker 28th pick, George Hill 26th pick, Manu 2nd round 28th pick, DeJuan Blair 2nd round 7th pick).

How will the Suns-Lakers series go? I predict a Lakers victory in 6 games. I see the Suns as a better version of the Thunder but with still no post presence. Amare and Nash do pick and rolls for days but I think Gasol, Kobe, Ron and Lamar can move and rotate well enough to at least slow it down a little bit. And again, who will guard Kobe? Jason Richardson and Grant Hill? They'll be better than Wesley Matthews but not better than Durant. I predict another efficient scoring games by both Kobe and Pau Gasol. Let's see if Ron Artest worked on his 3 point shooting during his week off.

(Photo from Yahoo)
Orlando Magic vs Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta was coming off a 7 game series with the Bucks and the Magic had swept the Bobcats a week earlier. Bibby couldn't hang with Jameer Nelson. The Hawks fans booed their team. Atlanta was swept out of the playoffs.

So what's next for the Hawks? Big FA name alert: Joe Johnson. Straight up Free Agent. Not a player option or anything. He decides where he wants to go and for how much. The Hawks have the money to sign him to a max deal and the core group of guys that can get him to the playoffs again, but is it a championship contending team? I think this is a bunch of freakishly athletic guys like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford who can put up good numbers and play good defense. But in the playoffs, Horford was a bit undersized to handle Dwight Howard. Mike Bibby made 7 field goals for the entire series. The team has no bench besides Jamal Crawford and his behind the back cross over. And they fired their coach!

Atlanta has gone a long way from their terrible years in the early part of 2000s. They have some decisions to make this off season. Unfortunately, their core group of guys aren't as talented as championship contending teams' cores.

Which brings me to the Orlando Magic. 8-0 in the playoffs so far getting a lot of rest. Yes they played playoff teams, but they swept who they were supposed to sweep. Their test is here. The Boston Celtics, who they beat last year (Celtics were without KG). We'll see if Jameer Nelson can keep up with Rondo. I know for sure Rondo can keep up with Jameer. This Orlando team is weird though. They shoot a lot of 3 pointers. Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes, Mikael Pietrus, JJ Redick can all hit from deep and they can all get hot. But I predict that the Celtics will be able to defend. I also think Perkins, Rasheed and Glen Davis can body up Dwight Howard a little better than Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.

I honestly don't know who'll win this series but if I had to, I'd go with Orlando, by a hair. They get hot from 3 point line and just put take teams out. Dwight Howard protects the paint and limits any 2nd chance points with his rebounding. Vince Carter seems to be playing high quality basketball right now. But like I said, Boston could just as easily return to the Finals with Rondo playing out of his mind, Ray and Pierce hitting from outside and KG hitting those crazy fade aways. It will be a good series. That's all my thoughts on the second round and predictions for the third round, thanks for reading.

NBA Practice Jersey Advertisements Update Post

(Photo from InsideHoops)
It's been about two months since the NBA announced it would let teams sell ad space on practice (not game) jerseys. We've already read the reasons and the possible travesties that may come if these ads transfer to in game jerseys in a previous post. And some teams have already taken advantage of the practice jersey ad space.

About a month after the league allowance, the New Jersey Nets were the first team to sell ad space on their practice jerseys. Last year, they had an operating income of negative .9 million dollars (Forbes).

A couple weeks after the Nets, the Phoenix Suns were next in selling ad space to The Annexus Group "that will pay a mid-six-figure amount annually" (AZCentral). That same article said that the Nets sold their jerseys for a "low six-figure amount from PNY Technologies." Last year, the Suns had an operating income of 28.9 million dollars, a lot better than the Nets did and good for 6th place last year in operating income (Forbes).



So far, it looks like these are the only two teams to have taken advantage of the increased revenue. As talked about in the previous post, the NBA fan just hopes that these ads STAY on the practice jerseys and not cheapen the traditionality of the in game jerseys. But if it needs to be done in order for there to even be a game to watch, then it will.

Recent quick hits of the NBA off season you might want to be aware of:

(Photo from lowposts)

Orlando Magic sign Jason Williams out of retirement for one year and $1.3 million. After trading away Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie to the Nets for Vince Carter, the Magic were left with their PG position players at the start of last season with all star Jameer Nelson and Anthony Johnson. Between the baseline reason why the Magic felt they needed a playmaker in Jason Williams? Nelson and Johnson were the PGs before Rafer came. But when Nelson went down, Alston helped them get to the finals. Perhaps a playmaking guard off the bench is VITAL to the team's success when Nelson is on the bench. But if Nelson goes down and Williams leads them to the Finals... maybe Stan Van Gundy sticks with what gets him there this time around.

Quentin Richardson traded for the fourth time to the Miami Heat for Mark Blount from Twolves. Q Rich isn’t good. Isn’t going to be the sole reason Wade stays in Miami. With a PER rating of 11.6 and averages of 10.2/4.4/1.6 and 1.7 3ptm (4.6 3ptA), Q Rich isn't the Ying to Wade's Yang. Which is why you read between the baselines. Q Rich is in the last year of his contract and in the Free Agent class of 2010, the Heat will have $9.35 million off of their plate to get Wade some REAL help. Mark Blount is also in the last year of his contract but owed $7.9 million. So with Q Rich, they have more money to get rid of (?) for the FA class of 2010.

And what’s the deal with writers reporting that because two players are good friends, they will automatically be happy and have a good season? This happened two years ago when Kevin Garnett was almost a Laker and one of the selling points was that 3^rd team pg bench warmer Shammond Williams was his cousin. Just because they are cousins, that will be the deal maker? (By the way, KG didn't go to the Lakers even when his COUSIN WAS THERE, who got cut from the team that year, anyway).

Leon Powe signed with Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course he won’t be able to play until after the All Star break. But this is a very nice addition if and only if Powe is able to play at the level he played at during the 2008 Finals. Powe provides energy and skill and can create problems for other teams. But he also has a knee issue. He signed for 2 years for the minimum a 3 year player can get. His reasoning, trying to get his knee back in shape and sign for more money in 2 years. This is probably why the Celtics didn't re-sign him. They’ll probably put a lot of money toward retaining Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins anyway and they'll need the roster space and can't afford (playing wise) to have a player take up roster space to sit on the bench. Cavaliers are thinking they need all the help they can get at a price they can afford for a playoff run to please King James.

The Clippers waived Mark Madsen. And if you read RBTB’s previous post regarding the Clippers, you’ll see that although Madsen is a “good locker room guy” (whatever that means), he was due 2.8 million that came off the books next year. If they could get him off the books sooner, even better for the Clippers. Good for Mark too because I doubt he'd get much playing time (even though he hasn't had decent playing time for almost his entire career) behind Griffin, Camby, Kaman and Deandre Jordan. But these are the fragile fragile big men of the Clippers we're talking about...

Amare Stoudemire is 50/50 about returning to the Suns next year. Can you blame him? The Suns aren’t good anymore. Steve Nash, Amare, Grant Hill and Jason Richardson is not greater than or equal to Steve Nash, Amare, Grant Hill, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and one of Shawn Marion or Shaq. Amare hasn’t cemented anything about his legacy other than All Star appearances and a rookie of the year award. His future in Phoenix looks dim.

The Atlanta Hawks signed Joe Smith (his 10th team). Terms weren't disclosed but it would be safe to assume it's the league's veteran minimum like Jason Williams of the Magic ($1.3 million/1 year). Joe Smith is ol' reliable and averaged 6.6/4.6 last season for the Thunder and Cavaliers. He'll likely average the same in Atlanta behind Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.

Those are the facts. And that's a couple ways to read between the [base]lines.