MVN - Most Valuable Network

Around the NBA

The Clippers are still reeling from the loss of Elton Brand and are in a state of shock over his departure.  Many have blamed Elton and his star struck agent David Falk, but in the end, the Clippers didn’t play the game the right way, and they paid for it.  They need to learn how to play hard-ball and stick it to the teams that stick it to them.

Many years ago the Knicks signed restricted free agent Kevin McHale to a whopper of an offer sheet.  It included no trade and opt-out clauses, and a lot of money up front.  Red Auerbach not only matched the offer, but then signed Rory Sparrow, Marvin Webster and Sly Williams (Three Knick players) to contracts valued at two times their worth.  The Knicks lost millions in the deal.  If the Clippers want to be respected around the league, they need to stick it to the Sixer’s and make a big offer for Andre Igoudola.  Include an opt-out clause after two years and a no trade clause, just to stick it to Philly.  That’s what championship teams do.

The Knicks turned down an overture from the Clips to trade Zach Randolph to LA for a second round pick.  If the Knicks were looking to dump salary, this would have been a perfect opportunity, but, the D’Antoni campo feels that Randolph’s value can’t get any lower and he might thrive in the up-tempo offense.  Look for this trade to be re-visited, especially if the Clippers don’t add anyone significant in the next two weeks.

News out of Chicago has Jerry Reinsdorf personally handling the free-agent negotiations with Luol Deng and his agent Jason Levine.  Why John Paxson is out of the mix doesn’t make any sense, but lets see what develops as perhaps Paxson is busy trying to handle other trade scenarios.  The Bulls have some moveable pieces and Paxson needs to pull the trigger and make a deal.  Maybe Reinsdorf feels that Deng is un-touchable and needs to be re-signed, while Paxson is peddling the likes of Hinrich, Gordon and Nocioni for an impact player.  If he adds a couple of picks to that triumvirate, it really is an attractive offer.

The Lakers are considering a Lamar Odom to Sacramento for Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas, or at least it’s been getting a lot of air play. Personally, I can’t see the Maloof’s doing anything to help the Lakers, so I doubt this deal goes down. Reports out of LA also suggest that Rony Turiaf’s offer sheet with Golden State will not be matched, something I disagree with.  They are working very had to sign Sasha Vujacic and don’t want to pony up the luxury tax cash to keep Turiaf, a mistake in my book.

Two of my favorite players that are not getting much love in free agency are Quinton Ross of the Clippers and Matt Barnes of the Golden State Warriors.  Ross is a great defender that is improving every year on the offensive end.  If a team is looking for a guy that can stick shooting guards and small forwards and not demand the ball or shots; he’s a great option.  For the millionth time, if defense wins championships, why doesn’t anyone respect and pay the defensive player?

Matt Barnes is another defensive energy player that has been ignored in free agency.  The Warriors have already stated that he will not be back with them next season.  For all the teams looking to max-out their MLE on James Posey, they should take a closer look at Matt Barnes.  All he needs is the playing time to take his game to the next level.  The team that signs him immediately becomes a tougher more aggressive team, as Matt leaves it all on the court.

The big winners in the NBA draft were the New Jersey Nets and the Houston Rockets, as both teams added nice pieces and more importantly strong value pieces.  Teams like the Bulls and Heat added the best players in the draft in Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, but these are picks a five year old could have made.  I thought that Houston adding Joey Dorsey and Donte Green was nothing short of brilliant as they parlayed Nicholas Batum into a swap for both players.  Batum had been ranked very high months before the draft, but consistently fell as he did not have a great year in Europe.  Portland had a ton of picks and only a few roster spots, so they are perfectly willing to wait for Batum to hopefully develop in Europe, while Dorsey and Green provide immediate help for the Rockets.

I had both Dorsey and Greene among my personal list of players I though would have a big impact in the NBA.  For argument purposes here they are, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Russell Westbrook, Joe Alexander, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, DeAndre Jordan, Donte Greene, Jason Thompson, Sonny Weems, Patrick Ewing Jr. and DeMarcus Nelson.  Please don’t remind me that Nelson didn’t get drafted, because I’m well aware of it

The Nets selected Brook Lopez in the first round, and Ryan Anderson from California, with their first round pick from Dallas in the Jason Kidd trade.  Both players should contribute and be in the rotation as soon as next season.  Lopez was valued as high as the third pick and Anderson led the Pac-10 in scoring.  However, the real caveat was at pick number 40, when they took the best shooting guard in the draft, Chris Douglas-Roberts.  How he lasted till 40 is beyond comprehension.  He has a great mentor in Vince Carter, and because of that will have time to grow his game.  In three years, many will wonder why he lasted so long.

As of right now, it’s rather quiet in the NBA, but there are still some big names out there that could change the landscape.  Josh Smith, Andre Igoudola, Emeka Okafor, Monte Ellis and Luol Deng are still available for the right price, stay tuned.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Los Angeles Lakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.