Friday, August 13, 2010

2010 Team USA - Another Televised Intra-Squad Scrimmage

The Blue Team won yesterday night's Team USA intra-squad scrimmage 49-47 on Tyson Chandler's "golden basket" in overtime ...

Team USA - Blue

Player Min FG 3Pt FT Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
Derrick Rose 22 1-4 0-1 0-0 4 3 3 1 0 1 2
Stephen Curry 17 4-10 4-10 2-2 2 0 4 0 0 2 14
Andre Iguodala 27 7-11 1-3 0-1 6 1 3 1 1 3 15
Kevin Durant 29 4-12 0-5 2-2 4 4 2 3 2 1 10
Tyson Chandler 21 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 1 1 3 2
Rajon Rondo 20 1-3 0-0 0-0 3 5 3 0 0 1 2
Jeff Green 7 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4

Totals 145 20-46 5-19 4-5 21 13 15 7 4 12 49

Team USA - White

Player Min FG 3Pt FT Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
Russell Westbrook 23 3-6 0-2 2-4 3 1 4 4 0 1 8
Chauncey Billups 25 4-9 0-3 3-4 2 1 5 1 0 0 11
Rudy Gay 27 1-9 0-4 0-0 5 1 1 2 0 0 2
Danny Granger 25 3-9 0-3 0-0 5 3 0 1 3 1 6
Lamar Odom 18 5-7 2-3 1-2 4 1 1 1 0 1 13
JaVale McGee 10 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0 0 1 2
Eric Gordon 10 1-2 0-1 1-1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3
Kevin Love 8 1-2 0-1 0-0 5 0 0 1 0 0 2

Totals 145 19-46 2-17 7-11 25 8 12 11 3 4 47

Team USA will have a final scrimmage against China on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Team USA will face France in Game 1 of the double-header, and China will play Puerto Rico in Game 2 ...

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Offseason Player Movement - New Orleans Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets' new general manager Dell Demps made his first moves today in an attempt to keep star point guard Chris Paul happy and staying in New Orleans ...

Trade #1 - View This Trade
New Orleans Hornets receive: Indiana Pacers receive:
- Trevor Ariza (HOU) - Darren Collison (NOH)
- James Posey (NOH)
    
New Jersey Nets receive: Houston Rockets receive:
- Troy Murphy (IND) - Courtney Lee (NJN)

Trade #2 - View This Trade
New Orleans Hornets receive: Toronto Raptors receive:
- Marco Belinelli (TOR) - Julian Wright (NOH)
Naturally, the winners here are not the New Orleans Hornets, but the Indiana Pacers and the New Jersey Nets ...

The Houston Rockets have spent too much money on Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry and Brad Miller this summer, and had no choice but to give Trevor Ariza away to save money. They are now trying to find a team to take Jared Jeffries' contract off the book also ...

The New Orleans Hornets seems to have improved their roster by getting Trevor Ariza, who earned his first career triple-double when he played against the Hornets in the final game of last season (which is why the Hornets like him), but actually didn't when they traded rookie sensation Darren Collison to the Indiana Pacers ...

The Pacers, of course, finally get the young, starting point guard they wanted in Darren Collison. Last year, they tried to get the Denver Nuggets' Ty Lawson and the Charlotte Bobcats' Raymond Felton but failed. This time, they get themselves an even better deal but had to give up their starting power forward Troy Murphy. Now they will have to start playing Josh McRoberts ...

The New Jersey Nets took full advantage of their unused cap space and get Troy Murphy in the deal. This will allow them to bring in rookie Derrick Favors slowly, and possibly deal Troy Murphy again at the February trade deadline once Favors has developed ...

After the completion of these 2 trades, Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan can re-hire Isiah Thomas all he wants and expect another 6-8 years of losing seasons for the New York Knicks as they now have no chance of acquiring Chris Paul in any possible deal ... (Well, they can still go for a Big 3 with Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker ...)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

2010 NBA Free Agency - A Big 3 In New York City (Part 3 of 3)

( Continued from Part 2 )

7) Chris Paul: "We'll form our own Big 3"
First, the New York Knicks need to be prepared to get Carmelo Anthony through a trade with the Denver Nuggets this upcoming season, and not as a free agent next summer. After the Knicks get Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor, there won't be any cap room left for signing Anthony as a free agent ...

Next, the Knicks need the Indiana Pacers to join them in a possible 3-way deal with the New Orleans Hornets. Or, they need to make a trade with the Pacers first before their trade with the Hornets. And I'm 100% sure the Indiana Pacers will be interested in such a trade as they have been trying to do a T.J. Ford for Raymond Felton deal for a long long time ...

8) Amare Stoudemire: "The Knicks Are Back!"
Now, let me be the first one in the world to lay out the master plan. The New York Knicks might need to add a draft pick or two to juice up the potential deals, but the overall plan will be to complete the 3 following trades after mid-December when the Knicks can trade Raymond Felton to another team ...


Trade #1 - Raymond Felton (NYK) for T.J. Ford (IND) - View This Trade
                  (I used 3 players whose contract numbers equal to Felton's contract number)
The new contract that Raymond Felton signed with the New York Knicks will pay him $7.0 million in 2010-11, $7.56 million in 2011-12. The Indiana Pacers will love this trade as they wanted to do it last year with the Charlotte Bobcats. And even if the Felton project doesn't work out for the Pacers, his contract is only a short 2-year contract ...

Trade #2 - Eddy Curry, T.J. Ford, Toney Douglas, Bill Walker and draft picks (NYK)
                  for Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor (NOH) - View This Trade
                  (I used 3 players whose contract numbers equal to Ford's contract number)
This will be a salary dumping move by the New Orleans Hornets as they rid themselves of Emeka Okafor's bad contract which otherwise would be impossible to move. In the process, the Hornets might get a draft pick or two and Toney Douglas from the New York Knicks ...

Trade #3 - Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Wilson Chandler, Kelenna Azubuike and
                  Ronny Turiaf (NYK) for Carmelo Anthony and Coby Karl (DEN) - View Trade
This will be a no-brainer for the Denver Nuggets if they come to their senses and realize that they need to rebuild their team. The Nuggets will get 4 young, promising players in exchange for their superstar who isn't going to re-sign with them. This is something that the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors failed to get last month ...


9) So the Knicks will have their own Big 3 next season?
But stranger things have happened in the NBA. The New York Daily News has reported 2 days ago that Knicks president Donnie Walsh really considered resigning after Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan made the controversial move to hire Isiah Thomas as a consultant to the New York Knicks. If Donnie Walsh is still the Knicks president by mid-season, maybe we'll see a Big 3 in New York. Otherwise, ...

[ read the New York Daily News story here ]

2010 NBA Free Agency - A Big 3 In New York City (Part 2 of 3)

( Continued from Part 1 )

4) Okay, the Knicks will get Carmelo Anthony. What about Chris Paul?
In order for the New York Knicks to get Chris Paul, who still has 2 years remaining on his contract, they will have to make a trade with the New Orleans Hornets. I do believe somewhat that Hornets owner George Shinn really wants to build a winner in New Orleans (as he traded Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor's 5-year contract instead of cap relief), but he also has made no secret of his constant cost-cutting measures. As of today, the New Orlean Hornets have almost $16 million of trade exceptions unused, meaning that they gave away $16 million worth of contracts in the past year without getting a player back. If the New York Knicks can help George Shinn to save more money, they're in the game ...

5) Chris Paul is no longer untouchable
The New Orleans Hornets will start the season with new general manager Dell Demps and rookie coach Monty Williams. If the Hornets are once again slow out of the gate this upcoming season (flashback: they fired coach Byron Scott, who has a close bond with Chris Paul, 9 games into last season), the Chris Paul trade talk will definitely heat up by mid-December when teams can trade their newly signed free agents. And as long as rookie sensation Darren Collison, who had 7-straight games with 18+ points and 9+ assists, a 20-assist game and a triple-double last year, on the Hornets roster, Chris Paul is available ...

6) Chris Paul is available only if the Knicks take Emeka Okafor also
Now, this is the part that EVERY NBA writer/insider is missing. The New Orleans Hornets will NOT trade Chris Paul, who is NOT on his final year, for just cap relief, draft picks and young talents. Next year, they might. Just not this year. If the New York Knicks want to get Chris Paul this year, they will have to paid the steep price of taking Emeka Okafor with him. No team, including the Portland Trailblazers and the Orlando Magic, can take Emeka Okafor in a potential Chris Paul deal that will give the Hornets a chance to get Okafor's remaining 4-year, $52.2 million bad contract off the book except for the New York Knicks. Here's how ...

( Continued in Part 3 )

Sunday, August 8, 2010

2010 NBA Free Agency - A Big 3 In New York City (Part 1 of 3)

Since the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics have all finished finalizing their roster for the upcoming season, maybe we should start turning our attention back to the New York Knicks. Will the Knicks get New York native Carmelo Anthony to join them next year? Will Chris Paul get his wish and form his own big 3 with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in New York? Most people think it's a longshot, but little do they know that it doesn't take much for this to happen ...

1) Carmelo Anthony really wants to play in New York
Well, everyone knows Carmelo Anthony wants to play in his hometown New York. But what makes it happen is that Carmelo doesn't seems to care about money. Under the new CBA next year, players are expected to earn a lot less than what they are receiving right now. And there's the possibility of a lockout. Still, Anthony has decided to not sign, at least for now, the 3-year, $65 million contract extension that the Denver Nuggets put on the table. If this isn't enough, he has already put his Denver home for sale at $9.5 million. He really seems determined to join the New York Knicks next season as an unrestricted free agent ...

2) The Denver Nuggets have passed their peak
Some might think this is just a tactical move by Carmelo to force the management to further improve the Nuggets' roster (after the Al Harrington's signing), but it would be insane for him to give up that much money for something's not going to happen. With almost $28 million tied to the oft-injured pair of Kenyon Martin and Nene for this upcoming season, there is no way the Denver Nuggets could bring in an impact player or two that will help them beating the Los Angeles Lakers and/or winning the tough Western Conference ...

3) The Denver Nuggets should go for a total rebuild
And take a look at the Denver Nuggets' contract situation ...
Player 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Carmelo Anthony $17.1 million $18.5 million (player) - - - - - - - -
Kenyon Martin $16.5 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chauncey Billups $13.2 million $14.2 million (team) - - - - - - - -
Nene $11.4 million $11.6 million (player) - - - - - - - -
J.R. Smith $6.0 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Arron Afflalo $2.0 million $2.9 million (team) - - - - - - - -
Anthony Carter $1.4 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shelden Williams $0.9 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Coby Karl $0.9 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brian Butch $0.8 million - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If the Denver Nuggets decide to go for a rebuild, there will be no better time than the next summer as most of their contracts end after next season. (Nene's contract will end one more season after.) And it's not like they have a choice to opt for not rebuilding. Firstly, Chauncey Billups will be 34 years old next month. Secondly, even if they were able to re-sign or extend all of their free agents, they would still be a 1st round or 2nd round playoff team in the tough Western Conference. Therefore, I really don't see Carmelo Anthony wearing a Nugget uniform by 2011 ...

( Continued in Part 2 )