In what should be a top heavy but a very deep and talented NBA draft next week , the following is how I see the top 10 shaking out come next Thursday.
1. Chicago Bulls - Everyone says what a great spot that the Bulls are in having the option of selecting Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley. However, on what already is a very talented and young team, this single decision could make or break the direction that this franchise will head. While I believe that the Bulls cannot go wrong with this selection as both players are immediate impact players, I do feel that it comes down to team needs. It is almost too good to be true that Rose is a hometown kid, the best PG in the draft, and a soft spoken leader. Beasley on the other hand, is a total freak of nature, however many experts question his work ethic and leadership capabilities. While all signs and NBA experts predict …
There have been many rumors floating around East Rutherford, New Jersey about another Small Forward that likes to run and shoot, making his way to the Garden State. While this may sound very appealing to New Jersey Nets fans, it is not the answer to overtaking the NBA Finals bound Boston Celtics in the upcoming years. With the acquisitions from the Jason Kidd trade, the Nets have 2 first round picks, including a lottery pick, that they can use to start building for an immediate future. This roster does not lack in talent but it lacks in fundamental basketball, which as the San Antonio Spurs have shown us, wins Championships.
With 2 franchise point guards in Marcus Williams (who the Nets drafted in 2006), and Devin Harris, they have no need to think draft or free agency at this time. Vince Carter, the enigma that he has always been, is the starting shooting guard but with no real backup, he isn’t able to play 45 minutes a night like he used to. Also, as the years …
It’s tough for New Yorkers to think about hoops at this time of year. After all, the season ended for the Knicks and Nets months ago, and baseball mania has once again swept over the city - a sign of summer just around the corner.
Nevertheless, today is a significant day for both N.Y. locals, as the NBA will hold its draft lottery tonight to determine the order of the June 26th draft. And while the Knicks have stolen the majority of headlines recently (first with the hiring of Donnie Walsh and the dismissal of Isiah Thomas, then with the hiring of coach Mike D’Antoni), the Nets may be the team poised to make the bigger splash, if a report in the New York Post is to be believed.
According to the Post, Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe is wasting no time remodeling his roster, and he’s turning to some familiar faces in the process. League sources have indicated that the Denver Nuggets have …
Good morning to all, here’s some of my thoughts on a few topics going on in the New York sports scene.
Yankees streaky play
The Yanks are 19-19 after 38 games. It’s amazing to see how this team goes into spurts of winning three, losing three, winning two, losing two. This has been a result of the inconsistent production by the back end of the rotation and the offense. No Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada to go along with sub .200 hitting from Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano can be best to blame for the .500 play. Cano seems to be coming out of his funk as he quietly has a six-game hitting streak, he plays a big part of the lineup if he’s able to get it going.
Darrell Rasner had another good outing yesterday and provided the Yanks with a win. He has accomplished more in his two starts than Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Kei Igawa have combined. He has two wins, the other three…zero. Keep the guy in …
Fellow hoops fans, we’re in a state of mourning. Lets face it, both of our area teams are horrible. The Nets are rebuilding with what would be the equivalent of rotten wood and the Knicks…urrggh (beating my head against a brick wall). So, instead of going into a deeper state of depression, let me get a couple things of my chest.
1) Kidd didn’t quit on Nets; he quit on Vince
Before last Saturday’s game against the Nets, the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd denied accusations that he had quit on his former team. Kidd told Daily News reporter Ohm Youngmisuk that he had taken the franchise as far as he could and that his alleged protest before last season’s playoff loss to Cleveland was unfounded.
“I didn’t quit on the team,” said Kidd, who will face his old team on Saturday in Dallas. “The ride was over. At the end of the day, I gave everything that I could give to the Nets. There were no more rabbits that I could pull …
The New Jersey Nets waived former all-star center, Jamaal Magloire, Friday.Â
Magloire signed with the club in July, as a free agent; however, he averaged a meager 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 24 games with the team.
The eight-year veteran was a 2004 All-Star selection and has averaged 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in stops which include: Charlotte/New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Portland.
Magloire is expected to join ex-Net Jason Kidd down in Texas, as the Mavericks have expressed interest in signing the former all-star, according to the Dallas Morning News.
updated @ 2:51…
It’s official. The deal is done, according to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. J-Kidd is a Mav. The details, via ESPN:
Kidd, forward Malik Allen and swingman Antoine Wright sent to Dallas for 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop, swingman Trenton Hassell, guard Maurice Ager, Van Horn via sign-and-trade, first-round draft picks this June and in 2010 and $3 million in cash. The teams originally planned to move Wright to Dallas in a separate transaction but were able to make the salary-cap math work in a single trade after the deal was reconfigured over the weekend.
Now for an in-depth analysis of how KVH might fit into New Jersey’s revamped offense. Just kidding.
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Keith Van Horn might have made more fans in New Jersey and Dallas today than he did during his entire playing career. The 32-year-old’s decision to come out of quasi-retirement (and collect a hefty $4.3 million for doing so) in order to bail out two of his former teams was considered the …
Jason Kidd is still a Net and will be in tomorrow night’s NBA All-Star Game representing New Jersey. It appears Kidd will be heading back to the Medowlands after the game instead of going to Dallas.
The proposed trade of Kidd, Antoine Wright, and Malik Allen to Dallas for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George, D-League guard Maurice Ager, two future first-round draft picks and $3 million is still on hold. The reason is due to George invoking his no-trade clause thus blocking the trade from going through. Both teams are trying to work out an alternative deal in the event George stands his ground.
Via NY Daily News:
“If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” Nets president Rod Thorn said yesterday in New Orleans, where he was attending All-Star Game festivities. “Everyone expected to get this done. I don’t know what’s going to happen here. This is totally unexpected.”
“In life when you make decisions you can’t make everybody happy,” Kidd said yesterday. “That’s just the way it goes.”
In addition to …
ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Devean George is exercising his no-trade clause in order to block the blockbuster deal that would have sent Jason Kidd to Dallas in exchange for George, Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager and two first round picks.
The development is unexpected and fairly bizarre since George is only signed to a one-year contract and would only be asked to play out the season in New Jersey. I suppose the veteran doesn’t want to forego his chance at being part of a title run in Dallas, however, I think someone needs to remind Devean that he’s friggin’ Devean George. Shut up and pack your bags.
I’m completely spent from the Clemens hearings, so I’ll let ESPN do the talking:
Sources told ESPN.com that the Mavericks and Nets on Wednesday reached an agreement in principle on a Kidd deal after talks had seemingly stalled last week, moving the teams to brink of completing the NBA’s third blockbuster deal of the month.
Although sources say that the teams are still sorting out final details, this deal was described as “imminent” by multiple sources close to the process after negotiations moved to an advanced stage Tuesday night. The deal — salvaged from talks on a three-way trade with Portland that developed and fizzled quickly two weeks ago — has Dallas sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and swingman Devean George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.
The Nets would also receive $3 million from the Mavs and Dallas’ first-round picks in June ‘08 and ‘10. New Jersey is expected to buy out Stackhouse’s …
The NBA’s trade deadline is just 10 days away and the Jason Kidd situation is still unresolved. The Dallas Mavericks have been rumored as a potential landing spot for Kidd since the superstar guard went public with his trade demands, and the NBA continues to wait to see whether or not the Mavs, who have watched Conference rivals L.A. and Phoenix bolster their rosters in recent days, will take the bait.
As if the schedule makers had a crystal ball, it so happens that the Mavs were in town last night, falling to the Nets in a surprising 101-82 rout at the Meadowlands. The game, however, was a mere sidebar to the topic on everyone’s minds, and prior to the game, reporters took the opportunity to question omnipresent Mavs owner Mark Cuban on the swirling Kidd rumors. Via the Daily News:
“For us to make the numbers work in a deal like that, we’d have to trade away half the team,” Cuban added, before settling into his first-row …
According to the Bergen Record, the Nets will acquire athletic power forward Stromile Swift from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Jason Collins.
Swift should be a good fit in the Nets’ uptempo transition game…but not without Jason Kidd.
