NBA Free Agent Frenzy

Wednesday marked the first day teams could officially sign free agents and execute agreed upon trades as the moratorium on roster moves was lifted as of 12:01 this morning and there some major transactions going down on Wednesday.  The most notable of which was Elton Brand officially become a Philadelphia 76er.  Corey Maggette accepted an offer from the Warriors reported to be worth $50 million over 5 years which is what Maggette was probably wanting all along.

The other major transaction that went down Wednesday was the official execution of the agreed upon trade between the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors.  Indiana receives T. J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston and the rights to Roy Hibbert in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal and the rights to Nathan Jawai.  This deal does not make a ton of sense.  In T. J. Ford the Pacers finally get someone who should be able to unseat Jamaal Tinsley whom they have been looking to displace for a couple of years now.  But, to do so, they give up the only real post scoring presence and best rebounder they had which kills any chances they may have had at making any kind of a playoff run.

From the Raptors stand point Ford was expendable as the franchise has become enamored with the idea of Jose Calderon being the starting point guard.  Jermaine O’Neal, however, has seen better days and by trading for him the Raptors now have little to no cap flexibility for the next couple of summers.  O’Neal is still owed over $40 million on the remaining two years of his contract and the Raptors are going to have to decide what to do with Andrea Bargnani by the time O’Neal’s contract expires.  O’Neal can still give a team quality minutes when he is healthy, the problem is he is rarely healthy enough these days to give a team more than 30 minutes a night for 50 or so games.  I have a feeling the Bryan Colangelo may live to regret taking on O’Neals contract for the next two years.

NBA Update: Brand Bailing on the Clippers and Heading East

Both ESPN and Yahoo! Sports are reporting that Brand intends on signing with the Sixers on Wednesday after the deals involving Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth are completed.  Apparently the chance to compete for a spot in the Finals appeals to Brand and the Clippers were not stepping up to the plate the way the Sixers are prepared to do in terms of the dollars involved.  According to Yahoo! Brand became disenchanted with the Clippers after they were unwilling to sweeten their deal after the Warriors came through with a significantly more lucrative offer.  He felt disrespected by the way the Clippers were trying to play hardball with him.

Brand’s decision to bolt for Philly potentially makes things even more interesting for the Clippers.  First, and foremost, will Baron Davis renege on his verbal agreement to sign with Los Angeles.  Was his signing on the dotted line contingent on the Clippers re-signing Elton Brand?  The main thing going in LA’s favor right now is the fact Baron is a hometown boy who would not mind finishing his career in Los Angeles.

This move seems to be setting off a domino effect with several key free agents.  ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that as a result of losing Davis and losing out on Brand they are expected to announce they have come to terms with Corey Maggette and the Clippers will now turn their attention to luring Josh Smith away from the Hawks.

NBA Free Agency Update: Monta Ellis Sweepstakes is Heating up

The Heat and Cavs are interested in Monta Ellis while he claims to have an interest in playing for the Knicks. Unfortunately for those teams Ellis wants $10 million per year and none of those teams have any cap space to be able to sign him outright.  They would have to do some kind of a sign-and-trade deal and it is debatable whether any of those teams have anything Don Nelson would be interested in that would be available.  The Knicks have some tradeable assets though I don’t know the Warriors have any interest in them.  Stephon Marbury and Malik Rose’s expiring contracts are available and David Lee is available for the right deal.  The thing of it is is you do not trade a young up-and-coming talent like Ellis away for expiring contracts and David Lee does not really fit into Nelson’s style of play.  Cleveland really has nothing of interest to offer either other than expiring contracts of mediocre players.  With Baron Davis having jumped ship to Los Angeles Golden State ultimately cannot deal Ellis without getting a starting point guard in return.

Switching gears to Corey Maggette.  He is rumored to be considering the Celtics after a conversation with Doc Rivers.  I still don’t see how Maggette fits into the equation in Boston with Pierce and Allen still in the mix.  Meanwhile Maggette talks as though he is done with the Clippers and with some extra cash to spend now that Baron has jumped ship the Warriors are expected to show interest in Maggette’s services along with the Sixers who are likely hedging their bets in the event they cannot come to terms with Andre Iguodala.  The Warriors interest is probably stronger than the Sixers at this point.  If they retain Ellis and move him over to the point as is expected to happen they will then have an opening at shooting guard and Maggette could fit right in there.  The Sixers are likely using Maggette as a bargaining chip with Iguodala.  Otherwise if they re-sign Igoudala then they have no real use for a guy like Maggette with Thaddeus Young already in place as the small forward of the future.

NBA Free Agency Update: Maggette Drawing Interest Around the League

The Celtics have reportedly contacted Corey Maggette about a deal.
The Spurs are reportedly ready to offer Maggette their full mid-level exception.
The Jazz and Magic are also reportedly interested.
As are the Hornets.

Of the teams mentioned thus far the Hornets seem to be the most intriguing of the choices and possibly the best overall fit for Maggette.  He is saying all of the right things right now but with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen currently under contract for the next two years one wonders how happy he would be in Boston having to defer the lion’s share of minutes to those two.  A guy like James Posey was perfect for Boston at that spot because he only commands 20-25 minutes per game and Maggette is not going to be happy unless he is getting at least 30 minutes a game if not more.

The Hornets are young up-and-coming team in the west and the one thing they are lacking right now is a dynamic scorer to pair with Chris Paul and David West.  Maggette is just the type of player the Hornets are looking for to stick at the two spot alongside Paul.  Maggette could potentially be that one guy to put the Hornets over the hump and into the Finals next year.

The same can be said about the Magic as well.  Orlando is desperatley looking for someone like Maggette who can come in and score from the 2 guard spot and create his own shot.  Turkoglu and Lewis essentially score the bulk of their points by playing off of Dwight Howard and converting open jumpers.  Maggette gives them another option that teams will have to guard against attacking the rim and potentially opening up more scoring opportunities for Howard.  He could be the guy to help Orlando get over the hump as well.

Everyone is always going to be open to listening to what the Spurs have to say simply because they have been contenders to reach the Finals the last 9 or 10 years.  But, I am not convinced Maggette’s game fits so much with what the Spurs do.  The Spurs don’t like to run as much and Maggette likes to get up and down the floor.

NBA Free Agency Update: 07/01/08

Baron Davis chooses to ditch Golden State in favor of the Los Angeles Clippers. Not really surprised to see Davis move on, he opted out for a reason.  Despite what everyone was saying it appears that Davis was truly ticked about Nelson benching him.  The Warriors were reportedly interested in negotiating an extension but the two sides were rumored to be very far apart.  Surely the Warriors were trying to bide their time until they knew what it was going to ultimately take to re-sign Monta Ellis.  I like this acquisition for the Clippers and it likely means Elton Brand stays put and all but signals the end of Corey Maggette’s days with the Clippers.  With the additon of Davis the Clippers now have a solid starting five in place and if Brand stays healthy there is no reason they cannot compete for a playoff spot next season.

As was widely expected to happen Jose Calderon has agreed to stay in Toronto. Calderon had a breakout year with the Raptors this past season averaging just over 11 points and 8 assists per game and emerging as a reliable 3-point shooter.  Calderon’s play made mercurial point guard T. J. Ford expendable.  The Raptors had to do everything in their power to lock Calderon up immediately as he was the only remaining point man on the roster.  Toronto will now likely look to pluck a servicable backup off the free agent pile to back Calderon up.  Expect them to make a run at someone like a Chris Duhon or Carlos Arroyo or they may try to lure a veteran like Damon Stoudamire or Sam Cassell into the fold.

Beno Udrih is no longer an option for the Raptors as he decides to stay with Sacramento after the Clippers made a push to sign him. The Kings could do worse than Udrih but they really had few options available and with Ron Artest opting to play out his contract in Sacramento next season they have no real cap flexibility to go out and pick someone up and the current alternatives they have under contract still need some seasoning and are not yet ready to run an offense.

Sizing up the NBA Free Agency Market

Free agency started today with the Sixers, Grizzlies, and Warriors having the most money to spend. Here is a list of available free agents:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s…2008FreeAgents

There is not a whole lot to be excited about with this year’s group.  Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, and Corey Maggette are about the only real difference makers available on the un-restricted list.

Davis and Maggette are as good as gone.  Davis opted out because he is probably still upset over being benched for the entire second half in a late season game against the Suns.  Besides, the Warriors really see restricted free agent Monta Ellis as the future anyway and they would rather match any offer he gets in lieu of placating Davis and giving him the money that he wants.  Davis is supposedly lobbying for a sign-and-trade that would send him to the Knicks though I don’t know what the Knicks could offer aside from potential picks and Marbury’s contract which expires after the upcoming season.

Maggette has supposedly butted heads with Dunleavy since day one and I doubt he whas any interest in staying with the Clippers.  It is being rumored that Orlando is his top choice as of right now but the Magic would have to agree to do a sign-and-trade in order to fit him under the cap and I don’t really see who they would be willing to part with at this point to get him.

Brand supposedly is intent on staying in LA but the Sixers are supposedly going to make a competitive offer to see if they cannot lure him ot Philly.  Although if you are content to stay with the Clippers then why opt out?  Why not make an attempt to negotiate a contract extension if that is where you truly want to be.  If both parties are truly committed to each other then this should not be an issue, right?

Arenas supposedly wants a max deal and it was being reported on SportsCenter last night that the Wizards are willing to give him $100 mil over 6 years.  Arenas is a bit of a dicey proposition though.  When healthy he is as good of a scorer as there is in the league, unfortunately he was only healthy enough to appear in 13 games last year.  Do you take the risk of signing him to a big deal hoping his knee gets back to where he can give you 38 to 40 minutes a night or do you try to sign him to shorter contract? 

One name of interest to keep an eye on from the unrestricted list is Gerald Green.  He is only 22 and looked poised to have a breakout year after averaging 10 points in 22 minutes a game coming off the bench for the Celtics in the ‘06/’07 season.  He got buried on the bench in Minnesota and never got the chance to show what he could do out there. He could easily be a 15-20 ppg scorer on the right team next year and he could end up being a steal of a signing for someone since he is going to command relatively low salary.