NBA: Free Agent Commitments (as of October 2nd) - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Grondar · 10-02-2004, 04:42 AM

Quote:

From HOOPSWORLD.com
Free Agent Commitments (Revised)
By Eric Pincus
Oct 2, 2004, 03:44

A number of free agents have come to terms with various clubs around the league. Here's a quick list to keep track of what's what:

Atlanta Hawks
Jason Collier – - $3.15 million over two years. Collier put up some big number late last season in Atlanta. Why not?

Kenny Anderson – $1.1 million for a season.

Jon Barry - $1.1 million for a season.

Kevin Willis - $1.1 million for a season.

Draft Picks: Josh Childress and Josh Smith

Boston Celtics
Mark Blount – $42 million over six years. Surprise return to the green.

Tom Gugliotta - $1.6-$2.6 million for a season. Conflicting reports out.

Draft Picks: Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen and Justin Reed

Charlotte Bobcats
Jason Hart - $4.95 million over three years. The last year is likely a player option . . . though some reports have it as a team option.

Steve Smith - $1.1 million for a season.

Brevin Knight - $933K for a season for the vet point guard.

Corey Benjamin – Likely $745K for a year. Contract details yet to be determined.

Tamar Slay – $695K for a year . . . bottoming out the list thus far.

Omar Cook – One year for the minimum at $620K.

Bernard Robinson – $385K for a season.

Extension: Primoz Brezec - terms to be announced

Draft Pick: Emeka Okafor

Chicago Bulls
Mike Wilks - Via sign and trade. The first year is guaranteed likely the min at $620K. The next two seasons are team options.

Antonio Nocioni – Apparently $11 million over three years . . . though reports are a bit fuzzy.

Gary Trent - One year for the minimum ($1 mil), non-guaranteed. Still pending.

Draft Picks: Ben Gordon and Luol Deng

Cleveland Cavaliers
Robert “Tractor” Traylor – Two year deal for $3.36 million. Cavs used their lle. Tractor has an opt out for the second season.

Scott Williams - one year for the vet minimum ($1.1 million).

Steven Hunter – subsequently waived– sign and trade from the Orlando Magic. Terms were not disclosed and he was then cut from the team. He got paid to make the Drew Gooden trade work.

Draft Picks: Luke Jackson and Anderson Varejao

Dallas Mavericks
Erick Dampier - $73 million over seven years. Seems a bit too long for a guy who's only had a couple of good moments in his career. This could be great for Dallas or a long term problem. Cuban is pretty savvy though at dumping unwanted contracts.

Marquis Daniels – $37 million over six years. Not bad for an undrafted player coming off of a rookie season.

Dider Ilunga-Mbenga - $3.36 million over two years (the lle). Who? What? When? Where? Couldn’t have picked this guy up for the minimum?

Avery Johnson – $1.1 million for one year. Why not just retire and be an assistant coach? Have to love the Little General though. Get him out of Golden State and back to Big D where he belongs.

Draft Picks: Devin Harris and Pavel Podkolzin

Denver Nuggets
Kenyon Martin – $90 million over seven years via sign and trade. New Jersey is likely out of contention now in the East while Denver can boast a front court of KMart, Nene and Marcus Camby

Marcus Camby - $45.1 million over six years. Playing incentives will determine the total value of the contract . . . reportedly adding quite a bit if he actually plays.

Detroit Pistons
Rasheed Wallace - $57 million over five years. Good money for the right player in the right situation.

Antonio McDyess – $23 million over four years. Incentive laced contract. Good idea, Dice doesn’t travel well.

Lindsey Hunter – $1.1 million for a year (min).

Darvin Ham – One million for a year's work.

Ronald Dupree – Likely $620K with a team option for another year at the minimum . . . final details yet to be determined.

Smush Parker - After sitting out a season without a gig, Smush gets a chance with a make-good $620K contract with the defending NBA Champs.

Horace Jenkins, Nigel Dixon and Terrance Shannnon - The min for a year, likely non-guaranteed at $385K..

Draft Pick: Carlos Delfino

Golden State Warriors
Adonal Foyle – $41.6 million over five years. A bit more than expected, no?

Derek Fisher – $37 million over six years. Fish went from a crowded point spot with Gary Payton to a crowded point spot with Speedy Claxton AND Nick Van Exel. Never mind, Nick is off to Portland.

Calbert Cheaney - $1.1 million for a season (min).

Luis Flores - Likely a minimum deal ($385K), but terms not specified.

Draft Pick: Andris Biedrins

Houston Rockets
Bobby Sura – Terms yet to be disclosed.

Charlie Ward – Terms yet to be disclosed.

Ryan Bowen - Minimum for a year at $808K.

Scott Padgett - Terms yet to be disclosed, but likely a year for the minimum at $808K.

Indiana Pacers
Stephen Jackson – $40 million over six years (sign and trade for Al Harrington). The Pacers retain their mid-level exemption by executing a sign and trade. They better use the mle wisely otherwise they gave up a solid player in Harrington for nothing.

Anthony Johnson – $11.2 million over four years. Surprising the Pacers invested so much in a player who likely wasn’t getting too much interest around the league. A good back up though, the Nets missed him last playoff. Was it worth trading Al Harrington to make room to sign AJ?

Eddie Gill – Likely $720K with a team option for another year at the minimum . . . final details yet to be determined.

John Edwards - Likely a non-guaranteed minimum deal for a season ($385K).

Draft Picks: David Harrison and Rashad Wright

Los Angeles Clippers
Zeljko Rebraca – $3.2 million for a year. Exact amount in question, but that number leaked out.

Rick Brunson - Make good deal for the minumium ($934K)

Mikki Moore - $870K for a year. Not likely a guaranteed deal.

Mamadou N'diaye - $745K for a season. Not likely a guaranteed deal.

Terence Morris - Make good deal for the minimum ($695K)

Quinton Ross - $385K for a season. Not likely a guaranteed deal.

Marcus Fleming - Make good deal for the minimum ($695K)

Jerry Holman - Make good deal for the minimum ($695K)

Draft Pick: Lionel Chalmers

Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Bryant - $136 million over seven years. The official Kobe era begins in Los Angeles . . . if he’s acquitted.

Chris Mihm - $11.34 million over three years via sign and trade.

Vlade Divac – $10.3 million over two years. Player option for second year. Lakers land the best center available for the money in the free agent market. Old but can still pass the ball and contribute 25 minutes per game.

Slava Medvedenko – $5.95 million over two seasons.

Tony Bobbitt – Two year deal at the minimum ($1 mil), not guaranteed in either year.

Nate Johnson - Joining the Lakers for the min ($385K) on a make-good contract.

Neil Yanke - Another camp invite at the non-guaranteed min of $385K.
Memphis Grizzlies
Brian Cardinal – $37 million over six years. Jerry West . . . are you sure about this one? Love the Custodian’s game but $38.6 mil?

Stromile Swift - Accepting the Grizzlies one year tender for just under $6 million. He cannot be traded the entire season per CBA rules.

Draft Picks: Antonio Burks and Andre Emmett

Extension: Shane Battier - $37 million over six years. Cardinal, Battier and Mike Miller are signed through 2010 . . . that’s about $119 million investing in three small forwards. Battier and Miller can play shooting guard and Cardinal can get spot minutes at the four. Memphis also has Bonzi Wells and James Posey. Anyone feel a trade coming?

Miami Heat
Michael Doleac –- $12 million over four years. The Heat used about half of their mle to sign him.

Damon Jones – $5.04 million over two seasons. Damon got the remained of the Heat’s mle. They still have the lle which they can give to Karl Malone for $1.6 million. The Lakers can offer him $1.8 million and higher raises.

Rasual Butler – $2.975 million over two years.

Wesley Person – $1.6 million for a year (lle).

Keyon Dooling – $1.5 million over two years. Player option on the second year.

Christian Laettner - $1.1 million for a season.

Draft Picks: Dorell Wright and Matt Freije

Milwaukee Bucks
Mike James – reportedly $9.9 million over three years. Exact terms yet to be announced.

Mo Williams – $5.3 million over three years. Jazz don't match the offer sheet. Not clear if the Bucks used their lle or the remainder of their mle

Toni Kukoc - $3 million for a season

Zendon Hamilton – One year at the min $720K.

Jelani McCoy - Make good deal for minimum at $870K.

Lonnie Jones – $385K for a season – not likely a guaranteed deal.
Tommy Adams – $385K for a season – not likely a guaranteed deal.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Troy Hudson - $37 million over six years. Sam Cassell can’t play forever. Laker killer Hudson could have propelled the Wolves to the NBA Finals were he healthy enough to make the playoff roster. The league has some issues with Hudson’s contract incentives so the deal was pending and dragging forever. Finally a deal was approved by the NBA. The deal looks to be starting at $4.9 million but only giving 10% raises instead of the max 12.5%. Also incentive clauses guarantee the sixth year.

Trenton Hassell - Offer sheet for $27 million over 4-6 years from the Portland Trailblazers. Minnesota wasn’t expected to match but did. Excellent move.

Fred Hoiberg – $3.36 million over two years. Looks like the Wolves used their lower level exception on the Mayor.

New Jersey Nets
Eric Williams – $11.55 million over three years.

Ron Mercer – $3.2 million over two years (lle).

Jacque Vaughn – $932.5K (min) for a year.

Rodney Buford – $745K (min) for a year.

Kyle Davis – Undrafted rookie signed to minimum contract $385K for a year. Not clear if it’s guaranteed for the season as of yet.

Draft Pick: Nenad Krstic

Extension: Richard Jefferson – unspecified numbers as of yet.

New Orleans Hornets
Chris Anderson – $3.36 million over two years (lle).

Rodney Rogers – Terms are yet to be announced on this one year deal.

Lee Nailon - A minimum deal, also not likely to be guaranteed ($745K)

Tremaine Fowlkes - Camp invite for the minimum ($720K).

Junior Harrington and Britton Johnsen - Camp invites for the minimum ($620K).

Sean Finn and Nate Williams - Camp invites for the minimum ($385K)

Draft Picks: J.R. Smith and Tim Pickett

New York Knicks
Jamal Crawford – $55.8 million over seven years with a player opt out on the seventh season. Done via sign and trade with the Chicago Bulls.

Vin Baker - $7.3 million over two years. The Knicks use most of their mle.

Bruno Sundov - A one-year deal for the min ($870K).

Jamison Brewer - A one-year deal for the min ($720K).

Mengke Bateer - A one-year deal (non-guaranteed) for the min ($720K). Still pending.

Draft Pick: Trevor Ariza

Orlando Magic
Hedo Turkoglu - $37 million over six years – offer sheet. Spurs didn’t match and weren’t disappointed that Hedo’s gone.

DeShawn Stevenson – One million for a year.

Stacey Augmon – Vet min for a year at $1.1 million.

Michael Bradley – $720K (min) for a year.

Mario Kasun - $385K (min) for a year.

Draft Picks: Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson

Phoenix Suns
Steve Nash – $66 million over six years. Check out Mark Cuban’s weblog – it’s quite a read.

Quentin Richardson - $45 million over six years. The Clippers surprised a lot of basketball aficionados by letting Q go to the suns . . . and trading for veteran Kerry Kittles from the Nets. The Clippers preserve their cap room for next years, possibly hoping for Ray Allen. The Suns could possibly go after Dampier with Marion as trade bait – although that may be a stretch.

Steven Hunter - Likely $720,046 for a year.

Yuta Tabuse - Unannounced, but likely a two year non-guaranteed deal for the minimum.

Draft Pick: Jackson Vroman

Philadelphia 76ers
Brian Skinner –- $25 million over five years. Good big for the old East, but with Shaq on the right coast?

Nate James - Non-guaranteed deal for the minimum ($385K). Unconfirmed

Kirk Haston - Non-guaranteed deal for the minimum ($695K). Unconfirmed

Draft Pick: Andre Igoudala

Portland Trailblazers
Darius Miles - $48 million over six years. It looked like Darius would be forced to accept a one year offer from the Blazers, but both sides were able to reach a compromise.

Joel Przybilla - terms unspecified.

Richie Frahm – $620K for a year. Contract may not be 100% guaranteed . . . more to follow.

Extension: Theo Ratliff reportedly for five seasons at $47 million. Exact numbers and contract length to be determined.

Draft Picks: Sebastian Telfair and Viktor Khryapa.

Sacramento Kings
Greg Ostertag – $13.2 over three years. Third year is a player option. They turn away Vlade Divac for luxury tax concerns but give Ostertag nearly the same salary ($900K) less than Vlade got in LA.

Darius Songaila – $3.36 million over two years (lle). Second year at player option.

David Bluthental – $385K for a season.

Draft Picks: Kevin Martin and Ricky Minard

San Antonio Spurs
Manu Ginobili –- $52 million over six years. Also . . . Manu got married. Mazel Tov.

Brent Barry – $20.7 million over four years. Brent takes less to get a ring. Spurs have to be the favorite with Shaq gone. No team has beaten the Spurs but the Lakers since 1999 (when Duncan was healthy . . . would the three-peat have happened if the played the Spurs instead of the Suns in 2000?)

Bruce Bowen – $10.1 million for three years (team option for a fourth with a $2 million dollar bonus if they don’t take the option). The Spurs gave Bowen that extra little bit in order to get his starting salary low enough so they could afford Brent Barry. Good move for both parties.

Sean Marks – $1.2 million over a year. Exact numbers need to be verified.

Tony Massenburg – $1.1 million for a year (min).

Robert Horry – Likely the minimum at $1.1 million.

Linton Johnson - Likely the min at $620K

James Thomas - Make good contract for the min.

Draft Picks: Beno Udrih and Romain Sato

Seattle Supersonics
Ibrahim Kutluay - $3.35 million over two years (lle).

Draft Picks: Robert Swift and David Young

Toronto Raptors
Rafer Alston – $29 million over six years. Skip to My Lou, eh?

Morris Peterson - $15 million over three years. He signed an offer sheet with the Hornets but surprise . . . the Raptors matched. Mo Pete may already be on the trading block, though he can nix any team Toronto wants to move him to . . . and for a full year he cannot be traded to the Hornets.

Loren Woods – $1.7 million over two years. The Raptors used up nearly all of their remaining mle. The $100-$200K left isn't going to help them bring in a player.

Draft Pick: Rafael Araujo

Utah Jazz
Carlos Boozer - $68 million over six years – The back-stab of the century.

Mehmet Okur - $50 million over six years. The Pistons did not match the offer sheet and the deal is done. A little too much money for Okur, one would think.

Carlos Arroyo – $16 million over four years. The John Stockton heir apparent. After beating Team USA, Carlos probably should have held out for more cash.

Gordon Giricek –$16 million over four years. The Jeff Hornicek heir apparent? Maybe not.

Jarron Collins – terms not disclosed. Seemingly a two-year deal starting with his qualifying offer of $1.62 million.

Draft Picks: Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder

Washington Wizards
Etan Thomas – $37 million over six years. The Bucks gave him an offer sheet, but the Wizards matched.

Anthony Peeler – terms not disclosed but likely $1.6 million starting (lle) for a year.

Samaki Walker – likely $995K for a year (min).

Michael Ruffin - Terms are yet to be announced. Likely a year at the min for $745K.

Draft Pick: Peter John Ramos

Trades
Shaquille O’Neal traded to the Miami Heat. Los Angeles Lakers get Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, a protected draft pick in 2006 and $3 million in cash considerations.

The Washington Wizards trade Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner to the Dallas Mavericks for Antawn Jamison and the rights to Devin Harris

The Orlando Magic trades Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato

The Los Angeles Clippers trade Melvin Ely and Eddie House to the Charlotte Bobcats for second-round picks in 2005 and 2006

Indiana Pacers trade Al Harrington to the Atlanta Hawks for Stephen Jackson in a sign and trade.

Philadelphia 76ers trade Eric Snow to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kevin Ollie and Kedrick Brown.

Portland Trailblazers trade Dale Davis and Dan Dickau to the Golden State Warriors for Nick Van Exel.

Seattle sends Calvin Booth to Dallas for Danny Fortson.

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and the rights to Anderson Varejao from Orlando for Tony Battie and a couple of future second round picks.

Denver Nuggets get Kenyon Martin for three future first-round picks from the New Jersey Nets.

Continuing the dismantling, New Jersey sends Kerry Kittles to the Clippers for a single second-round draft pick.

Pending trade between the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks. Dallas sending Antoine Walker, Tony Delk and a future first round draft pick to the Hawks for Jason Terry and Alan Henderson.\

Detroit Pistons send Corliss Williamson to the Philadelphia 76ers for Derrick Coleman and Amal McCaskill.

The Chicago Bulls Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams to the New York Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Cezary Trybanski and Frank Williams

The Los Angeles Lakers send Gary Payton, Rick Fox and a protected first round pick in 2005 for Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks, a second round pick in 2005 and a re-signed Chris Mihm. Except that Payton refused to report for his physical. The deal was subsequently amended with Jumaine Jones going to LA and Banks returning the Boston. The Celtics also keep their second-round pick. Rick Fox has since retired.

The Charlotte Bobcats send Peja Drobnjak to the Atlanta Hawks for a 2005 second-round pick.

The Dallas Mavericks receive Erick Dampier, Evan Eschmeyer, Dan Dickau and the draft rights to Steve Logan from the Golden State Warriors for Eduardo Najera, Christian Laettner, the rights to Luis Flores and Mladen Sekularac and two first-round picks (including the recently received Atlanta pick form the Antoine Walker trade).

The Houston Rockets send Eric Piatkowski, Adrian Griffin and Mike Wilks to the Chicago Bulls for Dikembe Mutombo.

© Copyright 2004 by HOOPSWORLD.com, a Basketball News Services Exclusive

Article can be found HERE.

radioguy · 10-02-2004, 10:17 AM

it looks like denver really loaded up and the pistons reloaded. the pistons will probably take the east again, unless shaq can perform some miracle. in the west, with the mavs adding dampier, they finally have a true center and could possibly do some damage.

i'm liking the nuggets and mavs in the west. i can't see kobe doing much without shaq.

magnum_xxxl · 10-04-2004, 02:43 PM

The Spurs have added the best shooter in the league over the past five years in Brent Barry, I think its gonna be pretty hard to double down on tim with Brent, Manu, & Tony sitting along the perimeter. I think they can win it this year, but Denver's also got what it takes. The East is still The East, Shaq will get comfy playing east ball, and when he plays the west it will show.

Halx · 10-04-2004, 03:13 PM

I want to add that Karl Malone has said that if he decides to play this season, he will ONLY play for the Lakers.

pan6467 · 10-04-2004, 05:54 PM

Hey all that matters is the Cavs have the next Jordan, Lebron, Z (if healthy and he plays like he did in the last 1/2 of last season he WILL BE the best C in the NBA), and McInnis.

CAVS are playoff bound and DYNASTY material.

Now if someone will just take down Boozer...... CLEVELAND will be jammin'.

espi · 10-06-2004, 02:47 PM

Okay, I'm biased because I'm a life long Jazz fan, but I don't think the Boozer signing is "the back-stab of the century". Gordon Gund was stupid to let a commodity like Boozer out of his contract before the free agent signing period started. Anything that had been allegedly been worked out between Boozer and Cavs would have been done prior to the start of the free agent period, and would have been illegal under the CBA. If Boozer had resigned with the Cavs, you can bet your butt the league office would have slapped the Cavs with tampering penalties. (See Minnesota). The Jazz did nothing wrong by offering Boozer a large offer sheet - they even checked with the league office before doing so.

Anyway, I love what the Jazz did this offseason. I think it puts them in the top eight of the Western Conference (although, not fourth like Steve Kerr seems to think). I think this is probably the best team the Jazz have fielded since 1997-98.

As far as the rest of the league is concerned, no one had a better off season than the Nuggets. Three second round picks for Martin? What a steal. Let's just hope they don't screw it up and add Rodman to the roster.

Halx · 10-06-2004, 03:43 PM

Utah and Denver are gonna be two really respectable teams this year. I'll be cheering for them both.

Mojo_PeiPei · 10-06-2004, 04:15 PM

It's truly amazing how Minnesota gets no love. If we could only dump that piece of shit Kandi and get a semi-respectable center, I'd say we would be unstoppable. Granted two of the three heads are in the twilight of their primes, Minnesota has the best back court in the league, as well as one of the best benches. If KG gets aggresive and dumps even 1/4 of his turn around fade shots for attempts at drawing fouls we would be godly.

Utah is nice, but they have a lot to prove, It will be nice to see Kris Humphries. I like Denver but I don't even consider them top 4 seeds in the west yet, although they will probably be pretty filthy.

espi · 10-07-2004, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo_PeiPei

...Minnesota has the best back court in the league...

Yeah, assuming Sam Cassell even bothers to report to training camp. Okay, that's not fair, he did report, just a day late. With Cassell and Spree both bitching about their contracts, I wouldn't look much past this season.

Matching Hassell's offer sheet from Portland was a great move. In fact, I think standing pat this season was the best thing the Wolves could have done. IMHO, the Wolves and the Spurs are going to be the best two teams in the west this season. The Wolves will probably come out of the gate a fast this season and build up a sizable lead over the rest of the west, but the Spurs will turn it on in late February and nearly catch up, they always do.

Here's my picks for the Western Conference top eight (not that anyone cares):

1) TWolves: Gotta give it to them since Garnett is coming off an MVP season and they were nearly the Western Conference champions last year.

2) Spurs: Timmy Duncan, Tony Parker, Bones Barry. How could you not like them? Sure TD didn't look great in the Olympics, but that was more due to the lack of outside shooting to pull back defenders than anything Duncan did.

3) Mavericks: I'm wary about this pick. I've been in the SF Bay area enough to know that Dampier isn't as good as the hype he's gotten lately. Plus, I don't think Terry can replace Nash. But, something tells me not to write them off.

4) Kings: If Webber can actually stay healthy, I'd put them in the 3 spot. But, he can't. I think they're going to have locker room issues, too. From what I've read Divac is the glue that held them all together. I'll put odds on CWebb and Peja going at one another in the papers this season.

5) Houston: I like what they've done on paper, but I don't think their point guard by committee approach is going to work out. They should have worked out something with Philly for Eric Snow. TMac better learn to pass the ball.

6) Lakers: They still have Kobe. And with the possible exception of Pau Gasol, there probably wasn't a better player in the world this summer than Lamar Odom. (I'm going to eat my words and make a complete 180 on Odom). The 4 and 5 positions are looking pretty rough though; Brian Grant can't play significant minutes at the 5 in the West.

7) Nuggets: Melo is looking like a whiny b*tch, but I like the Martin trade. In fact, no one has a better front court than Denver now (Nene, Martin, Camby). Shooting guard is still a little sketchy, but I love Miller at the point. Plus they have my favorite sub in the entire league: Earl Boykins. I could watch that guy play all night.

8) Jazz: I've already talked about the Boozer signing, so I won't go into that again. But, was there a better PG in the Olympics than Carlos Arroyo? I love that kid. Plus, they have Kirilenko who is a legitimate 15/10/5/2/2 threat every night. (That's points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).

You can probably swap the teams in the 6, 7 and 8 positions any way you like. They're all gonna be fighting it out for playoff position next spring.

It was tough to leave the Grizzlies out of the top eight. I like Gasol, but I think a lot of their sucess last year was based on surprise, which they can't rely on this year. They just didn't make any significant upgrades, and I don't think Swift is the answer at the center. Plus, I think they're going to regret the Brian Cardinal signing. I really like Cardinal, but they waaay overpaid him, and he's almost the same player as Shane Battier.

Man, I really hijacked this thread.

10-04-2004, 03:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	I want to add that Karl Malone has said that if he decides to play this season, he will ONLY play for the Lakers. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

10-04-2004, 05:54 PM	#5 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	Hey all that matters is the Cavs have the next Jordan, Lebron, Z (if healthy and he plays like he did in the last 1/2 of last season he WILL BE the best C in the NBA), and McInnis. CAVS are playoff bound and DYNASTY material. Now if someone will just take down Boozer...... CLEVELAND will be jammin'. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

10-06-2004, 02:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
espi Crazy Location: This is not my beautiful house	Okay, I'm biased because I'm a life long Jazz fan, but I don't think the Boozer signing is "the back-stab of the century". Gordon Gund was stupid to let a commodity like Boozer out of his contract before the free agent signing period started. Anything that had been allegedly been worked out between Boozer and Cavs would have been done prior to the start of the free agent period, and would have been illegal under the CBA. If Boozer had resigned with the Cavs, you can bet your butt the league office would have slapped the Cavs with tampering penalties. (See Minnesota). The Jazz did nothing wrong by offering Boozer a large offer sheet - they even checked with the league office before doing so. Anyway, I love what the Jazz did this offseason. I think it puts them in the top eight of the Western Conference (although, not fourth like Steve Kerr seems to think). I think this is probably the best team the Jazz have fielded since 1997-98. As far as the rest of the league is concerned, no one had a better off season than the Nuggets. Three second round picks for Martin? What a steal. Let's just hope they don't screw it up and add Rodman to the roster. __________________ If it weren't for my horse, I never would've spent that year in college.

10-06-2004, 03:43 PM	#7 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	Utah and Denver are gonna be two really respectable teams this year. I'll be cheering for them both. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

10-06-2004, 04:15 PM	#8 (permalink)
Mojo_PeiPei Kiss of Death Location: Perpetual wind and sorrow	It's truly amazing how Minnesota gets no love. If we could only dump that piece of shit Kandi and get a semi-respectable center, I'd say we would be unstoppable. Granted two of the three heads are in the twilight of their primes, Minnesota has the best back court in the league, as well as one of the best benches. If KG gets aggresive and dumps even 1/4 of his turn around fade shots for attempts at drawing fouls we would be godly. Utah is nice, but they have a lot to prove, It will be nice to see Kris Humphries. I like Denver but I don't even consider them top 4 seeds in the west yet, although they will probably be pretty filthy. __________________ To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.

10-02-2004, 10:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
radioguy Registered User Location: Texas	it looks like denver really loaded up and the pistons reloaded. the pistons will probably take the east again, unless shaq can perform some miracle. in the west, with the mavs adding dampier, they finally have a true center and could possibly do some damage. i'm liking the nuggets and mavs in the west. i can't see kobe doing much without shaq.

10-04-2004, 02:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
magnum_xxxl Tilted	The Spurs have added the best shooter in the league over the past five years in Brent Barry, I think its gonna be pretty hard to double down on tim with Brent, Manu, & Tony sitting along the perimeter. I think they can win it this year, but Denver's also got what it takes. The East is still The East, Shaq will get comfy playing east ball, and when he plays the west it will show.