We should have an answer Thursday night.
According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, LeBron James will announce his decision regarding free agency on Thursday night at 9ET/6PT on ESPN. All the benefits from the live announcement will go to charity. Stay tuned for the fall out.
SORRY T-WOLVES FANS!!!!
Kahn proceeds to draft 4 point guards (Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, Nick Calathes) of which he trades 2 (Lawson, and Calathes). Then he goes on to explain his drafting of Flynn and Rubio:
“With the sixth pick, we selected Jonny Flynn. I truly believe that Jonny is as much a scorer as a playmaker and will thrive playing off of Ricky. I also believe that, together, we will have one of the most dynamic defensive backcourts in the NBA over time. You will love Jonny Flynn. He, too, will be special.
And I also believe that there is a tendency in the NBA for all of us (myself included) to become too formulaic in our thinking. If you think of the Detroit Pistons backcourt during their championship run, with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson, or the Celtics with their backcourt of Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson (and before Ainge there was Gerald Henderson), or the Lakers with Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, or the Knicks with Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, there are many instances of championship success that is not so paint-by-the-numbers.
It can and will work. ”
Sure, Mr. Kahn because Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn look like Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars considering Rubio is a true 6’4 point guard and Jonny Flynn can play the 2-guard spot at 6 feet 0 inches tall. That makes perfect sense. And you have an amazing defensive team that can make up for your lack of size in your future backcourt if it can ever materialize.
The Timberwolves would go on to win 15 games in the 2009-2010 season as Jonny Flynn clearly did not fit in the triangle offense that Kurt Rambis( a Kahn hire) clearly wants to incorporate. NEWSFLASH people, the triangle offense does not work with traditional point guards and Rubio will hate it too if Rambis insists on keeping the system… but hey Corey Brewer was a candidate for most improved player last year.
2010 Draft and Offseason
Kahn makes it known that the T-Wolves do not have a best player on their roster and are exploring options to trade Al Jefferson although he assures NBA TV that Al Jefferson is working hard in the offseason regardless.
How is Al Jefferson not your team’s best player. The man is a double-double and prior to the knee injury had a career season where he averaged 20 and 10.
Kahn, during the pre-draft NBA workouts, called Derrick Favors out of shape/lazy…
Now why the heck would you do something like that Kahn…what if you don’t get your boy Wesley Johnson and Jersey forces you to trade up for him by drafting him instead of Favors. On top of that…you don’t ever piss off someone that could potentially fall to you in the draft because your first choice could be gone.
Free Agency 2010
Kahn supposedly thought Darko Milicic would have a resurgence and decided “hey lets give him 4 yrs 20 million dollars, i don’t want to lose another player to Europe”. Thats exactly what happens, as he re-ups Darko for 20 MILLION BUCKS.
DARKO MILICIC!!!! What are you thinking!!!!??????? The player that is known as possibly the biggest bust in NBA history. Enough said, no further explanation needed.
To top it off, Kahn decides to sign some 2008 2nd round draft pick by the name of Nikola Pekovic for 3 yrs 13 million, who was playing in Europe.
KAHN, YOU ARE PAYING HIM MORE THAN ANY OF THE FIRST ROUND PICKS THAT WERE DRAFTED THE LAST TWO YEARS.
Minnesota T-Wolves need major damage control like NOW!!!!!!
All of this information has come from varying sources such as Yahoo Sports, ESPN, SI, NBA.COM and their respective journalists.
Remember all deals for free agents are not official until July 8th as they cannot officially sign until that date.
-Byron Scott will be officially the new coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers (with or w/o LBJ) as a press conference is announced for Friday.
-Rudy Gay has decided to resign with the Memphis Grizzlies for 5 years and approximately $81 million.
-Darko Milicic signed a 4 year deal worth $20 million with Minnesota
-Phil Jackson will return to the Lakers for the 2010-2011 NBA Season
- Joe Johnson is expected to resign with the Atlanta Hawks at 6yrs $120 million
-There are reports suggesting Amar’e Stoudemire is highly unlikely to resign with the Phoenix Suns.
-Chris Bosh met with the Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey on late Wednesday night/Thursday after midnight (depending on where you live) and met with Miami and New Jersey on Thursday.
-Dwyane Wade met with the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
-The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Drew Gooden to deal worth $32 million over 5 years and are working to re-sign swingman John Salmons.
-The Toronto Raptors have signed PF Amir Johnson to a deal worth $34 million over 5 years
-Channing Frye will resign with the Phoenix suns for 5 years $30 million
What is the biggest takeaway from today? Well we don’t know anything about the Big 3 (LBJ, Bosh, Wade) but we do know that there were some ridiculous offers made by teams for players (Darko, Gooden, Amir Johnson, and some 2nd round pick from Europe that now makes more money than any first rounder picked in this draft and has yet to play an NBA game…more on David Kahn’s ineptitude as a GM later). We also know that Houston has emerged as a possible dark horse to get Bosh because they have many assets that could work in a sign and trade. Finally, while Rudy Gay is probably not worth 80 million, you have to give the Memphis Grizzlies credit for quickly jumping on their guy and not allowing him to leave and possibly set their team back another 2-3 yrs as they won 40+ games as a pleasant surprise and can be a team on the rise in West). On to tomorrow and more crazy contract offers/rumors.
For more up to the minute information follow Pardon My Bias at Twitter www.twitter.com/pardonmybias
Via Twitter, Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting:
“Doc Rivers will return to coach the Celtics, a source close to him confirms to Y! Sports. He will honor the final year of his contract.”
@WojYahooNBA
This is huge for the Boston Celtics as it makes it more likely that the Big 3 will return and that they will be contending at least one more year for an NBA Championship.
After perusing through all the message boards, blogs, and obviously ESPN, SI, Yahoo, and local beat writers for each team, this is what I got. Obviously the biggest storyline is what the Nets and T-Wolves do at 3 and 4 in regards to Cousins, Favors and Johnson. For any Minnesota T-Wolves fans’ sakes, I’m praying for your GM cause I don’t think he will survive another cold winter in the Twin Cities if he screws this draft up. More on David Kahn later (unless he becomes a genius tomorrow)
1. Wizards- John Wall
2. Sixers- Evan Turner
3. Nets- Derrick Favors
4. T-Wolves- Wesley Johnson
5. Kings- DeMarcus Cousins
6. Warriors- Ekpe Udoh
7. Pistons- Greg Monroe
8. Clippers- Al-Farouq Aminu
9. Jazz- Paul George
10. Pacers- Ed Davis
Notes: If anyone is an NBA basketball nut like I am and you love hearing about rumors. I seriously suggest you get a Twitter account and follow every possible NBA journalist/insider/nationally known blogger/ beat writer for your favorite NBA team. Everything breaks first on Twitter: rumors, trades, free agency signings, drama between players, coaches, etc.
DeMarcus...the next possible Rookie of the Year?
According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sacramento Kings will select DeMarcus Cousins with their 5th pick in tomorrow’s NBA draft. To see the report along with other draft buzz reported by Yahoo check out the report at:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-draftbuzz062310
This is big for the Sacramento Kings and their franchise… more on that later.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard has reported that the Chicago Bulls have reached out to Laker coach, and former Bulls’ coach, Phil Jackson. The Bulls have a coaching vacancy after firing Vinny Del Negro after their disappointing playoff loss. There have been many rumors of Chicago being in the running to get Lebron James this off-season, to team him up with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. It has also been discussed that the Cleveland Cavaliers should offer Phil Jackson 12-15 million to come coach Lebron in Cleveland. I guess the Bulls figured why not just get both of them to Chicago. This will allow Phil to return to Chicago and once again coach the best player in the game. Lebron may even be a better fit for the triangle offense, mainly due to the fact that he is a great passer already. If the Bulls are able to pull this off, Lebron will no longer have any excuses. He will have one of the best coaches in the game and a legit 2nd man in Derrick Rose. The chances of Phil leaving the Lakers is not high but imagine if the Bulls are able to pull this off…wow!
sportszoneatv.wordpress.com/2008/06/
Phil Jackson will not go to Chicago unless there is already a plan that is laid out. The last time I checked, it is illegal to talk to NBA coaches without the team’s permission. I highly doubt that the Lakers would have allowed the Bulls to speak with Jackson to “rekindle the fire.” Right now all that Phil cares about is winning his 11th championship and nothing else. If rumors are to be believed, the Lakers are only going to offer 5 million a year, which is a complete ripoff for next season. The Bulls will probably offer 10 million dollars or more to retain Phil’s services. I don’t see this happening unless the Lakers blow this series (highly unlikely). BUT if this does happen, Phil’s career could finally end where it originally began. It would be a storybook ending if he wins a championship with the Bulls and Lebron James. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the Zen Master responds.
Getty Images/Yahoo Sports
ESPN today reported that Mark Cuban is going to join the Lebron Contest and try to lure the soon to be free agent to Dallas. Lebron only could go to Dallas through a sign and trade which could possibly break up the entire Mavs roster. My guess is that the Cavs would probably seek Caron Butler, Erick Dampier (expiring contract), Jason Terry and draft picks/expiring contracts in return for King James. Both teams would benefit from this trade and would immediately make Dallas one of the best teams in the NBA. Lebron would finally have an all star big man and also one of the greatest point guards ever to play in Jason Kidd. The Mavericks would also turn into a prime destination for other players who could sign for one or two years in hopes of winning a title.
The Cavaliers on the other hand would not lose Lebron for nothing. They would receive Caron Butler, who still is a solid player and also Erick Dampier who could complement Jamison in the post. Jason Terry can easily be a spark plug off the bench and can help spread the floor with his long range shooting. They also would receive some young talent from the draft picks which they could use as trade leverage to pick up other players. The fans of Cleveland would surely be upset about losing one of the greatest players in this generation but should be happy knowing that their hometown hero would put himself in prime position to possibly win multiple championships in Dallas. The team in Dallas would clearly be the best team that Lebron would have played for in his young career. If this trade does occur, the team lineups would look something like this:
Mavericks:
PG: Jason Kidd
SG: DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Lebron James
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Brendan Haywood
Cavaliers:
PG: Mo Williams
SG: Anthony Parker
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Erick Dampier
Pretty solid in my opinion. This way Dirk and JKidd will also have the best opportunity to win a championship before their careers finish. Keep in mind that Lebron is also a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. Just saying..
There’s a slim chance, but I highly doubt Lebron wants to anywhere except for NY or Chicago. Although Dallas is a big market, there is nothing even close to the allure that NY possesses (LA comes close). If Lebron wants to go for “immortality” bringing championships to the Knicks would make him the posterboy for the entire city of NY, and that’s something that would be very difficult to pass up. However, NY has no help right now, and even if they do get Bosh, who are they going to put around these guys to make them competitive? They do have one other thing going for them: Mike D’Antoni is definitely a well-respected coach and would provide Lebron with new ways to expand his already stellar offensive game.
Chicago is also a legitimate choice, but one problem Lebron would have is being under MJs shadow no matter how well he does there. In terms of Basketball, that is MJ’s town, and for someone as good, talented, and proud as Lebron, I doubt he would willingly go somewhere where he can’t become the face of the franchise. This is where Cle and NY have such huge advantages over Chicago. However, Chicago has young talent in Rose, Noah, and they could get both Lebron and Bosh (via sign and trades) to pair with Rose, Noah. They could have a starting 5 of:
PG: Rose SG: any shooter (through FA or draft) SF: Lebron PF: Bosh C: Noah Bench: Hinrich, Gibson, some other FAs or drafted players
That’s a scary and formidable team, especially if they get a good coach, too (like Jeff Van Gundy). But this seems like the sellout move to me. It’s the easiest place to win, and as a Lebron fan, I don’t think this would be satisfying to Lebron or his fans. At least not as satisfying as bringing Cleveland a championship or becoming the face of NY basketball.
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