First "big" trade of the offseason

Bucks trade Richard Jefferson for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas from San Antonio

Sounds bad for Mil but it's a financial move. Bowen and Oberto have "unguaranteed" contracts if you waive them, so this cuts about 6 mil from their payroll which is big for them because otherwise they didn't have the room to resign Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villaneuva at once. Also Joe Alexander will get more minutes now

pretty nice for the Spurs I have to say. They'll probably get Bowen and Oberto back after they're waived too

Draft is Thursday

The NBA: Where Dumping Contracts Happens

Yeah this summer is going to have a lot of rip-off deals for money. I expect something like Stackhouse for Jason Richardson to happen this summer to if Phx doesn't deal with Cleveland. Stackhouse and Pavlocic both have those "unguaranteed" contracts too, along with Blake/Outlaw from Portland and a couple others. Phoenix, New Orleans, Washington are all like 6 mil over the lux tax where you pay double, plus you get 2-3 mil dividend from the league for being under, so getting under the tax is worth 15 mil+ to them, plus what they take off next year by dealing for expirings. So for a team in financial shit (New Orleans) or a history of selling out for cash (Phoenix!), that's pretty big. Also some team like Detroit or Toronto might want them to increase their capspace and go after Gordon/Hedo/Odom/etc.

and one that wont happen. the pistons are trying to get young, they wouldn't get ray allen. plus stuckley is a better player than rondo.

Wizards trade #5, Etan Thomas, Songaila, Pecherov for Randy Foye and Mike Miller from Minnesota

Wiz owned this deal IMO. I'd probably take Foye for the #5. Getting Mike Miller and dumping Songaila/Pecherov's bad contracts in addition to that is crazy.

Minnesota must be going after Rubio, though #5 and #6 for him sounds like a bit much considering Memphis doesn't even want him.

Terrible for Minnesota. Foye is better than anybody they'll get at 5. Brilliant for the Wizards.

Golden State trades Jamal Crawford for Speedy Claxton and Acie Law from Atlanta

looks like the Hawks are going to be shitty again

Cavs got Shaq. Surprise surprise

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

(for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlocic, 46th pick)

Really not sure of this. Jamison would've been perfect but they probably didn't have the assets... they should've dealt Wally for him earlier

Yeah this trade would've been a lot better last year. Still, Shaq is Shaq and this is huge news. PLEASE don't get hurt.

Cleveland/LA finals has to happen now. Kobe vs Lebron + Kobe/LA vs Shaq? With a shitload of Lebron 2010 uncertainty hinging on it? That's an ESPN wet dream starring Angelina Jolie.

Cleveland vs Orlando will also be pretty awesome if it happens

No it's not. It completely depends on which Shaq shows up next year. Chances are the Shaq of 06-08 shows up.

Orlando is apparantley about to get Vince Carter for Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, Tony Battie.

WOW... I love the economy

Griffin is the official #1 pick.

JAMES HARDEN TO OKC!!!

That is HUGE for them.

love the shaq to cavs trade for the cavs. it's a win win. if he plays like he did last year, the cavs just may have enough to get past orlando. if he doesn't, oh well, he's still better than pavlovic and wallace combined and his salary comes off the books after next year. it's definitely a good move for cleveland!

they gave up a lot to get an aging vince carter. i think this trade makes them a bit weaker. they gave up some good players in lee and alston, and a solid backup in tony battie. the cavs at least got shaq for next to nothing, so it's not a huge deal if he flames out. we'll see how it plays out though, carter could have a resurgence now that he's playing for a contender.

Magic get Vince
Cavs get Shaq

Yet if the Celtics stay healthy they're the team that will come out of the East, unless they do something real dumb with Allen and Rondo.

Any draft talk?

Sacramento taking Tyreke Evans over Rubio is just... wow. Not only is Rubio far better, but their biggest need was PG and their last was SG with Kevin Martin there. Just an epic fail. Minnesota taking Flynn at 6 is a head scratcher. They're definitely trading. I think a Flynn/Evans swap makes sense

I like DeMarvelous Derozan at 9 for us. He's not a slam dunk pick but considering the alternative was apparantley James Johnson, I'll take it.

former arkansas razorback patrick Beverley was drafted in the second round. He was kicked out of college this past year for cheating and went to play in ukraine. if he would have been able to stay in the NCAA, i'm pretty confident he would have been a first rounder

I love and hate the draft. It's fun to see where the new players are going, but so frustrating at the same when GMs make the stupidest moves they can possibly think of.

Memphis, Sacramento, and Minnesota continue to do the things that make bad teams stay bad. First two pass up on Rubio, while Minnesota gets a huge break getting him at #5. What do they do next? Draft another point guard. They could have had the best passer and shooter in the draft. Note: Can't hate on the Thunder for passing up Rubio as there is a rumor that Russell Westbrook was pushing against drafting a point guard. Curry would have been awfully nice though....

And Blair falls to San Antonio in the second round? Come on! That franchise has gotten enough good luck already (Parker was a late first rounder, Ginobli was a second rounder, and they only got Duncan because David Robertson was injured that year.)

rubio is a flop. count it.

nice, the bucks declined to make charlie Villanueva a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. here's hoping he'll take the Cavs mid-level exception and sign with us. sure sounds like he wants to play in Cleveland if you are reading his Tweets.

Villanueva and Ben Gordon sign with DETROIT.

WEE!!!

good that Kobe IS ok AND can live on 23 MILLION FOR THE NEXT YEAR AT LEAST while tries to work out a new contract. (I thought he would opt out as a safety contract procedure)

>>> Now the Lakers and Bryant’s agent will negotiate a contract extension. If they somehow cannot agree, he would earn $23 million next season and could opt out next June.

It looks like top teams are getting stronger while weak times got weaker. It will mean 5 times around 60+ wins while 5-6 times will not even have 20 wins.

Bucks had potential 2 years back when Williams was doing great and they had the 3rd worst record. Sadly they did not get high enough pick to make a difference plus Michael Redd has been hit with too many injuries. Now they will suck for ever.

I loved the team back in 01 when they had Allen, cassel and Robinson. They almost reached NBA finals.