Yes Day 1 goes to the boneheads. I'm not sure what Joe Dumars is doing - and I don't think he does either. The fact that he resisted firing Curry until the day before free agency is a pretty damning indictment.
Let's see if Day 2 provides more clarity to the top of the league...
I couldn't agree more. It was absurd enough to wait two full months after the season ended to fire Curry as head coach. Wouldn't stability in the front office be a good thing in advance of the draft and free agency? I guess not so in Detroit.
Further, I can't figure out the Gordon/Villanueva signings. Personally, I would've signed Villanueva as Rasheed Wallace's replacement (younger, cheaper, similar offensive game) and let Gordon go someplace else. Signing both is a curious move because now you're a team with two gunners (Villanueva/Gordon), two unselfish team players (Hamilton/Prince), no center, and no point guard to run the show. That makes no sense.
Furthermore, wasn't the Billups-for-Iverson trade made with an eye towards having salary cap space for the summer of 2010? I am going make a new name for Dumars's spending spree and call it "front office premature ejaculation."
As far as Memphis goes, why on earth would anyone be surprised at this point? The Grizzlies have been horrendously mismanaged over the past few seasons. From a salary cap perspective, they shot themselves in the foot. However, from a basketball standpoint, they turned Darko the scrub into Z-Bo the double-double machine (ignoring of course that he's a loser and a defensive non-factor).
Z-Bo's gotta feel pretty shitty about himself that he went from New York (bad), to the Clipers (badder), to the Grizzlies (baddest). Ugh.
"I am going make a new name for Dumars's spending spree and call it "front office premature ejaculation.""
Nice quote MJ! I think it's true - if the Pistons would have signed just Villaneuva, that would be fine. The combination of Villaneuva and Ben Gordon makes no sense. I forgot to mention that the Pistons are either a) leaving Ben Gordon on the bench or b) trading Rip Hamilton to make room for Ben Gordon. why would joe dumars rather have ben gordon over Rip Hamilton anyway?!?
The Grizzlies would have been better off keeping Darko because they at least could have tried to participate in free agency 2010.
I'd even top that of what is Detroit's lineup as Villanueva is a huge step back for Detroit defensively relative to Rasheed. So they have two lanky tall guys that have no interior presence offensively or defensively (Prince/Villanueva) and two scoring shooting guards (hamilton/gordon)How are you going to play gordon and hamilton enough minutes to satisfy both/justify their contracts?
Yes this seems to be a case of panic spending. thank you pistons for locking yourselves into the 7th/8th seed for the next 4 years....
What to make of Trevor Ariza leaning towards leaving the Lakers? Obviously the Lakers can still defend their title but Ariza really emerged as a valuable player on the defensive end. He's like a younger Bruce Bowen in that he's a defensive player first but has added 3-point range to his game so that he keeps opponents honest on the offensive side.
Tons of teams could use him but he's a guy that could end up being overpaid by teams thinking he's more than just a very good role player.
I think the Spurs should sign him and let Bruce Bowen rot in Milwaukee.
I think Ariza has many suitors... the question becomes how much. I'm going to guess 4 years, $28 mill.
I think the mid-level is a given for Ariza and the Lakers seem locked into giving Odom that contract which means Ariza would walk.
I actually think as to Ariza Turkuglu is the odd important factor as A) he'll set the market and B) the loser between Portland and Toronto in the Turkuglu bid might feel tempted to pull a Detroit and overpay.
Bowen I'm guessing will be cut in August and it'll be interesting where he ends up.
I want to see Bowen sign with the worst team in the NBA (whoever that might be). He's a filthy dirty player and an arrogant one at that. With enough Rage Flakes in me, I'd run him over while riding a rhinocerous.
I have this image of MJ and a pet rhino walking around NYC... but anyway, I expect Bowen to return to San Antonio so he can continue being a dirty player.
"I have this image of MJ and a pet rhino walking around NYC..."
Believe me, if it were possible, I would do it. The rhino is my favorite animal (by far) because it looks it is smiling from every angle you look at it. Rhinos are wonderful creatures and I wish I could have one in my apartment.
"Rhinos are wonderful creatures and I wish I could have one in my apartment."
Rest assured, you do not. If you think you have rage, just try standing between a rhino and - well, anything.
So the Rockets and Lakers basically traded Artest for Ariza. Honestly, why would Houston only offer one year to Artest but five years to Ariza. I don't care how many degrees Daryl Morey has from MIT, that's not a sensible swap.
The rumor I heard is that Artest wasn't even interested in Houston after Yao got injured. So...based off of this, my impression is that Artest chose the Lakers and the Rockets scrambled and landed Ariza.
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