NBA News....

[Carmelo Anthony]

Ok guys heres my info thread just before the draft where I shall tell everything I know.. and share my inside info..lol
First up on a more serious note

Jason 'Jay' Williams
Looks like my boy's career is gone, sadly. Hes torn every ligament in his left knee, has got a broken left leg and a damaged pelvis. Nerve damage may end his career. Doctors were going to amputate his left leg it was that bad. Though Jay is now conscious and his body is responsive to the operations hes already had. Hes definately out for next season, and well may god help him get back onto his feet in the future, and maybe one day be back on the basketball courts. Hes very lucky to still be alive... As a loyal Bulls fan, I am just stunned and cannot believe Jay is in this much trouble, aged just 21 yrs old, its really just sad.

The Bulls have applied for the injured player exception and will receive an exception around $1.85 mil. However it cannot be paired with the MLE. The Magic have also applied for the exception (Grant Hill) and will receive roughly an exception the equal of the MLE (roughly 4.5 mil dollars).

Ok now onto trade rumours

First up
Memphis Grizzlies..
Jerry West has gone crazy over Mickael Pietrus. Pietrus received a phone call Saturday Night saying he will be the #6th pick at worst. This is led to believed to mean that Pau Gasol is heading to the Clippers for a package of players aswell as the pick. Now if you think this is crazy, West isnt a big fan of Gasol, and hes lack of defence has got the genius GM worried. West has also been dangling Swift around, though its believed that Gasol is the more likely to be traded. Denver are also believed to be interested in Gasol, and would possibly part ways with the #3 pick for him.. whom West would also use Pietrus with. Carmelo Anthony measuring in at 6'6 1/2 without shoes and his lack of athleticism has definately hurt his stock . There was a rumoured deal of Battier/Person and 13 heading to Chicago for Robinson/Fizer and 7, but West wont give up Battier, whos a leader and a popular community man in Memphis.

Toronto and New York are rumoured to be talking, New York badly want TJ Ford, and the proposed deal is Jerome Williams, Davis and pick #4 for Latrell Sprewell and #9. Raps badly want the 2 bad contracts off their cards and Spree's contract although big ends in just 2 years. This deal could also become a possibility because the Raptors are in love with Georgetown's beast, 6'8 Power Forward Mike Sweetney.

New Pistons coach Larry Brown wants to trade Hamilton, Atkins and Williamson, and has asked Dumars to select Anthony at #2, Dumars said no way in hell basically.. though Hamilton will make to some interesting trade bait, with Miami already interested.

Magic are badly wanting Dwyane Wade, and will use their pick (#15) and Gordan Giricek to move up, but its doubtful any team in the 5-8 zone would trade for that package.

Chicago and Boston had a deal lined up that would send Antoine Walker home aswell as pick #16 for Marshall, Williams and Fizer. Was called off because of the Jay Williams tragic accident. What is Paxson thinking wanting to trade that much for such an un needed selfish player??

Now onto the draft

Players stocks that are going crazy are 6'1 PG Marcus Banks (UNLV Sr.) who has had some amazing workouts, and could be drafted at the end of the lottery. Mike Sweetney whos has Toronto, Milwaukee and the Sonics after him. Hes undersized but has long arms, and is an absolute beast. Think Elton Brand type game. Kansas seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich are impressing alot of teams during workouts, and Collisons rumoured lack of strength has been proven false, and mark my words hes going to be a very good pro!

Going down are Chris Kaman.. hes amazing stats .. something like 25/12/3 (although against bad competition) are impressive, but the Central Michigan stars workouts havent been so good. Hes very unathletic and slow, although he has a good post game.. he needs alot of work to cover his speed and athletic disadvantages. Barbosa the 6'4 Long PG from Brazil's stocks have gone nothing but down since workouts. He got slaughtered by Dwyane Wade in a Clippers workout. Hes also lack of english (not good for a PG in the NBA!), and hes unorthodox jump shot (shoots from his chest.. needs that fixed quickly) will see him go mid to late first round after being considered a sure lottery pick a month ago.

Heres my mock draft.

1. Cleveland - Lebron James
2. Detroit - Darko Milicic
3. Denver - Carmelo Anthony
4. New York (from Tor) - TJ Ford
5. Miami - Chris Bosh
6. Memphis (from LAC) - Mickael Pietrus
7. Chicago - Dwyane Wade
8. Milwaukee - Maciej Lampe
9. Toronto (From NYK) - Mike Sweetney
10. Washington - Jarvis Hayes
11. Golden State - Kirk Hinrich
12. Seattle - Chris Kaman
13. Memphis - Zoran Planicic
14. Seattle - Sofoklis Shortsianitis
15. Orlando - Reece Gaines
16. Boston - Marcus Banks
17. Pheonix - Zarko Cabarkapa
18. New Orleans - Malick Badiane
19. Utah - Aleksander Pavlovic
20. Boston - Ndubi Ebi
21. Atlanta - Leadrinho Barbosa
22. New Jersey - Nick Collison
23. Portland - Carlos Delfino
24. LA Lakers - Brian Cook
25. Detroit - Travis Outlaw
26. Minnesota - James Lang
27. Memphis - David West
28. San Antonio - Josh Howard
29. Dallas - Kendrick Perkins

Darko Milicic, the Euro Kevin Garnett with a better jumper may not be in the NBA next year, Detroit and his Serbian Team Hemofarm are struggling to agree on a buy out fee, with the NBA Maximum at $350,000 USD, it seems unlikely the Serbs will settle for such a little fee.

Finally i'd like to wish Jay, his family, teammates and friends all the best in this horrible time, and I hope Jason can recover 100% and live a normal life. And if everything goes well play NBA basketball once again.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony
This is led to believed to mean that Pau Gasol is heading to the Clippers for a package of players aswell as the pick. Denver are also believed to be interested in Gasol, and would possibly part ways with the #3 pick for him..

Thanks for the laugh mate.

Pau Gasol is the franchise player, there is absolutely no chance of him being traded for such a pittance.

If Elton Brand was on the end of the deal, then we might talk, but otherwise, it's flat out ludicrous.

Jerry West wouldn't do it.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony
13. Memphis - Zoran Planicic

Hope he's brushing up on his 2 guard skills, because he'd be at the end of a long line looking for time at the 1.

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony

27. Memphis - David West

Can't see this happening unless Strom gets traded.

The absolute last thing we need is yet another undersized tweener with a big heart.

 

[Portmanteau]

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony

Heres my mock draft.

1. Cleveland - Lebron James
2. Detroit - Darko Milicic
3. Denver - Carmelo Anthony
4. New York (from Tor) - TJ Ford
5. Miami - Chris Bosh
6. Memphis (from LAC) - Mickael Pietrus
7. Chicago - Dwyane Wade
8. Milwaukee - Maciej Lampe
9. Toronto (From NYK) - Mike Sweetney
10. Washington - Jarvis Hayes
11. Golden State - Kirk Hinrich
12. Seattle - Chris Kaman
13. Memphis - Zoran Planicic
14. Seattle - Sofoklis Shortsianitis
15. Orlando - Reece Gaines
16. Boston - Marcus Banks
17. Pheonix - Zarko Cabarkapa
18. New Orleans - Malick Badiane
19. Utah - Aleksander Pavlovic
20. Boston - Ndubi Ebi
21. Atlanta - Leadrinho Barbosa
22. New Jersey - Nick Collison
23. Portland - Carlos Delfino
24. LA Lakers - Brian Cook
25. Detroit - Travis Outlaw
26. Minnesota - James Lang
27. Memphis - David West
28. San Antonio - Josh Howard
29. Dallas - Kendrick Perkins

Interesting. I actually wouldn't mind Seattle taking Kaman and Schortsiantis, fills two of the three holes in our squad. Does however mean that Kevin Ollie, Brent Barry and Ray Allen have to man the point guard role at various times, however. For a long time I've thought that Barbosa and Sweetney are our men.

If I'm not mistaken an Eastern Conference scout has said that Barbosa has All-Star slashing ability. That's good enough for me... the jumper will come in time. But then again, I haven't been at the workouts. I hope that the draft can fill some needs though. Lastly, if Marcus Banks' stock is soaring like you've said, and I've heard... than he's a definite possibility to go to the Sonics at #12 or #14.

Memphis is definitely moving up, and what better way than to take advantage of the Clippers, who for the third time in the last six drafts will not have a head coach signed at the time.

On some other picks, I doubt that the Wizards take Hayes over Kirk Hinrich when they've got Larry Hughes and Jerry Stackhouse (not much I know, but something). It is arguable that Hinrich's stock has exceeded Ford's of late, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go between 6-10, somewhere.

I doubt that Brian Cook falls to #24. From what I've heard he's had some tremendous workouts, and some have said he could go between #10-19. He's been invited to the NBA Draft green room, which says something, although isn't concrete evidence. Time will tell.

I don't see Boris Diaw anywhere. He's a certain first-round pick, IMO, if only late first-round. I have him going to Boston in a role, where he'll play 1, 2 and 3 at any given time. The Cs certainly need his supposedly outstanding defense.

Kendrick Perkins and James Lang will go mid secound-round, and Lang will be lucky to be taken. They're overweight, undersize, and there's a lot of Euros who GMs can take without putting their jobs on the line, if they were to take these two.

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony

Darko Milicic, the Euro Kevin Garnett with a better jumper may not be in the NBA next year, Detroit and his Serbian Team Hemofarm are struggling to agree on a buy out fee, with the NBA Maximum at $350,000 USD, it seems unlikely the Serbs will settle for such a little fee.

This is such a dog act by Hemofarm. They don't play him, and now they're claiming they "want him to play for us next year" etc. Just say you want the money, lads, and save us a whole lot of time.

 

[Carmelo Anthony]

Re: Re: NBA News....

This is no laughing matter mate. This is a serious buzz going around the NBA saying West has been offering Gasol. With the Clippers very interested.West also is in desperate need of an athletic 2 guard.. and he out of all interested teams, has been the most interested.

Im sure it wont be Gasol for Pietrus straight up, but they have alot of young player the Clippers that he would like.

Trust me mate im not making this up.. I think its un-realistic too, but its a rumour thats heating up bigtime.

As for my draft picks, assuming one of Swift/Gasol is traded, I think J.West previously said he wants another tough forward in the team.. I think West fits the bill.

Zoran Planicic is someone that could go anywhere..say 11-20 IMO. Hes like Tskitshvilli last year.. though I dont expect him to go that high.

Boris Diaw's stocks are dropping, dont know why. Hes long, can pass the ball.. I think scouts are worried about his laid back style.. and he doesnt have the winning attitude.

Minesotta and Dallas are both very interested in the high school Centers.. and one of them (I assume Dallas) gave a guarentee to one of them.

In other news Sacramento have traded 2 2nd rd pick for the rights to Darius Songaila of Boston.

Apparently also Toronto offered Chicago fillers + pick #4 for Marshall and pick #7. Chicago have turned it down.

 

[mattyc2422]

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony
New Pistons coach Larry Brown wants to trade Hamilton, Atkins and Williamson, and has asked Dumars to select Anthony at #2, Dumars said no way in hell basically.. though Hamilton will make to some interesting trade bait, with Miami already interested.

28. San Antonio - Josh Howard
29. Dallas - Kendrick Perkins

Darko Milicic, the Euro Kevin Garnett with a better jumper may not be in the NBA next year, Detroit and his Serbian Team Hemofarm are struggling to agree on a buy out fee, with the NBA Maximum at $350,000 USD, it seems unlikely the Serbs will settle for such a little fee.

Trade Rip? The Pistons have enough trouble scoring, let alone without Hamiliton.

Although the Spurs are reportedly pretty excited about Howard, if Kendrick Perkins (who has worked out twice for SA incidently) is around at the Spurs Pick, I'd expect them to draft the boy simply because of his size.

I've heard similar things about Darko's club. Apparently the club said it has Milicic under contract through 2009.

 

[Portmanteau]

IMO Jerome Beasley is a better chance to be taken ahead of the HSers for no other reasons than he's not a fattie, and has had superb workouts.

NY should not be trading up, as they're desperately lacking in the big man department. I mean, FFS, they took two PGs in last years draft, and have one tearing it up in Europe. Kurt Thomas could put up All-Star stats in the East if he's released to the 4 spot. This would involve taking the very much athletic Chris Kaman. How many chances is Scott Layden gonna get?

 

[Portmanteau]

Another point, a team with Allan Houston, Kurt Thomas and TJ Ford as your nucleus... SUCKS. Even in the East.

 

[Booze Hound]

Big shame about Jay Williams.

Whatever you think of anyone it's always bad to see a career wrecked, especially such a promising one

You didn't have Ridnour in your draft. I've been a bit out of the loop recently, has he withdrawn or has his stock dropped.

I certainly hope (especially if his work outs are correct) that Collison will not fall past Boston, but with the Celtics recent drafting history you never know. Last week in London I was at a beer festival and got talking to a native of Dallas about basketball. I raised Collison's name and my friend suggested heb would be a good player in the League.

If they get him and Banks is also available I'll be happy.

 

[Carmelo Anthony]

Whoops did I forget Ridnour?

Hes definately going between 10-15 IMO.. damn I cant be bothered editing it but you get the picture

Also guys the NYK-Toronto deal is apparently off...

I think the Knicks could possibly get Ford at #9 anyways. Hes too small and cant shoot.. not good for a PG

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by Carmelo Anthony


I think the Knicks could possibly get Ford at #9 anyways. Hes too small and cant shoot.. not good for a PG

Muggsy was too small and couldnt shoot but he had a fantastic career.

 

[jod23]

Re: Re: NBA News....

Originally posted by mattyc2422
Trade Rip? The Pistons have enough trouble scoring, let alone without Hamiliton.

Yeah Im not sure what Brown has up his sleeve but Rip is their best offensive weapon. Billups is too streaky to be their number 1 scorer. Trading Rip and their two sparkplugs off the bench in Atkins and Williamson will leave them with absolutely nothing on offence, well depending on who they get in the trade.

Im not sure why Detroit are going for Darko. With Billups and Rip in the backcourt and Wallace, promising youngster Okur up front, it forms a good nucleus. A little undersized, but you could fix that later in the draft or via trade. With Wallace and Okur you only really need a backup big man to help out Robinson off the bench.

Melo comes in as the athletic 3 who can post up, slash and score, he can do it all. I thought he would be a perfect fit for Detroit. Also if they have decided to draft Milicic, then you would think that Rip becomes twice as valuble as Darko would open up the floor and Rip is a great shooter??

Detriot will be one team to watch in the off season.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by Guey_34

NY should not be trading up, as they're desperately lacking in the big man department. I mean, FFS, they took two PGs in last years draft, and have one tearing it up in Europe. Kurt Thomas could put up All-Star stats in the East if he's released to the 4 spot. This would involve taking the very much athletic Chris Kaman. How many chances is Scott Layden gonna get?

But what happens to Thomas once McDyess get's back into the mix? Now they have two pretty good PF's and no Center. If McDyess comes back you would think the Knicks wouldnt need to do much, obviously they need a true center but Houston and Spree take the 2 and 3 spots, they have a mixed bag to choose from at PG and with McDyess back, the floor will spread giving Houston and Spree better looks at the basket.

But knowing the Knicks, they will trade Spree, Houston and 3 other players for more ordinary players, some busts in the draft and some failed potential players. When you think about it, New York have been shocking for a long time. They got lucky with Patrick Ewing because if it wasnt for him, the Knicks could be the East equivalent of the Clippers.

 

[jod23]

Other NBA news.....

Nash and change to the Nets for Kidd? That's the rumor.

Ahhh I love this time of year.

 

[Portmanteau]

The chance of McDyess ever getting back in the mix is very, very, very low. Scott Layden, in all his stupidity, could not possibly trade Kurt Thomas on the thinking that he'll get games out of McDyess in the near future.

The sign-and-trade deal with Kidd/Nash would need about 7 million worth of filler from Dallas... although that wouldn't be too difficult given some of the contracts those guys are on. Don't see it happening though, Cuban seems blindly loyal to most of his nucleus.

 

[WoD]

on espn.com, they have an insider rumour about bulls mavs trade
anyone know wot this is since im not an insider subscriber

 

[mattyc2422]

From ESPN via Spurs Report.

"Are you up?" I am now.

"The Bulls are on the verge of a blockbuster. They're sending Donyell Marshall, Marcus Fizer, Eddie Robinson and the No. 7 pick to Dallas for Michael Finley."

Really?

Two hours earlier, the buzz had the Bulls sending Jalen Rose to Minnesota for Terrell Brandon and his expiring contract.

A little before that came word that the Bulls weren't looking at a small forward anymore, because they were confident they were going to lock up Juwan Howard in free agency.

It isn't easy to connect the dots that late at night, but follow me for a second. Finley and Howard are Chicago natives, workout buddies in the summer, and they've both dreamed of playing for the Bulls one day.

GM John Paxson's goal is to win now. He wants to end the youth movement and begin surrounding Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford with veterans.

He also needs to make sure he has enough cap space to re-sign those young guys when their contracts start expiring next year. That's why shipping off Rose makes a whole lot of sense.

By 2:30 a.m., with the dots loosely connected, John Paxson is looking like a genius.

A starting lineup of Crawford, Finley, Howard, Chandler and Curry sounds pretty appealing. So does the extra $10 million in cap space Chicago likely will have next season after signing Crawford to an extension.

Not so fast.

In the world of the NBA draft, where subterfuge is the weapon of choice in ensuring the guy you want remains on the draft board until you pick, everything isn't always what it seems.

"I think that whole scenario is a product of 'Mark Cuban Productions,' " one assistant GM told Insider. "I've seen it too many times. That's too perfect for Dallas. They get two low post players and a young stud like [Mickael] Pietrus at No. 7. Be careful."

Good advice. Remember, it was Cuban who just days earlier began fueling the rumors of a sign-and-trade deal to bring Jason Kidd to Dallas.

One more late phone call wakes up my best source with the Bulls. "I'm under the impression we're not doing anything. Of course, that could change tomorrow."

It probably will. The real trade talk begins today. With time running out, offers become more serious, trade proposals more realistic and the pressure to make something happen gets turned to high.

I wasn't the only one hearing that the Bulls were on the trading warpath. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting a similar deal. According to that paper, Paxson was the one making the phone call to Dallas.

Meanwhile Donnie Nelson told the Dallas Morning News that the Big Three -- Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Finley -- were basically untouchable.

"We're at a stage now where the Big Three or Big Four (Nowitzki, Finley, Nash, Nick Van Exel ) have produced some pretty sweet music and some incredible results," Nelson said. "To tamper with that would take a significant deal. If you're ever going to break that up, it better be for a quantum leap. Otherwise, I think it would be a mistake. I would say I wouldn't look for that to happen."

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by mattyc2422
From ESPN via Spurs Report.

"Are you up?" I am now.

"The Bulls are on the verge of a blockbuster. They're sending Donyell Marshall, Marcus Fizer, Eddie Robinson and the No. 7 pick to Dallas for Michael Finley."

Really?

Two hours earlier, the buzz had the Bulls sending Jalen Rose to Minnesota for Terrell Brandon and his expiring contract.

A little before that came word that the Bulls weren't looking at a small forward anymore, because they were confident they were going to lock up Juwan Howard in free agency.

It isn't easy to connect the dots that late at night, but follow me for a second. Finley and Howard are Chicago natives, workout buddies in the summer, and they've both dreamed of playing for the Bulls one day.

GM John Paxson's goal is to win now. He wants to end the youth movement and begin surrounding Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford with veterans.

He also needs to make sure he has enough cap space to re-sign those young guys when their contracts start expiring next year. That's why shipping off Rose makes a whole lot of sense.

By 2:30 a.m., with the dots loosely connected, John Paxson is looking like a genius.

A starting lineup of Crawford, Finley, Howard, Chandler and Curry sounds pretty appealing. So does the extra $10 million in cap space Chicago likely will have next season after signing Crawford to an extension.

Not so fast.

In the world of the NBA draft, where subterfuge is the weapon of choice in ensuring the guy you want remains on the draft board until you pick, everything isn't always what it seems.

"I think that whole scenario is a product of 'Mark Cuban Productions,' " one assistant GM told Insider. "I've seen it too many times. That's too perfect for Dallas. They get two low post players and a young stud like [Mickael] Pietrus at No. 7. Be careful."

Good advice. Remember, it was Cuban who just days earlier began fueling the rumors of a sign-and-trade deal to bring Jason Kidd to Dallas.

One more late phone call wakes up my best source with the Bulls. "I'm under the impression we're not doing anything. Of course, that could change tomorrow."

It probably will. The real trade talk begins today. With time running out, offers become more serious, trade proposals more realistic and the pressure to make something happen gets turned to high.

I wasn't the only one hearing that the Bulls were on the trading warpath. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting a similar deal. According to that paper, Paxson was the one making the phone call to Dallas.

Meanwhile Donnie Nelson told the Dallas Morning News that the Big Three -- Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Finley -- were basically untouchable.

"We're at a stage now where the Big Three or Big Four (Nowitzki, Finley, Nash, Nick Van Exel ) have produced some pretty sweet music and some incredible results," Nelson said. "To tamper with that would take a significant deal. If you're ever going to break that up, it better be for a quantum leap. Otherwise, I think it would be a mistake. I would say I wouldn't look for that to happen."

OOOOHHHH man how sweet would that be. We get rid of Jalen Rose for Brandon's expiring contract which gives us plenty of cap room, Howard comes over as a FA and we score Finley for pick 7, Fizer and Marshall. I would do all of that in a heartbeat.

It would work for the T-Wolves too as KG finally get's some help, the Mavs finally get some interior bangers in Fizer and Marshall and they get a good rookie at number 7.

But I doubt any of it would happen. I hope the Bulls do something though because we dont need our lottery pick, with CC&C (and maybe, hopefully J-Will) our youth poilcy is over. Now we need some solid veterans.

It's really starting to cook up now, only days away from draft day and deals need to be done. Then after that, July 1st rolls round and FA goes wild. Love this time of the year.

 

[jod23]

A few more notes/rumors....

• Arenas now leaning towards staying with the Warriors?
• Detroit send Atkins, Okur and Prince for Cavs Ricky Davis?
• T-Wolves Joe Smith for LA's George
• Knicks are after Seattle's Radmanovic and the Clippers Swift.

The Detroit, Cleveland trade is just silly.

 

[Portmanteau]

If the Bulls trade Rose, I don't think they'd get Howard. That's the whole idea of Howard coming to Chicago for a bargain basement deal - to play with his Fab 5 teammate.

 

[WoD]

Originally posted by Guey_34
If the Bulls trade Rose, I don't think they'd get Howard. That's the whole idea of Howard coming to Chicago for a bargain basement deal - to play with his Fab 5 teammate.

but as the article says, howard and finley workout together during the summer, and of course from chicago, so that might be enough to persuade him

 

[Mattster]

Originally posted by jod23
A few more notes/rumors....

• Arenas now leaning towards staying with the Warriors?
• Detroit send Atkins, Okur and Prince for Cavs Ricky Davis?
• T-Wolves Joe Smith for LA's George
• Knicks are after Seattle's Radmanovic and the Clippers Swift.

The Detroit, Cleveland trade is just silly.

I'd like to see Davis play somewhere else besides the Cavs. He got crowded out in the last half of the year by competition at the SG.

 

[jod23]

Originally posted by Mattster
I'd like to see Davis play somewhere else besides the Cavs. He got crowded out in the last half of the year by competition at the SG.

Yeah but Dumars is a great GM, so you would think he wouldnt go anywhere near a guy like Davis. I mean the guy actually took a shot at his own net to try to complete his triple double...

 

[mattyc2422]

Originally posted by jod23
Yeah but Dumars is a great GM, so you would think he wouldnt go anywhere near a guy like Davis. I mean the guy actually took a shot at his own net to try to complete his triple double...

^Frame that. Totally agree.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by jod23

• Knicks are the Clippers Swift.

Do you know something i don't?