The Perpetual NBA Thread

[BlueBimmer]

pano na si ricky d?

[ssaloon]

sigh.......... one of the owners of the Hawks vetoed the said trade! :seeth:

stupid! dysfunctional talaga yung front office and ownership ng hawks. sayang, amare welcomed the idea of playing with JJ.

[tsupermario]

^ afaik me ownership dispute yung atlanta hawks.

NBA official: Chances for 3-team deal overblown
By BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer
June 27, 2007

PHOENIX (AP) -- Reports the Phoenix Suns were nearing a deal to acquire Kevin Garnett were downplayed Wednesday by an NBA official with knowledge of the situation.

Contrary to several reports, the official told The Associated Press, the sides were not close to a three-team deal that would send Amare Stoudemire to Atlanta and Garnett from Minnesota to Phoenix.

Publicity regarding the Suns' possible acquisition of Garnett had been overblown, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. However, the Timberwolves and Suns have talked about Garnett, the person confirmed.

A more likely scenario would have Phoenix trading up in the order of Thursday's draft, though few teams seem interested in moving down with what's regarded as a deep talent pool available.

Suns officials did not return telephone messages left at their offices on Wednesday, but new general manager Steve Kerr indicated on Tuesday that anything that might happen probably wouldn't occur until Thursday.

"Everything usually comes down to the last minute because everybody's waiting for the home run," Kerr said Tuesday, "and usually no one hits one."

D'Antoni wasn't talking like a coach who expected to lose Stoudemire.

"We can get better with what we have," D'Antoni said, "and we should play better next year. One more year together, Amare's going to get better. We're going to be better. If we can get the end of the bench a little bit better and some of our guys come back ready to roll, then we're automatically better."

D'Antoni long has cautioned against breaking up the nucleus of a team that's won three consecutive Pacific Division titles. Stoudemire came back from microfracture surgery on one knee and arthroscopic surgery on the other to make first team all-NBA last season.

Had Stoudemire not been suspended for taking a few too many steps off the bench when San Antonio's Robert Horry sent Steve Nash crashing into the scorer's table, the Suns might have won their Western Conference semifinal series with the eventual NBA champion Spurs.

The scenario being bandied about had the Suns sending Stoudemire to Atlanta, the Hawks shifting their No. 3 pick and other selections to Minnesota, and the Timberwolves shipping Garnett to Phoenix.

The idea gained a bit of credence because Garnett, a good friend of Nash, has said he would like to play for the Suns. But Stoudemire is 24 and Garnett 31. Still, Kerr has told the players that no one on the team is untouchable.

Another supposed deal would send Shawn Marion to Boston, with the Celtics giving Minnesota their No. 5 pick and Garnett coming to Phoenix. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge deflated that report by saying it was "unlikely" Boston would trade its pick.

There was considerable evidence, though, that Phoenix was attempting to acquire a better draft pick. The Suns have the 24th and 29th picks, but many of the players brought to Phoenix to work out for the team are sure to gone before those picks.

North Carolina power forward Brandan Wright and Florida State small forward Al Thornton worked out for Phoenix on Wednesday. That follows workouts Tuesday by two members of the NCAA champion Florida Gators -- small forward Corey Brewer and power forward Joakim Noah -- along with Georgetown small forward Jeff Green.

"All really impressive kids," Kerr said on Tuesday. "They're competitors, really good players. That's why they're projected to go in the top 10."

Moving up, if it's possible at all, would not come easily. Phoenix might have to part with the pick it holds from Atlanta next season.

"Of course it's going to come with a price," Kerr said. "So you have to evaluate that, whether it means giving up something in the future, you have to evaluate whether it makes sense."

[tsupermario]

aftermath of the mavs-warriors series..

In hiss-fight between Cuban and Nellie, Mavs are the real losers
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Never heard of such a thing, maybe because it'd be rather difficult to find anything this jock-kingdom silly.

Don Nelson is being sued by the owner of the Mavericks for using "confidential information" to beat his former team in the playoffs, and if an arbitrator agrees with this claim, then Nelson might not be allowed to coach again for Golden State.

No kidding? Nellie, huh, knew the Mavs inside and out, and schooled his former team back in early May, touching off the biggest upset in NBA postseason history?

In other local breaking news, it's been raining a lot lately.

Mark Cuban needs to talk to his lawyer. Or the lawyer needs to talk to Cuban.

At best, maybe they can talk each other off the legal ledge, and save the Mavs' organization from pending laughingstock embarrassment.

It's a team now two months into a recovery process from the basketball humiliation of the Golden State series, and part of the healing was a focus on Thursday night's NBA Draft combined with the opening of the league's free agency and trade period.

Unfortunately, however, new details surfaced on a continuing nasty hiss-fight between Cuban and Nelson over compensation, going all the way back to before Cuban bought the Mavs from Ross Perot Jr.

At stake is $6.5 million, meaning it's a high-stakes squabble.

But that's Nellie-Cuban business. And lawyer business. And an arbitrator will decide, probably in October.

After Nelson sued last winter over the money that was part of a deferred payment with Perot, the Cuban camp came up with a counter-suit. This is where it got funny and unbelievable.

According to John O'Connor, Nelson's San Francisco-based attorney, Cuban is claiming Nelson was still under contract with the Mavericks, and therefore he couldn't work for the Warriors.

"What Cuban fails to mention is he quit paying Nellie," said O'Connor, and also Cuban did not attempt to stop Nelson from going to the Warriors last fall as the head coach. (That disagreement is over a non-compete clause in a consulting contract at $200,000 a year, not the $6.5 million deferred payment. But Cuban is also saying that, since Nelson violated the non-compete, he doesn't owe the six and a half mil.)

Then the big laugh came next.

O'Connor: "The thrust of [Cuban's] counter claim is the Warriors beat the Mavs because Nellie had confidential information and he wants to enjoin Don from coaching against the Mavericks."

Or coaching at all until the consulting contract expires in four years.

I closely watched all six games of the Mavs-Warriors playoff series and didn't notice any "confidential information" leading to the downfall of the heavily favored locals.

Nellie's game plan was no secret. It was a simple case of shut down and frustrate Dirk, therefore putting the burden of winning the series on the Mavericks' other players.

The Mavs' problem was that Dirk played awful, and the remainder of the team wasn't capable of overcoming his poor performance.

Did Nelson know his old team, strengths and weaknesses? Does Billy Graham know the Bible? Does a Cajun know gumbo?

In 100 years or more of organized sports in American, has any coach or manager who left a team not used his knowledge of his old club in a competitive matchup?

If Cuban wants to sue someone over the Golden State debacle, why not Dirk?

Those with knowledge of Cuban's counter-suit against Nelson say this verbiage is used in the legal language:

"Not surprisingly, the Warriors had immense success all season against the Mavericks."

Not surprisingly?

Who the hell was not surprised two months ago? Surprised, shocked, disgusted.

Look, the legal question of the money issue is for an arbitrator to decide. Meanwhile, the rest of us have pretty well determined that Cuban has a strong dislike for Nelson, which is his business.

But this "confidential information" silliness drags an entire organization into an area reserved for petty, whining fools.

Over $6.5 million, the Mavericks are facing an embarrassment that will be priceless.

"confidential information"? :hysterical:

[kimpOy]

Kobe: Lakers owner is an 'idiot

[empy]

mas masaya pa ang draft, trades, rumors at alitan of the last two weeks kesa dun sa crappy NBA finals :bwahaha:

[Altis6453]

Mark Cuban's really lost it. He's like the Vince McMahon of the NBA.

[empy]

to back up my earlier comments about the utter crappiness of this year's finals, i found these stats on this blog --> http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/200...ings-ever.html

It's official. Nobody was watching the NBA Finals this year.

Well okay, not "nobody" exactly. But the Finals averaged a pitiful 9.2 million viewers per game -- the worst ratings ever for the Big Show, easily surpassing the previous all-time low of 9.9 million (for the soul-numbing 2003 Nets/Spurs Finals).

To put this into perspective, more people tuned into America's Got Talent (11.8 million), So You Think You Can Dance (10.6 million), and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (9.97 million) than Game 4 of the NBA Finals (9.91 million). That's right: the American public would rather watch a tone-deaf cocktail waitress try to sing and dance, or an auto mechanic try to guess the capital of Montana, than see Tim Duncan battle Lebron James for the world championship of professional basketball

[ssaloon]

KG to GSW?

Kevin Garnett could still be heading to the Warriors after a three-team deal broke down on draft night that still resulted in the trade that sent Jason Richardson to the Bobcats for Brandan Wright.
With Minnesota seeking prospects, the Warriors are now offering Wright, Monta Ellis and Patrick O'Bryant to Minnesota in exchange for Garnett. The Wolves are asking for big man Andris Biedrins, while the Warriors have countered with Al Harrington. It's also been speculated that with Richardson out of the mix that the Warriors would have to include Baron Davis in a deal for Garnett, which wouldn't be ideal. It's obvious that Garnett discussions will continue until the Wolves take him off the block or he is moved.

[mazdamazda]

Mark Cuban is such a loser... :boo:

===

Kapono signs with the Raptors... errr... don't tell me that they want to sign another "veteran" instead of spending money on Kapono. Rumor has it that they are trying to sign Mo Williams or Shard.

Orlando & Houston is also interested in Rashard... the question is can they offer him a 6-year maximum contract?