NBA gettin' paid (summer movement) thread

Interesting (some not yet "official") moves thus far...

- Carmelo Anthony agrees to max deal.
- Charlie Villanueva shipped to the Bucks for T.J. Ford and cash. The Raptors also signed Bargnani very quickly.
- Peja Stojakovic, instead of re-signing with the Pacers, agrees to a five-year, $60 million deal with the Hornets.
- Jason Terry re-ups with the Mavs.
- Vlad Radmanovic agrees to sign with Kobe's crew.
- Tim Thomas turns a nice playoff run into $24 million from the Clippers.

 

that peja deal is sooooo dumb. but who knows? now that he's grossly overpaid, maybe the knicks will want him next year.

 

I don't like the Peja signing either. Something tells me he's going to be on and off the injured list the rest of his career.

And Tim Thomas is a dog. He had a nice postseason with the Suns, but now that he's got a new deal he'll go back to being a dog. This happens over and over again in the NBA. Why do teams never learn?

 

Although 5-years, $31 million might be a bit steep for Vladimir Radmanovic, apparently the Clippers and one other team made him very similar offers. As far as just on-court factoring, I love the signing for the Lakers.

The team already has its superstar in Bryant and it's secondary star in Odom. Now it's time to fill the team with role players. A 3-point shooting specialist is just what the team needs. Too often, Bryant and Odom would drive to the basket and kick it out to Smush Parker, who laid more bricks in the playoffs than Shaq at a free-throw line.

Now, they need to look for a veteran PG who will sign for the lower level exemption until Jordan Farmar is ready to step in. And, with Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown's improvement in the paint, the future doesn't look as bleak as it did, even a year ago.

 

Gary Payton will surely be available ;D

Lakers made a run as Cassell but he re-upped with the Clippers.

 

Nobody mentioned LeBron, the big one who's a restricted FA. He's expected to sign a max deal with the Cavs.

 

And despite all signs pointing toward Ben Wallace re-signing with Detroit, both Chicago dailies are reporting that Paxson met with Big Ben yesterday.

 

This one has legs. Pistons won't go more than 12 million per for Big Ben, nor should they.

Smart money says he leaves Detroit for Chicago.

 

And if Chicago pays him more than 12 mill per, it is not smart money.

 

If Ben Wallace signs anywhere else than a ready-made NBA Finals contender, it does not end happily.

With the Pistons, as a hard-working building block of a great team, everybody concentrates on what he does well and ignores what he does poorly.

On another team, looking at him as a big-money savior to lead them to the top, all of a sudden everybody will forget what he does well, and everything he does poorly will leap into glaring focus.

If you're paying a guy max contract, and he's averaging 7 ppg and shooting 45% free throws, and you lose in the first round of the playoffs, the natives will not be happy in the least.

 

The terms "NBA" and "learn" are mutually exclusive.

 

This is the list of guys who will be on the move at the 2009 trade deadline, as teams try to move these sure-to-be dead contracts.

Have Bekins on retainer, boys. You're gonna be using them.