Around the League 1/28
> Word broke this week that New Orleans is going to permanently inactivate Chris Kaman while they shop around the league looking to trade him. Two days prior to that announcement Eric Gordon turned down a four-year contract extension. (In that same press release Gordon was declared out another 3-6 weeks with a right knee “contusion.” He’s appeared in only TWO games all season. Might the league be hiding something here? Hmm...) Couple those two things with Al-Farouq Aminu basically stinking (shooting 37.5% with a PER of 10.20) and the Timberwolves being decent (9-10 with a +1.58 point differential) and my prediction is coming true even faster than I anticipated.
It’s really not hard to see where the league went wrong either. When Commissioner David Stern took control away from GM Dell Demps and gave it to Stu Jackson that was a crucial error in judgment. I voted Demps third for Executive of the Year last season and his track record runs circles around that of Jackson. I still believe the Laker/Houston trade was better in terms of assets even though Lamar Odom has been terrible (9.38 PER), Kevin Martin injured (plantar fasciitis right foot) and Luis Scola fatigued. Goran Dragic is having a career year (15.33 PER) and New York’s pick (7-12 & -1.32) could easily be higher than Minnesota’s.
I may end up eating a heaping pile of crow if Kaman returns something of significance and Gordon eventually resigns but both of those things seem unlikely at the moment. The league needlessly harpooned Kaman’s value when they decided to stop playing him, and he really wasn’t playing that well to begin with (13.98 PER). It’s well known that the Pacers are going to come hard after Gordon this summer and that Eric wants badly to go there (he’s from Indiana). I could see Gordon and his agent Rob Pelinka telling the Hornets to sign and trade him to Indy (for say Danny Granger) or else he’ll sign the one-year tender to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2013. Stay tuned…
> Andrew Bogut is going to miss 8-12 weeks with a fractured left ankle after landing on Samuel Dalembet’s foot Wednesday night. Besides being completely snake bitten when it comes to fluke injuries Bogut is the anchor of Milwaukee’s defense. The Bucks give up 7.5 fewer points per 100 possessions this season per 82games.com with the big Aussie on the court. Last season it was 3.3 and the season prior it was 5.5. While Drew Gooden is a capable backup no one is ever going to confuse him with a defensive presence in the paint. The East is so bad that this probably doesn’t kill Milwaukee’s playoff chances but they are certainly on life support.
> On Tuesday Washington fired Coach Flip Saunders and replaced him with assistant Randy Wittman through the end of the season. Much like Paul Westphal in Sacramento, Saunders had lost his team, but the mix of players is so putrid that Phil Jackson couldn’t coach them to a .500 record much less the playoffs. I know the final nail in Flip’s coffin was John Wall’s supposed lack of improvement but I’m not sure who on the Wizards Wall can really make better or vice versa?That’s why it’s long past time for President Ernie Grunfeld to be shown the door in DC. He’s the one that assembled this mess of a roster and I’m sure Owner Ted Leonsis is overjoyed to be paying Saunders $4.5 million next year to sit on his couch. Wittman has a career record of 100-207 and has never coached anything resembling a playoff contender so he should feel right at home adding some more losses and another last place division finish to his distinguished resume.
> Everyone’s favorite NBA punch line, Minnesota President David Kahn, made another in a long line of blunders Wednesday when he signed Kevin Love to a contract extension with an opt out after three years. This deal will allow Love to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2015 when a certain marquee team in Los Angeles (no, not the Clippers) will have salary cap space galore.
Kahn apparently wanted to keep his “designated player” option available (in the new collective bargaining agreement every team is allowed to have one "designated player" who receives a five-year maximum extension on his rookie contract) in case Ricky Rubio turns into that kind of talent. Umm, ok buddy, never mind that Love has the fifth highest PER (25.04) in the Association, is shooting 40.4% from three, averaging 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds RIGHT NOW. I think the contract negotiations between Kahn and Kevin’s agent Jeff Schwartz probably went something like this...
Schwartz: “We’d like the full five-year maximum for $80 million.”
Kahn: “We can’t go that high Jeff how about four years for between $60-62 million?”
Schwartz: “We can do that Dave but only if the fourth year is a player option.”
Kahn: “Ok we have a deal!”
Schwartz: “Alright let me know when the paper work is drawn up.”
Schwartz hangs up and calls Love: “You’re never going to believe this but I got us EXACTLY what we wanted all along. The same kind of contract LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh signed with an opt out after three seasons.”
Love: “NICE! Make sure you contact Mitch Kupchak through back channels and let him know I’m coming there in 2015.”
Schwartz: “I’m already on it my man.”
It’s really not hard to see where the league went wrong either. When Commissioner David Stern took control away from GM Dell Demps and gave it to Stu Jackson that was a crucial error in judgment. I voted Demps third for Executive of the Year last season and his track record runs circles around that of Jackson. I still believe the Laker/Houston trade was better in terms of assets even though Lamar Odom has been terrible (9.38 PER), Kevin Martin injured (plantar fasciitis right foot) and Luis Scola fatigued. Goran Dragic is having a career year (15.33 PER) and New York’s pick (7-12 & -1.32) could easily be higher than Minnesota’s.
I may end up eating a heaping pile of crow if Kaman returns something of significance and Gordon eventually resigns but both of those things seem unlikely at the moment. The league needlessly harpooned Kaman’s value when they decided to stop playing him, and he really wasn’t playing that well to begin with (13.98 PER). It’s well known that the Pacers are going to come hard after Gordon this summer and that Eric wants badly to go there (he’s from Indiana). I could see Gordon and his agent Rob Pelinka telling the Hornets to sign and trade him to Indy (for say Danny Granger) or else he’ll sign the one-year tender to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2013. Stay tuned…
> Andrew Bogut is going to miss 8-12 weeks with a fractured left ankle after landing on Samuel Dalembet’s foot Wednesday night. Besides being completely snake bitten when it comes to fluke injuries Bogut is the anchor of Milwaukee’s defense. The Bucks give up 7.5 fewer points per 100 possessions this season per 82games.com with the big Aussie on the court. Last season it was 3.3 and the season prior it was 5.5. While Drew Gooden is a capable backup no one is ever going to confuse him with a defensive presence in the paint. The East is so bad that this probably doesn’t kill Milwaukee’s playoff chances but they are certainly on life support.
> On Tuesday Washington fired Coach Flip Saunders and replaced him with assistant Randy Wittman through the end of the season. Much like Paul Westphal in Sacramento, Saunders had lost his team, but the mix of players is so putrid that Phil Jackson couldn’t coach them to a .500 record much less the playoffs. I know the final nail in Flip’s coffin was John Wall’s supposed lack of improvement but I’m not sure who on the Wizards Wall can really make better or vice versa?That’s why it’s long past time for President Ernie Grunfeld to be shown the door in DC. He’s the one that assembled this mess of a roster and I’m sure Owner Ted Leonsis is overjoyed to be paying Saunders $4.5 million next year to sit on his couch. Wittman has a career record of 100-207 and has never coached anything resembling a playoff contender so he should feel right at home adding some more losses and another last place division finish to his distinguished resume.
> Everyone’s favorite NBA punch line, Minnesota President David Kahn, made another in a long line of blunders Wednesday when he signed Kevin Love to a contract extension with an opt out after three years. This deal will allow Love to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2015 when a certain marquee team in Los Angeles (no, not the Clippers) will have salary cap space galore.
Kahn apparently wanted to keep his “designated player” option available (in the new collective bargaining agreement every team is allowed to have one "designated player" who receives a five-year maximum extension on his rookie contract) in case Ricky Rubio turns into that kind of talent. Umm, ok buddy, never mind that Love has the fifth highest PER (25.04) in the Association, is shooting 40.4% from three, averaging 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds RIGHT NOW. I think the contract negotiations between Kahn and Kevin’s agent Jeff Schwartz probably went something like this...
Schwartz: “We’d like the full five-year maximum for $80 million.”
Kahn: “We can’t go that high Jeff how about four years for between $60-62 million?”
Schwartz: “We can do that Dave but only if the fourth year is a player option.”
Kahn: “Ok we have a deal!”
Schwartz: “Alright let me know when the paper work is drawn up.”
Schwartz hangs up and calls Love: “You’re never going to believe this but I got us EXACTLY what we wanted all along. The same kind of contract LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh signed with an opt out after three seasons.”
Love: “NICE! Make sure you contact Mitch Kupchak through back channels and let him know I’m coming there in 2015.”
Schwartz: “I’m already on it my man.”
posted by D$ at 3:41 PM
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