The Association

The Clippers Get Baron Davis, Let's Sing About It

by Brett Edwards

Wow, that escalated quickly. Turns out the picture I put up yesterday was a bit prophetic, as it looks like Baron Davis and Elton Brand will be teammates in Clipper-land. The Clippers get Baron Davis, and the Warriors get ... absolutely nothing in return. Nice job, Dubs. Anyway, while Warrior fans are likely singing the blues today, Clipper fans are rejoicing, as is evidenced by this video. By the way, this guy's some kind of songwriting genius to have put this together so quickly.

[via FanHouse]

Free Agency Begins With Elton Brand and Baron Davis Opting Out

by Brett Edwards

As of midnight on July 1, the NBA's free agency (negotiating) period began, and did so with a couple of big names unexpectedly opting out of the final year of their deals. Elton Brand and Baron Davis both walked away from big money, a little over $16M and $17M respectively. Brand might very well remain a Clipper; he just wants to make sure the team signs some other pieces so they can compete for a playoff spot. Baron staying in the Bay area? That seems a lot less likely.

The other big name in question is Gilbert Arenas. He's expected to stay with the Wizards (for less than a max deal), but it seems his status may remain unresolved for a few weeks yet. Stay tuned.

Player Movement - Week 1

By Craig Kwasniewski

One week into July and there's been a flurry of player movement... okay not really a flurry more like a trickle. (Outside of the first 10 picks of the draft has there been a more boring off-season?) Anyway, here's my thoughts on some of the hot stove action in the NBA:

Zach Randolph to the New York Knicks: Z-Bo to the Knicks... Let me just say this, come February or March the New York tabloids will be looking for headlines for the back pages and they'll all be waiting earnestly for Randolph's third or fourth misstep (they'll already be a few by then). Basketball-wise, did the NBA change the rules and widen the key to 47 feet? Unless Eddy Curry developed a sick mid-range game (and drops 50 lbs.) I can't see both Curry and Z-Bo meshing on the floor. This will not end well in Gotham.

Ray Allen to the C's: Like I wrote last week, I love this deal.

Luke Walton re-signs with the Lakers: Six years at $30 million for a starting small forward seems like a good deal. The only problem I see in this is the length of the contract. First, he's a Walton and we all know the health record of Bill Walton (Dare I say horrrrribbblllleee terrrrribble!). Also, Walton is a great fit in the Triangle Offense, but I can't see Phil Jackson sticking around longer than 3 years. So what happens with the new coach? Will a new system hide his lack of athleticism or will he be relegated to the pine? The upside is the extremely high basketball I.Q., but how does that stop a Kevin Durant from slicing down the lane for a thunderous dunk?

Kapono reaches agreement with Raptors: I'm not too sure about this one. Because Bryan Colangelo's one of the best GM's in the NBA I'll give him a pass. But in reality, the Raps got a one-dimensional jump shooter who had a career year simply because opposing defenses doubled off him to guard Shaq. He can't create his own shot, he's not really a smart player and he's can't play defense... other than that 4 years at $24 million is a steal. Again, Bryan Colangelo gets a pass because of what he's done in Toronto.

Rashard Lewis signs with Orlando: A potentially third-best player on a team for a max contract? I'd say it was a good deal if the Magic got Lewis for $10 mil., but he's not worth a max. contract. A 6-10 guy with range who prefers to play behind the three-point line... don't they already have that for a lot cheaper in Hedo Turkoglu? Obviously, the Magic are looking to spread out the defense for Dwight Howard in the pivot by loading up on players with range. But why not sign someone like Kapono and save the dough for a quality point guard? Plus, the Magic sould be worried about Lewis' disappearing act in the 2005 playoffs with some random injuries.

Grant Hill signs with Phoenix: This looks more like a deal done to prevent other Western Conference contenders from signing Grant Hill. I can't see him fitting with the fast-paced style of the Suns. He's not a great jump shooter and he's got more of a slow-it-up-and-check-the-defense-before-slashing-to-the-hole type of offensive game. I really thought he'd fit well with the Lakers and the Triangle Offense or possibly with Dallas or San Antonio. Otherwise, I see him playing the role of the 2006-07 Jalen Rose and having AWESOME courtside seats.

Stackhouse agrees to stay with Mavericks: I had to finish with a deal that I loved (see... I'm not cracking on every single off-season move!). Stack's the only Mav with a pair and they needed to re-sign him. Now if only he could toughen up Dirk this off-season.

Player Movement, Part 2

By Craig Kwasniewski

Last week I wrote about some early transactions that happened before the Isaiah Thomas Corollary kicked in (Player Movement, Part 1). July 12th passed and now rumors become reality. So here's a look at what has happened in the past week:

Toronto signs Tony Parker: Let the "no not THAT Tony Parker" jokes begin. So Toronto signs the Maccabi Tel Aviv point guard Anthony Parker to a multi-year contract. Is Chad Ford the GM for the Raptors? How many more Euro stars are they going to get? A few years ago Parker was a quality young point guard for Maccabi, but now he's 31-years old! (???) Is Parker going to start dating some Canadian tramp whore actress preening for the TSN cameras during Raptor games?

Timberwolves sign G Mike James: This move is frickin' brilliant!!! Kevin McHale must have called in sick when this deal went down. James is a straight-up gamer! Dude runs smack and backs it up with a good perimeter game. Suddenly Minnesota looks like a playoff team again, which kills me because they were one more lottery-bound season from trading Garnett to the Lakers.

Lakers Sign Shammond Williams: What does Mitch Kupchak see in a 6'1" point guard that the six previous teams that cut him didn't? Well according to his NBA bio, Shammond "always says a prayer and puts on the 'infamous' headband before a game." Well shit, how can you NOT sign the guy with the "infamous" headband? It's not like 3,453 other players have them, Shammond somehow got the "infamous" one. Once again, fuck you Mitch Kupchak!!! Kobe has two ungodly seasons left in him and you blow his prime years signing on washed up, short and old point guard! Fuck you, my man!

Jazz acquire Derek Fisher from Warriors: This is more of a loss to Golden State than a gain for Utah. They give up a great lockeroom guy in Fisher for Devin Brown and Keith McLeod and forward Andre Owens. Inner turmoil killed Golden State's playoff chances and they trade off one of the few players that was respected by everyone there. Now Barron Davis will be completely out of controll and will likely get Montgomery fired by November. Whatever. Utah gets a player coming off a career season who'll will be a great leader for their Illini backcourt.

Pacers acquire Daniels from Mavs for Croshere: So Dallas now has Dirk Nowitzki, Keith Van Horn (a poor man's Dirk) and Austin Croshere (a poor man's Van Horn). I believe Christian Laettner is available. I know this is some sort of cap move, but when did Cuban get cheap? Daniels is 85% of Josh Howard and since Howard is good for 10-15 missed games for vaginal irritation, Daniels would have been a capable replacement. This is a good move for Indy. This could lead to a Stephen Jackson sell-off.

The Rest:

Mavericks sign Greg Buckner: I'm not a Mavs fans like Brett, but can someone tell me the difference between Greg Buckner and Adrian Griffin? Is Greg Buckner a stage name for Adrian Griffin?

Magic sign Keith Bogans: Orlando gets yet another player who will eat up J.J. Redick in practice.

Spurs sign Jacque Vaughn: Signed as insurance just in case Nick Van Exel's rotting corpse starts to smell.

Chris Wilcox - Still Available: And finally, will someone please trade for this guy? Seattle doesn't want to sign him to a long term contract so they are offering him up for a sign-and-trade. I saw him play for the Clippers and he is a beast. He put up good numbers after he was shipped to Seattle and would be a good athletic power forward that a team like Cleveland would love to have.

Yet I'm here saddled with Mitch Kupchak claiming that the Lakers can contend with the likes of Dallas after acquiring Shammond Williams. Fuck you Mitch!

Player Movement, Part 1

By Craig Kwasniewski

Not even one week into the negotiation period and there has been plenty of player movement. Free agent negotiations began on July 1 however contracts cannot be signed until July 12. I never understood the 11 day delay. Maybe this prevents GM's from getting buyer's remorse after some crappy deals. We'll call it the Isaiah Thomas Corollary (or coronary for you Knick fans).

So let's take a look at a few of the early player movement. Barring any Carlos Boozer back-stabbing situation, we'll assume that the verbal agreements are final.

Ben Wallace to Chicago: Pretty much this has been beaten to death by all the NBA "experts". I just recall reading a Sam Smith piece back in 04-05 predicting that the Bulls were mimicking the Detroit Pistons in their roster moves. While this is a good move, this is not going to make the Bulls an immediate contender. They still lack a low post scorer and that clutch swingman that you need for the playoffs (Kobe, Wade, LeBron, Ginobili, etc.). They were headed in the right direction, but then they brought in Jim Paxson as a consultant. (???) Nothing beats some good old fashioned nepotism! Why not consult your flunky older brother? What type of "consulting" can a former GM who's record was 185-307 and zero NBA playoff appearances in six years do?

Nazr Mohammed to Detroit: Not a bad pick-up for a 4-year deal for $25 million. Losing Wallace was big for team chemistry (was mostly satisfied with take little or no shots), defense (one of the top help defenders in the game) and rebounding. Getting Mohammed is a smart move, Detroit gets a decent big who'll come off the bench and they didn't have to move any key players. Still Detroit is no longer one of the top four teams in the league.

Vladimir Radmanovic to the Lakers: If Lamar Odom is considered a poor man's Pippen and Kobe is Jordan, then Radmanovic is Toni Kukoc. Outside shooting and satisfactory handles off the bench over the next few years. This signals the end to the Lakers preposterous notion to freeze all summer transactions and clear cap space for 2008 (all key free agents will be gone by then). I'm still shocked that the bulk of Laker fans bought into this. "Hey Jerry Buss led us to 8 titles, he knows what he's doing!" But Mitch Kupchak DOES NOT!!!!

Tim Thomas to the Clippers: Suckers!!! Sure he had an awesome 2006 playoff run, but that may have something to do with Steve Nash and the Phoenix system. Just ask Philadelphia, Milwaukee, New York and Chicago about Tim Thomas. Nice to see Elgin return to 2002 form, we all missed you. Still, re-signing Cassell may convince Thomas to play a full 82 in 2006-07. I doubt it.

Milwaukee gets Villanueva from Raptors for Ford: So Toronto couldn't keep two good bigs on their roster? Which is more intimidating, Villanueva and Bosh coming at ya or Andrea Bargnani and Rasho Nesterovic? Golly, that's a toughy! Andrea needs to get a hard-ass nickname, something veryyy Sopranos if you know what I mean. Andy "Two Balls" Bargnani or something mafia-like. Anyway, Ford is injury-prone and Villanueva was improving with a serious chip on his shoulder (which now will definitely grow). Couldn't Toronto keep Villanueva and re-sign Mike James?

Eric Piatkowski to the Suns: Wow! I guess the Colangelo's were the real geniuses in Phoenix. Sans Brian Colangelo, Phoenix trades off two first round picks for movie passes to Pirates of the Caribbean and now they sign Piatkowski. Let's see, slow white guy who couldn't crack the lineup for the 8th seeded Bulls (check); guy who had career lows in games played, minutes played and three point shooting percentage-his specialty (check); the guy is 35 years old and is entering his 13th season (check). With all that upside, how can you NOT sign him?

The rest:

Sebastian Telfair to Boston: He's waaay overrated! His lone move is the cross-over and predictably he spends every possession setting up for it. (The glazed look in this pic tells it all!)

Speedy Claxton to Atlanta: Only good if it means that Tyronne Lue (the WORST point guard in the NBA!) is cut.

Tyson Chandler to NOOCH: Good in the fact that they got rid of J.R. Smith, who did not get along with coach Scott. Bad in the fact that they still haven't addressed the lack of a low post offensive player.

Bobby Jackson and Peja Stojakovic to NOOCH: Jackson is injury prone and Stojakovic is a pussy in the playoffs. However, they will improve NOOCH in the regular season. They STILL need a low post scorer!

Check in later next week for Player Movement, Part 2. There will be a lot of activity this summer, hopefully we'll see a superstar or two get traded and Chris Wilcox will be a Laker (Do your job just once Kupchak!).