Rumors update: Jordan Crawford, Tyreke Evans and Clippers pursuit of KG
Trade deadline day started with a small tremor… a report from Chris Broussard that the Celtics are interested in Wizards shooting guard Jordan Crawford:
The scale moved from small to mild when Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reminded us of the Celtics interest in the Hawks Josh Smith:
“Darkhorse” doesn’t sound too promising, but it appears some sort of Celtics offer remains on the table.
ESPN’s Marc Stein threw a new (for this trade deadline cycle) name into the mix – the Kings Tyreke Evans:
And then the Herald’s Steve Bulpett cranked the scale from mild to major with:
No surprises here, anyone with a brain knew that reports yesterday of the Clippers closing the door on Garnett were a negotiating tactic.
And since we’re talking KG, why not include this update on Paul Pierce:
Stay tuned.
And please discuss.
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Phoenix Suns’ Pursuit of Knicks’ Iman Shumpert Creates More Questions
Why?
That has to be the question on every Phoenix Suns fans mind right now. Why are the Suns so interested in Iman Shumpert?
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the Suns are pursuing a trade with the New York Knicks for the second-year player from Georgia Tech.
It is not that the 22-year-old Shumpert isn’t a good, solid player. He is. But why the Suns would be focusing their efforts to land Shumpert, potentially at the cost of Jared Dudley and a first-round draft pick, seems to be disconcerting to say the least.
Shumpert projects as a point guard. A point guard who has already had surgery on both knees at the age of 22.
Trading for Shumpert would bring the Suns back to the big-picture question with their fanbase.
Does Suns general manager Lance Blanks have a plan? If he does, it’s hard to see it right now. The Suns seem to be randomly moving from decision to decision.
The main concern is that the Suns already have a point guard in Goran Dragic, who they just signed this past summer to a four-year contract worth $34 million to replace Steve Nash.
Dragic had already been traded away by Blanks in February of 2011, so it was somewhat odd to see Blanks re-sign Dragic and make such a large commitment to him after dumping him to the Houston Rockets less than 18 months earlier.
Plus, the Suns also drafted another point guard in the first round this summer in Kendall Marshall, a move that seems very questionable already.
Aaron Brooks, the player acquired from the Rockets for Dragic, was a complete bust in Phoenix. The fact that the Suns had to include a 23rd pick in the 2011 NBA draft made the move even more painful at the time.
If the Suns turn around and trade Dudley, another player whom the Suns have recently signed to a large multiyear contract in November of 2010, plus a first-round pick for Shumpert, it immediately creates more questions than answers for the organization.
The Suns have a huge draft coming up this summer with potentially two lottery picks.
It is hard to feel confident about that when the Suns are seemingly changing their minds all of the time.
Information used from NBA.com, AZ Republic/AZ Central, Arizona Sports, NBADraft.net.
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Heat Rumors: Miami’s Continued Pursuit of Greg Oden Is Pointless
The Miami Heat signed Chris Andersen to another 10-day contract recently, and that could mean they are set to eventually sign him for the rest of the season. So with Andersen and Jarvis Varnado on the roster, the team’s interest in Greg Oden is futile.
Andersen has been a solid fit with Miami thus far and gives the Heat some much-needed size off the bench immediately.
“Birdman” is averaging 3.7 points and four rebounds per game in his six appearances this season. As he continues to round into better shape, Andersen will only improve from here.
Adding to their depth in the big man department, the Heat also guaranteed the contract of forward Jarvis Varnado, although it’s likely his impact will be felt down the road instead of right away.
Despite the signings of Birdman and Varnado, the Heat are keeping their options open, and it appears the pursuit for Oden rages on, per Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports:
Conley, who continues to talk with Heat team president Pat Riley, said Miami remains in the picture for Oden and that he still anticipates his client will visit with the Heat. Conley said it likely won’t be before the Feb. 15-17 All-Star break, but he’s trying get Oden to Miami in the latter part of the month to meet with team officials.
The history of Oden’s time in the NBA has been well documented.
There was some serious hype around the center when he was drafted No. 1 overall back in 2007, but injuries have sidelined his career. Oden has only played in 82 games—all for the Portland Trail Blazers—and has averaged 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest.
A lack of talent has never been the issue for Oden. Countless knee problems have halted any momentum of Oden developing his skills, and it remains to be seen if his fragile body can withstand a full season of banging with big bodies in the paint.
Clearly the Heat are hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle and that Oden can finally realize his true potential if he can only stay healthy. If that were to happen, the Heat would no doubt have a gold mine on their hands when combined with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
While it’s an intriguing scenario that the Heat would love to come true, it likely won’t happen.
Knee problems are one of the last issues a big man wants to have, let alone a younger one. It’s doubtful Oden can ever return to his once-dominant college form, and the Heat are just spinning their wheels in regards to the Ohio State product.
A more realistic scenario for Miami would be to hold onto Andersen for the remainder of this season and potentially next, while continuing to develop Varnado behind the scenes in what will be a project that has a better chance of succeeding than Oden.
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Former Georgetown star battles MS in pursuit of NBA dream
Multiple sclerosis brought former Georgetown star Chris Wright to Des Moines.
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Indiana, Michigan stay in pursuit of something bigger than No. 1
Indiana beats Michigan by 8, but both teams show they will be among March’s strongest contenders.
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Virginia Beach Reportedly Set To End Pursuit of Sacramento Kings
After much hullabaloo at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Virginia Beach, Va., finally ended its ill-fated quest to land an NBA team.
Mayor Will Sessoms disclosed that his city is no longer actively seeking to poach the Kings away from Sacramento, according to Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee.
“This just ain’t gonna work at this point in time,” he told the reporters. “We can’t move forward because Comcast has not reached a deal.”
Sessoms had installed a Monday deadline to put together an arena proposal that would be brought forth to the state legislature in order to acquire $150 million in subsidy money.
Developer Comcast-Spectacor and the city both agreed that they just weren’t far enough along to properly request and receive funding.
While Virginia Beach now has no plans to continue its courtship of the Kings, it would not oppose any attempts by the developer to secure a deal in the city.
It’s been a tough year for the 13-22 Kings, as they have one of the worst records in the Western Conference and are still playing in the severely outdated Sleep Train Arena, which first opened back in 1988.
The Kings are surrounded by trade rumors concerning arguably their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, who was suspended late in 2012 for an altercation with coach Keith Smart.
Many fans are fearful that Sacramento is likely to be one of the first organizations to relocate or be sold by the Maloof brothers—Joe and Gavin—in order to line their pockets.
At least they can rest easy knowing Virginia Beach is out of the picture, but there will likely be suitors popping up from all over the country with a strong interest in acquiring the franchise.
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N.C. State Basketball: BeeJay Anya a Wolfpack Lean After Indiana Stops Pursuit
BeeJay Anya, a 6’9″ center from Hyattsville, MD, had trimmed his list to North Carolina State and Indiana earlier this week. Now, it appears there is only one team left on the elite big man’s list. According to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Indiana has stopped recruiting Anya to focus on another recruit.
Anya made a visit to N.C. State this past weekend.
“It was cool,” Anya told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com of his visit to N.C. State. “The coaches were cool. I got to spend more time with the team. I like them a lot.”
The 4-star recruit is considered the eighth-best center and the 31st-best player in the 2013 class by ESPN.com. He holds offers from several top Division-I schools, including Louisville, Georgetown, Duke, Ohio State, UCLA and UNC.
Scout.com says of Anya:
A true old school center, Anya is comfortable in the paint and likes to throw his body around down low. Anya is a good rebounder and is very strong. He has extremely long arms which makes up for being a little bit short. He still needs to run the floor better and show the desire to be great at all times. With that said, Anya is one of the most productive players in the class down low.
Anya averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.8 blocks a game as a junior at DeMatha Catholic High School. He then played with the USA U17 World Championship Team over the summer.
If Anya commits, N.C State would have a very well-rounded 2013 class. The Wolfpack already has 4-star point guard Anthony Barber and 4-star center Kyle Washington. N.C. State currently has the 14th-best recruiting class for 2013, according to ESPN.com.
Anya was planning on making his decision in November before today.
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The Pursuit with Brandon Bass
I came across this documentary with Brandon Bass that was filmed just before the trade to Boston. It’s a really good look at Brandon and it’s a good way to get to know him better. He’s a quiet guy, and so we don’t see him in the headlines much, unlike his predecessor, Big Baby. . In “The Pursuit” we get a look into Brandon’s preparation, hobbies, and the unpredictability of life in the NBA. I really like Brandon and this makes me even happier that the Celtics have re-signed him to a contract that will keep him in Boston for years to come. He’s a hard worker and because of that, the best truly is yet to come.
[Discuss on CG Forums!]
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Lakers Rumors: LA Must Move Forward by Ending Pursuit of Dwight Howard
The Los Angeles Lakers must officially remove themselves from Dwight Howard race this summer, and prepare for next season with the championship-caliber talent they already have.
According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the Orlando Magic “have told rival executives that they might not trade Dwight Howard after all.” Broussard reports that some executives believe that the Magic could potentially wait until next February’s trade deadline to deal Superman:
While the angst between the Magic and Howard is real and sizable, the franchise also realizes that Howard is fickle, impressionable and prone to changing his mind.
If Broussard’s report is accurate, then there is no action left to take by the Lakers’ front office, other than hanging up the phone permanently on the Magic.
LA has more than enough talent to win basketball games in 2012-13, and Howard wouldn’t exactly fill a need for them considering they already have an All-Star at center. Andrew Bynum’s production for the Lakers last season was stellar. He averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
The bottom line is that the Magic and Lakers are two teams headed in different directions. While it’s no secret that Orlando won’t be competitive in the NBA for some time now, LA has made a couple of excellent free-agent signings to make a perennial contender that much better. Basically, Orlando needs Howard a lot more than LA does right now.
The Lakers have more than enough stars to sell the franchise, and one of the greatest players the game has ever seen in Kobe Bryant. In the age of super-teams, the Lakers aren’t looking too shabby. With the acquisition of Steve Nash this summer, LA now boasts a backcourt duo and frontcourt duo that can match up and contend with any in the league.
The pickup of Antawn Jamison was another big offseason move that will have fans excited for the regular season to start on time this year.
LA must move forward with the solid pieces they have this coming season. They can compete with Oklahoma City now, and they have the plethora of size in the frontcourt to give the defending NBA champion Miami Heat nightmares down the road.
Give up the chase on Dwight Howard, LA—you’re already set.
Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter.
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NBA Rumors: Marco Belinelli Pursuit Highlights Bulls’ Free-Agent Failures
The Chicago Bulls have done very little in free agency to add players who will give them a strong chance to dethrone the Miami Heat as the best team in the Eastern Conference next year.
Signing players like Marco Belinelli, who Chicago is reportedly interested in (via Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld), won’t help the Bulls roster improve enough to beat contenders such as the Heat, Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets during the 2012-13 NBA season.
It sounds like Marco Belinelli and the Chicago Bulls are in advanced talks. Nothing imminent, but he may sign for the bi-annual exception.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 20, 2012
The Bulls have not been aggressive enough in free agency and this approach could cost them a chance at winning the NBA Finals next year.
They should have tried harder to sign scorers like O.J. Mayo and Jason Terry, both of whom would have been fantastic additions to the Bulls’ bench. Chicago doesn’t have enough scoring in the backcourt, and once again, 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose will have to carry the team offensively.
Richard Hamilton cannot be relied on to score enough points at shooting guard at this stage of his career, and asking rookie Marquis Teague to shine in his first NBA season is unfair. The other guards currently on the Bulls roster are Jimmy Butler and Ronnie Brewer.
Belinelli can stretch the floor with good outside shooting and will average about 10 points per game, but he won’t add another dimension to the Bulls offense. He won’t take over games and is not capable of creating his own shot against good defensive players.
The Bulls have missed a golden opportunity this summer to get better and be a top contender next season, but their failures in free agency will hurt them a lot next year.
Unless Chicago makes a move at the trade deadline, they won’t get past a much-improved Celtics team or the defending champion Heat in the playoffs next season.
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