The first few days of NBA free agency have been stories of speculation upon stories of little news at all. Of course there have been the few stories of players who have chosen to re-sign with their teams: Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki have all made the choice to return to the cities that love them most.
As we continue to wait and find out what happens with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, one of the other premiere free agents, Amar’e Stoudemire has made his decision to play for the New York Knicks. Stoudemire has become the first big name player to switch teams, and for New York, they’re obviously excited for two reasons:
Their team didn’t get shutout during free agency, and they’ve landed a superb All-Star big man.
This could potentially increase the chances of a player like LeBron James coming to New York to team up with Stoudemire.
Though he can’t sign officially until July 8, Stoudemire and the Knicks have made no reservations about making his agreement to join the team official. Stoudemire merchandise is already available on Knicks.com. The deal between Stoudemire and the Knicks is reportedly set to be a five-year deal worth nearly $100 million.
One of the most accomplished free agents is Dalls Mavericks’ forward Dirk Nowitzki. A former MVP who led the Mavericks to the 2006 NBA Finals. He’s also scored over 20,000 points in his career. Still going strong, Dirk is one of the league’s top players and a staple in Mavs’ history. By next season, the 32 year-old Nowitzki will be in the league’s top 20 scorers of all-time, but the question is, does Dirk still think he can win a title in Dallas?
Nowitzki made his way back from Germany, (rather than having Mavs’ GM Donnie Nelson come to him) stopping in New York for a dinner with teammate Jason Kidd, and then on to Dallas where he will be greeted by the entire city, which is hosting DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) Digs Dirk Week.
Maverick’s fan Ben Rogers’ even churned out the official “DFW Digs Dirk” theme song. This thing is a whole lot better than a bunch of saps in Cleveland pleading to LeBron, that’s for sure.
Expect Dirk to get a 4-year deal worth close to $100 million. He’ll be back Dallas, no worries.
We’ve been hearing about the 2010 free agent class for far too long.
Seriously, this has to be the most overdrawn out, overhyped thing in NBA history. It only got zanier when ESPN had the audacity to put up a ticker counter in honor of LeBron James‘ upcoming free agency, the moment that his Cavaliers lost to the Celtics.
Well, today at 12:01 AM, the counter struck zero.
James is a free agent, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for — well at least people in New York, New Jersey and Chicago. As for people in Cleveland, they’re all crapping their pants right now and probably running around the city frantically.
Of course, LeBron isn’t the only free agent, but if you turn on ESPN, CNN or other outlets, you might get that feeling.
As far as breaking it all down, that’s another post, but let the speculation and rumors continue — the truth is about to come out very soon, and within the next two or three weeks the NBA should look quite different, or maybe not much different at all.
Thanks to injuries, everyone that deserves to be in the game is there. Of course, in the East, my only exceptions would be Josh Smith and Stephen Jackson. Out West, you have both Aaron Brooks and Carlos Boozer. Other than that, it finally all worked out.
Iverson stepped away from the game and his “personal matters,” actually seem legit. Granted I’ve given him hell the past year on this blog, I wish him and his family nothing but the best. He’s obviously going through a lot emotionally. That said, it worked out for David Lee, who never should have been left off the roster in the first place.
Thanks to Kobe taking a seat back, unfortunately, Dirk is going to find his way in the starting lineup — where he should have been. It also got Jason Kidd in the game, which was a little outlandish, that’s a reputation and a respect vote by Commissioner Stern. That spot should have went to Brooks or Boozer, no doubt. Kidd’s numbers are down, granted he’s still solid — he’s not an All-Star. If you’re going to put a veteran there for being a veteran, then just give Shaq a spot on the Western Conference Team, because he should always be there.
It really has worked out perfect for so many players, and I’m glad that a bunch of the guys that deserved recognition, got it — even if it took a couple of injuries.
Game starts at 8pm.
PREDICTION: West, 147-139. Kevin Durant is gonna take the MVP.
The most notable snubs are Chauncey Billups and David Lee, but I also am a firm believer that Stephen Jackson should be joining his Bobcats’ teammate Wallace in Dallas. Horford making the team was a bit of a surprise to me, but he is putting up very solid numbers on one of the best team’s in the East, along with playing superb defense — I can’t rain on anyone’s parade — except for Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett.
To read about my reserve choices, check the links below:
Picking the reserves for the NBA All-Star teams is always a difficult process, there are generally always more than seven deserving players who deserve that all-star status. Sometimes veterans who have been consistent for years, other times it’s a fresh face who has taken his game to a whole new level. The case remains the same this year in both conference, but I’m going to start with the Western Conference.
I’m going to stick by NBA voting guidelines in doing this: two forwards, two guards, one center and two wildcards.
Who makes the team? Who gets snubbed?
Keep reading to find out who I’ve deemed the best out West.
It’s good to know that NBA fans halfway figured things out during the final weeks of NBA All-Star fan voting — they voted in Steve Nash instead of Tracy McGrady, who had the second most votes for Western Conference guards through the first few ballot returns. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the Allen Iverson memo, or maybe Nash was just more persuasive than the guards in the East.
Iverson is averaging career-lows with 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game. He’s only played 19 games this season, bickered his way out of Memphis after three games and hasn’t helped the Sixers improve (6-10 with Iverson in the lineup).
Iverson should be glad that fans have showed their continued love for him, but if he had any class, he’d give his spot on the team up to a deserving player.
Yesterday I went over the much-improved Eastern Conference, and today I’m going to hit you all with my Western Conference preview.
Ron Artest is in Hollywood, San Antonio is healthy and has added a bunch of new talent and Allen Iverson has agreed to come off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies. The plot thickens out West, but one thing remains, Kobe Bryant is the league’s best player and is chasing after his fifth championship ring.
How will the West play out? I know the answers to all of this, so read the review already.
One of the excitements of media day is seeing your favorite players for the first time in months. Often times players come back to training camp different: new tattoos like Gilbert Arenas or 30 pounds less like Al Jefferson.
Often times players come back with different hairstyles too. It’s something minor and has absolutely no affect on the game, but it can create that illusion to us that the player is anew. Especially if it may have been a player who had a bad season the prior year, it’s almost refreshing to see them with a new appearance and can help get fans pumped up as the season begins.
Right now Mike Miller is taking the crown with his new blonde hair, which looks awful. Seriously, Miller is one of the goofier looking players in the league, especially since he grew his hair out the past couple seasons, now he is straight up just a little creepy looking.
All jokes aside, Miller is a damn good player who can do a bit of everything, but last year in Minnesota he saw plenty of ups and downs and didn’t play as well as he can. Now with new life and this new hairstyle in Washington, he could not only have a big year, but be a part of something special with a team that could surprise the entire league.
Miller wasn’t the only player rocking some wild hair at media day yesterday.
Change your NBA franchise? Recent NCAA POY. A.Davis,Jimmer,E.Turner,Blake,Tyler H,KD,Redick,Bogut,Jameer,TJ Ford,JWill,Shane,KMart,Brand.(via Twitter)5 hours ago
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