NBA Free Agency- Who Could End Up Where?

With free agency looming I thought now would be a good time to think about who could potentially end up at new destinations this off season. The 09 off season (now) and the 2010 off season are going to have the most significance for the future of the league, more so than ever. so here are my predictions of where the top free agency candidates are going.

Jason Kidd: As a mavs fan personally, i’d love for him to resign. However the fact is, how much and for how long? Kidd has stated that he can play at a high level for three more years, so perhaps a deal of that length is what he will be hoping for. This past season Kidd averaged 9.0 ppg, 8.7 apg, 2.0 steals and 6.1 rebounds. More surprisingly however, he shot 40.6% from 3 pt land making him a top spot up shooter on the mavs roster.  He also recorded three triple doubles which behind Chris Paul and Lebron made him the leader.Rumours have stated that potential suitors for Kidd could include Boston, Cleveland and even the defending champs LA, my prediction is that he is resigned by Dallas for two to three years at around 7 mil$ per. As you can see by his production last season, he is still a triple double threat and has basketball IQ that can never diminish with age.

Prediction: Dallas

Hedo Turkoglu: After a Most improved Player of the year award in the 07/08 season, Hedo really came on this year averaging 16.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.9 apg. although this is a slight downtrend on his MIP winning year, the fact is that this guy is a legit 6′10 in height and has the handles of a point guard. Besides himself and Lamar Odom, I doubt anyone that height can measure up in terms of the ball handling skill these two have. there are many times during the clutch time situations in a game where he would be handling the ball, and there are several times he was counted on to take that final shot. In terms of suitors for Hedo, Orlando traded for Vince Carter as protection in case he opted out of his deal, which has now done. I can see why, he knows he is worth more and at this point (coming off a MIP year and a finals apperance) knows he can land a bigger contract to match his recent success. Who can offer him the kind of money he desires? Unfortunately not a lot of teams have overwhelming cap room. But the Trailblazers have been gaining significance in the rumours leading up to this deadline. If anytime has a chance right now, it is them.

Prediction: Portland

Mike Bibby: Bibby is one of those guys I always thought should have been an all star at one point or another in his career. However that didn’t happen and although he was a part of that amazing Sacramento team back in the day, since then he hasn’t really done as much as we’d expected him to. Coming off a year of 15/5/3.5 there is no doubt he will gain interest in the free agency market. But we know one things for sure and that will not be Atlanta. I believe they recently drafted a point guard and have now signed Jamal Crawford, who could potentially lead the point for the Hawks. Teams that could use his services is an interesting topic. I thought that Detroit could, considering Iverson & Rasheed come of the books for them. But they are still in belief that Stuckey is their man, so then again I am not sure. If I had to take a guess, I’d say a team needing a guard will throw some money at him. I know Memphis could use a PG right now.

Prediction: Memphis? (They need a PG and I don’t think the Hawks want him)

Allen Iverson: AI can still be a dynamic scorer. It’s just that his ego may get in the way of where he lands. Not wanting to come off the bench, I have been considering that he may be ending up in Charlotte with the bobcats. I have also heard rumours suggesting this. He could slot into the starting two guard position and move Raja Bell to the 6th man role. He would be re-united with coach Larry Brown and could become the number 1 or 2 option on offense with a team that is improving every year.

Prediction: Charlotte

These are only several of many potential big names in the free agency this off season. Here is a shortened list of predictions with a short sentence explaing why I feel this way.

Rasheed Wallace: San Antonio or Orlando, wants to sign with a contender.

Antonio McDyess: Cleveland, Could provide leadership to the frontcourt alongside Shaq.

Andre Miller: As much as I’d like to say Phili, I have heard other cities named also.

Shawn Marion: His best days are behind him, and no one has the money he once demanded, needs to fit into a system that works for his game, Toronto could potentially resign.

Paul Millsap: A standout year from the big man will earn him a decent sized contract with the Thunder IMO.

Trevor Ariza & Lamar Odom: I’m guessing resiging with the Lakers, with Trevor receiving a raise in salary and Odom taking a pay cut to stay with the team.

Semester 1 has finished. What an experience

Hello all and as I have said a few times before, I sometimes completely forget this blog exists. I’m sorry! But when there’s so much work in terms if university, stressing over exams etc, things tend to get overlooked. Especially something small like an online blog.

We finished exams on Thursday and hopefully they went well. Now we get a gift of a month off holiday. Very nice! =) Can’t wait to catch up on missed time on full tilt.

What has been going down since last entry?

* Officially 1/6th through my degree! psyched about that and what the future holds. I’d actually like to take this time to say a huge thank you to everyone in my class and i’m going to dedicate this part of the blog to you guys:

Jamie, Josh, Declan, Lewis, Mel P AND Mel W, Stacey, Taylor, Soana, Emma, Ashleigh C AND Ashleigh G, Matt, Louise, Seb, Jessica, Molly, Stine, Nikkita, Kathryn, Gemma, Lizzie, Chelsea, Gabby, Justine, Sophie

Thank you all for making my first semester at AUT a great one. Was a lot of fun, hard working for sure. But you all made it enjoyable. It’s not over, we’ll be in two, maybe even more classes next semester so GROUP SIX stays! Appreciate it. Twelve weeks ago we came into this thing strangers, but I gained all of you as friends and once again thank you for that.

To be honest I have no idea what semester 2 will bring, but with everyone i’ve met in the last few months, I’m sure it’ll be alot easier than the first one.

James