Free Agency Thoughts

I am a big fan of the NBA, I loved seeing the Celtics get their championship and seeing guys like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce & Ray Allen get they’re well deserved rings. When it got down to the two of them in the finals (Boston & LA) I was right behind the C’s because I respected Garnett alot and wanted his career to have at least 1 title. He had a tough time being a 1 man show in Minnesota for so long so to see it work for him in Boston was a great thing.

Now that the season is over we get an interesting free agency period. People can change teams quickly and form new winning ways during this time. Alot of interesting deals have been made and I’m going to go through what I think each will spell out in the long run.

June 26th: Bucks acquire Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian & Bobby Simmons.

I did not like this at first because I respected Richards game immensely, He had been a longtime servant of Nets baskteball and one of the bright stars with Devin Harris and Vince Carter. This brings a big man in Yi into the mix to go with Harris and Carter, It gives them a big man who is only in his early twenties who can grow and develop. On the other hand the Bucks acquire a much needed SF who can play alongside Michael Redd, these two can really make some noise and now that Sessions is devloping and Bogut has just re-signed with the franchise. Things could be starting to come together for the Bucks, however we will wait and see come October if this happens.

July 9th: Raptors obtain Jermaine O’Neal.

I think this was a nice move for Toronto, It gives them a dominat big man who can play with Chris Bosh and also gets him into a playoff contender. Something that Indiana wasn’t going to be. They had to give up TJ Ford in this trade but I feel the sacrifice will pay off in the long run. If Jermaine can stay injury free, expect something big from Toronto. Meanwhile the Pacers just got a lot worse.

July 9th: Sixers add Elton Brand.

Huge move here for Philidelphia, I had my money on the Clippers re-signing him for a long time, Brand and Baron would have been awesome, and down low with Kaman you had a great front court. We now have a 76’s team that could make a top 4 run in the East with AI version 2 in Igoudala and some nice role players.

The Clippers however just lost of their best player, yes they did add Baron Davis but they lost Maggette AND Brand in order to do so. what looked nice at first has turned bad for the Clippers, I hope they do well but with a Western Conference continuing to get better, Its going to be hard for them to make the 8, that said. Baron did take GS to the 8th seed in 06 and just missed out again in 08.

These are the big movements that caught my eye, There will be some more trades as time goes on no doubt and this year the NBA looks to be heading in a new direction.

Look out for Portland, man they have a team just waiting to explode on the scene. Oden finally playing and with Fernandez just in from Spain, alongside Roy and other young guns. You have a team thats destined for success eventually. If I’m a portland fan id be eagerly awaiting October when this all starts again.

–James–

1st

Wow a lotta blog sites out there! I picked wordpress cuz I had seen some great ones around, and so far so good. Havn’t had one of these in a while but I think they are pretty neat to have and will update it as much as possible.

Should be fun.

–James–