- It’s official: Monta Ellis has agreed to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The deal is worth up to $25 million, per ESPN’s Marc Stein. Adding Ellis to a backcourt with
veteran Jose Calderon should be the makings of either a perfect match – or a toxic relationship. Ellis was frustrated with the offers on the open market and fired his agent, Jeff Fried. Soon after, Ellis joined Mark Cuban’s buddy, Dan Fegan, and quickly hammered out a deal with the Mavs. Ellis rejected a two-year, $24 million extension from Milwaukee in June. Now we know that Ellis either hated Milwaukee or made one of the dumbest decisions so far in this free agency period.
- In other Mavericks news today, they rescinded their contract to guard Devin Harris. X-rays confirmed that he had a dislocated toe, so Dallas decided to quickly pull its three-year, $9 million offer. With Larkin breaking his ankle, Dallas again is in need of a cheap, veteran point guard to back up Calderon.
- With money not tied up in Harris, Dallas has decided to invest in new target Samuel Dalembert. The veteran big man is Plan C for Dallas, who have struck out on both Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum. Dalembert is cheaper, but surely not even close to the skill sets of Howard and Bynum.
- Apparently, Lamar Odom has decided to lawyer up after what he did earlier this week. Odom was enraged when paparazzi approached him Wednesday. He went over to the
photographer’s car and started throwing his equipment out into the street. Once Odom destroyed the camera bag, he turned his attention to the car, which he hit with the camera stand. The man is expected to file a lawsuit and press charges against the free agent. Odom quickly hired a lawyer.
- Milwaukee and New Orleans are battling for relatively unknown free agent Kostas Papanikolaou. Both teams are negotiating with both Kostas and the Rockets to buy him out of his contract. Houston owns his rights, but either the Bucks or the Pelicans can negotiate a deal to get him on their team. Papanikolaou is one of the more talked- about European players by NBA executives. Once he lands on a team and plays in the NBA, we will see if the Greek star can live up to his hype.
- According to CSN Philly, the Sixers have interviewed current Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, who just completed his first season on an NBA bench. Larranaga was the coach of NBA D-League’s Erie Bayhawks in 2010 and 2011. Before that, he spent two seasons coaching the Ireland national team. Those are qualities Sixers GM Sam Hinkie likes. Just 38, Larranaga has massive potential as an NBA coach, especially for a rebuilding team. Multiple sources also say he is going up against Michael Curry, the current favorite for the job.
- We leave you with a somber note on Metta from former teammate Pau Gasol via Twitter.
Sad to see my friend and teammate @MettaWorldPeace leave. He’s a player that has my admiration and respect. I wish him nothing but the best!
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) July 12, 2013
Evan Sidery is a regular contributor on Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.
Pages: 1 2
I hadn’t heard the Devin Harris news.
I would expect Dallas to make a low bid for Peace. Nothing to lose if he retires.
Regarding AK47, don’t forget that Nets were ready to use mini-MLE on Bogdanovic or Korver. That proves that AK opted out of his 10 million with Minny, without expecting to sign with Brooklyn. There were no Big offers for AK, before being approached by Billy King. There was a S&T deal being discussed, but that fell through. AK had already made about 100 million in his career and even gave his salary to charity, during the Lockout. It is true that AK and DWill’s family are friends and there is a photo to prove that they had a get together in early May – but nothing illegal about that.