Phil Jackson won’t be awful as president of the New York Knicks. He certainly won’t be as bad as Isiah Thomas was in running the club. And he will almost certainly be better than David Kahn, Bryan Colangelo, Joe Dumars, Otis Smith and Geoff Petrie have been in recent years. But Phil Jackson isn’t Isiah Thomas, or David Kahn, or Bryan Colangelo. He’s Phil Jackson, with a reputation of all things basketball that he touches turning to gold. And that’s exactly what
I’m kinda high on what the Charlotte Bobcats did with Ben Gordon. The Bobcats waived Gordon on Sunday, preventing him from appearing in the postseason should he sign with another team. While they may have alienated his agent – not a trifle thing in the business world of the NBA – two things should be pointed out. 1. When teams waive or buy out players at this time of the season, they are essentially establishing a price they are willing to pay
Once and forever, the rich get richer, whether you’re talking the United States wealth gap or the disparity between NBA conferences. The March 1 deadline for players to be bought out and remain playoff-eligible for a new squad has passed. Per usual, the superior conference emerged even stronger. To wit, the Chicago Bulls just added Jimmer Fredette, released by the Sacramento Kings after failing to justify his lottery pick status. [Read more…]
For those who were surprised at teams on the cusp of a who did not make a deadline move to bolster their chances, it is because they had their eyes keenly on the waiver wire. On Friday afternoon both the Los Angeles Clippers — looking like a real threat in the West — and the Oklahoma City Thunder — the team to beat in the West — picked up veteran wings to strengthen their rotations, locker rooms and title chances. [Read
NBA writers have been speaking with anonymous scouts as of late, and you have to wonder if some of those scouts are paying as much attention as they really should, based on some of their questionable analysis. For example, saying you don’t like the Golden State Warriors’ chances in the playoffs because they’re not good enough defensively simply makes no sense, given that they are the third best defensive team in the league – the very best if you only count
February’s buyout season is becoming more interesting than the trade deadline itself. There’s a case to be made that the goings-on surrounding Danny Granger, Caron Butler, Jimmer Fredette and others could make a bigger impact than all those moves made one week ago. With Granger, Butler and now Jimmer Fredette (as the Kings announced) officially bought out and ancillary players like Beno Udrih, Earl Clark and Shannon Brown finding new teams, it’s time to really ramp up the races for players who
Metta World Peace has been largely silent about everything that has been going on with the New York Knicks this season. He has been cooperative and never once had anything bad to say or complain about the situation he was in. He still doesn’t have any ill-feelings towards anyone, but now that he is no longer with the team, many things on his mind – including Carmelo Anthony’s leadership, James Dolan’s impact and Mike Woodson’s coaching ability – were finally shared with Frank
Does anyone want Danny Granger? How about Jimmer Fredette? Perhaps Caron Butler? And how about this: Someone — the Memphis Grizzlies — wanted Beno Udrih so badly they claimed him off waivers. This is the last week for contenders to shore up their playoff rosters with NBA players for a run they hope will last into June. It is becoming known as February Free Agency. The official NBA rule is that teams have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, March 1 to waive a