When Paul Pierce signed with the Washington Wizards on July 11, it seemed like Washington downgraded from Trevor Ariza, who departed to Houston. Two months into the season, it’s time for a fresh look. In our own free agency tracker, there were not kind words for the aging Pierce. “And while this may seem like a fine consolation prize for Ernie Grunfeld and Randy Wittman, anybody in Boston or Brooklyn who has been watching Pierce closely for the past two years
Now that Josh Smith is gone, what does the long-term future hold for Greg Monroe? A rival executive believes he will end up with the New York Knicks. “I could see $48 million for four years. I don’t think he’s a max (contract) guy, but he is pretty good. He might get more based on who is left on the board. I could see New York overpaying him,” the executive told SheridanHoops. Monroe has a trade veto after signing his qualifying offer
Let’s start with the obvious: Josh Smith is not going to be claimed on waivers. It’s true that Smith, 29, won’t be able to sign anywhere until 5 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, when the league office will announce if Smith was claimed in the waiver process. But the only reason Detroit cut Smith, even with over $35 million in guaranteed money still owed, was because they couldn’t find a taker to trade for him at that contract. In other words, no
Kind of funny to see so many teams supposedly lining up to get their hands on Josh Smith. One team’s $35 million piece of trash is apparently somebody else’s treasure, eh? Why a good team would want to bring in a player who has a high potential to poison the well is beyond me, but Smith will clear waivers on Christmas Eve and presumably will make up his mind on where his post-Pistons career will take him. Speculation in the mainstream
Okay, sure, being the Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey may have a strong bias when asking people to vote for his team’s players for the All-Star game. That’s a fair point of criticism. However, considering how often shooting guard James Harden is maligned for his defensive ability (or lack thereof), Morey makes a good case for his star guard. [Read more…]
A fire sale could be poised to begin in Brooklyn, with former All-Stars Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez all available in trade discussions, according to multiple media reports on Tuesday. [Read more…]
We all know what the Philadelphia 76ers are doing. Call it whatever you want – tanking, rebuilding, deconstructing, hoarding – the 76ers are openly, unabashedly and intentionally sinking to the bottom of the NBA, because GM Sam Hinkie has convinced ownership that is the fastest way to get back to the top. Hinkie has constructed a roster that is inherently non-competitive. The Sixers have the fewest first-round picks and the most undrafted free agents of any team. Their highest-paid player makes $6.6
When I regularly covered the NBA on a daily basis too many years ago, a number of us promised ourselves that when new days arrived, we would never bore people by talking about the good old days. The notion that the past is always better than the present is a sermon delivered by the aged and, as Pete Townshend once wrote, “Hope I die before I get old.” But having observed the Philadelphia 76ers the last two years, I can’t help myself: Tanking