The Washington Wizards on Wednesday acquired center Emeka Okafor and forward Trevor Ariza from the New Orleans Hornets for forward Rashard Lewis and the 46th pick in next week’s draft. Trades usually aren’t made during the playoffs as teams are inclined to wait until the draft and free agency to start making moves in advance of next season. As far as postseason trades go, this is a pretty big one, rivaling the Chris Webber deal in May 1998. The Wizards were fleeced
Reader Daniel put an end to a two-list losing streak, correctly solving last week’s Bernucca List with the answer of “leading scorers on the losing team in the Finals.” The list actually comprised the last 10 players to turn the trick. So congrats to Daniel as we move on to this week’s list, which is comprehensive but not complete as the research was somewhat time-consuming. See if you can find the common thread among the players listed below. If you think you
Sam Amick: Source says Portland has been awarded forward JJ Hickson from waivers. Golden State misses out. Twitter David Aldridge: The Hornets, according to a source, have no plans at the moment to buy out Chris Kaman. Twitter Derek Fisher and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to terms on a rest-of-the-season contract that will be signed after Fisher clears waivers, according to sources close to the process.ESPN.com The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed free agent center Ronny Turiaf. Per club policy, terms of the deal were
Edition 14 of The Bernucca List was first answered correctly by Doug, whose response was “active players who have led the league in personal fouls.” This week’s list can be found below. The idea is to figure out the common denominators among each player on the list. First correct answer gets a pop in next week’s list. As always, submit your answers via the comments or send me a Tweet. The Bernucca List Carlos Boozer Marc Gasol Manu Ginobili Rashard Lewis Mehmet Okur Michael Redd Mo Williams
Highlight Performances: Danny Granger, IND– Granger was outstanding Wednesday Night, scoring 36 points with 7 boards and 2 assists. George Hill, the sharpshooting 6th man, suffered an ankle injury last night, and is out indefinitely. Granger and Paul George figure the main beneficiaries of this injury, however production-wise, Granger seems destined for the biggest uptick. He will be leaned on more heavily for scoring production, so consider his value on the rise. Serge Ibaka, OKC– This is not to say that there
Russell Westbrook was under the microscope earlier this season, and rightfully so. Like many players who have been recent All-Stars, he needed to step up his game. As a player with a seemingly limitless ceiling, Westbrook was coming off a pair of firsts – his first All-Star berth and first deep playoff run, which made the Oklahoma City Thunder look like legitimate championship contenders entering this season. Westbrook was also coming off his first major controversy, having bickered with superstar teammate Kevin
I went on the radio in Portland yesterday morning with Chad Doing on KXTG 750 The Game to discuss whether the Trail Blazers should waive Brandon Roy, and my opinion was : What’s the hurry? (Click here to listen to the interview). You only get to use the amnesty clause once during the 10-year collective bargaining agreement, and it is becoming clear that several teams, such as Washington with Rashard Lewis, would prefer to keep it in their back pocket for use sometime
And what, you may ask, is secondary waivers? The details still need to be ironed out in “secondary negotiations” between lawyers from the league office and the, ahem, union, but there is going to be a bidding process for players released under the amnesty clause of the new collective bargaining agreement. How will that bidding process work? Something like this: Let’s say the Orlando Magic decide to release Gilbert Arenas, who has $62 million remaining on his contract over the next three years, including