SB Nation - Jerome James

Rumor: Knicks in the market for Tyrus Thomas?

Seth — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:21:48 -0000

This sort of came out of the blue, but Adrian Wojnarowski's a reputable fellow. From Yahoo Sports, Woj's most recent piece focuses on the Bulls' options to ditch Tyrus Thomas. Sure enough, the Knicks are mentioned.

Several sources believe the Bulls are agreeable to a package of Thomas and Jerome James for Knicks forward Al Harrington. Thus far, Walsh has resisted parting with Harrington, but discussions are still active and the teams have explored different combinations in recent days that would ultimately deliver Thomas to the Knicks.

"Nothing is imminent, but both sides would like to figure out a way to do this," one league executive briefed on the talks told Yahoo! Sports.

The Bulls are determined to shed more salary-cap space for the summer of 2010, and believe Harrington’s ability to score coupled with a $10.2 million expiring contract make this a worthy exchange. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has long been fond of Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward whose nimbleness and athleticism makes him an intriguing fit for New York.

Forgive me for getting caught up in the fine print, but...Jerome James!?

As for the actual meat of the deal...I just don't know. Harrington's an expiring contract and Thomas is, I believe, a restricted free agent this summer. If the Knicks were to trade for him then let him walk, it could be a wash financially, though it's hard to see the logic of making such a move unless you're actually interested in keeping the incoming player. As far as actual output, Harrington's tendency to swallow the rock on offense has had P&T up in arms all season. Thomas is more athletic and capable of blocking a shot now and then, which is something we've been missing. Very interesting. Does this sparkle with all you crazy kids? Tyrus has always struck me as someone either love or hate, although I've never really felt that strongly one way or the other about him.

In closing...Jerome James!?

Update: I forgot to mention that Thomas is a few weeks away from returning from a fractured arm. Also, adding two more players with last names that end in "S" might make me rip the apostrophe key off my computer.

The Downbeat - 5 November 2009 - #94 - The Great Debate Edition

Basketball John — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:15:45 -0000

Fantastic discussions yesterday. Whether it was in the Downbeat, a can of tuna (where Vromanite's trade machine 'shop was on BDL), or the beginning of the end, it was great to see everyone's opinions and discussion. Perhaps the best part was that it didn't regress into name calling, etc. We have an amazing group of posters, commenters, and lurkers. High quality stuff all around.

This was brought up in one of the discussions. But what would everyone think of a Boozer for Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James trade? Or also include Kyle Korver and John Salmons in the mix?

Everyone's deal, with the exception of Salmons, expires at the end of the year, so there's not a huge risk that way. Thomas has been disgruntled in Chicago because he believes he should be starting. Seems like both players could use a change of scenery.

However, if Thomas came here, he would likely be the backup as well to Millsap/Okur. He wouldn't start but I could see him getting huge minutes as he would come in for either one of them. What about a second unit of Price, Matthews, AK, Thomas, and Ronnie B? Does that work? Does acquiring him mean even less playing time for Fess and the KOOF?

From what I've read up on Thomas is that he's a great shot blocker, but not necessarily a good defender with help D and the like.

I think at this point, if the Jazz could land this deal, it would be a huge win given the current value of Boozer.

Late start again tonight against the Spurs. They've had a semit-easy start to the season as they've got to plan NOLA and Sacramento at home. Their lone loss came on the road against the Bulls.

And in a bit of a scheduling perk to give some of those old bones a rest, they haven't played for 5 days. So despite being on the road, they've had a mini vacation leading up to the game that will give them fresh legs and ample time to develop a game plan. Not good news.

Some of the biggest complaints from Jazz fans right now is the lack of hustle, lack of toughness, and seemingly lack of desire.

Has the bar been set too high for Jazz fans? Should be be comparing the current team to the Stockon and Malone days? We don't expect the same numbers necessarily that both of them put up on a consistent basis. They were once in a lifers.

I'm not going one way or the other with this issue, but is it fair to compare the two eras?

I just barely took a look at the stats from Dallas this morning. The Jazz were in the penalty with 9 minutes left in the game. The stats that stood out to me was that Deron AND Memo had 0 fouls to start the fourth quarter. They then are called for 5 fouls apiece and the Jazz as a team have 13 of their 24 fouls in that quarter alone. That resulted in Dallas going 18-18 from the free-throw line. Of course nobody could handle Dirk either. Unbelievable.

So, is that a result of fatigue? Home court advantage? They had more fouls called on them in the fourth than the previous three quarters combined.

It just seems weird that with the flip of a switch the Jazz would get tired at that point and start hacking at such a high rate.

Initial Bulls Media Day link dump

your friendly BullsBlogger — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:45:18 -0000

Not much news, lots of talk about defense.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I saw in my scan of media day reactions is that Jerome James is alive, and wants to play basketball. That's technically not good news, from and 'insured contract' standpoint.

I'll give a proper write-up over the weekend, but in the meantime:

Mike McGraw, Daily Herald
Doug Thonus, ChicagoNow ("Everything is in place for this special year". HOSE THIS MAN DOWN!)
Joel Brigham, Hoopsworld
KC Johnson, Tribune

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Chicago Bulls- Ring Around the Rose-y

Atma Brother ONE — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:42:22 -0000

After bumpin' atlantaplayalisticcadillachoopz, chillin' out to Anything is Possible by K-Boogie, and recognizing that the BETcats do exist, we turn our attention to the house that MJ built.

Without a doubt the greatest hoops commercial ever made.

Jump for a look at the 2k9-2k10 Chicago Bulls.

The biggest story of the Bulls' previous season was a young man with a very interesting strategy to boost his SAT score- kids don't try that at home. Truth be told on draft day 2008 I actually thought the Bulls should have taken Michael Beasley. It's still early, but right now I don't think anyone's questioning their selection of the 2008-2009 NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose.

I was perusing trusty old Basketball Reference and this rookie comparison popped out at me (highs across 3 players bolded):

Rookie PG A: 16.1 ppg (43.0% FG, 28.2% 3pt, 84.7% FT), 7.8 apg : 2.3 tov, 5.1 rpg, 2.2 stl
Rookie PG B: 16.8 ppg (47.5% FG, 22.2% 3pt, 78.8% FT), 6.3 apg : 2.5 tov, 3.9 rpg, 0.8 stl
Rookie PG C: 10.8 ppg (42.1% FG, 41.6% 3pt, 70.4% FT), 4.5 apg : 1.8 tov, 2.4 rpg, 0.8 stl

Based on their rookie stats how would you rank these 3 rookie PG's NBA futures?

A is Chris Paul, B is Derrick Rose, and C is Deron Williams. I'm not really sure what or how much to read into that, but interesting to say the least.

Last season CP3 and DWill were mighty impressive (in case you weren't living on hoops planet NBA):

Chris Paul: 22.8 ppg (50.3% FG, 36.4% 3pt, 86.8% FT), 11.0 apg : 3.0 apg, 5.5 rpg, 2.8 stl
Deron Williams: 19.4 ppg (47.1% FG, 31.0% 3pt, 84.9% FT), 10.7 apg : 3.4 tov, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 stl

(Side note does hoops nation realize that the "bigger and stronger" Williams is a far inferior rebounder to the "smallish" PG with two first names? Pretty amazing.)

I'd rate these two as legitimate superstars in the league for years to come and I think most would agree- even the delusional and low IQ masses of LA Laker fans (sorry had to get that in there after being surrounding by the Faker-ness during my recent excursion to SoCal aka Shallow Cal). The question everyone in Chicago and around the association should be asking themselves is does Derrick Rose got next? It'll be interesting to see if he make that leap. I know I'm curious.

Call me skeptical though. First thing's first he has to take much better care of the rock. That 7 game 1st round series and all those insane OT's with the Boston Celtics last spring was absolutely thrilling. But one thing stood out in my mind while watching that series. Sure Rose was scoring a ton, but he was an absolute turnover machine. If I remember correctly there was one game in the 4th quarter where he had an unfathomable number of turnovers in a row and his coach was hesitant to let him even bring up the ball. He simply could not take care of the rock and make good decisions- a critical element for any NBA PG. Take a look at his turnovers in that series against Boston:

Game 1: 5 turnovers
Game 2: 2 turnovers
Game 3: 7 turnovers
Game 4: 7 turnovers
Game 5: 6 turnovers
Game 6: 5 turnovers
Game 7: 3 turnovers

(He'd sure fit right in with the young and dumb turnover prone 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors!)

This is the PG ROY we're talking about. Maybe it was an anomaly and maybe it shouldn't be as big of a precaution as I'm making it out to be, but it still makes me wonder. We shall see soon enough.

Rewinding 2k8-2k9 Season: 41-41 - Lost to Boston Celtics in absolutely thrilling 7 game series (minus KG)

Projecting 2k9-2k10 Season: 40-42 - 1st round exit with less OTs than the previous season.

I honestly don't see how the Bulls really improved this offseason. They lost Ben Gordon to free agency (I give the Bulls props for not trying to ink him to anything like the Detroit Pistons silly 5 year $55 million deal) and although I'm not a huge fan of his game his absence will make things tougher for Rose and crew.

To make a leap forward or even maintain their .500 record of a season before, the Bulls are going to need a major trade a la Carlos Boozer (but don't count on it- the Bulls have repeatedly shown a complete inability to pull off a trade for an All-Star caliber player the past few seasons even when it seemed like the player was theirs for the taking) or some in-house development (but we've been hearing that for years from guys like Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, and if you want to b e strict Joakim Noah). I expect Rose to continue to progress, but that improvement will most likely only begin to account for the Gordon loss.

Unfortunately it appears the Bulls are saturated with fairly middling young talent. No future All-Star/ All-NBA appearances seem to be in sight for the Bulls young core of Deng, Thomas, and Noah. They're nice players, but not the kind you build around. The Warriors analogy would be Andris Biedrins, Kelenna Azubuike, and Brandan Wright (being extremely generous with that one).

Despite the shortcomings of this roster the 2009-2010 Chicago Bulls are pretty much destined for a low playoff seed thanks to the Leastern part of the Eastern Conference. That's all fine and dandy until you realize that this means a date with the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, or Cleveland Cavaliers.

Gone Fishing- later than the lottery teams, but still pretty fast.

Golden Predictions

Luol Deng picks up some of the scoring slack from the Gordon departure to Detroit by raising his PPG totals to his 2007-2008 17.0 ppg.
The Bulls finally trade Kirk Hinrich- a fantastic defender, but mediocre at best offensive player who hasn't quite lived up to his big money deal.
Jerome James matches his games played totals of the two previous seasons. (That's 2 games each season if you're counting at home.)
Brad Miller pitches in a very solid 12 ppg, 8 rpg, and 3.5 apg.
Joakim Noah draws a ton of boos in every away arena while approaching a double-double average with increased playing time.
We give up any dreams of Tyrus Thomas being a star in this league. That's unfortunate because he can be pretty exciting to watch.
John Salmons continues to be the best player putting up 18 ppg that gets zero national media love.
Derrick Rose raises his scoring average to 20 ppg, but still can't get his SAT score up without a little help from his associates.

Ain't no Bull over at Blog-A-Bull:

GSoM's Around the Association 2009-2010

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the Around the Association clock...

Poll

Is 2008-2009 Chicago Bulls rookie of the year point guard Derrick Rose destined for superstardom in the NBA?

YES: I'll paint a very Rose-y picture.

547 votes

NO: He'll be a nice player no doubt, but not a superstar.

130 votes

Other (explain in comments)

10 votes

687 votes | Poll has closed

Identifying Potential Late Season Pickups

JakeTheSnake — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:00:40 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Though he didn't help them to a championship, Joe Smith was a great late season addition for the Cavs last season after having his contract bought out with the Thunder.

Browse more photos »

If you're looking for an evidence to support your claim that the NBA is a league where the rich get richer, look no further than the trend of veteran players signing with elite contenders after having their contracts bought out. Just last year we saw as Joe Smith, Drew Gooden, Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore among others sign with contenders after their cellar-dwelling teams bought out the end of their contracts.

With the cap going down and plenty of free agents hitting the open market, it's safe to assume that several teams will be looking to negotiate buyouts with players. Obviously, there won't be as many players available in the late-season market as there are right now, but there's a good chance that there will be some better talent available to sign for the veteran's minimum in February than there is right now to sign to the low level exemption. Of course, signing someone is contingent on being a contender before they sign. Otherwise, they'll just sign with a team that has a better chance of getting a ring.

After the jump, we'll narrow down the options and see what players could hit the open market later this season.

Beofre we begin, here's a list of all the free agents for the 2010. This is where the pool for our buyout candidates will come from, since there probably won't be any owners looking to buyout more than the last half of a season off of any player's contract. Just to be safe, we'll exclude restricted free agents and players who have options on their contracts. We'll also exclude guards and wings who might be nice additions, but don't address any critical needs in what's already a very deep backcourt.

Now that we've taken care of all the disclaimers, let's start paring down who's left to see what's available.

Step 1: Eliminate anyone on a contending team

Players already on contenders are already doing enough to make their teams good which gives the team no reason to want to get rid of him and the player no reason to hop ship for a team with a shot of winning it all. I'm only including Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, the Lakers, San Antonio, and Denver as true contenders at this point, though other teams could always insert their name into the discussion as the season goes along.

This eliminates: Brian Scalabrine, Shaquille O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Steven Hunter, Brian Cook, Chuck Hayes, DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell, and Matt Bonner.

Step 2: Eliminate anyone who wouldn't be desirable even if they become available

Needless to say, there would probably be some venom spewed if these players were brough in as the final piece of the puzzle.

This eliminates: Randolph Morris, Jerome James, Mark Blount, Francisco Elson, Malik Allen, Brian Cardinal, Mark Madsen, Etan Thomas, Mouhamed Sene, Kenny Thomas, Patrick O'Bryant

Step 3: Eliminate anyone who won't be bought out because they're just too good

Even if the player has a 100% chance of walking away in free agency, the negative PR backlash of buying out these players would just be too much to bear.

This eliminates: Carlos Boozer

Step 4: Eliminate all young players

You won't see any of these players bought out because their age still makes them valuable. Besides, do you think the veterans already on the team want to deal with another young player after last year's debacle?

This eliminates: Craig Smith, Amir Johnson, Louis Amundson

So who's left?

A mish-mash of veterans who can give the team something if they think the Wizards have a shot of giving them what they want: a championship. First, let's take a look at the guys with an outside chance of being buyout material if their respective team's find themselves in an unexpectedly down year.

Brad Miller
Kwame Brown (not that he'd come to D.C., but I had to throw it out there...)
Udonis Haslem
Jermaine O'Neal
Al Harrington
Darko Milicic

The chances of seeing any of these fine men bought out are extremely, extremely low. They'd have to be out of the playoff hunt very early and more than likely burn a few bridges with their current team. But in uncertain times, anything is possible so it would be premature to eliminate any of these possibilites.

Then there are the respectable players stuck on floundering teams who have the best shot of being buyout material. Since they have the most realistic shot of winding up on a contender, they deserve the most focus. So after a few hundred words of talking about who won't be bought out, let's take a look at the players with the best shots of being contributors to a contender one by one.

Marcus Camby: Camby is on tap to make nearly $10 million this season from one of the more tight-fisted owners in the league in Donald Sterling. On top of that, his presence (together with Chris Kaman's) creates a logjam in the low post where Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan need minutes to develop. He'll be beneficial at the start of the year as he helps the young guys to understand the league better, but the reality is that the team likely isn't going to go anywhere this season and Griffin & Jordan have to be given the chance to sprout their wings at some point.

The Spurs nearly made a deal for Camby at the deadline last season and it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see teams inquire about making a trade for him this season as well. The Clippers will probably do all they can to boost his trade value in order to get something useful in return, but it's hard to see anyone giving up a prospect and swallowing the rest of Camby's contract for what amounts to a rental. If Camby doesn't get traded, it probably won't take long for both sides to start talking about a buyout.

Kurt Thomas: San Antonio saved Kurt from lottery land in 2008 when they traded Brent Barry's expiring contract to Seattle for his services. Of course, Barry ended up having the rest of his contract bought out and he returned to San Antonio just in time for their final push last year. Now Thomas finds himself on the other side of the deal, sent to Milwaukee as part of the Richard Jefferson deal. His contract isn't terrible, (he's due to make $3.8 million) which makes it much easier for Milwaukee for the Bucks to work out a buyout without breaking the bank, but it also makes him much easier to trade for than Camby.

Tony Battie: Like Thomas, Tony Battie went from a great situation with a contender to finding himself on a lottery team after being included as part of the Vince Carter deal. He'll be a nice addition to a shallow frontcourt, but I don't think anyone is kidding themselves into thinking that they'll be contenders next season or that the 33 year old Battie has any kind of long-term future with the team. As is the case with Camby and Thomas, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Nets do everything they can to boost his value and get prospect for a late season rental, but in this market, I don't see many teams looking to buy at Battie's price (just over $6 million). Of the thee players listed, Battie probably has the most buyout potential

It will be interesting to see if these players do get bought out where they will land. Camby seems like a natural fit for San Antonio and the Spurs have a knack of getting the players they want. If he hits the open market, I don't think it will take long at all for him to end up in the Alamo, but you never know who might make a push to sign him. Thomas and Battie are much more interesting. If the Spurs do end up getting Camby, his presence along with the addition of Antonio McDyess would eat up most, if not all of his minutes. Likewise, it would be hard to see Battie returning to Orlando now that they have Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass at their disposal, and they still have Marcin Gortat.

If the Wizards can stay healthy and show that they're an elite Eastern Conference squad next season like they think they can be, it might make sense to wait and see who has their contract bought out after the trade deadline. Not only will the players available at that point likely be better than the ones available for the LLE right now, but they'll come at a cheaper price.

Reevaluating the Phoenix Suns off season options

Phoenix Stan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:50:31 -0000

Happy birthday America!

View full size photo »

Round about mid-May we took a look at five options for the Suns this summer and gave odds for each. Ranking Trade Shaq as the fourth option and giving it 10% odds might (might) not have been my finest moment as a keyboard GM.

Since May the Suns have let Shaq move along to the more royal confines of Cleveland and have come close to trading Amare to Golden State. A deal which is by no means completely dead although I would say it seems to be on life support at the moment with a Do Not Resuscitate order pinned to its gown. Given my track record that means it will be done by July 9th.

With the 14th pick, Steve Kerr and his sidekick David Griffin drafted Earl Clark (passing on the surprisingly still available Jrue Holiday) and in the second round took Other Brother Griffin and some Bosnian kid who was sold to the Cavs too fast for me to remember his name. More likely then not in three or four years we will all know his name just like Marcin Gortat who was drafted with the 57th pick and sold by the Suns in 2005.

And to drive the draft nail in a little deeper, the 2nd round pick the Suns traded to the Spurs to jump up and get Dragic turned into DeJuan Blair. I hate to wish for anyone's knees to implode, but for the sanity of all Suns fans it would be best if Blair doesn't have a good NBA career.

The free agency period started with a ~~bang~~ whimper as the the Pistons used all that cap space to land Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva; the Lakers swapped a young stud defender for an old crazy one that likes to dominate the ball; and the Clippers pulled off the trade of the summer by dumping Zach Randolph's $33m on the Grizzlies young locker room and got back the very serviceable Quentin Richardson and his expiring $8.7m contract.

The dust hasn't settled yet as Hedo was Trailblazer for a few hours until his wife found out and now he looks to be headed to the European Raptors. Gortat and Kidd seemed destined for the Mavericks and Carlos Boozer shocked the Wasatch Mountain faithful by staying with the Jazz.

That leaves a ton of big names still out there as of today including: Bass, Sheed, Milsap, Lee, Robinson, Childress, Felton, Miller, Bibby, Sessions, Zaza, Birdman, Marion, Iverson, Odom, Von Wafer (just calling him Wafer seems wrong), Gooden and the handful of bigs that the Suns are supposedly interested in: McDyess, Frye, Wilcox (who I love if we can get him cheap enough), Joe Smith and of course Mr. Grant Hill. oh, and don't forget Stephon Marbury.

With all that having gone down so far, here's a reevaluation and updating of the Suns options as of today, July 4th, 2009.

Oh, and Happy Birthday America! You don't look a day over 217!

Option 1 - Standing Pat

There's a great thing about the Standing Pat option, it is always available. No matter where you are, you can always decide that you've reached your (temporary) destination and stop moving forward. Sometimes it makes sense to take a break on your journey and fight with the Army you have and sometimes you must continue onwards. Knowing the difference between the two is why those guys in the glass offices on Jefferson St. in downtown Phoenix get paid the big dollars. Second guessing them is why this guy in his mother's basement gets paid squat.

In the original Standing Pat assessment I felt that the Suns were 70% likely to do nothing much this off season beyond trying to resign Grant Hill and the draft. Turns out that saving ~$11m by ~~trading~~ salary dumping Shaq was of a higher importance then I considered.

In retrospect this makes sense. Why not let Shaq go play in Cleveland and avoid paying him $21m to get in the way of whatever comes next. Sure, it would have been nice to get a little bit more out of him (like a 1st round pick) but that train has passed and in the list of things to get bent out of shape over, that ranks pretty low. Besides, between Wallace's potential buy out and Pavlovic's valuable contract the fruits of this deal are not yet known. But more on that later.

Right now anyway, Standing Pat mostly means resigning Hill, not trading Amare or Nash, hanging on to Wallace and waiving Sasha to save that $5.5m. With Amundson's team option picked up the only roster uncertainty is if Taylor Griffin makes the team. He can be signed for the rookie minimum but he could also be let go or traded for some other late round rookie if someone catches the Suns' eye in Vegas.

I am out of the odds making game, but my gut says that there's more moves to come before October.

Option 2 - Trading Amare

I feel like we've beat this horse to death and then ground up the meat and gave it to the dogs which were then feed to North Korean children as part of a UN famine prevention program. But here's some more gristle...

Amare to the Warriors for Biedrins and some other young folk - seems dead since Amare in a bit of fantastic irony feels like the Warriors are giving up too much to get him and therefor isn't interested in signing an extension or sign and trade to make the deal a go
Amare to the Bulls - this one has not been rumored anywhere except in my mind. I still like some combination of Tyrus Thomas, Jerome James insurance covered contract, and John Salmons. This is a deal that I can get behind if Amare can't be kept in Phoenix and Amare should be interested in Chicago and playing with Rose. So far though, I haven't heard even a whisper of this deal so you might as well not even consider it. Forget I even mentioned it. Wipe it from your mind. But I am not deleting the actual words preceding these.
Amare to who knows where but maybe the Celtics or Detroit or even Atlanta (despite there being no real good options for any of those)

Of course, not doing anything with Amare is also an option. The Suns reportedly will be meeting with Stoudemire in the coming weeks to discuss his future in Phoenix and perhaps resigning him to a decent contract is a the best option at this point. If Amare would agree to a ~$15m per year deal, that's probably fine. If he's still insisting on the max (~$20m) then we are right back where we were last February. I've said it many times and nothing has yet to change my mind that signing Amare to a bad contract is a bigger long term risk then trading him now for what might appear on the surface as less then fair value.

We'll just have to wait and see how bad teams want Amare and how highly Amare values Amare's worth.

Option 3 - Trading Nash

We hit this one pretty hard yesterday talking about Nash's desire to play in New York and the Suns (hopefully) desire to not over pay him for a three year extension.

I think it goes without saying that the Suns with Amare and Nash along with Richardson, Barbosa and some solid rotation players are a competitive team next season. The loss of Shaq (assuming no other center is acquired) will make the Suns once again highly vulnerable on the glass and in the paint but there's little question that if healthy, that group can put up some points and win a lot of games.

But without either Nash or Amare the team will be worse in the short term and this fact seems to tie the fates of Amare and Nash together.

Option 4 - Trade JRich

I am just going to paste in most of what I wrote back in May. Nothing's changed except that the Timberwolves need Richardson even more now then they did then when they had Foye and Miller. With Rubio staying in Spain for two years and rookie Flynn running the point a back court vet like Richardson makes more sense for Minnesota then any other deal I've seen in a long time.

Jason Richardson to me is the most movable. Not because there are teams banging down Steve Kerr's door to pay $28m over two years for a guy that has been exposed as being a poor defensive player who needs the ball (a lot) to be productive but because the Suns could most easily replace him next season.

In fact, I would argue that the Suns could be a better team with a defensive guard like Dahntay Jones, Anthony Parker or Thabo Sefolosha playing next to Nash then with Richardson.

There aren't too many teams I can think of that would really benefit from Richardson. The Timberwolves keep coming to mind as the best destination. They have inside presence with Jefferson and Love but are lacking any kind of reliable outside threat that can shoot and create. Foye is decent but young and inconsistent and now gone Adding Richardson makes the Wolves better and with 3 first round picks and a couple of contracts like ~~Mike Miller~~ Etan Thomas and Ryan Gomes a deal is possible.

The good news with Richardson is that he didn't cause problems with his lessor role on the Suns. He was by all accounts a decent enough team mate and if anything was too passive in the offense. If he can come back with improved on the ball defense and a better sense of when to be aggressive with his shot and when to defer he can still give the Suns plenty of production.

Unless I am missing something, the T-wolves still have about $8m in cap space which means they could trade Etan Thomas ($7m expiring) and maybe one young player like Pecherov or Wayne Ellington for JRich.

I still think this is a very doable trade that makes sense for both teams. I've said that a few times haven't I?

Option 5 - Free Agents/Other Trades

Assuming no other changes to the roster, the biggest needs for the Suns are small forward and center. This is why Grant Hill is a the team's number one priority and all indications are that he's going to return. But, I would not be surprised if Grant is looking at all this mess and wondering what the Suns are up to. Would he really want to come back to Phoenix if Amare or Nash are gone? He certainly could sign (probably for more money) in Boston, Denver or Cleveland.

To play behind (or ahead of) Lopez, the Suns are reportedly looking at McDyess, Channing Frye, Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. In my mind there's no question that Chris Wilcox is the best player of that bunch. He's Amare like in his athleticsm with more of Amare's tendencies to not play hard. I question that Wilcox would sign here for what the Suns would likely be able to pay. Maybe $2m? From there, I like Channing Frye. He is long and mobile and has some range with his mid-range shot. Mostly though he's young and I have no real interest in seeing McDyess or Smith come in an reprise the role Jalen Rose played at the end of his career.

The Suns do have (if they were so inclined to use it) the very tradable contract of Sasha Pavlovic that still could be used in a deal with a team more desperate then Phoenix to save money. Is there a guy out there for about $4m to $6m that the Suns really covet and is playing a for team not going anywhere? Sasha's contract could be used to grab him. Mostly likely this chip will be saved as long as possible to see how the various other dominoes fall. That's what I would do anyway and as you know you are getting all the best GM advise you are paying for on this blog.

Then finally there's still the option of trading Wallace to the Hornets for Chandler. Again, I think this is an option that can wait to see how everything else plays out. Some people argue that making this deal makes a lot of sense if Amare and Nash stay and I would agree with that. But what if Amare and/or Nash is gone? At that point do the Suns really want to bring in Chandler and his largeish contract for two more years? I doubt it. And of course no one outside of Wallace and hopefully Kerr know what Big Ben's plans for this season actually are.

Writing this has brought into focus just how interconnected all of the Suns options are. You can't say "trade Wallace for Chandler" without first knowing what you are doing with Amare. You can't consider a deal for Richardson until you know what's happening with Nash. Grant Hill is a key piece but like Nash seems to be waiting to see what everyone else does. It's a pretty complex picture and is no where near being resolved.

I think Nash is the first key piece and not Amare. If he gets extended for 3 years then you have that to build around for the short term and you have a guy that free agents are going to want to come play with. He needs to be the first domino to fall one way or another before everything else can fall into place.

To help make all of these interconnected options make more sense I've created an easy to follow visual aid...

It's no wonder Kerr looks like he's aged 10 years in the last six months.

Shaq and Amare trade rumor recap...and one new one too

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:18:37 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Brad Miller's range and passing ability along with his toughness and offensive rebounding make him a good fit in Phoenix with Amare Stoudemire. The Suns could trade Shaquille O'Neal to the Bulls for Miller and Jerome James

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In a move that will surely have Mark Cuban's huge head explode, ESPN's Ric Bucher tweeted this to Suns fan and Bright Side of the Sun member @rsavaj in response to a question about what moves Suns might make:

Looking to see what they can do with Shaq or Amare. A good chance Shaq will be moved by Thursday.

No real news regarding Amare

It's been confirmed in multiple sources that the Suns have been shot down for deal proposals that would have netted Phoenix significant talent from the Timberwolves and Wizards (this year) and by the Grizzlies and Warriors (last season's trade deadline). The Suns tried to trade Amare for: Jefferson and the #6 pick from Minnesotta; Caron Butler and the #5 from the Wizards; Rudy Gay and their pick in the case of the Grizzlies; and Andres Biedrins and Anthony Randolph from the Warriors.

I think it is fair to say that the market for Amare's services isn't what the Suns front office was hoping it might be.

Perhaps those rumors of a deal with the Bulls is best the Suns can do if trading Amare is in their plans. Some kind of package that includes Tyrus Thomas and pehaps John Salmons and Tim Thomas. Maybe you could even get their 26th pick as well. Somehow though, I am not even sure that the Bulls would do that given that Amare just this week started working out again for the first time since his eye surgery in late February. My guess is that Amare stays at least through the next trade deadline.

With Shaq, as Bucher points out, it's a different story and we've explored the three main trade rumors in depth a few weeks ago: Cavs, Mavs and Hornets. Here's another...

Shaq to the Bulls for Miller and James

Another deal that has been floated includes Shaq to the Bulls for Brad Miller and the super expiring 80% insurance covered contract of Jerome James.

This is an interesting move for both teams. Both Miller's $12.3m and Shaq's $21m contracts expire at the end of this season and Jerome James is a super tradable piece given that 80% of his $6.6m is covered by insurance. Right of the top this deal saves the Suns $3.4m in salary and another $3.4m in matching luxury tax (depending on where the teams total payroll ends up come April 2010). Neither team takes on any longer term deals so the risk is minimal. It is not nearly as big of a savings for the Suns as the deals with the Cavs and Mavs but on the court it is much more appealing.

Brad Miller can still ball and while he and Amare have some history, I am sure Amare would be willing to set that aside once he realizes that Miller can both do the dirty work on the offensive glass AND can spread the floor for him a bit with his ability to pass from the high post and shoot from distance. The Miller/Amare combination might in fact be one of the better pairings for Amare when it comes to bigger centers. Miller of course isn't all that mobile and can't really defend the pick and roll but hey, neither can Shaq so that's a wash.

As for the Bulls, they get the low post scoring threat they are looking for and while they will be spending a bit of money to get him, they would instantly be a better playoff team. They also have a very young locker room that would benefit from having his Shaq-ness holding court.

Throw in the Bulls extra 26th pick and this is my favorite Shaq deal of them all.

I might miss it all

In a massive error in planning on my part, I scheduled a family vacation for this week. I will be flying to North Carolina tomorrow to visit my mom and sister and will miss any fireworks that might happen during the day. I am sure you guys will have my back.

On Thursday, I will be out and about as well, but I have made sure that I will be in front of a TV and computer come draft time on the 25th.

Between my Blackberry and Twitter, I should stay well informed, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for extended periods over the next few days.

Poll

What do you think of sending Shaq to Chicago for Brad Miller and Jerome James?

Love it for both teams!

141 votes

Good for the Suns

108 votes

Good for the Bulls

150 votes

Bad deal all around. Cuban should filter you

191 votes

590 votes | Poll has closed

Friday Screaming Hairy Armadillos

Seth — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:21:37 -0000

Hey kids. It's a quiet Friday afternoon at P&T, but I thought I'd keep things interesting with a few links from around the internets. Enjoy.

- This week's SI looks back at the last time the Knicks were in the Finals. The idea that Greg Popovich was ever scared of the Knicks tickles me a little bit. Then I go back to crying.

- Anybody catch the new LeBron puppet commercial last night? Even Nike is teasing Knick fans these days. Tommy Dee has video.

- Knick or not, David Lee will attend an Olympic mini-camp in late July. If D'Antoni ends up taking the reins, you can bet Lee gets a long look in 2012. Unless he's not a Knick anymore. That'd just be awkward.

- Stephen Curry isn't working out for anybody drafting lower than the Knicks from here forward. If anything hints at Curry getting a promise from Donnie Walsh, that'd be it. D'Antoni practically licking his face yesterday doesn't hurt, either.

- This is a few days old, but Knickerblogger's case for Marcin Gortat reminds us that he's no Jerome James. Reassuring.

- Screaming hairy armadillos are called such for their tendency to emit high-pitched squeals when threatened. Not unlike Jared Jeffries.

That's it for now. Go outside and get some fresh air. It'll do you good.

Jerome James and the luxury tax

your friendly BullsBlogger — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:58:31 -0000

Ahhhhh...retirement. (via 1.bp.blogspot.com)

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Intrepid poster 'Tommy Udo 6' on the RealGM board managed to get an answer from NBA cap guru Larry Coon regarding Jerome James' (he of the likely medical retirement and insurance paying 80% of his salary next season) cap impact on the Bulls.

The salary counts [towards the salary cap]. It doesn't matter whether insurance is paying it...The Board of Governors can exclude the salary of disabled players from the luxury tax, and typically does so.

In the dregs of pre-draft-and-free-agency Bulls news, what followed is what one could consider 'spreading like wildfire' in the Bulls Blogosphere (there sort of is one now!). The story was linked by both Bulls Confidential and DaBullz.com under the headlines of "Jerome James may not count towards the luxury tax" and "Jerome James Could Be Excluded From Bulls’ Luxury Tax Calculation":

But I'm not sure that's what Larry Coon is actually saying:

the Board of Governors can exclude the salary of disabled players from the luxury tax, and typically does so.

It could just be miscommunication since Tommy did specifically ask about the luxury tax calculation. But Larry Coon's answer says to me that the salary is still counted in the luxury tax calculation, but the Bulls would not have to actually pay a luxury tax on James’ salary. Meaning that even though there’s a scenario where the Bulls wouldn’t pay any tax on James, they would still be considered a ‘tax paying team’ due to their cap number being over the tax threshold, and therefore miss out on the few million that gets doles out from the tax-paying teams to the rest of the league.

That scenario (contingent, by the way, on James retiring, and the sticky fact that the Bulls knew he was injured when trading for him) is still a savings over the alternative (the dollar-for-dollar payment on whatever James made that put the Bulls over that threshhold), but it still wouldn't rectify the fundamental truth that the Bulls would lose financially if over that tax threshold. And as the (by far) most profitable team in the league, we've been told that fact matters.

But if it is true that this effectively gives the Bulls an extra $6m under the tax threshold (though wouldn't we not know until the end of next season?)...it would be a neat wrinkle in the Bulls plans, and yet another reason why that Larry Hughes deadline deal was fairly tremendous.

Going Big with the MLE

Seth — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:56:52 -0000

Today's big ruckus is about Magic center Marcin Gortat, who will likely depart Dwight Howard's shadow this summer for greener pa$tures. Everybody knows the Knicks need frontcourt help, and the Post has the scoop on the possibility of Donnie Walsh using his mid-level exception on Gortat.

The Knicks had no interior defensive presence, and that's Gortat's strength. He also blocks shots and rebounds. (The Knicks were last in blocked shots the past two years).

The Polish big man originally was drafted by coach Mike D'Antoni's Suns in the second round of 2005, but they traded his rights. Gortat probably will not be re-signed because he plays a smallish role as Dwight Howard's backup and the Magic can't pay him accordingly.

Gortat said the Knicks could be an ideal spot. Gortat (four points, three rebounds) played 15 minutes last night as Magic coach Stan Van Gundy often used a twin-tower alignment to combat the Lakers' size.

Magic general manager Otis Smith can match any offer, but said he knows it will be a financial challenge to retain Gortat.

"He's got the best job in America, playing behind my best player, playing 8 to 10 minutes," Smith said. "He goes out and does his job and probably has the best work ethic of anyone in the locker room. Can he start for another team? Yeah he can.

I'm often skeptical of stories that declare New York's intentions without quoting any Knick personnel, but I'm pretty sure Donnie Walsh would be tampering if he said anything about Gortat right now. Weird, too, for Otis Smith (and Gortat, if you read the article) to be discussing this stuff in the middle of a Finals run. That is, unless these words are taken from a past interview, which they very well might be. I digress.

Gortat's a solid big man and pretty much fits the bill as far as the hole in the paint is concerned. He blocks shots, grabs boards, and doesn't try to overextend himself on offense. He's also a 7-foot bald Polish man, which has a charm all its own (and should lead to some excellent Poland-related Knicks trivia, you feel me?). Should he command the full MLE (upwards of $5 million), though? Is there anyone else out there who might better suit D'Antoni and the Knicks? Tommy Dee, for one, has some questions and an alternative in mind:

The Knicks are desperate for a center. If Donnie Walsh believes that Gortat is the answer, then I will trust him. But Gortat, 25, played just over 12 minutes per game this season. In the playoffs, those numbers jumped slightly. Without a real track record, is he worth that kind of money?

I would love to see Walsh go after RFA Ryan Hollins, who I think can be a good shot-blocker and come at 1/2 the price of Gortat. But if Gortat is the guy, I cannot complain too much. He has the ability to block shots. But can he play 30-35 minutes a night? If Donnie thinks so, then I am on board. Bring him here. If not, then spend the money in better places.

Hollins was immensely entertaining as a Bobcat, and gained some legitimacy as a Maverick this Spring. He's also got some serious defensive chops, though he's more of a springy, vicious shot-blocker than a sturdy, astute guy like Gortat. I would tag Gortat as most likely to contribute immediately, while Hollins probably has a higher "ceiling", for whatever that's worth. Now, what else is there in the way of relatively cheap free agent centers? Let's have a look.

Chris Andersen- Birdman found himself back in good graces with relatively focused play this season. Andersen defended and finished with all of the gusto, but less of the insanity as previous years. That said, Denver will probably re-sign him as soon as possible, and he may very well command more than the mid-level. Hard to say.

Stromile Swift- Swift can probably be had on the cheap, and can block shots pretty well, but has failed to make it work on a number of teams.

Theo Ratliff- He'd probably work, but that's sooooo boring.

Francisco Elson- Any black Dutch guy named "Francisco" has my attention. He's also a decent shot-blocker and seems like he has very good manners. That goes a long way.

Hakim Warrick- Warrick's not really a center, but he blocks shots and can definitely run the floor.

Steven Hunter- It seems like everybody who's ever had anything to do with DePaul ends up on the Knicks, so this would be the next logical move. Hunter's also quite tall.

Joel Anthony- He does block shots, but...I don't know, just look.

Jerome James- You know you miss him.

The upshot is that Gortat is one of many big men looking to get paid this summer. Assuming that Hasheem Thabeet is out of reach in the upcoming draft, don't be surprised to see Donnie Walsh go big with his mid-level exception. What remains to be seen is who fits both the defensive needs and the D'Antoni system, and the cost of such a player.

Who you got? Did I forget anybody? Is my understanding of NBA free agency somehow completely flawed? Let me know in the comments.

For your perusal: A list of free agents, salaries, and a cat that plays piano.