Tag Archives: re-sign

It’s A 3-Way With Dwight Howard

20 Jul

Nothing is official yet but Dwight Howard might end up with the Los Angeles Lakers. Howard had been reluctant to sign with the Lakers under the philosophy that he wants to ‘be Kobe Bryant not play with Kobe Bryant.’ But apparently Howard wised up to the fact that he could be making major dough if he moved to major market team. It was stipulated before that if Howard went to LA he would only play for one season. Although sources have reported that Howard is open to re-signing with the Lakers, Howard’s agent is refuting that claim. If Howard did move to LA he would be stupid not to extend with the Lakers just for endorsements alone.

In order to get Howard the Lakers would be sending Andrew Bynum to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Which is actually seems like a really good fit. Especially with their young star Kyrie Irving. The only problem is that the Cavaliers want a commitment from Bynum that he will sign a contract extension.

So far the Lakers have not allowed anyone team to directly communicate with Bynum. There is also the possibility that Bynum could end up with the Houston Rockets or Magic. As Bynum has said he doesn’t care where he plays, which to Lakers’ fans means pack your bags.

-M

Losing Lin: NY’s Big Mistake

16 Jul

Just two days ago it seemed like a sure thing that Jeremy Lin would be returning to the New York Knicks. That was until the Houston Rockets up the anti and increased their offer to Lin. Reports stated that the original offer was for $28 million with $19.5 million guaranteed  for four-years. The new offer is a three-year deal for $25 million with $15 million in the 3rd year. Now reports are saying that the Knicks are not planning to match the offer.

On Saturday the Knicks acquired point guard Raymond Felton from the Portland Trail Blazers. Leaving everyone wondering where does that leave Lin? It’s not like the Knicks need three point guards, Jason Kidd being another point guard addition. If the Knicks did decide to keep Lin they are looking at a luxury tax for the 2013-14 season. The luxury tax is a tax given to teams when they exceed the salary cap. To avoid paying the luxury tax the Knicks probably won’t resign Lin. But in reality is the bloated spending elsewhere that is putting the Knicks in jeopardy of the tax. Blaming Lin for the tax is like adding a quarter to a sinking ship and blaming it for putting it under water.

When Knick Carmelo Anthony heard about the Rockets’ offer to Lin he immediately said it was way too much. Apparently Anthony forgot how much money Lin brings in off the court in jersey sales, ticket sales, etc. Since Lin became a star the Knicks’ market capitalization (the value of the company) is up nearly $600 million. I think that proves that Lin is worth the extra money. And how stupid do you have to be to give away that much money?

-M

 

Trade Talks: So Where is Everyone Going?

14 Jul

It’s been a crazy trading season, like usual, so I have decided to give you an easy rundown on what is happening. Here is your trade cheat sheet.

Boston Celtics

Ray Allen bid farewell to the team in order to warm the bench in South Beach with the Miami Heat. Or as some fans refer to Allen he sold his soul to the devil. But don’t worry the Celtics have managed to hold on to big man Kevin Garnett. I know what you are thinking but Garnett is like 36 but don’t forget he can still do fist push-ups so he’s good for at least another season. The Celtics also managed to hold onto Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green. Although Green has been out to due heart surgery he may just be the it scoring factor the Celtics need.

They are still in the process of acquiring Jason Terry from the Dallas Mavericks but the paperwork should be done by the end of the week.  So don’t worry they will be fine without Allen.

The Miami Heat

Obviously the Heat are in a great position. They are coming off their championship win and they have all three major players still in place: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Now they just have to hope no one gets injured. They are now just padding their bench with veteran players. Allen is the perfect example of this. Joining Allen they added Washington Wizard Rashard Lewis. Both were former Seattle Supersonic players back in the day.

One thing is clear the Heat are looking for another championship win next year.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers obviously need to replace point guard Ramon Sessions since he didn’t intend to return. And aside from that the after being knocked out of the second round of the Playoffs it was obvious something needed to change. So the Lakers brought in veteran Phoenix Sun point guard Steve Nash. We can only hope he is more comfortable on the court than he looked at the ESPY awards the other night. The Lakers also managed to hold onto Devin Ebanks for another year.

Now the question is will the Lakers end up with Dwight Howard? Up until today it was looking like the Houston Rockets were going to get Howard but now the Lakers seem to be back in the mix. There is nothing official about what the deal would look like. Everyone has speculated that Andrew Bynum would be exiting as part of the deal. As a Laker fan I would gladly take Howard over Bynum even if it’s only for a year.

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