<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>LAS VEGAS -- The reigning NBA champions are about to lose their glue guy. NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Wednesday that James Posey has agreed to a four-year deal with the New Orleans Hornets worth an estimated $25 million. Because of luxury-tax concerns, Boston was reluctant to offer Posey, 31, more than a two-year deal in spite of his considerable contributions to the Celtics' first championship since 1986.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3492206 What a steal for New Orleans. Posey's a perfect fit for this squad. All the talk's about Los Angeles winning the West, but the Hornets were right behind them this past season. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them steal the Western Conference crown this year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3492206 edit : i added it, then refreshed to see your added it Excellent signing, but this sucks for Julian Wright
Gives them another perimeter threat....and someone who can matchup with the swingmen scorers in the West. Solid move.
Good signing for the Hornets immediate future. Posey is a guy who makes a big impact on contending teams in the playoffs. Good defense, good toughness, hits 3 pointers, veteran whos won two championships with different teams. I continue to question their spending habits though. They have a ton of money locked up with old players and injury prone players. Most of them stayed injury free last season but Peja is very old, injury prone, and locked up through the 2010 season, Mo Pete also making 5-6 mils/year through 2010, Chandler is making big money and has a history of health issues. Now you get an old Posey on a 4 year deal. They're looking good for next year but a lot could go wrong as soon as next year and it may hurt them for 2-3 more years until most of these guys are off the books.
I think N.O. realizes it can compete now, and hence, this signing makes a lot of sense for them. Contracts will work themselves out... as long as they don't mind paying for a team that contend.
I'm kind of surprized, George Shinn has been cheap in the past, and they have some risky big contracts in Peja and Chandler. Once Chris Paul comes off his rookie contract, I guess Shinn will have to trade someone to not pay lux tax.
This sort of came out of nowhere. Great signing for the Hornets, obviously. Any team with championship aspirations could use a guy like Posey. They want to contend now, so big, high priced signing are needed and there's no getting around that.
just what the hornets needed!!!! edit and just what the rockets and any other team in the NBA didn't need, lol..............if Birdman can come back next season and pull a Josh Hamilton, the hornets just might be my favorites to win it all......
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Can Posey play minutes at the 2-spot?</div> 2,3, and depending on the PF the 4 also......
Good signing by the Hornets. They'll need him versus the Lakers. We'll show him why he should have stuck with the Celtics if we ever meet in the finals.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Dream @ Jul 16 2008, 04:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Can Posey play minutes at the 2-spot?</div> 2,3, and depending on the PF the 4 also...... </div> In his last season with Miami, he spent a decent amount of his time at the 2. In Boston this has not been the case but he has seen some significant minutes at the 4 though.
Amazing find for the 504, he'll make up for Peja's lack of defense and bring some toughness. It'll be interesting to see him and paul work he pick and roll.
Posey is a Scott type of player, he plays defence and can takeover the offence when the big scorers on the team are slumping. I loved him in Memphis and he did a hella job in Boston, I thought he was the key reason they played such good team ball with the big three being its first season as a team.
As long as he stays healthy he will have a significant impact on the team's performance. The Hornets seemed to have a decent offense but no key defenders. Having someone that can defend at the 1, 2, 3 and 4 positions is a great advantage. Nice move signing him. Now Boston is going to have to work hard to fill that void.
