The Heat signed Battier and Eddy Curry. At least they're doing something, and Battier could really help that team. If Curry actually can play, he could be a great pickup. I was watching a youtube video of a Blazers/Hawks game and noticed the Hawks backcourt was Hinrich and Crawford. Funny how things came full circle.
Here's a random thought: I figured out why the Rudy Fernandez-Cory Brewer deal was only for a second round pick. Rudy's contract with Real Madrid, according to Spanish media reports, provides that if he returns to play in the Spanish League they will pay him 3 million Euro a year through 2014-15. If that doesn't sound like much, European basketball teams list their salaries as post tax; so in USD we're talking about a post-tax 3,885,000. What is that pre-tax? About 7 million per? In other words, no one is going to be able to re-sign Rudy unless they seriously ante up. The deal was basically for Cory Brewer, who is bad, and a one year rental of Rudy Fernandez, who has never been able to find a team niche.
The Knicks could be very tough this year. Tyson Chandler gives them a solid C and allows Amare to move to PF. They also signed Mike Bibby to replace Billups. With their superstars getting to start the season together, they could gel early on.
Chauncey Billups would have made the Heat worse, and very well may be a drag on the Clippers. He always has been a scoring, freelancing point guard and now that his speed and skills are deserting him, he's becoming a high usage inefficient scorer, who makes bad decisions and can't play defense.
Gotta disagree. Billups is so, so much better than what Heat were running at the point last year. He had a PER of 18.7 last year. His career average is 19.1. Shooting percentages low but 1/2 of his shots are from 3.
I think Billups has game. I see him as a healthy Baron Davis at this point in his career. He wasn't worth his contract for his production though.
Speaking of the Clippers, is Vinnie still the coach? He has some impressive talent to work with this year.
I think the knicks took a step down at the pg position when they waived let Billups go and signed Bibby. Bibby is good and all of that, but Billups is still better. That being said, Chandler will help them. Much better than Turiaf.
Random thought: I'm having a really tough time believing on the pundits who claim that this past season's draft was weak. The draft may have been weak at the very top, with only two players that seemed to have an immediate, reasonable chance at being reliable franchise cornerstones. This draft seems deep to me and you never know where stars will come from. I think their might be NBA talent all the way through the middle of the second round. -- Jimmer Fredette and Klay Thompson, drafted 10 and 11, both had really nice games yesterday. It looks like both of them are going to be able to contribute in relatively important roles their rookie seasons. -- Iman Shumpert (17) and Norris Cole (28) have received rave reviews. And Shumpert had a hell of a game yesterday. -- Donatas Motiejunas (20) and Nikola Mirotic (23) are having monster seasons in Euroleague play, and both look like they have allstar level talent. -- I caught MarShon Brooks (25) in the Nets/Knicks game. He has a gorgeous, silky playing style and will have a long NBA career. -- Jimmy Butler (30) looked surprisingly polished in his Bulls debut. -- Kyle Singler (33) played so well in the Spanish League during the lockout that he got a big money contract from Real Madrid and decided to stay in Europe. I think there's a reasonable chance Singler is better than Eras Ilyasova and perhaps Danilo Gallinari, who were both playing somewhat similar roles in Europe. -- Charles Jenkins (44) looked like he has NBA talent and athleticism in the GSW/SAC game. He handles well and makes plays on the defensive end. -- Even Milan Macvan (54), who probably is one size too small to play in the NBA, has been dominating in Euroleague play. He's got NBA level skills and wouldn't count out the possibility of him surprising people in the NBA. There weren't as many can't miss prospects as there sometimes are. But all of these guys seem like they could have long NBA careers, which is an anomaly when you consider the percentage of prospects who usually fail.
Overall, the Knicks had a good offseason. Chandler will help them a lot, I think. Billups is much better than Bibby, who is just about finished, IMO. Billups is also a cool head, which would help a lot on that Knicks team. Tyson had a great season w/ Dallas, but I think over the long run he's better off in a low-key market than in NY. I still have doubts about Tyson's critical faculties, and the cognitive center of Knicks is weak with Tyson Amare and Carmelo, who are hardly Yoda's in their own right. Battier is a nice signing for the Heat. That's bad news for us. The Curry signing is a complete non-issue to me.
Billups signed with the Clippers. Bibby is with the Knicks. So I don't think that will help the Knicks... ;-)
Random thought: Why hasn't Rose's contract been finalized yet? Is there a possibility that he's considering leaving the Bulls?
Everyone seems to agree with you. But why haven't we seen a contract yet? I'm not certain what the new deadline is for when Derrick Rose must decide whether he'll just take the qualifying offer but it has to be soon.
I think the QO is next season. He can be extended this season, but he plays out the last year of his existing contract first, then the extension starts. Like Noah last year... He was PPP last season, now he's BYC (first year of new contract).
However, the Bulls really should pony up and sign him. It looks like they're hedging their bets against an injury by dragging it out.
