Tarantism wrote:Wow, if the Mavs get Marion....this off season has been crazy. The rich are getting richer. If the Warriors are going to contend next year we had better either make a big move or hope that our young talent develops A LOT. So far this off season we have done nothing but fall further behind, IMO.

Not that anyone is going to beat the Lakers next year anyway, I guess...

Michael Redd may be the most intriguing of the bunch because he could clearly provide the Mavs with that third scoring option they missed too often last season, even though that 21.2 average was his worst in six years. Still, there’s no question he would be an immediate offensive upgrade over Antoine Wright and blended into a starting lineup with Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Kidd and Gortat, give the Mavs’ a potentially explosive offensive team. It would also allow Jason Terry to remain in his sixth-man role, providing the Mavs instant offense off the bench, as well.

This is where the Mavs add some offensive help, either at small forward or shooting guard and they do it by using Jerry Stackhouse’s expiring contract, probably combined with Eric Dampier’s once they’re certain that Gortat is definitely on board. It could be Milwaukee shooting guard Michael Redd, who averaged 21.2 points per game last season. It could be Golden State’s Corey Maggette, at 18.6 ppg. Detroit’s Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and even Houston’s Tracy McGrady, albeit a long shot, are other names floating around out there. -Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tarantism wrote:

Michael Redd may be the most intriguing of the bunch because he could clearly provide the Mavs with that third scoring option they missed too often last season, even though that 21.2 average was his worst in six years. Still, there’s no question he would be an immediate offensive upgrade over Antoine Wright and blended into a starting lineup with Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Kidd and Gortat, give the Mavs’ a potentially explosive offensive team. It would also allow Jason Terry to remain in his sixth-man role, providing the Mavs instant offense off the bench, as well.

This is where the Mavs add some offensive help, either at small forward or shooting guard and they do it by using Jerry Stackhouse’s expiring contract, probably combined with Eric Dampier’s once they’re certain that Gortat is definitely on board. It could be Milwaukee shooting guard Michael Redd, who averaged 21.2 points per game last season. It could be Golden State’s Corey Maggette, at 18.6 ppg. Detroit’s Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and even Houston’s Tracy McGrady, albeit a long shot, are other names floating around out there. -Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Maggette is hardly the most attractive name on that list...but assuming the Amare deal gets done...would you guys trade Maggette for Dampier? Something like Mags + Acie Law would work salary-wise. That would leave us with:

Monta/Curry/Watson/Claxton
Jackson/Morrow/Curry
Azubuike/Morrow/Randolph
Stoudemire/Randolph/Turiaf
Dampier/Turiaf/Davidson

The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap for the 2009-10 season will be $57.7 million. The tax level for the 2009-10 season has been set at $69.92 million. Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $69.92 million.

Tarantism wrote:Salary Cap for 2009-2010 season set:

The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap for the 2009-10 season will be $57.7 million. The tax level for the 2009-10 season has been set at $69.92 million. Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $69.92 million.

So...can deals be made official and trades me made at midnight? Or do they have to wait for some time tomorrow?

migya wrote:McDyess could be joining the spurs for the MLE.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=At6.xZ_qwQD2HsXHGKaL5HG8vLYF?slug=aw-freeagentbuzz070609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


Spurs get him and they are again serious championship contenders. In fact, now with RJeff, they would be as strong as the Lakers, if not stronger, barring injury ofcourse.

Be interesting if they keep Gooden as well, liokely not. With both Gooden and McDyess (as I said unlikely), the spurs would three bigs (including Duncan) that can get double doubles in 30mins a game and that's as rare as it gets

xbay wrote:

migya wrote:McDyess could be joining the spurs for the MLE.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=At6.xZ_qwQD2HsXHGKaL5HG8vLYF?slug=aw-freeagentbuzz070609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


Spurs get him and they are again serious championship contenders. In fact, now with RJeff, they would be as strong as the Lakers, if not stronger, barring injury ofcourse.

Be interesting if they keep Gooden as well, liokely not. With both Gooden and McDyess (as I said unlikely), the spurs would three bigs (including Duncan) that can get double doubles in 30mins a game and that's as rare as it gets

Losing Oberto and Thomas was a blessing for them because look who they can replace them with... Gooden and McDyess. The Spurs are aging, and their door is closing. So they need to keep upgrading their role players since their big 3 are getting old.

migya wrote:

xbay wrote:

migya wrote:McDyess could be joining the spurs for the MLE.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=At6.xZ_qwQD2HsXHGKaL5HG8vLYF?slug=aw-freeagentbuzz070609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


Spurs get him and they are again serious championship contenders. In fact, now with RJeff, they would be as strong as the Lakers, if not stronger, barring injury ofcourse.

Be interesting if they keep Gooden as well, liokely not. With both Gooden and McDyess (as I said unlikely), the spurs would three bigs (including Duncan) that can get double doubles in 30mins a game and that's as rare as it gets

Losing Oberto and Thomas was a blessing for them because look who they can replace them with... Gooden and McDyess. The Spurs are aging, and their door is closing. So they need to keep upgrading their role players since their big 3 are getting old.

The big three aren't getting old, the big alltime star is, Duncan. Ginobili and Parker are stillyoung and have many years still left. When Duncan goes, Spurs are done and can only stay an elite team if they replace him

ESPN.com wrote:Summer of 2009's Top 15 Dead Money Players and Cap-Killing Contracts.


1. Darius Miles ($9 million against Portland's cap)
As noted above, Miles was pulled over in mid-May in the St. Louis suburb of Fairview Heights, Ill., for failing to use a turn signal. Police ticketed him for driving with a suspended license, and a search of the car after it was towed allegedly uncovered a misdemeanor amount of marijuana in a bag. The Memphis Grizzlies already have stated they have no intention of re-signing the 27-year-old, who had to serve a 10-game drug suspension before being allowed to play last season, and it already was clear Memphis' main motive in signing him was to affect the Blazers' cap flexibility -- in part to keep them from being the type of under-the-cap trade facilitator the Grizzlies and Clippers were last season.

2. Jamaal Tinsley ($7.2 million against Indiana's cap)
An arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 27 in New York to hear Tinsley's case, which could be a precedent setter. Tinsley was banned from the Pacers for "team character" reasons last summer, and he initially stayed away and didn't make much noise because Indiana promised to trade him. But when the deadline came and went in February without Pacers president Larry Bird finding a taker, and when Tinsley received no counter to his buyout proposal, he proceeded with a grievance in which he will argue before arbitrator Calvin Sharpe that Indiana has no right to keep him out of uniform against his wishes. Making it even more difficult for Bird to find a taker in a trade, Tinsley's contract runs for two more seasons. He will make $7.5 million in 2010-11.


3. Marko Jaric ($7.1 million against Memphis' cap)
Four years after the fact, it continues to boggle the mind that Minnesota's Kevin McHale included a future No. 1 draft pick when he obtained Jaric from the Clippers in a sign-and-trade for Sam Cassell. The Wolves still owe that pick to Los Angeles, and it has lottery protection through the 10th pick that comes off for the 2012 draft. Our crystal ball also tells us Jaric will have a prominent spot on this list a year from now, when he'll be owed $7.625 million. The newly acquired Quentin Richardson and his $8.7 million salary come off the books next summer.

4. Mark Blount ($7.97 million against Miami's cap)
Back when Pat Riley thought Ricky Davis would help the Miami Heat get back into title contention, he agreed to surrender a first-round pick (the one the Wolves used on Ty Lawson last week) and take on Blount's monster contract in order to get the deal done. The Heat, despite Blount's ballast, still would have been major players in free agency this summer had they not dealt Shawn Marion to Toronto for Jermaine O'Neal, who is on the books for the upcoming season at a whopping $23.016 million.


5. Erick Dampier ($12.1 million against Dallas' cap)
During a casual conversation with reporters during Team USA's camp in Las Vegas in the summer of 2007, the discussion was about the new NBA trend toward fiscal responsibility. "Damp ruined it for everybody, eh?" said Kobe Bryant, who can opt out of his own deal this summer or next summer but who said during the recent NBA Finals that he could not envision playing for a team other than the Los Angeles Lakers. Dampier also is owed $13.08 million for 2010-11, but that is a team option -- and we'll go out on a limb here and predict Mark Cuban will not exercise it.

6. Andrei Kirilenko ($16.4 million against Utah's cap)
Yep, the Jazz sure were throwing mad money around a few years ago, back in the days when "AK-47" was synonymous with the 5-by-5. The Russian forward is on the books for another $17.8 for the 2010-11 season, and -- just an educated guess here -- probably the only hope the Jazz have of shedding this contract is by tossing in the Knicks' unprotected No. 1 pick in 2010 that Isiah Thomas surrendered for Stephon Marbury and Utah subsequently acquired in the Suns' 2004 salary dump that enabled the signing of Steve Nash.


7. Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries ($10.5 million and $6.47 million, respectively, against New York's cap)
The real problem here is that both are on the books for a combined $18.2 million for the 2010-11 season, and New York president Donnie Walsh needs to move at least one of them (depending on how David Lee's and Nate Robinson's restricted free agency play out this summer) to have enough cap room to make a max offer to one of the stud free agents who will be on the market a year from now -- a lineup that begins, on New York's wish list, with LeBron James.

8. Samuel Dalembert ($12.02 million against Philadelphia's cap)
Want to know why Billy King is appearing regularly on NBA TV these days while Ed Stefanski is the man at the controls of the Philadlephia 76ers? Because of the litany of exorbitant deals the Sixers gave out under King's and Larry Brown's watch (Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Kenny Thomas) -- one of the worst of which was King's alone: Dalembert's six-year, $64 million deal in the summer of 2005. Still to be determined is whether the Sixers will regret that signing more than last summer's signing of Elton Brand.


9. Tracy McGrady ($23.29 million against Houston's cap)
With McGrady recovering from microfracture surgery that will force him to miss at least part of the upcoming season, any team that acquires T-Mac will have an insurance company paying a large chunk of his salary. And in an economic climate like the one that's changing the NBA landscape as we speak, this could emerge as quite the trade chip for Daryl Morey if the Rockets' general manager plays his cards correctly.

10. Kenny Thomas ($8.775 against Sacramento's cap)
This contract would have been the Knicks' problem (actually, it wouldn't haven been a problem for them because it's a big deal that expires in the summer of 2010) if New York had agreed to send Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries to Sacramento at February's trade deadline. If the teams decide to revisit that deal (adding Bobby Jackson as a sign-and-trade piece with only one guaranteed season would make the salaries match), it might make sense for both teams -- as well as being one of the few ways Robinson will get the type of money he is seeking.


11. Mo Peterson and Antonio Daniels ($5.8 million and $6.6 million, respectively, against New Orleans' cap)
Peterson is signed through '10-11 (he'll make $6.2 million in his final year) and has a 7.5 percent trade kicker, so we'll go ahead and pencil him in for the Hornets on next year's Dead Money List. Daniels once was a pretty nice player, a steady point guard who won a championship with the '99 Spurs, and he's one of the nicest guys in the league. But he never was worth the money Washington dumped on him when it gave him a five-year, $29 million contract in the Summer of Dalembert. Taking on this contract was the cost of getting rid of Mike James, which the Hornets were doing when they acquired AD from Washington this past December to have a more reliable backup behind Chris Paul.

12. Nick Collison ($6.25 million against Oklahoma City's cap)
Collison also is on the books for $6.75 million in 2010-11, meaning he'll earn nearly as much money in the next two seasons as Kevin Durant will have earned over the first three seasons of the rookie contract he currently is playing under. The good news for the Thunder: Earl Watson's $6.6 million salary comes off the books next summer, and Collision will come off the cap a year later when Clay Bennett and his partners have to start digging deep to pay veteran money to Durant, Jeff Green and then Russell Westbrook and James Harden. (Another positive note for OKC fans: The Thunder own Phoenix's unprotected 2010 draft pick, which means they could have two lottery picks next June.)


13. Brian Cardinal ($6.75 million against Minnesota's cap)
He doesn't have much game left, but Cardinal still is living large off the largesse Jerry West was throwing around in the summer of 2004 with Memphis, when he bestowed a six-year contract on a role player coming off one overachieving season in Golden State. Of course, that happened only 12 months after West traded the rights to Kendrick Perkins and Marcus Banks to Boston for the rights to Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones -- not a good year for "The Logo," whose successor, Chris Wallace, took on the Jaric contract in order to rid himself of Cardinal's contract in last year's Mike Miller trade.

14. Marcus Banks ($4.5 million against Toronto's cap)
NBA veteran Malik Rose once told me a story about how NBA players had a term for players who stopped producing immediately after signing a big contract. They called it "signed and retired," and Banks embodies that. And no Banks entry can exclude the story of how Phoenix gave him that four-year, $18 million contract the same year they drafted Rajon Rondo and traded his rights to Boston. Rondo will make just $2.1 million next season, while Banks will be on his third team since then, unless Toronto somehow manages to move him.

15. Zach Randolph ($16 million against the Clippers' cap)
Z-Bo is such a special case that he merits inclusion simply for the relative absurdity of his price tag ($33 million over the next two years). He's not really dead money, given his production, but he's an awfully expensive piece of a handsomely paid front line that also will include Chris Kaman 's $10.4 million, Marcus Camby's $9.6 million and Blake Griffin's $4.98 million in the upcoming season if none of them are traded over the summer