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http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...=tsn&type=lgns
Rockets win big, Lakers lose this offseason
By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
It was an odd summer in the West Conference, where the issues and changes that most affect the teams in the conference are not really roster matters. They're matters of at udes and egos, contracts and stadium leases. And one very big microfracture surgery.
1. Houston. Maybe new coach Rick Adelman's ball-sharing offense isn't quite the tonic for the Rockets, but he can adjust it to fit the skills of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The Rockets needed a change from Jeff Van Gundy, who wasn't getting this team to make progress. Personnel-wise, new GM Dayrl Morey did quite well, giving up only Juwan Howard and little-used Vassilis Spanoulis. In their place will be Argentine star Luis Scola, point guard Mike James, raw big man Jackie Butler and old friend Steve Francis. Rookie Aaron Brooks proved to be a summer league stud. And more good news: Rafer Alston has not been arrested for weeks
2. Seattle. The Sonics got a young new general manager -- 30-year-old Sam Presti -- and an old new coach, P.J. Carlesimo, who returns to the head chair after eight years. Presti cleaned house, trading Ray Allen in a deal that brought rookie Jeff Green (as well as Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak) and letting Rashard Lewis walk for a max deal in Orlando. Oh, and he drafted Kevin Durant. The issue of a new arena and a near-certain move to Oklahoma City will loom over this team, but Presti did a nice job (with the help of the Ping-Pong balls) rebuilding the roster.
3. Memphis. Yet another Western Conference team that replaced its coach and general manager. Chris Wallace is the new GM, replacing Jerry West, and Marc Iavaroni is the coach. Iavaroni spent five years with Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix, and is intent on bringing the Suns' style to Memphis. The Grizzlies will, at the very least, be fun to watch. The team drafted 19-year-old point guard Mike Conley to eventually be their Steve Nash (or as close as he can come), while also adding Darko Milicic, Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro and an Iavaroni favorite, shooter Casey Jacobsen. All they lost was Chucky Atkins.
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4. Portland. Portland was written in ink at the top of this list until Greg Oden's microfracture surgery forced us to take out the white-out. The Blazers did all they hoped to do this summer -- they dumped the contracts of Francis and Zach Randolph, they got a point guard (Steve Blake) and added young depth (Josh McRoberts, Channing Frye, James Jones). Everything looked to be in place, until Oden's injury struck. Still, Oden will be back and this is a franchise on the rise.
5. San Antonio. The Spurs drafted Tiago Splitter and signed Ime Udoka. They finally gave up on Luis Scola, and let Butler and Ely walk. That doesn't seem like much, but actually, those moves helped ensure that the team can afford to be a major player on the free-agent market next summer. These guys just know how to run an organization.
6. Golden State. Jason Richardson had given a lot to the Warriors organization, but by the end of last year, as he was returning from a knee injury, Richardson was pretty much a perimeter shooter. And the team was flourishing. So it made sense to move Richardson, get free from his contract, add a young piece (Brandan Wright, in a draft-day deal with the Bobcats) and focus on replacing Richardson with other pieces. That will be where Matt Barnes, rookie Marco Bellinelli and second-year man Kelenna Azubuike come in. The Warriors also bought out Adonal Foyle, and have thus officially removed the four ill-advised contracts -- Derek Fisher, Foyle, Richardson and Troy Murphy -- GM Chris Mullin gave out in the summer of 2004.
7. New Orleans. The Hornets are heading back to New Orleans, which could present some logistical problems for the team. But, they did a nice job in adding Julian Wright in the draft, plus Melvin Ely and Morris Peterson in free agency. If Peja Stojakovic is healthy, this team is playoff-caliber, even in the West. And Peterson gives them some insurance on Stojakovic.
8. Minnesota. I wasn't a big fan of the trade that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston, because there were other possibilities that seemed more intriguing. But the haul that the Timberwolves got -- primarily Al Jefferson and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract -- was decent enough. And it's good for everyone that Garnett has moved on, so this seems to be the right spot for the Timberwolves.
9. Denver. Not much doing with the Nuggets, good or bad. Which is why they rank here. They let Steve Blake go, replacing him with Chucky Atkins, which may be a step down. But they did add Steven Hunter for Reggie Evans, giving them a better backup for Marcus Camby.
10. L.A. Clippers. The Clippers actually did pretty well, drafting Al Thornton -- who was excellent in summer league play -- while signing veterans Brevin Knight and Ruben Patterson. They lost Jason Hart and Daniel Ewing (they'll live). But, of course, Elton Brand blew out his knee and that pretty much overshadows the productive things the organization was able to do.
11. Dallas. After a first-round loss in the postseason, you had to figure there were major changes afoot in Dallas. But, nope. Nothing. They signed Eddie Jones, let Austin Croshere go and shuffled around some youngsters. The plan, it seems, is to treat last year's playoffs like a fluke and not overreact. That might be a good idea.
12. Phoenix. The situation with Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire -- some chemistry issues mixed with some hefty trade rumors -- is certain to get this season off to an uncomfortable start. Stoudemire was brought up in Garnett discussions and one website had him practically in a Hawks uniform on the day before the draft. Marion, too, has been the subject of trade rumors. These are proud guys, and I can't help feeling that this is going to explode at some point. I don't think even noted nice guy Grant Hill, the Suns' big signing, can defuse it.
13. Sacramento. They didn't get the coach they wanted (Stan Van Gundy), nor did they trade the contract they hoped to trade (Mike Bibby's). Their draft pick, Spencer Hawes, looked pretty bland and very turnover-prone in summer league play. They added Mikki Moore and gave out an eyebrow-raising, $55 million contract to Kevin Martin -- a very good player, but it's a stretch to call him a franchise player.
14. Utah. The Jazz drafted shooter Morris Almond and signed backup point man Jason Hart after they let Derek Fisher go to help his daughter, in a move that should have helped them generate big-time karmic points. Instead, they got yet another round of whining from small forward Andrei Kirilenko, a guy the team is paying a maximum contract. There's really no easy Kirilenko fix for the Jazz, but the notion of suffering him for another year seems impossible.
15. L.A. Lakers. The Lakers welcome back Derek Fisher and bring in a point guard of the future, Javaris Crittenton. They re-signed Luke Walton, and finally rid themselves of Smush Parker. But so what? This was the summer of the Kobe Meltdown, and the whole organization came out looking terrible for it. Maybe the team should have done more to bring in better personnel, maybe they owe it to Bryant to look for a trade, maybe they should do nothing and tell him to keep his mouth shut. Whatever your feeling on the matter, there's one thing we can all agree on -- the Lakers came out of this looking foolish. And that's not good.
Related: Boston won the offseason battle in the East.
What does this list mean?
since the spurs are going to be a major player on the free agent market next year. What big name free agents will be available next season?
?What does this list mean?
It's listing the teams that have improved the most from last season.
Most people are shooting for Elton Brand.
Thanks. I feel better now!
?
It's listing the teams that have improved the most from last season.
the Spurs 'can afford to be a major player on the free-agent market next summer'?
I didn't know that being able to spend slightly more than the MLE made a team a major player.
Here are few but not in any particular order
1) Emeka Okafor (team option)
2) Elton Brand (player option)
3) Bruce Bowen
4) Corey Maggette (player option)
5) Andris Biedrins team option
6) Baron Davis (player option)
7) Gilbert Arenas ( player)
8) Jason Kidd (PLAYER) - it would nice if he could back up Parker.
9) Jermaine O'Neal - player
10) Ron Artest - player
11) Tim Duncan - Player option.
Don't forget Tiago Splitter. He will come next summer.
I love that the Suns can't even keep their together.
Spurs have been going strong the entire post-jordan era while Lakers fizzle out, and now the Suns appear to be imploding themselves.
Not to mention if we knock them out AGAIN this upcoming year, D'Antoni has gotta be nearing his boiling point. Aiming for him to toss the trashcan across the press-conference room this year.
I love it.
Well ya don't need Okafor cause you got Timmy and Fabrcio, Elton Brand is going to cost too much. Hmm Do ya keep Bruce Bowen? I'd say yes, whatever it takes. Maggette, interesting possibility if he doesn't cost too much. Biedrins ummm no. Davis gimpy knees and all is going to likely stay a Warrior. Arenas hahaha in your dreams. Jason Kidd? if he comes he's not backing up Parker trust me. O'Neal - See Okafor. Artest - Now there is a player you could get and would be a defensive force. Not sure you want to take that headcase though. Timmy is not leaving the Spurs - He's the franchise.
So that being said, the realistic possibilities are Maggette, Bowen and maybe Kidd. If somehow in an alternate dimension, you get O'Neal yeah...wow!!!
You never know. If we repeat, we might be able to lure someone here...
Not so fast. While SPURS will be a player in FA market next summer, they can offer a salary being just silghtly higher than MLE as per some reports.
Of course, if they finally make some trades to get rid of the existing contracts, it's another story.
Maybe some cap experts can provide better info
the cap went from 44 to 49.5 to 53 to 55.6 this season.
Could be around 58-60 next summer
using hoopshypes #s and assuming 3 for Oberto and 1 for Udoka and 1 for Splitter, Spurs for next summer are locked into about 52 million.
And I suppose that would require renouncing Bowen and not having a caphold from a first rounder in 2008 or Marcus Williams.
i'll try. the spurs contracts after next season:
tim duncan $20,598,704
tony parker $11,550,000
manu ginobili $9,905,248
fabricio oberto $3,500,000
matt bonner $2,983,500
jacque vaughn $1,262,275
ime udoka $1,080,000
ian mahinmi $841,000
total: $51,720,727
just to make the math easy, i wont factor in splitters contract next year (somewhere around 1 mil) or the cap holds for the 13 minimum roster spots (which i believe are between 400k-500k each) or the first round cap hold from next year either (should be similar to splitters figure). so if you figure the cap goes up between 2-3 mil from the 55.6 mil this next year, it should be no higher than about 58 mil, maybe as high as 59 mil.
so you can figure the spurs should have somewhere between 6-8 mil in cap space, or about 1-3 mil more than the MLE. but if you do figure in splitter, the minimum cap holds, and the first round hold, the spurs will probably end up with just the MLE to spend (and with them needing to fill probably 5-7 roster spots). and they arent going to lure the likes of brand or o'neal with just the MLE to offer.
when you see media outlets writing about the spurs making a big splash in the FA market next year, they are usually poorly researched pieces by people that dont have a firm understanding of how the cap system works. simply lazy journalism at its finest.
Last edited by ss1986v2; 09-26-2007 at 09:57 PM.
Will Bowen play for more years?
again, i didnt factor the spurs bringing back any of their free agents, finley and bowen being the main cases. if they do bring them back, it only further reduces their cap space. and since they would have to renounce their rights to get that cap space in the first place, they cant use their bird rights to, say, sign a free agent pushing them over the cap, then resigning bowen or finley.
That's great! But, do you think we still be compe ive after next season? Most of our players will be quite old at that time.
LMAO @ how the media is all over the Spurs having some boatload of capspace when they'll just have a little more than the MLE, especially when none of them said anything back when the Spurs actually had it in the summer of 2001.
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