Official 2008 NBA Offseason Trades/FA Signings Thread

[bigeastbumrush]

Quote: Originally Posted by Stumbleweed

Why does everyone forget about or slight Kenyon Martin -- the guy has the strongest/fastest hands in the league (just rips the ball away) and is a great man defender. He and Nene will be a nice defensive frontcourt -- if both stay healthy, Denver will be better than people expect. I think everyone's forgotten how good Nene can be when he's at full-strength -- dude runs the floor, posts up, he worked on his jumper a lot when he wasn't able to practice, and he's just a monster of a man (6'11" 265 or so). And remember how he gave Duncan trouble in the playoffs in 2007? I can't wait to see what he does this year/ While I have a Knicks fan here, what should I be expecting from Balkman? I've watched maybe 3 Knicks-related games when they weren't playing the Nuggets, so I didn't see much of Balkman. I remember that he usually locked 'Melo down pretty well with his length/strength, so that'll be nice to have. Also, he's a nasty dunker and a solid rebounder -- is that basically it? He can play the 4 right?

He's a 3. Too slender/light to defend a 4 and doesn't have a jumper to play the 4 on the offensive end.

He's hustle and energy. Good off the ball shot blocker. He WILL fill the lanes on fastbreaks which is why I said he'll do well in Karl's system.

Doesn't have a jumper. Great on the offensive glass. Great finisher. He'll give you some good rebounding numbers if he gets minutes. He's no Ron Artest on defense but he'll give SFs fits.

I love Balkman but it was a better deal for the Knicks IMHO.

[babythug23]

Deng signs back with bulls 6yr/71million. Pretty much is the same deal he turn down last year. 5yr/57.5 is about the same as 6yr/71million just a extra year

[remix]

Awful lot of money for a guy that spent last year regressing, as well as missing time from injury. The Bulls are doing what they have to do though.. I wonder what this means for Ben Gordon. I'd think he's going to get paid something similiar

[babythug23]

Gordon prolly take the Q. But word is Bulls are working on a Brad Miller/Noc Trade. Don't know how this will effect the Money. Since bulls want go into tax

[Altimus]

Quote: Originally Posted by remix

Awful lot of money for a guy that spent last year regressing, as well as missing time from injury. The Bulls are doing what they have to do though.. I wonder what this means for Ben Gordon. I'd think he's going to get paid something similiar

I hope not; Gordon doesn't deserve that kind of money.

[BigO32]

Quote:

Ron Artest is not going home to play for his beloved New York Knicks. Artest didn't get the fairy-tale trade to join his Southern California buddy Kobe Bryant, either. He's also not complaining. Artest was unmistakably giddy in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a phone conversation with ESPN.com as he discussed his forthcoming trade to the Houston Rockets. "I'll be a kid in a candy store," Artest said. "I'll be a kid in a store with a lot of candy. I'm going to dance with the stars." Instead of the trade to Hollywood to Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers, as many around the league expected, Artest is headed to Houston for a reunion with Rick Adelman, who ranks as his favorite pro coach. In a swap first reported Tuesday night by The Houston Chronicle, Sacramento has agreed to part with its rugged but controversial swingman in exchange for newly drafted Rockets rookie Donte Greene, Kings alumnus Bobby Jackson (and his salary cap-friendly contract) and a first-round pick in 2009. NBA front-office sources confirmed to ESPN.com that the Kings also will receive approximately $1 million in cash considerations. But the deal can't be completed and announced before Aug. 14 because Greene is not eligible to be traded until then, per league rules, since he signed with the Rockets on July 14.

I dont know if anybody heard but Artest is a Rocket. Health will be a factor if they can get past the first round

[DC]

Quote:

Editor’s note: Pistons.com continues an eight-part series on the eight players from the Pistons’ NBA Las Vegas Summer League roster who have NBA futures. This week we’ll do daily stories on the three second-round draft picks, holdover center Cheikh Samb and free agent point guard Will Bynum. Next week we’ll post stories on the three players who figure to be part of the playing rotation – Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo and Amir Johnson. In today’s Part II, we look at Will Bynum. Coming Wednesday: Trent Plaisted. The Pistons thought former Illinois All-American Dee Brown was coming to Summer League with them and first in line to vie for the No. 3 slot at point guard behind Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey. But when Washington offered Brown both a contract and a clearer path to playing time even before Summer League, the Pistons wasted no time in moving on to Will Bynum. They acted with similar decisiveness in offering Bynum a guaranteed contract just hours after Summer League play wrapped up on July 20. So it’s safe to say the Pistons saw what they were hoping to see in Bynum, a 2005 product of Georgia Tech who lifted the Yellowjackets to the 2004 NCAA title game with a driving last-second layup in a semifinal win over Oklahoma State. That type of explosiveness and scoring ability is part of what attracted the Pistons to Bynum, but it’s been the willingness to adapt and focus on the defensive end that earned him his shot to stick in the NBA this time after a brief fling with Golden State in the 2005-06 season, when Bynum was also named NBA Development League Rookie of the Year. “Just putting a whole bunch of pressure on the ball and trying to change the tempo of the game,” Bynum said in Las Vegas of his role. “I think that’s pretty much what I’ve got to be. I’ve got to focus every single possession on locking down my guy and putting a bunch of pressure on the ball.” Bynum, who played with Euroleague power Maccabi Tel Aviv the last two seasons and turned down a lucrative offer in Italy to join the Pistons, averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 assists a game in Las Vegas, starting the final three games when Rodney Stuckey was idled by a minor toe injury. His seven steals tied for the team lead with Walter Sharpe. Bynum’s season had just wound down in Israel in early July when he got an unexpected phone call from Joe Dumars, asking him if he’d like to come to Las Vegas for a chance to earn a spot in the NBA. “It was a big shock,” Bynum said, “to get a call from a Hall of Fame player telling you he wants you to play for his team. It’s definitely a blessing. It’s a great opportunity for me.” “Will has always been a guy that Joe has liked, as well as our staff, dating back to college when he was coming out,” Pistons vice president Scott Perry said. “I’ve watched him since he was a high school guy. Will has always been a guy with what we consider, even coming out, NBA offensive ability. The guy has a second gear. He can explode, he’s athletic, he can score, he can get in the lane and make plays – he’s always been able to do that. “The things he had to work on when he didn’t stick around the league is defending the basketball, which he always could do but was maybe never required to do coming through high school and college, and becoming a little more responsible with the ball. He’s trying to shed himself of that and I think he’s done a nice job of that in his development.” Bynum seemed humbled and appreciative of the opportunity the Pistons provided him and that went a long way toward convincing them that he would have the right makeup to accept the role being offered, even though Bynum has always been a big-time scorer who left the Chicago playgrounds as something of a legend. “We all mature in life,” Perry said. “We all grow. Will is no different. Like most young kids who play, he had a dream of playing in the NBA. He got a taste of it in Golden State, but he had to go overseas, go to the D-League, go a tough route. You learn to appreciate things more. So when people tell him, because he’s a little smaller in size, ‘Hey, for you to stick on an NBA roster, you’re going to have to pick up defensively 94 feet and really get after people,’ he’s ready to do that. He accepts that. “He’s got an opportunity now with us. He’s got a guaranteed contract and now it’s time to fulfill that dream of playing.” Bynum has another fan in Pistons coach Michael Curry, who came to appreciate Bynum’s talents when Curry worked in NBA League Operations and spent considerable time working with D-League players and coaches. “He’s made a concerted effort to get better defensively,” Curry said. “He’s playing the best defense I’ve ever seen him play. Sometimes he’s a little too aggressive, but we can bring that back. It’s harder to try to make a guy aggressive than calm him down.” The role the Pistons foresee for Bynum is spot minutes behind Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey, used similarly to the way they’ve employed Lindsey Hunter – coming on for four- or five-minute stretches to harass the opposition point guard and make it difficult to get into the half-court offense. Even if Hunter decides to come back and play one more season, the Pistons don’t want to put the 38-year-old veteran into a role that demanding over the course of 82 games. But if Billups or Stuckey were to miss a week or two with a minor injury, Perry thinks Bynum would be capable of stepping up to No. 2 and giving the Pistons 12 or 15 solid minutes nightly. “He’s got the ability to do that,” Perry said. “We looked at teams and their third point guards and went through that list of names. Hey, Will Bynum can play with that group. There’s no question in my mind.”

[kgx2thez]

Man I LOVED Will Bynum's game the first time I saw it in high school and then at Zona. Explosive, strong, quick, with a mean handle. If only he was 6'3 he would be killing people.

As a Wiz fan I'd much rather have him than bum a** Dee Brown. All he does is come down and pass & cut.

[DC]

Yea Will is my 2nd favorite player of all time behind Mark Price.

Remember Preps: Chicago Hoops?

[ex carrabba fan]

Quote: Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Yea Will is my 2nd favorite player of all time behind Mark Price. Remember Preps: Chicago Hoops?

The one with Eddy Curry? Who else was in that?? That was the bomb show