The second edition of the North American SuperLiga, which pits four top MLS clubs against four top Mexican clubs, kicks off on Saturday, and we are reminded once again that this made-for-TV event is made for Spanish-language TV only. Telefutura is once again the only American TV network carrying SuperLiga matches nationally. This is in spite of the fact that three MLS clubs made it through to the knockout stage last season, even though Pachuca won the million-dollar prize.
You would think Fox Soccer Channel might want to jump in on SuperLiga to get people psyched up for the CONCACAF Champions League, which the fledgling network will air starting in August, but it seems they would rather show more Barca TV this summer. We might get English announcers on MLSLive.tv, but possibly not until the knockout stages, as was the case last year.
So the face of your franchise and your most beloved player, Baron Davis, skipped town. And your top replacement target, Gilbert Arenas, re-signed with his club. And the next big target on your radar just spurned you and hopped over to the East for more money. So who do you turn to, after inking an aging small forward for a bit of cash while you try and convince Monta Ellis to stick around?
The Warriors have come to a verbal agreement with Lakers restricted free agent Ronny Turiaf on a four year deal worth an estimated $17 million. As he is a restricted free agent, the Lakers have seven days to match the Warriors offer.
It's an interesting signing, because if the Warriors are able to pry him away from the purple and gold, he provides a number of things they lack. Along with Corey Maggette, Turiaf represents a greater commitment to defense. In addition, Turiaf can actually rebound, which the Warriors failed miserably at last season. He does make sense with their system though, as he's a high energy guy who can come in and play a few minutes or more, and is extremely flexible and provides a spark. He's also a fan favorite that would fit in with the Warriors scrappy image. That is if the fans haven't all thrown themselves off a bridge after Baron left.
What had come to hurt the Clippers' chances of retaining Brand has been the organization's refusal to offer anything but a "take-it-or-leave-it" deal since Golden State made its $90-plus million offer. People close to Brand say that "it pissed him off," and made him question his original desire to stay a Clipper.
What strikes me on first glance -- wasn't the reported $70 million, five years offer from the Clips the max they could offer after reeling in Baron Davis? There has some dispute over whether the Clippers renounced Brand to sign Davis; if not, the Clippers could have offered a sixth year. However, there were reports last week that Brand wasn't after a sixth year. (There were also reports Brand's agent had set up L.A.'s Davis snatch to help get Brand a good team around him, but obviously that one wasn't so right.)
One more thing strikes me: how can it be about money when Brand takes $8 million less from the Sixers than he would have received from the Warriors? Brand's mad about the Clipper offer, but takes the one from Philly when Golden State is showing it values him more? It doesn't make any sense, unless Brand refused to consider Golden State for other reasons. This story should be fun to follow for a while.
Now that Elton Brand is Philly-bound and Corey Maggette has seen the light andchosen Northern California over points south, what on Earth are the Clippers to do? Landing Baron Davis was a coup, plain and simple. But losing the team's two other top weapons -- when desperately trying to keep one of them in Brand -- is bad news.
What do the Clippers do now? L.A. has substantial cap space, which had been earmarked for Brand. There's a gaping whole next to Chris Kaman -- something named Tim Thomas or Paul Davis are otherwise your starting power forwards. Josh Smith of Atlanta, a still-restricted free agent who had been Philadelphia's premiere target this summer, seems like a no-brainer. He's not your traditional power forward, but he's certainly the best option alive (and some would argue he's a better piece than Brand at this point).
With Eric Gordon in line to succeed Cuttino Mobley at the two-guard, chasing someone like Monta Ellis or Andre Iguodala out of spite wouldn't be practical. If you think Al Thornton is an acceptable power forward next to Kaman, though, maybe you chase Iggy to play the three for five years and hope for the best. Between Davis (not Paul), Kaman, and Thornton, there's a good chance scoring won't be a terrible issue. (Scoring efficiently might be.) Smith or Iguodala both offer non-buckets contributions, and should be high on any list of targets the "braintrust" in L.A. develops.
After being left at the alter by both Baron Davis and Elton Brand, the Warriors finally found someone willing to take their money: Corey Maggette. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Maggette agreed to a five-year, $50 million deal immediately after the Warriors learned that Brand had committed to the 76ers. Interestingly enough, he apparently jumped on the offer before giving the Clippers, who were also spurned by Brand, a chance to retain him.
Until this opening with Golden State, it looked like Maggette's best options involved taking the mid-level exception from one of the handful of interested contenders pursuing him, including the Spurs, Celtics, Pistons and Magic. He'll make a lot more money with the Warriors, but he'll also win a lot fewer games -- instead of battling for a title, he'll be in a fight to simply make the playoffs.
That said, it's not fair to say this simply came down to money, as the Warriors were also able to offer a lot more playing time than anyone else. With those other contenders, Maggette would have been a fourth or fifth option in the starting lineup -- if not relegated to the role of a super sub. But with the Warriors, Maggette has a chance to be "The Man," especially with Monta Ellis almost certainly taking on more of a distributor role in Davis' absence.
Not everyone thinks Maggette is up for being a team's No. 1 option, but it's hard to argue with his production or the fact that he's a perfect fit for Nellieball. He's uber-athletic and can shoot from long-distance, and while his defense is underrated, he won't be asked to play much under Don Nelson anyway. The Warriors still need a legitimate big man, but the Warriors could have done a lot worse than snagging Maggette.
For much of the last week, most basketball fans assumed that Elton Brand was either going to a) re-sign with the Clippers; or b) grab the pile of money that Baron Davis left behind with the Warriors. Instead, he surprised everyone by choosing c) none of the above, leaving behind the Western Conference entirely in favor of the 76ers. From the Los Angeles Times:
Elton Brand has reached a verbal agreement to sign a multiyear contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to an NBA source who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on player movements.
The deal is believed to be in the $80-million range and expected to span five years.
Okay, this wasn't a complete surprise -- there were rumblings last night that this might be a possibility, and Philly's salary dump of a trade earlier today was obviously setting up a larger move -- but it has to feel like a kick in the ribs to Clippers fans dreaming of Brand and B.Dizzle leading the Clips back to the playoffs.
Until the last 48 hours or so, the Sixers were believed to be focusing most of their interest on Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith, but the addition of Brand, who's much more polished offensively, and the expected return of Andre Iguodala, who's a restricted free agent himself, makes the 76ers instant contenders in the East with an intriguing core of youth and experience. This is a team that gave the Pistons fits in the first round this past year even without a legitimate low-post scoring threat. If Brand regains his All-Star form and Philly's youngsters continue to develop, there's no telling what kind of damage they can do in 2007-08.
Seeing as how CC (no more periods!) Sabathia grew up in California, when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season, odds are he's going to head out to the west coast to pitch somewhere. With that in mind, the Los Angeles Dodgers were interested in trading for Sabathia because they feel they'd have a good shot at re-signing him to a long term deal after the 2008 season.
Shortly after the Milwaukee Brewers finalized a trade for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia on Monday, the Daily News learned that sometime in the days leading up to that deal, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt nixed a trade that would have brought Sabathia to Los Angeles, along with Indians third baseman Casey Blake and utility man Jamey Carroll.
McCourt's reason was financial, according to multiple industry sources. But that is a charge McCourt flatly denied.
"It's just totally false," he said. "The players didn't match up, and that's just the way it was.
"Trades are complicated, and (the Indians) weren't just going to give us three players. They were asking for something in return. The point being that in this deal, the give and the get just didn't match up."
Elton Brand has a generous offer on the table to stay with the Clippers, and an even larger offer on the table to bolt for the Warriors. But while most of the discussion surrounding his options has centered on those two teams, it's at least possible that he might bolt California completely and head back east.
That's crazy talk, right? Probably, but according to ESPN's Marc Stein, the 76ers have officially thrown their hat in the ring. It's true the Sixers have been connected to restricted free agent Josh Smith since the offseason began, but the team wants to do it's due diligence by gauging Brand's interest before tying up their finances by signing Smith to an offer sheet and waiting seven days while the Hawks decide if they're going to match it or not.
I can't say I'm completely surprised -- Smith has all the potential in the world, but Brand is a proven product and (when healthy) one of the most consistent big men in the game today. Smith would make the Sixers a joy to watch; Brand would get the Sixers out of the first round.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video we talk to tennis star Nadia Petrova who tells us why she is more popular in the United States than in her homeland, Russia. We also learn why it's not wise to get in the way of any serve unleashed by this tennis powerhouse. Around 1:15 into the video Nadia tells us why Russia produces so many talented tennis players.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Florida Marlins (44-43) at Colorado Rockies (37-51) - 3:05 PM ET
As if 18-17 wasn't enough, the Rockies and Marlins played a 12-6 game proving once and for all that the humidor is dead Coors Field can still play host to some Nintendo games ... and that the Marlins pitching staff needs to step it up if they're going to hope to remain in contention for the N.L. East. The Marlins turn to Mark Hendrickson, who started out the season pitching like their ace but has been positively awful his last seven starts (37 earned runs in his last 34 innings). Not the guy you would expect to bounce you back from giving up 30 runs in two games. As for the Rockies, hey ... if they have another run in them, they're only six games back in the N.L. West so that division can still be had. Speaking of which ...
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