FanHouse JoeAlexander

San Antonio needed a major infusion of offensive talent this season, and it appears the team has found it. Multiple league reports indicate the Spurs have traded for Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson, sending away only bit players Bruce Bowen (age 38), Kurt Thomas (age 36) and Fabricio Oberto (age 34), according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jefferson has been in Wisconsin for one year, following last June's draft day trade which sent Yi Jianlian and others to New Jersey. Jefferson has always been a moderately efficient scorer, and he should provide some relief for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in the Spurs starting line-up. He's not quite an ace defender, but he played hard for Scott Skiles last season and hasn't missed a game in two seasons.

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NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

* "No big deal. I'm going to have own private dunk contest at my house. Just me. I'll be the only one invited." -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

* "A while ago, back when Myspace was more like Facebook and less like Adultfriendfinder.com, I came across LaSalle Thompson's page in a random Pacers search. Assuming it was some sort of fan site, I sent a friend request. But instead of being accepted, I receive a not-at-all-friendly 'Who's this? Do I know you?'" -- Basketbawful.

The NBA held a contest, decided by fan vote, to determine the final contestant in the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest, brought to you by Sprite (in case you missed that). Turns out that Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, and the rather amusing Joe Alexander of Milwaukee couldn't do what a 6-foot-6 Spaniard shooting guard could do.

Portland's Rudy Fernandez has been selected to join defending champion Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, and Nate Robinson in the event. This according to Jason Quick of The Oregonian.

As far as Rudy's odds, he's definitely staring up at a pretty big (say seven feet) disadvantage. Howard is the most prolific Dunk Contest Winner of the last decade, Rudy Gay has an amazing set of skills for the event, and Robinson is the token Short Guy. So Fernandez is going to need to bring something pretty impressive to pull this off. I recommend dunking over the Darius Miles' cap space. That's a pretty long way.

Memphis' No. 4 in the vaunted 2007 draft, point guard Mike Conley, has been a bust by all measures. It's early of course, and point guards take a minute to mature. But Conley has lost his job to Kyle Lowry twice, and Lowry's headed toward a career as an Earl Watsonesque role player. Conley's been rumored as trade bait since he entered the NBA, but things have heated up now.

Three of the four spots in this year's Dunk Contest field have been decided, but the fourth one, as you may recall, will be decided by a vote from the fans. After reviewing a few of the promotional videos put together by Russell Westbrook, Rudy Fernandez, and Joe Alexander, I can tell you that my vote is going to Alexander at this point. Still undecided? Then watch this video and be convinced.


Sure, the other candidates have videos of their own; there's Westbrook playing the trumpet, and Fernandez pronouncing the word "donk" due to his accent. Yawn. Give me the humor of Alexander's videos any day. Besides, do Westbrook or Fernandez get warmed up by hitting their head on the rim? I didn't think so.

Three-quarters of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest field has been set, and the confirmed are familiar faces: reigning champ Dwight Howard, former champ Nate Robinson and underwhelming 2008 competitor Rudy Gay. For the fourth slot, the league is holding a fan vote between three rookies: Joe Alexander, Russell Westbrook and Rudy Fernandez. There is no way Rudy loses this, between his rabid Portland base and the legions of devoted Spanish fans who will pump the vote. And while Joe was born with moon shoes on and Westbrook could be the best point guard dunker in a decade, I'm not mad at a Rudy candidacy. Howard, I suspect, might be.



It may be surprising that Gerald Green isn't involved, given that he is a living champion and possibly deserved more consideration for last season's Birthday Cake dunk. Like others before him, though, Green has separated himself from Dunk Contest immortality.

"I don't want to do it," Green said. "They can keep it."

Sorry G. You can't quit the dunk contest ... the dunk contest quits you. (Unless you are Gerald Wallace.)

This just in: the Chinese kinda/sorta dig basketball. Especially that Kobe Bryant character. But just like Americans, The Chinese aren't too fond of watching mediocre NBA teams.

This pre-season, the league sent the Warriors and Bucks to battle it out during the league's annual NBA China showcase. Well, the let's just say the Chinese were not too excited to see the two particular NBA teams play:

According to a public poll by leading Internet portal Sina.com, 34 percent of respondents paid no attention to the games. For those who bought tickets or watched on TV, 26 percent described the games as "boring", 23 percent bemoaned the lack of Chinese players and only 17 percent commented positively on the experience.

The resulting attention was a mere shadow of the success and praise heaped on the 2004 China Games, billed as Yao Vs Sacramento Kings, or the 2007 Games featuring LeBron (Cavs) and Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic).

In contrast to those past efforts, many media seats in Guangzhou were embarrassingly empty last Wednesday and even scalpers suffered as ticket prices nosedived from 2,800 yuan ($410) to 500 yuan ($73)on the black market.

So if the NBA wants to keep the Chinese excited, they need to send stars or Chinese players. And no, sending a team with a white player that is fluent in Mandarin doesn't help much. I know some of the teams and their players hate travel that far for the pre-season, but the league really should make sure that they send players and teams over there that the Chinese are familiar with. I'm sure throwing a little bonu$ the players way could help the cause a bit.

This little tidbit comes from the New York Post, so by all means, take it with a grain of salt. But the word on the street is that Richard Jefferson isn't very happy about being traded from the Nets -- a hop-skip from possibly the most happening city in the entire country, NYC -- to the frozen tundra of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Behold:

"He didn't seem very happy," said [Nets team president Rod] Thorn, who emphasized yesterday he had not yet spoken to Jefferson. "I spoke to his agent, I called him, texted him. I like Richard. He was here for a long time and I'm sure he still expected to be here. Unless you are the one pushing for it, it's always difficult when you are traded. You are going to a new place, have new teammates. It's hard at first."

So, Rod Thorn didn't speak to RJ, yet through his telepathic connection with him just knows that he doesn't seem happy. That's fine I guess, because the Post isn't exactly making a huge leap here. To say that Jefferson -- who, after the Kidd trade, was basically the face of the franchise -- wouldn't be pleased to pack up and start things over again in freaking Milwaukee of all places, is really just common sense, isn't it?

I don't think any All-Star caliber player would be happy about leaving the New York area for Wisconsin. But if there's a bright side for RJ, it's of the basketball variety: the Bucks might be pretty decent next season, and if healthy, should contend for a playoff spot. Michael Redd, Mo WIlliams, Andrew Bogut, and (possibly) rookie Joe Alexander could be rounding out the Bucks' opening day starting five. Looks pretty good to me, although I said that last season too. Maybe you should take what I say with a grain of salt as well.

Blockbuster No. 2, my friends: SI.com's Ian Thomsen says the Nets have agreed to ship expensive small forward Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee for Chinese star Yi Jianlian and highway bandit Bobby Simmons. No picks involved, says Thomsen.

If this happens, it is a monumental deal. While J.O-for-T.J. might matter more on the court next season, Yi landing in New York City (err, at least a few minutes away) is a huge coup. While Milwaukee had adopted Yi as well as any Midwestern city could, the po$$ibilities with the Nets are just phenomenal.

For Milwaukee, this bolsters an already potent offense, shores up the most troublesome position, and either destroys or preserves the common belief Joe Alexander is going here at #8 in tonight's draft, depending on whether the Bucks think JoeAl can play power forward. If not, could Alexander slide down to #10 into N.J.'s waiting grasp? Remember, Alexander speaks Mandarin, and the Nets definitely need a new small forward, assuming Yi sticks to power forward, which he played at in Milwaukee.

Thomsen also notes that Simmons' contract expires in 2010, which is the summer LeBron James potentially becomes a free agent. I could not be more sure that this is only an incredible coincidence.

Heading into Thursday's NBA Draft, one question that's on everyone's mind is who will be taken with the top pick, Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley? Should the Bulls, who draft at No. 1, pick a future star who can run their offense in Rose, or should they go after a forward who can dominate the glass and score from anywhere on the floor in Beasley?

Well, strong cases can be made for both players. And they have. From GM's to coaches to writers to bloggers to fans, everyone has weighed in on the decision.

Everyone, that is, except for the guys who are going to be in the green room with Beasley and Rose tomorrow night. So during Wednesday's media availability here in New York, I talked to the Class of '08 about who they'd draft with the first pick if they were the Bulls. Read on to see what Kevin Love, D.J. Augustin and others had to say about the Beasley vs. Rose debate.