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Big Trades Overshadow NBA Draft

Posted: Jun 26th 2009 1:12PM by Matt Steinmetz (author feed)
Filed under: Cavaliers, Hawks, Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Wizards, NBA Draft, NBA Transactions

0 COMMENTS
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.

Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:

The Deal: Phoenix sends Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash.

The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
Continue Reading Big Trades Overshadow NBA Draft

Will Mike Miller Rise (and Shoot) Again?

Posted: Jun 24th 2009 10:57AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Wizards

2 COMMENTS
One of the more bizarre on-court storylines of 2008-09 was the "death" of Mike Miller.

Long one of the NBA's great shooters, Miller's single season in Minnesota reeked of miscast talent. The great Britt Robson of Secrets of the City called Miller's Timberwolf season "one of the most perverse, distasteful wastes of player's tailor-made role on a ballclub" he's ever witnessed. It is incredibly difficult to disagree.

What happened to Miller last season, when he averaged single digits (9.9 points per game) for the only time in his career? And can it be reversed in Washington? Let's find out.
Continue Reading Will Mike Miller Rise (and Shoot) Again?

Wizards Reportedly Trading No. 5 Selection to Timberwolves

Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 8:47PM by Matt Moore (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Wizards, NBA Transactions

2 COMMENTS
Mike MillerFor those of us hoping that the draft would bring some exciting developments, it has at least started with a relative bang. And for Minnesota fans, it has brought with it the "good" exciting, rather than the "oh, what's that funny feeling in my stomach, oh, it's vomit" exciting. You know, their usual kind.

A deal is close to closing that has the Timberwolves sending Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Washington Wizards for the No. 5 selection in Thursday's draft, Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, and Etan Thomas.
Continue Reading Wizards Reportedly Trading No. 5 Selection to Timberwolves

NBA Suspends David West 1 Game

Posted: Feb 9th 2009 5:50PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Hornets, Timberwolves, NBA Videos

4 COMMENTS


I'm not sure how David West can even try to justify what he was thinking when he hit Mike Miller in Sunday's game -- plain and simple, that's assault, not a hard foul. The NBA apparently agrees, announcing this afternoon that West will be suspended for tonight's game contest in Memphis. With Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler already sidelined due to injury, it shouldn't be considered an upset if O.J. Mayo and the rest of the Griz defend their home court.

Nets Want Mike Miller Over Larry Hughes

Posted: Jan 22nd 2009 1:50PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Nets, Timberwolves, NBA Rumors

4 COMMENTS
Mike MillerI have some bad news for all the Bulls fans eager to see Larry Hughes switch uniforms: the Nets do in fact have some interest in Hughes, but only as a fallback plan. Who are the Nets really going after? Mike Miller, a pretty useful player who's been buried in mediocrity since being traded to the Timberwolves this summer.

Dave D'Alessandro of the Star-Ledger spoke with an "NBA general manager familiar with the discussions" who confirmed the news, saying the Nets have been pursuing the deal since the start of the week. So far the Wolves aren't biting, reportedly holding for a draft pick and a young player; all New Jersey wants to give up is salary cap relief.
Continue Reading Nets Want Mike Miller Over Larry Hughes

Antoine Walker, Anyone? Employee No. 8 Waived by Memphis

Posted: Dec 18th 2008 10:20PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Celtics, Grizzlies, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions

5 COMMENTS
Just as we receive word that one old-timer is interested in coming back, another becomes available. The Memphis Grizzlies today waived Antoine Walker, after coming to a buyout agreement on the remainder of his contract. I know what you're thinking: Antoine Walker was on the Grizzlies? Yes, yes he was. Although it was in name only, as he didn't play in a single game for them this season.

Walker was part of the eight-player draft day deal in June that ended up sending O.J. Mayo to Memphis, and saw the Grizzlies send Kevin Love and Mike Miller to Minnesota. Now that Walker's available, the question is, can he still play?

I'm guessing Walker wouldn't have bothered taking a lesser amount than his contract guaranteed him if he was done as a player -- that's just bad business. So assuming he can still contribute something, where might he end up?
Continue Reading Antoine Walker, Anyone? Employee No. 8 Waived by Memphis

Headlines to Watch: Northwest Division

Posted: Sep 29th 2008 11:00AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Thunder

1 COMMENT


Check out FanHouse's NBA Preview.

The opening locale for our NBA Preview tour hosts a championship contender ... unless you believe in Vegas, where two teams have odds of at least 18-to-1 to win the title. Bettors have Utah at 18-to-1 and Portland, ahem Portland at 12-to-1. Clearly, folks expect big things from the newborn Trail Blazers.

That brings us to our first topic: how good will Portland be? The Blazers caught much of the nation off-guard last year, with a long winning streak through the early winter keeping the team alive in the rough Western playoff race. Clearly, Portland overperformed based on common expectation. Is that even possible this year? Win or lose, the Blazers will likely get more attention than any other Northwest team this season. The burgeoning tomorrow promises excitement, and no one wants to miss out the introduction of greatness. No pressure, kids.
Continue Reading Headlines to Watch: Northwest Division

NBA All Over the 'Biggest Celeb Donor' List

Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:25PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Rockets, Timberwolves

7 COMMENTS
PARADE Magazine published a list of the nation's top 30 celebrity donors of 2007, as researched by The Giving Back Fund. Athletes (current and former) make up a good portion of the list. But the NBA is easily the most well-represented sport, with six of the 10 athletes. (There are no players connected to Major League Baseball and one [Richard Seymour] from the NFL on the list.**)

Here are the NBA reps:

* Michael Jordan, who donated $5 million to Hales Franciscan High School.

* Richard Jefferson of the Bucks, who donated $3.5 million to the University of Arizona. (Worries about Gilbert Arenas getting to it first reportedly led to the big donation.)

* Tracy McGrady, who donated $1 million to Darfur awareness and education projects. (Mac has been loud about the project for a year.)

* Mike Miller of the Timberwolves, who donated $1 million to help a South Dakota children's hospital. (You can read a local write-up here.)

* Jerry West, who donated $800,000 to West Virginia University.

* David Robinson, who donated almost $800,000 to programs focused on education, feeding the hungry, and mentoring.

Loads more NBA players -- and every single NBA team -- donate time and money to various great causes. We all have some issue with David Stern, but he has really turned the league into an organization that makes caring about the community more than a motto. The NBA really does care.


** A previous version of this post incorrectly stated no NFL players were on the list. We regret the error.

Marc Iavaroni Doesn't Dislike OJ Mayo

Posted: Sep 22nd 2008 3:35PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Grizzlies, Western, NBA Media Watch

0 COMMENTS
Marc IavaroniYesterday my colleague Tom Ziller talked about how some NBA teams are embracing blogs in the wake of ever-shrinking coverage from slowly-dying newspapers. He referenced the Golden State Warriors but could have just as easily been talking about the Memphis Grizzlies, who have routinely offered the excellent 3 Shades of Blue blog exclusive sit-downs with owner Michael Heisley, GM Chris Wallace and, today, head coach Marc Iavaroni.

It's a win-win situation for everybody involved -- the team gets a few thousand words of coverage during the dog days of September and the blog gets some well-deserved publicity. Fans of the team win, too, especially considering Chip from 3 Shades asked tough questions and prints Iavaroni's complete, in-depth answers and not just a boiled down one-liner readers would have received from a traditional reporter constrained by inches on a dead tree. The whole interview is worth reading, but here's my favorite highlight:
3SOB: It was reported that you played the devil's advocate on the O.J. Mayo trade. What were the reasons against the trade and what arguments were being made in favor of it?

MI: I think again another healthy situation. Here we are in what used to be called the war room but here we are in the draft night and frankly I think it was positive. We said let's look at everything. Now if someone wants to brand me the devil's advocate as several people were saying that is fine. I've never been a sheep. Mr. Heisley has never been a sheep. Heisley has always led by leading and I am the same way. Obviously, foremost on my mind is that we were a young team and we were going to get younger. Like it or not I tend to develop affinities for players in my corner and one of those players was Mike Miller.
Continue Reading Marc Iavaroni Doesn't Dislike OJ Mayo

Disagreement in Memphis Over Mayo Trade?!

Posted: Jun 29th 2008 11:45AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Minnesota

13 COMMENTS
Shockingly, not everyone in Memphis thought trading Kevin Love, Mike Miller, and taking on more bad salary -- all for the services of O.J. Mayo -- was a good idea, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Minnesota czar Kevin McHale discusses the feeling he got from the Grizzlies when finalizing the negotiations.
"I really had a feeling there was a huge contingency in Memphis who didn't want to do it. In fact, I know that. They told me that."
Oh come on! Why wouldn't you want to add another would-be point guard to your bloated backcourt, as well as Antoine Freaking Walker and Marko Jaric in exchange for your biggest trade chip and a stud-to-be 19-year-old power forward?

To be honest, as simply awful as this deal is for Memphis, it's no great shakes for Minnesota either. For all the hubbub around the summer of 2010, exactly who among the holy trinity of LeBron, Wade and Bosh will be knocking down McHale's door to join what will then be the worst defensive team in the league? Half the league plans on having cap space in two years; Minnesota is not remotely going to be an attractive option.

And if Miller was the hinge to this deal for the Wolves, but the deal was made with the summer of '10 in mind ... doesn't it matter that Miller's contract expires in 2010! There's a strong chance that a) Miller and the hypothetical 2010 superstar never play together, or b) you'll be offering a 30-year-old MiMi a fat six-year contract in 2010. HMMM.

I liked Mayo on the Wolves and Love on the Grizzlies a lot more than I like the current situation.

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