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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

Report: Spurs Nab Richard Jefferson

Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 1:58PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Spurs, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions

5 COMMENTS
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.
Continue Reading Report: Spurs Nab Richard Jefferson

Fork 'Em: Milwaukee Bucks

Posted: Apr 9th 2009 11:40AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks

0 COMMENTS
As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

Through the first half of the season, the Bucks rode as one of the great surprises of the NBA. A team sunk in the dead space between truly atrocious and just plain bad in 2007-08, Scott Skiles (and Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut) had Milwaukee back on the map, threatening to crash the postseason and even peeking into one analyst's Top 5 around the New Year.
Continue Reading Fork 'Em: Milwaukee Bucks

Guide to Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline

Posted: Feb 19th 2009 9:38AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Cavaliers, Nets, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Trail Blazers, Wizards, NBA Rumors, Thunder, NBA Transactions

3 COMMENTS
At 3 PM ET Thursday, the deadline for NBA trades for this season will hit. Moves made after the deadline will be limited to waiver pick-ups; meaning only veterans with short deals will likely shift around. Of course, those veterans (like Joe Smith) might be moved before that can happen.

There are a few parallel storylines heading into the deadline, and (unfortunately) not all of them have to do with basketball. So what should you expect to go down before the deadline hits?
Continue Reading Guide to Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline

Michael Redd Tears ACL, MCL

Posted: Jan 25th 2009 8:31PM by Matt Moore (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Eastern, NBA Injuries

2 COMMENTS
You know what actually made Milwaukee famous? The soul-crushing agony of defeat.

The Bucks had recently turned things around to a certain degree with Scott Skiles and Richard Jefferson. They were a half-game ahead for the 8th playoff spot, had been playing competitively, and had some young talent to complement their core.

And now this: Michael Redd blew out his knee last night, tearing his ACL and MCL, putting him on the shelf for the remainder of the season. Ouch.
Continue Reading Michael Redd Tears ACL, MCL

Is Andres Nocioni a Dirty Player? Richard Jefferson Thinks You Know the Answer

Posted: Oct 26th 2008 8:10PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Bulls

3 COMMENTS
Bulls savior Derrick Rose suffered a minor hip injury Friday as a result of a seemingly innocuous foul by Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson. Later in the game, Andres Nocioni hammered Jefferson (according to game reports), and Jefferson took exception. On the surface, it seems alright: if Noces thought the Rose foul was excessive, making a statement would be the normal next step ... even in the preseason.

Jefferson, obviously, disagrees. Actually, he disagreed at the time as well: he and Nocioni got into a shouting match, and I think Luke Ridnour killed a guy.* Jefferson had some thoughts after the game, and Mike McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald passes them along.
After the game, I asked Jefferson for his take on the incident. Did he think Nocioni's foul was retaliation for the one on Rose? Keep in mind that this conversation was good-natured all the way through. Jefferson was not upset or angry and it was nice to hear a player of his caliber open up.

"How long have you been following the Bulls? What type of player do you think Nocioni is?" Jefferson answered. "Don't ask me a question if you already know the answer."
You see, that's how obvious it is that Nocioni is dirty: Jefferson feels it is insulting to even ask him if Nocioni is dirty. Certainly, Noces is seen as the toughest Argentine in the league; his "hustle," "grit" and "toughness" share most of the responsibility for his last big contract. This isn't to say he doesn't also offer good rebounding and shooting -- most teams would be better with him on the roster -- but a good portion of his game comes from hitting players harder than they'd like to be hit. And to be honest, much of Jefferson's game is tied to avoiding direct confrontation -- he's a high-flying skill player.

All I know is that I appreciate both parties for giving us a bit more drama in the preseason. Only two days left until we get the real thing. (And hey, now we at least know Jefferson did actually show up in Wisconsin. Good sign.)

Headlines to Watch: Central Division

Posted: Oct 22nd 2008 1:30PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Bulls, Cavaliers, Pacers, Pistons, Eastern

3 COMMENTS
LeBron James

It's hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Central Division was a powerhouse. As recent as 2006 it sent all five of its teams to the playoffs, and in 2007 it featured the top three records in the East. But last year? Only two made it to the postseason, including the disappointing Cavs, who followed up their NBA Finals appearance by winning five fewer games than the season before and failing to score as many points as they gave up.

Can the Central regain its luster in 2008-09? Well, the Pistons are still the Pistons, which means their ticket to the postseason is already punched, and the Cavs are tagging along for the ride so long as LeBron James is around. The Bulls, Pacers and Bucks will still bring up the rear, but at least there's honest-to-goodness hope they're headed in the right direction after making a series of offseason moves. Let's take a look at the most compelling storylines.
Continue Reading Headlines to Watch: Central 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.

Gilbert Arenas Is Blogging Again: 'Every Player Hates Milwaukee'

Posted: Jul 15th 2008 1:20PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Bucks, Nets, Wizards, NBA Gossip

20 COMMENTS
Remember a while back when Gilbert Arenas was thinking about not blogging anymore? Contrary to what we all believed, it appeared that he didn't enjoy all the attention from the media he received when he said something that was perceived to be wacky or downright controversial. Well, after a hiatus of over two months, Gilbert is back with a monster effort that deals mostly with his international tour for adidas. But there are also some gems in there where Gilbert gives his opinions on some of the recent free agent moves that have gone down.

Besides basically saying that he doesn't see the Elton Brand, Baron Davis, or Corey Maggette deals as being the best fit for those respective teams, he also breaks out the laughter when thinking about the deal that sent Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee.
Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee .... HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I'm sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going ... let's just say it's not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one.
While this is something we discussed at the time the trade happened, it's pretty hilarious to see Gilbert going LOL on the deal and adding in the part about every player hating Milwaukee. The Bucks and Wizards always seem to play extremely competitive games; this recent post from Gilbert will simply add a little something extra to the fire.

[via SLAM]

Richard Jefferson Doesn't Think the Nets Will Be Very Good Any More

Posted: Jul 7th 2008 11:35PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Nets, Bucks, New York, Milwaukee

3 COMMENTS
Crisis averted, if you let the reports Richard Jefferson had been displeased at being shipped to Milwaukee bother you much. As often happens with these things, Jefferson made to Milwaukee and seems happy now. In his introductory press conference today, Jefferson revealed what made the trade sweeter than originally perceived.
After calming down and evaluating I looked at the opportunity here. An opportunity to get back to the playoffs and I really don't think the Nets are going to be headed there in the next couple years. They've voiced that with some of the moves they've made.
The two moves, of course, being Jefferson's trade (for Yi Jianlian) and the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris swap. To be honest, the point guard maneuvering likely served to make the 2008-09 Nets more potent than the previous version. But Jeff's right: there's no way to dust the Yi/Bobby Simmons acquisition as anything but "building for the future."

Meanwhile, though some have penciled Milwaukee in for contention for a lower Eastern playoff seed, it seems like Jefferson's ability has been sold short. He's a greater scorer (9th per-game last season) but an efficient shooter who gets to the line and takes the bad three sparingly. His rebounding has fallen off -- with little team-based excuse -- in recent years, and (as Jefferson admits in the presser) his defense needs to be resuscitated. Let the magic of Scott Skiles' perfectly manicured fingertips take control.

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