FanHouse Tyronn Lue

Need a veteran point guard? There's still plenty to choose from in free agency.

The list, though, did get shorter with the news that Mike Wilks will sign a non-guaranteed contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

"I think he's got a decent shot to make the team,'' Wilks' agent, Bill Neff told FanHouse on Wednesday. "They don't have a lot of guards.''

With Jordan Farmar out for the next couple of months after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus, there have been discussions about whether the Lakers will look to make a move to bring in a backup point guard. The pickings are pretty slim out there at that position -- just ask the Suns. But if this rumor is to be believed, it would appear that the Lakers are trying to deal for a warm body nonetheless, and it's a familiar one: former Laker (and two-time NBA champion!) Tyronn Lue.

While Bell and Ridnour have health and injury issues, Tyronn Lue doesn't have either. But Lue's status appears to be up in the air as well. It is believed the Bucks have an offer on the table from the Los Angeles Lakers for Lue, with the Bucks receiving veteran big man Chris Mihm in return.

Most Laker fans remember Lue's time in Los Angeles fondly for some reason, but all I can remember is Allen Iverson stepping over him in disgust after hitting what was effectively the game winner in overtime of Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. It's not like he'd be expected to play extended minutes though, and in fact, it's possible Lue would never see the court.

The Lakers are still a solid eight players deep (nine if you count Vladimir Radmanovic) even with Farmar sidelined, so this would only be an insurance move in case another guard were to go down with an injury. The Lakers are loaded with semi-serviceable bigs Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga, so dealing Mihm for a guard to sit on the bench seems like a logical move, and a harmless one at that.

The Suns have spent most of the off-season trying to find a backup point guard to spell Steve Nash. But so far, every one of their targets have signed elsewhere. The latest player to fall off the Suns' radar is Tyronn Lue, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Bucks for around $3.9M.

The problem for the Suns has been that all they have to offer somebody is a veteran's minimum contract, which isn't enough to lure anyone of any significant skill. So who's left that might actually take those low dollars for a chance to play in Phoenix? Two names that have come up are Jason Williams of the Heat, and (at the moment, former) Clipper Shaun Livingston.

Williams would be an acceptable pickup I think, and Livingston is still on the road back from that famously horrific knee injury (that I refuse to link to anymore, it was so brutal). The Clippers renounced Livingston's rights, so he's now an unrestricted free agent. He'd be a great signing at the right price, but probably wouldn't be able to contribute until the second half of the season.

Short of the Suns signing one of those guys, they're looking at second year player D.J. Strawberry running the point, or getting a little exotic and using Boris Diaw. But Steve Kerr is all about making things interesting (or tearing the team apart, depending on your perspective) so I wouldn't be surprised to see Phoenix make a trade to fill this need before the start of next season.

Sekou Smith just happened to mention a conversation he had with the little fella, and I don't believe it's "official" yet, despite the wording in his column today, but Tyronn Lue has apparently agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks, following the Sacramento Kings waiving him last week.

Had a post-game phone conversation with Tyronn Lue and he says it's official, he's signing with the Dallas Mavericks. Lue was waived Friday by Sacramento and had his choice of teams (Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, Charlotte, etc.) in need of a veteran backup point guard to help them through the end of the season and the playoffs. He fielded calls from good friends in Phoenix (Shaq, Grant Hill, etc.) but said he opted for the opportunity in Dallas because of the role he'll play backing up a future Hall of Famer in Jason Kidd.

A good choice, Tyronn. Aside from the fact that there's nothing funnier than thinking about Shaq and Lue kicking it at some club, Phoenix appears to be struggling a bit right now. Dallas, meanwhile, is being questioned following a 4-3 start to the Kidd era, but to me, that Dallas game yesterday was, despite Ason front-clanging a free throw to tie it, as close to a moral victory as you can get. They hit the Lakers in their prime, with Mamba set on "honoring" Wilt Chamberlin's 100 point game and they took them to overtime. Kidd and his teammates haven't even fully congealed either, as proved by the pass --> Nowitzki shot at the end of overtime. Lue will probably be pretty crucial in keeping Kidd fresh as the playoffs approach without Dallas having to punt any games; he also provides a pestering defensive presence, which is always nice.

I've never been all that impressed with Tyronn Lue but what do I know: the waif-ish 6-foot-nothing point guard has hung around the league for 10 years, which isn't half bad. He's bounced between six teams in that span, and after getting bought out by the Kings later today, he'll likely add a seventh team to his resume. He came to Sacramento in the Mike Bibby trade but will get his walking papers without having appeared in a single game.

So where will he end up? Who knows, but it's clear that he's hoping it'll be with a playoff team considering he negotiated the buyout so that he could be waived in time for the March 1 deadline for being eligible for the playoffs. Given his relationship with Kevin Garnett (it was he and Chauncey Billups who convinced KG to accept the trade to Boston in the first place) the Celtics would have been a potential option had that whole Sam Cassell thing fallen though.

Once upon a time I figured the Warriors would be in the market for a veteran point, but they seem to like C.J. Watson, albeit not as much as when he first signed. But certainly somebody will give him a shot: he does a good job protecting the ball and can hit the occasional long ball. The Suns, perhaps?

(via SR)

Seriously, at some point we'll run out of things to say about the Kevin Garnett trade. But via True Hoop, our attention got drawn to Shira Springer's second-by-second recap of The Day Everything in Basketball Changed.

Apparently, when Garnett realized he wanted to move on, he consulted with good friends Chauncey Billups and Lue about possible destinations. Boston was looking good because of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but there was that nagging thing about the city. According to Lue, that didn't take long to get past:

"Then, KG asked me, 'What about the city?' I said, 'You don't go out anyway, so it doesn't matter. You don't go out of the house. You could play in Alaska.' He's like, 'Yeah, you're right.'"

So there you have it. One of the Association's marquee names takes advice from a career back-up, and Boston, players love you as long as they don't have to go out. Word to Pierce on that. Or maybe he's not backing off his weather concerns after all.