FanHouse Nba Eastern

John Hammond has had an awfully busy first few months as the Bucks GM, finding a coach, preparing for the draft and swinging a semi-blockbuster deal for Richard Jefferson. He can now cross one more thing off his list: giving his franchise center an extension.

Andrew Bogut has agreed on a five-year deal that could be worth up to $72.5 million, including $60 million of guaranteed money. That's not quite as much per year as Chris Paul (who was selected three spots below Bogut in 2005 and recently agreed to a four-year, $68 million deal), but it's certainly a hefty raise and will easily set him up for life. Bogut is in Australia at the moment preparing for the Olympics with his country's national team, but he's expected to fly to the U.S. so he can officially put pen to paper on Friday.

It's still unclear what Hammond's master plan looks like (will Michael Redd remain part of the picture? will Ramon Sessions supplant Mo Williams as the team's point guard of the future), but locking up his up-and-coming big man was a no-brainer. Sure, the Bucks would probably take Paul or Deron Williams if given a do-over on the 2005 draft, but if Bogut continues to improve at his current pace he could be an All-Star this coming season.

This morning, World Champion NBA guard and All-World charity machine Dwyane Wade took some time out of his busy day -- chillin' in the G2 lounge is hard work, people -- to answer some questions from FanHouse about blogging diarying, the Olympics, Mike Beasley, Supernintendo Chalmers, Zo's Summer Groove and his iPod.

Will Brinson: Dwyane, what's up, man? Good morning and thanks for taking time to chat with FanHouse.

Dwyane Wade: Good morning, Will. Thanks for having me on, man.

WB: For there not being any games on, the NBA is pretty hectic right now, and suddenly the East looks pretty tough, especially with yesterday's craziness. What are your thoughts on where the Heat stand for 2008-09 in terms of addressing needs at the draft and free agency to get back to where you guys were a few years ago?

DW: Well, we were very excited about the guys we picked up in the draft this year. You know Beasley has a chance to be special -- a great player -- and Chalmers is a guy that could shock a lot of people. I can't believe he even fell to the second round, to the 34th pick, so we're very, very excited about getting those two guys.

I think we approach free agency very cautiously as well. We have a couple names, a couple guys we're targeting. But it's all about putting the right pieces together, not about the big names every summer, it's about adding the right pieces to the team and Coach Riley has done a great job with that.

On Tuesday night, the New Jersey Nets held a reception for about 40 season ticket holders at the Barclays Showroom in Midtown Manhattan. That would be the showroom in advance of the Barclays Center. And that, dear friends, is where the Nets have been rumored to be moving in 2010. There's been a lot of speculation about the development, whether it will get done, how the progress is going, and if the New Jersey Nets might end up just staying in New Jersey.

The Nets have news for you. Brooklyn's the spot.

At the reception, team officials told the ticket-holders that "Brooklyn is happening" and said they plan to break ground on the new development in the fall.

Go ahead. Insert your own LeBron James joke here.

The team also verified that they will be called the Brooklyn Nets, and that there might be a logo and color change. No word yet on whether they intend to change the logo to a silhouette of James. But don't worry, Cleveland fans. What with your dramatic trade for Michael Redd... no. Well, I mean, with the fact that you landed Elton Brand...no. Um... no worries! Everything's fine!

You have to feel a little sorry for Stephon Marbury. Not only is today the day that Steve & Barry's, the company that produces his signature shoe line, expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it's also the day that Chris Duhon, the man Donnie Walsh recruited to replace him in the starting lineup, can officially sign with the Knicks.

But while losing his biggest endorsement and (most likely) his starting gig has to sting, at least he can go to bed at night sleeping on a pile of money. He's set to make $21 million this year, the final year of his contract, and there's a good chance he won't have to do anything to earn it. While he's still going through the motions of preparing to play for the Knicks this year, no one on the team actually expects that he'll be around come the start of the season. From Alah Hahn of Newsday:

Most of the Knicks players aren't expecting Marbury to be there, despite his reported plans to come to Las Vegas this weekend to participate in voluntary workouts with other Knicks veterans while the team prepares for the NBA Summer League opener Monday. Marbury's effort to show up in Vegas is viewed by some teammates as a ploy, not a sincere effort.

"He's trying to show he's still dedicated," said one Knicks player, who asked not to be identified. "Come on, man, your teammates know. We see it every year."

As currently constructed, the Heat don't have a whole lot of room under the salary cap, but they may be able to fill a glaring need for outside shooting by inking James Jones, who hit 43.7% of his shots from long distance last year for the Trail Blazers. From Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

With the free-agent signing period to commence at midnight, a five-year offer has been extended to Jones, starting at $4 million for next season. The final three years of the contract would be conditional, to protect the Heat for the 2010 free-agency period.

Jones has yet to commit, but working in the team's favor is the fact that he'd be returning home -- he was born and raised in Miami and spent four years at the University of Miami before being drafted. Winderman doesn't offer up any other info about the last three conditional seasons, but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict those will be team option years.

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.

Patrick Ewing is considered one of the most popular New York Knicks of all time. He is also a coach on a professional basketball team. You would think, then, that he might get a shot at some sort of coaching position with the 'Bockers should spots in the staff clear out. They did, and he did not.

So, uh, what gives Donnie Walsh? You know, since you never told him the first time around.

Ewing, head coach of Orlando's summer-league team, said he spoke with Knicks President Donnie Walsh during the predraft camp in Orlando.

"Donnie just said why I didn't get an interview [with the Knicks] was because we [the Magic] were in the playoffs," Ewing said.

Asked why the Knicks couldn't wait until Orlando's postseason ended, Ewing said, laughing, "I don't know. That's what I was told."

Right. That's like saying that you never called a girl you met because your cellphone. (Read: Come up with a better fib.) Ewing did not get the call because, as Ziller has previously mentioned, he likes to chat it up with dancers before the game instead of preparing his players.

So, it's not a real knock on Walsh for using that excuse, but a simple "I wanted to let Mike fill out his own staff, Pat" would have sufficed.

Darius Miles hasn't appeared in an NBA game since 2006, and in April it was determined by a doctor appointed by both the NBA and the Players Association that his injured knees were so messed up that he'd likely never play again.

Though the Blazers (or more likely, their insurance company) still have to pay the man, that doom and gloom prognosis allowed the team to shave the remaining $18 million he's due over the next two years off the salary cap. But there's a catch: in order for the Blazers to stay in the clear, Miles can't return to the NBA -- or more specifically, he can't appear in at least 10 games over the next two years.

Trouble is, that's exactly what he's trying to do. The Boston Globe says he had "an impressive workout" with the Celtics, and the East Valley Tribune reports (via Shoals) the Suns have also inquired about his services. If he can convince some team out there to take a chance on him and he sees even spot duty this year, he could end up sabotaging Portland's master plan.

What are the chances he actually has any game left? If you remember, Miles proclaimed himself "90% healthy" last December when he was cleared to resume conditioning drills with his teammates, and it wasn't until problems with his Achilles tendon surfaced that he was officially ruled out last year.

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.

Hey, it's the first day. It's the Summer League. It was one game. The first game. Of the Summer League. It's a long week, a long season, a long career. And I'm going to doubt any of that makes Chicago fans that were paying attention to the first day of the NBA's Orlando Summer League feel better, or Miami fans feel worse about today's little exhibition.

Michael Beasley was, in a word, brilliant. 28 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 22 minutes. He could have been playing against D-Leaguers, the Harlem Globetrotters, or Mrs. Wormtail's second grade class, those are some slick numbers. That he did it against No.1 overall pick Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, in the midst of a 94-70 whupping made it all the more emphatic. The Heat dominated this game, even as Chicago started Rose, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas, who you may recognize as starters and heavy rotation guys. Not exactly a pretty start, even if its easy to brush off, given the absurd context of the Magic's practice facility in a meaningless exhibition in which D-League MVP Kasib Powell scored 15 and Keith Langford and Demetris Nichols led the Bulls. Beasley's game was in full effect today, as he worked his mid-range, long-range, post-work, and driving abilities. In a league that's meant to be used as a scrimmage clinic, Beasley put on one.