NBA Transactions and Rumors

Blazers send Batum to Hornets for Vonleh and Henderson.  Nicolas Batum is one of my favorite players in the league to watch....when he's not hurt. Healthy he's one of the great tenacious wing D'ers in the league, quick to turn the counterattack, unfortunately his injury-prone-ness has made that contract a bit suspicious. Looks to me like the Blazers are in full-blown rebuild mode. The Hornets clearly never thought much of Vonleh, took forever to debut, never really got regular run once he finally got in there, disappointing debut on a disappointing team; I really have no feel for what he offers the Blazer besides a cheaper contract. Henderson is one of those irrational confidence guys and guys like that need new environments to play in, Blazers should have plenty of minutes for him, he can be a useful rotation player.

Speaking of the Blazers: Afflalo's out, Batum's out, Matthews and Lopez seem set for new cities...but Steve Blake opts in when I thought he could probably make more money elsewhere. They making room for Kevin Love? Is Aldridge down with these moves or is he getting weirded out? The biggest domino has yet to tip.

Monta Ellis opted out of his contract with the Mavs. Apparently the relationship deteriorated last year (yup, I would've pissed about bringing in Rondo, too) and the word was that even if Ellis had opted in he would've been a trade chip. Who needs Monta? Grizzlies, never know what the Blazers will look like next year, ditto the Raptors. I think he fits the Sixers: veteran scorer that doesn't care that all his teammates are still too young to drink beer because...Monta doesn't pay attention to his teammates anyway. But I can't imagine the Sixers would ever pay the money Monta will want.

Kevin Love has opted out with the Cavs. I suspect a sign-and-trade is coming. Love wants to maximize his contract but doesn't really want to play in Cleveland with Lebron and Kyrie. The Cavs are willing to play the game because they know somebody will pay. It'll be tough for the Cavs to take back max money, they'll need a mid-price contributor and an expiring contract they can jettison (like say, Gerald Wallace?). I think Love moves on from the Cavs with everyone's blessing. Blazers are making moves, they Love-able?

Magic send Ridnour to Grizzlies for the right to Timma. I don't speak ill of players very often but I'm gonna let this fly: Luke Ridnour is the worst player in the NBA! WORST! He fools you because he's a fine athlete, moves well around the court and has good handle on the ball like a for-real PG. But watch him: he is NEVER where he ought to be. He never makes the right pass, never takes the right shot, is routinely beaten like a mule on defense. He's a fine athlete but he is not good at this thing called basketball. I really have no idea why the Grizzlies want him except that he'll be an energetic practice player and a reliable human being. But on the court he is a disaster, he is the worst player in the league. For the Magic to get the draft rights to a dude I never heard of is plenty more than enough for Ridnour. I'd rather have a VHS copy of whatever draft that dude was in than Luke Ridnour.

I'm not a bitter fanboy, I'm not a hater, I'm not one to call for the firing, trading, dismissing, etc., of any of these people. There are personalities occasionally that warm me (or irk me) but in general I just watch the game on the court. My dislike of Ridnour is entirely as a guy that watches a lot of basketball. Dude sucks. Think I've made my point.

Ed Davis opted out with the Lakers. I did not watch the Lakers at all this season (hmmm, seriously, I'm not sure I watched them even once) so I don't know much about Davis as a player. But my basic osmosis-like understanding is that he can probably get more than the $1.5 (or so) he was due next year from the Lakers. Also, the Lakers seem keen on getting rid of any and all contracts to make room for...Cousins? Love? Aldridge? Deandre? Well, whoever it is, it ain't Ed Davis. Where does Davis go? Plenty of teams need a young athletic center, if he can come off the bench and rebound and/or block shots, I'd think he can get $2.5-$3.5m this summer. (A lot of C's on the market this summer, not sure if that works for or against Davis's hopes for a raise)

JR Smith opted out from the Cavs, now the chatterers are saying he's looking to re-up with the Cavs. I dunno, if the Cavs keep Love that really hamstrings their spending this summer and moving Love may or may not loosen up more cash. Either way I didn't think Smith was the guy the Cavs would want. Perhaps Lebron likes Smith, otherwise I think they can do better (or at least cheaper) with that roster spot. I think Smith to the Grizzlies or somewhere is more likely but we'll see how the rumors play out.

Today there were reports about the NCAA suggesting a plan whereby college players can go to the pre-draft camps and then return to college. This is good for the players and we should applaud the fact that they are better off. But should we praise the organization that has held them down all this time? Just because the NCAA is finally going to get it right doesn't mean we should let them off the hook for decades of tyranical power over collegiate athletes. Let me hit you with a concept: if you want to be a professional basketball player then going to the pre-draft camps is just part of the job. Why has the NCAA been keeping young students from bettering themselves within their chosen profession? Are there NCAA-like institutions designed to keep computer programmers from meeting with potential employers? Or architects? Chemical biologists? Everyone else is free to pursue their opportunities within their professions, so why do we allow this phoney-baloney imaginary authority called the NCAA to yoke these young men (and do they treat the women this abominably?) rather than helping them move to the next stage of their careers? (Man I am hating tonight! One last blast) Fuck the NCAA. Some day a mighty revolutionary will appear and strike down this utterly foolish windmill called the NCAA and collegiate athletes will be allowed to flourish and live reasonable lives instead jumping through the NCAA's arbitrary hoops for no discernible reason. Seriously: fuck the NCAA. I can't wait for somebody to put them out of our misery. And will we miss the NCAA when it is gone? I assure you, we will not.

The heating-up rumor of the moment is Cousins to the Lakers in all kinds of various (imaginary) ways. I doubt this happens. In basketball its easy to forget the divisional alignments because it generally doesn't seem that important. But the Kings trading one of the biggest, bestest stars in the league for less than he's worth (I personally believe Cousins' contract is easily one of the best in the league for the next coupla years) to one of their divisional rivals is pretty implausible regardless of what the Kings get back. Why would they help the Lakers when they've been down lately, hell, now's the time for the Kings to block any and every opportunity the Lakers have to get ahead. I don't think the Kings trade Cousins (I cannot conceive of the possible deal that would be better than having Cousins in a Kings uniform for at least the next two years) and if they were dumb enough to do so, they'd trade him East, certainly not to another Cali team.