Signings & Such (cont)

Mo Williams (Cavs): 2yrs/$4.3m. I get that he's a Cavs vet and he wants to win but it feels like he could've made a bigger impact with the Grizzlies or Mavs and probably make more money too. When you're offered a spot on a team that is pretty well guaranteed to go the conference finals, must be tough to pass up.

Jason Smith (Magic): 1yr/$4.5m. So they just sent O'Quinn (making $4m/per) to the Knicks and then sign the guy NYK cast off to make room for O'Quinn for $4.5m? Don't understand any of that. I can't truly comment on Smith, no feel for his game, don't think I watched the Knicks at all last year, but the Knicks don't think he's better than O'Quinn so why would the Magic? (I guess they just valued a shorter deal to a longer one)

Barbosa (Warriors): 1yr/$2,5m. Okay. Nice vet off the bench, fits the Warriors ethos, money's reasonable, good deal.

Brooks (Bulls): 1yr/$(undisclosed). I can appreciate continuity and you certainly can't blame the Bulls' troubles last year on Brooks, but it felt like this was the one place where the Bulls could make for some change on the roster. They brought back Hinrich, Butler, Dunleavy and now Brooks and that's still a pretty good squad....if 2nd round of the playoffs is all you want. Up to Portis and McDermott (mostly hurt last year) to provide some new excitement. Up to Coach Hoiberg to get a few new drops of blood out of this turnip.

Jordan Farmar (Maccabi Tel Aviv). You knew his NBA career was done when even the Clippers gave up on him last year. He's a solid veteran going to one of Europe's better squads, he'll contribute and he's in a pretty good place to make a run at a Euro title.

Garnett (Wolves); signed Towns and Jones. 2 year deal for KG? I don't get this. KG has been done for a coupla years now--DONE--and the talk has long been than KG would move into the Wolves management (or even ownership) when he's finally done...which to my eye happened at least 2 years ago. So why is he still on the roster? Why are they spending precious salary cap dollars on a dude that has no hope of contributing on the court? And conversely, why is KG stealing money from the team he wants to own? I can dig 1 year of "coach-like" KG but two? I just think its a waste of money to pay KG to hang around the team's bench while games are being played. Either put him in a suit (and pay him way more money if you want!) or send him on his way. A honorarium is nice but if this turns out to be in the $10m/per neighborhood, then the someone needs to go to jail. On the upside, though, the Wolves announced the signings of both of their draft picks. This is a good move, positive start for those two dudes.

Ingles (Jazz); signed 1st rd pick Lyles: 4yrs/$10.5m. Ingles was a pleasant surprised for the Jazz last year, they brought him to be a harmless study buddy for the young master Exum and ended up 6th in minutes played and was a steadying force off the bench all year long.

Warriors get Wallace, Celtics get Lee.  It appears to be a straight up swap, though the money is far enough apart that you'd think the Celtics would hold out for a draft pick ('cause the Celtics don't have enough). If its just a swap than I don't see why the Celtics would do it: it appears they've spent $5m on another trade chip for their bench. The Celtics have a lot of nice pieces that need to be packaged into one really good piece, does Lee bring them closer to that? I'm not seeing it. But if they end up playing him, he'll be a fine part of that rotation. The Celtics are on the upswing but until they get a bankable star, they got no shot at de-throning the Cavs. As for the Warriors, talk is they'll stretch Wallace's contract (something like $3m for 3 years), way cheaper than getting stuck with Lee.

Alan Anderson (Wizards): 1yr/$4m. So the Nets built this crazy expensive team of big stars and yet every time I watched them, Alan Anderson was the one carrying the team. He's not a bad player, decent scorer, doesn't make dumb mistakes, not a big star but someone that will do more than you think he will. Wondered if the Mavs would give him a shot, as it is I think its a good bench-thickening move for the Wizards. If injuries come, Anderson will get a lot of playing time.

Villanueva (Mavs): 1yr/$2m. The Mavs need to fill out their roster, Villanueva's cheap and standing by. He can still play a little (but last year in the playoffs you could tell the Mavs were meat because of all the time he was getting).