For any NBA fans here, and i know there are a few around, i thought i would stick this here which i posted on another forum.

 

I though i would stick a thread here to keep you guys (and girls if you read this) up to date with some if not all of the signings and player movements occuring over in the NBA during this offseason as we wait for the 2005-06 season to begin in November.

 

The first order of the day for teams now that the draft is over is to sign their picks, and then sign or release any free agents etc etc. Some of the teams have already signed their draft picks, a summary of which is below:

 

Boston have signed first-round pick Gerald Green to a two-year contract.

New York have signed first-round picks Channing Frye, David Lee and Nate Robinson to two-year contracts.

Portland have signed first-round pick Martell Webster to a two-year contract.

Houston have signed first-round pick Luther Head to a two-year contract.

Milwaukee have signed first-round pick Andrew Bogut to a two-year contract.

 

Some trades have already begun to occur, with future draft picks changing hands and options being picked up. The one that got my attention involved Quentin Richardson of the Suns:

New York have acquired Quentin Richardson, the draft rights to Nate Robinson and future considerations from Phoenix for Kurt Thomas and the draft rights to Dijon Thompson.

Last season he had played really well for the Suns, and although he fell short in the playoffs, i didnt expect him to be out the door.

 

Other deals include Miami keeping Alonzo Mourning for another year and Dwyane Wade for another two, Charlotte keeping Rookie of the Year Emeka Okafor until 2008, Cleveland letting Lucious Harris go, Toronto keeping Chris Bosh for another two years, Damon Jones declining the option to return to the Heat, and Cuttino Mobley declining the option to return to the Kings.

 

I will do my best to keep this updated with any big news and trades from the NBA. So keep an eye right here people!

A bit of news for all you Seattle Supersonics fans out there:

Ray Allen has agreed to sign a contract extension for 5 years when the free agency signing period gets under way next week, which is wonderful news for the team considering he would have been a major free agent this summer.

Nate McMillan, the coach who led the Sonics to the Northwest Division title and into the playoffs last season, has left the team as head coach. He has signed a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers which will put him as their new head coach for the next few years.

 

While that has been occuring, a couple of draft picks have signed up with their respective teams:

Golden State have signed first-round pick Ike Diogu.

New Orleans have signed first-round pick Chris Paul.

Denver have signed first-round picks Julius Hodge and Linas Kleiza.

 

The Free Agent signing period begins on July 22nd, and no doubt that is when we will see some real interesting things happening over in the NBA!

Well, some interesting news now for Wizards fans or Cavs fans, this is taken from ESPN.com:

 

Deal believed to be worth $65M to $70M

 

Larry Hughes has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a five-year deal, his agent, Jeff Wechsler, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

 

"Larry intends to sign a contract with the Cavs when the moritorium ends," Wechsler said.

 

Wechsler wouldn't comment on the actual numbers of the deal, but it's believed to be a five-year deal between $65 million and $70 million.

 

Wechsler told Insider that he informed Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on Thursday that Hughes won't be returning to the Wizards.

 

Grunfeld told ESPN.com that he was prohibited from commenting on the situation, citing league rules that prevent teams from commenting on free agency until the moratorium passes.

 

For the Cavs, Hughes gives them a great scorer and defender to put at the two alongside LeBron James. Hughes is a fantastic ball handler and rebounder for a two-guard making him -- like LeBron -- a very versatile piece in the puzzle. However, he's not a perfect fit in Cleveland. Hughes is not a good three point shooter (a big need for the Cavs), has a history of injuries and has been inconsistent throughout his career.

 

The Cavs had pursued both Ray Allen and Michael Redd before settling on Hughes.

 

The news comes as major blow to the Wizards, who were confident they could re-sign Hughes. The Wizards eventually offered up to six years, $70 million, a source within the team told ESPN.com, but it wasn't enough to keep Hughes in D.C..

 

The Wizards now have to start over from scratch. The team now has a big hole at the two to fill and must also deal with the likely departure of Kwame Brown. The Wizards can get about $9 million below the cap if they don't re-sign Brown. However, the market for two guards is getting thin.

 

The last major two guard on the market is Joe Johnson. However, Johnson is a restricted free agent and most teams believe that the Suns will match any offer. There's also talk from multiple league sources that Johnson is in serious negotiations with the Atlanta Hawks about signing a max offer sheet.

 

That leaves Bobby Simmons, Cuttino Mobley and Latrell Sprewell as the top two guards left on the board. The Wizards could also, at this point, try to work out a sign-and-trade with Brown that brings them back a top-flight shooting guard.

The player who walked away with last years Most Improved Player award is the subject of news reports now, this was taken from espn.com

 

Former Clippers swingman Bobby Simmons agreed to a five year, $47 million deal with the Bucks on Friday, his agent Mark Bartelstein said.

 

"Bobby intends to sign with the Bucks when the moratorium ends," Bartelstein said. "He was very appreciative of the opportunity that the Clippers gave him but felt like this was the best opportunity for him."

 

The move is the clearest signal yet that the Bucks are serious about competiting for a championship this year. In the past week, they signed the No. 1 pick in the draft, Andrew Bogut, agreed to a six-year, $90 million deal with Michael Redd and began the on the court rehab for point guard T.J. Ford.

 

"This originally started out as talks in case Michael left, but as we talked more and more, it started to make sense for Bobby even if Michael stayed,'' Bartelstein said. ``So, we just kept talking and they had enough cap room. It worked out well for both.''

 

The Bucks have two more significant free agents, Dan Gadzuric and Zaza Pachulia, that they are also trying to re-sign.

 

Simmons will join Desmond Mason, Jiri Welsch and Redd to form a potent combination at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Mo Williams and hopefully Ford will take care of the point. The team's only weakness now is at the four where Joe Smith is the only big guy.

Well since i last spoke to you there has been a few draft picks being signed up by their respective teams, those i will run through shortly. But one bit of news is that Zydrunas Ilgauskas, one of the biger free agents this summer in the East, will reportedly re-sign with the Cavs for a 5 year deal reportedly worth $55 million!

 

Here is a rundown of the draft signees:

Minnesota have signed first-round pick Rashad McCants.

Phoenix have signed second-round pick Dijon Thompson.

Utah have signed first-round pick Deron Williams and second-round pick C.J. Miles.

Seattle have signed first-round pick Johan Petro.

Memphis have signed second-round pick Lawrence Roberts and first-round pick Hakim Warrick.

Charlotte have signed first-round picks Raymond Felton and Sean May.

Detroit have signed first-round pick Jason Maxiell.

Golden State have signed first-round pick Ike Diogu.

Indiana have signed first-round pick Danny Granger.

Toronto have signed first-round picks Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham.

L.A. Lakers have signed first-round pick Andrew Bynum.

New Orleans have signed first-round pick Chris Paul.

 

Also, to go with Nate McMillan moving to Portland, another new coach has been named in Milwaukee. There the Bucks have named Terry Stotts as their new head coach.

Even though the Free Agent signing period doesnt begin for another week, things are getting moving over in the NBA.

From LATimes.com

The Lakers have taken another bold step to remake their roster, agreeing in principle on a trade that would bring forward-center Kwame Brown from the Washington Wizards and would send Caron Butler and likely Chucky Atkins to Washington.

 

Brown, 6 feet 11, was drafted No. 1 overall in 2001 and fell on hard times last season with the Wizards, but he has the potential to be an impact post player.

 

Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Wizard President Ernie Grunfeld declined to comment Wednesday, but sources said the components of the deal were in place involving Brown and Butler. The Wizards could choose small forward Devean George instead of Atkins to complete the deal.

 

NBA teams cannot announce free-agent signings or sign-and-trade transactions until a league moratorium is lifted July 22.

 

From NJ.com

Knicks president Isiah Thomas plugged a gaping hole in the middle of his team yesterday when he came to terms with 7-footer Jerome James on a five-year contract, according to James' agent, Marc Fleisher.

 

James, who spent the past four years as a substitute with the SuperSonics, will be 30 in November. Perhaps the most impressive thing about James is his size, something the Knicks have sorely lacked since trading Nazr Mohammed last February. James is 7-1, 272 pounds, has a knack for blocking shots, can run the floor and has a soft touch around the basket.

 

But a career reserve, he has never had the chance to play more than about 16 minutes a game, which is why he wanted to join the Knicks.

 

"Jerome liked the fact that he would get the opportunity for playing time," Fleisher said. "He liked the fact that they had no real center."

 

The Knicks are not allowed to comment on players until after the moratorium on free-agent signings later this month. Thomas is still looking at the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal for players like Stromile Swift, Antoine Walker and Donyell Marshall.

The Magic are pissballing around with their first round pick Fran Vasquez or whatever he is called. Apparently, they need to buy out his current deal in Spain or wherever he is from. I'm not at all impressed with Orlandos pick in this draft, and being about $20 million dollars over the salary cap, there isnt room for much else we can do.

 

There are rumours we are going to pick up Shariff Abdul Raheem, which would be good, for the midlevel exception, or possibly even go for Allan Houston or Michael Finlay who might get waived under this seasons one-off waiver teams can use without having to pay the tax. Both are quality players Orlando could use.

 

Oh, and hopefully we will ditch the totally useless Doug Christie. What a washout he was, we should have kept Cuttino Mobley.

Chicago are concentrating on re-signing their batch of free agents at the moment rather than trades etc. Duhon, Chandler, Curry and Pargo are the main guys we need to keep on.

 

Anyway not too much has occured whilst i was away, as the signing period only begins today. But heres whats been happening over the past week.

 

New Jersey have signed first-round pick Antoine Wright.

Detroit have named Flip Saunders head coach.

Seattle have named Bob Weiss head coach.

Denver have exercised option on Voshon Lenard's contract.

L.A. Lakers have signed second-round pick Ronny Turiaf.

Portland have signed first-round pick Jarrett Jack to a multiyear contract and exercised option on Travis Outlaw's contract.

Miami have re-signed Udonis Haslem to a five-year contract.

Atlanta have signed first-round pick Marvin William

So after the rumours, the reports and all the press coverage, New York have made a great signing for their franchise:

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas announced today that Hall-of-Famer Larry Brown has been named the franchise’s 22nd head coach in the team’s 59-year history. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“This is a great day for the New York Knicks and our fans,” Thomas said. “Larry Brown is not just one of the best coaches in the NBA today, but in its history. He has made every team he has ever coached a winner, with a legendary approach to teaching and motivating his players. His value to us as a franchise at this time is immeasurable.”

 

“I want to thank Isiah, Jim Dolan and Steve Mills, as well as all the Knicks fans who have given me their best wishes during this time,” Brown said. “There is no bigger stage than Madison Square Garden, and it is a privilege for me and my family to now be part of the organization and to be back in New York.”

 

Considered one of the greatest teachers the sport has ever seen, Brown has garnered numerous distinctions over his 33-years of head coaching experience. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, the Brooklyn, NY-native is the NBA’s fourth all-time winningest coach in NBA history with a record of 987-741 (.571), third all-time winningest playoff coach in NBA history with a 100-89 record (.529), 2001 NBA Coach of Year and three-time ABA Coach of the Year.

 

In 2004, Brown became the first head coach in basketball history to win an NBA Championship and NCAA Championship. In 1988, he coached the University of Kansas to its first National Championship in 36 years and most recently, in 2004, the 64-year-old led the Detroit Pistons to its first NBA title in 14 years.

 

In 22 seasons as an NBA head coach, 17 of Brown’s teams had finished with winning records and all 17 qualified for the NBA Playoffs. His teams advanced past the first round 12 times and reached the NBA Finals three times. The seven different NBA teams that Brown coached averaged more than seven wins better than before he arrived

 

Another bit of news i have got hold of from ESPN.com, the NBA have put back the date of which teams can start signing players, and it will now likely be Monday or Tuesday before it all starts. The reason for this is the ironing out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Edited July 29, 200519 yr by Alan

Well, the day has finally arrived for the signings and trades in the NBA to become offical. And already things have got under way with loads of announced deals:

 

The Memphis Grizzlies and the Sacramento Kings got the ball rolling by announcing a trade that will send Grizzlies guard Bonzi Wells to the Kings in exchange for center Greg Ostertag and guard Bobby Jackson

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers were among the busiest teams on signing day. The Cavaliers reached contract agreements with Washington free agent guard Larry Hughes and Toronto free agent forward Donyell Marshall in addition to re-signing All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

 

The Washington Wizards announced the signing of guard Antonio Daniels. He joins the Wizards after spending the past two seasons with Seattle, where he averaged 9.6 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game.

 

The Houston Rockets announced the acquisition of Memphis free agent forward Stromile Swift at a press conference Tuesday. Swift averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season.

 

The Miami Heat secured the future of the franchise by re-signing center Shaquille O'Neal to an extension.

 

The New York Knicks officially added Seattle free agent big man Jerome James. James, 7-1, 280-pounds, averaged 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 11 NBA Playoff starts last season.

 

The Boston Celtics officially signed Nets free agent forward Brian Scalabrine. In 2004-05 he appeared in 54 contests, including 14 starts, averaging 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game.

 

The Indiana Pacers have agreed to a reported three-year contract with Lithuanian superstar guard Sarunas Jasikevicius. He is expected to travel to Indianapolis to sign within the next 10 days. The New Orleans Hornets officially signed his backcourt mate on the Lithuanian National Team, guard Arvydas Macijauskas, as well as returning forward Bostjan Nachbar.

 

The Philadelphia 76ers officially agreed to contracts with their own free agents in center Samuel Dalembert and sharpshooter Kyle Korver. Willie Green, whom published reports indicated would also be re-signing in Philly, injured his knee playing basketball and his situation is held up for a later date pending the outcome of his medical situation.

 

The rumour mills are working overtime, but i will now only bring you the deals that have officially been announced by the teams involved.

Edited August 2, 200519 yr by Alan

Following on from that action, in the last action of the day a bumper 13-player, 5 team trade took place involving Boston, Miami, Memphis, New Orleans and Utah. The trades went as follows:

 

Boston acquires Qyntel Woods, two second round draft picks and the draft rights to Albert Miralles from Miami; and Curtis Borchardt from Utah.

 

Miami acquires Antoine Walker from Boston; Jason Williams, James Posey and Andre Emmett from Memphis; and the draft rights to Roberto Duanes from New Orleans.

 

Memphis acquires Eddie Jones from Miami and Raul Lopez from Utah.

 

New Orleans acquires Rasual Butler from Miami and Kirk Snyder from Utah.

 

Utah acquires Greg Ostertag from Memphis.

Yesterday was not as busy, but we still saw some signings that could make an impact over the next year.

 

Atlanta have signed Zaza Pachulia to an offer sheet.

L.A. Clippers have signed Cuttino Mobley, and waive Kerry Kittles and Rick Brunson.

New Orleans have re-signed Chris Andersen.

Orlando have signed Keyon Dooling.

Phoenix have signed Raja Bell.

Portland waives Derek Anderson and Nick Van Exel.

Toronto have signed Jose Calderon.

Seattle have re-signed Ray Allen.

 

Orlando have made a decent signing there in Dooling, i reckon he could help the team improve on last seasons performance.

August 4th was the calmest day so far for trades and signings in the NBA, with the following four deals being announced.

 

Golden State have signed second-round pick Chris Taft.

L.A. Clippers have re-signed Zeljko Rebraca.

New Jersey have re-signed Clifford Robinson.

Portland have signed Juan Dixon and Charles Smith

 

A calm period now, and it will remain so probably until next week, when we expect Shareef Abdur-Rahim to make the switch to New Jersey.

Memphis added to their improving team yesterday as they made a great signing, and its below with the other signings from Friday:

 

Dallas have signed Rawle Marshall.

Houston have re-signed Ryan Bowen.

Memphis have signed Damon Stoudamire.

Seattle have signed Rick Brunson.

Milwaukee have re-signed Toni Kukoc.

Washington have re-signed Michael Ruffin.

Philadelphia have signed Shavlik Randolph and Deng Gai

Milwaukee have signed first-round pick Andrew Bogut to a two-year contract

 

Any idea what he's like? Just interested, because the papers here are raving about him. Then again, they do that for every Aussie ex-pat sportsman...

Any idea what he's like? Just interested' date=' because the papers here are raving about him. Then again, they do that for every Aussie ex-pat sportsman...[/quote']

I dont know too much about the guy, as i dont follow the college league much at all. From what i read though he is a decent big guy who could do the business in the NBA. Milwaukee were said to be taking a bit of a gamble by picking someone like Bogut with the first pick, but of course we wont know how he fares until the season tips off in november.