Kevin Arnovitz of ClipperBlog: "Baron Davis exists in an entirely different orbit. He's a premier, image-conscious athlete who is militantly protective of his brand, which makes his choice of the Clippers all the more remarkable. I don't think Davis-Mobley-Thornton-Brand-Kaman with a thin bench puts the Clippers on par with the very best teams of the West, but it makes them competitive almost every night, a playoff team [if they stay healthy], and infinitely more fun to watch. Mechanically, Davis fits Dunleavy's preference for big guards. It does something the Clippers have never been able to do for Elton Brand -- even with Sam Cassell -- which is legitimately spread the floor. Davis at the point will also allow the Clips to nurse Gordon and Thornton on the wings. More than anything, the Davis signing would reverse the downward trajectory the franchise has been charting the past 18 months, and would guarantee that Elton Brand plays another five years for a franchise in need of some totems."
A song for Baron Davis, from a Clipper fan. I love the line about Eric Gordon taking notes. The roller skates line is about this.
TrueHoop reader Chris, a Bulls fan, writes: "I'm a huge Bulls fan and am playing GM. As I see it, we have a few major issues still remaining on this team. First, we need to trade Hinrich and Nocioni, not because I don't love them, but because we're not in a position to have their salaries on our payroll and have them come off the bench. Secondly, while many die-hard Bulls fans still believe Tyrus Thomas is the second coming of Shawn Kemp (in a good way, I hope), we need a proven scoring-oriented big who can also rebound. And finally, we have 10 men in our eight-man rotation. The Lakers are natural suitors for us. Anyone who watched the Finals sees they they need a lot of toughness and defense to surround Kobe with. So I propose this to you: Why don't the Lakers swap Lamar Odom (and a salary filler, like Coby Karl) to the Bulls for Hinrich, Nocioni, and maybe a throw-in or protected draft pick? Although we saw how soft Odom can be at times, he's a 6-10 scorer who has proven he can get his 10 rebounds a game. Playing along guys like Thomas and Noah will take a lot of the pressure off him to be a great defender, and allow him to freelance. On the other hand, I think Hinrich, who does the little things so well and plays defense could look like an all-star next to Kobe. Additionally, how great would Nocioni be off that bench? He'd immediately be the second toughest player on the Lakers. He can play stifling defense, put up 25 in any game, and has shown how clutch he is on the world's largest stages."
Aaron McKie got into trouble for trying to buy some guns, in violation of a restraining order from an ex-girlfriend. He is building a new house, in the exclusive Pennsylvania neighborhood where Allen Iverson used to live, and McKie now finds himself the target of a smear campaign from an anonymous source.
From the NBA: "The six games of the NBA Finals, which aired on ABC, are the six highest-rated and most-watched television programs for the month of June. The Finals concluded June 17 with the Boston Celtics beating the Los Angeles Lakers, 131-92, to win the Finals, 4-2, and earn the 17th NBA Championship in Celtics history. The Finals not only attracted viewers on television, but also set all-time traffic records on NBA.com with nearly 70 million visits and more than 15.5 million video streams throughout the series."
Ryan Schwan of Hornets247: "I knew that Baron wasn't staying in Golden State from the moment Don Nelson benched him in an important game late last season. With that one action Nelson had become a roadblock. An annoyance. Baron doesn't deal with those, he just goes somewhere else. He's done it before. The tipping point for Baron wanting to leave the Hornets was when the Hornets passed a team rule excluding personal trainers from the practice center. Baron wanted his, and in a petulant snit, he brought his trainer to the center and stretched with him on the sidewalk. When the Hornets held firm, his campaign to leave New Orleans began in earnest. The Hornets, and the straight-talking Byron Scott, had become annoyances. It was time to leave. ... In the end, if the Clippers want this to work, Dunleavy had better be at his butt-kissing best, the front office had better make sure they have a back up point guard capable of playing 20+ games a season as a starter, and Clippers fans had better brace themselves, because when Baron leaves, it stings all the more because he will do it with indifference, not even caring enough to muster contempt."
Awesome comment from ticktock6 on the post quoted immediately above: "My opinion of Baron Davis hinges ENTIRELY upon whether he needs those glasses because he's nearsighted or they are for vanity purposes."
The thing we need to start thinking about is: what will happen with the Warriors' cap space? If they play their cards right, they could have the last laugh here. One scenario.
On the other hand, if they save their money to re-sign existing players while avoiding luxury tax, Brian McCormick says this could be the worst team in the West: "Is a line-up with Ellis, Jackson, Azuibike, Harrington and Biedrins with Belinelli, Watson and Wright off the bench going to strike fear in anyone? Is it better than the potential line-ups in Memphis, Minnesota and Seattle?"
Ivan Carter of the Washington Post quotes an unnamed agent on the Wizards' max offer to the Wizards: "They're making it clear that, 'Hey, we love you, we want you here, we didn't lowball you, we made a big offer,' but at the same time, they're putting the onus on him to think about the direction of the franchise," said the agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did want to be quoted speaking about a player who is not his client. "It's an interesting strategy and makes sense when you think about how he is. This way, he can still get way more from them than he can get anywhere else and he can say to the fans, 'Hey, I took less to help the team.' "
Eric Musselman on NBA staffs and tickets to games: "Tickets on the road are no joke. From talking to people over the years, I think the perception is that the players and coaches get as many tickets as they want. That's just not the case. In the NBA, each active player, the three bench assistants, and the team trainer get two tickets each when on the road; the head coach get four tickets. That means if you travel with three inactive players, they're not getting tickets. Plus, most teams have more than three assistant coaches, so those guys end up with no seats for family or friends on the road. If you want more than that, and guys aren't willing to give you theirs, you have to purchase tickets using your own money. Others, like the strength coach or equipment manager, might be left out as well, though some teams will actually buy these staff members tickets. In major markets like LA, Miami, Chicago, and NYC, where most guys have at least a couple of family members or close friends, it's hard to trade tickets with someone else (e.g., another of your team's players or coaches) for another city later in the season because everyone is using their tickets. It's easier to swap tickets in smaller markets where you might not have many close friends or family members. For those coaches and players who've moved around a lot during their careers and have friends and acquaintances in various cities, they always need tickets. It's usually on the bus rides to the arena when players start the ticket process, making trades or getting a count on how many they'd need for that night. Once they arrive in the locker room, they immediately begin filling out ticket envelopes. When you're trying to prepare for a game, it can be a distraction as guys are worried about trying to fulfill ticket requests in an effort to keep family and friends happy. It can be stressful for some guys, especially when they're playing in their hometown or in a city with lots of family members. As a head coach, I'd often ask the guys to take care of the ticket stuff immediately after shootaround that morning, so when they arrived at the arena, they could focus on basketball. Depending on the team, it's typically either the team's PR guy, trainer, or traveling secretary (or a combination of all three) who is responsible for managing and distributing the tickets when on the road. I'd make sure they were handling the ticket requests/trades that day rather than that evening before the game. When I was an assistant for Chuck Daly in Orlando, he would give me his four tickets at every road game, telling me 'I'm not in the ticket business.'"
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