Daily Factoid: As of this morning, there are five former all-stars who are unrestricted free agents. Can you name them?
- Tom Ziller – ‘The Difference between Dumping David Andersen and Dumping Ramon Sessions’: “Where Houston managed to unload Andersen completely, Minnesota took back $500,000 in guaranteed salary for West (assuming, as is reasonable, he is cut by August 3) and that $2.7 million owed to Telfair. (Incidentally, the Wolves, then chiefed by Kevin McHale, gave Telfair his ridiculous contract in the first place.) Really, the only incentive to do this deal is to save money in 2011-12 and 2012-13, which is a fine reason, but shines harsh light on the odd strategy the Wolves have employed in terms of both the point guard position and the team’s cap space. After all, the team signed veteran (and by “veteran” I mean “29-year-old”) Luke Ridnourto a four-year deal earlier this month. That apparently necessitated to dumping of Sessions. Yet the team has Jonny Flynn (2009′s No. 6 pick) and tells anyone who will listen that Ricky Rubio is coming over in 2011-12… Let’s put on our Wolf-colored glasses. If Rubio is a Timberwolf in 2011-12, and so are Flynn and Ridnour, one of these chaps is your third-string point guard. Ditto 2012-13. And … ditto 2013-14. So, if the Wolves get what they want (Rubio jumping to the NBA next summer), Minnesota will either be paying its third-string point guard (Ridnour) $4 million a year for three years, or will have spent a No. 6 pick (Flynn) on a third-string point guard, or will have spent a No. 5 pick (Rubio) on a third-string point guard. By essentially trading Sessions for Ridnour, the team has basically added a year to its PG Clustermuck… This is why Houston’s bad bet on Andersen is relatively ignored why minor misplays by the Wolves are screamed from the tops of mountains. For Rockets GM Daryl Morey, the Andersen episode is a small blunder easily washed away in one simple, cash-saving trade. For Wolves GM David Kahn, the Sessions situation is endemic, telling of a greater lack of strategy and quite possibly a lack of comprehension of the concept of time and space.”
- Celtics Hub – ‘Get Ready to Welcome Wafer’: “According Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com, the Celtics have signed Von Wafer to a one year contract worth the veteran mininum. This signing most likely puts a stop to the Rudy Fernandez trade discussions. Danny Ainge has been saying for weeks that the Celtics need a wing and a big man. Now with Wafer on board, the Celtics have their wing and may decide that Wafer is enough.”
- Sports Illustrated lists the 25 most hated teams of all time.
- ESPN – ‘Uncle: Wright’s body found in Memphis’: ”Relatives and friends of Lorenzen Wright gathered Wednesday and grieved for the former NBA player who has been missing for 10 days. Wright’s uncle, Curtis Wright, told The Associated Press that police called the player’s father, Herb Wright, on Wednesday afternoon with the news he had died.”
- J.A. Adande of ESPN: “The NBA world is so warped, the values so skewed, that sometimes the simplest acts can seem extraordinary. That was the case when Lorenzen Wright offered to drive his friend and colleague around. But it was that small measure of grace, far from the normal image of the self-centered professional athlete, that popped into Johnny Doyle’s mind when he heard that Wright was found dead Wednesday. Doyle was the Clippers’ strength and conditioning coach when Wright first played in the NBA near the end of the 1990s, and Doyle was the beneficiary of Wright’s “good guy” persona you heard mentioned so often Wednesday. When Doyle wrecked his car, it was Wright who spent a week driving him to practice or wherever else he needed to go. Wright had a Chevy Tahoe, which he was particularly fond of because its red paint matched the color of his college fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi. After Wright left the Clippers to sign a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks, he’d still drive Doyle around whenever the Clippers came to Atlanta. They’d go to Wright’s house or out to dinner. Wherever they wound up Wright usually had family members with him. “He loved his family,” Doyle said. “He loved his dad and his brother. They came out [to Los Angeles] with him. I remember how much he loved his family. They were always around.”
- A video capturing a Miami Heat fan being ejected from a Cleveland Indians game.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of YahooSports: “After completing the greatest free-agent coup in NBA history, Miami Heat president Pat Riley continues to surround Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh with strong complementary talent. The Heat have reached an agreement with 32-year-old guard Eddie House on a two-year contract for $2.8 million, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. The second year of the deal is a player option for $1.4 million.”
- BallDontLie: A funny remix of Lebron James and his infamous South Beach quote.
- ESPN – ‘Knicks, Cavs in Brown’s future?’: ”Exactly four weeks after the NBA super summer free-agency frenzy commenced, Shannon Brown has had three places emerge as his most probable destinations next season: Hollywood, Broadway or the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Brown has to decide between taking less money and a smaller role with the championship-contending Los Angeles Lakers, the team that turned his career around when it acquired him a season and a half ago, or a bigger pay day and possible starting position on the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers, two teams in transition mode after the acquisition ofAmare Stoudemire and the exit of LeBron James, respectively.”
- Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reveals who he thinks will make the final USA Team roster.
- BallDontLie -’ Mark Cuban makes his rap video debut‘
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