Howard Beck of The New York Times: “On this day next year, the N.B.A. will launch the most lavish free-agent party in modern history. Red carpets will roll. Private jets will crisscross the continent. Obscene amounts of money will be promised. Franchise fates will be altered. LeBron James will be the guest of honor, flanked, perhaps, by Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. It should be a glorious time for teams with cap space and superstars with good realtors. The summer before the Summer of LeBron will not be quite so glorious. A variety of factors — including a poor economy, weak season-ticket sales, a declining salary cap and the LeBron sweepstakes itself — could conspire to make this an unhappy off-season for most free agents.”
Alan Hahn of Newsday: “As one NBA personnel director, who has watched Kidd closely, said to me, ‘He’s still a major asset at his age. Still makes teammates better, but a liability on defense against younger, quicker guards. Still sharp and smart defensively, though.’ The Knicks need some credibility and leadership and Kidd still can provide both to a team with a young core. Let’s also not overlook the fact that LeBron James loves playing with Kidd. And while that may suggest having Kidd on the roster could be considered another lure for LeBron in 2010, if Kidd would consider a mid-level exception (around $5.5 million) to play for the 32-win Knicks, why wouldn’t he take the MLE to have a shot at an NBA championship with LeBron (and Shaq) in Cleveland? One possible reason? Kidd’s children live in the New York area.”
Eddie Sefko of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “You will read from New York this morning that the Knicks plan on meeting with Jason Kidd on Wednesday morning to begin their sales pitch for luring the Mavericks’ point guard to New York. That confirms the Knicks’ interest that we detailed on Monday to our loyal readers. And the Knicks will be late in their flirting with Kidd. Word has it that Mark Cuban will be in New York at midnight tonight to start the process of conveying the Mavericks’ interest in retaining the free agent. Cuban has never been shy about making recruiting pitches in person. He did so in Miami with Alonzo Mourning a few years back. This should be viewed as a sign of just how important retaining Kidd is. The Mavericks are making him their No. 1 priority – before Rasheed Wallace or Charlie Villanueva or Ben Gordon or anybody else.”
Jeff Eisenberg of The Riverside Press-Enterprise: “Jerry Buss paid $50,000 to play in a World Series of Poker tournament last weekend in Vegas, outlasting some accomplished pros before busting out in 36th place. Lakers fans had better hope he wasn’t betting with money earmarked for Trevor Ariza. While Ariza has maintained that he hopes to wear purple and gold again next season, agent David Lee said Monday that the Lakers won’t receive any hometown discount from his client. Lee declined to reveal how much of a raise Ariza will seek when he becomes an unrestricted free agent Tuesday night at 9:01 p.m., but he said the young forward’s upside should make him the most coveted wing player on the market.”
Frank Dell’Apa and Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: “Free agent guard Stephon Marbury said he would like to re-sign with the Celtics if he is offered a fair deal. Marbury will be an unrestricted free agent beginning tomorrow and is excited about the possibility of making a title run again next season. Celtics coach Doc Rivers has said he hopes Marbury will be back. ‘I’m not trying to get a bunch of money,’’ Marbury said. ‘I know Boston doesn’t have a bunch of money. I’m not seeking out teams with more money. I want to play for a championship-contending team. I can’t play for a young team that’s not in a position to compete for a championship. I want to play in Boston. I’m not going to say that I don’t. But I know the way that business works. If I don’t come back it won’t be because of me.’”
Chad Ford of ESPN.com: “A few months ago, Boozer was much more confident about his decision. He told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan that he was opting out in December. ‘I’m opting out. No matter what, I’m going to get a raise regardless,’ Boozer told ESPN.com. ‘I am going to opt out. I don’t see why I wouldn’t. I think it’s a very good business decision for me and my family, but I’d also like to see what happens with the Jazz and stay here.’ The landscape has changed a lot since Boozer made his statement in December. The financial meltdown has caused owners to pull back on spending. The free agent landscape is pretty dicey. Only three teams — the Pistons, Thunder and Grizzlies — have enough money under the cap to offer Boozer a substantial deal. Two of those teams, the Thunder and Grizzlies, are young teams in the process of rebuilding. Boozer is not in either team’s plans, according to sources.”
Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Miller, who last season averaged 16.3 points and 6.5 assists, is represented by Andy Miller, who has said his client’s No. 1 option is to remain with the Sixers. ‘He’s the main free agent, an important free agent,’ said Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski. ‘Neither of us is going to be at each other’s doorstep at 12:01 a.m., but we will talk on July 1. There’s no doubt.’ After Miller, Stefanski will fill the remaining gaps – the complementary pieces – to form the 2009-2010 roster. There are nine players under contract, plus first-round pick Jrue Holiday. Last season, the Sixers had 14 under contract, including center Jason Smith, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in July. That means the team knowingly entered the season with 13 healthy players.”
Adam Lauridsen for the San Jose Mercury News: “Stoudemire’s rocky relationship with the Suns stems not only from such lack of on-the-court chemistry (the man’s nickname is “Stat,” if you had any doubts as to his interests), but also from locker room drama not present with Maggette. Amare has developed a reputation for being tough to coach, provided inconsistent effort and pouted when things haven’t gone his way. Sounds like a perfect match for Nelson — and a great influence on our roster full of impressionable youngsters. We can argue in circles all day long about the statistical impact of swapping Andris for Amare, but there’s little argument I can see when it comes to the intangibles. And just because those intangibles don’t get recorded by the official scorer doesn’t mean they don’t have a large impact on a team’s performance under pressure, when it matters the most.”
Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail: “Shawn Marion’s nickname is The Matrix, but after the clock strikes midnight tonight, starting the NBA’s free agency period, perhaps something along the lines of The Domino is more appropriate. What Marion and his agent, Dan Fegan, decide will go a long way toward shaping the Toronto Raptors’ roster for next season. If the forward is open to being re-signed by Toronto or even agreeing to a contract and immediately being dealt to a preferred team, the Raptors have a lineup similar to the one they finished with last season, though with much more robust depth. If he leaves, everything is on the table, and the Raptors could conceivably end up with more star power, but a barebones second unit.”
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: “With Kyle Korver opting in for the upcoming season Monday, the Jazz are in danger of seeing their payroll skyrocket should Boozer opt in as well Tuesday, citing the slim possibilities out there as a free agent looking for an eight-figure annual deal. The Jazz have approximately $51.9 million in salary committed to nine players for next season after Korver’s decision. There’s no official number, by the way, since we don’t yet know what salary will be set for the first year of Deron Williams’ max contract. Should Boozer opt in at $12.7 million, the Jazz’s payroll would climb to $64.6 million. That’s for just 10 players, not counting Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap. Remember you have to carry at least 13 players according to NBA rules. The Jazz’s nightmare scenario would be having Boozer opt in with another team swooping in to make a significant offer to Millsap. A $9 million offer to Millsap next season would cost the Jazz more like $16 million in salary and luxury-tax penalties.”
John Denton of Florida Today: “Turkoglu, who won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2008 and was a driving force in Orlando’s run to the Finals in 2009, seemed to have all of the leverage as a free agent in the days after the most successful season in Orlando history ended. The Magic tested Turkoglu’s loyalty to the franchise when they offered him a four-year contract extension worth approximately $35 million just after the Finals. When Turkoglu declined and ultimately opted out of the final year of his Magic contract in order to become an unrestricted free agent, the franchise went ahead with the deal to acquire Carter and shooting forward Ryan Anderson. Getting Carter and the $33.6 million still left on his contract means Turkoglu’s likelihood of returning is slim at best. Team president Bob Vander Weide and general manager Otis Smith admitted as much, and they hinted the Magic might spend their remaining money on trying to bulk up an undersized frontline around all-star center Dwight Howard.”
Dave Krieger of The Denver Post: “Owing to the general state of the economy, the cap and luxury-tax numbers (approximately $58 million and $71 million, respectively) are expected to be the same or slightly lower next season. The Nuggets already have $71 million committed to 10 players, one of whom, Antonio McDyess, will play for somebody else again. If they intend to bring back free agents Chris Andersen and Dahntay Jones, as they say they do, they will need most or all of their mid- level salary cap exception, which will take them close to $77 million. That doesn’t include Linas Kleiza’s qualifying offer or several minimum salaries to fill out the roster. So billionaire E. Stanley Kroenke is looking at a minimum luxury-tax bill in the $5 million to $6 million range without roster improvements, other than Lawson. Any further upgrade will cost twice its face value because of the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax. Kroenke keeps his own counsel, but having had such good results with cost-cutting lately, a new spending spree probably isn’t the way to bet.”
John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: “A power forward’s main defensive responsibility is often to give help to the other four guys on the floor rather than try to shut his own man down, so opponent PER can often be misleading for power forwards. Defensive +/- is generally more reliable, but Villanueva’s backup this season was defensive maven Luc Rashard Mbah a Moute, who already looks like one of the best defensive ‘rovers’ in the league. Mbah a Moute’s defensive +/- was a positive 4.9, almost a direct mirror of Villanueva’s negative 4.7. In other words, Villanueva’s poor mark is as much a testament to Mbah a Moute’s defensive prowess as Charlie V’s lack thereof. But the bottom line here is that playing power forward for the Cavs means taking on a massive amount of defensive responsibility on a nightly basis. I’d much rather have that spot filled by someone whose defense would best be described as ‘good’ than someone whose defense would best be described as ‘bad, but with a valid excuse.’ There are also some causes for concern within Villanueva’s offensive game. Villanueva led the Bucks in PER this season, but that’s mainly because of his ridiculously high usage rate.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The sudden change of direction put into motion last Tuesday and Wednesday by Morey is all the proof you need to grasp the gravity of the situation. In the 48 hours leading up to last Thursday night’s NBA Draft, Morey suddenly began adding names to the obvious one on his roster that was available. Tracy McGrady, another broken-down former superstar, most certainly was available, along with his $23 million expiring contract and a knee that recently underwent microfracture surgery. No news there. But then Morey, who had no first-round picks, began making serious attempts to obtain a high lottery pick. He floated heretofore untouchable names like Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry. His attempts rebuffed, Morey went about the smart business of buying three second-round picks, which is a very Rocket-like way to build.”
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: “If you’re looking for good news, this is it. No team is better positioned to withstand the loss of a Yao Ming than the Rockets. They may not have a single major contract obligation after next season when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Bosh and other premier players are set to be free agents. Keeping that financial flexibility suddenly is Morey’s first priority during a nightmarish offseason. If he can trade for a player worth a long-term investment, he’ll do it. Otherwise, we’ll see a small, fast, scrappy team next season. Do you know what small, fast and scrappy gets you in the NBA? It gets you the team that beat the Lakers twice in the playoffs but was also blown off the floor twice. Fasten your seat belts. Our wild ride is about to begin.”
