Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 5
January 5th, 2010
I was going to write a separate post to describe ways that the Hornets can avoid the luxury tax without trading away David West or anyone important, but I’ve decided that I won’t. Here’s a shorthand version: 1) On trade deadline day, trade Hilton Armstrong and $1.1 million in cash ($922,748 to cover his remaining salary, the rest as an incentive) to the Clippers in exchange for changing the protection on their 2016 second-rounder – already owed to the Hornets from the Rasual Butler deal – from top 55 to top 50. The Clippers gain a free player who may or may not see the court, whilst more importantly earning some cash for their troubles and giving up quite literally the least significant thing imaginable. Meanwhile, the Hornets dump the $2.8 million salary of a player that managed to lose an unloseable backup centre spot to Darius Songaila. That can’t ever be a bad loss. 2) Also on trade deadline day, trade Ike Diogu and $400,000 to the Hawks for the rights to Alain Digbeu. $271,928 of that covers Diogu’s remaining salary; the rest is the Hawks incentive to use an inactive list spot on a player that’s out for the season. And all they lose is a 34-year-old Frenchman. If not the Hawks, Diogu could also be sent to the Grizzlies, Kings, Pistons or Sixers. Whichever. Trading two surplus players and $1.5 million will save them about $9 million, once tax payments are substituted and rebates added. And you can do so without moving one of your only good players or taking on future salary. If those two deals happen, or ones very similar to them, then expect misplaced bravado. Failing that, someone competitive will think too much of James Posey, just like the Hornets once did themselves. Ask […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: New Orleans Hornets
July 15th, 2009
– Earl Barron: Barron had played three straight seasons with the Miami Heat from 2005-2008, but his luck with that ran out last offseason. He next signed with Upim Bologna in Italu, but got injured before the season started and never played for the team. Barron didn’t reappear until March, when he was acquired by the L.A. D-Fenders of the D-League. He averaged 28 minutes, 9.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.7 blocks and 3.5 fouls per game, shooting 41% from the field and scoring 128 points on 131 shots. For a seven-footer in the D-League, that’s pretty inefficient, and Barron is a finesse long-twos merchant. Still, if the Hornets decide not to re-sign Sean Marks, then Barron has a chance. – Earl Calloway: Calloway went undrafted in 2007, but instantly put up a blistering season in the D-League, averaging 19/5/6 on 49% shooting (40% 3pt, 88% FT). He still didn’t make the big league, and signed in Croatia with Cibona Zagreb, for whom he averaged 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Counting against Calloway’s NBA prospects is the fact that he’ll be 26 by the time next season starts, and that he has only a couple of good seasons under his belt. The numbers are good, though, and he keeps landing these gigs. Why he’s chosen the Hornets is a valid question; as thin and skint as the team is, small guards are the last thing they need. Then again, it shouldn’t really matter to Calloway, who has already signed for Khimki next season as the replacement for Milt Palacio. – Jaycee Carroll: Carroll was a spectacularly efficient scorer for Utah State, leading the WAC in his senior season with a 22.4 points per game scoring average on percentages of 53%/50%/92%. His NBA prospects suffer from […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 4
January 4th, 2009
– Malick Badiane was an exciting thing for Houston Rockets fans for a few years. They could pretend that his underwhelming numbers in less-than-stellar European leagues were not as important as the idea of having a seven-foot young, athletic, defensive minded centre, who could grow into some weird yet perfect merger of Kevin Garnett and Dikembe Mutombo. But it slowly emerged that Badiane wasn’t getting anywhere fast, and was not getting to the top echelons of Europe, let alone the NBA. Badiane’s rights were then meekly thrown into the Mike James/Bobby Jackson swap of last season, and from then on it was Memphis fans who had someone to keep the loosest tabs on. Badiane then accepted Memphis’ tender offer to come to training camp this summer – whether they wanted this or not is another matter – but unsurprisingly, he didn’t make the team. He subsequently signed in China, but left before playing a game, and is now unemployed, probably living it up with Rafael Araujo or something. (I have this idea in my head that all currently unsigned basketball players constantly hang out together. It’s not true, but it’s a fun image anyway.) – Dalibor Bagaric had reportedly signed a guaranteed contract with the Atlanta Hawks this summer, as Hawks GM Rick Sund once again pursued a player he nearly signed when Sund was with Seattle. But this didn’t happen, as evidenced by the fact that it didn’t happen. Instead, Bagaric went back to Fortitudo Bologna, where he averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in two games in October. Now, I can’t speak Italian or Spanish, so I can’t tell if he’s still there and/or injured/out of favour, or if he left ages ago, but at the very least I can tell you that he is being pursued […]
30 teams in 56 or so days: Miami Heat
October 27th, 2007
Players acquired via free agency or trade: Mark Blount (acquired from Minnesota) Ricky Davis (acquired from Minnesota) Smush Parker (signed, two years, $4,680,000) Joel Anthony, Brian Chase, Devin Green, Penny Hardaway, Alexander Johnson, Jeremy Richardson and Marcus Slaughter (all signed to the minimum salary with assorted levels of partial guarantees. If you include holdovers Earl Barron and Chris Quinn, you have eight players on the bubble, four of whom are going to have to be cut.) Players acquired via draft: First round: Daequan Cook (21st overall, acquired in draft night deal) Second round: None Players retained: Earl Barron (re-signed, unguaranteed qualifying offer) Players departed: Michael Doleac (traded to Minnesota) Wayne Simien (traded to Minnesota) Antoine Walker (traded to Minnesota) Eddie Jones (signed with Miami) Jason Kapono (signed with Toronto) Gary Payton (put to sleep) James Posey (signed with Boston) Bobbins: It seems fitting to “do” Miami next, given that they are a team recently in the news. If you are like me, and you’re the kind of person that tends to get so excited when a transaction is made that a little bit of wee seeps out, then you probably secreted when you learnt of the recent Miami/Minnesota trade. That move saw Miami trades Antoine Walker, Wayne Simien, Michael Doleac, a first-round pick and cash to Minnesota for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount, which potentially salvaged the offseason for Miami. Despite previous protestations about how the team would never be a taxpayer, last year’s capitulation at the hands of the incomparably superior Chicago Bulls awakened Riley, Pfund and the like to the fact that their team just isn’t that good any more. The Heat had committed themselves financially to a core that had a championship window of exactly one year. They capitalised on that, winning the […]
