Update: Cavs Close To Trading For Ramon Sessions
Posted by Mark Travis in Rumors on July 26, 2010
July 26th, 7:10 PM CT, Update: Bob Finnan of the Cleveland News-Herald says that Sebastian Telfair will also be included in the deal, giving Minnesota another point guard to have on the roster just in-case something happens to Flynn or Ridnour. Finnan also says the Cavs will receive a second round pick in 2013.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are close to completing a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ramon Sessions, according to Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland would also receive reserve center Ryan Hollins in return for Delonte West.
According to multiple league sources, the Cavs have entered advanced talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves for guard Ramon Sessions. It is likely a deal will involve Delonte West, who has been shopped by the team for the last several months because his contract is not guaranteed for next season — which makes him an attractive asset.
Obviously, point guard is a position that the T’Wolves are set at for years to come and Session’s services were no longer necessary. Jonny Flynn, Luke Ridnour and Ricky Rubio are all classified as Minnesota point guards though Rubio has not come over from Europe.
The Timberwolves will likely waive Delonte West as soon as the trade becomes official which will save them about $4.1 million as only $500,000 of his $4.6 million contract is guaranteed if he is waived prior to August 5th.
Clearly there is no right move for Cleveland to make this off-season that will make up for what they lost in LeBron James, but adding Sessions, a six-foot-three point guard that can also play some two, is a nice addition for Byron Scott and his uptemp offense.
Suns Waive Taylor Griffin
Posted by Staff Reports in News on July 26, 2010
The Phoenix Suns have waived forward Taylor Griffin, according to reports.
Taylor, the brother of the 2009 number one overall pick Blake Griffin, played in eight games last season with the Suns, averaging four minutes and one point per game.
Minnesota To Look At Anthony Tolliver
Posted by Mark Travis in Rumors on July 26, 2010
A quick note from Chris Tomasson of FanHouse: With Ryan Hollins possibly going to Cleveland in a deal involving Ramon Sessions and Delonte West, the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking at free agent forward Anthony Tolliver to fill the back-up forward/center spot that Hollins had.
Chris Paul To Formally Request Trade Tommorrow
Posted by Mark Travis in Rumors on July 26, 2010
New Orleans Hornets superstar point guard Chris Paul will formally request a trade in a sit down meeting with the team’s general manager and head coach, according to The Times-Picayune.
A source close to Paul said he has not yet formally told the Hornets to trade him, but he plans to inform them during Monday’s meeting he would be willing to play elsewhere if they cannot accommodate his wishes to improve the roster.
Paul has been spending this past week around LeBron James in Las Vegas while also visiting the Team USA Basketball Camp. According to a source, James has been in Paul’s ear about getting out of New Orleans as soon as he can if he wants to become a champion.
Paul’s wish list includes the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, according to another source that is close to Paul. The source says CP3 believes he can win a title with any of those teams in at least two seasons.
Magic Replace Knicks Atop Paul’s Wish List
Posted by Anthony Wilson in News on July 24, 2010
Earlier this week it was reported the New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul wanted to be traded. Several teams were mentioned as preferred choices of the dazzling point guard, including the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trailblazers, with the Knicks emerging as his favorite.
Friday night ESPN’s Chris Broussard cited league sources in reporting that the Magic have replaced the Knicks atop Paul’s wish list. The sources credited the presence of All-Star center Dwight Howard and Paul’s realization that the Magic have superior trade pieces to the Knicks as the reasoning for the change in order.
The New Jersey Nets and Portland Trailblazers were also singled out as two of many teams who would make offers for the 3-time All-Star.
On Monday Paul is expected to meet with Hornets president Hugh Weber, as well as Dell Webber and Monty Williams, New Orleans’ new general manager and coach, respectively. They will attempt to reaffirm his faith in the direction of the team, but Broussard wrote that “sources say he is fully expected to present New Orleans with a list of teams he would like to be traded to.”
Paul, 25, was limited to only 45 games last seasons, due in large part to recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery meant to repair a torn meniscus suffered in late January. The two prior seasons, however, saw Paul blossom into one of the league’s best players, as he averaged better than 21 points and 11 assists in each campaign.
Programming Note
Posted by Mark Travis in News on July 24, 2010
I am in Las Vegas, Nevada to cover Team USA Basketball. Sorry for the lack of posts on this site but our twitter account (@NBANewsandRumor) will have all the major updates for you as soon as they come. Posts will be back on this site as soon as I return from covering Team USA.
Nate Robinson To Resign With Celtics
Posted by Steve Kays in News on July 16, 2010
According to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, free agent guard Nate Robinson will resign with the Boston Celtics.
Robinson was acquired by Boston this past February that sent fan favorite Eddie House to the New York Knicks. The scoring guard did not play much in the regular season for the Celtics as he averaged a career low 14 minutes per game with Boston. This trend continued in the playoffs as Robinson played just 7.5 minutes per game. However, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals vs. the Lakers, Robinson went off for 12 points as he and Glen Davis led the Celtics to a victory.
The fan favorite expressed his desire to resign with the Celtics, despite seeing limited playing time and averaging just 6.5 points per game, 2.0 assists per game, and 1.5 rebounds per game while with Boston.
Update: According to various Celtics blogs, Robinson’s new deal is worth $8 million over two years. Robinson’s deal now gives the Celtics over $41 million in expiring contracts during the lockout year (2011-2012) (Garnett, Allen, O’Neal, Robinson) (H/T @celticsblog).
Al Jefferson Traded to Utah Jazz
Posted by Steve Kays in News on July 13, 2010
According to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Al Jefferson of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been traded to the Utah Jazz for a future 1st round pick, the 1st round pick the Jazz aquired from trading Ronnie Brewer, and the trade exception the Jazz gained from trading Carlos Boozer the the Bulls.
The Wolves had been trying to trade Jefferson for some time now as management did not believe that first round pick Kevin Love (2008) and Jefferson were compatible playing together.
Jefferson was the key piece in the deal that sent All-Star Kevin Garnett to Boston in 2007. As I mentioned on Twitter, the trading of Jefferson means that Minnesota now has no players left from that deal (Jefferson, Gomes, Green, Telfair, Ratliff). The 25-year-old Jefferson has 3 years and $42 million left on his contract, and despite his lackluster defense and injury concerns, he is still arguably the best low post scorer in the NBA as well as one of the few 20-10 players left.
Jefferson joins a Jazz team that has seen its starting power forward Carlos Boozer sign with Chicago, as well as its starting center Mehmet Okur suffer an injury in last year’s playoffs. His arrival will allow Paul Millsap to continue to come off the bench. It is unclear where the Jazz intend to use him whether it be at power forward or center, or if he will clash with longtime coach Jerry Sloan, but it is clear that the Utah Jazz just got a whole lot better without giving up hardly anything.
Warriors Sign Dorell Wright
Posted by Steve Kays in News on July 11, 2010
Free agent Dorell Wright, the 6 year veteran of the Miami Heat has decided to move on, signing with the Golden State Warriors for a 3 year, $11.5 million deal.
Wright’s deal likely signals that the Warriors will not match the offer sheet that swingman Anthony Morrow signed with the New Jersey Nets. Even though Morrow is among the league’s best 3 point shooters, it’s believed that the Warriors prefer Dorell, since he’s a true small forward, unlike Morrow.
J.J. Redick Signs Offer Sheet With Bulls
Posted by Anthony Wilson in News on July 10, 2010
According to reports, the Chicago Bulls have signed Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick, a restricted free agent, to a 3-year, $20 million offer sheet. The Magic have seven days to match the offer.
Orlando would like to keep Redick, but a league source says that the offer might be “painful for the Magic to match.”
Redick, 26, was a modern college basketball legend at Duke before being selected 11th overall by the Magic in the 2006 draft. A tremendous three-point shooter, Redick struggled to receive consistent minutes in his first three seasons before earning a solid spot in the Orlando rotation last year. In 2010 he averaged a career-high 9.6 points per game on 40.5% shooting from long distance and showed improvement on the defensive end.
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