The NBA summer league is done. Here are some interesting news and notes that caught my eye. The funniest note might have been Greg Oden fouling out of his first summer league game. The only problem - they allow 10 fouls in the summer league! We knew he is prone to foul trouble, but this is too much. He also had 9 fouls in his next game, but luckily avoided the one that would have fouled him out again. He did have some impressive blocks and looked pretty athletic. Oden then had to sit out the other games due to a tonsils surgery. This also erased a potential Oden-Durant match-up. Speaking of Durant, he had a tough shooting summer league, but finished strong with some huge games towards the end. He scored 28 in one of them.
Some people are saying the upcoming NBA season will be one of the most anticipated because of these 2 rookies among other things. I hope it's true, but really doubt it. First of all, these 2 guys are real young and are going to real young teams that seem committed to putting the "re" in rebuilding. They don't even want a talented veteran like Steve Francis and the Blazers decided to pay him 30 mill to buy his contract out. How far has the "Franchise" fallen. People are now paying him 30 mill to just go away? Unbelievable! Anyways, I don't want to digress too much, back to the 2 guys. The curiosity will be there for the first few games, but they are not going to win many games. This is the problem with the NBA. It always looks a lot more exciting in the summer. It feels like there are a lot of exciting stories, new players, great new teams, budding rivalries, young superstars whose games are improving every year like Wade, LeBron etc. And then when the season starts, nobody cares and a NASCAR rain delay on TV outdraws a Kobe-LeBron match-up. I sure hope NBA gets it's mojo back, but I'll buy the hype when I see it. I am tired of waiting for it the last 3 years.
Back to the Summer league. The Suns had a decent one. I would have liked a little more from Alando Tucker, but he was OK. DJ Strawberry was good and he might have even earned himself a spot on the roster. Of course, I doubt if he'll actually get on the floor when it matters in the regular season. The guy the Suns wanted but the Warriors took - Marco Belinelli, was the story of the summer league. He scored 37 points in one of the games and he looked pretty good against some inferior competition. He can shoot, dribble a bit and pass. He is fairly athletic too. Seems like a poor man's Ginobli and Nellie might have stolen one here. Speaking of Nellie, he is now holding the Warriors hostage and asking for 6 mill an year. Apparently he wants to convert all his incentives to raise his 3 mill a year pay to almost 6 mill. I love Nellie. But he has always been a mercenary when it comes to money and he is not going to change now. The Warriors had a great playoff run and they can't afford to break this guy off. Apparently the Warriors owner Chris Cohan is on the IRS radar for 160 million or something in tax evasion. Boy, tough times for this guy. You know Boom Dizzle is coming in next for an extension. He has already endorsed Nellie's request. Of course he did :-)
In other summer league news, Javaris Crittenton of the Lakers had a good run after enduring all the criticisms on draft day. Other guys with a good summer were Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and Al Thornton of the Clippers. The guy who struggled a lot was Yi Jianlian of Milwaukee. Apparently he wants out and wants to go to Sacramento. Not sure if they want him, but there are some rumors about a Yi for Ron Artest trade while Ron just came out and said he wants to retire a Sacramento King. I would do this trade if I were the Kings. I think that team needs to rebuild much like the Sonics and the Blazers. The rumors of a Bibby trade to Cleveland are back and I sure hope the Cavs do it. It'll help them a lot. In other news, MJ signed Gerald Wallace and I think thats a great move for that franchise. Somebody on the wing has to erase his mistake of drafting Adam Morrison :-) Between J-Rich and Wallace, they got a shot at hiding Morrison.
No comments:
Post a Comment