by Myles Nelson » Sun May 01, 2011 3:40 am
Finally, the summer of 2010 is here. It seems like everyone has been waiting for this moment. The Clippers, the Timberwolves, the Bulls, the Nets, the Knicks the Wizards, the Thunder and the Heat all have 20M+ in cap space. Why? Well, here's why:
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Dirk Nowitzki
Chris Bosh
Amare Stoudemire
Joe Johnson
Rudy Gay
David Lee
Carlos Boozer
Ray Allen
Paul Pierce
Al Harrington
John Salmons
Luis Scola
This is such a star-studded and deep free agency. I will be avoiding the whole fiasco, but watching very closely, mostly for entertainment purposes. And to see how our rivals do.
We stay out of free agency for the most part, as this team isn't turning around anytime soon. I don't want any bad players on big contracts (see: Ben Gordon) and so I just stay safe and go after veteran backups until I can dump Gordon, Maxiell, Hamilton and Prince.
I offer Jason Williams and Theo Ratliff minimum contracts to chill at the end of the bench.
Ray Allen and John Salmons quickly resign with their respective teams.
Theo Ratliff signs with us, and David Lee and Dwyane Wade also resign on max contracts. It's starting to look like a boring summer.
Luke Ridnour goes to Boston for 2 years, 13 million to back up Rajon Rondo. Dirk Nowitzki resigns. The Heat grab Mike Miller at 4 years, 38 million.
The Nets land both LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Holy crap.
The Kings sign Carlos Boozer the same day Jason Williams signs with us.
To counter the Nets, the Knicks land nice consolation prizes with Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire. Nets/Knicks basketball is going to be very fun. Celtics resign Paul Pierce, so that New England area is going to be the basketball mecca this year.
The Atlanta Hawks nab Tyrus Thomas at 2 years, 13 million. That's a good deal.
Minnesota gets Rudy Gay on a 5 year, 64M salary. Wow.
I try to trade Rip and Ben throughout this whole time. I try endless packages with the Bulls, the Wizards, the Timberwolves, anyone with cap space, and I even offer someone a straight up Rip Hamilton for 2013 2nd rounder, just to dump salary, and they say no. Sigh... seems like I'm stuck with these guys for a while. Maybe teams will be more willing around the trade deadline.
ESPN released their previews, here's what they had to say:
East
New Jersey Nets (LeBron, Chris Bosh, Brook Lopez)
New York Knicks (Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, David Lee)
Miami Heat (Dwyane Wade, Mike Miller, Michael Beasley)
Boston Celtics (Big 5, Luke Ridnour)
Milwaukee Bucks (Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut, John Salmons)
Charlotte Bobcats (Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton)
Chicago Bulls (Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng)
Atlanta Hawks (Al Horford, Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford)
Philadelphia 76ers (Andre Iguodala, Evan Turner, Louis Williams)
Indiana Pacers (Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Troy Murphy)
Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson)
Cleveland Cavaliers (Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Marcus Thornton)
Washington Wizards (John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, Andray Blatche)
Detroit Pistons
Toronto Raptors (Andrea Bargnani, Ekpe Udoh, Hedo Turkoglu)
West
Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe, Pau, Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest, Allen Iverson!)
Denver Nuggets (Carmelo, Nene, Chauncey Billups)
Sacramento Kings (Carlos Boozer, Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson)
Dallas Mavericks (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry)
Portland Trail Blazers (Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum)
San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker)
Golden State Warriors (Steph Curry, Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph)
Minnesota Timberwolves (Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Rudy Gay, Ricky Rubio)
New Orleans Hornets (Chris Paul, David West, Emeka Okafor)
Houston Rockets (Yao Ming, Kevin Martin, Aaron Brooks)
Oklahoma City Thunder (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green)
Memphis Grizzlies (Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, OJ Mayo)
Los Angeles Clippers (Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, Baron Davis)
Utah Jazz (Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, Andrei Kirilenko)
Phoenix Suns (Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Luis Scola)
The West looks pretty messed up, but the East is pretty accurate. I hope we are one of the worst teams in the league. I'm already eyeing next year's draft class.