By: David Kay
In recent years, Toronto has become the “Euro” team of the NBA. That transformation began in 2006 when the club hired former Benetton Treviso general manager Maurizi Gherardini as the first European to hold a senior management position in the league. With his knowledge of overseas basketball, the Raptors began to stock their roster with unfamiliar names like Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Delfino, and Roko Ukic. Now, Hedo Turkoglu is continuing that trend by bringing his Turkish roots to the Raptors.
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By Paul M. Banks and David Kay, Walter Football.com
The 2009 class of centers didn’t offer much to NBA teams as only two true centers were taken in the draft. While there isn’t one player with the height or defensive presence that Hasheem Thabeet brought, the 2010 crop should be much deeper.
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By Paul M. Banks, for Walter Football.com
Senior Raymar Morgan likely has the most NBA potential of anyone on Michigan State - quite a compliment when you consider that Sparty found themselves playing in the tournament’s final game. Raymar was having another solid season in 2008-09 until injuries and walking pneumonia forced him to miss quite a few games and play sparse minutes in quite a few more. He displayed first-round talent as a freshman, had another solid season as a sophomore, but in 2008-09, his stock dropped like General Motors. OK, it didn’t fall that horribly, more like General Electric.
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By Paul M. Banks
It’s the 4th of July, ready for some hockey? It’s time to celebrate America’s Birthday by vivisecting the roster decisions made by one of the premier franchises in Canada’s national game. On July 1st, “Canada Day” or their version of Independence Day the Hawks made the biggest headlines in the NHL as the league officially opened its free agency period. I wanted to see what they did the rest of the week before analyzing their personnel moves- because nothing in life happens in a vacuum.
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By Jake McCormick
Although no one could confirm it, rumors continued to swirl as the writing on the wall became much easier to read over the past couple of months. People wouldn’t leave it alone and let things play out, but I guess that’s the nature of drama. Yes, Jon and Kate are getting a divorce, ending months of “will they or won’t they?” questions. Now who does that sound like?
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By Andy Weise
Who would have thought a month ago the general public would be more curious about the Timberwolves than the Pistons? Thanks to new President of Basketball Operations David Kahn, the T’Wolves have filled headlines with a major pre-draft trade that landed international star Ricky Rubio. While the Rubio situation figures to be an on-going situation throughout the course of the summer, the Wolves still have yet to hire a new head coach.
After all, isn’t this pretty important to have a coach in place so the right players are there for that coach’s system?
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By David Boucher
It’s just barely July, with training camp a solid few weeks away, and yet the majority of the talk coming out of Detroit about the Lions hasn’t changed since the NFL Draft: How early will Matthew Stafford get the ball? Everyone knows he’s the undisputed heavyweight champ of the future, but when does that future start? While the rest of the country is more than comfortable to see him get the job from day one, the actual die hard fans who have struggled through with the Lions are not so sure. And can you blame them? If you ask almost any Detroit fan who the three biggest flops in the team’s past 25 years, Joey Harrington’s name will most assuredly come up. Everyone loved Joey. They loved his success in college, his personality, his cool demeanor. And yet the bad taste he left in the city’s mouth has yet to leave.
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By David Kay
“He has one of the worst contracts in the NBA, is a head-case, and is coming off a serious knee injury. So who in the world would want to mess up their salary cap situation and trade for such a volatile player like Zach Randolph? I bet Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace would.”
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by: David Kay
When it comes down to it, the Lakers and Rockets pretty much swapped Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza straight up. Thursday, Artest reached an agreement with the defending champs on a 3-year deal worth about $18 million. Houston responded by stealing the Lakers’ Trevor Ariza for the mid-level exception which will net him around $33.5 million for the next five years. So who gets the advantage?
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By Peter Christian
thecallouts@gmail.com
The Call-Outs are a weekly list comprised of entities in the sports and pop culture realm whose actions and behaviors deserve to be pointed out and ridiculed. I didn’t ask for the gig, it was presented to me as a gift by the Greek God Apollo. OK, I made that up, but it makes for a good story. I also include a list of things I enjoyed so that I don’t seem like a complete “Negative Ned”
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By Jake Fowler
Shaq was introduced as a Cavalier today and as usual O’Neal wasted no time in making everyone laugh. He dropped his motto for the year: “Win a ring for the king,” and showed a hilarious picture of him guarding Cavs GM shall we say, provocatively.
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By Jake Fowler
Brian Butch had a hectic 2008-2009. After playing two games for the Jiangsu Dragons in China (where he averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds) the former Wisconsin standout was released and joined the Nördlingen Giants in Germany.
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By H. Jose Bosch
I wanted to see Joe Dumars find a pure point guard or a pure center this off-season. Ideally he would’ve gotten both but since finding a high-level talent at either position is rare, just getting one would’ve been nice.
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By David Boucher
When Bill Laimbeer decided to walk away from his Detroit Shock team after the first three games of the 2009 season, everyone knew what he was after. It had been no secret that Laimbeer saw the WNBA as a springboard for his potential return to the ranks of the NBA. He did lead the team to three championships in six years, including last season’s title, so it’s hard to blame him for wanting to pursue the next great challenge of his basketball career. The manor in which he left the Shock would also imply that there have been at least a few NBA organizations in contact with him in hopes of retaining his services.
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By: David Kay
Heading into the NBA free agency period, the Detroit Pistons were one of the few buyers in the market willing to shell out the cash to sign a big name free agent. As the clock struck midnight on July 1st, Joe Dumars wasted no time in courting his desired targets as both Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva flew to Detroit to meet with the Pistons general manager. Reports have now surfaced that both former UConn Huskies will indeed call Motor City home for the next five years. Detroit and Bulls free agent shooting guard Ben Gordon have reportedly agreed to a five-year, $55 million deal while Villanueva’s contract is for the same length at $40 million.
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By: Melissa S. Wollering
Generic Windex has nothing on the absurd streaks of the Milwaukee Brewers. Dave Bush fill-in Mike Burns says Cy Young means squat after outpitching Johan Santana, former Cub Casey McGehee gets his first Grand Slam in the majors and Fielder and Braun give us a glimpse of what the Home Run Derby could look like—all in one week. Plus, the prime window to acquire another starting pitcher narrows as the Milwaukee Brewers head south to play the Chicago Cubs this Independence Day weekend.
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