Our resident NBA nerd David Kay is on vacation this week; in a much warmer place. However, being out of the country hasn’t stopped him from being on top of the news. He’s got a lot to say on what’s been going on with the league this week.
New York Knicks sign C Tyson Chandler to 4-year, $58 million contract
The Knicks land one of the most coveted free agents and add a true big man to compliment forwards Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Chandler will finally provide New York with a defensive minded big man who can rebound, block shots, and fill up space in the middle, and also allow Amare to stay at his natural power forward position.
With this signing, the Knicks now boast one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. Chandler does have a recent injury history which makes this sort of financial commitment a bit risky. What is also interesting is that the Knicks do not have the cap space to simply sign Chandler meaning another transaction will have to be made first, most likely involving Chauncey Billups and Ronny Turiaf.
Philadelphia 76ers re-sign SF Thaddeus Young to 5-year, $43 million contract
$43 million seems like a lot for a reserve player but Young is only 23 years old and has a lot of good basketball left in front of him. He was relegated to a reserve role last season which makes 8-plus million a year seem even more absurd. Young was being courted by several other teams so Philly must have been high on him to keep him around for this much rather waiting to see what sort of contract the restricted free agent could have signed and then have the option to match it.
Sacramento Kings re-sign SG Marcus Thornton to 4-year, $31 million contract
I keep reading different amounts that Thornton has signed for ranging from 4-years, $31 million to 5-years, $40 million so the details are still sketchy. Thornton thrived in Sac-town after being traded from the Hornets, averaging 21.3 points per game with the Kings. I think he is a terrific compliment to the slashing Tyreke Evans due to Thornton’s ability to shoot the rock. Sacramento has a ton of free cap space so re-signing a piece of their young nucleus is a wise decision. Add Jimmer Fredette and John Salmons to the backcourt equation and the Kings have a ton of scoring power at guard.
Sacramento Kings sign F/C Chuck Hayes to 4-year, $21 million contract
The under-sized Hayes will add some toughness and physicality to the Kings bench and help replace some of the minutes of the departed Samuel Dalembert. More than five-million a year does seem a bit pricey but Hayes will know and excel at his role as a rebounder. Sacramento now has solid depth in their frontcourt with DeMarcus Cousins, J.J. Hickson, Jason Thompson, and now Hayes.
Oklahoma City re-sign SG Daequan Cook to 2-year, $7.5 million contract
Cook was a minor role player for the Thunder last season seeing a decent amount of minutes as the second team’s back-up small forward. Nearly four-million a year seems like a lot for Cook since OKC already has a talented, young backcourt. However, Sam Presti is once again showing his determination to keep his own young players and Cook is only 24 years old.
Boston Celtics trade PF Glen Davis to Dallas Mavericks for PF Brandon Bass
The deal of former LSU Tigers will involve a sign-and-trade for Davis who is a free agent. Davis has been a solid player for the Celtics but open about his unhappiness in being a role player which made the C’s hesitant to ink him to a long-term deal. He figures to get see more playing time in Dallas since they lost Tyson Chandler to free agency. Bass is a solid role player and will bring some physicality and energy off the bench in Boston and could possibly earn a starting spot alongside Kevin Garnett in the frontcourt.
More NBA free agent signings
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.
You can follow him on Twitter at DavidKay_TSB.