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.
Detroit Pistons re-sign SF Tayshaun Prince to 4-year, $27 million contract
I thought for sure Prince was going to move on in his career and not want to return to a Pistons team that seems to be in re-building mode. Financially, this was probably the best deal Prince was going to get as other teams were reportedly offering him a shorter deal. He must be happy in Detroit otherwise he wouldn’t have signed this deal and chose to take less money from a contender.
Detroit Pistons re-sign F Jonas Jerebko to 4-year, $16 million contract
Jerebko missed all of last season with injury but showed enough in his rookie season to warrant this type of contract extension. He is an energy player who can do multiple things on the floor and is worth the investment for Detroit.
Atlanta Hawks sign G/F Tracy McGrady to 1-year deal worth league minimum
For a Hawks team that is massively over the cap and losing their sixth man, Jamal Crawford, this deal makes a lot of sense. T-Mac had a rejuvenation of his career last season, showing he was healthy and still had some gas left in the tank. He will ultimately replace Crawford as the team’s top reserve on the wing and comes at a cheap rate.
Los Angeles Lakers sign SG Jason Kapono to 1-year deal worth league minimum
The Lakers did just lose Shannon Brown to Phoenix so maybe Kapono can serve as a back-up to Kobe Bryant. MAYBE. I wouldn’t expect him to be a major contributor for the Lake Show this season.
Milwaukee Bucks sign SF Mike Dunleavy to 2-year, $7.5 million contract
In trading Corey Maggette and having Chris Douglas-Roberts and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute as free agents, the Bucks were searching for a veteran small forward. Dunleavy is still a serviceable player at this point of his career but injuries are always a concern since he has only played more than 70 games once in the past five seasons. He will likely serve as Carlos Delfino’s back-up until first round pick Tobias Harris is ready to be a contributor at the NBA level.
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.