Grant Hill to Phoenix. No link, but I heard it on the radio not too long ago.

Grant Hill, who fell short of expectations in six injury-marred seasons with Orlando, has decided to sign a free-agent contract with the Phoenix Suns.

 

The move continues an overhaul of the Magic lineup and shores up the small forward position for Phoenix.

 

Hill's agent, Lon Babby, said Thursday that Hill has agreed in principle to a two-year deal -- known as a bi-annual exception -- for $1.8 million this season and almost $2 million in 2008-09 at the player's option. Teams can offer $1.2 million as the mid-level exception for veterans, but can offer the bigger $1.8 million bi-annually.

 

The deal will not be considered official until July 11, the first day free agents are allowed to officially sign new contracts.

 

Hill also considered the Pistons, Heat, Mavs and Spurs but ultimately chose the Suns because of their ability to give him a meaningful role on the team and a chance at a championship.

 

"Obviously money wasn't the biggest factor here," Babby said. "He had offers for a lot more money. Grant wants a chance to win a championship and he wanted to go to a place that would give him a chance to contribute. Phoenix was the perfect fit."

 

Hill gives Phoenix some help at small forward after the team traded away James Jones on draft night. Hill should challenge Boris Diaw for the starting small forward role.

 

Despite Hill joining the team, the Suns' future remains rather murky at this point. While they have been a contender every year since Steve Nash joined the team, uncertainty remains around the roster for the 2007-08 season.

 

The team has been heavily involved in Kevin Garnett trade rumors this summer. In almost every scenario that has leaked, players like Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire could potentially head to other teams. It is still unclear how Hill's signing will affect the Suns' thinking about trading Marion or Stoudemire or trading for Garnett.

 

Suns owner Robert Sarver would like new Suns general manager Steve Kerr to trim around $10 million in payroll this summer in order to avoid paying the league's luxury tax -- another factor that might influence the team's decision-making.

 

Hill's decision to leave the Magic ends a long, tortured relationship with the franchise. When Hill joined the team in 2000 (along with free agent Tracy McGrady) in a sign-and-trade with Detroit, people were talking about winning championships. However, complications from ankle surgery in the summer of 2000 derailed Hill's career.

 

In his six seasons with the Magic, Hill played more than 30 games in a season only twice. In total, Hill played in only 200 of the 492 total regular-season games the Magic played while he was under contract for $93 million.

espn.com

MIAMI -- The Heat announced on Thursday that Daequan Cook, the team's first-round draft pick, signed his contract.

 

Under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement Cook, the 20th overall pick, received a two-year contract with team options for the third and fourth seasons. He'll earn $957,300 in 2007-08 and $1.029 million in 2008-09.

 

Cook played one season at Ohio State before declaring for the draft. Heat coach Pat Riley has said Cook will get a chance to join the regular playing rotation.

 

The Heat also signed rookie free agents Joel Anthony and Marcus Slaughter and NBA journeyman Jeremy Richardson. Those three and Cook will be part of the Heat's entry in the Orlando pro summer league starting on Monday.

 

Richardson (6-foot-7, 190 pounds) averaged 3.7 minutes in five games with Atlanta and one with Portland during the 2006-07 season. He spent most of the year with Fort Worth of the NBA Development League after playing two seasons at Delta State University.

 

Anthony (6-9, 240 pounds) played two seasons at Nevada-Las Vegas. He was named Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year in 2006-07 after recording 109 blocks as a senior, ranking him second in school history for blocks in a season.

 

Slaughter (6-8, 223) was an early entry candidate in the NBA draft in 2006 after three seasons at San Diego State but was not drafted. He played last season in the Turkish League and averaged 13.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.30 steals.

 

LINK

Had just been reading over everything and just found out about gasol rumors. Id do that trade in a heartbeat.

 

Few thoughts:

 

Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Gasol, Wallace... scary.

 

I dont want to trade Gordon, Deng or Hinrich. Anyone else is open, imo. I really like Thomas and Thabo but I would still move them. I guess i give more value to gordon than others. We know his flaws but Ben is a guy who can take over a game when hes feeling it. I love having a player like that. Get him a guy who can score in the post and he's going to be deadly. Keeps getting better and better as a passer too.

 

As for Noc, i just like what he brings. Probably would have been the 6th man if he stayed healthy. i think he will continue to get better every season. Id love for him to be back.

 

But that trade.. man that trade gave me chills. That would be a fun team. Would have to think PJ would be the filler.

Gordon can fill it up because he is such a good shooter, but he's not really a guy I feel comfortable with getting his own shot when a big bucket is needed. I don't think he can do it.

 

I don't want to trade him, but if he was holding up a Gasol deal, they have to do it to me.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Although he didn't rescind his trade request, Kobe Bryant softened his stance somewhat Thursday night, saying he had apologized to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak in person for the way he handled his upset feelings five weeks ago.

 

"I just felt like as a man, it was important for me to tell him, 'I'm sorry it came out that way,"' Bryant said at a lightly attended news conference at Loyola Marymount, where he spoke mainly about his camp for youngsters at the school this week.

Bryant said that while he could have called Kupchak, it was important he speak with him face-to-face.

 

"I was frustrated, I was venting," Bryant said.

 

When asked whether he still wanted out, Bryant replied: "I haven't thought about that in a long, long time. I've kind of stepped away from that. I've concentrated on Team USA. What I say is what I say. We'll just have to see where it goes."

 

The U.S. national team begins practice July 20 in Las Vegas.

 

Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, complained about a lack of talent around him at season's end, and said May 30 he wanted to be traded, adding nothing could change his mind.

 

Despite that request, the Lakers have made clear that trading Bryant isn't in their plans. Bryant is owed $88.6 million over the next four seasons, but could terminate his contract in two years.

 

The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since reaching the NBA finals in 2004 for the fourth time in five years. With Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal leading the way, they won three straight championships from 2000-02.

 

O'Neal was traded to Miami in July 2004, a day before Bryant signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract to remain with the Lakers, who haven't won a playoff series since O'Neal left.

 

Bryant said he hasn't spoken with Derek Fisher since Monday, when Fisher was released by the Utah Jazz so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, who has cancer in her left eye.

 

Fisher said he wants to live in one of the six or seven cities being considered for Tatum's care. Bryant and Fisher were teammates and, from all indications, good friends while playing with the Lakers from 1996-2004 - the first eight seasons of their NBA careers.

 

Kupchak didn't rule out the possibility of a return to the Lakers for Fisher, who signed with Golden State as a free agent after the 2003-04 season and was later traded to Utah.

 

Bryant said 450 kids aged 8-to-18 attended his camp.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6996052

 

We used our last 2 first rounds picks on PGs, but I still wouldn't mind bringing Fisher in. He's a good shooter, and a really good guy to have in a locker room. He's a guy Kobe can kick out to and can make open 3's consistenly. Farmar hasn't proved that, and by all accounts J-Crit is more of a drive/dish PG then shooter.

Dallas gives Stackhouse $21 million for 3 years. What the hell is the world coming to?

The 76ers have not changed their free-agent strategy, but things may have been altered Tuesday when Orlando pulled its qualifying offer to Darko Milicic, making the 7-foot power forward an unrestricted free agent.

 

The Sixers have made re-signing their own unrestricted free agent, Joe Smith, their top priority, but now Milicic could provide another option, although the Sixers would not be the favorites to sign him.

 

"We've been on top of the [Milicic] situation from the beginning and we have been in contact with his agent and we'll see how it plays out," Tony DiLeo, the Sixers' senior vice president, said yesterday before the team left for the Las Vegas summer league, which begins play today.

 

Milicic, 22, is a native of Serbia and Montenegro who averaged 8 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Magic last season.

 

Because the Sixers were over the $53,135,000 salary cap last season, the most they can offer Milicic is the midlevel exception, believed to be about $5.5 million per year.

 

"Obviously, teams under the cap have an advantage in a situation like this," DiLeo said.

 

Teams with significant room under the salary cap include Milwaukee, Charlotte and Memphis. A number of other teams also would be able to offer the midlevel exception to Milicic.

 

The Sixers have a good relationship with Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein, who is also the agent for Sixers center Samuel Dalembert. Cornstein was not available for comment yesterday.

 

Smith's agent, Dan Fegan, has been unavailable for comment throughout the free-agent process.

 

Even if the Sixers don't sign Milicic, he becomes another power forward on the market. It's possible that a team that was looking at Smith could change directions.

 

But the Sixers aren't pinning all their hopes on Smith or Milicic. "There are other players we are talking to," said DiLeo, who declined to name them.

 

The Sixers have yet to have serious talks with Malik Allen, the former Villanova and Shawnee High forward who is an unrestricted free agent after playing in Chicago last year.

 

"We have had periodic, brief discussions with the Sixers since the end of the season," said Allen's agent, Bill Strickland.

 

According to a source, the Sixers have inquired about 7-foot Mikki Moore, a free agent who averaged 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, shooting 60.9 percent from the field, for New Jersey last season.

Dallas gives Stackhouse $21 million for 3 years. What the hell is the world coming to?

Just heard that on TV a little while ago. I can't believe that deal.

CHICAGO (AP) - Andres Nocioni agreed to a five-year deal to return to the Chicago Bulls, and there is a team option for a sixth year.

 

"He's glad to be back," George Bass, Nocioni's agent, said Friday. "We've been very aggressively working on it."

The deal officially cannot be signed before July 11. Financial terms were not available, but the Chicago Tribune reported it was for approximately $38 million. Nocioni was a restricted free agent who had drawn the attention of the Memphis Grizzlies.

 

Nocioni, a 6-foot-7 forward who has been a standout performer for the Argentine national team and also played in Europe, originally was signed by the Bulls as a free agent on Aug. 11, 2004.

 

He averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds during this past regular season but was limited to 53 games ? 31 starts ? by plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

 

Known for his hustle, aggressive defense and an improved 3-point shot, the 27-year-old Nocioni averaged 8.8 points in 10 playoff games. The Bulls swept the Miami Heat in the first round before being ousted by the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6998138

Boring offseason so far. Damn.

Sweet

 

Love me some Noc. Stay healthy and hes the guaranteed 6th man of the year.

 

 

Joe Smith looks like the Bulls FA target. Nothing sexy but a good fit. Get him and the 10 deep is lookin solid (Cap'n, Ben, Lou, TT, Big Ben - Duhon, Thabo, Noc, Smith, Noah)

 

 

Scola, Smith, Mihm and Moore look like the top 4 pax wants.. and id rank them in that order. I'd put the money on Smith. Like i said, not sexy but you know what youre getting.

 

 

I know the bulls have no post offense but damn their offense is beautiful to watch. I can't wait until next year to see them in action. The NBA East is going to be a whole lot of fun

I'd really like to get Mikki Moore.

Heat makes pitch to Mo Williams

 

By Ira Winderman

 

Miami -- An NBA source confirmed Sunday that Heat coach Pat Riley and members of the team's front office met Saturday with Bucks free-agent point guard Mo Williams.

 

With incumbent starter Jason Williams having proven injury prone the past two seasons and now entering the final year of his contract, the Heat has been in the market for a ballhandler.

 

While the Heat is over the salary cap and therefore would be limited to an offer of the mid-level exception, which would provide for a starting salary of $5.5 million to $6 million next season, Williams is believed to be seeking a far greater package.

 

Among the options for the Heat could be a sign-and-trade deal with the Bucks, one that possibly could include Jason Williams.

 

Agent Mark Bartelstein said last week he considered Mo Williams and Chauncey Billups to be the only elite point guards available in free agency. Billups came to terms last week to return to the Pistons with a package that reportedly averages $12 million over five seasons.

 

Williams, 24, is a 6-foot-1 point guard known as much for seeking his own shot as creating shots for others. He ranked 24th in the league last season in shots per 48 minutes, but also 22nd in assists. He ranked 47th in the league's overall efficiency rating.

 

The 2003 Jazz second-round draft choice averaged 17.3 points last season in taking advantage of the injury absences of Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd, with an 11.3 overall scoring average in his four seasons.

 

The Heat has explored several options at point guard since the July 1 start of the free-agent negotiation period, including Hollywood native Steve Blake.

 

The free-agent signing period opens Wednesday, when the league will announce the 2007-08 salary cap, the amount of the 2007-08 mid-level exception and the threshold for the 2007-08 dollar-for-dollar luxury tax on excessive payrolls.

 

While looking to fortify itself at point guard, the Heat also has been dealing with the free-agency of forward James Posey, who also is a Bartelstein client.

 

 

Link

 

Winderman also states in his blog the possibility of trading Jason Williams to the Clippers for Maggette. Very interesting possibilities for the Heat. A lineup of Mo, Wade, Maggette, Haslem, and Shaq would be niiiiice. And then a bench of Walker, Wright, Cook, and maybe Zo and Blake would round out a solid team...hopefully.

blake is apparently looking for $6million/year.

blake is apparently looking for $6million/year.

 

 

Only a team like the Clippers or Hawks would give him that much. Blake is not good.

blake is apparently looking for $6million/year.

 

 

Only a team like the Clippers or Hawks would give him that much. Blake is not good.

agreed.. i want the heat to get him, but not for that much money

I suppose this belongs in this thread. Went to some NBA Summer League games yesterday. Blazers-Mavs and Lakers-Bucks.... For the Lakers, Javaris Crittenton looked really really good and for the Bucks UNC's David Noel was dominant. Some pictures from Blazers-Mavs to follow.

A couple more notes: Oden did not look all that impressive. Any time Diop wanted to be tough and take him to the basket, Oden couldnt stop him. Oden did have a few blocks on the help defense though and a few big dunks as well but has a lot to learn. Taurean Green looked completely lost and didnt get the bulk of the playing time at the point position but with the amount of extra coaching he was getting, it seemed like they want to give him every chance to make the team. LaMarcus Aldridge looked good and Nick Fazekas looked like he didnt even belong in the NBDL.

 

Oden after his 9th foul

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taurean Green getting a talkin to

I suppose this belongs in this thread. Went to some NBA Summer League games yesterday. Blazers-Mavs and Lakers-Bucks.... For the Lakers, Javaris Crittenton looked really really good and for the Bucks UNC's David Noel was dominant. Some pictures from Blazers-Mavs to follow.

Yeah he J-Critt had 18 points (8-13), 4 boards and hit the game winning shot.

I saw your sig and almost felt bad about not taking pictures during the Lakers game. I moved from those front row seats I had for the Blazers game to the last row and talked to Taurean for a few minutes and then just relaxed up there.

I saw your sig and almost felt bad about not taking pictures during the Lakers game. I moved from those front row seats I had for the Blazers game to the last row and talked to Taurean for a few minutes and then just relaxed up there.

Eh it's no a big deal. Thanks for the thought though. :thumbup

I wonder what Matt Walsh is up to these days

I wonder what Matt Walsh is up to these days

 

He is with the Clippers summer league team in Vegas. Lee Humphrey is with the Wizards. Brewer and Richard are out there also. Anthony Roberson is there. Donnell Harvey is there and Taurean Green as discussed above. I think thats it for the former Gators there (James White kind of counts I suppose).

Al Thornton had 24pts in his summer league debut last night.