NBA Preseason: Saturday Lunacy

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Published on December 11, 2011

Odom to the Mavs
Reports were coming out Saturday evening that a reconstructed trade between the Hornets, Lakers, and Rockets had been submitted to the league for approval, leading everyone to believe that Chris Paul was packing his bags to move to Laker Land. Then, out of the blue, two stories blipped onto the radar in a matter of moments. The Lakers were pulling out of the Paul deal, and they had agreed to a new deal to send Lamar Odom to the Mavericks in exchange for the Lakers' 2012 first-round pick. The Lakers are getting back an $8.9 million trade exception in the deal that they can either use in another trade (for Dwight Howard?) or let expire and clear out some of the cap they're currently paying luxury tax on.

With the Mavs, Odom could either come off the bench behind Dirk Nowitzki or start at small forward. We should find out in the next few days after Odom gets into the Mavs' camp and starts practicing. If he's starting, Odom's fantasy value would increase some.

Other Rigamarole

Vladimir Radmanovic has signed with the Hawks. He plays backup power forward and shoots three-pointers. I think that covers his life story.
Andy Rautins will be waived by the Mavs. He was trade milieu in the Tyson Chandler sign-and-trade.
Josh Smith lost 30 pounds this offseason. He plans on playing more small forward this season, because Al Horford wants to play at power forward more. How do you feel about that Marvin Williams?
Brian Cardinal tweeted that he'll be re-signing with the Mavs. Hey, Cardinal, tweeting breaking news? Yeah, that's so Friday-morning. Now you're just copying Shane Battier.
Anthony Carter has agreed to sign with the Raptors. He's one of those rare players who is old and looks even older than he is. If you're watching a Raptors game this season and are confused as to why your uncle Teddy just came in off the bench, just know that it's Carter not your uncle. Breathe, you're not crazy.
Chris Wilcox has signed with the Celtics. He'll help backup their dreadfully thin center corps. Maybe the Celtics will let him play more than the 13 minutes he saw with the Pistons and Knicks the last three seasons.
Dwight Howard has officially asked to be traded to the Nets, and the Lakers are supposedly trying to edge in and put together a package to steal him away.
Tayshaun Prince is expected to be the Pistons' starter at small forward this season. You can probably kiss that Austin Daye fantasy value goodbye. That's why you don't set preseason draft ranks based on bloated assumptions Yahoo!. Unless Daye is put into the starting shooting guard slot, he's going to be limited playing off the bench.
John Salmons will begin the preseason as the Kings' starting small forward, but they are also rumored to be looking at adding Andrei Kirilenko. AK-47 would probably take over the starting small forward job if signed.
Jimmer Fredette has been slotted into a bench role behind Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton to start the season. The team's decision to sign Thornton to a four-year deal moved Fredette into a bench role. The team must be banking on the idea that he doesn't need to start to help them sell his brand.
J.J. Hickson has been slotted into a bench role behind DeMarcus Cousins and Chuck Hayes. The Hayes signing has pushed him to the bench. He could still see between 25-30 minutes a night, but that's going to reduce his fantasy value considerably. Still worth a pull at the end of drafts, but I'm no longer drafting him in the ninth or 10th round like I was before the Hayes signing.
Jason Richardson has agreed to re-sign with the Magic on a four-year, $25 million deal. Hopefully, for Richardon's fantasy value, Howard gets moved and he can be more of his usual complete player than solely a three-chucking robot.
Jeremy Pargo signed a multi-year contract with the Grizzlies on Saturday. He'll be the backup point guard's backup. The equation that results in him having relevant fantasy value only works in the Matrix.
Ed Davis is slotted to see virtually all of his action this season coming off the bench at power forward behind Andrea Bargnani. Coach Dwayne Casey thinks a starting front line of Amir Johnson and Bargnani is better than one with Davis. Dude (Casey) needs to re-think this move. Enjoy your 12 wins this year Raptors fans.
Mike Bibby is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Knicks on Sunday. I was going to say something really mean about Bibby here and ramble on about how much he sucks, and then I discount-double-checked his stats like Aaron Rodgers and realized that Bibby shot 44 percent from beyond the arc last season. That's absurd. Toney Douglas shot 37 percent from three-point land last season. Both marks are good, but Bibby's great mark might earn him the starting job.
Baron Davis missed Friday and Saturday practices with a stiff back. Guess who shouldn't be on the Cavs? Here's hoping we get amnesty news soon so that Kyrie Irving can have free reign to be the next Chris Paul.
Gary Forbes signed an offer sheet with Toronto. Denver is not expected to match it.
Spencer Hawes will sign Philadelphia's one-year qualifying offer, because he's an underperforming noodle who couldn't finagle a multi-year deal out of any other team. It's possible he could play out of his gourd in pursuit of a big contract next offseason, but we're banking on him rebounding so terribly that the Sixers turn to their rookie center Nikola Vucevic before the season is said and done.
Mickeal Pietrus' trade to Toronto has been canceled due to concerns over his knee. He won't be court-ready for another few weeks, so making this trade made no sense for the Raptors.
Ronny Turiaf was acquired by the Wizards on Saturday. The Knicks dumped him to Washington to clear room for Tyson Chandler's gangly arms.
Thaddeus Young officially re-signed with the Sixers on Friday, agreeing to a five-year, $43 million deal. He'll continue to come off the bench but play around 30 minutes a night being really good at not taking three-pointers and slashing to the hoop for an efficient layup.
Eddy Curry signed with the Heat on Saturday. He's lost 70 pounds off his two-ton frame. Do we really need to see this poop show trying to return again? We all see where this ends, right? "Hey Eddy, what are you doing in the Taco Bell drive-thru line?"
Richard Hamilton is close to agreeing on a two-year deal for around $10-million with Chicago, because his booty was bought out by the Pistons for $8 million of the remaining $21.5 million on his contract. Pistons got a heck of a deal, which is why the team didn't amnesty Hamilton.
Amir Johnson will use the extra weight he put on this summer to start at center. He played at 235 pounds last year and came into camp at 256 pounds.

NBA Trivia

Who posted these horrific numbers after the All-Star break last season? (Hint: He'll be getting paid $25 million in the 2015-16 season.)

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