Continued............
------------------------------------------
Rose almost traded: It appears that one more deal "almost" went down before Thursday's trade deadline. According to several sources the Knicks and Spurs had agreed to a Kurt Thomas-for-Malik Rose swap with the Spurs also throwing in a first-round pick. Apparently the teams got all the way to a trade call with the league before the Knicks pulled out at the last second, citing "financial concerns," according to a report in the San Antonio Express-News.
That had to be a killer for the Spurs. Not only would they have moved the unhappy Rose and the remaining five years and $33 million left on his contract. They also would have cleared enough cap room (an extra $5 million) to make a serious run at Kobe Bryant this summer, assuming Thomas opted out of his contract. As it stands now, the team will have enough to re-sign Emmanuel Ginobili and perhaps one more free agent, but they won't have the cash to max anyone out.
What were the Knicks thinking? After Isiah Thomas went out of his way to praise Thomas and talked openly about signing him to an extension, why would he be willing to take back an inferior player with a much nastier contract? It sounds like the Knicks came to their senses just in the nick of time.
Stromile Swift
Forward-Center
Memphis Grizzlies
West keeps his grip on Swift: We reported here last week that the major hold-up in an Erick Dampier-to-Memphis swap was the Warriors insistence that Shane Battier be included in the trade. Now comes word from several GMs that West also was unwilling to let Stromile Swift go. Several executives said they tried to pry away Swift and couldn't get West to budge.
Sonics forced to wait: By all accounts, Sonics GM Rick Sund was very active as the trade deadline approached, trying to broker a deal that would land the team a power forward. Talks with the Hawks (for Shareef Abdur-Rahim) fell apart when Atlanta decided to clear cap space instead. The Sonics also pursued Kwame Brown, Donyell Marshall, Eddy Curry and Stromile Swift, but the Wizards, Raptors, Bulls and Grizzlies weren't willing to let them go. Look for the Sonics to try something again this summer, including Jerome James (who will be in the last year of his contract), Vladimir Radmanovic and their No. 1 pick. The team knows it still needs help on the front line but only wants to make a move if it can land a promising young four or five in return.
Jackson leaving Atlanta? Stephen Jackson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Sunday that he will not pick up the option on the second year of his two-year, $2.1 million deal with the Hawks. "I'm free after this year," Jackson said. "I'm totally free. I don't know if I'm going to be here next year or not. I know I'll have a job somewhere next year. No matter what, I'm going to be happy."
-----------------------------------------
Peep Show
NBA Insider
Monday, February 23
Updated: February 23
7:49 AM ET
Marbury
New York Knicks: Guess you can blame the latest Knick loss on Stephon Marbury's mom. "You can't shoot the ball well all the time," said Marbury in the New York Daily News. "You can't make every layup. My mother always said, 'If you win all the time, nobody ain't ever going to want to play with you.' We have to take it in stride." But you can blame Marbury's next miss on the science teacher. "I think as a whole we all are missing. It wasn't just myself," Marbury said. "I don't care if I miss 30 times in a row. I'm going to take the next shot, just like I took the first one. There's no pressure on me to score. I love scoring just as much as I love passing. Someone else has to step up. Our chemistry is off."
Houston Rockets: It's hurts so good for Yao Ming after scoring a career-high 41 points in triple overtime against the Hawks Sunday night. "I felt very tired, to the point that I felt numb," Yao said in the Houston Chronicle. "But I had to force myself to keep going. The feeling of being tired is a bad feeling, but the feeling of losing is even worse." It was the longest NBA game in almost three seasons. "I'm tired as hell," Cuttino Mobley said. "We started off kind of sour, they stayed with us. We had to pull it out, we had to find a way. Sometimes there's games like that. Sometimes you blow a team out like last week (against Washington) and sometimes you've got to fight. I'm just glad we didn't give up."
Detroit Pistons: With Rasheed Wallace in the fold, who's going to be the odd man out of the starting lineup? "I don't want to get caught up in starting lineups," head coach Larry Brown said in the Detroit News. "Memo [Okur] is going to start some and Tayshaun [Prince] is going to start some. I've never done that before. I like to keep it consistent. But for the time being, this is the way we're going to go." And Brown wasn't quite sure, either, how his team could lose to the Magic, the worst team in the NBA. "We're just kind of snake-bit," Brown said. "I have to do a better job. We have found some incredible ways to lose games this year."
Iverson
Philadelphia 76ers: Allen Iverson may miss an occasional practice, but it sounds like it's going to take more than a sore shoulder to keep him out of a game. "The X-rays were negative, but he does have soreness, and range of motion is a problem for him now, but when game-time comes he usually gets out there," coach Chris Ford said in the Philadelphia Daily News. "We'll have to wait and see." Already missing from the lineup will be Derrick Coleman and Mark Jackson, who will both be out for at least two more weeks.
Seattle SuperSonics: When is a star not really a star? The Sonics want to know. "If it's a star league, and I think we all can agree on that, then why isn't our All-Star getting calls?" guard Antonio Daniels asked in the Seattle Times. "The other night, we played Allen Iverson, and he gets to the line 21 times. ... Ray gets to the line 21 times in a week. That's not right." And Ray Allen isn't going quietly, either. "It won't be anything for me to call him and voice my complaints," he said about phoning vice-president Stu Jackson. "I've done that before in Milwaukee. We've gone through similar stretches in our schedule where it seems like the refereeing was just like they had some type of hang-ups against us. Last night was ridiculous. ... And I want to tell him so."
------------------------------------------
Rose almost traded: It appears that one more deal "almost" went down before Thursday's trade deadline. According to several sources the Knicks and Spurs had agreed to a Kurt Thomas-for-Malik Rose swap with the Spurs also throwing in a first-round pick. Apparently the teams got all the way to a trade call with the league before the Knicks pulled out at the last second, citing "financial concerns," according to a report in the San Antonio Express-News.
That had to be a killer for the Spurs. Not only would they have moved the unhappy Rose and the remaining five years and $33 million left on his contract. They also would have cleared enough cap room (an extra $5 million) to make a serious run at Kobe Bryant this summer, assuming Thomas opted out of his contract. As it stands now, the team will have enough to re-sign Emmanuel Ginobili and perhaps one more free agent, but they won't have the cash to max anyone out.
What were the Knicks thinking? After Isiah Thomas went out of his way to praise Thomas and talked openly about signing him to an extension, why would he be willing to take back an inferior player with a much nastier contract? It sounds like the Knicks came to their senses just in the nick of time.
Stromile Swift
Forward-Center
Memphis Grizzlies
West keeps his grip on Swift: We reported here last week that the major hold-up in an Erick Dampier-to-Memphis swap was the Warriors insistence that Shane Battier be included in the trade. Now comes word from several GMs that West also was unwilling to let Stromile Swift go. Several executives said they tried to pry away Swift and couldn't get West to budge.
Sonics forced to wait: By all accounts, Sonics GM Rick Sund was very active as the trade deadline approached, trying to broker a deal that would land the team a power forward. Talks with the Hawks (for Shareef Abdur-Rahim) fell apart when Atlanta decided to clear cap space instead. The Sonics also pursued Kwame Brown, Donyell Marshall, Eddy Curry and Stromile Swift, but the Wizards, Raptors, Bulls and Grizzlies weren't willing to let them go. Look for the Sonics to try something again this summer, including Jerome James (who will be in the last year of his contract), Vladimir Radmanovic and their No. 1 pick. The team knows it still needs help on the front line but only wants to make a move if it can land a promising young four or five in return.
Jackson leaving Atlanta? Stephen Jackson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Sunday that he will not pick up the option on the second year of his two-year, $2.1 million deal with the Hawks. "I'm free after this year," Jackson said. "I'm totally free. I don't know if I'm going to be here next year or not. I know I'll have a job somewhere next year. No matter what, I'm going to be happy."
-----------------------------------------
Peep Show
NBA Insider
Monday, February 23
Updated: February 23
7:49 AM ET
Marbury
New York Knicks: Guess you can blame the latest Knick loss on Stephon Marbury's mom. "You can't shoot the ball well all the time," said Marbury in the New York Daily News. "You can't make every layup. My mother always said, 'If you win all the time, nobody ain't ever going to want to play with you.' We have to take it in stride." But you can blame Marbury's next miss on the science teacher. "I think as a whole we all are missing. It wasn't just myself," Marbury said. "I don't care if I miss 30 times in a row. I'm going to take the next shot, just like I took the first one. There's no pressure on me to score. I love scoring just as much as I love passing. Someone else has to step up. Our chemistry is off."
Houston Rockets: It's hurts so good for Yao Ming after scoring a career-high 41 points in triple overtime against the Hawks Sunday night. "I felt very tired, to the point that I felt numb," Yao said in the Houston Chronicle. "But I had to force myself to keep going. The feeling of being tired is a bad feeling, but the feeling of losing is even worse." It was the longest NBA game in almost three seasons. "I'm tired as hell," Cuttino Mobley said. "We started off kind of sour, they stayed with us. We had to pull it out, we had to find a way. Sometimes there's games like that. Sometimes you blow a team out like last week (against Washington) and sometimes you've got to fight. I'm just glad we didn't give up."
Detroit Pistons: With Rasheed Wallace in the fold, who's going to be the odd man out of the starting lineup? "I don't want to get caught up in starting lineups," head coach Larry Brown said in the Detroit News. "Memo [Okur] is going to start some and Tayshaun [Prince] is going to start some. I've never done that before. I like to keep it consistent. But for the time being, this is the way we're going to go." And Brown wasn't quite sure, either, how his team could lose to the Magic, the worst team in the NBA. "We're just kind of snake-bit," Brown said. "I have to do a better job. We have found some incredible ways to lose games this year."
Iverson
Philadelphia 76ers: Allen Iverson may miss an occasional practice, but it sounds like it's going to take more than a sore shoulder to keep him out of a game. "The X-rays were negative, but he does have soreness, and range of motion is a problem for him now, but when game-time comes he usually gets out there," coach Chris Ford said in the Philadelphia Daily News. "We'll have to wait and see." Already missing from the lineup will be Derrick Coleman and Mark Jackson, who will both be out for at least two more weeks.
Seattle SuperSonics: When is a star not really a star? The Sonics want to know. "If it's a star league, and I think we all can agree on that, then why isn't our All-Star getting calls?" guard Antonio Daniels asked in the Seattle Times. "The other night, we played Allen Iverson, and he gets to the line 21 times. ... Ray gets to the line 21 times in a week. That's not right." And Ray Allen isn't going quietly, either. "It won't be anything for me to call him and voice my complaints," he said about phoning vice-president Stu Jackson. "I've done that before in Milwaukee. We've gone through similar stretches in our schedule where it seems like the refereeing was just like they had some type of hang-ups against us. Last night was ridiculous. ... And I want to tell him so."
