Posts Tagged Marreese Speights

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports just posted a must-read article on the latest trade rumors in the NBA.  Some highlights:

Is Thomas the next Stoudemire? Marion? Or just the next heckling target for New Yorkers? (Getty Images)

Tyrus Thomas

“Several sources believe the Bulls are agreeable to a package of Thomas and Jerome James for Knicks forward Al Harrington.”

Mike D’Antoni has apparently coveted Thomas’ athleticism for years, although I’m not exactly sure how Thomas would be used on offense.  Is he more the Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire type?… because he seems somewhere in between and not necessarily in a good way, although I can’t really pinpoint why.  Maybe because he’s more generally regarded as a defensive player.  Anyway, he takes a nice speculative bump in value going to that open offense and is worth a roster spot if you can afford it.

Meanwhile, Al Harrington could be taking Ben Gordon’s old 6th man/instant offense role, but going to a more structured offense makes it hard to predict exactly how his value will be affected.  It probably goes down though, as Al likely can’t jack up 5 three-pt attempts per game anywhere outside of NY or GS.

And even though Al would be coming in, Taj Gibson gets a nice boost in confidence/value, while it becomes more likely that Joakim Noah can maintain his nice start.  (I was thinking of selling high on him as late as last week, but will hold off on that until news breaks.)

Tracy McGrady

“Houston seems willing to take back a longer-term contract for McGrady, but most executives believe his high salary makes it hard to put together a package.

“Rockets GM Daryl Morey and coach Rick Adelman don’t want McGrady back with the team, and have insisted that he isn’t physically ready to return to the lineup. McGrady would love a trade, but knows he must start playing again for it to be possible.”

This situation seems messier and messier to me, although this is the first “new” news I’ve heard in a while.  (And updating my last post here, apparently there are T-Mac trade rumors.  Of course!)  In my last post, I also said this all reminded me of Allen Iverson’s past couple weeks, but it actually might be more reminiscent of the Stephen Jackson situation in GSW.

Remember that night Jackson got benched the entire second half when things got really heated/awkward, then played almost the entire next game?  It’s called “showcasing”… and I’m guessing the Rockets are waiting for the right time (i.e., until T-Mac is absolutely healthy) to showcase his skills and ship him off.  To where?  Who knows.  But a lot of New Yorkers on this message board from The Knicks Blog think it will be, you got it, the Knicks.

Andre Miller

“Sources say that Brandon Roy clearly prefers playing with Blake over Miller, and that’s an issue that Pritchard must contend with.”

This all stems from the Blazers’ need to fill the gap left by Travis Outlaw’s injury.  It’s great news for anyone who recently picked Steve Blake off waivers.  I’ve been saying I’d rather own him than Miller all year, so gooo me!  (Unfortunately I don’t own him in any leagues though.  So, hypooocrite!)  It’s probably good news for any Miller owners too, as he’s clearly good enough to start on most NBA teams and this seems like more of a personal preference (on Brandon Roy’s part) rather than a big character issue that would hurt Miller’s value.

Elton Brand

“Sixers GM Ed Stefanski is desperate to unload forward Elton Brand and the $66 million owed over the remaining four years of his crippling contract, sources say, but that will be incredibly difficult.”

Not totally surprising, and hey, maybe that’s why he was getting big minutes before his hamstring got overheated.  (Showcasing, anyone?  No wait.  That Marreese Speights guy got injured.  Anyway.)  Doesn’t look like anything will happen, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

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