[jcl249Participant]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=MarionTrade-090709&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dhollinger_john%26page%3dMarionTrade-090709

can someone please post this? i want to read it really badly.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

someone please post Chad Ford top 25 Remaining Free Agents also….Thanks

[HaleParticipant]

It’s all about prying the window open as long as you can. And with this week’s moves to re-up Jason Kidd, sign Marcin Gortat to an offer sheet and acquire Shawn Marion in a four-team deal, the Mavs are doing all they can to keep it from slamming shut while Dirk Nowitzki is still an elite player.

Wednesday’s complicated four-way deal with Orlando, Toronto and Memphis sends Marion to the Mavs on a five-year deal worth an estimated $39 million, and his running ability should make him a deadly complement to Kidd in transition. As part of the deal, the Mavs also get Memphis’ Greg Buckner and the Raptors’ Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai. Humphries is an underrated and productive player who likely takes over Brandon Bass’ role as a scoring big man off the bench.

Buckner’s contract isn’t fully guaranteed and he’ll likely be waived, but he won’t be the only one after the trade is completed. The Mavs sent Jerry Stackhouse to Memphis along with $3 million in cash, and the Grizzlies will waive Stackhouse since he’s guaranteed only $2 million of his $7 million salary. Dallas also sent Antoine Wright and Devean George to Toronto as part of the deal.

Memphis also gets a future second-round pick from Toronto. At the end of the day, the Grizzlies earned $2.5 million for renting their cap space for the deal: the cash from Dallas minus the $500,000 difference between Buckner’s $1.5 million guarantee and Stackhouse’s $2 million.

Orlando’s participation was agreeing to sign and trade Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto rather than allowing the Raptors to sign him directly. The Magic will get a trade exception worth approximately $8 million as a result, which gives them an option for adding personnel should their pursuit of big men with the midlevel exception not work out.

Meanwhile, Toronto wriggled out of the bind its deal with Turkoglu put it in. The Raptors had to either renounce their rights to several players to give him the five-year, $53 million deal they’d agreed to or had to work a sign-and-trade for Turkoglu.

Toronto’s acquisition is now technically a trade, which means three things for the Raptors. First, they got a passable wing reserve in the deal in Dallas’ Wright. Second, Toronto didn’t have to renounce its rights to Carlos Delfino and can sign him as another quality wing. And third, the Raptors still can use their midlevel and biannual exceptions to round out their roster this summer.

This is huge for the Raps, as their roster otherwise would have been completely denuded. I was already getting e-mails from Toronto fans with questions like “Think we can get Matt Barnes for the minimum?” Now they can pursue some added frontcourt help with their exceptions and make a real run at the playoffs.

In fact, by getting only the trade exception, Orlando let the Raptors off the hook quite cheaply. The Magic got cash in the deal, and that always helps, but I’m amazed they didn’t get a draft pick or some other form of compensation for their trouble. They’ve enabled a conference rival to escape from a mess of its own making at shockingly little cost. Orlando is well over the luxury-tax line already and might never use the exception. And besides, it already had a midlevel exception available to use. The Magic should have demanded more to let Toronto off the mat.

[+] EnlargeD. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Image
Adding Marion gives Dallas another opportunity to capitalize on Dirk Nowitzki’s prime seasons.
Nonetheless, it’s the Mavs who are the story here. It’s likely small forward Josh Howard would move to shooting guard to start games, while Jason Terry finishes them, and that the Mavs will often play small with Nowitzki and Marion as a tandem up front. If so, they can create a potentially fearsome starting five of Kidd, Howard, Marion, Nowitzki and Gortat, with a quality second unit of J.J. Barea, Terry, Quinton Ross, Humphries and Erick Dampier behind them. Should they re-sign Bass, an unrestricted free agent, they’d be even more formidable.

That said, this could all go to hell amazingly fast. On opening day, Kidd will be 36, Dampier 34, Terry 32, Nowitzki 31 and Marion 31; Howard also turns 30 in April. Of their top seven players, only Gortat, 25, could be described as in his prime, but he has the opposite problem: He’s so untested that there’s still some uncertainty surrounding how he’ll perform as a 30-minute starter.

On the other hand, based on last season’s performance, this team looks like a real danger to the West’s elite. Dallas boasts eight players who had a PER above the league average last season — nine if Bass re-signs — and one of them is a genuine star in Nowitzki.

In a Western Conference in which several of the contenders appear to be shrinking rather than rising, the Mavs are trying to seize the opening for a credible rival to the Lakers to emerge. Thanks to Mark Cuban’s willingness to spend freely on a winner, they might have done it. However, Dallas will once again pay far above the luxury tax, and if the age bug strikes, Cuban’s dollars might buy a shockingly average team.

But the Mavs have a chance to be really good, and at this point it’s more than a lot of teams can say. I don’t know what Marion has left in his legs, and in most situations I wouldn’t be willing to pay almost $40 million over five years to find out. But in this situation, Dallas seized a unique opportunity presented by Toronto’s Turkoglu snag. In doing so, the Mavs have managed to keep that window open at least one season longer.

Finally, while I have your attention, a few other news items warrant further discussion:

• The Blazers’ rumored pursuit of Paul Millsap is a decent risk for Portland. The team has talked about getting more physical since losing to Houston in the first round, and Millsap adds that dimension. He’s also capable of playing with LaMarcus Aldridge in the same frontcourt if need be. Additionally, Utah might not be in a position to match, given its intolerable luxury-tax situation.

Portland can offer five years, $45 million with its current cap space, or five years, $52 million if it renounces its rights to Joel Freeland and Petteri Koponen. I like the former arrangement for two reasons. First, there’s no reason to go punting away two assets for no reason. And second, $52 million is too much money for Millsap.

Actually, $45 million is too much, given he’ll be coming off the bench, but it’s a little easier to justify for Portland because the Blazers have a short window to use this cap space and obtain talent. They can always make a trade somewhere down the road to even out their roster.

Matching an offer for Millsap would put the Jazz $11 million over the luxury-tax threshold at the lower contract, $12 million at the higher. That’s another reason not to bother with the $53 million: It really doesn’t change the economics much for the Jazz.

During the seven days Utah has to match, the two sides could also agree to a sign-and-trade with the same contract terms for Millsap. If Utah included Kyle Korver and took back Travis Outlaw and the rights to Koponen and Freeland, the Jazz would be only $2 million over the tax and could probably dump the remaining salary at the trade deadline if need be.

Finally, Utah could preemptively agree to a sign-and-trade before Millsap inked an offer sheet with Portland. In that case, he could get a six-year deal with 10 percent raises. The carrot for Utah would be to include Matt Harpring in the above trade instead of Korver. Millsap would get a six-year, $55 million deal in that scenario and the Jazz would be only about half a million dollars over the tax threshold.

• In a little piece of bookkeeping business, Houston got a $5.7 million disabled player exception for Yao Ming and used that instead of the midlevel exception to sign Trevor Ariza.

This preserves Houston’s midlevel and theoretically makes it possible for it to double-dip and pursue somebody like Bass or Milwaukee guard Ramon Sessions. But that’s only in theory. I doubt Houston will use its midlevel given its need to avoid the tax this season and preserve cap space for next summer. But it’s a nice option to keep around in case the Rockets need it later in the season. Since they have only 45 days to use the injured player exception but all season to use the midlevel — and the salary afforded by each was the same — it made sense to do it this way.

• Signing Jannero Pargo to a one-year deal was a great coup for the Bulls for a few reasons. First of all, they needed a fourth guard now that Ben Gordon left for Detroit. And since Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich are both big point guards, he can play off the ball with either and switch assignments on defense.

Second, the one-year part is crucial. The Bulls need to preserve as much cap space as possible for a year from now, when they could potentially make a run at Chicago native Dwyane Wade or some of the other juicy free agents. That’s also why you’re hearing Tyrus Thomas’ name so much; Chicago can get big cap room only if it doesn’t make him a qualifying offer, so better to trade him now and get something in return than be left high and dry a year from now.

[HaleParticipant]

The annual free-agent frenzy has begun in earnest. NBA general managers have thrown an economic crisis and a lowered salary cap to the wind and are spending big bucks again this year.

Ben Gordon earned the richest deal of the group, netting a five-year, $55 million contract from the Pistons. Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, Rasheed Wallace, Shawn Marion, Antonio McDyess and Charlie Villanueva all changed teams quickly. And a few free agents such as Jason Kidd, Anderson Varejao and Mike Bibby decided to re-up with their teams.

Despite the initial flurry, a number of free agents remain on the market. The majority of them are restricted free agents. Most GMs are reluctant to make offers to restricted free agents because they have to wait seven days to see whether the player’s current team will match that offer. That fear has kept most off the market so far.

With very few teams — the Thunder, Kings, and Blazers — significantly under the cap, most of these players will have to settle for re-signing with their own teams, the midlevel exception or sign-and-trades.

Here’s the latest look at which players are available and where they could land:

Key:
UFA = unrestricted free agent
RFA = restricted free agent
(teams have seven days to match any offer for a restricted free agent)

1. David Lee, Knicks (RFA)
Teams interested: Knicks, Blazers, Thunder
Salary range: $8-10 million per year

Lee is a double-double machine who has become a favorite among New York fans and coaches around the league. The Knicks have a goal of clearing cap space for 2010, meaning they might not be in a position to match a substantial offer sheet. So Lee is the rare top-notch restricted free agent whom an opposing team might be able to steal away. At least in theory. The Grizzlies flirted with making him an offer but then backed away. The Blazers also have toyed with the idea but haven’t pulled the trigger.

2. Paul Millsap, Jazz (RFA)
Teams interested: Jazz, Thunder, Blazers
Salary range: $8-10 million per year

With Carlos Boozer out for most of this past season, Millsap proved he has the potential to be an All-Star power forward. He is unstoppable on the boards and can put the ball in the basket. Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City were all potentially interested, but no one has made him an offer. The Blazers are the latest suitors and are reportedly putting together a “toxic” offer that the Jazz won’t want to match.

The Jazz want to bring him back. But because Boozer hasn’t opted out of his contract, there’s a small chance the Jazz won’t be able to match another team’s offer to Millsap, especially if it’s a huge offer of $10 million-plus per year. If Millsap can’t get that offer, he may have to settle for less to play in Utah or, alternatively, take the one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010.

3. Lamar Odom, Lakers (UFA)
Teams interested: Lakers, Cavs
Salary range: $6-8 million per year

Odom is one of the most interesting free agents on the open market. With Kobe, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum on L.A.’s roster, the Lakers don’t desperately need him, especially now that they’ve spent $33 million on Ron Artest.

Still, Odom is a great team guy who can rebound and initiate the offense, and he doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He wants a lot of money to stay with the Lakers, but if they won’t pay it, who will? He may have to settle for the midlevel exception if he can’t make a deal with L.A.

4. Andre Miller, Sixers (UFA)
Teams interested: Sixers, Blazers, Pacers
Salary range: $5.5-7 million per year

At age 33, Miller is coming off two of the best seasons of his career. Can the Sixers afford to lose him? Some GM who needs a veteran point guard will be willing to gamble on Miller this summer if he gives up his $10 million per season demands.

5. Marvin Williams, Hawks (RFA)
Teams interested: Hawks, ???
Salary range: $5.5-7 million per year

Williams has as much raw talent as anyone else in the draft class of 2005, but he has been frustratingly inconsistent in his first four seasons with the Hawks. Williams has struggled to receive any offers from a team because rival GMs are convinced the Hawks will match. Although he probably will stay in Atlanta, he hasn’t played well enough to earn anything close to the $60-64 million, five-year contract that fellow ’05 classmate Danny Granger signed this past fall.

6. Raymond Felton, Bobcats (RFA)
Teams interested: Bobcats, Sixers
Salary range: $5-6 million per year

Felton has been looking over his shoulder at Larry Brown’s young protégé, D.J. Augustin, who performed well enough as a rookie that it’s unlikely the Bobcats would match a big offer sheet for Felton.

Felton can dish out assists, but his poor shooting has hampered his career. If the Bobcats can get Felton for the midlevel exception, I think they’ll keep him. Given that all the money has really dried up out there, I think his return to the Bobcats is likely.

7. Josh Childress, Hawks (RFA)
Teams interested: Bucks, Pacers
Salary range: $4-6 million per year

Childress shocked many in the NBA by deciding to bolt for Greece last summer. He’ll likely be back in the NBA eventually, but it’s unclear whether he’ll decide to return in the fall. However, with bad blood lingering over how his negotiations went with Atlanta last summer, he probably won’t return to the Hawks, even though they still hold his rights.

8. Ramon Sessions, Bucks (RFA)
Teams interested: Bucks, Warriors, Heat, Blazers, Pacers, Rockets
Salary range: $4-6 million per year

Teams are always in pursuit of point guards, especially ones who won’t break the bank, and Sessions has caught the eye of a number of teams. With the Bucks struggling financially, they may not be able to match an offer.

9. Allen Iverson, Pistons (UFA)
Teams interested: Grizzlies, Bobcats, Bulls, Heat
Salary range: $3-5 million per year

Iverson’s late-season disappearance didn’t help his reputation. He’s still a good player, but two nagging questions will hurt his case for a big deal: One, with the exception of that magical season in Philly under Larry Brown, is Iverson a winner? Two, does he have much left? The answer to the first question seems to be no. The answer to the second question seems to be a qualified yes. The Grizzlies seem to have the most interest at the moment, with owner Michael Heisley pondering whether to offer Iverson a one-year, $5 million deal.

10. Nate Robinson, Knicks (RFA)
Teams interested: Knicks, Kings
Salary range: $3-5 million per year

The Knicks probably can’t afford to keep Robinson as they try to re-sign David Lee and clear cap space for LeBron James (and/or others). Look for Sacramento, among other teams, to make a run at him, especially after the Kings made a big play for him at the trade deadline.

11. Jarrett Jack, Pacers (RFA)
Teams interested: Pacers, Sixers, Warriors
Salary range: $3-4 million per year

Jack beat out T.J. Ford for the Pacers’ starting point guard position at the end of the season. He might get offers in the range of the midlevel exception, and it’s not clear whether the Pacers can afford to re-sign him.

12. Linas Kleiza, Nuggets (RFA)
Teams interested: Nuggets, Knicks, Cavs, Raptors
Salary range: $3-5 million per year

Kleiza is an up-and-coming forward who drew a lot of interest at the trade deadline. He’s physical and can score and should land a deal around the midlevel exception.

13. Glen Davis, Celtics (RFA)
Teams interested: Celtics, Pistons
Salary range: $3-5 million per year

Davis might be expendable now that the Celtics have signed Rasheed Wallace. Still, teams are wary of giving him an offer sheet on the off chance that the Celtics could match.

14. Grant Hill, Suns (UFA)
Teams interested: Suns, Knicks, Celtics
Salary range: $3-5 million per year

Hill is mulling offers from both the Suns and Knicks. The Suns provide a more stable situation, but the Knicks look to be offering more money. That’s a little bizarre considering where the Knicks are in their developmental process … but you know Mike D’Antoni loves his former Suns players.

15. Brandon Bass, Mavericks (UFA)
Teams interested: Mavericks, Pistons, Magic, Blazers
Salary range: $2.5-4 million per year

Bass is big, athletic and still pretty young. All that is appealing to teams that need size and can get Bass for less than the midlevel exception. I think the Pistons are in the lead for his services at the moment.

16. Channing Frye, Blazers (UFA)
Teams interested: Suns, Cavs, Nuggets
Salary range: $2.5-4 million per year

Frye has been a somewhat popular free agent for a few reasons: He’s big, young, unrestricted and should come cheap. The contest for his services seems to be down to the Cavs and Blazers.

17. Marquis Daniels, Pacers (UFA)
Teams interested: Pacers, Rockets, Mavericks
Salary range: $2.5-4 million per year

Daniels is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He’s 28, in the prime of his career and really could help a team coming off the bench. He just has to come to grips with the fact that he won’t make $7 million a year anymore.

18. Drew Gooden, Spurs (UFA)
Teams interested: ???
Salary range: $2.5-4 million per year

Gooden’s situation has been surprisingly quiet. He’s big, talented and still pretty young. But he has a bad rep around the league and can’t seem to find a home.

19. Joe Smith, Cavs (UFA)
Teams interested: Cavs, Magic, Hornets
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

Smith continues to be a solid low-post option off the bench, especially for a title contender.

20. Chris Wilcox, Knicks (UFA)
Teams interested: Wizards
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

Wilcox has enormous athletic ability and is still relatively young. However, he’s struggling to find a team willing to give him big bucks.

21. Hakim Warrick, Grizzlies (RFA)
Teams interested: Grizzlies, ???
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

Warrick has talent, and a number of teams would target him if he weren’t a restricted free agent. The Grizzlies won’t match a huge offer, but I don’t think anyone is inclined to give him one anyway.

22. Rasho Nesterovic, Pacers (UFA)
Teams interested: Spurs, Rockets, Magic
Salary range: $2.5-4 million per year

Nesterovic may have lost a step or two, but he’s still a pretty effective post man, especially on the offensive end. For a team that is thin at center, he could be a really nice addition to play 15 to 20 minutes a night.

23. Rashad McCants, Kings (UFA)
Teams interested: ??
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

McCants doesn’t have the world’s greatest off-the-court rep, but on the court, he’s still an excellent scorer with deep range on his jump shot.

24. Ike Diogu, Kings (UFA)
Teams interested: Kings
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

Diogu has battled injuries and struggled to crack the rotation in Golden State, Indiana, Portland and Sacramento. But when he has played, he has shown a knack for scoring the basketball. Teams won’t spend much on him, but he has a skill that is in demand.

25. Carlos Delfino, Raptors (RFA)
Teams interested: ??
Salary range: $2-4 million per year

Delfino has great size for his position, can shoot the basketball and should come cheaply now that the Raptors have spent all of their money on Hedo Turkoglu.

Other unrestricted notables: Leon Powe, Celtics; Sean May, Bobcats; Ronald Murray, Hawks; Stromile Swift, Nets; Robert Swift, Thunder; Keith Bogans, Bucks; Johan Petro, Nuggets; Bobby Jackson, Kings; Luther Head, Heat; Rodney Carney, Wolves; Cedric Simmons, Kings; Damon Jones, Bucks; Desmond Mason, Thunder; Chris Mihm, Grizzlies; Gerald Green, Mavericks; Wally Szczerbiak, Cavs; Jason Collins, Timberwolves; Jarron Collins, Jazz; Shelden Williams, Wolves; Stephon Marbury, Celtics; Mikki Moore, Celtics; Juwan Howard, Bobcats; Joey Graham, Raptors; Maceo Baston, Pacers; Rob Kurz, Warriors; Morris Almond, Jazz.

Other restricted notables: Carlos Delfino, Raptors; Jamario Moon, Raptors; Aaron Gray, Bulls; Ersan Ilyasova, Bucks; Josh McRoberts, Pacers.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I appreciate all the info. I have been telling people for a few years now that this would happen. You pay a few guys all this money and then for the medium skilled guys they is not any real money to play them and if they dont settle for cheap, the will not get signed. A lot of quality players will have to settle for cheap because there is not enough money.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

Wow..Dallas has 8 players right now that are above the average PER….that is a pretty potent squad

That would be awesome if the Warriors signed Sessions.

McCants should be ranked around #12 on that list….Ford is sleeping

Grant Hill & Glen Davis might as well sign one year deals with the Celtics and win it all.

Brandan Bass is really going to help Dallas out if he stays. Bass would be a perfect fit for the Magic though.

What if the Cavs did sign Odom?….that would be huge

Thanks yupyup…these were interesting things to read

[HaleParticipant]

You probably already knew this but Grant Hill resigned with the Suns.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

Whoa…I didnt hear that yet.

Why would Hill sign with the Suns? He should’ve gone to Boston…oh well

[HaleParticipant]

He signed based on rumor that Nash was signing an extension.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsROAnFd6uvDv7jU0jXafZo5nYcB?slug=aw-hillsuns071009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns&

Oh and Brandon Bass signed with the Magic.

[smithclareParticipant]

Lee is a double-double machine who has become a favorite among New York fans and coaches around the league. The Knicks have a goal of clearing cap space for 2010, meaning they might not be in a position to match a substantial offer sheet. So Lee is the rare top-notch restricted free agent whom an opposing team might be able to steal away. At least in theory. The Grizzlies flirted with making him an offer but then backed away. The Blazers also have toyed with the idea but haven’t pulled the trigger.
Smith
telecommunication world

[Author]

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