The new CBA by Tigercub

So, DeMar DeRozan signed his name under his first NBA contract and we have our Pizza-man in T-Dot, also. We knew that already, but how we got Hedo is another thing. Bryan Colangelo with help of other executives created rather complicated deal. Like 'I didn't sleep 5 nights in a row, to figure it out' complicated deal. It includes 4 teams and basically looks like that:

Raptors get Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright, Devean George and bunch of salary cap exceptions.

Mavericks get Kris Humphries, Shawn Marion and Nathan Jawai.

Grizzlies get our second round pick, dollars and Jerry Stackhouse.

Magic get dollars and trade exception.

Why make it so complicated, when BC could have offered Hedo a contract, saving himself some sleepless nights? I'll give you the clue: it's not because we wanted Wright and George so hard. The answer lies in the magical word 'exception'. Yeah, this is what we were losing by just signing Hedo Turkoglu. But the CBA is obviously written by somebody who loves the word 'loopholes'. Before you understand it, the new CBA comes and it starts allover again. We're waiting for another ankle breaking set of rules in 2011. Why not make it simple and honor the players of 2000's in the same time, by this understandable and straight-forward set of exceptions:

The Anderson Varejao exception. Salary: the yearly income of an average wig producer.

The Eddy Curry exception. Salary: the yearly income of your local McDonalds restaurant.

The Allen Iverson exception. Salary: yearly number of sold benches.

The Ron Artest exception. Salary: the number of sold out rap albums by a player in discussion.

The Kevin Garnet exception. Salary: yearly income of an ear-plug store.

The Glen Davis exception. Salary: number of yearly sold Pampers packs.

The Baron Davis exception. Salary: money made by the movie '300' in the first month.

The LeBron James exception. Salary: yearly income of a local video store.

The Nuggets exception. Salary: the average price of tattooing a whole basketball team (coaches, trainers, execs included).

The list can go on and on. It doesn't use the complicated language of lawyers. But it still lets you spend more than you're allowed. Like when you're a girl using your husbands Master Card.

The Hedo-gate in T Dot & LeBron's big mouth

The Hedo-gate is reaching dangerous levels in Toronto. Soon Bryan Colangelo will have to make his decision about renouncing (or not) the rights to the free agents: Shawn Marion, Carlos Delfino and Anthony Parker. Soon we will learn.

Are we gonna have Hedo and none of 3 above? Are we gonna sign & trade any of them? Are we gonna send an apologize card to Hassan Adams begging him to come back?

There is an interesting rumor about sign & trade Shawn Marion with the Mavericks, which will give us Jerry Stackhouse and our MLE back (or not). Yeah, don't ask me. 'The CBA is really fucking complicated', by the words of @scottcarefoot. I completely agree. As soon as I understand it, the new, more complicated CBA will come. It's like deja vu allover again. If I was capable of catching up with CBA on the first read, I'd apply for a job of a first female GM in NBA.


Hence, I hope our man Bryan Colangelo gets what it needs to be a good GM, understands the rules and has a huge ace to pull out of his sleeve. He looks clever, no?



While BC is tactfully silent and let our minds wonder, LeBron just wouldn't shut the fuck up. About year ago, he told to the media, that he will be playing in New York. Now, he tries to lure Trevor Ariza to Cleveland, promising him, that he's an Ohio man through an through. Surprisingly, when asked, the King calls Ariza a liar. How will he shake Trevor's hand after this? Oh, I forgot. He's a witness. I mean a winner. Winners don't shake hands.


Other news:

The ugliest tattoo of NBA stays in Hotlanta.



Avery Johnson decided he doesn't want to take part in the Motown Experiment, without job security. Pistons will hire John Kuester as a coach. Kuester was an assistant coach in Cleveland. Cavaliers had an assistant coach? How many coaches do you exactly need to call one play: 'give the ball to LeBron 35 feet away from the basket and get the hell out of the way'?

Free Agency Day 5 - I believe we'll be fine

So Sheed is going to dress green next season. And the Celtics are reaching the All Star starting 5, while trying to put themselves into a winning position not only for the next championship, but also for breaking the record of technical fouls per one team. Doc Rivers is also talking to Grant Hill.

Mark Cuban broke the piggy bank to seduce Jason Kidd with 25 mln 3 year contract (WOOT!). Guess is he doesn't want to admit the mistake he made by trading Devin Harris for Kidd. Or he's simply afraid, that JK will drink from a Fountain of Youth as soon as he kicks into New York.

So the big market teams are spending. The small market teams are trembling.

Which one of them are we? I know, Raptors, being the only Canadian team don't get the serious attention from American media. But does it make us a small market team? Can you seriously call the only basketball Canada can cheer for a small market team? Yeah, there are most people obsessed with hockey here, but the young basketball fan base is big and growing. Check here.

So maybe it's time to stop wailing that we're spending too much on Hedo.
- We have a thin bench? We do, but we didn't even have legit starting 5 previous season.
- You're afraid it's going to hurt us in 2/3 years? I think it will hurt us more when Bosh shows us his middle finger next off-season, because we didn't give him any supporting cast.
- He's going to be overpaid underachiever. He's no Stephon Marbury. Also, he wanted to come here. Yes, he chose Toronto as his next home over Portland. The fact, that we offered him 3 mln more? It's 3 mln over 5 years with higher taxes, I don't think this changes his quality of life that significantly.
- You think that he's another 'soft Euro'. Rewind your memory to last year playoffs, when we met with Orlando Magic. Remember this ugly white dude who threw your franchise player into the second row of fans watching the game? Here's the 'soft Euro' for you.


I'm not a huge expert on salary cap, but if you see, how much so called serious teams spend on their players, you have to believe that there are enough exceptions to work out some plan to get at least one reasonable backup wing man. Not a superstar, not Hassan Adams, but a decent shooter/defender.

So, Toronto, enjoy. You have a first star player in your team history that comes here willingly. A player who played in NBA Finals recently. Didn't sit on bench, played as a starter. Shot several clutch shots, dished more than a few sweet assists. If this doesn't convince you, check Cuzoogle. End of rant.

Free Agency Day 3 - Hedo looking for a better pizza

Earlier today ESPN informed us that Hedo Turkoglu reached an agreement with Portland Trail Blazers and Shawn Marion was negotiating his contract with Toronto Raptors. Raptors offered him something north of 30 mln for 4 years, but Marion tried to get 5 year 50 mln. While whole Toronto fan base kept their breath wondering who's gonna win these negotiations, another news broke: Turkoglu rejected offer from Portland and decided to go with Toronto. Raptors offered him 56 mln for 6 years, which is basically 6 mln more than Blazers.

Was the 6 mln the reason for Michael Jordan of Turkey to come to Toronto? Or the fact that his wife loved the city? Or maybe our pizza is better?


And how is it gonna affect us? We're simply losing the MLE and staying with a bench thinner than Christian Bale in 'The Machinist'.



We also can say bye-bye to Anthony Parker, Carlos Delfino and Shawn Marion.

I like the idea of having Hedo Turkoglu on our team much more than having Marion, but it would definitely get sweeter if we could also get Linas Kleiza to come of the bench.


Another news today:

Pistons are interested in signing Avery Johnson as a head coach.

Phil Jackson will definitely come back to coach Lakers. He seems to be the right man to handle Ron Artest.


Boston Celtics are interested in getting Rasheed Wallace.

Free Agency Day 1 - The Motown Experiment

Remember Deeetroit Basketball? The solid team that used to go to conference finals every year and won one championship in that stretch? What have happened to them?

It seems that they after they lost Ben Wallace, the team was still really good, but they couldn't make it to the 'ship. So, the Pistons GM decided to make an experiment - he swapped Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. My first thought was - Pistons will really rock now. Man, how wrong I was. We all know, how it worked. Pistons turned into below .500 team and exited the playoffs in the first round, not winning a single game. Who was punished for that? The head coach Michael Curry paid for his inability to fit in the square peg of AI into round hole of Detroit Pistons. He just got fired.



They failure of a bad answer to Detroit question didn't discourage Dumars from making yet another bold moves. Iverson is not coming back, Rasheed Wallace neither. Instead of this, Pistons on the first day of the free agency offered 5-year long contracts to Charlie Villanueva (40 mln) and Ben Gordon (58 mln). Does Ben Gordon really fit into the concept of Deeetroit Basketball? I don't think so. But maybe a huge change is coming. Or yet another coach will be fired.

Asides from Motown, not much going on in the Free Agency Day 1. Quentin Richardson had to change his jersey yet again in the span of few days, being sent to LA Clippers in exchange with Zach Randolph.
Raptors still didn't get anything going yet, although they are trying to do the shopping. The names include: Hedo Turkoglu, David Lee and Linas Kleiza. Turk & Kleiza are small forwards, which is what we need, but why are putting yet another big man (Lee) in that equation? Only time will tell, how it ends.

NBA Free Agency for Dummies

Here's the list of some NBA free agents 2009, described in short Twitter-like fashion and non-scientific language. The order is random.

Marcin Gortat - Polish Hammer, he can block the King in the name of Polish Democracy.

Glen Davis - known for crying, and killing little boys after shooting a winning shot.

Anderson Varejao - man, he flops.

Chris Andersen - his blocks are as colorful as his tats.

Linas Kleiza - having him won't hurt you when Melo is hurt.

Wally Szczerbiak - his abilities of playing ball are only a little better than your abilities to spell his name.

Eddie House - he'll defend you so much that you'll want to slap him.

Nate Robinson - don't be cheated by his size, he can dunk.

David Lee - Mr Double-Double, he makes sure to follow every shot he misses.

Grant Hill - aging like a good wine, still capable of giving you a kick on some nights.

Mike Bibby - his 3pointer looks way better than his tats.

Trevor Ariza - Mr Hustle, he follows every loose ball and steals inbound passes.

Allen Iverson - best crossover in the league, but is he the answer?

Shawn Marion - as ugly as his shot looks, it usually goes in.

Jason Kidd - triple-double for me please.

Hedo Turkoglu - he can both dribble and shoot really well.

Rasheed Wallace - big mouth and big shot.

Ron Artest - fantastic defender and entertainer, he's been in the stands before.

Lamar Odom - good force on the team providing he gets his candies.

Ben Gordon - you will love and hate him multiple times on each possession.

Carlos Boozer - power forward with a power.

About draft and the Finals

I don't know how much truth is in the fact that Demar Derozan didn't want to come to train with the Raptors, but it doesn't make him a desirable player. How can a young boy who didn't smell NBA yet already grade teams he wants to play or not? Kid, Tim Duncan you're not. You might end up being Hoffa / having a 15 win team.

Scottie Raynolds decided to stay one more year in college which I find a very good decision. I like 'Nova basketball and I like Scottie, and I hope he'll improve much for the next year draft. He can end up being closer to top picks and we may end up getting him if we suck another year.

Magic - Lakers tonight and I am starting to seriously doubt if the Magic can make it. First game was a blow-out by Lakers and a brick festival by Magic. Game 2 was a close one, and when it was tied with 0.6 seconds left, I kept my breath waiting for Hedo Turkoglu to inbound a lob to Dwight Howard. The ball went to Courtney Lee, who missed a layup, sending the game to the overtime, when Lakers collected the W. Third game was won by Orlando, but they needed a record-breaking shooting (62.5% with 75% in the first half!) to win JUST by 4 points! No way LA defense won't adjust for the next game. Well, we'll see.

Cavs are still alive

Whether it was LeBron James' triple-double, Mo Williams' wet jump-shot or Andy Varejao's acrobatic flops - the boys from Cleveland kept the Nike's puppets dream alive. And the fishing-rods sellers in Ohio have to wait at least another 2 days.
The first quarter belong to the Cavaliers completely, Magic decided to have a nap during this period. The twitter-land divided into 2 camps: 1. Magic are done, Cavaliers won it. 2. Magic will slowly come back, and Cavaliers will blow this 22-point lead. Well the second group was closer to the truth - if you call blowing the lead in just one quarter slow.
Second half was much more interesting with the lead going back and forth, both teams actually playing and Reggie Miller trying to be quotable: 'Varejao flopping allover the place.' Skip to my Lou awarded us with some drama everytime he touched the ball (1-7 from 3pt line).
Unluckily, French Revolution (Pietrus) and Polish Democracy (Gortat) didn't work on the reigning MVP. Even Courtney Lee didn't dunk on the King. Cavaliers won.
Who's gonna win the series? All of us know that there were only 8 teams that came back from 1-3 deficit (that was the Cavaliers record before the yesterday's game). By all I mean everybody besides Mo Williams who seems to be the most cocky about his team winning. I know, I know, if I dislike cockiness I should stop watching basketball and start reading poetry, cooking, etc... But back to the point.
I believe in teams working in the concept of a 'team work' more than 'having a super-star and a bunch of random dudes'. That's why I picked up Magic. More, I am sure if they had Jameer Nelson, they'd win in 4 games. Or if Rafer learnt to pass more. They also have much more offensive schemes. They have Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis who are versatile enough to give any team defensive-mismatch problems. And Dwight Howard in the middle. And even if LeBron is the best player in this series he needs some help and he doesn't get it often enough.