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 2 - Disappointed Raptors Fan

Yeah, I feel really disappointed. It feels like all the teams are trying to do something and we're just sitting and waiting for something magic to happen.

Trevor Ariza agreed to sign with Huston Rockets a multiyear MLE deal, which made about everybody in Toronto asking: WHY? Why didn't Bryan Colangelo try to sign him? NBA.com tells us, that Raptors actually offered bigger dollars to Ariza, but he signed with the Rockets 'out of respect'. (???)

Ron Artest reached the agreement with Lakers. Now, he will be able to manhandle Kobe on trainings.

Boston Celtics trying to make a run for Rasheed Wallace. Mavericks and Knicks speaking with Jason Kidd. Marcin Gortat is on his way to Dallas.

So, where are you, Raptors? Are you gonna try to resign Shawn Marion? Add Linas Kleiza? Is that all we can expect?

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.