Raptors Still Pursuing Diaw + AK47 To Toronto Trade Idea

With the Nets' deal for Carmelo Anthony dead, at least for now, the Toronto Raptors are again trying to land Charlotte forward Boris Diaw, one of the key players in the proposed Anthony blockbuster. The Raptors thought they had finalized a deal for Diaw over the summer, but Charlotte owner Michael Jordan reportedly nixed it at the 11th hour.

Via NY Daily News


While I'm not a fan of Diaw, a deal surrounding Diaw and Jose Calderon makes sense for both teams. Bobcats get a starting caliber PG while the Raptors save money at the cost of creating a bigger logjam at the 4 spot. Diaw used to be able the play the 3 spot.

So this little NY Daily News blurb got me thinking. The Melo 4 way trade scenario had the Jazz receiving Diaw for Kirilenko, mainly due to luxury tax savings. Since I don't think Diaw is a fit on a team like the Raptors, here is my 3 team idea involving the Raptors, Jazz and the Bobcats.

Trade:
Jose Calderon
Reggie Evans
David Andersen

Receive:
Andrei Kirilenko
Eduardo Najera
Sundiata Gaines

Trade:
Andrei Kirilenko
Ronnie Price
Sundiata Gaines

Receive:

Boris Diaw
Reggie Evans


Trade:

Boris Diaw
Eduardo Najera

Receive:

Jose Calderon
David Andersen
Ronnie Price

NBA Elite 11 Delayed

This year, we set extremely ambitious goals for our new franchise, NBA ELITE. We are creating a game that will introduce several breakthrough features that have been missing from the basketball genre. Unfortunately, NBA ELITE 11 is not yet ready and we have made a decision to delay next month’s launch. We are going to keep working until we’re certain we can deliver a breakthrough basketball experience.

In the meantime, the NBA season is just around the corner and we have a plan to keep our consumers close to the action:

-NBA JAM will launch on the Wii, as scheduled, on October 5. NBA JAM won recognition this summer as the best sports game at E3 and it’s a blast to play. In addition to the Wii version, we’re going to ship NBA JAM as a standalone product on the Xbox360 and PS3 in time for the holidays. Watch for more news soon on the exact timing of that release.

-For NBA LIVE 10 players, we will continue to offer free content and services throughout the 2010-11 season. We will start with a new roster update so you get all the players for the new season, free of charge. We will also provide free Dynamic DNA updates, daily, for the entire season. That’s a full season of basketball with new rosters and updates, free.

The decision to delay NBA ELITE was hard because the game has great promise. But ultimately we feel this is the right thing to do. We’ve been making steady progress on basketball for the past few years and it’s going to take extra time to make the game.

Why make this decision now? As with all of our titles, we continue to evaluate and improve the code right up until launch. Feedback from consumers is a very important part of the process . NBA ELITE had the benefit of play-testing, a demo and a lot of our own research. All that feedback revealed some concerns about gameplay polish, so we’ve listened to your feedback, and made a judgment that the game would benefit from more time in development.

I want to thank our NBA ELITE development team for their efforts to meet this year’s lofty goals, and we’re behind them as they continue their work. While no one is happy with this delay, we appreciate the support and ongoing feedback from our fans. We’ll have more information coming soon.

VIA EA Sports

Nash Would Play For Canada If Triano Was Still The Coach?

Nash sang the praises of Raptors coach Jay Triano to Barbosa — “He also said if he was a coach he would have come back,” Barbosa said Nash told him about Triano, referring to the Canadian national team — and tried to welcome him to his country.

Via National Post

Did he tell you anything about Jay Triano? "The thing that he told me when I think you guys wanted him to make a part of the national team was that he was so close with the coach that the time he went with the national team it was because of the coach. He also said if (Triano) was a coach he would have come back. He said that he's a good coach that I would like."

Via Raptorblog

I've always speculated this was the case but this is the first time I've seen it in the papers. Or maybe my memory is fuzzy. I can only imagine how much it would have helped Canada Basketball's Senior Men's program and the game in Canada. I guess the clip below explains the sad state of the Senior Men's National Team.




Not to worry though as Canada does have young NBA caliber talent like Thompson, Joseph, Pangos, Kabongo, Birch, Wiltjer, Olynyk, Wiggins etc coming up through the program. No more Ryan Bell and Aaron Doornekamp in a couple of years.

Latest On Melo Trade

UPDATE:

The four-team blockbuster trade that would have landed Carmelo Anthony in New Jersey has died and the Nets have ended their pursuit of the superstar for the time being.

A source said the Nets "need some closure on the matter" and are pulling out of the chase for Anthony "at least for now."

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter)

According to Sam Amick, Jason Kidd cautioned Carmelo Anthony against viewing the Nets as a suitable alternative to the Knicks in the New York market.

Amick also reports that the Knicks would have to deal almost all of their young talent -- including Anthony Randolph, Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas and Wilson Chandler -- in order to make a trade for Anthony now. In one proposed trade, Chandler would have gone to Houston in a multi-team deal involving the Rockets.

The price tag, however, could come down around the February trade deadline and the Knicks may be hoping that Anthony falls to them as a free agent next summer.

Read more: Via Fanhouse

An NBA source said that Carmelo Anthony's arrival for media day in Denver on Monday would mean that the proposed trade to send him to New Jersey is dead.

The Nuggets are reportedly shopping Anthony to alternative suitors like Philadelphia for Andre Iguodala and Golden State for Stephen Curry. It is not clear whether Anthony would agree to sign a contract extension with either team. But it is possible that the Sixers would be willing to make a move for Anthony without an extension, in order to shed the long-term contract of Iguodala.

Via Denver Post

A source connected to the ongoing trade discussions involving Carmelo Anthony said that there is "better than a 50 percent chance" that a trade will be completed within the next 24-48 hours.

William Wesley met with Jay-Z last week in New York to help set the stage for Anthony's arrival with the Nets, said a person with direct knowledge of the meeting.

While the Nuggets want to talk to Anthony directly, sources familiar with his position think that the team's attempt to change his mind about leaving Denver will be futile.

Any positive comments Anthony may make to the media on Monday are likely to be spin rather than actually indicating an open mind about remaining in Denver.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets are not sure they want to accept Derrick Favors as the centerpiece in a trade of their superstar.

Via CBS Sports

Iguodala, Westbrook And Smith Talk Taxes, Politics On FOX

My 4 Team Melo-To-Nets Trade Idea

It seems like there is a hold up between some of the teams involved in the recent 'Melo trade rumours... namely the Jordancats with their refusal to part with DJ Augustine even though they are the one benefitting the most in that 4 team deal considering they are only giving up the French Pastry...


... aka the Pillsbury Diawboy for Devin Harris. Unlike the failed Chandler deal, Charlotte is NOT a critical component to the 4 team Melo trade. Which means they can be replaced by any other team in the league.

I also would like to ask why the Nets are also moving Harris in the same deal when they DON'T need to? Why create a hole at the PG spot when it's one of the most important positions in the NBA today? Why not replace him with Troy Murphy? It creates a hole up front but 4's are a lot easier to find than 1's in the league. Not to mention that Harris has a bigger impact on the game.

So here is my proposal:

Trade:
Troy Murphy
Derrick Favors
Quinton Ross
2012 1st Round Pick via Golden State

Receive:

Carmelo Anthony
Chris Wilcox

Trade:
Carmelo Anthony
Renaldo Balkman

Receive:

Derrick Favors
Andrei Kirilenko
2012 1st Round Pick via Golden State

Trade:
Andrei Kirilenko
Ronnie Price

Receive:

Troy Murphy
Renaldo Balkman


Trade:

Chris Wilcox

Receive:

Ronnie Price
Quinton Ross

The Pistons don't use Chris Wilcox and need another point guard on the roster. Troy Murphy makes a lot more sense for Utah both financially and fit wise on the team. Not to mention that pudgy Diaw won't get off the bench with Sloan coaching the team.

Wilcox isn't much but a starting lineup with Lopez, Wilcox, Carmelo, Williams and Harris is better than Lopez, Murphy, Carmelo, Williams and Farmar.

The funny thing is, what the Nets should have done was KEEP Yi rather than dump him for nothing as he is looking like a different player this summer at the FIBA World Championship. Atleast then they wouldn't have had problems filling the 4 spot following the Melo trade. All the 3M in extra cap space got them was Farmar, Outlaw, Petro and Morrow. Ok fine Morrow was a good signing but the rest were below average at best.

But am I really surprised? They have this man running the team now..

Trade Idea That Will Make Leo Rautins Go Bald

Finally this summer, the Raptors have increased their efforts in searching for a center.... I wonder what took Colangelo and his front office so long? From Araujo to trying to mold Bargnani into a 5, this team needed a center since Antonio Davis was moved to Chicago and almost all of their efforts in getting someone to play that spot at a reasonably high level has resulted in failure of epic proportions. Okay that maybe exaggerating it but the point still stands.

Even their trade efforts for a center have been futile as the Chandler deal was Larry Browned by Michael Jordan. The Raptors do have 1 rookie that is able to play the 5 in Alabi but he is currently very raw and as it stands now with the unfortunate Ed Davis injury, Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson would be the only bigs on the roster that would be a rotational player on a good team. Andersen, Dorsey, Alabi and Evans wont. Those are guys that play 5-10 minutes max.

Now in the Western Conference, the Kings seem to be loaded with bigs in Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, recently acquired Samuel Dalembert and rookies DeMarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside.

There is 96 minutes at the PF/C slots that can be divided up into those 5. Last year alone Carl Landry averaged 37.6 minutes in 28 games with the Kings, Jason Thompson with 31.4 minutes and Samuel Dalembert with 25.9 minutes with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now I figure that their minutes will be cut to accommodate the two rookies but the minutes for those three alone from last season add up to 95 minutes. So somethings gotta give. DeMarcus Cousins requires minutes or you might have a potential problem on your hands, although I believe his off court problems was getting way too much press and were certainly blown out of proportion. Nevertheless, you want to avoid that situation with a new talented rookie like Cousins.

In addition, the Kings backcourt looks a little weak with the obvious exception of Tyreke Evans. Beno Udrih has played well beside Tyreke but is he really a starting caliber PG on a possible up and coming team in the West? Ever since he signed that MLE deal, his tags always read 'untradeable' and 'wildly overpaid' for a bench player.

From the brief moments when I actually paid attention in economics class, I distinctly remember a certain theory called Law of Diminishing Returns (or some shit like that). The law refers to how the marginal production of a factor of production (Kings' performance on the court) starts to progressively decrease as the factor is increased (Too many productive big's that need minutes), in contrast to the increase that would otherwise be normally expected.

The Kings won't be able to effectively utilize all their front court pieces so it doesn't make sense to keep them if they can use it to upgrade one of the seemingly weaker areas on the team, the PG spot. They are also the 7th worst team in the league in terms of taking care of the ball.

The same theory can also be applied to the Raptors with their PG situation. They have Jarrett Jack, who looks to be the starter, and Jose Calderon, the A/TO king. Both are starting caliber point guards but there isn't enough minutes to maximize both players. And playing them together is a big no-no because they repeatedly failed over and over again last season.

So its no surprise that the Raptors are shopping Jose Calderon. Good locker room guy and a steady offensive player on an expensive contract. However he has problems on the defensive end, which could be covered up when he has rim protectors (which the Kings have) to cover him.

So here is my idea:

Trade:
Jose Calderon
Reggie Evans
David Andersen
Marcus Banks

Receive:
Samuel Dalembert
Beno Udrih
Francisco Garcia


Trade:
Samuel Dalembert
Beno Udrih
Francisco Garcia

Receive:
Jose Calderon
Reggie Evans
David Andersen
Marcus Banks