According to NBA.com as well as Yahoo Sports, the Orlando Magic are on the verge of completing two separate trades involving Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter, both of which could send PG Gilbert Arenas from the Wizards and Hedo Turkoglu from the Suns.
According to ESPN, the two trades could happen within 24 hours, and sources believe the Magic-Suns deal has a '90% chance of happening", and could be imminent.
Here is what the deals are currently shaping out to be:
Suns Receive: SG Vince Carter, C Marcin Gortat
Wizards Receive: PF Rashard Lewis
Magic Receive: PG Gilbert Arenas, SF Hedo Turkoglu, SG Jason Richardson, and another "big man" to replace Gortat.
Sources also say the deals most likely will involve more players or draft picks.
More to come as information is available.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
NFL: Rodgers out vs Patriots
After an entire week of speculation and being listed as doubtful to play Sunday, Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers was downgraded to inactive for Sunday night's game on NBC, according to FOXSports.
Rodgers suffered his second concussion of the year last week in the team's 7-3 loss to the Detroit Lions, after scrambling from a play in the second quarter and was hit hard trying to dive for the first down. Rodgers has been a key performer for the Packers, completing 65.4% of his passes with 3289 yards and 23-10 TD-INT, despite lacking a strong run game without RB Ryan Grant [IR] for nearly the entire season.
With Rodgers out and up against a Packers team that is on a sudden surge and hasn't turned the ball over in over a month, backup QB Matt Flynn will step into the role. Luckily Flynn has some experienced and talented weapons on the outside with Greg Jennings, Donal Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson.
Flynn, a 3-year QB out of LSU, has little stats to gauge a strong understanding of his potential. In his 3 years, he has just 46 passing attempts and 25 completions for 246 yards, giving him a career completion percentage of 54.3% with 0 TDs and 2 INT, adding up to a career passer rating of 51.5.
This game comes with huge implications as the Packers are 1 game behind for the 2nd Wild Card position to the New York Giants, and next week the two teams face off trying to knock the opponent out of the playoff race.
Rodgers suffered his second concussion of the year last week in the team's 7-3 loss to the Detroit Lions, after scrambling from a play in the second quarter and was hit hard trying to dive for the first down. Rodgers has been a key performer for the Packers, completing 65.4% of his passes with 3289 yards and 23-10 TD-INT, despite lacking a strong run game without RB Ryan Grant [IR] for nearly the entire season.
With Rodgers out and up against a Packers team that is on a sudden surge and hasn't turned the ball over in over a month, backup QB Matt Flynn will step into the role. Luckily Flynn has some experienced and talented weapons on the outside with Greg Jennings, Donal Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson.
Flynn, a 3-year QB out of LSU, has little stats to gauge a strong understanding of his potential. In his 3 years, he has just 46 passing attempts and 25 completions for 246 yards, giving him a career completion percentage of 54.3% with 0 TDs and 2 INT, adding up to a career passer rating of 51.5.
This game comes with huge implications as the Packers are 1 game behind for the 2nd Wild Card position to the New York Giants, and next week the two teams face off trying to knock the opponent out of the playoff race.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
NBA: Clash of the Streakers - Wednesday on ESPN @ 7pm
Tomorrow night will feature a surely outstanding showdown of two teams from the Atlantic Division in front of a national audience on ESPN at 7pm ET, as the New York Knicks, winners of eight straight, host the Boston Celtics in Madison Square Garden, who are also riding a hot 10 game win streak.
With the two teams surging and grabbing the headlines early on in the NBA Season, their matchup has spurred the reemergence of the term "rivalry", dating back to the origins of the National Basketball Association. Over the course of their history, the two teams have faced each other a total of 440 regular season games with just under 32% of those games being decided by five or fewer points. The two clubs have also faced off in 12 postseason series', with each side taking 6 series'.
With the two teams surging and grabbing the headlines early on in the NBA Season, their matchup has spurred the reemergence of the term "rivalry", dating back to the origins of the National Basketball Association. Over the course of their history, the two teams have faced each other a total of 440 regular season games with just under 32% of those games being decided by five or fewer points. The two clubs have also faced off in 12 postseason series', with each side taking 6 series'.
Neither team nor their coaches is buying into the "rivalry" talk, because over the last 3 years the Boston Celtics have flat out dominated the Eastern Conference, representing the east 2 times in the NBA Championships, while the Knicks haven't won a playoff game in nine years. Today coach Mike D'Antoni said "Wait until we do something and wait until we've threatened them. I don't think [the Celtics are] thinking, 'Oh what a threat this team is.' So we're not there yet." However, I do think all the talk of a rivalry is more of a historic rivalry, rather than a current rivalry, while also hinting that the uprising Knicks, led by Amar'e Stoudemire who has a team record 8-straight games with 30+ points, could be adding a major piece soon either this season or next year [Carmelo Anthony] and this could be the first glimpse of relighting the rivalry that goes back as far as the original 11 NBA teams, and only 3 of them still exist -- and two of them just happen to be facing off on Wednesday Night.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
NBA: Understanding the Knicks and Melo
Looking back a few months ago, I was shaking at the very thought of the New Jersey Nets acquiring Carmelo Anthony, seeing as I am a die-hard Knicks fan who wanted either Carmelo or Chris Paul to be traded to the Knicks.
When the deal for Carmelo to the Nets fell through, it was pretty obvious they realized Anthony would not accept a contract extension with the Nets and would rather go to the free agent market, knowing how many suitors were lining up for Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James this past summer. Ever since then I have been very skeptical of the Knicks pursuing a trade for Carmelo Anthony for multiple reasons. I figured, if the Knicks can wait out a season (which I assumed would be unsuccessful as I felt not enough pieces were in place to compete) and sign him as a free agent, they would be huge 'winners' for not trading whatever talent was left to acquire him before or during the 2010-2011 season.
Clearly Anthony has no interest in staying with the Denver Nuggets, and with a new rumor today following the Knicks' close 129-125 victory over the Nuggets at Madison Square Garden, I've quickly turned my head around and become a huge believer that the Knicks should make a move on Carmelo immediately. That new rumor is that Carmelo will only sign an extension with a team if that team he is traded to is... the New York Knicks. The source is apparently close to forward Carmelo Anthony and has been a part of numerous private discussions involving Anthony and the trade rumors, and even told ESPN.com that Carmelo has already informed the Nuggets he will only accept the contract extension if he is traded to the New York Knicks.
The issue now lies on two sides: The Knicks and the Nuggets. Do the Knicks pursue Carmelo now, knowing their team is hot and they have shown the potential to compete for the first time in at least eight years? And do the Nuggets try to trade him, hold on to him through the season hoping to make it to the playoffs again, or trade him to another team for less talent? The issue for the Nuggets is that a team will not give up substantial talent in order to have Carmelo Anthony on their roster for half a season, only to walk onto the Free Agent Market after the season ends. And if the Nuggets keep Anthony, they run the risk of losing their top player and getting essentially nothing in return.
It actually makes me wonder if the Nuggets will push the Knicks into entering trade discussions to make a deal happen, rather than the Knicks try to convince the Nuggets to make a trade. Denver should at least get something in return.
Since arriving at MSG on Friday night, Carmelo was greeted by fans yelling out from cars and apartment windows "Melo we need you in New York", and received a standing ovation from the crowd in MSG today when his name was announced just prior to the game.
The other issue for the Knicks however is they may feel it is safer to not trade away talent, and sign Carmelo Anthony in the off-season, signing him to a similar salary he is making in 2010-2011 ($17.14M), but probably closer to $20M. Another issue is running the risk that for some odd reason, he doesn't sign with the Knicks. A 3rd issue, and this is my favorite, is capitalizing on how much Knicks fans want him in 'The Garden', while at the peak of their game, and essentially telling the fans "Hey, we're on an 8-game win streak and we just acquired a huge superstar."
I feel the cards are in the Knicks' hands, as they can practically tell the Nuggets "This is what we have, but this is all we're offering -- we know nobody else will trade for him because he won't sign an extension with them, and at least you can get something in return by sending him to New York -- but heck, you got 0 leverage, so take it or burn."
The Knicks have had previous trade discussions with the Nuggets including players such as Eddy Curry's expiring contract (just to get rid of him), Danilo Gallinari, numerous other pieces and a 1st Round Pick the Knicks feel they could acquire through a 3rd team. There is also a good chance that 3rd team would receive a player like Wilson Chandler and/or Anthony Randolph. And since his emergence as a strong Shooting Guard for the Knicks, Landry Fields has popped up. However, if Fields can hang on to New York, it will erase their need to pursue Chris Paul in the future, having an established and cheap guard to dish the ball to Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony
I think this whole rumor proves that one day Carmelo Anthony will be a New York Knickerbocker -- the real question we should all ponder is when will he be a Knickerbocker?
When the deal for Carmelo to the Nets fell through, it was pretty obvious they realized Anthony would not accept a contract extension with the Nets and would rather go to the free agent market, knowing how many suitors were lining up for Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James this past summer. Ever since then I have been very skeptical of the Knicks pursuing a trade for Carmelo Anthony for multiple reasons. I figured, if the Knicks can wait out a season (which I assumed would be unsuccessful as I felt not enough pieces were in place to compete) and sign him as a free agent, they would be huge 'winners' for not trading whatever talent was left to acquire him before or during the 2010-2011 season.
Clearly Anthony has no interest in staying with the Denver Nuggets, and with a new rumor today following the Knicks' close 129-125 victory over the Nuggets at Madison Square Garden, I've quickly turned my head around and become a huge believer that the Knicks should make a move on Carmelo immediately. That new rumor is that Carmelo will only sign an extension with a team if that team he is traded to is... the New York Knicks. The source is apparently close to forward Carmelo Anthony and has been a part of numerous private discussions involving Anthony and the trade rumors, and even told ESPN.com that Carmelo has already informed the Nuggets he will only accept the contract extension if he is traded to the New York Knicks.
The issue now lies on two sides: The Knicks and the Nuggets. Do the Knicks pursue Carmelo now, knowing their team is hot and they have shown the potential to compete for the first time in at least eight years? And do the Nuggets try to trade him, hold on to him through the season hoping to make it to the playoffs again, or trade him to another team for less talent? The issue for the Nuggets is that a team will not give up substantial talent in order to have Carmelo Anthony on their roster for half a season, only to walk onto the Free Agent Market after the season ends. And if the Nuggets keep Anthony, they run the risk of losing their top player and getting essentially nothing in return.
It actually makes me wonder if the Nuggets will push the Knicks into entering trade discussions to make a deal happen, rather than the Knicks try to convince the Nuggets to make a trade. Denver should at least get something in return.
Since arriving at MSG on Friday night, Carmelo was greeted by fans yelling out from cars and apartment windows "Melo we need you in New York", and received a standing ovation from the crowd in MSG today when his name was announced just prior to the game.
The other issue for the Knicks however is they may feel it is safer to not trade away talent, and sign Carmelo Anthony in the off-season, signing him to a similar salary he is making in 2010-2011 ($17.14M), but probably closer to $20M. Another issue is running the risk that for some odd reason, he doesn't sign with the Knicks. A 3rd issue, and this is my favorite, is capitalizing on how much Knicks fans want him in 'The Garden', while at the peak of their game, and essentially telling the fans "Hey, we're on an 8-game win streak and we just acquired a huge superstar."
I feel the cards are in the Knicks' hands, as they can practically tell the Nuggets "This is what we have, but this is all we're offering -- we know nobody else will trade for him because he won't sign an extension with them, and at least you can get something in return by sending him to New York -- but heck, you got 0 leverage, so take it or burn."
The Knicks have had previous trade discussions with the Nuggets including players such as Eddy Curry's expiring contract (just to get rid of him), Danilo Gallinari, numerous other pieces and a 1st Round Pick the Knicks feel they could acquire through a 3rd team. There is also a good chance that 3rd team would receive a player like Wilson Chandler and/or Anthony Randolph. And since his emergence as a strong Shooting Guard for the Knicks, Landry Fields has popped up. However, if Fields can hang on to New York, it will erase their need to pursue Chris Paul in the future, having an established and cheap guard to dish the ball to Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony
I think this whole rumor proves that one day Carmelo Anthony will be a New York Knickerbocker -- the real question we should all ponder is when will he be a Knickerbocker?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
NFL: Giants vs Minnesota Postponed to MNF
According to SI's Peter King, the New York Giants @ Minnesota Vikings game which was originally scheduled for 1 pm on Sunday on FOX, has been postponed due to a blizzard in the Minneapolis area.
Despite the Vikings playing in the Metrodome, the heavy snow has caused small leaks in the roof and Metrodome officials recommended the NFL move the game to Monday night. According to King, the game will air on FOX at 8pm ET on Monday Night, playing simultaneous with the previously scheduled Ravens vs Texans game on ESPN. There were Metrodome workers on the roof throughout the day attempting to remove as much snow, however high winds forced the crew to climb down, according to Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Zulgad also mentions temperature concerns on Sunday if there were a game, noting that the heavy snow on the roof would act as insulation and cause high temperatures inside.
With the impending weather, the Giants switched their charter flight late last night and took a 9:30 plane, but were forced to land in Kansas City due to the fast accumulation of snow in Minnesota. They waited in the airport for a few hours and decided to stay overnight at an airport hotel, giving the team a chance to use a hotel conference room to go over game-plans and footage.
While this delay will allow another 31 hours (to be exact) for Brett Favre to rest his injured shoulder, this will also give some questionable Giants more time to rest up and play on Monday, including WRs Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks, who have missed recent games with a pectoral (Smith) and leg (Nicks) injury.
Not everything is sorted out yet, but it is assumed that viewers in the New York and Minnesota areas will be watching the Lions-Packers game on FOX at 1pm.
For a detailed (not updated) map of which games are seen in which regions, check out the506.com
Despite the Vikings playing in the Metrodome, the heavy snow has caused small leaks in the roof and Metrodome officials recommended the NFL move the game to Monday night. According to King, the game will air on FOX at 8pm ET on Monday Night, playing simultaneous with the previously scheduled Ravens vs Texans game on ESPN. There were Metrodome workers on the roof throughout the day attempting to remove as much snow, however high winds forced the crew to climb down, according to Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Zulgad also mentions temperature concerns on Sunday if there were a game, noting that the heavy snow on the roof would act as insulation and cause high temperatures inside.
With the impending weather, the Giants switched their charter flight late last night and took a 9:30 plane, but were forced to land in Kansas City due to the fast accumulation of snow in Minnesota. They waited in the airport for a few hours and decided to stay overnight at an airport hotel, giving the team a chance to use a hotel conference room to go over game-plans and footage.
While this delay will allow another 31 hours (to be exact) for Brett Favre to rest his injured shoulder, this will also give some questionable Giants more time to rest up and play on Monday, including WRs Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks, who have missed recent games with a pectoral (Smith) and leg (Nicks) injury.
Not everything is sorted out yet, but it is assumed that viewers in the New York and Minnesota areas will be watching the Lions-Packers game on FOX at 1pm.
For a detailed (not updated) map of which games are seen in which regions, check out the506.com
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