Ballers Blog

So the matchup everyone was hoping for will go down in the 2008 Summer Olympics Men’s Basketball Final. USA vs. Spain features two Toronto Raptors stars Chris Bosh & Jose Calderon. In all honesty it says here that this games means a lot more for Calderon’s career and confidence than to Bosh. Last year some, including myself, questioned Calderon’s decision to relinquish his starting duties to get his teammate TJ Ford going. Others applauded the move calling him unselfish and the consummate team player. This year Calderon’s got no one behind him, and that could affect his game either way. We hope that Calderon steps it up and makes his first All-Star game as we all recognize that he has incredible potential.

Good luck to both Bosh & Calderon in their Gold Medal matchup!

So this offseason has had it fair share of surprises.  From Baron Davis going home to LA to Brand moving to Philly to Magette going to Golden State there has been enough drama to keep the NBA news junkies happy.  But when you look back to the 2008 offseason, you will probably remember this as the summer where 8 NBA players went to Europe to play, with more possibly on the way.  Ben Gordon’s name has been bandied about in rumours of going overseas.  You can’t ignore the rumblings that two of the biggest stars in the NBA Kobe & LeBron have said they would consider the move at a price of 50 million PER YEAR!  

It seems like the only solution now is for David Stern to lift the salary cap.  This may be the only way to keep the best players at home.  Now there are a lot of repercussions for making such a drastic change, much of which would have to do with the Yankees syndrome of Major League Baseball, but at some point, enough is enough.  I wouldn’t get too scared just yet, as none of the 8 players who have gone so far are legitimate all-stars, but all it might take is just one major name and the wave may be unstoppable.  We are heading into murky waters Mr. Stern. Tread carefully.  

So after losing BD to the Clip, Chris Mullin had no choice but to lock up Monta Ellis long term. He got the 666 deal, 6 years, 66 million. Now the undisputed face of the franchise, the Warriors continue on after losing Jason Richardson and Baron “Too Easy” Davis over the past two offseasons. But no worries, because Ellis was engineered for Nellie ball and even though they may not be championship contenders, the Warriors should be one of the most electric teams in the Association.

Check out a his TOP 10 plays from 2007. Will try to find some hot plays from ‘07-’08 soon. Enjoy, and watch out for the NASTY FACIAL on BARBOSA.

Maggette gives his take on the situation, and the plot thickens…

LA DAILY NEWS ARTICLE

This is juicy…

Sorry, you gotta be quick.. For those who missed it, Dunleavy calls out Brand for going against his word of returning to the Clippers.  He goes on to say he has text messages from Brand saying that he was going  to accept a contract offer from the Clip.

 check out espn.com

In the continuing saga that is the NBA Free Agent season, Brand and Magette both bolted tinseltown, leaving Baron Davis to solely concentrate on his film career. Magette was expected to sign with the Spurs but decided to go with the young warriors and their uptempo style. Brand on the other hand was being suited by the Warriors as well, but it was the Sixers who came in and swooped up the All-Star forward.

The bottom line is this. BD went to LA to be back home, to work on his film career, and to possibly play with Brand but he obviously didn’t have a heart to heart with Brand about the situation and now he’s left holdin’ the bag…

Sorry Baron, but this is gonna be a long season.

For info check out

FOX SPORTS NBA ROUNDBALL ROUNDUP

Say it ain’t so BD!!! I don’t know how to feel, when it seems like a player is going to LA just to solidify his after NBA movie producing career. Well at least he’s got Brand with him. It seems like there was some friction with Nellie, and with Monta Ellis coming up the Warriors will be alright. Seems like the thing to do is OPT out and get mo money as a free agent… let’s be honest, who wouldn’t?

It says here that the Clippers make some noise, but fizzle out under Dunleavy’s lax coaching style..

checkout

msn.foxsports.com/nba

for the vid

So J.O. in T.O…I’m thinking at best Raptors are a MUCH better team this year. At worst, J.O.’s a rent a player and they have a 22 mil expiring contract to dangle next off season.The good thing is he sounds really happy to be in T.O. which is not always the case when high profile players get traded here.