The NBA is better with Agent Zero in it and playing…

I need you to help punch out the rest of the league

Gilbert,

I have waited for you to come back.  I thought that it would be last year, which is the reason that I bid 39 dollars.  The last two games were seducing…twenty dimes versus one turnover is exactly what I need in a A/TO league.

// //

ESPN.com: NBA

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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Arenas says he’s ready to go

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ESPN.com news services

Gilbert Arenas says he’s back to his explosive self but is wondering if it’s the Wizards’ fault that it has taken him so long to get back to normal. Arenas, who worked with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago this summer, told The Washington Times that his injuries are in the past.

“
If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he’s your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself.
” — Gilbert Arenas

“Nobody could guard me before, and can’t nobody guard me now,” Arenas told the newspaper. “If I hadn’t come up here, I’d be starting off the season with a 95 percent chance that I’d be sitting out more games. … [Tim Grover] saved my career.” Coming off three knee surgeries in 1½ years, Arenas played in only two games last season. Grover painted a grim picture of Arenas’ health when the Washington Wizards guard arrived at his training complex in Chicago this July. “A lot of things weren’t firing — his glutes, his hips, thighs,” Grover told the newspaper. “I wouldn’t say his condition was the most severe, I wouldn’t say it was the best. … But if I were to classify it on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the most extreme, I’d say he was definitely in the seven, eight category.” Grover has several high-profile NBA clients, including Dwyane Wade, O.J. Mayo and Tracy McGrady. Arenas has resisted overtures to work with Grover in the past, but finally decided to give it a try this year. While Arenas praised Grover for saving his career, he blamed the Wizards for giving him too much control over his failed comebacks from surgery the past two seasons. “If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he’s your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself,” Arenas told the newspaper. “If I’m saying I feel good and you know it’s supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run … they should have held me back. Rather than saying, ‘Let’s let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets’ — sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don’t feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don’t judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did.” Arenas has worked hard this summer to try to get back on the court. “It was a pretty extensive process,” Grover told the newspaper. “We had to get his range of motion back in the leg, did a lot of acupuncture, a lot of work. We put a game plan together and attacked it from as many angles as we could. Gil would work with four or five individuals from my staff each day. … It was, ‘OK, Gil, you’re going to be spending a good six to seven hours a day in here and a lot of treatment, and it’s all pieces of the puzzle to putting you back together to being the player you were before — and better.’ ” Arenas averaged 27.7 points per game from 2004 until 2007, becoming one of the NBA’s most dynamic players. But he has played just 15 games the past two seasons because of his injuries. Arenas said his goal isn’t to be an All-Star player this season. Instead, he has loftier goals. “All-Star’s not my goal. I never wanted to be an All-Star. All-Star is the 24 hottest players at that time. All-League? That’s my goal,” Arenas told the newspaper. “All-League is only 15 players. So All-League and to play as many games as possible. That’s it.”

That’s right.  We want you on the court and you are at your best when you feel you have something to prove.  This year, show them that you are healthy.  If you are bidding in an auction league like the WCL with a 400 dollar per team salary cap, he is clearly worth 80 dollars this year, although you should bid him up to about 50.

Keeping and bidding on him is one reason that I found myself in last place.  I am going to sit back and enjoy the benefits of having this mad gunner on my team.

Lamar Odom is going back to the LAKERS!

Damn, Lamar, you left some money on the table, but welcome back to Shangrala

Lamar,

You should have taken the first 3 year 29 million dollar deal.  You played chicken and you lost.  It’s okay, because you are going back to the Lakers.

By J.A. Adande and Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Lamar Odom will return to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to an NBA source.

Odom will sign a four-year contract, with the fourth year at the Lakers’ option.

One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com the four-year deal is worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise the final year of the contract.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak declined comment. Odom’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, did not return a message immediately.

At least its a three year with the option of termination.  Times are here are hard for a pimp.

But, keep it moving, you got some money and you are with a good team.  Be happy that you have a chance to win another, something greater players dont have one.

O Boy, O-BERTO! signs with the Wizards

Just another side of beef for the Wizards to compensate for lack of talent

While I like the beef jerky, I don’t really care for the move.  But, he does provide some insurance to the injuries that the Wizards had last year. More after the break about the signing…

Superman wants to stay in NY

Spud Webb is 5 foot 7 and Nate rose over him to dunk...

Nate Robinson is a smart man.  Too many stars panic and accept the first deal that is out there. There is no reason to panic.  If you are a good player, you are going to get your money and Nate recognizes that.

The agent for Knicks guard Nate Robinson said Wednesday he is confident the two sides will eventually work out a deal that will keep the guard in New York for at least one more season. “We don’t have a deal yet but we’re negotiating to get a deal done with the Knicks,” Aaron Goodwin said. “Nate wants to stay in New York.” New York Daily News

Goodwin refused to discuss terms of a possible deal, but according to a Knicks source, Robinson is expected to sign a one-year contract worth between $4 million and $5 million, or at least $1 million more than his qualifying offer. Goodwin has had talks with European clubs about Robinson, but the agent denied that he’s used those conversations as leverage with the Knicks. New York Daily News

Props to Aaron Goodwin for not panicking,  and not using someone else to try to make the Knicks jealous…

Aaron Goodwin: Nate Robinson declines offer from Greece. Thanks team for interest and offer. Wants to stay with NY Knicks. Talks continue. Twitter.com

Memo to Lamar Odom: FIRE YOUR AGENT!

Lamar,

I tried to give this advice to Trevor, but he didn’t listen to me.  He is a grown man and so are you.  I am only trying to help you out.  I can only say this so many times, but the agent WORKS FOR YOU!

Jerry Buss, the Lakers’ team owner, gave the OK to raise the ante to more than $9 million from more than $8 million last week. Buss became upset that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak did not get a yea or a nay from Schwartz, the source said. Los Angeles Daily News

You don’t have to talk to the GM, your agent is supposed to be the line of communication.  All you had to do was to have your agent pick up the phone.

This guy would have reached out and talked to you....You would have known what Lamar wanted...

See, Lamar, this is the type of firm you need to represent your interests.

Sources told ESPN.com that Odom and the Lakers had reached an accord entering the weekend on a per-season wage of $9 million for the 29-year-old. But Odom balked at L.A.’s unwillingness to extend an offer spanning more than three years in length and spent the past few days weighing his options. ESPN.com

Ramona Shelburne: Lakers offer to Odom was either three years and $30 million or four years and $36 million. Odom rejected both. Twitter.com

Marc Stein: Odom and the Lakers had agreed on money when L.A. pulled the offer on the table: $9 million annually. Years are the issue, we’re told. Twitter.com

Many in the Lakers’ organization believe that Odom wants to accept Buss’ offer — and so do those close to Odom — but he has failed to convince his agent. Los Angeles Times

Why are you going to blow a perfectly good thing?  The Lakers want you.  You want to be in L.A.  So what is the problem?

Greed.  Plain and simple.  Yes, you money goes farther in other places.  But, can you put a price on your happiness?  Okay, we all can, but for someone like yourself, you already have a good amount of money.  Is a few million dollars worth cementing a place in history?  The Lakers have the ability to repeat and without you, those chances take a big hit.  But, the places you are talking about going have a much lower chance to reach the promised land.  You are not remembered for your contract, unless you are a bust, like this dude when I was a kid.

This dude signed a 13 million dollar contract back in 89

Wiki explains who this guy is…

Though a reliable defender for much of his career, Koncak is perhaps best remembered for the six-year, US$ 13 million contract he received from the Hawks in 1989 – an unprecedented total for a reserve. The deal was roundly criticized since it paid Koncak more than Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. His large contract prevented the Hawks from taking part in any other major free agent signings for several years. As a result, he earned the derisive nickname “Jon Contract.”

Don’t get remembered for holding out for a few sheckles more…

Hissy fits are not just for children anymore… LBJ or NIKE bans Jordan Crawford dunk…

You can’t be KING if you are this soft…

Here is LBJ getting dunked on by Courtney Lee in the Playoffs.

It happens to everyone.  All the greats have been dunked on.  When you actually play defense, you will get dunked on from time to time.  Either you are coming over to help someone, or as I preach, you didn’t keep your head on a swivel and someone was able to come backdoor on you.

You get over it and move on.  But, LeBron and Nike couldn’t make that so.

Why did they take away the tapes? Jordan Crawford: “I don’t really know anything about that, that’s Nike and him overriding it. I don’t wanna get caught up in that.” How did the dunk happen? “He was waiting under the rim while I was coming towards him, and I jumped, and he kinda jumped away. I don’t think he thought I was gonna dunk it, and then, you know. (Host: You dunked it.) Yeah.” What were you guys playing at the time? “We was playing 5-on-5; it was 20 college campers and we were split up in to four teams and LeBron brought his own team.” Was he annoyed after you dunked on him? “He definitely took over – he was LeBron, he was still LeBron. It happened, like, the first 30 minutes when we we hooping, and we was hooping for like two hours. After I did it, we just kept playing ’cause the basketball just got started really.” Sports Radio Interviews

Depending on who you believe, either Nike (that is what LeBron is saying) or the King (that is what is insinuated in some articles) snatched up the film of the dunk.  Now cyberspace is blowing up wanting to see the dunk.

Hopefully, they will not turn over the tapes to Roger “The Eraser” Goodell, because then we will never see the footage.  The only thing that I hope for is that the footage makes it way into some commercial.  That is the only real way to come back from the PR hit.  ESPN continues…

But this week, James outdid himself when he turned an innocent dunk at his basketball camp in Akron into a covert Navy SEALs operation.On Monday night, a pair of videographers recorded Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunking on James during a pickup game. After James allegedly huddled with Nike executive Lynn Merritt, the tapes were confiscated.

Did he or didn’t he?  Who was the person who made the decision to confiscate the tapes?  Here is a PDF of the rules, and they don’t limit the ability to film…
Getting dunking on is a ritual of life.  One of the greatest shotblockers did get a facial by KJ, as the ESPN article points out.

Kobe got Dwight Howard.  It’s just a part of basketball

Also, Jordan made a habit of dunking on fools.  If you go to our basketball blog at wclbasketball you can see Ariza giving someone the business.  It is a fact of life as a baller.

If you want to talk embarrassing, look at this video of Devin Harris and Stuart Tanner.  Even though Tanner has some chops as a baller in the UK, look how he is dressed…while they say it wasn’t a set-up, Stu KNEW that the NBA player would be there.  The clothes is the final nail in the coffin.

Now, that is embarrassing, but life goes on.  You already have a rep for being a bad sport.  LeBron, if you have any control, you would get the tape back…There is no reason to hate on Jordan Crawford and his moment in the sun.  Let a brotha get some shine….

crossposted at 2oldformaxim

Anderson Vareajo resigns with the Cavs…Danny Ferry, don’t quit to become a GRINDER…

since your poker skills are being called into question…

Hands like this don’t come around often…but players like Verajao are a dime a dozen…

The poker movie “Rounders” is a great metaphor for life in the NBA.

You have to study your opponents moves, find a weakness and then exploit it.  Matt Damon plays a young, hotshot player, who hits bottom, only to climb back to the surface.  Preventing his rise is school, a best friend who is trouble and a girlfriend who doesn’t understand his passion with poker.

Being a NBA GM requires you have similar skills of a poker player, being able to read hands of your opponents, and feigning weakness, when you are really strong.  I thought that Danny Ferry would be a good poker player, based on some of the moves that he made, but ultimately his latest play has been a headscratcher.

While I am not going to grade the Ferry regime, this particular move is the one that left me truly wondering if I could read Ferry’s hand in a game of poker.  ESPN.com is reporting that Anderson Verajao is being retained for about fives times the winners stake at the Main Event of Poker.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have come to an agreement with free agent Anderson Varejao on a six-year deal, his agent Dan Fegan told ESPN.com.

Varejao’s contract is worth $42.5 million over the six years, and the final year is only partially guaranteed. Incentives could push the total amount to $50 million.

As a 30 something sports fan, I have clear memories of Danny Ferry as a college player and as a pro.  His career at Duke was a great one, as Wikipedia points out

He is among Duke’s greatest players of all time, ranking 5th in career points, fifth in career rebounds, and seventh in career assists—the only player in the top 10 in all three categories.

Ferry’s number 35 was retired in 1989 at the end of his senior season.^[2] In 2002, Ferry was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team honoring the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

But, as an NBA player, he was a bust, even though he has played in the most games in Cleveland Cavaliers history.

Danny Ferry as a player gives us hints about Danny Ferry the GM. The game that is being played by Ricky Rubio now was Danny Ferry’s Player card at NBA.com provides this little nugget

Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round (second pick overall) of the 1989 NBA Draft…Played in Italy in 1989-90…Draft rights traded by the Clippers with Reggie Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ron Harper, 1990 and 1992 first-round draft choices, and a 1991 second-round draft choice on 11/16/89

Now, the first lesson here is that Danny Ferry is not afraid to get his chips in the pot and gamble. At the time, I clearly remember thinking that Ferry was crazy for risking his dream of the NBA. One injury overseas and no one would want him.  But, his resolute stand got him traded to the Cavs and a very rich contract.

Fast forward twenty years.  You would hope that your Texas Hold-Em game would improve in that time.  But, the only conclusion that I can come up with is that he has regressed in two short years. Plain and simple, Ferry got schooled here.

WHO else was going to pay AV that kind of money in this market?   This just tells me that Dan Fegan is a grandmaster of poker.  He is the Phil Ivey of the agent game.  HoopsHype.com, lists the agents and their players.

.Dan Fegan… Agents Aaron Goodwin Aaron Mintz Andre Buck Andre Colona Andrew Woolf Andy Miller Arn Tellem Bill Duffy Bill McCandless Bill Neff Bill Strickland Billy Ceisler Bob McClaren Bob Myers Bouna Ndiaye Brad Ames Brian Dyke Brian Elfus Buddy Baker Byron Irvin Calvin Andrews Charles Bonsignore Charles Grantham Charles Tucker Chris Emens Chris Luchey Craig McKenzie Dan Fegan Dan Tobin Darren White David Bauman David Falk David Lee Derek Powell Doug Neustadt Donald Dell Eric Fleisher Erin Cowan Frank Catapano Frankie Ross Gary Wichard George Bass Gerald Duncan Glenn Schwartzman Guy Zucker Happy Walters Henry Thomas Herb Rudoy Holger Geschwindner James Wells Jamie Knox Jason Levien Jeff Austin Jeff Fried Jeff Schwartz Jeff Wechsler Jerome Lewis Jerry Hicks Jim McDowell Jim Tanner Jimmy Sexton Joel Bell John Greig John Huizinga Josh Nochimson Justin Zanik Keith Glass Keith Kreiter Kenny Grant Kevin Bradbury Kevin Poston Kurt Schoeppler Lance Young Lapoe Smith Leigh Steinberg Leon Rose Lon Babby Louis Lookofsky Luciano Capicchioni Marc Cornstein Marc Fleisher Mark Bartelstein Mark McNeil Mark Stevens Mark Termini Matteo Comellini Merle Scott Michael Coyne Michael Harrison Michael Whitaker Mike Conley Mike Higgins Noah Croom Paco Belassen Perry Rogers Raymond Brothers Reggie Brown Richard Howell Richard Kaplan Richard Katz Rob Pelinka Robert Barr Robert Fayne Roger Montgomery Sam Goldfeder Steve Heumann Steve Kauffman Steve Mountain Thaddeus Foucher Todd Eley Todd Ramasar Tony Dutt Wallace Prather William Pollak
	Current NBA Players: 13 All-Star Players: 1 Maxed-out Players: 1 Agent Ranking: 6th		Nationality: American
			Agency: BEST
			Website: http://www.experiencebest.com
.CLIENTS/SALARIES:
Player 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Jason Richardson $13,333,333 $14,444,444 $0 $0 Troy Murphy $11,047,619 $11,968,253 $0 $0 Nenê $10,520,000 $11,360,000 $11,600,000 $0 Erick Dampier $10,112,500 $13,075,000 $0 $0 Al Harrington $10,026,875 $0 $0 $0 Jason Terry $9,862,500 $10,650,000 $11,437,500 $11,437,500 Rafer Alston $5,250,000 $0 $0 $0 Reggie Evans $4,960,000 $5,080,000 $0 $0 Matt Carroll $4,700,000 $4,300,000 $3,900,000 $3,500,000 Kris Humphries $3,200,000 $3,200,000 $0 $0 Yi Jianlian $3,194,400 $4,050,500 $5,403,366 $0 Jarvis Hayes $2,062,800 $0 $0 $0 Kyrylo Fesenko $870,000 $0 $0 $0 Anderson Varejao $0 $0 $0 $0 Joe Smith $0 $0 $0 $0 Shawn Marion $0 $0 $0 $0 Melvin Ely $0 $0 $0 $0 Austin Croshere $0 $0 $0 $0 TOTALS: $89,140,027 $74,077,697 $26,937,500 $14,937,500

Fegan won this game of no-limit poker.  In a market where the salary cap is going to be LOWER than last year, and you have the class of 2010 on the horizon, why would you spend excessive amounts of money now?

Danny, I know you are worried about LeBron.  If he is as fickle as to snatch up cameras because he got hammered on, you know he will leave CLE on a whim for his chase for the golden ticket.  For that, I can see why you might have panicked, but just continue to have the poker face, and never let then see you sweat.

See, this was a good move for Ferry in 2007.

After months of being unable to get a deal done with the Cavaliers, Varejao accepted a three-year, $17.4 million offer sheet from the Charlotte Bobcats late Monday, Varejao’s agent, Dan Fegan, said. The deal has an opt-out clause after two seasons, which is the key part of the deal. (Ohio.com)

You played hardball, and you resigned him at an affordable rate.  Now, Fegan deserves props too.  he used his old connections with Rod Higgins to get the Bobcats to offer the sheet in the first place.  Without the offer, Ferry holds all the cards.

This year is different, because AV used the parachute in his contract to void the final year, but Portland and Memphis are the only teams with cap space that will go above the MLE, without involving a sign and trade.

You might not hold the nuts, but you have a pretty good drawing hand.  Just like Matt Damon’s character Matt McDermott got his law professor to win a big hand with a busted straight draw, Danny Ferry could have gotten Dan Fegan to fold and accept a smaller, more reasonable deal.

I thought that GM’s and owners learned that the only players worth extending more than three or four years are bona fide superstars, or players with reasonable deals.  This is not one of them.

Danny Ferry is Teddy KGB.  Just because you won the first time, doesn’t mean that you have a read on that player.  Re-evaluate your options, then act…

(parts of this are posted at Bleacher Report and at WCLBasketball)