Now that we’ve seen the infamous dunk against Lebron James, what’s the fuss all about?  Clearly, Lebron was just a last second help defender that was too late to challenge the dunk.  I guess his only fault was he tried to block it, not recognizing the fact that the offensive player was already soaring for the dunk. » read more

Lamar Odom is playing hard ball, or his agent is.  I was about to write about getting pissed by Lamar Odom’s stubbornness but this piece is so beautiful, please just read it.  It documents all my sentiments.

Although here’s a few of my thoughts about the negotiations:

Odom says it’s all business but his camp is ignoring business facts.  There seems to be no other market for him.  The Lakers are the only ones that can offer him the highest salary, so far.  And, the salary cap just decreased.  What, they’ll pull out an Ariza?
I like how Mitch Kupchak said that Dr. Buss only has this Laker team as his business, unlike other team owners who have business empires to support their teams  (Paul Allen, Mark Cuban, etc.).

However Odom might spin it, he is the fourth banana, and he’s getting paid big bucks for it. » read more

Shannon Brown agreed to a two-year deal with the Lakers, with a player option for the second year, worth $4.2 million.  Allegedly, he got offered with a more lucrative contract from the Indiana Pacers but decided to stay with the Lakers.

Good choice Shannon.  You have a short contract.  You can work on your game in a year or two, and when you have vastly improved, that’s the time you expect the Lakers to offer you a bigger contract.  Wise man, unlike Trevor Ariza and David Lee (the agent). » read more

RA for TA.  Ron Artest was virtually traded for Trevor Ariza.  What’s going on here???

It’s called “David Lee” (the agent, not the player).  I’m beginning to hate this agent.  I almost forgot how he handled Andrew Bynum‘s last contract negotiation with the Lakers.  I feel for Trevor.  Do you think he’s thinking of firing his agent later?

Here’s the story:   The Lakers were willing to pay the full MLE to Trevor Ariza up to five years, totalling  approximately $33.8 million.  The agent played hardball and asked for something in the $50 million range.  The Lakers told Lee to test the market first, obviously to see if that asking price is qualified.  Apparently, Lee was offended by this stance, looked somewhere else and found, surprise surprise, the Rockets with approximately the same MLE price!

How dumb is that?  Too bad Ariza had to play along.  David Lee played poker using Trevor Ariza‘s stock.  He bluffed and lost… lost Trevor’s luck playing for a great NBA franchise. » read more

Ron Artest to the Lakers is not yet official but it looks like we’re just waiting for the formalities.

I don’t necessarily like this deal but this is a great pick up, knowing the Lakers could not afford Trevor Ariza.  Ariza is good and he probably deserves the $7 million to $8 million he was asking but in this Laker team where you have Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, that price is a stretch.

It’s what they call “the business side of basketball”.  I hate it but that’s what it is.  Like I said, I like Trevor Ariza for the Lakers better than Ron Artest.

I’m not a cap or negotiation guru but my ideal deal for Trevor Ariza and the Lakers would’ve been the $5.6 million mid-level exception for Ariza for 2 or 3 years and then he can get his big payday after that when Lamar Odom has started to decline at 33 years old.  That is also assuming that Odom takes a 2 to 3 year contract himself. » read more