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Vegas chatter: Trades, restricted free agents and the Artest sweepstakes
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

Updated: July 17, 2008

LAS VEGAS -- Herewith is our second helping of dish from the stands of the NBA Summer League at UNLV, culled from discussions with the many executives, coaches and agents in attendance.

(Starting, again, with a visit to Clipperland …)

Elton Brand and Corey Maggette for Baron Davis and Marcus Camby?

Marcus Camby brings defense and rebounding to the Clips... but is he too similar to Chris Kaman?

Would you make that trade?

The Los Angeles Clippers basically just did … and I like it a lot more than I don't. Even after factoring in a long-standing admiration for Brand and unshakable memories of how he repeatedly shredded the Phoenix Suns in a second-round series just two years ago -- while also conceding that Davis and Camby can't compare to the Brand-and-Davis tag team they were expecting to unveil -- one certainly can argue that the Clips are in a better spot now than they were when free agency began July 1.

"We've been able to get ourselves a big-time point guard, which is probably the toughest position in the league to attain," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "So on that basis alone, you'd probably say you have to do that deal."

Agreed. You'd have to do Brand and Maggette for Davis and Camby under those circumstances.

Yet there are more skeptics here at summer league than I expected after the Clips got so much for so little. The question I keep hearing from some of their rivals: Aren't Camby and Chris Kaman too similar (and offensively challenged) to play together?

My retort: Isn't that a more appetizing problem for the Clippers than what they were looking at a week ago? You can understand L.A.'s panic after Brand chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, when so many folks around the league -- including the Clips -- were sure he'd stay as soon as they landed the homegrown Davis.

"No question we were put into scramble mode by Elton leaving," Dunleavy said.

So …

"You jump on the sure thing for sure," Dunleavy continued, explaining why they didn't hesitate to capitalize on the Denver Nuggets' desperation to shed salary as opposed to signing one of the A-list restricted free agents -- Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor or Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng -- to an offer sheet that would have required a seven-day wait to see whether the offer was matched.

"Marcus Camby is maybe the premier team defender in the league right now. He blocks four shots a game, rebounds 13 a game, [is a] great passer [and is] offensively very efficient in what he does. For us, that [move] was a dream come true.

"I think [Camby and Kaman] can play as well as Elton Brand and Kaman played together. Maybe there's times when [other teams] will decide to go smaller, but both guys are very mobile bigs. It wasn't even a thought."

How could it be a concern when the Clippers essentially got Camby for free?

And don't forget that Camby should be pretty tradeable if his pairing with Kaman doesn't work, even at nearly 35, with only two seasons left on his contract at just less than $20 million. Or that Camby's new team, most crucially, was able to get this deal done without surrendering a future first-round draft pick.

Leaguewide curiosity now shifts from how the Clips would respond to the heartbreak of Brand's defection -- probably the second-deepest cut in the team's tortured history, next to how close they came to signing Kobe Bryant away from the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2004 -- to what happens to those aforementioned restricted free agents.

Word is Josh Smith prefers to take his high-flying act elsewhere.

The Memphis Grizzlies are the last team with salary-cap space to throw at the likes of Smith, Okafor, Deng, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, Golden State's Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins, Chicago's Ben Gordon and Atlanta's Josh Childress. But the Grizzlies have made it clear they aren't spending any of that money this summer, content to field trade offers for guards Kyle Lowry and Javaris Crittenton and maybe even 2007 first-round pick Mike Conley.

So the league's top restricteds can only create leverage to either secure the level of compensation they desire or force a sign-and-trade by threatening to sign a one-year qualifying offer that would lead to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2009.

Who will succeed?

Iguodala was in Vegas early in the summer league to watch the 76ers play and sounded, even before the Clippers had landed Camby, like he was expecting to go nowhere. "If I stay," Iguodala said, "we're going to be a great team. We're going to keep getting better as a young group with Elton."

The Warriors are likewise expected to re-sign Ellis (very soon) and Biedrins without any significant threat. Gordon already was a well-chronicled candidate to be traded, irrespective of the tight market for restricteds, because sources keep saying that Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf (who seems to be taking a much more active role in his basketball franchise) would rather move Gordon than Kirk Hinrich.

The most intriguing cases, then, are Smith, Okafor and Deng.

Plugged-in sources say Smith thought he was on the verge of getting an offer sheet from the Clippers before the Camby deal moved along so quickly. Rumblings persist that Smith would prefer to relocate in spite of his Georgia roots.

Deng was likewise scheduled to meet face to face with the Clippers in Las Vegas this week, until the Clips got Camby.

Okafor, meanwhile, continues to be mentioned by chatterers as the restricted free agent most likely to leave his current employer via sign-and-trade. Although new Bobcats coach Larry Brown recently said he hopes Okafor is re-signed -- because Okafor played for Brown on the Olympic team in 2004 and "plays a position that is very hard to find" -- Charlotte's interest in bringing him back has been questioned ever since it offered what sources say was a five-year contract starting at the $5.6 million midlevel exception to DeSagana Diop earlier this month. Diop preferred to return to the Dallas Mavericks when the Mavs matched Charlotte's offer.

After reading on ESPN.com that Ron Artest was planning to represent himself as "my own agent," Artest's long-standing agent Mark Stevens demonstrated that he still has some sway over the mercurial forward. Stevens this week convinced Artest to "get out the media," in Ron-Ron's words, and at least temporarily avoid interviews after a series of e-mails in which Artest voiced his loudest frustrations to date about passing on the chance to opt out of the final year of his Sacramento Kings contract before July 1 and become an unrestricted free agent.

The Lakers are still the favorites to win the Ron Artest sweepstakes.

It naturally remains to be seen how long Artest's silence will last. I imagine we'll be hearing from him again well before July 25, when Artest is scheduled to join Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah and New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn., to face the winners of a Wii sweepstakes event. Yet it appears that Kings co-owner Joe Maloof, for the short term, was successful with his rebuke in Tuesday's Sacramento Bee that essentially urged Artest to hush before his ongoing commentary hurt the Kings' attempts to find him a new home.

Fact is, though, that Sacramento likely will continue to attract trade interest in Artest no matter what he says, with Artest down to the final year of his current contract at a very tradeable $7.4 million. Maloof himself acknowledged to ESPN.com on Sunday that "the Lakers do want him" … as do "about six other teams."

Yet the Kings continue to insist that the team that ultimately gets Artest will have to take Kenny Thomas' contract as well. NBA front-office sources say the Mavericks were told several days ago, for example, that an offer of bruising power forward Brandon Bass, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse and $2 million to cover Stackhouse's guarantee in the 2009-10 season would not be enough to reunite Artest with new Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. (Dallas has no interest in a Josh Howard-for-Artest swap in any incarnation.)

The Miami Heat also have liked Artest for some time, but the Heat received the same message from Sacramento that the Lakers got. Unless the Kings budge from their current stance, Miami would have to send over Shawn Marion and absorb Thomas' remaining $16.5 million over the next two seasons to get Artest. Although Thomas' contract wouldn't interfere with the Heat's intent to have cap room to spend in the summer of 2010, it's hard to see the appeal of such a deal for Pat Riley and rookie coach Erik Spoelstra.

Cleveland is another team you can expect to hear linked with Artest, with the Cavaliers possessing numerous options -- Wally Szczerbiak for Artest and Thomas, just to name one -- to join the bidding. It simply depends on how willing the Cavs are to add to their luxury-tax bill. But nothing has happened yet to budge the Lakers from the role of favorites in the Artest sweepstakes, although ESPN.com reported Sunday that -- fond as they are of Artest and confident as they are that they can get the best out of him through Phil Jackson's coaching and Artest's respect for Kobe Bryant -- L.A. is reluctant to part with Lamar Odom in an Artest swap.

That stance, if the Lakers don't relent, almost certainly will force Sacramento to look elsewhere for a trade partner.

The good news for Lakerland dwellers hoping Artest eventually will arrive this summer to address the defense and toughness issues exposed by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals: Maloof has shot down the oft-cited theory that the Kings, because of their fierce on-court rivalry with the Lakers early in the decade, are reluctant to make a trade with their divisional neighbors.

"Absolutely not [true]," Maloof said. "We're rivals with the Lakers, but we respect them as an organization. If we can make a move that improves our situation, it doesn't matter who the other team is."

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=VegasChatter-080717

Use the Bold feature man...

I read of that to get to this....

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Cleveland is another team you can expect to hear linked with Artest, with the Cavaliers possessing numerous options -- Wally Szczerbiak for Artest and Thomas, just to name one -- to join the bidding. It simply depends on how willing the Cavs are to add to their luxury-tax bill. But nothing has happened yet to budge the Lakers from the role of favorites in the Artest sweepstakes, although ESPN.com reported Sunday that -- fond as they are of Artest and confident as they are that they can get the best out of him through Phil Jackson's coaching and Artest's respect for Kobe Bryant -- L.A. is reluctant to part with Lamar Odom in an Artest swap.

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i love his game...

i know he's a nutcase, but he's one of the most complete players in the league...

familiarity with mike brown... he's been on record as saying he would love to play for lebron james, even to the point of coming off the bench...

the best part of it all, is that if we can swing a deal for him, he's off the books after next season, so we won't be stuck with this guy for more than 10 or 11 months should he be a problem...

the guy can play though, he can defend, he can shoot, he can create off the dribble...

it's just all the stuff outside of the game (and in the stands) that has me worried...

How about Allen Iverson? Apparently, the Nuggets are looking to free up space. AI is only on the books for one year at $20 million. If the Cavs land him and he doesn't work out, we'd still have $20 mill to throw at a player for 2009-2010.

What do we have to trade to get him? Expiring contracts aren't going to have much value if it's for another expiring contract. Do we blow several draft picks and a guy like Gibson to get a guy who could possibly be a one year rental? He hasn't exactly put Denver over the top either.

I've never been a fan of trading leftover meatloaf, for leftover rump roast.

Interesting...I kinda do something similar, minus the oil and the BW3's sauce

iverson would have to force their hand

he's definitely a player we will look at as the season moves along, but i don't think he puts us over top...

artest potentially could, i think redd does... mcgrady, yes

...didn't want to start a new thread so I'll just use this one.

Hawks' Childress leaves NBA nest for big money in Greece
July 23, 2008
CBSSports.com wire reports

ATHENS, Greece -- Josh Childress signed a reported three-year deal worth $20 million with Greek club Olympiakos after leaving the Atlanta Hawks.

Olympiakos announced the deal Wednesday. The guard was a restricted free agent, and the Hawks had the right to match the offer.

"It's official. I've signed," Childress said. "I was in a situation that I really didn't know what my answer would be when I got to Athens. But it's a great city and a great team, and they did everything to make me feel at home."

Olympiakos finished as runner-up in the Greek basketball league last year, behind rival Panathinaikos. It has boosted its roster with summer transfers, including Greece star Theodoros Papaloukas, who was signed from CSKA Moscow.

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I thought this was interesting. I wonder if it will become a trend for players in the NBA. The Hawks were bound by the cap to offer a mid-level exemption amount. The Greece team could offer anything it wanted. With the current exchange rate, it's about a $33 million dollar contract here. No doubt he would take that instead of what the Hawks were offering.

This might not impact the mega super stars of the NBA but it you never know...money talks.

that is happening in hockey too, russia's super league has been trying to lure away big name players...

i believe jagr signed with one of the teams, and a few other names have gone...

I heard something on the radio the other day where the foreign teams are luring some of the top high school bball recruits to come over there and play instead of going to college for a year.

KING

I see more and more high school stars going to Europe for one year. They get paid, get to travel and learn the game against better competition. The NBA will have to be careful. Stern was saying that he wanted the one year ban on drafting high school players to be raised to two years for the next CBA. What high school player that dreams of the NBA wouldn't want to get a few million for two years overseas instead of playing for nothing and having to keep his grades up?

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I only know of the one and that's the kid who had signed with Arizona... all kinds of rumors about why he's going to Europe... one being that his family really needs the money NOW... the other being that he couldn't get into Arizona even if he tried... Guess it depends on who you want to believe. And I don't think that was Europe luring him away as much as him deciding he wanted to go there.

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I think it's a little bit of both...probably more of the latter though.

Does anyone see the irony if the cavs do trade for Artest? The owner of the Cavs is from Detroit. He even got rid of Mark Reghi and hired a broadcastor that did Pistons games. Then Artest would be playing on the same team as the guy who first pushed him in the neck/face in Ben Wallace. That started the biggest player-fan involvement fight in our lifetime. Two players going to the same city as "Bottlegate" (although bottlegate wasnt as bad).

I think Artest would be a great addition. Does this team need more defense or offense? Artest does provide a little bit of everything on offense but the Cavs need more outside shooting. Getting rid of Wally, which will probabley happen before the season is over anyways, will get rid of one of their more consistant 3-point shooters. Artest could win 6th man of the year playing for the Cavs. Or he could play starting SG, since that is a position of weakness with Brown and Pavlavic.

As far as Stern implementing that highschoolers have to play 2 years of college, which would make more highschoolers go to Europe. I wonder if he could say that if you dont attend college, that you have to wait 3 to 4 years after their graduating class, to join the NBA. Which might make highschool kids think twice about playing in Europe instead of going to college. Then they would have to wait an extra year or 2 if they didnt attend college.

i don't think stern can do that...

i have no problem with kids going to play in europe, if they can't jump to the nba, it is their choice...

i do agree that putting in that one year rule has helped the nba...

as far as artest goes...

all of his legal and mental problems aside, he is a perfect fit for the cavs...

i wouldn't worry about him and wallace tangling, because that was almost 4 years ago, and i do think they made up... it actually wasn't even really that heated between the 2, there was some shoving, and talking, but artest walked away, and everything that night started because of some garbage thrown at artest..

do the cavs need more offensive or defensive players? that's exactly the problem, man...

we don't need either, we need more 2 way players... guys who can defend, yet have a good offensive game... we don't need 5 all stars on the floor, but we need guys who can efficiently beat their defender...

it sickens me sometimes, guys like pavlovic, and wally, and larry hughes in the past... you're on the freaking cavs, you play with the most dominant player in the league, you will NEVER see a double team and you can't even take advantage of it? pathetic.

we need more guys who will take the initiative at the offensive end...

everyone bangs on mike brown, but mike brown isn't the guy throwing up bricks...

this team could also use a ball handler...

i've said it a million times, in all the series' where the cavs lost (detroit, san antonio, and boston) the games were essentially lost when the other team upped their intensity on the defensive end in the backcourt... nobody wants to handle the ball and run the plays, so lebron has to take the ball and chuck up an eventual three that he will make one out of 4 times (which is still amazing)

that is not mike brown's fault.

actually, we should commend mike brown for not whining and complaining about how every other top 10 team has 3 legitimate stars and he has one.

the thing i love about artest and the cavs, is that the options are spread pretty wide...

Sporting News did an article on this last month. Basically European clubs don't want a one year guy who will bolt for the NBA after a year. I mean it makes sense. Why give playing time to a 18 year old who's going to leave?

they said it's a pipe dream of kids who can't/won't go to college how think it would be great to be paid, but the reality is that they won't.

Cavaliers’ West ponders going east

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
10 hours, 53 minutes ago

LeBron James could crush the world for an Olympic gold medal this summer, but the evolving power of the euro could cost him his Cleveland Cavaliers point guard.

This time, the overseas revolution of outbidding NBA teams for restricted free agents advances with Dynamo Moscow discussing a two-year, $10 million offer with Delonte West, a source close to West said on Thursday.

Clearly, Dynamo is a franchise with the resources to be taken seriously. Just a week ago, it lured New Jersey Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar with a three-year, $14.3 million contract.

Nachbar’s contract turned into a prelude to Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Childress signing a groundbreaking three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos of Greece. So far this summer, four international players with NBA résumés – Jorge Garbajosa, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Delfino and Pops Mensah-Bonsu – have taken substantial offers in Europe.

As with most restricted free agents, West has few options right now. He could sign a $2.76 million qualifying offer for the 2008-09 season and become an unrestricted free agent next year. General manager Danny Ferry has considered sign-and-trade possibilities for West but ultimately has wanted to keep West.

Last summer, Cleveland’s two restricted free agents, Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic, held out with contract disputes that extended into the regular season.

After his trade from the Seattle SuperSonics at the February deadline, West won the Cavaliers’ starting point guard job, averaging 10.5 points and four assists per game. In pushing the Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, West averaged 14.5 points – including two 21-point performances – over the final five games. James had wanted the Cavaliers to acquire an available point guard such as Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby, but he developed a fondness for West.
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Point to ponder...with all of these European teams attracting NBA players, I have a "what if" scenario. Not saying that it WILL happen but the Cavs are supposed to be able to offer Lebron the highest max contract in the NBA (roughly $150 million). What if some European team offers him $200-250 million? Not saying it's going to happen but interesting to think about.

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Point to ponder...with all of these European teams attracting NBA players, I have a "what if" scenario. Not saying that it WILL happen but the Cavs are supposed to be able to offer Lebron the highest max contract in the NBA (roughly $150 million). What if some European team offers him $200-250 million? Not saying it's going to happen but interesting to think about.

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Very good point, and if these over seas teams are serious about signing NBA players, why not go after one of the biggest stars, we very well could see this happening, I dont think Labron would go until after he wins a NBA title, but 200-250 million could change anybodies tune.

artest dealt to the rockets...

From ESPN.com

Ron Artest didn't opt out then doubted his decision. It looks like that might be a moot point.

Multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday that the Sacramento Kings had agreed to trade the forward to the Rockets.

The Houston Chronicle reported that the Kings would receive Bobby Jackson, a No. 1 draft pick in 2009 and another player that the newspaper's source could not identify. The Associated Press, citing anonymous league sources, said that the other player would be rookie forward Donte Greene.

That means the deal can't be announced yet because Greene, acquired by the Rockets on draft night last month, signed a contract with Houston on July 14. A player can't be traded within 30 days of signing a contract, according to league rules.

KRIV television in Houston reported that the Kings will also receive cash.

"Yes, it has been tentatively agreed upon," said Artest's agent, Mark Stevens, according to KRIV. "Now it has to be confirmed by the league office and until that is done, it's not official."

Two weeks ago, Artest told ESPN.com that he was unhappy with himself for not opting out of his deal and becoming a free agent before the July 1 deadline. He hoped to be traded to "a team out there that can be more committed than Sacramento to me."

In Houston, Artest would team with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to form one of the toughest trios in the NBA. With Yao injured much of the season, the Rockets finished 55-27 last season, good for third in the Southwest Division. They lost in the first round to the Utah Jazz in six games.

When told of the deal, McGrady was ecstatic.

"I couldn't be more happy," McGrady said, according to KRIV. "Pleased at how the organization is trying to improve this team, get the help that Yao and myself really need to really get to where we want to be and that's one of the elite teams in this league.

"If this is true, this is definitely what I have been waiting on for 11 years in my career, for a team to really improve and put the talent [on the floor] that I feel that we can compete with the best."

Injuries held Artest to only 57 games last season, but he averaged 20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game for the 38-44 Kings. Sacramento traded point guard Mike Bibby during the season last year and dealing Artest shows that the team is in full rebuilding mode under second-year coach Reggie Theus.

"He brings a mental and physical toughness" McGrady said, according to KRIV. "He brings a guy that competes at a high level on the basketball court. Defensively, he's tough. Offensively, he is a force to be reckoned with. He's probably one of the most difficult guys to guard on the perimeter because of his size, because of his strength."

The 28-year-old Artest is as well known for his volatile personality as his basketball skills. While playing for the Indiana Pacers, he was the central figure in the 2004-05 brawl with fans at The Palace of Auburn Hills during a road game against the Detroit Pistons.

He was suspended for 73 games, the NBA's harshest punishment for a fight. In December, two civil lawsuits against Artest that stemmed from the fight were dismissed.

Artest had surgery on his left thumb in April and was expected to take 8-to-10 weeks to recover. His summer has been just as turbulent as most of his NBA career.

After wavering for more than two months, Artest elected not to opt out of the final year of his contract for $7.4 million by July 1. But the forward immediately announced he regretted his decision, saying the Kings had misled him on their interest in a long-term contract extension. Artest also said he couldn't see himself playing in Sacramento beyond next season.

Artest apologized to the Kings a few days later but one week after that, Artest demanded a trade, claiming he had been blinded to his career well-being by his friendship with the Maloof family, which owns the Kings.

Joe Maloof responded sharply to Artest, warning the forward to muzzle himself. Two weeks later, the Kings apparently found a taker for Artest's defensive skills and high-maintenance personality.

The trade will reunite Artest with Rick Adelman, who coached Sacramento when Artest was acquired by the Kings in a trade with Indiana during the 2005-06 season.

Artest played 40 games for Adelman and averaged 16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and a career-high 4.2 assists. He was also named to the NBA All-Defensive first team.

The Kings, meanwhile, would be thrilled to get their hands on Greene, a 6-foot-11 forward from Syracuse who impressed the club in pre-draft workouts. Greene was drafted by Memphis with the 28th overall pick and traded to Houston in a three-team deal on draft night.

Although Greene played just one college season, he proved to be a versatile scorer who could fit well into Theus' uptempo game plans.

Jackson, who split his time between New Orleans and Houston last season, averaged 7.7 points per game. This would be his second stint with the Kings where he had his most productive years of his career from 2000 to 2005.

Damn it Why didnt we try a deal like that? We suck at drafting in the 1st round.

if they healthy, the rockets are a top 4 squad in the west with the Lakers, Hornets, and Spurs.

This would help! Maybe he joins the Cavs just to make a point, just to show somebody sumpin and play in the King's court. LeBron is huge still, but has shown he is human also. Needs to be more on the court (like this). Money is the issue . . . .