Celtics sign House and Pollard

The Boston Celtics have just signed Eddie House and Scot Pollard. The Celtics traded away all their players and so Poland is now the only center listed on the roster. Pollard is not enough to sure up the big man rotation. Boston still needs to get another center to rotate with Pollard.

In my mind signing Eddie House is huge for Boston. House has been a journey man with limited minutes. But believe me he can light up the arena. A quick guard and dangerous outside shooter he will be a great asset to the Celts. I think this signing might be a huge deal down the road. Maybe House will finally have a chance to prove himself full time.

Boston has also been trying to talk Reggie Miller out of retirement. I'm sure Jordan and Berkley are next on the list of contacts.

I am getting excited to watch Boston play and see who will be in their lineup come November. It has been 21 years since winning their last title. So the time might be coming to win number 17.

Kevin Garnett is now a Celtic

It's official. Kevin Garnett is now a Celtic. Good news for Boston in the immediate future. However, in 5 years where will Boston be? Hopefully with another championship banner in their rafters. Because they gave up their future to make this current team. Boston's time to win is now. In 3-4 years and they might be in trouble. They will not have good draft picks and little up and coming talent. Their 3 stars are all 30-32 years old and might start slowing soon.

Rajon Rondo is their only nice young prospect, well Tony Allen might fit that as well. Anyway, gone is big man Al Jefferson and athletic possible star Gerald Green. Ryan Gomes and Sabastian Telfair both can help a team, but not stars. I think Minnesota put together and nice team for the future. A good trade? I would say yes for both teams.

Are the Celtics finally back?

It appears to be almost official - Kevin Garnett going to the Boston Celtics. Minnesota and Boston have been in trade talks and supposedly the deal is almost complete. Boston would get Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves would get Al Jefferson a good young power forward, Gerald Green a young athletic wing player, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and possibly more. The holdup is Garnett's contract. The Celtics don't want to give up so much and then lose him to free agency in a year.

This deal would make the Celtics Eastern Conference competitors. Finally the East is coming back after so many down years. The Celtics would have Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Garnett. Even though they have traded the rest of their team away they would still be pretty good with only 3 players. They definitely need to make sure they have role players to fill in or they still won't be dominant, look at the Nets big 3.

More to come.

How to you spell overpaid? Rashard Lewis.

I like Rashard Lewis as a player. He's big, he shoots, he's athletic, but he gets injured a lot. Lewis opted out of his contact with the Seattle Sonics and signed with the Orlando Magic. This will make Orlando a much better team, but will they be a contender? No. It gives them another scorer and an outside shooter, but Lewis has become injury prone and will he be on the court is a big question. The Magic gave Lewis a max deal worth reportedly 5 years and $75 million. For $15 million a year the Magic had better hope overpaying the best free agent of the 2007 offseason will pay off.

Marco Belinelli

I have been telling you this dude is good. So far Italian Marco Belinelli looks awesome. Las Vegas is all talking about him since the start of the Vegas summer league. He put up impressive numbers, outstanding shooting and looks like he will be an excellent NBA player. and a steal in the draft at the 18th pick nonetheless.

He averaged 23 points a game in the Las Vegas NBA summer league and shot over 44 percent from the three point range. He even had 37 points in one game. I wanted my team to pick him, but it didn't happen. The Golden State Warriors made an excellent move to draft him.

Derek Fisher's request to leave the Utah Jazz is granted

The Utah Jazz announced today that they are releasing Derek Fisher from the rest of his contract. Fisher requested that the team release him from his contact so he can better help his daughter and her ongoing eye cancer situation.

Fisher will become a free agent and look for a place to play in one of the major cities by his doctor. Fisher said that life is more important than playing basketball. The Jazz granted his wish and parted on good terms.

This means a couple of things. Fisher may or may not play next season. He may retire. He may find a home in and eastern conference because his doctor was in New York. He would say where he might land, but he mentioned 6 cities. He is probably looking at the north eastern teams around that area.

The Jazz are now in need of a back up point/shooting guard. Rumors have it that Morris Peterson may be an option here and would be an excellent pick up for the Jazz.

Yi JianLian

In the NBA draft last week, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Yi JianLian with the 6th pick. Yi has not reported to Milwaukee and has had no communication with them. He did not attend the typical post draft welcoming meetings in Milwaukee but decided to work out with his Chinese national team in Dallas instead.

Yi JianLian and his agents do not feel Milwaukee is a good fit for Yi. Why? Because they reportedly want a city with a large Chinese heritage. Again I ask why? That might have a small affect on the situation, but that should not matter. That is a long way from home, and has anybody in China ever heard of Milwaukee? Probably only a few. Because how many of us has ever heard of He Shan where Yi is from?

Anyway, I think Yi needs to look at the situation he is going to play in, not the city itself. The Bucks have got Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, hopefully can resign Mo Williams, Charlie Villanueva, Bobby Simmons and a nice looking core. They definitely are not a contender and have a long ways to go. But with Yi they start to look quite a bit better.

Yi's agents want a trade. I agree with Milwaukee, Yi entered the draft, the Bucks picked him. He belongs to them.

Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant

Minnesota Timberwolves and the LA Lakers are reportedly in trade negotiations. The Lakers want another big name player for three reasons.

1. Make Kobe happy and convince him to stay around
2. Have the Big Ticket sell more tickets
3. Apparently Kobe can't win on his own, so the team needs to be become a two headed dragon.

I think Minnesota should not part with Garnett that easily. Nothing bugs me more than teams trying to reload and they dump their best players for little or nothing in return. Minnesota needs some more good young players. Get some high draft picks - which the Lakers don't have.

Supposedly the Lakers offered Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. Not enough in my mind. I like Bynum and think he is developing into a good center. Odom is solid, but is not a go to franchise player.

Come up with a lottery pick somehow and throw that in and then we are talking business.

Another rumor out there has Garnett possibly going to Phoenix and Amare Stoudemire going to Atlanta and draft picks going to Minnesota. What? Any more teams want to offer something?

Does anyone like Kobe Bryant anymore?

Kobe wants to be traded. Then he doesn't. Now he does again. He is doing all he can to send the message - even pulling out web 2.0 tactics of blogs and video posts. He is calling out his teammates, the organization and bad mouthing the Lakers management. What hurts worst in his recent 24 second video clip outburst is his negative comments to Andrew Bynum. There is nothing worse than criticizing your teammates or coach. He is doing a good job and whining and throwing a tantrum like a selfish child. Because that is what he is telling everyone he is - selfish.

He ran Shaq out of town and convinced the Lakers to make it Kobe's team. He got what he wanted and now he wants out. Show some class. Show some respect. Grow up Kobe.

Shawn Marion going to Boston?

Shawn Marion is vital to the Phoenix Suns. However, his contact expires next year and this upcoming summer he can opt out of his contract. The Suns might not be able to afford him with their current roster. Rumors have been circulating that the Suns might deal the Matrix to Boston or Detroit. Good news for the East, bad for Phoenix. The Suns need him. They have a limited window of opportunity to win the finals.