Who Wants the Job?

The NBA free agency opens it's doors tonight at 12:00am. Several teams will be active in their efforts to rebuild or find that one missing link. In the case of the four time champion San Antonio Spurs, they've already made the biggest acquisition to date by acquiring Richard Jefferson for 3 expiring contracts. Now the starting line-up is one position short of complete and the bench is as potent as ever. The question is......who wants to be the lucky big who lines up next to the future HOFer Tim Duncan for the 09-10 season? There are several possibilities (of which I will address one by one) but my first choice is Channing Frye. The standout from the university of Arizona is entering his 4th season in the league. Drafted by Knicks his talent was rarely showcased given the chaotic situation within the NY brass at the time. Frye was subsequently traded to the Trailblazers in 2007 but had a hard time finding minutes behind Aldridge. I believe put in the right situation and given an opportunity, Channing Frye will be a solid starting power forward in the NBA. He fits perfectly into the the Spurs present and future plans. Frye stands 6.11 is only 26 years of age. If the Spurs offer him a 4 year deal at 3.5 million (comparable to what they are paying Matt Bonner) Channing Frye will be wearing silver and black this season.

2009 NBA Draft - Final picks!

Updated Jun-23 (updated weekly)
It's the night before the big dance at the 2009 draft. Several teams have made various trades that will have an obvious effect on their draft selection. Several teams have also made a move to climb draft positions as they are obviously targeting a particular player. No one knows for sure how the draft will play out but I will boldly put forth my FINAL FIRST ROUND PROJECTIONS.

1. Clippers - Blake Griffin
2. Grizzles - Haseem Thabeet
3. Thunder - Ricky Rubio
4. Kings - Jrue Holiday
5. Twolves - James Harden
6. Twolves - Johnny Flynn
7. Warriors - Jordan Hill
8. Knicks - Stephen Curry
9. Raptors - Tyreke Evans
10. Bucks - Demar DeRozan
11. Nets - Earl Clark
12. Bobcats - Terrence Williams
13. Pacers - James Johnson
14. Suns - Brandon Jennings
15. Pistons - BJ Mullens
16. Bulls - Dajuan Blair
17. 76ers - Gerald Henderson
18. Twolves - Austin Daye
19. Hawks - Jeff Teague
20. Jazz - Tyler Hansbrough
21. Hornets - Omri Casppi
22. Mavericks - Eric Maynor
23. Kings - Sam Young
24. TBlazers - Ty Lawson
25. Thunder - Chase Budinger
26. Bulls - Marcus Thornton
27. Grizzlies - Toney Douglas
28. Twolves - Jonas Jerebko
29. Lakers - Nick Calathes
30. Caveliers - Darren Collison

Honorable mentions who could crack the first round: Taj Gibson (USC), Wayne Ellington (UNC) and Rodrigue Beaubois (France:).

Watch for the Magical Ending

Kobe is pumped and ready to taste victory for the 4^th time. There is no dream match up featuring the two biggest names in the game; nevertheless we should expect a magical ending. If the biggest force in the game can stay on the floor and out of foul trouble then the Orlando Magic not the Los Angeles Lakers will be the 2009 NBA champions. Remember this simple fact…. Big men win championships. Russell owns 9, Shaq and Duncan have 8 collectively and now it is time for Dwight Howard to take the throne as this generation’s most dominate post player by leading his team to victory. The Orlando Magic averaged over 100 points against the Lakers during the regular season and that will not change in the finals. What will change is the Lakers ability to keep pace. The Lakers porous defense against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic will be the repetitive theme throughout this series resulting in their defeat. With their first title under their belt and Dwight Howard only 23 years of age, we should all prepare for the rise of the Magic Kingdom.

Spurs potential fix for Small Foward

The mix of potential replacements at the SF position for the San Antonio Spurs range from 1^st team defender to journeymen. In this article I will only name names and reserve the pros and cons for another day. Let’s divide 10 free agents into two groups, ‘high-end’ and ‘standard’. I spent this pass weekend car shopping. Hopefully that explains my terminology.

High End PlayersWho can play the 3

Ron Artest – 6.7

David Lee – 6.9

Shawn Marion – 6.7

Lamar Odom – 6.10

Hedo Turkoglu – 6.10 (ETO)

Standard or players who should not exceed the mid-level exception who can play the 3

Trevor Ariza – 6.8

Josh Childress – 6.8

Al Harrington – 6.9 (P)

Jarvis Hayes – 6.8 (T)

Marvin Williams – 6.9

(ETO = early termination option, P = Player option, T = Team option)