NBA Ticket to the Playoffs

MIKE ZARRILLI / GETTY IMAGES
A restricted agent in the NBA means that the team that holds the player has a chance to match the offer that the opposing team offers. However there are not many teams in the NBA who have significant cap room to sign the best restricted free agents. The cap has been set at 56.7 million for 2008-09 and the only team to be significantly below that for the time being is Philadelphia. Also, most of the teams with the lowest salaries for 2008-09 have their own restricted free agents to worry about like the Bobcats, Hawks, and the Warriors.

Restricted free agents

Atlanta Hawks
Josh Childress - Childress has been an extremely efficient player since coming into the league. Does not shoot threes, but has a terrific % from the floor and the line (and a high volume shooter at the line to boot). In addition to solid perimeter defense. Other teams probably notice this, and if there were more teams with cap room he would have plenty of suitors. The Hawks may luck out if Childress does not get a big offer, because if some team jumps at him with a high price tag, the Hawks likely will have to choose Smith and let Childress go.

Josh Smith - Smith is certainly one of the best players available, restricted or not restricted free agents. He is young and emerging superstar who plays electric defense, racking up steals and blocks. His shot selection can be poor at times as he is a terrible 3 point shooter, but to his credit he cut down on that a bit in 2007-08. Smith is a better player finishing at the hoop. Because he is probably the best free agent available he may get an offer, but the Hawks are more than likely to match no matter what. Smith was an unstoppable force at times against Boston in the 2007-08 NBA Finals playoffs despite his inconsistency. However, Atlanta may be forced to let Childress go.

Also: Salim Stoudamire

Charlotte Bobcats
Emeka Okafor - Okafor turned down a big deal from the Bobcats for 13+ million a year. It is unlikely he will find a team looking to pay him more than that with his limited offensive game and injury history. No doubt he is a rock defensively in a weak center market, but again it is an issue with the lack of teams having room for him. Philadelphia already has Sam Dalembert and the Grizzlies are really the only team with a low enough cap to offer Okafor anything. But the Bobcats also have a decent amount of room and you can bet they'd match the highest offer, since they were already planning on overpaying him.

Chicago Bulls
Luol Deng - Deng was offered 5 years 50+ million from the Bulls, as was Ben Gordon below. They both rejected, hoping to build off solid seasons in 2006-07. Then the entire Bull team laid an egg in 2007-08. Deng was less efficient from the floor and he missed 20 games, so it is unlikely he will find a deal that beats the one he didn't sign the year before.

Ben Gordon - Gordon at times can score at a superstar rate and has been noted for his late game scoring surges. He doesn't have the all around game that Deng has though and definitely should have committed to that 5 year 50 million dollar deal last year. He lost about 3 points off his scoring average and the Bulls have about 15 guards on the team including one with a huge contract in Larry Hughes. The Bulls may not be willing to give him a lot of money but not a lot of other teams have money to throw around either, so he may be forced to take a 1 year deal and hope for a better situation next year.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Daniel Gibson - Will Gibson ever escape his identity as a three point specialist? The Cavaliers run to the playoffs showed he could be put up 20, 30 points a game in key games. He was a huge beneficiary of Lebron's driving and kicking ability and in turn will need to work on creating his own shot consistently. Cleveland might be more infatuated with Delonte West, who came over in a previous trade and was the #2 guy for the 07-08 Cavaliers with LeBron.

Delonte West - West's proven versatility make him a lock to stay in Cleveland. He was able to play off Lebron well, driving to the hoop and the free throw line at an impressive clip. Delonte can play d as well, but he may get a qualifying offer and have to sustain his play for another year to get a huge contract. His current numbers make him a mid-level signing.

Denver Nuggets
JR Smith - JR is erratic but can be a high volume three point scorer with the athletic ability to get to the rim and create his own shot (though he is much better catching and shooting). He can play d also. His attitude is suspect and he played less than 20 minutes a game in 2007-08, so he may just have to accept the qualifying offer sent to him by Denver to prove himself again in 2008-09.

Golden State Warriors
Monta Ellis - This guy is an underrated talent who won't get paid as much as he deserves. The Warriors know this guy is a big part of their future with his terrific finishing ability and speed in the open court. He also gets to the line at a decent rate and only his long range jumper needs work offensively.

Andris Biedrins - Another guy who has not been appreciated for his work in recent years. Biedrins is an athletic double double every night, and he can provide some blocks. He has a thin frame so he can be muscled around and his offensive game is not much besides putbacks. Still, a tall and athletic center is a valuable commodity. Nellie has not played him as much as he probably should have, but that should keep the money down that is thrown at him. Expect both of these guys to be in Golden State next year.

Houston Rockets
Carl Landry - Per minute, this guy was an absolute monster the first half of the year. His play slowed down towards the end of the year including a rash of injuries. A cheaper restricted free agent option but another guy who will likely stick around Houston for a little while longer in hopes of receiving more playing time to prove his high PER was not a fluke.

Memphis Grizzlies
Juan Carlos Navarro - Juan Carlos Navarro will be returning to Europe to play. Despite his claims to be fine with playing in Memphis, there was no point to stay once his friend Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Ryan Gomes - A solid player on a bad team last year. Possibly the most consistent all around player for the Twolves, not necessarily great at any one thing but was an efficient scorer with an occasional breakout game. Another guy who might get some cheaper offers to see if the depth-packed Wolves will let him walk.

New Jersey Nets
Nenad Krstic - Krstic at times has looked like a solid 16 points - 8 rebounds per night offensive player, but has battled injuries the last year and really throughout his career. Nenad does not play much defense but can be a solid big option for scoring, while Brook Lopez or Sean Williams focuses on interior defense. Because of his questionable health you'll likely see the Nets extend a qualifying offer for Krstic to give himself a chance to earn more money.

Philadelphia 76ers
Andre Iguodala - Arguably the best player on this board with Okafor and Josh Smith. Probably would have been if this was rated in 2006-07 where Iguodala was a fantastic player. But Iggy has shown his offensive deficiencies, namely a poor jump shot and being prone to turnovers. For a guy looking for superstar type money, he is more of a solid #2 guy who relies on someone else to create driving / finishing opportunities. In turn Iguodala probably should have signed the big deal the Sixers offered him previously and like Okafor he will need to accept more money than he probably thinks he should be worth.

Seattle Supersonics
Robert Swift - Swift has been one of the most injury prone players in the NBA in recent years. Long ago he was a top high school prospect, but has never panned out for a long period of time in the NBA (though he has had flashes of brilliance). His 7+ million would open things up for the Sonics, and he likely won't find that much money per year anywhere else.

Toronto Raptors
Jose Calderon - Calderon's situation looked to be a confusing one heading into the off-season. But with the TJ Ford trade, it is more clear than ever that Calderon is the PG of the future in Toronto. Jose Calderon defines efficiency. He finished the season with a 78 assist - 2 turnover ratio, and that pretty much summed up his year. A 6 to 1 assist / turnover ratio is unheard of. Calderon's scoring was explosive earlier in the year but then he became more of a one dimensional point guard towards the end of the year. Still, he would shoot threes at a scorching 43% and 52% from the floor. He is injury prone too like Ford, but the Raptors made the right choice in trading Ford. Don't expect them to let Ford get away.

Posted by Ken Walker at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

The Boston Celtics hammered the Los Angeles Lakers, 131-92, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, leaving no question who the NBA Champion is for the 2007-2008 season. The Celtic defense continued to hound MVP Kobe Bryant, who shot a putrid 40% in this series.

Ultimately, like so many champions before them, the Celtics played dominating defense that no team or superstar could handle. The Lakers had made strides defensively, but had no where near the talent and cohesion of the Celtic defense, especially at home.

The NBA Finals MVP was Paul Pierce, who has been the scoring leader all year (all decade, really) for the Celtics. In Game 1 Pierce came back from what looked to be a scary leg injury. And came back he did, knocking down clutch 3's throughout the series and being one of the gang of Celtic wing defenders to slow down Kobe Bryant.

Ray Allen's inconsistency in the earlier part of the playoffs disappeared later on, and his 7 / 9 three point shooting for 26 points helped put the Lakers away early in Game 6. Allen also has been well documented for his work on the perimeter defending Bryant and the other Laker guards, and was doing well in the previous series' too (except against Joe Johnson).

Kendrick Perkins was striken with foul trouble and was not really a factor, but James Posey hit 3 threes and had 3 steals to help off the bench. Rondo had a beastly game defensively with 6 steals, and despite 8 / 20 shooting Rajon had 21 points 7 rebounds 8 assists to go with the steals. Besides Kevin Garnett, no player for the Celtics has had the type of impact on defense than Rajon Rondo.

Kevin Garnett had one of his best games in the playoffs in Game 6 at Boston, with 26 points 14 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals. More importantly it was Garnett's role as the anchor of this top-notch defense. This Laker team was not slowed down much by San Antonio but they were definitely at a loss for handling the Celtics. Even in the Celtic losses, it was close.

Pau Gasol was rendered ineffective throughout as well, clearly frustrated by the physicality in the post from Perkins and Garnett's athleticism. Gasol collected a fair amount of rebounds, but recorded just 3 blocks in the entire series which is indicative of the defense at the Laker rim. Having a healthy Andrew Bynum would have and will make the Lakers defense much better, but the fact of the matter for this series is that Paul Pierce and the Celtics got to the rim with little trouble.

Posted by Ken Walker at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AP Photo / Charles Krupa

After a week's worth of anticipation, the LA Lakers go into the Boston Garden but are held off by the resilient Boston Celtics, 98-88. MVP Kobe Bryant has a rough night offensively, shooting 9 / 26 from the floor with nary a three pointer. Meanwhile, Paul Pierce goes down after a weird twist in his knee, but returns shortly thereafter to lead the team.

The Los Angeles Lakers actually held a five point lead going into halftime despite Bryant's struggles from the floor. Fisher (15 pts 4 rebs 6 assists), Odom (14 points 5 rebs), and Gasol (15 pts 8 rebs 4 assists) had solid if not unspectacular showings.

A big turning point in the game was in the 3rd quarter, after a struggling Radmanovic knocked down a three, he was called for a questionable foul to put him in dire foul trouble at the time. This stunted the momentum from Radmanovic's three pointer that tied the game, and the Celtics went on to outscore the Lakers by 15 points in the second half.

On Boston's side, the big turn of events for the night occurred when Bryant drove to the lane and Paul Pierce landed awkwardly, holding his knee. Pierce was fortunate to come out shortly after from the training room, as he could have been looking at his first Finals from the sideline. Instead Pierce came back into the game and hit a key three to lead the second half charge.

Kevin Garnett started off hot with 20 quick points, but as usual his scoring dipped towards the end. Still, 24 points 13 rebounds 3 assists is a nice first Finals game for KG. That he shot 9 / 22 is a sign that he is settling a bit too much for jump shots in the second half and needs to keep his first half aggression up to get high percentage shots for himself or teammates.

Ray Allen had a decent all around game with 19 points 8 rebounds 5 assists, but marred with 4 turnovers and just 5 / 13 shooting from the field (2 / 6 from 3pt land). Allen though was one of the Celtics that hounded Bryant all night into difficult shots.

And the veteran Sam Cassell broke out of his playoff slump to produce 8 points 1 assist 0 turnovers in 12 minutes, which could have been even sleeker had he knocked down one of his two three pointers attempted. The Celts though did not get much help from the other bench members, and Kendrick Perkins had just 1 point 4 rebounds in 23 minutes.

The NBA Finals are spread out more than the other playoff series. Instead of every other day, there are a few days between games. NBA Finals Game 2 will be played at 9pm eastern Sunday Night in the Boston Garden.

Posted by Ken Walker at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It did not take long for the axe to fall in Detroit. There was speculating that even a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would not save Flip Saunders job, and the former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher and Minnesota Timberwolf has just been fired from him post as Detroit Pistons Head Coach.

AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File

The easy reason for Flip Saunders being canned in Detroit is that the Pistons made the NBA Finals the two years before, including beating the Lakers to win the 2004 title. Thus Flip walked into an impossible situation considering the expectations, but he knew that going in because it was also a great opportunity for him to coach an elite team.

Detroit actually was quite successful with Saunders including the monster 2005-06 year where they went 64-18. Unfortunately in a town like Detroit, Championships are the barometer for success. The problem with Detroit is that they lost to lesser teams in each of the last 3 Eastern Conference Finals under Flip. All series were 4-2 losses for Detroit actually.

Ultimately the Pistons underachieved with Flip as the head coach, as the veterans on the team did not respect Saunders enough for whatever reason. Rasheed Wallace in particular never was reached by Saunders and his awful Game 6 is not what the Pistons needed. Maybe the Pistons were spoiled having Larry Brown as a head coach, one of the best in the business. Saunders deserved more respect but simply never got it despite his previous success with the Minnesota Timberwolves, making the playoffs 9 straight years.

Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons responded quickly with the hire of up-and-coming bench coach Michael Curry. As an ex player he will earn the player's respect, and has already been coaching on the team anyway.

It is unknown whether or not the Pistons will be making any significant moves in the offseason, but doing something with Rasheed Wallace is a possibility. That said there are few players with as versatile an in-out game, but not many players are as maddeningly inconsistent either.

Posted by Ken Walker at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)