Posts from the Nba Western Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Several months after he was expected to be back to full speed, starting for the Lakers, Andrew Bynum has been cleared for conditioning. According to a report in the OC Register, Bynum is officially on track for his comeback. He's staying in New York two more weeks working on rehab, then heading down to Atlanta to train.

After every open field goal the Lakers allowed under the basket in the playoffs, and there were many, many of those, Lakers fans would note that the problem would be fixed next year with the return of Bynum beside Gasol and Odom. Getting Bynum clear of any complications with the knee well before training camp is a positive step in that direction. If the Lakers are going to bounce back from a fairly humiliating Finals, they need Bynum to be the unstoppable force in the middle that prevents easy baskets, lets Pau Gasol drift around the elbows, and does that whole rebounding thing the Lakers have so much trouble with.

Coming back from knee surgery has never been considered easy, but with the advances in medicine over the last ten years, it's easier than it ever has been. And if Bynum can manage to come back full strength, the Lakers will boost an already formidable position as the favorite to win the 2008-2009 NBA title.

Chris Paul is considered a member of that group of players that includes Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and others at the elite level, all of which had contracts set to expire after 2009/2010 through a variety of mechanisms. It would appear that at least one of them is happy where he's at.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that Paul and the Hornets have agreed in principle to a three-year extension, with an option for a fourth year that brings the total value to $68 million dollars. The deal will keep him with the Hornets a while longer. It's a huge signing for the smaller market Hornets, and gives them a foundation for success for the next five years.

On a day where sadness seems to pervade the Internet regarding the Sonics departure from Seattle, its ironic that such a feel-good story as Paul signing a long term deal with what was a struggling franchise happens. Why? Because without the overwhelming and enthusiastic support of the citizens of Oklahoma City who did such a dastardly thing as "actually coming to the games," the Hornets might not have gotten enough support to even stay in New Orleans, where people are now actually coming to the games. Interesting. Of course, on the flip side, if it hadn't been for Paul's outstanding play, Oklahoma City may not have gotten so enthused about the NBA, which precipitated Clay Bennett's chicanery. It's the circle of life. Or at least greed, money, and marketability.

Chris Mullin is not likely to come out of this offseason looking, shall we say, golden. First, he drafted a[nother] lanky power forward who will need some time to develop. Then, he allowed Baron Davis to mosey down the state to Los Angeles by refusing to negotiate an extension with the fan-fave.

Now, the Warriors appear to be grasping at straws by throwing around as much money as they can at Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand, to whom they apparently offered a monster deal to on Wednesday.

Flush with cap space after Davis' sudden exit, the Warriors have offered free agent Elton Brand a five-year deal worth between $85 and $90 million, according to league sources.

Brand, like Davis, opted out of the final year of his contract just before Monday's deadline, giving up a guaranteed $16.4 million for next season. At the time, Brand's agent, David Falk, told reporters that the move was designed to create some cap flexibility for the Clippers to add another top-line player.

They offered Gil the max he was allowed and have apparently ponied up a similar chunk of change to try and lure Brand to Oakland.

Normally, someone busting out an acoustic guitar and recording anything for YouTube is the best tasting recipe for disaster you can possibly find. But the Clippers fan below is clearly the reason why Baron Davis bolted Oak-town and is headed back to Los Angeles. "Baron, It's Time to Come Home", your next bloggy internet sensation.



I'm impressed. Dude has dece guitar skills and better than solid lyrical prowess. Sure, it's not as good as the obvious "Mama, I'm Comin' Home" acoustic rip off that Ryan Parker will do, but whatever. I back.

Via Hotclicks

If that whole idea of a professional athlete taking less money to land in a competitive situation freaked you out for a little while, well, fear not -- Ron Artest is here to assure you that everything in this totally twisted world is still right. How so, you ask?

He sent an email to Marc Stein tonight stating that deciding not to opt out of his contract was a "mistake".

Artest also conceded that his long-term future is likely not in Sacramento, saying via e-mail: "I don't see myself with [the] Kings beyond 2008-09.

"I think I made the biggest mistake by staying in my contract and I have to live with it," Artest said. "I had some misleading information [in making the] decision on not opting out. [But] I still thank God for all his blessings and being able to play basketball and help people."

First of all, why the hell does Artest continue to send emails directly to Stein and ESPN? I have no issue with him dealing with the WWL, I just think at some point, one of his advisor/agent type people would just say "stop." Or at least put a breathalyzer styled timer thing on his computer that prevents sending emails without waiting at least an hour.

If you (note: Hubie Brown voice) are the New Orleans Hornets and you have a point guard under your control who is going to be a free agent in a few years, and you know that you need him to be competitive for an NBA title in a smaller market, you lock him up.

The Hornets -- despite notoriously "frugal" owner George Shinn's ways -- are doing just that, as John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune is reporting that Chris Paul and NOLA are getting ready to reach an agreement on a max-deal four or five year extension.

"We're going to try and get it done in the next 24 to 48 hours once I get down there,'' [Paul's agent Lance] Young said by telephone. "I think if you go back and look, there's nobody who did a three-year deal of all the max deals done in the last few years. I would say three years is not what he is going to do. It will be a four or a five-year deal.''

Paul's contract will range from $60 million to $80 million, depending on the length. Young said he and Bower spoke by telephone on Tuesday, the first day teams could begin negotiating contracts with free agents.

Let's be perfectly clear: if you are the the New Orleans Hornets, you give Chris Paul whatever money and how many ever years he wants. He is most certainly one of the top five players in the league, and while many might take Kobe or LeBron if they were starting a team, I think Paul is a legitimate candidate.

And even if you disagree, Paul was most certainly an MVP candidate last year, most certainly the reason for the Hornets resurgence and most certainly worthy of this kind of contract.

While the basketball-loving world is completely distracted by the start of free agency, the NBA quietly tried to sneak a relatively major development under the radar. They've created the office of Senior Vice President, Referee Operations to oversee (wait for it ...) all things pertaining to referees, including "recruiting, training and development, scheduling, data management and analysis and work rules enforcement."

Those responsibilities previously fell on the shoulders of Stu Jackson, the league's VP of Basketball Operations, but the NBA is clearly hoping that the creation of a new office will convince everyone that officiating decisions are not being made by the same people whose job it is to ensure the game stays competitive and marketable. The office will report to NBA president Joel Litvin, David Stern's right-hand man.

So who is heading up the new position? U.S. Army Major General Ronald Johnson, who has 32 years of combat engineering experience and recently retired from heading up the Army Corps of Engineers. Is that outside the box enough for you?

Johnson admittedly has no basketball experience outside of being a fan, but no one can deny that someone with his resume has the ability to train, manage and lead large groups of people in mission critical projects. After helping coordinate billion dollar reconstruction efforts in Iraq, surely making sure that a couple of guys with whistles know to stand in the right spot to see the difference between a blocking foul and a charge will be a cake walk, right? Here's to hoping that's the case.

It did not take long for the Sacramento Kings to lock up their point guard of the future (I'm not crowning him, but he will be there for the foreseeable portion of it), as Sam Amick is reporting that the Kings and Beno Udrih have agreed to a five year deal that will pay him $30 million.

The deal for the fifth-year point guard can officially be signed when the free agency moratorium lifts on July 8. According to numerous sources, Udrih received the full five-year deal for the entire midlevel exception (approximately $6 million per season).

"It's good for everybody," Cornstein said. "They've expressed tremendous interest not just starting at 12:01 last night New York time but really from the get go.

"They took a chance on Beno when he was really kind of an outcast from San Antonio, and put him in a fantastic position and believed in him and gave him a chance to run their team. I think he's great for Sacramento, and I think Sacramento is great for him."

Whether he is great for Sacramento remains to be seen, because Beno does have his issues as an on-the-floor leader and distributor. However, out of the remaining options available to the Kings (all-in on Gilbert -- unlikely -- or someone like Chris Duhon) he was clearly the most realistically appealing.

Beno's return gives the Kings essentially the same roster from last season, injury aside, that actually made some noise in a tough Western Conference. And even if he's not the perfect slam dunk, the Kings locked up their starting point guard without having to sacrifice any other parts.

After much hand-wringing and "100 degree" reversals, Ron Artest decided against opting out of the final year of his contract with the Kings. By staying, he'll earn just $7.4 million, or less than half of the $16 million that guys like Elton Brand and Baron Davis left on the table in search of greener bank accounts pastures.

But while the Kings know they'll have Artest back (even if he's only a bargaining chip to be used in a trade), the same can't be said for Beno Udrih. Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings called Udrih the first moment they were allowed to offer him the full mid-level exception over five years, but that may not be enough. Instead of settling for a mere phone call, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy met face to face with Udrih last night in New York to make his pitch.

There's no word yet if the Clippers will match Sacramento's offer -- and they may not be able to commit to anything until figuring out what they're going to do with Brand and Corey Maggette -- but it's not surprising to see that Dunleavy made contacting Udrih a priority. The Clippers desperately need a point guard after finishing last year with Smush Parker and Brevin Knight sharing duties and officially giving up hope on Shaun Livingston, whose rights were renounced.

During a rather pedestrian draft night last Thursday, one of the more tender moments was Shan "Don't Call Me Shane" Foster's playing of a song he wrote just for the NFL draft. At the time, I may have said something cynical about it, but the more I think about it, rooting against the Joey Harrington of the NBA is just wrong.

Here's Shan's little jam he put together to discuss his feelings about being a professional basketball player.



It's actually kind of catchy, in a very irritating way. And, all Joey H. jokes aside, the dude does have a pretty sick voice. Or, as Dirk said*, "He's no 'Hoff, but he's pretty good."

H/T: Hot Clicks