The Clippers and Wizards' motives in the Jamison trade

You asked for it 'Stache, so I'm giving it to you.

The Clippers got involved in the Jamison trade to dump salaries and position themselves as major players in the big 2010 free agent market. The Clippers know they aren't going anywhere this season, so they've been making moves to clear cap space. They recently sent Marcus Camby and his expiring contract (who they wouldn't have resigned) to Portland for point guard Steve Blake, injured small forward Travis Outlaw, and $3 million. Both Blake and Outlaw have expiring contracts and it is unclear if L.A. will resign either of them or let their money come off the books. Outlaw is a quality small forward, which L.A. will need next season so there's a chance that he will be resigned.

With the Jamison trade, the Clippers ridded themselves of both Al Thornton's $2.8 million salary and Sebastian Telfair's expiring contract, which had a player option of $2.7 million for next season. Losing Telfair's contract is huge for L.A., because that's $2.7 million less that they probably would have had to pay. This leaves the Clippers with just four players under contract next season with Baron Davis at PG, Eric Gordon at SG, injured #1 pick Blake Griffin at PF, and center Chris Kaman, who just made his first All-Star appearance replacing the injured Brandon Roy. This could be an appealing roster for a big free agent like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, but let's face it, the Clippers aren't getting either of them. The Grizzlies' Rudy Gay might fit in well though, as small forward is the one position they lack in. Regardless, they have a solid foundation and a great deal of flexibility.

Drew Gooden (who's played on just about every NBA team in the past few years) will probably be bought out by L.A. and wind up on yet another team.

As for the Wizards, Gilbert Arenas' season-long suspension for bringing guns in the locker room has forced them to break the team up and start fresh. It will probably be a long rebuilding process, but it had to be done. It started with trading Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross.

Sending the 33 year-old Antawn Jamison to the Cavs was basically a favor to Jamison, who was a consistent contributor and stand-up guy during his time with Washington. There's a good chance Big Z will end up being bought out and resigned by the Cavs, so the Wizards should have tried to get more than just Al Thornton, Josh Howard, and change for everything they gave up. But they had to move on. They will now have enough cap space to sign a free agent to a max contract, but I doubt anyone is eager to head to Washington right now.

Thornton has shown upside but seems like he isn't much of a game changer. Josh Howard was an All-Star not but a few years ago, but he has become inconsistent as of late. He has also had off-court issues that made him fall out of favor with the Mavs, such as admitting he smoked weed in the offseason and making a comment on video about not celebrating the Star-Spangled Banner because he's black.

Now the Wizards biggest priority is trying to void Gilbert Arenas' absurdly huge contract. If Arenas is sentenced to prison time it might help them get it done, but a team has never voided a contract so it remains a long shot.

There's definitely a lot more to it than all of this, but I've already been writing posts that are too long for Dank Game's half-assed standards. Writing about trades is too much work.

Does that help, 'Stache?

Really, Gil? (UPDATE)

For those who haven't heard, Gilbert Arenas is under investigation by federal authorities for having guns in his locker, which he claims to have brought to the arena to keep away from his children. Apparently he set the unloaded guns next to Javaris Crittenton's locker as a joke (which is actually believable considering it's Gilbert Arenas) after Crittenton had said he would shoot Arenas' oft-injured knee following a gambling dispute. The whole thing sounds like a joke that was taken way too far. From what I've read, it seems that Crittenton may have actually been upset over the money Arenas supposedly owed him. Arenas claims the two are still friends, though.

Arenas has taken the whole thing as a joke, and judging by this photo from last night's game against the 76ers in Philadelphia, he's still not taking it very seriously. Arenas claims that he was asked to do this pre-game dance, and that it was a play off of a touchdown celebration from "Any Given Sunday." I have a feeling things are going to get a lot less funny for Gil real soon.

Despite the ongoing distraction for the Wizards, Arenas scored 19 points and dished a season high 14 assists to rally from an 18 point deficit. Guard Nick Young scored 21 points to help fuel the comeback. Legal troubles notwithstanding, the 76ers are at an even lower low than the Wizards after this loss. And to think, I predicted these two teams would make the playoffs. At least I had them as the 7th and 8th seeds.

UPDATE: It has been reported that Gilbert Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Although Stern originally planned to wait out the federal investigation before assessing his punishment for Arenas, Gilbert's "ongoing conduct has led [Stern] to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game." For more on this, check out J.E. Skeets' post on Ball Don't Lie. On the very same blog, NBA sportswriter/blogger Kelly Dwyer has written an interesting post criticizing Gilbert's behavior throughout this whole mess.

Heat split back-to-back

The Miami Heat are now 4-1, which is an encouraging start for a team many observers had missing the playoffs. They should be 5-0 if it weren't for an awful 4th quarter in which they only scored 15 points. Michael Beasley was largely absent in the past two games during the final quarter, as coach Erik Spoelstra seems to still lack confidence in Beasley when the games matter most. While it is understandable with Haslem playing strong down the stretch in the previous game against the Bulls, you can't help but wonder if Michael's offense could've helped them win the game.

Speaking of Spoelstra, sometimes his rotations are truly mystifying. At the beginning of the fourth quarter against the Suns, Spoelstra had a lineup of Carlos Arroyo, Dorell Wright, James Jones, Joel Anthony, and I think Quentin Richardson. That just isn't going to work. Maybe if J.O. were on the floor, Spoelstra might explain that he is spacing the floor with shooters, but Joel Anthony was playing center, who doesn't even come close to demanding a double team. Hell, Anthony can more or less be left open on offense. That's not how you close games as a coach.

The Heat started out strong against the Wizards last night, ending the first quarter up 31-17. While the Heat's defense has looked strong, this good start can also be credited to turnovers by the Wizards. Dwyane Wade carried most of the offensive load early in the game and the Heat also had to rely on Wade to close out the game, which is a growing concern. Wade finished with 40 points, going 14 of 26 from the floor.

Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal have got to step up their offense and rebounding if the team wants to be considered even marginal contenders. O'Neal finished with 4 points and 7 boards, while Beasley had just 10 points and 4 boards. The Heat forced the Wizards to 37% shooting, but they also gave up 13 offensive rebounds.

Quentin Richardson continues to be a big addition for the Heat, especially in these last two games. His defense has been great throughout the season, but he's finally starting to find his outside shot going 5-7 from deep against the Wiz. He's also provided great hustle on both ends of the court.

Another glaring problem for the Heat that has come to light in the past two games is the point guard position. Chalmers has provided some quality offensive play, but he just couldn't handle guarding Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas who both had big games. Carlos Arroyo couldn't even stay on the floor against the Wizards as Arenas quickly forced him into foul trouble.

Despite all of the Heat's problems, they've shot well as a team, played overall good team defense, and they're off to a 4-1 start. I'm hoping that Daequan Cook can come back soon from his shoulder injury, as he was a key factor to the Heat's success in the first half of last season. I'm also wondering what the status is on Jamaal Magloire who's yet to play after serving a two game suspension due to an altercation in the preseason with Pistons rookie Jonas Jerebko. Magloire has proved to be a serviceable center in limited minutes.

Slim's NBA Opening Night Observations

Celtics 95, Cavaliers 89

After seeing the newest versions of the Cavs and Celts, I can't envision Cleveland going all the way this year. I know it's only one game, but I just don't think they can win a seven game series against the Celtics or Magic. The Cavs frontcourt is just too unreliable. Shaq had his moments early tonight, but he just can't seem to produce over extended periods of time. Give credit to Boston's Kendrick Perkins for keeping Shaq out of the paint and forcing him into difficult shots. As for the rest of the Cavs' frontcourt, I think Zydrunas Ilgauskas is actually a dinosaur at this point and despite a few buckets early on tonight, Varejao is an offensive liability. Sure, Ilgauskus will knock down shots and Varejao will make hustle plays, but Big Z's due to retire which would leave them with nothing but Varejao, Leon Powe (who's productive but undersized), and JJ Hickson, assuming Shaq's a one-year rental. They're going to need something more in the frontcourt if they want LeBron to stick around, even though I'm sure he will.

Cleveland's bench is also a concern, which was downright outclassed by Boston's bench. Boobie Gibson has been a pretty big disappointment after seeming like a promising player during the Cavs' run to the Finals in '07. As a Heat fan, I was sad to see Jamario Moon leave for the Cavs this offseason, but he looked pretty bad tonight despite finishing a nice oop from LeBron at one point. Rasheed Wallace seems to be a great sixth man for Boston and Marquis Daniels fits in well as a versatile guard off the bench. Shelden Williams, on the other hand, looks like he'll struggle to escape being branded a draft bust. I don't expect to see much of him once Big Baby gets back from his thumb surgery, which is a pretty hilarious story, by the way. It involves Big Baby shirtless with a bloody nose. Need I say more?

Lakers 99, Clippers 92

My excitement for this game was deflated upon hearing Blake Griffin would be out for six weeks and rightly so. The Clippers looked pretty horrendous, putting up bad shots and turning the ball over 20 times. Despite dishing 8 assits, Baron Davis shot just 1-10 from the field. Second year guard Eric Gordon was impressive though, posting a team high 21 points.

As for the Lakers, Kobe was Kobe, Bynum was impressive, Odom showed up, and Artest seems like he's still feeling things out. I don't have much else to say about this game other than I want more Shannon Brown.

Trailblazers 96, Rockets 87

The Rockets struggled to produce on offense having to rely on 6' guard Aaron Brooks (19 points, 5 assists) to carry the scoring load. Travis Outlaw and Brandon Roy led the Blazers in scoring with 23 and 20 points respectively, while new addition Andre Miller dropped 7 dimes.

Wizards 102, Mavericks 91

The Wizards overcame a 34 point effort by Dirk Nowitzki as Gilbert Arenas seems to have finally returned from injury. Agent Zero scored 29 points and dished out 9 assists. The NBA needs this guy, even if he isn't talking or blogging anymore.