West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Now_Im_Not_Banned on July 16, 2007, 07:23:25 PM
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Joe Smith chooses Bulls over Sixers (http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/Sixers__0039__Smith_may_be_heading_to_the_Bulls.html)
By David Aldridge
Inquirer Staff Writer
PARTNER OFFER
LAS VEGAS - The 76ers lost out on their top off-season priority Friday night, with free-agent forward Joe Smith agreeing to a two-year, $10 million deal with the Chicago Bulls.
The Sixers had been pleasantly surprised with the 31-year-old Smith, the former first pick overall in the 1995 draft, who was a piece in the Allen Iverson trade with the Denver Nuggets last winter.
Smith played in 54 games with the Sixers, averaging 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 25 minutes a game. But he quickly became a solid presence in the locker room and a teacher to some of the team's younger players, and president and general manager Billy King wanted very badly to re-sign him.
"Philly really couldn't come up with the same package," said Dan Fegan, Smith's agent. "We tried. I really like both of those groups. We wouldn't have sent him to another team if the dollars were the same."
The Sixers' best offer was a three-year deal for $10 million.
The Bulls had been interested in Smith from the beginning of the free-agent process, looking for a veteran big man to come off the bench. Chicago also re-signed its own restricted free agent, Andres Nocioni, to a $38 million deal earlier in the week.
Also, free-agent center Mikki Moore accepted a three-year deal with the Sacramento Kings. Moore was one of the more coveted big men available, but the 76ers were more interested in either re-signing Smith or signing center Darko Milicic, who agreed to a three-year deal with Memphis for $21 million.
A source indicated that Milicic may have come to the Sixers on a two-year agreement if he had not gotten the three-year deal in Memphis.
Bulls remain a powerhous in the east...
PG Kirk Hinrich...Chris Duhon/Jamson Curry
SG Ben Gordon... Thabo Sefolosha/Adrian Griffin
SF Luol Deng...Andres Nocioni/Viktor Khryapa
PF Tyrus Thomas...Joe Smith
C Ben Wallace...Joakim Noah/Aaron Gray
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Spurs in negotiations with Udoka (http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=7a50eaba-eac9-482d-9038-db4732a0b553)
Posted By: Mike Bachmann
According to a report out of Portland, the Spurs have interest in Portland guard Ime Udoka. Mike Barrett, the Portland Trailblazers play-by-play announcer, wrote on his blog Friday, "It appears that Ime Udoka has received a very strong offer from the San Antonio Spurs." Barrett goes on to write that it would be a 3-year contract worth about $3 million a year. To read the blog entry, click here.
News 4 also talked with Udoka's agent, Erin Cowan. He says that while the Spurs have shown interest, they have not extended an offer as of 5:30 Friday night. Cowan also said that he expected his client to make a decision soon.
Udoka started 75 games for Portland last year. He's a 6-foot, 5-inch guard that averaged 8 points a game for the Trailblazers last year, and has averaged 40% from 3-point range for his career.
The Spurs think Udoka is the next Bruce Bowen on the defensive end!
PG Tony Parker... Jaque Vaughn/Beno Udrih
SG Manu Ginobli...Michael Finley/Brent Barry
SF Bruce Bowen...Ime Udoka/James White
PF Tim Duncan...Robert Horry/Matt Bonner
C Frabricio Oberto...Francisco Elson/Tiago Splitter
The champs will be dethroned... 8)
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Why isn't PJ Brown on the roster, did he opt out or soemthin?
Ime Udoka is a great pickup. I always wanted the Lakers to bring him back.
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Why isn't PJ Brown on the roster, did he opt out or soemthin?
Ime Udoka is a great pickup. I always wanted the Lakers to bring him back.
PJ Brown is a free agent...
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SAS is crazy to give up Scola to Houston (though apparently Scola didn't want to be Duncan backup)... Scola and Yao can do some damages
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Why isn't PJ Brown on the roster, did he opt out or soemthin?
Ime Udoka is a great pickup. I always wanted the Lakers to bring him back.
PJ Brown is a free agent...
.....we should sign with the vets min.
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Why isn't PJ Brown on the roster, did he opt out or soemthin?
Ime Udoka is a great pickup. I always wanted the Lakers to bring him back.
PJ Brown is a free agent...
.....we should sign with the vets min.
I agree...I want either him or Mihm for the vets min.
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^^^^ Mihm will come back.. once he realizes no team gonna give the amount of money he wants
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Unlike some of you all i like Mihm. Shit he averaged 10+ points 2 years ago. We def need a guy who can score inside.
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lmao at joe smith being the 76ers top offseason priority
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^ I loved Mihm. But he just sat out 105 games in the last 2 seasons and has the nerve to ask for 5 million a season. If he gets his head on straight I'd be happy to see him back.
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Unlike some of you all i like Mihm. Shit he averaged 10+ points 2 years ago. We def need a guy who can score inside.
I've been liking Mihm...I remember he was our 2nd scoring option in a lot of scenarios before he got injured.
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lmao at joe smith being the 76ers top offseason priority
LOL...AND they failed. :-X
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^ I loved Mihm. But he just sat out 105 games in the last 2 seasons and has the nerve to ask for 5 million a season. If he gets his head on straight I'd be happy to see him back.
What's wrong with him asking money? If nobody will give them to him, he'll accept less.
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Unlike some of you all i like Mihm. Shit he averaged 10+ points 2 years ago. We def need a guy who can score inside.
I've been liking Mihm...I remember he was our 2nd scoring option in a lot of scenarios before he got injured.
Exactly. Actually he was the only one scoring 10+ a day other than Kobe at one point of the season.
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i'm pretty sure Noah will be playing more Power than he will center or at least he shoudl be, til big ben is out of there.
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Took a while, but...
Udoka's next stop? Looks like the Spurs (http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1186975533299330.xml&coll=7)
Monday, August 13, 2007JOE FREEMAN The Oregonian Staff
Ime Udoka, whose rise from the NBA Development League to NBA starter made him a fan favorite with the Trail Blazers, is poised to sign a multiyear contract with the reigning-champion San Antonio Spurs.
Udoka's agent, Erin Cowan, told The Oregonian on Sunday that Udoka has made a commitment to the Spurs and hoped to have a deal finalized by Tuesday.
Cowan would not reveal contract specifics, but sources have indicated that Udoka will sign a two-year deal worth more than $2 million. The second year could be a player option.
"San Antonio was the first team to contact us and we've been in communication with each other ever since," Cowan said. "They were very respectful to us during the process and allowed us to go out and seek more money. But the well dried up. Ime's excited for this opportunity."
Udoka had hoped throughout free agency to re-sign with Portland, Cowan said. But after the Blazers traded for James Jones and signed free agents Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake, the team had committed to the maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts. So he shifted focus.
Boston, Miami, Memphis, Cleveland and Dallas expressed interest, according to Cowan, with the Celtics -- after trading for Kevin Garnett earlier this month -- being the most serious bidders.
But financial terms never could be agreed upon and in the end, San Antonio became the ideal fit.
"This is an opportunity for Ime to play on the grand stage with the defending champions," Cowan said. "Portland will always be in his heart, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. He's going to play around three all-stars and a Hall of Famer, and he gets the opportunity to play for a champion right now."
Udoka, who played at Jefferson High School and Portland State, will provide San Antonio with solid long-range shooting, superior perimeter defense and a tireless work ethic.
The Blazers invited him to their training camp last season as an afterthought, but he blossomed into an opening-day starter. He started 75 games at small forward, averaging 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and shot 46.1 percent from the field, including 40.6 percent from three-point range.
Before the breakout season, Udoka was a journeyman, making professional stops in Europe, the NBA Development League and the NBA.
"He's excited to start the next phase of his career," Cowan said. "He wants to be a Spur for a long time."
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Udoka=Next Bowen (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/08/udoka_the_spurs_and_blake_in_b.html)
Posted by jfreeman August 13, 2007 12:47PM
In case you missed today's story in The Oregonian, Ime Udoka is on the verge of signing with the defending champs. I'm hearing the deal is worth a little more than $2 million over two years, and the second year probably will be a player option.
My first thought after hearing the particulars was, "Wait, couldn't the Blazers have afforded that?" Udoka and his agent, Erin Cowan, have said all along that the small forward wished to return to Portland, the franchise that allowed him to blossom from a D-Leaguer to NBA starter last season. But when Cowan told the Blazers early in free agency that one Western Conference team had offered a three-year deal for $12 million, the Blazers scoffed.
That deal -- and those dollars -- never materialized.
Cowan told me on Sunday that a couple factors hurt his client, most notably concerns about his knees (he has torn his anterior cruciate ligament twice). But I imagine teams were hesitant to unload $12 million on a player who just turned 30 and has just one season of experience as an NBA starter.
Which leads me back to the Blazers.
I imagine Udoka will thrive with the Spurs. He's a tireless worker and team-first guy who also happens to mix great perimeter defense with an excellent three-point shot. He would have been a good fit for this young Blazers team.
Just a hunch, but even with the roster limitations -- the team already has 15 players under contract for next season -- I think General Manager Kevin Pritchard would have found a way to retain Udoka for $2 million.