JR Smith and Wilson Chandler Returning To the NBA?
In a tweet that was heard around the world, or well around twitter, Marc Stein stated that there is a chance that both Wilson Chandler and JR Smith could return to the NBA.
In Stein’s words,
"Newsy wrinkle in union memo to players w/all deal points: NBA teams will be allowed to pay $500,000 to buy players out of deals in China"
What it means is while Smith and Chandler have the obligations of fulfilling their contract, NBA teams can assist in a buyout if they offer $500,000 to their China teams – of course the teams would have to agree to the buyout.
Stein also tweeted that the China teams, Chandler’s Zhejiang Guangsha and Smith’s Zhejiang Golden Bulls, were threatened with serious sanction if they released the two players. But they could still release the players if they get a good enough refund.
If released from their contract, there isn’t any reassurance that either will be a Nugget.
Smith will most likely find a new home and teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls and even the Cleveland Cavaliers were once interested in his services. However, Smith would fit in better with an up-and-coming team like the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chandler returning to the Nuggets is possible. His agent, Chris Luchey, talked to the Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri on Monday and told CNNSI’s Sam Amick.
"We’ve been in contact with Masai. He called the first day they were able to communicate. They have a strong interest in keeping him on long term. They’re the first team that we’ve been communicating with, the team that we’ve had consistent dialogue with since we’ve been able to communicate."
That is a positive thing, but if Chandler decided he didn’t want to play in Denver, or if he wanted to be a big player in the free agent market, he could just sign a one-year deal with the Nuggets and be an unrestricted free agent in 2012.
NBA Announce New Rules
In order to improve the game the NBA announced a set of new rules Wednesday. Now the question is how long will the rules stay in effect and will the star-treatment come into play?
The biggest new rule is called the ‘rip-through’ move, in which an offensive player swings the ball into a defender’s outstretched arm and then attempts a shot once he has create contact, it would be considered a non-shooting foul.
Of course players like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Chauncey Billups are known for the move and calling a foul on the play is ridiculous.
And supposedly the league will make traveling in the post an emphasis, I’ll believe it when I see it, especially when a player is hopping off of and landing on the same foot (ahem, Dwyane Wade) viewed as an automatic violation.
Another substantial rule change is two horns will be sounded 15 seconds apart after every timeout, teams who are making an effort to move to the court after the second whistle will be given a delay-of-game warning. This will probably last week before the officials start being lenient. The Nuggets were one of the biggest culprits the last few years, especially Billups and Kenyon Martin.
The other changes dealt with instant replay, backcourt violation and where a player’s foot is on the three-point line.
Nene Update
Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird is reportedly trying to talk Nene into accepting less money. Of course, he should join the club. No doubt, the Houston Rockets and the Nuggets are pushing for Nene to take a much smaller deal.
In fact, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nuggets have re-emerged as a major suitor since none of the team’s bidding for Nene’s services are willing to offer him $14-15 million to sign him. It’s doubtful the Nuggets will offer him as much either but they also have an ability to offer him a fifth year. So lets just say, Nene signs a deal ranging around $56 million for five years with the Nuggets he’d be making the same amount of money he’d be with another team if they offer him $14 a year, only less a year and he’d be locked up until he is 33 years old, instead of 32.
Wojnarowski also added that despite the Nuggets and Boston Celtics pursuing Thaddeus Young, he’d like to stay with the Sixerse.
Hamilton vs. Miller
The Nuggets shot a video of rookie Jordan Hamilton going one-on-one with Nuggets veteran point guard Andre Miller on Wednesday.
The video also showed Miller’s post up move as he took the 6-foot-8 rookie into a post for an easy layup.
Hollinger’s Player Profiles
If you are a stat geek then John Hollinger has to be god. And Wednesday he put out the Nuggets’ player profiles.
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