Barbosa Leaves Camp to Tend to Ill Mother

The excitement of the first day of training camp was tempered by the absence of guard Leandro Barbosa, who had to leave for Brazil to be with his critically ill mother. Ivete Barbosa is well-known within the Suns family. She often spends extended parts of the season in the Valley, cooking traditional family meals and rooting on her son. She overcame a bout with a serious illness a few years ago but has suddenly fallen gravely ill.

Gift wrapped for Brooklyn: The 2008-2009 New Jersey Nets

I have always been resistant to change.

Even if I knew it was coming a mile away.

Last February, I got the opportunity to see the Nets at their best for what turned out to be their last time together against a major opponent.

And with the trade deadline looming, there were already some notable changes on their roster as the Nets shipped forward/center Jason Collins to Memphis for underachieving forward Stromile Swift. A few days later, team captain Jason Kidd followed suit when New Jersey sent him back to the very team that drafted him (Dallas Mavericks) for Devin Harris and other players.

Change was coming.

I just didn’t know how fast.

Nets Team President Rod Thorn and the rest of the Nets brain trust have been very busy this off-season. Having traded away their franchise’s second all-time leading scorer—Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks for China’s Yi Jianlian and underachieving forward Bobby Simmons.

The Nets also did very well for themselves in the 2008 NBA Draft after they bagged Stanford’s 7′0” center Brook Lopez at #10, 6′10” forward Ryan Anderson at #21, and arguably the steal of the draft at #40—Memphis scoring guard-forward Chris “CDR” Douglas-Roberts.

Rod Thorn didn’t stop there as he also allowed forward Bostjan “Boki” Nachbar to sign with a Russian team and sent guard Marcus Williams to the Golden State Warriors for a future lottery-protected 1st round pick.

With that said, the only Nets left from last season’s roster are Darrell Armstrong, Josh Boone, Nenad Krstic, Sean Williams, Vincent Lamar Carter and his $61.8 million dollar extension. Of those five players, only Boone, Williams, and Carter are certain to make the final roster.

The New Jersey Nets have certainly positioned themselves well for the unrestricted free agent boon of 2010 that will feature the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr., Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Walter Ray Allen, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Manu Ginobili, Tracy McGrady, and for what it’s worth, Shaquille O’Neal. This list can further increase if players who hold Early Termination Options (ETO) in their existing contracts decide to exercise them. They are Amare Stoudemire, Michael Redd, Tyson Chandler, Richard Jefferson, Yao Ming, and Dirk Nowitzki.

If the Nets don’t land LeBron James in 2010.

They are not short on alternatives from the wealth of talent on that list.

Kudos to the Nets brain trust on their foresight.

Brooklyn may not only be getting a team two years from now.

But a solid contender.

Addendum:

- DeSagana Diop and the Dallas Mavericks agreed on a five-year, $31 million deal (the team’s full midlevel exception) last July 9, 2008. It will be Diop’s second stint with the Mavericks after being a part of the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris deal six months earlier

- What exactly did the Nets get in the Marcus Williams deal? Fred Kerber of nypost.com shares that “if the Warriors are in the playoffs in 2011, the Nets get their first round pick. So it’s lottery-protected in 2011.

He adds “if the Nets are still waiting for the pick in 2012, they get G. State’s first rounder, as long as it’s not 1-through 11. If they’re still waiting in 2013, they get the first rounder as long as it’s not 1-through-10. But 2013 is the cutoff. If they haven’t gotten the pick by then they get two second rounders, in 2013 and 2015.”

Sounds as shady as Marcus Camby being dealt for a 2nd round pick, if you know what I mean.

- Lastly, at the age of 40, guard Darrell Armstrong won’t be back with the Nets for the upcoming 2008-2009 NBA season.

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Now playing: Jack Johnson – Never Know
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Magic Johnson, Gilbert Arenas Help Raise $600K for Homeless

Filed under: Casually Obsessed, Sports

Black Voices Blogs: Over the weekend, Magic Johnson and Gilbert Arenas connected with Freddie Mac for their Hoops for the Homeless Tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Magic hosted the event while Arenas coached one of the basketball teams which… Read more

‘3 Points’ Shows Basketball’s Tracy McGrady’s African Aid Journey

In the LOS ANGELES TIMES, John Horn writes “Tracy McGrady chose to leave all luxuries behind and see firsthand how the world’s least fortunate survive in Africa. His riches-to-rags journey is chronicled in the new documentary, ‘3 Points,’ an account of McGrady’s visit last year to three African refugee camps. McGrady’s journey was both personal and emotional. To visit the barren camps, he had to forsake any number of usual niceties. That included McGrady’s having to sleep in a tent for the first time. His trying to get along without air conditioning. He had to worry about land mines. His eyes were quickly opened.”

Knicks Sign Allan Houston

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Allan Houston has been re-signed as a free agent. Originally retiring on Oct. 17, 2005 following training camp three seasons ago, Houston is the team’s fourth leading scorer in franchise history during the regular season (11,165) and eighth leading scorer during the playoffs (1,139).

Nuggets Add Juwan Howard to Training Camp Roster

The Denver Nuggets have signed forward Juwan Howard to their training camp roster, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

MMA > Pro Wrestling

Like so many others, professional wrestler Kurt Angle is going to test his skills in the octagon. He announced this week that he plans on fighting Mixed Martial Arts by the end of next year (2009). I can’t wait to see this. Before wasting a whole lot of time and talent with the sham that is professional wrestling he was a championship wrestler. Gold medal in fact. He claims he wants to just try out MMA and return to pro wrestling at some point.

“God-willing, I’ll walk away successful and I can come away from MMA saying ‘I did it’ and go back to my professional wrestling roots.”

what do you think Shaq?

I personally think it would be a shame if he started MMA just for kicks and then left to that dog and pony show that is TNA.

Fellow professional wrestler Brock Lesnar successfully made the transition to the octagon back in 2006 and I dont think he is going to return to the Pro ring. check this guy out.

He beat that guy in just over a minute. Pounded his face in. Incredible.

The growing popularity of mixed martial arts is opening up all sorts of new opportunities for college athletes that want to pursue sports on the next level. There are countless former college wrestlers in the MMA world now.

I personally find MMA to be one of the most exciting sports out there today. It’s not long an drawn out like boxing and has all the violence anyone could ask for. Watching 2 guys fighting until one gives up or is unconcious is something humans have been doing for centuries. It entertains the masses and takes incredible athletic talent which I can appreciate.

Lets Review

1.Kurt Angle needs to drop wrestling and do work in the octagon

2. Brock Lesnar stays winning

3.TNA stays losing

4. Watch the debate tonight, Play Palin Bingo, Vote

Warriors Sign Justin Williams

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Justin Williams to a contract as a training camp invitee, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced Sunday.

Pat Riley is at it again!

As soon as I heard the news that Randy Pfund had resigned, I knew. Now, this Miami Herald article has given me all the proof that I need. Pat Riley has pushed another employee out for his gain. We’ve seen this before haven’t we? For all of you who don’t remember, Stan Van Gundy was the Miami Heat’s coach once. He even lead them to the brink of the Eastern Conference Finals with a young rookie named Dwyane Wade. With that success and the addition of……

Abdur-Rahim Joins Kings Coaching Staff

The Sacramento Kings today added Shareef Abdur-Rahim to their coaching staff as an assistant coach, it was announced by Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. Abdur-Rahim, a 12-year NBA veteran, recently retired his playing career due a reoccurring knee injury.