Since we are a young blog, this is our first time doing a season preview. You’ll have to wait until Thursday for ours, because that’s the Hornets’ day. I’m sure we’ll be positively clairvoyant… Nah, we’ll probably we’ll just wait until 247 posts theirs and then copy off of them. (Kidding! Kidding!)

Boston Celtics
Jeff Clark: CelticsBlog.com
Jim Weeks: Green Bandwagon
FLCeltsFan: LOY’s Place
John Karalis: Red’s Army
Dustin Chapman: Celtics 24/7

New Jersey Nets
Dennis Velasco: About Basketball

New York Knicks
Joey: Straight Bangin’
Seth Rosenthal: Posting and Toasting

Philadelphia 76ers
Dannie & Pete: Recliner GM
Jon Burkett: Passion and Pride

Toronto Raptors
Franchise: RaptorsHQ.com
Ryan McNeill: Hoops Addict
Cuzzy: Cuzoogle

You can check out links to all the previews (more divisions coming up this week) at CelticsBlog.com, who are the folks responsible for orchestrating this whole shindig. Unless you already go there because you have a crush on Paul Pierce– wait, was that out loud?

Ju-Ju is taking on the presumptive champ, Shane Battier, in Round 3 of HoopsAddict.com’s Floor Burn Tournament, celebrating all things hustle.  This could be his last match unless you all rustle up the votes!  Do it!  Do it!

Um..yeah, and there was some U.S.A.-Germany game.  Sorry about that.   

these electronically stored zeroes and ones with the world, which results in words and images slow-loading or snap-loading, depending upon your WWW connection, onto your screen. And all to know that too tall too strong overpaid gladiators will kill lions for another team this year–or in Europe. Enjoy, you animals.

• Someone decided not to let lie the sleeping bear; only instead of roaring, it sniffled, poo-pooed its waker, and whispered that a measly $11.6 million per year, for five of them, would be enough to buy the summer’s most coveted restricted free agent, when the Grizzly has about forty-seven billion under its cap, hasn’t spent anything all summer, and the I-don’t-want-to-be-a-Hawk-and-am-not-cool-with-my-head-coach-player in question’s team had vowed to retain him. Seriously? Were they upset that they didn’t have another Pao Gasol to give away? Perhaps Chris Wallace has Alzheimer’s? News flash: the Hawks giddily matched, dancing their way to the bank, counting all the way the money they don’t have to pay their biggest name.
• Dear God, man, who knew it? Who knew it? Mike James is the next big name in the game of orange balls! Well, he does have the initials MJ. So did Michael Jordan, you know. And Magic Johnson. And, maybe, kind of, the “Chinese Magic Johnson.” Yup. He exists (CMJ, not MJ (James)). A.K.A. Sun Yue. At 1.8288 meters and 96.1615 kilograms (6′9″, 212 lbs. you anachronisms!), he is the archetypal point forward, just like MJ (Earvin). He was drafted by last year’s last losers in 2007 and can be glimpsed this year getting pummeled by other, better teams in the Olympics. And then on the end of L.A.’s bench next to Coby Karl.
• Some people like white chocolate, nothing wrong with that. But it’s dark chocolate that has the health benefits such as, among other things, lower blood pressure. So if the Clippers have done anything right this summer, it’s not throwing wads of cash at White Chocolate and pretending it’s a big move. Jason Williams got his new team, his new deal, but the 32-year-old is a back-up now, and the Clippers’ fans’ blood pressure can rest easier knowing that B-Diddy is their mainstay. And when Dark Chocolate’s knee/ankle/back/[insert injured body part here] goes out, the Clips know they have a starter-quality point guard they can rely on. Albeit, one that causes higher blood pressure.
• By the way, the reason we’re even talking about antioxidant-rich food is because the Clips first choice for their second point guard turned them down. Their former first point guard, Shaun Livingston, was offered a one-year guaranteed contract and said no. Interesting. No one knows if the man can take practice, let alone a full speed game, and he said no. Hmmm. Ask the 76ers second center, Jason Smith, how fragile these things are. He just blew out his ACL without any contact being made in practice. Wonder if his contract’s guaranteed? Then again, even making a pro-rata minimum (like G, Shannon Brown, who just signed with the Bobcats for 1-year and $800,000 following his 2nd season), the amount of which depends upon how long you’ve been in the league, is more than any one person could ever deserve to earn. These capitalist pigs will be the death of us all, I say!
• While we’re on the subject of the Clippers (are we? Damn, how did that happen!?), the other-L.A.-team also made the masterful move of swooping down and gathering in freakishly tall sharpshooter Steve Novak from the Rockets. He’s so valuable, the Rockets received the option of switching second round picks with the Clips in 2011. What?
• The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling! some say. It’s all Much Ado about Nothing! others say. Ballers to the Euroleagues is no big deal. Or maybe it is. Unless–they ALL say–you know, we lose someone like “King James”, LBJ, “Video-Game James,” or “The Chosen One.” Then it’s real. Then we’re in trouble. Then Boston and L.A. and the Knickerbockers can finally dispense with the cap to compete globally and buy their championships just like baseball teams. But that won’t happen. It won’t. Unless, those guys in question say, each doing something different around the pool, they pay him $50 mil a year. Or help him become a billionaire. Even MJ (Michael) lost a good $11 mil or so out of his $30 mil a year to taxes. But not if you play for the right team in Europe. Then THEY pay your taxes; what you read in the papers is what you keep (minus what you pay your agent, your publicist, your chef, your housekeeper, and the dozens of other blood-thirsty man-servant leeches). Think it’s crazy? Dime Magazine unearthed some interesting comments from ‘07, where the Lebrons talked about going global. Does it all fit into some masterplan? Think about it. Let’s say you’re a bank teller in Metairie. They pay you $10 an hour for 40 hours a week, 2 breaks a day, and an unpaid lunch. Only you talk to some cat from Greece while on vacation in the mediterranean and learn that their bank tellers make $50 an hour, work 30 hours a week, get several weeks more vacation, and their employers pay their taxes. Could you say you wouldn’t do it? It’s a global world, man. (Postscript: Kobe says he won’t sign an extension until he tests the global market. Read: I’ve won a scoring title, an MVP, and a championship, what do I have left to prove other than that I can get more money than Lebron from Euro teams with no cap?) P.S.S. What’s three inches shorter than me, weighs about twenty pounds less, and will make about 3.5 million more a year than I ever will in the coming year? Earl Boykins. Italian League. Virtus Bologna. [Author shakes his head dejectedly...]
• The floor, the floor, the floor is on fire. So for fuck’s sake go vote in the Floor Burn Tournament and give Ju-Ju his props. Vote! Vote again. Vote from a different computer. Trick the statistical gods with celebratory defiance! Hahaha! The man is only winning by 1449 votes, so get out there and Hype him!
• Meanwhile, in their effort to regain legitimacy, and to fill the gap at PG, the Heat signed former-Nugget, swingman forward, Yakhouba Diawara. He’s over 3 in reverse dog-years and started his career in the French leagues. Whoo.
• And what the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City? Wait. Scratch that. What the hell is wrong with Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise? When internet evidence pointed to their franchise being named the Thunder, they pulled the website. Just pick a fucking name already. No one’s going to care anyway.
• Darko hurt his Achilles playing with the Serbian National Team. Bummer. You gotta feel for a kid that’ so young and has struggled so much on the floor to be what people want him to be. No, not really, the man’s made obscene amounts of money just to disappoint people. We should all be so lucky.
• Toronto Globe and Mail reporter questioning Chris Bosh–Q: “Chris, would you take this opportunity [at the Olympics] to make a political statement?” A: “No.” Q: “Have you been instructed not to?” A: “Yes. It’s a no-win situation these days.” But ITS THOSE CHINESE COMMUNIST PIGS THAT CENSOR US!!! With their damn socialism, equal pay for disparate jobs, healthcare-for-all, government controlled propaganda….oh.
• Scraps to end, Warriors sign G, Anthony Morrow, and Cavs sign G, Tarence Kinsey. ‘Cause, you know, neither had enough players that you’d never heard of.

Just because, I’ll sign off with Kobe’s quote when asked about playing overseas: “I’d probably go,” Bryant said. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up … Peace out. Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50?” Nuff said.

Just kidding. This is a Hornets site. I leave you with this quote from SI.com:

Though Team USA boasts an eye-popping 49-0 record all-time when Kidd is listed on the roster, blind adherance to the history book is the worst mistake Mike Krzyzewski could make. The sooner Chris Paul takes over primary duties at the point, the better America’s chances to reclaim the gold.

That’s the end. For now.

Okay, so no big moves, but the NBA ranks to continue to be depleted by those heading overseas…

• Brian Skinner, PF:  signed by the Clippers.
• Walter Hermann, SF: re-signed by the Pistons.
• Adonal Foyle, C: re-signed by the Magic.
• Louis Williams SG: re-signed by 76ers.
• Dee Brown, SG: signed by the Wizards.
• JamesOn Curry, SG: waived by the Bulls.  Honestly, I just wanted to use the name “JamesOn.”  Seriously.  What were his parents thinking?
• Taureen Green, SG: recently traded to the Knicks and then cut, he apparently signed with Cai Zaragoza in Spain.
• Dwyane Mitchell, SG: this former D-League and Summer League  standout is getting his shot in the big league.
• Ndubi Ebi, PF: this big man, who played for the Hornets in Vegas, is heading to Carife Ferrara in Italy.
• Carlos Arroyo, PG: signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
• Nick Fazekas, SG: had his tender offer rescinded by the Clippers; that’s pretty weird.  I mean, they gave him an offer so he wasn’t a free agent, waited for the market to dry up with money already spent, and then let him go?  They can do that?  He too should tell the NBA to f*&# itself and head overseas for a big pay day.

Oh well.  That’s it for now.  Nothing huge.  Except the for the continued exodus of legit players to overseas teams.  It kind of makes me wonder how good these leagues are…

The summer of the defection continues and moves abound, with players switching allegiances, reuniting with old cities and coaches, and the NBA diaspora is in full swing in search of greener, tax-free pastures…summaries to follow, starting with the big splash:

• Rockets: get Ron Artest by giving up their first round pick this year, their first round in later years, and poor Bobby Jackson, who’s had trouble finding permanent residence as of late.
• Kings: give up their 1 year left with malcontent, Ron-Ron, and get (probably) Donte Green (there’s a 30 day waiting period after his signing), B-Jax, and a future 1st round pick. Smooth move. Also, if you hadn’t heard, they stole our Summer League sensation, Bobby Brown.
• Lakers: they may have had to let Ronny T go to do it, but the Lake-show retained the services of Sasha “the Machine” Vujacic for a cool 3 years and $15 million. Looks like a solid move in light of the $60 mil deals disclosed below…
• Warriors: the Bay Area cats finely chose to pony up for their big two free agents, paying out 6 years and $67 mil to keep SG(/PG?), Monta Ellis, and giving Andris “Not-so-Big-Daddy” Biedrins 6 years and $62 mil. GS also strangely choose to match the Clips’ offer sheet on Azubuike, because…um…they don’t have enough lanky swingman that don’t play D?
• Clippers: meanwhile, losing out on Azubuike, the Clips continued their own mad sprint this summer by signing SG, Ricky Davis, to a 2 year, $4.7 mil contract; not a bad replacement for Maggette, and um, for about $100 mil less. They also chose to waive F, Josh Powell, with Camby aboard.
• Bobcats: MJ’s crew finally signed their big man, Okafor, to a 6 year $72 mil contract. See The Machine, supra. They also re-signed C/F Ryan Hollis.
• Knicks: yes, yes, I swear, the Knicks are still around; the rumors of their demise have been greatly ex–er–linked to Isiah Thomas? Any way, deciding they didn’t have enough guards already on the roster, and refusing to cut Starbury, they picked up G, Anthony Roberson, from the Summer League. But realizing they then had 17 players (there is a max of 15 during the regular season), they traded away Renaldo Balkman for, um, two more players: Tauren Green and Bobby Jones, along with a 2nd round pick in 2010. So, realizing that they had 18 players, they quickly waived both, saving about $2 mil a year, and ending up with only 1 player over the ultimately allowable roster.
• Nuggets: apparently, their GM was told to make moves or find a new home. And he started by giving away Camby. Not content, he acquired Balkman from the Knicks, and then signed our own Birdman to a 1 year deal, and also gave G, Dahntay Jones, a contract. Wow. Strong moves.
• Pistons: interesting move in giving Kwame Brown 2 years and $8 mil; that’s a lot for someone everyone considers a bust in all three of his stops so far. They also signed G, Will Bynum. Woo.
• Timberwolves: re-signed restricted free agent Ryan Games, a nice move.
• Bulls: finally gave Luol Deng his big contract, at 6 years and $71 mil. And they think we overpaid for Posey. Cheer up Hornets fans, you could have been stuck with this.
• Hawks: fresh off their Josh-Childress-slap-in-the-face, they gave Mo Evans a 3 year deal worth $7.5 mil. Considering he started starting for the Magic last year, this is a nice pick-up. They also signed C, Randolph Morris.
• Nets: already having made several good moves this summer, the Nets lost Krstic, who didn’t appear to be a part of their plans anyway, to Triumph Moscow, for around $9 mil a year; and don’t forget Euro teams pay their players’ taxes, so that’s his take-home. Damn. I need to work in Europe.
• Magic: not content with losing players left and right, they waived F, James Augustine.
• Raptors: lost another player to Europe, as Jorge Garbajosa took off for Russia’s BC Khimski, the terms undisclosed; but let’s just assume its like they’re giving him all the money they “nationalized” after throwing that oil tycoon in jail. They did, however sign free agent G, Will Solomon, who conversely, played the last two seasons in Turkey.
• 76ers: continued their moves by signing G, Royal Ivey, and 3-point shooter, Kareem Rush. Guess Kareem didn’t like his brother, who his former team, Indiana, just drafted.
• Jazz: matched the OKC offer sheet on C.J. Miles, keeping him around. Smart move.

That’s it for now. Some news, some just recitation, but it’s all relevant because we’re going to play them all next year. Of course, it’s nothing to get excited over, because, you know, the Hornets will win it all anyway.

P.S. check back soon for Hype on TT6’s elsewhere declared Hiltonwatch.

A few quick notes from Monday’s Free Agent market:

• Josh Childress: headed to the Olympiakos team in Greece for 3 years, getting about $20 mil after taxes; Hawks can only match NBA offers, not international ones.
• Bostjan Nachbar: similarly, this ex-Net signed with Dynamo Moscow for 3-years and $14 mil.
• Ronny Turiaf: Warriors get their man when Lakers didn’t match the 4-year $17 mil offer from GS.
• Matt Barnes: Suns signed this ex-Warrior to a 1-year veteran minimum deal of $1.2 mil.
• Eddie House/Tony Allen: the Celtics re-signed these backups; allegedly both received deals of 2-years for over $2 mil per.
• Sebastian Telfair: the T-Wolves kept their PG by giving up a multiyear deal for an undisclosed amount. 
• Kurt Thomas: the Spurs lose, um, I mean “win” the KT sweepstakes, by re-signing this veteran forward. 
• Marcus Williams: not really free agency, but the Warriors traded for this Nets backup PG by giving a conditional 1st round pick.
• Keyon Dooling: ditto here, as the Nets gave up cash and a trade exception to the Magic for this guard.
• Brevin Knight/Jason Hart: in one last trade, Clips and Jazz exchanged backup PGs (BK to Utah, JH to L.A.).

Also to cross the newsticker, the NBA team formerly-known-as the Seattle Supersonics, will now be the “Oklahoma Thunder.”  And to their credit, they are already reporting over 16,000 season ticket requests.

Slacking here. Missed Summer League Game 3. Sorry folks. But I can give you the word on the end result. Hornets won. Not that that matters. What is important is that Ju-Ju and Hilton continued to look good. The biggest disappointment, though, has to be Adam Haluska, who again had a miserable shooting game; get you confidence back, son, because you know you can play. Our other starters, Bowman and Brown, continued to look good, with Brown looking more and more like a possible backup PG, and 6′9″ Bowman putting up his own 12 points on 3-6 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the line. Over at TrueHoop, Henry Abbott named Ju-Ju the best defender of the Vegas League and Brown the best surprise. The next game is on the 17th, at 5PM CST.

In the real NBA, Marcus Camby got traded by the Nuggets to the Clippers for, drum roll please, cap space. The Cavs gave Daniel Gibson a 5-year deal to keep him. The Knicks signed another guard, Anthony Roberson, to a 2-year deal. The Magic signed backup PG Anthony Johnson.

UPDATE: Bucks get Tyronne Lue and Malik Allen. T-Wolves re-signed Craig Smith. Also, Clips signed Kelenna Azubuike to a 3-year $9 mil offer sheet (Golden State still has the chance to match). Elsewhere, Darius Miles, out 2-years with an unprecedented “career-ending” medical designation, is trying out with several teams, in attempting a comeback. In Utah, the Jazz allegedly gave D-Will $2 mil more than CP got on his 4-year deal…suckers.

According to Boston.com: “New Orleans Hornets should know that in James Posey they are getting a pure mercenary, totally devoid of sentiment according to Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan.” This, after the guy helped bring them a ring? Wasn’t the whole city cheering him a few weeks back? That’s gratitude for you. A.K.A. the city that caused the scar across my eyebrow. Fuck Boston. Enjoy your one and done like the Heat had a few years back. We have a stacked line-up for the next 4 years.

Nola.com reports the Hornets are pushing hard to get James Posey. Elsewhere, the Spurs have signed Roger Mason away from the Wizards; in response, the Wiz signed Dee Brown to an offer sheet (he played in Turkey last year, and no, not that Dee Brown; the Jazz own his rights and can match the offer). Ex-Spur, Brent Barry, has signed with the Rockets. Everyone and their mother is still looking at Josh Smith (mothers that have cap space, that is).

This leaves Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, Ricky Davis, Jannero Pargo, and Emeka Okafor as some of the big names left not named Posey or Smith.

At midnight this morning, Free Agency officially began.  The NBA announced on Tuesday that the salary cap for the 2008-09 season will be $58.68 million, the luxury tax threshold will be $71.15 million, and the value of the mid-level exception will be $5.585 million. Over-the-cap teams can only offer the mid-level exception to free agents.  The Hornets are currently sitting at about $59 million with 10 players on their roster.  Re-signing Pargo, Wells, Anderson, or Bowen wouldn’t count against the salary cap, but the team can only offer other free agents the MLE, and will be sure that the combination of salaries offered stays under the luxury tax threshold.  I believe only Memphis and Philadelpia were originally under the salary cap, but Golden State and Los Angleles (Clippers) joined them after their free agents opted out.

Elsewhere, Philadelphia cleared up even more of their considerable cap space by trading Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth to Minnesota.  More shocking, Elton Brand appears to have given the 76ers a verbal committment on a 5-year $80 million contract.  Back on the West Coast, Golden State is rumored to have won the Maggette sweepstakes in the 5-year $50 million range, showing us what Maggette was really after.  On the flipside, GS looks to have lost Mikael Pietrus to Orlando in the 4-year $20 mil range.  Multiple reports believe the Hornets have targeted James Posey.

But mostly, it’s all still rumor.  That said, the time for speculation is largely over.  The pens are out and the papers ready to sign.  Hopefully, with a few of the bigger names getting cleared out, and with the cap numbers known, we’ll finally start to see some action from the Hornets.

I’ll try to keep updating as news comes in. Chris Duhon is expected to choose today between the Knicks and Bulls. The Jazz, who tried signing Maggette a few years ago are now said to be pushing hard. We can’t like him going to either Utah or San Antonio. Or anywhere in the West, really. Speaking of the West, the Lakers seem to be talking to James Posey and Brent Barry…

After making a qualifying offer to Nenad Krstic of $2.7 mil, the Nets are said to be eyeing a sign and trade. With a lack of small guys, could they be eyeing a trade for Mike James or Rasual Butler? Both make more than Krstic, but a 7-footer who likes to escape to the outside might be a nice add, if slightly dupliciative of D-West’s game. But taller. And with less skill. Hmmm.

The suspense is killing me. I want confirmed Hornets rumors. Damn it.

EDITED UPDATES: the good news? CP3 seems to have agreed to a 4-year $68 million deal. Still no other word on Hornets moves. As for the rest? Like everyone else, the Warriors are now talking to Corey Maggette. Seriously? I guess with B-Diddy gone they can give him some loot, but if he goes elsewhere, how bad will they have blown it? Especially with Brand indicating he’s probably going back to Hollywood and Arenas now saying he’s agreed to a 6-year $111 mil deal with the Wiz, taking considerable less than the max. Hmmm….why didn’t CP do that? As a rarely lucid Arenas opined, “What can I do for my family with $127 million that I can’t do with $111 million?” Interesting.

Elsewhere, Rockets (like many other teams) say James Posey may be their missing piece. The Bulls are talking to Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. Interestingly, Josh Smith visited the 76ers and left without an offer, but with the Hawks promising to match any offer, maybe that’s not a surprise. Especially as they’re talking to Josh Childress now and the Salary Cap won’t be set until Tuesday. Among the 9 or so teams talking to Monta Ellis? Knicks. Among everyone that’s talking to Maggette, Celtics; apparently he’s good friends with Doc. Here’s the funny thing. The Celtics could re-sign Posey to the full MLE, pick up a bunch of scrub free agents for a combined $4+ mil to fill out the roster, and then give Maggette about $10 mil a year before reaching the Knicks payroll. Not saying it’s going to happen. Just pointing out how fucked the Knicks are and/or how hard it is to end up 23-59. I mean you have to really want to suck.

That’s all I got for now.