Can someone please post the insider article about NBA moves that will fall flat? I have a feeling that they are going to talk about the Jeffries deal. Sometimes I think if we do anything or nothing we will get criticize for it no matter what.

Here is the article:


Seven offseason moves most likely to disappointBy Antonio Williams
Scouts Inc.

On Wednesday, we looked at the smallest moves that should have the biggest impact. Now let's look at the flip slide -- the big moves most likely to disappoint.

This time of year, teams take big risks to fill voids on their rosters. While some moves work, many transactions end up hindering development and financial flexibility for that franchise.

These seven moves, designed to make a big difference, have the potential to result in little impact.

1. Knicks sign Jared Jeffries
After a disastrous season, the Knicks have to change the identity and the chemistry of the franchise. As part of the offseason makeover, coach-president Isiah Thomas signed Jared Jeffries, late of the Washington Wizards.

Jeffries is most effective on the defensive end and distributing the ball, and New York does not have many players on its roster who do those two things. Jeffries has the ability to defend the shooting guard as well as both forward positions. Jeffries also handles the ball well for a player of his size, even spending some time running the point for the Wizards last year. The Knicks will benefit from Jeffries' versatility and the fact that his effectiveness does not depend on his number of shots per game.

But here is the fly in the ointment. Jeffries cost the Knicks $30 million over five years. In essence, the Knicks will pay $60 million for Jeffries, since New York resides in the high-rent district known as luxury-tax land.

Also, the Knicks just drafted a player, Renaldo Balkman, who has many of the same talents Jeffries possesses. In Jeffries, the Knicks might have paid $60 million for a slightly taller duplicate of Balkman.

2. Nuggets re-sign Nene
The Nuggets' re-signing rugged power forward Nene did not surprise many people.

The surprise came with the price tag -- the Nuggets gave a five-year, $60 million contract to a player who missed all but one game last season with a torn ACL and played in only 55 games the year before. While size is a premium in the NBA, this deal still raised eyebrows.

Denver already had made a long-term, very expensive commitment to a big man in Marcus Camby. Also, the Nuggets continue to shop, without much success, another big man with a big salary and big injury history in Kenyon Martin. (Also, the Nuggets acquired frontcourt player Joe Smith on Thursday.)

While Nene does have the potential and the tools to develop into a solid NBA big man, injuries and depleted minutes could hinder his effort to play well enough to justify the huge contract. As of now, he still has not fully recovered from his ACL injury.

3. Hornets acquire Peja Stojakovic
New Orleans/Oklahoma City desperately needed a consistent shooter to pair with stud point guard Chris Paul. In a sign-and-trade deal with the Indiana Pacers, the Hornets acquired the best shooter on the open market, Peja Stojakovic, the two-time winner of the league's 3-point shooting competition.

The Hornets will benefit from Stojakovic's extensive playoff experience, and with Paul giving him plenty of touches, Peja could have a big year for the Hornets.

However, Stojakovic has a habit of missing significant amounts of time because of injuries. Also, Stojakovic's play has declined since the 2003-04 season, when his performance warranted serious MVP consideration.

New Orleans/Oklahoma City took a big risk in committing $64 million over five years to a player with a significant injury history and declining production.

4. Lakers sign Vladimir Radmanovic
The roller-coaster ride known as the 2006 playoffs provided the Lakers with a crystal clear look into their future. The team had to upgrade its offense and lessen the load on Kobe Bryant. Also, the triangle offense requires spacing and good outside shooting, especially when the team does not have a consistent low-post scoring option (other than Bryant).

So the Lakers signed Vladimir Radmanovic to a five-year, $30 million deal. While Radmonovic does have the ability to help the Lakers with his shooting touch, in particular from 3-point range, he does not rebound well for a 6-foot-10 player. He also seems very indifferent on the defensive end, which will not sit well with Phil Jackson.

Radmanovic's play and attitude decline when he does not touch the ball often, and he might not be content with the number of shots he has after Kobe and Lamar Odom get theirs. He has not sustained a consistent level of play during his career and sometimes seems to suffer from Randy Moss Syndrome -- i.e. playing hard only when he feels like it.

5. Hornets sign Bobby Jackson
After losing valuable backup point guard Speedy Claxton, New Orleans/Oklahoma City wasted no time in signing the explosive Bobby Jackson. Jackson won the 2003 Sixth Man of the Year Award and the Hornets will look to him to provide the same level of production this season. Jackson can score in bunches and has the ability to spell Paul at the point guard position as well as play some minutes at shooting guard.

The Hornets are reuniting Jackson with a former Sacramento Kings teammate, Stojakovic, and the two players have a couple of things in common -- significant playoff experience and a tendency to miss large chunks of time with injuries.

Jackson's production has declined since the 2002-03 season and he has played in 70 games only once since then.

6. Suns sign Marcus Banks
The Suns needed a backup point guard to lessen the load on All-World point guard Steve Nash, and they might have found their guy in Marcus Banks. After Boston traded Banks to Minnesota, he showed a glimpse of the potential that made him a lottery pick in the 2003 draft.

He will have the chance to utilize his quickness and penetrating ability in the Suns' wide-open offensive attack. He also will provide Phoenix with a strong on-ball, perimeter defender.

Banks signed a five-year, $21 million dollar contract with the Suns. While Phoenix did not break the bank to sign Banks, it did pass over some cheaper alternatives. The Suns drafted and traded away Rajon Rondo, a player many scouts believe has talents very similar to Banks' skills.

The Suns also signed Leandro Barbosa to an extension, which might affect Banks' minutes. Most importantly, Phoenix wants to re-sign Boris Diaw to an extension while keeping the team's nucleus intact and avoiding the luxury tax. Keeping Rondo instead of signing Banks could have helped the Suns save some money to re-sign Diaw.

7. Trail Blazers acquire Jamaal Magloire
All-Star centers do not become available for trade very often in the NBA. That explains why the Blazers traded Steve Blake, Brian Skinner and Ha Seung-Jin to Milwaukee for Jamaal Magloire.

Magloire made the All-Star team for the Hornets during the 2003-04 season. However, several factors make this move questionable.

Magloire's numbers have declined since his breakout season. Portland also just made a long-term commitment to center Joel Przybilla, signing him to a five-year, $32 million contract. And the Blazers have big men Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge on their roster.

On the plus side, Magloire does have an expiring contract. If Portland manages to move him for another piece that will help this team rebuild, the Blazers will move off this list.

Antonio Williams is an NBA scout with Marty Blake and Associates and a regular contributor to ESPN's Scouts Inc.

But the frustrating thing about the whole situation is that whatever we do for now on is wrong. These authors think that ny do not know what they are doing. even if we get a colossal trade that would get us garnett they would say, "garnett is too old" or "ny makes another plan that will fall flat". i am tired of this. no matter what we are screwed according to all critics. i liked the deal not because he can defend and does not need the ball. but because he is a positive locker presence which is something that was the worst last year. he adds professionalism. does balkman, a rookie, add that to the locker room? these are the same idiots that said,"balkman, what is thomas doing?"

I too just shake my head when I read what most people write about this teams moves recently. We have few players that distribute the ball and so we draft two ball distributor defenders in Balkman and Collins and add jared who is even more GAME ready and has more size and ability. So this is a bad move? WHAT is wrong with these people.

I think they're misreading what Jared does for this lineup. He's a guy that FILLS IN the gaps in our game. He's not there to score, but can get that bucket when the D is shifting to stop our main scorers. He's not the main rebounder but can grab them and makes our entire frontcourt that much more difficult to keep off the boards. WHY, cuz he's gonna be bigger than most SF's he's playing against and will have a better shot at the ball, while the other teams main rebounders are fighting with Curry and Frye. He will be a dependable defender. He will make the other guys better due to his extended range on D. This will allow Frye and Curry to cover a smaller area of the court and thus be more effective. Then there's the trickle down effect. He shifts a guy like Lee to a more comfortable position as backup PF and Lee's such a good rebounder and team player that Lee should flourish in that role. When guards get by Steph and Francis they'll see 3 near 7'ers and even tho they aren't fierce shot blockers they will be more formidable than you think. Especially in a Zone.

It also gives Isiah so many more options. He can go small or go big for defense with Jamal, Jared, Lee, Frye and Curry. In the end I believe this will prove to be Isiah's best move and the one that allows this team to return to winning games.

Looks like i spoke to soon about the But.

I don't see the problem in having Balkman & Jefferies. It comes down to Isiahs system. And how he is able to slide them into different spots.

Everyone said Isiah needed some dawgs. Now he has some.

I don't really see what the problem is, I liked the JJ signing i think that it will help and its always nice to have role players, everyone gets so upset anytime anyone says anything about the Knicks and most of the time its true, and if it comes from bill simmions its funny

We essentially paid $60 million for a player that averages 7 and 5 with our midlevel

Last summer we paid $31 million for a player that averaged close to 4 and 4

So its justified especially when we don't match the butler signing at a fraction of the cost, and bring in high priced players with bad attitudes......

And Balkman does many of the same things jj does, does that mean he was a great pick at 20, no! He would have still been there later in the draft......but with the logjam the team has it seemed to be overkill to sign jj, while I disagree because defensive minded unselfish players are essential to have, and perhaps with arenas,butler,aj taking 60 shots a game jj didn't really get the touches to be effective.....but if you look at everyone else on the list its a fair list, we were also on the list last year as the worst offseason pickup, so frankly everyone has been right on about the moves the knicks have made.....

Critics didn't like the KT deal which turned out in the suns favor
No one was wild about the crawford deal
The JJ deal everyone was against
Francis deal got slammed, we will see what happens
As did the trade for Mo and the signing of vin baker

So there is a lot of anti knick writters out there but lets face the facts