http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5700017915

snippets:

Free Agent Season
I’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on and I know that Maggette better thank Baron Davis for the contract he has because Baron opened up the market for him to get paid because if Baron hadn’t opted out there wouldn’t have been any money out there for him.

Elton Brand --- whoo! Elton Brand in Philly … it’s hard to tell how that will work out. The way Philly played last year, I would have went after Josh Smith hard. You got long, agile, up-and-down players and if you had Smith at the four, Dalembert at the five and Iguodala at the three, you would have had a jumping, running, young and exciting team. If you want to utilize Elton Brand, you’re going to have to slow the ball down. That should be interesting to see how that actually pans out.

Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee …. HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I’m sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going … let’s just say it’s not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one. I know Yi is happy though.

Baron Davis in L.A. … my biggest concern is whether he’ll be able to focus now that he’s in his hometown. He has a lot of stuff going on. He’s into movies, he’s home, a lot of people are going to be latching on to him … it’s going to be up to him whether it’s going to be successful. He wants to be in a bigger market, but the Clippers are the third team in L.A. First it’s the Lakers, then it’s the Dodgers and third might be the Clippers. And depending on the time of year, you might have some college teams more popular than the Clippers. But, good luck to him.

Corey Maggette and the Warriors … I’m still trying to figure out how they’re going to play him because they already got Captain Jack at the three. Maybe they’ll play Jack and him at the two and the three, then I guess it makes sense, but I don’t know. They have a lot of players at that position, that 2-3, small forward position.

Wizards Pickups
I don’t see James Posey coming, even though he did win his second ring. He might go ahead and go for the money, but if the thinks he can get a third one he might go back. It would be nice to get a backup three now that Roger is with the Spurs.

JaVale McGee, from what I’ve seen on YouTube, is very long, very agile … a little on the thin side, but block shots. Hopefully he’ll be a little like a Tyson Chandler, maybe he can score a little bit better, we’ll have to see how his development goes. He reminds me of a young Marcus Camby a little bit. He has a little soft touch.

I liked Dee Brown when he was in college with Luther Head and Deron Williams, they had a nice little trio over there. Good luck to him trying to make the team, I know he’s going to be out in Vegas with them this week.

What Did I Say?
Some people got mad at me when I said that guys shouldn’t turn down money … Hey … that’s all I can say … Hey. For somebody who’s been in the league seven years and knows what to look for, it may have gotten agents and fans and my dad mad that I made that comment, but like I said, nothing is guaranteed. I was fortunate to get a contract this summer and some other people have been fortunate, but you never know. You never know what management’s plans are. They’ll ship you out. It’s like a recycling bin. People come in, people leave. I see Derrick Rose went to Chicago, so now Chicago has to deal with Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes … somebody has to go.

Then you have Okafor too, he’s another guy who if he doesn’t go back to his own team, there’s not much money out there for him. And since their teams know there’s no money out there for them, what does that mean? There’s no competition, that means the teams can give the players whatever the teams want. Either that, or the players can sign a one-year deal. It’s kind of sad that I was right, but I’m just a player that wants to see everybody get paid. That’s the business. You want to see everybody get paid.

Good Luck, Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings, the kid who is about to open up another level of doors and make history by playing overseas out of high school. I’m kind of intrigued to see what’s going to happen. I’m rooting for him: 1) Because he was going to go to Arizona if he had made his grades and 2) If he goes overseas and becomes successful and comes into the league next year, every high school kid has a way out now. It’s just like jumping from high school to the pros again. They’re not going to be making millions. They’re going to be making Second Round money – in the $200,000 - $300,000 range for one year (actually those are euros … so that’s probably about $600,000, ha) and then come into the NBA, be a top five pick and get his millions.

I don’t think the language barrier will be a problem. At the end of the day, basketball is basketball. If you understand, “Pass the ball,” or “Shoot the ball,” the rest of that mumbo jumbo he doesn’t have to worry about. Players from America go to play in Europe every year, he’s just going to be a young player going to do it. If he ends up doing it and he turns out fine, I guarantee you’ll see a whole crop of players going from high school to Europe in the future.

And then what happens with the European leagues? They are already signing European players at 12 years old. So what’s going to happen to high school basketball in America if American kids start signing in Europe at 13- or 14-years old? Somebody start doing some research. There are loopholes open and people are climbing through them. But hey, they always say that rules are meant to be broken. The top of the crop always finds a way to do what it needs to do. It’s just like an animal in the wild that knows how to adapt. He adapted to the rules and found a way around it.

Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee …. HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing.

LMAO... this guy's a crackup.

Posted by TMS:

Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee …. HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing.

LMAO... this guy's a crackup.

Gil seems like the guy you hang out or have a drink with that just cracks jokes and tell funny stories.

Posted by BigSm00th:

Gil is classic, great stuff about milwaukee.

i still question michael redd taking more money and signing with milwaukee. he could've taken a few mil less, played in his homestate as a wingman to lebron. suck it.

I guess I'm incredibly naive, but whats the difference between 60 million and 70 million. I mean, how much stuff can you buy?

Especially when that 10 mil or so gap can mean the difference between a championship. Doesnt saying that you were an NBA champion, mean more than having nine Bentleys instead of five? I guess I will never understand that mindset.

my thoughts exactly sebstar, you can either play in the siberia of the nba in milwaukee for a lotto team or you can play with the greatest player of our generation for a few mil less in your home state and compete for a chip.

have fun playing with andrew bogut, mike redd!