The
initial onslaught of activity from the start of the NBA free agency signing
period has cooled off a bit from last week’s feverish pace, but there is still
quite a bit of action off the court in the first full month of this year’s
offseason.
Linsanity looks like it is headed to
Houston
Guard Jeremy
Lin, who created one of the biggest stirs in the world of professional sports
in recent memory with his sudden meteoric rise to fame with the New York Knicks
last season, appears to be 
headed to Houston for Chapter Two of this most
unlikely story. The fanfare surrounding Lin has long since died down, but the
Knicks gave every indication they would match the Rockets’ offer for the
restricted free agent. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the bank.
Houston’s three-year deal for Lin included a $15 million payday in the final
year that would have triggered a huge luxury tax hit for New York if it indeed
did match this offer.
The Knicks
instead decided to bring back veteran guard Raymond Felton in a sign-and-trade
deal with Portland, giving all indication that they are okay with the idea of
losing Lin. Felton comes at a much cheaper price tag and joins another
long-time veteran guard Jason Kidd, who was added as a free agent earlier this
month to New York’s current roster. The Knicks will have three days to match
the Rockets’ offer once it officially receives the sheet, but right now it
appears that Lin will be taking his talents to the bright lights of Houston, Texas
next season.
Cleveland’s Irving expected to be out
two months with a broken hand
Kyrie
Irving, who was coming off a phenomenal year as a rookie for the Cleveland
Cavaliers, will be out of action for upwards of two months after breaking his
right hand while slapping a padded wall in practice. The reining NBA ‘Rookie of
the Year’ was set to join the Cavaliers’ No.1 draft pick Dion Waiters, from
Syracuse, to form a potent one-two punch in Cleveland’s back court. That plan
will now have to be put on hold for awhile while Irving recovers.
He will be
examined by doctors early this week, but the general consensus is that the
talented, but injury-prone guard will not be back until the start of training
camp in late September. Irving only played in 11 games his freshman season at
Duke and missed 14 games last season as a rookie after battling through various
injuries.
Biggest offseason surprise so far
A recent
ESPN poll asked its readers to rate what has been the biggest surprise of the
first few weeks of this NBA offseason. The highest response, garnering 46
percent of the vote was veteran guard Steve Nash’s decision to leave Phoenix
and sign a deal with his long-time rivals the Los Angeles Lakers. Many believe
that this move is a key piece of the puzzle to making LA a legitimate contender
to unseat Miami from its current throne. The Heat are the current
odds-on-favorites at 2/1 to win back-to-back NBA World titles, but the Lakers have
moved up to third-favorites at 6/1 as a result of adding Nash.
The second
biggest surprise with 33 percent of the vote was Ray Allen’s decision to leave
Boston and sign a deal with the Heat. The fact that Dwight Howard is still a
member of the Orlando Magic comes in third with 12 percent of the vote and
Atlanta’s decision to part ways with Joe Johnson, by trading him to Brooklyn,
was fourth with nine percent of the vote.