Finley to New Orleans?

[MavsFanFinley]

Read about this on dallasbasketball.com

Another Fin Rumor

Jamal Mashburn is coming back to a Hornets nest tomorrow, his first day of practice this season. Out since late October following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, he didn't exactly ingratiate himself with his teammates by staying away during his entire rehab. He opted to work on his knee in Miami, where he still lives. Some teammates were miffed that when the Hornets played in Miami earlier this season, Mashburn didn't attend the game. Just in case he's less than 100% when he returns to action, the Hornets, who have cooled considerably after a 17-7 start, are interested in acquiring a slasher. Michael Finley is one name being mentioned, but the Mavs think he's far too valuable as a leader to move.

[Chicago JK]

That is from Mitch Lawerence. He carpools to work each day with Peter Vescey and Sam Smith. Nothing remotely true there.

Isn't it funny how their are 4 New York papers who each have a guy who writes trade rumors almost everyday for a living (Lawerence, Vescey, Berman and Isola). Each claim to have a myriad of inside sources. Well right in their backyard there has been 4 moves over the past month (3 major moves). If I am not mistaken, the fabulous 4 didn't sniff out any of these rumors beforehand.

1)Clarence Weatherspoon trade-Not a peep. Weatherspoon was going to be released so they said/
2)Isiah signing as GM-Not even a word about Isiah until it was official
3) Marbury trade-Sure the papers have been dreaming of ways to get Marbury to NY for years, but before the trade none of the fab 4 had any info that was leaked from their distinguished sources.
4)Lenny Wilkens named coach-They were all reporting that it was Mike Fratello who was the choice, well wouldn't you know they were wrong there too.

I like reading Stein, Aldridge, May, and Kahn but the rest of the guys are no better than the gossip columnists in the Post.

[ddh33]

Great post, Chicago JK. I do get sick of these guys claiming they have their sources. Why don't they ever break the story?

As for trading Finley, that's rediculous to me. I don't think he should go anywhere. And I thought that before he caught fire...

[FreshJive]

Finley's a slasher?

[kg_veteran]

Finley's not going anywhere.

[LRB]

Who are the Hornets going to give us? I can't think of anyone that they would trade that would be anywhere close to Fin in talent value and that's not including Fin's value as a leader on the team.

Also, I'd consider Fin more of a shooter than a slasher.

[Murphy3]

Why jump on the author? He basically said that there's nothing to the rumors because the Mavs consider Fin far too valuable. It's pretty much a non story.

[sike]

which makes this a non post.

[EricaLubarsky]

1) Finley is no slasher
2) Why would we want another forward? Especially one that is injured, one that has a bad attitude and one that Kaboomed our team a few years ago.
3) Dallas values it's MVP

If the author had concluded that the trade was probable I would have gotten out my trusty flamthrower and BURNED THIS THREAD TO ASHES

[Hitman]

Peter Vescey used to have more NBA sources than anybody...but that is probably not the case anymore.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: Hitman
Peter Vescey used to have more NBA sources than anybody...but that is probably not the case anymore.

Sure, if by sources you mean "imaginary friends".

[Chicago JK]

Originally posted by: Drbio

Sure, if by sources you mean "imaginary friends".

ha ha . Good one.

[MavsFanFinley]

Anybody recognize a name in here? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Link

What's Cookin'?
A Real Trade Possibility, Plus NY Panties

By Mike Fisher and David Lord -- DallasBasketball.com

How, dear dinner customer, do you want your trade gossip prepared and served?
Do you want it goulashed together and then zapped in the microwave? Or do you want it handled with the finest culinary grace?
The chefs at DB.com are in the kitchen, preparing realistic guidance for you of a Mavs acquisition. But they are concerned that while you wait, you’ll duck out the side door for a 7-11 burrito-and-Slurpee appetizer.
So allow us first an explanation of what we believe are the facts behind the Mavs acquiring a new center. And after that, we’ll get into New York cooking and why, as one reader so delicately puts it, “our panties are always in a wad’’ regarding so many Mavs trade rumors:
Yes, the acquisition of a center is a consideration by management. And no, they won’t have to give up much to do it, if the move goes according to plan. “The plan’’ can include Dallas’ use if its own "Trade Exception" of about $1.35M to use in a swap. Such an exception allows a team over the cap to take a player whose salary is less than that in a trade, without sending a player back in return. This will allow the Mavs to shop for a cheap player without having to match salaries.
Another possibility: the Mavs may look for a team with a need to dump salary. Sometimes the guy’s current team just wants to get rid of salary. Scott Williams in Phoenix is a rumored player who might qualify. He has been injured and is on the end of the bench of a team going nowhere. He has playoff experience, with the Bulls of the Jordan era. NBA rules make him untradeable this year, but Phoenix reportedly might release him to sign elsewhere for a playoff run, if he so requested. His agent is said to be exploring the options.
Other teams who are mired in mediocrity may also want to save some money. The Mavs might be able to help, by sending along a Trade Exemption (or effectively a salary reduction) to that team.
In the right situation the Mavs might even get more than a "scrub center" in an end-of-the-bench trade. Just as a point of reference, last year Dallas had a salary slot open and a willingness to take on a player if someone was looking to dump payroll and avoid Luxury Tax. The terms? Reportedly, Dallas wanted a No. 2 pick to take on said player. Ultimately, they didn’t find a deal they liked.
Obviously, a player obtained in such a fashion would be of questionable ability. But they are merely looking for a second- or third-string center in such a deal, so the ability and price for such a player will be fairly low anyhow.
What about centers who have a bit more ability, and whose teams will want something in return? What might the Mavs have to offer?
Besides a Trade Exception (which would reduce the other team's payroll), the Mavs have the following to offer for the cheap end-of-the-bench center:
CASH: The NBA limit for cash in a trade is $3M. For a team going nowhere, a big chunk of cash for a backup player can be quite desirable to an owner.
DRAFT PICK: With previous trades and NBA rules, the Mavs couldn't offer a No. 1 in the 2004 or 2005 draft - nor, for a second- or third-stringer, would they want to. They do have No. 2 choices every year (Denver's in 2004, their own thereafter), and they also have No. 1s in distant years in the unlikely event they find a cheap guy they want badly.
MARQUIS DANIELS: If you were a GM from another club, you would ask the Mavs about him. He is young and cheap, and he has an NBA future. But the Mavs may not have minutes for him, and the better he looks the harder he will be to keep from getting away in the expansion draft or in free agency this summer or next. His contract and potential makes him far more desirable to another team than names such as Delk or Najera, or the guy Dallas would love to dump, Tariq Abdul-Wahad. If the Mavs are offered a young center with some potential, could he be dealt? We hope not, but sometimes you have to give up something you like to get something back you need.
Now, why do we bother with all this technical CBA X-and-O’s mumbo-jumbo? Really, wouldn’t it be easier to just throw another pot of Rasheed Wallace on the stove?
As DB.com reader “Scott E’’ writes: Hey Fisher, why do you always get your panties in a wad when someone in the media floats a Mavs trade rumor? Is it because your journalistic integrity is so much higher than these other hacks?
Um, yeah, maybe. Or maybe the DB.com guys just have more free time than the other hacks, so we do a little homework.
Meanwhile, let’s go to New York, home of the most creative hacks in the NBA. Another Mavs fan, “Chicago JK,’’ makes the brilliant point that so many of these Mavs/NBA rumors are started by New York writers who claim to have inside sources in other cities, but whose rumors so rarely come true. At the same time, right under the noses of the incredibly well-connected Vesceys and Lawrences are two New York teams, the Knicks and the Nets, who in the last two months have created four of the largest NBA stories of the season. …
And the local New York papers never got a sniff of any of them!?
The NY papers knew nothing in advance about the hiring of Thomas, the trade for Marbury, the hiring of Wilkens or the firing of Byron Scott. … but they know exactly what trades the Mavs and two dozen other teams are working on?
How can it be that the two teams the NY papers are least plugged into are the Knicks and the Nets?
We’ll tell you how it can be: Because the NY papers are so busy stumbling over themselves to print the gossip as quickly as possible that they have found themselves plugged into NONE of the teams.
So if, as we assume, the Mavs end up closer to a minor deal for a backup center instead of a some flashy, gossipy blockbuster of a Finley/Jamison/Walker trade, we’ll be more encouraged than ever to offer up a second helping of “Journalistic integrity.’’
Well-done.

[kingrex]

Do you think the clippers will send us Elton Brand for cash?

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Hitman
Peter Vescey used to have more NBA sources than anybody...but that is probably not the case anymore.

I heard he was on a 1st name basis with a couple of ball boys.

[kingrex]

Originally posted by: LRB

I heard he was on a 1st name basis with a couple of ball boys.

I think you misheard that, it should be "boy's balls".

[Hitman]

Originally posted by: Drbio

Sure, if by sources you mean "imaginary friends".

There was a great SI article several years back on Peter Vescey, which basically gave a background on his life, his numerous friends, confidants and sources within every crevice of the league.

It also talked a bit about his relationship with his brother George, an esteemed sports writer for the New York Times.

Vescey is not always right, but he knows as much about the inner workings of the NBA than any other writer.

Just maybe not as much as he thinks he does.

[Hitman]

If anyone saw Peter Vescey on NBA Tv today, they would understand this guy's tremendous understanding of the National Basketball Association. He is a true grizzled veteran and he knows more, has seen more and understands more about the Association than Mark Stein, Chad Ford and Bob Ortegal combined.

Maybe it is a New York thing.

But Peter Vescey is basketball.

[Jamisonite]

Im starting to think we may need to trade Daniels. GMs have seen what this kid is made of and what are the odds of us resigning him. I see him leaving us just like Bell did

[Drbio]

Peter Vescey is bunk. And lots of it.





Chicago JK in bed with Fisher? *shiver* [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[kingrex]

Vecsey may know something about basketball, but he overrates his sources just a bit.

[Poindexter Einstein]

As reckless as he is at writing BS trade "news", makes you wonder if he uses any sources, or if he just spins it the way he thinks will make a good tale. Cause he has NO credibility whatsoever.

Apparently it is pretty widely known among basketball writers how much Vecsey is full of sh**, too. Dallasbasketball.com ran this item the other day that caught my eye ....

VECSEY VIEWS: For those who think we overdo things in criticizing and correcting Peter Vecsey and his regularly made up rumors and lies, whenever they touch on the Mavs, the folllowing item might make you understand the breadth of the problem and think again.
Mark Monteith is a longtime NBA beat writer for the Indianapolis Star. In one of his Q&A columns with Indy fans, he responds to a question about supposed trade demands (which only Vecsey "reported") made by an Indy player, demands that the player says are totally untrue. Monteith says:
"What surprises me is that people still pay attention to anything Vecsey says or writes. He's wrong almost every time. He just got a TV gig on Fox, though, so I guess he feels he has to come up with a few wild rumors to get attention. After all, he can't very well go on and say, 'I don't know of anything going on at the moment.'
"He'd be better off commenting on what's happening than guessing what might happen. He's written or spoken dozens of trade rumors involving the Pacers in the eight seasons I've been on the beat and I don't think he's been right yet. How many times must a boy cry wolf before people stop listening?" For those who want to see the full column:
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/025639-4458-116.html
And again, we’re not just taking random shots here. We just believe it’s important for you to have an understanding of where this stuff comes from, thus keeping you from losing another handful of hair every time Vecsey launches into another anti-Mav or anti-Cuban salvo.
Vecsey could, of course, lessen the criticism of him by doing what good beat writers do, every day in every sport in cities across America: Break a story. Maybe even with ON-THE-RECORD sources. And then watch its truth unfold as your readers are ever-so-pleased at your insights and connections.
As we note below, the Knicks and Nets have given Vecsey and other NY writers ample opportunity to show their wares. Until they do, we (and apparently others who are fed up, including the Star’s Monteith) continue to feel responsible for showing their flaws. - David Lord and Mike Fisher, 01/28/04, 2:45pm

[Max Power]

Vecsey USED to have a good reputation as a guy who had the pulse of the league but Cuban showed him up at that one draft and Vecsey has been exposed as a fool.

[Poindexter Einstein]

MAX - What draft are you talking about? Sounds like an interesting story, but one that I havent heard.

[kingrex]

Does New Orleans really need Finley more than the Mavs do?

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Poindexter Einstein
MAX - What draft are you talking about? Sounds like an interesting story, but one that I havent heard.

It was the draft where we got Courtney Alexander. Vecsey was spouting off some drivel and Cuban called him out on it and TOTALLY embarassed Vecsey.

[kingrex]

Originally posted by: Max Power

It was the draft where we got Courtney Alexander. Vecsey was spouting off some drivel and Cuban called him out on it and TOTALLY embarassed Vecsey.

That was a good day. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

[Poindexter Einstein]

That would explain why Vecsey seems to regularly go out of his way to invent stories that seem to have no purpose other than attempt to create a bad spin on Cuban.