Later in the day, the Kings took the hardwood against the 0-1 Minnesota Timberwolves. DeMarcus Cousins was a beast scoring 22 and grabbing 12 boards as his team just barely edged out Minny, led by Wayne Ellington’s 24, 79-78. The athletic Hassan Whiteside has been disappointing so far with 6 points and 7 rebounds on Wednesday.

In other news:

Sharp shooter Mike Miller kept his promise, signing with the Heat while the trade sending Hedo Turkoglu to Phoenix for Barbosa was officially finalized.

Anyway; Raja Bell spurned past nemesis Kobe Bryant and the Los angeles Lakers by agreeing on a 3 year contract with the revamped Utah Jazz.

Also, the Houston Rockets matched Cleveland’s offer sheet for point guard Kyle Lowry late last night. Speaking of the Cavs; Delonte West pleaded guilty to traffic and weapon charges yesterday; things keep going down the drain for the city of Cleveland after Mr. James’ departure to Miami.

By the way, superstar Paul Pierce has re-signed with the team he led to the finals last year for less than maximum salary; that’s what you call a team player.

Later,

LeOrest

In other news; Cavalier fans have very generously offered to help Dan Gilbert pay off his $100,000 fine due to his comments on LeBron, showing their hurt emotions toward James’ decision, in my opinion. Gilbert was flattered but asked that instead of helping him, the fans should donate the dollar to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.

After spurning the Raptors late last night, Charlotte has dealt Tyson Chandler and Alex Ajinca to Dallas for Eduardo Najera, the overpaid Matt Carroll, and aging Erick Dampier. In my honest opinion, this trade is worse than the Calderon proposal for the Bobcats, they are in desperate need of a point guard, and while Jose might not be stellar defensively, he is more of a playmaker than anyone they received in this trade. Speaking of Calderon, I’m not exactly sure if the deal between Toronto and Charlotte is still on but it has been rumored that there have been other Eastern Conference teams interested in his abilities; more update on him tomorrow.

In the meanwhile; my condolences to the Steinbrenner family as one of the greatest baseball minds and arguably the best owner ever passed away of a massive heart attack Tuesday morning. One can only imagine the pain they are feeling through his passing; the man will be truly remembered as a pioneer when it comes o the MLB.

Back to the NBA:

The Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a deal sending big man Al Jefferson to the Jazz for Kosta Koufos and two future first rounders as broken by the Associated Press. Jefferson more than helps make up for the loss of Boozer on the offensive end but his defense needs improvement; a pretty nice pickup for the Jazz. Jefferson averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 boards last year as a member of the Wolves; who currently have no player who makes 8 digits in salary, they are joined in that club by the Raptors and Thunder surprisingly.

Tow other little tidbits:

Jeff Bower and the New Orleans Hornets have decided to part ways after 14+ seasons with the club; he served as coach, general manager, and even as a scout. The agreement was mutual and the Hornets are currently looking for a new General Manager.

Secondly, former Miami Heat three-point specialist Quentin Richardson in heading to Orlando as the Magic build their team to compete with the “Big Three” in the SouthEast division.

Oh ya, almost forgot that the Knicks inked Russian Centre Timofey Mozgov, terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. The 7-foot-1 Mozgov spent last season with BC Khimki of Russia, averaging 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 32 games; he is only 23 years old.

Later,

LeOrest

*Congrats to the National League for winning their first All-Star game over the A.L in a long time.*

The Phoenix trade, however, is still on and should finalized sooner rather than later today which would bring Leandro Barbosa to toronto.

Be sure to catch the Raptors vs Patrick Patterson’s Rockets in Summer League play at 6:30 ET tonight. Here is a link if you haven’t ordered NBA Brodband:

Atdhe.net

Later,

LeOrest

Anyway, I was overwhelmed by many off the displays, as David Ortiz competed for redemption while guys like Corey Hart surprised us all. As I predicted, no one hit 28 homers but Mr. Hart’s performance, hitting 13 dingers in the first round captivated me to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off the T.V and it helped overshadow Vernon Wells’ terrible showing at the 2 spot. Ortiz on the other hand came into the Derby getting booed by his own fans last year and experienced some more disrespect at the hands of Angels fans in California; he was out for sheer atonement after a horrid 2009 campaign. The Big Papi hit 8, 13, and 11 big flies in all three rounds respectively; in the end, it was enough for him to take home the bacon over Hanley Ramirez who came in second. Reparation has been realized in the hands of all baseball fans for Mr. Clutch (Ortiz).

Earlier today, David Stern spoke, on the record, for the first time since LeBron or any other member of “The Big Three’s”  decision to join the Heat in their quest to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers. “The decision was not executed in the most beneficial and efficient way from both parties (referring to LeBron and the Cavs)” Stern apologized. As for Gilbert’s comments, the league has decided to fine him $100,000 for his unnecessary actions according to the commissioner, although based on hurt feelings and affliction. To add to that, Stern also made it clear that the comments of Reverend Jesse Jackson had racial content and were not appreciated in the eyes of the league.

As for the debuts of DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Johnson:

DeMarcus dominated early on offensively in the paint amassing a total of 11 points, if my memory serves me correctly, in the first quarter alone. Since then, however, his production dropped, finishing the contest with a work man like 14 points and 10 boards. Teammate Hassan Whiteside showed few flashes of potential on the defensive end, but his shooting and overall offensive abilities need work.

Wesley Johnson was mediocre to say the least in his first game of NBA action; chipping in with 10 points and grabbing 1 board.

Number one pick John Wall and the Washington Wizards are currently in the 4th quarter against Eric Bledsoe’s Clippers. Wall has been impressive so far scoring 18 and dropping 10 dimes as the Wizards lead the game by 27.

As of right now, the Raptors are still in the processing of finalizing a deal with Phoenix sending us Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones for Turkoglu. The Raptors are then set to deal away Reggie Evans, Jose Calderon, Dwayne Jones, and a possible Trade Exception for Chandler and Diaw.

I congratulate, by the way, Carmelo Anthony and his bride La La Vasquez; the two married while LeBron james and Chris Paul attended the ceremony.

More Inside Tomorrow,

LeOrest

Miguel Cabrera : 22

Vernon Wells: 19

Corey Hart: 21

Chris Young: 15

Hanley Ramirez: 13

Nick Swisher: 15

David Ortiz: 18

Matt Holiday: 16

Not to display any further amounts of homer-ism as a Canadian; but Vernon Wells has a huge chance of winning this thing, to a certain extent. Vernon drives through the ball and thrives when pulling line drives to left field; his swing is built for a competition like this, in my honest opinion. The other obvious favourite would be Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers who leads the crew with 22 home runs, good enough for 2nd in the league, behind Jose Bautista’s 24. Corey Hart could emerge as a possible underdog through the event, he too has overachieved this year with the highest total of RBI’s in the National League.

It’s pretty clear that no one in this year’s competition has the ability required to match the extravagant, unheard of total set by Josh Hamilton last year (28 dingers in 1 round) but these 8 superstars should be able to put on a good show and entertain us for 3 hours.

As the fourth day of the Vegas Summer League kicks off; the rookie debuts of DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Johnson are being advertised while the John Wall led Wizards are also set to clash with the Los Angeles Clippers. I have somewhat of a funny feeling that DeMarcus Cousins will be something special in this league and his debut tonight will reflect that; I predict a 21 and 12 performance tonight by the big man out of Kentucky. Wesley Johnson should put up a stellar 14 points and grab 6 boards with the Timberwolves, in my mind.

To add to that; the breakout performance in tonight’s NBA games will be that of 33rd pick Hassan Whiteside. This guy was an absolute steal for the Kings and the potential upside in his freakishly athletic body is outstanding; some even projected the big man out of Marshall to turn into a Dwight Howard type post-presence. This kid will be special; I can guarantee it and every team that passed on him will regret the day of the draft.

In other news; Derek Fisher has declined the Miami Heat’s offer and has instead opted to stay with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in their hope to three-peat next season against all odds.

Also; the gargantuan Nike banner featuring LeBron James has been removed in Cleveland and neither the Cavs or Raptors will file tampering charges on their past stars.

See ya,

LeOrest

*Udonis Haslem has now decided to stay with the Heat according to RealGM*

How does this trade make us better:

To begin with, we drop a lot of long term salary in Jose Calderon and Hedo Turkoglu for two contract that will expire in two contracts that expire in a year (Chandler/Diaw) and one that is up at the end of 2012 (Barbosa). Expect us to have a lot of cap room next year during this time.

Secondly, our defense has been automatically transformed overnight, literally; we get chandler who is a great athlete and a premiere shot blocker in this league, Diaw who has great size for a SF and finish with a double-double any given night while Barbosa is very quick on his feet having the ability to stay behind his man on the perimeter.

Offensively, Calderon and the aging Turk production was slipping drastically, I mean, Hedo’s numbers were less than stellar last year as were Jose’s (his free throw shooting even took a hit). Boris Diaw is not that much of an offensive minded player but  Barbosa is a bona-fide three point shooter in this league while Tyson Chandler thrives off the pcik and roll, as we very eagerly witnessed during his nice run as a Hornet with CP3.

There is one little concern I have for this deal, however, and it lies solely in the fact that we would be spending darn near our whole trade exception with Chandler, but hey, if he makes us better at the end of the day, it’s all worth it, right?

Later,

LeOrest

*Sources are not saying that the expiring contract of Reggie Evans will be headed to Charlotte along with the other players mentioned above. Therefore, we would be giving up less of the huge trade exception in a deal with the ‘Cats.*

In my opinion, the Raptors have literally gotten better over night if this is valid and I will be sure to have the lastest inside for you guys tomorrow morning.

Enjoy,

LeOrest

Apparently Bryan Colangelo has pulled off a trade with the Suns according to TSN, and David Aldridge’s Twitter sending Hedo Turkoglu to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa and a small trade exception. This is a time of ecstasy for Raptor fans worldwide as the troublesome Turk is finally shown the door, good riddance.

The Suns are also close to signing Josh Childress in a sign and trade with the Hawks.

God is Good,

LeOrest

Speaking of the red card that cost Holland the game; the refs, in my opinion, were less than stellar, giving out cards like there was no tomorrow. Maybe I’m old fashioned when I try to tell you that giving a second yellow card in extra minutes of the World Cup Finale no less should not be handed out like a present on Christmas. It happened similarly 4 years ago in Berlin when Zidane was sent off and both times cost a team a trophy, and although Zidane’s actions were unprecedented and horribly wrong, you can argue that the referee could of handled the situation differently. Anyway, I congratulate Spain in their triumph even though I was personally rooting for Netherlands in this one.

In the third day of the Las Vegas Summer League; John Wall, the first overall pick by Washington in the NBA Draft was set to make his debut as the Wizards clashed with the Warriors. Outside of his 8 turnovers, Wall was spectacular, scoring a team high of 24 points and dropping an impressive 8 dimes as the Wizards won 84-79; JaVale McGee chipped in with 21 and 13 in the win.

Elsewhere, Chase Budinger nailed 4 three pointers, scoring 214 points as Houston fell to Portland. Patrick Patterson was disappointing in the loss; his 2 points led to a blowout for Portland while Avery Bradley was stellar, as he showed off his defensive capabilities with 4 steals.

As for free agency:

Big man Ben Wallace has promised to sign soon with the Detroit Pistons; the 35 year old is set to make about 1.9 million a year as he approaches retirement. Tony Allen on the other hand, is set to ink a contract worth approximately 10 million over 3 years with Memphis, a bit overpaid to tell you the truth.

Back to LeBron’s decision once again; and this time, it was The Rev. Jesse Jackson weighing in on Dan Gilbert’s comments. Jackson stated that he thinks Gilbert thinks of James as a “runaway slave” and that the comments made by the owner put Lebron in danger. He went even further with this rant, saying Gilbert’s comments “personify a slave master mentality” and that he should face a “challenge” from the league.

Finally, former Laker Jordon Farmar has apparently agreed to terms with the New Jersey Nets; his contract is pending a physical.

Cheers to Spain,

LeOrest

As for the thin amount of NBA news:

The Blazers have inked Wesley Matthews to an offer sheet in which the financial terms have not been disclosed Yet. Last year; the rookie Matthews put up stellar numbers averaging 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in around 25 minutes per game. He stepped it up drastically in the playoffs boosting his points-per-game average to 13.2 and his rebounding to 4.4 in an increased amount of playing time. (The Jazz are looking to match)

As for LeBron’s decision; there were a reported 10 million viewers tuning in to ESPN to watch him choose the Miami Heat as the team he would play for next season. To add to that, he is apparently furious with Dan Gilbert calling him out and aggressively criticizing his decision on the record; using the internet, the media, and various fans in his attempt to “expose LeBron for what he really is” in the owners mind. In my honest opinion, Dan Gilbert’s actions were unprecedented, offensive, ungrateful, and should not be tolerated by the league. The whole point of free agency is for a player to choose between staying put on his former team or joining a new organization based on many different variables, such as winning, family, and/or money; Dan Gilbert is in no position to question that.

Later,

LeOrest