- The Pistons introduced Nazr Mohammed, Ronald “Flip” Murray, and Ronald Dupree. Murray was signed to a 2-year $3.6 million deal, and is expected to contribute to the team’s scoring needs off the bench. Mohammed fills the void left by Ben Wallace, and has won a championship with the Spurs. Nazr is a tad larger than Ben, and has a few more offensive skills, though he is not a go-to scorer. Dupree adds more depth at the small forward position, and always works hard to earn every minute he plays.
- The team also announced the re-signing of Lindsey Hunter. Hunter provides a proven veteran backup at the point guard position, and is a great asset in the locker-room. Lindsey may be getting up there in years, but he can still play textbook man-to-man defense, and as far as I’m concerned, he can play for the Pistons until he’s 50.
- The Eastern Conference of the WNBA won the All Star Game a while back. The West had won every All Star Game until just a few weeks ago. Katie Douglas of the Connecticut Sun scored 16 points, including four three-pointers, and took home the game’s MVP Award.
- The NBA set their salary cap to $53.135 million for the upcoming 2006/2007 season. Luckily as a blogger and not a general manager, I only have to worry about cap space when I’m trying to make trades in a video game.
- Two big superstars are remaining with their current teams. Dwayne Wade of the Championship Miami Heat and LeBron James of the up-and-coming Cleveland Cavaliers both signed 3-year contracts worth around $60 million with their respective teams.
- Paul Pierce agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Celtics worth $60 million. Pierce was the honorary “Fifth Piston” in this past season’s All Star Game.
- Ex-Raptor/Piston/Rocket Mike James signed a four-year deal with Minnesota, Chris Bosh signed a three-year extension with the Raptors that is similar to the ones that LeBron and Flash signed, and Alonzo Mourning will return for the 2006/2007 season with the Miami Heat. After winning a championship, wouldn’t you?
- Finally, Steve Nash has cut his hair. Not a tad shorter, but completely off. No more sweaty hair blocking his vision. As Nash put it, “I just cut it. I don’t really have a rhyme or reason. I felt like taking it off.” Well, I liked the greasy long-haired Nash better. He still had the hair of an athlete, although he isn’t playing professional soccer (but Nash was a soccer player until he took up basketball in high school). Now the former MVP just looks like a cancer patient. It just ain’t right. I look forward to seeing whether he intends to grow it back or not.
July 23, 2006...12:19 am
Center Court 7.22.06: Pistons Introduce Signings
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