HLBT Daily: Rockets, Magic Future of NBA?

Shaquille O'neal recently obliterated any speculation that he will be teaming with the free-throw king himself, Rick Barry. Spewing verbal diarreah, Shaq explains to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, "Rick Barry's résumé is not good enough to even come into my office to be qualified for a job. I will shoot negative-30 percent before I shoot underhanded." Who does this ABA & NBA champion, career 90% free throw shooter think he is anyway? I mean seriously, what could a career 53% free throw shooter learn from him? Snap back to reality, Shaq.

Jerry Colangelo is still not letting the U.S. loss to Greece go. "I believe we would beat Greece 99 out of 100 times," Colangelo said. "But it doesn't matter because we lost. We're focusing on what happened and why from a standpoint of how to make sure it doesn't happen again. [Greece] had a game plan and executed it. We weren't able to contend with it, and they beat us." The second part of that quote somewhat contradicts the first, as how can you make sure it doesn't happen again if you left the game saying that you would win 99% of the time? I'm not sure that it is realistic to give the U.S. a 100% chance of winning every single game at the next Olympics...

"At the prestigious New York City Basketball Hall of Fame dinner Thursday night at a packed New York Athletic Club celebrating the induction of ex-Knick Mark Jackson and ex-Knicks coach Rick Pitino, Peter Vecsey informs us that the Knicks shamelessly did not buy a single $2,000 table. The savvy Nets, on the other hand, bought one, not counting the five bought by a minority owner. New Knicks public relations head Jonathan Supranowitz, scout Dick McGuire and assistant coach Herb Williams were there as guests of the NBA." Well said by the New York Post. Describing the Knicks (owner James Dolan, specifically) as being shamelessly cheap (and dumb) and the Nets as being comparatively savvy. It doesn't get much more accurate than that.

Maybe Dolan is just saving up in case he loses the case against Larry Brown. The official hearing is today. Larry is asking for the rest of his salary ($41 million) - he already received $9 million of the original $50 million he was signed for - plus $12.5 million to cover attorney fees. If Larry's lawyer is asking for $12.5 mil, he damn well better win him this case.

The Wizards will be sporting alternate gold and black away unis next season. I am part of the anti-alternate uniform movement, though as long as they don't wear colored jerseys at home - Toronto Raptors style - I can deal.

Dwight Howard has some hefty expectations for the 2006-07 Orlando Magic. "I think our team has the chance to go all the way. We got all the tools. I think this year we can go all the way... to the championship." I have said that the Magic is one of the teams I expect to make a huge turnaround next year and win a lot of games. A championship is out of reach for the inexperienced team next season, but the pieces are there. The trio of Dwight Howard, Darko Milicic - who will continue to dramatically improve, and Jameer Nelson forms a solid foundation. Jonathon Clay "J.J." Redick and Hidayet "Hedo" Turkoglu are invaluable because they can shoot, and though every team needs a few guys like J.J. and Hedo, most NBA squads are devoid of any player that even resembles a designated marksman. Off the bench, the Magic have the all important athletic energy guys such as Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza. Maybe the Magic will be championship contenders in a couple of years, though not this upcoming season.

The Houston Rockets, already semi-contenders in my eyes, just signed Bonzi Wells to a two year deal. They got him for relatively nothing - two years, $5 million - with a player option for the second year. And why was Bonzi still on the free agent market so late in the game? He initially turned down Sacramento's five year, $36 million deal, as he felt the offer was disrespectful and that he could find a better deal somewhere else. Bonzi reportedly told his agent to find him a $50 million deal. Wells' agent, Merle Scott of BDA Sports, said, ""This isn't about the money, this is about being in the right place." I will believe this if Bonzi takes his second year player option; until then, just your standard agent line.
The addition of Bonzi is especially valuable to the Rockets. Their main problem has been that they did not have any swingmen, outside of some guy named... Mcgrady (it's been so long since I last saw him play - hope his back is feeling better) who could create their own shots. Bonzi can do just that. A starting lineup of Yao, Juwan Howard, Shane Battier, Tracy Mcgrady, and Rafer Alston with Bonzi, Steve Novak, Chuck Hayes, Luther Head, Dikembe Mutombo, and Kirk Snyder off the bench should prove to be a winning combination.