Is it just me or is there an unusual amount of early action in free agency and trades this year? Big names bolting teams, followup trades, etc.
No trades or signings can be finalized until July 12 but agreements are being made. Today Derick Fisher was traded to Utah which should be a great pickup, Tyson Chandler to New Orleans strengthened the Western Conference, and Marquis Daniels was shipped to the Pacers for Austin Croshere. Croshere will fit pretty well in Dallas and probably puts Keith VanHorn into the discount bin of free agency, but in the end he is basically an expiring contract. Could the Sonics have gotten Daniels for Danny Fortson? We'll never really know. I look for Indiana to make more moves and for the Al Harrington conversation to begin to heat up. Harrington remains the key free agent on the market and his status greatly effects Chris Wilcox.
Speaking of Wilcox I continue to hear that the organization is confident in its ability to re-sign him after he tests the market. New details came out about Nene's $60 million contract today indicating that much of it was deferred and that not all of it was guaranteed, making it more of a $50 million deal in total. Realistically the Sonics offered Vladi Radmanovic $48 million with an additional $8 million in incentives and are reportedly willing to give Wilcox a similar contract, so the sides are probably not as far off as reported. Surely Wilcox is pointing to Nene ($60 million) and Tyson Chandler ($64 million) as the contracts he believes are comparable while the SuperSonics are highlighting Stromile Swift and Radmanovic (5 years, $30 million) as the players most similar in production. Since both Chandler and Swift have already been traded because of their high salaries I can certainly understand the franchises unwillingness to pay big money.
I just have a feeling that there will be some Sonics news tomorrow. No inside tips or anything, just a hunch. Lets cross our fingers.