NBA: Blazers Waive Adam Morrison

The Portland Trail Blazers have trimmed their roster to 15 players, the maximum amount of players an NBA team can have for the regular season, by waiving Adam Morrison along with four other players (Dallas Lauderdale, Demonte Harper, Coby Karl and Justin Holiday).

Morrison, 28, played for the Brooklyn Nets and then the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2012 NBA Summer League before accepting a training camp invitation from the Blazers. According to an interview with Dime Magazine, he also got training camp invitations from the Miami Heat and the Clippers, but chose Portland because it was closer to home and he thought it was a better situation.

On October 10th, his preseason debut with the Blazers, Morrison had a stellar performance in a win against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. In less than 12 minutes of play, he scored 9 points off of 4-of-6 shooting from the field. He also grabbed one rebound and was 1-of-2 from three-point range.



However, he struggled in his next games with the team. Morrison went scoreless in the next 2 games he played in and never quite found his shot again. He finished the preseason with underwhelming averages of 3.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in 11.4 minutes over 5 games. He also shot 33.3% from the field and 28.6% from beyond-the-arc. However, he made all two of his free-throw attempts and finished with a perfect free-throw percentage.

Morrison released a statement to CSNNW.com:

"I want to thank the Blazers' organization for giving me a chance. I'm sorry things didn't work out, but I wish them nothing but success. Right now, I'm just going to talk to my agent and see where to go from here."

After originally saying that he might retire, finish school, and start coaching, he might not be ready to quit yet.

By waiving Morrison, the Blazers are placing his contract on waivers, which means that he can be claimed by another NBA team. Recently, when the Spurs waived Eddy Curry, the Mavericks claimed him off waivers. Last season, in 2011, the Knicks claimed Jeremy Lin after he was waived by the Rockets. Morrison still has a chance to catch on with a team for the 2012-13 NBA season.

The Heat and the Clippers, who both reportedly invited Morrison to training camp, are unlikely to claim him because they don't currently have any roster spots open and are in the process of trimming their rosters down to 15 each.

A wild card team that could end up claiming Morrison would be the Los Angeles Lakers. Their current roster stands at 15 players, but only 13 of those players are on guaranteed contracts. Rookies Robert Sacre and Darius Johnson-Odom, both 2012 second-round draft picks, are on playing on unguaranteed contracts. One or both of them could be waived in order to sign or claim Morrison. Considering how well he has played against the Lakers in the summer league and preseason this year, they might take a chance on him and give him a shot.

Hopefully, the Lakers, or another team, claims Morrison off waivers or signs him to a contract.

Have any thoughts on the Blazers waiving Adam Morrison? Do you think he will catch on with another NBA team? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

NBA: Clippers Should Sign Adam Morrison

(Photo Courtesy: thefrontofficenews.com)

After last playing with the Washington Wizards in the 2010 preseason, Adam Morrison returned to the NBA competition a month ago in July by signing with the Brooklyn Nets summer league team. He played five games with them and averaged 5.2 points in 19.2 minutes a game. Besides scoring 6 straight points in a game against the Magic and recording a double-double in another game, his stint with the team was forgettable. Overall, Morrison's play in Orlando was inconsistent. He showed flashes of supreme offensive prowess, but also mediocre defense and questionable effort.

As the 2012 NBA Summer League moved on to Las Vegas, Morrison was named to the Los Angeles Clippers summer league squad. The next five games that he played with his new team proved to be much more productive and memorable. His first game wasn't great. He scored 11 points off of 5-13 field goals and grabbed 5 rebounds in a loss to the T'Wolves. He then scored over 20 points and shot above 50% from the field and from 3-point range in each of his next 2 games against the Spurs and the Lakers. In his second-to-last summer league game, he scored 18 points and had 5 rebounds.

His final game with the Clippers was by far his best game of the entire summer league. He led the Clips to a double-digit victory over the Celtics. He scored 26 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists. He also shot 9-for-15 from the field and shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The fans in Las Vegas chanting "MVP" for him at the end of the game was a great way to cap off the summer league.



-

The Los Angeles Clippers made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals last season before being swept the Spurs. As a franchise that has been known for losing in the past, they have improved their roster significantly in recent years. In 2009, they drafted Blake Griffin who ended up being named the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 2011 after missing the entire 2009-10 season due to a knee injury. The Clippers also traded for All-Star point guard Chris Paul before the 2011-12 season.

During the current offseason, the Clips have made a flurry of moves in an attempt to build a roster that could win the 2013 title. They signed former All-Star Grant Hill and former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford and traded for 2-time NBA champion Lamar Odom and underrated shooting guard Willie Green. They also signed journeyman center Ronny Turiaf who won a championship with the Heat earlier this year.

The Clippers are looking like contenders for the upcoming 2012-13 season and are hoping to win it all for the first time in franchise history next June.

As a team, they have one roster spot left to fill. They have 14 players on contract that includes 3 point guards, 3 shooting guards, 3 centers, and 5 forwards. Of the forwards that they have, Caron Butler and Grant Hill are small forwards, Blake Griffin and Trey Thompkins are power forwards, and Lamar Odom is a combo forward. If they want to fill every position equally, then they should probably sign another forward to fill up their roster completely.

-

Adam Morrison is a small forward. He is, in my opinion, perfect to be the final add-on to the Clippers' roster for the upcoming season. He would likely accept the veteran's minimum and give Los Angeles the first shot to sign him out of loyalty. Morrison would be a great scoring kick off the bench and would probably be rejuvenated on the defensive end if he was given a role on a contending NBA team. The general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers needs to make this happen and sign Adam Morrison! Or at least invite him to training camp....

If not, there are other teams that could use Morrison's services. But I think he would be a great fit for the Clippers and I hope that he ends up on their squad for the regular season.

According to multiple online sources, Greg Anthony may have said on NBATV that Morrison had already signed a contract with the Clippers. However, no reliable sources have confirmed this and nothing is official to my knowledge.

Should the Clippers sign Adam Morrison? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

NBA: Breaking Down the Dwight Howard Trade

(Photo Courtesy: chicagotribune.com)

After many months of speculation, deliberation, and analyzing, the Orlando Magic have finally traded Dwight Howard in a blockbuster, 4-team, 12-player trade......to the Los Angeles Lakers. I shall break down the trade for each team involved:

Lakers Lose: Andrew Bynum, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga
Lakers Receive: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark

The Lakers are the obvious winners of this trade. They swapped their all-star center Andrew Bynum for the best center in the league, Dwight Howard. This trade makes them serious contenders.

The role players that they lost shouldn't end up being a huge factor. McRoberts struggled last season, his first and only for the Lakers, and though Eyenga is only 23 years old and has some potential, he wasn't a great fit with Los Angeles. He only played in one game with the team and served as a benchwarmer.

Clark and Duhon are both servicable. Clark is young, 24 years old, and hasn't gotten a lot of playing time in his career yet. The former McDonald's All-American could end up finding some good minutes with the Lakers, but could just as easily end up riding the bench all season. Duhon has had some flashes of greatness in his career, but has also had long spells of mediocrity. Though he averaged 10 points and 7 assists as a starter for the Knicks in the 08-09 season, he's spent the last two seasons with the Magic not playing as well with inconsistent minutes.

I think Clark and Duhon are both wild cards. Clark could end being a Cinderella starter and Duhon could be a great back-up point guard to Steve Nash, but they could very well end up sitting on the end of the bench next to each other the whole season.


Nuggets Lose: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington
Nuggets Receive: Andre Iguodala

I'm not sure how I feel about swap of players that the Nuggets made. Afflalo averaged 15 points a game last season as a starter for the Nugs last season and is in the prime of his career right now. Harrington is past his prime, but averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds off the bench for Denver last season.

Iguodala is a great player, don't get me wrong, and all of the NBA analysts I've seen on TV seem to think he'll fit in well in coach George Karl's system, but I don't know if he'll make up for the losses of Afflalo and Harrington. The Nuggets had a good team last season and I don't think that shaking up the roster like this will help the team win more games.


76ers Lose: Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless, Nikola Vucevic
76ers Receive: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson

There is some risk for Philadelphia making this trade. Bynum is a 2-time NBA champion, was an All-Star starter last season with the Lakers, and should be an All-Star for years to come, but he has had problems with injuries in his career so far and his contract ends at the end of the season. Jason Richardson was a borderline All-Star back in the day, but is getting older every day while he'll keep getting paid more and more every year until 2015, assuming he picks up his player option. However, he could end up being rejuvenated as a starter or 6th man.

The 76ers gave up some valuable assets in this trade. Iguodala had played his entire career in Philly since being their first-round pick in 2004. He was an All-Star last season and is competing in the Olympics with the men's basketball team currently. Iggy was the face of their franchise after Allen Iverson left. He was a veteran leader and glue guy who was an important piece to the 76ers.

Harkless is an unproven rookie, but is only 19 years old and has some crazy potential. He averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds as a freshman at St. Johns last season. Vucevic is also young with a lot of potential. The 21-year old from Switzerland averaged about 5 points and 5 rebounds as a rookie for the Sixers last season in only 16 minutes a game.

This trade could pay off for Philadelphia in a big way, but on the other hand, it could end up disastrous for them. I personally liked the 76ers team that they had before with Lou Williams and Elton Brand.


Magic Lose: Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark
Magic Receive: Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Moe Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga

Dwight Howard leaving the Magic was inevitable and so the Magic were planning on trading him so they could get another star player in return to cut their losses. A flurry of swaps were talked about that involved the Magic getting Andrew Bynum, Amar'e Stoudemire, Brook Lopez, Monta Ellis, and Pau Gasol, but management in Orlando knew that they wouldn't get a player as good as Howard in return. So considering that the Magic weren't contenders even with D12, it was pretty much certain that they would be worse and even more mediocre than before with whatever star/franchise player(s) they got in return.

So they decided to go another route and used a different trading strategy that most people don't seem to understand, but I do. They traded almost entirely for the future. First off, they made sure they received a boatload of draft picks (first and second round), which they did.

They received 6 players and not all of them will be great for them, but I'm sure the Magic knew what they were doing when they traded for the players they did.

Al Harrington is 32 years old and past his prime, but is still serviceable right now and is coming off a good season. He will also serve as a veteran leader and should look to guide the Magic's 2012 first round draft pick, power forward Andrew Nicholson, and Kyle O'Quinn, the team's other rookie power forward, along with young big men Gustavo Ayon, Glen Davis, Nikola Vucevic, and Josh McRoberts.

Arron Afflalo is in his prime and is coming off the best season of his career so far. He averaged 15.2 points a game as a starter for the Nuggets and helped lead them to the playoffs where they forced a Game 7 against the Lakers. He should be a starter for the Magic this season and a team leader.

The only way that Affalo won't be a starter is if Moe Harkless has a stellar rookie season. There is a good chance that they will be starting together at shooting guard and small forward, especially since Jason Richardson is now gone and overpaid Hedo Turkoglu is a year older. Harkless is 19 years old and has a lot of potential. He could end up being an All-Star and has a bright future in the NBA. Since the Magic are probably gonna be a playoff team this season, Harkless should be given good minutes and develop nicely.

Nikola Vucevic is coming off a decent rookie season in Philly and should be helpful. He is young and could develop into a great player. Josh McRoberts is coming off a rough season with the Lakers, but played well the year before with the Pacers. Maybe he'll find a good niche with the Magic. Christian Eyenga is young and has played fairly well in his career so far. While he probably won't develop into a star, he could develop into a solid NBA contributor.


To sum it up, the Lakers made a great trade and will be one of the top teams in the NBA this season. I don't think this trade was a good move for the Nuggets, but I could be wrong. I think that this trade is risky for the 76ers. I think that the Magic did as well as they could have trading Dwight Howard.

Have any thoughts on the D12 trade? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.