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Suns acquire Jason Richardson from Bobcats

Breaking News:

The Phoenix Suns completed a trade that will get them Jason Richardson for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell. In addition to Richardson, the Suns will receive Jared Dudley and a second-round pick, and give up Sean Singletary.

Jason Richardson is an explosive scorer, who has just played in 14 games for the Bobcats this season, due to a knee-injury. He is mostly known for winning the Slam Dunk Competition and upsetting the Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs with his former team, the Golden State Warriors.
Raja Bell is a three-point and defensive specialist, while Boris Diaw is an all-around versatile player, who won the Most Improved Player award in '06.

Quick Analysis:
Who got the better end of the deal?
Definitely Phoenix. They get an athletic swingman, who is a great finisher on fastbreaks and will be able to knock down open shots created by Nash, Amare and Shaq. He is definitely a great complement to the Suns and will be able to help instantly
The Bobcats got an aging Raja Bell, whose career seems to be going downhill, and Boris Diaw, who has not played on a high level since he got the MIP trophy in 2006.

Here's something we will see Richardson do in his new uniform:

Shopping in 2010

The King is having fun with everybody guessing about the future

’The year of the LeBron,’ that’s what the year of 2010 might just as well be called, with teams trying to dump as much salary as possible to be able to sign the Phenom. The front-runner right now seem to be the New York Knicks, after they effectively ruined their chances for success in the upcoming years by trading away their two top-scorers in Jamaal Crawford and Zach Randolph, both averaging around 20 points a game.

Now, the Knicks will be able to sign even two big-time players to max-contracts in 2010. Obviously the speculations are running wild right now, for the media, LeBron wearing blue and orange in 2010 seems to be set in stone already, while James himself doesn't seem like he has his mind made up yet:

“It’s not just New York and Brooklyn, it’s not just a two-team race.”
“You have to stay open-minded if you are a Knicks fan.”
“I am focused on the team that I am on right now and winning a championship. So it gets funny at times, but I don’t think about making a change at this point. I am focusing on the team I have here and the relationship I have with the Cavs.”
And also:
“If you guys want to go to sleep right now and not wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead because it’s going to be a big day.”...“July 1, 2010 is going to be a very, very big day.”

While I must admit that King James dressing up for the Knick in a couple of years seems possible, I wanna talk about something else I have on my mind: Why is it that whenever somebody talks about the 2010 free agency, the talk immediately revolves around LeBron James? I know that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh get mentioned every now and then, but shouldn’t a former Finals MVP get a little more attention than that, and what about Chris Bosh? This is a guy putting up monstrous numbers this year, while playing for a Raptors team that’s performing at a low level right now? He might want out in 2010 to be able to sing with a team that can contend. Then there’s Amare Stoudemire who’s not too happy in Phoenix and a former MVP, Dirk Nowitzki, whose team is rapidly declining. Also we have Joe Johnson, a capable wing player, playing at his best right now. He might want to go sing with a different team so that he can play alongside another Superstar. For a overview of all the players that are hitting free agency in 2010, click here.

I understand that ‘The Chosen One’ righteously leads the list of free agents, but I want to make sure that people don’t forget that in the summer of 2010 there is more to get than a LeBron James.

Don't forget about this guy:

Blooming Rose

I have a confession to make:
Before the season started I did not buy into Derrick Rose being worthy of a number one pick selection. I thought the Bulls made a huge mistake picking him over Beasley, while I applauded Miami for their excellent choice.
So when the new season started, I was mainly watching my favourite rookie, while I didn't pay as much attention to Mayo and Rose.
As everybody knows, B-Easy had a nice start, averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds over the first 20 games. While these numbers seem nice, they perish in comparison to what Rose and Mayo put up.

I first took notice of OJ Mayo tearing up the league, when he posted back to back 30-point games, and I have to admit, I jumped off the Beasley bandwagon and took a spin on Mayo’s. But watching the Grizzlies, it didn't take long to notice that, while Mayo played good, the Grizzlies were a horrible team and considering that, Mayo’s numbers just didn’t seem that great anymore…so I decided to start watching some Bulls games, and I was blown away! The first thing that came to my mind was: He’s 20 years old? And he’s already that good?

I mean this guy, Derrick Rose, is unbelievable. His numbers of 19/6/4 are nice, but they don’t tell the whole story, Rose just brings so much to the game and is truly a superstar in the making. He’s 20 years old, and yet he’s already unguardable: if defenders try to play him up-close, he just blows by them and if they try to get some space between him and themselves, he says ‘thank you very much,’ and scores with a mid-range jumper.
With his incredible speed, athleticism and a solid jumpshot (notice that I said ‘solid,’ he can still improve on his jumper and develop more range), defenses already have to pay a lot of attention to him.

Now after all the praise, I have to address one negative thing about his game: He is too unselfish. Some people think of unselfishness as a good thing, but in his case, it’s not. The thing is, most of the time he doesn’t realize that defenses can’t contain him. Rose will try to get everybody involved instead of looking for his own shot, until the Bulls go down by double-digits and he decides to take over when it’s too late. He has to realize that defenses can not keep him from scoring and start the game aggressively, once they have to completely key in on him, he can look to distribute the ball.
But Rose’s unselfishness comes with his character, with him being a laid-back and open guy, who’s trying to fit in with the team and get everybody to like him.

Once he gets settled in and realizes that the Bulls are his team though, I think we’ll see an even better Derrick Rose.


Don’t forget, the guy’s only 20 years old and he’s already that good.