Free Agent Update #2

This really is Christmas in July.

Baron Davis signs with the LA. Clippers and teams with Elton Brand to create one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. But wait! What’s this? The Golden State Warriors are seeking revenge from Davis’ unexpected departure? They have offered Brand, who recently opted out of his contract to create financial flexibility for the Clippers (is that what they call it these days?) a bigger deal than what the Clippers have on the table? And what’s that? Brand flew to Washington to meet with agent David Falk to speak face-to-face about the deal that could make him $20 million richer? Odds are Brand and Davis will be sharing the same huddle next season, but just imagine if Brand signed with the Warriors. Would Donald Sterling’s head roll, but like, seriously? For a Clippers fan it’d be like having your team make it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, get picked to win the Eastern Conference the following season, and then have a season comparable to Alex Rodriguez’s decision to hang out with Madonna late at night – just God-awful. Oh wait, that kind of happened to me. Yeah, that would suck.

And what’s that you say? Josh Smith may soon be calling Philadelphia home? How about a starting five of Andrew Miller, Willie Green, Andrew Igoudala, Josh Smith and Samuel Dalembert with Louis Williams, Rodney Carney and Thaddeus Young off the bench. This team ought to run a decathlon they’d be so darn athletic.

Wait, what’d you say? Corey Maggette what? He’s going to sign where? San Antonio? No way! So instead of starting Michael Finley and having Manu Ginobili off the bench, the Spurs have Maggette to take Finley’s spot? Say it with me: dy-nas-ty.

Are you serious? Stop that. Really? Chris Andersen? The same guy who needed 13 tries to throw down two dunks in the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest and who later served a two-year ban for violating the league’s substance abuse policy? He’s going to sign with who? The Boston Celtics!?! He had dinner with Danny Ainge last night? How I wish I could have sat down with that happy couple.

And you just got to love Ron Artest. After deciding to not op-out of the final year of his contract with the Sacramento Kings, the often-troubled defensive machine said, “I think I made the biggest mistake by staying in my contract and I have to live with it. I don’t see myself with [the] Kinds beyond 2008-09.” Mazel Tov! Another great decision!

And how about one of the top high school recruits for the class of 2008, Brandon Jennings, publicly playing with the idea of not attending Arizona and playing in Europe for one year before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft. And so it begins.

But maybe the best news came when NBA Commissioner David Stern hired a United States Army general to be senior vice president for referee operations to supervise all aspects of officiating. Somewhere Tim Donaghy is smiling.

I seriously love Christmas.