NBA free agency's winners and losers (Yahoo! Sports)

#1

The Lakers are going to mess up what they have going for them if they give up or let Ariza and Odem go in anyway what so ever. Both were very critical in helping the Lakers win every single game and series. In fact if the Lakers were looking to expand, they are the ones that should grab Torkelu and that could really help ALMOST insure another championship.

As much as the eastern teams have improved themselves,they still won't be good enough to beat the Lakers. The toughest team would be the Celtics,but with the addition of Artest and more finals experience for the Lakers, I just don't see ANYONE beating the Lakers in a 7 game series.......

" The rapid Rise in Portland is over" That is the most Ridiculous statement Iv'e heard yet.. The rapid rise you speak of being what? the youngest team in the NBA? now because Portland didn't get Lamar O. ( A laker of course ) you don't see any potential for a young ALREADY talented team? Roy, Aldridge and Oden are not going anywhere? Yes, Roy should have been signed sealed and Paid already I agree and I'm not a fan of Pritchard either. But your complete discredit to a talented young team that have nowhere to go but up And individually get better is just, excuse me but Stupid. Give the team a chance to grow Name a franchise that has done what Portland has done in a year ! And now you expect complete failure from the same team? You sound Like you know B. Roy personally and your probably a Lakers fan.

you have to remember every one wants a peice of Portland as they do not watn to be embareced by them. what would portland need to give up to get hinrich or prince? if it rudy or batum or bayless its not worth it. I do agree that Odom is the best player available but millsap is the second best also giving the blazers toughness down low that they need. I don't see the blazers picking up millsap anyway I think portlands trying to force playermovment with the offer. The jazz would be silly not to mach Millsap should be the future of that team. anyway Portland is the only team I see that could stand pat in this market and be a much better team next year. not done rising yet no matter what any one says.

Lakers offering Odom 7 millions a year, ONLY! that is messed up man...Atleast 11, 12 millions a year. He played a lot better than Byrum, he deserves more money. Odom should go to a different team, Lakers are not going to win a championship this year anyway.

Wow, Kevin Pritchard must have really done something to p!ss of Adrian...this is the second story in a couple months he's written and just tore him up. Sounds like some kind of personal grudge to me...

The Seattle Traiblazers, or Supersonics. In 2013. All the pieces are there. McMillan, Roy, The Vulcans, Paul Allen- The Seahawks owner.

NBA Sucks

Wow, is this the same reporter who said Odom was the #1 free agent? This dude is smoking some bad LA Crack. Gasol and Kobe are great players, but everyone else is mediocre in a mediocre NBA.

Do not overrate Lamar Odom please. All the LA fans seem to think every LA player is gold. You'd think Luke Walton was an all-star the way these delusional Laker fans/reporters hype each player.

Adrian says Odom should have been on the Blazer's priority list as a small forward. News flash, The blazers already have three to four guys that already play that position. Also, what do Roy and Aldridge's negotiations have to do with Pritchard? It's between Allen and the agents. The Milsap deal will cost a lot of money, but statistically Odom and Milsap are similar; plus Milsap is much younger. The only thing really left in my opinion is to work through a trade for a playoff experienced point guard. Sure there's some opportunities missed and rushed or bad decisions, but it's really not much to worry about.

This is a terrible piece of journalism Mr. W. Your seemingly personal grudge against Kevin Pritchard (which is fine to have) has no place as a forefront to an article that is advertised as a league-wide overview. The Blazers have had a crappy offseason, so put the Blazers in that category, mention turkoglu and failed trades, and move on. Don't make it a point to make Pritchard the scape goat of a generally boring offseason and don't make the blazers, one good thing the NBA has going for it, out to be a bunch of idiots who had it coming.

How can you call the Blazers "losers," of the free agent sweepstakes thus far? Sure Hedo would've created matchup problems, but he's soft and doesn't like to play defense. Not McMillan's type of guy. As far as needing a small forward... Are you NUTS??!?! They have 3 young guys right now that can fill the void. One of whom is a 40% 3-pt shooter (Webster). Batum is their version of Tayshaun Prince and is still developing, and Outlaw... he's a bargaining chip that's hit numerous big shots over the last 2-3 years. Albeit, it didn't happen in the playoffs, but hell, McGrady and Yao still can't deliver in the playoffs. The Blazers needed a "banger." They have one in Milsap if they land him. And the last time I checked, the free agent period isn't over yet. If they want Odom, they'll get him. They just want his price to drop.

pritchard could have stood pat this offseason and still had a contender this coming season. He has made such good moves over the last few years that GM's won't even pick up the phone when he calls! I have a sneaking suspicion KP has a trick up his sleeve....

Hey I can play sports....where's my seven million dollars ?

It is truly Ironic that I read this post right after # 1 did and hadn't even heard about the new Portland draft that broke his foot. Just heard about it hours later. Unreal. I do feel bad for Portland for this as a fan of all NBA play. It really is sad to see and hopefully they will come out of it ok.

How did the Harlem Globe Trotters do? I still think Meadow Lark Lemon can beat Jordan.

Peace Out, The Compusician

Hey Comp you must be an old guy. I am and I remember Meadow Lark Lemon. He could play couldn't he ?

Hey lets increase the N.B.A. to 10,000 teams and lower the black unemployment rate!!
Sounds like a plan!!

As great as the East has improved, the champions are coming out of the west. The best PF of all time finally got some help and the Lakers just won the championship plus they added Artest. GarNOTT needs to have 4 stars on his team to win but Lebron is coming out of the east. LA or SAS vs CLE, LA or SAS wins in 6

Who cares? They are just a bunch of multimillionaires playing games that the general public is stupid enough to support!

Woj--You have no idea what's going on in Basketball and are clearly inferring rather than reporting. Pritchard exudes no sense of desperation and has openly said he has no intentions to "make a move just to make a move". Could you consider for a moment that maybe we dont need anyone? Odom is old and Broken, plus he would never be welcome in RIP City. Heinrich? How is he really any better than Blake...he's not, so why push that issue. We dont really even want Milsap--the idea is to drive the market value up so that Utah cant retain all of its outgoing players. Hedo didnt want to be here, and we didnt want him...he was a playoff one hit wonder and will fail miserably in that more "International" city of Toronto.

KP is clever....Lets watch how this turns out....

The bulls are up there for off-season losers...letting Ben Gordon go(of all teams- the Pistons). And not getting anybody for him. And then, the bulls were looking at trading Kirk Hinrich to the Blazers....ARE THEY NUTS!!! The bulls are putting too much a Derrick Rose. Long season, if they still trade Kirk Hinrich off.

What's scarry, is that we might be sitting next to or living near people who think and believe like some of these bloggers or whatever you call them. Sad, Sad, Sad.

You people are CRAZY to think that MY LAKERS are'nt going to do well.!! I was sorry to see Ariza go just as much as the next real laker fan was.Besides Kobe and Gasol I thought he real stepped up for us.But Artest is going to bring a TOUGHNESS to our team+points,reb,and hecan gaurd the other teams top PLAYER.So lets hope he can stay out of the refs dog house,and he will win a RING.

As some have already said, this is poor journalism. There is no objectivity in this piece whatsoever. His assertions are unfounded, name the executives and agents, these people aren't rape victims, they don't need to be anonymous unless you want your story to lack credibility. Name specific deals and specific actions that have landed Pritchard into such a make believe predicament. Adrian himself sounds desperate to create something to captivate readers rather than report the truth. Small forward? The Blazers have a promising starter in Martell as well as Outlaw, Batum, and Rudy. Why the hell would the Blazers need another small forward, when each have shown promise, it's a guard they need. What is your infatuation with Odom? He is a good player, but if the Blazers wanted him don't you think someone who actually reports truthful stories would have reported the interested already. Yahoo needs to hire someone who knows what they are talking about.

Hey i am a laker's friend and I hope that laker's should take Lamar Odom back.

I'm glad that the Orlando Magic did not let Hedo walk away with nothing! As for Gortat, They'll match to keep him. We'll see how much skill VC has left after the trade. The Magic are still the East Champs until they're knocked off the perch. The playoffs are still going through Orlando!

Remember them that can do. Them that can't become sports writers, lawyers, used car salespersons, politicians and other well disrespected occupations.