Kaman could be a keeper elsewhere
Basketball Betting Lines
01/28/2012 -
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You can forget about blowing the whistle
on ageism in sports.
After all, it's not only accepted it's expected.
If you were wondering why the New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade
center Chris Kaman, understand the former All-Star is about to cross a very
important threshold on April 28 of this year -- his 30th birthday.
Thirtysomethings simply do not fit into rebuilding plans and at a Western
Conference-worst 4-15 the Hornets are resigned to starting one.
New Orleans, of course, acquired Kaman back in December as part of the
blockbuster deal that sent the face of the franchise, Chris Paul, to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Even then most thought the Big Easy was just a transitory stop for the former
Central Michigan star with the conventional wisdom believing the Hornets
acquired an asset to move before the March 15 trade deadline.
And Kaman remains an alluring piece to a number of puzzles. He's got skill
and perhaps more importantly, an expiring deal worth just over $14 million
this season.
Already the oldest player on the Hornets' roster Kaman quickly fell out of
Monty Williams' rotation in favor of Jason Smith and promising Mexican Gustavo
Ayon.
"It's just something (where) we want to play our young guys and we certainly
don't want to disrespect Chris at all," Williams told the media before
Friday's upset against the Magic. "This is something we want to keep
internally. It's certainly not disciplinary and he understands and I talked to
him.
"We're going to play Jason Smith, Gustavo Ayon and Al-Farouq Aminu. It's just
difficult to play that many bigs and I understand how difficult it is for
(Kaman) to not get the minutes he wants."
It didn't stay internal for long. By the third quarter Hornets GM Dell Demps
had released a statement.
"We've informed Chris that we are looking into possible trades and he was
understanding about the situation," Demps said. "We're working together on
this. Chris has been the ultimate professional since he joined us.
"In no way is this a disciplinary action. We had discussions about extending
his current contract when he first came to the Hornets, but the organization
decided to go in a different direction."
Since Kaman was not with the team on Friday, it was easy to speculate that
perhaps he had run afoul of either Williams or Demps. I mean, it's one
thing to bench a guy for a youth movement but it's another to jettison him
from practice and his teammates.
The "ultimate professional" as Demps described Kaman wouldn't be happy losing
minutes, perhaps, but he certainly wouldn't want to stop working either.
New Orleans is trying to spin things as best it can, fueling rumors that the
club approached Kaman and his agent, Rob Pelinka, once they settled on the
youth movement. From there both sides reportedly agreed that Kaman would be
deactivated until a trade is consummated.
On the surface that seems a bit far-fetched but Kaman has certainly been
injury prone and giving him mop-up minutes here and there could be a risk to
any potential deal, something neither Kaman or the Hornets would want.
Either way, New Orleans isn't exactly going to get a king's ransom for a
player that is seemingly on the downside, has lost minutes to a pedestrian
player like Smith and could be complaining.
On the other hand, in a league short on competent big man, it's not outlandish
to think one or two teams might remember 2007-08, Kaman's breakout season with
the Clippers when he averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per
game. And remember as late as '09-10 he averaged 18.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg.
Building for the future is what the Hornets are all about now but others are
concerned with competing and renting a 7-footer that can play could pay
dividends.
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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
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