Hov's Kings - Retired

[Houndy]

Can't wait to see the Knicks with Meredith, Amar'e, and Melo

[Justine.]

So far loving the off-season updates

[Lamrock]

Nice offseason coverage. Glad to see you're doing the real trades. Shame about the lottery, but Meredith has Joe Smith written all over him.

[hova-]

This guy has Hall of Fame written all over him.

Shame about the lottery, but Meredith has Joe Smith written all over him.

Will be quite interesting to see how that one turns out. Even if he plays like Joe Smith, the Knicks had a solid big at least to team up with Melo and STAT.

Justine., thanks man

[dare]

I told you would get a top 3 pick, if not Meredith, Chase is your guy.

[Martti.]

Pairing Meredith with 2 superstars might not be the best for him. He will be the third option for years, unless he improves dramatically. He will just be the rebounder and defender, but I understand he has serious offensive potential?

[hova-]

Martti., he has offensive potential for sure, range up to 18 feet and some serious back to the basket skills. But you're right, maybe he will be more of a Kevin Garnett type.

I did the draft, but I don't know when I will have the coverage online: Only a few words: I hate the Pistons and the Sonics fucked up the draft

Feel free to post speculations

[Martti.]

Meredith slipped to third?

[hova-]

I guess that would not be fucked up. Everything went realistic from the CPU's side, but I'm just not satisfied with how it went for GM Hov.

[Houndy]

Sort of lucky for Knicks fans to get the 1st pick; anything below, the Rockets would have the right to trade their pick for the Knicks'

[hova-]

Offseason at Seattle
July, 30th, Seattle front office.

....


“Okay, Joe, that sounds good” ……… “Yeah, yeah, I know you want this guy” … “No problemo, no problemo”, “Yeah, yeah, bye then”.

It was just 20 hours before the upcoming Draft and it felt good. I hung up the phone after talking to the Pistons’ GM Dumars. We had a pretty good deal getting through.

Actually it was him calling me and telling me that he would like to propose me that I should not draft George Randolph. He offered me a nice package in return so that I get Randolph with my 3rd pick and trade him to the Pistons for their 4th pick and a decent bunch of guys.

I put my feet on the table and took a sip of my now pretty much coldened coffee when it knocked on the door.

“Come in, please”, I said while getting up to prepare some new coffee.
“Hey Hov, what’s up, you wanted to talk to me”, it was Geoff Petrie speaking.
“Yo, Geoff, good to see you, I wanted to talk to you about the scouting reports”, I said while filling some spoons of instant coffee into my cup.
“Oh yeah, the workouts … I have some good news for you”, he said with a smile on his face.
“We have our man”, he said also grabbing a cup and filling in hot water. His face almost disappeared behind the damp of his coffee.
“So?”, I was pretty curious.
“It’s Luis. He must be our man. This guy is so athletic and makes intelligent decisions with the ball. He reminds of a young Baron Davis with an matured attitude”, Petrie started to romanticize.
“We had Leroy Graham in the gym, we had Eric Arthur and also Darryl Spencer, who I doubt we can get anyway without trading for the Wizards’ pick. All in all, let’s take Chase”, he explained.

I grabbed a three days old donut and took a bite. “Okay, let’s take Chase, I wanted to take him anyway, glad you agree”, I said with my mouth full.

“By the way, Geoff”, I changed the topic. “I’ve struck a deal today”, I said.
“A deal?”, he answered pretty surprised.
“A deal”, I answered cleaning my juicy fingers with a towel. I went to the window and let the sun shine on my face.
“I’ve traded away Hassan”, I said. Geoff looked pretty shocked.
“Whiteside?”, he asked, although he knew we only had one Hassan.
“Ye”, I answered looking out of the window. I was sure he did not like the trade and I could not see into his eyes.
“I traded Hassan and a 2012 2nd rounder to the Bucks for the 21st pick of the draft, Keyon Dooling and their 2nd round pick of this year”.
“Wow, I’m impressed”, he answered. “Did not see this coming honestly, Hassan’s our future, Hov”, he got a bit louder.
“He is?”, I asked sarcastically. “He won’t see enough playing time behind Demarcus and he is already 22 years old. We have too much talent, Geoff, we need hard-working veterans”, I said.

“Hard-working veterans? Keyon Dooling? The 21st draft pick? How the hell are these two hard-working veterans?”, Petrie slammed his cup on the table.
“Well, they are part of my plans”, I said.
“I’ve talked to Joe Dumars. He wants to have this guy Randolph from UNC and is afraid that we could steal him with our 3rd pick. The Pistons only have the 4th”, I started to explain.
“I know that, go on”, he responded assertively.
“Well, he offered me his 4th pick and Jason Maxiell if we take Randolph with the third pick and trade him to Detroit. But he said he would need a little add-on so that the trade does not look too much lopsided for us. The media might kill him. So I added the 21st pick”.
“Well, Hov, at least it sounds like a plan. Dooling and Maxiell could help us, and we do not really loose much at all”, he actually sounded pretty convinced.
“BUT, why the fuck trade away Hassan”, his mood changed in a moment.
“It’s your decision, Hov. But I tell you two things: Don’t throw away our talent, we need those gifted guys and you treat them wrong. And let me give you an advice: Dumars a bitch”.

Petrie left the room and was all pissed. I felt like the deal would be perfect. I wanted to do it. Why not?


…



July, 31st, Draft day at Newark, NJ.

....


It was no surprise at all. The Knicks had picked Meredith. The New Jersey crowd at Prudential Center kept booing all the way, even when the Wizards chose Darryl Spencer with their number two pick.

I felt pretty confident that things would turn out well for our Sonics organization. I sat at the GM’s seats and wanted to call Joe Dumars just as my cell phone rang.
I did not know the number before.
“Hova”, I took the phone.
“Hey Mr. Hova, O’Connor speaking, Utah Jazz GM”.
“Hi, Mr. O’Connor, how can I help you?”.
“Mr. Hova, I’d like to propose a deal. Let’s make it quick: Paul Millsap for your third pick.”

Wow, I was pretty excited about the offer. At the moment we did not feel like resigning Carl Landry and Millsap is a future All-Star if you ask me. But I had that deal with the Pistons, I gave Dumars my word.

“I’m sorry Mr. O’Connor, but I’ve already promised the pick to someone else”, I said although I did not want to say it.
“No chance?”, he replied quickly, one has no time during the draft.
“No chance, thanks for calling”, I hung up.

We had to pick a player now. I gave Dumars a quick call, whilst watching the whole draft scenery.
I rang once, twice, then he finally picked up the phone.
“Dumars”, he said.
“Hey Joe, Hova here. I just wanted to make sure were getting this done”, I said. I was pretty excited and rubbed over my forehead.
“We draft George Randolph of UNC and send him to you combined with the 21st pick for the 4th pick and Jason Maxiell”, I just repeated the deal we had already made up.
The league office interrupted me on the phone.
“We need your choice, Hova”, a league assistant said with a rough voice.
“Okay”, I replied while keeping Dumars on the phone. “We take Randolph”.

A murmur went through the crowd as our decision was made official. Many thought “why do they draft a G-F with Evans and Casspi on their roster, but I wanted to make the deal public immediately.
“You still there?”, I asked Dumars.
“I am”, he replied sounding serious.
“Let’s get the deal through”, I said hastily.
“Well, Hova, I’m not sure if we will find an agreement in that one …”, Dumars answered.
“What??”, I asked pretty shocked.
“We can trade away Chase for more than you can offer us”, he said.

“What a bitch”, I said to myself.
“What do you want?”, I wanted to know. “We had a deal”, I accused him.
“We did not shake hands one time, did we?”, he countered dryly.
“Include Jason Thompson and you’ll get Chase”, he said.
Meanwhile the Pistons had chosen Chase with their 4th pick.
“Thompson? You serious?”, I asked disbelieving.
“You can get Villanueva in return if you want”, he added.
“Ye, Charlie V and his big fat dumbass contract”, I said craggy.
“Better keep your mouth shut if you want a deal, Hova”, he said.

I had to act quickly. We needed Chase. There was no choice for me. “What a fucked up draft”, I told myself. Good that Geoff Petrie wasn’t in the house today.
“You suck, Dumars”, I said.
“You get Thompson, but I don’t want Charlie. Give me your 2nd rounder at least”, I proposed.
“Okay, Hova, Thompson, Randolph and the 21st pick for Chase, Maxiell and the 32nd pick”, he said.
“Signed”, I answered although I hated it.
“Tell it the league’s officials you bloodsucker”, I hung up.


...



August 1st, Seattle front office

....

“WHAT? You gave away Thompson for Maxiell?”, Petrie threw his Star Bucks cup on the floor, with coffee left in it. This really started to get a routine.
“He screw me”, I said.
“Dumars screw you?”, he replied. “This guy has no idea of the business and screwed you? You’re a newbie, Hova”, Petrie said.
Maybe I am …


...


“Sry Mr. Hova, but I don’t want to sign that deal right now”, he said.
It was Tyreke speaking.
“Why the hell, Reke?”, I asked him. “We treat you like the king of this organization and you don’t want a max deal?”, I tried to give him a bad conscience.
“Sorry, Mr. Hova, but the recent moves did not increase my confidence in the organization. The draft deal was …”, “SHIT!”, I interrupted him.
“I know that”, I mumbled.
“Yes, and you did not resign Carl. He was important. JT’s gone now. How can I trust this franchise”, he tried to excuse himself.
“Reke, do you really think we will win a championship with these guys”, I tried to explain.
“We got Chase, we got financial flexibility with Maxiell’s contract and Carl was asking for too much money”.
“But …”, “NO BUT”, I interrupted once again.
“Geoff and I will try to add some veterans and maybe we can reach the Playoffs next season, but the major goal must be the free agent class of 2012, Reke”, I said.
“Imagine yourself combined with Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Chris Paul or Deron Williams … Reke – we have a plan”, I was begging him to sign that extension.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hova. I will try to give my best this season but I expect the same from you, maybe we can come to an agreement if you improve our roster”, he said and left the door.

The kid was a good kid. He was all about success. Not signing that extension cost him a lot of money, but he did not care. What a fucked up offseason so far. Our roster did not look to promising and the only good thing was that we still had all financial flexibilities.
Still, I had to admit, being a good GM ain’t that easy at all.

...

[puttincomputers]

I think you got the best of Dumars in that trade! What was he thinking! He needs a point guard, Not a shooting guard or small forward! What will happen to Gordan and Prince!

[kibaxx7]

Dumars played with you, man I would have picked Chase, and done!

[Houndy]

You got your GM ass handed too by Joe

[hova-]

The number one pick of the 2011 draft: Lance Meredith.

Knicks form three-headed monster as Meredith joins N.Y. via draft
NBA draft special, Newark, NJ --- posted 1 a.m., August 1st

The New York Knicks have used their 1st pick of the 2011 NBA Draft to chose UConn Huskies big man Lance Meredith, just as everyone had expected them to do before the NBA's big summer event.

Meredith experienced a lot of booes from the fans, but not - as usual - from the Knicks fans, but rather from the New Jersey fans all over the place (yes, there are Nets fans) in Newark, where the draft took place this year.

"I feel great. The Knicks made a big step this offseason and I am only a small part of it", the freshly drafted two-time College Champion said. "The crowd booing? Ah, come on, we are in New Jersey. If I was a Nets fan I'd boo myself, too, I guess", the big man smiled.

For the Knicks a dream must have come true. Meredith allows them to form a three-headed monster in combination with Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. The former Huskie averaged 23.1 points and 10.2 boards per game in his last college season with UConn. He also won the College player of the year award twice in a row, a feat rarely achieved by anyone.

With the Knicks, he sees his role rather in rebounding and defending the basket. "If Coach wants me to be our first option, hey, no problem. But I rather want to bolster Melo and Amar'e on defense", he said.

Three point guards among the top six

Meredith was the man of the night, but there were some other interesting choices in this year's draft. The Wizards were looking to deepen their backcourt after trading away Kirk Hinrich and Gilbert Arenas in the offseason and added Darryl Spencer to their roster.

The Deamondecons shooting guard wasn't too surprised to land with the Wizards, although he would have loved to play for his hometown Knicks. "Yes, the Knicks would have been cool, but it was pretty obvious they'd take Lance. I'm satisfied with my situation, playing alongside John Wall and everything", the 6-6 guard said.

The third pick went somewhat into a debacle for the Seattle Supersonics. Reports say, that the Sonics wanted to draft George Randolph for a decent package of players also including Luis Chase, but things went wrong in a way (no details were named) and the Pistons took Chase and were able to strike a deal which is graded pretty lopsided by experts.

Pistons get: George Randolph, Sonics' 21st pick (formerly Bucks), Jason Thompson
Sonics get: Luis Chase, Pistons 32nd pick, Jason Maxiell

"Chris Hova will have to listen to some heavy criticism after this one", TNT expert David Aldridge said. "He could have drafted Luis Chase without any deal, but he wanted to use his pick to get some more players. He even could have drafted another solid point guard with the 21st pick he received from the Bucks in a deal struck a day before the draft", Aldridge adds.

The Sonics had sent Hassan Whiteside and a 2011 2nd rounder to the Milwaukee Bucks for Keyon Dooling and the Bucks' 1st round pick of this year's draft.

Clippers make big move in quiet Draft

There weren't many deals in the draft, actually only two with the Pistons-Sonics move being one of it.

The other move was made by the Los Angeles Clippers, who were looking to add some veteran leadership to their talented, young squad. Just after trading away their former leader Baron Davis to Cleveland for Mo Williams, the "other" team of L.A. managed to make a move which brought in Stephen Jackson of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Clippers get: Stephen Jackson, 16th pick (from the Bobcats)
Bobcats get: Ryan Gomes, 5th pick (from the Clippers)

This deal definitely helped both teams as the Clippers did not need a decent point guard and thus did not need the number five pick of the draft. They used their 16th pick for Jonathon Clemons, a wing player who could help them in long term. The Bobcats are looking to rebuild after trading away their franchise faces in Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace. They cleared a lot of cap space and used the 5th pick for UCLA guard Leroy Graham.

Take a look below for the 1st round draft list and the winners & loosers of the draft.



The Winners

New York Knicks
The Knicks must be a winner of the draft. They added the best player available and - to many experts - a future All-Star and maybe even Hall-of-Famer in Lance Meredith. Their frontcourt looks scary now and they will most likely be the number one contender in the East. The Knicks also made the best out of their 2nd rounder pick as they added Gonzaga big man Ben Rollins, a defensive-minded center for their thin bench.

Detroit Pistons
The Pistons were able to get their favourite player in George Randolph, a three point shooting wing man with pretty versatile skills. With Tayshaun Prince most likely signing with the Hawks, Randolph could immediately start for the Pistons at the three, although he's more of a two-guard. The Pistons were also able to acquire Jason Thompson from the Sonics, who will help them to strenghten their young frontcourt. The 21st pick Glen Hope is a talented point guard, who could come off the bench behind resigned Rodney Stuckey.

Los Angeles Clippers
After an horrid season last year, the Clippers tried to turn around their franchise to have success now with Blake Griffin improving. The decision to use the 5th pick to acquire a veteran in Stephen Jackson was simply right. The top picks of the draft were almost only guards, the Clipps have Mo Williams, Eric Gordon, Eric Bledsoe and Randy Foye. Further, their team has definitely enough talent right now, there's no need for more youngsters. The 16th pick was used well with young canadian Jonathon Clemons, who can play the three and the four. Combined with the resigning of Kendrick Perkins, the Clippers look like a Playoff team now.

Charlotte Bobcats
The Cats want to rebuild and giving away Stephen Jackson was the best idea to clean some cap space. They got two superb talents with the 5th and the 7th pick. Leroy Graham will be an upgrade over DJ Augustin right from the beginning. The UCLA guard has everything a playmaker needs. Melvin Barker played a top season for Texas A&M and could turn into an All-Defensive type of player.

L.A. Lakers
Not an excellent draft, but for a champion it's always hard to find good players. The Lakers were able to get Duke point guard Manuel Green with the 30th pick. Green is very talented and learned the game from Mike Krzycewski. He could be the Lakers backup when Derek Fisher retires.


The Losers

Seattle Supersonics
It wasn't horrible for the Sonics, but by trying to snatch a decent big man via trade, the Sonics found themselves loosing Jason Thompson and a 21st pick which could have very well been used for a young big man as well. Jason Maxiell had a terrible season, but which Piston did not have a terrible season last year? At least the Sonics got Luis Chase, the best point guard of the draft. But to what price?

Toronto Raptors
The Raptors felt like they could get Leroy Graham since the Clippers did not look for a decent guard with their 5th pick and the Pistons also did not seem like they would choose a guard. Well, things turned out different. LA gave away the 5th pick and the Cats chose Leroy Graham, the Pistons surprisingly took Luis Chase and sent him to Seattle. The Raptors began to panic and drafted Eric Arthur. The Georgia State alumni is a good scorer, but no playmaker and no franchise player. For the sixth pick, this isn't a good choice.

Minnesota Timberwolves
The T-Wolves should have used their pick to trade for a veteran or for another future 1st rounder. This year's draft had no real prospect for them listed. Instead of using the pick the right way, or at least draft well-known, solid guys like Joel Bridges of Duke or Orlando Brady of the Montana Grizzlies, the Wolves decided to draft an unknown shooting guard out of a little College. Murray George out of Western Illinois won't see much playing time in the Wolves stacked backcourt.

Steals and drop offs

Jonathon Clemons (picked 16th by LAC): the canadian Jayhawk at 16th must be a steal for the Clippers. Okay, he did not play well in the NCAA tournament, but this guy has "Lamar Odom" written all over him.

Orlando Brady (pickey 15th by IND): GMs don't like undersized power forwards. But Brady dominated the NCAA tournament leading his Grizzlies to a surprising Finals appearance. Larry Bird was shocked when he saw him sliding to 15 and had a smile all over his face.

Joel Bridges (pickey 17th by NOH): Duke did not play well last year, but Bridges is a very-well educated and drilled forward who could help the Hornets immediately. The 6-6 forward could start with Antawn Jamison stepping down.

Stephon Lawrence (picked 50th by MIL): Lawrence is not superstar, but the Mississippi shooting guard was projected to be drafted in the mid-late first round. He can score and defend. What else do you want with the 50th pick?

Michael Green (picked 30th by LAL): The Duke point guard has a lot of potential and if it wasn't for Duke's bad season, he could have been mentioned among the top guards of the draft. He wasn't and the Lakers like it.

[The X]

What the heck happened? Why didn't you just draft Chase with your pick? I don't get the logic unless you completely botched it thinking that you could use Randolph to leverage a better deal for yourself. If that wa sthe plan, it's very dangerous play & looks like you got burned

[Justine.]

Dumars doomed you Great draft coverage man.

[hova-]

The X, that's what happened. I thought I could get away with Maxiell and Chase for Randolph and the Buck's pick. Would have given me a solid backup PF with a pretty low salary (5M). The Pistons were said to draft Randolph (Mock draft) and there was no reason for them to choose Chase as they resigned Stuckey and have Bynum.

So it was risky, and I felt like I should not reload the whole thing because it's like cheating. That's the game and I got burned for trying to get too much. Tried everything to not loose Thompson in that deal, but Joe D did not accept anything else. I could have said "Okay, keep Chase you moron, I have Randolph", but Randolph does not fit into my team at all.

But you also have to see that I would never ever have resigned Thompson because he will surely ask for about 8M per year ingame. Maxiell's contract is cheaper and will expire in two years. I have all financial flexibility for the big FA class 2012.

Justine., thank you. That's how it goes ...

[puttincomputers]

I still think Dumars could be the looser of this deal.

[hova-]

puttincomputers, if Chase turns into an All-Star, he could be the looser. Thompson will be FA after the season and the 21st pick Glen Hope won't be a game changer for them. Getting Randolph was still pretty good for Motown, loosing Maxiell does not hurt them.

[Houndy]

This is why drafts are a pain in the ass

[kibaxx7]

Well, tough draft for you then, Hov. The Clippers actually made some interesting moves!

[Lamrock]

Went back and gave this a thorough read. Fantastic stuff - first season was everything I tried to make my two Raptors associations like. Can't wait for season 2.

I liked the draft coverage. The twist where you got fucked over was a unique and believable way to tie in with the game. Never liked Jason Thompson anyway. Maxiell's deal is pretty bad though.

[hova-]

Houndy, well it's like in RL. You have some loosers and some winners.

Thierry •, the Clippers are a goddam Playoffteam now: Kaman (Perkins) - Griffin (Clemons) - S. Jackson (Aminu) - Gordon (Foye) - Mo Williams (Bledsoe)

Sounds good to me. Maybe 1st round and finished, but there's some big potential in Griffin, Gordon, Bledsoe and Clemons, too.

Lamrock, Thanks, man. I'm really satisfied with how this D's gone so far. It's pretty much because 2k11 is the best basketball game ever made and keeps me on track.

Honestly, I planned to start Thompson to stretch the floor next to Cousins. But his contract was expiring and I doubt that I would have resigned him. Landry was asking for 8M over at least 3 years. So Maxiell is pretty cheap. I just hope he can play better than he did with the Pistons. He's a good post defender at least.

[hova-]

███ Oklahoma City makes bold moves, rises to contention heights
OKLAHOMA CITY(AP)

The Oklahoma City Thunder were always praised for their remaining cap space and how it could be used in the future to bolster a team, which has been great so far anyway, increasing it's win total each season.

The Thunder General Manager Sam Presti felt like it was the right time to spend the money this offseason and announced that the Thunder have signed former Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks and ex-Sixers forward Thaddeus Young.

"Both players agreed to take less money and playing time in order to improve our young team. They see their chance to win a ring with our squad", Presti told media.

Brooks was a starter with the Rockets last year and averaged 19.5 points and 6.2 assists per game. He will most likely be backup point guard for Russell Westbrook, a vacant position on the Thunder's roster.

Thad Young played 33.2 minutes per game for the Sixers last year and averaged 14.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The 23-year old can play three position from SG to PF and will see minutes behind Kevin Durant and retained Jeff Green.

Brooks will earn 36M $ over the next five years, while Young negotiated a 54M $ deal over the same stretch.

███ Hawks sign veterans Prince, Redd, loose Crawford to New Jersey
ATLANTA(AP)

The Atlanta Hawks felt like they were lacking experience last season when they once again were eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs.

The team announced yesterday that it has added two long year NBA veterans in Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd.

Prince, who averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds for the worst team of the league, the Detroit Pistons, signed a 3-year 12M $ deal with Atlanta and will most likely be the new starter on the three.

Redd, who was fighting injuries in recent years, is said to come off the bench and will earn 16M $ for the next four years.

"I want to end my career in Atlanta and the team feels like they really need me", the 11-year veteran said. He averaged 13.5 points off the bench for Milwaukee last year.

The Hawks did not resign Jamal Crawford, who also plays on Redd's position. The Seattle-native decided to sign a deal with the New Jersey Nets, which will earn him 14M $ for two years.

███ Marketing move brings Cavaliers Carter
CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Cavaliers still suffer from LeBron's departure a season ago and not only struggle to win games, but also to keep their fans excited.

Whilst the future does not look bad at all with JJ Hickson, Wayne Woods and a load of cap space cleaned up, owner Dan Gilbert felt like he had to offer his fans something bigger this offseason.

This led to a signing of former "Air Canada", Vince Carter. Carter, who had problems to find attractive contract offers accepted a 1-year 5M $ deal, this year's MLE, to play for the Cavaliers and maybe draw some attention by pairing up with recently acquired Baron Davis.

"We can definitely make some noise in the East, this is the right mixture of talent and veterans we have", Carter said.

The 34-year old averaged 19.5 points per game with the Magic last year but got eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Conference Semi Finals.

███ Prokhorov: Let's win now
NEW JERSEY (AP)

The New Jersey Nets acquired [u]Deron Williams in a deal which sent away two young, gifted players in Devin Harris and Derrick Favors two weeks ago and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said that this move allows the Nets to "win now".

In order to strenghten their roster, the Nets not only acquired Williams, but also announced that they signed former Hawk Jamal Crawford and free agent power forward Carl Landry.

Landry, a tough worker who averaged 12.5 points and 7.6 rebounds with the Sonics last year, will earn 28M $ over the next four years.

The Nets also added veteran point guard Andre Miller to the mix. He will most likely back up Deron Williams. Miller averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 assists with the Blazers last year and signed for the veterans minimum.

███ Sonics sign two Finals participants
SEATTLE(AP)

The Seattle Supersonics have announced that they have signed the former Celtics Delonte West and Jarvis Hayes to multi-year deals yesterday.

General Manager Hova, who has been heavily criticized for his recent moves, said that he is "extremely excited to add two players who played great in the 2011 NBA Finals".

West will earn 17.9M $ for the next three years with a decreasing salary each year. He will come off the bench and has a player option for the fourth year of his contract. The 27-year old guard averaged 4.5 points for the Celtics in the Finals and did a good job guarding the best perimetre player of the opponent's team.

Jarvis Hayes got signed for the biannual exception which will earn him 1.9M $ per year for two years. The 6-8 forward was signed by Boston over the course of last season and had some promising performances in the Playoffs like in game three vs the Heat, where he hit 3-4 three pointers to lift the Celtics.