More action from the NBA off-season

There have been some more big name movements in the NBA over the last few days. I mentioned it in my post last week and it was confirmed yesterday the Boston Celtics got their man signing Rasheed Wallace to a two-year deal. Talk is now wondering whether he will start or come off the bench and which 'Sheed will indeed turn up this season.

One of the top free-agents this summer has been Hedo Turkoglu (pictured right) from the Orlando Magic. Rumour had him going to Portland which I don't think would have been great for him or them but thankfully at the last minute he instead signed with the Toronto Raptors. The deal is reportedly for 5 years around $56 - 60 million and goes to show you what well-timed form can do for you. Having big expectations for Hedo this season I drafted in the early rounds of my fantasy league and he under-performed for much of the year. In the play-offs he had some great games, hit a few clutch shots and hello pay-day!!

NBA off-season action

In the NBA, after the regular season comes the playoffs and finals ... and then there is the third season which consists of the draft and off-season action. The off-season you'd imagine is pretty dull after the finals but this is where the wheeling and dealing of trades and free-agency comes in to play.

NBA teams can officially begin courting free-agents from 12am July 1 and surprisingly a number of them don't waste anytime. Here's a great line from the guys at Dime today:
… The Celtics are really putting on the full-court press for Rasheed Wallace. As soon as the negotiation period opened at 12 a.m. Wednesday, Danny Ainge was knocking on ‘Sheed’s front door, and later in the day the team sent KG, Pierce, Ray and Doc over to recruit ‘Sheed some more. NBA free agency can defy reality: Under what other circumstances would anyone ever knock on Rasheed Wallace’s door past midnight? He’s liable to answer with a .38 or a tire iron …

So the big trades/free-agent signings so far are:

• Pre-draft, Orlando trader Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie to New Jersey for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson
• Detroit will sign Ben Gordon from Chicago and Charlie Villanueva from Milwaukee
• LA Clippers trade Zach Randolph to Memphis for Quentin Richardson

And the breaking rumour today is that the LA Lakers will sign Ron Artest while the Houston Rockets will sign Trevor Ariza (not actually a trade although it looks like one).

Will these two be playing for the same team next season?