Ice, Sticks and Rubber Balls...In a Nutshell

New Era Radio: Ice, Sticks and Rubber Balls...In a Nutshell

Please dont hate us too much, we try to talk hockey as the Kings are in the finals. Also,even though the Lakers and Clippers season is over the OFF season has began. Marcas and Cacique see what are the next steps for our beloved NBA teams.  To keep up with the Hip Hop theme of the show, Marcas lets us know how the Reggae Fest went and a listener gives a topic that I think will never be solved.

Nets Plan-B is Deron Williams

S.I.com reports:

The Utah Jazz have agreed to send All-Star point guard Deron Williams to New Jersey in a multi-team deal, SI.com has confirmed. The Jazz will receive rookie power forward Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris, two first-round draft picks and $3 million cash.

The Nets will also close to a deal that would send Troy Murphy's expiring contract to Golden State in exchange for big men Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright.

The surprising blockbuster comes after the Nets struck out on attracting LeBron James last summer in free agency, and Carmelo Anthony in a trade with Denver.

Williams, who's averaging 21.3 points and is third in the league in assists with 9.7 per game, is signed through next season and has a $17.8 million player option for 2012-13. There was a growing belief within the Jazz organization that Williams would opt out of his contract and sign elsewhere, and Utah was likely going to trade him next season to avoid losing him in free agency.

The 26-year-old guard and former longtime coach Jerry Sloan reportedly had a heated exchange during halftime of the Jazz's frustrating loss to the Chicago a couple weeks ago. Though Sloan denied the dustup as reason for his resignation the following day, it's been reported that Sloan grew tired of the struggles with Williams and was ready to end it.

Artest Wants Out Of L.A. ?

Posted by the L.A. Times's Mark Medina:

Ron Artest's agent, David Bauman, refuted an ESPN report that said Artest hoped the Lakers traded him.

"Ron is not looking for a trade," Bauman said. "The frustration is there among everyone on the team. But Ron is a Laker, and he just wants to win. Ron is frustrated with the losing, as everybody is."

After the Lakers' 109-96 loss Sunday to the Boston Celtics, General Manager Mitch Kupchak told the Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner and NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper he was considering making a trade. The Times' Mike Bresnahan highlighted the limited trade options the Lakers had because of their "aging roster and cumbersome salaries," noting that Artest's trade value was low because of his season-long inconsistency, his age (31) and because he had three more years left on his contract after this season worth $21.8 million. And though both Ron Artest's brother, Daniel Artest, and the report itself said Daniel wasn't the source, he suggested on his Twitter account during the Lakers-Rockets game Tuesday that he was frustrated.

The ESPN report stressed that it was likely Artest could change his mind given his fickle personality and the fact that his relationship with Lakers Coach Phil Jackson had improved ever since a Yahoo! sports report in December on a confrontation during practice between Artest and Jackson in which Artest voice his frustrations with Jackson publicly criticizing him. Said Bauman: "Ron and Phil have definitely seen each other eye to eye better."