Bonzi Goes to Texas and Rip Gets Honored

Bonzi Returns to Southwest

"ESPN.com reported Thursday that the free-agent forward has agreed to a two-year, $5 million contract with the Houston Rockets."

Sigh. When I heard Bonzi Wells had spoken with the Miami Heat, who was then considering him for their mid-level exception, I was praying for the decision we now know he made. As much as I think we can still take the Heat, adding Bonzi would make them far more dangerous and give them a lot of firepower off the bench.

"This isn't about the money; this is about being in the right place. Bonzi doesn't care about starting. He just wants to be some place he can contribute." - Merle Scott, Wells' agent, speaking with ESPN.com."

There he will join a Houston Rockets team and solidify there top six, lead by rejuvenated Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. They probably aren't up to par with their fellow Texan teams yet, but there is at least progress with the Rockets. Barring any unexpected problems, Houston could conceivably be a strong team this year. Bonzi will help them add the depth they need to be better matched with the top Western teams, and he likely be coming off the bench as the sixth man, although there is room for him to start with certain line-ups.

No. 35: Rip Hamilton
SLAM Magazine is ranking the top 50 players in the NBA. It will be an arbitrary and contentious ranking, as all rankings generally are, but it generates debate and there's nothing wrong with that. SLAM previously selected former Piston (in case you don't remember) Darko Milicic at #49, and now Hamilton comes in at #35. Billups will inevitably appear as well, so stay tuned for that. Here's what SLAM's Ben Osborne had to say on Rip:

"Remember when Jerry Stackhouse was traded for Richard Hamilton? The spin at the time was that the Pistons were only dealing Stack because his contract was coming up for renewal, and that Rip was the best they could get in return. As if the Wizards were getting over on the Pistons. Ha! I may have been a bit biased because at the time I had recently written a story about Rip talking about how overlooked in Washington he was and how he was ready to explode, but I really was confident that the Pistons killed the Wizards in that trade. I’m no Stack hater (far from it, actually), but that dude’s career was heading downhill while Rip’s was just starting.

And sure enough, Rip has gone on to be a centerpiece of one of the League’s top teams; he stays in tip-top shape, works his ass off on both ends of the floor and can score with anyone in the League. On another team, at this point in his development, 28-year-old Rip could average 24 a night, but he’d rather do what it takes to keep the Pistons winning. Just another reason no one would be so quick to trade him this time around."