Wilson Chandler Bounces To China

Damn, we didn’t know Wilson Chandler was this big of a risk taker. But the forward is basically giving up the NBA season, and has agreed to a deal with Zhejiang Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association. The rumors of an international deal for Chandler were circulating for the last few weeks, but now it’s official with a league that doesn’t allow its teams to sign NBA players under contracts. Chandler is a restricted free agent so his move is a huge one, and he knows it, saying it is a risk but it’s one he believes in. This will be an amazing experience for him. Chandler will be joined in China by Earl Clark, who signed a deal with the same team, and Jim Cleamons, who was an assistant coach on championship teams with the Bulls and Lakers. We have to say we are surprised Chandler decided to do this at this point (although he might actually be able to come back to the NBA after the Chinese season ends in April). It’s still early in the game. Nothing has been cancelled yet. But NBA players are in a tough spot. There are only so many international openings so if they wait, they might not find a place to play. If they leave early, especially for China, they run the risk of missing the year. Chandler is willing to take the risk … Even when Michael Beasley tries to do something good, it ends up turning bad. Beasley missed out on the Goodman/Drew League game because of prior commitments to a team in China. All good. No one was pissed. But then in the midst of dropping 32 in the game, he reportedly injured his wrist. It got worse the next morning and now there are rumblings it might be broken. If this turns out to be true, how much of an impact will this have on NBA players playing overseas and in playground games during the lockout? It could go either way. While no official word has come in yet as to exactly what happened, a wrist injury probably wouldn’t cut into any of the season. Still, it’s a reminder that no one is safe. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, there’s still a risk in all of this … The All-Star playground game tonight that has everyone so hyped has been moved to Morgan State University at 7 p.m (doors open at 6). It’ll be a Carmelo-LeBron-CP3 squad taking on a team with Kevin Durant-Brandon Jennings-DeMarcus Cousins. You can see why they needed to move from St. Frances Academy (not exactly the largest gym in the world) to an arena that holds 4,500 people. Also tickets go on sale today for $40, with floor seats bringing in $100. A little steep for basically a playground game, but with four of the top 10 players in the world, it makes some sense … Javaris Crittenton is “armed and dangerous”. And no, they aren’t talking about his crossover. But his attorney did say the former NBA guard will fly from L.A. to Atlanta today and turn himself in … With the two sides $7.6 billion apart(!), league sources have tentatively labeled September 15 as a deadline. If no deal is reached by that point, then training camps and preseason games will start to be cancelled. We give the chances of a deal being reached by that time at about 1%. In fact, there’s no guarantee the two sides will even meet and make an effort before then. There’s chatter between the two sides, but no progress … At least we can give the players credit for being sensitive. In 1999, multiple guys (with multi-million-dollar contracts) made mistake after mistake in the media, flaunting their wealth or just generally being out of touch with reality. Being gracious and sensitive to the fans will only help the players in the end, and they seem to understand that. Derek Fisher handed out a huge booklet to all the players recently that reminded them: you’re fighting while the fans are waiting … And George Hill is returning to Texas, but won’t be playing for the Spurs. Hill will suit up for one game in the ABA with the Texas Fuel on Oct. 16 against the West Texas Whirlwinds … We’re out like B-Easy’s wrist.