So Much For A Quiet Off-Season…

There wasn’t much anticipation over the free agent period at the beginning of summer, but some big names made unexpected decisions that could make a significant impact in the 2008-09 season.  Here’s a quick recap of some of those unexpected moves, and maybe a trade or two:

• In a very recent move, Josh Childress, Atlanta’s restricted free agent swingman, has signed with the Greek club Olympiakos for a 3 year deal worth roughly $20 million.
• Baron Davis was expected to play out the last year of his deal worth nearly $18 million, but he turned heads with his decision to opt out and return home to play alongside Elton Brand in a Clipper uniform.
• Elton Brand was thought to be getting a new deal with LA, but he changed his mind once the opportunity came to play closer to home, and play on a Sixer team that has a much greater chance at the postseason out East.
• Corey Maggette received a handsome offer from Golden State ($50 million over 5 seasons), and he makes the short trip from LA to the Bay Area.
• James Posey, who was a key contributor for the Celtics in their Finals victory over the Lakers, decided to leave Boston and take a longer term offer from the New Orleans Hornets.  His deal is worth $25 million over the next 4 years.
• In a very unexpected move, the Denver Nuggets traded center Marcus Camby to the Clippers for the rights to swap future picks.  They added former Nugget Chris Andersen to bolster their front line.
• Jermaine O’neal was traded for TJ Ford and fillers, which included the 17th pick Roy Hibbert.
• The Nets dealt Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian.

There were some other not-so-shocking deals that went down, so here’s a short recap of some:

• Chris Paul signed a new deal with the Hornets.
• Washington made new deals to keep forward Antawn Jamison and guard Gilbert Arenas in town.
• Golden State signed Monte Ellis to a multi-year contract, and they also matched the offer from the Clippers to retain restricted free agent Kelenna Azubuike.
• Former Warrior swingman Mickael Pietrus and veteran point guard Anthony Johnson signed with the Orlando Magic.
• Carlos Delfino left Toronto to play overseas for a Russian squad.
• Golden State acquired guard Marcus Williams from New Jersey for a conditional first round pick.
• Boston re-signed guard Eddie House and forward Tony Allen.
• San Antonio re-signed veteran forward Kurt Thomas.
• Brent Barry left the Spurs and signed with the Rockets.
• Beno Udrih signed a multi-year deal with Sacramento.
• The Knicks signed former Bulls guard Chris Duhon.
• The Nets acquired Eduardo Najera and Jarvis Hayes.

This off-season has been surprisingly active, and I expect more deals to go down.  Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor still haven’t inked new deals, and Ron Artest is still being shopped by Sacramento.

Now, I know I didn’t list all of the deals that went down, so I don’t want any e-mails from Bucks fans about the addition of Lue (that goes for both of you). Stay tuned for more news.