Kaman could be a keeper elsewhere

Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You can forget about blowing the whistle on ageism in sports.

After all, it's not only accepted it's expected.

If you were wondering why the New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade center Chris Kaman, understand the former All-Star is about to cross a very important threshold on April 28 of this year -- his 30th birthday.

Thirtysomethings simply do not fit into rebuilding plans and at a Western Conference-worst 4-15 the Hornets are resigned to starting one.

New Orleans, of course, acquired Kaman back in December as part of the blockbuster deal that sent the face of the franchise, Chris Paul, to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Even then most thought the Big Easy was just a transitory stop for the former Central Michigan star with the conventional wisdom believing the Hornets acquired an asset to move before the March 15 trade deadline.

And Kaman remains an alluring piece to a number of puzzles. He's got skill and perhaps more importantly, an expiring deal worth just over $14 million this season.

Already the oldest player on the Hornets' roster Kaman quickly fell out of Monty Williams' rotation in favor of Jason Smith and promising Mexican Gustavo Ayon.

"It's just something (where) we want to play our young guys and we certainly don't want to disrespect Chris at all," Williams told the media before Friday's upset against the Magic. "This is something we want to keep internally. It's certainly not disciplinary and he understands and I talked to him.

"We're going to play Jason Smith, Gustavo Ayon and Al-Farouq Aminu. It's just difficult to play that many bigs and I understand how difficult it is for (Kaman) to not get the minutes he wants."

It didn't stay internal for long. By the third quarter Hornets GM Dell Demps had released a statement.

"We've informed Chris that we are looking into possible trades and he was understanding about the situation," Demps said. "We're working together on this. Chris has been the ultimate professional since he joined us.

"In no way is this a disciplinary action. We had discussions about extending his current contract when he first came to the Hornets, but the organization decided to go in a different direction."

Since Kaman was not with the team on Friday, it was easy to speculate that perhaps he had run afoul of either Williams or Demps. I mean, it's one thing to bench a guy for a youth movement but it's another to jettison him from practice and his teammates.

The "ultimate professional" as Demps described Kaman wouldn't be happy losing minutes, perhaps, but he certainly wouldn't want to stop working either.

New Orleans is trying to spin things as best it can, fueling rumors that the club approached Kaman and his agent, Rob Pelinka, once they settled on the youth movement. From there both sides reportedly agreed that Kaman would be deactivated until a trade is consummated.

On the surface that seems a bit far-fetched but Kaman has certainly been injury prone and giving him mop-up minutes here and there could be a risk to any potential deal, something neither Kaman or the Hornets would want.

Either way, New Orleans isn't exactly going to get a king's ransom for a player that is seemingly on the downside, has lost minutes to a pedestrian player like Smith and could be complaining.

On the other hand, in a league short on competent big man, it's not outlandish to think one or two teams might remember 2007-08, Kaman's breakout season with the Clippers when he averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. And remember as late as '09-10 he averaged 18.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg.

Building for the future is what the Hornets are all about now but others are concerned with competing and renting a 7-footer that can play could pay dividends.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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