ESPN NBA

• The telethon to raise money for NBA players.
• Video of one of the best runs of the summer. James Harden, J.R. Smith, Cuttino Mobley, Kenneth Faried, Bobby Brown, musician Chris Brown and many others in intense highlights.
• Join me on HoopSpeak Live shortly.
• James Dolan has a lot of roles. Bandleader (opening for Aretha Franklin and singing a Knicks ditty, no less), NBA owner and ... person who gets most profoundly under the skin of a certain Kelly Dwyer. A review calls Dolan a "karaoke grade singer."
• In other "what are the owners up to" news, Ted Leonsis is on military flights over Washington D.C.
• Now on auction: Dennis Rodman's old Pearl Jam CD and his old filing cabinets.
• Forget playing in Europe. Play in the NFL. That's what Nate Robinson is musing about.
• As player salaries have been flat, and revenues solid, what are NBA owners spending on to cause all those newish losses? One theory: practice facilities.
• The number one rule of summer hoops is not to fall down defending the ball-handler. Especially with video cameras rolling. Michael Beasley's "whoops" moment. (Also worth noting: Awesome uniforms.)
• This idea that NBA players going overseas will damage the union ... I think that's all spin. It's incredible leverage for the players, because it annoys the owners to no end to see their best assets playing for other teams. Imagine if they ALL went. NBA franchises would be almost worthless. The more players prove they don't need the NBA for life to go on, the more the owners have to come up with a better offer. I know of no other tactic that so dramatically increases the players' leverage.
• What's going on in Darius Miles' life that he feels the need to, allegedly, travel with a loaded gun? Whole thing just seems sad. Also, a lot of people are wondering who'd try to take a gun on a plane, but it occurs to me that maybe the answer is somebody who is accustomed to flying charters, where those things simply are not as thoroughly policed.
• Kevin Pritchard's stay in Indiana could be short.
• The awesome Rondo cat.

• Shemar Woods of The Washington Post: "In addition to attending Saturday’s Manchester United and F.C. Barcelona exhibition on Saturday as an ambassador for Turkish Airlines, Kobe Bryant was expected to meet with executives from Besiktas this weekend in the nation’s capital to discuss playing overseas for the Turkish team during the NBA lockout. According to the Los Angeles Lakers star, the meeting never happened. No deal. 'To be honest with you, that’s the first time I’m hearing those things. So, I’ll let you decipher what that means, but a lot of that stuff is news to me.' Bryant said during a news conference on Sunday. 'I haven’t spoken to them in weeks.' Bryant didn’t, however, count out suiting up for any team overseas while the NBA owners and players — scheduled to meet on Monday in New York for the first time in the month-old lockout — attempt to reach an agreement. 'I’m just waiting on my phone to ring,' Bryant said. 'Here it is. I’ll play anywhere. I grew up overseas, so I’m comfortable being overseas. So if [a team] wants to pick up the phone and give me a call and wants me to come and play, I’ll definitely listen.' Bryant said he felt healthier than he did last season after undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy on his ailing right knee earlier this month in Germany, where he had his blood taken, spun in a centrifuge and injected around the point of injury for natural healing."
• Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The nationwide disdain directed toward the Miami Heat as they lost the NBA Finals led to a steep decline in the endorsement potential of their biggest stars. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have fallen out of the top 10 most marketable NBA players since the Finals, according to a Nieslen/E-Poll. Dirk Nowitzki, who led the Dallas Mavericks to the championship to the delight of most fans outside of South Florida, ascended to the title of most marketable man in basketball with an N-Score of 132. The N-Score measures name and image awareness, appeal and personality attributes such as sincerity, approachability, experience and influence, both at the national and local levels. James’ N-Score plummeted from 131 to 26, while Wade’s dropped from 117 to 34."
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "The day before the draft, Sports Illustrated reported that the Thunder had given Reggie Jackson a promise, citing speculation among numerous league executives. Other rumors had Jackson linked to Miami, which owned the 31st overall pick in the second round. It was never clear whether the Heat promised Jackson and triggered the Thunder to snatch him up earlier, whether the Thunder promised Jackson and stuck to its guns or whether it was all hogwash. The man himself says it was the latter. 'The speculation helped me, I guess, in getting drafted where I was,' Jackson said in a telephone interview. ... The part where conspiracy theorists feast is when Jackson shut down all private workouts and interviews shortly after a workout in Oklahoma City. Jackson pulled the plug on his other stops because of a knee injury, leading many to think it was simply a smokescreen. But Jackson swears it was legitimate. 'After a workout for Oklahoma City, I came back and played pickup at my school,' Jackson said. 'My knee, normally I could feel it tweaking, but it always got better. But it got worse. I went to the doctor and found out I couldn't go for about a month. I was supposed to come back. I tried to and I just couldn't compete, so I had to shut it down. That's about it. I was supposed to have workouts for other teams, but I honestly couldn't go. And that was that.' "
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: "The sides are scheduled to talk Monday for the first time since the lockout began July 1, but it is expected to be a feeling-out session. In other words, they will reemphasize how far apart they are, and agree to meet again later in August. It is believed by some that many owners are content to cancel the season as a means of completely restructuring the NBA’s financial model. Agents are concerned that owners are relishing the opportunity to bring players to their figurative knees with missed paychecks. Players are not paid during the offseason and checks begin arriving on Nov. 15. 'I can only go by people’s actions,’ agent Mark Bartelstein said. 'And if you see the way there hasn’t been any negotiations with the Players Association, there’s no reason to believe [the owners] really want to get a deal done. They have taken a very, very [stagnant] position and they have kind of stayed there. So based on that, it’s hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel.’ "
• Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: "What Derek Fisher, who turns 37 next week, is doing now off the court will go down as one of the final chapters in a wholly unexpected NBA career. Too many other people live their lives trying to avoid responsibility. They prefer to exist instead of impress ... as we too often see, actually, in NBA players not living up rightly to their guaranteed contracts. Fisher must serve those losers now, though he also represents the workers and the winners, too. It's a tough job. But someone wants to do it. And someone can do it. He's a role player like most of them. He's revered as Kobe's five-time-champion brother by the superstars. We always focus on whether the big shot is made or missed – and in this case it's all about getting a deal done – but there's something to be said for being the guy who earns the trust. Fisher has, again, made himself more important than anyone could've ever fathomed."
• David Williams of The Commercial-Appeal: "The NFL is back, and without a single kick, pass, punt or neutral zone infraction being missed to the lockout. Can the NBA and its players resolve their labor issues so efficiently and save the full 2011-12 season? For answers to that and other questions on the subject, we turn to our Grizzlies beat reporter, Ronald Tillery. Q: The two sides are meeting Monday -- the first time in the month-old lockout that talks will include such heavies as Commissioner David Stern, union executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher of the Lakers. Should we have high expectations? Or is this just an early step in what could be a long slog? A: I would table any expectations. The NBA is in its natural slow period. The only news that happens is a sexy free-agent signing when things are normal. So this meeting is an early step in a long slog. Remember, the NFL didn't get serious until there was a real threat to miss games. I expect the same game plan to unfold with NBA talks. There won't be serious negotiations/ movement until the fall when training camp is in danger. The two sides meeting Monday will mean little to nothing."
• Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Despite the NBA lockout, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies will go on as scheduled. '‘We have been declared a ‘safe zone’ in terms of current players interacting with NBA team managers,' Hall of Fame president and CEO John Doleva said. ‘We’re a separate entity from the NBA anyway. Our program is to always honor basketball at every level and the individuals who make it great.' ... Doleva added that former Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter, severely hampered after a stroke in 2009, has said he will attend. The three-day ceremonies in Springfield, Mass., will start Aug. 11, and three members of the Class of 2011 have ties with the Bulls: former players Dennis Rodman and Artis Gilmore and Winter. Also, former Bulls publicist Brian McIntyre will receive the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, and former Bulls play-by-play announcer Jim Durham will receive the Curt Gowdy Media Award. A delegation from Bulls management will attend."
• Brian T. Smith The Salt Lake Tribune: "Matthew Parlow, a Marquette University associate professor of law, said Nick Harris’ list is 'interesting.' But Parlow also believes that the numbers are somewhat skewed. 'Different leagues ... and their attendant teams have vastly different expenses, costs, revenue sharing arrangements, etc.,' said Parlow, who is associated with Marquette’s National Sports Law Institute. Parlow found Harris’ list useful, though, when examining the small market versus big market battle, which is a major component of the NBA lockout. According to Harris, the Jazz outspent San Antonio ($4 million per average player) and Sacramento ($2.9 million) last season, despite all three teams playing in similar-sized markets. Utah fell apart during the second half of the year, though, setting an NBA record for futility. Meanwhile, the Kings were never in contention. In contrast, San Antonio ended the regular season with the second-best record (61-21) in the league. To Parlow, the Spurs’ success and the Jazz’s solid track record lend credence to the theory that smart management and a well-constructed team can overcome the financial drawbacks of a small market — an assertion often made by the NBPA during the buildup toward the lockout. 'The Jazz have had strong ownership and management — likely a major contributing factor in their success — while the Kings’ ownership and management [have] been awfully questionable in recent years,' Parlow said."
• Amy Donaldson of the Deseret News: "I am hoping that instead of searching for overseas opportunities, NBA players will look to invest real time, real sweat and real emotion in the communities where they live and play. Instead of taking off to a foreign country to make an extra couple million dollars, stay home and invest some of the millions you have already earned on the communities who made that life of luxury possible. Need ideas? I have a list: 1. Run free clinics for organizations, schools and neighborhoods that can't afford them otherwise. ... 2. Instead of a token few hours or days, spend some real time working with the homeless, jobless and hungry. ... 3. Lend their influence and support to animal shelters and animal rescue organizations. ... 4. Host some meet-and-greets that raise money for causes that are near and dear to their hearts. ... 5. Help other athletes who compete in lesser-known and less financially blessed sports to accomplish their dreams. ... 6. Put some elbow grease into making the world a better place. ... NBA players, please show the fans something different. Instead of a lost season, the public would come to see 2011-2012 as the year the NBA players gave the fans something more lasting than great entertainment."
• Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee: "The onus remains on Sacramento to figure out how to marshal a variety of revenue streams to pay for a $387 million arena in the downtown railyard. A big piece of the financing puzzle will be getting the Maloofs and the NBA to make an Anaheim-type deal in Sacramento. The Anaheim venue contract needs to be a template. Along with the sizable lease payment, the Maloofs would have become Samueli's tenants. The importance of the Maloofs accepting such a role in Sacramento cannot be underestimated. It would allow Sacramento to secure a private operator to run and help finance an arena here. The city is currently in talks with AEG, the company that runs the Staples Center in Los Angeles and other notable facilities. Frankly, finding a private operator is the whole ballgame in Sacramento."

• And they say lockouts are boring. If you're an adult, and don't mind hearing Ron Artest talking about how he became so strange (it's some combination of hallucinatory and pornographic, perhaps with some truth sprinkled in), this is really not boring.
• Jonas Valanciunas in action. (Via Melcolm Ruffin) Watch when the blowout is well underway, and he basically begs to bring the ball up. His request is ignored, but he does get an alley-oop a few seconds later. And here's video analysis of how his style of play benefits his teammates. This is all good news for Raptors fans. (And everything else you need to know about the U-19 world championships.)
• There are various calls for players to start their own basketball league. My standard response is that successful basketball leagues don't rent stadiums. They own. So you need owners. But economist David Berri makes a shrewd counterpoint: Cities pay for those stadiums far more than owners do: "Robert Baade and Victor Matheson have noted that since 2000, eight NBA teams have begun playing in new, or renovated, stadiums. The cost of these stadiums has exceeded $2 billion. Of this cost, $1.75 billion -- or 84.1 percent -- came from public funds." So long as taxpayers pay for the stadiums, and players do the work, why, again, do we cut owners in on the deal?
• Shooting is the NBA's flavor of the month, thanks to the Mavericks. Due to be overvalued in free agency: Shooting. The league follows the champions, which makes this the ideal summer to stock up on everything else. (For instance, look at the available free agent point guards. If you're all about shooting you're due to overpay Mike Bibby, Jose Juan Barea etc.)
• Not threatening to play overseas: Amare Stoudemire. Threatening: Almost everybody else, including Metta World Peace, Dwyane Wade, Austin Daye and a million others.
• Kobe Bryant's dad takes over as head coach of the Sparks again (which is the Lakers' WNBA team).
• Digging deeper into whether or not Yao Ming belongs in the Hall of Fame. Jeff Van Gundy makes the case he belongs.
• Paul Pierce in the World Series of Poker.
• Could the NBA have better national TV deals right now? Worth noting in any discussion of that deal: The owners keep collecting straight through a lockout. In the NBA, players sued over that, saying it's evidence the owners -- who share that revenue with players -- didn't negotiate the best possible deal.
• Is the lockout good for the D-League?
• Ray Allen says that with the amount of money they all make, it's embarrassing that players and owners are stuck haggling.
• A measure by which the NBA's five best defenses were the Bulls, Bucks, Celtics, Blazers and Magic.

• Nets part owner Jay-Z has one of those lyrics from his drug dealing days where he gives the address of his old "stash spot," an apartment building where he really lived in Brooklyn (and where he is said to have been a good neighbor). New York City M.C. Skyzoo, on SLAM video, reminds us that address where Jay-Z used to live is literally a block from where the Nets stadium is well under construction. "To hear him in the song saying you know, the stash by 560 state street, and then the arena's right there, it gets no realer than that. I don't think it will ever get realer for any rapper on the planet."
• Kenneth Faried has all the signs of becoming one of the most beloved players in the NBA, thanks to his relentless work ethic and toughness. For that he thanks Allah, his mother Waudda's resilience in the face of an almost-fatal kidney disease, and the fact that he was raised by a lesbian couple. Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post: "Over the years, Waudda's resilience made Kenneth resilient. And while his father, who lived in Jersey City, was an important inspiration (and will be moving to Denver), it was his mother who arguably taught him the most about love. There she was, insurmountably suffering, and by her side was a person with an unwavering heart. The person just happened to be a woman. 'I consider her as my mother,' Faried said of Copeland, whose bond with Waudda Faried became legal in a 2007 civil union. 'It wasn't like I didn't like the lady or didn't respect her. I love her. I was really young when she came into my life. It was extremely easy for me to accept. There's a big gay community out there (in Jersey). It's made me able to accept anything in my life.' Faried, indeed, faced the cruelty of kids. 'Growing up,' he said, 'people would say stuff to me about my mom being with another woman. They'd talk about how it would affect me, that I would become a crazy child. But it affected me in a good way. I'm able to adapt to anything.'"
• If, like most NBA owners, you're in the business of paying players to get you wins, then the Bulls, Heat, Thunder, Spurs, Knicks and Grizzlies did the best job in the NBA last season, according to a cool analysis by Arturo Galletti at Wages of Wins. The Mavericks were the 24th best at getting value out of contracts, but that's where sports analysis gets wacky. If your goal is a title, their season was perfect.
• How to turn your kid into a one-man NBA store inspired video dance party.
• Derek Fisher points out that if you're tearing up contracts to rid the league of big deals for the likes of Gilbert Arenas, you may well also find yourself tearing up below-market deals like those for Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant. Also, a hard cap would tear apart the Lakers and Magic, but potentially also teams like the Thunder.
• Clay Kallam, varsity girls' basketball coach and SLAM writer: "The rate of ACL tears, arguably the most devastating knee injury and arguably the one with the greatest chance to have long-term impacts on knee health, is four times greater for women than men. Anyone involved in the sport for any length of time has seen far too many players go down in pain, from WNBA all-stars to freshman girls trying the game for the first time. And at some point, we all have to come to terms with this painful sacrifice that so many women and girls make for the sport. Yes, women are tough and strong, but it’s also true that a variety of factors make them much more vulnerable to crushing, debilitating injuries. I have to say I still struggle with it, and I still cringe any time a girl goes down. I can’t watch their pain, and if I’m the one who has to go on the court to comfort them as they sob in agony, I have nothing to say beyond meaningless platitudes. Yesterday, one of the top young players on the West Coast hurt her knee in a warmup tournament for the summer recruiting circuit. She came back from the hospital later in the day, her leg wrapped, and the word was she heard something pop in the back of her knee. When she walked by, I struggled for words, and finally settled for a sympathetic pat on the back. Sure, she’s tough enough to have babies, and tough enough to deal with any guy who challenges her on the court-- but if she did tear her ACL (and here’s hoping she didn’t), that will be cold comfort in her year of rehab and the very real possibility that she will never be the player she was before she crumpled to the floor."
• Keeping an eye on official team websites, where good content has essentially been banned during the lockout, the Spurs have some breaking 1973 Dallas Chaparrals news, complete with yellowed newspaper clips.
• Just saw a list of celebrity presenters at this year's ESPYs. Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin and Jason Kidd are said to be attending, but no NBA players among presenters.
• This is basically a prediction that NBA owners will cave. My hunch is essentially that players will cave, too -- at least enough to get a deal before games are missed.
• Kevin Pelton's analysis says Jimmer Fredette joins Kyrie Irving as favorites for rookie of the year. For the record, Fredette's coach says he'll be coming off the bench.
• Looks like Shawn Marion is eating dominoes for breakfast. (Memo to toddlers: That's a joke.)
• Andrew Bynum was criticized for scrapping instead of playing basketball as the Lakers were eliminated by the Mavericks. Now he's prepping for next season with boxing training.
• DeMarcus Cousins reportedly gets riled up at a Goodman League game.
• The yin and yang of Ted Leonsis. He is said to be among the NBA's hard-liner owners, but he's also touting the the benefits of the Dalai Lama's peace-loving ways.
• John Calipari invites all former Kentucky players back to campus to work out, in case they need a lockout gym.
• Jack McClinton is a good basketball player, but he's not so good at keeping his overdue car registration low-profile.

Nets' draftee Marshon Brooks is a long, athletic, high-volume wing scorer with nifty footwork, long range, and a knack for getting off clean looks over or around just about any kind of defense. He can hit turnarounds over the outstretched arms of defenders.

Therefore, people compare him to Kobe Bryant.

On Nets are Scorching, Devin Kharpertian digs deep into video and other kinds of analysis, and finds a lot more to like about Brooks than the comparison to Bryant:

Please stop. I like Brooks a lot, but to put him on that pedestal -- to say that the 25th pick in a weak draft is the second coming of one of the ten greatest players to ever play basketball -- is presumptuous at best, and completely annoying at worst. Things like that ruin the fun for guys like me who would rather see him for who he is, not who you want him to become.

There’s no way that a 22-year old who just averaged 25 points per game at a small college is as good as a guy who averaged 28.5 points per game in the NBA and won his second ring at the same age. It just does not compute. For goodness sakes, even he thinks it’s a bad idea.

What’s important to keep in mind here is that there’s a distinct difference between “duplicator” and “imitator.” That I won’t argue; the Kobe influence is readily visible. The way he can create his own shot seemingly at will, the high release on the jumper, the way he picks his spots and uses his athleticism, the footwork… it’s all reminiscent of a guy who’s studied Bryant’s game for a long time. Just not the next Kobe himself. There are worse players to imitate.

My feelings on Brooks in a two-word phrase: “cautiously optimistic.”

You know what's funny? It's not like Bryant is the only talented wing scorer in the NBA. But it's just not as fun, I guess, to call somebody "the poor man's Nick Young."

• Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated does an amazing job culling stories from the making of The Decision. This is Mark Dowley: "LeBron is an exceptionally bright young man. No one is taking advantage of LeBron James. And Maverick Carter is a very bright guy. I’ve done deals with them since and we’ll do deals with them in the future. Everybody can hold their heads up high. The only people who know best about how they felt [about the criticism] are Maverick and LeBron. There is no way they enjoyed a lot of the aftermath. I do know morally and from a socially conscience standpoint, they know they did something good."
• TrueHoop reader David has a suggestion that sounds a little crazy at first, but let it sink in: "Beginning right now and until a deal is reached, proceed with next season (including free agency signings and everything else) under the exact terms of the old CBA with one exception. The exception being that each player only gets 50 percent of his salary payments, with the other 50 percent going into an escrow account. Neither the league nor the players can touch this escrow money until the final CBA deal is done. The split of that money will just be one more thing to be settled as a part of the overall negotiations. Seems like this achieves the purposes of a lockout with none of the drawbacks. Specifically, a lockout puts pressure on both sides to make a deal because it causes both of them to lose money. Like a lockout, neither side is very happy for the duration of this '50 percent Escrow Balling' arrangement since the players are missing half of their paychecks (for the time being) and the owners also can't use that money to cover their losses (for the time being). On the drawback side, a lockout costs both sides revenues from fans, TV stations, etc., 50 percent Escrow Balling allows the sides to earn that revenue first and decide how to split the loot later.
• Nice video look at how NBA players get offensive rebounds.
• Warriors second-round pick Charles Jenkins is not just from New York, he is of it. High school, college -- his whole life in and around the city. Hanging around with him last week, it was clear he gets genuine joy from his big circle of family and friends. What was it going to be like to move across the country to the Bay Area? If his Twitter feed is to be believed, fantastic. After a few days on the West coast, he says he's not ready to go back home.
• A nice little tale of John Wall going out of his way to bond with teammates.
• The Warriors have waived Jeff Adrien. I bet he finds his way into the NBA somewhere next season.
• NBA salaries have stayed even with inflation, while owners have been spending money like crazy, according to one economist's analysis.
• LeBron James hanging out with Bono. Not sure why I'm linking to that, but I bet you'll click it for the same reason.
• Larry Coon parses recently leaked numbers about the profits and losses of the Nets and Hornets: "$41.5 million of the Nets' $49 million operating loss in 2005, and $40.2 million of its $57.4 million in 2006, is there simply to make the books balance. It is part of the purchase price of the team, being expensed each year. This doesn't mean they cooked their books, or that they tried to pull a fast one on the players. It is part of the generally accepted accounting practice to transfer expenses from the acquisition to the profit and loss over a certain time period. However, it's an argument that doesn't hold water in a discussion with Hunter and the players association, who would claim that the Nets didn't really "lose" a combined $106.4 million in those two years, but rather that they lost $7.5 million and $17.2 million, respectively. The Hornets' statements show that despite their hardships, the team would have turned a reasonable operating profit in 2009 had it not been for the interest expense on their crushing debt." More numbers. (And by the way, if the trend holds, all the teams starting with "New" will have their numbers leaked. Can't wait to see the Knicks' particulars.)
• This article includes the phrase "notorious windbag Robert Sarver."
• Stephen Jackson says he thinks the Bobcats were tanking at the end of last season. He's also a samurai.
• Brandon Knight Rider.
• Lockout beards -- been there done that. Here's a suggestion for lockout fingernails, mullet, tattoos etc.
• The Cavaliers and Kings make a trade today, of all days. With CBA talks in full swing, a long day for NBA lawyers, for sure.
• It's only a matter of time before I'm wearing oversized earphones in a video chat you are welcome to join.
• Is it going to say "World Peace" on the back of his jersey? Will Mike Breen call him Metta World Peace on the air?
• Allen Iverson is a Hall of Famer, right?

• The last NBA season in tidy graphics.
• Tim Donahue of Eight Points, Nine Seconds goes deep making is own proposal for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. James Dolan is not going to like it.
• This little Whole Foods YouTube rap that has been around for a while does an amazing job rhyming with "quinoa," and has a little hat love for the Clippers.
• Same as it ever was: The Pistons praise the character of their draft picks.
• I know less than nothing about Celebrity Apprentice, but right here in this video clip we have Meatloaf wigging out on Gary Busey over some misplaced art supplies. The whole will make you worry for humanity. However, at the very end of the clip ... check the art Meatloaf is making. In other words, yes, this entire tantrum was over Meatloaf's burning desire to do a great job coating a basketball in yellow paint, and dropping it on a canvas.
• Jason Richardson's days numbered in Orlando?
• Corey Maggette's legendary ability to get to the line could be meaningful to the Bobcats.
• Here's a story about a college coach allegedly trashing his player entering the draft. I have no idea what happened in that case, but in general, this is fairly common. And there are certain consistent reasons behind the dynamic. Basically, top players under a college coach's control are incredibly valuable. Exiting that control can hurt, and anger, coaches. Of course NBA-grade players can win college coaches plenty of games, get them to the tournament, and get the college coaches ever more lucrative contracts. (Which is why college coaches are seldom reliable in telling players when they should or should not enter the draft -- they want them to stay.) Coaches also need good relations with the agents, runners and insiders and who help them get players -- a coach can do an agent no bigger favor than advise an NBA-bound player to sign with him. (People who know the recruiting game can tell you stories all night about how this coach works with that agent.) Players can screw up that process, however, by not following their college coach's advice, and signing with somebody else. In more than a few cases, that has led to angry coaches.
• Jan Vesely, smooching his way into history.
• A huge game-fixing scandal rocks Greek soccer, which is dominated by the same clubs that dominate Greek basketball. If you speak Greek, this may be fascinating. (Via The Hoop.)
• Interesting thoughts about the role of race in discussing LeBron James. It ends with a comparison between Jimmer Fredette and James, which is on the mind of this guy, too.
• From Herb Kohl's public filings, a peek at the Bucks' finances.
• Ooh, one Blazer fan is calling Raymond Felton "Miller Lite."
• David Thorpe is getting people all excited about Marcus Morris in Houston.
• That John Wall is getting pretty famous.
• What Joe Dumars is looking for from a coach.
• One geek's view: The new and improved Nuggets won the draft and are "really scary."
• There is hope for Bismack Biyombo on offense -- he wasn't bad in the pick and roll in Spain.

• All-time great season for predictive tattoos. First Jason Terry keeps the promise of the trophy on his bicep, and now we learn George Hill's torso has been 59 percent Indiana tattoo for some time. (By the way, when video guy extraordinaire Jade Hoye and I spent all that time with Charles Jenkins, Jade noticed Jenkins had no tattoos, and asked why. Jenkins' response: "You ever see a bumper sticker on a Maybach?")
• The venerable "man of letters" Wendell Berry says Richard Jefferson is horrible. Actually, he says nothing of the sort. But he says smart things about systems, and right now the problem with San Antonio's system is ... Jefferson. Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell explains (and you should read the whole thing): "Richard Jefferson is a problem. He’s overpaid. He under-performs. His contract threatens to cripple the Spurs under a more restrictive, cap-tight CBA. Jefferson is a mediocre defender but the Spurs need a wing stopper—the only thing RJ’s defense has put a stop to is Gregg Popovich’s long suffering, patient, and tender disposition."
• Sounds like Scott Skiles really is eager to coach Stephen Jackson. For what it's worth, David Thorpe is very high on Tobias Harris, too. If he's right, that was a very good draft day for the Bucks.
• Ooh, that marvelous contrarian Ethan Sherwood Strauss second-guesses the pick of Klay Thompson.
• Not a profound point, but one I'm stuck on: Nitpick David Kahn's missteps all you want, but Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Derrick Williams, Michael Beasley, Martell Webster, Wesley Johnson, Anthony Randolph, Anthony Tolliver ... I'm not saying that's a winning roster as is, but it is undeniably a very high-potential, high-value collection of youth. There will be questions about fit, though, to be sure, and to that end, M. Haubs of The Painted Area makes the case the Timberwolves should have taken Bismack Biyombo over Derrick Williams.
• Can we get a ruling on number of names mangled by David Stern last night? Chris Mannix set the over/under at 4.5, and I took the under. There were a couple of picks where Stern wobbled on first name, last name and former team name. We need a real authority to rule on his performance.
• The Clippers aim for rawness, and in Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie, they got it.
• Steve Gennaro of Raptors Republic with a lot of smart talk about Jonas Valanciunas. Many Raptor fans were all excited for Brandon Knight (Kentucky point guard like Dwane Casey) or Kemba Walker.
• Jonas Valanciunas on playing with Andrea Bargnani: "He's kind of like power forward guy. So maybe he has better shooting. So maybe I'm better on rebounding. I don't know. We will be good."

Kyle Weidie of Truth About It at the draft, with video insight into the kiss of the night:

On Wednesday Brandon Knight confirmed a story I had heard that, in breaks between AAU games, when his teammates would rest, he'd do two-ball drills on the sidelines, alone.

And he can't remember ever getting a B.

He's an intense guy.

Did you notice that when he was picked eighth, by the Pistons, Brandon Knight didn't smile all that much?

Maybe that's just his natural intensity, or maybe he was disappointed to have fallen to eighth.

He wants to ace every test, and generally does, but in the test of the draft, a guy who saw himself as a candidate for first pick, and who worked out for teams with the top seven picks, well he didn't appear to be giddy about going eighth.

He said all the right things -- that's another test.

But Dan Feldman of Piston Powered watched him every step of the way and didn't see joy so much as acceptance. And from Feldman, at least, the feeling was mutual.

“Chauncey can stand out there and shoot with the best of them, and this kid, that’s what he does,” [Joe] Dumars said. “He can really, really shoot the ball. … He’s going to be one of those point guards that when you name the best shooting point guards, he’s going to be one of those guys.”

Let’s slow down. Way down.

The first step is understanding why Knight fell. By my count, he was the eighth-best prospect for the Pistons in this draft. Getting him with the eighth pick is fitting, not a blessing.

I suspect many fans are happy with Knight because he’s not another European like, gasp, Darko. Fans with that simple-minded view will likely compare him to previous John Calipari point guards John Wall, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose. But if those three are the bar, Knight won’t clear it.

There are plenty of reasons to like Knight. He’s talented, smart, hard-working, athletic and long -- a special combination. How many players possess all five of those attributes and fail?

There’s just one problem: he wasn’t very good at playing basketball last year.

Feldman then shows how Knight's production in college implies he has not yet played at a level that would imply NBA eliteness.

I'd add one thing: Working really hard and shooting well are magical qualities among young NBA players. If you can do those two things, it's amazing how often things work out. And there is every indication he'll do those two things.

But much more valuable than projecting great performance is witnessing great performance, and the evidence is that Knight hasn't done that, yet.

When will the underclassmen learn that there are only 60 spots in the draft and a number of those head overseas to players who are being stashed away for future consideration?

The potential lockout didn’t scare these Americans from leaving. Still, they bolted. And now they have been crushed.

The list:

• Stanford’s Jeremy Green. Green was ineligible for the spring quarter but was expected to be eligible for the fall, per coach Johnny Dawkins. Green now must find a home overseas or wait to see if he can get into a camp. That will be difficult considering that there is likely to be a lockout.

• Washington State’s DeAngelo Casto wasn’t going to go back to Pullman. So, he took a chance. It didn’t work out. Now he must find a home to play.

• Louisville’s Terrence Jennings was a surprise early-entrant. Too bad. Jennings would have seriously helped the Cardinals in their quest to win the Big East.

• Jereme Richmond had a chance to be an elite player at Illinois -- if he had stayed more than one season. He was a non-factor at the pre-draft combine in Chicago. And now he has nothing to show for his decision but a long road ahead. Once again, this was a poor choice by Richmond. He would have had a major role for the Illini next season.

• Fresno State’s Greg Smith could have shined for new coach Rodney Terry and assistant coach Jerry Wainwright. Smith would have been the most dominant player in the WAC in the Bulldogs’ final season in the league. Instead Smith will have to fend for himself.

• Notre Dame’s Carleton Scott stayed in the draft. But he had already graduated. He was done with the Irish. So, his decision isn’t a poor one.

• Tennessee’s Scotty Hopson never reached his potential with the Vols. Sure, there was a coaching change, but that shouldn’t have made his decision for him. Hopson could have been an anchor for new coach Cuonzo Martin. Instead, Hopson will have a hard time finding a home in professional basketball.

• Notre Dame senior Ben Hansbrough, who was the Big East player of the year, had an ankle injury during the draft process and wasn’t able to work out until eight days prior to the draft. That hurt his chances of being drafted. But his agent Jeff Schwartz said Hansbrough will have multiple offers to play overseas.

• Best story in the first round is Marquette’s Jimmy Butler. Butler deserved a first-round selection and got one with Chicago taking him at No. 30. Butler was kicked out of his home by his mother at 13, found a new home with friends in Tomball, Texas, and is a great success story.

• Boston seems committed to sticking with the Purdue tandem of JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore. If that happens that’s a fine continuation for two players who never had a shot for a national title because of Robbie Hummel’s knee injuries.

• Josh Selby stayed in the draft and landed at No. 49 Memphis. That can’t be what he thought would occur.

• I’m surprised Cory Joseph of Texas got selected in the first round by San Antonio at No. 29. Joseph appeared to be making a mistake. He can justify his decision now.

• Boston College’s Reggie Jackson was shut down due to a “knee injury” but had a promise all along from Oklahoma City. Maybe that’s the new trend. Don’t do anything and land in the first round at No. 24. Well, probably not.

• Denver did quite well to land Kenneth Faried at No. 22. He will rebound for the Nuggets.

• Iman Shumpert wasn’t a big winner for Georgia Tech. Let’s see if he can win for New York.

• Kemba Walker went to Charlotte and Jimmer Fredette to Sacramento. So, in the end, everything worked out quite well for the two biggest names in the draft. They told me that those were two locales that they would be pleased to play in next season.

• I was never sold on UCLA’s Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee or Georgia’s Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie staying in the draft. All four of them went in the second round and will have to earn roster spots in a more difficult manner.

• Darius Morris could have led Michigan toward a possible Big Ten title. Now he’ll have a hard time sticking with the Lakers.

• Washington had quite a night. The Wizards got Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton and Shelvin Mack. Mack had played in consecutive national title games. There’s not much more he could do at Butler. He’ll stick with the Wizards.

• Duke’s Kyle Singler will follow the path of former Blue Devils Carlos Boozer and Chris Duhon and stick out of the second round. Singler went to Detroit.

• Maryland’s Jordan Williams has a real chance to stay with New Jersey. So, not bad for him.

• Josh Harrellson may be the biggest success story in recent memory in college basketball to go from not playing much at all for the Wildcats two seasons ago, to only playing last season because Enes Kanter wasn’t eligible to being a second-round pick that ultimately went to the Knicks.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- If the Golden State Warriors are indeed exploring trade possibilities for Monta Ellis, their backcourt just got more crowded after the selection of Washington State’s Klay Thompson with the No. 11 overall draft pick.

But Warriors general manager Larry Riley downplayed reading too much into the team adding Thompson, who was considered one of the top shooters in the draft after leading the Pac-10 in scoring last season.

“We feel Klay is a player who can play the 3 and 2,” Riley said. “We’re going to have room for a backup 3 and that may be a way for Klay Thompson to get more minutes. This in no way affects our motivation to trade any player.”

The 6-foot-7 Thompson said it gave him chills thinking about getting drafted and liked that the Warriors were under new ownership and headed in a new direction. He’s a Southern California native who’ll be returning closer to home after three seasons at Washington State.

The son of former top overall pick Mychal Thompson, Klay appeared confident he could fit in well with the Warriors.

“I feel like for my first year or two I can come off the bench to provide a great scoring punch and score in bunches,” Klay said.

Said Riley: “We’ve said before we like him as a shooter, as an athlete and as a basketball player. He has that NBA skill, and he will develop further skills as we get into work into the preseason. This player has a bright future in front of him. He has a good pedigree. He’s shown he can score.”

The Warriors added another guard in Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins with their second-round pick at No. 44 overall. They also sent $2 million to Charlotte in exchange for the rights to big man Jeremy Tyler, the 39th overall pick from San Diego who decided to play overseas in Israel and Japan rather than in college.

“We added a guy who’s going to make our roster and eventually a guy who can be in our rotation,” Riley said of Tyler. “I felt like this was a good, calculated risk.”

Said new coach Mark Jackson: “Each guy has all the tools to defend.”

Jackson also said nothing had changed with his desire to coach Ellis.

“I’m expecting the opportunity to coach this young man,” Jackson said. “In talking to him, he wants to win.”

Hating LeBron James has become a passionate hobby for many NBA fans.

In Cleveland, it's religion.

And here comes Kyrie Irving's triple-threat to the status quo:

• He is the new bedrock of the franchise.
• He has long admired James.
• He's not going to lie about that.

Irving admits to just about idolizing James and Chris Paul.

"When I was younger," Irving said shortly after being drafted Thursday night, "I used to watch countless hours of video of both of them working out. When I say, try to emulate their journey, just the way they transitioned themselves, LeBron coming from high school into the NBA and Chris Paul coming from college into the NBA, and the way they conducted themselves on and off the court, is truly as a professional should. A lot of community service, just taking care of the family, and that's kind of how I envision myself."

They're two of the most successful players in NBA history. It's not so odd that a player a half-decade younger would look up to them.

But that this one does and went to that city, where the owner, some players and a big chunk of fans are on the record as archly anti-James ... that creates an odd potential for friction.

Or an evolution of sorts.

This is the kind of thing that could, ordinarily, just be politely ignored by all involved. In this case, I'm not sure that's so. James hatred is one of the biggest stories in sports. And Irving is a talker, a deft communicator -- when the Cavaliers drafted him, they got both a player and a face of the franchise. They need him to talk, and he'll succeed at that.

But it's hard to imagine anyone as passionate about James and as vocal as Irving sitting this one out all year. The issue is going to come up all the time, and he's going to have a hard time saying things that won't fit the narrative in Cleveland.

Which could be great. As in any divorce, the issues can be real, but the rhetoric is almost always trumped up. Irving arrives a year after the fact, calm and sensible, with the message that James just might have a redeeming quality or two.

It's not good for the villain stereotype that drives TV ratings. But it is good for reconciliation and healing, and those things aren't bad.

The Cavaliers have told both Kyrie Irving’s and Derrick Williams’ agents that they won't tip their hand on whom they are drafting, so we do have some real drama going into the No. 1 pick.

I’m continuing to hear both Bismack Biyombo and Brandon Knight at No. 5. Jan Vesley looks like a lock at No. 6. It looks like Tristan Thompson or Bismack Biyombo at No. 7 to the Bobcats.

The Pistons will likely take who is available among Thompson and Biyombo, with Thompson preferred.

Will it be Kawhi Leonard or Chris Singleton at No. 9 to the Bobcats?

Will it be Jimmer Fredette or Kemba Walker at No. 10 to the Kings?

Kemba Walker or Alec Burks at No. 12 to the Jazz? Markieff Morris, Kemba Walker or Iman Shumpert at No. 13 to the Suns?

Alec Burks or Markieff Morris at No. 15 to the Pacers?

• Read the full story here.