To Infinity And Beyond
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TrueHoop: Toronto Raptors
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Derrick Rose sat out the scrimmaging portion of Monday's practice as part of "planned rest." "He did some, the warmup phase," Thibodeau said. "And we went shorter (Monday). We had a teaching segment that of course he participated in and the warmup phase. But the live stuff, we were planning on giving him (Monday) off." Rose, who sat out all last season after left knee surgery, had said he didn't want to miss any practice time or preseason games if the decision was left to him. By all accounts, Rose has looked dominant thus far in practice. "With all our players, usually the third day and fifth practice we’re dealing with heavy legs," Thibodeau said. "We just thought we’d give him (Monday) off. Mentally, he’s sharp so he did his conditioning off the floor. He’ll be ready to go (Tuesday)."
- Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune: For most of Eric Gordon's two seasons in New Orleans, the perception was that he didn't want to be with the organization. It also didn't help that last offseason he signed an offer sheet with the Phoenix Suns. But Gordon tried to clear some things up on Monday and said he has never been unhappy with the New Orleans franchise. "The only frustrating part since I have been down here is dealing with the injuries," he said. "That's the main thing. I know what I can do, and this team knows what I can do. Now I am going to finally get a chance to make it consistent." And now that the Pelicans have a new nickname, practice facility and a bevy of new and young talented players, Gordon finally seems happy. "I've always been happy," he said. "It's just with me individually I've always been dealing with injuries and so fort. But when you have a lot of talented guys where you can have a chance to grow together -- because we are all young guys and we have a chance to grow together – anything can happen. And we have the talent to be a playoff team."
- Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post: This was a cool LeBron James. This was a LeBron James at ease. This was a LeBron James as comfortable in his own skin as anyone could imagine. If the never-ending conversation regarding his potential free agency bothers him — he becomes eligible July 1 — James did a remarkable job of
hiding it as the Heat met the media Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena. His situation will be a season-long topic of speculation as Miami seeks a third consecutive championship. “I’ll tell you right now how I’m going to handle it,” James said, “I’m not going to address it.” And then he talked about owing his team his focus and how his concern is winning another title and how mature the Heat is and how his potential opt-out (and Dwyane Wade’s and Chris Bosh’s, too) won’t be a distraction. Nobody has to explain himself, James implied. They have a professional goal, and the effort to achieve it won’t be sabotaged by after-the-fact business. The locker room won’t fracture. “We’ve got a veteran ballclub that’s heard everything and seen everything,” James said. “I know how delicate a team can be. I know how important chemistry and camaraderie are.” Here’s the thing: They’ll all probably opt-out, because doing so provides the player with flexibility. It’s the prudent move. - Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times: The pleasantries quickly gave way to a more sobering discussion when Doc Rivers first met with Chris Paul. Topics of conversation did not include Paul's six All-Star game appearances, his unmatched ability to close out games or his status as possibly the best point guard in the NBA. "He pretty much told me I wasn't anything," Paul said Monday during the Clippers' annual media day. "He told me I hadn't done anything, and he was right." Welcome to life with the league's most painfully sincere coach. Hard questions can be asked. Perceptions of one's self can change. Feelings can be hurt. But here's the thing: Championships can be won. "I'm honest," Rivers said in the biggest understatement of the day. For a Clippers franchise that has never gotten to the conference finals, Rivers' candor is as alluring as the new light-blue alternate uniforms the team unveiled. His frankness grabs your attention like an open parking space in a dusty media lot suddenly overrun by reporters drawn to the buzz of the most captivating team in Los Angeles. "He's been straight-up, he's been very real and when he talks you can tell he has the attention of everybody," super-subJamal Crawford said. "Winning that championship, being there contending, he did it as a player and now as a coach. He has everyone's respect." Not that it's always fun to hear what Rivers has to say.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: Timberwolves forward Kevin Love reported for duty with his surgically repaired knee and hand reportedly all healed and his body lean. He also made one thing abundantly clear: The past is in the…well, you know. “Last year is last year,” the two-time All-Star forward, uttering a line he used repeatedly during a 12-minute session with reporters at the team’s annual media day. He made it clear he has little interest in discussing a lost season in which he played just 18 games after breaking his shooting hand not once but twice. Love also wasn’t much interested in discussing his relationship with former President of Basketball of Operations David Kahn, who was replaced by Flip Saunders last May. “The past is the past and it’s great to have Flip on board,” Love said. “We’ve had great talks. … We all know what happened last year, and we just want to move forward and take care of unfinished business.” Love looked like he’s in the best shape of his career, even though he said he doesn’t know exactly how much weight he lost from last season.
- Tom Layman of the Boston Herald: The search parties were called off as Gerald Wallace emerged yesterday for the first time wearing Celtics garb with the No. 45 stitched on his jersey. Wallace knew there might have been some misconceptions about his whereabouts after the draft-night trade that brought him, Bogans, Kris Humphries and MarShon Brooks to Boston for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. But, he said, he had a prior commitment with his basketball camp right when the introductory press conference happened, and like he does every summer, secluded himself in Alabama with his family. “The main thing that a lot of people have taken out of this is that I didn’t want to come, I didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to be a part of it. That’s so far from the truth,” Wallace said. “I think the main thing is that I’m a veteran of 13 years and I’ve been traded three times in the past three or four years. This trade kind of caught me off-guard. I didn’t see it coming.” Wallace did say, however, that going from a team building toward being a major contender to one that is in rebuilding mode isn’t the easiest thing to accept. … Whether Wallace will be part of the rebuilding process will be figured out down the road. He has a contract that will be tough to move with three years remaining at roughly $10.1 million per, and Danny Ainge, Celtics president of basketball operations, said this is always a quiet time in terms of player movement. Ainge also said he doesn’t know what Wallace’s role will be on this team with an overcrowded roster at basically every position.
- Harvey Araton of The New York Times: It didn’t take long for Steve Mills to address his primary mission in assuming the Knicks’ top executive position last week, courtesy of his former and once again benefactor, James L. Dolan. On N.B.A. media day, Mills explained how the job opportunity appeared suddenly, announced the exercising of an option year for Coach Mike Woodson and then got down to the business of what promises to be a season of breathtaking pandering to Carmelo Anthony. He clearly is one of those superstar players that don’t come around very often, and the things he has done to make this team successful and to represent this city is something that’s very important,” Mills said. “So while it’s premature in the process, we’ve made it clear that we have every intention of making Carmelo a Knick for a long time to come.” Given a chance to declare it a mutual love affair and to say he couldn’t wait to put his Carmelo Hancock on a Knicks contract extension, Anthony politely abstained. “When the time comes, I’ll deal with that,” he said. “I’m not going to go through the season thinking about my contract.”
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: O.J. Mayo wanted to find a place to stay awhile. After spending his first four pro seasons in Memphis, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard was in Dallas just one year. When the Mavericks focused their off-season attentions on Chris Paul and Dwight Howard (failing to land either one), the unrestricted free agent Mayo could take a hint. So on Monday it was Mayo stepping up to a microphone wearing his No. 00 at the Milwaukee Bucks media day at the Cousins Center. Mayo, who was the third overall pick in the 2008 draft by Minnesota and traded to Memphis, knows big things are expected of him on this stop. And he's just fine with that. "I'm going to do whatever I need to do in order for us to be successful," Mayo said. "If I have to be the tough guy, if I have to bite, scratch, whatever we need to do." The Bucks signed Mayo as the replacement for Monta Ellis at shooting guard, agreeing to a three-year, $24 million contract with the former Southern Cal player. … But foremost on his mind is helping the Bucks. He understands his role will be a critical one on a team with a 21-year-old point guard in Brandon Knight and a young front line featuring fourth-year center Larry Sanders and second-year pro John Henson. "Last year (the Bucks) were the eighth seed but at the same time it was a losing season," Mayo said. "Hopefully we can get to a fifth or sixth seed this year and continue growing, show we're making improvements and strides."
- Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: New Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks mentioned he talked with Jennings on Monday about the expectations for the young point guard. Cheeks was asked what he said, but he deferred and said he was more curious to hear Jennings’ recollection of the conversation. “Everything was just straightforward,” Jennings said. “He said the team goes as far as I go. He’s looking for a guy who can come in here with a positive attitude every day and a guy that’s not too high and not too low, but in the middle. “He said he is going to be on me every day, and he’s going to put a lot of pressure on me.” One of the things that angered fans last season was former coach Lawrence Frank’s limiting of rookie center Andre Drummond’s minutes. Cheeks said he isn’t looking to limit Drummond and expects big things in his second season. “I’m going to put him out on the floor for sure,” Cheeks said.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: In a bold and franchise-altering day seldom before seen, one thing has become clear. They will forever be the Raptors but they will never be the same. With a new “global ambassador” who appears to have as much passion for the organization as almost anyone employed by it and a new look and colour scheme coming in two years, the Raptors kicked off the official run-up to the 2016 NBA all-star game in decidedly glitzy fashion. Drake, the iconic Toronto music superstar and now the unofficial host of the all-star weekend, will be part of the process of “re-branding” the franchise that has missed the NBA playoffs for the past five years. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke said the process has already begun to change the colour scheme and logo of the team that’s entering its 19th year in the NBA. The name however won’t change, Leiweke said, and it will not be a quick process. Leiweke said the team has already engaged a Toronto firm to help with the process, they will make an effort to somehow involve fans but thanks to marketing and licensing demands, the new look won’t be unveiled until the 2015-16 season. And the NBA will be heavily involved.
- Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said Monday was the only time he’s going to address Corbin’s contract situation with the media this season. “The Miller family is known for their support for players, of coaches, of management. We’re going to stand by our record,” Lindsey said. “I think as you guys have seen with Coach Sloan, the internal promotion what we did last year and support of Ty and the staff with the Raja Bell situation, coaches here are very well-supported. Beyond that, the Miller family and the management team, we’re not going to comment past that point.” The Jazz’s expectations for Corbin this season? “Our expectations,” Miller Sports Properties president Steve Miller said, “are that he shows up, which he will, and that he does the job that we’ve hired him to do, and he will because he’s the consummate professional.” Lindsey said he has a “gentleman’s agreement” with the agents of Hayward and Favors to not discuss their deals in public, either. Utah has until the end of October to extend the players’ contracts. If that doesn’t happen, the Jazz have the option of turning them into restricted free agents next offseason. “As you guys can assume, we’re having active conversations. We’re hopeful,” Lindsey said.
- Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: Nuggets center JaVale McGee is working to get better control of his asthma. He is awaiting lung capacity test results taken recently to be able to pinpoint which medication will work best for him this season. "It definitely figures out what medicines I need to take, if I'm taking too much medicine, if I'm not taking enough," McGee said. "So it's definitely a good thing." McGee averaged 18.1 minutes per game last season in a mostly reserve role. Those minutes are expected to jump considerably now that new Nuggets coach Brian Shaw has all but declared him the starting center. "Definitely inhalers," McGee said of required equipment. "And then practicing past my first wind. It's not a huge problem. It's just that once.”
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: Fatherhood can impact guys differently. A newborn in the house means many things change. For Dirk Nowitzki, it meant being a “full-on home dad” for the last two months. In case you are wondering, it will not impact his job. Coach Rick Carlisle had the most emphatic answer when asked if daddy Dirk seemed any different to him. “If you’re asking if he’s settling into fatherhood and not as into basketball, I’ll tell you categorically, the answer is [expletive] no,” Carlisle said. “It’s been a tough couple years for him. The ’12 [lockout] season was dicey with the knee thing, and then coming in last year, it seemed like it was OK and then the thing puffed up. So he takes it extremely seriously. … This is serious business, and his effort has been completely matched up with the level of importance.”
- Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle: While most fans have a guess as to who the Rockets’ leaders will be this year, head coach Kevin McHale says it’s just too early to tell who will do the leading and who, in turn, will do the following. “We have only had four practices so far,” McHale said. “Right now they are just trying to get through those.” While most fingers point to James Harden and Dwight Howard, McHale said the leaders won’t emerge for a while. “They all have personalities, and really, I don’t know if you can say, ‘This guy’s a designated leader,’ ” McHale said. “Players are going to follow who players follow, and they follow guys for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes there is the older guy they follow because the guy is full of wisdom and he helps them out all the time. Sometimes it is the high-energy guy they follow because they are just like, ‘That guy plays so hard.’ All that leadership stuff, as it always does, will take care of itself.”
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: If you thought Michael Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t play like a No.2 overall pick last season, then know this: Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t think so, either. The Charlotte Bobcats small forward recalls his rookie season with disappointment – not about the team’s 21-61 record, but rather that he didn’t do more to help. His numbers weren’t bad. He averaged 9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and just under a shot-block per game. But he’s used to excelling, and this was well short of that in a class that featured rookie of the year Damian Lillard with Portland and stellar big man Anthony Davis with New Orleans. “I was disappointed in myself,” Kidd-Gilchrist said at media day, on the eve of training camp Tuesday morning at UNC Asheville. “It wasn’t the losses. I like all my teammates and we bonded a lot. I was mad at myself. I set goals and I didn’t reach any of the goals that I set. All my life I did that and last year I didn’t reach one goal.’’ Asked for specifics, Kidd-Gilchrist said he set out to be rookie of the year and failed. He set out to make first-team all-rookie, and failed.
- Monte Poole of The Oakland Tribune: Bob Myers has a fabulous job, with a salary that allows him to live anywhere he likes, visit any place he chooses. On this particular day, as soft clouds hover above the Bay Area, the Warriors general manager chooses state prison. He's not alone. Another member of the 1 percent club, Warriors coach Mark Jackson, a former NBA star, also arrives at the joint. These two are voluntarily rubbing shoulders -- literally -- with men serving time at this world-famous lockup on the north shore of San Francisco Bay. Myers and Jackson and Warriors assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, one year removed from playing in the NBA, are joined by other members of the Warriors organization, including assistant general manager Kirk Lacob, the son majority owner Joe Lacob. They all brave the morning commute to come here and play basketball with the inmates. So, naturally, this visit is about much more than hoops. "It's basketball, but, for the most part, this is about impacting lives," Jackson says.
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Kirk Hinrich's projected role — backing up both Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler at guard — could aid in his quest to have a healthier 2013-14. "I'm excited," Hinrich said. "I've come off the bench before and enjoyed it. I feel I can come in and bring energy. That will be a good role for me. Most of the injuries last year were just bad luck, so I try not to put too much stock into it. But early in last year's preseason, I had a lot of my small muscle groups hurting. So I'm just trying to do a lot more flexibility and functional stuff in the weight and training rooms before and after practice to prevent that." Indeed, one of Hinrich's regular-season injuries was freakish — a burst bursa sac in his right elbow that became infected. And who can forget Hinrich's final game, when he tied a franchise record by playing 59 minutes, 36 seconds in the triple-overtime victory over the Nets in Game 4.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: The 2013-14 version of the Suns head to Flagstaff Monday for a six-day training camp that begins a season of low expectations from the outside and high anticipation on the inside. There will be 10 new faces, but the return of a familiar one feeds the anticipation: Channing Frye announced Sunday that he is cleared to join the camp after a year away from basketball due to an enlarged heart. “It’s been a long journey getting healthy, but I did it through the support of my friends and family and with my will to not give up,” Frye said. “I’m very excited to be a part of this new young Suns team. I take pride in this uniform and can’t wait to run out of the tunnel to the fans that have been supportive throughout this whole process.” … Frye will ease into basketball activity, just as the Suns did with another big man this summer. Alex Len, the Suns’ No.5 draft pick, underwent surgeries on his left ankle in May and right ankle in July but resumed light court work in August. Last week, Len joined the voluntary workouts’ 5-on-5 scrimmages for 10 to 12 plays at a time with no pain.
- Bruce Arthur of the National Post: The NBA is a lot like Hollywood: it matters who you know, how successful you are, how much power you wield. People want to be attached to a blockbuster; over the past four years LeBron James went from Cleveland to Miami, Chris Bosh went from Toronto to Miami, Carmelo Anthony went from Denver to New York, Dwight Howard has gone from Orlando to L.A. to Houston, and Chris Paul has gone from New Orleans to L.A. Oh, and Brooklyn raided Boston, and others. As one NBA executive lamented not long ago, “I swear, this league is 60% luck.” So maybe Drake becomes a point of entry, which combined with Tim Leiweke’s connections to Hollywood — and hey, CAA, which is a force in the NBA — Toronto becomes something other than an outpost. But alone, it’s window dressing, fizz. The All-Star Game won’t help much, either. It’s recently been held in New Orleans, in Orlando, in Atlanta, in Phoenix, after which their best players left. The All-Star Game is a billboard, but a blank billboard doesn’t do much good. And that’s why despite the presence of Drake, Rob Ford, NBA commissioner-in-waiting Adam Silver and Leiweke at the press conference, the most important figure remains Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri, who has spent the summer quietly sitting on the competitive fence, the Andrea Bargnani trade notwithstanding.
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Managing owner Josh Harris reiterated Sunday that the 76ers are not moving to North Jersey. "My answer to the fans is I love the Sixers in Philly. I'm committed to it," Harris said during his state-of-the-Sixers news conference. Harris' keeping the franchise in Philadelphia isn't a surprise to people who know the billionaire businessman. They will tell you the surprising thing is that he's on board with the Sixers' tanking this season. "I want immediate results and immediate upside," he said. "But I think that the reality of professional sports is that things don't change overnight." The things that will allow Harris to keep his sanity during what will be a trying season are his offseason moves that were geared to bring a championship to Philadelphia in a few seasons.
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News: Amar'e Stoudemire's hectic summer didn't include much basketball but it did include yet another knee surgery, the Daily News has learned. According to a Knicks source, Stoudemire had an unreported surgical procedure in July to repair one of his ailing knees. The Knicks open camp on Tuesday and have yet to announce that Stoudemire has had a third knee operation in 12 months. The surgery was described as "clean up" and isn't considered major. However, the secrecy surrounding Stoudemire's latest health issue could be an indication that the club is not optimistic that they can rely on the veteran power forward. Stoudemire appeared in just 29 games last season and had debridement surgeries on both of his knees, the right knee in October and the left in March.
- Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: (New head coach Brian Shaw) will let training camp decide which players fall into which roles, but more important, the month of practices and eight preseason games will be the guide to what the Nuggets' new identity will be. Under previous coach George Karl, it was all run, all the time. Shaw will likely blunt some of that breakneck pace and will likely slot in a mixture of speed to continue using the altitude to the Nuggets' advantage and half-court patterns to make sure Denver can execute against any team, in any situation. "We're going to have to establish what our identity is as a team," Shaw said. "At this point, I don't know yet. I haven't had all the guys together. The last two years, when we were in Indiana, we were a smash-mouth basketball team. We did not relent; we did not give in to going small because other teams went small; we stayed true to who we were and took advantage of our length and size and our energy and power. I'll have to see what we're made of and what our identity will be. It will show itself when we get everybody together and get started."
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: If center Andrew Bynum misses the entire preseason, the Cavaliers don’t seem to think it will be the end of the world. The 7-foot, 285-pounder missed the entire 2012-13 season after having surgery on both knees. The former All-Star center signed a two-year, $24.5 million contract with the Cavs in the offseason. Only $6 million is guaranteed. The Cavs’ goal appears to be getting Bynum ready for the regular season. If he misses the majority of the preseason, so be it is the feeling from the team. Cavs media day is Monday and all eyes will be on Bynum. However, don’t expect to see Bynum on the practice court when training camp begins on Tuesday. Cavs coach Mike Brown said recently there’s been no timetable established for Bynum’s return. He hasn’t started court work yet, but he’s running on a treadmill.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: After spending the last 61/2 seasons with the division rival Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks, Mike Dunleavy knew what the Bulls were about. His impressions were reaffirmed last spring, when he watched the Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs without Rose, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, then go toe-to-toe with the eventual NBA champion Miami Heat before falling in five games. ‘‘Absolutely, players take note of that,’’ the sharpshooting Dunleavy said of joining a team that shows fight. ‘‘This is a high-character team. You could tell with the way other guys stepped up. There were no excuses. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of something like that?’’ But then there was the issue of money. Dunleavy was projected to be a $5 million-to-$7 million-a-year signee. The Bulls got him for $3 million a year for the next two seasons. Sure, players have been pointing to the collective-bargaining agreement negotiated by former National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter as hurting the free-agent market. But Dunleavy, 33, said money wasn’t the biggest priority at this stage of his career. ‘‘The ghost of Billy Hunter will be haunting us for a long time, but . . . I’ve done well financially, so I could make a decision on what would make me happy,’’ Dunleavy said. ‘‘At this point, it’s playing with a group like this, having a chance to win.’’
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: If you’re a bottom-line, show-me-the-scoreboard kind of person, then the 2013-14 Celtics may not be your cup of entertainment. But this edition will not lack for story lines. It will be interesting to see how first-time NBA coach Brad Stevens adapts to his new digs and how well he establishes a working relationship with players who won’t have to sit out a year if they transfer. It will be beyond interesting to see how Rajon Rondo adjusts both physically and sociologically to playing without Pierce and Garnett. How much of what we saw from rookie Kelly Olynyk in July was the product of summer-league competition? Is Jeff Green ready to exhibit his considerable talent on a more consistent basis? Who among the Brooklyn refugees is here for more than a cup of chowder? The Celtics are wise to be patient as they seek to repackage their roster and multiple first-round draft picks into a worthy entity. But they are still on the clock as regards Rondo, who can be a free agent in two years. Before then, the Celts must show they are close enough to being good to make him want to stay, or, failing that, find the right trade for Rondo before he abdicates.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: The Magic will test rookie Victor Oladipo immediately. Oladipo, who played shooting guard in college, will be asked to play perhaps a significant amount at point guard, continuing the experiment the team began during its summer-league exhibitions. Oladipo faces a difficult test in the weeks ahead. A rookie season is difficult for any player — even someone who played three years of college ball at Indiana, as Oladipo did — and now Oladipo will try to pick up the nuances of the most complex position on the floor. Magic officials believe he can excel as a defender at both guard positions, but anyone would acknowledge Oladipo will have some rough moments on the offensive end of the court. But that should be OK given that the Magic are in Year Two of their rebuilding project. Taking some lumps now might pay major dividends a few years down the road as long as his confidence remains intact.
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: The Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to Turkey as scheduled this week for its preseason opener despite the country's ongoing violence and the highly publicized crisis in neighboring Syria. Concerns over the safety of players, coaches and team and league personnel raised questions recently about whether the first leg of the Thunder's two-game European tour would be canceled. But the Thunder is scheduled to depart for Istanbul on Wednesday, with the team left to trust that the NBA-mandated trip will be as secure as any other road game. With a Sept. 6 travel warning issued by the U.S. Department of State to U.S. citizens traveling to or living in Turkey, Thunder general manager Sam Presti was asked last week about security concerns abroad. Presti directed the question to the NBA. But not before calling it “a very fair question.”
- Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: Locker rooms can be crowded places during training camps. But that won’t be the case with the Pistons when camp begins Tuesday. Barring a last-minute invite, the 15 under contract will be the only players hitting the practice floor Tuesday morning when coach Maurice Cheeks opens his first camp with the Pistons. The NBA-mandated roster limit is 15 during the regular season, but teams can invite more players to camp for various reasons. The Knicks are bringing 20 players to camp. But with a roster with an average age of 25 and eight new players, the Pistons want to give minutes to their young players and for their regulars to start developing chemistry. There are also several camp battles to watch so it should make for a competitive environment. “This is probably what, in the old-school days, training camp was about, ... competing for spots, competing for minutes, and it gets no better than this right here when you have a lot of guys who can play different positions and in order to get minutes they have to be able to beat out another guy,” Cheeks said last week.
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: After two days and three practices, the Rockets are beginning to run out of centers. Dwight Howard remains the center of attention, but his predecessor as the Rockets’ starter, Omer Asik, left the floor late in Sunday’s practice with a strained calf muscle. He is listed as day-to-day. Greg Smith (strained right hip) is also day-to-day and Marcus Camby (plantar fasciitis) is out this week, leaving Howard and rookie Jordan Henriquez available at the position. Guard/forward Francisco Garcia sat out Sunday to rest the sore groin muscle he tweaked at the Tournament of the Americas, but had been practicing.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com Most of the team's newly acquired ammo will come off the bench and provide the necessary fire power and rest for starters. The addition of Mo Williams, CJ McCollum, Dorell Wright, Thomas Robinson and Earl Watson is a massive upgrade from last year's second unit. Those acquisition, alone, should pencil-in the Trail Blazers into the playoffs. However, if this team is serious about competing in more than 89 games this year (7 preseason + 82 regular season games), it's going to have to be a drastic change on the defensive end. Head coach Terry Stotts said this past offseason that they will instill a different set of defensive principles this year. He didn't elaborate at the time, but believe it's safe to say that the guards will benefit heavily from such a change. Reason being is most of the time perimeter defenders are told to shade their opponent to one particular side, knowing that you have help behind you. Often the plan is to force them to go baseline as most coaches hate giving up the middle.
- Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: As the Mavs hold their Media Day on Monday and open training camp on Tuesday, Gersson Rosas will try to work his magic again while humbly standing in the background. He knows he made the right move by leaving the Rockets for the Mavs. “There could have potentially been more options for me in the future around the league, but Dallas was a special place that I didn’t want to pass up on,” Rosas said. “I see a lot of potential here. “There’s a championship heritage here that’s important to me, and you have all the resources to be successful. It’s just the opportunity to do the work, and that’s why I’m here.” Lindsey, who has known Rosas since he was 22 years old, believes the Mavs have hired one of the fastest-rising young executives in the NBA who will do wonders for their franchise. “I think he’s a great example of someone who is a great student that has grinded his way to the top, yet didn’t skip any steps,” Lindsey said. “So it’s just a terrific example of what a high level of character and work ethic can do for you.”
- Marc Berman of the New York Post: James Dolan wore mostly a stoic look on stage, sitting next to commissioner David Stern and was joined by Nets minority owner Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov’s assistant Irina Pavlova. Prokhorov was not in New York. Dolan took on his usual curmudgeon persona when the discussion turned to the meeting Stern brokered between Dolan and Prokhorov last season to quell any ill feelings — as first reported by The Post’s Fred Kerber. When asked what he got out of the meeting, Dolan offered the best line of the event, saying: “Free lunch.’’ Dolan has tried to get the All-Star Game ever since the Garden started its transformation. As reported by The Post in 2012, the Garden would have had the 2014 All-Star Game, but the NBA didn’t want to compete against the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium. Dolan was more expansive on the rivalry being good for the teams on and off the court.
- Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News: Mikhail Prokhorov is a busy man, no doubt, but he still should have found the time to come to the biggest announcement involving his team since . . . well, there have been quite a few in recent months, starting with Jason Kidd’s surprise hiring as coach and then the introductions of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. The Nets have rarely gone into a season looking better than the Knicks and considered a viable championship contender. Like never, not as an NBA team, not even when Kidd carried them to two Finals. True, it might not work out. Kidd is an unknown as a coach, and when we last saw Garnett and Pierce, going out feebly against the Knicks in the playoffs, it didn’t seem as if they had another title run in them. But maybe Kidd will be a quick study in his new vocation, and maybe Garnett and Pierce will survive another marathon regular season, flourish in one more playoff run and get the Nets to the Finals.
- Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant are feuding in cyberspace, and it is silly and fun and stupid and great, all at once. It also reveals an underlying poignancy, which is the only reason the exchange is interesting in a larger sense and worth exploring. … All of this is noteworthy on the face of it, because it’s rare that one NBA star will publicly call out another, and Durant basically said Wade is overrated. The cynic might think the whole thing is an arranged feud to set up a sequel to the wake-from-a-bad-dream Gatorade commercial they did together, but I doubt it. It feels too real, and, on Wade’s end, too raw. This little feud is interesting mostly because it peels back a curtain on Wade’s mind and reveals how sensitive he is to his status as an elite player, and to that being questioned — let alone by a rival all-star. This isn’t cocky ego flexing itself in Wade. This is wounded pride. This is Wade being forced to confront where he is, career-wise, and where he is headed. … Wade wrote in that Instagram note that he wants to make Durant respect his “place in history.” But it isn’t about that. Wade’s place in history as a champion and future Hall of Famer is secure. This is about Dwyane Wade’s place in 2013 and ’14. This is about a great, proud basketball player trying to hold on to “elite” as doubters and time try to take it away.
- Michael Pointer of The Indianapolis Star: Larry Bird agreed the George signing gives the Pacers less financial flexibility. They have approximately $64 million committed to nine players for the 2014-15 season, leaving little room to re-sign Stephenson, who will be entering the final year of his NBA entry-level contract, and fill out a roster with a salary cap that will be a small increase from this season’s $70.3 million. Longtime team leader Danny Granger likely will become a free agent after this season. Bird and Pacers officials have made it clear they have no plans to pay the NBA luxury tax, so keeping a young Pacers team together for the long term could be a challenge. For now, those concerns are secondary to putting the best possible team on the court for this season, Bird said. “We’re going to play this year,” he said. “You never know about the future, but right now, we’re pretty satisfied with where we’re at.”
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Sam Presti was peppered with 26 questions for more than half an hour Wednesday afternoon. The best was the fourth, the shortest and most significant. “How do you think the team has gotten better this off-season?” It was an inquiry that dismissed any preconceived notions and disregarded all pessimism that had been built by a relatively stale summer. And it forced Presti to think, requiring the Thunder general manager depart briefly from his script and spell out how exactly this team could be better when its inactivity primarily suggests it's gotten worse. “Well,” Presti said, “I think it all comes down to how you define ‘better.'” And with that, Presti spent the better part of the next 30 minutes detailing his definition during his annual preseason news conference. Along the way, he expressed excitement and extreme confidence in his club, choosing to view widespread question marks not as concerns but as opportunities.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times: To date, the Lakers have not begun contract extension talks with Bryant, who is in the last year of his deal. Kupchak said he anticipates at some point this season a discussion will take place. "Kobe has made it clear that he intends to retire in a Laker uniform and I know as an organization, we feel the same way," he said. Kupchak did note he wasn't especially comfortable with Bryant's high dive, video of which he posted on Vine. "Not great judgment," admonished Kupchak. "He got out of the water and he looked like he was healthy, so I felt good. That was not great judgment." Bryant has been headstrong since the Lakers drafted him in 1996. "With Kobe you just try to manage who he is the best you can. Trust me, at 17 years going on 18, you're not going to change who Kobe Bryant is right now," Kupchak said. "During a game he's tough to manage." "I think the best that [Coach] Mike [D'Antoni] can hope for is to get to know Kobe better and maybe figure out a way to manage it the best he can," Kupchak said. "I think that's Mike's best chance. No coach has been able to control Kobe. No coach we've had since 1996 and that's not going to change."
- Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: With the Indiana Pacers announcing a five-year max extension with swingman Paul George, it’s only natural for Pistons fans to wonder about the status of 2010 draft classmate Greg Monroe. But Monroe let everyone know today he doesn’t want his contract status to become a daily topic of conversation. “I want y’all to circulate this right now,” he said. “Everybody pay attention. I have an agent like everybody else in the NBA. He’s going to communicate with the front office. I’m here to play, and that’s it. I’m not going to talk about it. If you ask me about it, I’m gonna tell ya I’m not going to talk about it. I’m here to play, and that’s what’s going to happen. Circulate that to y’all friends.” Monroe, 23, is eligible to sign an extension before the start of the regular season. If not, he would become a restricted free agent next summer.
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: Andrew Bogut finally deemed himself 100 percent healthy last week, and general manager Bob Myersand head coach Mark Jackson were on the verge of declaring the Warriors' center ready for a return to stardom this week. "He looks good. I mean, this is the player we envisioned when we traded for him," Myers said Wednesday. "This is the player you saw three or four years ago." With no limitations on his training, playing time or even back-to-back games, Bogut has been the highlight of the voluntary workouts that have been taking place at the downtown Oakland practice facility since just after Labor Day.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times: Heading into his free-agent year, Luol Deng already is in the headlines. And he and the Bulls aren’t comfortable with the situation. Deng’s agent, Herb Rudoy, said the Bulls ended contract talks at the start of the month, leaving Deng no choice but to be a shopper this summer. Posturing by both sides? Definitely. But it’s a good decision by general manager Gar Forman. Rudoy’s asking price for Deng is too much for the Bulls to commit to, and the hope is the market — thanks to a less player-friendly collective bargaining agreement — will show Deng that the grass is not greener. The bright side is that Deng is a professional, and while all this is going on, he’ll remain a class act on and off the court.
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld and Coach Randy Wittman sat behind a podium Wednesday for a joint news conference to discuss an upcoming season that could either represent their final run as a tandem or the beginning of a long, sustainable franchise run as a playoff contender. Grunfeld is entering his 11th season with the organization and Wittman is set to start his second full season with the team, but their fortunes have been tied ever since owner Ted Leonsis gave them two-year extensions in 2012. And as both enter the final year of their respective deals, they understand the pressure that comes as the Wizards attempt to make the postseason for the first time since the 2007-08 season. “Well, that's what we want,” Wittman said when asked about the increased expectations. “We want to get to the playoffs. Do you think this is the first time I’ve been on a one-year contract? No. It doesn’t mean anything. Thirty years of being in this — and it’s just about going out and doing your job and doing it the best you can, and I feel if we do that, everything else takes care of itself.” Grunfeld then chuckled and said: “I’ve been there 36 years, for a couple under the same circumstances. So I have him by a couple of years on that one.”
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Royce White is participating in the workouts and will be on hand for media day on Friday. "He is slowly getting to a level that we want to try to bring him to," Brett Brown said of the power forward who was acquired in a July trade with the Houston Rockets. "It's exciting to see what could happen if the physical side of getting him in great shape can collide with his talents and all the other things that have gone on with Royce." The 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft has an anxiety disorder; he did not play in the NBA last season. The forward out of Iowa State last practiced with the Rockets on Nov. 10 and played 16 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League. White had been in a disagreement with the Rockets over how to deal with his anxiety issues.
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: New Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford says he’ll be fair and open with his players. That doesn’t mean Clifford sees his job as making every player happy with his role. “Whenever coaches say every player has the chance for playing time, they’re lying to you,” Clifford said during a Wednesday luncheon with Charlotte media. “This can’t be like intramurals (where everyone gets in games) because guys stink when that happens. Some guys are going to have to play well with less minutes.” This is Clifford’s first season as an NBA head coach. It’s clear he has strong convictions. He and his bosses – front-office executives Rod Higgins and Rich Cho – believe this team’s biggest strength can be its depth. But that creates complications as far as players’ minutes expectations. Clifford said his job is to figure out which combinations maximize the chance to win a game. That isn’t the same as playing the most talented players all the time.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: So, the 2016 NBA all-star weekend bacchanalia is coming to Toronto? Saw the report Tuesday, don’t doubt its veracity, was kind of coasting and blowing off final days of vacation and made one call that couldn’t confirm it but there’s no reason to think it’s untrue, the process began months ago and I understand there were no other bidders. So . . . Sure, it’s a good thing for the hotels and the restaurants and the clubs that I wouldn’t be allowed into; the city and MLSE will most assuredly put on a good show and that’s great. For normal folks and run of the mill fans? Book your time on your couch now or expect to stand behind some barricade watching the swells go to all the big events. … It’s a good thing because it will open some NBA eyes to what the city has to offer -- February weather permitting, of course -- and if stalking celebrities and NBA players is your thing, it’ll be blast. But to think everything’s open and available to regular people and that you can rub shoulders with them? Guess again. Heck, last year you couldn’t even get into the players’ hotel without a credential and those security folks didn’t mess around with interlopers. It’s a fun weekend. For some people.
First Cup: Wednesday
September, 25, 2013
Sep 25
5:14
AM ET
- Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: The only real issue heading into camp is the Granger Question. Or Questions.Is he healthy? When will his game fully return? Will he start or come off the bench? How will Bird handle the fact that Granger is in the final year of his contract? The answers, in Cliffs Notes form, are 1) He’s getting there; 2) Eventually, although he’s a notoriously slow starter even when fully healthy; 3) He probably will start and 4) Stay tuned because this is going to get interesting. Bird made no bones about it: He likes his team best with Granger starting and Lance Stephenson leading the second unit as a point guard. “That’s what I prefer,” Bird said. “I’ve always respected Danny’s game. Like everybody else, I see his good and his bad, but I think the good outweighs the bad by a large margin. I like his toughness. And I’ve always said you never lose your position through injury; somebody’s got to beat him out. Now, if Lance comes in and he’s a better player, that’s (coach Frank Vogel’s) decision. But I think we’re a different type of team when he starts. ... I think Danny and Paul (George, who signed a long-term extension Tuesday) are interchangeable. This makes us a better all around team. We’ll score more points with Danny and it’ll take pressure off the bench.”
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: The basketball world is coming to Toronto in early 2016. Multiple sources told the Toronto Sun Tuesday that the Raptors are on the verge of landing the 2016 NBA all-star weekend. An official announcement is expected within a week that will reveal further details of how one of the sport’s biggest weekends will tie into Toronto’s 20th-anniversary season. Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO, made it clear upon taking over the company that landing the prestigious event was one of his early goals. “Clearly the 2016 all-star game is a flag in the sand that we planted with the NBA. It is a must-have in my opinion and it will be the centrepiece of how we rebrand this,” Leiweke said in May. He also has said that Raptors fans “deserve a little bit of positive news.”
- Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman: Kevin Durant made the media rounds at ESPN today, joining SportsCenter in the morning and other appearances throughout the day. But his most interesting interview came on ESPN22s SportsNation show, where hosts Max Kellerman and former NFL defensive lineman Marcellus Wiley asked him interesting questions on a variety of topics. You’re known for having a lot of tattoos, but business tattoos on the torso and the back, but none on the arms. What’s up with that? Kevin Durant: “Nothing. I’m eventually going to get some on my arms. Having tattoos on your arms, does that make you a worse person? I don’t know, I guess. There’s nothing against getting them on my arms, I eventually will. But I guess it’s hardest to get them on your torso and back, they hurt the most, so I had to get them out the way.” … You picked up more technicals than ever before last year. What was going on? Kevin Durant: “Nothing. I was just getting upset a little more at stuff. But there’s nothing different for me, I’m sure I’m going to get more techs, maybe not as many as last year, but I’m sure I’m going to get some techs this year at some point. That doesn’t define who I am as a person. I’m just a feisty basketball player who enjoys competing at the highest level. Sometimes thing don’t go your way and I reacted more than I should have. I apologize to anyone who I offended by my techs, but I’m sure I’ll get a few more.
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: Heat players have shown no sign of complacency off two championships. Wade indicated he was working out until 1:30 a.m. Monday night, Norris Cole has been shooting jumpers late into the night and Chris Bosh has been working hard on his game in California. A bunch of others, including Michael Beasley, have been doing on-court work at AmericanAirlines Arena. And Greg Oden, continuing to progress from his history of knee programs, has been doing work both on court and in the weight room. ### Add veteran NBA swingman Roger Mason Jr. to the list of players auditioning for the Heat. Mason, who's workout out for Miami this week, averaged 5.3 points in 69 games for New Orleans last season and shot 41.5 percent on three-pointers. Swingman Von Wafer was invited back to Miami for a second week of workouts but has been unable because of an injury.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: A national sports blog that shall remain nameless cited Tony Parker’s recent declaration of fatigue following EuroBasket 2013 as Reason A why Spurs coach Gregg Popovich isn’t enamored with his players spending their summers balling for their native countries. … But the passage, coming on the heels of reports that Spurs general manager R.C. Buford implored Parker to watch his minutes during the tournament, implied that Popovich and Co. take an adversarial stance to international competition. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, Popovich sounded less a high-powered basketball coach than a beaming father in his reaction to France’s historic triumph.I told him two things. First, I’m incredibly happy for you because it puts you on another level. To help your country win is more special than you. Now have a special place in the history of French sports. Secondly, I told him how proud I was of his development. … Despite the image he presents as the snarling, sarcastic curmudgeon from hell — much of which is grounded in reality — Popovich is also a renaissance man with interests ranging far beyond the basketball court. Be it good conversation over a vintage bottle of wine or helping his assistants develop into head coaches, he’s all about the experience. So how in good conscience could he deny his players, particularly one he’s spent as many years grooming as Parker, the opportunity to realize a lifetime achievement? Despite the inherent risks involved, that’s something Popovich simply won’t do. Contrast that with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, whose opposes international play in large part because the NBA doesn’t make any money off it. Who would you rather play for?
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: A low-post scorer like Al Jefferson can make Kemba Walker’s job so much easier. Higgins detailed Tuesday how central Walker was to successfully recruiting Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $40.5 million contract in July. At Walker’s exit meeting last season with Higgins and general manager Rich Cho, Walker was asked what upcoming free agent might be most helpful. Walker pulled out his phone, called up a list of those players, and said Jefferson was clearly his top choice. So Higgins reminded Walker that he and Jefferson share an agent, Jeff Schwartz, so it was Walker’s job to start the sales pitch, months before Jefferson officially became a free agent July 1. Walker went to work, scheduling a meal with Jefferson in New York City to express what a good fit this could be. The Bobcats followed up on that effort by immediately making a pitch at midnight the first day of free-agency. Jefferson flew into Charlotte for a visit, expressed his desire to sign here and the deal was done. What are the Bobcats getting from the largest free agent signing in franchise history? “Al addresses so many needs for us,’’ Higgins said, a week out from the start of training camp at UNC Asheville Oct. 1. “Once we decided to amnesty Tyrus Thomas, ownership gave us the green light to find a difference-maker. He is a difference-maker.”
- Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: Perhaps the only sense of normalcy in Jared Sullinger’s life right now is basketball, one reason the Celtics’ workout facility in Waltham has become something of a refuge for the second-year forward. Though Sullinger may still be prosecuted for domestic abuse stemming from a Sept. 3 incident involving his longtime girlfriend, the Celtics have no intention of distancing themselves, according to Danny Ainge. “He’s a good Celtic, and he’s a guy we have big hopes for,” the Celtics president of basketball operations said before yesterday’s annual charity golf tournament at Wollaston Golf Club. “He hasn’t done anything that we think is so wrong he shouldn’t be part of our team today.” Though the girlfriend, who has moved to Ohio, reportedly does not want to pursue charges, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office may forge ahead. “The outcome is looking good, but we can’t talk about that,” said Ainge. “It hasn’t reached a conclusion. Jared has been in training camp every day working out. He’s taking care of everything in the exact right way that he should, and I think Jared is a good kid. This was a distraction, but I don’t think it will be a distraction now because he knows the story, and some day you guys will, but because of the legal proceedings it can’t be publicized. He can’t talk about it.”
- Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press: Back from a brief vacation in his home state of Louisiana, Detroit Pistons big man Greg Monroe was working with his teammates today, in preparation for training camp next week. Having worked out with U.S. Olympic basketball hopefuls during the summer, Monroe should be ready for a big season at both power forward and center under first-year coach Maurice Cheeks. “We’ve had discussions about me playing both positions,’’ Monroe said. As far as his stint at the Olympic camp, Monroe said: “I felt great at the trials. It allowed me to gain some confidence and get some good run. I don’t even want to say quality — it exceeds quality playing against the guys of that caliber. I got insight from NBA coaches, college coaches, (Mike Krzyzewski), one of the greatest coaches ever. I got a lot of midsummer insight that you wouldn’t get over a normal summer.’’ Surrounded by great players, Monroe and Pistons teammate Andre Drummond were able to glean things from the U.S. staff and players.
- Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee: As publicity stunts go, this one achieved maximum impact: Shaquille O’Neal blew into town as the unlikeliest of new Kings owners – a jaw dropper since O’Neal was the rival player most responsible for preventing a Kings championship a decade ago. He also infamously coined the phrase “Sacramento Queens” to mock the local team. But on Tuesday, O’Neal had attracted one of the best attended news conferences in recent memory and hoisted the first lady of California over his head. Yeah, strange bedfellows. I was still shaking my head from the Shaq show at the Kings practice facility Tuesday when suddenly there it was on Twitter. A shot showed O’Neal lifting Anne Gust Brown – the brilliant and powerful wife of Gov. Jerry Brown – like a paperweight over his head at a power dinner hosted by the new Kings owners at Zocalo in midtown. O’Neal had a huge smile on his face in the photo. The first lady? Uh, well, you couldn’t see her face. … We saw a whole new side of the first lady while Shaq and the Kings seem to have matters well in hand. On Tuesday, they gave a sneak peek of their vision of the new arena – “an indoor/outdoor” building billed as a dynamic public space instead of a big box taking up blocks of prime real estate. If it works, you’ll be able to make all your arena transactions – food, drink, foam fingers – with your smartphone. Ranadive said the Kings’ first game will be broadcast live in India, where he was born and one of the biggest untapped foreign markets for the NBA. “We want to rejuvenate Sacramento,” said O’Neal as Ranadive beamed. They seemed unstoppable.
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: Stephen Curry took a cue from a players-only meeting when the majority of the Warriors arrived back in the Bay Area right after Labor Day and wrote a win-total goal on the board in the practice-facility locker room. Though he wouldn't divulge the precise number at the time, he did say that it started with a five - as in, at least 50 wins. But the exactitude of the players' consensus objective no longer seems to matter. Head coach Mark Jackson erased it. "I was wondering who put it up there," Jackson said to a gaggle of reporters Tuesday. "If you put that up there, that's a target. I don't want any limits. Anything could happen. That could be a great number, or that could be putting a ceiling on us." … Jackson wouldn't guesstimate the Warriors' win total for 2013-14, saying only that "I want to be a very good basketball team with a chance to win the whole thing." But he consistently talked about the importance of players who were lost, like Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, and stressed the significance of the chemistry in last season's locker room.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Grant Hill had a myriad of options for life after basketball. There was speculation — and some mutual interest — for him to join the Suns’ front office and there were chances to get away from basketball with his involvement in politics, art, business, filmmaking and fatherhood. Hill is staying in the game, even after retiring in June from playing it. Hill, 40, will be the co-host of the resuscited NBA Inside Stuff, the popular half-hour sports and entertainment show that aired from 1990 to 2005, while also serving as an analyst for TNT and NBATV. Yes, that makes him the new Ahmad Rashad. But rather than Julie Moran, Willow Bay or Summer Sanders, Hill’s co-host will be Atlanta morning radio sports talk show host Kristen Ledlow for 26 weekly episodes during the season and special editions. The all-access show will start airing Saturday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. Arizona time on NBATV. The notion that Hill, a Phoenix Sun from 2007 to 2012, would join the broadcast side after an 18-year career seemed like a safe bet. He has the gift of gab, populartity, respect and a close friendship with Scooter Vertino, the NBA Digital vice president of content who previously produced NBA on TNT.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentine:l Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders loves a good piece of art. Now he will get to play on one. The Bucks unveiled the Robert Indiana-inspired design for their new BMO Harris Bradley Center court at a festive event held Tuesday night at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Sanders and teammate John Henson did the honors of unveiling the look as Bucks fans, team employees and community members waited for the big moment. After the speeches, including one by former Bucks radio and TV announcer Eddie Doucette, fans had a chance to pose for pictures with Sanders in front of the floor model. "It looks really fierce," said Sanders, who loves to design skateboards and is a strong supporter of the local arts scene. "It has a sharp edge to it. Also it looks kind of simple, like we're here to do our job. We're here for business. "And it's green; it's not too colorful. It's not too distracting. I think it's awesome." The original MECCA floor which the Bucks played on at the Arena in the late 1970s and 1980s was more colorful. But this court has the M design (in hand-stained hard maple) running through it and has a few subtle touches, including the 1971 NBA championship trophy pictured in the center of one sideline.
- Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 66, made no mystery of his desire to replace recently fired Ben Howland at UCLA, carrying out a media campaign to rally support. He was passed over for former Indiana star and veteran coach Steve Alford. When the Bucks filled their coaching vacancy with Larry Drew, it seemed to signal the end of Abdul-Jabbar’s coaching hopes. “It didn’t work out and that’s the way it goes,” Abdul-Jabbar said on Tuesday, speaking before an appearance at the Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue and 47th St. Wednesday. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer was there to promote his latest book, “Sasquatch in the Paint,” loosely based on his upbringing in Manhattan. “I’m not going to ram my head against the wall. It’s time to move on. I’m not actively pursuing that,” Abdul-Jabbar said of looking for future coaching jobs. “Writing has been a nice thing for me. I’ve been pursuing that more so than anything else.” He’s worked as a special assistant for the Lakers for the past six seasons, but will not be back this season, according to a Lakers spokesperson. Despite his inability to secure another desirable NBA job - he’s also toiled with the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle Supersonics - Abdul-Jabbar harbors no animosity toward a player like Jason Kidd, who was hired as Brooklyn Nets head coach shortly after his retirement. “That’s great for Jason,” he said. “I don’t exactly know how that situation evolved but obviously they thought he had some talent, so I’m happy for him, but I couldn’t explain to you what it’s all about. It’s impossible.”
- Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: The first practice of training camp is next Saturday at the Berto Center. Derrick Rose hasn't played in an NBA game since tearing the ACL in his left knee on April 28, 2012. "I'm feeling good," Rose said. "Right now my legs are good. Just trying to stay positive and keep my emotions from exploding knowing that the season's around the corner." After such a long layoff, everyone will be curious to see if Rose will be back to his old self or if he will be rusty when he returns to the court. … Rose was asked about limitations and hurdles involved in his comeback. He brushed off those questions and looked forward to his preseason debut Oct. 5 at Indiana. "I wouldn't say (there are any) mental hurdles, but I think it's just going to be an emotional day," he said. "Just playing with (my teammates), being around them, being an active player in the arena, playing in front of people. I haven't had that in a long time. "My confidence grew as a player, and you'll see that when I play."
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Nerlens Noel's repeated grunts revealed that fatigue had set in. Yet, other than a water break, the 19-year-old's only rest came while walking to and from workout stations. With his body completely drained, it would have been easy for him to take at least a five-minute break. Most NBA observers believe the Sixers are jockeying for position in what is expected to be a talent-rich 2014 draft. And Noel won't play until December - if at all this season - because of the anterior cruciate ligament tear he suffered during his lone season at Kentucky. But resting on this day was not an option for Noel, who spent 51/2 months rehabilitating his left knee with renowned physical therapist Kevin Wilk and his staff before moving to Philadelphia earlier this month. The third of four children, Noel knows a lot about real pain and working past the brink of exhaustion. And he'll tell you this isn't it. American dream How to tell the story of a player expected to alter the direction of the Sixers franchise? It starts with his mother, Dorcina Noel, who grew up in the Haitian coastal city of Gonaïves.
- Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News: Garry Vitti called this routine “par for the course” as he enters the Lakers’ training camp beginning Sept. 28 in what will become his 30th year with the organization. He described the 2012-13 season differently, though. Vitti ranked it “the toughest year for me,” one that pales only to when Magic Johnson abruptly retired and announced in 1991 he had tested positive for HIV. … Still, with the Lakers far from championship favorites, Vitti believes any success this season goes beyond health. “If we get on the court and are fragmented as a team, it doesn’t make a difference that you worked that hard,” Vitti said. “You have to have a head coach and have guys buy into what he’s doing. We have to come together as a team, believe in each other and trust each other.” Vitti sounded encouraged the Lakers will have that attitude after seeing nearly everyone in recent weeks in the trainer’s room and informal workouts. The lone exception among the team’s 16 players involves Gasol, who trains in his native Spain each offseason. Save for a three-week vacation in August with his wife, Martha, to his house in Settefratti, Italy and a trip to Prague in the Czech Republic, Vitti’s schedule this offseason stayed busy. Players kept the trainer’s room full each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. With the Lakers’ hope to field a healthier roster this season, Vitti encounters constant interruptions. That still beats the Lakers’ feeling last season when every trip to the trainer’s room became as enjoyable as most visits to the DMV. “It was a very difficult situation,” Vitti said. “We were all over the place. This year will be much different.”
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: Coaches that win consecutive championships receive lucrative offers for speeches, book deals and more. But we hear the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra is turning down everything. As a friend said, at this point in his life, he wants to focus on winning championships. Spoelstra again has used a bit of his time this summer to study coaches and their techniques, including friend Chip Kelly in Philadelphia andPete Carroll in Seattle. (He also spoke to Seahawks and University of Tennessee players, and Russell Wilson raved about his speech to the Seahawks.)
- Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman: Three seasons ago, when the Thunder clinched its first Northwest Division title, it was viewed as a huge milestone for the burgeoning franchise. “It's great for our fans,” coach Scott Brooks said at the time. “It's great for our city to be division champs. It is definitely a step in our process.” Two years and two division titles later, the feat has become little more than a formality. Just a nice footnote in the season's bigger picture. This isn't the MLB, where playoff spots are fewer, or the NFL, where postseason byes are offered. So the importance of division championships in the NBA is dwarfed. But they still come with a guaranteed top-four finish in the conference and bragging rights within the division. And for the Thunder, which enters camp later this week in search of a fourth straight Northwest crown, the path has never looked easier.
- Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press: If the Pistons plan on being dealers before the February 2014 trade deadline, they have a glut of small forwards and guards to possibly offer, if that’s team president Joe Dumars’ plan. “We have a lot of flexibility,” newly acquired Josh Smith said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if guys played different positions in the backcourt or along the front line, depending on matchups.” Smith is expected to start at small forward and also see time at power forward. Also on the roster are Kyle Singler, Jonas Jerebko and rookie Luigi Datome, who made a splash overseas with his shot-making ability and athleticism. That’s four small forwards, and there aren’t enough minutes to play them all. Singler played out of position at shooting guard during parts of his rookie season, but currently the backcourt is overloaded. Jerebko could see some time at power forward to loosen the logjam if coach Maurice Cheeks wanted to go in that direction. At point guard there’s Chauncey Billups, Brandon Jennings, Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey. The team also signed rookie point guard Peyton Siva, who was drafted in the second round. …. Stuckey at shooting guard didn’t do well a year ago because of his struggles beyond the three-point line. One of the reasons the Pistons drafted 6-foot-5 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was because of his shot-making ability as a legitimate shooting guard. To deny him minutes if he earned them in camp would impede his development on a team that believes it has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Q: What, on a basketball court, is non-negotiable? Steve Clifford: “Transition defense. There are numerous areas we have to improve if we want a better record. But the thing about transition defense is all it takes is effort and organization. It’s not a talent area. You run back every time because it puts you in a better position to defend, or you don’t. It’s as simple as that. That’s something we have to take pride in.” Q: Anything else of particularly high priority? Steve Clifford: “I’m spending a lot of time looking at our rebounding game. Rebounding translates from level to level more than any stat. Guys who rebound well in college tend to rebound well in the NBA. If you look at our roster we have one guy (Kidd-Gilchrist) who is an exceptional rebounder by (position). The bottom line is we can improve offensively and improve defensively, but if we don’t improve in team rebounding, it may not matter.”
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: Q: What is your expectation for Raptors this upcoming season? What are the areas that have been improved? What are the areas that still need urgent attention? Which player do you expect to have a breakout season? Which player would be the X-factor? A: Well, I think you probably know then that guessing really isn’t my bag, especially a week before we’ve even seen a practice but what the heck. My expectation is that they will be in the grey area between about No. 6 and No. 12 in the East and it will depend on if and when they come together, if they stay relatively injury free and depend a lot on what the other teams do. I think they need to defend better, I would imagine Jonas Valanciunas will be much better than he was last year so he might be considered a “breakout” player and I guess one big X Factor will be how Kyle Lowry plays. But I also have no clue if any of that is right or not and I’m kind of anxious to see what happens for real.
- Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: No matter how painful the coming season becomes, Utah is committed to the idea of developing young players, accumulating assets like future draft picks and riding out what could be a 25-win storm. "We will not be going back on that philosophy," Dennis Lindsey promised. Clearly, the Jazz are now Lindsey’s baby, even if he doesn’t want to be considered the father. Executive vice president of basketball operations Kevin O’Connor is now more of an adviser than a decision-maker, and Lindsey recently hired his own assistant general manager, Justin Zanik. Still, suggestions Lindsey has become the lone pilot of this experimental craft that will take Utah into the next stage in franchise history do not sit well with him. "I’ve ever felt that way — when I was scouting, when I coached, when I played or now that I’ve moved up from assistant GM to the elite seat," Lindsey said. "Building a team, organizing a team, maturing a team, is a very collaborative process." Exhibit A: The Jazz’s decision to move up and draft Burke last summer. "There is a good chance Trey Burke isn’t here," Lindsey said, "unless we had Ty Corbin’s input."
- Ben Standig of CSN Washington: Factor in Nene's skills as a low post scorer and a high post passer plus his locker room presence, well, it's rather obvious how valuable the Brazilian big man is to the team's well-being. One simple reason he's not higher on the list, injury concerns. One simple reason it's hard penning the Wizards into the postseason, injury concerns Until we have a prognosis on Okafor, the worries stay largely with Nene, who missed 21 games last season largely due to foot injuries. He played only 39 games with Denver and Washington during the 2011-12 campaign. The irreplaceable debate likely comes up again during camp, especially if Okafor's timetable for return is lengthy. Obviously, the Wizards hope the discussion remains a purely hypothetical one.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: What the Suns roster lacks in experience and playoff pedigree, the coaching staff’s credentials will work on making up some of that. New assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi each have NBA championship rings. New head coach Jeff Hornacek and assistant coach Mark West have been to the NBA Finals. There are 50 seasons of NBA experience among four coaches who played and that will form much-needed advice for a Suns roster with nine players between 19 and 25 years old. “I don’t think there’s going to be anything we haven’t seen or been through,” said new assistant coach Kenny Gattison, who played for the Suns from 1986 to 1989. “Staffs come together out of necessity. X’s and O’s, defensive principles and all that, we know. It’s not like we’re going to invent anything new. But as the season goes, you learn how to manage personalities, different combinations and, at the end of the day, our job is to make Jeff’s job easier so he can coach the team. If you relay his message and get the players to say what he’s saying, then you’re on your way. “It’s going to be a lot of preaching and teaching.”
- Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune: There never has been much doubt about Rick Adelman returning as Timberwolves coach, but it wasn’t for sure until he brought his coaching staff out to his home in Portland, Ore., last week and laid out the plans for this season. Wolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed Adelman’s return Sunday. “Yes, he did [say he’s coming back],” Taylor said. On the subject of the remodeling of Target Center and how the $100 million in expenses will be paid for, Taylor reported some progress after a long delay and how much each of the three partners will contribute. “We have an agreement with the city, and now they are working with the management team AEG to get an agreement there,” Taylor said. “We’re just sort of waiting on the city to work it out with them. Then it’s my understanding that once they get that done, they’re going to bring it to the City Council. “We have obligated ourselves to pay for $44 million to fix Target Center. The city will put in $50 million. We have to get $6 million from AEG.”
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: How will Russell Westbrook return? An unfortunate knee injury to Westbrook devastated a state and derailed the Thunder's season. How Westbrook bounces back from that setback will now determine how far the Thunder can go. For five seasons we've watched Westbrook display one of the most fearless styles of play on the planet. His relentless attack has always put pressure on defenses and given the Thunder a go-to option whenever all else fails. But will Westbrook still have that same gear with a reconstructed knee? Will he still have that same mentality? Westbrook is expected to make a full recovery from the torn meniscus he suffered on April 24. But he may not be 100 percent to start the season. As a result, we may see a different player initially than the Tasmanian devil we've grown accustomed to. After an offseason of rehab, Westbrook's confidence and rhythm will be worth monitoring just as much as his motor and athleticism.
- Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News: The upcoming syllabus looks daunting. When camp convenes on the Salve Regina University campus, Brad Stevens will welcome a squad that bears almost no resemblance to the one that won an NBA title in 2008 and was playing in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals just 15 months ago. His lone All-Star player, Rajon Rondo, is still recovering from torn anterior cruciate ligament surgery and appears unlikely to be ready for the season opener. One of his most promising young players, Jared Sullinger, was recently arrested on domestic assault charges. His most experienced players — Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace — are new to the team after being cast off by the Brooklyn Nets in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster, and are all unlikely to be a part of a rebuilding squad’s long-term plans. His most natural healthy center and point guard, Vitor Faverani and Phil Pressey, respectively, are rookies. But he has four shooting guards and four power forwards who will all be looking for minutes. His first-round draft choice, Kelly Olynyk, is already dealing with a case of plantar fasciitis, while one of last year’s first-round picks, Fab Melo, was let go last month in a salary dump to get under the luxury-tax threshold. Other than that, transitioning from being a mid-major college darling to the leader of a marquee major-market franchise should be a piece of cake. But Stevens said Friday he doesn’t expect this to be easy, that he does expect this season to be a proving ground for everyone on the parquet and new to the Boston bench, and that he’ll continue to put in the time and effort to get it right.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: Hey, Mary: If this coming season turns into another parade of injuries for the Cavaliers, and they fail to make the playoffs, will Chris Grant finally be dismissed after four long seasons of misery at the Q? Hey, Chris: I don't think Chris Grant is in any danger of losing his job. By and large, his draft choices have performed well and he has pulled off some trades that significantly improved the team, like sending Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to the Clippers for a No. 1 pick that became Kyrie Irving, an All-Star in his second season. The Cavs were the only team in the league to have three players taking part in the USA Basketball minicamp -- Irving, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller. A fourth -- Tristan Thompson -- is playing for Canada's national team, and a fifth -- Sergey Karasev -- is playing for Russia's national team. I like the gamble he took on Andrew Bynum because if he's healthy he's a steal, and if he's not the Cavs are only on the hook for this season. I'm not sure how you can blame the general manager for three straight season-ending injuries suffered by Anderson Varejao. If you say the Cavs should have traded him when he was healthy, I'd counter by saying they wouldn't have gotten back a player who brought the same energy and defense. The J.J. Hickson trade for Omri Casspi didn't work out, but overall I think most general managers would like to have Grant's batting average in trades. When you consider the state of the franchise when he took over for Danny Ferry after the departure of Mike Brown and LeBron James and where he has it today, there's no reason his job should be on the line.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: Masai Ujiri has turned to his native Africa to try to fill his squad’s final roster spot. The Raptors president/general manager confirmed Sunday that Angolan guard Carlos Morais has been invited to training camp, along with Julyan Stone and Chris Wright. Morais, a 27-year-old, 6-foot-3 guard has been playing professionally since he was a teenager and has been a major reason why Angola has emerged as the class of the continent since 2005. Morais was named MVP of the recent Afrobasket tournament after leading Angola to gold with averages of 15.9 points and 4.6 assists per game. Angola also won the tournament in 2009, 2007 and 2005 and finished second in 2011, when Morais averaged 17.7 points per game. Morais also averaged 14.8 points at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, including a game-high 24 points against the United States. Morais is considered a scoring guard, a quality outside shooter and a strong athlete, but has mostly played in Angola. He will be in camp on a non-guaranteed contract, like Stone and Wright, who will fight for the final roster spot that was created with the waiving of veteran swingman Quentin Richardson last month.
- Ben Standig of CSN Washington: For all the colorful players that have come through Washington in recent years, none wears the title of knucklehead better than JaVale McGee does. There are scores of YouTube videos depicting the big man's ill-advised forays with the basketball and his own random comments about who knows what. NBA analysts have also piled on. Everything together has led to, well, JaVale, you tell us. “People around the NBA really think that I’m dumb or stupid,” McGee told NBA.com. “But people that know me know that I’m actually very intelligent. It doesn’t affect me at all.” Intelligence can come out in many different ways. Apparently former Denver coach George Karl didn't recognize it from a basketball standpoint seeing as he played the ex-Wizard only 18.1 minutes per game last season even after the Nuggets signed the agile 7-foot center to $44 million extension. According to reports, Karl's limited use of McGee had at least some part in management firing the longtime coach, who was named 2013 NBA Coach of the Year. In 79 games, McGee averaged 9.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and was among the league leaders with 2.0 blocks.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: Stephen Jackson’s previous appearance on ESPN’s Highly Questionable went so well. they couldn’t resist bringing him back last week for an encore performance. This time, completely unprompted, he got to tell Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones the tale of how he ended up with his hand around the throat of former NBA All-Star Steve Francis during a recent club run-in. Jackson explained: “We wasn’t never cool. I don’t hang with him. I don’t call him. We’ve never been in the same circles. It was too packed for me to get to the stage. So I go in the DJ booth…and as soon as I start rapping, he jumps on the back of the DJ booth. “I don’t know why he jumped up there. He bumped me two times with his midsection. I felt his belt on my neck. So the third time he does it…I turn around and I ask him to get down. He said something crazy, one thing led to another, my hand end up on his throat and next thing he in cuffs.” … It’s a mildly amusing story, and as ever, it’s difficult to ever get totally down on Jackson. At the same time, it’s also more than a little pathetic that two gifted ballers — at least in their prime — who might otherwise be playing out the stretch of their careers are getting into an altercation at a nightclub instead of preparing for training camp. This much is probably safe to say: If Jackson has any hope of getting another shot to make an NBA roster, moments like this probably aren’t going to help. It’s also a sad reminder of just how far Francis has fallen.
- Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: Once a skinny kid in a purple uniform, Tracy McGrady now can sound like a jaded curmudgeon lamenting the state of the next generation. “You’ve got some guys in the league now who are just knuckleheads,” McGrady said. “What turns me off is guys doing the wrong thing. Just the legal part of it, hanging out, getting these DUIs, marijuana — all that crazy stuff, just doing the wrong thing, setting a bad example for the young guys ... I don’t quite understand it. I take a guy like (Michael) Beasley. Had all the potential in the world but he’s not level-headed. He just doesn’t get it. And a very talented player. But where else are you going to make this type of money doing something you love to do every day, take care of your family and play basketball. I mean, are you serious? You get millions of dollars for it and you mess these opportunities up? I don’t get it.” McGrady has been cast as a villain in these parts. But his career, in which he never found himself in the headlines for bad behaviour, is worth respecting.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: There hasn’t been a single team in NBA history impacted in any significant way by their 15th man, and the 2013-14 Spurs won’t be the first. That much is clear from the collection of has-beens, are-nots and never-weres with whom they’ve been connected in recent weeks about possibly filling their final roster spot — Josh Childress, Mickael Pietrus, Sebastian Telfair, Sam Young, even the seemingly-retired Mike Bibby. Just because there has been apparent contact doesn’t mean anything will come of it. Witness the epic duel between Eddy Curry and Josh Powell during last year’s training camp, with the Spurs passing on both to maintain the roster flexibility that allowed them to take a flyer on Australian big man Aron Baynes. Even if the Spurs do look elsewhere, the names illustrate the few weak spots on a roster that was otherwise strong enough to push defending champion Miami to the absolute limit in last season’s Finals. They boil down to two clear roles: Reserve small forward, to scavenge for whatever crumbs Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green don’t hoard; and back-up point guard, a spot the Spurs have yet to secure despite having three already — Cory Joseph, Nando De Colo and Patty Mills.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: A league that only now appears to be getting serious about performance-enhancing drugs is about to make a move to statistics on steroids. The question is whether we are about to enter the era of too much information. With the NBA announcing Thursday that it has expanded its partnership to install SportVU Player Tracking technology in every NBA arena, the league not only will be able to track points, rebounds and assists, but also how the ball is moving, how players are moving, and, as the NBA announced, "a continuous stream of innovative statistics based around speed, distance, player separation, and ball possession for detailed and targeted analysis of players and teams." We could bemoan sports turning into math, but there also is an appreciation that simplicity will remain in place, as well. The ultimate truth will remain scoring more points than your opponent. In announcing the expansion to league-wide coverage with the fullcourt motion-capture technology, NBA Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology Steve Hellmuth said, "We are a league driven by data." And that's the rub. If any NBA executive truly views the game that way, then the game is becoming less of a game.
- Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: Ryan McDonough had waited years for the opportunity to run his own team, build a roster, and determine the fate of an organization. The Phoenix Suns have allowed the former Celtics executive to do that, and then some. The Suns didn’t have a coach when McDonough was hired as general manager, and had a roster in need of demolition. In four short months, McDonough has completely restructured the team, dumping unwanted players such as troublesome Michael Beasley and dealing away veteran Luis Scola, who didn’t have a long-term role. Like his former employer, Danny Ainge, McDonough is working to replace old with young and stockpile draft picks and salary-cap space for future gain. The Suns are a lottery-bound team this season but there is renewed hope. “Walking in there, the main thing I wanted to do is upgrade the talent,” said McDonough, who moved or released five of the team’s top nine scorers from last season. “And do it in a fashion that was sustainable for the long term. I didn’t want to try to take any shortcuts or try any quick fixes.” With the moves McDonough executed, the Suns potentially have five first-round picks over the next two seasons in addition to the presence of budding point guard Eric Bledsoe (whom the Celtics wanted in any deal with the Clippers involving Kevin Garnett), rookie center Alex Len, and potential standout Archie Goodwin.
- Leonard Greene of the New York Post: You might have thought from the sweat that poured through his crisp blue shirt Sunday that Bernard King had just stepped off the court after a grueling playoff game. But the perspiration that stained his collar was just testimony of how humbled King was by being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Such humility is inspiring, particularly when it comes from someone so deserving. … “Bernard King is the only guy that ever scared the hell out of me,” Dominique Wilkins said. Behind the menacing smile was a player with a determination as strong as his post-up game. That was evident in every quick-release shot and punishing fast-break finish. But the highlights that best sum up King’s career have nothing to do with scoring. In the first, King is writhing in pain, pounding the floor after tearing his ACL on a defensive play. In the second, he’s strapped to a machine rehabbing the right knee as part of his improbable comeback. And, in the third, he is sitting next to Patrick Ewing at the NBA All Star Game hearing his name called on the public address system. The comeback was complete.
- Curtis Harris for The Indianapolis Star: Roger Brown became a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer on Sunday, with another Hall of Famer telling people what the former Indiana Pacers superstar in the old ABA meant to the franchise. “People say that I put the Indiana Pacers on the map,” Reggie Miller said. “No, it all started with Roger Brown.” Brown, who died in 1997, was presented by Miller and Hall of Famer Mel Daniels, a teammate of Brown’s. Brown’s daughter, Gayle Brown Mayes, called it “a really special day” but “bittersweet” because of her father’s absence. During the induction, Mayes was on the stage with Brown’s son, Roger Jr., plus Miller and Daniels. Brown Jr. spoke on behalf of the family in a video played at the induction. He thanked Miller and Daniels, saying, “There is nothing more bestowing than having two Pacers legends usher in a fellow Pacer legend through the doors of the Hall of Fame.”
- Ben Standig of CSN Washington: Don't look now, but Jan Vesely may have found his confidence. So far in Eurobasket 2013, the Wizards' forward certainly has found his game. Plying for the Czech Republic along with Washington's 2012 second-round pick Tomas Satoransky, Vesely leads the entire tournament in rebounding (11.3) and is tied fourth in scoring (18.5). For some context regarding the talent on hand for the tournament in Slovenia, the scorer Vesely is tied with is San Antonio Spurs star and French guard Tony Parker. … What any of this means regarding the team's upcoming decision about Vesely's contract for the 2014-15 is intriguing. With Okafor and Trevor Ariza coming off the books, with Bradley Beal and Otto Porter on their rookie contracts, Washington should have solid cap space next summer. Picking up Vesely's $4.2 million option eats into some of the space. As the No. 6 overall pick in 2011, the Wizards certainly want Vesely to succeed. The franchise is also thinking playoffs which makes it harder for on-the-job training (it was even during last year's 29-win season). Even amid his NBA struggles, Vesely's flashed solid on-court instincts as a passer and as a high-riser in the open court. No player floundered more last season with John Wall sidelined. So far in Eurobasket, Vesely's performance is that of someone the team would love playing alongside the highly paid point guard.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: NBAers Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicholson and Tristan Thompson again led the way. Joseph had 19 points, Nicholson had 17 and Thompson had 10 rebounds to go with eight points. Canada’s outside shooting vanished again (16.7%) as a lack of scoring and depth again came back to bite a team that played solid defensively. “The biggest fear was that scoring was going to be an issue for us,” Triano admitted. “Everybody can say: ‘You have four NBA guys, but our four NBA guys average 25 points combined (in the NBA). It’s not like they’re going to double that or triple that when you play international games.” Though Canada Basketball will try to organize exhibition games next summer, barring an unlikely wild-card berth, the team won’t play its next meaningful contest until Aug. 1, 2015, when qualifying begins for the Rio Olympics. Triano isn’t expecting anybody to bail after this letdown in Venezuela. “We need to get these guys together and play as many games as possible,” he said. “I stay in touch with these guys all year all the time anyway and will now even moreseo because of the relationship we’ve all built over the last 40 days of being together. From the passion and the way these guys care, I don’t think there will ever be a recruiting period. These guys have bought in. They want to do this.” They just couldn’t. Yet.
- Brendan Savage of MLive.com: Detroit Pistons forward Luigi Datome scored 19 points Sunday to help Italy remain unbeaten in the European Basketball Championship with an 81-72 victory over Greece. Datome, the reigning Italian League MVP who signed with the Pistons as a free agent, sank 8 of 16 shots – including three 3-pointers – and also grabbed four rebounds as Italy improved to 4-0. He made a pair of 3-pointers during a 19-6 run that broke the game open. "It's nice we beat Greece, but we know we haven't won anything yet," Datome said in a story on EuroBasket2013.org. "We just want to compete with other teams like until now." Italy is the only unbeaten team in the 24-team tournament.
- Robert MacLeod of The Globe and Mail: Masai Ujiri’s priority is to inject life into the terminally ill Toronto Raptors, but his basketball roots will forever run deep in his native Africa. Ujiri, hired in May to be the Raptors’ new general manager, recently returned from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he led a handful of NBA stars, past and present, on a four-day pilgrimage designed to try and grow the game on the vast continent. It was the 12th annual Basketball Without Borders mission into Africa. The NBA’s global development and community outreach program’s aim is to unite young basketball players, promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health and wellness. The NBA has run the program, in collaboration with the sport’s global governing body, FIBA, since 2001, and this summer, similar camps were also staged in Argentina and Portugal. Ujiri, 43, was born in Nigeria, and he overcame incredible odds to become the first African-raised GM of a major North American professional sports team. … “Coming here to Toronto, I want to win, I want to build and grow,” the GM said Wednesday, during an interview in his sunlight-flooded corner office that overlooks Union Station in downtown Toronto. “I also think I’ve been put in this position to give back to the kids of Africa. It is a 100-per-cent obligation for me.”
- Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman: The students are given a break in November and December, allowed to visit any remaining family or friends across the country. That's when Luke, apparently, was first introduced to his new favorite player. He heard Westbrook's name on the radio, saw a few highlights and decided he liked the Thunder. “It was definitely not something, coming to Rwanda, that I thought I'd have in common with an 18-year-old boy,” Dewey said. “But it just shows that the Thunder is huge. I live in the middle of nowhere. It's crazy that the Thunder is reaching these tiny, tiny areas in the heart of Africa.” The two developed a bond over the next few months, grown through teaching but sparked by that initial basketball connection. So when Betsy's father, Lyle, was coming to visit her in late July, they had an idea. Lyle wanted to bring gifts for the students, and what would they enjoy more than Thunder gear? Through word-of-mouth and Facebook, Lyle, an executive assistant at Bailey Oil in OKC, gathered donations at his work. In all, he packed more than 60 Thunder shirts, to go along with banners, an official team basketball and other memorabilia. Soccer is easily the country's most popular sport, but basketball has recently gained a little steam.
- Justin Giles of the Deseret News: NBA teams have big decisions to make when it comes to their young guys. Because of the collective bargaining agreement and luxury tax implications, teams must weigh the choices before deciding on player options and if players are worth long-term contracts or not. The Utah Jazz have made their decisions, as they will exercise the options on both Alec Burks and Enes Kanter. Does Kanter deserve it? According to Grantland writer Zach Lowe , “Kanter hasn't done quite enough to justify a monster $5.7 million fourth-year option, but that's due to playing time issues; Kanter didn't play in college, and he's been No. 4 in Utah's big-man pecking order. He barely cracked 1,000 minutes last season, much fewer than we'd expect from a No. 3 selection working as a full-time rotation player on a .500 team.” Burks is an interesting combo player who can play both the point guard position as well as shooting guard. With a little more experience, Burks could prove to be a steal when he was picked 12th by the Jazz in the 2011 NBA draft.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: Given that green traditionally means go, it's great news for Cavaliers fans when new center Andrew Bynum says his rehabilitation has "all been green.'' In an exclusive interview with The Plain Dealer, his first since the press conference announcing his signing on July 19, Bynum said he's on schedule to return this season and there have been no setbacks since he started working out at the Cleveland Clinic Courts in late July. "I moved here a week after the press conference, I've been here ever since -- day in and day out just working,'' he said, referring to the team's practice facility. "I'm there, focused. I'm doing everything I can do to get back. That's what all this is all about for me right now. I just want to play." … While the team thinks it would be great if he was ready for the start of training camp on Oct. 1, if he doesn't hit that exact date, it doesn't mean he's behind schedule. "It's a fluid process,'' Bynum said.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Healed, cleared, delivered: Channing Frye is yours, Phoenix Suns. After a year away from basketball due to an enlarged heart, the Suns’ deep-shooting big man said he is healthy and was cleared for all activity by doctors at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He began working out and returned with his family to Phoenix. All he awaits now is word from the Suns that their doctors concur. “They told me, ‘No human being is 100 percent healthy. The highest we give is a 98 percent. You are a 98 percent,’ ” Frye said. “They said, ‘We see this all the time.’ I don’t have any fear. I’m not scared to push myself and run and play and get my heart rate up. I’m just waiting on the paperwork. I’m healthy. It’s out of my hands. It’s up to the Suns and what they feel comfortable doing.” … Frye said a virus caused his heart’s enlargement, which shut him down before the Suns went to training camp last year. He said the condensed lockout season of 2012, stress, lack of sleep, coffee and energy drinks were contributors. Even if Frye is cleared, he likely will not be in playing shape when the Suns open their season Oct. 30. He is just beginning to do the off-season work that he normally would have done in May and June because he was restricted to golf, yoga and set-shooting for most of the past year.
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: David Lee got up from his seat, swiveled and lifted just enough of his practice jersey to reveal a newly sculpted six pack of abs. With those moves, the Warriors' power forward affirmed the points he had been trying to make during a just-concluded 15-minute interview: Even after offseason surgery, he said he is in the best shape of his life, and while his team is finally receiving some lofty preseason praise, he isn't resting on those predictions. "We could finish last in the West or we could finish first, but I think we have the ability to be a championship-caliber team," Lee said Wednesday, a day after most of the Warriors reported to voluntary workouts at the team's downtown Oakland facility. "We still have a long way to go, but if you look at where we were three years ago ... and where we are right now, it's very exciting. It comes with a level of responsibility, because now we're going to have a target on our back - rather than being a team that everyone underestimates."
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post: Lance Stephenson is impressed with the moves the Nets and Knicks have made this summer, but said he still thinks his Pacers are the team best-suited to challenge the Heat in the East. “I think we’re good,” Stephenson said at a back to school event in Brooklyn Wednesday. “When I’m on the court, and I know when my teammates are on the court, we think we’re better than anybody. “I think we’ve got a good chance to be the number one team [in the East]. We just have to work hard, put it together and do what we need to do to make our team better this year.” After spending his first two years mostly riding the bench for the Pacers, last season Stephenson became one of the NBA’s breakout players. With All-Star Danny Granger spending virtually the whole season on the shelf with knee injuries, Stephenson started 72 games during the regular season and all 19 of Indiana’s playoff games, helping the Pacers push the Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: For a team that has had little success the past five seasons, the Washington Wizards have been an unlikely source for teams looking for front office talent. Mike Wilson, the Wizards’ head of college scouting for the past nine seasons, is the latest to join the exodus from Washington after accepting a player personnel position with the Dallas Mavericks. Already this offseason, Pat Connelly left his position as director of player personnel to become assistant general manager of the Phoenix Suns and former vice president of player personnel Milt Newton was hired as general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Former assistant coach Jerry Sichting also left to become the lead assistant with the Suns and assistant athletic trainer Koichi Soto is expected to join the Timberwolves head strength and conditioning coach. Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld and Coach Randy Wittman and their respective staffs are all in the final year of their contracts, but all of the departing individuals have received significant promotions to go elsewhere.
- Michael Kaskey-Blomain of The Philadelphia Inquirer: It is rare at 25 years old to be considered an elder statesman of anything. Many 25 year olds are just finding their way in the working world, let alone being looked to for leadership. But with six professional seasons under his belt and a roster comprised of fresh faces, that is exactly the position Thaddeus Young finds himself in heading into this season with the Sixers. With much of the Sixers’ roster comprised of rookies and other fringe free agents, Young stands as the team’s longest-tenured and most experienced player. He has seen a handful of coaching changes since the Sixers selected him in the first round of the 2007 draft, as Brett Brown will serve as his fifth head coach in seven seasons. Young has also played under Mo Cheeks, Tony DiLeo, Eddie Jordan and Doug Collins. His role has consistently changed under each coach as well, as he has been both a starter and a reserve, and spent ample time at both forward spots.
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca: Nearly halfway home, but not even close to being done. That sums up the status of the Canadian men’s national team as they take a brief pause at the FIBA Americas tournament in Caracas, Venezuela. The event has reached the second of three distinct stages. With their blowout win over Uruguay late Tuesday night in a game delayed nine hours due to a power outage, Canada concluded group play with a 3-1 record and advanced from Group A in second place. They now have four games against the top four teams from Group B, beginning with their game at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday against Mexico, followed by contests against host Venezuela, Argentina and Dominican Republic. … After the first four games of the Steve Nash era, these are some of the things we’ve learned about them: 1. Canada has a point guard; 2. Canada has a big man tandem to be reckoned with; 3. Canada is deep; 4. The wing position remains a challenge; 5. The team is becoming a team.
- Zak Keefer of The Indianapolis Star: You hear the joy in her rising voice, you see the pain in her tears, you feel the triumph as she clenches her 84-year-old palms together. Arlena Smith is going back. She’s talking about Roger. Sometimes it hurts, hurts her now because it hurt him then. The day he showed up on her doorstop, exiled from the game he cherished, broke with nowhere to turn. The phone calls she’d get from him, crying, tired of the story that wouldn’t die and the questions that wouldn’t stop. Sometimes, though, it’s pure bliss. Before he became the backbone of the ABA’s Indiana Pacers, Roger Brown became her adopted son, a member of the family. Their good-natured barbs during his AAU games in Dayton. She’d call him “gramps” from her spot on the scorer’s table – “Cuz he moved so slow!” After his team won, he’d walk over to her and ask, “So, how’d I do?” with his cocky grin, knowing full well he was the best player on the court. She watched him blossom into a star, one of the best the ABA ever saw. Sunday, after 17 years of waiting, he enters the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: In mid-May, Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and newly hired General Manager Ryan McDonough met with Michael Beasley to lay out expectations for the summer. Beasley could not last three months before he let the Suns down again. His on-court regression might have been enough to cut ties but an early August arrest for marijuana possession in his car was intolerable. Faced with owing him $9 million of guaranteed contract, the Suns escaped the failed Beasley experiment with a buyout Tuesday that emphasizes a character standard which was overlooked last year and saves the club $2 million in salary and even more in cap hits for the next two years. Babby negotiated to reduce Beasley’s salary for this season from $6 milliion to $4.67 million and next season’s guaranteed $3 million of a $6 million salary to $2.33 million. Using the waive-and-spread provision of the collective bargaining agreement, the Suns will spread that $2.33 million in payment and cap hits over the years to $778,000 annually. The buyout, along with the ability to spread next year’s salary, creates $1.4 million in cap space this year (now about $6.7 million of total space) and $2.2 million more of cap space next year.
- Bob Young of The Arizona Republic: So long Michael Beasley, at least until your next court appearance. The Suns got it right Tuesday, announcing that they have waived Beasley after negotiating a buyout of what remains on his contract. Heck, they even managed to save themselves a couple of million and gave themselves some salary cap relief. But even if it had cost them every penny of the $9 million in guaranteed money they still owed Beasley, it would have been worth it to get rid of him. The Suns had to clean up the mess made by former general manager Lance Blanks, with approval of team president Lon Babby and owner Robert Sarver, after Beasley was arrested in Scottsdale for possession and where he still has a sexual assault investigation hanging over him. The Suns, after a disastrous couple of seasons, finally have begun to rebuild goodwill with their constituents. The last thing they needed on a roster full of young players and with a new head coach is a guy like Beasley.
- Adam Green ArizonaSports.com: The Suns threw down their bet, and the dice came up snake eyes. They lost, plain and simple, and now they will look to move on from one of the worst mistakes the franchise has ever made. Yet, it was the right move to take a chance last summer, just as it is the right call to end the relationship now, even though it will cost the team $7 million over the next few years to not have him around. Signing Beasley gave the Suns a shot at landing a star player at a time when, quite frankly, they had little ability to do so. Years of choosing mediocrity over bottoming out led to middling first-round draft picks, and refusing to part with aging veterans while they could have brought back more in return left them with little in the way of young talent to build around. Sure, the Suns had cap space, but they were not going to lure a big-time star to the desert last summer and were still a season away from landing the first top-five pick since 1987. They were in position to take a flyer on a player who, remember, was just a few seasons removed from being the second-overall pick in the NBA Draft. Had Beasley been able to turn his life around, the Suns very well could have landed an All-Star-caliber player at a time when they badly needed one. Of course, Beasley was unable to change, and now his once-promising career is on the ropes.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: America is addicted to sports, bringing with it the obsessive need to dissect even the most insignificant morsels of these silly games that command so much of our attention. (Of which this post, and web site, are but a tiny piece.) Those who exist under that white-hot glare experience the full spectrum of human judgments, not least of which is blame. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich experienced this during the Finals as he rarely, if ever, has during his Hall-of-Fame career. The details are permanently etched in Spurs lore: Spurs up five, less than half a minute remaining in Game 6, Popovich sits defensive anchor Tim Duncan for not one but two crucial possessions. Miami grabs an offensive rebound, and hits 3-pointers, on both to force overtime. The Heat win the game, and then the series two days later. A Google search for “Game 6 Gregg Popovich’s fault” on Tuesday got 408,000 results. The general consensus among the critics: How could you possibly take Duncan, one of the best rebounders and defenders in the game, off the court for such a critical possession? Then, after that didn’t work, how could you possibly do it again? Or as one poster at Pounding the Rock put it, Popovich overthought it so much that he underthought it. This line of thinking ignores two critical factors: 1. The Spurs had tremendous success subbing Duncan out for more mobile defenders on late defensive stands — typically Boris Diaw — throughout the season. 2. The odds of everything breaking the way it did down the stretch were so minute that the biggest factor, by a gigantic margin, was dumb luck.
- Greg Cote of The Miami Herald: Heat star LeBron James is executive producer of a planned new hour-half sitcom on Starz tentatively led Survivor's Remorse. Set in north Philadelphia, it's about two men from the streets who achieve fame, one in the NBA, the other not, and how they deal with family, friends and changing attitudes about them. LeBron will not star in the show but clearly the premise is autobiographical. "I think the main thing for me is, making it out of a place where you're not supposed to. You're supposed to be a statistic and end up like the rest of the people in the inner city," James said. "When you make it out, everyone expects ... they automatically think that they made it out and it's very tough for a young African-American 18-year-old kid to now hold the responsibility of a whole city, of a whole community. I can relate to that."
- Page Six of the New York Post: Jay Z is selling his minority ownership in the Brookyn Nets to coach Jason Kidd, sources exclusively tell Page Six. We’re told Kidd will take over Jay’s .067 percent (1/15th of a percent) stake in the team for about $500,000. The move comes as Jay was forced to sell his Nets shares over a conflict of interest after he started a sports agency, Roc Nation, signing clients including Yankee Robinson Cano and Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant. A source told us, “Other owners want to give Jason a part ownership of the team, and urged Jay to sell his shares to him.”
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: Rookie Ben McLemore must be a little prescient. A short while ago on Twitter, he alerted Kings fans that he was changing his jersey from No.16 to No.17 "for a good reason." Like the fact the organization plans to retire Peja Stojakovic's No.16 jersey in the near future? No confirmation yet - and nothing is imminent - but that's very likely the plan. Meantime, McLemore will stick with No.16 at least for the upcoming season. "We have considered retiring Peja's number," said team president Chris Granger, "and he certainly deserves that honor. (But) at this time, that's all I will say."
- Ben Standig of CSN Washington: In a world in which the Wizards don't draft Otto Porter, Glen Rice Jr. or any wing player but instead selected an interior option (thus eliminating the need for Al Harrington), Rip Hamilton could have filled the veteran-scorer-off-the-bench-that-backs-up-Bradley Beal role. One issue with Hamilton is that his game has always required him running off constant picks to get open. When he was arguably the NBA's top mid-range shooter, cool, but that's far too big of a scheme tweak to make for a limited role player even if he can still score.
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: Player development is the name of the game for the youthful Cavaliers. A league source said Steve Hetzel has accepted the job as head coach of the Canton Charge of the National Basketball Development League. He will replace former Charge coach Alex Jensen, who left after two seasons to become a developmental coach on Tyrone Corbin's staff with the Jazz. The Cavs are still reportedly working on contract details. They've put a strong emphasis on player development on the Cavs with so many young, emerging players. They have eight players on their roster 25 or younger, including rookies Anthony Bennett, Sergey Karasev and Carrick Felix. Phil Handy and Vitaly Potapenko make up the development staff on Mike Brown's staff. However, that's also Hetzel's strong suit.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com: Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau has promoted assistant coach Adrian Griffin to lead assistant, a league source conveyed to CSNNW.com. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because an announcement on the promotion has yet to be made. Griffin's advancement comes a little over two months since Chicago elected not to retain longtime lead assistant Ron Adams in late June. Adams has since joined the Boston Celtics' coaching staff.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: As much as their constellation of NBA stars, France’s EuroBasket reputation is one of heartbreak and disappointment. Blowing a fourth-quarter lead against Greece in the 2005 semifinals. Doing the same thing against Russia in 2007. Destroyed by Spain in the 2009 quarterfinals. Rolled again by the Spanish in the 2011 finals. Including those defeats, France has never won the European title in 37 appearances dating back to 1935. Despite that history, and the absence of Bulls center Joakim Noah, Les Bleus enter this year’s tournament, which starts today in Slovenia, as one of the favorites to challenge arch-rival Spain. British gambling house Ladbrokes puts France’s odds at 7-2, the same as Greece and only slightly worse than Spain at 2-1. Much like his team back stateside in San Antonio, the French go largely as Spurs All-Star Tony Parker goes. The veteran point guard has endured a pair of scares with minor knee injuries, but he’s shaken them off to enjoy a solid exhibition run-up that included yet another loss to Spain. He’s joined by fellow Spurs Boris Diaw and Nando De Colo, which are pretty much the only three reasons the vast majority of Spurs fans will pay much, if any, attention to Europe’s biennial championship. (Unless, of course, you’re dying to get an early look at Marco Belinelli with Italy.)
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: Canada hasn’t been rolling like this since Steve Nash was a young pup. The senior men’s hoops squad picked up its third win in four games at the FIBA Americas tournament Tuesday with a blowout 93-67 win over Uruguay. Canada clinched second place in its pool at 3-1 (though one win will not be carried forward because it came against a team that has been eliminated) with its second convincing win in four contests and heads forward in great shape. Four of the eight remaining teams will be knocked out, while the other four will advance both to the semi-finals and to next year’s FIBA World Cup in Spain. The game was a challenge for both teams, since it was supposed to start eight hours earlier. However, the lights went out in Venezuela, forcing the long delay. … Canada will open the knockout round against Mexico, also 2-1, faces host Venezuela a day later, the Dominican Republic Friday and Argentina on Saturday to close the grueling stretch.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: As a kid, C.J. Miles was not allowed to listen to rap music. His father, Calvin Andre Miles Sr., is a preacher (C.J. stands for Calvin Jr.) and the only music he allowed in the house was gospel, Al Green, and Michael Jackson. So what does he think about his son releasing a collection of his own rap songs on Twitter? "My dad was actually the person that encouraged me to do it,'' Miles said in a telephone interview ahead of the release. "He always told me since I was a kid that he felt like it was a big thing that I was drawn to. He always encouraged me to do it. He'll call me some days and say, 'Hey, boy, are you still rapping?''' The answer to that question is an emphatic yes. But Miles wants to make it clear that his music does not detract from his basketball. "My first love is still basketball,'' said the Cavs 26-year-old swingman, who averaged 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 65 games last season, his first in Cleveland. "That's still what I'm the most passionate about, what I spend the most time on. When I have free time, I have these other outlets and interests.'' Miles has been involved with music his whole life. He and his parents, three siblings and even his grandmother all sang in the church choir. The first instrument Miles learned to play was the drums, which drove his parents nuts until the drum set mysteriously was ''lost'' in a move. "I figured it out when I was older,'' Miles said, laughing.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: The best thing that Ryan McDonough inherited with the Suns’ general-manager job was a low bar set by his predecessor and a chance with some flexibility out of his starting block. Previous GM Lance Blanks dropped that bar too low for even a limbo, but he and Lon Babby, the president of basketball operations, also took on a different kind of mess than the last-place team McDonough absorbed. It was about this time two years ago when Blanks showed up for work, raising eyebrows by arriving three weeks after accepting his first GM job. It might be hard to blame him, considering any muscle a GM would like to flex was eliminated when the Suns, in the July between Steve Kerr’s departure and Blanks’ arrival, took on about $82 million of contracts for Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick and Josh Childress (they are still paying him $14.5 million over the next two seasons). McDonough has created some optimism with the drafting of Alex Len and Archie Goodwin and acquisition of Eric Bledsoe, but where will his moves stand in two years? There were 24 players acquired by the Suns for regular-season play during Blanks’ 20 months on the job, one in which he certainly did not act alone. One-third of them remain Suns.
- Staff of The Dallas Morning News: What the Dallas Mavericks will do in future offseasons remains a mystery especially with Mark Cuban running the show. While the Mavericks appear to be building for the future at point guard with Shane Larkin, a reunion with J.J. Barea is not out of the question. Dallas did show some interest this offseason, and Barea said he wouldn’t mind returning in the near future. "It's a great relationship with Mark Cuban. If they want to bring me back to Dallas, I am very [good] with it," he told ESPN.com. "But I'm happy in Minnesota. They're the ones that wanted me there, the ones that signed me for four years, so until they decide to trade me, I'm going to give them all my effort in the games." Barea spent the first five years of his career in Dallas and was a fan favorite during the Mavericks’ title run in 2011. After that season, Barea became a declined a 1-year contract offer and became a free agent. Last year, Barea averaged 11.3 points and 4.0 assists per game for Minnesota.
- Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times: Lamar Odom will be 34 in November. Yet Vinny Del Negro, whose contract wasn't renewed after last season and who probably will be doing television commentary this season, disagrees with the "senior executive of an NBA team." "Lamar can still play," he said. "It's not the basketball skills that are the problem. Once he gets himself in shape and gets his mind wrapped around basketball, he can help somebody." Del Negro said he hates how quickly people will "knock a guy when he is down." He said he hates all the hearsay — "none of us really knows exactly what is going on" — and said of the executive, "If the guy is that powerful, he should have the guts to use his name." We see it all in athletes these days. Overpaid clowns who run their mouths while missing a brain; con artists who work overtime on their public image and very little on their games; sulking jocks with little to offer outside the lines and an expectation of canonization. Odom is none of these. Messed up? Sure. Someone who might have addiction issues? Obviously. Deserving of punishment if it is proved he put others in danger by driving under the influence? Certainly. But dismissed quickly by all of us, especially many in the NBA? Given no chance of recovery and return? Scorned by a public that recently rooted for and adored him? Not now. Not yet.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: Another victory to close the opening round-robin portion of the FIBA Americas would ensure Canada enters the next phase 2-1 and would enhance the odds of advancing further. Victories against teams previously eliminated do not carry forward. The squad has been able to come together and play well quicker than most anticipated. That’s largely been because of how good Pickering’s Cory Joseph has been. While manning the point, Joseph has been treating opponents like his adversaries in the NBA Development League, where he was a standout months ago. He’s been stuffing the stat sheet, racking up points and assists, even leading Canada in rebounding against Brazil. Joseph looks like a veteran on the court. Reaching the NBA Final and being developed by the league’s best organization, San Antonio, has been huge for the former first-round pick. And he’s playing like a star. Practising every day against MVP candidate Tony Parker surely has something to do with that, as well. Even though he’s the youngest player on the team, Joseph is used to making an impact alongside older teammates. He did it at Pickering Collegiate as a varsity starter alongside players like his brother Devoe, now a teammate again with Canada and he’s done it with the Spurs. Joseph heads into Tuesday in the top 10 in tournament scoring (fifth), rebounding (ninth) and steals (sixth) and leads in assists even though he has also played off of the ball.
- Staff of the Detroit Free Press: Pistons forwards Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome will play for their respective EuroBasket13 teams this week in Slovenia. Datome and Italy open with Russia on Wednesday. Jerebko and Sweden play Greece the same day. Pistons president Joe Dumars and assistant general manager George David were scheduled to leave for Slovenia on Monday to watch both in the tourney, according to pistons.com. The tournament runs Wednesday-Sept. 22, with five games for each team in six days in the qualifying round of the 24-team field. The top-three teams in each of the four groups move on to the second round. Italy, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Russia and Turkey are in Group D. Italy and Sweden play Monday in the final game of group play.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Q: With the Grizzlies waiving Fab Melo, should the Heat consider giving him a chance to earn a roster spot? I read reports last year that he would have been Miami's pick in the draft had he not been selected by the Celtics. -- Rudy, Miami. A: If most-recent impressions factor in, then I would consider it a longshot, based on how the former Sagemont standout looked in front of the Heat staff at the Orlando summer league while playing for the Celtics. The Syracuse product remains a raw presence likely destined for more time in the D-League. If the Heat are able to offload Joel Anthony's contract, then it might be possible Melo could be brought in to compete with Jarvis Varnado, but such a spot might not even exist with Greg Oden essentially a developmental project, as well.
- Gerry Mullany of The New York Times: The former basketball star Dennis Rodman returned Tuesday to North Korea, where he plans “to see my friend” Kim Jong-un, the dictator whose country until recently was threatening to annihilate the United States with nuclear weapons. Mr. Rodman said in Beijing that he was planning a five-day visit to the North but played down speculation that he would try to secure the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary who has been jailed there since late last year after being detained on North Korean soil. “I’m not going to North Korea to discuss freeing Kenneth Bae,” the Basketball Hall of Fame member told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I’m just going there on another basketball diplomacy tour.” His visit comes amid a thaw in relations between North and South Korea, sworn enemies that just months ago appeared to be on the brink of military conflict.
- Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: JaVale McGee’s Pop-A-Shot adventures.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: Make no mistake about it. Caron Butler wants to play. And now the 33-year-old small forward will be playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, the team he grew up watching as a boy in Racine. … Butler will be starting his 12th pro season this fall and believes he has plenty to offer to a revamped Bucks squad. "Everything was handled the right way, in a very classy way," Butler said of the Suns. "The Bucks had made inquiries about me, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for me and my family. My son (Caron Jr.) will be in eighth grade this year in Racine." … "I talked to coach Drew and John Hammond (Bucks general manager), and we talked about my role on and off the court," Butler said. “They will ask even more of me, and I embrace that challenge, being a leader and a mentor. And I'll be in my own town doing it. I didn't think it would ever happen, that this dream I had many years ago could become a reality. That's funny."
- Jeff Simmons of Sportsnet.ca: Rudy Gay is serious about improving game this off-season. The Toronto Raptors forward had laser eye surgery earlier this summer to help improve his declining shooting numbers and now he’s putting in the time to develop his post-game in Houston. Gay posted an Instagram video of a workout with Houston Rockets legend, and former Toronto Raptors center. Throughout his NBA career, Gay has been criticized for settling for jump shots and not using his size (Gay is 6-foot-9) to his full advantage. So this workout with Olajuwon is a very logical move for the Raptors’ go-to scorer., Hakeem Olajuwon.
- Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: Not a lot of news has been coming from the 76ers lately, except for the acquisition of guard Tony Wroten and the news of assistant Lloyd Pierce joining new coach Brett Brown's staff. Yesterday the Daily News talked to general manager Sam Hinkie about the past, present and future plans of the franchise. Q: There has kind of been an air of secrecy surrounding this organization since you took over, and the fans have felt distanced. Why have you chosen this route? A: I think our fans will find me to be plenty open when we get to know each other. Our coaching search took quite a while and that may have caused that. Every little edge you can get is important. There is some level of secrecy as teams try not to let on to what they're doing. If we were to have had Nerlens Noel come in and work out before the draft, that would have caused a stir being that we had the 11th pick, and the kind of things that happened on draft night (trading Jrue Holiday to New Orleans for Noel) possibly couldn't have been possible. So we chose not to let teams know who we are working out, and a lot of forward-thinking organizations do that with the comings and goings of potential players. We did a lot of trading in the second round and that was because people didn't know our interest in (Arsalan) Kazemi (eventually landed in the second round via trade).
- Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee: While I was finishing an hour-long interview with new Kings coach Michael Malone in his office at the Sacramento Kings practice facility, there was a knock on the door. Who walks in? Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro, accompanied by a grinning Vlade Divac. The former Kings center - whose No.21 jersey hangs from the rafters inside Sleep Train Arena - was coy about the purpose for his visit and said he planned to remain in Sacramento very briefly. When I asked if he would be joining the new regime as an international scout or in some other capacity, he just laughed. Currently, the Kings icon lives in Belgrade, where he heads Serbia's Olympic effort. "The most important thing is that the Kings stayed," said Divac, who as usual, was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt. "It will take some time (returning to elite status). People have to be patient. But the team is here."
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: The FIBA Americas tournament tips Friday morning in Caracas, Venezuela, when Canada’s senior men meet Jamaica to get things rolling. … Though Canada Basketball plays it down, this tournament is immense for the program. Simply put, the team must find a way to qualify for the World Cup. Forget who isn’t playing, Canada still has as much NBA talent as any opponent in Venezuela, plus some accomplished overseas vets and former NBAers. The North Americans face the toughest adjustment, since the other squads are well-versed in FIBA rules, venues and the international atmosphere, plus are far more used to playing with each other (with a few exceptions). However, talent is still important and these tournaments often come down to hot shooting. Canada has a number of players that can hit from outside.
- Staff of The Sacramento Bee: Former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who has worked in the Kings' front office for three years, has been named the general manager of the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League. Abdur-Rahim, Sacramento's 36-year-old director of player personnel, will oversee basketball operations for the Bighorns, the Kings announced. The Kings also said Chris Gilbert, entering his first season as basketball operations coordinator, will be the Bighorns' assistant general manager. The Kings and Bighorns announced a partnership last month. Sacramento controls the Bighorns' basketball operations, while Reno's owners have primary responsibility for the business side.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: New season, new shoe. Says who? Says LeBron James on Instagram, when he sent out photographic proof. "It's about that time again! #LeBron11 #CantWaitToHitTheCourtInThem #CrazyKickGame." Clearly a quality product, considering it comes accompanied with three hash tags. Per Nike, "The LEBRON 11 King's Pride will be available on Oct. 12 globally. The LEBRON 11 Terracotta Warrior will be available on Oct. 1 in Greater China, and on Nov. 27 in North America and the rest of the world." … As for the Nov. 27 domestic release date for the LEBRON 11 Terracotta Warrior, the Heat will be in … Cleveland. Read into that what you please.
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Caron Butler donned a Suns uniform at a public unveiling of the new duds two weeks ago and that looks like it will be the only time he will be seen in it. The Suns have agreed to trade Butler, a Racine, Wis., native, to the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard Ish Smith and center Slava Kravtsov about seven weeks after they acquired Butler and hailed him as a veteran influence for the youthful Suns and part of the future. The Suns gain $5.65 million of cap space for any potential in-season trades but also save that money to make an expected costly waiver of Michael Beasley more palatable. Beasley would be owed $9 million of guaranteed salary. … “Much respect for the organization of the Phx Suns#staytuned,” Butler tweeted Wednesday night. … The Racine Journal Times first reported the trade talks Wednesday night. The deal should be finalized Thursday.
- Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times: But many NBA observers expected Caron Butler’s time in the Valley of the Sun to be short-lived. After all, the Suns are in a full-fledged rebuilding mode and are attempting to stockpile draft picks and young players for the future. The Bucks, meanwhile, are committed to trying to make the playoffs for the second straight season. After a flurry of offseason trades and free-agent signings, they appear set at every position except small forward, which is where Butler plays. Carlos Delfino, whom the Bucks signed as a free-agent in July, had been the projected starting small forward. But Delfino is still recovering from surgery for a fractured bone in his right foot. There are whispers that Delfino will miss the entire preseason and even a portion of the regular season. The Bucks also have two other young small forwards on their roster: Khris Middleton, whom they recently acquired in a trade with Detroit, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom they selected in the first round of the June draft. While the Bucks are excited about the futures of Antetokounmpo and Middleton, neither player is close to being ready to play major minutes next season.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: But here’s the thing: There’s no concrete evidence that summer hoops has a noticeably negative impact. Let’s look at the 52 players who have suited up for Team USA at the Olympics since 1992, excluding Larry Bird and Magic Johnson (retired) and Christian Laettner, Anthony Davis and Emeka Okafor (rookies). Of their combined 67 post-Olympic seasons: 34 played more or the same amount of games the following year. 33 saw their scoring averages increase. 40 improved or maintained their Player Efficiency Rating. Certainly there are players who suffered significant downturns, or fell apart physically. Robinson’s was the most dramatic case, limiting him to just six games. Then there were Alonzo Mourning (69 games missed in 2000-01) and Kevin Love (64 missed last season). Conversely, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, among others, all enjoyed perhaps the best seasons of their careers coming off Olympic play. Wade’s case is particularly noteworthy, with major improvements across the board after both Olympic campaigns — all the more impressive considering his general lack of durability. If anyone should break down after an extra slate of hoops, D-Wade would be among the top candidates. But not only did he survive, he got significantly better, improving his scoring average by 7.9 and 5.6 points, and his PER by 6.5 and 8.9. So what can we take away from all this? There’s no doubt long that as players continue to sandwich summers of international competition between marathon NBA seasons, a portion of them will continue to get hurt and/or worn down. But let’s be clear — this so-called wear and tear is not an automatic consequence of such a choice. As we’ve seen, there’s a strong case that the combination of experience and physical work — the latter of which every player engages in on his own to varying degrees — can actually be beneficial.
- Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: The Wolves' Kevin Love, in town setting up residence for the coming season, showed up at Target Center this week weighing 240 pounds. "The lightest he's been since he's been a pro," Saunders said of the 6-foot-10 forward, who worked out at Target Center. "He's lost weight in his face, and his body looks leaner with muscle. He's really committed." Love was about 250 pounds last season.
- Jenny Dial of the Houston Chronicle: While things didn’t work out with forward Royce White and the Rockets, the NBA player (traded to Philadelphia in July) will have an everlasting mark in the Bayou City. On Wednesday morning, White announced a partnership with his non-profit organization Anxious Mind’s Inc. and Bee Busy Wellness Center to create the Royce White Institute of Mental Health on the city’s southwest side. The Wellness Center, which is a 17,000-square foot facility that will also have dental and primary care, is located at 6640 W. Bellfort and will open in January 2014. “When I met Royce White a couple of years ago, I knew we would do something special like this,” Bee Busy CEO Normal Mitchell said. “I think it will be a great thing for this community.” White, who has been open about his own struggles with an anxiety disorder, said that he thinks every city should have a center where free mental healthcare is offered. He started the Anxious Mind’s Inc. group while in college at Iowa State, and this is the organization’s first partnership. He said he hopes to see it grow. … He said he is looking forward to his chances of playing with the 76ers. “I was traded to Philadelphia and that’s where my career is taking me next so we’ll see what happens,” White said. “I am hoping I will be able to go there and produce.”
- Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: The Thunder’s roster, like always, it seems, has very little makeover from last season. Kevin Martin out. Draft picks Steven Adams and Andre Roberson in. That’s about it. But John Schuhmann of NBA.com points out that the Thunder is in good company in keeping its roster basically intact. … Basing his list on minutes played, Schuhmann finds that the team most returning the bulk of its roster is the champion Miami Heat. The Heat is bringing back 94.9 percent of its minutes played from last season. The Thunder is second in the league, at 86.5 percent. And the Spurs are fourth, at 82.4 percent. Inexplicably, the woeful Charlotte Bobcats are third, at 85.3 percent.
- Staff of the Toronto Star: Tracy McGrady has thanked the fans of three of the NBA teams he played for, including the Toronto Raptors. McGrady, who announced his retirement earlier in the week, tweeted out Wednesday photos of himself when he played with the Raptors, Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets. “Thank you Toronto. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to begin my career in the NBA. You believed in me and there my journey began. This incredible city will always hold a very special place in my heart.” — Tracy McGrady. The message comes despite the fact that McGrady was the constant target of boobirds at the Air Canada Centre, even after a decade he left for the Magic.
- Staff of The Dallas Morning News: Tracy McGrady will be remembered as a player who went straight from high school to the NBA and became a dominant, two-way superstar. He will always be remembered, too, as a player who struggled with injuries. However, Mavericks fans likely will remember McGrady for different reasons, reasons former 7-6 Dallas center Shawn Bradley would probably like to forget. During the 2005 playoffs, McGrady and the Houston Rockets went up against the Mavericks. A McGrady dunk on Bradley in Game 2 put the poster in posterized. To be fair, Bradley was a shot blocker. He led the NBA in blocks in 1997 and had more than 2,000 in his career. With Dallas in 2000-01, Bradley blocked 228 shots. He finished his career with an average of 2.5 blocks per game. But, despite his height and wingspan, he also had a habit of getting dunked on violently - and often - by NBA stars big and small.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com: Portland Trail Blazers free agent forward Luke Babbitt has agreed to a one-year deal with the Europe club BC Nizhny Novgorod of Russia, a league source informed CSNNW.com. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the fact that no announcement has been made, added that the deal does not contain an NBA out clause. Babbitt's agent Bill Duffy confirmed the deal saying, “My take is Luke needs to play 30 minutes a game and play a more expanded role. We've had recent success with both Danny Green (of the San Antonio Spurs) and Patrick Beverley (of the Houston Rockets) getting an opportunity to develop their games in Europe and returning to the NBA. The NBA is a league of opportunity. We feel strongly this is the best move for Luke at this time.” Portland opted not to exercise the fourth year of his rookie contract before the 2012-13 season began, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun: Meanwhile, this Friday in Caracas, Venezuela, the Canadian men’s basketball team — a team that could turn this country on its ear at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics — plays its first game at the FIBA Americas Championship and hardly anyone seems to be paying attention — even though the event has huge implications. The bottom line is this: If Team Canada fails to finish in the top four in Caracas (and it’s no slam-dunk that they will, even with four NBA guys in the lineup), the program will suffer a significant set-back. With the hiring of NBA star Steve Nash as GM and Jay Triano as head coach last year, Canada Basketball pulled out all the stops in trying to attract the new generation of Canadian hoops talent to play for the national team, something that was never a sure thing in the past. There was a tendency for some of the young black players in Canada to shy away from playing on the national side, for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, that has changed over the past few years (including under former head coach Leo Rautins). However, if Team Canada should fail to finish in the top four in Caracas and fail to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in Spain, who’s to say if the impressive legion of young hoops talent would want to play for Canada down the road?
- Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune: Bobby Jackson, a great basketball player for the Gophers and for several teams in the NBA, is going to join the Timberwolves coaching staff as an assistant, according to President Flip Saunders. Jackson has a lot of familiarity with Rick Adelman, having played five seasons under him with the Sacramento Kings. Jackson started his post-playing career as an ambassador with the Kings and then as a regional scout working in player development. He became an assistant coach with Sacramento in 2009 and served in that role until June 5, when new head coach Michael Malone announced that the team would not retain any of the previous assistant coaches. Then there is the news that Saunders is going to hire Milt Newton to be the team’s general manager. Saunders and Newton agreed on terms of a contract after Newton spent this week visiting the Wolves. The two worked together for 2½ years when Saunders was the head coach of the Washington Wizards and Newton was the team’s vice president of player personnel. Newton held that role in Washington for 10 seasons before joining the Wolves.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: In five years when he’s (Tracy McGrady) eligible, is he a Hall of Famer. I don’t know. The raw numbers would suggest he’d have to get serious consideration. The tweeter was full of impressive stats yesterday, the most impressive that he was one of seven players to average 20 points, five rebound and four assists in eight straight seasons; the others were Kobe, LeBron, Jordan, Oscar, Garnett and Bird. Not bad company and if that’s your main criteria, you can’t keep him out, can you? I could, though. I could suggest that while his statistical impact was significant – there can be no argument about that, the raw numbers are shocking – there was just something about his body of work that should give voters cause for concern. Now, I suppose you could go either way on this one, there is a legitimate argument to be made both ways, I think, and since I’m a Hall of Fame hard ass and look at a much bigger global picture, I’m saying no. And I will say this and take whatever shots you’ve got: With respect to an impact on the sport, here in North America and around the world, he couldn’t hold a candle to Vince Carter. If you’re talking impact, there’s no comparison.
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: In the wake of Tracy McGrady's retirement announcement earlier this week, let me just say this: T-Mac was undoubtedly a great talent, but he will also go down as one of the great underachievers in NBA history. I covered his entire tenure with the Orlando Magic, and he had the talent and explosiveness to become a greater player than Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, he didn't have the desire. … Here's why I say McGrady was one of the NBA's great underachievers: Because he never, ever won a playoff series until this past season -- his final one -- when he was one of the last players off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs. In a sport where one player can make a huge difference (see LeBron leading the marginally talented Cleveland Cavaliers to the finals and the best record in the NBA for two years running), T-Mac never elevated his team's to anything other than mediocrity. … Will he go down as one of the top three Magic players of all-time behind Dwight and Shaq? Probably -- although Penny Hardaway might argue otherwise. For a lot of reasons, though, he will go down in history for another reason. No player I ever saw had more talent but accomplished less.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra clearly has the football bug. He apparently also carries a message that resonates beyond basketball. Three weeks after attending practice and then addressing the University of Tennessee football team in Knoxville as a favor to friend and Volunteers coach Butch Jones, Spoelstra was in Renton, Wash., on Tuesday, addressing the Seattle Seahawks. "Just having him here in front of the team and just having him in meetings with us and having him out here in practice is an unbelievable experience for everybody," quarterback Russell Wilson said after Tuesday's practice. "For him to be able to talk about how his basketball team was successful and the way that they went about their business in terms of sacrificing . . . just that whole idea of sacrificing everything, the players, LeBron [James] coming to Miami, and Dwyane Wade sacrificing all that, all that type of sacrifice that it takes to be great and to be great so often, is kind of what he talked about for the most part. And having that discipline, as well, too, is something that he talked about, and just working hard, continuing to work hard, continuing to believe in yourselves and ignore the noise.” … Spoelstra is from nearby Portland, Ore., with this his second trip to the Pacific Northwest this offseason. He had visited with Chip Kelly at the University of Oregon in previous seasons, before Kelly became coach of the Philadelphia Eagles this season.
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN: Washington Wizards Vice President of player personnel, Milt Newton, will join the Timberwolves as the team's general manager, according to a team source. Newton will be heavily involved in pro scouting. The Wolves also plan on elevating Rob Babcock to a vice president of personnel position. Both men have a prior history with Wolves President of Basketball Operations, Flip Saunders. Saunders still will have final say in all personnel decisions, but will be leaning heavily on Newton and Babcock on all moves. Saunders is also said to be taking an assistant trainer, Koichi Sato, from the Wizards. Sato will focus on strength training with the Wolves.
- Fred Kerber of the New York Post: Play nice, guys. That essentially was the directive given to owners James Dolan of the Knicks and Mikhail Prokhorov of the Nets this past season during a meeting orchestrated by NBA Commissioner David Stern, who wanted to snuff any lingering tension between the two and prevent a full-blown feud, multiple league sources told The Post. “There was such a meeting and the parties both said it was a very cordial and pleasant one,” said one league official with knowledge of the sit-down, which happened early in the season. The official also confirmed Stern assisted in getting the pair together in an attempt to prevent a wave of spitballs going back and forth over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. See? It’s not just players like Paul Pierce and Raymond Felton fueling the feud between the two NBA teams sharing the city. It has been going on for a while, but the Nets no longer are the poor stepchild performing in a New Jersey swamp. Another person with direct knowledge of the sit-down called it “cordial and friendly.”
- Bernie Augustine of the New York Daily News: There’s no time for proofreading in the tattoo parlor. Larry Sanders showed off his newest tattoos on Instagram over the weekend, but the Bucks center was quickly given a spelling lesson by his fans who spied the unfortunate typo in permanent ink. The 24-year-old got fresh ink on both hands, with one reading “Ask” and another “Recieve.” Whoops. “Receive” is the proper spelling of the word, and Sanders was given plenty of reminders about the old “I before E except after C” rule. Oh, that pesky English language. Sanders, for his part was unfazed by the gaffe. Despite calls from his fans to delete the photo of the tattoo — “Please remove the picture. It makes U look like an idiot,” one Instagram user wrote — Sanders kept both photos up on his Instagram stream and followed them up with a photo of himself looking unimpressed with the hullabaloo and a caption that reads, “ummmmmmmm ... ain’t worried bout nuthin.” With a new four year, $44 million contract, he shouldn’t be worried. Turning an “I” into an “E,” and vice-versa, will hardly put a dent in his newly-fattened wallet.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: Former Atlanta forward Josh Childress will be among 40 or more free agents who will work out here as the Cavaliers continue to do their due diligence in the month leading up to the start of training camp, according to an NBA source. Childress' agent, Chris Emens, told HoopsHype.com his client would work out in Cleveland and San Antonio. Given the Cavs' current roster and salary situation, all the players face long odds of making the team, but some could earn invitations to training camp.
- Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle: Rising costs, rising sea levels, rising community concern. Everything is on the rise when it comes to the Warriors' proposed arena on the San Francisco waterfront. The Warriors insist that the arena will also eventually rise, that it is still on track to meet its projected 2017 opening date. But it continues to face obstacles. "I think the Warriors have underestimated how high the hurdles for a project like this would be," said David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, a regional organization that has worked to protect San Francisco Bay for the past 52 years. … "It's very expensive to rehabilitate those piers," said Warriors president Rick Welts. "But we still have the highest level of confidence this project will be done." … Welts said a third round of design will be unveiled in October. … "We are 100 percent focused on Piers 30/32," he said. "We're more convinced than ever that this is the best possible site for this project."
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Alex Len was first on the Suns’ draft board in June but he is not first in the minds of his fellow rookies when it comes to NBA success. Len, this year’s No. 5 overall selection, did not receive much love in the nba.com annual Rookie Survey of the 36 rookies who attended a league photo shoot in New York earlier this month. Len and fellow Suns rookie Archie Goodwin, the No. 29 pick, attended the event in conjunction with the league’s rookie transition program. The NBA rookies gave votes to 10 rookies who they think will win Rookie of the Year but nobody voted for Len or Goodwin. Fourteen rookies got votes for who will have the best career but nobody voted for Len or Goodwin. And even for who is the most overlooked rookie, the rookies overlooked the Suns but voted for 21 other rookies. Perhaps Len’s ankle surgeries curbed optimism. Maybe it is the assumption that Len will be playing backup minutes to Marcin Gortat. Or they just might not think he will be as good as the Suns believe he will be. Goodwin did get a vote for “most athletic” rookie and “best defender.”
- Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune: When Utah Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin reached out to Alex Jensen about joining his staff, a number of qualities drew him to the D-League Coach of the Year and, likewise, Jensen to Corbin. That Jensen was a Centerville native and played a starring role on the University of Utah team that advanced to the 1998 NCAA championship game was low on Corbin’s list. Presumably, too, was this side benefit to five years playing professionally in Turkey: a unique ability to communicate with Jazz center Enes Kanter. "I’ve already sworn at him [in Turkish]," Jensen said, his permanent half-smile twisting into a full one. "Those are the first words you learn." Before being hired earlier this summer as a Jazz player development assistant, Jensen spent two years as the head coach of the Canton Charge and four years before that on Rick Majerus’ staff at Saint Louis University. His arrival completed the shuffle that began when assistant coach Jeff Hornacek left for the top job with the Phoenix Suns. Jensen, 37, will share player development duties with another Ute, second-year staffer Johnnie Bryant. He said he has already worked with about half of the roster, including in Santa Barbara, Calif., and in workouts between Derrick Favors and Karl Malone.
- Michael Pointer of The Indianapolis Star: The Indiana Pacers’ long playoff run this spring is making it easier for the team’s front office to sell tickets. Todd Taylor, the team’s vice president of sales and marketing, said Tuesday that sales of season-ticket packages are up nearly 30 percent from this time last year. Packages are considered anything 11 games or more because they give the buyer a guarantee to purchase playoff tickets, he said. Per club policy, the Pacers do not reveal total number of season tickets. But Taylor said the 30 percent bump includes about 1,200 new ticket holders. “I still think we’re in growth mode,” Taylor said. “I’ve only been here two years, but we’re certainly seeing a greater level of interest. When your team is relevant, and people accept your phone calls, you have a chance.” Taylor said more than 90 percent of season-ticket holders from last season have renewed their tickets.
- Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: Negotiations for a $100 million renovation of Target Center finally are moving near completion, with the primary tenant Timberwolves agreeing to pay $44.3 million, the City of Minneapolis $50 million and the AEG sports and entertainment firm still negotiating the remaining $5.7 million. Reaching a deal with AEG, which manages concerts in the arena, had slowed talks. The current controversy between the Vikings and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority over whether team ownership has the wherewithal to deliver on its $477 million commitment for a $975 million stadium has caused the City of Minneapolis to be more cautious in negotiations with the Timberwolves. The Wolves say they have been forthcoming with whatever financial information the city sought, and there don't seem to be any issues. The Wolves are hopeful a deal will be approved at a Minneapolis City Council meeting next month. Meetings between Minneapolis and the NBA team took place last Friday, with communications continuing through the weekend, and meetings scheduled for this week.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: In one year Larry Sanders has gone from relative obscurity to becoming the centerpiece of the Milwaukee Bucks' rebuilding plans. Even he has a hard time digesting it. But the 24-year-old center said Monday he is ready to embrace his sudden leadership role on a Bucks team that has undergone a huge makeover this summer. … Last week he signed a four-year, $44 million extension that will keep him with the Bucks through the 2017-'18 season. "This organization has put so much trust in me as a person, as a player, as a worker, as a leader," Sanders said. "That's definitely the role I want to take. It's not a spontaneous thing. We've been working in this direction for a long time. Now, them investing this faith in me is awesome. But it comes with a lot of responsibility and I embrace that. I've had my mistakes; I've had my ups and downs. All in all, I keep pushing in a forward direction and it's allowed me to get here today. It's the same direction I want to push this team." Sanders went from a reserve role his first two seasons to a standout third season as he became the Bucks starting center. He ranked second in the league in blocked shots and averaged nearly a double-double (9.8 points and 9.5 rebounds), a showing that led to a third-place finish in the NBA most improved player balloting.
- Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press: This was always the thing about Chauncey Billups, of course. Toward the end of his time here, when he wasn’t hitting as many threes or keeping opposing point guards in front of him as easily, some figured his leadership role was overstated. I didn’t buy it. Not then. Not now. Few teams depend on player-led direction the way basketball squads do. Baseball can be a collection of individuals. Football relies on a patriarch and an encyclopedic playbook. Basketball, though, plays out as a near nightly improv in which the one who controls the ball becomes the central ad-libber. In Detroit, Billups filled that role, in ways both subtle and obvious. Richard Hamilton played with unending endurance and precision, but he couldn’t see two steps ahead. He needed Billups for that. He also needed him in the locker room. That dynamic, which helped propel the Pistons to six straight conference finals, showed up at the country club Monday. While Hamilton playfully jabbed at Billups, the point guard stayed in the moment. When he was finally done making his point to me, Billups acknowledged his buddy, “Aw, this clown right here?” He smiled. Then walked away. I got the feeling the scene had unfolded in dozens of ways on hundreds of nights in NBA arenas around the country, and that it will continue to unfold as long as the two hang out.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: There has been considerable ink spilled wondering what-if various things had changed the course of Tracy McGrady’s career. With good reason, McGrady, who retired Monday, was one of the most talented players to grace the NBA over the past 20 years. A seven-time all-star and two-time scoring leader, McGrady at one time also was an elite defender, passer and a steady rebounder, one of the most complete players in the game. Still, though he played a team sport, unlike some similar stars, McGrady will be remembered only as an individual. His squads never made it out of the first round of the playoffs while he was a main cog. … It’s impossible not to ponder how good Toronto could have been if he had stayed put, or, if the Magic would have taken Toronto’s place had Grant Hill been healthy (not to mention if Tim Duncan had signed there as a free agent). Or, would Houston have challenged for rings with McGrady and Yao Ming at 100% at the same time? We’re all left to wonder. Until the day comes that Toronto is even a quasi-contender, Raptors fans will always look back and try to imagine just how far the McGrady-Carter combo could have lifted the franchise. When he left, the NBA changed the rules, making it harder for emerging players to bolt from their first team. In the end, McGrady only played three season in Toronto, but he’s the best pick in the history of the franchise, a steal by Isiah Thomas at No. 9 overall.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: Seven-time All-Star and two-time NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady announced his retirement from the NBA on Monday, but no one who saw it will forget one of the most memorable nights of his career. On Jan. 26, 2004, when he was with the Orlando Magic, he made eight 3-pointers in the first half of a game at then-Gund Arena, tying an NBA record for a half and setting a Cavs opponent record for a half, both of which still stand. The only thing that stopped him was aggravating a toe injury in the third quarter. After straining his right big toe while missing an alley-oop dunk attempt, he left midway through the period and did not return. He finished with 36 points, 34 in the first half. … Then coach Paul Silas said at the time, "Oh my God. I was just happy to see him out of the game. I’ve never seen that before. It was an amazing performance.'' Before injuries derailed his career, there were plenty of those kinds of performances.
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News: Details were extremely limited, but French sports daily L’Equipe reported that Spurs point guard Tony Parker is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday after injuring his right knee for the second time in exhibition play leading up to next month’s EuroBasket tournament. The injury does not appear to be serious. Parker was hurt at some point during France’s 85-84 loss to rival Spain in Montpellier. He scored 26 of his 29 points in the second half, but missed a 3-pointer at the end. The injury was not referenced in a wire story about the game, nor did Parker address it in comments published by L’Equipe. EuroBasket will be held from Sept. 4-22 in Slovenia. Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng are among the notable players who are skipping the tournament. The Spurs open training camp on Oct. 1.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times: Pau Gasol is currently in Spain, working to rehab his knees after May procedures to help relieve tendinosis. On Sunday, Gasol sent out a short video clip of his workout. … Gasol has spent much of the last few weeks on the exercise bike, in the pool and the weight room. Although he isn't quite ready to return to the basketball court, the Lakers are optimistic he'll have a strong year — returning to his role as the team's primary inside option. Gasol still has two months to get ready for opening night on October 29 against the Clippers at Staples Center.
- Staff of The Dallas Morning News: In a chat with Dallas Mavericks fans on the team’s official app, Dirk Nowitzki shed some light on his life as a dad. When asked about how fatherhood has changed his life Nowitzki replied jokingly: “I gotta change diapers now. Never done that before.” On a more serious note, he also stated that he wouldn’t be opposed to having more kids. “I always wanted two or three,” he said. “We will see” Nowitzki continued the chat by answering questions about books and movies. But he was also asked about some of the additions made this offseason, specifically his former teammate Devin Harris. “Always liked DH,” Nowitzki said. “He is fast and smart. Hopefully he can get healthy and have a good year for us.”
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: Much of the good feeling about Miles Plumlee stems from his play at the summer league in Orlando last month. After logging more appearances in the D-League than the NBA as an Indiana rookie, Plumlee gave more credence to Indiana making him a surprise pick at No. 26 last year. In four games, Plumlee averaged 10.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks with only seven fouls in 108 minutes. Plumlee is tremendously athletic for a big man, bouncing off the floor well for a 6-foot-11, 255-pounder. Plumlee is no future All-Star center. He is too limited offensively for that, although he has a jump hook and will get Suns coach Jeff Hornacek’s expertise on fixing his shooting form. For $4.4 million over the next three seasons, Plumlee could prove to be a valuable big man because of how well he runs the floor, protects the rim and rebounds, particularly on the defensive end. Plumlee needs encouragement after an uneven rookie season that included days when he would practice with the Pacers and then drive two hours to Fort Wayne to play a D-League game. He is known for a tireless work ethic but also as a nice guy who could trust his skill set more and acquire a little P.J. Tucker constant aggression to cut out his niche. … Every team could use an unselfish, blue-collar player, especially one as big, smart and athletic as Plumlee.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: I always found Allen Iverson to be a polarizing figure, he was self-confident to a level that some felt was off-putting but I think that’s what made him special in a lot of ways. I’m sure there was a rather substantial chip on his shoulder and he didn’t mind that everyone knew. He had a level of disdain for authority that was palpable at times, his clashes with Larry Brown were significant but those are two very strong-willed men so that shouldn’t come as too much a surprise. thing is that all the extraneous stuff — the posses, that legendary practice rant (and it was my dear friend Phil Jasner who started that, bless his soul), the tattoos, the “I’ve got to get mine” attitude — probably clouded judgement of him too much. And that’s his own fault, isn’t it? I’m not suggesting he — or anyone — should totally change the way they are just to get along or to present a false version of their character but at some point if you’re in a team sport, some bending for common good may be necessary.
- Tom Layman of the Boston Herald: Walter McCarty’s education as a coach came from a very unpopular voice here in Boston. But without it, the former Celtics reserve forward might not be answering questions as a new assistant for Brad Stevens. McCarty — who was hired by Stevens to fill out the Celtics coaching staff with Ron Adams and Micah Shrewsberry, along with holdovers Jamie Young and Jay Larranaga — spent three seasons, starting in 2007, as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under his former C’s coach Rick Pitino. It was there where he learned the intricacies of what a coach does behind the scenes, and how to find a voice as an assistant from a guy who has brought three different programs to the Final Four. “Working for Rick Pitino taught me a lot. It really prepared me for how to prepare for opponents, how to scout games, how to teach and develop players, and how to speak and communicate with players, as well,” McCarty said from the Celtics practice facilities before a private basketball clinic with MarShon Brooks for YMCA of Greater Boston youth yesterday. “I think without those three years and that schooling, that education under Rick Pitino, I think this would have been a tough get.” … McCarty is the only assistant on Stevens’ staff with any NBA playing experience. He has one year under his belt as an assistant for Jim O’Brien with the Indiana Pacers in 2010-11, and he is hoping his 10-year resume as a player will benefit Stevens and the players in the Celtics locker room.
- Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times: As much as he (Doc Rivers) needs fresh scenery, the Clippers will need his strategizing and motivational skills to meet the high expectations they will face this season. With Blake Griffin in his prime and Chris Paul secured to a five-year, $107.3-million extension, winning a playoff round or two won't be enough for this team. Rivers must make the players' considerable individual talents add up to a cohesive whole, polish their many assets, and solidify their defense before they can be a championship contender in a rugged conference. "The expectations are great. I don't want us to shrink from that at all. I don't want us to run from that," he said. "But what we've got to get our guys to understand is expectations are one thing. Realization is a whole different thing, and just because you're expected to do anything doesn't mean you've arrived. We have not arrived. We didn't win a playoff series last year. So we have a lot of work to do as a group. We should expect to do that work. We have to expect that it's going to be much harder and we have to embrace it and do it."
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: LeBron James might be entitled to his opinion, but it doesn't mean Magic Johnson has to agree. Asked in a recent Fox Sports television interview to name his three greatest NBA players of all-time, the Miami Heat forward paused and then somewhat hastily went for Michael Jordan, Julius Erving and Larry Bird. Omitted and paying attention, former Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson replied Thursday on Twitter. Johnson first posted, "Lebron is entitled to his opinion, but I still think that he and I have a similar game and that's why I LOVE to watch him play!" That quickly was followed by, "NBA Championship rings are all that matter; Jordan 6, Me 5, Bird 3, LeBron 2 and Dr. J 1." … For the record, James did add that if he was asked for his top four, Johnson would have made that list. Somewhat surprised by the question asked during his charity event in Akron, Ohio, two weeks ago, James' first response was, "Michael Jordan, uh, wow . . . Michael Jordan . . . wow, this is tough . . . Michael Jordan, uh, Dr. J., Larry Bird. "You give me three? Oh my God. Three? Larry Bird, Dr. J. Michael Jordan." James said stopping at three was difficult. "I know," he said. "Can I get four? All right, Magic."
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer: The remaking of the 76ers continues. The team has acquired Tony Wroten from the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday for a protected second-round pick, a league source confirmed. This pick is based on where the Sixers, who are expected to struggle, finish in the standings. As a result, they basically surrendered nothing for Wroten, a 2012 first-round selection. “Just want to say thank you to ALL the Memphis Grizzlies fans, coaches, etc.,” Wroten tweeted Thursday. “I love the city of Memphis. Will always have love for you guys. GnG.” The 6-foot-5 point guard later tweeted ‘Where the homie @MeekMill at? LOL” before tweeting “Philly Philly Philly. City Of Brotherly Love. #215.” Robert Williams, better known as Meek Mill, is a rap artist from Philadelphia. The source said this move was about acquiring Wroten’s 1.1 million salary. Including his pay, the Sixers have around $41.2 million of salary guaranteed to 10 players for the upcoming season. NBA teams must have a minium payroll of $52.811 million. The Grizzlies needed to make this trade to shed salary and open up a roster spot.
- Kevin Nielson of Sportsnet.ca: Heading into the final year of his contract and with a new management team to answer to, Dwayne Casey’s tenuous future in Toronto will likely come down to the play of three wing players: Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross. Gay has seen his three-point shooting plummet from his career high (39.6 per cent) in 2010-11 to 32.3 per cent last season. The Raptors forward had off-season eye surgery to correct an astigmatism, and Casey is hoping this will help his star forward rediscover his outside shot. … Many believe that the outside combo of Gay and DeRozan is doomed to fail as neither has the ability to stretch the floor from long range. While Gay was bad from beyond the arc, DeRozan was terrible (28.3 percent), especially for a player whose position has the word ‘shoot’ in the title. … While Casey acknowledged Ross’ potential, the old-school coach will not reward him with minutes based on potential alone. The Raptors coach is looking for more consistency from the sophomore forward.
- Nat Newell of The Indianapolis Star: The Indiana Pacers always-engaging center Roy Hibbert is back at it on social media. After sending out a picture following a workout in San Antonio earlier in the week in which he dwarfed Tim Duncan, Hibbert put pictures of himself in an airplane bathroom on Instagram. The answer? He doesn't. He wrote with the photo, on his accountroyhibbert55,” “I'm not one to take selfies but I know y'all were wondering how I fit in an airplane bathroom and the answer is ... I don't. #crampedlife”
- Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News: The NBA could award the All-Star Game in 2015 to the Garden and have its All-Star weekend events leading up to the game held in Brooklyn, but there won’t be a decision on the specifics for another few weeks, according to well-placed league sources. The Garden and Barclays Center continue to be in discussions with the league, with each entity looking to host the weekend’s main event — the 64th All-Star Game. “It hasn't been finalized,” one source said Thursday night. The league plans on making a decision by mid- to late September. The idea of having the Knicks and Nets co-host the weekend has been known since last February. It’s also possible that the All-Star Game could return to New York before 2020, with the game hosted by the Nets and the Knicks having the Friday and Saturday night events. The 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend will be held in New Orleans.
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: Canada dropped the opener of the Tutu Marchand Continental Cup to host Puerto Rico on Thursday night. The tournament is a tune-up for next week’s FIBA Americas Championship, where four berths will be earned for next year’s FIBA World Cup in Spain. Minnesota guard J.J. Barea lit up the Canadians with 23 points and eight assists, helping Puerto Rico to a 40-30 half-time edge by notching 15 through two quarters. Orlando forward Andrew Nicholson paced the visitors with 21 points and Cleveland big man Tristan Thompson was excellent with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes of play. Canada closed within three heading into the final quarter, before a 10-2 run made the deficit too great to erase. Another tough opponent in Argentina awaits Canada on Friday.
- Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It has been a busy offseason for Lou Williams. The Hawks guard has been rehabbing a torn ACL and hopes to be ready for the start of training camp. He also has been in a studio recording his recently released mixtape entitled 'Here Goes Nothin' under the name Lou Will. There are 16 tracks and the mixtape features other artists including 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, The Casey Boys from Jagged Edge, K. Michelle and Quez from Travis Porter. I listened to the tracks for language and content. Nothing major. I will leave the reviews to you and those far more qualified. Williams announced the release of the mixtape via Twitter Tuesday.
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