- Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press: "If, in fact, we're at the point where Kevin Garnett and his agent are nixing possible trades, then the longtime Timberwolves franchise lynchpin will be gone very soon. There's no turning back. This is like being in a long-term relationship and suddenly having your significant other say he or she would like to be able to see other people. It's never the same after that. A fissure has developed. The Wolves tried to trade, or at least strongly considered trading, Garnett. There's no way to pretend it never happened. The love affair is over."
- Big roundup of Garnett stories.
- Not sure how much it matters, but by all reports (here's one, here's another, and another from Insider Chad Ford) Greg Oden's workout in Portland was only so-so. Kevin Pritchard says that after talking to the Blazers' medical people, the Blazers are not worried about Greg Oden's health. (Also Greg Oden, reports Brian Berger, has a shoe deal with Nike. The word has been that Oden would not command nearly as much in shoe endorsements as Kevin Durant.) Also, for fun, a look at many Big Ten centers who have had miserable professional careers.
- Video of Kevin Durant arriving in Portland. Today Durant gets to make his case, on the basketball court, that he should be the top overall pick in next week's draft.
- Shaquille O'Neal and the fat kids on TV. O'Neal sounds truly passionate about getting America's youth to slim down.
- If anyone knows what Atlanta is going to do with the third pick, will you please tell me? As for the 11th pick, here's something to consider from Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman: "One day after working out for the Atlanta Hawks, Texas A&M's All-American point guard Acie Law on Thursday pulled out of his scheduled workout with the Hornets, which was to be held today at an Edmond fitness center. Law had been scheduled to work out today with a group of guards that included Florida junior point guard Taurean Green and Vanderbilt's Derrick Byars. But his sudden cancellation has led to speculation that he has received a guarantee from the Hawks, who are in need of a point guard and hold the No. 3 and 11 picks in the June 28 NBA Draft."
- Bloggers collide: mock draft is born.
- Tough time to be Sam Rubenstein's car.
- Kermit Washington is on a mission, as John Siegel reports in the Washington Times: "'I had never been to Africa,' Washington said. 'We went to a refugee camp in Zaire with about 600,000 people with no food, no water, no electricity, no bathrooms or anything. People were just dying. Doctors did a tremendous job, but a lot of people were dying. I had never seen such suffering and dying like that. These were people that were doctors and teachers in Rwanda. I said, 'OK, this is too much for me.' After five days, I said, 'I am out of here, but I will be back.'" More than a decade later, more than a thousand patients a day are said to be getting treatment thanks in large part to his efforts.
- Candidates for Seattle's head coaching job include P.J. Carlesimo, Dwane Casey, and, according to sources talking to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee, Kings assistant Scott Brooks.
- Atma Brother One of Golden State of Mind: "We believe Stephen Jackson will not get into any more trouble with the law."
- The Blazers' Mike Barrett on a lower profile workout in Portland, involving several guards including Renaldas Seibutis of Lithuania. "Seibutis was absolutely fantastic. The 6-5 shooting guard had perhaps the best workout I've seen in three years. His energy was incredible, and unlike a lot of European sharpshooters, he is a stud defensively. Seibutis also handles the ball very, very well, and is explosive. He is projected as a mid-second round guy, and his stock was sent soaring after a great workout in Orlando. It's easy to see why. He's also a very nice kid, and speaks very good English."
- TrueHoop reader Andy has a pretty clever trade to propose, now that it appears Garnett is trying to force his way to Phoenix, while the Suns don't want to give up Amare Stoudemire to get him: "How about this three way trade? Phoenix sends James Jones and Shawn Marion to the Lakers. Phoenix also sends the Hawks' first next year, a first this year, and Marcus Banks to the Minnesota. The Wolves send Garnett to Phoenix and Jaric to the Lakers. The Lakers send Vladimir Radmanoic to Phoenix, as well as Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown and a resigned Luke Walton to Minnesota. In the end Phoenix gets Garnett without giving up any starters except Marion, and dumps Banks' contract. LA gets Marion without giving up Odom, giving them a starting five of Farmar, Kobe, Marion, Odom, and Mihm -- with Jaric (a big PG that Jackson will like), James Jones, Cook, and Turiaf coming off the bench. Theoretically a Marion/Odom/Kobe partnership might be enough to entice Kobe into sticking around. Minnesota gets Banks (who wasn't that bad in his time there) and swaps Brown's expiring contract for Jaric's bloated disaster. They really kickstart the rebuilding process with the Hawks' first next year, Walton, and Bynum -- which is potentially three-fifths of a starting line-up for a playoff team in three years or so. Obviously the deal requires Kobe deciding that Marion and Odom would be enough to convince him to stay, and the Timberwolves admitting they need to rebuild, and the Suns being willing to significantly improve the Lakers to get their hands on KG -- but I think all those conditions are possibly, if not likely. Not only do all three teams get something they need: PHX a potential answer to Duncan and resolution to the Amare/Marion issues, MIN gets good value for KG in a rough market, and LAL might get enough to convince Kobe to stay - all three teams get to shuffle around a deadweight contract into a system where they might be slightly more valuable. Jaric shot .375 on 3's last season, plays decent D, and is the kind of big PG Jackson loves to use. Banks wasn't bad in Minnesota, and VladRad would be a great complimentary piece in PHX. (The inclusion of Luke Walton, which can't be factored in to the trade machine, gives it a "false failure." Assume a contract starting at about five million for Walton and it would work. Too much higher than that and the Wolves could just ship Mark Madsen back to the Lakers to balance it out again. Please also note that the Wolves' draft picks don't show up in this scenario either."
- Something is afoot in Washington.
- Jazz owner Larry Miller on Rafael Araujo, as told by the Salt Lake Tribune's Ross Siler: "Let's just say when he's out there on defense, the person he's guarding knows it. And I think we need some of that."
- John Hollinger in the New York Sun: "So it's easy to imagine the Bulls winning the bidding for Garnett's services especially now that Boston seems out of the running. Certainly Chicago has the pieces to offer. The Bulls can ante up with the rapidly improving small forward Luol Deng, and sweeten the pot with high-scoring guard Ben Gordon. They'd have to include a signed-and-traded P.J. Brown or Andres Nocioni to get the contracts to match, as well as an end-of-the-bench guy or two (Viktor Khryapa, please pick up the white courtesy phone), but the numbers can work. If Chicago makes the deal for Garnett, that pretty much takes them out of the running for Kobe they just wouldn't have enough assets left. And if Chicago is out of the picture, and Phoenix is beyond consideration, that just leaves one team left on Kobe's list the Knicks."
- Could the Warriors get Garnett? Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News considers what they could offer: "I've gone over the list time and again, and right now Mullin could tell McHale to take his pick from a list of Patrick O'Bryant, Al Harrington, Jason Richardson, Mickael Pietrus, Matt Barnes, the No. 18 overall pick, Andris Biedrins/Monta Ellis. If Minnesota wants cap-clearance, Mullin can dangle Zarko Cabarkapa and, if the T-Wolves can wait two years, Adonal Foyle." My interpretation of that situation is: no. The Warriors are not in the running for Garnett.
- Marc Iavaroni reportedly names his assistants.
- UPDATE: Now Jack Nicholson wants to be traded, too.
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