- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "The Cavs are not done. They still are going to be looking for a wing defender (or two) and I think also a stretch power forward, aka a player who can go out to the 3-point line. This is why I believe they will still consider signing Rasheed Wallace with their mid-level exception. You need to surround Shaq with shooters and stretch the floor, just like you do with LeBron. Look how effective a player like Robert Horry was with the Lakers when Shaq was there. When the Heat won their title Antonie Walker played about the same role as the stretch four. So in addition to the formula to pair Shaq with a great wing scorer (Kobe, DWade) also you need the other big to be able to stretch the floor. Not to mention it would help the Cavs in matchups with the Lakers and Magic as well."
- Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press: "All I know is that if Kevin McHale had the No. 5 and the No. 6 picks in the NBA draft tonight, he would wind up making a trade with himself and, somehow, getting screwed. But the Timberwolves have new leadership, and so there is a strong chance this draft could be a tragedy-free experience. It certainly will be interesting, and not in the usual catastrophic way. It was a great move by David Kahn to get the No. 5 overall pick from Washington, basically for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. Foye is a decent player tainted in Minnesota by the 'loser' cloud that follows him around. He's the guy McHale acquired for Brandon Roy on draft night in 2006. ... Suddenly, the Timberwolves are interesting again. People are curious as to what will happen next. There is a buzz surrounding the team. I thought that was impossible. You could say the franchise already has had 'liftoff.' The hardest part may be over."
- Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "One by one the texts and phone calls started coming in late Wednesday afternoon. Hawks players wanted to know if what they were hearing was true. So did other team's players, scouts, coaches and an assortment of other people. 'Are we really going to get Jamal Crawford?' one player asked via text. 'Is this serious?' 'You really think this is going to happen?' another asked. 'Man, he gets buckets. Major buckets. We could be explosive with him and all our other cats coming back.' 'This is a crucial move for them,' a Western Conference scout told me, 'because it was obvious in the playoffs that they needed another scorer with some size that could create a shot.' Not a single player, coach or executive from anywhere that I communicated with Wednesday objected to the move for the Hawks. Not one person. Truth be told, they were going crazy about it, with one guy calling is a 'master stroke' since the Hawks moved two for one without sacrificing draft picks now or in the future. For years folks have complained around here about the Hawks not being active enough during trade season (the time before the draft through the start of training camp when all the league's best wheeling and dealing is done). Well, you've got your wish."
- Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle: "The Warriors traded for a point guard Wednesday, a player once considered one of the finest in the nation, but fans shouldn't take this the wrong way: Acie Law, acquired along with guard Speedy Claxton in the deal for Jamal Crawford, is not considered the team's point guard of the future. This is mostly a flexibility move regarding the salary cap, a glaring issue for the Warriors with so many players locked into long-term deals. It's all about expiring contracts (both Law and Claxton), unloading salary (Crawford) and creative ways to improve the roster in the long-term. Coach Don Nelson and general manager Larry Riley were not in position to comment on the deal, first reported by ESPN on Wednesday afternoon, as it may not become official until Wednesday. That's the cutoff point for Crawford to exercise his right to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. With $9.3 million coming his way next season and another $10.1 million due the following year, Crawford is unlikely to do so. A league source indicated that at some point within the next few days, Crawford will sign a document stating that he will not opt out, at which point the trade can be consummated."
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "Richard Jefferson had been a Spur only for a few hours, but he was already in Gregg Popovich's doghouse. Jefferson took a flurry of cell-phone calls in the moments after he learned he had been traded from Milwaukee to San Antonio on Tuesday. He just so happened to miss the most important one. The one from his new head coach. It was a text message from Tim Duncan that ultimately alerted Jefferson to his faux pas. Then, the Spurs captain offered his newest teammate a friendly warning. 'He said, 'Don't get traded twice in one day,' Jefferson said. Eventually, Jefferson got a hold of Popovich, who is out of town, and the two enjoyed a brief conversation. By Wednesday morning, Jefferson was on his way to San Antonio, ready to get acquainted with his new basketball home. Heralding it as 'an exciting day in our franchise's evolution,' Spurs general manager R.C. Buford introduced Jefferson at an evening press conference at the team's practice site."
- Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: "The only difference between Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, outside from a playing perspective, involves perception and paranoia. Everyone seems to be writing Bosh off in Toronto. Everyone seems to be caught up in this imaginary world that would see Bosh join Wade in Miami. In Toronto, Bosh's every word gets taken out of context or it gets twisted to serve some agenda. The Raptors have been in existence since 1995, but the media in this market, in all forms, continues to be uneducated and easily swayed by the most baseless gossip. The bottom line with Bosh and Wade is that both players want to win because each will get the maximum amount of money available under whatever cap rules exist. It's as simple as that, even though too many people attempt to complicate matters."
- Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "The exact amount the Pistons will be able to spend on free agents this summer hasn't been determined just yet. The league will announce the adjusted salary cap and luxury tax threshold sometime in early July. But after trading Amir Johnson to Milwaukee on Tuesday, Pistons president Joe Dumars expects to have no less than $19 million of available cap space at his disposal, certainly enough to land two top-tier free agents. 'That was always the plan for this summer,' Dumars said. 'We hope to get at least two players out of free agency, plus add another player with our draft pick (No. 15 overall). We went into the summer saying we had to add three new guys to our mix.' The Pistons could gain an additional $4 million of spending money if center Kwame Brown decides to opt out of the final year of his contract."
- Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley almost sounded like a toddler on Christmas Eve. He has a wish list for the NBA Draft. But the Chicago-based billionaire insisted he'll be as surprised as anyone by what the Grizzlies finally unwrap with the No. 2 overall pick. Heisley, in town Wednesday preparing to oversee the Grizzlies' draft war room, contended the organization's next move still was up in the air just hours before draft proceedings were set to begin. They've haven't come to a consensus on a player if the Griz exercise their top pick. They're still talking about trades. Heisley, though, guaranteed this: The Griz will wake up Friday morning a much better team. 'We're going to be better,' Heisley said. 'We will get a very, very good player out of this draft. Our team will be better. We'll make a bigger jump this year than what we did last year.' The bar is low. Last season, Memphis won 24 games -- just two more than in each of its previous two campaigns."
- Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Lakers coach Phil Jackson met with general manager Mitch Kupchak on Wednesday at the team's El Segundo training facility and they agreed there was no way Jackson would serve strictly as a part-time coach next season. Jackson suggested during a radio interview Tuesday that the Lakers had 'toyed' with the idea of having him coach only selected road games in 2009-10, with longtime assistant coach Kurt Rambis handling most of the travel. 'Phil and I had a long discussion this morning,' Kupchak said. 'What he said, he didn't mean it to sound the way it sounded. If he comes back to coach, he will come to coach both home and away games. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I guess there was a hypothetical approach to the question and Phil answered the question, but today in my decision with him, it was pretty clear that type of scenario doesn't work.' "
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