- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "For Daryl Morey, the job for the remainder of the off-season has become as difficult as it is clear. The dramatic increase in optimism in the past month about Yao Ming's future has heavily influenced Morey's thinking going forward. He will not strip-mine the roster to start over next summer. The only way he could chase a max free agent, or someone paid close to it, would be to let every possible contract expire. Tracy McGrady, Luis Scola, Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry, Joey Dorsey and Chuck Hayes could be allowed to walk. Morey could trade Shane Battier for an expiring contract. And then, he could see who would fill all that open salary cap space with someone eager for the right to play with Yao and David Andersen. He's not going to do that, knowing that few big-money stars will rush to the honor of keeping the ship from sinking. He is also not going do anything to prop up the Rockets for one Yaoless season. That's why things have ground to a halt. It would not be difficult to dump salary with the long-term in mind. There are salary dumps all the time, no matter how many times teams insist they really are better by getting rid of players they had previously labeled stars. ... As the upper echelon of the Western Conference has demonstrated, there have been plenty of short-term moves to have been made. The Rockets' evolving situation, however, has made them determined to make moves that fit not only with the team they have become, but also with the very different team they believe they will be again heading into the 2010-11 season."
- Brian Kamenetzky of the Los Angeles Times: "Kobe Bryant is still just 30 years old, but that doesn't mean his odometer isn't flipping digits like an '86 Volvo station wagon owned by a couple of liberal arts professors at a small Maine college. It's easy to forget how long Kobe's been around and how many games he's played... so allow me to remind you. 948 in the regular season, good for ninth among active players. (Assuming good health, by mid-season 24 will break into the top 100 in pro hoops history.) Looking just at minutes logged, Kobe is seventh among current players at 34,531 This doesn't include his 175 postseason games and their additional 6,888 minutes on of burn. This is not to suggest that Kobe is ripe for decline- the dude keeps himself in terrifyingly good condition- but the Grim Reaper (roundball version) eventually comes for all who play, even the best in the game. Kobe will be good for a while, likely very good, but won't be Kobe forever. The Lakers have a window with him in which to do great things, but it won't stay open forever."
- Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: "Timberwolves top draft pick Ricky Rubio wants his basketball future determined by today, when tryouts for the Spanish national team begin for a European tournament in Poland, Barcelona's El Periodico reported Wednesday. The paper also said the Regal FC Barcelona team is close to making Rubio, who plays for DKV Joventut in Spain, a five-year offer worth $1.4 million annually with an escape clause allowing him to play in the NBA after two years. Rubio, 18, was paid $97,000 last season."
- Tom Halzack of the Connecticut Post: "I'm wondering if this is Marcus Wiliams' last best chance. ... He is going into a situation where he will at least have some chance to play. Memphis' starting point guard is Mike Conley. The back up is Marko Jaric, who is really more of a combo guard, and has had trouble getting playing time at either guard position. That might mean a real opportunity for Williams. Denver had also shown interest, but picked up Ty Lawson in a trade on draft night. Williams was a freshman on the National Champion Huskies team of 2004. At one time compared in both body build and game to uber guard Deron Williams of Utah, Marcus has yet to come close to fulfilling his potential."
- Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: "For all of Rasheed Wallace's complexities, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and players Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce flew to Detroit to recruit him. They know he's worth the trouble. He's an excellent teammate. He made a point in his introductory news conference to thank Ainge for facilitating his trade to Detroit in 2004. His issues with the refs or coaches cost his teams in the playoffs, some say. The facts shout something else. In the past 10 years, Wallace's teams have been in the conference finals seven times ... more than Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. His defense, long-range shooting and basketball intelligence will be a welcome addition to a Celtics team desperate for another year of playing in June. You won't hear any vitriol from Pistons president Joe Dumars. Wallace came to Detroit for a ring. He delivered. 'Nuff said."
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: "Even I didn't imagine Nelson/Riley would give away Belinelli to Toronto for something as meager as George, who I know fairly well since I covered him his rookie year with the Lakers and have watched him fairly closely in the many years since. This is just a dump. A we-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-talented-player dump. A terrible, misguided, noxious dump by a team now run by an erratic, tired coach and a GM who does his bidding. (If they can't do any better than this for the Wright dumping, whew!) George is 8 years older than Belinelli, by the way. He has a $1.6M expiring contract this year, but Belinelli's would've expired next summer if the Warriors didn't pick up his option, plus Belinelli is MUCH MUCH BETTER than George. ... The only possible logic for this, I got from Marcus T: The Warriors were not planning on picking up Belinelli's fourth-year option, which would've left him as a lame-duck all this season, potentially in a poisonous mood. That's what happens to bad teams. Bad, crumbling, weird (add: financially troubled) teams."
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun: "I know Golden State has about 15 guards on their roster, but they traded Marco Belinelli for Devean George? No idea why the Warriors do that deal, and it's nothing earth-shattering, but another strong move for Bryan Colangelo and the Raptors. Chris Bosh got a buddy earlier this month when Jarrett Jack was signed, now Andrea Bargnani gets a close pal and the Raptors corner the market on Italian fans with this deal. Belinelli, 23, most likely makes the return of Carlos Delfino highly unlikely. The team now appears to need a backup small forward and that likely will be how they fill their final roster spot. Belinelli averaged 8.9 points and 2.1 assists in 21 minutes last season. He has shot about 39% from three each of his two seasons in the NBA, and gives the team another outside shooter and some extra scoring punch off of the bench."
- Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "Vince Carter left New Jersey with one primary regret: The Nets fell short of the playoffs l
ast season. Throughout the campaign, Carter continually insisted the Nets could land in the playoffs. Many smiled, removed sharp objects from Carter's reach and listened as he continued to plead his case. While they did fall short, the Nets were in the playoff chase far longer than outsiders expected. 'I felt we had a pretty good team and we had a shot -- not top five in the league, I knew that, at least a seven or eight seed,' said Carter, whose worries, but not his connections, with the Nets ended when he was traded to Orlando on draft night. 'That's why it's hard. I mean I worked my butt off to gain the trust of each and every player here and every staff member and really to instill the mentality and belief that we could win. I don't think we were expected to win as many games as we did,' Carter said at his youth summer basketball camp at the Nets' facility yesterday. 'If we had another month I think we would have gotten in the playoffs.' " - Percy Allen of The Seattle Times: "Seattle basketball fans will have to wait a little longer for the NBA to return to the Emerald City. The Portland Trail Blazers have decided not to stage an exhibition against the Phoenix Suns at KeyArena on Oct. 14, announcing Wednesday that the preseason game will be held at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. 'The game [in Seattle] was never an absolute definite go,' president Larry Miller said. 'We were looking into it, checking into and thinking that it was going to work out, but at the same time we were looking at some other options for that game.' The Blazers, who celebrate their 40th anniversary this season, haven't played at the Coliseum since 1995."
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "The NBA schedule isn't expected to be officially released until early next month and things may yet change, but according to multiple sources the Cavs are set to be featured early and often. As of the current schedule that was obtained by The Plain Dealer, the team is set to kickoff the NBA season by hosting the Boston Celtics on Oct. 27 in a game probably set for TNT. Then on Christmas Day, the Cavs appear to be slated to be the one of the marquee games for ABC as they will be in Los Angeles to play the Lakers. This is not unexpected as the Lakers-Cavs were a major draw even before the Cavs traded for Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq and former teammate Kobe Bryant have met on Christmas several times in the past when O'Neal was with the Miami Heat. As of now, the schedule shows the Cavs will have a challenging start. They open the season with four games in five nights and have a total of seven back-to-backs in the first five weeks."
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