- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "No, the Rockets didn't take the Astros flawed blueprint and turn it upside down. GM Daryl Morey's goal was simple. He wanted every acquisition player to be one the Rockets would have for the long haul, or a player he could use to make a trade at some point down the road. So Trevor Ariza makes the Rockets better next season and in the years to come. So does Chase Budinger, Jermaine Taylor and David Andersen. When Morey was done, he'd built a very nice supporting cast. Now all he needs is a couple of stars. Yes, that. The Rockets are going to be young, aggressive and fast. Shane Battier and Luis Scola will be their leaders. Aaron Brooks will be their most exciting player. Morey believes that he has put in place a nucleus of players capable of going deep into the playoffs if he can make an impact free-agent acquisition next summer and if Yao Ming returns to play at a high level. Got a better idea? Morey tried a dozen other things. Amare Stoudamire was vetoed. So was Ron Artest. ... Rather than make a bad deal, Morey made a series of small moves he believes will strengthen the Rockets both now and in the years ahead."
- Al Iannazzone of The Record: "Maybe this summer is the quiet before the storm of 2010. But there seems to be some dark skies ahead for the area NBA teams and no guarantee of relief next summer. The Nets and Knicks have not signed a free agent. The truth is that neither team has improved this off-season. The Nets got worse, trading Vince Carter. The Knicks have tried to upgrade their team. They pursued Jason Kidd, Grant Hill and Andre Miller, but all signed elsewhere. The Nets haven't come close to signing anyone. They inquired about some free agents, such as Glen 'Big Baby' Davis, but didn't have the roster room to do anything. ... The Nets may have to use one of their young players as a trade chip to get better, because it's doubtful LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire are coming to New Jersey -- no matter how much salary-cap room the Nets have. They will have more than the Knicks and probably a brighter future because of their young, talented roster, but players will consider the strong lure of New York. That doesn't mean the Knicks will get them, though."
- Jeff Rabjohns of The Indianapolis Star: "Greg Oden doesn't need to be reminded. He knows. He is aware of how critical this season is to his career. He knows how he's viewed. And he knows he has yet to perform like a No. 1 NBA draft pick. The 7-foot center from Lawrence North High School is heading into his third year in the NBA, one that could be the most important basketball season in his life. After sitting out what would have been his rookie year following knee surgery, Oden endured another injury last season. He performed well at times for the Portland Trail Blazers, but did not dominate consistently as a top pick is expected to do. 'This is going to be a big year,' he said earlier this week before heading back to Portland to prepare for training camp. 'Everybody comes in and has that first year, that get-used-to-the-league year. But you have to break out in your second year. You have to, and that's what I'm looking forward to. ... I definitely have to show them that I'm here, and that I am the guy you guys drafted.' "
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "No matter how much Pat Riley talks about Dwyane Wade being the Heat's 'closer' at point guard, there is no way the team can take only two true point guards into the regular season. That's what makes Wednesday's shift of second-round pick Patrick Beverley to the Greek League significant. It leaves only starter Mario Chalmers and reserve Chris Quinn under contract at the position. Take all you want from Riley's professed love for Quinn, but ask yourself this simple question: If Chalmers is injured, perhaps for a sustained period, is Quinn your first choice as the primary replacement? Granted, Chalmers didn't miss a start last season. But the kid hardly is indestructible. Don't expect another 82 for 82. Which brings the Heat back to where it seemingly has stood this entire offseason -- in need of a veteran presence at the position."
- Terry Foster of The Detroit News: "NBA owners are taking a hard line on cutting costs, which has resulted in staff reductions for some teams and could even trickle over to the court. They insist on slicing the referee's budget by 10 percent, which could lead to a lockout next week when the five-year deal with referees expires. Chances are fans will see replacement officials at least during the exhibition season and perhaps beyond. The league wants to slice salaries, travel, pension payouts and other benefits. This will be a critical test because the big battle comes following the 2010-11 season, when the collective bargaining agreement expires with the players. The NBA is screaming that a sluggish economy has put a crimp in things and that teams need financial relief. ... Pistons president Joe Dumars had budget restraints in hiring a coach and was not able to offer the type of money to lure Avery Johnson from the television booth. If the 60-odd referees agree to cuts, that could give the league more leverage when it sits across from players at the bargaining table."
- Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News: "Twenty years ago this week, the Spurs made yet another move. They traded for Maurice Cheeks, and the Spurs thought they were finished. They had added nine new faces to the roster, after all. But they weren't finished. They would later trade Cheeks for Rod Strickland. Compared with then, the current Spurs have merely been tweaking their roster. In 1989, they had instant chemistry, with a mix of youth and experience and naivety. They hadn't been together long enough to see one another's flaws. And in a Western Conference not as strong as it is now, the Spurs were suddenly as good as anyone. Maybe better. They would lose in the second round to Portland, an athletic and deep team. But it took seven games, with the Spurs losing once in overtime and once in double overtime. ... The chemistry wouldn't carry over to the next season. Larry Brown would be gone shortly after that, and Gregg Popovich would leave before returning as the general manager. He would get someone else to fix the copier. But the success would remain, sometimes lessening and sometimes growing, beginning with that change. Twenty years ago."
- Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Do the players make the system or does the system make the players? More often than not, coaches implement systems, no matter the sport, with the belief that any type of personnel can make it work. Some succeed, others don't. New Sixers coach Eddie Jordan impressed during his interview sessions with the team's big wigs when he showed off his pro-style Princeton offense. It made first-time All
-Stars of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler in Washington, and helped form career years for others. But does this current Sixers roster have the right blend of players to make it work? 'You would have to have talent first," said Jordan yesterday. 'And if you have talent, the system will work. If you have guys who can't dribble and can't pass and who can't shoot, it won't work. And I think we have versatile talent, meaning our forwards can have perimeter skills and our guards can do things in the post and that's what makes this work and that's what we have.' " - Tom Knott of The Washington Times: "The NBA career of Roger Mason Jr. is a testament to grit and sacrifice and perseverance, all the good stuff, the intangibles, that personnel gurus routinely miss going into the draft each June. Mason is looking to impart some of that stick-to-it stuff to the elementary students of the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School on Georgia Avenue in Northwest Washington. More about that later. But first how Mason beat an omission that was not necessarily the fault of the NBA evaluators. How do you measure what's inside someone? How do you know how a person will respond the first time he is hit with adversity? How do you know how he will adapt to the NBA lifestyle? You don't know. You can't know. Mason was not a celebrated collegian coming out of Virginia after his junior season. He was a player with a utility, with the capacity to hit shots so long as his feet were set. All the rest was an unknown. ... His modest financial numbers fit the salary cap needs of the Wizards, and he could shoot some, and he was a high-character guy who would keep his mouth shut while picking up bits and pieces of minutes. That is what coaches like with their end-of-the-bench players. They like low-maintenance players who will accept their roles as the DNPs accumulate."
- Frank Fitzpatrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "The estranged wife of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy said yesterday that her husband was being 'treated unfairly' by Florida authorities who arrested him Tuesday for a possible parole violation. Kimberly Donaghy, who has not yet been granted the divorce she filed for in 2007, reiterated what the ex-referee's lawyer had said about the incident that landed Donaghy back in jail in Tampa, Fla. 'Tim had permission to be with a physical therapist for his knee injury,' she said in an e-mail to The Inquirer. 'The halfway house that he was in has made a grave error in judgment, and due to their oversight, Tim is not only being held on false grounds in a county jail, but he is not being given the adequate medical care that he needs for his knee.' ... Donaghy, 42, told prison officials in June that his knee was injured when he was struck by an inmate with ties to the New York mob."
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