Loading ...Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian: “A.C. Green worried that one of his players might “pop a lung” on the court. David Lucas said he might be “dead tired” before halftime. The two were talking about participating in tonight’s 3BA 3-on-3 professional basketball exhibition game at the Rose Garden. The rules differ from those in an NBA game. The 3BA court is smaller than the regulation NBA court, and teams will have less time to shoot. The rules are designed to increase the pace, force teams to shoot quickly and score more.”
Blake Murphy of Hoops Addict: “If you look at the rosters for those teams, it’s clear that they never really surrounded Stockton and Malone with much help. Jeff Malone was great for a short time and Jeff Hornacek provided a strong third option for most of the decade, but there was never any great depth when it came to scoring or rebounding. Now, after a three-year retooling period, the Jazz are once again on the brink of greatness in the Western Conference. Led by up-and-coming point guard Deron Williams and in-the-paint beast Carlos Boozer, the Jazz also boast Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur. Compared to Utah teams from the decade past, this incarnation is far deeper. However, the league has also changed such that boasting a rotation with five good players and two stars is not enough to guarantee success, or even a playoff spot.”
Tommy Beer of HOOPSWORLD: “In this period of free-agent wheeling and dealing, the New York Knicks have been relatively quiet. Since Donnie Walsh was hired back in April, he has signed only two free agents. Walsh brought in Chris Duhon, formerly of the Bulls, and also inked a young journeyman, Anthony Roberson. Interestingly, these new additions are both point guards. This just so happens to be the same position manned by the Stephon Marbury, who is set to earn $21.9 million next season, by far the highest salary on a team with the league’s highest payroll. So what message do these signings send to Mr. Marbury? The writing is on the wall.”
Jerry Brown of The East Valley Tribune: “The Suns put a shot of adrenaline into their team and what had been a sleepy free-agency period by signing ex-Golden State small forward Matt Barnes to a one-year contract. The sixth-year NBA veteran signed for the league’s veteran minimum contract ($1.2 million, about $400,000 of which is paid by league funds) and will immediately step into the rotation as either a starter or bench player on the wing. He will be in Phoenix to take his physical on Monday morning and is expected to finalize his deal afterward.”
Sekou K Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The Hawks have the dollars to spend (they can bust the bank to sign both of these young cats to extensions) but don’t appear to have the sense of urgency where these two guys are concerned. So much has been made here about Josh Smith and how his summer is playing out (more about that in a minute), but what of Josh Childress? He is absolutely considering an offer to play overseas, Olympiakos in Greece, this season (as first reported last night by Yahoo! Sports) with the Hawks having no right to match an offer from an overseas team. This is getting nuts. How in the world has it come to this for the Hawks and their own free agents?”
Chris Tomasson of The Rocky Mountain News: “Marcus Camby has been shown to the city line. Could Allen Iverson be the next high-dollar player to be drop-kicked out of Denver by the cost-cutting Nuggets? Indications are the Nuggets would trade Iverson if the deal was right. They’d also trade Kenyon Martin or Nene, if anybody wanted either. And owner Stan Kroenke would be willing to deal the Rocky Mountains if he owned them and it would keep him from paying the luxury tax.”
