The Fundamentals

Ira Winderman of NBCSports.com:  “The lesson of the finals was that with proper ball movement and proper spacing, the type created by the Lakers’ triangle and the Magic’s 3-point threat offenses, the need for a traditional playmaker becomes marginalized. In the case of both the Lakers and Magic, each team’s leading scorer in the finals also was its most efficient passer. And neither was a point guard. As for the conference finals? While Billups was very much in charge for the Nuggets, LeBron James seemingly always had the ball in his hands for the Cavaliers, creating for both himself and his teammates. Mo Williams found himself cast in the role of Derek Fisher, as designated 3-point shooter. Williams finished the playoffs with 58 assists to LeBron’s 102. Throw in the on-ball dominance of Dwyane Wade, Ron Artest and Brandon Roy this postseason and the got-to-have-a-do-it-all-point-guard era seems to have ended before Paul and Williams have reached their fifth seasons.”

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee:  “‘I want to be a really good point guard here in the best league in the world, and I want to have minutes,’ Rubio said in an exclusive interview with The Bee from the Embassy Suites hotel in Sacramento. ‘So I have to find the team who wants me, who really wants me.’ This was much more than a first date to gauge the interest level, though. With Rubio’s talents and international fame so intriguing for a team badly in need of the buzz he could bring, these two days were about asking questions and getting answers before a possible match is made. While it once appeared that Rubio would be gone by the time the fourth pick arrived, that likely has changed. The Clippers have made clear their intention of picking Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin, while Memphis isn’t expected to take Rubio, and Oklahoma City looks primed to pass on him as well.”

Adam Lauridsen for the San Jose Mercury News:  “On a team with legitimate NBA players at least two deep in the 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots, the point guard position is a glaring hole on the roster.  Even if Ellis is eventually going to transition to fill that role, an insurance policy wouldn’t hurt, particularly given the choices likely available at the 7 spot.  Not drafting a point guard also forces Ellis to adapt immediately to the role with little or no support.  A rookie to take some time at the point might actually allow Ellis to ease into the position a bit.  Instead, if the Warriors don’t draft a point guard (or trade the pick for one), all eyes will be on Ellis come training camp to see whether he can live up to the role.  For a player who has folded under pressure in the past, it’s not a great situation in which to learn arguably the game’s toughest position. But more fundamentally, beyond depth charts and pick-and-role prowess, Ellis hasn’t earned the right to be a franchise player making draft demands.”

Sam Smith of Bulls.com:  “The Bulls took a look at a half dozen guards, primarily point guards, three of whom figure to be selected in the first round and who all make some sense for the Bulls as an inexpensive replacement for unrestricted free agent Gordon. I should say I’m a Gordon guy. I know all his flaws. I view this along the lines of my wife getting to know me and then still marrying me. But I also have seen what Gordon can do, his unique scoring ability and big shot making. Yet, I can understand why the Bulls now would begin to look away from Gordon. I haven’t heard they are, and General Manager Gar Forman has not come off his stance that he wants to bring Gordon back. But I also heard that Gordon’s agent allegedly has been saying he has an $11 million promise from the Pistons. … I’ve never fully understood the supposed Pistons interest. Not because teams don’t like Gordon. But because the Pistons have Rodney Stuckey, not a true point guard, and Richard Hamilton. Though the rumors supposedly are the Pistons would trade Hamilton.”

Marc Berman of the New York Post:  “Hill, the 6-foot-10 junior, is long, athletic, can defend the post, run the floor and has an excellent 17-foot jump shot. Before buying your Stephen Curry or Jrue Holiday jersey, the Knicks may go with a power forward despite their roster makeup. If Hill is there, Curry won’t be. Adding Hill would mean the Knicks will attempt to deal free agent David Lee in a sign-and-trade in July, possibly with Portland. The Eastern Conference’s road to The Finals no longer goes through LeBron James’ palace. It goes through Dwight Howard’s Magic Kingdom. An ability to defend the post is tantamount — something King James’ Cavaliers failed to do. Currently, the Knicks probably have the NBA’s worst post defense. Hence, Donnie Walsh’s fascination with Hill.”

Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register:  “As important as anything, though, is that Ariza has the attitude the Lakers need as they move forward. He has an edge to him. He sports a lean cut — even though he’ll try yet again to add 10 pounds this summer — but he is in no way soft. When I asked him during the NBA Finals why he thought Bryant took such a personal interest in him to the point that even Derek Fisher noticed it was out of the ordinary, Ariza said he and Bryant are not dissimilar in attitude. ‘Probably because I’m a competitor,’ Ariza said. ‘I hate to lose. I’m going to fight till the end.’ Given all of that, when he went in for his meeting with Jackson and Kupchak right after Walton did, Ariza didn’t need to ask any questions to know what was going on. ‘I felt loved in there,’ Ariza said, smiling. Ariza said that feeling matters more to him than money.”

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star:  “Evans has survived seven NBA seasons with marginal offensive talents precisely because of that attitude. He realized early in a career that’s included stops in Seattle, Denver and Philadelphia that he wasn’t going to score in double figures every night and wasn’t going to get a lot of touches offensively, but if he worked hard, beat some people up and made some enemies, he’d be just fine. Bosh, who should benefit more than anyone from Evans’ presence on a notoriously easygoing Raptors roster, said last week he didn’t particularly like his new teammate. That’s not entirely surprising because the league is filled with finesse players who don’t appreciate Evans’ style, a fact that doesn’t bother Evans a bit. ‘That’s a good thing,’ said the native of Pensacola, Fla. ‘That lets me know I’m doing something good. For Chris to say he don’t like me, I don’t like Chris. I like him now because we’re teammates, but I didn’t like him, either.’”

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press:  “Laimbeer has it backward. He thinks the NBA won’t hire him because he has been coaching women. In fact, he has been coaching women because the NBA won’t hire him. Why won’t anybody in the NBA hire him? Well, Laimbeer has been trying to answer that question for years. He sees himself as a potential NBA head coach but can’t even get a job as an assistant. He took the Shock job only to show the NBA he can coach. (And there is nothing wrong with that, by the way.) He won three championships with the Shock. Yet no NBA team will touch him. And still Bill Laimbeer is searching for answers. I think I know what the problem is. People in the NBA do not like Bill Laimbeer. Doesn’t Laimbeer remember his playing career? I don’t mean some people did not like him. I mean he was the most hated player in the league.”

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee:  “He will have to prove that he’s more than a pleasant, reasonable fellow who effectively coaches talented squads (Suns), not so effectively deals with knuckleheads (Sonics) and has little history with the younger set. This is the issue. This is 2009. Anyone own a playpen? Many of the Kings are too young to buy beer. Is Westphal, 58, really ready for this? Spencer Hawes, the expert on everything. Jason Thompson and those huge feet. Donté Greene and his immaturity. Beno Udrih and his lousy work ethic. Kevin Martin’s foot ailment and physical upside. As the Westphal era begins, his parenting skills will be paramount, as will his ability to teach and demand, and impose structure while remaining consistent with his own personality.”

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:  “Multiple league sources said that new GM David Kahn was determined to replace McHale, his predecessor as the Wolves’ top executive, and hire his own candidate for the job. McHale had been a front-office executive for 15 years, and took over as coach in December after the firing of Randy Wittman. Sam Mitchell, the 2006-07 NBA Coach of the Year who played 10 seasons for the Wolves, is expected to be a candidate for the job. Mitchell was fired as head coach of the Toronto Raptors 17 games into last season. Under the right circumstances, McHale wanted to return to coach a solid nucleus of young talent, including Al Jefferson(notes) and Kevin Love(notes). ‘Kevin made it clear to [Kahn] that he wanted to speak his mind and be honest about what he thought about matters with team,’ a league executive said Wednesday morning. ‘That’s who Kevin is. It doesn’t seem like Kahn was too interested in that.’”

John Reid of The Times-Picayune:  “Instead of the Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers now are the up-and-coming team in the conference after winning 54 games to earn the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Although the Utah Jazz entered the playoffs as the eighth seed, they have won six of the previous seven games against the Hornets. The San Antonio Spurs have slipped because of an aging roster, but Manu Ginobili was injured during the playoffs. With Ginobili in the lineup, the Spurs are more difficult to defend. To contend, Scott said the Hornets need another scorer, a creative-type point guard who can come off the bench, and a productive backup center who can be an enforcer and score in the post.‘If we can get all three of those pieces to the puzzle with (James) Posey coming off the bench, that puts us at nine deep, ‘ Scott said.”

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times:  “He filled this team with good guys and hard workers who, despite living around Hollywood, behave more like they play in Kupchak’s college town of Chapel Hill, N.C. ‘They’ve always had that reputation,’ Fisher said of the Lakers’ front office under Kupchak. ‘Players that make a difference, players that have an impact on the team, players that the city feels good about. . . . Those are the guys that they’re going to take care of.’ Kupchak also helped engineer the return of Coach Phil Jackson after owner Jerry Buss blew him off for a year, even though Jackson sometimes steals Kupchak’s player personnel thunder. ‘Mitch has gone ahead and really mined what level of talent we have,’ Jackson said. ‘He’s been very cooperative in working together as far as a collusion of ideas in this system that I run.’ It’s Jackson’s system, but Kupchak’s culture — from the lack of showboating to the scarcity of trash talking to the way the players help one another on defense.”

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports:  “Tim Donaghy supposedly had his knee busted in federal prison by ‘the New York mob.’ The same group also has promised to ‘shoot him,’ presumably when he’s free. And then there’s the tell-all book he penned from the pen that will ‘detail the culture of manipulation and fraud that permeates the NBA.’ The former NBA referee is scheduled to be transferred Wednesday from federal prison in Pensacola, Fla., to a so-called halfway house in Tampa, which, if nothing else, means he’ll have an easier time producing wild tabloid headlines, sensible or not. For the NBA, the credibility of the tales hardly matter. Donaghy remains the league’s worst PR nightmare, a crooked ref who plays into the conspiracy that commissioner David Stern sits in his Manhattan tower and fixes games.”