Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “Arenas told Jones that he plans on spending this summer working out with the famed trainer Tim Grover, who worked with Michael Jordan and helped Dwyane Wade resurrect his career last season and finish third in MVP voting behind LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Although I didn’t get Arenas, I did talk for a while with Grover, who was at every game working exclusively for Finals MVP Bryant. Grover told me that he expects Arenas to come to his Attacks Athletics facility in Chicago in about two weeks. Arenas has committed to coming and Grover said while he hasn’t seen Arenas’s medical records, he estimated that it will take at least a two month commitment for Arenas to get the necessary training required. … With Arenas already back to his playing weight from five years ago, maybe Grover can help him return to that all-star, all-NBA form again. And, given how Wade bounced back to the form that made him Finals MVP in 2006, this might be the best move for Arenas, who hasn’t had much luck with his rehabilitation since injuring his left knee in April 2007.”
John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: “Sometimes revelations come at an early age. Jason Kapono was just starting to get into basketball when he discovered something about himself and the game that would ultimately lead him to the NBA. ‘It first dawned on me when I figured out that I could not really run, dribble or dunk,’ said Kapono, the long-distance shooting specialist the Sixers recently acquired from the Toronto Raptors. ‘That was when I was about 6 years old. I figured that if I wanted to be able to play ball, I’d better be able to shoot. So that’s what I worked on – pull-up jumpers on the break, catch and shoot.’ In an MTV Generation league where the only way to get a highlight on ESPN is with a rim-rattling dunk or a knee-buckling crossover dribble, we sometimes forget that the essence of basketball is still the ability to shoot. Of the several flaws that this still-building Sixers team has, its inability to consistently make shots from beyond 8 feet has been its most glaring.”
Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: “Somehow, his answer to the question as to what sense he got from Jackson and Kupchak about his upcoming free-agent process free-flowed from him needing to stay in good physical condition to a hilarious commentary on his personal attractiveness, which was somehow a clear indication that the Lakers intend to re-sign him. Here’s Odom’s answer to the question: ‘They just want me to stay in shape. They know I’m a socialite. We won a championship, and I’m in my prime. I’m 29. I’m decent-looking. And when we go out, I’m well-received, you know what I’m saying? So they want me to take care of myself and sleep correctly and stay in the weight room and stay strong. So that’s a good sign. That means they want me back.’ He’s a special dude, this L.O. No doubt about it. Although he has not become the All-Star everyone expected, Odom’s personality is a uniting force. That is something that will be hard to quantify salary-wise for a Lakers brass that knows Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can both be All-Stars playing ahead of him.”
Stefan Swiat of Suns.com: “With widespread speculation circulating everywhere about what Suns President of Basketball Operations and GM Steve Kerr is going to do with his team this offseason, he decided to begin with his point guard. Kerr met with two-time MVP Steve Nash on Thursday to talk about Nash’s current contract. The two met in New York City, where Nash lives in the offseason, and were joined by Nash’s agent, Bill Duffy. The topic of discussion was Nash’s contract extension, which is partially guaranteed by the team. 2009-10 is the final year of the playmaker’s contract, although he’s eligible for a two-year extension. ‘It was a good meeting,’ Kerr said. ‘It was very productive and it was just about laying groundwork for future talks.’ The two agreed to resume talks as the future of the team continued to take shape.”
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune: “There is a pecking order on the Blazers in terms of touches and ball possession. It starts with Brandon Roy, moves to LaMarcus Aldridge and then falls to such teammates as Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez. As point guard, Blake has the ball more than Joel Przybilla or Nicolas Batum, but I’d argue there are few starters at his position who see it less over the course of 48 minutes. That’s OK with Blake, who plays the same role as did Steve Kerr and John Paxson alongside Michael Jordan, spotting up, drawing opportunities as defenses collapse on Roy. ‘I love playing with Brandon,’ Blake says. ‘I think we complement each other well. He can handle the ball, and I just try to play off him.’ Blake’s subservient role works well alongside Roy, but that doesn’t mean Blazer brass isn’t looking to upgrade at the position.”
Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald: “The truth of the matter is that Wade won’t necessarily hurt Pat Riley’s feelings if he passes up extending his contract this season and waiting until next summer. Riley has already braced himself for that reality. That’s why the message from Riley out of the executive glass tower on Thursday was this: His hands are tied until the official commitment comes from Wade. What that means is this: Jermaine O’Neal, Michael Beasley, Udonis Haslem or any other meaningful chip the team has for potential trades won’t be going anywhere until the Heat is certain Wade is here for the long term. … But this is not all about Wade. The Heat is in a tight spot. It’s up against the tax already, with the 13 players who are under contract, who are likely to execute options or who have been extended qualifying offers. There is little wiggle room for anything – or anyone – else at this stage.”
George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Call me crazy, but I think Howard gets it. He’s in for big-man summer school. Sign him up. Does he get his own lunch box, or does he have to settle for one featuring Kobe or LeBron? Once again, Howard is the odd man out. Kobe celebrates an NBA title. See him smiling in the photo op, along with a wife who has impeccable timing when the camera is near. LeBron celebrates the infatuation of where he will play in 2010. New York, or will be it Cleveland again? Will Cleveland trade for Shaquille O’Neal to give LeBron a big-name playmate, assuming Shaq can break away from his grumpy-old-man tweets? It’s unbecoming, Big Guy, and an ominous sign of growing irrelevance. What’s up with you, Dwight? You gonna improve? As playful and engaging as he can be, Howard seems genuinely annoyed by all the noise.”
The AP: “While Yao had not tasted a championship, he said Houston’s drive to the second-round of the playoffs in 2009 had given him hope that the Rockets can contend next season. Rumors of a possible switch have swirled since a group of Chinese investors signed an agreement last month with the Cavaliers to become minority owners of the franchise, a move expected to boost the team’s popularity and marketing opportunities in China, where Cleveland star LeBron James is already very popular. ‘This is all an unknown,’ Yao said in the interview, a transcript of which was posted online today. ‘I’ve already been with Houston for such a long time, I still have much affection for this team,’ Yao said. ‘Moreover, this past season we were very successful, and that let me see some hope. Regardless of whether its a Chinese boss, or a foreign boss, they’re both bosses and a boss is just a boss,’ he added.”
Tom Enlund of the Journal Sentinel: “Take the ‘best player available.’ It’s a cliché, yes, but one that best applies to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2009 National Basketball Association draft next week. The Bucks’ biggest needs for next season will be at point guard and power forward. Even so, general manager John Hammond emphasized that – barring a trade – when it came time for the team to exercise its 10th pick in the first round on Thursday, the Bucks would choose the player rated highest on their draft board regardless of position. ‘We’ll take the best player, in our eyes,’ Hammond said at a draft-related news conference Thursday at the team’s Cousins Center practice facility. ‘We’re not married to a position to that extent. And it wouldn’t have to necessarily be a point guard or a power forward. If it were a wing player or any other position, I think we still might have to say, this is the best player and we take the best player and deal with it accordingly.’”
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star: “Spend 15 minutes standing in the rain above and outside the Indiana Pacers’ practice court at Conseco Fieldhouse, and what you see is the distilled essence of Brandon Jennings. There are moments when the young point guard looks like an emerging Tony Parker, a player with speed, flash, style and that unteachable something that leaves talent evaluators searching for the right adjectives.And then there are moments when Jennings, who bypassed college to spend a year playing pro in Italy, looks like all that style has left substance behind, when his decision making is beyond regrettable. Let’s put it this way: While I don’t know who the Pacers are going to take in next Thursday’s NBA draft, I’m pretty confident Jennings, who came in Thursday for a workout, won’t be the guy.”
Alan Hahn of Newsday: “The Knicks don’t have any workouts scheduled for Friday and, at this point, there are some players due in Monday but Holiday’s name is not among them. That doesn’t mean he won’t get a second look. Holiday didn’t perform well in his first workout for the Knicks, so Walsh should want to evaluate him one more time if he, as I suspect, is the fallback option in case Curry can not be had. As for the Ricky Rubio talk, let’s put it to bed. After following up of the Sacramento Bee report, which was based on sourced information, the way I understand it is that the Knicks early on in the pre-draft process checked in with the Memphis Grizzlies about the No. 2 pick. It sounds like Memphis is targeting Hasheem Thabeet and not looking to trade. If they do, the Knicks don’t have the assets to make it happen. So unless Curry is gone and Rubio is still on the board at No. 8, it appears La Pistola won’t be in Nueva York. Actually, the Kings will almost certainly take Rubio at No. 4. These two appear to be aligned, and perhaps the relationship new assistant GM Jason Levien (a former agent) has with Rubio’s agent Dan Fegan will make this happen.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “The Memphis Grizzlies are trying to talk tough, saying they’re unafraid to draft Ricky Rubio with the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft, but no one believes them. Nevertheless, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace finds himself in a tough spot. He has a volatile owner, Michael Heisley, puffing out his chest, and a player agent, Dan Fegan, threatening to embarrass the franchise should it try to take Rubio. Apparently, Heisley has been as impatient as ever with Wallace. This ebbs and flows, but league sources say Pau Gasol’s(notes) marvelous play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship run has Heisley coming down on Wallace all over again for last year’s trade. Of course, Heisley pushed for the lousy Lakers deal, but that’s been lost in the revisionist history.”
