Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “A day after Heat President Pat Riley said the team could not go forward with a major personnel overhaul without his star agreeing to a contract extension this summer, Wade indicated he might seek such action by the team before making such a commitment.‘I’m there. Why not fast-track this thing anyway while I’m there and let’s not give it a chance to get to 2010?’ said Wade, who can extend his contract starting July 12, or can opt out and become a free agent following next season. ‘I’m in my prime right now, playing the best basketball I’ve ever played, and I feel as good as I ever felt. So let’s not wait. Let’s do it now if we can do it. So it’s not about me signing a contract.’ Riley, however, said it is about exactly that, that the Heat cannot move forward with a renovation amid uncertainty about the franchise’s foundation. Wade took a contrasting view, that an aggressive personnel approach by the team this summer could lead to his signature on an extension before his potential 2010 free agency.”
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “Yao is under contract through 2010-11, but will wisely opt out next summer, when many teams have salary cap room and the NBA operates under the current CBA. He will not sign an extension with the Rockets because that will cost him roughly $35 million to $45 million, depending on that season’s salary cap. The Cavaliers could be among many teams pursuing him, and they did not need to have an owner from China to consider Yao a coveted free agent. For that matter, teams with owners from other countries will likely pursue him, too. If Yao believes the Rockets are contenders, he will sign with the Rockets. If he believes they cannot win a championship, it will be very tough. The Cavs would then be a good option, but one of a great many. None of that is new. It does, however, raise a question. Is LeBron James more likely to sign with the Rockets because their owner is from the United States?”
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register: “It’s downright un-American, really, this notion that Kobe Bryant should swing by the 11,000-square-foot home Lakers owner Jerry Buss inhabits alone, tear up his player contract and cut his salary for next season and beyond in hopes of keeping the Lakers at a championship level. The rationale is that Bryant can get the Lakers to re-sign both Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom at fair-market value if he scales down his personal salary. This is like complaining the best umbrella on the beach is too big and bright instead of surveying a full picture of the landscape. Aside from the fact no one does more for Buss’ revenue streams than Bryant, let’s be clear: Buss can pay Ariza and Odom as much as he wants to bring them back. … It’s not as if Bryant taking less would move the Lakers under the cap and be the only way to afford returning or incoming talent. Whatever Bryant did cut from his salary would go directly and only into Buss’ pocket.”
Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer Press: “The plan was for Tyreke Evans to go through just an individual workout Friday afternoon with the Timberwolves. Instead, the Memphis freshman joined five other first-round point guard prospects in a star-studded morning session. ‘I just wanted to let people know that I’m not running from nobody,’ Evans said. ‘I’m willing to work hard against the top people in the draft.’ A prime candidate to go to the Wolves with the sixth overall selection in Thursday’s NBA draft, Evans and UCLA’s Jrue Holiday were the highest-rated prospects in a group that also included Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn, Brandon Jennings of Italy, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson and Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague. Depending on teams’ preferences, those players could go anywhere from No. 4 through No. 16, which is what made this workout so compelling.”
Mark Dent of the Indianapolis Star: “Tyler Hansbrough lost a contact lens. He got hit in the face and bled. Then he continued dominating the predraft workout at Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday. In short, the four-time All-American did everything scouts, fans and coaches saw him do for four years at North Carolina. He’s the senior, the known commodity. He’s also the last one standing. Finished products like Hansbrough have never been less in demand. This year, unless Hansbrough sneaks into the upper half of Thursday’s NBA draft (he’s a possibility to go to New Jersey at No. 11), it’s likely no college senior will be selected by a lottery-pick team. The Indiana Pacers have the 13th pick, and while Hansbrough closely resembles the young Jeff Foster coach Jim O’Brien wants, he doesn’t fill their need of a low-post scorer. Since 2000, lottery-pick teams have selected just 20 seniors, compared to 24 freshmen and 23 sophomores.”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “The Nuggets have drafted or acquired just two players since 2005. But Friday, the organization hosted a group of 12 players, mostly guards, in the first of at least two rounds of workouts that could yield a player worthy of a selection. The Nuggets own the 34th pick in Thursday’s draft. Whether they use it remains to be seen. Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said it could go either way. ‘It’s always in the air, what you’re going to do,’ Warkentien said Friday. ‘Would you call? Well, it depends on who’s betting. It depends on what hand shows up as we go through the draft process. And you’re weighing the value of the different assets. If somebody comes in and says, ‘We’ll give you this for it,’ if you like that asset better, then you move. Or you may take this asset and try to move up. It’s a very fluid deal.’”
Marc Berman of the New York Post: “The Knicks love UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday, but they didn’t like his pre-draft workout June 10, when he got outplayed by Stephen Curry. So team president Donnie Walsh has succeeded in luring Holiday back to the team’s Westchester compound Monday for a second workout, according to a source. Selecting No. 8 in Thursday’s draft, the Knicks have narrowed their point-guard search to three guys: Curry, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans and Holiday, in that order. There’s a strong chance Curry and Evans will not be around at 8, and the Knicks have considered moving up. The Knicks also are exploring buying another first-round pick from a team in the 20’s, because they don’t have a 2010 selection. Arizona power forward Jordan Hill also is in the mix if he drops to them at 8.”
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Former Arizona State guard James Harden spent this week attempting to clear a different hurdle. He’s tried to make up for lost time. Illness and an ankle injury prevented Harden from working out for about a week following the Chicago pre-draft combine this month. So it was understandable to see Harden searching for a higher gear Friday during his solo workout for the Grizzlies in FedExForum. … Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace contends that Harden’s late pre-draft showing will prove how little workouts can matter in player evaluations. Harden, Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet and Memphis’ Tyreke Evans are several of the seven or eight players the Griz will seriously consider selecting with the No. 2 pick.”
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: “From Serbia, Fabrizio Besnati scours Rome, Russia and Spain to dispel some claims and validate others. Besnati, the director of international scouting for the Los Angeles Clippers, annually compiles a list of about a dozen prospects. The list is shorter by the time Neil Olshey, the team’s assistant general manager, makes his trip overseas. It is narrowed to one or two names when Mike Dunleavy, the coach and general manager, makes the trek. This year, Besnati’s list started with two names, each of which was already on everyone’s radar: the point guards Ricky Rubio of Spain and Brandon Jennings, an American playing in Italy. ‘That pond has been fished out, and we need to give it a little time to restock,’ Olshey said. … If there is caution on the side of N.B.A. teams, players seem to have it, too. Some feel as if the disparity in talent between the N.B.A. and international leagues has diminished. Others are hesitant to make the leap after watching the careers of international players get set back two or three years by disappointing forays into the N.B.A.”
Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Magic believe the Finals were their ‘tipping point’ — that they will get the sustained fan support that has been missing over the course of the last several years. They have some stats to back them up. Four thousand new season tickets have been sold since March 1. Traffic to the team’s Web site tripled in the playoffs. Followers of the team on Twitter jumped from about 3,000 to over 44,000 in the span of several weeks. ‘They know they have something to look forward to,’ Magic guard Jameer Nelson said. ‘It’s not a question in anybody’s head. Previous years going into the season people were like, ‘Well, maybe last year was a fluke.’ We’re a good team, and we deserve some respect and I think we gained just a little bit.’”
John Brennan of NorthJersey.com: “On the eve of several critical votes next week on the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, seven New York city and state elected officials have asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to postpone any decision indefinitely. The move comes at a time when executives for the Nets basketball franchise — which seeks to move to a new arena at the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn — have urged for expedited state approvals so that groundbreaking on the arena can begin later this year. The group — which includes a state senator, three state Assembly members and three City Council members — asked MTA officials to disclose any modifications to an air rights deal above an MTA rail yard within the project footprint.”
