Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “Artest rarely expands on the hardships of his childhood, but he alluded to it more than once Wednesday as the reality of joining one of the glamour franchises of the NBA was sinking in. ‘I feel like I came from having nothing to having something. I feel like I’m No. 1 right now,’ he said. Later, when Artest joked with Kupchak about being ‘underpaid,’ he noted that, ‘if you can’t live on $33 million dollars, you can’t live. My dad gave me like 50 cents and I was totally happy. I didn’t have a dollar, I had to scrape up pennies, you know, and I was grateful for those pennies. So I’m grateful now, to have this opportunity for me and my family.’ This could all blow up, of course. Many were optimistic when Manny Ramirez joined the Dodgers last year, or when Karl Malone and Gary Payton signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2003. For all his newfound maturity, Artest is still a wild card. A fact Kupchak himself acknowledged. ‘We’ve all been in situations where you do something maybe you regret,’ Kupchak said. ‘But if you don’t do it again, I think you’ve demonstrated you’ve learned. I think that’s enough. Certainly, that was enough for us.’ On the court in the past few years, Artest seems to have grown better at recognizing the lines he can’t cross. As he put it, ‘I just try to be as smart as possible, as aggressive as possible, without being ejected.’”
Frank Dell’Apa and Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: “Rasheed Wallace is not expected to be in the starting lineup, which includes Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins, but Rivers said no determination has been made. ‘He gives us a dimension we didn’t have,’ Rivers said. ‘The extra shooter is the biggest part, and the extra shooter that can guard a [center] makes it even [better]. His impact is huge because it really helps other guys. I think it will help Kevin, it will help Perk, and I think it will really, really help Rondo. Because in the playoffs, when teams decide to help off of Rondo, they use Perk as the other guy they can zone up with. When we go at times with Kevin and Rasheed on the floor, if you’re going to help off of Rondo, you’re going to leave Ray, Paul, Kevin, or Rasheed – and that’s difficult. And if you don’t, now Rondo becomes more effective, which I think is going to be the case. Like I’ve always said, we’ll get to camp and work it out. I envision – I don’t know if we’ll change our starting five or not – but we’re going to put our best starting five on the floor. I’m going to wait and see how his body looks. It is a long season, but we know our guys. I don’t know Rasheed, yet, in that way, so that will be something I’ll have to find out as the year goes on. We’ve done a pretty good job of pacing, but if you have injuries, all of that stuff goes out of the window.’”
Rob Mahoney of the Two Man Game: “It’s easy to say that Shawn Marion isn’t quite the athlete he used to be, but it’s more difficult to pinpoint exactly why 2008-2009 was Marion’s worst outing since his rookie campaign. Marion did look shackled, but not necessarily by the rigors of an aging body; he looked completely uncomfortable in offenses that weren’t tailor-made to his strengths, he seemed lost without Steve Nash’s guiding passes, and he seemed overwhelmed as an offensive focal point. The Mavs do (or will, if you want to be technical) employ one Jason Kidd, whose lobs and knack for maximizing the talents of role players with finishing abilities should make Shawn flashback to brighter days. That’s one regard in which the Heat and the Raptors could never compete. Jose Calderon is a fine point guard, but isn’t a gun-slinging, risk-taking playmaker in the Kidd/Nash mold. Dwyane Wade is a good passer, but he was created of flesh and metal to score the damn basketball, not appease Marion. While the Mavs won’t be confused with the SSoL Suns, it’s still easy to see Marion fulfilling his same duties as a one-man fast break. But more than anything, the Mavs are somewhat reliant on the notion that putting more weapons around Marion will boost his effectiveness and his efficiency on offense.”
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: “Did you watch the Eastern Conference finals last year? Cavaliers coach Mike Brown trusted Kuester with his offense so much he allowed him to draw up plays and run huddles late in games. Cavaliers beat writers tell me LeBron James and the other veterans had total respect for Kuester, and while happy he’s getting this opportunity, they are sad to lose him. This is far from a throw-in-the-towel hire. This is bringing in a new leader who offers a new vision, a new temperament and a new identity to a team redefining itself on the fly. Today is not Armageddon for the Pistons. Today is the first day of spring. Today is the day you throw open the windows for the first time after the winter thaw and feel that warm, refreshing, rejuvenating breeze in your face. Gone is the disaster that was Curry’s one year. Gone are the old dramas that seemed to play out year after year toward the end of the last era. Who’s mad at the coach today? Who’s sulking today? Who’s not happy with his role or his minutes? It’s a new day — and that is not code for falling off the NBA map.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “It appears Kevin Pritchard is preparing for perhaps his last big pitch of the summer. Sources say the Blazers are putting together what they consider a “toxic” offer to Utah’s Paul Millsap, a restricted free agent power forward. If Millsap signs an offer sheet, Utah will have seven days to match the Blazers offer, but the Blazers hope they structure the deal to make it difficult to do so. If the Millsap plan doesn’t go through, the Blazers will go after free agent Brandon Bass, a young power forward who played for Dallas last season. In the meantime, there are small fires all around One Center Court. That Roy is unsigned is particularly alarming and a signal that negotiations have snagged. Word is that Roy wants to sign for the maximum allowed five years, but the Blazers only want to commit to four years. A five-year deal would cost Portland about $82 million, although it won’t be determined until the 2010-11 salary cap is set. That a player of Roy’s talent and character wants to lock in his future with your club should be embraced and lauded. Instead, the team is nickel-and-diming him with the amount of years. It’s bad form.”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “The Nuggets appear to be lagging behind in the free-agent process, but there are still some options for a team that is looking for frontcourt help.Denver’s interest in Phoenix forward Grant Hill is not expected to bear fruit. Hill has other suitors, including the Celtics, on his plate. The Nuggets have already started to make a play forPortland big man Channing Frye. Beyond that, Spurs forward Drew Gooden is on the market, as are other inexpensive options, but no one who could make a huge impact, production-wise. But then the Nuggets aren’t sure they need that. Nuggets coach George Karl said Anthony, J.R. Smith and Nene still have a high enough ceiling that the team will get better as they get better. And signing a free agent isn’t the only means through which the Nuggets can improve. There is still the matter of their $9.8 million trade exception, which the Nuggets must use by the beginning of November. It simply means that they can take up to $9.8 million more in salary than they trade out. Trading for a player opens up more options than can be easily seen.”
Jerome Soloman of the Houston Chronicle: “Yao could have surgery on his ailing foot and recover in time to join the team late in the season. And the Rockets might fail to find a suitable trade partner for McGrady. And next spring the two could be high-fiving in the playoffs. More likely, the next time Yao and McGrady team up will be at an old-timers’ game. Fans have come to grips with losing McGrady. Heck, a host of them are willing to go to his crib and help him move. Fans should now face the more sobering thought that Yao may never again play for the Rockets. The career-threatening injury isn’t the only issue. The seven-year veteran has just one year left on his contract, with a second option year he’ll likely exercise thanks to the injury. One of those two years he will probably sit and watch. As for the other …? After rearranging their style of play without Yao this coming season, will the Rockets want to go back to the ‘gotta get it to Yao’ offense they so often struggled to run in two seasons under Rick Adelman?”
Alan Hahn of Newsday: “With New Yok comes so many other variables and other potential sweeteners, such as the impact that choosing New York would have on the new deal LeBron inks with Nike, which, coincidentally, also expires in 2010. If LeBron goes to New York, there’s little doubt his marketing value skyrockets to even greater heights than it has already. Nike has never had a basketball megastar in New York. They already have Kobe Bryant in L.A. OK, here goes the cold water again. If LeBron signs an extension this summer (July 18th is the date he can) with the Cavs, with the salary cap set at $57.7M, by the max contract formula (30 percent) he would get $17.3M in the first year (slightly more than the option year on the current deal) and the total package to stay in Cleveland would bring him a six-year deal worth about $134.9M, with $22.4M per annum. Biiiiiig difference. … If LeBron chooses not to sign an extension this summer to give up free agency in 2010, it’s an obvious sign that his decision is clearly not about salary.”
Monte Poole of the Contra Costa Times: “Before the rumors came the wishing, open longing for the day when somebody, anybody, would come along to lift the Warriors from the well-meaning but ineffectual ownership of Chris Cohan. That day, thankfully, appears closer than ever. Cohan’s door is open and, according to a few colleagues who fixate on all things Warrior — Bay Area News Group beat writer Marcus Thompson II and MediaNews columnist Tim Kawakami — our man Chris is ready for someone to make an offer. That person, if it’s the right person, will become a prince. Or a princess. Taking over the Warriors after 15 or so years of Cohan rule is like being handed a map with directions to the good life. Your venue, Oracle Arena, should be good for another 20 years. You’re getting a team with a history of losing amid mismanagement. You’re getting a rabid fan base with a history of tolerating defeat but clearly eager to embrace even modest success. Ownership able to raise the Warriors to the level of consistently mediocre, where they’re always in the race for the playoffs, becomes a sensation. Ownership that fashions them into a legitimate championship contender becomes local royalty.”
Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press: “The NBA players’ association is upset with the league over a warning it sent teams projecting a significant decrease in the 2010-11 salary cap. The memo sent early Wednesday morning told teams the salary cap and luxury tax levels are expected to drop, echoing comments commissioner David Stern has made at various times this season. But the union believes the predictions could discourage teams from offering big deals to free agents, who were eligible to begin signing Wednesday. ‘A memo of this nature can have a chilling effect on the market for free agent and rookie signings,’ executive director Billy Hunter said through a spokesman. ‘If it later turns out that the league did not have a good faith basis for making these projections, the NBPA will pursue all available legal remedies, including a treble damages claim for collusion.’ The NBA didn’t consult with the players’ association before releasing the memo, and Hunter said the union has no basis to confirm the projections in it.”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “To read the Internet, it would seem winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award has dramatically thinned LeBron James’ skin. That and one of the world’s largest corporations apparently has to flex its muscle to protect a 6-8, 260-pound man. In the latest James’ Web controversy on Wednesday, CBSSports.com reported that Monday night at Nike’s LeBron James Skills Academy at the University of Akron, officials confiscated tapes from two videographers after James had been dunked on by a college player during a pickup game. To make it worse, the report said, James instructed Nike bosses to take the tapes as if he were Don Barzini in the famous wedding scene from ‘The Godfather.’ It’s a funny story indeed and instantly spread virally across the web and soon went into the talk-show machine. The problem is, just like earlier this week when James made headlines for something he never said to Trevor Ariza in a phone conversation, it isn’t the whole story. According to Nike and James himself, nothing of the sort happened.”
(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE/Getty Images)
