Points in the Paint

» July 10, 2009 8:19 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Bill Simmons on which current players make the most sense as future coaches: “Here’s my list: Grant Hill, Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, Brian Cardinal (couldn’t you see him totally bald and 75 pounds heavier yelling at two Grizzlies while holding a clipboard?), Jason Kidd, Brian Scalabrine, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Jameer Nelson, Matt Bonner, P.J. Brown, and my No. 1 ‘I can totally see it!’ choice, Derek Fisher. (As for the least likely … I’d have to go with Eddy Curry. I know Ron Artest is furious right now, but Eddy has to be the pick. He’s the total package: never went to college, overweight, battled various personal problems, no work ethic, moody as hell, selfish as a player, terrible with the media and someone who learned at the hands of Isiah Thomas. You can’t come up with a better anti-home run pick. You just can’t.)”

Paul Coro: “Grant Hill’s wish finally came true (see story link here). He wanted to remain with Phoenix all along. After delivering two years as a quality starter at $1.83 million and $1.97 million salaries, a raise was in order now that he proved he has better health at 36 than he did at 27, 30 or 34. So why did the Suns triumvirate of Robert Sarver, Steve Kerr and Alvin Gentry have to make a red-eye private flight to save a Hill deal? Because the Suns’ initial offer to Hill was for a veteran’s minimum contract of $1.3 million, a hefty pay cut after a season in which he was at his healthiest, was easily the Suns’ best defender and shot a career-best 52.3 percent from the field. The Suns’ intentions might have been to reward Hill with the salary cap space they are getting next year but the damage was done, particularly after Mike D’Antoni, a coach he admired, and his Knicks had offered Hill the full mid-level exception of $5.85 million. Hill was not interested in New York’s three-year, $10 million offer. The Suns trio’s visit with an improved offer of $3 million this season and player option of $3,240,000 in 2010-11 made everything right, along with the personal appeal. ‘I think that was probably as decisive as anything,’ Hill’s agent, Lon Babby, said today, adding that Hill also got assurances about the futures of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire with the team.”

Ryan Jones files a report from the LeBron James Skills Academy. Yes, Jones saw the dunk. No, he wasn’t impressed.

Mitch Kupchak on what the Lakers will do if they can’t re-sign Lamar Odom: “You always have a contingency plan. That’s how we ended up with Ron Artest. Going into free agency we felt we had a better than even chance that we could keep this group together; that was Lamar, Shannon (Brown) and Trevor (Ariza). When you go into free agency, it’s really a beast. You don’t know how it’s going to turn out. A lot of times, you have to do a 180-degree turn within 24 hours. You have to have a backup plan. We did have a backup plan, to have Ron. We didn’t know he would be available. We knew he would be a free agent, but I think due Yao Ming’s injury, Houston decided not to get aggressive with Ron Artest because they might be in a position where they might have to re-build if Yao Ming misses the season. We didn’t know if that would happen. We put our calls in and lo and behold, the next day when the negotiations with Trevor didn’t go the way we had hoped, there was Ron Artest. So, yes, we do have contingency plans, but you’re not going to find a Lamar Odom at the end of August sitting around waiting to be signed by the Laker or anybody else. Those types of players, they’re commodities. We’ll do the best we can and we’ll move on, but there is no replacement for Lamar Odom.”

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