Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “As the rejections and criticisms mounted lately, NBA executives and agents described Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard as ‘agitated’ and ‘panicked’ and even ‘desperate.’ He kept returning to teams with the same proposals, only to be dismissed again and again. All his plans had imploded. Pritchard has long liked to talk about never laying up on the golf course and burning through cell batteries and the way that the Blazers had outworked and outsmarted the NBA. Few have been terribly impressed with how Pritchard handled the highs of the job, and now there are doubts about how he’s handling its lows. After the first 10 days of free agency, so far Pritchard stands as the summer’s biggest loser.”
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: “First, some housekeeping duties were in order for the youthful Clippers before they mobilized for the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and their first game Monday against the Lakers. There was the matter of gathering for their first practice Friday, at the team’s facility in Playa Vista, a chance for a full session under the direction of Coach Mike Dunleavy and summer league head coach Kim Hughes. Not that prized No. 1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin needed to get acquainted. The Clippers might as well give him the keys to the place and let him turn on the lights. So Griffin wasn’t kidding when he said in New York at the NBA draft that he couldn’t wait to get to work. He has been spending so much time at the Playa Vista facility, two-a-days nearly every day, Griffin could practically establish living quarters there. That’s a stretch . . . but not much of one.”
Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee: “While Evans played point guard in college, he was often a one-man team who dominated the ball. With the Kings, though, he must maximize his playmaking potential. ‘He handled the ball,’ Greene said of Evans’ performance. ‘Everybody knows Tyreke can dribble. He’s got crazy handles. He ran the team today, did a pretty good job and got to the (rim). I’ll give him that … . He has good vision. He’s just young, that’s all. He’ll get better with time.’ The game’s first play said plenty about how Evans will be used, as he passed and dashed his way to the right post before getting fouled by Singletary. The mismatch forced a defensive switch, with the sequence of events precisely what coach Paul Westphal hopes to see often. In practices and the one game, Evans has shown a knack for finding teammates in the paint after penetration or post-ups. Whether he can find his teammates in more conventional ways on a consistent basis remains to be seen.”
Marcus Thompson II of the Contra Costa Times: “Warriors second-year forward Anthony Randolph finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds to steal the show in the Warriors’ 73-69 loss to the Houston Rockets at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. But most of the attention was on Stephen Curry, whom the Warriors drafted No. 7 overall in last month’s NBA draft. He didn’t put on the show he was known for displaying in college, finishing with 16 points on 4-for-14 shooting with three assists, two steals and four turnovers. His performance, which included a 10-point third quarter, did reveal some of the things the Warriors love about him. But it also showed what he’s lacking. Such as aggressiveness. ‘He did OK,’ assistant coach Keith Smart said. ‘He’s such a team player that he gives it up and then tries to get it back, which is natural for him. We want him to be more aggressive personality-wise — get the ball in his hands and make plays.’ Curry also couldn’t avoid fouling while playing defense.”
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: “‘When you talk about Anthony Randolph this year and Anthony Randolph last year, you’re talking about two different people,’ Smart said. ‘It’s been great to watch him go from thinking he knew it all to giving up and saying, ‘I need some help.’ He went and got that help, and you can see how it’s going to benefit us.’ After a tumultuous start to last year’s rookie campaign, Randolph finished strong and solidified himself as the team’s power forward of the future. He’s put himself through three-a-day workouts, adding a pull-up jumper and improving his ball-handing and decision-making. ‘He still made some mistakes, but right away, he would come over to us and say, ‘I should have moved the ball’ or ‘I shouldn’t have gotten that deep.’ He was right each time, and that recognition shows good growth for a young player.’”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “A cross-country trip by Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver, General Manager Steve Kerr and coach Alvin Gentry to visit Grant Hill on Thursday did the trick, as they improved their offer to $3 million this season and a second-year player option of $3.24 million. Co-captain Steve Nash made Hill’s decision easier with input that he is close to a two-year contract extension worth about $20 million for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Also, Channing Frye will come home and fill a Suns need for a big man, accepting a two-year offer worth about $4 million. Before ‘routine’ eye surgery Friday, forward Amaré Stoudemire and his agent met with Kerr and got some affirmation about his importance. The fun-and-gun Suns are restored but with a deeper, younger bench and a tweaked starting lineup that could consist of Nash, Jason Richardson, Hill, Stoudemire and Frye. The Suns are aiming to be a playoff team while keeping payroll flexibility for next summer.”
William C. Rhoden of The New York Times: “After a week of taking agonizing mental journeys between Phoenix, New York and Boston, Grant Hill chose to stay, and presumably end his career, in Phoenix with the Suns. In a conversation Wednesday, Hill said he was all but convinced that New York was where he wanted to be. The more I reflected on our conversation, the more it became apparent that while Hill really did love New York, the city, New York, the Knicks, was another matter. To satisfy his love of the city, the Hills may buy an apartment in New York. At the end of the day, Hill conceded that he was unsure he could endure the many losses before the franchise regained respectability. The Knicks lost 50 games last season and their prospects for improvement seem dim. ‘We lost 36 games last year and I was miserable,’ Hill said Friday. ‘My wife said that when we’re winning, I’m happy. When I’m happy, the house is happy.’”
Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail: “After a flurry of activity that not even he could have predicted, the president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors took off for Las Vegas. Not for a bacchanalian celebration, though some might suggest it’s well earned given Bryan Colangelo’s recent efforts. Instead he’ll be watching his team’s prospects at the NBA Summer League. He’ll also be calculating the Raptors’ next moves. In Vegas, Colangelo will huddle with head coach Jay Triano and his coaching staff to assess how to fit together the pieces they have. Triano is, not surprisingly, thrilled about integrating Hedo Turkoglu, the 6-foot-10 Turkish playmaker. ‘You tweak your offense to match the strength of your personnel,’ Triano said yesterday. ‘He’s someone who has been successful with the ball in his hands, he can change your playbook absolutely.’ Triano predicted the Raptors will adopt a lot of the sets that Turkoglu used successfully with the Orlando Magic, with Chris Bosh rolling hard to the lane on screen-and-rolls and the floor spaced with shooters.”
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: “It appears that McDyess’ best fit will be in the Spurs’ starting lineup, alongside fellow big man Duncan. Both players are combination big men, capable of switching between the power forward and center spots. McDyess started 30 games at center for the Pistons last season, and in those 30 games averaged 12.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.17 blocks in 34.9 minutes per game. … McDyess will be 35 by the time the Spurs open training camp, but he remains one of the NBA’s most productive post players. The second pick in the 1995 draft, he entered the league as a super-athletic big man who played almost entirely above the rim. Knee injuries plagued him for three seasons, from 2001-2004, when he played only 52 games. He emerged after two knee surgeries as a slightly less explosive but much more savvy post man. The Spurs believe he has plenty of game left. ‘All we can do is evaluate how he plays right now,’ Buford said. ‘In watching him last season, he was very effective and very efficient and very impactful on the game. I would think, physiologically, each individual deals with age and longevity differently.’”
Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune: “The Jazz are now facing the nightmare scenario mentioned months ago, in which they would be forced to match a huge offer to Millsap or risk losing him this summer followed in all likelihood by Carlos Boozer exiting next summer as a free agent. The offer to Millsap is worth between $32 million and $36 million over four years. My guess is $34.5 million, with Portland using its $7.7 million in cap space as the starting salary and giving Millsap the maximum annual raises equal to 8 percent of the first-year value. That would be a little different than what some of us expected, with a large first-year salary and smaller amounts after that, to leave Portland in a better position once Brandon Roy’s and LaMarcus Aldridge’s extensions kick in for the 2010-11 season. The Blazers also have given Millsap what’s been described as a significant signing bonus. The maximum it could be is 17.5 percent of the total value of the contract. Assuming it’s $34.5 million, that’s a $6 million bonus.”
Tim Buckley of the Deseret News: “Even though their payroll for next season currently stands at more than $73 million, not everything is as ugly as it may seem when it comes to the Jazz’s checking account. When luxury-tax payments from seven teams (New York, Dallas, Cleveland, Boston, Portland, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers) that exceeded the NBA’s team payroll overspending threshold this past season were divvied earlier this week among the league’s other 23 teams, the Jazz were on the receiving end of just more than $2.9 million. And on July 29, ESPN.com reported this week, the Jazz and every other NBA team will receive another $6,467,847. That money is their take from a little-known collective-bargaining-agreement provision in which up to eight percent of player salary is held in escrow throughout the season, and then — depending on whether league-wide basketball-related income hits a preset level — essentially is either redistributed to teams in equal shares or finally given to the players.”
Tony Mejia for The Oklahoman: “Throughout the week at the Orlando Pro Summer League, Thunder general manager Sam Presti has been working the phones and monitoring league gossip in between close inspection of his young team, many of whom are already under contract and in Las Vegas, where the team departed for on Friday afternoon. What he hasn’t been doing, and won’t unless the right opportunity comes along, is looking to shake up his roster with a major free agent signing. The methodical approach remains in play. In that regard, Presti hasn’t deviated from the plan he hatched when he took over as GM in the team’s final season in Seattle, trading Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen for draft picks and cap space and electing to build a team in his vision from the ground up. ‘It’s the hedgehog concept,’ said Presti, referring to a term used in Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, a popular philosophical guide for managers and directors. ‘We’re navigating the course without steering away from what’s important to us or making rash, irresponsible decisions that could cost us in the long run.’
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “Nate McMillan has long preached to his players that nothing is given around the Trail Blazers, you have to earn it. And, the Blazers coach is putting his money where his mouth is. The Blazers last week picked up a one-year option on McMillan’s contract, keeping him in Portland through the 2010-2011 season. But in a rare and and daring move, McMillan said that after his contract runs out in 2011, he will not look to sign a long-term extension with the Blazers. Rather, he will ask only for one-year contracts. One at a time. ‘I think that’s the way it should go,’ said McMillan, who has been in Portland since 2005. ‘It might be crazy … I know my agent thinks I’m crazy. But I think it should be based on your performance. I don’t think there is another coach who would say that, and I say that because everybody talks about security. For me, security is knowing you want me to be here, and that I’m doing what I need to do. Not you wondering, ‘Why is he here?’ Or, ‘How are we going to get out of this?’”
