Matt Bernhardt of Blog-a-Bull: “It’s like Reinsdorf wants it both ways: the credit for the financial might of the team, yet he can also meddle in personnel and other aspects that his basketball people should be solely in charge of. If he’s going to be so stingy on the tax, let the basketball people (and cap wizards) handle everything. If you want to play along, be a wacky spender like Jerry Buss or Mark Cuban to ‘own your mistakes’ (as ‘dorf put it), spending your way out of them if necessary. Instead we get this mess where every situation has varying degrees of ownership involvement, just like every answer given in the interview was a varying degree of spin. And it’s impossible to go after specifics when correlating his answers to the actual actions of the team, since we have no idea how deep his hands are in each situation. It’s not as if he’s the worst owner in the game, on a Heisley or Sterling level. But the especially ‘cheap’ owners are at least easy to figure out. Reinsdorf has bankrolled some high-payroll teams, but seems extremely cautious to go the extra step, and worse yet, the steps he does take are sourced by confounding reasoning (that we mostly have to guess).”
Broderick Turner and Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “It didn’t look great last week for Odom’s return to the Lakers after the franchise yanked its offers of three years and $30 million or four years and $36 million, with the fourth year only partially guaranteed. But the sides began communicating in a more positive light Wednesday. Financial details were not immediately available, though the Lakers were not expected to have improved their initial offers. If anything, the offers might have dropped slightly. Odom, who will be 30 in November, was a key part of the Lakers’ championship run, and his teammates, including Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, have unilaterally expressed a desire for his return. On the other hand, the Lakers are conscious about veering too far into luxury-tax territory. They have already allocated $83.8 million to 12 players next season, which would mean an additional luxury-tax penalty of $13.9 million. Last season, the Lakers’ payroll was $78.2 million and they paid an additional $7.2 million in luxury taxes.”
Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian: “Oden is coming off an inconsistent rookie season and just about anyone interested in the Blazers is wondering if — and how quickly — Oden’s work this summer will translate to a noticeable development of his game. ‘We know he has been working hard this summer,’ Pritchard said. ‘He’s put in some work — really good work — with Coach (Bill) Bayno this summer. We want to see some improvement.’ The 7-foot, 285-pound Oden averaged 8.9 points, seven rebounds and 1.13 blocked shots in 61 games last season. He proved he could be a force on the court, particularly on defense, during some games. ‘We want to see him run the floor and do the things he does best. Playing defense, being an effective rebounder — offensive boards and putbacks,’ Pritchard said. ‘We’re looking to see him be able to guard a couple of different positions and be the physical presence down low like we know he is.’ Oden’s presence was limited last season; he averaged 21.5 minutes and nearly four fouls. ‘We know that when he plays and plays more than 22 minutes, our success rate goes up,’ Pritchard said.”
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star: “The sad thing is, I remember Tinsley’s rookie year, when he was — gag — picked one spot ahead of somebody named Tony Parker. In those early days, Tinsley looked like something special. He was the quintessential point guard, a pass-first guy with impeccable ball-handling skills. I can recall an early-season game his rookie year when he made a full-court bounce pass ahead to a streaking teammate, a play that inspired Pacers executive David Morway to gush, ‘This guy’s gonna be something.’ Shoot, we all thought that. But in the end, Tinsley’s best basketball came in those first 30 or 40 games. Then, for whatever reason, he floundered. He was always hurt or sick. He was always fighting his conditioning. He never got a taste for playing defense. And every so often, he’d forget he was in the NBA and resort to Rucker Park foolishness. In the end, Tinsley outmaneuvered the Pacers by doing absolutely nothing, by sitting on his backside and collecting paychecks.”
Brian Robb of CelticsHub: “Stephon Marbury is not worth the biannual exception. That may seem like a harsh assessment but it is the truth. His inconsistent play combined with a down economy has left most teams looking to shed excess dollars. A few years ago, the market for a reclamation project like Marbury would have been more promising for the former Knick. For a couple million dollars, someone could have been willing to take a flier on Marbury becoming a competent NBA point guard once again after sitting out the majority of last season. Right now though, we are talking about a guy in Starbury who is 32 years old and shot 34% from the field last year and 24% from downtown. Do I think those numbers will go up next year? In the right spot with the right team, absolutely. I wouldn’t be willing to bet the farm on it though, and to be honest I just don’t think there are many of those situations out there for him. There are clearly far fewer than Marbury himself anticipated going into free agency as it appears few if any teams have come knocking.”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “A Spanish Web site reported Wednesday that Cavaliers’ first-round draft pick Christian Eyenga has signed a new contract with DKV Joventut in Spain. Sportando.net, which tracks basketball in Europe, said the 6-5 shooting guard signed a three-year contract less than a week after completing summer league with the Cavs. The Plain Dealer was unable to independenly confirm the report Wednesday night. In an interview last week, Eyenga declined to discuss his contract situation. The Cavs will maintain his rights but it is still unclear whether the contract has opt-out clauses or a significant buyout to come to the NBA. After drafting him with the 30th overall pick in the first round on June 25, the Cavs seemed content to let Eyenga develop over in Europe for at least a year. After seeing him perform in the Vegas Summer League, where he averaged 8.8 points and shot 47 percent, a source said the Cavs wanted to sign him to his slotted two-year, $2 million contract so he could work on his game spliting time between Cleveland and Erie, Pa., in the NBA Development League.”
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “The most likely way around Rubio’s buyout dilemma are commercial endorsements that could offset — and then some — the price Rubio must pay from his own pocket to earn his freedom. The most the Timberwolves can pay because of NBA rules is $500,000. A Spanish media report said Wednesday that Kahn went to Spain with a list of Minnesota companies willing to sign Rubio to endorsement deals for a sum totaling $4 million, which could pay all or most of a renegotiated deal with DKV Joventut. NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver reportedly was involved in a meeting last week in Las Vegas that included Kahn, Fegan and Wolves owner Glen Taylor. Before he left for Spain, Kahn was asked if he was headed overseas with a list of endorsement deals for Rubio that would get the buyout solved, and if Silver was involved in the meeting to advise what is permitted within NBA rules in such matters. Kahn answered no to both questions. ‘We cannot circumvent the salary cap and we cannot pay him more than $500K,’ Kahn said in a text message. ‘Like any player, he is entitled to obtain his own sponsorship deals locally, nationally.’”
Kyle Weidie of Truth About It: “The buzz around ‘the’ dunk has been building for what seems like months now …. Twitter, blog posts, FaceBook groups, national media attention, and the like. And now that the masses have actually seen the Jordan Crawford over LeBron James dunk, the Internet is predictably calling it over-hyped and overrated. Sorry J.E. Skeets, maybe ‘anticlimactic’ has a seat at the table, but words like ‘over-hyped’ and ‘overrated’ are irrelevant. Sure, they could be used to describe a grainy video of a far-away jam. But the dunk was never the point. The confiscated videos, the cover-up, the absurdity, the protectionism, the Danny Snyder-esque power play for control by LeBron and Nike … these are the reasons for the sensational explosion from the furthest corners of the World Wide Web to the creases of the couches from which bloggers blog.”
Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press: “Even if they wanted to play, James, Wade and Bosh might think it better to take next summer off if they choose free agency. Players could get injured, which kept Bryant on the sidelines in 2006 and knocked out Paul, Wade and Bosh the next summer. So Krzyzewski said the teams he brings to Turkey and London will look different, no matter who plays. ‘It’s not going to be the same makeup, because even if we had all 12 guys back, they’re older,’ he said. ‘Roles are changed, so if we get that main group of seven or eight guys, how are they complemented now in their careers?’ Krzyzewski said one consideration could be the age of the bench. Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozer were three of the oldest players on the team, and the Americans could look to get younger by adding players from the minicamp they’re holding this week.”
Dan Levin of The New York Times: “With 1.3 billion potential fans, China is increasingly seen as a financial promised land for N.B.A. stars through endorsement deals, and the league itself has established a robust organization here valued at $2 billion. But China’s own professional league, the Chinese Basketball Association, has hardly enjoyed a smooth ascendance alongside this country’s basketball boom. American players and agents describe broken contracts, unpaid wages, suspicions of game-fixing and rising resentment toward foreign players. Several players have left China after failing to receive paychecks. Last month, the league announced that it lost $17 million last season, which ended in May. Players and coaches in China’s professional league said problems escalated last season after the association loosened salary and court-time restrictions on foreign players, part of an effort to heighten the game’s appeal to China’s growing N.B.A fan base and to bring in more lucrative sponsorship deals. The association also hoped the prowess of imported players would help bolster China’s basketball prospects for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The efforts yielded conflicting results. TV ratings soared, and foreign players found starring roles — the top 15 scorers were non-Chinese, and players like Bonzi Wells and Dontae’ Jones — who had less than stellar N.B.A. careers — frequently scored more than 40 points a game. At the same time, the dominance of foreign players fueled frustration. ‘Foreigners should play supporting roles, not dominate the game,’ said Zhang Xiong, director of operations for the Chinese Basketball Association.”
