Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “No matter how many times Kevin Durant states his desire — in newspapers and magazines, on blogs and through his Twitter account — the Thunder star continues to be bombarded with the same question. The wording varies, but the gist is clear: ‘When are you leaving Oklahoma?’ In case you haven’t paid attention over much of the past calendar year, Durant isn’t looking to go anywhere. He’s said as much from the day the Thunder was introduced at media day last fall and made perhaps his strongest statements last week in a Q&A with Slam Magazine. ‘I love this team, man,’ Durant said. ‘This is where I want to be. (General manager) Sam (Presti) is incredible. He’s like another father to me, outside of my real father. Anything I need. He’s always asking if I need anything or how my family is doing. I just like good people like that. He’s not just a GM. He’s more of an everyday guy that is always around. He asks my input on everything, whether it’s about the newest music out or what type of shoes I like. Small stuff like that. I love him, I love the organization and hopefully I can stay as long as possible.’ But statements like those from stars such as Durant in small markets like Oklahoma City go unnoticed or aren’t understood nationally.”
Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune: “Hornets point guard Chris Paul wished he had an answer as to why the team has been inactive in the trade arena during the offseason, but he suggested it might not matter. Paul said he has no issues playing with the same roster the team ended with last season. He doesn’t think it will take an additional piece to turn the Hornets’ fortunes around. It’s more of a team attitude adjustment thing in Paul’s opinion. ‘It wasn’t necessarily that we just needed someone extra, ‘ Paul said Sunday at a basketball court dedication at Hardin Playground in the 7th Ward. ‘We just needed something extra as a team. We could have motivated ourselves a little bit more and figured out different things. It’s not necessarily a person.’ With the exception of the Miami Heat, which has been negotiating with free-agent Lamar Odom, the Hornets are the only team to make the postseason last year that has not made some sort of move whether it be through free agency (including matching offers to free agents) or trade to attempt to improve their chances for the 2009-2010 campaign. ‘It’s a crazy situation, but that’s why the people in the front office get paid the big bucks to make those decisions, ‘ Paul said. ‘I control what I can control. That’s how I go out and perform. When we get to team camp, we’ll see what we have, and we’ll go from there.’”
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: “Sean May left Charlotte Tuesday as a punch line. I’m still deciding whether that says more about May or Charlotte. We’ve become a mature pro-sports town, and mostly that’s a good thing. We have expectations for the Panthers and the Bobcats. That night, in 1988, when the Hornets lost by 40 in their debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers, we gave them a standing ovation. Now it seems quaint. We’ve developed a cynicism, maybe a cruelty, these days that’s sad. May was the 13th pick in 2005. Months earlier, he was the MVP (or whatever term the NCAA uses) at the Final Four. As a Bobcat, he mostly sat in street clothes, rubbing a sore knee. And some of you took great glee in savaging him for it. May is signing with the Sacramento Kings, and probably that’s best for all. He needs a fresh start. Some of you need a fresh target. The fat-boy jokes were turning stale. May asked for it: From the numerous e-mails I got (some including camera-phone images), May spent too many late nights eating and drinking in Charlotte’s entertainment district.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “As everybody knows, Andre Miller was not the Blazers first choice in the free agent market. But from Day 1 of the offseason, he was the No. 1 choice of coach Nate McMillan. ‘Our coach is very happy,” general manager Kevin Pritchard said. McMillan said he felt an instant connection with the free agent point guard. ‘I felt like I kind of knew him already,” McMillan said. ‘Because in a sense, we were similar as players, as far as not being great scorers or shooters, but we made our teams better because of our feel for the game and our I.Q.” Miller’s savvy and basketball IQ are what sold the Blazers on giving him the keys to one of the most efficient offenses in the NBA. It’s not that the Blazers were lacking intelligence from starter Steve Blake – Blake is always among the NBA’s leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio. But now, the Blazers imagine they will have one of the headiest point guard tandems in the league.”
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: “The Knicks and the sparkplug guard Nate Robinson are nearing an agreement on a one-year contract that will pay Robinson $5 million to $6 million, a person close to the negotiations confirmed Sunday. … A sluggish economy and a restricted tag have not been a favorable combination for Robinson and Lee in their pursuit of long-term contracts. Few teams were far enough beneath the salary cap to offer multiyear contracts. Of the teams that were, most shied away from restricted free agents because their money could be tied up for a week and the contract offer could be matched by a restricted free agent’s team. (The Portland Trail Blazers’ offer to Paul Millsap was a notable exception.) If Robinson’s deal is finalized, it will almost certainly end the Knicks’ flirtation with the point guard Ramon Sessions, a restricted free agent from the Milwaukee Bucks. And a deal with Robinson could help Lee’s cause for a long-term deal because Robinson’s contract would not tie up any salary past next season.”
Tom Ziller of FanHouse: “Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that early this week the Knicks will sign Nate Robinson to a one-year deal at $5 million. As no teams have apparently been willing to give Nate the contract he (feels he) deserves, it’s a good solution: Robinson has a job at a strong salary on a team where he can put up numbers, New York maintains some talent while escaping salary commitment beyond 2010. In fact, it’s such a good solution David Lee might want to copy it. Lee has a very simple problem right now: no one has cap space. There’s Oklahoma City and Sacramento. The former is averse to adding big contracts to its young core, and the latter is averse to adding big contracts … period. Portland was a key suitor, but the pairing just didn’t work out for either side, according to reports. Next summer, more teams will be under the cap level and looking to add pieces. Lee’s still young — 26 — and really really consistent. He’ll almost assuredly run another double-double season. There’s no shame in delaying a payday — and recalibrating expectations.”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “Lots of names get tossed around for the Suns’ 13th roster spot (well, 14th until Sasha Pavlovic is waived or traded). It’s probably going to be a while, unless some quality player steps forth and says he wants to play in Phoenix for the minimum. The expectation is that the Suns will go with a point guard or center when they do make a choice, with a big seeming more likely. Goran Dragic was not fabulous in his first NBA Summer League appearance but all they want is to be able to rest Nash for 18 minutes a game. Of course, that’s all Mike D’Antoni, Terry Porter and Alvin Gentry have wanted to do. Gentry has some the closest, getting him down to 33.2 per game after the All-Star break with the aid of being out of it at the end. The Suns might need an emergency banger, who can throw a big body against post-up players and rebound because Lou Amundson is the only Suns frontcourt player who is considered to be a strong rebounder. The interesting dynamic to consider is whether they land a quality guy and try to wedge him into the rotation or aim for a role player who will not be an issue if he is not playing.”
Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “When Fabricio Oberto puts his signature to a contract sometime in the next few weeks, the Washington Wizards’ 2009-10 roster will be set and Team President Ernie Grunfeld’s offseason makeover will be complete. The Wizards will likely enter the season with 14 players who form arguably the deepest team this organization has fielded in 30 years – on paper, at least. And it very well should be at a price tag of almost $86 million ($77.8 million in salary and $7.9 million in luxury tax penalties). Grunfeld entered this summer with a roster of healing stars, some young developing players, some excess foliage on the bench and the No. 5 pick. He turned that into a roster of healing stars, some young developing players and three veterans who can contribute and become regular rotation players. Nineteen wins should become a distant memory next season, and the Wizards are looking at making one of the more dramatic turnarounds in NBA history next season.”
John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: “Andy’s different from most ‘energy’ players because of how well he understands his limitations and plays with intelligence as well as energy. It’s his rotations and hard shows that form the backbone of Mike Brown’s defense, which is absolutely something that has to be established by the starters. He’s also great offensively in the starting lineup; when he’s out there with 4 players as skilled as LeBron, Mo, Delonte, and Z, all of whom are good passers and shooters, he’s free to do what he does extremely well offensively; move without the ball to get layup opportunities and convert inside. Off the bench, Anderson’s defensive prowess would be wasted on weaker offensive units, and he’s only as good offensively as the players around him. And if Anderson and Shaq are out there at the same time, the fact that neither of them can stretch the floor at all is a recipe for disaster offensively. Andy’s a 35% jump shooter, and with his slow, awkward release he doesn’t project to get much better as a shooter. And Shaq is Shaq. Andy will hit that jumper every now and again, and some ball movement could make things passable, but smart defenses are going to be able to dare the Cavs to beat them with an Andy jumper. Over time, that’s a losing proposition.”
Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference.com: “There’s no question that Vince Carter can still play a mean game of ball when healthy and/or motivated. Despite concerns about chronic injuries to his knees and ankles, Carter has missed just 16 games combined over the past five seasons and sat out only twice last year. Offensively, he’s settled into a level of usage below what we were accustomed to seeing from him in his prime, but he’s still a star capable of maintaining a well above-average efficiency level even at 26-27% usage rates. He relies more on the 3-pointer than ever, so it’s nice that he made 38.5% of his shots from deep last season, his best mark since joining the Nets in 2005. Carter’s gradual shift away from attacking the basket with frequency is troubling for a player known as a creative, super-athletic finisher, but he still has the ability to close the deal inside when necessary, and his offensive talents are diverse enough to handle the transition from explosive youngster to a more earth-bound 33-year-old. So Vince’s offense isn’t going to cause Orlando any problems; he was actually much more effective at that end than Hedo Turkoglu, the man whose production he’ll theoretically be replacing, a season ago. The main question, though, is how Orlando’s top-ranked defense will be able to integrate Carter, a guy whose effort on D has never been great and was downright terrible last season.”
