Tom Ziller of FanHouse: “How a trade will affect someone’s individual numbers seems like a minor concern, a question for the bored or insane. But when it comes to Chris Paul, and more specifically Chris Paul’s passing, and even more specifically Chris Paul’s alley oops, the value of discussion covers a wider swath of basketball fandom. Paul-to-Tyson Chandler is such an infamous part of today’s NBA that we mourned its loss the last time Chandler got traded. The conventional wisdom is that while Chandler is bombastic in the air, a true finisher, incoming Hornet Emeka Okafor is seen more as a deliberate, below-the-rim pivot player. That would seem to bode poorly for our visions of soft lobs and vicious hammers, and also for Paul’s assist numbers. But actually, Okafor will probably help Paul on offense. The reasoning is that while Okafor isn’t known as a prolific finisher like Chandler, Okafor is actually quite a good finisher. Last season, he had 135 dunks in 82 games, or 1.6 dunks per game. Chandler had 89 dunks in 45 games, or 1.9 dunks per game.”
Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer: “Despite the fact that Okafor has been more productive over his NBA career than Chandler, I’ve not been a huge Okafor fan for the past several years. I would argue that he never really improved since that standout rookie season. So I would say this is a worthwhile gamble for the Bobcats. On its face, it’s not a good deal. But I think it ultimately will become one (and it certainly clears out a lot of salary space down the road). But there is one major caveat – Chandler’s health. The Bobcats’ doctors better work him over in the pre-trade physical. Chandler would already have been traded to Oklahoma City this year except that he failed that physical because of a bad big toe. Let’s put it this way: Chandler can be more of a difference-maker than Okafor, but only if he is healthy. Okafor hasn’t missed a game in two seasons. Chandler missed 37 last season. To me, this trade provides evidence that coach Larry Brown got frustrated enough with Okafor that he just didn’t feel like he could win with him in the middle. For all of Okafor’s smarts – he was an academic star at Connecticut and carried a dictionary with him on the road – his basketball instincts were suspect.”
Mike Barrett of Blazers.com: “As I mentioned, while in Las Vegas, I had a former NBA general manager tell me that he considers Blake ‘the most underrated point guard in the NBA,’ and claimed to have the numbers to prove it. Most people have assumed, since the Miller signing, that he’ll walk into training camp with the starting job in his back pocket. So, I asked McMillan if those people are correct. He also gave the popular answer of the evening- ‘no.’ And, he actually took it a step further. ‘I’ve talked to Andre about that,’ said McMillan, and clearly this was addressed at the team’s meeting with Miller in Las Vegas. ‘I think starting is overrated. You try to get a starting unit that works, and a bench unit that works. Our starting unit last year won 54 games. We’re not going to mess with that starting unit,’ McMillan continued. ‘I anticipate that we’ll start out the same way, with Brandon and Steve as our guards, and then bring Andre and Rudy as the guards off our bench. Bringing them in with Martell or Travis in that second unit, as more of a running unit, would be a good combination.’”
Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game: “If you ask Drew Gooden to guard one guy and never budge from that one assignment, he’d be fine. The reason why Gooden is often considered troubling on D is because NBA defenses are so much more complex than that. There are specific rotations to be learned, patterns of help D that are primarily effective against certain players, and techniques used to slow not only your man, but the entire opposing team. These are the areas in which Drew Gooden ultimately falls a little short. He’s not disastrous enough in these regards to fall out of a rotation entirely, but still sufficiently limited in accomplishing the goals of team defense. And in spite of all of the weaknesses I’ve listed out for you, I still feel 100% comfortable saying that Drew Gooden is a boon for the Mavs. Gooden’s low-post scoring is superior to every other Mav on the roster; he knows how to score and has a nose for the ball coming off the glass. These are not only marketable skills for a center (and make no mistake, the Mavs don’t sign Drew Gooden without the notion that he will play some center), but paramount ones.”
Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: “Marquis Daniels has agreed to come to the Celtics, and his former team, the Indiana Pacers, have agreed to sweeten the pot for the player by cooperating in a sign-and-trade deal. The only problem is Indiana’s compensation. Two league sources confirmed yesterday the Celtics and Pacers are seeking a third team to facilitate the trade. The problem is believed to be Indiana’s lack of interest in guard Tony Allen, whom the Celtics offered to the Pacers. The Celtics also reportedly have attempted to include guard Gabe Pruitt and forward Bill Walker in the package. Though in the market for another wing player, the Pacers want something the Celtics aren’t willing to offer. The Pacers, beset by past citizenship issues, reportedly are reluctant to bring in Allen. The guard’s offcourt issues, including death threats in Chicago that required extra bench security during last spring’s playoffs, cut against the grain of Pacers president Larry Bird’s attempt to move away from the legacy of Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “By now, Theo Ratliff is used to the drill. At various other points in his 14-season pro career, he has also done the turn-your-head-and-cough routine in Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Boston and Minnesota. The welcome-to-the-team physical has been roughly the same in each locale, as thorough as it is monotonous. ‘Lots of checks and balances,’ Ratliff said with a chuckle after his latest exam ended late Monday afternoon. Well-traveled and well-heeled, Ratliff arrives in San Antonio in search of the one significant bauble that has eluded him. A championship. Ratliff, the 6-foot-10 center who signed a one-year, veteran-minimum deal with the Spurs last week, did so because he believes the team gives him the best chance of putting an exclamation point on his long and winding career. ‘Just to be in a position going into the season where you know you have a chance to be playing in that final game, that’s something I haven’t had in a long time,’ said Ratliff, 36. ‘That’s more important than anything.’”
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “I still believe, based on recent conversations I’ve had with people who haven’t taken the vow of radio silence some of the principals in the negotiations have, that Odom will be back with L.A. The Miami gambit is merely his best leverage at getting the Lakers to sweeten their offer. But financially, he can still make the most with the Lakers. Earlier today, I spoke with a league source who said Odom may be toying with the idea of signing with Miami and testing free agency again in three years. If he thinks he can get a new contract after that third year, for more money, the financial picture starts to match up better. With the way the league’s finances are going though, and the fact Odom will be 32 in three years, I can’t see him getting a better offer later. Which makes that idea a huge gamble. The only other reason I can see Odom bolting is if he’s emotionally disappointed by how the Lakers handled the process. If he’s hurt they didn’t give him what he asked for, and merely likes the public courting the Heat have done. Odom is a loyal guy, and an emotional guy, so it’s hard to know his state of mind. But he’s also a businessman, who has been successful in several different fields. I think that wins out in the end.”
Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer: “The supporting cast for James is shaping up the way General Manager Danny Ferry hoped it might this summer, but there’s nothing new on whether James will be in Cleveland beyond 2010. The Cavaliers offered James a contract extension July 18, the first day possible to extend up to a three-year, $65 million offer on his most recent contract. James has an option in his contract for the 2010-11 season, and has until June 30, 2010 to extend the deal or pick up his option. Officially, however, neither side will comment on negotiations. ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate to say anything beyond the fact that we’ve talked to [agent] Leon Rose and reached out to LeBron,’ Ferry said Monday at the Cavaliers Youth Fund Golf Classic in Westfield Center. The plan is to build the best team around James in hopes that he’ll stay. With the additions of Shaquille O’Neal, guard Anthony Parker and now Moon, both Ferry and coach Mike Brown seem buoyed by the added athleticism and length. ‘And we didn’t have to give up core guys to achieve that,’ Ferry said.”
