The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:
1. Middle man: I guess no one in the NBA celebrates the 4th of July? You could practically hear this exchange:
Neil, your hot dog's getting cold!
I'll be right there!
For Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey and executives from the Pelicans and Kings, there was work to be completed Thursday. The result was an Independence Day deal that sent Tyreke Evans to the Pelicans, Greivis Vasquez to the Kings and brings Robin Lopez to Portland.
The Blazers sent the rights to second-round draft pick Jeff Withey to New Orleans and two future second-round draft picks to Sacramento.
Apparently Olshey wasn't the only one taking time away from July 4th celebrations to ponder Blazers doings as the story on the deal by The Oregonian's Joe Freeman and a column on it by John Canzano both drew more than 200 comments.
The reactions have been quite a mixed bag, some praising Olshey for, as Canzano wrote, making a deal without giving up all that much, others disappointed that the Blazers didn't get a different center, many mentioning the Rockets' Omer Asik.
Asik was never going to be easy to get. The Rockets' are laser-focused on signing Dwight Howard, and they've either cleared enough cap space, or are a few waives away from doing so. However, the Rockets also have to leave open the possibility of doing a sign-and-trade with the Lakers, and Asik could be a usable piece that Houston needs to hang onto to keep their options open.
Instead of waiting that out, with no real guarantee, the Blazers got Lopez while that door was still open.
Is this a home run? No, but the Blazers did a get a center who could help them. Lopez started all 82 games and averaged 11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 26 minutes a game, all career-highs. It's hard to really flesh out his numbers, though, as New Orleans played at snail's pace, ranking No. 30 in the league in pace.
Lopez is a 7-foot center with five years of NBA experience who's played in two completely different styles with the Suns and Hornets.
Also, Lopez brings an attractive contract that will pay him $10.5 million over the next two seasons. The contract will become fully guaranteed on July 15 (if the Blazers waive him before before then, they would only owe him $500,000, but that's surely not going to happen).
ESPN's Marc Stein reported that Lopez has a trade kicker and will be owed $1,568,999. Stein writes that the Blazers will have to pay the bonus, but by my reading of the new CBA, because Lopez signed the deal last summer, after the new CBA was in effect, New Orleans will have to pay it.
However, in one of those CBA quirks, it appears the kicker would have to be added to Portland's salary cap, divided over two seasons, which would shave slightly more off? its remain room.
The Blazers, by the way, have called a Monday news conference to introduce CJ McCollum, their first-round draft pick. Some of us found it odd that they did not say that second-round picks Allen Crabbe and Withey would also be introduced, and I guess we see why with Withey. Who know what that means for Crabbe.
2. Go tell it to the mountain: Dwight Howard, all his meetings with suitors done, is holed up in Aspen, Colo., trying to make the decision on which team he will play for next season and beyond.
There's been media speculation that Howard could make a decision today, but that might just be guys hoping for this to not drag into the weekend. It's unclear if any of the teams could be considered a front-runner.
The Lakers seem to have fallen out of favor, and some of the blame might go to Kobe Bryant. During the Lakers' pitch, Bryant told Howard that he would teach the center how to be a champion, that "you have to learn how it's done," Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports. That message could have hurt the Lakers' chances of getting Howard back, ESPN's Chris Broussard reports.
Golden State seems to be emerging as a legitimate candidate, a surprise considering they don't have the cap space to sign Howard. But ESPN reports that the Warriors have been furiously trying to clear money by trading Andrew Bogut ($14 million due next season), Richard Jefferson ($11 million) and Andris Biedrins ($9 million). Utah is apparently interested in Bogut.
[UPDATE, 1 p.m.: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Warriors have agreed to a deal that would send Jefferson and Biedrins to Utah. Instead of Howard, however, Golden State used its space to agree to a four-year, $48 million deal with Andre Iguodala. If the Warriors are to get Howard, the only way now would be to entice the Lakers into a sign-and-trade.]
Golden State could also try to get a sign-and-trade done with the Lakers, who could be forced to look at that scenario.
The one real unknown in the Howard sweepstakes has been Dallas. ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon reports that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has kept a tight lid on leaks, which explains why there have been no anonymously-sourced reports about how Dallas' meeting with Howard went. "We don't test the waters in the media," Cuban tells MacMahon. "We don't troll on Twitter."
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is active on Twitter, and he sent out out a link to a YouTube plea from "Big Bang Theory" actor Jim Parsons, a big Rockets fan:
3. The big surprise: In this day and age, it's hard to pull off a genuine surprise in the NBA, but the Celtics sure did by hiring Brad Stevens as coach.
Stevens' entire head coaching resume is 13 years at Butler, a smallish college (enrollment 4,500) in Indiana that has had great success under him, getting to the NCAA championship game in 2010 and '11.
As the Boston Globe's Christoper Gasper writes, plenty of college coaches have made the move to the NBA and flopped, including Rick Pitino with the Celtics. Stevens has never played or coached in the NBA, so there is a steep, steep learning curve for him.
With Doc Rivers off to the Clippers, Boston's president of basketball operations Danny Ainge went way out on a limb, but it's apparently not a rash decision. Ainge has had Stevens on his radar for years, the Globe's Baxter Holmes reports.
The big question for Stevens is, can he get the best out of Rajon Rondo, the Celtics' mercurial point guard. Stevens, 36, said at his introductory news conference this morning that he had already spoken to Rondo and added, "There is no bigger fan of Rajon Rondo than me."
4. The big signing: One big free-agent center did make a decision this week as Al Jefferson agreed to a three-year, $40.5 million deal with Charlotte. The deal includes a third-year player option.
This is unprecedented stuff for Bobcats, with Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell calling it the "boldest and most expensive free-agent acquisition in the franchise?s decadelong history."
ESPN's Stein reports that the Bobcats will us the amnesty clause on forward Tyrus Thomas, who has two years and $18 million left on his contract. Thomas, of course, was originally drafted by the Blazers in 2006, then immediately traded to Chicago as part of a package that brought LaMarcus Aldridge to Portland. Thomas has never come close to fulfilling his potential, but for whatever reason, Charlotte gave him a five-year, $40 million extension in 2010.
The Observer's Tom Sorenson, who had written that he hoped the Bobcats would not sign Jefferson, writes that the Bobcats could be good in two years.
Maybe so. Jefferson is a rarity in the NBA these days -- an offensive center who scores in the post. The Bobcats drafted Cody Zeller, who could be a stretch-four complement to Jefferson's post game, so maybe Jefferson can put up some big numbers. He is not, however, a very good defender.
5. Ex-Blazers check: The Knicks have made a habit of stocking up on players who once played for the Blazers (last season, they had Raymond Felton, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace), and they could add another.
The New York Post reports that the Knicks are considering signing Sebastian Telfair as a third point guard behind Felton and Pablo Prigioni.
Since being drafted out of high school by Portland in 2004, Telfair has played on seven NBA teams, including Phoenix and Toronto last season. Joining the Knicks would surely be special for the Brooklyn native, though.
Another former Blazers point guard, Nolan Smith, will play for the Celtics in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Dukereport.com's Chris Summerville notes that Smith was on the Duke team that beat Steven's Butler squad in the 2010 NCAA final.
The Orlando summer league starts play Sunday, and there will be few other familiar faces. Former Blazers point guard Jonny Flynn will on Indiana's squad. Former Oregon standout Arsalan Kazemi will play for the 76ers, who drafted him in the second round.
Another former Duck, Michael Dunigan, will play for Miami. He was in training camp with Memphis last season, but was waived, then played in Australia and the Philippines.
The Orlando league is small, with 10 franchises sending 12 teams, and is not open to the public. The bigger Las Vegas Summer League -- with 22 teams, including Portland -- starts a week from today.
Rosters for Vegas are slowly trickling out. Golden State's has a familiar name -- Craig "Rhino" Smith, who played for the Blazers in 2011-12. Smith, 29, played in Israel and China after leaving the Blazers and is apparently willing to play with young guys for a chance to get back in the league.
Surely there's enough whimsy in the league that there's room for a burly, 6-7 power forward who for a while spoke entirely in the third person, using his nickname.
-- Mike Tokito
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2013/07/nba_high-5_388.html
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