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David Stern: No issues with Heat's Big Three or Arison

12/25/2011 - 9:13pm

He said the statute of limitations has expired when it comes to the machinations that drew James, Wade and Bosh together.

"I think that players who are able to move from team to team because they are free agents, having played under their contracts, their rookie extension, whatever it is, and find a team that is managed well enough to be under the cap, so that it can acquire more than one player, I think that's fine," Stern said.

"And the Heat are an interesting and fun team, so they engender a lot of enthusiasm and following."

The irony was that Stern's first post-lockout appearance came in a game where both owners voted against the new CBA, with Dallas' Mark Cuban one of the four other owners besides Arison who cast a no vote.

"I think Micky cast it because the revenue sharing has some quirks to it that he didn't appreciate and Mark, too," Stern said. "But that's fine. Mark was an important contributor on the labor-relations committee and on the planning committee that yielded the result."

Of Arison, who acknowledged he voted against the deal only after he knew it had already received the required majority, Stern said, "It doesn't send any signal whatsoever."

Then there was Stern's take on James, who insisted his goal this season is to go from polarizing figure to one simply playing for the joy of the game.

"I see a level of acceptance and maturity that is fun to watch somebody grow," Stern said. "He's clearly saying he might have said a few things differently, etc., and he's going to let his talent do the talking for him.

"And I think that's pretty exciting, because he's got some pretty exciting talent. We're happy for him."

On other matters, Stern said he does not see a need for a "franchise" tag in the NBA because the more-stringent luxury tax that kicks in two seasons from now will provide a drag on the market.

"A team that goes into the tax in year three with a $20 million player is going to pay $45 million in tax money," he said. "We'll see who does that."

He also downplayed the recent push for trades from impending free agents, such as Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

"If a player has played a number of years in the league, seven, eight, and he says, 'I don't want to re-sign in this particular city. I have a different choice,' it doesn't concern us at all that he has that option," Stern said. "This league has embraced free agency and has for decades, and that's fine with us."

Florida Sun Sentinel

Knicks' Iman Shumpert out 2-4 weeks

12/25/2011 - 9:07pm

New York Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert will be sidelined for 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL, according to the team.

Shumpert suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Knicks-Celtics game on Sunday and did not return.

"I've never had it before. It's pretty numb," Shumpert said after the Knicks' 106-104 win.

Shumpert's right knee buckled during a collision with Boston's Chris Wilcox. He walked off the floor gingerly and was then helped off of the bench by two Knicks staffers.

"I really don't know how it happened," Shumpert said. "I just remember being in the lane, shot going up, somebody fell into my knee. I think the initial scare was worse than it might be."

Shumpert, the Knicks' first-round draft pick, had 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

ESPN

Shaq calls out Magic GM

12/25/2011 - 11:18am

“I’m keeping my eye on the Orlando situation,’’ said Shaquille O’Neal, himself a former Magic center. “I’m anxious to see if they make the same mistake twice. They just built an arena, $550 million. It’s talks of trading him or keeping him, but I think they should keep him.’’

If you recall, O’Neal used an unusual clause in his contract 15 years ago that made him a free agent after four seasons in Orlando. And despite speculation that he would re-sign with the Magic, he was snatched away by the Lakers. O’Neal has blamed Orlando management for not being aggressive enough to bring him back and assuming he would return because the Magic were an Eastern Conference contender.

He chided the current management, including general manager Otis Smith, saying sarcastically that it “has been doing a good job with that situation’’ regarding Howard.

“Otis got on TV and said, ‘We’re gonna make strides to make this a championship team, but we’re not gonna do what Dwight wants us to do,’ ’’ O’Neal said. “Most general managers that I know always concur with their star players about what needs to go on.

“Otis is going to be famous for making the Rashard Lewis deal and letting Dwight Howard go, and hopefully he doesn’t let him go.

“One, they should show him a little bit more respect. And two, they should really get another dominant player in there.

“If you look at the history of the league, most [successful] teams have had a definite 1-2 punch. Right now in Orlando you only have a 1 punch, so . . .

“No one can really do it by themselves. When you have Otis on TV saying, ‘We’re not going to do what he wants us to do,’ you just give a guy ammunition to say, ‘You know what? I’m tired of this, I want to go somewhere else.’ ’’

The Boston Globe

Pietrus headed to Celtics

12/25/2011 - 11:17am

Just a few minutes after Mickael Pietrus cleared waivers, he agreed to join the Celtics, giving the team's bench a potential replacement for the injured Jeff Green.

Pietrus, 29, was bought out by the Phoenix Suns on Thursday and was a free agent beginning at 6 p.m. today. The Celtics were one of four teams interested in the swingman and he favored the club during the entire process.

"I have decided to be part of The Boston Celtics Family," he wrote on Twitter.

Boston now has a capable backup to Ray Allen at shooting guard and Paul Pierce at small forward. He was almost traded to the Toronto Raptors two weeks ago but the Raptors were concerned about a July knee surgery that had not completely healed.

According to an NBA source, the knee is not seriously damaged and Pietrus is expected to be 100 percent in about two weeks. It is uncertain if he is capable of playing right now. He did not play in either of Phoenix's two preseason games.

The Boston Globe

No homecoming for Nate Robinson

12/25/2011 - 11:15am

The Oklahoma City Thunder waived Seattle native Nate Robinson today after only playing four games with the organization. The Thunder wanted to move on with Eric Maynor as the backup to Russell Westbrook.

Robinson, 27, is now an unrestricted free-agent and free to sign with whomever, but you won't see him pulling a Jamal Crawford homecoming reunion, according to the Portland Trail Blazers acting GM.

“That is not something we'll look at,” Buchanan told CSNNW.com. “We're going in a different direction and we're happy with our team right now.”

CSNNW.com

Jordan’s shadow hangs over new NBA season

12/25/2011 - 11:13am

Jordan was a silent, but hard-driving owner in the NBA’s labor lockout, determined to beat up the sport’s players in the board room the way that he always did on the court. All these years later, the Chicago Bulls are a championship contender again, and the residue of the sneaker explosion born out of Jordan’s marketability probably makes the title path a little tougher for the Bulls.
For now, Dwight Howard has delivered the Magic a list of three teams that can trade for him this season with the assurance he’ll sign a contract extension with them: the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have the most attractive package of young players – and the possibility of draft picks – for the Magic, but the NBA that Jordan created for superstar players is a significant part of the reason that Howard will take a pass on Chicago.

Adidas has two franchise endorsers: Derrick Rose and Howard. Rose signed a $94 million extension with the Bulls, and sources say Adidas is working on a lifetime shoe deal for him now.

And as one high-ranking sneaker executive says, “Adidas simply cannot have its two signature players on the same team in the same market. … Derrick is the face of that market, owns that market, and Adidas can’t possibly have maximum bang for its buck with Dwight there.

“It serves Adidas no purpose. They need them as rivals in competing markets.”
Howard knows this, too. He has an Adidas renewal on deck in the next year, and Los Angeles and Brooklyn guarantee him maximum money. The shoes aren’t the sole season, but it’s a reality. In an NBA where the owners want the superstars worth $50 million and more to make far less than market value, it’s hard to imagine you’ll get them to take far less on endorsements.

And as had been the case with LeBron James’ free agency, Rose will never go out of his way to convince Howard this is a trade that he ought to push. “Derrick is too loyal to the guys he plays with to get involved with doing that,” a source close to Rose said. “It wasn’t his nature [to recruit] with LeBron, and it still isn’t now.”

For the record, Adidas’ vice president for global basketball, Lawrence Norman, says: “As a partner, we’re completely supportive of Dwight with whatever decision he makes. He’s an outstanding partner with broad appeal to fans across the world.”

Norman is telling the truth: Adidas will still pay Howard well wherever he winds up, but Orlando and Chicago won’t get him paid and marketed the way Los Angeles and Brooklyn will.

Yahoo Sports

Lakers face uphill battle in tough conference

12/25/2011 - 9:24am

“We almost have to be perfect this season,” Kobe Bryant said Wednesday night at dinner. “There’s little margin for error.”

His damaged right wrist that supposedly can’t get worse with game use/abuse, the team medical staff maintains (famous last words), fractioned that margin. This could get unsightly and unfriendly real fast.

Lamar Odom was donated to the defending champion Mavs without receiving so much as a squeaky working part in exchange. There’s a conspicuous nonexistence of a bouncy, brainy orchestrator, like, say, Chris Paul or Chauncey Billups, to stage-manage Mike Brown’s revamped offense (as opposed to clear-it-out-and-let-LeBron-go-one-on-one) and stay in front of dribbling machines. Andrew Bynum is suspended for the first four games and operates on 25-year-old, four-time surgically repaired knees. Pau Gasol is in a flamin’ funk in the wake of nearly being extradited to Houston after contributing decidedly to two titles and three Finals forays in four seasons. And World Peace is finding it Mettaphysically impossible to shoot as well as Ron Artest did.

It sure looks like management is more interested in decreasing luxury tax debt — saving $17.8 million this season in Odom’s case — than winning it all this season, Kobe lamented.

“Hopefully, management knows what it’s doing and will provide us with our missing pieces,” Bryant said. “Hey, I’m just a player. I have no input concerning anything that happens here. In fact, I learned we’d hired our coach from reading it online. I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with Jimmy [Buss, managing owner]. Occasionally, I’ll cross paths with Mitch [Kupchak, general manager] and we’ll speak for a couple minutes about nothing really.

“I’ve never known what’s going on. That’s why I went public [in May 2007] and demanded a trade. When it became obvious to me that management wasn’t trying to compete for a championship, I felt my only recourse was to embarrass [owner Jerry Buss] into doing it.” Hence the hijacking of Gasol from Memphis.

“No, we’re going to be perfect,” he said. “I have a good feeling about how things are going to turn out.”

 

 

New York Post

Another loss for 2006 class

12/25/2011 - 4:22am

Brandon Roy was the shining star from the 2006 draft, reaching the All-Star Game twice in his first three years. But chronic knee problems felled the Trail Blazer, who was forced to retire this month.

Roy’s departure just adds to the misery of that draft, which has been the worst in recent memory.

Of the 30 first-round picks, 15 are now out of the NBA.

Andrea Bargnani was the No. 1 overall pick, and while he is a productive player, he has never been close to making an All-Star Game. Second pick LaMarcus Aldridge, Roy’s teammate in Portland, was swapped on draft night for Tyrus Thomas, the fourth pick.

Adam Morrison was the third pick. Shelden Williams was fifth and he quickly turned into an NBA journeyman. Roy, chosen sixth, was the jewel of the class but was forced to retire after just four years.

Other first-round busts include former Celtic Patrick O’Bryant, Mouhamed Sene, Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, Oleksiy Pecherov, Quincy Douby, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Sergio Rodriguez, and Mardy Collins.

The final pick of the round, Joel Freeland, was a British standout who never came over to play in the NBA - rather apropos for this draft.

Obviously, if teams had a do-over, Rajon Rondo (drafted by Phoenix at 21 and traded to the Celtics) and Paul Millsap (47th overall by Utah) would be in the top 10.

The Boston Globe

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