August 28, 2010

Mickael Gelabale scored 16 points, and France made 10 of its last 12 free throws in its 72-66 Group D upset victory over Spain on Saturday, the first day of games at the world championships in Turkey.
Spain built a 12-point lead early in the second quarter, but France used a 9-0 run to tie the game at 25-25, and it was close the rest of the way.

Spain, the tournament’s defending champion, is playing without the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol. Spain is ranked No. 3 in the world and France No. 15.

Take it for what it's worth, but the Wizards recently made an obligatory call to the Denver Nuggets to check on the availability of all-star forward Carmelo Anthony, a league source said on Friday. The source added that the Wizards were simply doing their due diligence and that the same phone call was made by "29 teams. Carmelo is pretty good."
Multiple Internet reports  have made it clear that Anthony is looking to move elsewhere. Anthony will earn $17 million in the final year of his deal, but has stalled all summer to sign a $65 million extension with the Nuggets, the only team for which he has played since going third in the 2003 draft.

The likelihood of Anthony returning to play professionally near his home town of Baltimore is on the shady side of slim. Denver has told league executives that it is seeking a package of expiring contracts, future draft picks and young prospects in any deal for its franchise cornerstone.
The Wizards have no plans of trading No. 1 overall pick John Wall and no large expiring contracts of note, while the Nuggets have no interest in taking back bad contracts, which rules out shipping Gilbert Arenas and the four years and $80 million left on his deal. If the Wizards were to assemble an attractive package of young players -- excluding Wall -- there likely wouldn't be a team with enough remaining talent to encourage Anthony to sign an extension in Washington.

"I really don't think they know what they are going to do yet," the source said of the Nuggets.

Masai Ujiri was introduced as the Nuggets' executive vice president of basketball operations on Friday and told the Denver Post that he does not want to trade Anthony and would like to meet with him. "I love Melo," Ujiri told the newspaper. "Carmelo is the Denver Nuggets, he's the city of Denver, he's done so well on this team. So we're going to deal with the issue full force."

The first question people in the United States ask about Ricky Rubio these days is simple: “When is he coming to Minnesota?” The answer is complicated.

Rubio, who was drafted fifth over all by the Timberwolves in 2009, is set to play his second season with F.C. Barcelona, one of the strongest clubs in Europe.

“He has a buyout at the end of next season, and that will be a more appropriate time to talk to him more specifically about that,” Minnesota General Manager David Kahn said. “All in due time. He’s 19.”

Rubio’s buyout is considerably lower than the figure of more than $4 million set by his former team, Joventut. That is important because N.B.A. teams are allowed to pay only $500,000 of a player’s buyout.

But the prospect of an N.B.A. lockout, which some have forecast as a strong possibility for 2011, could interfere. Why would Rubio leave when he can make a hefty salary in Europe?

In the N.B.A. in 2011, he would earn about $2 million, his slotted salary for his draft spot. If Rubio waited until 2012 or was forced to wait because of a lockout, he could earn considerably more.

For three years after a player is drafted, he is essentially locked into a salary slot. It is one reason many European players wait a few years before coming to the United States. That situation could change with a new collective bargaining agreement.

But for now, everyone will wait and see.

“Ricky will be very successful,” Kahn said. “No matter what he does in basketball. I just think in effect he’s been proving himself on someone else’s dime. That’s not such a bad thing.”

LeBron James fled, Chris Bosh bolted and Amar’e Stoudemire drifted away. Chris Paul chirped with envy. Carmelo Anthony grumbled. And N.B.A. executives in every time zone shuddered a bit.

The Summer of LeBron has turned into the Summer of Superstar Discontent and may well become the Off-season That Changed Everything. The N.B.A.’s best players are either relocating or trying to, upsetting the league’s balance of power and undermining a system that was once fine-tuned for parity and stability.

The reckoning will come, as with everything else, at the bargaining table, where owners will try to wrest back control in the next labor deal. Already, there is talk among team executives of franchise tags and heavy financial penalties for players changing teams, measures that are anathema to the players union.

It is unknown whether such measures were part of the owners’ initial proposal, but they will surely be introduced as the two sides haggle in the coming months. The current collective bargaining agreement expires next July.

By then, Anthony could be wearing a new uniform, adding another name to the superstar exodus.

A deal could happen before the season starts in late October, but more likely it will not occur until closer to the trading deadline in February. The wait will be a compelling drama for fans and commentators, but it only adds to the angst for Commissioner David Stern and the league’s owners.

For years, the league has cultivated a system of superstar inertia, providing players every possible incentive to stay put. A player who re-signs with his team is eligible for longer contracts and bigger raises, amounting to as much as $30 million over a six-year deal. With few exceptions, it has been wildly effective.