beav

I've had josh smith on my team the last two years (last year drafted him, and traded for him the year before)... He has made a huge difference for me with blocks. He is pretty much the best shotblocker in the league outside of the center position(and frankly better than most centers). And given that blocks are the most scarce commodity and he gets you steals I'm usually a bit less concerned about his other numbers. I picked him in the late 3rd last year but am probably going to have to jump on him earlier this year.

Ouch! The Blazers couldn't even edge out the Kings and the Grizzles? LOL! It's still early, but the Western Conference has been mostly quiet this summer as several teams wait for mid-tier free agents to make up their minds. Among the top contenders, only the Rockets have been particularly active. Otherwise the biggest shakeups have occurred at the bottom of the standings, where Minnesota, Portland and Seattle have radically altered their lineups. Here's one man's view of the West race, as of right now, with the caveat that there are more moves (albeit relatively minor ones) in the pipeline for several teams: 1. SPURS: They haven't added much new blood this offseason, instead re-signing Fabricio Oberto, Jacque Vaughn and Matt Bonner. Then again, the defending champs don't need to make major changes. As long as Tony Parker doesn't decide to run off somewhere with his new bride Eva, they should be just fine. 2. MAVS: They also haven't shaken things up after winning a league-best 67 games a year ago. They re-signed Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George, and will hope the bitter finishes of the past two postseasons can give them the edge they need to get over the top. 3. SUNS: After dangling Shawn Marion and Amaré Stoudemire in an effort to land Garnett, they ultimately are left with the core intact while adding Grant Hill via free agency. Of course, keeping this team together might prove to be a good idea. Steve Nash probably has at least one more MVP-type campaign left in those 33-year-old legs. 4. JAZZ: Coming off that terrific run to the conference finals, they didn't want to do anything to break the mojo. It's still possible they could look to deal Andrei Kirilenko, especially after losing out on free agent Morris Peterson (who signed with the Hornets), but most likely they will keep it together and hope another Morris (Almond) can fill their need for outside shooting. 5. ROCKETS: New GM Daryl Morey has added solid pieces in veterans Steve Francis and Mike James and Argentine power forward Luis Scola, who was acquired in a trade with the Spurs. If Bonzi Wells doesn't go AWOL again, new coach Rick Adelman should have some more depth to go with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. 6. NUGGETS: They made their splash last winter by acquiring Allen Iverson from the Sixers. Their only significant move this summer has been to sign point guard Chucky Atkins, who replaces the departed Steve Blake. With Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, Nenê and a healthy Kenyon Martin, it should be enough to keep them in the Western mix. 7. WARRIORS: It's tempting to rate them higher after the way they tore through the West down the stretch and slayed the Mavs in the playoffs. But Baron Davis is injury-prone, Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus remain unsigned, and they might miss Jason Richardson (traded to Charlotte) more than they think. They better hope that Italian sharpshooter Marco Belinelli doesn't play like a rookie. 8. LAKERS: Despite Kobe Bryant's pleas, they have not yet been able to do anything major to get him the help he needs. Derek Fisher is only going to help so much. Bryant and a healthy Lamar Odom should be enough to get them to the playoffs, but it's hard to imagine them doing much better as presently constituted. 9. HORNETS: Despite a wave of injuries, they came on strong late last season and still almost made the playoffs. GM Jeff Bower then went out and signed Peterson to fill their hole at shooting guard, giving Chris Paul another weapon to go with Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, David West and Tyson Chandler. But can they stay healthy? 10. CLIPPERS: Which team are they? The feisty Cinderella who won 47 games two years ago, or the lackadaisical outfit that backslid to a 40-42 mark a year ago? Hard-working Elton Brand will give them a chance to return to the postseason, but their only significant addition has been No. 14 pick Al Thornton. 11. GRIZZLIES: They added one of the big catches in the free-agent market in power forward Darko Milicic. He should join with Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay and Mike Miller to get them back to respectability after a dismal 2006-07 campaign. But young point guards Mike Conley Jr. and Kyle Lowry will have to learn on the fly. 12. KINGS: Despite trade rumors involving Mike Bibby and Ron Artest, they have stood pat so far. GM Geoff Petrie did fill their need for more size by adding free-agent center Mikki Moore and 7-foot first-round pick Spencer Hawes, but coach Reggie Theus still faces a tough job in his first season. 13. BLAZERS: Top pick Greg Oden hasn't been their only significant addition. New GM Kevin Pritchard also stockpiled two other first-round picks in Rudy Fernandez and Petteri Kopenen, as well as veterans Blake, James Jones and Channing Frye (the last in a trade for Zach Randolph). 14. SONICS: Like their Pacific rivals, they too have gone into full rebuilding mode behind top rookies Kevin Durant (No. 2 overall) and Jeff Green (No. 5). New GM Sam Presti also traded for veterans Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Kurt Thomas to replace the departed Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis and help ease the kids' transition. 15. WOLVES: With the KG era officially over, they can get on with the rebuilding. Al Jefferson and Juwan Howard (acquired in a trade with the Rockets) take over at power forward, while top rookie Corey Brewer joins a whole bunch of young players who figure to need a lot of time to grow.

Brand Ruptures Achilles Tendon August 3, 2007 - 7:25 pm RealGM Staff Report - Los Angeles Clippers ' forward Elton Brand ruptured his left Achilles tendon today during his regular daily workout at Spectrum Club South Bay. Plans for Brand to undergo surgery to repair the injury are underway, the details of which will be made available by the team as soon as they are finalized. [READ]

Quote: How would you feel if you were Juwan Howard who just signed with Minnesota thinking he was going to play with KG? I think that he was traded...for mike james...

The biggest question for me is whether or not Marbury is more egomaniacal or more delusional. Seriously. MINN drafted marbury with every intention of pairing him with garnett their entire careers...the same age, high talent level etc...marbury said all of the right things then after about his 2nd year he just could not play in that market anymore...it was too cold, too small etc etc whine whine, preen preen...and they had little choice but to ship their little egotistical child out of town before his attitude destroyed the team. Regarding his "cuz", telfair is frankly lucky to be on an nba roster right now. Boston gave him his walking papers last year, only to "reconcile" in vegas this summer... anybody think that was only to use him as trade bait? Telfair never showed much on portland other than a little potential (certainly nothing to justify being a late lottery pick) and seems to have had more than a few off court issues. He's damn lucky to see 15 minutes a game for anyone outside of an overseas team.

Quote: Quote: Walter basically insulted Chillz just as he has insulted me at every turn in the past. I think this banning has been a long time coming. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Given yaur "insulting athers" criterio, why da yau think yau're still ollawed an here? I volue yaur pasts immensely (I believe yau were tap 3 an my 'best howksquowkers list'?) but yau connat soy with o stroight foce thot yau da nat sametimes insult pasters. Neither con I. Wow...that vowel substitution thingie is even more annoying than when it was initially advertised/threatened. Given that it appears that WallyWorld is not offically banned as of yet could there be a bit of a cease-fire?

You're right AHF, apology offered on the Knicks guffaw to Diesel!!!

Quote: But I believe that they can make it with healthy players. Here are my top 8 Eastern teams (when healthy) in my opinion (Not in order): 1. Boston 2. NY 3. Toronto 4. Washington 5. Chicago 6. Orlando 7. Atlanta 8. Philly I think that Detroit, NJ, Miami, Cleveland and Indiana are all on the downward spiral. LOL! CLE not in the Top 8?!?!? That is hilarious! NY second best! ROFLMAO!!!!! Other than those truly priceless gems however you make some good points... As I stated the moment that trade went down Boston is the new beast of the east... there is not a team in the league that has 3 players of the caliber that they have and they have the luxury of playing in the East. NJ and Detroit are indeed on the wane, and INDY isn't merely on a downward spiral, they will be lucky not to be the worst team in the league (one oneal injury away)... But DET will still make the playoffs IMO.. NJ? It all depends on if carter decides to sit out with an occasional hangnail now that he has his final big contract and if jason kidd's father time moment is this season or the next. But if you think for a minute that CLE with the best player in the league (and the nba marquee player that gets the jordanesque calls) will be worse than frakking orlando, philly and the hawks you are certifiable. The only and only way that happens is if lebron gets injured. I repeat... the ONLY way that happens is if lebron misses more than 2 months. The knicks? Oh please that is so silly as to not even be worth a response... we all know where that love is coming from!

well check out the video then!

Quote: But Theus and Moses took shots away from Nique. They didn't play well together at all. The question the C's have, are there enough shots for Pierce, Allen and KG? I don't doubt that KG can share the ball. He's that type of player, but Pierce and Allen are volume shooters, esp Pierce. The Celtics have a very good starting lineup, but I think it will take until late January for them to figure how to play together. Pierce is a fairly unique SF. He is most like Lebron (of course without quite the same level of talent) than anyone else in the league I believe. He has very high assist totals to go along with his scoring. Basically the Celtics offense has flowed through Pierce for years. Pierce is also a very smart player and my guess is that given that he is such an excellent passer and coach on the court you will see his assists total go up as his points go down. Why should he give a damn at averaging 25 pts per game instead of 18 if it gives him a shot at an EC championship as opposed to not even having a shot at the playoffs? Allen and KG are also team oriented players and solid citizen vets that are probably damn eager for their last shot at a ring. Allen should have his scoring totals dip as well of course, but his offensive game is completely different than pierce's as he is inarguably the best pure shooter in the game.

Actually I think that there is very very little chance that all 3 will play for SEA this season. Watson groused about splitting time with ridnour most of the year, so it's doubtful that he will be happy with west added to the mix. West is big enough to play a dual PG backcourt and can guard SGs of course but it not much of a shooter. Ridnour of course plays zero defense but is a strong distributor and shooter. Watson is somewhere between the two. My guess is they trade whoever has the most value before opening tip, but West seems more of a PJ player.

Quote: Meanwhile, I also believe we are handicapped by BK's notoriously awful coaching selection. We certainly do not possess a coaching advantage (no matter how we retain our coaches) over our competition. I won't even begin to discuss our ownership situation. W Good points. While I personally don't think that it makes a ton of sense to worry to terribly about what the competition is doing (it's a long season...injuries happen, iverson gets suspended etc etc etc)... it is indeed more important to worry about what you can control... Which to me is by far the biggest impediment that the Hawks have. Until the ownership situation is cleared up (god only knows when that will be), how can you attract a top-notch coach and/or GM? Still regardless of that if this team had jettisoned knight and woodson same day (say about two minutes after the draft) they'd be looking pretty damn good. They might have been able to bring in a very able and tested bench coach (carlesimo, carlisle etc) regardless of the ownership situation. As far as the GM? Yes there are probably 3-4 worse GMs in the league...big freaking deal. If you can't get someone that is at least average the hawks will remain lottery bound for 5 more years.

Quote: Quote: If you are going to give up the #5 pick in the draft for a veteran player, you might as well go all out in one direction (winning now) rather than having a roster of young, developing players matched with vets in their prime that don't have the talent to win it all. I agree. When they traded for Allen I thought, what's the point in pushing for a 7 or 8 seed for the next two years and then being back where you started? This trade allows the Ray Allen trade to make a lot more sense. Yep it makes the allen trade look a whooooole lot different now. I still feel weird somewhat agreeing with Stephen A Smith on draft night that this wasn't that bad of a trade for Boston. Boston automatically becomes the team to beat in the East IMO.

I liked the Georghes Muresan cologne commercial spoof a lot. On a local level, one of the oldest and biggest advertisers locally here in Portland is Franz White Bread. Arvydas Sabonis used to do some awesome "jolly green giant" like laughing spots for those commercials. Also a few years back they had a pretty funny one with Darius Miles being sent back to the bakery with a hair net and baker's whites to bake up some bread.

Magruder: Did NBA referee fix Suns playoff game? Jack Magruder, Tribune The best way to affect the outcome of a sporting contest is to remove one of the star players. Meaning Game 3 of the Suns’ playoff series in San Antonio on May 12 offers damning evidence against ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy, under investigation for allegations that he bet on games he worked. Amaré Stoudemire scored 21 points in the Suns’ 108-101 loss, but played only 21 minutes because of foul trouble, finishing with five fouls. He was given his first two fouls 34 seconds apart in the first quarter, a theorist’s preemptive first strike, before being effectively eliminated from the game in the second half. Stoudemire received two fouls in the first 1:25 of the third quarter and sat out the rest of the quarter. He got his fifth foul 19 seconds into the fourth quarter. And, oh yes, the Spurs were favored by four.

Read further down to see what a class act Rod Strickland is! Now & then A familiar face sets up shop with the Sonics By kerry eggers Can it be? Can it really be a full decade since P.J. Carlesimo ended his three-year run as coach of the Trail Blazers? “In some ways, it seems like yesterday,” says Carlesimo, the new coach of the Seattle SuperSonics. “In some ways, it seems like a long time ago.” Seems like yesterday that Carlesimo was taking his charges through three successive winning seasons – then an annual tradition in the City of Roses – only to lose each time in the first round of the playoffs. Seems like a long time ago, though, when you consider that Carlesimo has gone through one head coaching job (Golden State), 2 1/2 years in broadcasting, and a five-year stint as lead assistant in San Antonio, which stocked his jewelry chest with three championship rings. Now Carlesimo is back in the Northwest, coaching against the Blazers for the rival Sonics. “And how’s this for irony?” Carlesimo muses over lunch at the Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. “When I interviewed for the Portland job, we did the interview at (Portland owner) Paul Allen’s home in Seattle. With (Sonic General Manager) Sam Presti, the first interview took place at Hotel Monaco in Portland.” Life is much different for Carlesimo now than it was during his time in Portland, when he was a seemingly confirmed bachelor, a denizen of late-night eateries (Jake’s Famous Crawfish, Opus Too, Ringside Steakhouse, Brasserie Montmartre, Genoa, Bugatti’s Ristorante and Il Fornaio, to name a few) and the only NBA head coach with a full beard. Carlesimo, 58, still wears the beard, though more neatly trimmed and now speckled more with gray than red. And his family life is much different. Married for seven years to Carolyn, a sports psychologist, they have two young sons – Kyle, 5, and Casey, 2. “Fatherhood is unbelievable,” Carlesimo says, “but so is being married.” By the time P.J. met Carolyn at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, shortly after he became coach of the Warriors, marriage didn’t seem in the cards. “I had always wanted to get married,” says Carlesimo, one of 10 children in his family. “But I’d gotten so old. I was 51 … if you’d asked me, I’d have said, ‘I want to, but I don’t think I ever will. I don’t think I’m ever going to meet the right one.’ I’d had only two serious relationships my whole life.” Then came Carolyn. “First day I met her, I thought she was the right one,” he says. “She was attractive, I liked her instantly … and I just knew.” The Carlesimos have gone through a health scare. In May 2006, Carolyn was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After bouts with chemotherapy and radiation, she is at the one-year mark for being considered cancer-free. “Five years is what we’re looking for,” Carlesimo says. “For me, going through it was a hopeless feeling. You can’t do anything. Carolyn tolerated the treatments better than most people would, but it was hard for her. She feels and looks great now, and we’re hoping it’s over. That’s all we can do.” Aside from meeting his future wife, everything else about his time in the Bay Area was a big zero. Carlesimo was fired after 2 1/2 years of losing, but sports fans will always remember his tenure there for one reason – the strangling incident involving guard Latrell Sprewell, who went after his coach after a practice. Nine years later, it still haunts Carlesimo. “I would prefer that it hadn’t happened and it wasn’t the case, but I’m resigned to it,” he says. “A day or two after it happened, we realized how big it was going to be. It just took off. Within a week, it was evident it was going to be there forever, when they said my name and Spree’s, that’s how people associate us. It was inevitable.” In the years since, Carlesimo has run into Sprewell a couple of times. The meetings have been brief and cordial. Carlesimo would have it no other way. Team shuffled during tenure Times were much happier in Portland, where Carlesimo leapfrogged from head coach at Seton Hall to head coach of the Blazers in one swoop. Allen and interim General Manager Brad Greenberg had tried to hire Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski with a megamillion-dollar offer, and when that failed, they stayed in the college ranks to land Carlesimo. “I didn’t enjoy Portland – I loved Portland,” says Carlesimo, who lived for a month in Allen’s KOIN Tower apartment, then bought one there, where he stayed for his three years with the Blazers. “I loved the people, it’s a beautiful city and a great part of the country. It was as far away from New Jersey as could be, but I was happy from the first day I was on the job.” Carlesimo arrived in Portland during a transitional period, and over the next three years, GM Bob Whitsitt – hired shortly after Carlesimo – ushered out the old regime, getting rid of Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and Buck Williams. By the time Carlesimo left, only Cliff Robinson and Chris Dudley remained from his first Blazer team. On came the first remnants of the Jail Blazers, with the likes of Rod Strickland, Gary Trent, Dontonio Wingfield, J.R. Rider, Rasheed Wallace and Stacey Augmon. But Carlesimo had talent, and he turned it into seasons with 44, 44 and 49 victories. In succession, though, his teams lost in the first round of the playoffs to Phoenix, Utah and the L.A. Lakers, spelling his doom. Carlesimo heard rumors midway through his final season that he would be fired, but the Blazers finished the regular season on a roll, winning 20 of their final 25 games, including 11 in a row. After the Lakers won three of four in the playoff series, Carlesimo got his pink slip. “I was bummed out,” he says. “There were all kinds of stuff that had happened. Later on, I found out (Whitsitt) had been looking at and talking with Mike (Dunleavy, his successor) at midseason. “It was disappointing. We had different teams in each of my three years. Bob said we were going to turn everything over the first year, but we kind of did that all three years. We thought we were moving in the right direction (in 1996-97), that we were going to be back next year and get homecourt advantage in the first round (of the playoffs).” He ‘learned a lot from Pop’ After his time with Golden State, Carlesimo spent the next 2 1/2 years in broadcasting, including a part-time TV analyst job with San Antonio. In 2002, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich asked Carlesimo if he was interested in returning to coaching. Carlesimo jumped at the opportunity, and it led to a glorious five years, with championships in 2003, ’05 and ’07. “San Antonio is similar to the way Portland was when I was there,” Carlesimo says. “(The Spurs are) the only show in town, people are friendly and they love the team. If you work for the Spurs, you get treated so well.” The experience working under Popovich was invaluable. “I learned a lot from Pop,” Carlesimo says. “His off-the-floor relationship with the players is sensational. That allows him to do things he wants to do on the floor. Pop has run-ins, but his relationship with the players is so good, it makes everything work. They respect him enormously for what he has accomplished. If a player comes in there and Pop says stand on your head, OK, that’s what you do to win.” Popovich’s relationship with his star, Tim Duncan, is essential to the team’s success, Carlesimo says. “They’re on the same page,” Carlesimo says. “Pop probably gets on Tony (Parker) more, but Timmy is probably second among the guys on the team in terms of being criticized by Pop. It sets the tone. If Timmy makes a mistake, the other players know that’s the MVP of the league, and he just says, ‘OK, that’s the way it is here.’ “There’s this perception that Pop yells a lot. He doesn’t. When he does, he goes like a volcano, but it doesn’t bother the players. He’s unbelievable at seeing the big picture. His whole thing is to be playing your best basketball at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.” Seattle’s a whole new game Will Carlesimo be a different coach in Seattle than he was in Portland? “Yeah,” he says. “It’s been 10 years. This is my third head coaching job. I expect to be a better coach than I was. I should be. Players get better; coaches get better, too. I’ve coached for seven years, and during my time in broadcasting, I was able to watch the practices of a lot of different coaches and pick up some ideas. That was very educational. “And the five years with Pop took it to a whole ’nother level in terms of winning championships and defense and relationships. Pop and I are similar people in a lot of ways. We have a very similar philosophy defensively, and in the kind of players we want to have. There are some things I’ll do differently, but other things I’ll steal. “I’d better be a hell of a lot better coach than I was in Portland.” Presti, who worked as a scout for San Antonio before becoming the NBA’s youngest general manager (30) with Seattle, is banking on it. “We felt we needed a teacher, someone who could teach the game at a high level,” Presti says. “P.J.’s experience at both the college and pro level is something we’ll lean on heavily. We also need to get better defensively, and he has a strong defensive philosophy. He is consistent, he is organized and he will hold players accountable. “He brings a professionalism and work ethic that will have a positive impact on the organization as a whole, not just on the younger players.” Carlesimo says he can’t wait to get started working with a young Seattle team that will include a pair of rookies who went among the top five picks in the draft, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. “Sam wants to win a championship, but he also wants to build something that’s going to last long-term,” he says. “I couldn’t ask for a better situation.” kerryeggers@portlandtribune.com Jazz game was off-key from the start More than a decade later, P.J. Carlesimo sheds light on perhaps the most infamous loss in Trail Blazer playoff history — a 102-64 debacle at Utah in 1996. At the time, it was the most one-sided game in the annals of NBA postseason play. It came during the second season in Carlesimo’s three-year reign as Portland’s coach. Cliff Robinson, Rod Strickland and Arvydas Sabonis were the stars, and Harvey Grant, James Robinson and Gary Trent were among the role players. After dropping the first two games of the best-of-five first-round series, the Blazers won games 3 and 4 at the Rose Garden, forcing a fifth game in Salt Lake City. A bad omen came the day after Game 4, as Strickland arrived tardy to the airport — and apparently hungover — causing the team flight to leave 25 minutes late, Carlesimo says. “He just looked terrible, but we weren’t playing until the next day, so it wasn’t that big a deal,” Carlesimo says. Once the Blazers got to Salt Lake City, “he didn’t want to do the shootaround. He said he didn’t feel good. I was like, ‘Strick, big game tomorrow, we need you.’ I said to just stand and watch, but he wouldn’t dress.” The Blazers laid a huge egg in Game 5, and years later, in a conversation with trainer Jay Jensen, Carlesimo got a little insight. “Jay told me, ‘I knew we were dead in the locker room after we won Game 4,’ ” Carlesimo says. “He said three or four players were really pissed off that we had won. They had flights to the Bahamas or Jamaica the next two days. He said they were so mad they had to change their flights, he knew they weren’t going to be ready to play.” Does Carlesimo think some of his players tanked Game 5? “No,” he says. “Utah was still John (Stockton) and Karl (Malone), and Portland had lost a number of games in a row in (Utah’s) building. But we weren’t in the right frame of mind. You have to go in there thinking, ‘Hey, we can pull this off.’ Everything had to be right. It wasn’t.” — Kerry Eggers

"Portland (did they change GM's? Or did the current GM just go in a new direction...dunno)." Actually they did both! The new direction was up instead of down! Kevin Pritchard was promoted to GM from assistant GM after John Nash was fired over a year ago. Nash was the guy that gave the humongous extension to randolph and the long term and big extension to Miles. He also was the one that engineered the trade that brought in webster and jack over williams and paul. (pritchard lobbied very hard for them to pick paul but they didn't listen)

Quote: Quote: The Vick apologists are keeping me away from that board! I used to like it quite a bit actually... why not just go to the official msg board. boards.atlantafalcons.com they have a lot of vick detractors there. Actually I'm not really a Vick detractor technically. There are just some way over the top vick apologists that make up 18 million reasons about why the world is out to get vick, and how terrible he is being treated etc. Frankly that is just ridiculous to me. I understand people wanting to remain as open-minded about waiting to hear all of the facts, but the blind defense of a guy that (at best) has made a lot of stupid decisions and undertaken a lot of bone-headed personal moves is just beyond me. So...I just don't hang out there so much. I think that I'm also more than a little sensitive about this being a portland fan, too.

It looks like SA was clearing cap space to sign Udoka? Spurs: Scola Trade Explained; Udoka Signing Imminent By Bill Ingram for HOOPSWORLD.com Jul 14, 2007, 14:12 San Antonio Spurs fans went through the roof when they heard about the trade. It's not official yet because Jackie Butler has to leave Las Vegas to fly to Houston and pass a physical with the Rockets, but pending that the Spurs have traded Butler and the rights to Luis Scola to Houston for Vassilis Spanoulis. Spurs fans have been up in arms since hearing about the deal. Scola, after all, is an international powerhouse. He's been a big part of Olympic success and has built in chemistry with Spurs stars Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, who play alongside him for Argentina. He's a 20 and ten guy, and those just don't come along every day. Why would the Spurs trade him for a point guard that didn't play in Houston last year? No disrespect to V-Span. He's an international star in is own right, and was sold a bill of goods by the Rockets that was cancelled by Jeff Van Gundy. He wound up riding the bench after being told he's be in the rotation, and that's not entirely his fault. He didn't play well in preseason, and for Van Gundy that was enough to justify benching him . . .forever. This trade wasn't about Spanoulis, any way. It was about finding the heir apparent to Bruce Bowen, and the word out of Portland is that the Spurs have done that. Jason Fleming, who covers the Trail Blazers for Basketball News feels Udoka is the next premier defender in the NBA and often compares him to Bowen. Udoka has a knack for hitting the three (41% in 2006-07), has long arms and the quickness to disrupt passing lanes, and - bonus - he's a decent free throw shooter. Having spent time as both a Laker and a Knick, Udoka didn't really hit his NBA stride until he joined Portland, where he became a regular rotation player and averaged 8.4 points per game last season. He's been getting plenty of love on the free agent market, but it seems the Spurs will be the ones to nab him, offering three years and $12 million. Of course, the Spurs don't have any cap space, so a trade was needed. Spurs scouts were certain that Scola was never going to join San Antonio. He wants to start, and that just isn't going to happen on a team with Tim Duncan, the league's top power forward. In Houston Scola will start and he'll play a significant role in their success. The Rockets were in desperate need a four, and Scola is exactly what they needed at that position. As a trade off they also took Butler, who is unlikely to be a rotation guy for Houston but could come in and give up a few fouls here and there. Whether or not Spanoulis comes back to the NBA is really beside the point. He swears he won't, having packed up and moved back to Greece within minutes of the Rockets' season coming to an end. His stance may change if the Spurs say the right things, but ultimately it's not what this deal was about. The Spurs got the cap room they needed to sign their top free agent prospect and they did it by giving up a piece that was never going to be part of the team.

Knicks top list of teams to pay luxury tax By Marc Stein ESPN.com Updated: July 13, 2007, 6:21 PM ET The New York Knicks can't be feeling very lucky on this Friday The Thirteenth. Show Me The Money Big spending doesn't always pay off. Just ask the New York Knicks. The Knicks, who missed the playoffs last season with a 33-49 mark, were strapped with a $45 million luxury-tax bill Friday. That means New York owes almost $40 million more than the second-highest paying team in the Mavs, who finished with the league's best record. Team Money Owed 1. Knicks $45,142,002 2. Mavs $7,204,968 3. Nuggets $2,022,418 4. T-Wolves $998,536 5. Spurs $196,082 By the end of this business day, you see, each of the NBA's five luxury-tax-paying teams from last season will have received an official invoice from the league stating the "net" amount they must remit. In the Knicks' case? The payment due by July 25, according to a league memo distributed this week to all 30 teams: $45 million and change. That's $45-plus million for a team that went 33-49 and missed the playoffs for a third successive season. It was team president Isiah Thomas' first season as Knicks coach, following a 23-59 nightmare under Larry Brown, with New York going 4-14 to slip out of playoff contention after Thomas received a contract extension on March 12. The next closest tax bill is the Dallas Mavericks' $7.2 million. Teams that carried a payroll higher than $65.42 million for the 2006-07 season are required to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on every dollar over that threshold. The following five teams are required to pay as follows: The 25 non-tax-paying teams, meanwhile, will each receive 1/30 of the cumulative tax amount, which computes to nearly $1.9 million per team. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.

Quote: I agree. You should do something productive. Usually SL is just a bunch of wing players trying to make a team by throwing up shots so big men don't get low post looks. Sounds like we are making a real effort to feed it to Horford. Btw we need an official short nickname for him. I guess I can roll with Al? How about "HoFo"

Quote: How bout giving them the expiring contracts of T. Lue and A.J.? That would give us Acie Law/ Speedy Claxton/ Jarrett Jack at the point guard position. that would pretty much make zero sense as both contracts are more than Jack's (I think that he is making just over one mil per year) and neither player is half as good...

Quote: I wonder if Udoka will take a hometown discount to stay with the Blazers since he's a Portland State grad. It seemed like just last week Pritchard was high on both Udoka and Outlaw and it looked like Webster could be the odd man out at SF. You look at the trade for James Jones and that's the kind of player they hoped Webster would be at this point - a legit 3 point threat. I'm really liking the Blazers roster, especially with how many bigs they have stockpiled. I liked the Frye pickup, if not for anything else, as an insurance policy for both Aldridge and Oden. The earliest speculation I saw in the oregonian is that a large deal might be probably involving jack and someone else (pryz?) for a more experienced player. I would think a SG/SF combo player that can score and shoot. Maybe the blazers even throw in their pick next year as god knows there is enough youth on the team already!

Jack may be the odd man out? Blake leaving Nuggets, has deal with Portland * Nuggets lose Blake * Atkins likely to sign today with Nuggets * Magic sign Howard to 5-year extension * Ex-Ram Smith signs with 76ers * Wallace reaches agreement to remain with Bobcats By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News July 13, 2007 Steve Blake is heading to Portland, meaning he won't have to travel far to join his new team. The free-agent point guard said today he has agreed to a three-year deal with the Trail Blazers. Though a Florida native, Blake and his family make their offseason home in Portland. Blake averaged 8.3 points and 6.6 assists in 49 games with the Nuggets last season. He was willing to return to Denver but opted for Portland as the Nuggets were on the verge of finalizing a contract with guard Chucky Atkins. "That's OK, if that's the direction they want to go," Blake said in a brief phone interview. "I just decided to go back to Portland." Blake, 27, made $1.33 million last season and was seeking a starting salary close to the NBA's $5.35 million midlevel exception. In addition to having a home in Portland, Blake is familiar with the local NBA franchise. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 assists for the Blazers in 2005-06.

Quote: But boy is their roster stacked or what. Pg- Jack/Rodriguez/Taureen Green/Steve Francis(buyout probable) Sg- Roy/Fernandez/Udoka/Webster Sf- Miles/Webster/Outlaw Pf- Aldridge/Fry/Lafrentz/McRoberts C- Oden/Przybila NOT BAD!! Yep the buyout went through, and also Udoka and Outlaw are free agents. Udoka's agent has said that a western conference team has offered him a 3 year deal for 12 million. If it is indeed true, he needs to run with it as portland will probably not offer him half of that. Outlaw is a restricted FA that (according to pritchard) blazers intend to keep. Also they traded for James Jones from Phoenix.