Around the league
Adding Bob Sura and dumping Cliff Robinson's contract on Thursday was a coup for Detroit. However, the Pistons still need to clear another $3-4 million to get far enough below the cap to ensure that they have enough money to re-sign Mehmet Okur next summer.
Expect Joe Dumars to keep working the phones in an effort to get one more contract off the books before training camp starts.
Nabbing Sura is a pretty good indication that the team is no longer confident that it will be able to get first-round pick Carlos Delfino out of his contract with Skipper Bologna. Delfino actually left the Argentina national team to meet personally with Skipper's owner, but the owner appears to be dead set against letting Delfino out this year.
There's better news on the Darko Milicic front. Sources claim that there are only minor details left to iron out with Darko's team, Hemofarm. Apparently, both sides have agreed to the biggest part of the deal -- the amount of financial compensation Hemofarm will receive.
At one time, the Blazers GM job was one of the most coveted in the league. Not anymore. There was a reason why several top candidates turned the gig down before John Nash eventually took the job. All of the talk about changing the character of the team has been just that -- talk. Why? Because owner Paul Allen is more concerned about the bottom line and wants the Blazers' salary mess under control as soon as possible.
Ruben Patterson
Guard-Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
78 8.3 3.4 1.3 .492 .627
That has severely limited what Nash has or will be able to do to move the likes of Ruben Patterson or Rasheed Wallace. Ironically, the three guys the Blazers did lose this summer -- Scottie Pippen, Arvydas Sabonis and Antonio Daniels -- were all good guys.
Wallace's contract expires at the end of this year and it appears that the team is content to let him play out the year, let him walk and cut the $17 million off the cap next year. Nash has been working the phones hard in an effort to move Patterson, but no one is willing to trade a player in the last year of his contract for a trouble maker like Patterson. Ditto for Damon Stoudamire and even Bonzi Wells.
There are moves out there for the Blazers, but all of them involve taking on even bigger contracts or much lesser talent. Nash can't do either, making the rebuilding job in Portland virtually impossible.
Speaking of an owner who is still willing to break the bank, Mark Cuban signed Travis Best to a one-year contract worth the veteran minimum of $938,679 Thursday night.
"Travis is an overly qualified backup point guard," Donnie Nelson told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "He is excellent in the open court, he can make 3s, runs a terrific pick-and-roll, has good command of the halfcourt offense, and is playoff proven and tested."
Cuban's still not done. The word around the league is that the Mavs are still looking to make other moves. The Mavs will likely move Chris Mills, who is in the last year of a contract. Mills, however, can't be moved until next Thursday. Mills, who was acquired in the big Golden State deal on Monday, has 10 days to report to Dallas for a physical. He can't be traded until the 10-day period ends.
The team is also considering re-signing Raja Bell. "We'll address that situation next week," Nelson said. "It's clear we would like to find a way for him to be back here, but at the same time it has to make sense."
Reggie Miller
Shooting Guard
Indiana Pacers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
70 12.6 2.5 2.4 .441 .900
Reggie Miller signed a two-year deal at between $4 to $5 million a year, according to the Indianapolis Star. If that number is accurate, the Pacers are now about a million under the luxury-tax threshold for next season.
The team would like to add another solid player to its backcourt, preferably a point guard to help out Jamaal Tinsley.
"I still think there are some pieces to the puzzle that we need," Miller said. "You look at the other teams that made significant moves during the off-season. Are we at their level? Yeah, I think we have a lot of talent, but I don't think we're exactly at their level."
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh indicated that the Pacers aren't through tinkering with their roster.
"I'd like to see if I could add something to it," Walsh said. "But could we go to camp? Yeah. It's not a matter of what we could do. We've got over a month to get some things done and there are some interesting guys still out there in the free-agent market. And you could do something with a trade, too."
---------------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, August 22
Updated: August 22
9:28 AM ET
Dallas Mavericks: There is only one reason why Antawn Jamison and Travis Best were having dinner with Mark Cuban Thursday night in Dallas and Donnie Nelson made that very clear. "There were no Shaq-stoppers, there were no Timmy Duncan-stoppers," said Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations, in the Dallas Morning News. So, instead, they traded Nick Van Exel away for Jamison and then replaced Van Exel with Best, who is expected to sign with the Mavs for about $1 million this season. "We feel that Travis is a perfect fit for what we need with his playoff experience, his ability to hit the 3, to control the offense in the half court and to push the ball in the open court," Nelson said. "Plus, you look at his playoff experience. It just made him the only choice out there for us."
Carter
Toronto Raptors: After scoring 15 points in 16 minutes in the Dream Team's latest blowout in Puerto Rico, Vince Carter declared himself back. "I just wanted everybody to see the finished product and this is the finished product," he said in the Globe and Mail. "I think I have my confidence still, still have my spring, still have my jump shot. Everything is like I wanted it to be." After being hampered by injuries the last two seasons, Carter was selected to replace Kobe Bryant on the National Team and has used it as a springboard back into the spotlight. "I just wanted all the injuries to heal, then come back and play basketball," he said. "It's all working according to plan."
New Jersey Nets: Jason Kidd had his doubts. Kenyon Martin still does. But Brian Scalabrine is ready to run into a brick wall for the New Jersey Net franchise. "They really went above and beyond what they had to do," said Bob Myers, Scalabrine's agent, in the Star-Ledger. "A lot of teams talk about doing what's best for the player. The Nets really backed it up." Instead of giving Scalabrine the mandatory one-year deal for almost 800,000, the Nets recently signed him to a two-year, 1.6 million contract extension. "We're pleased to re-sign Brian," said Nets president Rod Thorn. "He has made valuable strides over the past two seasons, and we look forward to his continued development in the future."
Adding Bob Sura and dumping Cliff Robinson's contract on Thursday was a coup for Detroit. However, the Pistons still need to clear another $3-4 million to get far enough below the cap to ensure that they have enough money to re-sign Mehmet Okur next summer.
Expect Joe Dumars to keep working the phones in an effort to get one more contract off the books before training camp starts.
Nabbing Sura is a pretty good indication that the team is no longer confident that it will be able to get first-round pick Carlos Delfino out of his contract with Skipper Bologna. Delfino actually left the Argentina national team to meet personally with Skipper's owner, but the owner appears to be dead set against letting Delfino out this year.
There's better news on the Darko Milicic front. Sources claim that there are only minor details left to iron out with Darko's team, Hemofarm. Apparently, both sides have agreed to the biggest part of the deal -- the amount of financial compensation Hemofarm will receive.
At one time, the Blazers GM job was one of the most coveted in the league. Not anymore. There was a reason why several top candidates turned the gig down before John Nash eventually took the job. All of the talk about changing the character of the team has been just that -- talk. Why? Because owner Paul Allen is more concerned about the bottom line and wants the Blazers' salary mess under control as soon as possible.
Ruben Patterson
Guard-Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
78 8.3 3.4 1.3 .492 .627
That has severely limited what Nash has or will be able to do to move the likes of Ruben Patterson or Rasheed Wallace. Ironically, the three guys the Blazers did lose this summer -- Scottie Pippen, Arvydas Sabonis and Antonio Daniels -- were all good guys.
Wallace's contract expires at the end of this year and it appears that the team is content to let him play out the year, let him walk and cut the $17 million off the cap next year. Nash has been working the phones hard in an effort to move Patterson, but no one is willing to trade a player in the last year of his contract for a trouble maker like Patterson. Ditto for Damon Stoudamire and even Bonzi Wells.
There are moves out there for the Blazers, but all of them involve taking on even bigger contracts or much lesser talent. Nash can't do either, making the rebuilding job in Portland virtually impossible.
Speaking of an owner who is still willing to break the bank, Mark Cuban signed Travis Best to a one-year contract worth the veteran minimum of $938,679 Thursday night.
"Travis is an overly qualified backup point guard," Donnie Nelson told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "He is excellent in the open court, he can make 3s, runs a terrific pick-and-roll, has good command of the halfcourt offense, and is playoff proven and tested."
Cuban's still not done. The word around the league is that the Mavs are still looking to make other moves. The Mavs will likely move Chris Mills, who is in the last year of a contract. Mills, however, can't be moved until next Thursday. Mills, who was acquired in the big Golden State deal on Monday, has 10 days to report to Dallas for a physical. He can't be traded until the 10-day period ends.
The team is also considering re-signing Raja Bell. "We'll address that situation next week," Nelson said. "It's clear we would like to find a way for him to be back here, but at the same time it has to make sense."
Reggie Miller
Shooting Guard
Indiana Pacers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
70 12.6 2.5 2.4 .441 .900
Reggie Miller signed a two-year deal at between $4 to $5 million a year, according to the Indianapolis Star. If that number is accurate, the Pacers are now about a million under the luxury-tax threshold for next season.
The team would like to add another solid player to its backcourt, preferably a point guard to help out Jamaal Tinsley.
"I still think there are some pieces to the puzzle that we need," Miller said. "You look at the other teams that made significant moves during the off-season. Are we at their level? Yeah, I think we have a lot of talent, but I don't think we're exactly at their level."
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh indicated that the Pacers aren't through tinkering with their roster.
"I'd like to see if I could add something to it," Walsh said. "But could we go to camp? Yeah. It's not a matter of what we could do. We've got over a month to get some things done and there are some interesting guys still out there in the free-agent market. And you could do something with a trade, too."
---------------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, August 22
Updated: August 22
9:28 AM ET
Dallas Mavericks: There is only one reason why Antawn Jamison and Travis Best were having dinner with Mark Cuban Thursday night in Dallas and Donnie Nelson made that very clear. "There were no Shaq-stoppers, there were no Timmy Duncan-stoppers," said Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations, in the Dallas Morning News. So, instead, they traded Nick Van Exel away for Jamison and then replaced Van Exel with Best, who is expected to sign with the Mavs for about $1 million this season. "We feel that Travis is a perfect fit for what we need with his playoff experience, his ability to hit the 3, to control the offense in the half court and to push the ball in the open court," Nelson said. "Plus, you look at his playoff experience. It just made him the only choice out there for us."
Carter
Toronto Raptors: After scoring 15 points in 16 minutes in the Dream Team's latest blowout in Puerto Rico, Vince Carter declared himself back. "I just wanted everybody to see the finished product and this is the finished product," he said in the Globe and Mail. "I think I have my confidence still, still have my spring, still have my jump shot. Everything is like I wanted it to be." After being hampered by injuries the last two seasons, Carter was selected to replace Kobe Bryant on the National Team and has used it as a springboard back into the spotlight. "I just wanted all the injuries to heal, then come back and play basketball," he said. "It's all working according to plan."
New Jersey Nets: Jason Kidd had his doubts. Kenyon Martin still does. But Brian Scalabrine is ready to run into a brick wall for the New Jersey Net franchise. "They really went above and beyond what they had to do," said Bob Myers, Scalabrine's agent, in the Star-Ledger. "A lot of teams talk about doing what's best for the player. The Nets really backed it up." Instead of giving Scalabrine the mandatory one-year deal for almost 800,000, the Nets recently signed him to a two-year, 1.6 million contract extension. "We're pleased to re-sign Brian," said Nets president Rod Thorn. "He has made valuable strides over the past two seasons, and we look forward to his continued development in the future."
