Taken from Benmaller.com News clips from around the counrty. Hard as it may be to believe, the assumption the Lakers locked Kobe Bryant up by letting Phil Jackson go and putting O'Neal on the block is wrong. People close to Bryant say he hasn't committed himself to the Lakers and is still actively considering the Clippers. As a Laker, he'd be part of a successful tradition, even if he might be playing for a former Houston Rocket coach, alongside three recently acquired Mavericks, Kings, Pacers or whatever. On the other hand, as a Clipper, he'd be on display at lower ticket prices. Just think: Cut-rate Kobe! The Lakers will be all over Erick Dampier should Shaq be shorn. The Heat also are prepared to make a proposal: Brian Grant and Caron Butler. But the Grizzlies feel they're solidly positioned to obtain Dampier's dominant shot blocking/defensive rebounding services because they have someone (Shane Battier? James Posey?) Chris Mullin loves. If the Mavs can get Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas in a deal, their intentions are to send him to L.A. with Dirk Nowitzki and others. That should be enough to get Shaq to Dallas, the only place he wants to go to, if L.A. decides to trade him. On the coaching front, Jerry Buss is gung-ho to hire Rudy Tomjanovich pronto, while GM Mitch Kupchak is trying to convince Buss to take his time and explore other candidates, including George Karl. Like T-Mac, Ray Allen can opt out after this coming season. Allen is expected to ask for max money, but the Sonics don't think he's a max-money player. So he could be on the move, with Chicago one potential destination. The Nuggets are expected to fire Jeff Bzdelik this week. At least that's the word that filtered into NBA headquarters late this past week. Bzdelik's successor likely will be Mike Brown, the Pacers' associate head coach and a former Denver scout. George Karl, a business partner with Denver owner Stan Kroenke, also has been linked to the job. Among the moves Paxson is considering, is dealing Jamal Crawford to Seattle in a sign-and-trade. The Sonics have been scouting the Seattle native for more than a year. Looking to split its $5.1 million mid-level exception in free agency, the Bulls have targeted Stephen Jackson, Bob Sura, Jon Barry, Adonal Foyle, Eric Williams, Dion Glover and Brian Skinner -- an indication that $2.5 million should fetch considerable value this offseason. A week ago, the Pacers were informed Shaquille O'Neal had them on a short list of teams he'd eagerly embrace should the Lakers comply with his wish to be traded. A couple days ago they were deleted. Shaq has whittled the group down to the southern or southwest franchises with guaranteed good weather, reveals one of his peeps. Here's a look at some of the players expected to get interest, with Thursday being the first day teams can negotiate with players, and July 14 being the first day they can sign players to new deals: Mark Blount - Boston, Miami and Orlando are all willing to overpay for Celtics big man. Kobe Bryant - Clippers and Suns want him, but who wouldn't? Can't see him leaving Lakers, especially if Shaq is dealt. Erick Dampier - Walking away from $8 million so he must have a deal already lined up. Marquis Daniels - Looking at 6-year $38 million deal, but buyer beware: Don Nelson's system makes a lot of players look very good. Troy Hudson - Minnesota intends to re-sign a player it really missed in the playoffs. If not, Houston and Utah are top suitors. Steve Nash - Turns 31 in February and already has a lot of tread off the tire playing in Mavs' up-tempo system. Speaking of free agent centers, the Celtics' Mark Blount is on vacation in Florida with his family and will check in tomorrow with his agent, Mark Bartelstein, to see what might pop up. While Doc Rivers expressed optimism that Blount wants to play for him, Blount has told friends that nothing has really changed in his thinking. Whether or not Blount re-signs might affect the Celtics' free agency plans. If he goes elsewhere, among the bigs out there that Ainge might consider are Keon Clark (a baby sitter comes with the deal), Michael Doleac, Foyle, Donnell Harvey, McDyess, Greg Ostertag (he'll go somewhere), and Etan Thomas (who is restricted). Oh yeah, a guy named Eric Williams is out there, too. He'd pass the toughness test. Latrell Sprewell will decide Wednesday whether to take advantage of the option he has to play for the Wolves next season for $14.6 million or become a free agent. The Wolves seem confident Sprewell will come back, but his agent said he would like to get a long-term deal for Sprewell. (He would have be nuts to not comeback for 14.6!!!!!) Any day now, probably early this week, the Lakers will announce that Rudy Tomjanovich is to be their next coach and then they'll get on with more trivial matters, such as putting a shattered team back together. The Heat called Orlando about Tracy McGrady, but a package of Eddie Jones, Caron Butler and the No. 19 pick isn't as attractive as Houston's offer of Steve Francis and others. The more you don't hear Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson say about free-agent forward Eric Williams, the more you do sense the team has little interest in re-signing him, unless it's simply to package Williams in a sign-and-trade deal. Paxson rarely mentions Williams these days without being prompted by reporters. Wolves owner Glen Taylor said one of his top priorities will be to re-sign Troy Hudson on July 1, the first time NBA rules allow a team to re-sign free agents. Hudson has an option to play next year for $2.7 million. Despite missing most of last season because of injuries, he is looking for more money. With talks on an extension imminent, Sonics guard Ray Allen no longer stands as a fixture on the trade market. "This is my home now," he said of Seattle. "This is where I want to be." By contrast, the Sonics are showing such little interest in retaining Brent Barry that the free-agent guard is considered all but gone. Dare we call them the "Washington Warriors"? With the arrival of Antawn Jamison, the team that plays in "the most important city in the world" could well have three starters from the 2001-02 Golden State Warriors: Jamison, Larry Hughes, and Gilbert Arenas. Unable to land Ben Gordon, Larry Bird still wants to find a new point guard. He's also trying to deal Al Harrington, who isnhappy as a bench player, and Ron Artest, whose play in the postseason didn't go over well with the team president or coach Rick Carlisle. If the Knicks were to throw their entire mid-level exception at Jamal Crawford the 24-year-old swing guard and stretch it to six years and $40 mil (depending on the cap), it is likely that the Bulls will let Crawford take his 17.3-point scoring average elsewhere. Agent Aaron Goodwin believes that New York and Denver are the best alternatives -- the Nuggets will have $23 million in cap room -- and that his client will talk to them first. "But all this revolves around what we can get accomplished with the Bulls," Goodwin said. "He loves New York and thinks the world of Isiah Thomas. But we don't want to even think about talking with any other team until it's clear that we can't get anything resolved with the Bulls." Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has set the asking price for Shaq so high, it is impossible to meet. The stakes: You must surrender two All-Stars, plus a young player of considerable quality. And Kupchak is not coming off that price -- not now, not even after Shaq kicks and stomps around for a while. And, yes, Kupchak already knows that no team can meet his price -- not the Pacers, not the Mavs, not the Kings, not the Nets. The Mavs would seem to have the best chance, as their final offer would probably include their best player (Dirk Nowitzki), a really bad contract (Antoine Walker), plus one of their terrific rookies (Josh Howard or Marquis Daniels). But if you're Kupchak, ask yourself this: Why would you hand the Mavericks the NBA title so cavalierly? And why, for that matter, would you want to be known as the GM who traded Shaquille O'Neal, two full years before his contract runs out? If the Suns ($16.3M under next year's projected $46M cap) are unable to recruit Kobe, go to sleep on them pursuing unrestricted Steve Nash and restricted Mehmet Okur; league rules prohibit the Pistons from matching any offer above the mid-level exception. One of Nash's confidants discloses the Canadian Olympian is highly insulted Easy Mark Cuban hasn't so much as hinted about a new Mavericks contract. Even Knicks GM Isiah Thomas agrees the Pistons will likely re-sign Rasheed Wallace. But it took Pistons GM and former Thomas teammate Joe Dumars to tell how Thomas agreed. "So I am walking down the street with my son Jordan, taking him to the NBA Store (on Fifth Avenue)," Dumars said. "There are 8 million people in New York City, and I walk right into Isiah Thomas." Thomas and Dumars went shopping and began talking about Wallace. The Knicks can offer the mid-level exception, expected to begin at about $5 million. If they so choose, the Pistons can offer Wallace three times that to return to the NBA champions. "That's Rasheed's call now," Dumars said. "I feel real good about it, and Isiah said the same thing. Great line from Doc Rivers, when it was noted that Al Jefferson had not selected an agent and was thus still eligible to go to college. "Arkansas pays a ton," Rivers said, referring to the school to which Jefferson had made a commitment. "But I don't know if they pay that much." Jefferson will earn more than $4 million in the next three years. Lol As it turns out, Freehold native J.R. Smith has a tattoo that was hidden by that slick suit he wore Thursday night. It reads, "King of New Jersey." Earl Lloyd grew up in segregated Alexandria, Va., and in 1950 was the first black to play in an NBA game. At 76, a well-lived life already banked, he resides in the woods 90 minutes east of Nashville. The glint of the shiny, partially red ring on his left hand is hard not to notice. It identifies him as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lloyd on Larry Bird's recent comments that the NBA needs more white stars: ''It amazed me that in 2004 there is a discussion of that nature. It blows my mind. You've got First Amendment rights, say what you want to say. But I just believe that you search for your talent, look for what it is that you need. At the end of the day when you pick your talent, you need to put your best people on the floor. '' ? Here's a team (Indiana, of which Bird is president of basketball operations) that, what do they have, 10 black players? How do you think they feel? Word is former Cavs star guard Mark Price was impressive during his recent audition for the team's TV analyst job on Fox Sports Net Ohio and will be offered a contract. The Cavs had Price and play-by-play announcer Michael Reghi do a mock broadcast while watching video of a 2003-04 home game. Former Gophers and Timberwolves player Richard Coffey is interested in the Timberwolves' radio analyst job. The Wolves still have interest in former Wolves LaPhonso Ellis, who owns a home in Minneapolis, and Pooh Richardson, who wants to break into broadcasting.
WOW. A lot of stuff. But as Cuban earlier said, It's always like this in the offseason. Always big names being mentioned. Except this time, it's all been made public to the media.
Bzdelik possibly getting canned? Wow, I can't believe that. A person who took them from 19 wins one season and gets em to what, 44 or 45 last year and in the playoffs. This is what he gets huh? I feel sorry for any coach that turns a team into a contender nowadays. First Carlisle gets canned after consecutive 50 seasons now Bzdelik might get canned for getting his team to the playoffs. What is management coming to?
