Caron Butler, who was signed in the offseason to bring a veteran presence to the Kings, told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee he knows that role very well. Butler, who joined his ninth NBA team in 14 years, agreed to a deal in July that will pay him more than $3MM over two seasons. “Just because you’ve been in so many different environments, you know how to play, you know how to adapt to systems and stuff like that,” Butler said. “And when you play for so long, you have so much insight into the game, and [I’m] playing with young guys now, so that’s the role that you have to take so you can give them information and help them.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- One of the few holdovers after an offseason of change, Darren Collison could play a vital role in how successful the Kings become, writes James Ham of CSNBayArea.com. “If I had to bet, I think Darren Collison probably has as good a chance to have the best year he’s ever had in his career this year,” said coach George Karl. “I think he’s just going to like what we do [and] how we use him.” Collison is signed for more than $10.2MM over the next two seasons.
- The Clippers’ J.J. Redick has raised his assessment of the organization’s offseason, according to Kenny Ducey of SI.com. The veteran guard gave it an F when he thought DeAndre Jordan had signed with Dallas, but that grade improved considerably when he saw how all the moves played out. “We had no cap space,” Redick said, “and we re-signed our best player that was a free agent, and we picked up Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, traded for Lance [Stephenson], Wes Johnson, Pablo Prigioni. We have 13 rotation players, so it’s definitely an A.”
- Even though much of Sonny Weems‘ basketball experience has come outside the NBA, it may be enough to give him the edge in the battle to be the Suns‘ backup shooting guard, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The 29-year-old hasn’t played in the NBA since 2011, but has become a star in the Euroleague. He is competing for the position with 18-year-old rookie Devin Booker and 20-year-old Archie Goodwin. “I’m not coming in the league all frantic and in a rush to do everything,” Weems said. “I’ve been here before. I’ve been playing professionally overseas. I’m used to everything. It’s just about being me.”