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Western Notes: Harden, Grizzlies, Mavs, Seattle

October 29th, 2012 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

In dealing James Harden to the Rockets, the Thunder ensured that the gold medalist will likely remain in the Western Conference for years to come. In his weekly Morning Tip piece at NBA.com, TNT's David Aldridge notes that while that may come as a surprise, there weren't many logical fits with Eastern Conference clubs.

The Thunder liked Bradley Beal, but the Wizards weren't interested in dealing the third overall pick. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, meanwhile, tweets that the Magic had some pieces that could have enticed Oklahoma City, but Orlando probably wouldn't have given Harden the max. The Magic ended up not getting involved in the Harden sweepstakes, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.

Here are a few more Monday afternoon updates from around the Western Conference, with just over 24 hours until the NBA regular season gets underway:

  • Within his NBA.com column, Aldridge reports that the final sale price of the Grizzlies to Robert Pera's ownership group was $377MM.
  • Wayne Ellington remains unlikely to be extended by the Grizzlies before Wednesday, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
  • Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com wonders if carrying so many players in contract years could blow up for the Mavericks.
  • NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper spoke to Seattle mayor Mike McGinn about the possibility of the NBA returning to his city. McGinn said that he's rooting for Sacramento to keep the Kings, since he knows what it feels like to lose a team, but is still hopeful about professional basketball coming back to Seattle.
  • Nuggets center JaVale McGee is going to have to learn how to deal with the burden of having a big contract and the attention that brings, writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
  • The Lakers and Clippers both head into the 2012/13 season hoping that revamped benches will help them contend for a title, says Jill Painter of the Los Angeles Daily News.
  • Sam Smith of Bulls.com believes that, even without Harden, the Thunder are the team to beat in the Western Conference.
  • Luke Zeller's contract includes a $50K guarantee, so if he opens the season with the Suns, that doesn't mean he'll be with the team all year, says Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter links).
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David Stern Hoping To Return NBA To Seattle

October 26th, 2012 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of yesterday's announcement that David Stern will be stepping down as NBA commissioner in February 2014, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has penned a less than flattering retrospective on Stern's "three decades of totalitarian rule."

In addition to looking back on the tenure of the longtime commissioner, Wojnarowski's piece also includes a handful of interesting nuggets related to Sacramento and Seattle. According to the Yahoo! scribe, Stern is "determined" to return the NBA to Seattle in his last 15 months on the job. Wojnarowski also hears that pressure on the Maloofs from the league office to sell the Kings has been "growing."

The city of Seattle's quest to return an NBA franchise to the area has been well documented, with the Seattle City Council and King County Council approving the arena proposal put forth by Chris Hansen earlier this month. Stern said yesterday that he "wouldn't preclude" the possibility of expanding the league beyond 30 teams, but it's more likely that one of the league's current franchises would have to move to give Seattle a chance at a team.

Given their inability to date to secure a new arena, the Kings have long been considered the most logical candidate to relocate to another city. On a teleconference with reporters yesterday, Stern didn't commit too strongly to the team's future in Sacramento, simply encouraging the city to continue supporting the Kings and then hoping for the best.

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Update On Seattle Arena

October 15th, 2012 at 9:40pm CST by Michael Pina

The King County Council and the Seattle City Council have given a final approval on an agreement to build a $490 million basketball and hockey arena in the city, despite the threat of a lawsuit from longshore workers, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The County Council approved the agreement unanimously, and the City Council voted 7-2. Both groups had previously approved the deal, but it was a different version. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said the votes were an important step toward bringing professional men's basketball back to Seattle. He and King County Executive Dow Constantine were scheduled to sign the deal Tuesday.

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Odds & Ends: Bynum, Seattle, Suns, Beal

October 7th, 2012 at 4:40pm CST by Michael Pina

Here are a few pieces of news from around the league.

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Odds & Ends: Morrison, Turkoglu, Lin, Ginobili

October 1st, 2012 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few odds and ends from a busy day around the NBA….

  • Blazers coach Terry Stotts told the media today that summer signee Adam Morrison has a "legitimate" chance to make the team, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (Twitter link).
  • Hedo Turkoglu says he'd like to finish his career with the Magic, tweets Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
  • Asked about the Knicks' decision to let Jeremy Lin walk in July, GM Glen Grunwald told the media that the Rockets made a commitment to Lin that New York wasn't prepared to make, and that Raymond Felton was a better fit for the Knicks. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the quotes.
  • Manu Ginobili expects to return to the Spurs if he continues playing when his contract expires at season's end, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
  • Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal poses five burning questions facing the Cavaliers heading into the 2012/13 season. Among Lloyd's five: Whether Dion Waiters was the right choice in June's draft, and whether Anderson Varejao will finish the year with the Cavs.
  • Ben Wallace won't be in camp with the Pistons, since the team doesn't want to put him a position where it may have to cut him, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
  • Appearing on KJR in Seattle, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he didn't think any NBA owner would stand in the way of the city of Seattle getting another NBA franchise (link via Sports Radio Interviews).
  • Former NBA veteran Jayson Williams tells ESPN.com's Matt Wong that he's healthy and misses the NBA, but stopped short of saying he's interested in making a comeback.
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Seattle Approves New Arena Deal

September 24th, 2012 at 6:54pm CST by Michael Pina

Seattle's city council has officially approved a deal to build a new arena that would be home to an NBA and NHL team, according to an Associated Press report. Members of the council voted 6-2 to approve investor Chris Hansen's plan to construct a possible $490MM building just south of downtown.

Changes in the plan must still be approved by the King County Council, and it must pass an environmental review. The approval means that Hansen is now allowed to shop for an NBA team, eventually relocating it to Seattle.

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Odds & Ends: Blake, Seattle, Fegan, Millsap, Uzoh

September 24th, 2012 at 5:19pm CST by Luke Adams

According to the team's official website, Lakers guard Steve Blake suffered a puncture wound after stepping on a spike strip in a parking lot. The statement says Blake will be restricted from team activities for at least three weeks. Despite not being one of the bigger names on Los Angeles' roster, Blake's role as the team's veteran backup point guard is quite important, especially considering incoming starter Steve Nash's inability to log major minutes. 

Here are a few more Monday odds and ends from around the NBA:

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Aldridge On Harden, Thunder, Seattle, Williams

September 17th, 2012 at 5:38pm CST by Zachary Links

In today's column, David Aldridge of NBA.com runs down the particulars of one of the more fascinating off-the-court battles the league has encountered in its history.  The Silnas brothers, the former owners of the Spirit of St. Louis, rejected a $3MM flat buyout offer in 1976 from the four ABA teams that got to make the leap to the Association.  Instead, they opted for a one-seventh share of the TV money earned by the Nets, Spurs, Pacers, and Nuggets.  While the sliver of the pie wasn't worth much 26 years ago, it has now given the Silnas brothers a whopping $250MM+ with no end in sight.  Now, the brothers are set for battle with the league as they also demand a cut of international TV money, League Pass, and other broadcast revenue streams.  While a good chunk of NBA teams struggle to get in the black, the former Spirit of St. Louis owners have managed to rake in major money for more than a quarter-century.  Here's more from Aldridge..

  • The Thunder have carved out a tremendously strong and loyal fan base in Oklahoma City, but their financial limitations will make it difficult to keep James Harden long-term.  As a small-market club, they do not have a local television on the same scale as a team like the Lakers, who are receiving roughly $200MM more per year under their contract.  OKC is also the second-smallest city in the US with a professional team, meaning that they cannot milk their season ticket holders for more money or press corporate sponsors for larger suite and signage deals.  However, Aldridge notes that the Thunder can look to the Spurs as inspiration – R.C. Buford & Co. have faced similar circumstances but managed to build a perennial contender by making sacrifices along the way.
  • According to a source with knowledge of the negotiations between investor Chris Hansen and the city of Seattle, the NBA has informally indicated that if he is successful in buying a team and moving it to Seattle, the league could live with the team playing temporarily at Key Arena until a new facility is ready.  Last week, a major stumbling block was removed in Hansen's effort to get Seattle to approve a new arena for an NBA team and final approval would appear to be a formality.
  • Deron Williams says that he opted to re-sign with the Nets in part because things finally appear to be stable for the franchise from top to bottom.  After ten years of limbo in New Jersey, the Nets finally ironed things out in Brooklyn and got the Barclays Center ready for the 2012/13 season.  The Nets also appear to have stability on the court with a strong core group in place.
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Pacific Notes: Seattle, Kings, Warriors, Barbosa

September 12th, 2012 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Seattle arena proposal, led by investor Chris Hansen, still requires the approval of Seattle City Council and King County Council, but the plan took a major step forward yesterday, as Lynn Thompson of the Seattle Times writes. It was announced that Hansen and the city council have reached an agreement on financial terms for the arena, with official approval expected later this month. At that point, Hansen can begin "shopping" for an NBA franchise. Let's round up the latest links on the Seattle situation and a few other topics from around the Pacific Division….

  • Former SuperSonic Lenny Wilkens believes Seattle could land a team as early as next season, according to Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. Allen says that the Bucks, Bobcats, and Timberwolves are all realistic candidates for relocation, though the Kings remain the odds-on favorite to move.
  • The cost of relocating an NBA franchise means Sacramento should still have a reasonable chance at keeping the Kings, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation.com.
  • Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee wonders if the city of Seattle would want to bring the Kings to town even if the Maloofs were still a part of the package.
  • The threat of a lawsuit may impact the future of the Santa Cruz Warriors, says J.M. Brown of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The city of Santa Cruz had been expected to approve a plan to build a 30,000-square-foot facility to host Golden State's D-League team.
  • Sean Deveney of the Sporting News believes the Lakers are still the most likely landing spot for unrestricted free agent Leandro Barbosa.
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Latest On Seattle Arena Proposal

September 11th, 2012 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

Investor Chris Hansen has reached a tentative agreement with Seattle city council on the financial terms of a proposed new sports arena for the city, according to reports by the Seattle Times and KING 5 News. Both reports suggest that Hansen and his group have agreed to establish a $40MM transportation fund, reducing the financial commitment for taxpayers and alleviating concerns about traffic near the proposed arena.

Nothing is official yet, but the agreement between the two sides is expected to be announced later today. If things go smoothly, the proposal should be officially approved by city council within the next few weeks, at which point Hansen could tell the NBA that the city of Seattle is ready to host a franchise. Of course, that doesn't guarantee an NBA team will come to Seattle, but it would give the city a leg up on many other potential destinations if a franchise were to relocate.

Seattle mayor Mike McGinn released a statement late last night expressing enthusiasm about the latest step forward in the process, according to the KING 5 report:

"I welcome the news that the City Council has decided to support bringing basketball back to Seattle. [King County] Executive [Dow] Constantine and I negotiated a proposal with Chris Hansen, an Arena Review Panel vetted it and the County Council approved it. The City Council was the last piece of the puzzle. We haven't gotten a team yet, but Sonics fans have a reason to smile today."

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