Around The World: May 23

05/23/12

Written by: DHawes22

May 23

Trailblazers: 2012 Mock Draft Database

KOIN: Video: Kaleb Canales Discusses Time With Trail Blazers

MVP: Freeland Given NBA Deadline
“I want to win something and if it can be in (Malaga), all the better. I have a contract here and that’s all I’m thinking about. Like every player, I’d also love to play in the NBA. If I get the opportunity this summer, I don’t know. I can’t say if I’d say yes or no.”

Trail Blazers: Cap Space And Bird Rights Explained
"This exception would apply to for the Trail Blazers with Nicolas Batum. He is a restricted free agent this season and because he’s played for Portland for four seasons he is a Bird free agent. A scenario that could see Portland exercise the Bird exception would play out if the Trail Blazers were to spend all of their available cap space before re-signing or matching a contract for Batum. (Portland has until June 30th to extend Batum a qualifying offer to gain the right to match any contract he’s offered in free agency.) This would be a great option for the Trail Blazers because it would maximize the amount of money the team could spend within the rules of the salary cap."

Oregon Live: Blazers Insider: Franchise needs voice and vision, but instead a vacancy persists
"Those decisions have probably cost Buchanan a shot at the real job. He admits he is shaken by his miscalculations in assembling this year's disaster, even though many of the decisions were made under the duress of a hurried end to the lockout and the deterioration of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. He is a leader in the making, but not quite ready to run a team, both from a professional and personal standpoint. He still relishes being a daddy, and talked Tuesday of his son being at the age where he follows him to the door when he leaves for work, and how it tugs at his heartstrings to see him stay at the door until his car is out of sight."

Oregon Live: NBA High-5: With Jerry Sloan ready to return to coaching, could Blazers hire him without a GM?
Sloan told Tomasson that he is not actively pursuing jobs, but will listen to those who call. It makes you think about the Blazers, who, as The Oregonian's Jason Quick wrote this morning, have gone exactly one year without a permanent general manager. Should Portland really wait to hire a GM first if the third-winningest coach in NBA history is available? "I don’t have an agent," Sloan told Tomasson. "I don’t need for anybody to talk for me. If somebody calls me, I will listen."

Marca: Spanish F Victor Claver Considers Jump To NBA
"Victor Claver could undertake the adventure of the NBA next season. The versatile Spanish international, who this season has averaged 8.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in the league Endesa, values seriously make the leap this summer to the Portland Trail Blazers."

Sports Illustrated: Why a Howard-for-Bynum trade needs to happen for Magic, Lakers
"Bynum, 24, could be freed and fed in Orlando. And Howard, whose dream of joining the hapless Nets is in limbo because of the looming free agency of friend and Nets point guard Deron Williams, could be part of a legitimate contender again while becoming the pre-eminent star of the Lakers' next generation. It's unclear whether the Magic would require more than Bynum in return for a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and former MVP runner-up. But barring a change of heart from Howard, Bynum may be their best chance at salvaging this situation."

Ball Don't Lie: NBA High-5: One James Harden is a cake now
"Over the past couple of years, lots of people have drawn comparisons between star San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and Oklahoma City Thunder swingman James Harden. Both are smooth lefties with deceptive quickness and a great shooting touch, both have won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award and both provide game-changing offensive options for their teams off the bench. The similarities are really uncanny ... and now, they are delicious."

Ball Don't Lie: Larry Bird calls his Indiana Pacers ‘soft’ following the team’s physical Game 5 loss to Miami
"He might not be right, and it might be an overreaction, but in the words of Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, "you knew Larry Bird wasn't going to sit this one out." In the hours following Indiana's Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat, in a physical affair that saw the Pacers blown out while taking in the two nastiest of the three flagrant fouls doled out on the evening, the Pacers president and 2012 NBA Executive of the Year called his team "soft," in a short discussion with Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Wells following the game."

Ball Don't Lie: Dexter Pittman’s elbow to Lance Stephenson’s throat is just one of three nasty hits in Miami/Indiana’s Game 5 (VIDEO)
"Remember last week, when Indiana Pacers afterthought Lance Stephenson was spied on the Pacer bench making a "choke" symbol toward Miami Heat superstar LeBron James as he missed free throws in Game 3 of the teams' second-round series? And how LeBron apparently didn't care enough to give Stephenson the time of day following? Well, it appears Heat Counterpart in Scrubbishness Dexter Pittman wanted to give Stephenson the time of day, just as soon as a big enough blowout hit in Game 5 to warrant an appearance from both Stephenson and Pittman, two players who combined for just 742 minutes during the regular season, some court time."

Ball Don't Lie: Behind the Box Score, where the Miami Heat split the Indiana Pacers in two
"The Pacers have to show more patience in the halfcourt and somehow find a way to connect on any leak-outs they have off of Heat turnovers (13, in this game) and missed shots. It's probably hard to stomach us talking about Indiana's offense after a night where Miami played so well defensively and shot 61 percent from the floor, but Indy's offense seems like the only potential variable moving forward — because the Heat's D won't let up, and the Heat won't stop shooting 61 percent from the floor if they're continued to be allowed great looks in transition after busted Indiana plays."

The Basketball Jones: 2012 NBA Draft: Western Conference needs
"The Blazers will likely keep restricted free agent Nicolas Batum to pair with LaMarcus Aldridge for the future. After this duo, they’ll probably earmark J.J. Hickson, who played very well during his time Portland, and Wesley Matthews as part of the building blocks moving forward. The Blazers have a lot of picks in this draft, but may lose that sixth overall pick because of the limits (top-three protected) of the Gerald Wallace to Brooklyn Nets trade. However, they’ll have their own pick and could go with Kendall Marshall to be the point guard of the future. Otherwise, they’ll need someone to man the five spot, but may very well just draft best talent available with their second round picks."

DIME: Video: The Top 10 Rookie Plays Of The NBA Season
"The NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award had been all but clinched by Kyrie Irving sometime around the midway point of the season. But as great as he was – hitting game-winners, dishing out beastly statlines – he didn’t have the best play from a rookie this season. That went to some cat out in the Western Conference who is already drawing Dennis Rodman comparisons … "

SLAM: Post Up: South Beach Strong
"The Pacers seemed to back down physically for most of the game, allowing the Heat to run up and down the court with little to no contention. A team with a great deal more depth should not be allowing a team who plays its superstars 44 minutes a game to turn the contest into a track meet and win the track meet. The Heat do not deserve the NBA Championship crown yet, but they have strung together sustained periods of offensive efficiency and defensive intensity. The bottom line is that David West and Roy Hibbert need to step up and take the game into their hands again. They have no excuse not to each go 15 and 10 the next two games. If they continue their 10-points, 5-rebound games, they will finish the season in Indianapolis this week."

SLAM via ESPN Radio: Dirk Nowitzki ‘Would Love’ to Team Up With Deron Williams
"We’d love to get some great players here and reload. I think Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban have always made that clear. It’s not good enough for us to play for six or seven seeds in the playoff and get swept in the first round. We always want to play at the top and want to have home court advantage in the first round. That’s something we always take pride in and we gotta bring some players in. We are losing a lot of guys from our team, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in July. We would love to get a prime time player like D-Will in."

SLAM via NBA: NBA Announces 2011-12 All-Defensive Teams
"“Miami Heat forward LeBron James, winner of the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, headlines the NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today. James totaled 53 points overall, including 24 First Team votes. He was the lone player to top 50 points. Joining James on the NBA All-Defensive First Team are forward Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder (47 points), guards Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers (35 points) and Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies (33 points), and center Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic (41 points)."

SLAM via Salt Lake Tribune: Charlotte Bobcats to Interview Jerry Sloan
"Sloan said on Tuesday that he has talked to Charlotte owner Michael Jordan about the Bobcats’ job and could meet with him as early as this week. [...] Reached at his farm outside McLeansboro, Ill., Sloan made it clear he would like to return to coaching after being away from basketball for 15 months. Sloan resigned as coach of the Jazz in February of 2011, citing fatigue after 23 seasons. Asked if he had talked to any team about a job opening, Sloan mentioned Jordan and the Bobcats, who finished 7-59 during the lockout-shortened season and then fired coach Paul Silas. According to Sloan, undertaking such a massive rebuilding job would not prevent him from considering Charlotte. “Obviously, you probably wouldn’t win [a championship] right off the bat,” he said. “But sometimes it’s not all about starting on top.”

ESPN: Should Dexter Pittman be suspended?
"No less than three games for Pittman. His elbow and clueless post-foul wink captured by the TNT cameras shoved that foul into the same zip code as Metta World Peace's hammer blow on James Harden. But Pittman doesn't have Metta's prior history, so brace for three or four games. I'd have no problem with five games for Pittman, honestly, but we all have a tendency to guess high in these situations."

CBS: Video: Kyrie Irving hustles a court dressed as an old guy
"This is a pretty positive step forward for Irving, who needed to show some personality. His old guy impression was fairly hilarious, with the hippity-hops and what not. Cleveland has a star, a brand, a personality, a talent."