Suicide lines: Cavs not done shopping; Diogu wants minutes
Each weekday morning, Ball Don’t Lie serves up a handful of
NBA-related stories to digest with your wine and chocolates.
Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer: "The Cavaliers’ major moves are done, but the finishing touches may not be. According to a league source, the Cavs have a contract offer out to a forward and are hoping to get an answer within the next few days. That forward is believed to be Hakim Warrick, a 6-9 athletic big man who has played the past four seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team is believed to be offering its biannual exception, which would be just under $2 million for this season, plus a player option for the 2010-11 season. ESPN.com reported Thursday that Warrick is considering the Cavs, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. Both the Bucks and 76ers can offer Warrick more money, and he is from Philadelphia." [more]
John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune: "… we remain unsure if [Ike] Diogu actually is a legitimate NBA player, but we know for certain that he’s convinced he is, and we’re going to have a chance to find out. Because finally, he’s going to get the time and opportunity to prove it. ‘I haven’t really had too many opportunities with the previous teams I’ve been with,’ Diogu said, and that’s saying a little something, because he has been with four. ‘So I’m just really excited to show everybody that I belong in the league, and that I was worthy of being taken ninth overall (by Golden State) in 2005. It’s not a logjam at the big-man position (in New Orleans). They do have big men, but there’s not six big men down low like it was in Portland (last season). That was one of (the Hornets’) needs; they said they wanted to add more depth in the frontcourt.’"
Frank Isola, New York Daily News: "Ramon Sessions could receive a contract offer from the Knicks as early as Friday, assuming they don’t have a change of heart and shift their point-guard focus to Allen Iverson. Mike D’Antoni is said to favor Sessions, a restricted free agent who enjoyed a breakout season for Milwaukee last year. However, Iverson could be a cheaper alternative because the perennial All-Star is willing to accept a one-year contract that would cost the Knicks their $5.85 million mid-level exception. Sessions, 23, is hoping to receive a multi-year contract starting with the mid-level exception. The Bucks would have seven days to match the offer. According to a team source, Knicks president Donnie Walsh and Iverson’s agent, Leon Rose, met two weeks ago to discuss the possibility of Iverson joining the Knicks. Iverson had a subpar year last season with Detroit and desperately wants to salvage his career."
Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel: "Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy peppers his sentences with adjectives such as ‘incredible,’ ‘great’ and ‘tremendous’ when he discusses the moves General Manager Otis Smith has made this free-agency period. In an exclusive interview with the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday, Van Gundy said the additions of power forward Brandon Bass and wing player Matt Barnes, as well as the decision to re-sign backup center Marcin Gortat, will provide plenty of lineup options once the season arrives. ‘Otis has done a tremendous job, I think, not only in signing good players but really getting pieces that have a very good chance of fitting together well,’ Van Gundy said. ‘I think that we’ve got several very versatile guys. I think we’ve got about every situation covered. I don’t think that there’s really any kind of lineup that we can’t play.’ Van Gundy said four players — Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson — ‘would have to perform pretty poorly to play themselves out of the starting lineup.’"
Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press: "Charlie Bell has a few words for those who question the Pistons for signing forward Charlie Villanueva. Bell, a standout at Michigan State who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, thinks his former teammate is just scratching the surface of his talents. ‘He can do a lot of things,’ Bell said Wednesday after his round in the pro-am at the Buick Open. ‘I think he really doesn’t realize yet. ‘He can put the ball on the floor. He can shoot it. He’s a great athlete. Once he puts it together, knows when to score, when to put it on the floor and how to make his teammates better, he’ll really be a great player.’ And that’s what the Pistons are counting on."
BallinEurope.com: "Team Russia’s road to defending its EuroBasket title just got a whole lot longer; yesterday Andrei Kirilenko — so key to the Russian championship in 2007 — comfirmed that he would not be participating in the 2009 tournament. Kirilenko’s no show couples another massive absence for EuroBasket, namely point guard J.R. Holden of CSKA Moscow, who is taking a hiatus after earning caps with Team Russia in numerous international competitions up to and including the 2008 Olympic Games. The top six to seven finishers in the EuroBasket tournament receive entry into the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Russia’s chances — despite a somewhat light group for the first round — have today got to be considered bleak at best."
Jeff Latzke, AP: "The same economic woes that created funding problems for an overhaul to the Thunder’s arena in downtown Oklahoma City could soon have the project back on budget. Facing a $4.2 million shortfall in tax collections to fund the Ford Center renovations, the city received bids for an accompanying practice facility that were nearly $6 million below estimates. The board overseeing the renovation project recommended Thursday that the City Council award the contract for the practice facility construction to Atlas General Contractors at a cost of just over $10 million. The practice facility had been expected to cost around $16 million. ‘We’re very pleased about it but we still need to proceed conservatively, I guess I would say,’ said Tom Anderson, the city’s special projects manager. ‘But it’s the kind of good news that we were hoping for.’"
Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel: "How do you escape a free-agency whirlwind that has your team uncertain about its roster for the coming season? You head half a world away. As a bonus, the trip is part of an emotional homecoming. The NBA’s first Asian-American head coach, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has spent the past week in his mother’s homeland, the Philippines, a country he had not visited since he was three. The experience, Spoelstra said today, has been overwhelming. ‘I certainly have a great deal of pride about my heritage and it’s been a very special week,’ said Spoelstra, 38, who is about to begin his second season as Heat coach. ‘I’ve been able to reconnect with a lot of family members over here, some of them who I’ve had good relationships already with in the States, when they lived there, and some that I haven’t seen since I was three years old. It’s been an incredible experience.’"
Jeff Rabjohns, The Indianapolis Star: "The more Solomon Jones talked about defense, the more he smiled. Leaning forward in a chair in the media room at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Indiana Pacers‘ most recent addition described himself as someone who relishes playing defense with an edge. ‘Why not?’ the 6-10 forward said Thursday after signing a two-year contract. ‘I think defense sparks other things. We get out there and have that edge and get things going, that brings momentum on the offensive end. Defending is fun to do. Once you’re stopping people and blocking shots and getting steals, it makes the game fun.’ Jones is the Pacers’ third offseason acquisition known primarily for defense, joining guards Dahntay Jones and Earl Watson."
