December 2011 – Page 31 – NBA Blog

Boston Celtics trapped by salary cap

The Celtics will be a luxury tax-paying team and therefore will have only the mini mid-level exception ($3 million) with which to attract anything more than a minimum-contract player. The Celtics are already over the salary cap with the team on the hook for $64.9 million for seven players (that’s including a $5.7 million qualifying offer to Jeff Green, and that price tag should only rise). Boston will be able to sign its rookies and use Bird Rights to potentially pay to retain the likes of Green and Glen Davis.

After that? It’s minimum contracts or bust.

Samuel Dalembert? Greg Oden? Tyson Chandler? Kwame Brown?

No. No. Heck no. Now you’re talking! (And even Brown might get overpaid by another team).

That’s not to say the Celtics can’t get creative with the goal of bringing in another big contract. The team could work a sign-and-trade with Davis. Trouble there is that he’s an unrestricted free agent and a team with deep pockets can sign him without the need to involve Boston (though it could be financially beneficial to Davis to go that route).

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

Miami Heat hope to land Shane Battier

Once NBA teams can speak with free agents beginning Monday, Miami Heat president Pat Riley has his franchise in strong position to sell Shane Battier on signing to play with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Battier has been a primary target in free agency for the Heat, and sources say the pitch of Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra and key Heat players could ultimately confirm Battier’s strong feelings about chasing a championship in Miami.

Riley and Spoelstra see Battier as a strong defender with an ability to hit the open shots that’ll come his way playing with James, Wade and Chris Bosh. Battier has been a proven playoff performer, and possesses the professionalism and maturity to navigate within the harsh glare of the Heat’s existence.

Battier, 33, is still studying the marketplace, and how his personal scenario could change as different teams use the amnesty clause to create salary-cap space. Nevertheless, Miami currently stands as the most compelling option for him.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

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Kyrie Irving hopes to start for Cavs

With all due respect to Baron Davis, Kyrie Irving wouldn’t mind taking over the Cleveland Cavaliers’ starting point guard job in training camp.

The Cavs have the option of using their amnesty clause on Davis to waive him and remove the $28.7 million he’s owed the next two seasons from the team’s salary for cap and tax purposes. If Davis stays, Irving said he’d welcome being mentored by the veteran. The Cavs could decide to start both in the backcourt with Irving, the No. 1 pick in the June NBA draft, at point guard.

“It would be a great opportunity, but a little hard to see Baron go just based on having a veteran point guard there to help you make your transition,” Irving told Yahoo! Sports. “That’s something that I’m going to lose. But having the keys to the franchise is something that I’m excited about if it does happen. Either way, it will be a great opportunity with Baron or without Baron.”

When asked specifically if he’d rather take the point guard job now or learn under a veteran, Irving said: “I’d rather try to have the ability to go. I’ve been waiting for so long that I just want to jump right in, learn on the fly and just see how it goes.”

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports

Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo still dealing with overseas contract dispute

Rookie lottery pick Bismack Biyombo was among six Charlotte Bobcats who worked out Friday on the court at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Now he just hopes he’ll be there when the NBA season opens later this month.

Biyombo is in the midst of contract dispute with Fuenlabrada after playing for the Spanish team last season prior to being selected with the seventh pick in the draft. He’s suing the team for breach of contract and a civil trial scheduled for Dec. 19 in Spain could cause him to miss a portion of training camp—or even longer if he loses the case.

Biyombo’s United States-based agent Joel Bell doesn’t believe that’ll happen.

“He’s not going to pay anything,” Bell said. “He’s going to win the trial. They’re in breach of contract.”

Fuenlabrada wants a transfer fee to give up its rights to Biyombo.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

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Trevor Ariza spent the lockout in school

Thanks to the 149-day NBA lockout, Ariza now finds himself three hours closer to a degree from UCLA, thanks to the American History class he successfully completed in Westwood — with a B-plus, thank you very much.

“Just one; got to ease back into that,” Ariza said of course work, which he left behind at UCLA in 2004 when he turned pro after one year of college. He was playing as a 19-year-old off the bench for the Knicks, who made him a second-round pick. “It was History 140D, Professor Corey.

“It was great. B-plus is good. I’ve been out of school for eight years. To go back and get a B-plus, that’s big for me. It was like starting all over again. You’ve got to put time in, just like you work at your job, or in basketball or whatever. You’ve got to put your time in, study, take notes in class, talk to the teacher. Try to find out all the information you can.”

— Reported by Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Magic Johnson wants to buy the L.A. Dodgers

At a time when Major League Baseball wants to restore the Los Angeles Dodgers’ brand following years of damage under the ownership of Frank McCourt, Earvin “Magic” Johnson — arguably the most popular athlete in the city’s history — is a major player in a group that wants to buy the team.

“I’m a big baseball fan,” Johnson said by phone Friday, “and you think about what the Dodgers have meant to baseball and to Los Angeles, and that part’s a no-brainer. … I’ve been to that place [Dodger Stadium] hundreds and hundreds of times.”

Johnson was approached about a month ago by Stan Kasten, the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals — someone Johnson has known for about 30 years, and who once offered him a job to coach the Atlanta Hawks. Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a private global financial services firm, is the money muscle behind the group, which is called Guggenheim Baseball Management. According to a fact sheet about the group, Guggenheim Partners has more than $125 billion in assets under management.

— Reported by Buster Olney of ESPN the Magazine

Mavericks will not get their championship rings on Christmas Day

The Mavericks will unveil their championship banner on Christmas, but won’t be getting their rings, which is not unusual considering the lockout has thrown everything out of balance.

Mark Cuban wants to convene with Dirk Nowitzki , Jason Terry and Jason Kidd on the design of the rings and contact between players and owners/management remains off limits until the new collective bargaining agreement becomes official next week.

The Mavericks will have the rings designed after input from the players and will have them presented at a later game.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Chuck Hayes hopes to stay with Rockets

While weighing offers from four teams, Rockets center Chuck Hayes’ agent said Hayes’ preference remains to return to the Rockets, his only team in his six NBA seasons.

Hayes has received offered from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors, agent Calvin Andrews said. Andrews has also spoken with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, though not about a specific offer. Hayes turned down an extension offer from the Rockets last June worth roughly $2.5 million per season and Andrews said offers have exceeded that.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle

Will Lakers start Odom, Gasol and Bynum?

The Lakers’ first headache will be to determine who’s on their team when training camp starts next Friday. Their next one will be figuring out a starting lineup.

When Andrew Bynum returns from a five-game suspension, Coach Mike Brown might take a long look at a large frontcourt of Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, an idea tossed around as a curiosity piece the last few years but never fully employed by Phil Jackson’s staff.

The move would send World Peace to the bench, which goes hand in hand with the Lakers’ concern about his physical shape. They hadn’t been allowed to contact him during the lockout, but he looked heavier when he arrived at the training facility, adding some of the weight he dropped last season.

Heavy or not, the Lakers will not use their amnesty provision on him or Luke Walton this season unless they acquire a starting small forward in a trade or free agency in the next few weeks. The Lakers need to keep World Peace right now because they’re not sure what free agents they can get with their limited spending power.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

2011-12 NBA season Christmas Day schedule

The NBA today announced that the league’s 66th season will tip off Christmas Day with a five-game slate, contingent on timely ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement.

NBA Tip-Off ’11 will launch on TNT with one of the NBA’s oldest and most intense rivalries. The Boston Celtics, featuring their All-Star foursome of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo, visit the New York Knicks (12 p.m. ET) with their dynamic tandem of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire.

The action then will shift to ABC for an afternoon doubleheader when in a rematch of The Finals, 2011 Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki and All-Star Jason Kidd lead the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks against the Miami Heat and its power trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in the first game (2:30 p.m. ET). Prior to tip-off, Dallas will raise its NBA championship banner. The second game features 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, who won a league-best 62 games last season, visiting the Los Angeles Lakers (5 p.m. ET) with perennial All-Star Kobe Bryant making his record-tying 13th Christmas Day appearance.

ESPN will round out the day with a pair of matchups. Two-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant leads the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Orlando Magic, which features three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard (8 p.m. ET). Afterward, the Los Angeles Clippers and 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin visit the Golden State Warriors and rookie head coach and former NBA great Mark Jackson (10:30 p.m. ET).

The 2011-12 NBA season will feature each team playing a 66-game schedule. The full regular-season and broadcast schedules will be released at a future date.

Last season, NBA games and programming were available in 215 countries and territories in 46 languages.

NBA CHRISTMAS DAY GAMES SCHEDULE

Boston Celtics at New York Knicks 12 p.m. ET, TNT

Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks 2:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers 5 p.m. ET, ABC

Orlando Magic at Oklahoma City Thunder 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN