General NBA insight – Page 134 – NBA Blog

Can Austin Daye be NBA shooting guard?

Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Can Austin Daye play shooting guard in the NBA?

He certainly would be a matchup problem at 6-feet-11 — he’s taller than fellow second-year players Jonas Jerebko and DaJuan Summers. Daye spent plenty of time at the position last week during the Pistons’ Summer League in Las Vegas as the staff experimented with him at different positions.

He has the height of a power forward, the body of a small forward and the shooting range of a shooting guard, but at 22, he has plenty of room to grow physically and mentally.

The lanky shooter has the perimeter game to play the position, but whether he has the quickness to guard smaller shooting guards and the commitment to handle the defensive aspects of the position are yet to be determined.

Playing multiple positions would get him more time on the floor during the regular season.

Spurs began liking Gary Neal in June

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

The team’s infatuation with Neal, a 25-year-old shooting guard who has spent the duration of his three-year career overseas, began at a free-agent minicamp in June.

“Coming into the offseason, we knew we needed to improve our shooting,” general manager R.C. Buford said. “He came into our gym and was one of the best shooters there. He shot the ball beautifully.”

That shooting beauty carried over to last week’s Las Vegas Summer League, where the 6-foot-4 Neal led an undermanned Spurs squad in scoring at 16 points per game, made 50 percent of his 3-pointers (17 of 34) and walked away with an NBA contract.

Neal sealed his deal with a 25-point game in Sunday’s finale against Memphis, in which he buried 6 of 10 from 3-point range.

Buford wouldn’t go so far as to say the addition of Neal signals an end to the Spurs’ summerlong search for a shooter, but it might.

Andre Iguodala can grow his name internationally this summer

Tom Moore of The Intelligencer reports:

Andre Iguodala has a chance to make a name for himself internationally this summer.

With most of the elite NBA stars – namely LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozer – withdrawing from competition in 2010 for various reasons, Iguodala could make the USA Basketball National Team and play a key role at the FIBA World Championships beginning Aug. 28 in Turkey.

Iguodala’s versatility is probably his biggest asset.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for him,” said Sixers president Ed Stefanski. “When you’re putting a team together to go overseas to play, a guy like that who can guard 1s, 2s and 3s and play multiple positions at the offensive end is a guy that they’ll look at closely. But there’s competition.”

Knicks get younger

The New York Knicks are rebuilding themselves and attempting to become relevant again in the NBA playoff picture.

Baby steps, people.

At the least, they’ve gotten both better and younger.

Howard Beck of the New York Times reports:

The Knicks are much younger now, with an average age of 24 and no player in his 30s. Amar’e Stoudemire, Ronny Turiaf and Eddy Curry are the oldest, at 27. Aside from Stoudemire, the Knicks’ most talented players are the two youngest: Danilo Gallinari, 22, and Anthony Randolph, 21.

“The weakness we have is experience and youth,” D’Antoni said. “And that’s something that with time we’ll take care of. But we do have a lot of young guys out there. You never know how they’ll react to everything.”

It is an almost entirely new roster, with just four players left from opening night in 2009, and just two holdovers from April 2008, when D’Antoni and Walsh arrived.

“It’s exciting,” D’Antoni said. “I think we have a lot of talent.”

Stoudemire and Felton are nice additions. But ideally, one more player capable of scoring 18 or 20 gets added to the rotation before the season starts.

Gerald Green wants back into NBA

Gerald Green can jump very high. And he wants to leap back into the NBA.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports:

Kenton Edelin, Green’s agent, said there has been interest from “a couple teams” but would not be specific. He said he has also spoken to several teams in Spain, believing that if Green does not get a shot in the NBA this season, the move to the strong Spanish league would be a bridge from the Russian league back to the NBA.

“Obviously, he wants to play for an NBA team this fall,” Edelin said. “Playing in one of the strong European markets would be a way, if not this year, the next year to get back.

“His priority is to play in the NBA this year. He’s just 24. He has plenty of time still to have a long, successful NBA career.”

But there was a time when Green first hit it big in Vegas, that all that seemed certain. He has not forgotten.

“I think of those things,” he said. “I just try to use that as motivation. I wouldn’t have believed you (if he had been told the path his career would take). It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. “

Green is certainly young enough to not give up hope just yet.

I’d guess that we see him again soon, perhaps on a one-season deal, maybe partially or not guaranteed. And then he better rock.

Wade still shocked Heat landed LeBron

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports:

“I hit up LeBron [on Tuesday] night and I told him I’m looking at ESPN and I see his name scroll on the bottom and it says ‘Miami Heat forward LeBron James.’

“I just said, ‘Man, it’s crazy.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I just saw the same thing.’ ”

Behind his cool countenance, Wade feels every bit as exhilarated as the most fanatical of Heat fans. And he’s intoxicated by the possibilities of what this threesome can achieve.

“It’s beyond exciting,” he said. “I don’t think we even really know how excited we’re going to be.”

Respect Steve Blake

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

Blake is a far better athlete than is generally understood, with Mitch Kupchak revealing that in Blake’s Lakers pre-draft workout he “tested out as one of the best players we’ve ever had as far as physical ability.” That was seven years ago, and even though Blake still looks like a dude working behind a Subway counter, he actually does mixed martial arts that showcase his uncommon core strength.

Blake’s competitive fire would fit well in the Octagon, too. He can be found on YouTube going face-to-chest to 7-footers Andrew Bogut and Dwight Howard in just the past six months, standing up for himself. The over-under on confrontations between Blake and Sasha Vujacic in practice next season? I’ll say 12 … unless Vujacic and his expiring contract get traded before they get there, though the odds of that salary dump decreased when free agent Raja Bell chose Utah over the Lakers.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m thinking Derek Fisher will still start for the Lakers, but then sit quickly, with Blake getting the bulk of second and third quarter minutes. And then maybe Fisher plays in the end to nail a clutch jumper or two. But Blake very well could start. Looking forward to finding out.

James Johnson trims down

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports:

Between the full beard he has added and the 25 pounds he has lost, James Johnson looks like a completely different person this summer.

Johnson’s game, though, looks quite similar from his rookie season, which is to say impressive flashes of athleticism followed by moments of painful decision-making.

This is a critical season for Johnson, who kept a remarkably upbeat attitude throughout all the trials and tribulations he faced. Even when LeBron James posterized him with a dunk in the Bulls- Cavaliers playoff series, creating a replay that led James’ “The Decision” special, Johnson eagerly guarded James some more.

Bulls have no negative words for LeBron

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Like other teams in other cities, the Bulls went all-in to try to get LeBron James and suffered a major setback when James decided to join the Miami Heat to form the Bigger Three with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

But unlike some of those other spurned teams — especially the Cleveland Cavaliers — the Bulls had no harsh words for James and offered no regrets about any decision they made in the free-agent process.

”In our dealings with [James], he was terrific,” general manager Gar Forman said. ”He was professional, we really enjoyed the time we had to spend with him and there was nothing [negative].”

Opinion: I am cool with LeBron James announcing signing decision on TV

Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET, Cleveland Cavaliers free agent LeBron James will announce to the world which team he is signing with. The event will be a one-hour special.

The teams who may win LeBron’s services are the Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, Nets and Clippers. And I listed those squads in order of who I think has the best shot to get him.

I believe that LeBron’s signing is worthy of being on national television. Simply because everybody cares about it. The world wants to know. So, put it on TV!

That’s it. There’s nothing more to it.

There’s a good chance I will not pay particularly close attention to the early stages of the special. It could be great stuff, but as someone who follows this stuff closely and covers it for a living, I probably already know everything that’ll be said. There will probably be some cool highlights to glance at. I’ll keep it on in the background with the sound up while I work on my laptop or something.

But, I will listen. And when the announcement does come, I’ll rotate my desk chair and stare right at the TV. So will you. And that’s why it deserves to be televised.

UPDATE: It appears LeBron plans on making his decision early, within about 10 minutes. We’ll see!

–Jeff