Category: General NBA insight

The Monitor reports: The Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Tuesday announced the hiring of 13-year NBA veteran Robert Pack as an assistant coach. “I could not be more pleased than to attract Robert to the Valley as our top assistant,” Vipers coach Clay Moser said. “He is truly a star on the rise in the coaching profession. Beyond being an outstanding NBA player for many years, he also has international playing experience. He is current with the game today, and his story will resonate with our players. He is a great person that has persevered through many trials and tribulations, a testament to his character.” … The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are a member of the NBA Development League (NBA D-League).

Aside from a Bulls shooting guard who scores a lot and feels he’s worth more than the $10 million per season Chicago is reportedly offering, every notable free agent in the league has a contract for the upcoming season. So, although more signings may occur, winners from this summer in the deals department are becoming clear.

The 76ers signed Elton Brand. They’re paying him a lot and didn’t get a steal, but what they are getting is an All-Star level power forward who, assuming he’s as good as he was before getting injured and stays hungry, can do damage in the East. This was the most impactful signing of the summer.

The Bucks traded for Richard Jefferson, and gave up no proven pieces in the process. They traded Mo Williams away for Luke Ridnour, who as a passer fits the team’s need at point guard more than Mo did. They drafted Joe Alexander, a dunking, running forward to come off the bench. They’re a winner for adding RJ.

The Blazers drafted extremely well, adding Jerryd Bayless, a hard-to-guard scoring point guard who appears ready to drop 20 points anytime he feels like it, and Rudy Fernandez, an impressive, already-successful overseas talent. They’ll also have Greg Oden active this year, though he was added to the squad a year ago thanks to a very lucky day in the draft lottery.

The Heat may have lucked out when the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose, because Michael Beasley may be the better player of the two.

The Bulls, thanks to draft lottery luck, are summer winners for getting Rose at all.

The Rockets traded for Ron Artest and didn’t give up any proven pieces to get him.

The Timberwolves traded for Mike Miller, giving no stars up in return, and got Kevin Love in the draft. Those are two nice players to put next to Al Jefferson. The team will still probably struggle, but there’s some interesting stuff on paper in Minnesota.

Possible winner: The Raptors traded TJ Ford for Jermaine O’Neal. If JO can stay healthy and transform into the All-Star player he used to be, Toronto is a big winner. But in recent seasons, even when healthy, O’Neal has been closer to “good” or sometimes “very good” than great.

Possible winner: The Clippers lost Brand, which obviously isn’t good, and Corey Maggette signed elsewhere, but they signed Baron Davis and traded for Marcus Camby. With B-Diddy, rookie Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Camby and Chris Kaman, they now have a weird lineup that could be fun to watch. Worth keeping an eye on, but probably not a winner.

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The Miami Heat announced today that they have re-signed guard Chris Quinn. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s probably for around $1 million per season.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Heat really needed an upgrade at the point guard position, but either weren’t able to pull it off, or just didn’t try hard enough. It didn’t sound like they really went after anyone. They now have backup-quality point guards, no one really worthy of starting. Here’s more on Quinn:

Quinn, who originally signed with the HEAT on July 6, 2006 as a free agent, has appeared in 102 games (26 starts). During his two-year NBA career in Miami, he has averaged 5.9 points, 2.4 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 17.1 minutes while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range and 81.5 percent from the foul line. In his 26 career starts, he has averaged 11.7 points, 4.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.42 steals and 32.8 minutes while amassing a 3.18 assist-to-turnover ratio and shooting 42.7 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from three-point range and 85.3 percent from the foul line. Additionally, Quinn has scored in double-figures on 27 occasions, including four 20-point performances.

During the 2007-08 season, Quinn appeared in 60 games (25 starts) and set career-highs with 7.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 22.3 minutes. He finished tied for 27th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 40.3 percent of his attempts. Quinn also ranked second on the HEAT in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.24) and three-point field goal percentage and fourth in three-point field goals made (64), assists (178) and steals (46). He became just the 14th player in HEAT history to play all 48 minutes of a non-overtime game when he played for the duration at Toronto on March 19, 2008.

ESPN (Ric Bucher) reports: The NBA will use leather basketballs in its developmental league next season, temporarily ending its attempts to re-introduce a composite ball at the NBA level, a league official has confirmed. “We are committed to leather for the foreseeable future,” said league spokesman Tim Frank. “We just realized leather is what our guys wanted.” … The D League will begin next season using an eight-paneled leather ball and then switch to a two-paneled version sometime around midseason, Frank said.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The old composite ball felt good to hold, but was rough on the hands, and changed for the worse when wet. I hope they just stick with the leather forever.

Mavs Courtisde View (official team blog by Art Garcia) reports: To help celebrate its 10th year, NBA TV is offering up a free preview week and a new interactive feature called Fan Night. For the first time ever, fans will have the chance to vote for games they want to see televised nationally on NBA TV each Tuesday night. “We’re proud to launch the new NBA season on NBA TV and NBA.com with the introduction of Fan Night, a landmark multi-platform experience that takes fan interactivity to an unprecedented level,” said Bryan Perez, SVP and GM of NBA Digital. “This is a great example of our commitment to increase fan involvement and take full advantage of all our platforms in an integrated manner. Fans voting online to consistently program a major, national sports network pushes the boundaries of sports digital media.”