Everyone’s still focused in on London, where Team USA took on France earlier today. I’m not going to spoil the result for you if you somehow don’t know it yet, so if you’re living a few hours in the past, be sure to check out our preview of that USA-France game. If you’re in the present with the rest of us, go ahead and read Chris Sheridan’s newest Diary of the Uncredentialed, where he describes watching that USA-France game in Paris.
And for those of you who are somehow tired of the Olympics already, keep an eye on our team-by-team index of offseason moves and analysis, and keep reading below for all the latest NBA news.
- First up, we’ve got Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio with news that is simultaneously relieving and nauseating: “With Dwight Howard reiterating his wish to be traded, multiple league sources predict the Orlando Magic will again step up efforts to find their All-Star center a new team. Several of those sources told FOX Sports Ohio on Saturday they believe Howard could be traded by the end of next week.”
- Even though the Knicks lost Jeremy Lin to the Rockets, things are still looking okay at the point guard spot, says Pablo Prigioni, in a piece from Marc Berman of the New York Post. “Prigioni, starting point guard for Argentina’s medal-contending Olympic squad, said he is more of a pass-first point guard than Lin, and the club will be solid with a three-headed platoon of Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and himself. ‘I think we have at that position everything, Prigioni said Saturday in an interview at a remote high school in East London. Raymond can score more. Jason and [I] can run the team. I feel we have many options at that position. Fans will be happy and enjoy our game. Jeremy is more a scorer. He likes to shoot more. I saw him play 10 games. I’m not this kind of player. I like the team to play good, pass the ball, find open shots. I like to play smart — if someone’s hot, pass the ball to him.’ ’’
- Lin isn’t the only Rockets point guard who played in New York last year. Former Iona star Scott Machado is on the summer league team, trying to win a spot on the regular season roster. He talked about that with Sean Brennan of the New York Daily News: ” ‘The same night, right after the draft, I heard from several teams,’ Machado said. ‘Everyone was calling me, telling me to come to the Summer League. I chose the Rockets because there is opportunity there.’ That opportunity came last week when the Rockets traded former Villanova guard Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors. Lowry had been Houston’s starting point guard last season. Now Machado, who shot 49% from the field and 40% from three-point range and averaged almost 14 points a game last season, said he plans on using the Summer League as a platform to show NBA team officials what they missed out on by not drafting him. ‘That’s exactly how it is now,’ Machado said. ‘I know I can play at this level, and the Summer League will give me a chance to show teams what I can do. The Rockets organization has been very encouraging. They tell me they know I can play in the league, and that’s why a lot of teams were calling me right after I wasn’t drafted.’
- Russia coach David Blatt on Kirilenko & Shved vs. Team GB: “If I’m the Minnesota Timberwolves … I’ve got a big, fat smile on my face.”
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 29, 2012
- Gary Woelfel of the Racine Journal-Times reports that the Bucks are looking to bring veteran center Joel Przybilla back to Milwaukee, where he spent the first three years of his NBA career. “Undeterred by his rejection last year, the Milwaukee Bucks are making another run at signing Joel Przybilla. The Bucks seriously courted the veteran 7-foot-1 center before and during last season, only to see him sign with the Portland Trail Blazers. With Przybilla once again an unrestriced free agent, the Bucks are hoping they can sign him this time. They have had several discussions with Przybilla’s representatives and were expected to meet this week.”
- David Baumann of ESPN Radio 1080 in central Florida talked to Jameer Nelson’s agent, Steve Mountain, about Nelson’s new contract, which, per Magic policy, remains sealed. Baumann was able to ascertain, however, that “The $19.7M is complete bologna. I was told: There is no 1, no 9 and no 7 in the total.”
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Dan Malone just completed his sophomore year at University of Kings College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is spending the summer in Baltimore, where he covers the Single-A minor-league baseball team the Aberdeen IronBirds for OriolesHangout.com. He will be blogging on weekends for SheridanHoops this summer.