SH Blog: Kidd will “revisit” his contract; Kenyon Martin wants to play next year

Ric Bucher of CSN Bay Area talked to Martell Webster, who says he’d like to stay with the Wizards: “Indications are that the Wizards would like to bring FA-to-be Martell Webster back next season, so I asked Webster how he felt about returning. Answer, in short: Count me in.  Answer, in long: “It’s a great fit for me. I enjoy the atmosphere here: coaching staff, training staff and most important, my teammates. And it’s competitive. And very family-oriented. When you have that as an option, it’s hard to defer away from that.” Sounds as if the Wizards have done a decent job of changing the culture of not too long ago, when lockerroom gun-play seemed to be all the rage. In fact, Webster gave higher marks to his current locale than his time with the Blazers.”

Joe Freeman of the Oregonian looks at Eric Maynor’s future in Portland after this season, and the success he’s had as Damian Lillard’s backup: “Maynor will be a free agent at the end of the season and while the Blazers can guarantee he stays by extending him a qualifying offer this summer — making him a restricted free agent — it would come at a price. Maynor’s qualifying offer is $3.4 million, with a hefty $5.85 million cap hold that would eat a substantial amount of the Blazers’ offseason spending money. Early reviews suggest that the Blazers and Maynor are a good match. But it seems unlikely the team would mortgage so much of its offseason spending power on a backup point guard. It seems more likely the Blazers will allow Maynor to become an unrestricted free agent and pursue him with the rest of the NBA. It’s the same move the Blazers made last offseason with JJ Hickson and he ended up returning.  Maynor said he likes his new teammates and acknowledged — just as any player in his position would — that he would be happy if the team extended a qualifying offer.”

Here’s how John Wall got ejected from the Wizards’ game against the Warriors last night, via Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “After getting bumped to his backside and sliding on the hardwood, Wall quickly hopped up and circled (Klay) Thompson’s direction, ignoring teammate Emeka Okafor’s attempts to get him to calm down. Wall had taken a hit to the noggin from Thompson while trying a layup on the previous possession. So as he approached Thompson, Wall shouted, “Go to the basket and I swear to God, I’ll knock your…out.” Thompson leaned over and grabbed his shorts.  Wall moved closer, towering over Thompson as he nodded and repeatedly shouted, “Go to the basket! Go to the basket!” Thompson tried to turn away, but Wall kept jawing until referee Gary Zielinski sprinted toward Wall and Thompson and – without hesitation or an attempt to diffuse the situation with a warning – went directly to assessing the players with a double technical foul. Since Wall had already picked up a technical foul in the first quarter, Zielinski signaled for Wall to leave the court and the Wizards were forced to trudge along without their most important player.”

Shabazz Muhammad, postgame, denies telling people he was 19. "I always tell people I'm 20." [VIDEO] http://t.co/nIFLKox3Mm! #UCLA

March 23, 2013 12:58 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

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Ken Bensinger

The Kings might end up staying in Sacramento after all. James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom writes: “The City of Sacramento checked off a major box in its fight to keep the Kings today.  Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced via Twitter that an agreement has been reached with the Ron Burkle/Mark Mastrov/Vivek Ranadivé group to build a new downtown arena. “It’s a great day in Sacramento!!!!!,” Johnson said, beginning a string of tweets.  “I’m pleased to announce an agreement w/ Burkle-Mastrov-(Ranadivé) group on a public-private partnership to build a new ESC at (Downtown) Plaza Mall.  Consistent (with) our core tenets, the deal avoids new taxes, protects the City on the Kings loan, and ensures no net impact to the general fund” According to Johnson’s tweets, the new ownership group is ready to invest up to a billion dollars in the region in the transaction, which includes a deal to purchase the Kings, build a new entertainment and sports center and lock into a new 35-year agreement to keep the team in Sacramento.”

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Dan Malone is a third-year journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.