Shaquille O’Neal thinks he can turn DeMarcus Cousins into the best big man in the NBA, from CBS Local: “Owners of the Sacramento Kings are meeting with Shaquille O’Neal tonight in Sacramento. Vivek Ranadive and Mark Mastrov sat down for dinner with the TNT analyst and former Los Angeles Lakers star at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Melo Park. Three months after O’Neal said he thought the Kings were sold and gone at the NBA All-Star Game in Houston, the all-star center said he’s going to help tutor DeMarcus Cousins. O’Neal said, “I’m going to make DeMarcus Cousins the best big man in the game.” O’Neal also praised the planned new Kings arena, which won a Sacramento City Council vote to approve $6.5 million in funding for the project.”
- The Pelicans are making it known that Eric Gordon is very touchable at the moment, from Andrew Perna of RealGM: “The New Orleans Pelicans are making Eric Gordon “very available” in trade talks, according to a source that spoke with RealGM. Gordon signed a four-year, $58 million deal with the Phoenix Suns last offseason that was matched by the Pelicans. Gordon badly wanted to play for the Suns and was publicly disappointed by the Pelicans’ decision to match. Gordon played in just 42 games last season due to a continued string of injuries.”
Larry Bird is returning to the Pacers as the president of basketball operations, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “The Pacers will welcome back Bird at a news conference at 10 a.m. ET Thursday – one year to the day after he resigned his position with the franchise. Bird coached the Pacers from 1997-2000 and returned to the franchise in 2003 as president. Bird was voted the NBA’s Executive of the Year in 2012 after leading the Pacers’ revival from the draft lottery to the Eastern Conference’s elite. Bird stepped away at season’s end and moved back to Florida to attend to some health issues but became eager to return to Indiana in order to complete the job in transforming the Pacers into an NBA champion… Kevin Pritchard will continue as the organization’s general manager, ultimately answering to Bird. The Pacers want Walsh to continue to have a role in the organization, and that will be discussed among owner Herb Simon, Bird and Walsh, a source told Yahoo! Sports.”
Carl Landry has decided to become a free agent, from Marcus Thompson of Contra Costa Times: “Warriors forward Carl Landry has opted out of his contract and is an unrestricted free agent, his agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed Landry had one year remaining on his contract with Golden State, set to pay him $4 million. But after a productive season off the Warriors bench, Landry decided to try to parlay that into a long-term deal on the free agent market. He previously said it was a tough decision because he really wants to stay with Golden State, which is why he waited until the last possible day to decide. His contract stipulated he exercise his opt out by today, the day before the NBA draft. Landry, 29, averaged 10.8 points on 54 percent shooting – with a career-high 6.0 rebounds – in 23.2 minutes off the bench. Signed by the Warriors last offseason, he gave Golden State a much-needed low-post presence and injected some toughness into the frontcourt.”
Brian Shaw joked that working for Phil Jackson hurt his chances of becoming his own man, from The AP: “And he’s not trying to simply be a clone of his mentor, Phil Jackson, either, a name that might have actually hindered him over the years, instead of helped. See, teams were leery of Shaw. Sure, he captured three championships as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers and two more titles as an assistant under Jackson, but the intricate triangle offense that Jackson taught scared off some organizations. “I jokingly said to (Jackson), `Coach, I thought playing for you and working for you would be my biggest asset. Actually, it’s hurt me the most,” said Shaw, who’s still working on assembling his assistant coaches. “I’ve never gone into an interview and said, `I only believe in the triangle and this is the system I’m going to run.’ But I understand everyone’s thought process because it’s such a unique system.”
Doc Rivers explained why he is excited to be the coach of the Clippers, from Kurt Helin of Probasketballtalk: “We didn’t win it last year, so there is clearly work to do…” Rivers said. “The reason I wanted this when it came available is because of what they have, not what they don’t have. “I clearly think this is an extremely talented basketball team, there were times in last year when they were the best team. What we have to figure out is, with the group we have can we do that in the postseason as opposed to just the regular season?”… “With the personnel here for sure,” Rivers said. “I think offenses have improved, you can’t do it exactly the same anymore, I just don’t think you can, guys have wised up to what we were doing, but with DeAndre (Jordan) and Blake (Griffin) I think you can absolutely form an unbelievable defense. They are long, they are athletic, that always starts a good defense, and we have that in house right now.”
- Jalen Rose explained why Scottie Pippen may have lost his cool towards someone who was seeking his autograph:
- If a team wants to pay more for Tyreke Evans than what’s on the table, they just may get him, according to Carmichael Dave.