Steve Nash said he doesn’t want to play with an unhappy Howard, from Eric Pincus of Los Angeles Times: “I think [Gasol] gives a little more fluidity. The ball can move more,” Nash said Sunday at his Steve Nash Foundation Showdown/soccer match. “We can use him as a facilitator. He’s such a versatile player that it’s going to be a lot of fun to have him making plays and scoring inside.”… It’s no coincidence that when Coach Mike D’Antoni gave Gasol a more prominent place in the offense, the Lakers finished the regular season playing some of their best basketball. “He chose to go somewhere else, I wish him the best,” Nash said of Howard. “If he doesn’t want to be here, we don’t want someone who is unhappy.”
Mike D’Antoni says the Lakers got lucky with the offseason acquisitions, from Jabari Davis of Hoopsworld: “You guys have had a busy offseason, with the additions of Chris Kaman, Nick Young, among others. Can you give us your thoughts on some of the new pieces? “Well, I’m excited about it. I think that Mitch did an unbelievable job at getting – you know, not with an easy situation – the best available two guys that can really score and play. We got lucky, and I’m really looking forward to coaching them.”
Expect to see Derrick Rose from the jump next season, from Sierra of Hoopshype: “At an adidas event this morning in Madrid (Spain), Bulls guard Derrick Rose said he fully expects to return to the court next October. “I should be able to play in the first game of season,” Rose said. “I know I’m anxious right now to play. My health is everything right now, it’s 100 percent. But right now, the first game… I will definitely be playing it.” “We will play in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil [October 12], the first NBA game ever in Rio, so that’s going to be a big game not only for the Bulls but for the NBA. Just some minutes out there, see how it feels just to be back on the court and enjoy the experience.
Pat Riley wanted tax break for the Big 3, according to Ira Winderman of Sun Sentinel: “As the Miami Heat continue to deal with the fallout of the luxury-tax implications of the NBA’s most recent collective bargaining agreement, Heat President Pat Riley revealed that he not only saw these challenges coming, but believed the league should have made efforts to protect legacy contracts. “I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this,” Riley said on his Friday conference call, “but I was always a proponent of any of the teams that had signed players to contracts that were under the old CBA should have had some consideration with the new CBA as to how the tax was going to be charged to them over the years, until their contracts ran out, that there should have been some consideration for that.”
Flip Saunders thinks the Timberwolves have the potential to be a scary team, from Jim Souhan of Star Tribune: “I’m really excited about what we have,” Saunders said. “I don’t want to put any expectations on us. And the reason I don’t want to put any expectations on us is I don’t want to make those expectations too low. “I do believe if we stay healthy, the way Rick [Adelman] coaches and with the system we have, that we could be a very scary team.”… “So how does this team compare to the heavyweights in the Western Conference? “I think we can compare,” he said. “We’ve got a little bit of everything. You’ve got to look at it more to know for sure, but we might be as flexible as any team in the conference.”
The Houston Rockets will hire Hakeem Olajuwon to work with Howard and Omer Asik, from Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle: “Olajuwon’s duties and title are being discussed, and he will spend much of the year at his home in Jordan. But he will work with Rockets interior players, as he does with big men around the NBA each offseason, as a team employee. “We are going to bring him in as full-time as is possible,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said Sunday. “It’s not done, but we have mutual interest to get it done, and we’ve had some early discussions. “We want him to work with Dwight and Omer (Asik), and he wants to do that.”
Thomas Robinson has not impressed the Trail Blazers thus far, from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: “There has been a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the Trail Blazers’ addition of Robinson this offseason. General manager Neil Olshey labeled it an “absolute steal” and the consensus — both locally and nationally — seems to be that the Blazers scooped up Robinson for nothing when they acquired him for a pair of second-round draft picks and a couple of international prospects. But after two uneven summer league appearances, including Sunday’s 81-63 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, that opinion has a fresh perspective. Robinson’s effort and energy have been inconsistent. His raw and beastly athleticism have been more imposing than productive. Far too often, he’s resorted to one-on-one offensive play rather than embracing the dirty work he supposedly relishes.”
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