Alan Anderson and Kevin Garnett are more than just teammates, according to Christopher Mann of SportsMedia101 (via Zoey Castellano): “When Anderson was a high schoolbasketball player growing up in Minnesota, he attended a basketball camp that Garnett ran. Not only did Anderson excel at the camp, he won MVP and grabbed the attention of the All-Star forward… Last year before facing Garnett and the Boston Celtics, Anderson told the Toronto Sun “We exchanged numbers and then he was like a mentor for me.”… Anderson admitted that he had a lot of self-doubt at that time but Garnett was there to provide words of encouragement, “He was always talking to me, always kept my head, even my first year out of the NBA he was telling me I would get back, that I was an NBA player, he always stayed positive with me.”
What did the signing of Anderson mean for the Nets financially? David Aldridge of NBA.com has the answer: “$87,256,735 — Brooklyn’s new projected luxury tax payments for the summer of 2014, after signing free agent swingman Alan Anderson to a two-year deal last week. This is how insane The Prokhorov is at the moment: by adding Anderson — a good player; this is not a criticism of his ability — at about $960,000 for next season, the Nets will have to spend about $4.3 million in additional tax. Total expenditure (for now) for the Nets, including salaries and luxury taxes for next season: $189,479,837. By way of comparison, the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., where the Nets played from 1981 through 2010, cost $85 million to build.”
The Milwaukee Bucks and Brandon Jennings are still nowhere near an agreement, from Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld: “The big unknown for the Bucks is the future of their point guard position, and while the Bucks say they’d like to get a new deal done with restricted free agent Brandon Jennings, neither side seems to be closing in on an agreement. Word is that Brandon Jennings’ camp is seeking a deal in the neighborhood of what Jennings’s peers like Stephen Curry, Ty Lawson and Jrue Holiday got last summer, which would be in the $11 to $12 million range and that seems to be a number Milwaukee is unwilling to entertain. Bucks sources were adamant that re-signing Jennings was something they were very open to doing, but it has to be at a price that works for them. Milwaukee issued Jennings a $4.53 million Qualifying Offer to make him a restricted free agent, so they can match anything Jennings is offered by another team. Sources close to the process say Jennings has strongly considered picking up his Qualifying Offer and hitting unrestricted free agency next year.”
Paul George doesn’t think the Pacers can win a championship. He thinks they should win it, from Joel Brigham of Hoopsworld: ““We’re positioned really well,” George told HOOPSWORLD. “The only thing we really needed was the experience, and with everyone coming back together again, there’s no doubt in mind that we should win a championship.”… “It shows how important the front office thought it was to get our whole starting five back together,” George said. “It was a great experience for us to learn to play without Danny (Granger), but now with Danny coming back, he’s obviously proven to be an All-Star, a 20-points-per-game player who can play multiple positions and defend multiple positions. We’ve really got a lot going on right now, and I think our whole team mindset is solely on winning a championship this year.”
Larry Sanders wants to change how the Bucks are perceived, from Shams Charania of RealGM: “It is frustrating, but it’s the reality of where we are,” Sanders said. “The only way you can change that is to work toward being somewhere else. You can’t let the frustration of things set in. It’s not going to change where you are and it’s not going to change how people perceive you. “You have to change perception, and that’s what we’re doing now.”… “I want people to think of us as winners, when you think of the Bucks,” Sanders said. “We’re building on our season from last year, keep pushing forward and adding new pieces. We’re tired of being eighth seed, seventh seed, not making the playoffs. It’s time to rebuild – and we’ve already started that process.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.