There is no doubt Brandon Jennings is eager to start this season with the Detroit Pistons: “Brandon Jennings didn’t take long to get over being traded for the first time in his career, agreeing to a contract with the Pistons that enabled Milwaukee to deal him as a restricted free agent. In the roughly six weeks since the trade, he’s had more time to envision what his new team might look like. It’s a pretty good vision.”
“Andre Drummond, his potential is very high. He’s so young, too,” Jennings said Tuesday after his first workout in the team’s Auburn Hills practice facility. “Greg Monroe, he’s a guy we can get the ball to under the basket and make plays, get buckets. They’re two big, physical guys, too. And with Josh (Smith), bringing him in here, I think we should own the glass this year, defense and offense.”
According to the soon-to-be commissioner, Adam Silver, no NBA teams are for sale: “This is a significant departure from the last three-plus years, when teams were selling both cheaply and quickly as nine franchises sold, many at reduced values. It may have reached its nadir in 2011 when Michael Jordan purchased a controlling interest in the Charlotte Bobcats for less than $200 million and the big market Philadelphia 76ers changed hands for a reported $280 million. Those depressed sales figures contributed to the 2011 lockout, and owners won significant concessions from players because of financial struggles. The NBA owned the New Orleans Pelicans franchise for nearly 18 months from 2010-12 as it waited for a suitable offer before selling for $338 million to Tom Benson. The more favorable collective bargaining agreement plus what is expected to be a large jump in rights fees starting in three years have reversed that market. The Memphis Grizzlies sold last fall for $377 million. In May, Vivek Ranadive bought the Sacramento Kings for a record valuation of $534 million. Shortly thereafter, Ranadive sold his minority share in the Golden State Warriors at a price that would value that franchise at $800 million.”
Phil Jackson walked away from the sideline, but he cannot seem to walk away from the game itself: “Showtime is developing a one-hour scripted series that takes a peek behind the scenes of a professional basketball team, with NBA coaching great Phil Jackson and current Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis on board as exec producers. The series will focus on the family that owns the team, according to details provided by the CBS Corp. pay-cable service. Jeanie Buss, the senior vice president of the Los Angeles Lakers and Linda Rambis will executive produce via production company Street Reason Entertainment. Rambis is married to the Lakers coach. Brett Tomberlin of IDW and Ubiquity Studios will also executive produce, with Brian Gilbert and Andrew Trapani of Nine/8 Entertainment. In an interview, Buss said her experiences working with the Lakers as well as managing events, would inform the stories told in the potential series.”
“We’ve seen so much, the things that go on behind the scenes,” she said. “We go to events and people ask us a lot of questions about what they don’t see. They know the game. They see the game, but they don’t really know what leads up to getting the team on the court.” Most people “don’t know what makes a championship season or what it’s like to go through a losing season.”
According to the Associated Press, the Brooklyn Nets are going to retire Jason Kidd’s No. 5 jersey: “The Brooklyn Nets will retire the No. 5 jersey of Jason Kidd, who led the franchise to its greatest NBA success as a player and is now its coach. The Nets said Monday the ceremony will take place Oct. 17 before their preseason game against the Miami Heat. Kidd led the New Jersey Nets to the 2002 and 2003 NBA Finals and is their career leader in numerous statistical categories. He ended his 19-year playing career after spending last season with the New York Knicks, and the Nets hired him as their coach in June. He will be the sixth Nets player to have his number retired, following Julius Erving, Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni and Buck Williams.”
Billionaire Chris Hansen, who tried to bring the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, has been fined 50K: “Billionaire Chris Hansen must pay $50,000 for his role in a secretive effort to funnel money to a group trying to thwart Sacramento’s efforts to build a new downtown arena, the California Fair Political Practices Commission said Monday. The FPPC found that, just days after the NBA rejected Hansen’s $625 million bid to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle, he gave $100,000 to a group leading an effort to thwart Sacramento’s efforts to keep the team. A group of investors led by technology executive Vivek Ranadive bought the team for $535 million, one day after the NBA rejected Hansen’s bid. The NBA has said that Sacramento must build a modern arena to keep the Kings in town. The team’s new owners have set a 2016 target. The state political watchdog found that Hansen gave $100,000 to a group gathering signatures to thwart Sacramento’s plan to keep the team by forcing a citywide vote on the city’s planned $258 million subsidy for a downtown arena.”
Can the Washington Wizards make their long anticipated playoff push this season? Here are five things to watch: “Washington kept its primary core of players and inked some – including point guard John Wall – to lucrative deals. Coach Randy Wittman and president Ernie Grunfeld also are back, though both enter the final year of their respective contracts. The franchise’s negatives are obvious even if they center more on the demoralizing past. Not just five straight seasons without a playoff berth, but just five postseason appearances total over the last quarter century. There have been optimistic times in that span, but injuries, knuckleheads, short-sighted decisions and just plain bad luck have derailed previous plans. Yet there are reasons why what’s happening now should not be lumped in with the past. It starts with Wall, who missed the opening 33 games last season with a knee injury. Returning with the team sporting a brutal 5-28 mark, his playmaking helped spark the Wizards to go 24-19 over the next 43 games. It also landed the point guard an $80 million contract extension.”
Greg Stiemsma, now a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, believes he can start a center: “While Morrow was brought in as a backup to improve the Pelicans’ depth at shooting guard, Stiemsma, 6 foot 11, 260 pounds, could emerge as the team’s starting center, though he’s mostly been a backup for the past two seasons with the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves. Although Stiemsma said Williams hasn’t disclosed details yet about what his specific role will be this upcoming season, he’s hoping to emerge as a starter. The Pelicans open training camp on Oct. 1 and several players, including Stiemsma, have started preparations with volunteer workouts at the team’s new practice facility.”
Hearing: Veteran guard Mike James on way back to Chicago after stint in Dallas. Signing deal with Bulls this week, I’m told, to go to camp
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) September 10, 2013
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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